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"Raymond Burr",
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"what did he do on the radio",
"He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income.\"",
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"he earned a steady and comfortable income.\"",
"what was he most known for",
"Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast."
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did he ever win any awards
| 4 |
did Raymond Burr ever win any awards
|
Raymond Burr
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As a young man Burr weighed more than 300 lbs., which limited his on-screen roles. "But in radio this presented no problems, given the magnificent quality of his voice," reported The Globe and Mail. "He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income." Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast. He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show, Pat Novak for Hire (1949), and in Dragnet (1949-50) he played Joe Friday's boss, Ed Backstrand, chief of detectives. Burr worked on other Los Angeles-based series including Suspense, Screen Directors Playhouse, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Family Theater, Hallmark Playhouse and Hallmark Hall of Fame. He performed in five episodes of the experimental dramatic radio anthology series CBS Radio Workshop, and had what is arguably his best radio role in "The Silent Witness" (1957), in which his is the only voice. In 1956 Burr was the star of CBS Radio's Fort Laramie, an adult Western drama produced, written and directed by the creators of Gunsmoke. He played the role of Lee Quince, captain of the cavalry, in the series set at a post-Civil War military post where disease, boredom, the elements and the uncharted terrain were the greatest enemies of "ordinary men who lived in extraordinary times". The half-hour transcribed program aired Sundays at 5:30 p.m. ET January 22 - October 28, 1956. Burr told columnist Sheilah Graham that he had received 1,500 fan letters after the first broadcasts, and he continued to receive letters praising the show's authenticity and presentation of human dignity. In August 1956, CBS announced that Burr would star in the television series Perry Mason. Although the network wanted Burr to continue work on Fort Laramie as well, the TV series required an extraordinary commitment and the radio show ended. Known for his loyalty and consciousness of history, Burr went out of his way to employ his radio colleagues in his television programs. Some 180 radio celebrities appeared on Perry Mason during the first season alone. CANNOTANSWER
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he had received 1,500 fan letters after the first broadcasts, and he continued to receive letters praising the show's authenticity and presentation of human dignity.
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William Raymond Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917September 12, 1993) was a Canadian-American actor known for his lengthy Hollywood film career and his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside.
Burr's early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television, and film, usually as the villain. His portrayal of the suspected murderer in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Rear Window (1954) is his best-known film role, although he is also remembered for his role in the 1956 film Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, which he reprised in the 1985 film Godzilla 1985. He won Emmy Awards for acting in 1959 and 1961 for the role of Perry Mason, which he played for nine seasons (1957–1966) and reprised in a series of 26 Perry Mason TV movies (1985–1993). His second TV series Ironside earned him six Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations.
Burr died of cancer in 1993, and his personal life came into question, as many details of his biography appeared to be unverifiable. He was ranked number 44 of the 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time by TV Guide magazine in 1996.
Early life
William Raymond Stacy Burr was born May 21, 1917, in New Westminster, British Columbia. His father William Johnston Burr (1889–1985) was a hardware salesman; his mother Minerva Annette (née Smith, 1892–1974) was a pianist and music teacher.
When Burr was six, his parents divorced. His mother moved to Vallejo, California, with him and his younger siblings Geraldine and James, while his father remained in New Westminster. Burr briefly attended San Rafael Military Academy in San Rafael, California, and graduated from Berkeley High School.
In later years, Burr freely invented stories of a happy childhood – as with many other autobiographical details he provided about his life, they are not verifiable and have no evidence to support their accuracy. In 1986, he told journalist Jane Ardmore that, when he was 12 years old, his mother sent him to New Mexico for a year to work as a ranch hand. He was already his full adult height and rather large and "had fallen in with a group of college-aged kids who didn't realize how young Raymond was, and they let him tag along with them in activities and situations far too sophisticated for him to handle". He developed a passion for growing things and joined the Civilian Conservation Corps for a year in his teens. He did acting work in his teen years, making his stage debut at age 12 with a Vancouver stock company.
Theater
Burr grew up during the Great Depression and hoped to study acting at the Pasadena Playhouse, but he was unable to afford the tuition. By his own account, which is open to question, in 1934 he joined a repertory theatre group in Toronto that toured throughout Canada, then joined another company that toured India, Australia, and England. He briefly attended Long Beach Junior College and taught for a semester at San Jose Junior College, working nights as a radio actor and singer. Resuming the verifiable part of his autobiography, Burr began his association with the Pasadena Playhouse in 1937.
Burr moved to New York in 1940 and made his first Broadway appearance in Crazy With the Heat, a two-act musical revue produced by Kurt Kasznar that quickly folded. His first starring role on the stage came in November 1942 when he was an emergency replacement in a Pasadena Playhouse production of Quiet Wedding. He became a member of the Pasadena Playhouse drama faculty for 18 months, and he performed in some 30 plays over the years. He returned to Broadway for Patrick Hamilton's The Duke in Darkness (1944), a psychological drama set during the French Wars of Religion. His performance as the loyal friend of the imprisoned protagonist led to a contract with RKO Radio Pictures.
Film
Burr appeared in more than 50 feature films between 1946 and 1957, creating an array of villains that established him as an icon of film noir. Film historian Alain Silver concluded that Burr's most significant work in the genre is in ten films: Desperate (1947), Sleep, My Love (1948), Raw Deal (1948), Pitfall (1948), Abandoned (1949), Red Light (1949), M (1951), His Kind of Woman (1951), The Blue Gardenia (1953), and Crime of Passion (1957). Silver described Burr's private detective in Pitfall as "both reprehensible and pathetic", a characterization also cited by film historian Richard Schickel as a prototype of film noir, in contrast with the appealing television characters for which Burr later became famous. "He tried to make you see the psychosis below the surface, even when the parts weren't huge," said film historian James Ursini. "He was able to bring such complexity and different levels to those characters, and create sympathy for his characters even though they were doing reprehensible things."
Other titles in Burr's film noir legacy include Walk a Crooked Mile (1948), Borderline (1950), Unmasked (1950), The Whip Hand (1951), FBI Girl (1951), Meet Danny Wilson (1952), Rear Window (1954), They Were So Young (1954), A Cry in the Night (1956), and Affair in Havana (1957). His villains were also seen in Westerns, period dramas, horror films, and adventure films.
"I was just a fat heavy", Burr told journalist James Bawden. "I split the heavy parts with Bill Conrad. We were both in our twenties playing much older men. I never got the girl but I once got the gorilla in a 3-D picture called Gorilla at Large. I menaced Claudette Colbert, Lizabeth Scott, Paulette Goddard, Anne Baxter, Barbara Stanwyck. Those girls would take one look at me and scream and can you blame them? I was drowned, beaten, stabbed and all for my art. But I knew I was horribly overweight. I lacked any kind of self esteem. At 25 I was playing the fathers of people older than me."
Burr's occasional roles on the right side of the law include the aggressive prosecutor in A Place in the Sun (1951). His courtroom performance in that film made an impression on Gail Patrick and her husband Cornwell Jackson, who had Burr in mind when they began casting the role of Los Angeles district attorney Hamilton Burger in the CBS-TV series Perry Mason.
Radio
By the age of 12, Burr was appearing in national radio dramas broadcasting in nearby San Francisco.
As a young man Burr weighed more than 300 lbs., which limited his on-screen roles. "But in radio this presented no problems, given the magnificent quality of his voice", reported The Globe and Mail. "He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income."
Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast. He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show, Pat Novak for Hire (1949), and in Dragnet (1949–50) he played Joe Friday's boss, Ed Backstrand, chief of detectives. Burr worked on other Los Angeles-based series including Suspense, Screen Directors Playhouse, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Family Theater, Hallmark Playhouse and Hallmark Hall of Fame. He performed in five episodes of the experimental dramatic radio anthology series CBS Radio Workshop, and had what is arguably his best radio role in "The Silent Witness" (1957), in which his is the only voice.
In 1956 Burr was the star of CBS Radio's Fort Laramie, an adult Western drama produced, written and directed by the creators of Gunsmoke. He played the role of Lee Quince, captain of the cavalry, in the series set at a post-Civil War military post where disease, boredom, the elements and the uncharted terrain were the greatest enemies of "ordinary men who lived in extraordinary times". The half-hour transcribed program aired Sundays at 5:30 p.m. ET January 22 – October 28, 1956. Burr told columnist Sheilah Graham that he had received 1,500 fan letters after the first broadcasts, and he continued to receive letters praising the show's authenticity and presentation of human dignity.
In August 1956, CBS announced that Burr would star in the television series Perry Mason. Although the network wanted Burr to continue work on Fort Laramie as well, the TV series required an extraordinary commitment and the radio show ended.
Known for his loyalty and consciousness of history, Burr went out of his way to employ his radio colleagues in his television programs. Some 180 radio celebrities appeared on Perry Mason during the first season alone.
Television
Burr emerged as a prolific television character actor in the 1950s. He made his television debut in 1951, appearing in episodes of Stars Over Hollywood, The Bigelow Theatre, Family Theater and the debut episode of Dragnet. He went on to appear in such programs as Gruen Playhouse, Four Star Playhouse, Ford Theatre, Lux Video Theatre, Mr. and Mrs. North, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars and Playhouse 90.
Perry Mason
In 1956, Burr auditioned for the role of District Attorney Hamilton Burger in Perry Mason, a new CBS-TV courtroom drama based on the highly successful novels by Erle Stanley Gardner. Executive producer Gail Patrick Jackson had been impressed with Burr's courtroom performance in A Place in the Sun (1951), and she told Burr that he was perfect for Perry Mason but at least overweight. He went on a crash diet over the following month; he then tested as Perry Mason and was cast in the role. While Burr's test was running, Gardner reportedly stood up, pointed at the screen, and said, "That's Perry Mason." William Hopper also auditioned as Mason, but he was cast instead as private detective Paul Drake. The series also starred Barbara Hale as Della Street, Mason's secretary, William Talman as Hamilton Burger, the district attorney who loses nearly every case to Mason, and Ray Collins as homicide detective Lieutenant Arthur Tragg.
The series ran from 1957 to 1966 and made Burr a star. In the early 1960s, the show had 30 million viewers every Saturday night and Burr received 3,000 fan letters a week. Burr received three consecutive Emmy Award nominations and won the award in 1959 and 1961 for his performance as Perry Mason. The series has been rerun in syndication ever since, and was released on DVD between 2006 and 2013. Burr's character is often said never to have lost a case, although he did lose two murder cases off-screen in early episodes of the series.
Ironside
Burr moved from CBS to Universal Studios, where he played the title role in the television drama Ironside, which ran on NBC from 1967 to 1975. In the pilot episode, San Francisco Chief of Detectives Robert T. Ironside is paralyzed by a sniper during an attempt on his life and, after his recovery, uses a wheelchair for mobility, in the first crime drama show to star a policeman with a disability. The show earned Burr six Emmy nominations—one for the pilot and five for his work in the series—and two Golden Globe nominations.
Other series
After Ironside went off the air, NBC failed in two attempts to launch Burr as the star of a new series. In a two-hour television movie format, Mallory: Circumstantial Evidence aired in February 1976 with Burr again in the role of the lawyer who outwits the district attorney. Despite good reviews for Burr, the critical reception was poor, and NBC decided against developing it into a series.
In 1977, Burr starred in the short-lived TV series Kingston: Confidential as R.B. Kingston, a William Randolph Hearst-esque publishing magnate, owner of numerous newspapers and TV stations, who, in his spare time, solved crimes along with a group of employees. It was a critical failure that was scheduled opposite the extraordinarily popular Charlie's Angels. It was cancelled after 13 weeks.
Burr took on a shorter project next, playing an underworld boss in a six-hour miniseries, 79 Park Avenue.
One last attempt to launch a series followed on CBS. The two-hour premiere of The Jordan Chance aroused little interest.
On January 20, 1987, Burr hosted the television special that later served as the pilot for the long-running series Unsolved Mysteries.
Television films
In 1985, Burr was approached by producers Dean Hargrove and Fred Silverman to star in a made-for-TV movie, Perry Mason Returns. The same week, Burr recalled, he was asked to reprise the role he played in Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), in a low-budget film that would be titled Godzilla 1985.
"When they asked me to do it a second time, I said, 'Certainly,' and everybody thought I was out of my mind," Burr told Tom Shales of The Washington Post. "But it wasn't the large sum of money. It was the fact that, first of all, I kind of liked 'Godzilla,' and where do you get the opportunity to play yourself 30 years later? So I said yes to both of them." Although Burr is best remembered for his role as Perry Mason, a devoted following continues to appreciate him as the actor that brought the Godzilla series to America.
He agreed to do the Mason movie if Barbara Hale returned to reprise her role as Della Street. Hale agreed, and when Perry Mason Returns aired in December 1985, her character became the defendant. The rest of the principal cast had died, but Hale's real-life son William Katt played the role of Paul Drake, Jr. The movie was so successful that Burr made a total of 26 Perry Mason television films before his death. Many were filmed in and around Denver, Colorado.
By 1993, when Burr signed with NBC for another season of Mason films, he was using a wheelchair full-time because of his failing health. In his final Perry Mason movie, The Case of the Killer Kiss, he was shown either sitting or standing while leaning on a table, but only once standing unsupported for a few seconds. Twelve more Mason movies were scheduled before Burr's death, including one scheduled to film the month he died.
As he had with the Perry Mason TV movies, Burr decided to do an Ironside reunion movie. The Return of Ironside aired in May 1993, reuniting the entire original cast of the 1967–75 series. Like many of the Mason movies, it was set and filmed in Denver.
Personal life
Physical characteristics
Burr said that he weighed 12.75 pounds (5.8 kg) at birth, and was chubby throughout his childhood. "When you're a little fat boy in public school, or any kind of school, you're just persecuted something awful", he said. His weight was always an issue for him in getting roles, and it became a public relations problem when Johnny Carson began making jokes about him during his Tonight Show monologues. Burr refused to appear as Carson's guest from then on, and told Us Weekly years later: "I have been asked a number of times to do his show and I won't do it. Because I like NBC. He's doing an NBC show. If I went on I'd have some things to say, not just about the bad jokes he's done about me, but bad jokes he does about everybody who can't fight back because they aren't there. And that wouldn't be good for NBC."
Family life
Burr married actress Isabella Ward (1919–2004) on January 10, 1948. They met in 1943 while she was a student at the Pasadena Playhouse where Burr was teaching. They met again in 1947 when she was in California with a theater company. They were married shortly before Burr began work on the 1948 film noir Pitfall. In May 1948, they appeared on stage together in a Pasadena Playhouse production based on the life of Paul Gauguin. They lived in the basement apartment of a large house in Hollywood that Burr shared with his mother and grandparents. The marriage ended within months, and Ward returned to her native Delaware. They divorced in 1952, and neither remarried.
In 1960, Burr met Robert Benevides, an actor and Korean War veteran, on the set of Perry Mason. Benevides gave up acting in 1963, and he became a production consultant for 21 of the Perry Mason TV movies. They owned and operated an orchid business and then a vineyard in California's Dry Creek Valley. They were domestic partners until Burr's death in 1993. Burr bequeathed his entire estate to Benevides, and Benevides renamed the Dry Creek property Raymond Burr Vineyards (reportedly against Burr's wishes) and managed it as a commercial enterprise. In 2017, the property was sold.
Although Burr had not revealed his homosexuality during his lifetime, it was reported in the press upon his death.
Biographical contradictions
At various times in his career, Burr and his managers and publicists offered spurious or unverifiable biographical details to the press and public. Burr's obituary in The New York Times states that he entered the US Navy in 1944, after The Duke in Darkness, and left in 1946, weighing almost . Although Burr may have served in the Coast Guard, reports of his service in the US Navy are false, as apparently are his statements that he sustained battle injuries at Okinawa.
Other false biographical details include years of college education at a variety of institutions, being widowed twice, a son who died young, world travel and success in high school athletics. Most of these claims were apparently accepted as fact by the press during Burr's lifetime, up until his death and by his first biographer, Ona Hill.
Burr reportedly was married at the beginning of World War II to an actress named Annette Sutherland—killed, Burr said, in the same 1943 plane crash that claimed the life of actor Leslie Howard. However, multiple sources have reported that no one by that name appears on any of the published passenger manifests from the flight. A son supposedly born during this marriage, Michael Evan, was said to have died of leukemia in 1953 at the age of ten. Another marriage purportedly took place in the early 1950s to a Laura Andrina Morgan—who died of cancer, Burr said, in 1955. Yet no evidence exists of either marriage, nor of a son's birth, other than Burr's own claims. As late as 1991, Burr stood by the account of this son's life and death. He told Parade that when he realized Michael was dying, he took him on a one-year tour of the United States. "Before my boy left, before his time was gone", he said, "I wanted him to see the beauty of his country and its people." After Burr's death, his publicist confirmed that Burr worked steadily in Hollywood throughout 1952, the year that he was supposedly touring the country with his son.
In the late 1950s, Burr was rumored to be romantically involved with Natalie Wood. Wood's agent sent her on public dates so she could be noticed by directors and producers, and so the men she dated could present themselves in public as heterosexuals. The dates helped to disguise Wood's relationship with Robert Wagner, whom she later married. Burr reportedly resented Warner Bros.' decision to promote her attachment to another gay actor, Tab Hunter, rather than him. Robert Benevides later said, "He was a little bitter about it. He was really in love with her, I guess."
Later accounts of Burr's life say that he hid his homosexuality to protect his career. "That was a time in Hollywood history when homosexuality was not countenanced", Associated Press reporter Bob Thomas recalled in a 2000 episode of Biography. "Ray was not a romantic star by any means, but he was a very popular figure ... If it was revealed at that time in Hollywood history it would have been very difficult for him to continue."
Arthur Marks, a producer of Perry Mason, recalled Burr's talk of wives and children: "I know he was just putting on a show. ... That was my gut feeling. I think the wives and the loving women, the Natalie Wood thing, were a bit of a cover." Dean Hargrove, executive producer of the Perry Mason TV films, said in 2006, "I had always assumed that Raymond was gay, because he had a relationship with Robert Benevides for a very long time. Whether or not he had relationships with women, I had no idea. I did know that I had trouble keeping track of whether he was married or not in these stories. Raymond had the ability to mythologize himself, to some extent, and some of his stories about his past ... tended to grow as time went by."
Hobbies and businesses
Burr had many hobbies over the course of his life: cultivating orchids and collecting wine, art, stamps, and seashells. He was very fond of cooking. He was interested in flying, sailing, and fishing. According to A&E Biography, Burr was an avid reader with a retentive memory. He was also among the earliest importers and breeders of Portuguese water dogs in the United States.
Burr developed his interest in cultivating and hybridizing orchids into a business with Benevides. Over 20 years, their company, Sea God Nurseries, had nurseries in Fiji, Hawaii, the Azores, and California, and was responsible for adding more than 1,500 new orchids to the worldwide catalog. Burr named one of them the "Barbara Hale Orchid" after his Perry Mason costar. Burr and Benevides cultivated Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and grapes for Port wine, as well as orchids, at Burr's farmland holdings in Sonoma County, California.
In 1965, Burr purchased Naitauba, a island in Fiji, rich in seashells. There, he and Benevides oversaw the raising of copra (coconut meat) and cattle, as well as orchids. Burr planned to retire there permanently. However, medical problems made that impossible and he sold the property in 1983.
Philanthropy
Burr was a well-known philanthropist. He gave enormous sums of money, including his salaries from the Perry Mason movies, to charity. He was also known for sharing his wealth with friends. He sponsored 26 foster children through the Foster Parents' Plan or Save The Children, many with the greatest medical needs. He gave money and some of his Perry Mason scripts to the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California.
Burr was an early supporter of the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel, Florida, raising funds and chairing its first capital campaign. He donated a large collection of Fijian cowries and cones from his island in Fiji.
In 1993, Sonoma State University awarded Burr an honorary doctorate. He supported medical and educational institutions in Denver, and in 1993, the University of Colorado awarded him an honorary doctorate for his acting work. Burr also founded and financed the American Fijian Foundation that funded academic research, including efforts to develop a dictionary of the language.
Burr made repeated trips on behalf of the United Service Organizations (USO). He toured both Korea and Vietnam during wartime and once spent six months touring Korea, Japan, and the Philippines. He sometimes organized his own troupe and toured bases both in the U.S. and overseas, often small installations that the USO did not serve, like one tour of Greenland, Baffin Island, Newfoundland and Labrador. Returning from Vietnam in 1965, he made a speaking tour of the U.S. to advocate an intensified war effort. As the war became more controversial, he modified his tone, called for more attention to the sacrifice of the troops, and said, "My only position on the war is that I wish it were over." In October 1967, NBC aired Raymond Burr Visits Vietnam, a documentary of one of his visits. The reception was mixed. "The impressions he came up with are neither weighty nor particularly revealing", wrote the Chicago Tribune; the Los Angeles Times said Burr's questions were "intelligent and elicited some interesting replies".
Burr had a reputation in Hollywood as a thoughtful, generous man years before much of his more-visible philanthropic work. In 1960, Ray Collins, who portrayed Lt. Arthur Tragg on the original Perry Mason series, and who was by that time often ill and unable to remember all the lines he was supposed to speak, stated, "There is nothing but kindness from our star, Ray Burr. Part of his life is dedicated to us, and that's no bull. If there's anything the matter with any of us, he comes around before anyone else and does what he can to help. He's a great star—in the old tradition."
Illness and death
During the filming of his last Perry Mason movie in the spring of 1993, Burr fell ill. A Viacom spokesperson told the media that the illness might be related to the renal cell carcinoma (malignant kidney tumor) that had been removed from Burr that February. It was determined that the cancer had spread to his liver and was at that point inoperable. Burr threw several "goodbye parties" before his death on September 12, 1993, at his Sonoma County ranch near Healdsburg. He was 76 years old.
The day after Burr's death, American Bar Association president R. William Ide III released a statement: "Raymond Burr's portrayals of Perry Mason represented lawyers in a professional and dignified manner. ... Mr. Burr strove for such authenticity in his courtroom characterizations that we regard his passing as though we lost one of our own." The New York Times reported that Perry Mason had been named second—after F. Lee Bailey, and before Abraham Lincoln, Thurgood Marshall, Janet Reno, Ben Matlock and Hillary Clinton—in a recent National Law Journal poll that asked Americans to name the attorney, fictional or not, they most admired.
Burr was interred with his parents at Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, British Columbia. On October 1, 1993, about 600 family members and friends paid tribute to Burr at a private memorial service at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Burr bequeathed his estate to Robert Benevides, and excluded all relatives, including a sister, nieces, and nephews. His will was challenged, without success, by the two children of his late brother, James E. Burr. Benevides's attorney said that tabloid reports of an estate worth $32 million were an overestimate.
Accolades
For his work in the TV series Perry Mason, Burr received the Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Continuing Character) in a Dramatic Series at the 11th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1959. Nominated again in 1960, he received his second Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Series (Lead) at the 13th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1961. Burr was named Favorite Male Performer, for Perry Mason, in TV Guide magazine's inaugural TV Guide Award readers poll in 1960. He also received the second annual award in 1961.
In 1960, Burr was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6656 Hollywood Boulevard. Burr received six Emmy nominations (1968–72) for his work in the TV series Ironside. He was nominated twice, in 1969 and 1972, for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama. A benefactor of legal education, Burr was principal speaker at the founders' banquet of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, in June 1973. The Raymond Burr Award for Excellence in Criminal Law was established in his honor.
Burr was ranked #44 on TV Guides 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time in 1996. Completed in 1996, a circular garden at the entrance to the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel, Florida, honors Burr for his role in establishing the museum. Burr was a trustee and an early supporter who chaired the museum's first capital campaign and made direct contributions from his collection. A display about Burr as an actor, benefactor and collector opened in the museum's Great Hall of Shells in 2012.
From 2000 to 2006, the Raymond Burr Performing Arts Society leased the historic Columbia Theatre from the city of New Westminster, and renamed it the Raymond Burr Performing Arts Centre. Although the nonprofit organization hoped to raise funds to renovate and expand the venue, its contract was not renewed. The group was a failed bidder when the theater was sold in 2011.
In 2008, Canada Post issued a postage stamp in its "Canadians in Hollywood" series featuring Burr. Burr received the 2009 Canadian Legends Award and a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. The induction ceremony was held on September 12, 2009. A 2014 article in The Atlantic that examined how Netflix categorized nearly 77,000 different personalized genres found that Burr was rated as the favorite actor by Netflix users, with the greatest number of dedicated microgenres.
Theatre credits
Film credits
Radio credits
Television credits
See also
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
Notes
References
External links
Raymond Burr at the MBC Encyclopedia of Television
Complete biography of Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr at Find a Grave
1917 births
1993 deaths
20th-century Canadian male actors
Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
Canadian gay actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male radio actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian people of World War II
Canadian philanthropists
Civilian Conservation Corps people
Columbia University alumni
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from kidney cancer
Male actors from British Columbia
Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
Stanford University alumni
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[
"This is a list of films with performances that have been nominated in all of the Academy Award acting categories.\n\nThe Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences annually bestows Academy Awards for acting performances in the following four categories: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress.\n\nFilms \n\nAs of the 93rd Academy Awards (2020), there have been fifteen films containing at least one nominated performance in each of the four Academy Award acting categories. \n\nIn the following list, award winners are listed in bold with gold background; others listed are nominees who did not win. No film has ever won all four awards.\n\nSuperlatives \n\nNo film has won all four awards.\n\nTwo films won three awards: \n\n A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) \n Network (1976)\n\nFour films hold a total of five nominations, each with an additional nomination within one of the four categories:\n\n Mrs. Miniver (1942) – two nominations for Best Supporting Actress\n From Here to Eternity (1953) – two nominations for Best Actor\n Bonnie and Clyde (1968) – two nominations for Best Supporting Actor\n Network (1976) – two nominations for Best Actor\n\nThree of the nominated films failed to win any of the four awards: \n\n My Man Godfrey (1936) – also failed to win any other Academy Awards\n Sunset Boulevard (1950)\n American Hustle (2013) – also failed to win any other Academy Awards\n\nOnly two of the nominated films won Best Picture:\n\n Mrs. Miniver (1942)\n From Here to Eternity (1953)\n\nOnly one of the nominated films was not nominated for Best Picture:\n\n My Man Godfrey (1936)\n\nFive performers were nominated for their work in two different films that received nominations in all acting categories (winners in bold):\n\n William Holden (Sunset Boulevard, Network)\n Warren Beatty (Bonnie and Clyde, Reds)\n Faye Dunaway (Bonnie and Clyde, Network)\n Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle)\n Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle)\n\nOnly one director has directed two films that received nominations in all four categories:\n\n David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle)\n\nThe 40th Academy Awards (1967) was the only ceremony in which multiple films held at least one nomination in all four acting categories:\n\n Bonnie and Clyde\n Guess Who's Coming to Dinner\n\nAll of the films, except My Man Godfrey and For Whom the Bell Tolls, were also nominated for the \"Big Five\" categories (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted)).\n\nSee also \n\n List of Big Five Academy Award winners and nominees\n List of films with two or more Academy Awards in an acting category\n\nActing nom",
"Win, Again! is a Canadian television film, which was broadcast by CBC Television in 1999. Directed by Eric Till, the film stars Gordon Pinsent as Win Morrissey, a man from Nova Scotia who abandoned his family 16 years earlier to go on the run after being accused of a crime he did not commit, and is now returning home to reconcile with them after finally being exonerated.\n\nThe film also stars Gabrielle Rose as Win's wife Lois, who has moved on with a career in real estate and a new boyfriend; Michael Riley as their son John, a successful urban planner living in Toronto who resents his father's absence from his childhood; Leah Pinsent as John's girlfriend Julie; and Eric Peterson as Win's brother Cliff. Martha Gibson and Lawrence Dane also appear in supporting roles.\n\nThe film was Gordon Pinsent's first time ever acting in a project directly alongside his daughter Leah; although he had made a guest appearance in her sitcom Made in Canada the previous year, they did not have any scenes together at that time.\n\nGordon Pinsent was also the film's writer. It had originally been conceived and written as a six-episode drama series, but after several years of production delays caused by budget cutbacks at the CBC, the network asked Pinsent to condense it into a film.\n\nThe film was broadcast by CBC Television on January 17, 1999.\n\nAwards\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1999 films\n1999 television films\nCanadian films\nCanadian television films\nEnglish-language Canadian films\nEnglish-language films\nCBC Television original films\nFilms set in Nova Scotia\nFilms directed by Eric Till"
] |
[
"Raymond Burr",
"Radio",
"what did he do on the radio",
"He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income.\"",
"how much did he make",
"he earned a steady and comfortable income.\"",
"what was he most known for",
"Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast.",
"did he ever win any awards",
"he had received 1,500 fan letters after the first broadcasts, and he continued to receive letters praising the show's authenticity and presentation of human dignity."
] |
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did he have any long running radio shows
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did Raymond Burr have any long running radio shows
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Raymond Burr
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As a young man Burr weighed more than 300 lbs., which limited his on-screen roles. "But in radio this presented no problems, given the magnificent quality of his voice," reported The Globe and Mail. "He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income." Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast. He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show, Pat Novak for Hire (1949), and in Dragnet (1949-50) he played Joe Friday's boss, Ed Backstrand, chief of detectives. Burr worked on other Los Angeles-based series including Suspense, Screen Directors Playhouse, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Family Theater, Hallmark Playhouse and Hallmark Hall of Fame. He performed in five episodes of the experimental dramatic radio anthology series CBS Radio Workshop, and had what is arguably his best radio role in "The Silent Witness" (1957), in which his is the only voice. In 1956 Burr was the star of CBS Radio's Fort Laramie, an adult Western drama produced, written and directed by the creators of Gunsmoke. He played the role of Lee Quince, captain of the cavalry, in the series set at a post-Civil War military post where disease, boredom, the elements and the uncharted terrain were the greatest enemies of "ordinary men who lived in extraordinary times". The half-hour transcribed program aired Sundays at 5:30 p.m. ET January 22 - October 28, 1956. Burr told columnist Sheilah Graham that he had received 1,500 fan letters after the first broadcasts, and he continued to receive letters praising the show's authenticity and presentation of human dignity. In August 1956, CBS announced that Burr would star in the television series Perry Mason. Although the network wanted Burr to continue work on Fort Laramie as well, the TV series required an extraordinary commitment and the radio show ended. Known for his loyalty and consciousness of history, Burr went out of his way to employ his radio colleagues in his television programs. Some 180 radio celebrities appeared on Perry Mason during the first season alone. CANNOTANSWER
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Working steadily in radio since the 1940s,
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William Raymond Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917September 12, 1993) was a Canadian-American actor known for his lengthy Hollywood film career and his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside.
Burr's early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television, and film, usually as the villain. His portrayal of the suspected murderer in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Rear Window (1954) is his best-known film role, although he is also remembered for his role in the 1956 film Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, which he reprised in the 1985 film Godzilla 1985. He won Emmy Awards for acting in 1959 and 1961 for the role of Perry Mason, which he played for nine seasons (1957–1966) and reprised in a series of 26 Perry Mason TV movies (1985–1993). His second TV series Ironside earned him six Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations.
Burr died of cancer in 1993, and his personal life came into question, as many details of his biography appeared to be unverifiable. He was ranked number 44 of the 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time by TV Guide magazine in 1996.
Early life
William Raymond Stacy Burr was born May 21, 1917, in New Westminster, British Columbia. His father William Johnston Burr (1889–1985) was a hardware salesman; his mother Minerva Annette (née Smith, 1892–1974) was a pianist and music teacher.
When Burr was six, his parents divorced. His mother moved to Vallejo, California, with him and his younger siblings Geraldine and James, while his father remained in New Westminster. Burr briefly attended San Rafael Military Academy in San Rafael, California, and graduated from Berkeley High School.
In later years, Burr freely invented stories of a happy childhood – as with many other autobiographical details he provided about his life, they are not verifiable and have no evidence to support their accuracy. In 1986, he told journalist Jane Ardmore that, when he was 12 years old, his mother sent him to New Mexico for a year to work as a ranch hand. He was already his full adult height and rather large and "had fallen in with a group of college-aged kids who didn't realize how young Raymond was, and they let him tag along with them in activities and situations far too sophisticated for him to handle". He developed a passion for growing things and joined the Civilian Conservation Corps for a year in his teens. He did acting work in his teen years, making his stage debut at age 12 with a Vancouver stock company.
Theater
Burr grew up during the Great Depression and hoped to study acting at the Pasadena Playhouse, but he was unable to afford the tuition. By his own account, which is open to question, in 1934 he joined a repertory theatre group in Toronto that toured throughout Canada, then joined another company that toured India, Australia, and England. He briefly attended Long Beach Junior College and taught for a semester at San Jose Junior College, working nights as a radio actor and singer. Resuming the verifiable part of his autobiography, Burr began his association with the Pasadena Playhouse in 1937.
Burr moved to New York in 1940 and made his first Broadway appearance in Crazy With the Heat, a two-act musical revue produced by Kurt Kasznar that quickly folded. His first starring role on the stage came in November 1942 when he was an emergency replacement in a Pasadena Playhouse production of Quiet Wedding. He became a member of the Pasadena Playhouse drama faculty for 18 months, and he performed in some 30 plays over the years. He returned to Broadway for Patrick Hamilton's The Duke in Darkness (1944), a psychological drama set during the French Wars of Religion. His performance as the loyal friend of the imprisoned protagonist led to a contract with RKO Radio Pictures.
Film
Burr appeared in more than 50 feature films between 1946 and 1957, creating an array of villains that established him as an icon of film noir. Film historian Alain Silver concluded that Burr's most significant work in the genre is in ten films: Desperate (1947), Sleep, My Love (1948), Raw Deal (1948), Pitfall (1948), Abandoned (1949), Red Light (1949), M (1951), His Kind of Woman (1951), The Blue Gardenia (1953), and Crime of Passion (1957). Silver described Burr's private detective in Pitfall as "both reprehensible and pathetic", a characterization also cited by film historian Richard Schickel as a prototype of film noir, in contrast with the appealing television characters for which Burr later became famous. "He tried to make you see the psychosis below the surface, even when the parts weren't huge," said film historian James Ursini. "He was able to bring such complexity and different levels to those characters, and create sympathy for his characters even though they were doing reprehensible things."
Other titles in Burr's film noir legacy include Walk a Crooked Mile (1948), Borderline (1950), Unmasked (1950), The Whip Hand (1951), FBI Girl (1951), Meet Danny Wilson (1952), Rear Window (1954), They Were So Young (1954), A Cry in the Night (1956), and Affair in Havana (1957). His villains were also seen in Westerns, period dramas, horror films, and adventure films.
"I was just a fat heavy", Burr told journalist James Bawden. "I split the heavy parts with Bill Conrad. We were both in our twenties playing much older men. I never got the girl but I once got the gorilla in a 3-D picture called Gorilla at Large. I menaced Claudette Colbert, Lizabeth Scott, Paulette Goddard, Anne Baxter, Barbara Stanwyck. Those girls would take one look at me and scream and can you blame them? I was drowned, beaten, stabbed and all for my art. But I knew I was horribly overweight. I lacked any kind of self esteem. At 25 I was playing the fathers of people older than me."
Burr's occasional roles on the right side of the law include the aggressive prosecutor in A Place in the Sun (1951). His courtroom performance in that film made an impression on Gail Patrick and her husband Cornwell Jackson, who had Burr in mind when they began casting the role of Los Angeles district attorney Hamilton Burger in the CBS-TV series Perry Mason.
Radio
By the age of 12, Burr was appearing in national radio dramas broadcasting in nearby San Francisco.
As a young man Burr weighed more than 300 lbs., which limited his on-screen roles. "But in radio this presented no problems, given the magnificent quality of his voice", reported The Globe and Mail. "He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income."
Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast. He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show, Pat Novak for Hire (1949), and in Dragnet (1949–50) he played Joe Friday's boss, Ed Backstrand, chief of detectives. Burr worked on other Los Angeles-based series including Suspense, Screen Directors Playhouse, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Family Theater, Hallmark Playhouse and Hallmark Hall of Fame. He performed in five episodes of the experimental dramatic radio anthology series CBS Radio Workshop, and had what is arguably his best radio role in "The Silent Witness" (1957), in which his is the only voice.
In 1956 Burr was the star of CBS Radio's Fort Laramie, an adult Western drama produced, written and directed by the creators of Gunsmoke. He played the role of Lee Quince, captain of the cavalry, in the series set at a post-Civil War military post where disease, boredom, the elements and the uncharted terrain were the greatest enemies of "ordinary men who lived in extraordinary times". The half-hour transcribed program aired Sundays at 5:30 p.m. ET January 22 – October 28, 1956. Burr told columnist Sheilah Graham that he had received 1,500 fan letters after the first broadcasts, and he continued to receive letters praising the show's authenticity and presentation of human dignity.
In August 1956, CBS announced that Burr would star in the television series Perry Mason. Although the network wanted Burr to continue work on Fort Laramie as well, the TV series required an extraordinary commitment and the radio show ended.
Known for his loyalty and consciousness of history, Burr went out of his way to employ his radio colleagues in his television programs. Some 180 radio celebrities appeared on Perry Mason during the first season alone.
Television
Burr emerged as a prolific television character actor in the 1950s. He made his television debut in 1951, appearing in episodes of Stars Over Hollywood, The Bigelow Theatre, Family Theater and the debut episode of Dragnet. He went on to appear in such programs as Gruen Playhouse, Four Star Playhouse, Ford Theatre, Lux Video Theatre, Mr. and Mrs. North, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars and Playhouse 90.
Perry Mason
In 1956, Burr auditioned for the role of District Attorney Hamilton Burger in Perry Mason, a new CBS-TV courtroom drama based on the highly successful novels by Erle Stanley Gardner. Executive producer Gail Patrick Jackson had been impressed with Burr's courtroom performance in A Place in the Sun (1951), and she told Burr that he was perfect for Perry Mason but at least overweight. He went on a crash diet over the following month; he then tested as Perry Mason and was cast in the role. While Burr's test was running, Gardner reportedly stood up, pointed at the screen, and said, "That's Perry Mason." William Hopper also auditioned as Mason, but he was cast instead as private detective Paul Drake. The series also starred Barbara Hale as Della Street, Mason's secretary, William Talman as Hamilton Burger, the district attorney who loses nearly every case to Mason, and Ray Collins as homicide detective Lieutenant Arthur Tragg.
The series ran from 1957 to 1966 and made Burr a star. In the early 1960s, the show had 30 million viewers every Saturday night and Burr received 3,000 fan letters a week. Burr received three consecutive Emmy Award nominations and won the award in 1959 and 1961 for his performance as Perry Mason. The series has been rerun in syndication ever since, and was released on DVD between 2006 and 2013. Burr's character is often said never to have lost a case, although he did lose two murder cases off-screen in early episodes of the series.
Ironside
Burr moved from CBS to Universal Studios, where he played the title role in the television drama Ironside, which ran on NBC from 1967 to 1975. In the pilot episode, San Francisco Chief of Detectives Robert T. Ironside is paralyzed by a sniper during an attempt on his life and, after his recovery, uses a wheelchair for mobility, in the first crime drama show to star a policeman with a disability. The show earned Burr six Emmy nominations—one for the pilot and five for his work in the series—and two Golden Globe nominations.
Other series
After Ironside went off the air, NBC failed in two attempts to launch Burr as the star of a new series. In a two-hour television movie format, Mallory: Circumstantial Evidence aired in February 1976 with Burr again in the role of the lawyer who outwits the district attorney. Despite good reviews for Burr, the critical reception was poor, and NBC decided against developing it into a series.
In 1977, Burr starred in the short-lived TV series Kingston: Confidential as R.B. Kingston, a William Randolph Hearst-esque publishing magnate, owner of numerous newspapers and TV stations, who, in his spare time, solved crimes along with a group of employees. It was a critical failure that was scheduled opposite the extraordinarily popular Charlie's Angels. It was cancelled after 13 weeks.
Burr took on a shorter project next, playing an underworld boss in a six-hour miniseries, 79 Park Avenue.
One last attempt to launch a series followed on CBS. The two-hour premiere of The Jordan Chance aroused little interest.
On January 20, 1987, Burr hosted the television special that later served as the pilot for the long-running series Unsolved Mysteries.
Television films
In 1985, Burr was approached by producers Dean Hargrove and Fred Silverman to star in a made-for-TV movie, Perry Mason Returns. The same week, Burr recalled, he was asked to reprise the role he played in Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), in a low-budget film that would be titled Godzilla 1985.
"When they asked me to do it a second time, I said, 'Certainly,' and everybody thought I was out of my mind," Burr told Tom Shales of The Washington Post. "But it wasn't the large sum of money. It was the fact that, first of all, I kind of liked 'Godzilla,' and where do you get the opportunity to play yourself 30 years later? So I said yes to both of them." Although Burr is best remembered for his role as Perry Mason, a devoted following continues to appreciate him as the actor that brought the Godzilla series to America.
He agreed to do the Mason movie if Barbara Hale returned to reprise her role as Della Street. Hale agreed, and when Perry Mason Returns aired in December 1985, her character became the defendant. The rest of the principal cast had died, but Hale's real-life son William Katt played the role of Paul Drake, Jr. The movie was so successful that Burr made a total of 26 Perry Mason television films before his death. Many were filmed in and around Denver, Colorado.
By 1993, when Burr signed with NBC for another season of Mason films, he was using a wheelchair full-time because of his failing health. In his final Perry Mason movie, The Case of the Killer Kiss, he was shown either sitting or standing while leaning on a table, but only once standing unsupported for a few seconds. Twelve more Mason movies were scheduled before Burr's death, including one scheduled to film the month he died.
As he had with the Perry Mason TV movies, Burr decided to do an Ironside reunion movie. The Return of Ironside aired in May 1993, reuniting the entire original cast of the 1967–75 series. Like many of the Mason movies, it was set and filmed in Denver.
Personal life
Physical characteristics
Burr said that he weighed 12.75 pounds (5.8 kg) at birth, and was chubby throughout his childhood. "When you're a little fat boy in public school, or any kind of school, you're just persecuted something awful", he said. His weight was always an issue for him in getting roles, and it became a public relations problem when Johnny Carson began making jokes about him during his Tonight Show monologues. Burr refused to appear as Carson's guest from then on, and told Us Weekly years later: "I have been asked a number of times to do his show and I won't do it. Because I like NBC. He's doing an NBC show. If I went on I'd have some things to say, not just about the bad jokes he's done about me, but bad jokes he does about everybody who can't fight back because they aren't there. And that wouldn't be good for NBC."
Family life
Burr married actress Isabella Ward (1919–2004) on January 10, 1948. They met in 1943 while she was a student at the Pasadena Playhouse where Burr was teaching. They met again in 1947 when she was in California with a theater company. They were married shortly before Burr began work on the 1948 film noir Pitfall. In May 1948, they appeared on stage together in a Pasadena Playhouse production based on the life of Paul Gauguin. They lived in the basement apartment of a large house in Hollywood that Burr shared with his mother and grandparents. The marriage ended within months, and Ward returned to her native Delaware. They divorced in 1952, and neither remarried.
In 1960, Burr met Robert Benevides, an actor and Korean War veteran, on the set of Perry Mason. Benevides gave up acting in 1963, and he became a production consultant for 21 of the Perry Mason TV movies. They owned and operated an orchid business and then a vineyard in California's Dry Creek Valley. They were domestic partners until Burr's death in 1993. Burr bequeathed his entire estate to Benevides, and Benevides renamed the Dry Creek property Raymond Burr Vineyards (reportedly against Burr's wishes) and managed it as a commercial enterprise. In 2017, the property was sold.
Although Burr had not revealed his homosexuality during his lifetime, it was reported in the press upon his death.
Biographical contradictions
At various times in his career, Burr and his managers and publicists offered spurious or unverifiable biographical details to the press and public. Burr's obituary in The New York Times states that he entered the US Navy in 1944, after The Duke in Darkness, and left in 1946, weighing almost . Although Burr may have served in the Coast Guard, reports of his service in the US Navy are false, as apparently are his statements that he sustained battle injuries at Okinawa.
Other false biographical details include years of college education at a variety of institutions, being widowed twice, a son who died young, world travel and success in high school athletics. Most of these claims were apparently accepted as fact by the press during Burr's lifetime, up until his death and by his first biographer, Ona Hill.
Burr reportedly was married at the beginning of World War II to an actress named Annette Sutherland—killed, Burr said, in the same 1943 plane crash that claimed the life of actor Leslie Howard. However, multiple sources have reported that no one by that name appears on any of the published passenger manifests from the flight. A son supposedly born during this marriage, Michael Evan, was said to have died of leukemia in 1953 at the age of ten. Another marriage purportedly took place in the early 1950s to a Laura Andrina Morgan—who died of cancer, Burr said, in 1955. Yet no evidence exists of either marriage, nor of a son's birth, other than Burr's own claims. As late as 1991, Burr stood by the account of this son's life and death. He told Parade that when he realized Michael was dying, he took him on a one-year tour of the United States. "Before my boy left, before his time was gone", he said, "I wanted him to see the beauty of his country and its people." After Burr's death, his publicist confirmed that Burr worked steadily in Hollywood throughout 1952, the year that he was supposedly touring the country with his son.
In the late 1950s, Burr was rumored to be romantically involved with Natalie Wood. Wood's agent sent her on public dates so she could be noticed by directors and producers, and so the men she dated could present themselves in public as heterosexuals. The dates helped to disguise Wood's relationship with Robert Wagner, whom she later married. Burr reportedly resented Warner Bros.' decision to promote her attachment to another gay actor, Tab Hunter, rather than him. Robert Benevides later said, "He was a little bitter about it. He was really in love with her, I guess."
Later accounts of Burr's life say that he hid his homosexuality to protect his career. "That was a time in Hollywood history when homosexuality was not countenanced", Associated Press reporter Bob Thomas recalled in a 2000 episode of Biography. "Ray was not a romantic star by any means, but he was a very popular figure ... If it was revealed at that time in Hollywood history it would have been very difficult for him to continue."
Arthur Marks, a producer of Perry Mason, recalled Burr's talk of wives and children: "I know he was just putting on a show. ... That was my gut feeling. I think the wives and the loving women, the Natalie Wood thing, were a bit of a cover." Dean Hargrove, executive producer of the Perry Mason TV films, said in 2006, "I had always assumed that Raymond was gay, because he had a relationship with Robert Benevides for a very long time. Whether or not he had relationships with women, I had no idea. I did know that I had trouble keeping track of whether he was married or not in these stories. Raymond had the ability to mythologize himself, to some extent, and some of his stories about his past ... tended to grow as time went by."
Hobbies and businesses
Burr had many hobbies over the course of his life: cultivating orchids and collecting wine, art, stamps, and seashells. He was very fond of cooking. He was interested in flying, sailing, and fishing. According to A&E Biography, Burr was an avid reader with a retentive memory. He was also among the earliest importers and breeders of Portuguese water dogs in the United States.
Burr developed his interest in cultivating and hybridizing orchids into a business with Benevides. Over 20 years, their company, Sea God Nurseries, had nurseries in Fiji, Hawaii, the Azores, and California, and was responsible for adding more than 1,500 new orchids to the worldwide catalog. Burr named one of them the "Barbara Hale Orchid" after his Perry Mason costar. Burr and Benevides cultivated Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and grapes for Port wine, as well as orchids, at Burr's farmland holdings in Sonoma County, California.
In 1965, Burr purchased Naitauba, a island in Fiji, rich in seashells. There, he and Benevides oversaw the raising of copra (coconut meat) and cattle, as well as orchids. Burr planned to retire there permanently. However, medical problems made that impossible and he sold the property in 1983.
Philanthropy
Burr was a well-known philanthropist. He gave enormous sums of money, including his salaries from the Perry Mason movies, to charity. He was also known for sharing his wealth with friends. He sponsored 26 foster children through the Foster Parents' Plan or Save The Children, many with the greatest medical needs. He gave money and some of his Perry Mason scripts to the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California.
Burr was an early supporter of the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel, Florida, raising funds and chairing its first capital campaign. He donated a large collection of Fijian cowries and cones from his island in Fiji.
In 1993, Sonoma State University awarded Burr an honorary doctorate. He supported medical and educational institutions in Denver, and in 1993, the University of Colorado awarded him an honorary doctorate for his acting work. Burr also founded and financed the American Fijian Foundation that funded academic research, including efforts to develop a dictionary of the language.
Burr made repeated trips on behalf of the United Service Organizations (USO). He toured both Korea and Vietnam during wartime and once spent six months touring Korea, Japan, and the Philippines. He sometimes organized his own troupe and toured bases both in the U.S. and overseas, often small installations that the USO did not serve, like one tour of Greenland, Baffin Island, Newfoundland and Labrador. Returning from Vietnam in 1965, he made a speaking tour of the U.S. to advocate an intensified war effort. As the war became more controversial, he modified his tone, called for more attention to the sacrifice of the troops, and said, "My only position on the war is that I wish it were over." In October 1967, NBC aired Raymond Burr Visits Vietnam, a documentary of one of his visits. The reception was mixed. "The impressions he came up with are neither weighty nor particularly revealing", wrote the Chicago Tribune; the Los Angeles Times said Burr's questions were "intelligent and elicited some interesting replies".
Burr had a reputation in Hollywood as a thoughtful, generous man years before much of his more-visible philanthropic work. In 1960, Ray Collins, who portrayed Lt. Arthur Tragg on the original Perry Mason series, and who was by that time often ill and unable to remember all the lines he was supposed to speak, stated, "There is nothing but kindness from our star, Ray Burr. Part of his life is dedicated to us, and that's no bull. If there's anything the matter with any of us, he comes around before anyone else and does what he can to help. He's a great star—in the old tradition."
Illness and death
During the filming of his last Perry Mason movie in the spring of 1993, Burr fell ill. A Viacom spokesperson told the media that the illness might be related to the renal cell carcinoma (malignant kidney tumor) that had been removed from Burr that February. It was determined that the cancer had spread to his liver and was at that point inoperable. Burr threw several "goodbye parties" before his death on September 12, 1993, at his Sonoma County ranch near Healdsburg. He was 76 years old.
The day after Burr's death, American Bar Association president R. William Ide III released a statement: "Raymond Burr's portrayals of Perry Mason represented lawyers in a professional and dignified manner. ... Mr. Burr strove for such authenticity in his courtroom characterizations that we regard his passing as though we lost one of our own." The New York Times reported that Perry Mason had been named second—after F. Lee Bailey, and before Abraham Lincoln, Thurgood Marshall, Janet Reno, Ben Matlock and Hillary Clinton—in a recent National Law Journal poll that asked Americans to name the attorney, fictional or not, they most admired.
Burr was interred with his parents at Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, British Columbia. On October 1, 1993, about 600 family members and friends paid tribute to Burr at a private memorial service at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Burr bequeathed his estate to Robert Benevides, and excluded all relatives, including a sister, nieces, and nephews. His will was challenged, without success, by the two children of his late brother, James E. Burr. Benevides's attorney said that tabloid reports of an estate worth $32 million were an overestimate.
Accolades
For his work in the TV series Perry Mason, Burr received the Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Continuing Character) in a Dramatic Series at the 11th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1959. Nominated again in 1960, he received his second Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Series (Lead) at the 13th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1961. Burr was named Favorite Male Performer, for Perry Mason, in TV Guide magazine's inaugural TV Guide Award readers poll in 1960. He also received the second annual award in 1961.
In 1960, Burr was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6656 Hollywood Boulevard. Burr received six Emmy nominations (1968–72) for his work in the TV series Ironside. He was nominated twice, in 1969 and 1972, for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama. A benefactor of legal education, Burr was principal speaker at the founders' banquet of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, in June 1973. The Raymond Burr Award for Excellence in Criminal Law was established in his honor.
Burr was ranked #44 on TV Guides 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time in 1996. Completed in 1996, a circular garden at the entrance to the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel, Florida, honors Burr for his role in establishing the museum. Burr was a trustee and an early supporter who chaired the museum's first capital campaign and made direct contributions from his collection. A display about Burr as an actor, benefactor and collector opened in the museum's Great Hall of Shells in 2012.
From 2000 to 2006, the Raymond Burr Performing Arts Society leased the historic Columbia Theatre from the city of New Westminster, and renamed it the Raymond Burr Performing Arts Centre. Although the nonprofit organization hoped to raise funds to renovate and expand the venue, its contract was not renewed. The group was a failed bidder when the theater was sold in 2011.
In 2008, Canada Post issued a postage stamp in its "Canadians in Hollywood" series featuring Burr. Burr received the 2009 Canadian Legends Award and a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. The induction ceremony was held on September 12, 2009. A 2014 article in The Atlantic that examined how Netflix categorized nearly 77,000 different personalized genres found that Burr was rated as the favorite actor by Netflix users, with the greatest number of dedicated microgenres.
Theatre credits
Film credits
Radio credits
Television credits
See also
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
Notes
References
External links
Raymond Burr at the MBC Encyclopedia of Television
Complete biography of Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr at Find a Grave
1917 births
1993 deaths
20th-century Canadian male actors
Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
Canadian gay actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male radio actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian people of World War II
Canadian philanthropists
Civilian Conservation Corps people
Columbia University alumni
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from kidney cancer
Male actors from British Columbia
Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
Stanford University alumni
| true |
[
"Australia's Amateur Hour was an important early Australian radio and television program in the form of a talent contest, which was broadcast from 1940 to 1958, which also aired briefly on television from 1957 to 1958.\n\nThe radio version was originally compered by radio producer Harry Dearth, then by Dick Fair, and finally by Terry Dear (1913-1995). It was a popular, long-running program on which many performers appeared.\n\nThe television version was compered by Terry Dear, and ran from August 1957 to February 1958. It aired on TCN-9 in Sydney and HSV-7 in Melbourne. The success of the radio version didn't translate onto television, with the television version closing after only seven months, and the radio version shortly after.\n\nEpisode status\nSome episodes of the radio version are held by the National Film and Sound Archive. Although the television version was kinescoped so it could be shown in both Sydney and Melbourne, it is not known if any such recordings still exist today.\n\nSee also \n\n List of Australian music television shows\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nAustralia's Amateur Hour at IMDb\n\nSeven Network original programming\nNine Network original programming\nAustralian radio programs\n1957 Australian television series debuts\n1958 Australian television series endings\nBlack-and-white Australian television shows\nEnglish-language television shows\nAustralian variety television shows\nTelevision series based on radio series",
"Marshall Crosby (18 February 1882 – 1 January 1954) was a popular Australian actor and singer of film, theatre, radio and TV. He appeared in a number of shows for J. C. Williamson Ltd and was a leading radio actor, remembered for his role as \"Josh Roberts\" in the long running ABC radio serial Blue Hills.\n\nPersonal life\nHe was the father of actor and radio producer Don Crosby, who was an Order of Australia recipient.\n\nFilmography\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nMarshall Crosby at Australian Dictionary of Biography\n\nAustralian male actors\n1882 births\n1954 deaths"
] |
[
"Raymond Burr",
"Radio",
"what did he do on the radio",
"He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income.\"",
"how much did he make",
"he earned a steady and comfortable income.\"",
"what was he most known for",
"Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast.",
"did he ever win any awards",
"he had received 1,500 fan letters after the first broadcasts, and he continued to receive letters praising the show's authenticity and presentation of human dignity.",
"did he have any long running radio shows",
"Working steadily in radio since the 1940s,"
] |
C_ce9c0a6e58fb4956a7b1aa750ba1c994_0
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What else interesting happened during this time
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In addition to working on radio, What else interesting happened during Raymond Burr's career
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Raymond Burr
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As a young man Burr weighed more than 300 lbs., which limited his on-screen roles. "But in radio this presented no problems, given the magnificent quality of his voice," reported The Globe and Mail. "He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income." Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast. He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show, Pat Novak for Hire (1949), and in Dragnet (1949-50) he played Joe Friday's boss, Ed Backstrand, chief of detectives. Burr worked on other Los Angeles-based series including Suspense, Screen Directors Playhouse, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Family Theater, Hallmark Playhouse and Hallmark Hall of Fame. He performed in five episodes of the experimental dramatic radio anthology series CBS Radio Workshop, and had what is arguably his best radio role in "The Silent Witness" (1957), in which his is the only voice. In 1956 Burr was the star of CBS Radio's Fort Laramie, an adult Western drama produced, written and directed by the creators of Gunsmoke. He played the role of Lee Quince, captain of the cavalry, in the series set at a post-Civil War military post where disease, boredom, the elements and the uncharted terrain were the greatest enemies of "ordinary men who lived in extraordinary times". The half-hour transcribed program aired Sundays at 5:30 p.m. ET January 22 - October 28, 1956. Burr told columnist Sheilah Graham that he had received 1,500 fan letters after the first broadcasts, and he continued to receive letters praising the show's authenticity and presentation of human dignity. In August 1956, CBS announced that Burr would star in the television series Perry Mason. Although the network wanted Burr to continue work on Fort Laramie as well, the TV series required an extraordinary commitment and the radio show ended. Known for his loyalty and consciousness of history, Burr went out of his way to employ his radio colleagues in his television programs. Some 180 radio celebrities appeared on Perry Mason during the first season alone. CANNOTANSWER
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He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show,
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William Raymond Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917September 12, 1993) was a Canadian-American actor known for his lengthy Hollywood film career and his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside.
Burr's early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television, and film, usually as the villain. His portrayal of the suspected murderer in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Rear Window (1954) is his best-known film role, although he is also remembered for his role in the 1956 film Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, which he reprised in the 1985 film Godzilla 1985. He won Emmy Awards for acting in 1959 and 1961 for the role of Perry Mason, which he played for nine seasons (1957–1966) and reprised in a series of 26 Perry Mason TV movies (1985–1993). His second TV series Ironside earned him six Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations.
Burr died of cancer in 1993, and his personal life came into question, as many details of his biography appeared to be unverifiable. He was ranked number 44 of the 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time by TV Guide magazine in 1996.
Early life
William Raymond Stacy Burr was born May 21, 1917, in New Westminster, British Columbia. His father William Johnston Burr (1889–1985) was a hardware salesman; his mother Minerva Annette (née Smith, 1892–1974) was a pianist and music teacher.
When Burr was six, his parents divorced. His mother moved to Vallejo, California, with him and his younger siblings Geraldine and James, while his father remained in New Westminster. Burr briefly attended San Rafael Military Academy in San Rafael, California, and graduated from Berkeley High School.
In later years, Burr freely invented stories of a happy childhood – as with many other autobiographical details he provided about his life, they are not verifiable and have no evidence to support their accuracy. In 1986, he told journalist Jane Ardmore that, when he was 12 years old, his mother sent him to New Mexico for a year to work as a ranch hand. He was already his full adult height and rather large and "had fallen in with a group of college-aged kids who didn't realize how young Raymond was, and they let him tag along with them in activities and situations far too sophisticated for him to handle". He developed a passion for growing things and joined the Civilian Conservation Corps for a year in his teens. He did acting work in his teen years, making his stage debut at age 12 with a Vancouver stock company.
Theater
Burr grew up during the Great Depression and hoped to study acting at the Pasadena Playhouse, but he was unable to afford the tuition. By his own account, which is open to question, in 1934 he joined a repertory theatre group in Toronto that toured throughout Canada, then joined another company that toured India, Australia, and England. He briefly attended Long Beach Junior College and taught for a semester at San Jose Junior College, working nights as a radio actor and singer. Resuming the verifiable part of his autobiography, Burr began his association with the Pasadena Playhouse in 1937.
Burr moved to New York in 1940 and made his first Broadway appearance in Crazy With the Heat, a two-act musical revue produced by Kurt Kasznar that quickly folded. His first starring role on the stage came in November 1942 when he was an emergency replacement in a Pasadena Playhouse production of Quiet Wedding. He became a member of the Pasadena Playhouse drama faculty for 18 months, and he performed in some 30 plays over the years. He returned to Broadway for Patrick Hamilton's The Duke in Darkness (1944), a psychological drama set during the French Wars of Religion. His performance as the loyal friend of the imprisoned protagonist led to a contract with RKO Radio Pictures.
Film
Burr appeared in more than 50 feature films between 1946 and 1957, creating an array of villains that established him as an icon of film noir. Film historian Alain Silver concluded that Burr's most significant work in the genre is in ten films: Desperate (1947), Sleep, My Love (1948), Raw Deal (1948), Pitfall (1948), Abandoned (1949), Red Light (1949), M (1951), His Kind of Woman (1951), The Blue Gardenia (1953), and Crime of Passion (1957). Silver described Burr's private detective in Pitfall as "both reprehensible and pathetic", a characterization also cited by film historian Richard Schickel as a prototype of film noir, in contrast with the appealing television characters for which Burr later became famous. "He tried to make you see the psychosis below the surface, even when the parts weren't huge," said film historian James Ursini. "He was able to bring such complexity and different levels to those characters, and create sympathy for his characters even though they were doing reprehensible things."
Other titles in Burr's film noir legacy include Walk a Crooked Mile (1948), Borderline (1950), Unmasked (1950), The Whip Hand (1951), FBI Girl (1951), Meet Danny Wilson (1952), Rear Window (1954), They Were So Young (1954), A Cry in the Night (1956), and Affair in Havana (1957). His villains were also seen in Westerns, period dramas, horror films, and adventure films.
"I was just a fat heavy", Burr told journalist James Bawden. "I split the heavy parts with Bill Conrad. We were both in our twenties playing much older men. I never got the girl but I once got the gorilla in a 3-D picture called Gorilla at Large. I menaced Claudette Colbert, Lizabeth Scott, Paulette Goddard, Anne Baxter, Barbara Stanwyck. Those girls would take one look at me and scream and can you blame them? I was drowned, beaten, stabbed and all for my art. But I knew I was horribly overweight. I lacked any kind of self esteem. At 25 I was playing the fathers of people older than me."
Burr's occasional roles on the right side of the law include the aggressive prosecutor in A Place in the Sun (1951). His courtroom performance in that film made an impression on Gail Patrick and her husband Cornwell Jackson, who had Burr in mind when they began casting the role of Los Angeles district attorney Hamilton Burger in the CBS-TV series Perry Mason.
Radio
By the age of 12, Burr was appearing in national radio dramas broadcasting in nearby San Francisco.
As a young man Burr weighed more than 300 lbs., which limited his on-screen roles. "But in radio this presented no problems, given the magnificent quality of his voice", reported The Globe and Mail. "He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income."
Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast. He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show, Pat Novak for Hire (1949), and in Dragnet (1949–50) he played Joe Friday's boss, Ed Backstrand, chief of detectives. Burr worked on other Los Angeles-based series including Suspense, Screen Directors Playhouse, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Family Theater, Hallmark Playhouse and Hallmark Hall of Fame. He performed in five episodes of the experimental dramatic radio anthology series CBS Radio Workshop, and had what is arguably his best radio role in "The Silent Witness" (1957), in which his is the only voice.
In 1956 Burr was the star of CBS Radio's Fort Laramie, an adult Western drama produced, written and directed by the creators of Gunsmoke. He played the role of Lee Quince, captain of the cavalry, in the series set at a post-Civil War military post where disease, boredom, the elements and the uncharted terrain were the greatest enemies of "ordinary men who lived in extraordinary times". The half-hour transcribed program aired Sundays at 5:30 p.m. ET January 22 – October 28, 1956. Burr told columnist Sheilah Graham that he had received 1,500 fan letters after the first broadcasts, and he continued to receive letters praising the show's authenticity and presentation of human dignity.
In August 1956, CBS announced that Burr would star in the television series Perry Mason. Although the network wanted Burr to continue work on Fort Laramie as well, the TV series required an extraordinary commitment and the radio show ended.
Known for his loyalty and consciousness of history, Burr went out of his way to employ his radio colleagues in his television programs. Some 180 radio celebrities appeared on Perry Mason during the first season alone.
Television
Burr emerged as a prolific television character actor in the 1950s. He made his television debut in 1951, appearing in episodes of Stars Over Hollywood, The Bigelow Theatre, Family Theater and the debut episode of Dragnet. He went on to appear in such programs as Gruen Playhouse, Four Star Playhouse, Ford Theatre, Lux Video Theatre, Mr. and Mrs. North, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars and Playhouse 90.
Perry Mason
In 1956, Burr auditioned for the role of District Attorney Hamilton Burger in Perry Mason, a new CBS-TV courtroom drama based on the highly successful novels by Erle Stanley Gardner. Executive producer Gail Patrick Jackson had been impressed with Burr's courtroom performance in A Place in the Sun (1951), and she told Burr that he was perfect for Perry Mason but at least overweight. He went on a crash diet over the following month; he then tested as Perry Mason and was cast in the role. While Burr's test was running, Gardner reportedly stood up, pointed at the screen, and said, "That's Perry Mason." William Hopper also auditioned as Mason, but he was cast instead as private detective Paul Drake. The series also starred Barbara Hale as Della Street, Mason's secretary, William Talman as Hamilton Burger, the district attorney who loses nearly every case to Mason, and Ray Collins as homicide detective Lieutenant Arthur Tragg.
The series ran from 1957 to 1966 and made Burr a star. In the early 1960s, the show had 30 million viewers every Saturday night and Burr received 3,000 fan letters a week. Burr received three consecutive Emmy Award nominations and won the award in 1959 and 1961 for his performance as Perry Mason. The series has been rerun in syndication ever since, and was released on DVD between 2006 and 2013. Burr's character is often said never to have lost a case, although he did lose two murder cases off-screen in early episodes of the series.
Ironside
Burr moved from CBS to Universal Studios, where he played the title role in the television drama Ironside, which ran on NBC from 1967 to 1975. In the pilot episode, San Francisco Chief of Detectives Robert T. Ironside is paralyzed by a sniper during an attempt on his life and, after his recovery, uses a wheelchair for mobility, in the first crime drama show to star a policeman with a disability. The show earned Burr six Emmy nominations—one for the pilot and five for his work in the series—and two Golden Globe nominations.
Other series
After Ironside went off the air, NBC failed in two attempts to launch Burr as the star of a new series. In a two-hour television movie format, Mallory: Circumstantial Evidence aired in February 1976 with Burr again in the role of the lawyer who outwits the district attorney. Despite good reviews for Burr, the critical reception was poor, and NBC decided against developing it into a series.
In 1977, Burr starred in the short-lived TV series Kingston: Confidential as R.B. Kingston, a William Randolph Hearst-esque publishing magnate, owner of numerous newspapers and TV stations, who, in his spare time, solved crimes along with a group of employees. It was a critical failure that was scheduled opposite the extraordinarily popular Charlie's Angels. It was cancelled after 13 weeks.
Burr took on a shorter project next, playing an underworld boss in a six-hour miniseries, 79 Park Avenue.
One last attempt to launch a series followed on CBS. The two-hour premiere of The Jordan Chance aroused little interest.
On January 20, 1987, Burr hosted the television special that later served as the pilot for the long-running series Unsolved Mysteries.
Television films
In 1985, Burr was approached by producers Dean Hargrove and Fred Silverman to star in a made-for-TV movie, Perry Mason Returns. The same week, Burr recalled, he was asked to reprise the role he played in Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), in a low-budget film that would be titled Godzilla 1985.
"When they asked me to do it a second time, I said, 'Certainly,' and everybody thought I was out of my mind," Burr told Tom Shales of The Washington Post. "But it wasn't the large sum of money. It was the fact that, first of all, I kind of liked 'Godzilla,' and where do you get the opportunity to play yourself 30 years later? So I said yes to both of them." Although Burr is best remembered for his role as Perry Mason, a devoted following continues to appreciate him as the actor that brought the Godzilla series to America.
He agreed to do the Mason movie if Barbara Hale returned to reprise her role as Della Street. Hale agreed, and when Perry Mason Returns aired in December 1985, her character became the defendant. The rest of the principal cast had died, but Hale's real-life son William Katt played the role of Paul Drake, Jr. The movie was so successful that Burr made a total of 26 Perry Mason television films before his death. Many were filmed in and around Denver, Colorado.
By 1993, when Burr signed with NBC for another season of Mason films, he was using a wheelchair full-time because of his failing health. In his final Perry Mason movie, The Case of the Killer Kiss, he was shown either sitting or standing while leaning on a table, but only once standing unsupported for a few seconds. Twelve more Mason movies were scheduled before Burr's death, including one scheduled to film the month he died.
As he had with the Perry Mason TV movies, Burr decided to do an Ironside reunion movie. The Return of Ironside aired in May 1993, reuniting the entire original cast of the 1967–75 series. Like many of the Mason movies, it was set and filmed in Denver.
Personal life
Physical characteristics
Burr said that he weighed 12.75 pounds (5.8 kg) at birth, and was chubby throughout his childhood. "When you're a little fat boy in public school, or any kind of school, you're just persecuted something awful", he said. His weight was always an issue for him in getting roles, and it became a public relations problem when Johnny Carson began making jokes about him during his Tonight Show monologues. Burr refused to appear as Carson's guest from then on, and told Us Weekly years later: "I have been asked a number of times to do his show and I won't do it. Because I like NBC. He's doing an NBC show. If I went on I'd have some things to say, not just about the bad jokes he's done about me, but bad jokes he does about everybody who can't fight back because they aren't there. And that wouldn't be good for NBC."
Family life
Burr married actress Isabella Ward (1919–2004) on January 10, 1948. They met in 1943 while she was a student at the Pasadena Playhouse where Burr was teaching. They met again in 1947 when she was in California with a theater company. They were married shortly before Burr began work on the 1948 film noir Pitfall. In May 1948, they appeared on stage together in a Pasadena Playhouse production based on the life of Paul Gauguin. They lived in the basement apartment of a large house in Hollywood that Burr shared with his mother and grandparents. The marriage ended within months, and Ward returned to her native Delaware. They divorced in 1952, and neither remarried.
In 1960, Burr met Robert Benevides, an actor and Korean War veteran, on the set of Perry Mason. Benevides gave up acting in 1963, and he became a production consultant for 21 of the Perry Mason TV movies. They owned and operated an orchid business and then a vineyard in California's Dry Creek Valley. They were domestic partners until Burr's death in 1993. Burr bequeathed his entire estate to Benevides, and Benevides renamed the Dry Creek property Raymond Burr Vineyards (reportedly against Burr's wishes) and managed it as a commercial enterprise. In 2017, the property was sold.
Although Burr had not revealed his homosexuality during his lifetime, it was reported in the press upon his death.
Biographical contradictions
At various times in his career, Burr and his managers and publicists offered spurious or unverifiable biographical details to the press and public. Burr's obituary in The New York Times states that he entered the US Navy in 1944, after The Duke in Darkness, and left in 1946, weighing almost . Although Burr may have served in the Coast Guard, reports of his service in the US Navy are false, as apparently are his statements that he sustained battle injuries at Okinawa.
Other false biographical details include years of college education at a variety of institutions, being widowed twice, a son who died young, world travel and success in high school athletics. Most of these claims were apparently accepted as fact by the press during Burr's lifetime, up until his death and by his first biographer, Ona Hill.
Burr reportedly was married at the beginning of World War II to an actress named Annette Sutherland—killed, Burr said, in the same 1943 plane crash that claimed the life of actor Leslie Howard. However, multiple sources have reported that no one by that name appears on any of the published passenger manifests from the flight. A son supposedly born during this marriage, Michael Evan, was said to have died of leukemia in 1953 at the age of ten. Another marriage purportedly took place in the early 1950s to a Laura Andrina Morgan—who died of cancer, Burr said, in 1955. Yet no evidence exists of either marriage, nor of a son's birth, other than Burr's own claims. As late as 1991, Burr stood by the account of this son's life and death. He told Parade that when he realized Michael was dying, he took him on a one-year tour of the United States. "Before my boy left, before his time was gone", he said, "I wanted him to see the beauty of his country and its people." After Burr's death, his publicist confirmed that Burr worked steadily in Hollywood throughout 1952, the year that he was supposedly touring the country with his son.
In the late 1950s, Burr was rumored to be romantically involved with Natalie Wood. Wood's agent sent her on public dates so she could be noticed by directors and producers, and so the men she dated could present themselves in public as heterosexuals. The dates helped to disguise Wood's relationship with Robert Wagner, whom she later married. Burr reportedly resented Warner Bros.' decision to promote her attachment to another gay actor, Tab Hunter, rather than him. Robert Benevides later said, "He was a little bitter about it. He was really in love with her, I guess."
Later accounts of Burr's life say that he hid his homosexuality to protect his career. "That was a time in Hollywood history when homosexuality was not countenanced", Associated Press reporter Bob Thomas recalled in a 2000 episode of Biography. "Ray was not a romantic star by any means, but he was a very popular figure ... If it was revealed at that time in Hollywood history it would have been very difficult for him to continue."
Arthur Marks, a producer of Perry Mason, recalled Burr's talk of wives and children: "I know he was just putting on a show. ... That was my gut feeling. I think the wives and the loving women, the Natalie Wood thing, were a bit of a cover." Dean Hargrove, executive producer of the Perry Mason TV films, said in 2006, "I had always assumed that Raymond was gay, because he had a relationship with Robert Benevides for a very long time. Whether or not he had relationships with women, I had no idea. I did know that I had trouble keeping track of whether he was married or not in these stories. Raymond had the ability to mythologize himself, to some extent, and some of his stories about his past ... tended to grow as time went by."
Hobbies and businesses
Burr had many hobbies over the course of his life: cultivating orchids and collecting wine, art, stamps, and seashells. He was very fond of cooking. He was interested in flying, sailing, and fishing. According to A&E Biography, Burr was an avid reader with a retentive memory. He was also among the earliest importers and breeders of Portuguese water dogs in the United States.
Burr developed his interest in cultivating and hybridizing orchids into a business with Benevides. Over 20 years, their company, Sea God Nurseries, had nurseries in Fiji, Hawaii, the Azores, and California, and was responsible for adding more than 1,500 new orchids to the worldwide catalog. Burr named one of them the "Barbara Hale Orchid" after his Perry Mason costar. Burr and Benevides cultivated Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and grapes for Port wine, as well as orchids, at Burr's farmland holdings in Sonoma County, California.
In 1965, Burr purchased Naitauba, a island in Fiji, rich in seashells. There, he and Benevides oversaw the raising of copra (coconut meat) and cattle, as well as orchids. Burr planned to retire there permanently. However, medical problems made that impossible and he sold the property in 1983.
Philanthropy
Burr was a well-known philanthropist. He gave enormous sums of money, including his salaries from the Perry Mason movies, to charity. He was also known for sharing his wealth with friends. He sponsored 26 foster children through the Foster Parents' Plan or Save The Children, many with the greatest medical needs. He gave money and some of his Perry Mason scripts to the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California.
Burr was an early supporter of the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel, Florida, raising funds and chairing its first capital campaign. He donated a large collection of Fijian cowries and cones from his island in Fiji.
In 1993, Sonoma State University awarded Burr an honorary doctorate. He supported medical and educational institutions in Denver, and in 1993, the University of Colorado awarded him an honorary doctorate for his acting work. Burr also founded and financed the American Fijian Foundation that funded academic research, including efforts to develop a dictionary of the language.
Burr made repeated trips on behalf of the United Service Organizations (USO). He toured both Korea and Vietnam during wartime and once spent six months touring Korea, Japan, and the Philippines. He sometimes organized his own troupe and toured bases both in the U.S. and overseas, often small installations that the USO did not serve, like one tour of Greenland, Baffin Island, Newfoundland and Labrador. Returning from Vietnam in 1965, he made a speaking tour of the U.S. to advocate an intensified war effort. As the war became more controversial, he modified his tone, called for more attention to the sacrifice of the troops, and said, "My only position on the war is that I wish it were over." In October 1967, NBC aired Raymond Burr Visits Vietnam, a documentary of one of his visits. The reception was mixed. "The impressions he came up with are neither weighty nor particularly revealing", wrote the Chicago Tribune; the Los Angeles Times said Burr's questions were "intelligent and elicited some interesting replies".
Burr had a reputation in Hollywood as a thoughtful, generous man years before much of his more-visible philanthropic work. In 1960, Ray Collins, who portrayed Lt. Arthur Tragg on the original Perry Mason series, and who was by that time often ill and unable to remember all the lines he was supposed to speak, stated, "There is nothing but kindness from our star, Ray Burr. Part of his life is dedicated to us, and that's no bull. If there's anything the matter with any of us, he comes around before anyone else and does what he can to help. He's a great star—in the old tradition."
Illness and death
During the filming of his last Perry Mason movie in the spring of 1993, Burr fell ill. A Viacom spokesperson told the media that the illness might be related to the renal cell carcinoma (malignant kidney tumor) that had been removed from Burr that February. It was determined that the cancer had spread to his liver and was at that point inoperable. Burr threw several "goodbye parties" before his death on September 12, 1993, at his Sonoma County ranch near Healdsburg. He was 76 years old.
The day after Burr's death, American Bar Association president R. William Ide III released a statement: "Raymond Burr's portrayals of Perry Mason represented lawyers in a professional and dignified manner. ... Mr. Burr strove for such authenticity in his courtroom characterizations that we regard his passing as though we lost one of our own." The New York Times reported that Perry Mason had been named second—after F. Lee Bailey, and before Abraham Lincoln, Thurgood Marshall, Janet Reno, Ben Matlock and Hillary Clinton—in a recent National Law Journal poll that asked Americans to name the attorney, fictional or not, they most admired.
Burr was interred with his parents at Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, British Columbia. On October 1, 1993, about 600 family members and friends paid tribute to Burr at a private memorial service at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Burr bequeathed his estate to Robert Benevides, and excluded all relatives, including a sister, nieces, and nephews. His will was challenged, without success, by the two children of his late brother, James E. Burr. Benevides's attorney said that tabloid reports of an estate worth $32 million were an overestimate.
Accolades
For his work in the TV series Perry Mason, Burr received the Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Continuing Character) in a Dramatic Series at the 11th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1959. Nominated again in 1960, he received his second Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Series (Lead) at the 13th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1961. Burr was named Favorite Male Performer, for Perry Mason, in TV Guide magazine's inaugural TV Guide Award readers poll in 1960. He also received the second annual award in 1961.
In 1960, Burr was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6656 Hollywood Boulevard. Burr received six Emmy nominations (1968–72) for his work in the TV series Ironside. He was nominated twice, in 1969 and 1972, for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama. A benefactor of legal education, Burr was principal speaker at the founders' banquet of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, in June 1973. The Raymond Burr Award for Excellence in Criminal Law was established in his honor.
Burr was ranked #44 on TV Guides 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time in 1996. Completed in 1996, a circular garden at the entrance to the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel, Florida, honors Burr for his role in establishing the museum. Burr was a trustee and an early supporter who chaired the museum's first capital campaign and made direct contributions from his collection. A display about Burr as an actor, benefactor and collector opened in the museum's Great Hall of Shells in 2012.
From 2000 to 2006, the Raymond Burr Performing Arts Society leased the historic Columbia Theatre from the city of New Westminster, and renamed it the Raymond Burr Performing Arts Centre. Although the nonprofit organization hoped to raise funds to renovate and expand the venue, its contract was not renewed. The group was a failed bidder when the theater was sold in 2011.
In 2008, Canada Post issued a postage stamp in its "Canadians in Hollywood" series featuring Burr. Burr received the 2009 Canadian Legends Award and a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. The induction ceremony was held on September 12, 2009. A 2014 article in The Atlantic that examined how Netflix categorized nearly 77,000 different personalized genres found that Burr was rated as the favorite actor by Netflix users, with the greatest number of dedicated microgenres.
Theatre credits
Film credits
Radio credits
Television credits
See also
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
Notes
References
External links
Raymond Burr at the MBC Encyclopedia of Television
Complete biography of Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr at Find a Grave
1917 births
1993 deaths
20th-century Canadian male actors
Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
Canadian gay actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male radio actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian people of World War II
Canadian philanthropists
Civilian Conservation Corps people
Columbia University alumni
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from kidney cancer
Male actors from British Columbia
Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
Stanford University alumni
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[
"What Happened may refer to:\n\n What Happened (Clinton book), 2017 book by Hillary Clinton\n What Happened (McClellan book), 2008 autobiography by Scott McClellan\n \"What Happened\", a song by Sublime from the album 40oz. to Freedom\n \"What Happened\", an episode of One Day at a Time (2017 TV series)\n\nSee also\nWhat's Happening (disambiguation)",
"The Last Passenger is a 2013 novel written by Manel Loureiro. The plot is about a British journalist named Kate Kilroy who wants to finish her late husband's last story, which tells the story of the Valkyrie, a German 1930's ocean liner where mysterious disappearances have occurred since its maiden voyage. With the desire to finish the story and some curiosity, Kate decides to board the vessel on its new voyage, a voyage from which she might never return. Kate Kilroy boards the Valkyrie in Hamburg, Germany. 20 days after its publishing, The Last Passenger was listed on Amazon US's Best Sellers and is the first Spanish author to achieve this.\n\nPlot \nAugust 28, 1939. A coal-cargo ship named Pass of Ballaster is heading towards Bristol when it finds an abandoned-looking ocean liner named Valkyrie. A rescue team is assembled and sent to check the mysterious ship. When they board, they find a very interesting puzzle: a deserted ship, with recently cooked meals in the dining room; a few months-old baby dropped in the ballroom; and something else, something evil that no one can identify.\n\nPresent Day. Journalist Kate Kilroy is recovering from her husband's sudden death. In his memory, she decides to finish and publish the story he was working on before his death, the Valkyrie. She starts to research it and goes to an old naval base in northern England for some information. The local officers tell Kate the story of the Valkyrie and her ghostly legacy. She also learns that the ship's new owner is a multi-millionaire man named Isaac Feldman, who does anything to get what he wants. Kate meets an old man who was on board the Pass of Ballaster the night she found the Valkyrie. He tells her what happened on the ship when they first boarded, and what happened to the others from the crew. After trying to break into Isaac Feldman's house, Kate tells him what she knows about the ship and he reveals that he was the baby found in Valkyrie's ballroom. When she goes back to see the old man with Feldman, she finds him mutilated and deceased. Now being the only person who knows the whole story, Kate is invited by Feldman to join his team on the new voyage of the Valkyrie, to find out what really happened in 1939.\n\nReferences\n\n21st-century Spanish novels\n2013 novels"
] |
[
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"He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income.\"",
"how much did he make",
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"what was he most known for",
"Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast.",
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"did he have any long running radio shows",
"Working steadily in radio since the 1940s,",
"What else interesting happened during this time",
"He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show,"
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What was the name of the show
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What was the name of the Raymond Burr's show
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Raymond Burr
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As a young man Burr weighed more than 300 lbs., which limited his on-screen roles. "But in radio this presented no problems, given the magnificent quality of his voice," reported The Globe and Mail. "He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income." Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast. He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show, Pat Novak for Hire (1949), and in Dragnet (1949-50) he played Joe Friday's boss, Ed Backstrand, chief of detectives. Burr worked on other Los Angeles-based series including Suspense, Screen Directors Playhouse, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Family Theater, Hallmark Playhouse and Hallmark Hall of Fame. He performed in five episodes of the experimental dramatic radio anthology series CBS Radio Workshop, and had what is arguably his best radio role in "The Silent Witness" (1957), in which his is the only voice. In 1956 Burr was the star of CBS Radio's Fort Laramie, an adult Western drama produced, written and directed by the creators of Gunsmoke. He played the role of Lee Quince, captain of the cavalry, in the series set at a post-Civil War military post where disease, boredom, the elements and the uncharted terrain were the greatest enemies of "ordinary men who lived in extraordinary times". The half-hour transcribed program aired Sundays at 5:30 p.m. ET January 22 - October 28, 1956. Burr told columnist Sheilah Graham that he had received 1,500 fan letters after the first broadcasts, and he continued to receive letters praising the show's authenticity and presentation of human dignity. In August 1956, CBS announced that Burr would star in the television series Perry Mason. Although the network wanted Burr to continue work on Fort Laramie as well, the TV series required an extraordinary commitment and the radio show ended. Known for his loyalty and consciousness of history, Burr went out of his way to employ his radio colleagues in his television programs. Some 180 radio celebrities appeared on Perry Mason during the first season alone. CANNOTANSWER
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Hire (1949), and in Dragnet (1949-50)
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William Raymond Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917September 12, 1993) was a Canadian-American actor known for his lengthy Hollywood film career and his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside.
Burr's early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television, and film, usually as the villain. His portrayal of the suspected murderer in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Rear Window (1954) is his best-known film role, although he is also remembered for his role in the 1956 film Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, which he reprised in the 1985 film Godzilla 1985. He won Emmy Awards for acting in 1959 and 1961 for the role of Perry Mason, which he played for nine seasons (1957–1966) and reprised in a series of 26 Perry Mason TV movies (1985–1993). His second TV series Ironside earned him six Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations.
Burr died of cancer in 1993, and his personal life came into question, as many details of his biography appeared to be unverifiable. He was ranked number 44 of the 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time by TV Guide magazine in 1996.
Early life
William Raymond Stacy Burr was born May 21, 1917, in New Westminster, British Columbia. His father William Johnston Burr (1889–1985) was a hardware salesman; his mother Minerva Annette (née Smith, 1892–1974) was a pianist and music teacher.
When Burr was six, his parents divorced. His mother moved to Vallejo, California, with him and his younger siblings Geraldine and James, while his father remained in New Westminster. Burr briefly attended San Rafael Military Academy in San Rafael, California, and graduated from Berkeley High School.
In later years, Burr freely invented stories of a happy childhood – as with many other autobiographical details he provided about his life, they are not verifiable and have no evidence to support their accuracy. In 1986, he told journalist Jane Ardmore that, when he was 12 years old, his mother sent him to New Mexico for a year to work as a ranch hand. He was already his full adult height and rather large and "had fallen in with a group of college-aged kids who didn't realize how young Raymond was, and they let him tag along with them in activities and situations far too sophisticated for him to handle". He developed a passion for growing things and joined the Civilian Conservation Corps for a year in his teens. He did acting work in his teen years, making his stage debut at age 12 with a Vancouver stock company.
Theater
Burr grew up during the Great Depression and hoped to study acting at the Pasadena Playhouse, but he was unable to afford the tuition. By his own account, which is open to question, in 1934 he joined a repertory theatre group in Toronto that toured throughout Canada, then joined another company that toured India, Australia, and England. He briefly attended Long Beach Junior College and taught for a semester at San Jose Junior College, working nights as a radio actor and singer. Resuming the verifiable part of his autobiography, Burr began his association with the Pasadena Playhouse in 1937.
Burr moved to New York in 1940 and made his first Broadway appearance in Crazy With the Heat, a two-act musical revue produced by Kurt Kasznar that quickly folded. His first starring role on the stage came in November 1942 when he was an emergency replacement in a Pasadena Playhouse production of Quiet Wedding. He became a member of the Pasadena Playhouse drama faculty for 18 months, and he performed in some 30 plays over the years. He returned to Broadway for Patrick Hamilton's The Duke in Darkness (1944), a psychological drama set during the French Wars of Religion. His performance as the loyal friend of the imprisoned protagonist led to a contract with RKO Radio Pictures.
Film
Burr appeared in more than 50 feature films between 1946 and 1957, creating an array of villains that established him as an icon of film noir. Film historian Alain Silver concluded that Burr's most significant work in the genre is in ten films: Desperate (1947), Sleep, My Love (1948), Raw Deal (1948), Pitfall (1948), Abandoned (1949), Red Light (1949), M (1951), His Kind of Woman (1951), The Blue Gardenia (1953), and Crime of Passion (1957). Silver described Burr's private detective in Pitfall as "both reprehensible and pathetic", a characterization also cited by film historian Richard Schickel as a prototype of film noir, in contrast with the appealing television characters for which Burr later became famous. "He tried to make you see the psychosis below the surface, even when the parts weren't huge," said film historian James Ursini. "He was able to bring such complexity and different levels to those characters, and create sympathy for his characters even though they were doing reprehensible things."
Other titles in Burr's film noir legacy include Walk a Crooked Mile (1948), Borderline (1950), Unmasked (1950), The Whip Hand (1951), FBI Girl (1951), Meet Danny Wilson (1952), Rear Window (1954), They Were So Young (1954), A Cry in the Night (1956), and Affair in Havana (1957). His villains were also seen in Westerns, period dramas, horror films, and adventure films.
"I was just a fat heavy", Burr told journalist James Bawden. "I split the heavy parts with Bill Conrad. We were both in our twenties playing much older men. I never got the girl but I once got the gorilla in a 3-D picture called Gorilla at Large. I menaced Claudette Colbert, Lizabeth Scott, Paulette Goddard, Anne Baxter, Barbara Stanwyck. Those girls would take one look at me and scream and can you blame them? I was drowned, beaten, stabbed and all for my art. But I knew I was horribly overweight. I lacked any kind of self esteem. At 25 I was playing the fathers of people older than me."
Burr's occasional roles on the right side of the law include the aggressive prosecutor in A Place in the Sun (1951). His courtroom performance in that film made an impression on Gail Patrick and her husband Cornwell Jackson, who had Burr in mind when they began casting the role of Los Angeles district attorney Hamilton Burger in the CBS-TV series Perry Mason.
Radio
By the age of 12, Burr was appearing in national radio dramas broadcasting in nearby San Francisco.
As a young man Burr weighed more than 300 lbs., which limited his on-screen roles. "But in radio this presented no problems, given the magnificent quality of his voice", reported The Globe and Mail. "He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income."
Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast. He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show, Pat Novak for Hire (1949), and in Dragnet (1949–50) he played Joe Friday's boss, Ed Backstrand, chief of detectives. Burr worked on other Los Angeles-based series including Suspense, Screen Directors Playhouse, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Family Theater, Hallmark Playhouse and Hallmark Hall of Fame. He performed in five episodes of the experimental dramatic radio anthology series CBS Radio Workshop, and had what is arguably his best radio role in "The Silent Witness" (1957), in which his is the only voice.
In 1956 Burr was the star of CBS Radio's Fort Laramie, an adult Western drama produced, written and directed by the creators of Gunsmoke. He played the role of Lee Quince, captain of the cavalry, in the series set at a post-Civil War military post where disease, boredom, the elements and the uncharted terrain were the greatest enemies of "ordinary men who lived in extraordinary times". The half-hour transcribed program aired Sundays at 5:30 p.m. ET January 22 – October 28, 1956. Burr told columnist Sheilah Graham that he had received 1,500 fan letters after the first broadcasts, and he continued to receive letters praising the show's authenticity and presentation of human dignity.
In August 1956, CBS announced that Burr would star in the television series Perry Mason. Although the network wanted Burr to continue work on Fort Laramie as well, the TV series required an extraordinary commitment and the radio show ended.
Known for his loyalty and consciousness of history, Burr went out of his way to employ his radio colleagues in his television programs. Some 180 radio celebrities appeared on Perry Mason during the first season alone.
Television
Burr emerged as a prolific television character actor in the 1950s. He made his television debut in 1951, appearing in episodes of Stars Over Hollywood, The Bigelow Theatre, Family Theater and the debut episode of Dragnet. He went on to appear in such programs as Gruen Playhouse, Four Star Playhouse, Ford Theatre, Lux Video Theatre, Mr. and Mrs. North, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars and Playhouse 90.
Perry Mason
In 1956, Burr auditioned for the role of District Attorney Hamilton Burger in Perry Mason, a new CBS-TV courtroom drama based on the highly successful novels by Erle Stanley Gardner. Executive producer Gail Patrick Jackson had been impressed with Burr's courtroom performance in A Place in the Sun (1951), and she told Burr that he was perfect for Perry Mason but at least overweight. He went on a crash diet over the following month; he then tested as Perry Mason and was cast in the role. While Burr's test was running, Gardner reportedly stood up, pointed at the screen, and said, "That's Perry Mason." William Hopper also auditioned as Mason, but he was cast instead as private detective Paul Drake. The series also starred Barbara Hale as Della Street, Mason's secretary, William Talman as Hamilton Burger, the district attorney who loses nearly every case to Mason, and Ray Collins as homicide detective Lieutenant Arthur Tragg.
The series ran from 1957 to 1966 and made Burr a star. In the early 1960s, the show had 30 million viewers every Saturday night and Burr received 3,000 fan letters a week. Burr received three consecutive Emmy Award nominations and won the award in 1959 and 1961 for his performance as Perry Mason. The series has been rerun in syndication ever since, and was released on DVD between 2006 and 2013. Burr's character is often said never to have lost a case, although he did lose two murder cases off-screen in early episodes of the series.
Ironside
Burr moved from CBS to Universal Studios, where he played the title role in the television drama Ironside, which ran on NBC from 1967 to 1975. In the pilot episode, San Francisco Chief of Detectives Robert T. Ironside is paralyzed by a sniper during an attempt on his life and, after his recovery, uses a wheelchair for mobility, in the first crime drama show to star a policeman with a disability. The show earned Burr six Emmy nominations—one for the pilot and five for his work in the series—and two Golden Globe nominations.
Other series
After Ironside went off the air, NBC failed in two attempts to launch Burr as the star of a new series. In a two-hour television movie format, Mallory: Circumstantial Evidence aired in February 1976 with Burr again in the role of the lawyer who outwits the district attorney. Despite good reviews for Burr, the critical reception was poor, and NBC decided against developing it into a series.
In 1977, Burr starred in the short-lived TV series Kingston: Confidential as R.B. Kingston, a William Randolph Hearst-esque publishing magnate, owner of numerous newspapers and TV stations, who, in his spare time, solved crimes along with a group of employees. It was a critical failure that was scheduled opposite the extraordinarily popular Charlie's Angels. It was cancelled after 13 weeks.
Burr took on a shorter project next, playing an underworld boss in a six-hour miniseries, 79 Park Avenue.
One last attempt to launch a series followed on CBS. The two-hour premiere of The Jordan Chance aroused little interest.
On January 20, 1987, Burr hosted the television special that later served as the pilot for the long-running series Unsolved Mysteries.
Television films
In 1985, Burr was approached by producers Dean Hargrove and Fred Silverman to star in a made-for-TV movie, Perry Mason Returns. The same week, Burr recalled, he was asked to reprise the role he played in Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), in a low-budget film that would be titled Godzilla 1985.
"When they asked me to do it a second time, I said, 'Certainly,' and everybody thought I was out of my mind," Burr told Tom Shales of The Washington Post. "But it wasn't the large sum of money. It was the fact that, first of all, I kind of liked 'Godzilla,' and where do you get the opportunity to play yourself 30 years later? So I said yes to both of them." Although Burr is best remembered for his role as Perry Mason, a devoted following continues to appreciate him as the actor that brought the Godzilla series to America.
He agreed to do the Mason movie if Barbara Hale returned to reprise her role as Della Street. Hale agreed, and when Perry Mason Returns aired in December 1985, her character became the defendant. The rest of the principal cast had died, but Hale's real-life son William Katt played the role of Paul Drake, Jr. The movie was so successful that Burr made a total of 26 Perry Mason television films before his death. Many were filmed in and around Denver, Colorado.
By 1993, when Burr signed with NBC for another season of Mason films, he was using a wheelchair full-time because of his failing health. In his final Perry Mason movie, The Case of the Killer Kiss, he was shown either sitting or standing while leaning on a table, but only once standing unsupported for a few seconds. Twelve more Mason movies were scheduled before Burr's death, including one scheduled to film the month he died.
As he had with the Perry Mason TV movies, Burr decided to do an Ironside reunion movie. The Return of Ironside aired in May 1993, reuniting the entire original cast of the 1967–75 series. Like many of the Mason movies, it was set and filmed in Denver.
Personal life
Physical characteristics
Burr said that he weighed 12.75 pounds (5.8 kg) at birth, and was chubby throughout his childhood. "When you're a little fat boy in public school, or any kind of school, you're just persecuted something awful", he said. His weight was always an issue for him in getting roles, and it became a public relations problem when Johnny Carson began making jokes about him during his Tonight Show monologues. Burr refused to appear as Carson's guest from then on, and told Us Weekly years later: "I have been asked a number of times to do his show and I won't do it. Because I like NBC. He's doing an NBC show. If I went on I'd have some things to say, not just about the bad jokes he's done about me, but bad jokes he does about everybody who can't fight back because they aren't there. And that wouldn't be good for NBC."
Family life
Burr married actress Isabella Ward (1919–2004) on January 10, 1948. They met in 1943 while she was a student at the Pasadena Playhouse where Burr was teaching. They met again in 1947 when she was in California with a theater company. They were married shortly before Burr began work on the 1948 film noir Pitfall. In May 1948, they appeared on stage together in a Pasadena Playhouse production based on the life of Paul Gauguin. They lived in the basement apartment of a large house in Hollywood that Burr shared with his mother and grandparents. The marriage ended within months, and Ward returned to her native Delaware. They divorced in 1952, and neither remarried.
In 1960, Burr met Robert Benevides, an actor and Korean War veteran, on the set of Perry Mason. Benevides gave up acting in 1963, and he became a production consultant for 21 of the Perry Mason TV movies. They owned and operated an orchid business and then a vineyard in California's Dry Creek Valley. They were domestic partners until Burr's death in 1993. Burr bequeathed his entire estate to Benevides, and Benevides renamed the Dry Creek property Raymond Burr Vineyards (reportedly against Burr's wishes) and managed it as a commercial enterprise. In 2017, the property was sold.
Although Burr had not revealed his homosexuality during his lifetime, it was reported in the press upon his death.
Biographical contradictions
At various times in his career, Burr and his managers and publicists offered spurious or unverifiable biographical details to the press and public. Burr's obituary in The New York Times states that he entered the US Navy in 1944, after The Duke in Darkness, and left in 1946, weighing almost . Although Burr may have served in the Coast Guard, reports of his service in the US Navy are false, as apparently are his statements that he sustained battle injuries at Okinawa.
Other false biographical details include years of college education at a variety of institutions, being widowed twice, a son who died young, world travel and success in high school athletics. Most of these claims were apparently accepted as fact by the press during Burr's lifetime, up until his death and by his first biographer, Ona Hill.
Burr reportedly was married at the beginning of World War II to an actress named Annette Sutherland—killed, Burr said, in the same 1943 plane crash that claimed the life of actor Leslie Howard. However, multiple sources have reported that no one by that name appears on any of the published passenger manifests from the flight. A son supposedly born during this marriage, Michael Evan, was said to have died of leukemia in 1953 at the age of ten. Another marriage purportedly took place in the early 1950s to a Laura Andrina Morgan—who died of cancer, Burr said, in 1955. Yet no evidence exists of either marriage, nor of a son's birth, other than Burr's own claims. As late as 1991, Burr stood by the account of this son's life and death. He told Parade that when he realized Michael was dying, he took him on a one-year tour of the United States. "Before my boy left, before his time was gone", he said, "I wanted him to see the beauty of his country and its people." After Burr's death, his publicist confirmed that Burr worked steadily in Hollywood throughout 1952, the year that he was supposedly touring the country with his son.
In the late 1950s, Burr was rumored to be romantically involved with Natalie Wood. Wood's agent sent her on public dates so she could be noticed by directors and producers, and so the men she dated could present themselves in public as heterosexuals. The dates helped to disguise Wood's relationship with Robert Wagner, whom she later married. Burr reportedly resented Warner Bros.' decision to promote her attachment to another gay actor, Tab Hunter, rather than him. Robert Benevides later said, "He was a little bitter about it. He was really in love with her, I guess."
Later accounts of Burr's life say that he hid his homosexuality to protect his career. "That was a time in Hollywood history when homosexuality was not countenanced", Associated Press reporter Bob Thomas recalled in a 2000 episode of Biography. "Ray was not a romantic star by any means, but he was a very popular figure ... If it was revealed at that time in Hollywood history it would have been very difficult for him to continue."
Arthur Marks, a producer of Perry Mason, recalled Burr's talk of wives and children: "I know he was just putting on a show. ... That was my gut feeling. I think the wives and the loving women, the Natalie Wood thing, were a bit of a cover." Dean Hargrove, executive producer of the Perry Mason TV films, said in 2006, "I had always assumed that Raymond was gay, because he had a relationship with Robert Benevides for a very long time. Whether or not he had relationships with women, I had no idea. I did know that I had trouble keeping track of whether he was married or not in these stories. Raymond had the ability to mythologize himself, to some extent, and some of his stories about his past ... tended to grow as time went by."
Hobbies and businesses
Burr had many hobbies over the course of his life: cultivating orchids and collecting wine, art, stamps, and seashells. He was very fond of cooking. He was interested in flying, sailing, and fishing. According to A&E Biography, Burr was an avid reader with a retentive memory. He was also among the earliest importers and breeders of Portuguese water dogs in the United States.
Burr developed his interest in cultivating and hybridizing orchids into a business with Benevides. Over 20 years, their company, Sea God Nurseries, had nurseries in Fiji, Hawaii, the Azores, and California, and was responsible for adding more than 1,500 new orchids to the worldwide catalog. Burr named one of them the "Barbara Hale Orchid" after his Perry Mason costar. Burr and Benevides cultivated Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and grapes for Port wine, as well as orchids, at Burr's farmland holdings in Sonoma County, California.
In 1965, Burr purchased Naitauba, a island in Fiji, rich in seashells. There, he and Benevides oversaw the raising of copra (coconut meat) and cattle, as well as orchids. Burr planned to retire there permanently. However, medical problems made that impossible and he sold the property in 1983.
Philanthropy
Burr was a well-known philanthropist. He gave enormous sums of money, including his salaries from the Perry Mason movies, to charity. He was also known for sharing his wealth with friends. He sponsored 26 foster children through the Foster Parents' Plan or Save The Children, many with the greatest medical needs. He gave money and some of his Perry Mason scripts to the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California.
Burr was an early supporter of the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel, Florida, raising funds and chairing its first capital campaign. He donated a large collection of Fijian cowries and cones from his island in Fiji.
In 1993, Sonoma State University awarded Burr an honorary doctorate. He supported medical and educational institutions in Denver, and in 1993, the University of Colorado awarded him an honorary doctorate for his acting work. Burr also founded and financed the American Fijian Foundation that funded academic research, including efforts to develop a dictionary of the language.
Burr made repeated trips on behalf of the United Service Organizations (USO). He toured both Korea and Vietnam during wartime and once spent six months touring Korea, Japan, and the Philippines. He sometimes organized his own troupe and toured bases both in the U.S. and overseas, often small installations that the USO did not serve, like one tour of Greenland, Baffin Island, Newfoundland and Labrador. Returning from Vietnam in 1965, he made a speaking tour of the U.S. to advocate an intensified war effort. As the war became more controversial, he modified his tone, called for more attention to the sacrifice of the troops, and said, "My only position on the war is that I wish it were over." In October 1967, NBC aired Raymond Burr Visits Vietnam, a documentary of one of his visits. The reception was mixed. "The impressions he came up with are neither weighty nor particularly revealing", wrote the Chicago Tribune; the Los Angeles Times said Burr's questions were "intelligent and elicited some interesting replies".
Burr had a reputation in Hollywood as a thoughtful, generous man years before much of his more-visible philanthropic work. In 1960, Ray Collins, who portrayed Lt. Arthur Tragg on the original Perry Mason series, and who was by that time often ill and unable to remember all the lines he was supposed to speak, stated, "There is nothing but kindness from our star, Ray Burr. Part of his life is dedicated to us, and that's no bull. If there's anything the matter with any of us, he comes around before anyone else and does what he can to help. He's a great star—in the old tradition."
Illness and death
During the filming of his last Perry Mason movie in the spring of 1993, Burr fell ill. A Viacom spokesperson told the media that the illness might be related to the renal cell carcinoma (malignant kidney tumor) that had been removed from Burr that February. It was determined that the cancer had spread to his liver and was at that point inoperable. Burr threw several "goodbye parties" before his death on September 12, 1993, at his Sonoma County ranch near Healdsburg. He was 76 years old.
The day after Burr's death, American Bar Association president R. William Ide III released a statement: "Raymond Burr's portrayals of Perry Mason represented lawyers in a professional and dignified manner. ... Mr. Burr strove for such authenticity in his courtroom characterizations that we regard his passing as though we lost one of our own." The New York Times reported that Perry Mason had been named second—after F. Lee Bailey, and before Abraham Lincoln, Thurgood Marshall, Janet Reno, Ben Matlock and Hillary Clinton—in a recent National Law Journal poll that asked Americans to name the attorney, fictional or not, they most admired.
Burr was interred with his parents at Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, British Columbia. On October 1, 1993, about 600 family members and friends paid tribute to Burr at a private memorial service at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Burr bequeathed his estate to Robert Benevides, and excluded all relatives, including a sister, nieces, and nephews. His will was challenged, without success, by the two children of his late brother, James E. Burr. Benevides's attorney said that tabloid reports of an estate worth $32 million were an overestimate.
Accolades
For his work in the TV series Perry Mason, Burr received the Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Continuing Character) in a Dramatic Series at the 11th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1959. Nominated again in 1960, he received his second Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Series (Lead) at the 13th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1961. Burr was named Favorite Male Performer, for Perry Mason, in TV Guide magazine's inaugural TV Guide Award readers poll in 1960. He also received the second annual award in 1961.
In 1960, Burr was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6656 Hollywood Boulevard. Burr received six Emmy nominations (1968–72) for his work in the TV series Ironside. He was nominated twice, in 1969 and 1972, for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama. A benefactor of legal education, Burr was principal speaker at the founders' banquet of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, in June 1973. The Raymond Burr Award for Excellence in Criminal Law was established in his honor.
Burr was ranked #44 on TV Guides 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time in 1996. Completed in 1996, a circular garden at the entrance to the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel, Florida, honors Burr for his role in establishing the museum. Burr was a trustee and an early supporter who chaired the museum's first capital campaign and made direct contributions from his collection. A display about Burr as an actor, benefactor and collector opened in the museum's Great Hall of Shells in 2012.
From 2000 to 2006, the Raymond Burr Performing Arts Society leased the historic Columbia Theatre from the city of New Westminster, and renamed it the Raymond Burr Performing Arts Centre. Although the nonprofit organization hoped to raise funds to renovate and expand the venue, its contract was not renewed. The group was a failed bidder when the theater was sold in 2011.
In 2008, Canada Post issued a postage stamp in its "Canadians in Hollywood" series featuring Burr. Burr received the 2009 Canadian Legends Award and a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. The induction ceremony was held on September 12, 2009. A 2014 article in The Atlantic that examined how Netflix categorized nearly 77,000 different personalized genres found that Burr was rated as the favorite actor by Netflix users, with the greatest number of dedicated microgenres.
Theatre credits
Film credits
Radio credits
Television credits
See also
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
Notes
References
External links
Raymond Burr at the MBC Encyclopedia of Television
Complete biography of Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr at Find a Grave
1917 births
1993 deaths
20th-century Canadian male actors
Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
Canadian gay actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male radio actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian people of World War II
Canadian philanthropists
Civilian Conservation Corps people
Columbia University alumni
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from kidney cancer
Male actors from British Columbia
Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
Stanford University alumni
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"What's My Name? was a 30-minute radio program in the United States. The program was hosted by Arlene Francis and was among the first radio shows to offer cash prizes to contestants.\n\nFormat\nContestants on What's My Name? had to identify a person from a maximum of 10 clues given by the show's two hosts. People to be identified were celebrities and historical characters. In the show's early days, a correct guess on the first clue earned the contestant $10; the amount earned dropped by $1 with each additional clue. In 1948, the top prize was increased to $100, with $50 and $25 prizes, respectively, for identification on the second and third clues.\n\nThe program also involved listener participation to some extent, as listeners could send in questions to be used on the air. People who submitted questions received $10 for each question used.\n\nA review of the first episode of What's My Name? offered little hope for its future, calling it \"a rather drab show.\" The reviewer explained: \"The program got off to a bad start in that the participants, for the most part, were unable to guess the identities of the characters asked for in the game until long after the listeners got the drift of the proceedings.\" The reviewer did, however, note that the show was \"ably conducted by Bud Hulick and Arlene Francis.\"\n\nFrancis was a constant on What's My Name?, serving as the hostess in all eight of its iterations on radio while her male counterparts changed. Hulick was the host in three versions. Other hosts over the years were Fred Uttal, John Reed King, Ward Wilson and Carl Frank. Harry Salter and his orchestra provided the music.\n\nOne source noted that What's My Name? \"helped make a broadcasting fixture out of Arlene Francis.\"\n\nA 1942 review gave What's My Name? a much better evaluation than the earlier review mentioned above. Paul Ackerman wrote in The Billboard, \"Name is well produced, moves quickly and manages to maintain an informal atmosphere directly traceable to Miss Francis's and Mr. King's manner with the contestants.\"\n\nBackground\nWhat's My Name? was the brainchild of radio writers Joe Cross and Ed Byron. An August 1940 magazine article related that, after listening to a program called Professor Quiz, \"the two of them shut themselves up in a hotel room, vowing they wouldn't come out until they'd thought up a game program that was as much fun as Professor Quiz. What's My Name? was the result.\"\n\nTelevision\n\nA version of What's My Name? was incorporated into the Paul Winchell-Jerry Mahoney Show on television. The program (originally titled The Speidel Show after its sponsor) ran from September 18, 1950 to May 23, 1954. In the show's early years, each episode began with a comedy skit featuring Winchell and Mahoney. That skit was followed by a quiz segment, What's My Name?, similar to the radio program. The host for the quiz was Ted Brown.\n\nThe TV version of the quiz failed to achieve the success of its radio predecessor. A review in The Billboard in August 1951 said: Speidel has tried hard all season to combine the very accomplished Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney team and the former What's My Name? format into a successful stanza. The attempt has failed and, if anything, the talents of the ventriloquist and his little pal have been blunted by misuse.\"\n\nBy 1953, the What's My Name? component of the Paul Winchell-Jerry Mahoney Show had been removed.\n\nBroadcast Schedule\n\nNote: \"NA\"—information was not listed on the cited page.\n\nReferences \n\nAmerican game shows\n1930s American radio programs\n1940s American radio programs\n1950s American radio programs\nAmerican radio game shows\n1930s American game shows\n1940s American game shows\n1950s American game shows\nMutual Broadcasting System programs\nNBC radio programs\nABC radio programs",
"Thingee is a puppet which was used as an unofficial ambassador and icon for New Zealand children's television during the 1990s, appearing in multiple television shows such as The Son of a Gunn Show, and also children's programme, What Now. He appeared on T-shirts, dolls, puzzles and advertising all over New Zealand. He was voiced by After School camera operator and director Alan Henderson, brother of Tony, who died on 15 February 2020.\n\nAppearance\nThingee was usually presented as a grey (with brown undertones) humanoid thing with large bulbous eyes, a large toothless snout and a domed head. In a similar manner to the Rainbow characters Zippy and George, he was generally shown from the shoulders up, with one arm.\n\nCharacter history\nAccording to Stephen Campbell, one of the creators, both Thingee's name and species were accidental. The puppet was originally based on a duck, and the name used as a placeholder until they thought of a proper one.\n\nThingee first appeared on After School in 1987, under the hosting of Richard Evans and Annie Roach. Viewers first saw what was believed to be perhaps the egg of a dragon, Thingee existed in egg form for several weeks on the show until he hatched. Thingee later teamed up with Jason Gunn, who would from then on become his regular colleague, in 1988 when Jason took over as host for After School. Jason and Thingee continued working together in 1989 on After 2.\n\nFrom 1992 on he co-hosted Jason Gunn vehicles Jase TV and The Son of a Gunn Show. They later starred in the straight to video film Jason and Thingee's Big Adventure. Thingee also appeared in celebrity editions of Wheel of Fortune, test cricket commentary and Face the Music in 1992.\n\nFrom 1996 he was a host on the Sunday morning television show What Now, where it was revealed that the character was an alien and eventually Thingee made contact with his people and made the decision to return home to his own planet. As a result, the character was retired from New Zealand television.\n\nAppearances after retirement\n\n 2001 – Thingee helped co-host the What Now 20th birthday party\n 2007 – Thingee came back to TV on the TVNZ lifestyle show Good Morning\n 2008 – A further appearance on Good Morning, due to the TVNZ Goodnight Kiwi returning to the airwaves\n 2010 – Thingee appeared once again on Good Morning in celebration of the 50th anniversary of TVNZ\n 2010 – In a dream on the show Wanna-Ben\n 2012 – Wishing TVNZ U a Happy Birthday\n 2015 – TV3 appearance on 7 Days (S07E09) alongside Jason Gunn\n 2017 – SKY Sport behind the scenes at the cricket\n\nAppearances in popular culture\nDuring a recording of Son of a Gunn in 1994, one of Thingee's eyeballs popped out. While this outtake was not included in the episode that was eventually broadcast, shortly afterwards the clip was screened on a TVNZ bloopers show, where it found fame and became an iconic Kiwi television moment. The eyepop scene was used in the opening credits of the satirical show Eating Media Lunch.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n The Day I Met Thingee, New Zealand Herald\n The Son of a Gunn Show: Thingee's Eye Pop\n\nNew Zealand culture\nNew Zealand television personalities\nPuppets"
] |
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"Raymond Burr",
"Radio",
"what did he do on the radio",
"He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income.\"",
"how much did he make",
"he earned a steady and comfortable income.\"",
"what was he most known for",
"Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast.",
"did he ever win any awards",
"he had received 1,500 fan letters after the first broadcasts, and he continued to receive letters praising the show's authenticity and presentation of human dignity.",
"did he have any long running radio shows",
"Working steadily in radio since the 1940s,",
"What else interesting happened during this time",
"He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show,",
"What was the name of the show",
"Hire (1949), and in Dragnet (1949-50)"
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where they a success
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where Raymond Burr's shows a success
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Raymond Burr
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As a young man Burr weighed more than 300 lbs., which limited his on-screen roles. "But in radio this presented no problems, given the magnificent quality of his voice," reported The Globe and Mail. "He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income." Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast. He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show, Pat Novak for Hire (1949), and in Dragnet (1949-50) he played Joe Friday's boss, Ed Backstrand, chief of detectives. Burr worked on other Los Angeles-based series including Suspense, Screen Directors Playhouse, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Family Theater, Hallmark Playhouse and Hallmark Hall of Fame. He performed in five episodes of the experimental dramatic radio anthology series CBS Radio Workshop, and had what is arguably his best radio role in "The Silent Witness" (1957), in which his is the only voice. In 1956 Burr was the star of CBS Radio's Fort Laramie, an adult Western drama produced, written and directed by the creators of Gunsmoke. He played the role of Lee Quince, captain of the cavalry, in the series set at a post-Civil War military post where disease, boredom, the elements and the uncharted terrain were the greatest enemies of "ordinary men who lived in extraordinary times". The half-hour transcribed program aired Sundays at 5:30 p.m. ET January 22 - October 28, 1956. Burr told columnist Sheilah Graham that he had received 1,500 fan letters after the first broadcasts, and he continued to receive letters praising the show's authenticity and presentation of human dignity. In August 1956, CBS announced that Burr would star in the television series Perry Mason. Although the network wanted Burr to continue work on Fort Laramie as well, the TV series required an extraordinary commitment and the radio show ended. Known for his loyalty and consciousness of history, Burr went out of his way to employ his radio colleagues in his television programs. Some 180 radio celebrities appeared on Perry Mason during the first season alone. CANNOTANSWER
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had what is arguably his best radio role in "The Silent Witness" (1957),
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William Raymond Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917September 12, 1993) was a Canadian-American actor known for his lengthy Hollywood film career and his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside.
Burr's early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television, and film, usually as the villain. His portrayal of the suspected murderer in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Rear Window (1954) is his best-known film role, although he is also remembered for his role in the 1956 film Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, which he reprised in the 1985 film Godzilla 1985. He won Emmy Awards for acting in 1959 and 1961 for the role of Perry Mason, which he played for nine seasons (1957–1966) and reprised in a series of 26 Perry Mason TV movies (1985–1993). His second TV series Ironside earned him six Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations.
Burr died of cancer in 1993, and his personal life came into question, as many details of his biography appeared to be unverifiable. He was ranked number 44 of the 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time by TV Guide magazine in 1996.
Early life
William Raymond Stacy Burr was born May 21, 1917, in New Westminster, British Columbia. His father William Johnston Burr (1889–1985) was a hardware salesman; his mother Minerva Annette (née Smith, 1892–1974) was a pianist and music teacher.
When Burr was six, his parents divorced. His mother moved to Vallejo, California, with him and his younger siblings Geraldine and James, while his father remained in New Westminster. Burr briefly attended San Rafael Military Academy in San Rafael, California, and graduated from Berkeley High School.
In later years, Burr freely invented stories of a happy childhood – as with many other autobiographical details he provided about his life, they are not verifiable and have no evidence to support their accuracy. In 1986, he told journalist Jane Ardmore that, when he was 12 years old, his mother sent him to New Mexico for a year to work as a ranch hand. He was already his full adult height and rather large and "had fallen in with a group of college-aged kids who didn't realize how young Raymond was, and they let him tag along with them in activities and situations far too sophisticated for him to handle". He developed a passion for growing things and joined the Civilian Conservation Corps for a year in his teens. He did acting work in his teen years, making his stage debut at age 12 with a Vancouver stock company.
Theater
Burr grew up during the Great Depression and hoped to study acting at the Pasadena Playhouse, but he was unable to afford the tuition. By his own account, which is open to question, in 1934 he joined a repertory theatre group in Toronto that toured throughout Canada, then joined another company that toured India, Australia, and England. He briefly attended Long Beach Junior College and taught for a semester at San Jose Junior College, working nights as a radio actor and singer. Resuming the verifiable part of his autobiography, Burr began his association with the Pasadena Playhouse in 1937.
Burr moved to New York in 1940 and made his first Broadway appearance in Crazy With the Heat, a two-act musical revue produced by Kurt Kasznar that quickly folded. His first starring role on the stage came in November 1942 when he was an emergency replacement in a Pasadena Playhouse production of Quiet Wedding. He became a member of the Pasadena Playhouse drama faculty for 18 months, and he performed in some 30 plays over the years. He returned to Broadway for Patrick Hamilton's The Duke in Darkness (1944), a psychological drama set during the French Wars of Religion. His performance as the loyal friend of the imprisoned protagonist led to a contract with RKO Radio Pictures.
Film
Burr appeared in more than 50 feature films between 1946 and 1957, creating an array of villains that established him as an icon of film noir. Film historian Alain Silver concluded that Burr's most significant work in the genre is in ten films: Desperate (1947), Sleep, My Love (1948), Raw Deal (1948), Pitfall (1948), Abandoned (1949), Red Light (1949), M (1951), His Kind of Woman (1951), The Blue Gardenia (1953), and Crime of Passion (1957). Silver described Burr's private detective in Pitfall as "both reprehensible and pathetic", a characterization also cited by film historian Richard Schickel as a prototype of film noir, in contrast with the appealing television characters for which Burr later became famous. "He tried to make you see the psychosis below the surface, even when the parts weren't huge," said film historian James Ursini. "He was able to bring such complexity and different levels to those characters, and create sympathy for his characters even though they were doing reprehensible things."
Other titles in Burr's film noir legacy include Walk a Crooked Mile (1948), Borderline (1950), Unmasked (1950), The Whip Hand (1951), FBI Girl (1951), Meet Danny Wilson (1952), Rear Window (1954), They Were So Young (1954), A Cry in the Night (1956), and Affair in Havana (1957). His villains were also seen in Westerns, period dramas, horror films, and adventure films.
"I was just a fat heavy", Burr told journalist James Bawden. "I split the heavy parts with Bill Conrad. We were both in our twenties playing much older men. I never got the girl but I once got the gorilla in a 3-D picture called Gorilla at Large. I menaced Claudette Colbert, Lizabeth Scott, Paulette Goddard, Anne Baxter, Barbara Stanwyck. Those girls would take one look at me and scream and can you blame them? I was drowned, beaten, stabbed and all for my art. But I knew I was horribly overweight. I lacked any kind of self esteem. At 25 I was playing the fathers of people older than me."
Burr's occasional roles on the right side of the law include the aggressive prosecutor in A Place in the Sun (1951). His courtroom performance in that film made an impression on Gail Patrick and her husband Cornwell Jackson, who had Burr in mind when they began casting the role of Los Angeles district attorney Hamilton Burger in the CBS-TV series Perry Mason.
Radio
By the age of 12, Burr was appearing in national radio dramas broadcasting in nearby San Francisco.
As a young man Burr weighed more than 300 lbs., which limited his on-screen roles. "But in radio this presented no problems, given the magnificent quality of his voice", reported The Globe and Mail. "He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income."
Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast. He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show, Pat Novak for Hire (1949), and in Dragnet (1949–50) he played Joe Friday's boss, Ed Backstrand, chief of detectives. Burr worked on other Los Angeles-based series including Suspense, Screen Directors Playhouse, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Family Theater, Hallmark Playhouse and Hallmark Hall of Fame. He performed in five episodes of the experimental dramatic radio anthology series CBS Radio Workshop, and had what is arguably his best radio role in "The Silent Witness" (1957), in which his is the only voice.
In 1956 Burr was the star of CBS Radio's Fort Laramie, an adult Western drama produced, written and directed by the creators of Gunsmoke. He played the role of Lee Quince, captain of the cavalry, in the series set at a post-Civil War military post where disease, boredom, the elements and the uncharted terrain were the greatest enemies of "ordinary men who lived in extraordinary times". The half-hour transcribed program aired Sundays at 5:30 p.m. ET January 22 – October 28, 1956. Burr told columnist Sheilah Graham that he had received 1,500 fan letters after the first broadcasts, and he continued to receive letters praising the show's authenticity and presentation of human dignity.
In August 1956, CBS announced that Burr would star in the television series Perry Mason. Although the network wanted Burr to continue work on Fort Laramie as well, the TV series required an extraordinary commitment and the radio show ended.
Known for his loyalty and consciousness of history, Burr went out of his way to employ his radio colleagues in his television programs. Some 180 radio celebrities appeared on Perry Mason during the first season alone.
Television
Burr emerged as a prolific television character actor in the 1950s. He made his television debut in 1951, appearing in episodes of Stars Over Hollywood, The Bigelow Theatre, Family Theater and the debut episode of Dragnet. He went on to appear in such programs as Gruen Playhouse, Four Star Playhouse, Ford Theatre, Lux Video Theatre, Mr. and Mrs. North, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars and Playhouse 90.
Perry Mason
In 1956, Burr auditioned for the role of District Attorney Hamilton Burger in Perry Mason, a new CBS-TV courtroom drama based on the highly successful novels by Erle Stanley Gardner. Executive producer Gail Patrick Jackson had been impressed with Burr's courtroom performance in A Place in the Sun (1951), and she told Burr that he was perfect for Perry Mason but at least overweight. He went on a crash diet over the following month; he then tested as Perry Mason and was cast in the role. While Burr's test was running, Gardner reportedly stood up, pointed at the screen, and said, "That's Perry Mason." William Hopper also auditioned as Mason, but he was cast instead as private detective Paul Drake. The series also starred Barbara Hale as Della Street, Mason's secretary, William Talman as Hamilton Burger, the district attorney who loses nearly every case to Mason, and Ray Collins as homicide detective Lieutenant Arthur Tragg.
The series ran from 1957 to 1966 and made Burr a star. In the early 1960s, the show had 30 million viewers every Saturday night and Burr received 3,000 fan letters a week. Burr received three consecutive Emmy Award nominations and won the award in 1959 and 1961 for his performance as Perry Mason. The series has been rerun in syndication ever since, and was released on DVD between 2006 and 2013. Burr's character is often said never to have lost a case, although he did lose two murder cases off-screen in early episodes of the series.
Ironside
Burr moved from CBS to Universal Studios, where he played the title role in the television drama Ironside, which ran on NBC from 1967 to 1975. In the pilot episode, San Francisco Chief of Detectives Robert T. Ironside is paralyzed by a sniper during an attempt on his life and, after his recovery, uses a wheelchair for mobility, in the first crime drama show to star a policeman with a disability. The show earned Burr six Emmy nominations—one for the pilot and five for his work in the series—and two Golden Globe nominations.
Other series
After Ironside went off the air, NBC failed in two attempts to launch Burr as the star of a new series. In a two-hour television movie format, Mallory: Circumstantial Evidence aired in February 1976 with Burr again in the role of the lawyer who outwits the district attorney. Despite good reviews for Burr, the critical reception was poor, and NBC decided against developing it into a series.
In 1977, Burr starred in the short-lived TV series Kingston: Confidential as R.B. Kingston, a William Randolph Hearst-esque publishing magnate, owner of numerous newspapers and TV stations, who, in his spare time, solved crimes along with a group of employees. It was a critical failure that was scheduled opposite the extraordinarily popular Charlie's Angels. It was cancelled after 13 weeks.
Burr took on a shorter project next, playing an underworld boss in a six-hour miniseries, 79 Park Avenue.
One last attempt to launch a series followed on CBS. The two-hour premiere of The Jordan Chance aroused little interest.
On January 20, 1987, Burr hosted the television special that later served as the pilot for the long-running series Unsolved Mysteries.
Television films
In 1985, Burr was approached by producers Dean Hargrove and Fred Silverman to star in a made-for-TV movie, Perry Mason Returns. The same week, Burr recalled, he was asked to reprise the role he played in Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), in a low-budget film that would be titled Godzilla 1985.
"When they asked me to do it a second time, I said, 'Certainly,' and everybody thought I was out of my mind," Burr told Tom Shales of The Washington Post. "But it wasn't the large sum of money. It was the fact that, first of all, I kind of liked 'Godzilla,' and where do you get the opportunity to play yourself 30 years later? So I said yes to both of them." Although Burr is best remembered for his role as Perry Mason, a devoted following continues to appreciate him as the actor that brought the Godzilla series to America.
He agreed to do the Mason movie if Barbara Hale returned to reprise her role as Della Street. Hale agreed, and when Perry Mason Returns aired in December 1985, her character became the defendant. The rest of the principal cast had died, but Hale's real-life son William Katt played the role of Paul Drake, Jr. The movie was so successful that Burr made a total of 26 Perry Mason television films before his death. Many were filmed in and around Denver, Colorado.
By 1993, when Burr signed with NBC for another season of Mason films, he was using a wheelchair full-time because of his failing health. In his final Perry Mason movie, The Case of the Killer Kiss, he was shown either sitting or standing while leaning on a table, but only once standing unsupported for a few seconds. Twelve more Mason movies were scheduled before Burr's death, including one scheduled to film the month he died.
As he had with the Perry Mason TV movies, Burr decided to do an Ironside reunion movie. The Return of Ironside aired in May 1993, reuniting the entire original cast of the 1967–75 series. Like many of the Mason movies, it was set and filmed in Denver.
Personal life
Physical characteristics
Burr said that he weighed 12.75 pounds (5.8 kg) at birth, and was chubby throughout his childhood. "When you're a little fat boy in public school, or any kind of school, you're just persecuted something awful", he said. His weight was always an issue for him in getting roles, and it became a public relations problem when Johnny Carson began making jokes about him during his Tonight Show monologues. Burr refused to appear as Carson's guest from then on, and told Us Weekly years later: "I have been asked a number of times to do his show and I won't do it. Because I like NBC. He's doing an NBC show. If I went on I'd have some things to say, not just about the bad jokes he's done about me, but bad jokes he does about everybody who can't fight back because they aren't there. And that wouldn't be good for NBC."
Family life
Burr married actress Isabella Ward (1919–2004) on January 10, 1948. They met in 1943 while she was a student at the Pasadena Playhouse where Burr was teaching. They met again in 1947 when she was in California with a theater company. They were married shortly before Burr began work on the 1948 film noir Pitfall. In May 1948, they appeared on stage together in a Pasadena Playhouse production based on the life of Paul Gauguin. They lived in the basement apartment of a large house in Hollywood that Burr shared with his mother and grandparents. The marriage ended within months, and Ward returned to her native Delaware. They divorced in 1952, and neither remarried.
In 1960, Burr met Robert Benevides, an actor and Korean War veteran, on the set of Perry Mason. Benevides gave up acting in 1963, and he became a production consultant for 21 of the Perry Mason TV movies. They owned and operated an orchid business and then a vineyard in California's Dry Creek Valley. They were domestic partners until Burr's death in 1993. Burr bequeathed his entire estate to Benevides, and Benevides renamed the Dry Creek property Raymond Burr Vineyards (reportedly against Burr's wishes) and managed it as a commercial enterprise. In 2017, the property was sold.
Although Burr had not revealed his homosexuality during his lifetime, it was reported in the press upon his death.
Biographical contradictions
At various times in his career, Burr and his managers and publicists offered spurious or unverifiable biographical details to the press and public. Burr's obituary in The New York Times states that he entered the US Navy in 1944, after The Duke in Darkness, and left in 1946, weighing almost . Although Burr may have served in the Coast Guard, reports of his service in the US Navy are false, as apparently are his statements that he sustained battle injuries at Okinawa.
Other false biographical details include years of college education at a variety of institutions, being widowed twice, a son who died young, world travel and success in high school athletics. Most of these claims were apparently accepted as fact by the press during Burr's lifetime, up until his death and by his first biographer, Ona Hill.
Burr reportedly was married at the beginning of World War II to an actress named Annette Sutherland—killed, Burr said, in the same 1943 plane crash that claimed the life of actor Leslie Howard. However, multiple sources have reported that no one by that name appears on any of the published passenger manifests from the flight. A son supposedly born during this marriage, Michael Evan, was said to have died of leukemia in 1953 at the age of ten. Another marriage purportedly took place in the early 1950s to a Laura Andrina Morgan—who died of cancer, Burr said, in 1955. Yet no evidence exists of either marriage, nor of a son's birth, other than Burr's own claims. As late as 1991, Burr stood by the account of this son's life and death. He told Parade that when he realized Michael was dying, he took him on a one-year tour of the United States. "Before my boy left, before his time was gone", he said, "I wanted him to see the beauty of his country and its people." After Burr's death, his publicist confirmed that Burr worked steadily in Hollywood throughout 1952, the year that he was supposedly touring the country with his son.
In the late 1950s, Burr was rumored to be romantically involved with Natalie Wood. Wood's agent sent her on public dates so she could be noticed by directors and producers, and so the men she dated could present themselves in public as heterosexuals. The dates helped to disguise Wood's relationship with Robert Wagner, whom she later married. Burr reportedly resented Warner Bros.' decision to promote her attachment to another gay actor, Tab Hunter, rather than him. Robert Benevides later said, "He was a little bitter about it. He was really in love with her, I guess."
Later accounts of Burr's life say that he hid his homosexuality to protect his career. "That was a time in Hollywood history when homosexuality was not countenanced", Associated Press reporter Bob Thomas recalled in a 2000 episode of Biography. "Ray was not a romantic star by any means, but he was a very popular figure ... If it was revealed at that time in Hollywood history it would have been very difficult for him to continue."
Arthur Marks, a producer of Perry Mason, recalled Burr's talk of wives and children: "I know he was just putting on a show. ... That was my gut feeling. I think the wives and the loving women, the Natalie Wood thing, were a bit of a cover." Dean Hargrove, executive producer of the Perry Mason TV films, said in 2006, "I had always assumed that Raymond was gay, because he had a relationship with Robert Benevides for a very long time. Whether or not he had relationships with women, I had no idea. I did know that I had trouble keeping track of whether he was married or not in these stories. Raymond had the ability to mythologize himself, to some extent, and some of his stories about his past ... tended to grow as time went by."
Hobbies and businesses
Burr had many hobbies over the course of his life: cultivating orchids and collecting wine, art, stamps, and seashells. He was very fond of cooking. He was interested in flying, sailing, and fishing. According to A&E Biography, Burr was an avid reader with a retentive memory. He was also among the earliest importers and breeders of Portuguese water dogs in the United States.
Burr developed his interest in cultivating and hybridizing orchids into a business with Benevides. Over 20 years, their company, Sea God Nurseries, had nurseries in Fiji, Hawaii, the Azores, and California, and was responsible for adding more than 1,500 new orchids to the worldwide catalog. Burr named one of them the "Barbara Hale Orchid" after his Perry Mason costar. Burr and Benevides cultivated Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and grapes for Port wine, as well as orchids, at Burr's farmland holdings in Sonoma County, California.
In 1965, Burr purchased Naitauba, a island in Fiji, rich in seashells. There, he and Benevides oversaw the raising of copra (coconut meat) and cattle, as well as orchids. Burr planned to retire there permanently. However, medical problems made that impossible and he sold the property in 1983.
Philanthropy
Burr was a well-known philanthropist. He gave enormous sums of money, including his salaries from the Perry Mason movies, to charity. He was also known for sharing his wealth with friends. He sponsored 26 foster children through the Foster Parents' Plan or Save The Children, many with the greatest medical needs. He gave money and some of his Perry Mason scripts to the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California.
Burr was an early supporter of the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel, Florida, raising funds and chairing its first capital campaign. He donated a large collection of Fijian cowries and cones from his island in Fiji.
In 1993, Sonoma State University awarded Burr an honorary doctorate. He supported medical and educational institutions in Denver, and in 1993, the University of Colorado awarded him an honorary doctorate for his acting work. Burr also founded and financed the American Fijian Foundation that funded academic research, including efforts to develop a dictionary of the language.
Burr made repeated trips on behalf of the United Service Organizations (USO). He toured both Korea and Vietnam during wartime and once spent six months touring Korea, Japan, and the Philippines. He sometimes organized his own troupe and toured bases both in the U.S. and overseas, often small installations that the USO did not serve, like one tour of Greenland, Baffin Island, Newfoundland and Labrador. Returning from Vietnam in 1965, he made a speaking tour of the U.S. to advocate an intensified war effort. As the war became more controversial, he modified his tone, called for more attention to the sacrifice of the troops, and said, "My only position on the war is that I wish it were over." In October 1967, NBC aired Raymond Burr Visits Vietnam, a documentary of one of his visits. The reception was mixed. "The impressions he came up with are neither weighty nor particularly revealing", wrote the Chicago Tribune; the Los Angeles Times said Burr's questions were "intelligent and elicited some interesting replies".
Burr had a reputation in Hollywood as a thoughtful, generous man years before much of his more-visible philanthropic work. In 1960, Ray Collins, who portrayed Lt. Arthur Tragg on the original Perry Mason series, and who was by that time often ill and unable to remember all the lines he was supposed to speak, stated, "There is nothing but kindness from our star, Ray Burr. Part of his life is dedicated to us, and that's no bull. If there's anything the matter with any of us, he comes around before anyone else and does what he can to help. He's a great star—in the old tradition."
Illness and death
During the filming of his last Perry Mason movie in the spring of 1993, Burr fell ill. A Viacom spokesperson told the media that the illness might be related to the renal cell carcinoma (malignant kidney tumor) that had been removed from Burr that February. It was determined that the cancer had spread to his liver and was at that point inoperable. Burr threw several "goodbye parties" before his death on September 12, 1993, at his Sonoma County ranch near Healdsburg. He was 76 years old.
The day after Burr's death, American Bar Association president R. William Ide III released a statement: "Raymond Burr's portrayals of Perry Mason represented lawyers in a professional and dignified manner. ... Mr. Burr strove for such authenticity in his courtroom characterizations that we regard his passing as though we lost one of our own." The New York Times reported that Perry Mason had been named second—after F. Lee Bailey, and before Abraham Lincoln, Thurgood Marshall, Janet Reno, Ben Matlock and Hillary Clinton—in a recent National Law Journal poll that asked Americans to name the attorney, fictional or not, they most admired.
Burr was interred with his parents at Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, British Columbia. On October 1, 1993, about 600 family members and friends paid tribute to Burr at a private memorial service at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Burr bequeathed his estate to Robert Benevides, and excluded all relatives, including a sister, nieces, and nephews. His will was challenged, without success, by the two children of his late brother, James E. Burr. Benevides's attorney said that tabloid reports of an estate worth $32 million were an overestimate.
Accolades
For his work in the TV series Perry Mason, Burr received the Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Continuing Character) in a Dramatic Series at the 11th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1959. Nominated again in 1960, he received his second Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Series (Lead) at the 13th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1961. Burr was named Favorite Male Performer, for Perry Mason, in TV Guide magazine's inaugural TV Guide Award readers poll in 1960. He also received the second annual award in 1961.
In 1960, Burr was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6656 Hollywood Boulevard. Burr received six Emmy nominations (1968–72) for his work in the TV series Ironside. He was nominated twice, in 1969 and 1972, for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama. A benefactor of legal education, Burr was principal speaker at the founders' banquet of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, in June 1973. The Raymond Burr Award for Excellence in Criminal Law was established in his honor.
Burr was ranked #44 on TV Guides 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time in 1996. Completed in 1996, a circular garden at the entrance to the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel, Florida, honors Burr for his role in establishing the museum. Burr was a trustee and an early supporter who chaired the museum's first capital campaign and made direct contributions from his collection. A display about Burr as an actor, benefactor and collector opened in the museum's Great Hall of Shells in 2012.
From 2000 to 2006, the Raymond Burr Performing Arts Society leased the historic Columbia Theatre from the city of New Westminster, and renamed it the Raymond Burr Performing Arts Centre. Although the nonprofit organization hoped to raise funds to renovate and expand the venue, its contract was not renewed. The group was a failed bidder when the theater was sold in 2011.
In 2008, Canada Post issued a postage stamp in its "Canadians in Hollywood" series featuring Burr. Burr received the 2009 Canadian Legends Award and a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. The induction ceremony was held on September 12, 2009. A 2014 article in The Atlantic that examined how Netflix categorized nearly 77,000 different personalized genres found that Burr was rated as the favorite actor by Netflix users, with the greatest number of dedicated microgenres.
Theatre credits
Film credits
Radio credits
Television credits
See also
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
Notes
References
External links
Raymond Burr at the MBC Encyclopedia of Television
Complete biography of Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr at Find a Grave
1917 births
1993 deaths
20th-century Canadian male actors
Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
Canadian gay actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male radio actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian people of World War II
Canadian philanthropists
Civilian Conservation Corps people
Columbia University alumni
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from kidney cancer
Male actors from British Columbia
Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
Stanford University alumni
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[
"Los Hermanos Rigual were a Cuban vocal group based in Mexico, mainly active in the sixties. It consisted of the brothers Pedro, Carlos and Mario Rigual, all natives of Guantánamo.\n\nThe trio started performing as guitarists and singers in Havana before moving to Mexico, where they got their first successes. \n\nThey had their breakout in 1962, thanks to the song \"Cuando calienta el sol\" which became an international hit. Following the success of the song for a few years they focused their activities in Europe and particularly in Italy, where they appeared in several television shows and were entered into the competition at the 14th edition of the Sanremo Music Festival. In the late 1960s the trio moved back to Mexico City, where they continued to enjoy some local success.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\n1963: Los Hermanos Rigual (RCA Victor)\n1965: Guitarra amor mío (RCA Victor)\n\nSingles\n1962: \"Cuando calienta el sol\"/\"La del vestido rojo\"\n1963: \"Llorando me dormi\"/\"Envidias\"\n1963: \"Cuando brilla la luna\"/\"Dona cibeles\"\n1963: \"Blanca como paloma\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n \n\n \nCuban musical groups",
"Denise Kanstrup Dupont (born 24 May 1984) is a Danish curler. She throws third rocks for the Danish national team, skipped by Angelina Jensen.\n\nAfter a number of years of limited success in the Junior ranks, Dupont joined Dorthe Holm's team and was a member of the silver medal winning European Curling Championships team in 2002. (Throwing second rocks). The following year, the team won a bronze medal. Her success at the European Championships never translated to Junior success or World Championship success at the time. In 2004, she was promoted to the third position, and the team won another bronze at the European Championships in 2005. She played third in the 2006 Olympics in Torino Italy, where they finished 9th. Following that she left the team and joined up with Jensen. The new team found success at the 2007 World Women's Curling Championship where they won silver. Denise Dupont returned to the world championships in 2008, where she played third for Angelina Jensen, finishing fifth after losing a tiebreaker to Japan's Moe Meguro.\n\nPersonal life\nDupont was born in Copenhagen and lives in Dragør. She is employed as a teacher, and has two children. She is the sister of teammate Madeleine Dupont. She competed in the 2015 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship with brother Oliver Dupont.\n\nTeammates \n2007 Aomori World Championships\n\n2008 Vernon World Championships\n\n2009 Gangneung World Championships\n\nCurling at the 2010 Winter Olympics 2010\n\nMadeleine Dupont, Fourth\n\nAngelina Jensen, Skip\n\nCamilla Jensen, Lead\n\nAne Hansen, Alternate\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n 2010 Olympics profile\n\nDanish female curlers\n1984 births\nLiving people\nOlympic curlers of Denmark\nCurlers at the 2006 Winter Olympics\nCurlers at the 2010 Winter Olympics\nCurlers at the 2018 Winter Olympics\nCurlers at the 2022 Winter Olympics\nPeople from Dragør Municipality\nSportspeople from Copenhagen\nDanish educators"
] |
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"What else interesting happened during this time",
"He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show,",
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"Hire (1949), and in Dragnet (1949-50)",
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when did Raymond Burr leave radio
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Raymond Burr
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As a young man Burr weighed more than 300 lbs., which limited his on-screen roles. "But in radio this presented no problems, given the magnificent quality of his voice," reported The Globe and Mail. "He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income." Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast. He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show, Pat Novak for Hire (1949), and in Dragnet (1949-50) he played Joe Friday's boss, Ed Backstrand, chief of detectives. Burr worked on other Los Angeles-based series including Suspense, Screen Directors Playhouse, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Family Theater, Hallmark Playhouse and Hallmark Hall of Fame. He performed in five episodes of the experimental dramatic radio anthology series CBS Radio Workshop, and had what is arguably his best radio role in "The Silent Witness" (1957), in which his is the only voice. In 1956 Burr was the star of CBS Radio's Fort Laramie, an adult Western drama produced, written and directed by the creators of Gunsmoke. He played the role of Lee Quince, captain of the cavalry, in the series set at a post-Civil War military post where disease, boredom, the elements and the uncharted terrain were the greatest enemies of "ordinary men who lived in extraordinary times". The half-hour transcribed program aired Sundays at 5:30 p.m. ET January 22 - October 28, 1956. Burr told columnist Sheilah Graham that he had received 1,500 fan letters after the first broadcasts, and he continued to receive letters praising the show's authenticity and presentation of human dignity. In August 1956, CBS announced that Burr would star in the television series Perry Mason. Although the network wanted Burr to continue work on Fort Laramie as well, the TV series required an extraordinary commitment and the radio show ended. Known for his loyalty and consciousness of history, Burr went out of his way to employ his radio colleagues in his television programs. Some 180 radio celebrities appeared on Perry Mason during the first season alone. CANNOTANSWER
|
In August 1956, CBS announced that Burr would star in the television series Perry Mason.
|
William Raymond Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917September 12, 1993) was a Canadian-American actor known for his lengthy Hollywood film career and his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside.
Burr's early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television, and film, usually as the villain. His portrayal of the suspected murderer in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Rear Window (1954) is his best-known film role, although he is also remembered for his role in the 1956 film Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, which he reprised in the 1985 film Godzilla 1985. He won Emmy Awards for acting in 1959 and 1961 for the role of Perry Mason, which he played for nine seasons (1957–1966) and reprised in a series of 26 Perry Mason TV movies (1985–1993). His second TV series Ironside earned him six Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations.
Burr died of cancer in 1993, and his personal life came into question, as many details of his biography appeared to be unverifiable. He was ranked number 44 of the 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time by TV Guide magazine in 1996.
Early life
William Raymond Stacy Burr was born May 21, 1917, in New Westminster, British Columbia. His father William Johnston Burr (1889–1985) was a hardware salesman; his mother Minerva Annette (née Smith, 1892–1974) was a pianist and music teacher.
When Burr was six, his parents divorced. His mother moved to Vallejo, California, with him and his younger siblings Geraldine and James, while his father remained in New Westminster. Burr briefly attended San Rafael Military Academy in San Rafael, California, and graduated from Berkeley High School.
In later years, Burr freely invented stories of a happy childhood – as with many other autobiographical details he provided about his life, they are not verifiable and have no evidence to support their accuracy. In 1986, he told journalist Jane Ardmore that, when he was 12 years old, his mother sent him to New Mexico for a year to work as a ranch hand. He was already his full adult height and rather large and "had fallen in with a group of college-aged kids who didn't realize how young Raymond was, and they let him tag along with them in activities and situations far too sophisticated for him to handle". He developed a passion for growing things and joined the Civilian Conservation Corps for a year in his teens. He did acting work in his teen years, making his stage debut at age 12 with a Vancouver stock company.
Theater
Burr grew up during the Great Depression and hoped to study acting at the Pasadena Playhouse, but he was unable to afford the tuition. By his own account, which is open to question, in 1934 he joined a repertory theatre group in Toronto that toured throughout Canada, then joined another company that toured India, Australia, and England. He briefly attended Long Beach Junior College and taught for a semester at San Jose Junior College, working nights as a radio actor and singer. Resuming the verifiable part of his autobiography, Burr began his association with the Pasadena Playhouse in 1937.
Burr moved to New York in 1940 and made his first Broadway appearance in Crazy With the Heat, a two-act musical revue produced by Kurt Kasznar that quickly folded. His first starring role on the stage came in November 1942 when he was an emergency replacement in a Pasadena Playhouse production of Quiet Wedding. He became a member of the Pasadena Playhouse drama faculty for 18 months, and he performed in some 30 plays over the years. He returned to Broadway for Patrick Hamilton's The Duke in Darkness (1944), a psychological drama set during the French Wars of Religion. His performance as the loyal friend of the imprisoned protagonist led to a contract with RKO Radio Pictures.
Film
Burr appeared in more than 50 feature films between 1946 and 1957, creating an array of villains that established him as an icon of film noir. Film historian Alain Silver concluded that Burr's most significant work in the genre is in ten films: Desperate (1947), Sleep, My Love (1948), Raw Deal (1948), Pitfall (1948), Abandoned (1949), Red Light (1949), M (1951), His Kind of Woman (1951), The Blue Gardenia (1953), and Crime of Passion (1957). Silver described Burr's private detective in Pitfall as "both reprehensible and pathetic", a characterization also cited by film historian Richard Schickel as a prototype of film noir, in contrast with the appealing television characters for which Burr later became famous. "He tried to make you see the psychosis below the surface, even when the parts weren't huge," said film historian James Ursini. "He was able to bring such complexity and different levels to those characters, and create sympathy for his characters even though they were doing reprehensible things."
Other titles in Burr's film noir legacy include Walk a Crooked Mile (1948), Borderline (1950), Unmasked (1950), The Whip Hand (1951), FBI Girl (1951), Meet Danny Wilson (1952), Rear Window (1954), They Were So Young (1954), A Cry in the Night (1956), and Affair in Havana (1957). His villains were also seen in Westerns, period dramas, horror films, and adventure films.
"I was just a fat heavy", Burr told journalist James Bawden. "I split the heavy parts with Bill Conrad. We were both in our twenties playing much older men. I never got the girl but I once got the gorilla in a 3-D picture called Gorilla at Large. I menaced Claudette Colbert, Lizabeth Scott, Paulette Goddard, Anne Baxter, Barbara Stanwyck. Those girls would take one look at me and scream and can you blame them? I was drowned, beaten, stabbed and all for my art. But I knew I was horribly overweight. I lacked any kind of self esteem. At 25 I was playing the fathers of people older than me."
Burr's occasional roles on the right side of the law include the aggressive prosecutor in A Place in the Sun (1951). His courtroom performance in that film made an impression on Gail Patrick and her husband Cornwell Jackson, who had Burr in mind when they began casting the role of Los Angeles district attorney Hamilton Burger in the CBS-TV series Perry Mason.
Radio
By the age of 12, Burr was appearing in national radio dramas broadcasting in nearby San Francisco.
As a young man Burr weighed more than 300 lbs., which limited his on-screen roles. "But in radio this presented no problems, given the magnificent quality of his voice", reported The Globe and Mail. "He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income."
Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast. He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show, Pat Novak for Hire (1949), and in Dragnet (1949–50) he played Joe Friday's boss, Ed Backstrand, chief of detectives. Burr worked on other Los Angeles-based series including Suspense, Screen Directors Playhouse, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Family Theater, Hallmark Playhouse and Hallmark Hall of Fame. He performed in five episodes of the experimental dramatic radio anthology series CBS Radio Workshop, and had what is arguably his best radio role in "The Silent Witness" (1957), in which his is the only voice.
In 1956 Burr was the star of CBS Radio's Fort Laramie, an adult Western drama produced, written and directed by the creators of Gunsmoke. He played the role of Lee Quince, captain of the cavalry, in the series set at a post-Civil War military post where disease, boredom, the elements and the uncharted terrain were the greatest enemies of "ordinary men who lived in extraordinary times". The half-hour transcribed program aired Sundays at 5:30 p.m. ET January 22 – October 28, 1956. Burr told columnist Sheilah Graham that he had received 1,500 fan letters after the first broadcasts, and he continued to receive letters praising the show's authenticity and presentation of human dignity.
In August 1956, CBS announced that Burr would star in the television series Perry Mason. Although the network wanted Burr to continue work on Fort Laramie as well, the TV series required an extraordinary commitment and the radio show ended.
Known for his loyalty and consciousness of history, Burr went out of his way to employ his radio colleagues in his television programs. Some 180 radio celebrities appeared on Perry Mason during the first season alone.
Television
Burr emerged as a prolific television character actor in the 1950s. He made his television debut in 1951, appearing in episodes of Stars Over Hollywood, The Bigelow Theatre, Family Theater and the debut episode of Dragnet. He went on to appear in such programs as Gruen Playhouse, Four Star Playhouse, Ford Theatre, Lux Video Theatre, Mr. and Mrs. North, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars and Playhouse 90.
Perry Mason
In 1956, Burr auditioned for the role of District Attorney Hamilton Burger in Perry Mason, a new CBS-TV courtroom drama based on the highly successful novels by Erle Stanley Gardner. Executive producer Gail Patrick Jackson had been impressed with Burr's courtroom performance in A Place in the Sun (1951), and she told Burr that he was perfect for Perry Mason but at least overweight. He went on a crash diet over the following month; he then tested as Perry Mason and was cast in the role. While Burr's test was running, Gardner reportedly stood up, pointed at the screen, and said, "That's Perry Mason." William Hopper also auditioned as Mason, but he was cast instead as private detective Paul Drake. The series also starred Barbara Hale as Della Street, Mason's secretary, William Talman as Hamilton Burger, the district attorney who loses nearly every case to Mason, and Ray Collins as homicide detective Lieutenant Arthur Tragg.
The series ran from 1957 to 1966 and made Burr a star. In the early 1960s, the show had 30 million viewers every Saturday night and Burr received 3,000 fan letters a week. Burr received three consecutive Emmy Award nominations and won the award in 1959 and 1961 for his performance as Perry Mason. The series has been rerun in syndication ever since, and was released on DVD between 2006 and 2013. Burr's character is often said never to have lost a case, although he did lose two murder cases off-screen in early episodes of the series.
Ironside
Burr moved from CBS to Universal Studios, where he played the title role in the television drama Ironside, which ran on NBC from 1967 to 1975. In the pilot episode, San Francisco Chief of Detectives Robert T. Ironside is paralyzed by a sniper during an attempt on his life and, after his recovery, uses a wheelchair for mobility, in the first crime drama show to star a policeman with a disability. The show earned Burr six Emmy nominations—one for the pilot and five for his work in the series—and two Golden Globe nominations.
Other series
After Ironside went off the air, NBC failed in two attempts to launch Burr as the star of a new series. In a two-hour television movie format, Mallory: Circumstantial Evidence aired in February 1976 with Burr again in the role of the lawyer who outwits the district attorney. Despite good reviews for Burr, the critical reception was poor, and NBC decided against developing it into a series.
In 1977, Burr starred in the short-lived TV series Kingston: Confidential as R.B. Kingston, a William Randolph Hearst-esque publishing magnate, owner of numerous newspapers and TV stations, who, in his spare time, solved crimes along with a group of employees. It was a critical failure that was scheduled opposite the extraordinarily popular Charlie's Angels. It was cancelled after 13 weeks.
Burr took on a shorter project next, playing an underworld boss in a six-hour miniseries, 79 Park Avenue.
One last attempt to launch a series followed on CBS. The two-hour premiere of The Jordan Chance aroused little interest.
On January 20, 1987, Burr hosted the television special that later served as the pilot for the long-running series Unsolved Mysteries.
Television films
In 1985, Burr was approached by producers Dean Hargrove and Fred Silverman to star in a made-for-TV movie, Perry Mason Returns. The same week, Burr recalled, he was asked to reprise the role he played in Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), in a low-budget film that would be titled Godzilla 1985.
"When they asked me to do it a second time, I said, 'Certainly,' and everybody thought I was out of my mind," Burr told Tom Shales of The Washington Post. "But it wasn't the large sum of money. It was the fact that, first of all, I kind of liked 'Godzilla,' and where do you get the opportunity to play yourself 30 years later? So I said yes to both of them." Although Burr is best remembered for his role as Perry Mason, a devoted following continues to appreciate him as the actor that brought the Godzilla series to America.
He agreed to do the Mason movie if Barbara Hale returned to reprise her role as Della Street. Hale agreed, and when Perry Mason Returns aired in December 1985, her character became the defendant. The rest of the principal cast had died, but Hale's real-life son William Katt played the role of Paul Drake, Jr. The movie was so successful that Burr made a total of 26 Perry Mason television films before his death. Many were filmed in and around Denver, Colorado.
By 1993, when Burr signed with NBC for another season of Mason films, he was using a wheelchair full-time because of his failing health. In his final Perry Mason movie, The Case of the Killer Kiss, he was shown either sitting or standing while leaning on a table, but only once standing unsupported for a few seconds. Twelve more Mason movies were scheduled before Burr's death, including one scheduled to film the month he died.
As he had with the Perry Mason TV movies, Burr decided to do an Ironside reunion movie. The Return of Ironside aired in May 1993, reuniting the entire original cast of the 1967–75 series. Like many of the Mason movies, it was set and filmed in Denver.
Personal life
Physical characteristics
Burr said that he weighed 12.75 pounds (5.8 kg) at birth, and was chubby throughout his childhood. "When you're a little fat boy in public school, or any kind of school, you're just persecuted something awful", he said. His weight was always an issue for him in getting roles, and it became a public relations problem when Johnny Carson began making jokes about him during his Tonight Show monologues. Burr refused to appear as Carson's guest from then on, and told Us Weekly years later: "I have been asked a number of times to do his show and I won't do it. Because I like NBC. He's doing an NBC show. If I went on I'd have some things to say, not just about the bad jokes he's done about me, but bad jokes he does about everybody who can't fight back because they aren't there. And that wouldn't be good for NBC."
Family life
Burr married actress Isabella Ward (1919–2004) on January 10, 1948. They met in 1943 while she was a student at the Pasadena Playhouse where Burr was teaching. They met again in 1947 when she was in California with a theater company. They were married shortly before Burr began work on the 1948 film noir Pitfall. In May 1948, they appeared on stage together in a Pasadena Playhouse production based on the life of Paul Gauguin. They lived in the basement apartment of a large house in Hollywood that Burr shared with his mother and grandparents. The marriage ended within months, and Ward returned to her native Delaware. They divorced in 1952, and neither remarried.
In 1960, Burr met Robert Benevides, an actor and Korean War veteran, on the set of Perry Mason. Benevides gave up acting in 1963, and he became a production consultant for 21 of the Perry Mason TV movies. They owned and operated an orchid business and then a vineyard in California's Dry Creek Valley. They were domestic partners until Burr's death in 1993. Burr bequeathed his entire estate to Benevides, and Benevides renamed the Dry Creek property Raymond Burr Vineyards (reportedly against Burr's wishes) and managed it as a commercial enterprise. In 2017, the property was sold.
Although Burr had not revealed his homosexuality during his lifetime, it was reported in the press upon his death.
Biographical contradictions
At various times in his career, Burr and his managers and publicists offered spurious or unverifiable biographical details to the press and public. Burr's obituary in The New York Times states that he entered the US Navy in 1944, after The Duke in Darkness, and left in 1946, weighing almost . Although Burr may have served in the Coast Guard, reports of his service in the US Navy are false, as apparently are his statements that he sustained battle injuries at Okinawa.
Other false biographical details include years of college education at a variety of institutions, being widowed twice, a son who died young, world travel and success in high school athletics. Most of these claims were apparently accepted as fact by the press during Burr's lifetime, up until his death and by his first biographer, Ona Hill.
Burr reportedly was married at the beginning of World War II to an actress named Annette Sutherland—killed, Burr said, in the same 1943 plane crash that claimed the life of actor Leslie Howard. However, multiple sources have reported that no one by that name appears on any of the published passenger manifests from the flight. A son supposedly born during this marriage, Michael Evan, was said to have died of leukemia in 1953 at the age of ten. Another marriage purportedly took place in the early 1950s to a Laura Andrina Morgan—who died of cancer, Burr said, in 1955. Yet no evidence exists of either marriage, nor of a son's birth, other than Burr's own claims. As late as 1991, Burr stood by the account of this son's life and death. He told Parade that when he realized Michael was dying, he took him on a one-year tour of the United States. "Before my boy left, before his time was gone", he said, "I wanted him to see the beauty of his country and its people." After Burr's death, his publicist confirmed that Burr worked steadily in Hollywood throughout 1952, the year that he was supposedly touring the country with his son.
In the late 1950s, Burr was rumored to be romantically involved with Natalie Wood. Wood's agent sent her on public dates so she could be noticed by directors and producers, and so the men she dated could present themselves in public as heterosexuals. The dates helped to disguise Wood's relationship with Robert Wagner, whom she later married. Burr reportedly resented Warner Bros.' decision to promote her attachment to another gay actor, Tab Hunter, rather than him. Robert Benevides later said, "He was a little bitter about it. He was really in love with her, I guess."
Later accounts of Burr's life say that he hid his homosexuality to protect his career. "That was a time in Hollywood history when homosexuality was not countenanced", Associated Press reporter Bob Thomas recalled in a 2000 episode of Biography. "Ray was not a romantic star by any means, but he was a very popular figure ... If it was revealed at that time in Hollywood history it would have been very difficult for him to continue."
Arthur Marks, a producer of Perry Mason, recalled Burr's talk of wives and children: "I know he was just putting on a show. ... That was my gut feeling. I think the wives and the loving women, the Natalie Wood thing, were a bit of a cover." Dean Hargrove, executive producer of the Perry Mason TV films, said in 2006, "I had always assumed that Raymond was gay, because he had a relationship with Robert Benevides for a very long time. Whether or not he had relationships with women, I had no idea. I did know that I had trouble keeping track of whether he was married or not in these stories. Raymond had the ability to mythologize himself, to some extent, and some of his stories about his past ... tended to grow as time went by."
Hobbies and businesses
Burr had many hobbies over the course of his life: cultivating orchids and collecting wine, art, stamps, and seashells. He was very fond of cooking. He was interested in flying, sailing, and fishing. According to A&E Biography, Burr was an avid reader with a retentive memory. He was also among the earliest importers and breeders of Portuguese water dogs in the United States.
Burr developed his interest in cultivating and hybridizing orchids into a business with Benevides. Over 20 years, their company, Sea God Nurseries, had nurseries in Fiji, Hawaii, the Azores, and California, and was responsible for adding more than 1,500 new orchids to the worldwide catalog. Burr named one of them the "Barbara Hale Orchid" after his Perry Mason costar. Burr and Benevides cultivated Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and grapes for Port wine, as well as orchids, at Burr's farmland holdings in Sonoma County, California.
In 1965, Burr purchased Naitauba, a island in Fiji, rich in seashells. There, he and Benevides oversaw the raising of copra (coconut meat) and cattle, as well as orchids. Burr planned to retire there permanently. However, medical problems made that impossible and he sold the property in 1983.
Philanthropy
Burr was a well-known philanthropist. He gave enormous sums of money, including his salaries from the Perry Mason movies, to charity. He was also known for sharing his wealth with friends. He sponsored 26 foster children through the Foster Parents' Plan or Save The Children, many with the greatest medical needs. He gave money and some of his Perry Mason scripts to the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California.
Burr was an early supporter of the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel, Florida, raising funds and chairing its first capital campaign. He donated a large collection of Fijian cowries and cones from his island in Fiji.
In 1993, Sonoma State University awarded Burr an honorary doctorate. He supported medical and educational institutions in Denver, and in 1993, the University of Colorado awarded him an honorary doctorate for his acting work. Burr also founded and financed the American Fijian Foundation that funded academic research, including efforts to develop a dictionary of the language.
Burr made repeated trips on behalf of the United Service Organizations (USO). He toured both Korea and Vietnam during wartime and once spent six months touring Korea, Japan, and the Philippines. He sometimes organized his own troupe and toured bases both in the U.S. and overseas, often small installations that the USO did not serve, like one tour of Greenland, Baffin Island, Newfoundland and Labrador. Returning from Vietnam in 1965, he made a speaking tour of the U.S. to advocate an intensified war effort. As the war became more controversial, he modified his tone, called for more attention to the sacrifice of the troops, and said, "My only position on the war is that I wish it were over." In October 1967, NBC aired Raymond Burr Visits Vietnam, a documentary of one of his visits. The reception was mixed. "The impressions he came up with are neither weighty nor particularly revealing", wrote the Chicago Tribune; the Los Angeles Times said Burr's questions were "intelligent and elicited some interesting replies".
Burr had a reputation in Hollywood as a thoughtful, generous man years before much of his more-visible philanthropic work. In 1960, Ray Collins, who portrayed Lt. Arthur Tragg on the original Perry Mason series, and who was by that time often ill and unable to remember all the lines he was supposed to speak, stated, "There is nothing but kindness from our star, Ray Burr. Part of his life is dedicated to us, and that's no bull. If there's anything the matter with any of us, he comes around before anyone else and does what he can to help. He's a great star—in the old tradition."
Illness and death
During the filming of his last Perry Mason movie in the spring of 1993, Burr fell ill. A Viacom spokesperson told the media that the illness might be related to the renal cell carcinoma (malignant kidney tumor) that had been removed from Burr that February. It was determined that the cancer had spread to his liver and was at that point inoperable. Burr threw several "goodbye parties" before his death on September 12, 1993, at his Sonoma County ranch near Healdsburg. He was 76 years old.
The day after Burr's death, American Bar Association president R. William Ide III released a statement: "Raymond Burr's portrayals of Perry Mason represented lawyers in a professional and dignified manner. ... Mr. Burr strove for such authenticity in his courtroom characterizations that we regard his passing as though we lost one of our own." The New York Times reported that Perry Mason had been named second—after F. Lee Bailey, and before Abraham Lincoln, Thurgood Marshall, Janet Reno, Ben Matlock and Hillary Clinton—in a recent National Law Journal poll that asked Americans to name the attorney, fictional or not, they most admired.
Burr was interred with his parents at Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, British Columbia. On October 1, 1993, about 600 family members and friends paid tribute to Burr at a private memorial service at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Burr bequeathed his estate to Robert Benevides, and excluded all relatives, including a sister, nieces, and nephews. His will was challenged, without success, by the two children of his late brother, James E. Burr. Benevides's attorney said that tabloid reports of an estate worth $32 million were an overestimate.
Accolades
For his work in the TV series Perry Mason, Burr received the Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Continuing Character) in a Dramatic Series at the 11th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1959. Nominated again in 1960, he received his second Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Series (Lead) at the 13th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1961. Burr was named Favorite Male Performer, for Perry Mason, in TV Guide magazine's inaugural TV Guide Award readers poll in 1960. He also received the second annual award in 1961.
In 1960, Burr was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6656 Hollywood Boulevard. Burr received six Emmy nominations (1968–72) for his work in the TV series Ironside. He was nominated twice, in 1969 and 1972, for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama. A benefactor of legal education, Burr was principal speaker at the founders' banquet of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, in June 1973. The Raymond Burr Award for Excellence in Criminal Law was established in his honor.
Burr was ranked #44 on TV Guides 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time in 1996. Completed in 1996, a circular garden at the entrance to the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel, Florida, honors Burr for his role in establishing the museum. Burr was a trustee and an early supporter who chaired the museum's first capital campaign and made direct contributions from his collection. A display about Burr as an actor, benefactor and collector opened in the museum's Great Hall of Shells in 2012.
From 2000 to 2006, the Raymond Burr Performing Arts Society leased the historic Columbia Theatre from the city of New Westminster, and renamed it the Raymond Burr Performing Arts Centre. Although the nonprofit organization hoped to raise funds to renovate and expand the venue, its contract was not renewed. The group was a failed bidder when the theater was sold in 2011.
In 2008, Canada Post issued a postage stamp in its "Canadians in Hollywood" series featuring Burr. Burr received the 2009 Canadian Legends Award and a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. The induction ceremony was held on September 12, 2009. A 2014 article in The Atlantic that examined how Netflix categorized nearly 77,000 different personalized genres found that Burr was rated as the favorite actor by Netflix users, with the greatest number of dedicated microgenres.
Theatre credits
Film credits
Radio credits
Television credits
See also
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
Notes
References
External links
Raymond Burr at the MBC Encyclopedia of Television
Complete biography of Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr at Find a Grave
1917 births
1993 deaths
20th-century Canadian male actors
Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
Canadian gay actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male radio actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian people of World War II
Canadian philanthropists
Civilian Conservation Corps people
Columbia University alumni
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from kidney cancer
Male actors from British Columbia
Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
Stanford University alumni
| true |
[
"Take It or Leave It is radio quiz show, which ran from April 21, 1940 to July 27, 1947 on CBS radio. It switched to NBC radio in 1947, and on September 10, 1950, the name of the program was changed to The $64 Question.\n\nGameplay \nContestants were asked questions devised by the series' writer-researcher Edith Oliver. She attempted to make each question slightly more difficult than the preceding one. After answering a question correctly, the contestant had the choice to \"take\" the prize for that question or \"leave it\" in favor of a chance at the next question. The first question was worth one dollar, and the value doubled for each successive question, up to the seventh and final question worth $64.\n\nCultural influence \nDuring the 1940s, \"That's the $64 question\" became a common catchphrase for a particularly difficult question or problem. In addition to the common phrase \"Take it or leave it\", the show also popularized another phrase, widely spoken in the 1940s as a taunt but now mostly forgotten (except in Warner Bros. cartoons). Chanted in unison by the entire audience when someone chose to risk their winnings by going for the $64 prize, it was vocalized with a rising inflection: \"You'll be sorry!\"\n\nThe popularity of the radio program inspired a 1944 20th Century Fox feature film, Take It or Leave It, about a man who needs $1,000 to pay his wife's obstetrician. When he is chosen as a contestant on the radio quiz show, the prize money is increased beyond the usual $64.\n\nTake It or Leave It was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1990.\n\nHosts \nThe CBS radio version of the show was first hosted by Bob Hawk (1940–41), followed by Phil Baker (1941–47).In 1947, the series switched to NBC, hosted at various times by Baker, Garry Moore (1947–49), Eddie Cantor (1949–50) and Jack Paar (beginning June 11, 1950). Paar continued as host through the change of the series's name to The $64 Question, and was followed by Baker (March–December 1951) and Paar (back in December 1951).\n\nBroadcast history \n\n Take It or Leave It– CBS Radio; April 21, 1940– July 27, 1947; Sunday 10:00p.m.\n The $64 Question – NBC Radio Network; September 10, 1950– June 1, 1952; Sunday 10:00p.m. (1950–51) and Sunday 9:30p.m. (1951–52).\n\nOnly five recordings of the program are known to survive.\n\nSee also \n The $64,000 Question\n\nReferences\n\nAmerican game shows\n\nAmerican radio game shows\n1940s American game shows\n1950s American game shows\n1940s American radio programs\n1950s American radio programs\nCBS Radio programs\nNBC radio programs",
"Chip Talk is a radio show syndicated by the Associated Press Radio Network. Launched in the early 1980s, it is the longest-running computer-related broadcast program on the air. It was written and hosted by Seattle radio personality Dave Ross, who had produced the program since its inception, until mid-2004, when he took a leave of absence to run for the United States Congress. Kevin Ebi was substitute host during the campaign; Ross resumed his place as host following his unsuccessful campaign run. Chip Talk is produced at Seattle's KIRO (AM) radio.\n\nExternal links\nChip Talk Home page with archives\n\nAmerican radio programs"
] |
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"He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show,",
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"Hire (1949), and in Dragnet (1949-50)",
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"In August 1956, CBS announced that Burr would star in the television series Perry Mason."
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C_ce9c0a6e58fb4956a7b1aa750ba1c994_0
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Did he ever go back to radio
| 10 |
Did Raymond Burr ever go back to radio
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Raymond Burr
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As a young man Burr weighed more than 300 lbs., which limited his on-screen roles. "But in radio this presented no problems, given the magnificent quality of his voice," reported The Globe and Mail. "He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income." Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast. He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show, Pat Novak for Hire (1949), and in Dragnet (1949-50) he played Joe Friday's boss, Ed Backstrand, chief of detectives. Burr worked on other Los Angeles-based series including Suspense, Screen Directors Playhouse, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Family Theater, Hallmark Playhouse and Hallmark Hall of Fame. He performed in five episodes of the experimental dramatic radio anthology series CBS Radio Workshop, and had what is arguably his best radio role in "The Silent Witness" (1957), in which his is the only voice. In 1956 Burr was the star of CBS Radio's Fort Laramie, an adult Western drama produced, written and directed by the creators of Gunsmoke. He played the role of Lee Quince, captain of the cavalry, in the series set at a post-Civil War military post where disease, boredom, the elements and the uncharted terrain were the greatest enemies of "ordinary men who lived in extraordinary times". The half-hour transcribed program aired Sundays at 5:30 p.m. ET January 22 - October 28, 1956. Burr told columnist Sheilah Graham that he had received 1,500 fan letters after the first broadcasts, and he continued to receive letters praising the show's authenticity and presentation of human dignity. In August 1956, CBS announced that Burr would star in the television series Perry Mason. Although the network wanted Burr to continue work on Fort Laramie as well, the TV series required an extraordinary commitment and the radio show ended. Known for his loyalty and consciousness of history, Burr went out of his way to employ his radio colleagues in his television programs. Some 180 radio celebrities appeared on Perry Mason during the first season alone. CANNOTANSWER
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TV series required an extraordinary commitment and the radio show ended.
|
William Raymond Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917September 12, 1993) was a Canadian-American actor known for his lengthy Hollywood film career and his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside.
Burr's early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television, and film, usually as the villain. His portrayal of the suspected murderer in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Rear Window (1954) is his best-known film role, although he is also remembered for his role in the 1956 film Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, which he reprised in the 1985 film Godzilla 1985. He won Emmy Awards for acting in 1959 and 1961 for the role of Perry Mason, which he played for nine seasons (1957–1966) and reprised in a series of 26 Perry Mason TV movies (1985–1993). His second TV series Ironside earned him six Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations.
Burr died of cancer in 1993, and his personal life came into question, as many details of his biography appeared to be unverifiable. He was ranked number 44 of the 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time by TV Guide magazine in 1996.
Early life
William Raymond Stacy Burr was born May 21, 1917, in New Westminster, British Columbia. His father William Johnston Burr (1889–1985) was a hardware salesman; his mother Minerva Annette (née Smith, 1892–1974) was a pianist and music teacher.
When Burr was six, his parents divorced. His mother moved to Vallejo, California, with him and his younger siblings Geraldine and James, while his father remained in New Westminster. Burr briefly attended San Rafael Military Academy in San Rafael, California, and graduated from Berkeley High School.
In later years, Burr freely invented stories of a happy childhood – as with many other autobiographical details he provided about his life, they are not verifiable and have no evidence to support their accuracy. In 1986, he told journalist Jane Ardmore that, when he was 12 years old, his mother sent him to New Mexico for a year to work as a ranch hand. He was already his full adult height and rather large and "had fallen in with a group of college-aged kids who didn't realize how young Raymond was, and they let him tag along with them in activities and situations far too sophisticated for him to handle". He developed a passion for growing things and joined the Civilian Conservation Corps for a year in his teens. He did acting work in his teen years, making his stage debut at age 12 with a Vancouver stock company.
Theater
Burr grew up during the Great Depression and hoped to study acting at the Pasadena Playhouse, but he was unable to afford the tuition. By his own account, which is open to question, in 1934 he joined a repertory theatre group in Toronto that toured throughout Canada, then joined another company that toured India, Australia, and England. He briefly attended Long Beach Junior College and taught for a semester at San Jose Junior College, working nights as a radio actor and singer. Resuming the verifiable part of his autobiography, Burr began his association with the Pasadena Playhouse in 1937.
Burr moved to New York in 1940 and made his first Broadway appearance in Crazy With the Heat, a two-act musical revue produced by Kurt Kasznar that quickly folded. His first starring role on the stage came in November 1942 when he was an emergency replacement in a Pasadena Playhouse production of Quiet Wedding. He became a member of the Pasadena Playhouse drama faculty for 18 months, and he performed in some 30 plays over the years. He returned to Broadway for Patrick Hamilton's The Duke in Darkness (1944), a psychological drama set during the French Wars of Religion. His performance as the loyal friend of the imprisoned protagonist led to a contract with RKO Radio Pictures.
Film
Burr appeared in more than 50 feature films between 1946 and 1957, creating an array of villains that established him as an icon of film noir. Film historian Alain Silver concluded that Burr's most significant work in the genre is in ten films: Desperate (1947), Sleep, My Love (1948), Raw Deal (1948), Pitfall (1948), Abandoned (1949), Red Light (1949), M (1951), His Kind of Woman (1951), The Blue Gardenia (1953), and Crime of Passion (1957). Silver described Burr's private detective in Pitfall as "both reprehensible and pathetic", a characterization also cited by film historian Richard Schickel as a prototype of film noir, in contrast with the appealing television characters for which Burr later became famous. "He tried to make you see the psychosis below the surface, even when the parts weren't huge," said film historian James Ursini. "He was able to bring such complexity and different levels to those characters, and create sympathy for his characters even though they were doing reprehensible things."
Other titles in Burr's film noir legacy include Walk a Crooked Mile (1948), Borderline (1950), Unmasked (1950), The Whip Hand (1951), FBI Girl (1951), Meet Danny Wilson (1952), Rear Window (1954), They Were So Young (1954), A Cry in the Night (1956), and Affair in Havana (1957). His villains were also seen in Westerns, period dramas, horror films, and adventure films.
"I was just a fat heavy", Burr told journalist James Bawden. "I split the heavy parts with Bill Conrad. We were both in our twenties playing much older men. I never got the girl but I once got the gorilla in a 3-D picture called Gorilla at Large. I menaced Claudette Colbert, Lizabeth Scott, Paulette Goddard, Anne Baxter, Barbara Stanwyck. Those girls would take one look at me and scream and can you blame them? I was drowned, beaten, stabbed and all for my art. But I knew I was horribly overweight. I lacked any kind of self esteem. At 25 I was playing the fathers of people older than me."
Burr's occasional roles on the right side of the law include the aggressive prosecutor in A Place in the Sun (1951). His courtroom performance in that film made an impression on Gail Patrick and her husband Cornwell Jackson, who had Burr in mind when they began casting the role of Los Angeles district attorney Hamilton Burger in the CBS-TV series Perry Mason.
Radio
By the age of 12, Burr was appearing in national radio dramas broadcasting in nearby San Francisco.
As a young man Burr weighed more than 300 lbs., which limited his on-screen roles. "But in radio this presented no problems, given the magnificent quality of his voice", reported The Globe and Mail. "He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income."
Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast. He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show, Pat Novak for Hire (1949), and in Dragnet (1949–50) he played Joe Friday's boss, Ed Backstrand, chief of detectives. Burr worked on other Los Angeles-based series including Suspense, Screen Directors Playhouse, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Family Theater, Hallmark Playhouse and Hallmark Hall of Fame. He performed in five episodes of the experimental dramatic radio anthology series CBS Radio Workshop, and had what is arguably his best radio role in "The Silent Witness" (1957), in which his is the only voice.
In 1956 Burr was the star of CBS Radio's Fort Laramie, an adult Western drama produced, written and directed by the creators of Gunsmoke. He played the role of Lee Quince, captain of the cavalry, in the series set at a post-Civil War military post where disease, boredom, the elements and the uncharted terrain were the greatest enemies of "ordinary men who lived in extraordinary times". The half-hour transcribed program aired Sundays at 5:30 p.m. ET January 22 – October 28, 1956. Burr told columnist Sheilah Graham that he had received 1,500 fan letters after the first broadcasts, and he continued to receive letters praising the show's authenticity and presentation of human dignity.
In August 1956, CBS announced that Burr would star in the television series Perry Mason. Although the network wanted Burr to continue work on Fort Laramie as well, the TV series required an extraordinary commitment and the radio show ended.
Known for his loyalty and consciousness of history, Burr went out of his way to employ his radio colleagues in his television programs. Some 180 radio celebrities appeared on Perry Mason during the first season alone.
Television
Burr emerged as a prolific television character actor in the 1950s. He made his television debut in 1951, appearing in episodes of Stars Over Hollywood, The Bigelow Theatre, Family Theater and the debut episode of Dragnet. He went on to appear in such programs as Gruen Playhouse, Four Star Playhouse, Ford Theatre, Lux Video Theatre, Mr. and Mrs. North, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars and Playhouse 90.
Perry Mason
In 1956, Burr auditioned for the role of District Attorney Hamilton Burger in Perry Mason, a new CBS-TV courtroom drama based on the highly successful novels by Erle Stanley Gardner. Executive producer Gail Patrick Jackson had been impressed with Burr's courtroom performance in A Place in the Sun (1951), and she told Burr that he was perfect for Perry Mason but at least overweight. He went on a crash diet over the following month; he then tested as Perry Mason and was cast in the role. While Burr's test was running, Gardner reportedly stood up, pointed at the screen, and said, "That's Perry Mason." William Hopper also auditioned as Mason, but he was cast instead as private detective Paul Drake. The series also starred Barbara Hale as Della Street, Mason's secretary, William Talman as Hamilton Burger, the district attorney who loses nearly every case to Mason, and Ray Collins as homicide detective Lieutenant Arthur Tragg.
The series ran from 1957 to 1966 and made Burr a star. In the early 1960s, the show had 30 million viewers every Saturday night and Burr received 3,000 fan letters a week. Burr received three consecutive Emmy Award nominations and won the award in 1959 and 1961 for his performance as Perry Mason. The series has been rerun in syndication ever since, and was released on DVD between 2006 and 2013. Burr's character is often said never to have lost a case, although he did lose two murder cases off-screen in early episodes of the series.
Ironside
Burr moved from CBS to Universal Studios, where he played the title role in the television drama Ironside, which ran on NBC from 1967 to 1975. In the pilot episode, San Francisco Chief of Detectives Robert T. Ironside is paralyzed by a sniper during an attempt on his life and, after his recovery, uses a wheelchair for mobility, in the first crime drama show to star a policeman with a disability. The show earned Burr six Emmy nominations—one for the pilot and five for his work in the series—and two Golden Globe nominations.
Other series
After Ironside went off the air, NBC failed in two attempts to launch Burr as the star of a new series. In a two-hour television movie format, Mallory: Circumstantial Evidence aired in February 1976 with Burr again in the role of the lawyer who outwits the district attorney. Despite good reviews for Burr, the critical reception was poor, and NBC decided against developing it into a series.
In 1977, Burr starred in the short-lived TV series Kingston: Confidential as R.B. Kingston, a William Randolph Hearst-esque publishing magnate, owner of numerous newspapers and TV stations, who, in his spare time, solved crimes along with a group of employees. It was a critical failure that was scheduled opposite the extraordinarily popular Charlie's Angels. It was cancelled after 13 weeks.
Burr took on a shorter project next, playing an underworld boss in a six-hour miniseries, 79 Park Avenue.
One last attempt to launch a series followed on CBS. The two-hour premiere of The Jordan Chance aroused little interest.
On January 20, 1987, Burr hosted the television special that later served as the pilot for the long-running series Unsolved Mysteries.
Television films
In 1985, Burr was approached by producers Dean Hargrove and Fred Silverman to star in a made-for-TV movie, Perry Mason Returns. The same week, Burr recalled, he was asked to reprise the role he played in Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), in a low-budget film that would be titled Godzilla 1985.
"When they asked me to do it a second time, I said, 'Certainly,' and everybody thought I was out of my mind," Burr told Tom Shales of The Washington Post. "But it wasn't the large sum of money. It was the fact that, first of all, I kind of liked 'Godzilla,' and where do you get the opportunity to play yourself 30 years later? So I said yes to both of them." Although Burr is best remembered for his role as Perry Mason, a devoted following continues to appreciate him as the actor that brought the Godzilla series to America.
He agreed to do the Mason movie if Barbara Hale returned to reprise her role as Della Street. Hale agreed, and when Perry Mason Returns aired in December 1985, her character became the defendant. The rest of the principal cast had died, but Hale's real-life son William Katt played the role of Paul Drake, Jr. The movie was so successful that Burr made a total of 26 Perry Mason television films before his death. Many were filmed in and around Denver, Colorado.
By 1993, when Burr signed with NBC for another season of Mason films, he was using a wheelchair full-time because of his failing health. In his final Perry Mason movie, The Case of the Killer Kiss, he was shown either sitting or standing while leaning on a table, but only once standing unsupported for a few seconds. Twelve more Mason movies were scheduled before Burr's death, including one scheduled to film the month he died.
As he had with the Perry Mason TV movies, Burr decided to do an Ironside reunion movie. The Return of Ironside aired in May 1993, reuniting the entire original cast of the 1967–75 series. Like many of the Mason movies, it was set and filmed in Denver.
Personal life
Physical characteristics
Burr said that he weighed 12.75 pounds (5.8 kg) at birth, and was chubby throughout his childhood. "When you're a little fat boy in public school, or any kind of school, you're just persecuted something awful", he said. His weight was always an issue for him in getting roles, and it became a public relations problem when Johnny Carson began making jokes about him during his Tonight Show monologues. Burr refused to appear as Carson's guest from then on, and told Us Weekly years later: "I have been asked a number of times to do his show and I won't do it. Because I like NBC. He's doing an NBC show. If I went on I'd have some things to say, not just about the bad jokes he's done about me, but bad jokes he does about everybody who can't fight back because they aren't there. And that wouldn't be good for NBC."
Family life
Burr married actress Isabella Ward (1919–2004) on January 10, 1948. They met in 1943 while she was a student at the Pasadena Playhouse where Burr was teaching. They met again in 1947 when she was in California with a theater company. They were married shortly before Burr began work on the 1948 film noir Pitfall. In May 1948, they appeared on stage together in a Pasadena Playhouse production based on the life of Paul Gauguin. They lived in the basement apartment of a large house in Hollywood that Burr shared with his mother and grandparents. The marriage ended within months, and Ward returned to her native Delaware. They divorced in 1952, and neither remarried.
In 1960, Burr met Robert Benevides, an actor and Korean War veteran, on the set of Perry Mason. Benevides gave up acting in 1963, and he became a production consultant for 21 of the Perry Mason TV movies. They owned and operated an orchid business and then a vineyard in California's Dry Creek Valley. They were domestic partners until Burr's death in 1993. Burr bequeathed his entire estate to Benevides, and Benevides renamed the Dry Creek property Raymond Burr Vineyards (reportedly against Burr's wishes) and managed it as a commercial enterprise. In 2017, the property was sold.
Although Burr had not revealed his homosexuality during his lifetime, it was reported in the press upon his death.
Biographical contradictions
At various times in his career, Burr and his managers and publicists offered spurious or unverifiable biographical details to the press and public. Burr's obituary in The New York Times states that he entered the US Navy in 1944, after The Duke in Darkness, and left in 1946, weighing almost . Although Burr may have served in the Coast Guard, reports of his service in the US Navy are false, as apparently are his statements that he sustained battle injuries at Okinawa.
Other false biographical details include years of college education at a variety of institutions, being widowed twice, a son who died young, world travel and success in high school athletics. Most of these claims were apparently accepted as fact by the press during Burr's lifetime, up until his death and by his first biographer, Ona Hill.
Burr reportedly was married at the beginning of World War II to an actress named Annette Sutherland—killed, Burr said, in the same 1943 plane crash that claimed the life of actor Leslie Howard. However, multiple sources have reported that no one by that name appears on any of the published passenger manifests from the flight. A son supposedly born during this marriage, Michael Evan, was said to have died of leukemia in 1953 at the age of ten. Another marriage purportedly took place in the early 1950s to a Laura Andrina Morgan—who died of cancer, Burr said, in 1955. Yet no evidence exists of either marriage, nor of a son's birth, other than Burr's own claims. As late as 1991, Burr stood by the account of this son's life and death. He told Parade that when he realized Michael was dying, he took him on a one-year tour of the United States. "Before my boy left, before his time was gone", he said, "I wanted him to see the beauty of his country and its people." After Burr's death, his publicist confirmed that Burr worked steadily in Hollywood throughout 1952, the year that he was supposedly touring the country with his son.
In the late 1950s, Burr was rumored to be romantically involved with Natalie Wood. Wood's agent sent her on public dates so she could be noticed by directors and producers, and so the men she dated could present themselves in public as heterosexuals. The dates helped to disguise Wood's relationship with Robert Wagner, whom she later married. Burr reportedly resented Warner Bros.' decision to promote her attachment to another gay actor, Tab Hunter, rather than him. Robert Benevides later said, "He was a little bitter about it. He was really in love with her, I guess."
Later accounts of Burr's life say that he hid his homosexuality to protect his career. "That was a time in Hollywood history when homosexuality was not countenanced", Associated Press reporter Bob Thomas recalled in a 2000 episode of Biography. "Ray was not a romantic star by any means, but he was a very popular figure ... If it was revealed at that time in Hollywood history it would have been very difficult for him to continue."
Arthur Marks, a producer of Perry Mason, recalled Burr's talk of wives and children: "I know he was just putting on a show. ... That was my gut feeling. I think the wives and the loving women, the Natalie Wood thing, were a bit of a cover." Dean Hargrove, executive producer of the Perry Mason TV films, said in 2006, "I had always assumed that Raymond was gay, because he had a relationship with Robert Benevides for a very long time. Whether or not he had relationships with women, I had no idea. I did know that I had trouble keeping track of whether he was married or not in these stories. Raymond had the ability to mythologize himself, to some extent, and some of his stories about his past ... tended to grow as time went by."
Hobbies and businesses
Burr had many hobbies over the course of his life: cultivating orchids and collecting wine, art, stamps, and seashells. He was very fond of cooking. He was interested in flying, sailing, and fishing. According to A&E Biography, Burr was an avid reader with a retentive memory. He was also among the earliest importers and breeders of Portuguese water dogs in the United States.
Burr developed his interest in cultivating and hybridizing orchids into a business with Benevides. Over 20 years, their company, Sea God Nurseries, had nurseries in Fiji, Hawaii, the Azores, and California, and was responsible for adding more than 1,500 new orchids to the worldwide catalog. Burr named one of them the "Barbara Hale Orchid" after his Perry Mason costar. Burr and Benevides cultivated Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and grapes for Port wine, as well as orchids, at Burr's farmland holdings in Sonoma County, California.
In 1965, Burr purchased Naitauba, a island in Fiji, rich in seashells. There, he and Benevides oversaw the raising of copra (coconut meat) and cattle, as well as orchids. Burr planned to retire there permanently. However, medical problems made that impossible and he sold the property in 1983.
Philanthropy
Burr was a well-known philanthropist. He gave enormous sums of money, including his salaries from the Perry Mason movies, to charity. He was also known for sharing his wealth with friends. He sponsored 26 foster children through the Foster Parents' Plan or Save The Children, many with the greatest medical needs. He gave money and some of his Perry Mason scripts to the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California.
Burr was an early supporter of the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel, Florida, raising funds and chairing its first capital campaign. He donated a large collection of Fijian cowries and cones from his island in Fiji.
In 1993, Sonoma State University awarded Burr an honorary doctorate. He supported medical and educational institutions in Denver, and in 1993, the University of Colorado awarded him an honorary doctorate for his acting work. Burr also founded and financed the American Fijian Foundation that funded academic research, including efforts to develop a dictionary of the language.
Burr made repeated trips on behalf of the United Service Organizations (USO). He toured both Korea and Vietnam during wartime and once spent six months touring Korea, Japan, and the Philippines. He sometimes organized his own troupe and toured bases both in the U.S. and overseas, often small installations that the USO did not serve, like one tour of Greenland, Baffin Island, Newfoundland and Labrador. Returning from Vietnam in 1965, he made a speaking tour of the U.S. to advocate an intensified war effort. As the war became more controversial, he modified his tone, called for more attention to the sacrifice of the troops, and said, "My only position on the war is that I wish it were over." In October 1967, NBC aired Raymond Burr Visits Vietnam, a documentary of one of his visits. The reception was mixed. "The impressions he came up with are neither weighty nor particularly revealing", wrote the Chicago Tribune; the Los Angeles Times said Burr's questions were "intelligent and elicited some interesting replies".
Burr had a reputation in Hollywood as a thoughtful, generous man years before much of his more-visible philanthropic work. In 1960, Ray Collins, who portrayed Lt. Arthur Tragg on the original Perry Mason series, and who was by that time often ill and unable to remember all the lines he was supposed to speak, stated, "There is nothing but kindness from our star, Ray Burr. Part of his life is dedicated to us, and that's no bull. If there's anything the matter with any of us, he comes around before anyone else and does what he can to help. He's a great star—in the old tradition."
Illness and death
During the filming of his last Perry Mason movie in the spring of 1993, Burr fell ill. A Viacom spokesperson told the media that the illness might be related to the renal cell carcinoma (malignant kidney tumor) that had been removed from Burr that February. It was determined that the cancer had spread to his liver and was at that point inoperable. Burr threw several "goodbye parties" before his death on September 12, 1993, at his Sonoma County ranch near Healdsburg. He was 76 years old.
The day after Burr's death, American Bar Association president R. William Ide III released a statement: "Raymond Burr's portrayals of Perry Mason represented lawyers in a professional and dignified manner. ... Mr. Burr strove for such authenticity in his courtroom characterizations that we regard his passing as though we lost one of our own." The New York Times reported that Perry Mason had been named second—after F. Lee Bailey, and before Abraham Lincoln, Thurgood Marshall, Janet Reno, Ben Matlock and Hillary Clinton—in a recent National Law Journal poll that asked Americans to name the attorney, fictional or not, they most admired.
Burr was interred with his parents at Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, British Columbia. On October 1, 1993, about 600 family members and friends paid tribute to Burr at a private memorial service at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Burr bequeathed his estate to Robert Benevides, and excluded all relatives, including a sister, nieces, and nephews. His will was challenged, without success, by the two children of his late brother, James E. Burr. Benevides's attorney said that tabloid reports of an estate worth $32 million were an overestimate.
Accolades
For his work in the TV series Perry Mason, Burr received the Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Continuing Character) in a Dramatic Series at the 11th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1959. Nominated again in 1960, he received his second Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Series (Lead) at the 13th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1961. Burr was named Favorite Male Performer, for Perry Mason, in TV Guide magazine's inaugural TV Guide Award readers poll in 1960. He also received the second annual award in 1961.
In 1960, Burr was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6656 Hollywood Boulevard. Burr received six Emmy nominations (1968–72) for his work in the TV series Ironside. He was nominated twice, in 1969 and 1972, for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama. A benefactor of legal education, Burr was principal speaker at the founders' banquet of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, in June 1973. The Raymond Burr Award for Excellence in Criminal Law was established in his honor.
Burr was ranked #44 on TV Guides 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time in 1996. Completed in 1996, a circular garden at the entrance to the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel, Florida, honors Burr for his role in establishing the museum. Burr was a trustee and an early supporter who chaired the museum's first capital campaign and made direct contributions from his collection. A display about Burr as an actor, benefactor and collector opened in the museum's Great Hall of Shells in 2012.
From 2000 to 2006, the Raymond Burr Performing Arts Society leased the historic Columbia Theatre from the city of New Westminster, and renamed it the Raymond Burr Performing Arts Centre. Although the nonprofit organization hoped to raise funds to renovate and expand the venue, its contract was not renewed. The group was a failed bidder when the theater was sold in 2011.
In 2008, Canada Post issued a postage stamp in its "Canadians in Hollywood" series featuring Burr. Burr received the 2009 Canadian Legends Award and a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. The induction ceremony was held on September 12, 2009. A 2014 article in The Atlantic that examined how Netflix categorized nearly 77,000 different personalized genres found that Burr was rated as the favorite actor by Netflix users, with the greatest number of dedicated microgenres.
Theatre credits
Film credits
Radio credits
Television credits
See also
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
Notes
References
External links
Raymond Burr at the MBC Encyclopedia of Television
Complete biography of Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr at Find a Grave
1917 births
1993 deaths
20th-century Canadian male actors
Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
Canadian gay actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male radio actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian people of World War II
Canadian philanthropists
Civilian Conservation Corps people
Columbia University alumni
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from kidney cancer
Male actors from British Columbia
Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
Stanford University alumni
| true |
[
"\"Long Way to Go\" is a song by American singer and songwriter Stevie Nicks from her fourth solo studio album The Other Side of the Mirror (1989). It was released on July 1989, by the Modern label, as the second single from The Other Side of the Mirror. Written by Nicks, Rick Nowels and Charles Judge, the song was conceptualized and lyrics written by Nicks in late 1985 after an altercation with her former lover, Joe Walsh. \n\n\"Long Way to Go\" reached number 11 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and number 60 on the UK Singles Chart in 1989.\n\nBackground and composition\nNicks said the following about the song in an interview in 1989:\n\n\"I remain real good friends with most of the men in my life. 'Long Way to Go' was not written in such a nice way. This happened to be an experience that I had with somebody that I did very much love, who... we had been broken up for a long time before, a year before, and I had just finished Rock a Little, and I had walked into my house with Rock a Little under my arm, an acetate... the phone rang, and it was him, and he wanted me to drive two and a half hours to wherever it was that he lived... and I was very tired, and it was very late, it was like 3:30, 4 in the morning, and I turned around to somebody that was living in my house at that time, and I said, 'should I go?' And they said, 'well, it's a pretty long way to go to say goodbye again. I thought that we'd already, basically... Stevie, it's taking you an awful long time to get over this. Do you want to go down and start it up again?' And so I went back and forth and back and forth in my mind, and finally he said to me 'I'm sending a limousine for you.' And I said alright. And so... chump that I was, I got in the car and drove down there and played the record for him, and he kept it. Which I will never forgive him for. He kept my first acetate. And I think the last thing that I did say to him was, 'you know, it's a real long way to go to say goodbye again. I thought we already did that. Have fun, tell the world.' Which basically means words we don't say over the radio. Goodbye. Forever this time. Don't ever call me again. I mean, he put me in the car, and I was hysterical in tears, and I cried all the way home, and I said, 'I will never, ever, ever put myself in that position again. Nobody will ever do that to me again. As much as I loved him, I will never let that happen again.\"\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nAllMusic\n\n1989 songs\n1989 singles\nStevie Nicks songs\nSongs written by Stevie Nicks\nSong recordings produced by Rupert Hine\nModern Records (1980) singles",
"\"Everywhere I Go\" is a 1985 single by Christian music singer Amy Grant. It was released as the second single from her Unguarded album. Unlike \"Find a Way\" before it and \"Wise Up\" after it, the song failed to reach The Billboard Hot 100. However, the song did make the Adult Contemporary and Christian music charts in the United States.\n\n\"Everywhere I Go\" is a somewhat downtempo inspirational song that features heavy use of the synthesizer and some sound effects. The lyrics praise God's constant presence in Grant's life. In the Unguarded liner notes, Grant calls the song \"my own version of Psalm 139.\"\n\nBackground\n\nThe lead single from Unguarded was \"Find A Way\". That song went #1 on the Christian music charts, but also gave Grant her first hit on pop radio (as well as the first-ever Contemporary Christian music song to chart on pop radio). \"Everywhere I Go\" capitalized on Grant's newfound mainstream success and was released to both Christian and mainstream pop radio. The song's lyrics, however, are somewhat more explicit with respect to Grant's Christian faith than those of the other Unguarded singles, which may explain why \"Everywhere I Go\" did not perform quite as well on the mainstream charts. In 1986, Grant released her first compilation album, The Collection. Both \"Find a Way\" and \"Everywhere I Go\" were included, the only two songs from the still-new \"Unguarded\" to make the cut.\n\nPersonnel \n Amy Grant – lead and backing vocals\n Shane Keister – Yamaha GS1, synthesizer programming\n Michael W. Smith – Memorymoog, Yamaha GS2\n Jon Goin – electric guitar\n Dann Huff – electric guitar\n Mike Brignardello – bass\n Paul Leim – drums\n Gary Chapman – backing vocals \n Diana Hanna – backing vocals\n\nChart Success\n\nEverywhere I Go performed well on Christian radio, peaking at #4 on the Christian music charts in the U.S. On mainstream radio, the single did not make The Billboard Hot 100; however, the song still achieved notable mainstream exposure. The single peaked at #28 on the mainstream Adult Contemporary chart.\n\nCover versions\n\nThe song has been covered by several artists. Five Iron Frenzy notably released a punk rock version of the song on their 1997 album, Upbeats and Beatdowns.\n\nCharts\n\nAmy Grant songs\n1985 singles\n1985 songs\nWord Records singles"
] |
[
"Raymond Burr",
"Radio",
"what did he do on the radio",
"He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income.\"",
"how much did he make",
"he earned a steady and comfortable income.\"",
"what was he most known for",
"Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast.",
"did he ever win any awards",
"he had received 1,500 fan letters after the first broadcasts, and he continued to receive letters praising the show's authenticity and presentation of human dignity.",
"did he have any long running radio shows",
"Working steadily in radio since the 1940s,",
"What else interesting happened during this time",
"He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show,",
"What was the name of the show",
"Hire (1949), and in Dragnet (1949-50)",
"where they a success",
"had what is arguably his best radio role in \"The Silent Witness\" (1957),",
"when did he leave radio",
"In August 1956, CBS announced that Burr would star in the television series Perry Mason.",
"Did he ever go back to radio",
"TV series required an extraordinary commitment and the radio show ended."
] |
C_ce9c0a6e58fb4956a7b1aa750ba1c994_0
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Was he more successful on the show than on radio
| 11 |
Was Raymond Burr more successful on the show than on radio
|
Raymond Burr
|
As a young man Burr weighed more than 300 lbs., which limited his on-screen roles. "But in radio this presented no problems, given the magnificent quality of his voice," reported The Globe and Mail. "He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income." Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast. He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show, Pat Novak for Hire (1949), and in Dragnet (1949-50) he played Joe Friday's boss, Ed Backstrand, chief of detectives. Burr worked on other Los Angeles-based series including Suspense, Screen Directors Playhouse, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Family Theater, Hallmark Playhouse and Hallmark Hall of Fame. He performed in five episodes of the experimental dramatic radio anthology series CBS Radio Workshop, and had what is arguably his best radio role in "The Silent Witness" (1957), in which his is the only voice. In 1956 Burr was the star of CBS Radio's Fort Laramie, an adult Western drama produced, written and directed by the creators of Gunsmoke. He played the role of Lee Quince, captain of the cavalry, in the series set at a post-Civil War military post where disease, boredom, the elements and the uncharted terrain were the greatest enemies of "ordinary men who lived in extraordinary times". The half-hour transcribed program aired Sundays at 5:30 p.m. ET January 22 - October 28, 1956. Burr told columnist Sheilah Graham that he had received 1,500 fan letters after the first broadcasts, and he continued to receive letters praising the show's authenticity and presentation of human dignity. In August 1956, CBS announced that Burr would star in the television series Perry Mason. Although the network wanted Burr to continue work on Fort Laramie as well, the TV series required an extraordinary commitment and the radio show ended. Known for his loyalty and consciousness of history, Burr went out of his way to employ his radio colleagues in his television programs. Some 180 radio celebrities appeared on Perry Mason during the first season alone. CANNOTANSWER
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had what is arguably his best radio role in "The Silent Witness" (1957), in which his is the only voice.
|
William Raymond Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917September 12, 1993) was a Canadian-American actor known for his lengthy Hollywood film career and his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside.
Burr's early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television, and film, usually as the villain. His portrayal of the suspected murderer in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Rear Window (1954) is his best-known film role, although he is also remembered for his role in the 1956 film Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, which he reprised in the 1985 film Godzilla 1985. He won Emmy Awards for acting in 1959 and 1961 for the role of Perry Mason, which he played for nine seasons (1957–1966) and reprised in a series of 26 Perry Mason TV movies (1985–1993). His second TV series Ironside earned him six Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations.
Burr died of cancer in 1993, and his personal life came into question, as many details of his biography appeared to be unverifiable. He was ranked number 44 of the 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time by TV Guide magazine in 1996.
Early life
William Raymond Stacy Burr was born May 21, 1917, in New Westminster, British Columbia. His father William Johnston Burr (1889–1985) was a hardware salesman; his mother Minerva Annette (née Smith, 1892–1974) was a pianist and music teacher.
When Burr was six, his parents divorced. His mother moved to Vallejo, California, with him and his younger siblings Geraldine and James, while his father remained in New Westminster. Burr briefly attended San Rafael Military Academy in San Rafael, California, and graduated from Berkeley High School.
In later years, Burr freely invented stories of a happy childhood – as with many other autobiographical details he provided about his life, they are not verifiable and have no evidence to support their accuracy. In 1986, he told journalist Jane Ardmore that, when he was 12 years old, his mother sent him to New Mexico for a year to work as a ranch hand. He was already his full adult height and rather large and "had fallen in with a group of college-aged kids who didn't realize how young Raymond was, and they let him tag along with them in activities and situations far too sophisticated for him to handle". He developed a passion for growing things and joined the Civilian Conservation Corps for a year in his teens. He did acting work in his teen years, making his stage debut at age 12 with a Vancouver stock company.
Theater
Burr grew up during the Great Depression and hoped to study acting at the Pasadena Playhouse, but he was unable to afford the tuition. By his own account, which is open to question, in 1934 he joined a repertory theatre group in Toronto that toured throughout Canada, then joined another company that toured India, Australia, and England. He briefly attended Long Beach Junior College and taught for a semester at San Jose Junior College, working nights as a radio actor and singer. Resuming the verifiable part of his autobiography, Burr began his association with the Pasadena Playhouse in 1937.
Burr moved to New York in 1940 and made his first Broadway appearance in Crazy With the Heat, a two-act musical revue produced by Kurt Kasznar that quickly folded. His first starring role on the stage came in November 1942 when he was an emergency replacement in a Pasadena Playhouse production of Quiet Wedding. He became a member of the Pasadena Playhouse drama faculty for 18 months, and he performed in some 30 plays over the years. He returned to Broadway for Patrick Hamilton's The Duke in Darkness (1944), a psychological drama set during the French Wars of Religion. His performance as the loyal friend of the imprisoned protagonist led to a contract with RKO Radio Pictures.
Film
Burr appeared in more than 50 feature films between 1946 and 1957, creating an array of villains that established him as an icon of film noir. Film historian Alain Silver concluded that Burr's most significant work in the genre is in ten films: Desperate (1947), Sleep, My Love (1948), Raw Deal (1948), Pitfall (1948), Abandoned (1949), Red Light (1949), M (1951), His Kind of Woman (1951), The Blue Gardenia (1953), and Crime of Passion (1957). Silver described Burr's private detective in Pitfall as "both reprehensible and pathetic", a characterization also cited by film historian Richard Schickel as a prototype of film noir, in contrast with the appealing television characters for which Burr later became famous. "He tried to make you see the psychosis below the surface, even when the parts weren't huge," said film historian James Ursini. "He was able to bring such complexity and different levels to those characters, and create sympathy for his characters even though they were doing reprehensible things."
Other titles in Burr's film noir legacy include Walk a Crooked Mile (1948), Borderline (1950), Unmasked (1950), The Whip Hand (1951), FBI Girl (1951), Meet Danny Wilson (1952), Rear Window (1954), They Were So Young (1954), A Cry in the Night (1956), and Affair in Havana (1957). His villains were also seen in Westerns, period dramas, horror films, and adventure films.
"I was just a fat heavy", Burr told journalist James Bawden. "I split the heavy parts with Bill Conrad. We were both in our twenties playing much older men. I never got the girl but I once got the gorilla in a 3-D picture called Gorilla at Large. I menaced Claudette Colbert, Lizabeth Scott, Paulette Goddard, Anne Baxter, Barbara Stanwyck. Those girls would take one look at me and scream and can you blame them? I was drowned, beaten, stabbed and all for my art. But I knew I was horribly overweight. I lacked any kind of self esteem. At 25 I was playing the fathers of people older than me."
Burr's occasional roles on the right side of the law include the aggressive prosecutor in A Place in the Sun (1951). His courtroom performance in that film made an impression on Gail Patrick and her husband Cornwell Jackson, who had Burr in mind when they began casting the role of Los Angeles district attorney Hamilton Burger in the CBS-TV series Perry Mason.
Radio
By the age of 12, Burr was appearing in national radio dramas broadcasting in nearby San Francisco.
As a young man Burr weighed more than 300 lbs., which limited his on-screen roles. "But in radio this presented no problems, given the magnificent quality of his voice", reported The Globe and Mail. "He played romantic leads and menacing villains with equal authority, and he earned a steady and comfortable income."
Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, often uncredited, Burr was a leading player on the West Coast. He had a regular role in Jack Webb's first radio show, Pat Novak for Hire (1949), and in Dragnet (1949–50) he played Joe Friday's boss, Ed Backstrand, chief of detectives. Burr worked on other Los Angeles-based series including Suspense, Screen Directors Playhouse, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Family Theater, Hallmark Playhouse and Hallmark Hall of Fame. He performed in five episodes of the experimental dramatic radio anthology series CBS Radio Workshop, and had what is arguably his best radio role in "The Silent Witness" (1957), in which his is the only voice.
In 1956 Burr was the star of CBS Radio's Fort Laramie, an adult Western drama produced, written and directed by the creators of Gunsmoke. He played the role of Lee Quince, captain of the cavalry, in the series set at a post-Civil War military post where disease, boredom, the elements and the uncharted terrain were the greatest enemies of "ordinary men who lived in extraordinary times". The half-hour transcribed program aired Sundays at 5:30 p.m. ET January 22 – October 28, 1956. Burr told columnist Sheilah Graham that he had received 1,500 fan letters after the first broadcasts, and he continued to receive letters praising the show's authenticity and presentation of human dignity.
In August 1956, CBS announced that Burr would star in the television series Perry Mason. Although the network wanted Burr to continue work on Fort Laramie as well, the TV series required an extraordinary commitment and the radio show ended.
Known for his loyalty and consciousness of history, Burr went out of his way to employ his radio colleagues in his television programs. Some 180 radio celebrities appeared on Perry Mason during the first season alone.
Television
Burr emerged as a prolific television character actor in the 1950s. He made his television debut in 1951, appearing in episodes of Stars Over Hollywood, The Bigelow Theatre, Family Theater and the debut episode of Dragnet. He went on to appear in such programs as Gruen Playhouse, Four Star Playhouse, Ford Theatre, Lux Video Theatre, Mr. and Mrs. North, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars and Playhouse 90.
Perry Mason
In 1956, Burr auditioned for the role of District Attorney Hamilton Burger in Perry Mason, a new CBS-TV courtroom drama based on the highly successful novels by Erle Stanley Gardner. Executive producer Gail Patrick Jackson had been impressed with Burr's courtroom performance in A Place in the Sun (1951), and she told Burr that he was perfect for Perry Mason but at least overweight. He went on a crash diet over the following month; he then tested as Perry Mason and was cast in the role. While Burr's test was running, Gardner reportedly stood up, pointed at the screen, and said, "That's Perry Mason." William Hopper also auditioned as Mason, but he was cast instead as private detective Paul Drake. The series also starred Barbara Hale as Della Street, Mason's secretary, William Talman as Hamilton Burger, the district attorney who loses nearly every case to Mason, and Ray Collins as homicide detective Lieutenant Arthur Tragg.
The series ran from 1957 to 1966 and made Burr a star. In the early 1960s, the show had 30 million viewers every Saturday night and Burr received 3,000 fan letters a week. Burr received three consecutive Emmy Award nominations and won the award in 1959 and 1961 for his performance as Perry Mason. The series has been rerun in syndication ever since, and was released on DVD between 2006 and 2013. Burr's character is often said never to have lost a case, although he did lose two murder cases off-screen in early episodes of the series.
Ironside
Burr moved from CBS to Universal Studios, where he played the title role in the television drama Ironside, which ran on NBC from 1967 to 1975. In the pilot episode, San Francisco Chief of Detectives Robert T. Ironside is paralyzed by a sniper during an attempt on his life and, after his recovery, uses a wheelchair for mobility, in the first crime drama show to star a policeman with a disability. The show earned Burr six Emmy nominations—one for the pilot and five for his work in the series—and two Golden Globe nominations.
Other series
After Ironside went off the air, NBC failed in two attempts to launch Burr as the star of a new series. In a two-hour television movie format, Mallory: Circumstantial Evidence aired in February 1976 with Burr again in the role of the lawyer who outwits the district attorney. Despite good reviews for Burr, the critical reception was poor, and NBC decided against developing it into a series.
In 1977, Burr starred in the short-lived TV series Kingston: Confidential as R.B. Kingston, a William Randolph Hearst-esque publishing magnate, owner of numerous newspapers and TV stations, who, in his spare time, solved crimes along with a group of employees. It was a critical failure that was scheduled opposite the extraordinarily popular Charlie's Angels. It was cancelled after 13 weeks.
Burr took on a shorter project next, playing an underworld boss in a six-hour miniseries, 79 Park Avenue.
One last attempt to launch a series followed on CBS. The two-hour premiere of The Jordan Chance aroused little interest.
On January 20, 1987, Burr hosted the television special that later served as the pilot for the long-running series Unsolved Mysteries.
Television films
In 1985, Burr was approached by producers Dean Hargrove and Fred Silverman to star in a made-for-TV movie, Perry Mason Returns. The same week, Burr recalled, he was asked to reprise the role he played in Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), in a low-budget film that would be titled Godzilla 1985.
"When they asked me to do it a second time, I said, 'Certainly,' and everybody thought I was out of my mind," Burr told Tom Shales of The Washington Post. "But it wasn't the large sum of money. It was the fact that, first of all, I kind of liked 'Godzilla,' and where do you get the opportunity to play yourself 30 years later? So I said yes to both of them." Although Burr is best remembered for his role as Perry Mason, a devoted following continues to appreciate him as the actor that brought the Godzilla series to America.
He agreed to do the Mason movie if Barbara Hale returned to reprise her role as Della Street. Hale agreed, and when Perry Mason Returns aired in December 1985, her character became the defendant. The rest of the principal cast had died, but Hale's real-life son William Katt played the role of Paul Drake, Jr. The movie was so successful that Burr made a total of 26 Perry Mason television films before his death. Many were filmed in and around Denver, Colorado.
By 1993, when Burr signed with NBC for another season of Mason films, he was using a wheelchair full-time because of his failing health. In his final Perry Mason movie, The Case of the Killer Kiss, he was shown either sitting or standing while leaning on a table, but only once standing unsupported for a few seconds. Twelve more Mason movies were scheduled before Burr's death, including one scheduled to film the month he died.
As he had with the Perry Mason TV movies, Burr decided to do an Ironside reunion movie. The Return of Ironside aired in May 1993, reuniting the entire original cast of the 1967–75 series. Like many of the Mason movies, it was set and filmed in Denver.
Personal life
Physical characteristics
Burr said that he weighed 12.75 pounds (5.8 kg) at birth, and was chubby throughout his childhood. "When you're a little fat boy in public school, or any kind of school, you're just persecuted something awful", he said. His weight was always an issue for him in getting roles, and it became a public relations problem when Johnny Carson began making jokes about him during his Tonight Show monologues. Burr refused to appear as Carson's guest from then on, and told Us Weekly years later: "I have been asked a number of times to do his show and I won't do it. Because I like NBC. He's doing an NBC show. If I went on I'd have some things to say, not just about the bad jokes he's done about me, but bad jokes he does about everybody who can't fight back because they aren't there. And that wouldn't be good for NBC."
Family life
Burr married actress Isabella Ward (1919–2004) on January 10, 1948. They met in 1943 while she was a student at the Pasadena Playhouse where Burr was teaching. They met again in 1947 when she was in California with a theater company. They were married shortly before Burr began work on the 1948 film noir Pitfall. In May 1948, they appeared on stage together in a Pasadena Playhouse production based on the life of Paul Gauguin. They lived in the basement apartment of a large house in Hollywood that Burr shared with his mother and grandparents. The marriage ended within months, and Ward returned to her native Delaware. They divorced in 1952, and neither remarried.
In 1960, Burr met Robert Benevides, an actor and Korean War veteran, on the set of Perry Mason. Benevides gave up acting in 1963, and he became a production consultant for 21 of the Perry Mason TV movies. They owned and operated an orchid business and then a vineyard in California's Dry Creek Valley. They were domestic partners until Burr's death in 1993. Burr bequeathed his entire estate to Benevides, and Benevides renamed the Dry Creek property Raymond Burr Vineyards (reportedly against Burr's wishes) and managed it as a commercial enterprise. In 2017, the property was sold.
Although Burr had not revealed his homosexuality during his lifetime, it was reported in the press upon his death.
Biographical contradictions
At various times in his career, Burr and his managers and publicists offered spurious or unverifiable biographical details to the press and public. Burr's obituary in The New York Times states that he entered the US Navy in 1944, after The Duke in Darkness, and left in 1946, weighing almost . Although Burr may have served in the Coast Guard, reports of his service in the US Navy are false, as apparently are his statements that he sustained battle injuries at Okinawa.
Other false biographical details include years of college education at a variety of institutions, being widowed twice, a son who died young, world travel and success in high school athletics. Most of these claims were apparently accepted as fact by the press during Burr's lifetime, up until his death and by his first biographer, Ona Hill.
Burr reportedly was married at the beginning of World War II to an actress named Annette Sutherland—killed, Burr said, in the same 1943 plane crash that claimed the life of actor Leslie Howard. However, multiple sources have reported that no one by that name appears on any of the published passenger manifests from the flight. A son supposedly born during this marriage, Michael Evan, was said to have died of leukemia in 1953 at the age of ten. Another marriage purportedly took place in the early 1950s to a Laura Andrina Morgan—who died of cancer, Burr said, in 1955. Yet no evidence exists of either marriage, nor of a son's birth, other than Burr's own claims. As late as 1991, Burr stood by the account of this son's life and death. He told Parade that when he realized Michael was dying, he took him on a one-year tour of the United States. "Before my boy left, before his time was gone", he said, "I wanted him to see the beauty of his country and its people." After Burr's death, his publicist confirmed that Burr worked steadily in Hollywood throughout 1952, the year that he was supposedly touring the country with his son.
In the late 1950s, Burr was rumored to be romantically involved with Natalie Wood. Wood's agent sent her on public dates so she could be noticed by directors and producers, and so the men she dated could present themselves in public as heterosexuals. The dates helped to disguise Wood's relationship with Robert Wagner, whom she later married. Burr reportedly resented Warner Bros.' decision to promote her attachment to another gay actor, Tab Hunter, rather than him. Robert Benevides later said, "He was a little bitter about it. He was really in love with her, I guess."
Later accounts of Burr's life say that he hid his homosexuality to protect his career. "That was a time in Hollywood history when homosexuality was not countenanced", Associated Press reporter Bob Thomas recalled in a 2000 episode of Biography. "Ray was not a romantic star by any means, but he was a very popular figure ... If it was revealed at that time in Hollywood history it would have been very difficult for him to continue."
Arthur Marks, a producer of Perry Mason, recalled Burr's talk of wives and children: "I know he was just putting on a show. ... That was my gut feeling. I think the wives and the loving women, the Natalie Wood thing, were a bit of a cover." Dean Hargrove, executive producer of the Perry Mason TV films, said in 2006, "I had always assumed that Raymond was gay, because he had a relationship with Robert Benevides for a very long time. Whether or not he had relationships with women, I had no idea. I did know that I had trouble keeping track of whether he was married or not in these stories. Raymond had the ability to mythologize himself, to some extent, and some of his stories about his past ... tended to grow as time went by."
Hobbies and businesses
Burr had many hobbies over the course of his life: cultivating orchids and collecting wine, art, stamps, and seashells. He was very fond of cooking. He was interested in flying, sailing, and fishing. According to A&E Biography, Burr was an avid reader with a retentive memory. He was also among the earliest importers and breeders of Portuguese water dogs in the United States.
Burr developed his interest in cultivating and hybridizing orchids into a business with Benevides. Over 20 years, their company, Sea God Nurseries, had nurseries in Fiji, Hawaii, the Azores, and California, and was responsible for adding more than 1,500 new orchids to the worldwide catalog. Burr named one of them the "Barbara Hale Orchid" after his Perry Mason costar. Burr and Benevides cultivated Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and grapes for Port wine, as well as orchids, at Burr's farmland holdings in Sonoma County, California.
In 1965, Burr purchased Naitauba, a island in Fiji, rich in seashells. There, he and Benevides oversaw the raising of copra (coconut meat) and cattle, as well as orchids. Burr planned to retire there permanently. However, medical problems made that impossible and he sold the property in 1983.
Philanthropy
Burr was a well-known philanthropist. He gave enormous sums of money, including his salaries from the Perry Mason movies, to charity. He was also known for sharing his wealth with friends. He sponsored 26 foster children through the Foster Parents' Plan or Save The Children, many with the greatest medical needs. He gave money and some of his Perry Mason scripts to the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California.
Burr was an early supporter of the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel, Florida, raising funds and chairing its first capital campaign. He donated a large collection of Fijian cowries and cones from his island in Fiji.
In 1993, Sonoma State University awarded Burr an honorary doctorate. He supported medical and educational institutions in Denver, and in 1993, the University of Colorado awarded him an honorary doctorate for his acting work. Burr also founded and financed the American Fijian Foundation that funded academic research, including efforts to develop a dictionary of the language.
Burr made repeated trips on behalf of the United Service Organizations (USO). He toured both Korea and Vietnam during wartime and once spent six months touring Korea, Japan, and the Philippines. He sometimes organized his own troupe and toured bases both in the U.S. and overseas, often small installations that the USO did not serve, like one tour of Greenland, Baffin Island, Newfoundland and Labrador. Returning from Vietnam in 1965, he made a speaking tour of the U.S. to advocate an intensified war effort. As the war became more controversial, he modified his tone, called for more attention to the sacrifice of the troops, and said, "My only position on the war is that I wish it were over." In October 1967, NBC aired Raymond Burr Visits Vietnam, a documentary of one of his visits. The reception was mixed. "The impressions he came up with are neither weighty nor particularly revealing", wrote the Chicago Tribune; the Los Angeles Times said Burr's questions were "intelligent and elicited some interesting replies".
Burr had a reputation in Hollywood as a thoughtful, generous man years before much of his more-visible philanthropic work. In 1960, Ray Collins, who portrayed Lt. Arthur Tragg on the original Perry Mason series, and who was by that time often ill and unable to remember all the lines he was supposed to speak, stated, "There is nothing but kindness from our star, Ray Burr. Part of his life is dedicated to us, and that's no bull. If there's anything the matter with any of us, he comes around before anyone else and does what he can to help. He's a great star—in the old tradition."
Illness and death
During the filming of his last Perry Mason movie in the spring of 1993, Burr fell ill. A Viacom spokesperson told the media that the illness might be related to the renal cell carcinoma (malignant kidney tumor) that had been removed from Burr that February. It was determined that the cancer had spread to his liver and was at that point inoperable. Burr threw several "goodbye parties" before his death on September 12, 1993, at his Sonoma County ranch near Healdsburg. He was 76 years old.
The day after Burr's death, American Bar Association president R. William Ide III released a statement: "Raymond Burr's portrayals of Perry Mason represented lawyers in a professional and dignified manner. ... Mr. Burr strove for such authenticity in his courtroom characterizations that we regard his passing as though we lost one of our own." The New York Times reported that Perry Mason had been named second—after F. Lee Bailey, and before Abraham Lincoln, Thurgood Marshall, Janet Reno, Ben Matlock and Hillary Clinton—in a recent National Law Journal poll that asked Americans to name the attorney, fictional or not, they most admired.
Burr was interred with his parents at Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, British Columbia. On October 1, 1993, about 600 family members and friends paid tribute to Burr at a private memorial service at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Burr bequeathed his estate to Robert Benevides, and excluded all relatives, including a sister, nieces, and nephews. His will was challenged, without success, by the two children of his late brother, James E. Burr. Benevides's attorney said that tabloid reports of an estate worth $32 million were an overestimate.
Accolades
For his work in the TV series Perry Mason, Burr received the Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Continuing Character) in a Dramatic Series at the 11th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1959. Nominated again in 1960, he received his second Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Series (Lead) at the 13th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1961. Burr was named Favorite Male Performer, for Perry Mason, in TV Guide magazine's inaugural TV Guide Award readers poll in 1960. He also received the second annual award in 1961.
In 1960, Burr was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6656 Hollywood Boulevard. Burr received six Emmy nominations (1968–72) for his work in the TV series Ironside. He was nominated twice, in 1969 and 1972, for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama. A benefactor of legal education, Burr was principal speaker at the founders' banquet of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, in June 1973. The Raymond Burr Award for Excellence in Criminal Law was established in his honor.
Burr was ranked #44 on TV Guides 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time in 1996. Completed in 1996, a circular garden at the entrance to the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel, Florida, honors Burr for his role in establishing the museum. Burr was a trustee and an early supporter who chaired the museum's first capital campaign and made direct contributions from his collection. A display about Burr as an actor, benefactor and collector opened in the museum's Great Hall of Shells in 2012.
From 2000 to 2006, the Raymond Burr Performing Arts Society leased the historic Columbia Theatre from the city of New Westminster, and renamed it the Raymond Burr Performing Arts Centre. Although the nonprofit organization hoped to raise funds to renovate and expand the venue, its contract was not renewed. The group was a failed bidder when the theater was sold in 2011.
In 2008, Canada Post issued a postage stamp in its "Canadians in Hollywood" series featuring Burr. Burr received the 2009 Canadian Legends Award and a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. The induction ceremony was held on September 12, 2009. A 2014 article in The Atlantic that examined how Netflix categorized nearly 77,000 different personalized genres found that Burr was rated as the favorite actor by Netflix users, with the greatest number of dedicated microgenres.
Theatre credits
Film credits
Radio credits
Television credits
See also
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
Notes
References
External links
Raymond Burr at the MBC Encyclopedia of Television
Complete biography of Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr at Find a Grave
1917 births
1993 deaths
20th-century Canadian male actors
Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
Canadian gay actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male radio actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian people of World War II
Canadian philanthropists
Civilian Conservation Corps people
Columbia University alumni
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from kidney cancer
Male actors from British Columbia
Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
Stanford University alumni
| true |
[
"Air Time ‘57 (or simply Air Time) is a live musical variety series that aired briefly on ABC. It was hosted by singer and radio star Vaughn Monroe. Scheduled opposite shows that were more solidly established, the program lasted little more than three months.\n\nBackground\nMonroe had previously hosted two other network television shows: the one-season The Vaughn Monroe Show in 1950 (also known as Camel Caravan and based on the radio show of the same name) and The Vaughn Monroe Show in 1954 and 1955 (a 15-minute summer replacement series for The Dinah Shore Show). Air Time was an attempt to continue to capitalize on Monroe’s successful singing career.\n\nThe show was presented by the U.S. Air Force Reserve (now the Air Force Reserve Command).\n\nCast\nJazz trumpeter Bobby Hackett and the Elliot Lawrence Orchestra were regulars on the show. One or more guest stars also appeared each week.\n\nDorothy Collins guested on the first show.\n\nBroadcast history\nAir Time was broadcast at 10:00 pm on Thursdays opposite Playhouse 90 on CBS and Lux Video Theatre on NBC.\n\nReferences\n\nAmerican Broadcasting Company original programming\n1956 American television series debuts\n1957 American television series endings\n1950s American music television series",
"AllNight with Jason Smith was a syndicated sports talk radio show on ESPN Radio, hosted by Jason Smith. The show was heard Sunday through Thursday from 10pm PT to 1am PT live from the studios of KSPN in Los Angeles, California, rather than the ESPN Headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut. Smith was named host of the show on September 19, 2005, after former host Todd Wright was fired after almost eight years on the show. It reached more than 500 ESPN affiliate markets across the United States and Canada.\n\nAllNight with Jason Smith was syndicated on WEEI Sports Radio Network.\n\nOn September 14, 2011; Smith announced that he is leaving ESPN Radio. Rumors suggested he was leaving to take a job as a reporter on the MLB Network, which Smith refuted with the help of dramatic soundbites. His producer, Ali Bronson, also dispelled rumors about her taking over the show, or the show hiring former Green Bay Packers, New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre. On his last show, taking place on September 16, 2011 he announced that he would move to the NFL Network, and would start the following Sunday. Smith has since returned to radio, hosting a weeknight show for rival Fox Sports Radio.\n\nGuest hosts \nMike Salk and Amy Lawrence were two frequent guest hosts for AllNight. Smith himself was a guest host on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, The Scott Van Pelt Show, Jim Rome is Burning, and The Doug Gottlieb Show.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \nAllNight with Jason Smith\n\nESPN Radio programs\nAmerican sports radio programs\nRadio programs on XM Satellite Radio"
] |
[
"Slash's Snakepit",
"Ain't Life Grand and second breakup (1999-2002)"
] |
C_588ca78e90af44e48c070edd9acca477_0
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What album was Aint life grand for the band?
| 1 |
What album was Aint life grand for the band Slash?
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Slash's Snakepit
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The band began recording material with producer Jack Douglas at Slash's home studio as well as Ocean Way Studios. The recording featured contributions by Teddy Andreadis, Jimmy Zavala and Lee Thornburg, amongst others. Initially, the label was positive about the album, setting a release date for February 22, 2000. However, when Slash was informed by Geffen, who had folded into Interscope Records, that the album was not the type of music the label produced, he bought the album back and signed a deal with Koch Records. Following the completion of the album, Roxie departed the band with former Big Bang Babies, Warrant and Ratt guitarist Keri Kelli joining in his place. Ain't Life Grand was released on October 20, 2000 through Koch with "Mean Bone" released as the first single. The album did not sell as well as its predecessor, and critical reception to it was mixed. Entertainment Weekly reviewer Tony Scherman stated that "Slash's playing is as flashily incendiary as ever, but the songs and arrangements recycle hard-rock cliches worthier of Ratt than of a bona fide guitar god". Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone noted that "great guitarists need great bands, and the Snakepit dudes are barely functional backup peons". Steve Huey of Allmusic noted that "the new Snakepit does kick up a lot of noise as the album rushes by, and the strong chemistry between the members is immediately obvious". However, he stated that songwriting was the main problem, and that "it never rises above the level of solid, and too many tracks are by-the-numbers hard rock at best (and pedestrian at worst)". The band were dropped by Koch two months following the album's release. Prior to the album's release, Slash's Snakepit supported AC/DC on their Stiff Upper Lip tour from August to September, followed by their own headlining tour of theatres. They played only the first two shows on the winter leg of AC/DC's tour. After falling ill and checking into a hospital in Pittsburgh, Slash was ordered by his doctor to stay at home to recuperate, reportedly from pneumonia. Due to this, Slash's Snakepit pulled out of supporting AC/DC in early 2001. Slash later revealed in his self-titled biography that he had actually suffered cardiac myopathy caused by years of alcohol and drug abuse, with his heart swelling to the point of rupture. After being fitted with a defibrillator and undergoing physical therapy, Slash returned to the group to continue touring. They later rescheduled their US tour, performing shows from June 16 - July 6, co-headlining three shows with Billy Idol. Following the tour, feeling that his band was unprofessional and his bandmates were not fully committed, Slash disbanded Slash's Snakepit in an announcement made in early 2002. CANNOTANSWER
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the first
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Slash's Snakepit was an American rock supergroup from Los Angeles, California, formed by Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash in 1994. Though often described as a solo or side project, Slash stated that Snakepit was a band with equal contributions by all members. The first lineup of the band consisted of Slash, two of his Guns N' Roses bandmates—drummer Matt Sorum and guitarist Gilby Clarke—as well as Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez and former Jellyfish live guitarist Eric Dover on lead vocals.
Their debut album, It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, was released in 1995. For the supporting tour, Slash enlisted James LoMenzo and Brian Tichy, of Pride & Glory, in place of Inez and Sorum, who had other commitments. They played shows in the US, Europe, Japan and Australia before Geffen Records pulled their financial support for the tour, with Slash returning to Guns N' Roses and Slash's Snakepit disbanding.
Following his departure from Guns N' Roses in 1996, Slash formed the cover band Slash's Blues Ball. After a tour in 1997, Slash approached Blues Ball bassist Johnny Griparic about forming a new lineup of Slash's Snakepit. The new lineup consisted of Slash, Griparic, singer Rod Jackson, guitarist Ryan Roxie, and drummer Matt Laug (Roxie and Laug were both former members of Alice Cooper's solo band). They recorded and released their second album, entitled Ain't Life Grand, in 2000, which was preceded by a tour supporting AC/DC and followed by their own headlining tour. For the tour, Keri Kelli joined the group in place of Ryan Roxie, who departed following the completion of the album. However, after the final show, Slash disbanded Snakepit due to a lack of commitment from his band members. Shortly after, Slash formed Velvet Revolver in 2002, along with drummer and fellow Guns N' Roses member Matt Sorum.
History
Formation (1993–1994)
Following the two and a half year world tour in support of the albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash returned to Los Angeles. He soon sold his home, the Walnut House, and moved to Mulholland Drive. He built a small home studio, nicknamed The Snakepit, over his garage and began working on demos for songs he had written during the tour. Slash worked on the demos with Guns N' Roses bandmate and drummer Matt Sorum. They were later joined by guitarist Gilby Clarke and Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez, jamming and recording most nights. Slash played the demos for Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose who rejected the material, though he would later want to use them for the next Guns N' Roses album. They had recorded twelve songs by 1994, the same year that Guns N' Roses went on hiatus.
Slash decided to record the Snakepit demos with Sorum, Clarke and Inez, later adding former Jellyfish live guitarist Eric Dover as lead vocalist. The decision to record with Dover led to a disagreement between Slash and Sorum, due to Slash not seeking Sorum's approval before hiring Dover.
It's Five O'Clock Somewhere and breakup (1994–1996)
Slash and Dover wrote the lyrics to all twelve songs with Slash using the songwriting to vent his frustrations at Guns N' Roses singer Rose. Clarke contributed the song "Monkey Chow" to the album while "Jizz da Pit" is an instrumental by Slash and Inez. They recorded the album at Conway Recording Studios and The Record Plant with Mike Clink and Slash co-producing and Steven Thompson and Michael Barbiero mixing, all of whom had worked with Guns N' Roses on their debut album Appetite for Destruction. The album featured contributions by Duff McKagan (who co-wrote "Beggars & Hangers-On"), Dizzy Reed on keyboards, Teddy Andreadis on harmonica, and Paulinho da Costa on percussion. Slash's brother, Ash Hudson, designed the album's cover.
The resulting album, titled It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, was released in February 1995 through Geffen Records. The album's title was taken from a phrase Slash overheard at an airport. At the insistence of the record label, the album was released under the name Slash's Snakepit, instead of The Snakepit, despite Slash not wanting his name used. Upon release, the album charted at number 70 on the Billboard 200 and number 15 on the UK Albums Chart. "Beggars & Hangers-On" was released as the first, and only, single from the album; while a music video was also shot for "Good to Be Alive", directed by August Jakobsson.
Critically, the album received mainly positive reviews. Metal Hammer stated that "the sleazy, downtrodden blues hard rock [...] breaks new ground." AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine called Slash's contributions "quite amazing", though criticised the song-writing, stating "it's too bad that nobody in the band bothered to write any songs." Devon Jackson of Entertainment Weekly described the album as "relaxed headbanging and Southern-tinged blues-rock" while Classic Rock reviewer Malcolm Dome stated "musically, it's a loose-limbed record that has a lot of heavy guitar-led punk-style pop-rock." Slash's Snakepit toured in support of the album, with bassist James LoMenzo and drummer Brian Tichy, of Pride & Glory, replacing Inez and Sorum, who had opted out of touring, with Sorum returning to Guns N' Roses. They toured the US, Europe, Japan and Australia with Slash stating that "for the first time in years, touring was easy, [his] band mates were loads of fun and low on drama, and every gig was about playing rock and roll." While booking another leg of the tour, Slash was informed by Geffen that Rose was ready to begin work on the new Guns N' Roses album and that he was to return to Los Angeles. Geffen pulled financial support for the band's tour with Slash's Snakepit disbanding soon after.
Slash's Blues Ball and reformation (1996–1999)
Slash departed Guns N' Roses in 1996, due to musical differences between himself and singer Axl Rose. Following his departure, Slash toured Japan for two weeks with Chic, and worked on the soundtrack to the film Curdled. He later began touring in a blues cover band that eventually became Slash's Blues Ball. Aside from Slash, the band consisted of Teddy Andreadis, guitarist Bobby Schneck, bassist Johnny Griparic, saxophonist Dave McClarem and drummer Alvino Bennett. The band toured on and off until 1998, which included a headline slot at a jazz festival in Budapest. They covered various artists and bands such as B.B. King, Steppenwolf, Otis Redding, as well as Guns N' Roses and early Slash's Snakepit material.
Following a tour in 1997, Slash approached Griparic about forming a new lineup of Slash's Snakepit They began looking for a singer, receiving over 300 audition tapes from mostly unknown singers. Jon Stevens of Noiseworks, who had been recording with Slash, was seen as a potential singer in early 1998. However, he returned to Australia to continue his solo career. They eventually chose Rod Jackson (earlier of Virginia based band Ragdoll) after Griparic played a tape of him for Slash. Completing the lineup were guitarist Ryan Roxie, formerly of Alice Cooper, and drummer Matt Laug, also from Alice Cooper and the band Venice. They began rehearsing at Mates Studio before rehearsing and recording in Slash's new home studio in Beverly Hills.
Ain't Life Grand and second breakup (1999–2002)
The band began recording material with producer Jack Douglas at Slash's home studio as well as Ocean Way Recording. The recording featured contributions by Teddy Andreadis, Jimmy Zavala and Lee Thornburg, amongst others. Initially, the label was positive about the album, setting a release date for February 22, 2000. However, when Slash was informed by Geffen, who had folded into Interscope Records, that the album was not the type of music the label produced, he bought the album back and signed a deal with Koch Records. Following the completion of the album, Roxie departed the band with former Big Bang Babies, Warrant and Ratt guitarist Keri Kelli joining in his place.
Ain't Life Grand was released on October 20, 2000 through Koch with "Mean Bone" released as the first single. The album did not sell as well as its predecessor, and critical reception to it was mixed. Entertainment Weekly reviewer Tony Scherman stated that "Slash's playing is as flashily incendiary as ever, but the songs and arrangements recycle hard-rock cliches worthier of Ratt than of a bona fide guitar god". Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone noted that "great guitarists need great bands, and the Snakepit dudes are barely functional backup peons". Steve Huey of Allmusic noted that "the new Snakepit does kick up a lot of noise as the album rushes by, and the strong chemistry between the members is immediately obvious". However, he stated that songwriting was the main problem, and that "it never rises above the level of solid, and too many tracks are by-the-numbers hard rock at best (and pedestrian at worst)". The band were dropped by Koch two months following the album's release.
Prior to the album's release, Slash's Snakepit supported AC/DC on their Stiff Upper Lip tour from August to September, followed by their own headlining tour of theatres. They played only the first two shows on the winter leg of AC/DC's tour. After falling ill and checking into a hospital in Pittsburgh, Slash was ordered by his doctor to stay at home to recuperate, reportedly from pneumonia. Due to this, Slash's Snakepit pulled out of supporting AC/DC in early 2001. Slash later revealed in his self-titled biography that he had actually suffered cardiac myopathy caused by years of alcohol and drug abuse, with his heart swelling to the point of rupture. After being fitted with a defibrillator and undergoing physical therapy, Slash returned to the group to continue touring. They later rescheduled their US tour, performing shows from June 16 – July 6, co-headlining three shows with Billy Idol. Following the tour, Jackson had developed a serious addiction to heroin. According to Slash, he was "unmotivated and a junkie" and that it was "hard to get creative with him". As a result, Slash disbanded Slash's Snakepit in an announcement made in early 2002.
Post–breakup activities
Following the breakup of Slash's Snakepit, Slash announced he was to begin working on a solo album. Instead he later worked with The Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman and an unnamed bassist on a new project. Together with his former Guns N' Roses bandmates Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum, they formed The Project, that eventually became the hard rock supergroup Velvet Revolver following the addition of former Wasted Youth guitarist Dave Kushner, and then-former Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland. They released their debut album Contraband, in 2004, followed by Libertad in 2007, before they parted ways with Weiland and went on hiatus in 2008. With Velvet Revolver on hiatus, Slash began work on his debut solo album. Slash was released on March 31, 2010, and featured a number of guests such as Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother, M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold, Kid Rock, Ozzy Osbourne, Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge, and Fergie. His band for the tour in support of the album consisted of Kennedy, bassist Todd Kerns, and drummer Brent Fitz. It also included guitarist Bobby Schneck, formerly of Slash's Blues Ball.
Musical style
Slash's Snakepit's music was often described as hard rock and blues rock with elements of southern rock. The band were also often described as Slash's solo or side project though Slash maintained that they were a band, stating "everybody wrote, everybody had equal input even though I had my name on it." Rolling Stone reviewer J.D. Considine noted the differences between Guns N' Roses and Slash's Snakepit on their first album, stating that "Guns [N]' Roses typically treat the melody as the most important part of the song, most of what slithers out of the Snakepit emphasizes the playing." He noted that singer Eric Dover "conveys the raw-throated intensity of a hard-rock frontman" and "he avoids the genre's most obvious excesses." The riff to "Good to Be Alive" drew a comparison to Chuck Berry while the musicianship on the album was praised. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic stated that "there's little argument that Slash is a great guitarist" who is "capable of making rock and blues clichés sound fresh". Reviewing Ain't Life Grand for Allmusic, Steve Huey described second singer Rod Jackson as "a combination of '80s pop-metal bluster and Faces-era Rod Stewart" with a "touch of Aerosmith", a description that he felt also fitted the band as a whole. He noted, though, that Slash's guitar playing was "tame" and stated that the main problem of the album was the songwriting, though it was "still a passable, workmanlike record that will definitely appeal to fans of grimy, old-school hard rock." Malcolm Dome of Classic Rock stated that "from the moment that "Been There Lately" opens, there's a vibe here that was missing before" and that Ain't Life Grand showed "purpose, direction and individuality."
Personnel
Slash – lead guitar, backing vocals (1994–1995, 1998–2002)
Gilby Clarke – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1994–1995)
Eric Dover – vocals (1994–1995)
Mike Inez – bass, backing vocals (1994–1995)
Matt Sorum – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1994–1995)
James LoMenzo – bass, backing vocals (1995)
Brian Tichy – drums, backing vocals (1995)
Johnny Griparic – bass, backing vocals (1998–2002)
Rod Jackson – vocals (1998–2002)
Matt Laug – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1998–2002)
Ryan Roxie – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1998–2000)
Keri Kelli – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2000–2002)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Singles
References
External links
American blues rock musical groups
American supergroups
Geffen Records artists
Guns N' Roses
Hard rock musical groups from California
Musical groups established in 1993
Musical groups disestablished in 1995
Musical groups reestablished in 1998
Musical groups disestablished in 2002
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Slash (musician)
| true |
[
"Grand Avenue is a Danish rock band formed in 2001. The band consists of Rasmus Walter (vocals, guitar), Niels-Kristian Bærentzen (guitar), Marc Stebbing (bass) and Hjalte Thygesen (drums).\n\nHistory \nThe four band members met at a musical college in London in 1997. Frontman Rasmus Walter and lead guitarist Bærentzen started to write songs together, and with the addition of Stebbing and Thygesen Grand Avenue was formed. The band released a single in 2003 called \"What's on Your Mind\", which became \"Ugens Uundgåelige\" (the most played number on the radio station for a week) on Danish Radio P3 and caught the attention of EMI. The band signed with the record company and released their debut album Grand Avenue in 2003.\n\nIn 2005, the band moved to New York City to record their follow-up album She, working with producer Bryce Goggin. The album was released in 2005.\n\nDuring 2006 the band started working on their third album, The Outside which was released in 2007. It was produced by Irishman Richard Rainey. Again, the band had a \"Ugens Uundgåelige\" with the single \"The Outside.\"\n\nRainey also produced Grand Avenue's fourth album, Place to Fall, released on 28 September 2009 in Denmark. The first single from the album was \"Almost Gone\".\n\nIn popular culture \nTheir song \"She\" was featured in the film Cashback. It was a part of the movie's soundtrack and it was performed as a different version for the movie.\n\nThe song \"Ordinary\" was featured in an episode of the television series Kyle XY.\n\nAnd the song \"On Your Side\" was licensed for commercial use to the Danish dairy producer Arla Foods in 2008, for use in the \"Closer to Nature\" series, directed by Peter Thwaites.\n\nDiscography\n\nReferences \n\nMusical groups established in 2001\nDanish alternative rock groups",
"What We Live For is the second studio album by American pop rock band American Authors, produced by returning collaborators Aaron Accetta and Shep Goodman. Running at 42 minutes and comprising twelve tracks, the album was released worldwide by Island Records on July 1, 2016. The album marks the third major release by the band under the American Authors moniker, and largely continues the sound of their debut album, Oh, What a Life.\n\nWhat We Live For debuted at number 60 on the Billboard 200 and spawned four singles: \"Go Big or Go Home\", \"Pride\", \"What We Live For\" and \"I'm Born to Run\". To promote the album, the band went on a U.S. tour to promote the record ahead of its release.\n\nBackground and recording\n\nIn March 2014, American Authors released their debut studio album, Oh, What a Life, after many years releasing extended plays under the moniker The Blue Pages. American Authors enjoyed considerable success with the album, gaining significant exposure, especially through adult contemporary radio. Their success is largely due to the commercial boom of their hit single, \"Best Day of My Life\", which by April 2015 had been certified 3× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, marking sales exceeding three million. Drummer Matt Sanchez described the band's achievements; \"truthfully, most people don’t realize we’ve been a band for about eight years, so success seems like it’s come in marathon form and we still got a long way to go.\" Heading into the creative process for their follow-up album, the band expressed a preference to preserve most of the sound that made \"Best Day of My Life\" and Oh, What a Life commercially successful, but with a more mature feel, citing the need to reflect the growth of the band as artists.\n\nSongwriting and early recording sessions for the band's follow-up to Oh, What a Life began as early as on tour in 2014. While serving as a supporting act on the Native Summer Tour, the band entertained the idea of co-writing a song with OneRepublic's frontman Ryan Tedder, hoping to add what American Authors frontman Zac Barnett as \"the Ryan Tedder touch\". The band continued to write and record new songs for the album during their time on the 13th Annual Honda Civic Tours and tours throughout 2015, with some songs even being premiered and exercised live in their tours, such as \"Nothing Better\" and \"Pride\". Principal recording commenced in early to mid 2015, and was primarily recorded with producers Aaron Accetta and Shep Goodman, who had previously worked with the band on their eponymous extended play and Oh, What a Life. While the band had an extensive set of songs at the beginning of the sessions, enough to create an album outright, the band exercised their material and continued to write and record new songs well into 2016.\n\nComposition\n\nWhat We Live For largely continues the sound of the band's debut studio album, Oh, What a Life. Lead singer Zac Barnett stated that \"we tried to take a lot of the stuff that our fans like and love about us from Oh, What a Life and take that to the next level as far as sounds go. [We] brought back some of the old instruments like mandolin and banjo, but also experimented with a lot of different sounds like vocal samples. We brought back a lot of piano [and] bigger harmonies.\" Lyrically, the album builds on Oh, What a Lifes biographical themes, which followed the band's origins and journey; What We Live For documents the band's experiences during the present and their perspective on the future.\n\nPromotion\n\"Go Big or Go Home\", which would ultimately appear as the seventh track on the final album, was released in May 2015 as a single, after the band's last single promoting Oh, What a Life, \"Luck\", was released a year previously. \"Pride\" also appeared on a single in December 2015, and was also solicited as a promotional single to United States adult contemporary radio thereafter. What We Live For was officially unveiled by the band and Island Records on March 2, 2016, with pre-orders for both a digital download and compact disc version of the album being made available the same day. The album's opening two tracks, \"What We Live For\" and \"I'm Born to Run\" were also made available to purchase in April 2016, on the album's page on iTunes. Supporting the album, the band embarked on a 19-date tour of the United States from March through to May 2015, performing songs appearing on the new album live, in the lead-up to its release. It was announced through the band's Facebook page that the album's release date was pushed nearly two months from their original date, saying they are \"putting the finishing touches\" on their album and planned to release new music videos before their album was available in stores.\n\nReception\n\nCritical\n\nSoundtrack appearances\n\"Go Big or Go Home\" was featured in NBA videos showing highlights from the 2015 playoffs.\n\"Right Here Right Now\" is featured on EA Sports game, Madden NFL 17.\n\"What We Live For\" was featured in 2016 World Cup of Hockey video packages.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel\nAmerican Authors\nZac Barnett – lead vocals, guitar\nJames Adam Shelley – lead guitar, banjo, mandolin\nDave Rublin – bass, keyboard\nMatt Sanchez – drums, percussion\n\nProduction\nAaron Accetta – producer\nShep Goodman – producer\nFrequency – producer of \"Mess With Your Heart\"\n\nCharts\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\nNotes\n\nCitations\n\nExternal links\n\nAmerican Authors official website\n\n2016 albums\nAmerican Authors albums\nAlbums produced by Aaron Accetta\nAlbums produced by Shep Goodman\nIsland Records albums"
] |
[
"Slash's Snakepit",
"Ain't Life Grand and second breakup (1999-2002)",
"What album was Aint life grand for the band?",
"the first"
] |
C_588ca78e90af44e48c070edd9acca477_0
|
Did it chart well at the box office?
| 2 |
Did Ain't Life Grand by Slash chart well at the box office?
|
Slash's Snakepit
|
The band began recording material with producer Jack Douglas at Slash's home studio as well as Ocean Way Studios. The recording featured contributions by Teddy Andreadis, Jimmy Zavala and Lee Thornburg, amongst others. Initially, the label was positive about the album, setting a release date for February 22, 2000. However, when Slash was informed by Geffen, who had folded into Interscope Records, that the album was not the type of music the label produced, he bought the album back and signed a deal with Koch Records. Following the completion of the album, Roxie departed the band with former Big Bang Babies, Warrant and Ratt guitarist Keri Kelli joining in his place. Ain't Life Grand was released on October 20, 2000 through Koch with "Mean Bone" released as the first single. The album did not sell as well as its predecessor, and critical reception to it was mixed. Entertainment Weekly reviewer Tony Scherman stated that "Slash's playing is as flashily incendiary as ever, but the songs and arrangements recycle hard-rock cliches worthier of Ratt than of a bona fide guitar god". Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone noted that "great guitarists need great bands, and the Snakepit dudes are barely functional backup peons". Steve Huey of Allmusic noted that "the new Snakepit does kick up a lot of noise as the album rushes by, and the strong chemistry between the members is immediately obvious". However, he stated that songwriting was the main problem, and that "it never rises above the level of solid, and too many tracks are by-the-numbers hard rock at best (and pedestrian at worst)". The band were dropped by Koch two months following the album's release. Prior to the album's release, Slash's Snakepit supported AC/DC on their Stiff Upper Lip tour from August to September, followed by their own headlining tour of theatres. They played only the first two shows on the winter leg of AC/DC's tour. After falling ill and checking into a hospital in Pittsburgh, Slash was ordered by his doctor to stay at home to recuperate, reportedly from pneumonia. Due to this, Slash's Snakepit pulled out of supporting AC/DC in early 2001. Slash later revealed in his self-titled biography that he had actually suffered cardiac myopathy caused by years of alcohol and drug abuse, with his heart swelling to the point of rupture. After being fitted with a defibrillator and undergoing physical therapy, Slash returned to the group to continue touring. They later rescheduled their US tour, performing shows from June 16 - July 6, co-headlining three shows with Billy Idol. Following the tour, feeling that his band was unprofessional and his bandmates were not fully committed, Slash disbanded Slash's Snakepit in an announcement made in early 2002. CANNOTANSWER
|
The album did not sell as well
|
Slash's Snakepit was an American rock supergroup from Los Angeles, California, formed by Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash in 1994. Though often described as a solo or side project, Slash stated that Snakepit was a band with equal contributions by all members. The first lineup of the band consisted of Slash, two of his Guns N' Roses bandmates—drummer Matt Sorum and guitarist Gilby Clarke—as well as Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez and former Jellyfish live guitarist Eric Dover on lead vocals.
Their debut album, It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, was released in 1995. For the supporting tour, Slash enlisted James LoMenzo and Brian Tichy, of Pride & Glory, in place of Inez and Sorum, who had other commitments. They played shows in the US, Europe, Japan and Australia before Geffen Records pulled their financial support for the tour, with Slash returning to Guns N' Roses and Slash's Snakepit disbanding.
Following his departure from Guns N' Roses in 1996, Slash formed the cover band Slash's Blues Ball. After a tour in 1997, Slash approached Blues Ball bassist Johnny Griparic about forming a new lineup of Slash's Snakepit. The new lineup consisted of Slash, Griparic, singer Rod Jackson, guitarist Ryan Roxie, and drummer Matt Laug (Roxie and Laug were both former members of Alice Cooper's solo band). They recorded and released their second album, entitled Ain't Life Grand, in 2000, which was preceded by a tour supporting AC/DC and followed by their own headlining tour. For the tour, Keri Kelli joined the group in place of Ryan Roxie, who departed following the completion of the album. However, after the final show, Slash disbanded Snakepit due to a lack of commitment from his band members. Shortly after, Slash formed Velvet Revolver in 2002, along with drummer and fellow Guns N' Roses member Matt Sorum.
History
Formation (1993–1994)
Following the two and a half year world tour in support of the albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash returned to Los Angeles. He soon sold his home, the Walnut House, and moved to Mulholland Drive. He built a small home studio, nicknamed The Snakepit, over his garage and began working on demos for songs he had written during the tour. Slash worked on the demos with Guns N' Roses bandmate and drummer Matt Sorum. They were later joined by guitarist Gilby Clarke and Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez, jamming and recording most nights. Slash played the demos for Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose who rejected the material, though he would later want to use them for the next Guns N' Roses album. They had recorded twelve songs by 1994, the same year that Guns N' Roses went on hiatus.
Slash decided to record the Snakepit demos with Sorum, Clarke and Inez, later adding former Jellyfish live guitarist Eric Dover as lead vocalist. The decision to record with Dover led to a disagreement between Slash and Sorum, due to Slash not seeking Sorum's approval before hiring Dover.
It's Five O'Clock Somewhere and breakup (1994–1996)
Slash and Dover wrote the lyrics to all twelve songs with Slash using the songwriting to vent his frustrations at Guns N' Roses singer Rose. Clarke contributed the song "Monkey Chow" to the album while "Jizz da Pit" is an instrumental by Slash and Inez. They recorded the album at Conway Recording Studios and The Record Plant with Mike Clink and Slash co-producing and Steven Thompson and Michael Barbiero mixing, all of whom had worked with Guns N' Roses on their debut album Appetite for Destruction. The album featured contributions by Duff McKagan (who co-wrote "Beggars & Hangers-On"), Dizzy Reed on keyboards, Teddy Andreadis on harmonica, and Paulinho da Costa on percussion. Slash's brother, Ash Hudson, designed the album's cover.
The resulting album, titled It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, was released in February 1995 through Geffen Records. The album's title was taken from a phrase Slash overheard at an airport. At the insistence of the record label, the album was released under the name Slash's Snakepit, instead of The Snakepit, despite Slash not wanting his name used. Upon release, the album charted at number 70 on the Billboard 200 and number 15 on the UK Albums Chart. "Beggars & Hangers-On" was released as the first, and only, single from the album; while a music video was also shot for "Good to Be Alive", directed by August Jakobsson.
Critically, the album received mainly positive reviews. Metal Hammer stated that "the sleazy, downtrodden blues hard rock [...] breaks new ground." AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine called Slash's contributions "quite amazing", though criticised the song-writing, stating "it's too bad that nobody in the band bothered to write any songs." Devon Jackson of Entertainment Weekly described the album as "relaxed headbanging and Southern-tinged blues-rock" while Classic Rock reviewer Malcolm Dome stated "musically, it's a loose-limbed record that has a lot of heavy guitar-led punk-style pop-rock." Slash's Snakepit toured in support of the album, with bassist James LoMenzo and drummer Brian Tichy, of Pride & Glory, replacing Inez and Sorum, who had opted out of touring, with Sorum returning to Guns N' Roses. They toured the US, Europe, Japan and Australia with Slash stating that "for the first time in years, touring was easy, [his] band mates were loads of fun and low on drama, and every gig was about playing rock and roll." While booking another leg of the tour, Slash was informed by Geffen that Rose was ready to begin work on the new Guns N' Roses album and that he was to return to Los Angeles. Geffen pulled financial support for the band's tour with Slash's Snakepit disbanding soon after.
Slash's Blues Ball and reformation (1996–1999)
Slash departed Guns N' Roses in 1996, due to musical differences between himself and singer Axl Rose. Following his departure, Slash toured Japan for two weeks with Chic, and worked on the soundtrack to the film Curdled. He later began touring in a blues cover band that eventually became Slash's Blues Ball. Aside from Slash, the band consisted of Teddy Andreadis, guitarist Bobby Schneck, bassist Johnny Griparic, saxophonist Dave McClarem and drummer Alvino Bennett. The band toured on and off until 1998, which included a headline slot at a jazz festival in Budapest. They covered various artists and bands such as B.B. King, Steppenwolf, Otis Redding, as well as Guns N' Roses and early Slash's Snakepit material.
Following a tour in 1997, Slash approached Griparic about forming a new lineup of Slash's Snakepit They began looking for a singer, receiving over 300 audition tapes from mostly unknown singers. Jon Stevens of Noiseworks, who had been recording with Slash, was seen as a potential singer in early 1998. However, he returned to Australia to continue his solo career. They eventually chose Rod Jackson (earlier of Virginia based band Ragdoll) after Griparic played a tape of him for Slash. Completing the lineup were guitarist Ryan Roxie, formerly of Alice Cooper, and drummer Matt Laug, also from Alice Cooper and the band Venice. They began rehearsing at Mates Studio before rehearsing and recording in Slash's new home studio in Beverly Hills.
Ain't Life Grand and second breakup (1999–2002)
The band began recording material with producer Jack Douglas at Slash's home studio as well as Ocean Way Recording. The recording featured contributions by Teddy Andreadis, Jimmy Zavala and Lee Thornburg, amongst others. Initially, the label was positive about the album, setting a release date for February 22, 2000. However, when Slash was informed by Geffen, who had folded into Interscope Records, that the album was not the type of music the label produced, he bought the album back and signed a deal with Koch Records. Following the completion of the album, Roxie departed the band with former Big Bang Babies, Warrant and Ratt guitarist Keri Kelli joining in his place.
Ain't Life Grand was released on October 20, 2000 through Koch with "Mean Bone" released as the first single. The album did not sell as well as its predecessor, and critical reception to it was mixed. Entertainment Weekly reviewer Tony Scherman stated that "Slash's playing is as flashily incendiary as ever, but the songs and arrangements recycle hard-rock cliches worthier of Ratt than of a bona fide guitar god". Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone noted that "great guitarists need great bands, and the Snakepit dudes are barely functional backup peons". Steve Huey of Allmusic noted that "the new Snakepit does kick up a lot of noise as the album rushes by, and the strong chemistry between the members is immediately obvious". However, he stated that songwriting was the main problem, and that "it never rises above the level of solid, and too many tracks are by-the-numbers hard rock at best (and pedestrian at worst)". The band were dropped by Koch two months following the album's release.
Prior to the album's release, Slash's Snakepit supported AC/DC on their Stiff Upper Lip tour from August to September, followed by their own headlining tour of theatres. They played only the first two shows on the winter leg of AC/DC's tour. After falling ill and checking into a hospital in Pittsburgh, Slash was ordered by his doctor to stay at home to recuperate, reportedly from pneumonia. Due to this, Slash's Snakepit pulled out of supporting AC/DC in early 2001. Slash later revealed in his self-titled biography that he had actually suffered cardiac myopathy caused by years of alcohol and drug abuse, with his heart swelling to the point of rupture. After being fitted with a defibrillator and undergoing physical therapy, Slash returned to the group to continue touring. They later rescheduled their US tour, performing shows from June 16 – July 6, co-headlining three shows with Billy Idol. Following the tour, Jackson had developed a serious addiction to heroin. According to Slash, he was "unmotivated and a junkie" and that it was "hard to get creative with him". As a result, Slash disbanded Slash's Snakepit in an announcement made in early 2002.
Post–breakup activities
Following the breakup of Slash's Snakepit, Slash announced he was to begin working on a solo album. Instead he later worked with The Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman and an unnamed bassist on a new project. Together with his former Guns N' Roses bandmates Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum, they formed The Project, that eventually became the hard rock supergroup Velvet Revolver following the addition of former Wasted Youth guitarist Dave Kushner, and then-former Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland. They released their debut album Contraband, in 2004, followed by Libertad in 2007, before they parted ways with Weiland and went on hiatus in 2008. With Velvet Revolver on hiatus, Slash began work on his debut solo album. Slash was released on March 31, 2010, and featured a number of guests such as Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother, M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold, Kid Rock, Ozzy Osbourne, Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge, and Fergie. His band for the tour in support of the album consisted of Kennedy, bassist Todd Kerns, and drummer Brent Fitz. It also included guitarist Bobby Schneck, formerly of Slash's Blues Ball.
Musical style
Slash's Snakepit's music was often described as hard rock and blues rock with elements of southern rock. The band were also often described as Slash's solo or side project though Slash maintained that they were a band, stating "everybody wrote, everybody had equal input even though I had my name on it." Rolling Stone reviewer J.D. Considine noted the differences between Guns N' Roses and Slash's Snakepit on their first album, stating that "Guns [N]' Roses typically treat the melody as the most important part of the song, most of what slithers out of the Snakepit emphasizes the playing." He noted that singer Eric Dover "conveys the raw-throated intensity of a hard-rock frontman" and "he avoids the genre's most obvious excesses." The riff to "Good to Be Alive" drew a comparison to Chuck Berry while the musicianship on the album was praised. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic stated that "there's little argument that Slash is a great guitarist" who is "capable of making rock and blues clichés sound fresh". Reviewing Ain't Life Grand for Allmusic, Steve Huey described second singer Rod Jackson as "a combination of '80s pop-metal bluster and Faces-era Rod Stewart" with a "touch of Aerosmith", a description that he felt also fitted the band as a whole. He noted, though, that Slash's guitar playing was "tame" and stated that the main problem of the album was the songwriting, though it was "still a passable, workmanlike record that will definitely appeal to fans of grimy, old-school hard rock." Malcolm Dome of Classic Rock stated that "from the moment that "Been There Lately" opens, there's a vibe here that was missing before" and that Ain't Life Grand showed "purpose, direction and individuality."
Personnel
Slash – lead guitar, backing vocals (1994–1995, 1998–2002)
Gilby Clarke – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1994–1995)
Eric Dover – vocals (1994–1995)
Mike Inez – bass, backing vocals (1994–1995)
Matt Sorum – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1994–1995)
James LoMenzo – bass, backing vocals (1995)
Brian Tichy – drums, backing vocals (1995)
Johnny Griparic – bass, backing vocals (1998–2002)
Rod Jackson – vocals (1998–2002)
Matt Laug – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1998–2002)
Ryan Roxie – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1998–2000)
Keri Kelli – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2000–2002)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Singles
References
External links
American blues rock musical groups
American supergroups
Geffen Records artists
Guns N' Roses
Hard rock musical groups from California
Musical groups established in 1993
Musical groups disestablished in 1995
Musical groups reestablished in 1998
Musical groups disestablished in 2002
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Slash (musician)
| true |
[
"This is a list of films which have placed number one at the weekend box office in the United States during 1981.\n\nNumber-one films\n\nHighest-grossing films\nThe top ten films released in 1981 by box office gross in the United States and Canada are as follows:\n\nSee also\n List of American films — American films by year\n Lists of box office number-one films\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Domestic Box Office Weekends For 1981 (Box Office Mojo)\n Theatrical Weekly Box Office Chart Calendar for 1981 (The Numbers)\n\nChronology\n\n1981\n1981 in American cinema\n1981-related lists",
"This is a list of films which placed number one at the weekly box office in the United States during 1977 per Variety. The data was based on grosses from 20 to 22 key cities and therefore, the gross quoted may not be the total that the film grossed nationally in the week.\n\nNumber-one films\n\nSee also\n List of American films — American films by year\n Lists of box office number-one films\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nDomestic Box Office Weekends For 1977 (Box Office Mojo)\nTheatrical Weekly Box Office Chart Calendar for 1977 (The Numbers)\n\nChronology\n\n1977\n1977 in American cinema\n1977-related lists"
] |
[
"Slash's Snakepit",
"Ain't Life Grand and second breakup (1999-2002)",
"What album was Aint life grand for the band?",
"the first",
"Did it chart well at the box office?",
"The album did not sell as well"
] |
C_588ca78e90af44e48c070edd9acca477_0
|
Did the album include any hit even thought it didn't do well?
| 3 |
Did the album Ain't Life Grand by Slash include any hit even though it didn't sell well?
|
Slash's Snakepit
|
The band began recording material with producer Jack Douglas at Slash's home studio as well as Ocean Way Studios. The recording featured contributions by Teddy Andreadis, Jimmy Zavala and Lee Thornburg, amongst others. Initially, the label was positive about the album, setting a release date for February 22, 2000. However, when Slash was informed by Geffen, who had folded into Interscope Records, that the album was not the type of music the label produced, he bought the album back and signed a deal with Koch Records. Following the completion of the album, Roxie departed the band with former Big Bang Babies, Warrant and Ratt guitarist Keri Kelli joining in his place. Ain't Life Grand was released on October 20, 2000 through Koch with "Mean Bone" released as the first single. The album did not sell as well as its predecessor, and critical reception to it was mixed. Entertainment Weekly reviewer Tony Scherman stated that "Slash's playing is as flashily incendiary as ever, but the songs and arrangements recycle hard-rock cliches worthier of Ratt than of a bona fide guitar god". Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone noted that "great guitarists need great bands, and the Snakepit dudes are barely functional backup peons". Steve Huey of Allmusic noted that "the new Snakepit does kick up a lot of noise as the album rushes by, and the strong chemistry between the members is immediately obvious". However, he stated that songwriting was the main problem, and that "it never rises above the level of solid, and too many tracks are by-the-numbers hard rock at best (and pedestrian at worst)". The band were dropped by Koch two months following the album's release. Prior to the album's release, Slash's Snakepit supported AC/DC on their Stiff Upper Lip tour from August to September, followed by their own headlining tour of theatres. They played only the first two shows on the winter leg of AC/DC's tour. After falling ill and checking into a hospital in Pittsburgh, Slash was ordered by his doctor to stay at home to recuperate, reportedly from pneumonia. Due to this, Slash's Snakepit pulled out of supporting AC/DC in early 2001. Slash later revealed in his self-titled biography that he had actually suffered cardiac myopathy caused by years of alcohol and drug abuse, with his heart swelling to the point of rupture. After being fitted with a defibrillator and undergoing physical therapy, Slash returned to the group to continue touring. They later rescheduled their US tour, performing shows from June 16 - July 6, co-headlining three shows with Billy Idol. Following the tour, feeling that his band was unprofessional and his bandmates were not fully committed, Slash disbanded Slash's Snakepit in an announcement made in early 2002. CANNOTANSWER
|
"Mean Bone
|
Slash's Snakepit was an American rock supergroup from Los Angeles, California, formed by Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash in 1994. Though often described as a solo or side project, Slash stated that Snakepit was a band with equal contributions by all members. The first lineup of the band consisted of Slash, two of his Guns N' Roses bandmates—drummer Matt Sorum and guitarist Gilby Clarke—as well as Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez and former Jellyfish live guitarist Eric Dover on lead vocals.
Their debut album, It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, was released in 1995. For the supporting tour, Slash enlisted James LoMenzo and Brian Tichy, of Pride & Glory, in place of Inez and Sorum, who had other commitments. They played shows in the US, Europe, Japan and Australia before Geffen Records pulled their financial support for the tour, with Slash returning to Guns N' Roses and Slash's Snakepit disbanding.
Following his departure from Guns N' Roses in 1996, Slash formed the cover band Slash's Blues Ball. After a tour in 1997, Slash approached Blues Ball bassist Johnny Griparic about forming a new lineup of Slash's Snakepit. The new lineup consisted of Slash, Griparic, singer Rod Jackson, guitarist Ryan Roxie, and drummer Matt Laug (Roxie and Laug were both former members of Alice Cooper's solo band). They recorded and released their second album, entitled Ain't Life Grand, in 2000, which was preceded by a tour supporting AC/DC and followed by their own headlining tour. For the tour, Keri Kelli joined the group in place of Ryan Roxie, who departed following the completion of the album. However, after the final show, Slash disbanded Snakepit due to a lack of commitment from his band members. Shortly after, Slash formed Velvet Revolver in 2002, along with drummer and fellow Guns N' Roses member Matt Sorum.
History
Formation (1993–1994)
Following the two and a half year world tour in support of the albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash returned to Los Angeles. He soon sold his home, the Walnut House, and moved to Mulholland Drive. He built a small home studio, nicknamed The Snakepit, over his garage and began working on demos for songs he had written during the tour. Slash worked on the demos with Guns N' Roses bandmate and drummer Matt Sorum. They were later joined by guitarist Gilby Clarke and Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez, jamming and recording most nights. Slash played the demos for Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose who rejected the material, though he would later want to use them for the next Guns N' Roses album. They had recorded twelve songs by 1994, the same year that Guns N' Roses went on hiatus.
Slash decided to record the Snakepit demos with Sorum, Clarke and Inez, later adding former Jellyfish live guitarist Eric Dover as lead vocalist. The decision to record with Dover led to a disagreement between Slash and Sorum, due to Slash not seeking Sorum's approval before hiring Dover.
It's Five O'Clock Somewhere and breakup (1994–1996)
Slash and Dover wrote the lyrics to all twelve songs with Slash using the songwriting to vent his frustrations at Guns N' Roses singer Rose. Clarke contributed the song "Monkey Chow" to the album while "Jizz da Pit" is an instrumental by Slash and Inez. They recorded the album at Conway Recording Studios and The Record Plant with Mike Clink and Slash co-producing and Steven Thompson and Michael Barbiero mixing, all of whom had worked with Guns N' Roses on their debut album Appetite for Destruction. The album featured contributions by Duff McKagan (who co-wrote "Beggars & Hangers-On"), Dizzy Reed on keyboards, Teddy Andreadis on harmonica, and Paulinho da Costa on percussion. Slash's brother, Ash Hudson, designed the album's cover.
The resulting album, titled It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, was released in February 1995 through Geffen Records. The album's title was taken from a phrase Slash overheard at an airport. At the insistence of the record label, the album was released under the name Slash's Snakepit, instead of The Snakepit, despite Slash not wanting his name used. Upon release, the album charted at number 70 on the Billboard 200 and number 15 on the UK Albums Chart. "Beggars & Hangers-On" was released as the first, and only, single from the album; while a music video was also shot for "Good to Be Alive", directed by August Jakobsson.
Critically, the album received mainly positive reviews. Metal Hammer stated that "the sleazy, downtrodden blues hard rock [...] breaks new ground." AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine called Slash's contributions "quite amazing", though criticised the song-writing, stating "it's too bad that nobody in the band bothered to write any songs." Devon Jackson of Entertainment Weekly described the album as "relaxed headbanging and Southern-tinged blues-rock" while Classic Rock reviewer Malcolm Dome stated "musically, it's a loose-limbed record that has a lot of heavy guitar-led punk-style pop-rock." Slash's Snakepit toured in support of the album, with bassist James LoMenzo and drummer Brian Tichy, of Pride & Glory, replacing Inez and Sorum, who had opted out of touring, with Sorum returning to Guns N' Roses. They toured the US, Europe, Japan and Australia with Slash stating that "for the first time in years, touring was easy, [his] band mates were loads of fun and low on drama, and every gig was about playing rock and roll." While booking another leg of the tour, Slash was informed by Geffen that Rose was ready to begin work on the new Guns N' Roses album and that he was to return to Los Angeles. Geffen pulled financial support for the band's tour with Slash's Snakepit disbanding soon after.
Slash's Blues Ball and reformation (1996–1999)
Slash departed Guns N' Roses in 1996, due to musical differences between himself and singer Axl Rose. Following his departure, Slash toured Japan for two weeks with Chic, and worked on the soundtrack to the film Curdled. He later began touring in a blues cover band that eventually became Slash's Blues Ball. Aside from Slash, the band consisted of Teddy Andreadis, guitarist Bobby Schneck, bassist Johnny Griparic, saxophonist Dave McClarem and drummer Alvino Bennett. The band toured on and off until 1998, which included a headline slot at a jazz festival in Budapest. They covered various artists and bands such as B.B. King, Steppenwolf, Otis Redding, as well as Guns N' Roses and early Slash's Snakepit material.
Following a tour in 1997, Slash approached Griparic about forming a new lineup of Slash's Snakepit They began looking for a singer, receiving over 300 audition tapes from mostly unknown singers. Jon Stevens of Noiseworks, who had been recording with Slash, was seen as a potential singer in early 1998. However, he returned to Australia to continue his solo career. They eventually chose Rod Jackson (earlier of Virginia based band Ragdoll) after Griparic played a tape of him for Slash. Completing the lineup were guitarist Ryan Roxie, formerly of Alice Cooper, and drummer Matt Laug, also from Alice Cooper and the band Venice. They began rehearsing at Mates Studio before rehearsing and recording in Slash's new home studio in Beverly Hills.
Ain't Life Grand and second breakup (1999–2002)
The band began recording material with producer Jack Douglas at Slash's home studio as well as Ocean Way Recording. The recording featured contributions by Teddy Andreadis, Jimmy Zavala and Lee Thornburg, amongst others. Initially, the label was positive about the album, setting a release date for February 22, 2000. However, when Slash was informed by Geffen, who had folded into Interscope Records, that the album was not the type of music the label produced, he bought the album back and signed a deal with Koch Records. Following the completion of the album, Roxie departed the band with former Big Bang Babies, Warrant and Ratt guitarist Keri Kelli joining in his place.
Ain't Life Grand was released on October 20, 2000 through Koch with "Mean Bone" released as the first single. The album did not sell as well as its predecessor, and critical reception to it was mixed. Entertainment Weekly reviewer Tony Scherman stated that "Slash's playing is as flashily incendiary as ever, but the songs and arrangements recycle hard-rock cliches worthier of Ratt than of a bona fide guitar god". Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone noted that "great guitarists need great bands, and the Snakepit dudes are barely functional backup peons". Steve Huey of Allmusic noted that "the new Snakepit does kick up a lot of noise as the album rushes by, and the strong chemistry between the members is immediately obvious". However, he stated that songwriting was the main problem, and that "it never rises above the level of solid, and too many tracks are by-the-numbers hard rock at best (and pedestrian at worst)". The band were dropped by Koch two months following the album's release.
Prior to the album's release, Slash's Snakepit supported AC/DC on their Stiff Upper Lip tour from August to September, followed by their own headlining tour of theatres. They played only the first two shows on the winter leg of AC/DC's tour. After falling ill and checking into a hospital in Pittsburgh, Slash was ordered by his doctor to stay at home to recuperate, reportedly from pneumonia. Due to this, Slash's Snakepit pulled out of supporting AC/DC in early 2001. Slash later revealed in his self-titled biography that he had actually suffered cardiac myopathy caused by years of alcohol and drug abuse, with his heart swelling to the point of rupture. After being fitted with a defibrillator and undergoing physical therapy, Slash returned to the group to continue touring. They later rescheduled their US tour, performing shows from June 16 – July 6, co-headlining three shows with Billy Idol. Following the tour, Jackson had developed a serious addiction to heroin. According to Slash, he was "unmotivated and a junkie" and that it was "hard to get creative with him". As a result, Slash disbanded Slash's Snakepit in an announcement made in early 2002.
Post–breakup activities
Following the breakup of Slash's Snakepit, Slash announced he was to begin working on a solo album. Instead he later worked with The Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman and an unnamed bassist on a new project. Together with his former Guns N' Roses bandmates Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum, they formed The Project, that eventually became the hard rock supergroup Velvet Revolver following the addition of former Wasted Youth guitarist Dave Kushner, and then-former Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland. They released their debut album Contraband, in 2004, followed by Libertad in 2007, before they parted ways with Weiland and went on hiatus in 2008. With Velvet Revolver on hiatus, Slash began work on his debut solo album. Slash was released on March 31, 2010, and featured a number of guests such as Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother, M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold, Kid Rock, Ozzy Osbourne, Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge, and Fergie. His band for the tour in support of the album consisted of Kennedy, bassist Todd Kerns, and drummer Brent Fitz. It also included guitarist Bobby Schneck, formerly of Slash's Blues Ball.
Musical style
Slash's Snakepit's music was often described as hard rock and blues rock with elements of southern rock. The band were also often described as Slash's solo or side project though Slash maintained that they were a band, stating "everybody wrote, everybody had equal input even though I had my name on it." Rolling Stone reviewer J.D. Considine noted the differences between Guns N' Roses and Slash's Snakepit on their first album, stating that "Guns [N]' Roses typically treat the melody as the most important part of the song, most of what slithers out of the Snakepit emphasizes the playing." He noted that singer Eric Dover "conveys the raw-throated intensity of a hard-rock frontman" and "he avoids the genre's most obvious excesses." The riff to "Good to Be Alive" drew a comparison to Chuck Berry while the musicianship on the album was praised. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic stated that "there's little argument that Slash is a great guitarist" who is "capable of making rock and blues clichés sound fresh". Reviewing Ain't Life Grand for Allmusic, Steve Huey described second singer Rod Jackson as "a combination of '80s pop-metal bluster and Faces-era Rod Stewart" with a "touch of Aerosmith", a description that he felt also fitted the band as a whole. He noted, though, that Slash's guitar playing was "tame" and stated that the main problem of the album was the songwriting, though it was "still a passable, workmanlike record that will definitely appeal to fans of grimy, old-school hard rock." Malcolm Dome of Classic Rock stated that "from the moment that "Been There Lately" opens, there's a vibe here that was missing before" and that Ain't Life Grand showed "purpose, direction and individuality."
Personnel
Slash – lead guitar, backing vocals (1994–1995, 1998–2002)
Gilby Clarke – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1994–1995)
Eric Dover – vocals (1994–1995)
Mike Inez – bass, backing vocals (1994–1995)
Matt Sorum – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1994–1995)
James LoMenzo – bass, backing vocals (1995)
Brian Tichy – drums, backing vocals (1995)
Johnny Griparic – bass, backing vocals (1998–2002)
Rod Jackson – vocals (1998–2002)
Matt Laug – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1998–2002)
Ryan Roxie – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1998–2000)
Keri Kelli – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2000–2002)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Singles
References
External links
American blues rock musical groups
American supergroups
Geffen Records artists
Guns N' Roses
Hard rock musical groups from California
Musical groups established in 1993
Musical groups disestablished in 1995
Musical groups reestablished in 1998
Musical groups disestablished in 2002
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Slash (musician)
| true |
[
"The Joey Heatherton Album is a 1972 album by Joey Heatherton. Her cover of the 1957 Ferlin Husky song \"Gone\" became a minor hit, but the album didn't do particularly well. Tony Scotti and Tommy Oliver produced and arranged it. It was mixed by Michael Lloyd.\n\nTrack listing\n\nOriginal LP\n\nAudio CD with bonus tracks\n\n1972 albums",
"I Thought U Knew is the third album by rapper, Candyman. The album was released on June 29, 1993 for IRS Records and was produced by Candyman himself. The album was a huge commercial and critical failure not making it on any album charts or producing any hit singles.\n\nTrack listing\n \"Skinz On Deck\"\n \"Sex It Up\"\n \"Wat Eva U Lyke\"\n \"Candyman, Do Me Right\"\n \"First Date\"\n \"Just Like Candy\"\n \"Life Goes On\"\n \"Don't Cry Dry Your Eyes\"\n \"Return Of The Candyman\"\n \"I Thought U Knew\"\n \"Get Respect\"\n\nReferences\n\n1993 albums\nCandyman (rapper) albums\nI.R.S. Records albums\nAlbums produced by DJ Quik"
] |
[
"Slash's Snakepit",
"Ain't Life Grand and second breakup (1999-2002)",
"What album was Aint life grand for the band?",
"the first",
"Did it chart well at the box office?",
"The album did not sell as well",
"Did the album include any hit even thought it didn't do well?",
"\"Mean Bone"
] |
C_588ca78e90af44e48c070edd9acca477_0
|
Did they tour for the release of this album?
| 4 |
Did Slash tour for the release of their first album?
|
Slash's Snakepit
|
The band began recording material with producer Jack Douglas at Slash's home studio as well as Ocean Way Studios. The recording featured contributions by Teddy Andreadis, Jimmy Zavala and Lee Thornburg, amongst others. Initially, the label was positive about the album, setting a release date for February 22, 2000. However, when Slash was informed by Geffen, who had folded into Interscope Records, that the album was not the type of music the label produced, he bought the album back and signed a deal with Koch Records. Following the completion of the album, Roxie departed the band with former Big Bang Babies, Warrant and Ratt guitarist Keri Kelli joining in his place. Ain't Life Grand was released on October 20, 2000 through Koch with "Mean Bone" released as the first single. The album did not sell as well as its predecessor, and critical reception to it was mixed. Entertainment Weekly reviewer Tony Scherman stated that "Slash's playing is as flashily incendiary as ever, but the songs and arrangements recycle hard-rock cliches worthier of Ratt than of a bona fide guitar god". Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone noted that "great guitarists need great bands, and the Snakepit dudes are barely functional backup peons". Steve Huey of Allmusic noted that "the new Snakepit does kick up a lot of noise as the album rushes by, and the strong chemistry between the members is immediately obvious". However, he stated that songwriting was the main problem, and that "it never rises above the level of solid, and too many tracks are by-the-numbers hard rock at best (and pedestrian at worst)". The band were dropped by Koch two months following the album's release. Prior to the album's release, Slash's Snakepit supported AC/DC on their Stiff Upper Lip tour from August to September, followed by their own headlining tour of theatres. They played only the first two shows on the winter leg of AC/DC's tour. After falling ill and checking into a hospital in Pittsburgh, Slash was ordered by his doctor to stay at home to recuperate, reportedly from pneumonia. Due to this, Slash's Snakepit pulled out of supporting AC/DC in early 2001. Slash later revealed in his self-titled biography that he had actually suffered cardiac myopathy caused by years of alcohol and drug abuse, with his heart swelling to the point of rupture. After being fitted with a defibrillator and undergoing physical therapy, Slash returned to the group to continue touring. They later rescheduled their US tour, performing shows from June 16 - July 6, co-headlining three shows with Billy Idol. Following the tour, feeling that his band was unprofessional and his bandmates were not fully committed, Slash disbanded Slash's Snakepit in an announcement made in early 2002. CANNOTANSWER
|
release, Slash's Snakepit supported AC/DC on their Stiff Upper Lip tour
|
Slash's Snakepit was an American rock supergroup from Los Angeles, California, formed by Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash in 1994. Though often described as a solo or side project, Slash stated that Snakepit was a band with equal contributions by all members. The first lineup of the band consisted of Slash, two of his Guns N' Roses bandmates—drummer Matt Sorum and guitarist Gilby Clarke—as well as Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez and former Jellyfish live guitarist Eric Dover on lead vocals.
Their debut album, It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, was released in 1995. For the supporting tour, Slash enlisted James LoMenzo and Brian Tichy, of Pride & Glory, in place of Inez and Sorum, who had other commitments. They played shows in the US, Europe, Japan and Australia before Geffen Records pulled their financial support for the tour, with Slash returning to Guns N' Roses and Slash's Snakepit disbanding.
Following his departure from Guns N' Roses in 1996, Slash formed the cover band Slash's Blues Ball. After a tour in 1997, Slash approached Blues Ball bassist Johnny Griparic about forming a new lineup of Slash's Snakepit. The new lineup consisted of Slash, Griparic, singer Rod Jackson, guitarist Ryan Roxie, and drummer Matt Laug (Roxie and Laug were both former members of Alice Cooper's solo band). They recorded and released their second album, entitled Ain't Life Grand, in 2000, which was preceded by a tour supporting AC/DC and followed by their own headlining tour. For the tour, Keri Kelli joined the group in place of Ryan Roxie, who departed following the completion of the album. However, after the final show, Slash disbanded Snakepit due to a lack of commitment from his band members. Shortly after, Slash formed Velvet Revolver in 2002, along with drummer and fellow Guns N' Roses member Matt Sorum.
History
Formation (1993–1994)
Following the two and a half year world tour in support of the albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash returned to Los Angeles. He soon sold his home, the Walnut House, and moved to Mulholland Drive. He built a small home studio, nicknamed The Snakepit, over his garage and began working on demos for songs he had written during the tour. Slash worked on the demos with Guns N' Roses bandmate and drummer Matt Sorum. They were later joined by guitarist Gilby Clarke and Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez, jamming and recording most nights. Slash played the demos for Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose who rejected the material, though he would later want to use them for the next Guns N' Roses album. They had recorded twelve songs by 1994, the same year that Guns N' Roses went on hiatus.
Slash decided to record the Snakepit demos with Sorum, Clarke and Inez, later adding former Jellyfish live guitarist Eric Dover as lead vocalist. The decision to record with Dover led to a disagreement between Slash and Sorum, due to Slash not seeking Sorum's approval before hiring Dover.
It's Five O'Clock Somewhere and breakup (1994–1996)
Slash and Dover wrote the lyrics to all twelve songs with Slash using the songwriting to vent his frustrations at Guns N' Roses singer Rose. Clarke contributed the song "Monkey Chow" to the album while "Jizz da Pit" is an instrumental by Slash and Inez. They recorded the album at Conway Recording Studios and The Record Plant with Mike Clink and Slash co-producing and Steven Thompson and Michael Barbiero mixing, all of whom had worked with Guns N' Roses on their debut album Appetite for Destruction. The album featured contributions by Duff McKagan (who co-wrote "Beggars & Hangers-On"), Dizzy Reed on keyboards, Teddy Andreadis on harmonica, and Paulinho da Costa on percussion. Slash's brother, Ash Hudson, designed the album's cover.
The resulting album, titled It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, was released in February 1995 through Geffen Records. The album's title was taken from a phrase Slash overheard at an airport. At the insistence of the record label, the album was released under the name Slash's Snakepit, instead of The Snakepit, despite Slash not wanting his name used. Upon release, the album charted at number 70 on the Billboard 200 and number 15 on the UK Albums Chart. "Beggars & Hangers-On" was released as the first, and only, single from the album; while a music video was also shot for "Good to Be Alive", directed by August Jakobsson.
Critically, the album received mainly positive reviews. Metal Hammer stated that "the sleazy, downtrodden blues hard rock [...] breaks new ground." AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine called Slash's contributions "quite amazing", though criticised the song-writing, stating "it's too bad that nobody in the band bothered to write any songs." Devon Jackson of Entertainment Weekly described the album as "relaxed headbanging and Southern-tinged blues-rock" while Classic Rock reviewer Malcolm Dome stated "musically, it's a loose-limbed record that has a lot of heavy guitar-led punk-style pop-rock." Slash's Snakepit toured in support of the album, with bassist James LoMenzo and drummer Brian Tichy, of Pride & Glory, replacing Inez and Sorum, who had opted out of touring, with Sorum returning to Guns N' Roses. They toured the US, Europe, Japan and Australia with Slash stating that "for the first time in years, touring was easy, [his] band mates were loads of fun and low on drama, and every gig was about playing rock and roll." While booking another leg of the tour, Slash was informed by Geffen that Rose was ready to begin work on the new Guns N' Roses album and that he was to return to Los Angeles. Geffen pulled financial support for the band's tour with Slash's Snakepit disbanding soon after.
Slash's Blues Ball and reformation (1996–1999)
Slash departed Guns N' Roses in 1996, due to musical differences between himself and singer Axl Rose. Following his departure, Slash toured Japan for two weeks with Chic, and worked on the soundtrack to the film Curdled. He later began touring in a blues cover band that eventually became Slash's Blues Ball. Aside from Slash, the band consisted of Teddy Andreadis, guitarist Bobby Schneck, bassist Johnny Griparic, saxophonist Dave McClarem and drummer Alvino Bennett. The band toured on and off until 1998, which included a headline slot at a jazz festival in Budapest. They covered various artists and bands such as B.B. King, Steppenwolf, Otis Redding, as well as Guns N' Roses and early Slash's Snakepit material.
Following a tour in 1997, Slash approached Griparic about forming a new lineup of Slash's Snakepit They began looking for a singer, receiving over 300 audition tapes from mostly unknown singers. Jon Stevens of Noiseworks, who had been recording with Slash, was seen as a potential singer in early 1998. However, he returned to Australia to continue his solo career. They eventually chose Rod Jackson (earlier of Virginia based band Ragdoll) after Griparic played a tape of him for Slash. Completing the lineup were guitarist Ryan Roxie, formerly of Alice Cooper, and drummer Matt Laug, also from Alice Cooper and the band Venice. They began rehearsing at Mates Studio before rehearsing and recording in Slash's new home studio in Beverly Hills.
Ain't Life Grand and second breakup (1999–2002)
The band began recording material with producer Jack Douglas at Slash's home studio as well as Ocean Way Recording. The recording featured contributions by Teddy Andreadis, Jimmy Zavala and Lee Thornburg, amongst others. Initially, the label was positive about the album, setting a release date for February 22, 2000. However, when Slash was informed by Geffen, who had folded into Interscope Records, that the album was not the type of music the label produced, he bought the album back and signed a deal with Koch Records. Following the completion of the album, Roxie departed the band with former Big Bang Babies, Warrant and Ratt guitarist Keri Kelli joining in his place.
Ain't Life Grand was released on October 20, 2000 through Koch with "Mean Bone" released as the first single. The album did not sell as well as its predecessor, and critical reception to it was mixed. Entertainment Weekly reviewer Tony Scherman stated that "Slash's playing is as flashily incendiary as ever, but the songs and arrangements recycle hard-rock cliches worthier of Ratt than of a bona fide guitar god". Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone noted that "great guitarists need great bands, and the Snakepit dudes are barely functional backup peons". Steve Huey of Allmusic noted that "the new Snakepit does kick up a lot of noise as the album rushes by, and the strong chemistry between the members is immediately obvious". However, he stated that songwriting was the main problem, and that "it never rises above the level of solid, and too many tracks are by-the-numbers hard rock at best (and pedestrian at worst)". The band were dropped by Koch two months following the album's release.
Prior to the album's release, Slash's Snakepit supported AC/DC on their Stiff Upper Lip tour from August to September, followed by their own headlining tour of theatres. They played only the first two shows on the winter leg of AC/DC's tour. After falling ill and checking into a hospital in Pittsburgh, Slash was ordered by his doctor to stay at home to recuperate, reportedly from pneumonia. Due to this, Slash's Snakepit pulled out of supporting AC/DC in early 2001. Slash later revealed in his self-titled biography that he had actually suffered cardiac myopathy caused by years of alcohol and drug abuse, with his heart swelling to the point of rupture. After being fitted with a defibrillator and undergoing physical therapy, Slash returned to the group to continue touring. They later rescheduled their US tour, performing shows from June 16 – July 6, co-headlining three shows with Billy Idol. Following the tour, Jackson had developed a serious addiction to heroin. According to Slash, he was "unmotivated and a junkie" and that it was "hard to get creative with him". As a result, Slash disbanded Slash's Snakepit in an announcement made in early 2002.
Post–breakup activities
Following the breakup of Slash's Snakepit, Slash announced he was to begin working on a solo album. Instead he later worked with The Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman and an unnamed bassist on a new project. Together with his former Guns N' Roses bandmates Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum, they formed The Project, that eventually became the hard rock supergroup Velvet Revolver following the addition of former Wasted Youth guitarist Dave Kushner, and then-former Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland. They released their debut album Contraband, in 2004, followed by Libertad in 2007, before they parted ways with Weiland and went on hiatus in 2008. With Velvet Revolver on hiatus, Slash began work on his debut solo album. Slash was released on March 31, 2010, and featured a number of guests such as Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother, M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold, Kid Rock, Ozzy Osbourne, Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge, and Fergie. His band for the tour in support of the album consisted of Kennedy, bassist Todd Kerns, and drummer Brent Fitz. It also included guitarist Bobby Schneck, formerly of Slash's Blues Ball.
Musical style
Slash's Snakepit's music was often described as hard rock and blues rock with elements of southern rock. The band were also often described as Slash's solo or side project though Slash maintained that they were a band, stating "everybody wrote, everybody had equal input even though I had my name on it." Rolling Stone reviewer J.D. Considine noted the differences between Guns N' Roses and Slash's Snakepit on their first album, stating that "Guns [N]' Roses typically treat the melody as the most important part of the song, most of what slithers out of the Snakepit emphasizes the playing." He noted that singer Eric Dover "conveys the raw-throated intensity of a hard-rock frontman" and "he avoids the genre's most obvious excesses." The riff to "Good to Be Alive" drew a comparison to Chuck Berry while the musicianship on the album was praised. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic stated that "there's little argument that Slash is a great guitarist" who is "capable of making rock and blues clichés sound fresh". Reviewing Ain't Life Grand for Allmusic, Steve Huey described second singer Rod Jackson as "a combination of '80s pop-metal bluster and Faces-era Rod Stewart" with a "touch of Aerosmith", a description that he felt also fitted the band as a whole. He noted, though, that Slash's guitar playing was "tame" and stated that the main problem of the album was the songwriting, though it was "still a passable, workmanlike record that will definitely appeal to fans of grimy, old-school hard rock." Malcolm Dome of Classic Rock stated that "from the moment that "Been There Lately" opens, there's a vibe here that was missing before" and that Ain't Life Grand showed "purpose, direction and individuality."
Personnel
Slash – lead guitar, backing vocals (1994–1995, 1998–2002)
Gilby Clarke – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1994–1995)
Eric Dover – vocals (1994–1995)
Mike Inez – bass, backing vocals (1994–1995)
Matt Sorum – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1994–1995)
James LoMenzo – bass, backing vocals (1995)
Brian Tichy – drums, backing vocals (1995)
Johnny Griparic – bass, backing vocals (1998–2002)
Rod Jackson – vocals (1998–2002)
Matt Laug – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1998–2002)
Ryan Roxie – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1998–2000)
Keri Kelli – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2000–2002)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Singles
References
External links
American blues rock musical groups
American supergroups
Geffen Records artists
Guns N' Roses
Hard rock musical groups from California
Musical groups established in 1993
Musical groups disestablished in 1995
Musical groups reestablished in 1998
Musical groups disestablished in 2002
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Slash (musician)
| true |
[
"Travel III EP is the sixth album by the Christian rock band Future of Forestry, and the third in the \"Travel Series.\" The recording of the album “officially” started on February 11. It was released on June 29, 2010. Frontman Eric Owyoung wrote all of the songs for this EP and his wife, Tamara Owyoung, painted the cover art for the album. The band subsequently departed on what was called \"The 3 Tour\" to go along with the release. The tour was self-booked and took place in the West and Midwest regions of the United States starting on June 27, 2010 and ending on July 13, 2010.\n\nTrack listing\nThe names (and respective order) of the songs were released on the band's Myspace page leading up to the release of the CD, as they did for the rest of the Travel Series EPs. However, on Travel III, for the first time, Future of Forestry released the tracks out-of-order.\n\n \"Bold and Underlined\" - 4:04\n \"Working to Be Loved\" - 3:48\n \"Did You Lose Yourself\" - 4:47\n \"Protection\" - 4:14\n \"Horizon Rainfall\" - 2:53\n \"Your Day's Not Over\" - 5:00\n\nAwards\nThe album was nominated for a Dove Award for Rock Album of the Year at the 42nd GMA Dove Awards.\n\nReferences \n\n2010 EPs\nFuture of Forestry albums",
"Not by Choice is a Canadian punk rock band from Ajax. They have released two albums, Maybe One Day in 2002 (Linus Records/Warner Music Canada), and Secondhand Opinions (Maple Music Recordings/Universal Music Canada) in 2004.\n\nHistory\n\n2002-2003: Debut album and acclaim\nIn 2002, Not By Choice signed with Linus Entertainment. That same year, the band released their debut album, Maybe One Day. The band earned a MuchMusic Video Award for \"Best Independent Video\" (\"Now That You Are Leaving\"), a CASBY award for \"Best Independent Album\", and inclusion on two Big Shiny Tunes compilations (Now That You Are Leaving and Standing All Alone). In 2003, the band signed with MapleMusic Recordings. Maybe One Day was released in Japan in December 2003, selling over 25,000 records in the country.\n\n2004-2005: Second album, Bovaird departure\nThe band's October 2004 release of their second album, Secondhand Opinions, presented a different direction from the pop-punk roots of Maybe One Day with a more mature-sounding musical approach. The album was not well received by commercial radio, and did not meet the expectations set by the success of their first album. Despite a heavy push from Much Music with their video for the first single Days Go By, the band did not tour outside of Southern Ontario for more than a handful of sporadic dates. They were given the opening band slot for Avril Lavigne's 2005 summer tour in Southern Ontario, but the effort came almost 8 months after the release of Secondhand Opinions.\n\nThe band did prove to have a faithful following in Japan, and Secondhand Opinions did manage to receive a great deal of attention. The band was able to tour Japan in March 2005, performing a week of headlining shows followed by a week as the opening band for Simple Plan.\n\nAfter the departure of bassist AJ Bovaird during the summer of 2005, Not by Choice took a break from touring and began writing songs for a new album. However, the band later stopped progress on their third studio album and took an indefinite hiatus.\n\n2017-present: reunion\nOn April 10, 2017, Not By Choice announced that the classic lineup would be reuniting to play live as the main support for Simple Plan's No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls 15th anniversary tour stop in Toronto. This show occurred on September 16, 2017.\n\nIn 2018, Not By Choice performed at the Sound of Music Festival in Burlington, Ontario.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\n2002: Maybe One Day\n2004: Secondhand Opinions\n\nMusic videos\n\nMembers\n Mike Bilcox – guitar, lead vocals\n Glenn \"Chico\" Dunning – guitar, backing vocals\n Liam Killeen – drums\n AJ Bovaird – bass, backing vocals\n\nSingles\n2002: \"Standing All Alone\"\n2002: \"Now That You Are Leaving\"\n2004: \"Days Go By\"\n\nReferences\n\nMusical groups established in 1997\nMusical groups reestablished in 2017\nMusical groups from the Regional Municipality of Durham\nCanadian pop punk groups\nMapleMusic Recordings artists\n1997 establishments in Ontario"
] |
[
"Hayden Christensen",
"1993-2005"
] |
C_5cd093d5a0db40cdbdebf5567c901c03_1
|
what occurred in 1993?
| 1 |
what occurred in 1993?
|
Hayden Christensen
|
Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993, when, at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions. The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. From 1995 through 1999, he appeared in several films and television series, including Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Goosebumps, The Virgin Suicides, and Are You Afraid of the Dark? He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000, portraying a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair. Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, as well as the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year. However, the performance did not receive widespread public notice. In 2002, Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth. He went on to receive good reviews for 2003's Shattered Glass, which tells the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who was discovered to be fabricating stories as a writer for The New Republic and other publications. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "Hayden Christensen is sensational as Glass, finding the wonder boy and the weasel in a disturbed kid flying high on a fame he hasn't earned." In 2005, Christensen made his Broadway debut when he appeared briefly in a 10-minute play. In 2005, he took part in the fifth annual "24 Hour Plays" benefit, which raises cash for nonprofit groups in the Big Apple. CANNOTANSWER
|
Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993,
|
Hayden Christensen (born April 19, 1981) is a Canadian actor and producer. He began his career on Canadian television at the age of 13, then diversified into American television in the late 1990s. He was praised for his acting as Sam in Life as a House (2001), earning Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
Christensen gained international fame for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader in the Star Wars prequel trilogy films, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), a role he will reprise for the announced Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka. His honours for these films include a nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Actor and the Cannes Film Festival Revelation Award. He also received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Stephen Glass in the 2003 film Shattered Glass.
Early life
Christensen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Alie, an American speechwriter, and David Christensen, a Canadian computer programmer and communications executive. His father is of Danish descent, and his mother has Swedish and Italian ancestry. Christensen is one of four children, with three actor siblings: older brother Tove, older sister Hejsa, and younger sister Kaylen. Christensen was an athlete in high school, playing hockey competitively and tennis on a provincial level.
He spent summers on Long Island with his maternal grandmother, Rose Schwartz, and attended the Actors Studio in New York City; he studied as well at the Arts York drama program at Unionville High School in Markham, Ontario. After accompanying his older sister to her agent's office after she landed a role in a Pringles commercial, he began being cast in commercials as well, including for Triaminic cough syrup in 1988.
Career
1993–2005
Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993, when, at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions. The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. From 1995 through 1999, he appeared in several films and television series, including Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Goosebumps, The Virgin Suicides, and Are You Afraid of the Dark?
He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000, portraying a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair.
Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, as well as the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year. However, the performance did not receive widespread public notice. In 2002, Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth.
He went on to receive positive reviews for 2003's Shattered Glass, which tells the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who was discovered to be fabricating stories as a writer for The New Republic and other publications. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "Hayden Christensen is sensational as Glass, finding the wonder boy and the weasel in a disturbed kid flying high on a fame he hasn't earned." In 2005, Christensen made his Broadway debut when he appeared briefly in a 10-minute play.
In 2005, he took part in the fifth annual "24 Hour Plays" benefit, which raises cash for nonprofit groups in the Big Apple.
Star Wars
On May 12, 2000, Christensen announced that he would be starring as an adult Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), Skywalker was previously portrayed by Jake Lloyd as a child in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). The casting director reviewed about 1,500 other candidates before director George Lucas selected Christensen. Lucas is quoted as saying that he chose Christensen because he "needed an actor who has that presence of the Dark Side". This was essential to solidify the story that Lucas was trying to tell: Anakin Skywalker's fall from grace and transformation into Darth Vader.
During the production of Revenge of the Sith, Christensen asked Lucas if a special Vader suit could be constructed to fit his own body, rather than have a different actor don one of the original sets of Vader armour worn by David Prowse. Lucas agreed, and a suit was engineered to fit Christensen's frame, even including extensions to allow for the actor to attain Vader's height. His voice as the "robotic" Vader, however, was dubbed over by James Earl Jones, who first made the voice famous in the original trilogy.
Stock footage of Christensen was used in the 2004 DVD-release edition of Return of the Jedi, where he was inserted to replace Sebastian Shaw as the force ghost of the redeemed Anakin Skywalker. This was one of the most controversial changes. Lucas wanted Anakin's inner person to return to who he was before he turned to the dark side. Christensen insisted this was done without his knowledge, an act that was confirmed by Lucasfilm itself in the featurette "Return of the Jedi: What has changed?" as seen on the official website to commemorate the 2006 DVDs.
His performance in both Episode II and III received generally mixed reviews by critics (earning him the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor in both films).
Christensen was named in both People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People and Teen Peoples 25 Hottest Stars under 25. For his performance in Episode III, he won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.
2006–2018
Between 2006 and 2007, he starred in Awake, with Jessica Alba, which tells the story of a man who remains awake but paralyzed during heart surgery, and co-starred in Factory Girl, opposite Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce. Christensen next co-starred with Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Bell, and Rachel Bilson in the film Jumper, the story of a young man who discovers he has the ability to teleport; the film was released on February 14, 2008. Bilson and Christensen co-starred again in the same segment of the film New York, I Love You. Christensen appeared opposite Mischa Barton in Virgin Territory, which was released directly-to-DVD in North America on August 26, 2008. The film, based on The Decameron, is about a group of people who escape the Black Plague epidemic by hiding out in a Tuscan villa in Italy.
In October 2009, Christensen started shooting the horror film Vanishing on 7th Street, directed by Brad Anderson, with Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo. Christensen appeared in the crime drama Takers with Idris Elba and Paul Walker, released in the United States on August 27, 2010. Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey is the fourth film in which Christensen stars with Samuel L. Jackson.
In 2010, Christensen sued USA Network over allegations that they stole his idea for the TV show Royal Pains. The suit alleges that Christensen met with USA to pitch a similar series entitled Housecalls. During the meeting, Christensen alleges, he was never informed that a similar program was in development. Although a federal judge at first dismissed Christensen's lawsuit in 2011, in June 2012, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed this decision and remanded the case back to the district court for further proceedings, in what was considered a legal victory for Christensen.
On May 20, 2013, during the Cannes Film Festival, the Russian company Enjoy Movies announced the creation of Glacier Films, an alliance company with Christensen and his brother Tove. Over a three-year period, Glacier Films intends to make 11 "micro-budget" movies costing $1.5M each. The first project, American Heist, starring Christensen, Adrien Brody and Jordana Brewster, started filming in June 2013. It is a remake of Steve McQueen's The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery. In 2014, he starred in the American-Chinese-Canadian film Outcast, an action drama, alongside Nicolas Cage.
In 2015, Christensen starred in the film 90 Minutes in Heaven co-starring Kate Bosworth and directed by Michael Polish based on the best-selling novel by the same name. In 2015, filming began of an unreleased World War II Nazi zombies horror movie titled Untöt, set to star Christensen. In 2017, he was in the film First Kill alongside Bruce Willis. In 2018 he appeared in the Canadian-American romantic comedy Little Italy with Emma Roberts and in the same year was in The Last Man.
Return to the Star Wars franchise
In 2019, Christensen returned to the role of Anakin Skywalker, providing a voice cameo of the character's voice in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Christensen also received a voice credit as Anakin Skywalker jointly alongside Matt Lanter for the penultimate episode of the final season of the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars entitled "Shattered" despite the fact the dialogue used for the episode spoken by Christensen was reused archival audio from Revenge of the Sith. On December 10, 2020 during Disney+ Investor Day 2020, it was announced that Christensen would reprise his role of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader for the Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series on Disney+. On October 22, 2021, it was reported that Christensen would also reprise the role for the Disney+ series Ahsoka.
Personal life
In 2007, Christensen began dating actress Rachel Bilson, with whom he starred in the movie Jumper. They became engaged on December 25, 2008. In mid-2010, they broke up, but began dating again a few months later. On October 29, 2014, Bilson gave birth to their daughter Briar Rose. Christensen and Bilson separated in September 2017.
In 2007, Christensen bought a farm near Uxbridge, Ontario. He noted in 2008 that he had been renovating the property himself and devoting time to learning about "livestock, crops, and agricultural machinery". In November 2013, Christensen collaborated with Canadian fashion chain RW&Co to release a men's clothing line inspired by his farm.
An avid Toronto Maple Leafs fan, Christensen performed a public service announcement for Do Something's Teens for Jeans Campaign in 2008. He modelled in Louis Vuitton's advertising, and was also named as the face of Lacoste's newest fragrance, Lacoste Challenge. He was featured in RED's Lazarus Effect Campaign, which is intended to increase awareness for its efforts to fight AIDS in Africa.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
1981 births
20th-century Canadian male actors
21st-century Canadian male actors
Male actors from Toronto
Male actors from Vancouver
Actors Studio alumni
Canadian male child actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian people of American descent
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
Canadian people of Danish descent
Canadian people of Italian descent
Canadian people of Swedish descent
Canadian male soap opera actors
Canadian male stage actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male voice actors
Golden Raspberry Award winners
Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni
Living people
People from Thornhill, Ontario
| true |
[
"The Rappenkrieg was a conflict that lasted from July 1612 until September 1614 in the Further Austrian district of Breisgau. It involved the Austrian rulers putting down a peasant uprising. The uprising occurred in what is now the Swiss Canton of Aargau and in the southern portion of what is now the German State of Baden-Württemberg. It is not to be confused with the Rappenkrieg in Basel-Stadt, Switzerland (1591–1594), although it had similar causes.\n\nSee also\n Battles of the Old Swiss Confederacy\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1610s conflicts\n17th-century rebellions\n1610s in Germany\nPeasant revolts\nConflicts in 1612\nConflicts in 1613\nConflicts in 1614",
"The 1920-22 Jabal al-Gharbi civil war was a conflict which occurred in the Nafusa Mountains and surrounding areas, in what is today the country of Libya, fought between local tribal leaders competing for political offices in the Tripolitanian Republic.\n\nReferences\n\nCivil wars involving the states and peoples of Africa\nConflicts in 1920\nHistory of Tripolitania\n1920 in Libya"
] |
[
"Hayden Christensen",
"1993-2005",
"what occurred in 1993?",
"Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993,"
] |
C_5cd093d5a0db40cdbdebf5567c901c03_1
|
what was the film?
| 2 |
what was the film?
|
Hayden Christensen
|
Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993, when, at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions. The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. From 1995 through 1999, he appeared in several films and television series, including Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Goosebumps, The Virgin Suicides, and Are You Afraid of the Dark? He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000, portraying a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair. Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, as well as the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year. However, the performance did not receive widespread public notice. In 2002, Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth. He went on to receive good reviews for 2003's Shattered Glass, which tells the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who was discovered to be fabricating stories as a writer for The New Republic and other publications. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "Hayden Christensen is sensational as Glass, finding the wonder boy and the weasel in a disturbed kid flying high on a fame he hasn't earned." In 2005, Christensen made his Broadway debut when he appeared briefly in a 10-minute play. In 2005, he took part in the fifth annual "24 Hour Plays" benefit, which raises cash for nonprofit groups in the Big Apple. CANNOTANSWER
|
at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions.
|
Hayden Christensen (born April 19, 1981) is a Canadian actor and producer. He began his career on Canadian television at the age of 13, then diversified into American television in the late 1990s. He was praised for his acting as Sam in Life as a House (2001), earning Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
Christensen gained international fame for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader in the Star Wars prequel trilogy films, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), a role he will reprise for the announced Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka. His honours for these films include a nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Actor and the Cannes Film Festival Revelation Award. He also received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Stephen Glass in the 2003 film Shattered Glass.
Early life
Christensen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Alie, an American speechwriter, and David Christensen, a Canadian computer programmer and communications executive. His father is of Danish descent, and his mother has Swedish and Italian ancestry. Christensen is one of four children, with three actor siblings: older brother Tove, older sister Hejsa, and younger sister Kaylen. Christensen was an athlete in high school, playing hockey competitively and tennis on a provincial level.
He spent summers on Long Island with his maternal grandmother, Rose Schwartz, and attended the Actors Studio in New York City; he studied as well at the Arts York drama program at Unionville High School in Markham, Ontario. After accompanying his older sister to her agent's office after she landed a role in a Pringles commercial, he began being cast in commercials as well, including for Triaminic cough syrup in 1988.
Career
1993–2005
Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993, when, at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions. The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. From 1995 through 1999, he appeared in several films and television series, including Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Goosebumps, The Virgin Suicides, and Are You Afraid of the Dark?
He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000, portraying a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair.
Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, as well as the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year. However, the performance did not receive widespread public notice. In 2002, Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth.
He went on to receive positive reviews for 2003's Shattered Glass, which tells the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who was discovered to be fabricating stories as a writer for The New Republic and other publications. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "Hayden Christensen is sensational as Glass, finding the wonder boy and the weasel in a disturbed kid flying high on a fame he hasn't earned." In 2005, Christensen made his Broadway debut when he appeared briefly in a 10-minute play.
In 2005, he took part in the fifth annual "24 Hour Plays" benefit, which raises cash for nonprofit groups in the Big Apple.
Star Wars
On May 12, 2000, Christensen announced that he would be starring as an adult Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), Skywalker was previously portrayed by Jake Lloyd as a child in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). The casting director reviewed about 1,500 other candidates before director George Lucas selected Christensen. Lucas is quoted as saying that he chose Christensen because he "needed an actor who has that presence of the Dark Side". This was essential to solidify the story that Lucas was trying to tell: Anakin Skywalker's fall from grace and transformation into Darth Vader.
During the production of Revenge of the Sith, Christensen asked Lucas if a special Vader suit could be constructed to fit his own body, rather than have a different actor don one of the original sets of Vader armour worn by David Prowse. Lucas agreed, and a suit was engineered to fit Christensen's frame, even including extensions to allow for the actor to attain Vader's height. His voice as the "robotic" Vader, however, was dubbed over by James Earl Jones, who first made the voice famous in the original trilogy.
Stock footage of Christensen was used in the 2004 DVD-release edition of Return of the Jedi, where he was inserted to replace Sebastian Shaw as the force ghost of the redeemed Anakin Skywalker. This was one of the most controversial changes. Lucas wanted Anakin's inner person to return to who he was before he turned to the dark side. Christensen insisted this was done without his knowledge, an act that was confirmed by Lucasfilm itself in the featurette "Return of the Jedi: What has changed?" as seen on the official website to commemorate the 2006 DVDs.
His performance in both Episode II and III received generally mixed reviews by critics (earning him the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor in both films).
Christensen was named in both People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People and Teen Peoples 25 Hottest Stars under 25. For his performance in Episode III, he won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.
2006–2018
Between 2006 and 2007, he starred in Awake, with Jessica Alba, which tells the story of a man who remains awake but paralyzed during heart surgery, and co-starred in Factory Girl, opposite Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce. Christensen next co-starred with Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Bell, and Rachel Bilson in the film Jumper, the story of a young man who discovers he has the ability to teleport; the film was released on February 14, 2008. Bilson and Christensen co-starred again in the same segment of the film New York, I Love You. Christensen appeared opposite Mischa Barton in Virgin Territory, which was released directly-to-DVD in North America on August 26, 2008. The film, based on The Decameron, is about a group of people who escape the Black Plague epidemic by hiding out in a Tuscan villa in Italy.
In October 2009, Christensen started shooting the horror film Vanishing on 7th Street, directed by Brad Anderson, with Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo. Christensen appeared in the crime drama Takers with Idris Elba and Paul Walker, released in the United States on August 27, 2010. Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey is the fourth film in which Christensen stars with Samuel L. Jackson.
In 2010, Christensen sued USA Network over allegations that they stole his idea for the TV show Royal Pains. The suit alleges that Christensen met with USA to pitch a similar series entitled Housecalls. During the meeting, Christensen alleges, he was never informed that a similar program was in development. Although a federal judge at first dismissed Christensen's lawsuit in 2011, in June 2012, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed this decision and remanded the case back to the district court for further proceedings, in what was considered a legal victory for Christensen.
On May 20, 2013, during the Cannes Film Festival, the Russian company Enjoy Movies announced the creation of Glacier Films, an alliance company with Christensen and his brother Tove. Over a three-year period, Glacier Films intends to make 11 "micro-budget" movies costing $1.5M each. The first project, American Heist, starring Christensen, Adrien Brody and Jordana Brewster, started filming in June 2013. It is a remake of Steve McQueen's The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery. In 2014, he starred in the American-Chinese-Canadian film Outcast, an action drama, alongside Nicolas Cage.
In 2015, Christensen starred in the film 90 Minutes in Heaven co-starring Kate Bosworth and directed by Michael Polish based on the best-selling novel by the same name. In 2015, filming began of an unreleased World War II Nazi zombies horror movie titled Untöt, set to star Christensen. In 2017, he was in the film First Kill alongside Bruce Willis. In 2018 he appeared in the Canadian-American romantic comedy Little Italy with Emma Roberts and in the same year was in The Last Man.
Return to the Star Wars franchise
In 2019, Christensen returned to the role of Anakin Skywalker, providing a voice cameo of the character's voice in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Christensen also received a voice credit as Anakin Skywalker jointly alongside Matt Lanter for the penultimate episode of the final season of the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars entitled "Shattered" despite the fact the dialogue used for the episode spoken by Christensen was reused archival audio from Revenge of the Sith. On December 10, 2020 during Disney+ Investor Day 2020, it was announced that Christensen would reprise his role of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader for the Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series on Disney+. On October 22, 2021, it was reported that Christensen would also reprise the role for the Disney+ series Ahsoka.
Personal life
In 2007, Christensen began dating actress Rachel Bilson, with whom he starred in the movie Jumper. They became engaged on December 25, 2008. In mid-2010, they broke up, but began dating again a few months later. On October 29, 2014, Bilson gave birth to their daughter Briar Rose. Christensen and Bilson separated in September 2017.
In 2007, Christensen bought a farm near Uxbridge, Ontario. He noted in 2008 that he had been renovating the property himself and devoting time to learning about "livestock, crops, and agricultural machinery". In November 2013, Christensen collaborated with Canadian fashion chain RW&Co to release a men's clothing line inspired by his farm.
An avid Toronto Maple Leafs fan, Christensen performed a public service announcement for Do Something's Teens for Jeans Campaign in 2008. He modelled in Louis Vuitton's advertising, and was also named as the face of Lacoste's newest fragrance, Lacoste Challenge. He was featured in RED's Lazarus Effect Campaign, which is intended to increase awareness for its efforts to fight AIDS in Africa.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
1981 births
20th-century Canadian male actors
21st-century Canadian male actors
Male actors from Toronto
Male actors from Vancouver
Actors Studio alumni
Canadian male child actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian people of American descent
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
Canadian people of Danish descent
Canadian people of Italian descent
Canadian people of Swedish descent
Canadian male soap opera actors
Canadian male stage actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male voice actors
Golden Raspberry Award winners
Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni
Living people
People from Thornhill, Ontario
| true |
[
"Patrick Douglas Selmes Jackson (26 March 1916 – 3 June 2011) was an English film and television director.\n\nBiography\n\nBorn in Eltham, to a formerly affluent family which was severely affected by the Wall Street Crash in 1929, and his father's long-term illness and early death ending Jackson's formal education. He joined the GPO Film Unit on his 17th birthday as a messenger boy after his mother persuaded her MP, Sir Kingsley Wood, then also postmaster general, to find work for her son. Rising to production assistant, he was part of the crew for the short film Night Mail (1936). The voice narrating the poem by W.H. Auden (\"This is the Night Mail crossing the border, bringing the cheque and the postal order.\") was Jackson himself. He directed a number of documentaries, the first being The Horsey Mail (1938) about the rural postal service in Suffolk. The First Days (1939), co-directed by Harry Watt and Humphrey Jennings, was the first of the wartime documentaries, in this instance concerned with the 'Phoney War' period.\n\nJackson's debut feature film was Western Approaches (1944), a semi-documentary war film for what was now the Ministry of Information's Crown Film Unit. For what became a three-year project, Jackson took on the writing, direction, editing and casting (of non-professional actors) a film about merchant seamen. Featuring an extended period on location at sea, the lifeboat sequences alone took six-months to complete.\n\nAfter the war, Jackson spent three years in Hollywood under contract to MGM, although the only film he directed during this period was Shadow on the Wall (1950), based on the novel Death in the Doll's House by Lawrence P. Bachmann and Hannah Leessuch. His film Encore (1951) was in competition at the 1952 Cannes Film Festival . White Corridors (1951), a semi-documentary drama about a hospital in the regions, was critically well received at the time. What a Carve Up! (1961), a film in the old dark house genre, was the most commercially successful of Jackson's later feature films.\n\nJackson worked in television during the 1960s and 1970s. Impressed by the stage work of Patrick McGoohan, he seems to have been involved in casting him for Danger Man (US:Secret Agent), episodes of which he directed. Apart from McGoohan's The Prisoner (1967), he was also involved with episodes of The Saint and The Professionals.\n\nJackson died on 3 June 2011 aged 95.\n\nFilms and television series\n\nWestern Approaches (documentary feature, 1944)\nWhite Corridors (1951)\nEncore! (1951)\nThe Feminine Touch (1956)\nThe Birthday Present (1957)\nVirgin Island (US Our Virgin Island, 1958)\nSeven Keys (1961)\nWhat a Carve Up! (1961)\nDon't Talk to Strange Men (1962)\nSeventy Deadly Pills (1964)\nThe Prisoner (4 episodes; 1967–1968)\nThe Famous Five (2 episodes; 1978)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1916 births\n2011 deaths\nEnglish film directors\nPeople from Eltham\nPeople educated at Bryanston School",
"Louise Archambault Greaves is a filmmaker, director, producer, screenwriter, curator, and researcher. She is known for her work as a co-producer and director with William Greaves on films such as; Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey, Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take 2 1/2, Wealth of a Nation, and The Deep North.\n\nCareer\nIn 1964 Louise and William Greaves founded the William Greaves Production Company in New York City. The company is an independent film production and distribution company. The company distributes its work to libraries, schools, colleges, community and cultural institutions.\n\nWealth of a Nation\nThe documentary Wealth of a Nation was filmed in 1964. It documents the work of Paolo Soleri. Soleri was known as a visionary architect. His philosophy was called arcology. The basic concept that architecture and ecology are not separate.\n\nSymbiopsychotaxiplasm\nSymbiopsychotaxiplasm is an experimental documentary hybrid film, using cinéma vérité style of filming. Richard Brody is quoted in 2015 in The New Yorker as saying, \"What if they made a revolution and nobody saw it? That's what happened in 1968, when William Greaves filmed one of the most daring and original movies of the time, 'Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One'''.\"\n\nIn 1993, Symbiopsychotaxiplasm produced by Louise and William Greaves was shown at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2001 after years of post-development the film was reproduced as Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One. In 2006 - A new sequel was produced called Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take 21⁄2.\n\nThe film follows, and documents the process of making a film; as a group of actors participate in an audition. It filmed what was going on in front of the camera, filming the filming being made, what was going on between the actors, and the environment. The idea was to capture pure reality using Cinéma vérité style. In effect the documentary Symbiopsychotaxiplasm created a documentary inside a documentary inside of a documentary.\n\nThe title of the film is related to the term symbiotaxiplasma. The term was coined by Social Philosopher Arthur F. Bentley. The term Symbiotaxiplasm sees Art as Experience and social interconnectedness.\n\nFilmography & Video\n 2006 - Discovering William Greaves (Video)\n 2005 - Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take 2 1/2 (Documentary) (co-producer). This film was an early form of Cinéma vérité\n 2001 - Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey (Documentary) (co-producer) (chief researcher). The documentary Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey directed by Louise and William Greaves documents the life of an African American that won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1950. The film documents Ralph Bunche's contribution to the founding of the United Nations. The documentary won the Gold Award for Documentary feature from the Houston International Film Festival\n 1990 - The Deep North (TV Movie) (associate producer) \n 1990 - Ida B. Wells: A Passion for Justice.\n\nFilm Awards\n 2015 - Symbiopsychotaxiplasm; winner of National Film Registry - National Film Preservation Board, USA\n 2006 - Symbiopsychotaxiplasm''; winner of Experimental Film Award, National Society of Film Critics Awards, USA\n\nExternal links\nSymbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One\nArticle about Symbiosychotaxiplasm\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\nPlace of birth missing (living people)\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nAmerican documentary film producers\nAmerican women film directors\nWomen experimental filmmakers\nAmerican women film producers\nAmerican documentary film directors\nWomen documentary filmmakers\n21st-century American women"
] |
[
"Hayden Christensen",
"1993-2005",
"what occurred in 1993?",
"Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993,",
"what was the film?",
"at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions."
] |
C_5cd093d5a0db40cdbdebf5567c901c03_1
|
what film did he star in as a youth?
| 3 |
what film did Hayden Christensen star in as a youth?
|
Hayden Christensen
|
Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993, when, at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions. The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. From 1995 through 1999, he appeared in several films and television series, including Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Goosebumps, The Virgin Suicides, and Are You Afraid of the Dark? He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000, portraying a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair. Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, as well as the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year. However, the performance did not receive widespread public notice. In 2002, Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth. He went on to receive good reviews for 2003's Shattered Glass, which tells the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who was discovered to be fabricating stories as a writer for The New Republic and other publications. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "Hayden Christensen is sensational as Glass, finding the wonder boy and the weasel in a disturbed kid flying high on a fame he hasn't earned." In 2005, Christensen made his Broadway debut when he appeared briefly in a 10-minute play. In 2005, he took part in the fifth annual "24 Hour Plays" benefit, which raises cash for nonprofit groups in the Big Apple. CANNOTANSWER
|
The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness.
|
Hayden Christensen (born April 19, 1981) is a Canadian actor and producer. He began his career on Canadian television at the age of 13, then diversified into American television in the late 1990s. He was praised for his acting as Sam in Life as a House (2001), earning Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
Christensen gained international fame for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader in the Star Wars prequel trilogy films, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), a role he will reprise for the announced Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka. His honours for these films include a nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Actor and the Cannes Film Festival Revelation Award. He also received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Stephen Glass in the 2003 film Shattered Glass.
Early life
Christensen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Alie, an American speechwriter, and David Christensen, a Canadian computer programmer and communications executive. His father is of Danish descent, and his mother has Swedish and Italian ancestry. Christensen is one of four children, with three actor siblings: older brother Tove, older sister Hejsa, and younger sister Kaylen. Christensen was an athlete in high school, playing hockey competitively and tennis on a provincial level.
He spent summers on Long Island with his maternal grandmother, Rose Schwartz, and attended the Actors Studio in New York City; he studied as well at the Arts York drama program at Unionville High School in Markham, Ontario. After accompanying his older sister to her agent's office after she landed a role in a Pringles commercial, he began being cast in commercials as well, including for Triaminic cough syrup in 1988.
Career
1993–2005
Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993, when, at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions. The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. From 1995 through 1999, he appeared in several films and television series, including Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Goosebumps, The Virgin Suicides, and Are You Afraid of the Dark?
He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000, portraying a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair.
Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, as well as the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year. However, the performance did not receive widespread public notice. In 2002, Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth.
He went on to receive positive reviews for 2003's Shattered Glass, which tells the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who was discovered to be fabricating stories as a writer for The New Republic and other publications. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "Hayden Christensen is sensational as Glass, finding the wonder boy and the weasel in a disturbed kid flying high on a fame he hasn't earned." In 2005, Christensen made his Broadway debut when he appeared briefly in a 10-minute play.
In 2005, he took part in the fifth annual "24 Hour Plays" benefit, which raises cash for nonprofit groups in the Big Apple.
Star Wars
On May 12, 2000, Christensen announced that he would be starring as an adult Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), Skywalker was previously portrayed by Jake Lloyd as a child in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). The casting director reviewed about 1,500 other candidates before director George Lucas selected Christensen. Lucas is quoted as saying that he chose Christensen because he "needed an actor who has that presence of the Dark Side". This was essential to solidify the story that Lucas was trying to tell: Anakin Skywalker's fall from grace and transformation into Darth Vader.
During the production of Revenge of the Sith, Christensen asked Lucas if a special Vader suit could be constructed to fit his own body, rather than have a different actor don one of the original sets of Vader armour worn by David Prowse. Lucas agreed, and a suit was engineered to fit Christensen's frame, even including extensions to allow for the actor to attain Vader's height. His voice as the "robotic" Vader, however, was dubbed over by James Earl Jones, who first made the voice famous in the original trilogy.
Stock footage of Christensen was used in the 2004 DVD-release edition of Return of the Jedi, where he was inserted to replace Sebastian Shaw as the force ghost of the redeemed Anakin Skywalker. This was one of the most controversial changes. Lucas wanted Anakin's inner person to return to who he was before he turned to the dark side. Christensen insisted this was done without his knowledge, an act that was confirmed by Lucasfilm itself in the featurette "Return of the Jedi: What has changed?" as seen on the official website to commemorate the 2006 DVDs.
His performance in both Episode II and III received generally mixed reviews by critics (earning him the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor in both films).
Christensen was named in both People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People and Teen Peoples 25 Hottest Stars under 25. For his performance in Episode III, he won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.
2006–2018
Between 2006 and 2007, he starred in Awake, with Jessica Alba, which tells the story of a man who remains awake but paralyzed during heart surgery, and co-starred in Factory Girl, opposite Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce. Christensen next co-starred with Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Bell, and Rachel Bilson in the film Jumper, the story of a young man who discovers he has the ability to teleport; the film was released on February 14, 2008. Bilson and Christensen co-starred again in the same segment of the film New York, I Love You. Christensen appeared opposite Mischa Barton in Virgin Territory, which was released directly-to-DVD in North America on August 26, 2008. The film, based on The Decameron, is about a group of people who escape the Black Plague epidemic by hiding out in a Tuscan villa in Italy.
In October 2009, Christensen started shooting the horror film Vanishing on 7th Street, directed by Brad Anderson, with Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo. Christensen appeared in the crime drama Takers with Idris Elba and Paul Walker, released in the United States on August 27, 2010. Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey is the fourth film in which Christensen stars with Samuel L. Jackson.
In 2010, Christensen sued USA Network over allegations that they stole his idea for the TV show Royal Pains. The suit alleges that Christensen met with USA to pitch a similar series entitled Housecalls. During the meeting, Christensen alleges, he was never informed that a similar program was in development. Although a federal judge at first dismissed Christensen's lawsuit in 2011, in June 2012, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed this decision and remanded the case back to the district court for further proceedings, in what was considered a legal victory for Christensen.
On May 20, 2013, during the Cannes Film Festival, the Russian company Enjoy Movies announced the creation of Glacier Films, an alliance company with Christensen and his brother Tove. Over a three-year period, Glacier Films intends to make 11 "micro-budget" movies costing $1.5M each. The first project, American Heist, starring Christensen, Adrien Brody and Jordana Brewster, started filming in June 2013. It is a remake of Steve McQueen's The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery. In 2014, he starred in the American-Chinese-Canadian film Outcast, an action drama, alongside Nicolas Cage.
In 2015, Christensen starred in the film 90 Minutes in Heaven co-starring Kate Bosworth and directed by Michael Polish based on the best-selling novel by the same name. In 2015, filming began of an unreleased World War II Nazi zombies horror movie titled Untöt, set to star Christensen. In 2017, he was in the film First Kill alongside Bruce Willis. In 2018 he appeared in the Canadian-American romantic comedy Little Italy with Emma Roberts and in the same year was in The Last Man.
Return to the Star Wars franchise
In 2019, Christensen returned to the role of Anakin Skywalker, providing a voice cameo of the character's voice in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Christensen also received a voice credit as Anakin Skywalker jointly alongside Matt Lanter for the penultimate episode of the final season of the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars entitled "Shattered" despite the fact the dialogue used for the episode spoken by Christensen was reused archival audio from Revenge of the Sith. On December 10, 2020 during Disney+ Investor Day 2020, it was announced that Christensen would reprise his role of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader for the Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series on Disney+. On October 22, 2021, it was reported that Christensen would also reprise the role for the Disney+ series Ahsoka.
Personal life
In 2007, Christensen began dating actress Rachel Bilson, with whom he starred in the movie Jumper. They became engaged on December 25, 2008. In mid-2010, they broke up, but began dating again a few months later. On October 29, 2014, Bilson gave birth to their daughter Briar Rose. Christensen and Bilson separated in September 2017.
In 2007, Christensen bought a farm near Uxbridge, Ontario. He noted in 2008 that he had been renovating the property himself and devoting time to learning about "livestock, crops, and agricultural machinery". In November 2013, Christensen collaborated with Canadian fashion chain RW&Co to release a men's clothing line inspired by his farm.
An avid Toronto Maple Leafs fan, Christensen performed a public service announcement for Do Something's Teens for Jeans Campaign in 2008. He modelled in Louis Vuitton's advertising, and was also named as the face of Lacoste's newest fragrance, Lacoste Challenge. He was featured in RED's Lazarus Effect Campaign, which is intended to increase awareness for its efforts to fight AIDS in Africa.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
1981 births
20th-century Canadian male actors
21st-century Canadian male actors
Male actors from Toronto
Male actors from Vancouver
Actors Studio alumni
Canadian male child actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian people of American descent
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
Canadian people of Danish descent
Canadian people of Italian descent
Canadian people of Swedish descent
Canadian male soap opera actors
Canadian male stage actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male voice actors
Golden Raspberry Award winners
Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni
Living people
People from Thornhill, Ontario
| true |
[
"Douglas Spain (born April 15, 1974) is an American film and television actor, director and producer. In 1998 Spain was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award in the category of Best Debut Performance for his role in the film Star Maps. In 1999 he won the Rising Star Award at the Marco Island Film Festival for The Last Best Sunday and in 2006 he won the Camie award at the Character and Morality in Entertainment Awards for his part in The Reading Room. He has since appeared in various features, including Permanent Midnight, But I'm a Cheerleader, A Time for Dancing, What's Cooking?, Cherry Falls, Delivering Milo and Still Green.\n\nOn television, Spain appeared in Band of Brothers, and has made guest appearances on Star Trek: Voyager, Pacific Blue, Nash Bridges, Brooklyn South, Becker, The Practice, JAG, Family Law, CSI: Miami, The Mentalist, NCIS, and House M.D. He has directed the films Charity, Online, Crazy, Crazy Too and The Monster.\n\nPersonal life\nSpain came out as gay via Facebook on January 26, 2012, and in an interview with The Advocate on January 27, 2012.\n\nFilmography\n 1995: Star Trek: Voyager as young Chakotay in Season 2 Episode 9\n 1997: Riot as Manuel\n 1997: 12 Angry Men as The Accused\n 1998: Star Maps as Carlos Amado\n 1998: Ricochet River as Jesse Howl\n 1998: Permanent Midnight as Miguel\n 1998: Becker (TV series) as Javier Cruz in Season 1 Episode 15\n 1999: But I'm a Cheerleader as Andre\n 2000: A Time for Dancing as Mike\n 2000: What's Cooking? as Tony Avila\n 2000: Cherry Falls as Mark\n 2000: Rave as Daffy\n 2001: Delivering Milo as Mr. Gordon\n 2001: Band of Brothers (TV miniseries) as Pvt. Antonio Garcia\n 2005: Next Exit as Charles\n 2005: The Reading Room (TV movie) as Javier\n 2006: Walkout (film) (HBO) as Dave Sanchez\n 2007: Still Green as Milo\n 2007: Carts as Roberto\n 2007: The Memory Thief as Dominic\n 2008: Hotel California as Manny Ramos\n 2008: The Mentalist as Hector Romerez\n 2009: American Cowslip as Jorge\n 2017: Badsville as Charlie (also producer)\n 2019: The Assent as Brother Michael\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nOfficial site\n\n1974 births\nLiving people\nMale actors from Los Angeles\nAmerican male film actors\nAmerican male television actors\nAmerican gay actors\nLGBT Hispanic and Latino American people\nLGBT people from Guatemala\nHispanic and Latino American male actors\n21st-century LGBT people",
"Natalya Sergeyevna Bondarchuk () (born 10 May 1950) is a Soviet and Russian actress and film director, best known for her appearance in Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris as \"Hari\". She is the daughter of a Soviet director and actor Sergei Bondarchuk and the Russian actress Inna Makarova. Her half-brother is the film director and actor Fedor Bondarchuk; her half-sister is the actress Yelena Bondarchuk.\n\nBiography\nNatalya Bondarchuk was born in Moscow to Ukrainian director and actor Sergei Bondarchuk and the Russian actress Inna Makarova. In 1971 she graduated from the acting school of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography and in 1975 from the directing school there.\n\nShe made her film debut in 1969 in By the Lake, followed by the 1971 productions Ty i ya (You and Me) and Prishyol soldat s fronta (A Soldier Returns From the Front). She became famous for her role as \"Hari\" in Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris in 1972. It was her favorite role. She was also Tarkovsky's favorite of the film, as he wrote in his diary that \"Natalya B. has outshone everybody\".\n\nIn 1973 she met her future husband Nikolai Burlyayev () on the set of the Nikolai Mashchenko film Kak zakalyalas stal (How the Steel Was Tempered) (). The two later withdrew from their participation in this film. In 1976 their son Ivan was born.\n\nShe played princess Mariya Volkonskaya in the 1975 historical film The Captivating Star of Happiness by Vladimir Motyl.\n\nIn 1982 she directed her first film, Zhivaya raduga (Living Rainbow). The film was produced in Yalta. In 1985 she directed the film Detstvo Bambi (Bambi's Childhood), and in 1986 the film Yunost Bambi (Bambi's Youth).\n\nNatalya Bondarchuk also leads a child opera theater on Krasnaya Presnya in Moscow. Her son Ivan Burlyayev sang in this theater during his childhood.\n\nFilmography\n\nAs Actress\n 1969 : By the Lake as passenger train\n 1971 : You and Me as Nadya\n 1972 : Solaris as Hari \n 1975 : The Captivating Star of Happiness as Volkonskaya\n 1976 : Red and Black as Madame de Rênal\n 1980 : The Youth of Peter the Great as Sophia Alekseyevna of Russia\n 1982 : Living Rainbow as Mariya Sergeyevna \n 1985 : Bambi's Childhood as Bambi's mother\n 1986 : Lermontov as Mariya Mikhailovna Lermontova, Mikhail Lermontov's mother\n\nAs Director\n\n 1982 : Living Rainbow \n 1985 : Bambi's Childhood \n 1986 : Bambi's Youth \n 1991 : God, hear my prayer \n 2006 : Pushkin: The Last Duel \n 2015 : Snow Queen\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Official Homepage \n \n\n1950 births\nLiving people\nActresses from Moscow\nNatalya\nRussian people of Ukrainian descent\nGerasimov Institute of Cinematography alumni\nSoviet film directors\nRussian film actresses\nSoviet film actresses\nSoviet women film directors\nHonored Artists of the RSFSR\nSergei Bondarchuk"
] |
[
"Hayden Christensen",
"1993-2005",
"what occurred in 1993?",
"Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993,",
"what was the film?",
"at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions.",
"what film did he star in as a youth?",
"The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness."
] |
C_5cd093d5a0db40cdbdebf5567c901c03_1
|
what film was a big break for him?
| 4 |
what film was a big break for Hayden Christensen?
|
Hayden Christensen
|
Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993, when, at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions. The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. From 1995 through 1999, he appeared in several films and television series, including Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Goosebumps, The Virgin Suicides, and Are You Afraid of the Dark? He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000, portraying a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair. Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, as well as the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year. However, the performance did not receive widespread public notice. In 2002, Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth. He went on to receive good reviews for 2003's Shattered Glass, which tells the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who was discovered to be fabricating stories as a writer for The New Republic and other publications. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "Hayden Christensen is sensational as Glass, finding the wonder boy and the weasel in a disturbed kid flying high on a fame he hasn't earned." In 2005, Christensen made his Broadway debut when he appeared briefly in a 10-minute play. In 2005, he took part in the fifth annual "24 Hour Plays" benefit, which raises cash for nonprofit groups in the Big Apple. CANNOTANSWER
|
He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000,
|
Hayden Christensen (born April 19, 1981) is a Canadian actor and producer. He began his career on Canadian television at the age of 13, then diversified into American television in the late 1990s. He was praised for his acting as Sam in Life as a House (2001), earning Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
Christensen gained international fame for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader in the Star Wars prequel trilogy films, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), a role he will reprise for the announced Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka. His honours for these films include a nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Actor and the Cannes Film Festival Revelation Award. He also received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Stephen Glass in the 2003 film Shattered Glass.
Early life
Christensen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Alie, an American speechwriter, and David Christensen, a Canadian computer programmer and communications executive. His father is of Danish descent, and his mother has Swedish and Italian ancestry. Christensen is one of four children, with three actor siblings: older brother Tove, older sister Hejsa, and younger sister Kaylen. Christensen was an athlete in high school, playing hockey competitively and tennis on a provincial level.
He spent summers on Long Island with his maternal grandmother, Rose Schwartz, and attended the Actors Studio in New York City; he studied as well at the Arts York drama program at Unionville High School in Markham, Ontario. After accompanying his older sister to her agent's office after she landed a role in a Pringles commercial, he began being cast in commercials as well, including for Triaminic cough syrup in 1988.
Career
1993–2005
Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993, when, at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions. The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. From 1995 through 1999, he appeared in several films and television series, including Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Goosebumps, The Virgin Suicides, and Are You Afraid of the Dark?
He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000, portraying a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair.
Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, as well as the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year. However, the performance did not receive widespread public notice. In 2002, Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth.
He went on to receive positive reviews for 2003's Shattered Glass, which tells the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who was discovered to be fabricating stories as a writer for The New Republic and other publications. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "Hayden Christensen is sensational as Glass, finding the wonder boy and the weasel in a disturbed kid flying high on a fame he hasn't earned." In 2005, Christensen made his Broadway debut when he appeared briefly in a 10-minute play.
In 2005, he took part in the fifth annual "24 Hour Plays" benefit, which raises cash for nonprofit groups in the Big Apple.
Star Wars
On May 12, 2000, Christensen announced that he would be starring as an adult Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), Skywalker was previously portrayed by Jake Lloyd as a child in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). The casting director reviewed about 1,500 other candidates before director George Lucas selected Christensen. Lucas is quoted as saying that he chose Christensen because he "needed an actor who has that presence of the Dark Side". This was essential to solidify the story that Lucas was trying to tell: Anakin Skywalker's fall from grace and transformation into Darth Vader.
During the production of Revenge of the Sith, Christensen asked Lucas if a special Vader suit could be constructed to fit his own body, rather than have a different actor don one of the original sets of Vader armour worn by David Prowse. Lucas agreed, and a suit was engineered to fit Christensen's frame, even including extensions to allow for the actor to attain Vader's height. His voice as the "robotic" Vader, however, was dubbed over by James Earl Jones, who first made the voice famous in the original trilogy.
Stock footage of Christensen was used in the 2004 DVD-release edition of Return of the Jedi, where he was inserted to replace Sebastian Shaw as the force ghost of the redeemed Anakin Skywalker. This was one of the most controversial changes. Lucas wanted Anakin's inner person to return to who he was before he turned to the dark side. Christensen insisted this was done without his knowledge, an act that was confirmed by Lucasfilm itself in the featurette "Return of the Jedi: What has changed?" as seen on the official website to commemorate the 2006 DVDs.
His performance in both Episode II and III received generally mixed reviews by critics (earning him the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor in both films).
Christensen was named in both People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People and Teen Peoples 25 Hottest Stars under 25. For his performance in Episode III, he won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.
2006–2018
Between 2006 and 2007, he starred in Awake, with Jessica Alba, which tells the story of a man who remains awake but paralyzed during heart surgery, and co-starred in Factory Girl, opposite Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce. Christensen next co-starred with Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Bell, and Rachel Bilson in the film Jumper, the story of a young man who discovers he has the ability to teleport; the film was released on February 14, 2008. Bilson and Christensen co-starred again in the same segment of the film New York, I Love You. Christensen appeared opposite Mischa Barton in Virgin Territory, which was released directly-to-DVD in North America on August 26, 2008. The film, based on The Decameron, is about a group of people who escape the Black Plague epidemic by hiding out in a Tuscan villa in Italy.
In October 2009, Christensen started shooting the horror film Vanishing on 7th Street, directed by Brad Anderson, with Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo. Christensen appeared in the crime drama Takers with Idris Elba and Paul Walker, released in the United States on August 27, 2010. Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey is the fourth film in which Christensen stars with Samuel L. Jackson.
In 2010, Christensen sued USA Network over allegations that they stole his idea for the TV show Royal Pains. The suit alleges that Christensen met with USA to pitch a similar series entitled Housecalls. During the meeting, Christensen alleges, he was never informed that a similar program was in development. Although a federal judge at first dismissed Christensen's lawsuit in 2011, in June 2012, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed this decision and remanded the case back to the district court for further proceedings, in what was considered a legal victory for Christensen.
On May 20, 2013, during the Cannes Film Festival, the Russian company Enjoy Movies announced the creation of Glacier Films, an alliance company with Christensen and his brother Tove. Over a three-year period, Glacier Films intends to make 11 "micro-budget" movies costing $1.5M each. The first project, American Heist, starring Christensen, Adrien Brody and Jordana Brewster, started filming in June 2013. It is a remake of Steve McQueen's The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery. In 2014, he starred in the American-Chinese-Canadian film Outcast, an action drama, alongside Nicolas Cage.
In 2015, Christensen starred in the film 90 Minutes in Heaven co-starring Kate Bosworth and directed by Michael Polish based on the best-selling novel by the same name. In 2015, filming began of an unreleased World War II Nazi zombies horror movie titled Untöt, set to star Christensen. In 2017, he was in the film First Kill alongside Bruce Willis. In 2018 he appeared in the Canadian-American romantic comedy Little Italy with Emma Roberts and in the same year was in The Last Man.
Return to the Star Wars franchise
In 2019, Christensen returned to the role of Anakin Skywalker, providing a voice cameo of the character's voice in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Christensen also received a voice credit as Anakin Skywalker jointly alongside Matt Lanter for the penultimate episode of the final season of the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars entitled "Shattered" despite the fact the dialogue used for the episode spoken by Christensen was reused archival audio from Revenge of the Sith. On December 10, 2020 during Disney+ Investor Day 2020, it was announced that Christensen would reprise his role of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader for the Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series on Disney+. On October 22, 2021, it was reported that Christensen would also reprise the role for the Disney+ series Ahsoka.
Personal life
In 2007, Christensen began dating actress Rachel Bilson, with whom he starred in the movie Jumper. They became engaged on December 25, 2008. In mid-2010, they broke up, but began dating again a few months later. On October 29, 2014, Bilson gave birth to their daughter Briar Rose. Christensen and Bilson separated in September 2017.
In 2007, Christensen bought a farm near Uxbridge, Ontario. He noted in 2008 that he had been renovating the property himself and devoting time to learning about "livestock, crops, and agricultural machinery". In November 2013, Christensen collaborated with Canadian fashion chain RW&Co to release a men's clothing line inspired by his farm.
An avid Toronto Maple Leafs fan, Christensen performed a public service announcement for Do Something's Teens for Jeans Campaign in 2008. He modelled in Louis Vuitton's advertising, and was also named as the face of Lacoste's newest fragrance, Lacoste Challenge. He was featured in RED's Lazarus Effect Campaign, which is intended to increase awareness for its efforts to fight AIDS in Africa.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
1981 births
20th-century Canadian male actors
21st-century Canadian male actors
Male actors from Toronto
Male actors from Vancouver
Actors Studio alumni
Canadian male child actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian people of American descent
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
Canadian people of Danish descent
Canadian people of Italian descent
Canadian people of Swedish descent
Canadian male soap opera actors
Canadian male stage actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male voice actors
Golden Raspberry Award winners
Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni
Living people
People from Thornhill, Ontario
| true |
[
"Big Sky Motion Pictures was founded in Los Angeles as a film production company by C.E.O. Mars Callahan and executive producer Rand Chortkoff. \n\nTheir last completed film in 2007, What Love Is, starred major Hollywood actors Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Matthew Lillard. It was released to only 42 cinemas, played for one week, and grossed $18,901.\n\nIn 2008, Big Sky Motion Pictures, Rand Chortkoff and Mars Callahan were ordered to desist-and-refrain from illicit selling of securities in the State of California for the movie Spring Break '83. Apparently out of investor-funds, Big Sky never finished Spring Break '83, and had some trouble paying the vendors and workers, but seem to have settled the lawsuits privately.\n\nOn January 9, 2012, a Judgment of Permanent Injunction, Civil Penalties and Ancillary Relief in the State of California was issued against 'Defendants Big Sky Motion Pictures, L.L.C., Spring Break ’83 Production, L.L.C., Spring Break ’83 Distribution, L.L.C., Spring Break ’83, Rand Jay Chortkoff ... permanently enjoined from engaging in, committing, aiding and abetting, or performing directly or indirectly, by any means whatsoever, from (1) violating Corporation Code Section 25401 - offering for sale of securities by means of written or oral communications which includes any untrue statements of material fact or fails to state material facts (2) Corporation Code 25110 – offering to sell offering the sale of securities unless such security or transaction is qualified or exempted qualification (3) violating the Desist and Refrain Order issued by the Commissioner by offering and selling unqualified, non-exempt securities (4) destroying any records for a period of (3) years. Mr. Mars Callahan was the Chief Executive Officer, Director and owner of Big Sky Motion Pictures, L.L.C., Spring Break ’83 Production, L.L.C., Spring Break ’83 Distribution, L.L.C., Spring Break ’83, during which time this Permanent Injunction to be issued.'\n\nIn February 2014, staff from Big Sky Motion Pictures were exposed by CBS News for lying and attempting to defraud reporters who posed as potential investors. On February 20, 2014, Rand Chortkoff from Big Sky Motion Pictures, and three others, was indicted by the US Justice Department for committing securities fraud to entice investors.\n\nIn May 2014, Mars Callahan was released from the board of Gawk, who had development-rights to the film Poker Junkies, due to not disclosing the above securities fraud injunction and misuse of corporate funds.\n\nProductions\nSpring Break '83\nWhat Love Is (2007)\nPoolhall Junkies (2002)\nDouble Down (2001)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n as archived October 20, 2013\n\nCompanies based in Los Angeles\nFilm production companies of the United States",
"Alejandro \"Alex\" Meraz (born January 10, 1985) is an American dancer, actor and martial artist. Meraz is best known for playing the werewolf named Paul Lahote in the film New Moon.\n\nLife and career\nMeraz was born in Mesa, Arizona and is of Purépecha descent. He attended the New School for the Arts, and is an avid painter and illustrator. Besides break-dancing, which he was advent in during the early 2000s under the name \"Nomak,\" Alex excels in indigenous and contemporary dancing. He has studied mixed martial arts, winning numerous tournaments in karate and the martial art of Capoeira. Alex's first big film was The New World as one of the Powhatan core warriors, inspiring him to continue acting. Thereafter he was in the running for the film Apocalypto but in the end was turned down. His big break came when he was cast as werewolf Paul Lahote in the film New Moon.\n\nHe also starred in the latest season of CSI: New York. Meraz played a Seal Team member in the 2016 action film Suicide Squad.\n\nHe is married December 31, 2007 to his Vietnamese-American wife, Kim. His wife, a Twilight fan, told him he should audition for New Moon, believing he was perfect for the part. Their first son is named Somak, for whom his mentor, actor Raoul Trujillo, is the godfather. Somak means \"beautiful one\" in Quechua, an indigenous language from Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. In June 2012 the couple had their second son, Talus Alexander Meraz.\n\nFilmography\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n \nAlex Meraz's official Twitter account\n\n1985 births\nAmerican male dancers\nAmerican male film actors\nAmerican male karateka\nAmerican capoeira practitioners\nLiving people\nAmerican male actors of Mexican descent\nAmerican people of Purépecha descent\nPeople from Mesa, Arizona\nMale actors from Arizona\nHispanic and Latino American male actors"
] |
[
"Hayden Christensen",
"1993-2005",
"what occurred in 1993?",
"Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993,",
"what was the film?",
"at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions.",
"what film did he star in as a youth?",
"The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness.",
"what film was a big break for him?",
"He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000,"
] |
C_5cd093d5a0db40cdbdebf5567c901c03_1
|
what character did he play in that film?
| 5 |
what character did Hayden Christensen play in the debut film?
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Hayden Christensen
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Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993, when, at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions. The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. From 1995 through 1999, he appeared in several films and television series, including Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Goosebumps, The Virgin Suicides, and Are You Afraid of the Dark? He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000, portraying a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair. Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, as well as the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year. However, the performance did not receive widespread public notice. In 2002, Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth. He went on to receive good reviews for 2003's Shattered Glass, which tells the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who was discovered to be fabricating stories as a writer for The New Republic and other publications. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "Hayden Christensen is sensational as Glass, finding the wonder boy and the weasel in a disturbed kid flying high on a fame he hasn't earned." In 2005, Christensen made his Broadway debut when he appeared briefly in a 10-minute play. In 2005, he took part in the fifth annual "24 Hour Plays" benefit, which raises cash for nonprofit groups in the Big Apple. CANNOTANSWER
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a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair.
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Hayden Christensen (born April 19, 1981) is a Canadian actor and producer. He began his career on Canadian television at the age of 13, then diversified into American television in the late 1990s. He was praised for his acting as Sam in Life as a House (2001), earning Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
Christensen gained international fame for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader in the Star Wars prequel trilogy films, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), a role he will reprise for the announced Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka. His honours for these films include a nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Actor and the Cannes Film Festival Revelation Award. He also received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Stephen Glass in the 2003 film Shattered Glass.
Early life
Christensen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Alie, an American speechwriter, and David Christensen, a Canadian computer programmer and communications executive. His father is of Danish descent, and his mother has Swedish and Italian ancestry. Christensen is one of four children, with three actor siblings: older brother Tove, older sister Hejsa, and younger sister Kaylen. Christensen was an athlete in high school, playing hockey competitively and tennis on a provincial level.
He spent summers on Long Island with his maternal grandmother, Rose Schwartz, and attended the Actors Studio in New York City; he studied as well at the Arts York drama program at Unionville High School in Markham, Ontario. After accompanying his older sister to her agent's office after she landed a role in a Pringles commercial, he began being cast in commercials as well, including for Triaminic cough syrup in 1988.
Career
1993–2005
Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993, when, at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions. The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. From 1995 through 1999, he appeared in several films and television series, including Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Goosebumps, The Virgin Suicides, and Are You Afraid of the Dark?
He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000, portraying a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair.
Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, as well as the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year. However, the performance did not receive widespread public notice. In 2002, Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth.
He went on to receive positive reviews for 2003's Shattered Glass, which tells the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who was discovered to be fabricating stories as a writer for The New Republic and other publications. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "Hayden Christensen is sensational as Glass, finding the wonder boy and the weasel in a disturbed kid flying high on a fame he hasn't earned." In 2005, Christensen made his Broadway debut when he appeared briefly in a 10-minute play.
In 2005, he took part in the fifth annual "24 Hour Plays" benefit, which raises cash for nonprofit groups in the Big Apple.
Star Wars
On May 12, 2000, Christensen announced that he would be starring as an adult Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), Skywalker was previously portrayed by Jake Lloyd as a child in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). The casting director reviewed about 1,500 other candidates before director George Lucas selected Christensen. Lucas is quoted as saying that he chose Christensen because he "needed an actor who has that presence of the Dark Side". This was essential to solidify the story that Lucas was trying to tell: Anakin Skywalker's fall from grace and transformation into Darth Vader.
During the production of Revenge of the Sith, Christensen asked Lucas if a special Vader suit could be constructed to fit his own body, rather than have a different actor don one of the original sets of Vader armour worn by David Prowse. Lucas agreed, and a suit was engineered to fit Christensen's frame, even including extensions to allow for the actor to attain Vader's height. His voice as the "robotic" Vader, however, was dubbed over by James Earl Jones, who first made the voice famous in the original trilogy.
Stock footage of Christensen was used in the 2004 DVD-release edition of Return of the Jedi, where he was inserted to replace Sebastian Shaw as the force ghost of the redeemed Anakin Skywalker. This was one of the most controversial changes. Lucas wanted Anakin's inner person to return to who he was before he turned to the dark side. Christensen insisted this was done without his knowledge, an act that was confirmed by Lucasfilm itself in the featurette "Return of the Jedi: What has changed?" as seen on the official website to commemorate the 2006 DVDs.
His performance in both Episode II and III received generally mixed reviews by critics (earning him the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor in both films).
Christensen was named in both People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People and Teen Peoples 25 Hottest Stars under 25. For his performance in Episode III, he won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.
2006–2018
Between 2006 and 2007, he starred in Awake, with Jessica Alba, which tells the story of a man who remains awake but paralyzed during heart surgery, and co-starred in Factory Girl, opposite Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce. Christensen next co-starred with Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Bell, and Rachel Bilson in the film Jumper, the story of a young man who discovers he has the ability to teleport; the film was released on February 14, 2008. Bilson and Christensen co-starred again in the same segment of the film New York, I Love You. Christensen appeared opposite Mischa Barton in Virgin Territory, which was released directly-to-DVD in North America on August 26, 2008. The film, based on The Decameron, is about a group of people who escape the Black Plague epidemic by hiding out in a Tuscan villa in Italy.
In October 2009, Christensen started shooting the horror film Vanishing on 7th Street, directed by Brad Anderson, with Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo. Christensen appeared in the crime drama Takers with Idris Elba and Paul Walker, released in the United States on August 27, 2010. Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey is the fourth film in which Christensen stars with Samuel L. Jackson.
In 2010, Christensen sued USA Network over allegations that they stole his idea for the TV show Royal Pains. The suit alleges that Christensen met with USA to pitch a similar series entitled Housecalls. During the meeting, Christensen alleges, he was never informed that a similar program was in development. Although a federal judge at first dismissed Christensen's lawsuit in 2011, in June 2012, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed this decision and remanded the case back to the district court for further proceedings, in what was considered a legal victory for Christensen.
On May 20, 2013, during the Cannes Film Festival, the Russian company Enjoy Movies announced the creation of Glacier Films, an alliance company with Christensen and his brother Tove. Over a three-year period, Glacier Films intends to make 11 "micro-budget" movies costing $1.5M each. The first project, American Heist, starring Christensen, Adrien Brody and Jordana Brewster, started filming in June 2013. It is a remake of Steve McQueen's The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery. In 2014, he starred in the American-Chinese-Canadian film Outcast, an action drama, alongside Nicolas Cage.
In 2015, Christensen starred in the film 90 Minutes in Heaven co-starring Kate Bosworth and directed by Michael Polish based on the best-selling novel by the same name. In 2015, filming began of an unreleased World War II Nazi zombies horror movie titled Untöt, set to star Christensen. In 2017, he was in the film First Kill alongside Bruce Willis. In 2018 he appeared in the Canadian-American romantic comedy Little Italy with Emma Roberts and in the same year was in The Last Man.
Return to the Star Wars franchise
In 2019, Christensen returned to the role of Anakin Skywalker, providing a voice cameo of the character's voice in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Christensen also received a voice credit as Anakin Skywalker jointly alongside Matt Lanter for the penultimate episode of the final season of the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars entitled "Shattered" despite the fact the dialogue used for the episode spoken by Christensen was reused archival audio from Revenge of the Sith. On December 10, 2020 during Disney+ Investor Day 2020, it was announced that Christensen would reprise his role of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader for the Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series on Disney+. On October 22, 2021, it was reported that Christensen would also reprise the role for the Disney+ series Ahsoka.
Personal life
In 2007, Christensen began dating actress Rachel Bilson, with whom he starred in the movie Jumper. They became engaged on December 25, 2008. In mid-2010, they broke up, but began dating again a few months later. On October 29, 2014, Bilson gave birth to their daughter Briar Rose. Christensen and Bilson separated in September 2017.
In 2007, Christensen bought a farm near Uxbridge, Ontario. He noted in 2008 that he had been renovating the property himself and devoting time to learning about "livestock, crops, and agricultural machinery". In November 2013, Christensen collaborated with Canadian fashion chain RW&Co to release a men's clothing line inspired by his farm.
An avid Toronto Maple Leafs fan, Christensen performed a public service announcement for Do Something's Teens for Jeans Campaign in 2008. He modelled in Louis Vuitton's advertising, and was also named as the face of Lacoste's newest fragrance, Lacoste Challenge. He was featured in RED's Lazarus Effect Campaign, which is intended to increase awareness for its efforts to fight AIDS in Africa.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
1981 births
20th-century Canadian male actors
21st-century Canadian male actors
Male actors from Toronto
Male actors from Vancouver
Actors Studio alumni
Canadian male child actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian people of American descent
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
Canadian people of Danish descent
Canadian people of Italian descent
Canadian people of Swedish descent
Canadian male soap opera actors
Canadian male stage actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male voice actors
Golden Raspberry Award winners
Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni
Living people
People from Thornhill, Ontario
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[
"Helen Shivers is a fictional character in the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise. She was created by American writer Lois Duncan and originates from Duncan's 1973 suspense novel I Know What You Did Last Summer as a young woman involved in a hit and run accident. In this version, she is known as Helen Rivers.\n\nShe was portrayed by actress Sarah Michelle Gellar in the Kevin Williamson scripted feature film I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) as the Croaker Queen of the Southport 1996 Beauty Pageant. Her chase sequence with the killer of the film has been deemed iconic and has been described as toying with the audience's expectations.\n\nWhile the film itself received middling reviews, Gellar's performance as Shivers was met with critical acclaim and the character has obtained a cult following in recent years. In 2018, she was portrayed by Greer Grammer in the musical parody I Know What You Did Last Summer: The Unauthorized Musical that premiered at the El Cid in Los Angeles.\n\nThe character is particularly notable for challenging horror film tropes of the time, in which the characters (in most cases teenage victims) were left underdeveloped and without a substantial story arc. Shiver's storyline has often been referred to as a highlight of the film.\n\nAppearances\n\nLiterature\nHelen originates from Lois Duncan's 1973 suspense novel I Know What You Did Last Summer. She is depicted as a high school drop out from a large family who manages to launch a successful television career as an actress. She was involved in a hit-and-run accident of a cycling boy with her boyfriend Barry Cox, and friends Julie James and Ray Bronson. A year later, Julie reveals a letter to Helen that says \"I know what you did last summer\". The next day, while tanning at her apartment complex she meets Collingsworth Wilson who moved into one of the vacant apartments the day before. She later finds a magazine cutout of a boy riding a bicycle taped to her apartment door. After a series of bizarre encounters with the anonymous figure toying with them, Helen is confronted by Collingsworth at her apartment. She locks herself inside her bathroom and escapes through her window as he tries to break the door down. Later, Helen calls the police and sends them to Julie's house, who was Collingsworth's next target.\n\nFilm\nShivers makes her cinematic debut in the 1997 film. On the Fourth of July, Helen wins the Fourth of July Croaker Beauty Pageant and reveals aspirations as a New York-based actress. Afterwards, she goes to the beach with her friends Julie James, Barry Cox, and Ray Bronson. While driving on the byway, they accidentally run over a pedestrian. They decide to dump the body into the sea and to never talk about what happened.\n\nA year later, she is revealed to have failed as an actress and now works at her family's store. When Julie receives a letter with no return address, stating, \"I know what you did last summer!\" she tracks her down and the duo reunite with Barry and Ray. The rest of the group begin to receive taunting messages from the mysterious assailant. One morning, Helen wakes up to find her hair cut off and \"Soon\" written in lipstick on her mirror.\n\nAt the Croaker Beauty Pageant, Helen witnesses the murder of Barry on the balcony. With his body nowhere to be found, a police officer escorts a hysterical Helen home, but the killer murders him in an alleyway. Helen breaks out of the back of the police car and is chased to her family's store. The killer enters through the unlocked back door and murders her sister Elsa. Helen is chased to the third floor of the building and jumps out of the window. She manages to make it a few feet away from the parade, but the killer appears behind her and begins to slash her, her screams being obscured by the parade. Her corpse is later discovered by Julie.\n\nShivers makes a cameo appearance in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) in a photograph through use of Sarah Michelle Gellar's personality rights.\n\nDevelopment\n The character originates from American writer Lois Duncan's 1973 suspense novel I Know What You Did Last Summer as one of the main characters involved in a hit-and-run accident. In this version she is named Helen Rivers, her family is poorer and (possibly) larger than in the film, and she isn't murdered. Her aspirations as an actress are found with greater success in the novel than in the film adaptation. Gellar was the last of the lead actors to be cast. In the 1997 film, she has been described as a \"local beauty-pageant winner who wants to become an actress\". Shivers is initially depicted as a vapid, egotistical beauty queen, but over the course of the film she is shown to be a very affectionate person despite her dysfunctional home life and overt loneliness.\n\nAlexandra West attests that the film constantly alludes to her physical attractiveness and superficial vanity, writing that \"Helen is constantly framed in doorways and mirrors, lending to the notion that she is an object to be looked at and that her looks are her most indelible quality.\" However, she notes that this is a stark contrast to her profound personal struggles that are revealed later in the film:\n \"Director Jim Gillespie makes it clear that Helen is completely and utterly alone with no true connections, so much that she appears almost relieved when the notes that says, \"I know what you did last summer\" begin appearing, as it gives her an excuse to reconnect with her friends. Her death is equal parts tense and tragic.\"\n\nPopular culture\nThe character was spoofed in the form of Buffy Gilmore (a nod to Sarah Michelle Gellar's Buffy The Vampire Slayer), a character portrayed by Shannon Elizabeth in the Keenen Ivory Wayans directed parody film Scary Movie (2000) and by Julie Benz in Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th.\n\nIn 2018, Greer Grammer was cast in the musical parody I Know What You Did Last Summer: The Unauthorized Musical that premiered at the El Cid in Los Angeles.\n\nReception\nGellar's performance in the film was met with acclaim. Her portrayal earned her a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress – Horror and a MTV Movie Award nomination for Best Breakthrough Performance.\n\nYears since the release of the 1997 film, Shivers has been frequently referred to as a breakout character. In an article for Rotten Tomatoes, April Wolfe states, \"The key to Helen Shivers’ success as a sidekick is her unabashed and shameless vanity. Sarah Michelle Gellar's portrayal of the character paints her as the beauty queen with depth, the most likely to succeed. She's the woman with the plan to track down the killer and the guts to charge into the crowd of the Croaker Queen Pageant talent competition to save her friend. Unfortunately, luck just wasn't on her side.\"\n\nChris Eggertsen of Uproxx described the character as being complex. Eggertsen praised Gellar for giving a \"compelling\" performance and for being able to transform Helen from a vapid self absorbed beauty queen to a fully realized and sympathetic character. Similarly, writer Sara Century of Syfy Wire described her as a \"compelling character\" and is notably different from other horror film characters due to her intimate character arc, \"Helen is a compelling character especially in horror, a genre that traditionally fails to give emotional backing to its doomed teenagers. On the surface, she's shallow, obsessed with beauty pageants and trips to New York. Yet there's something haunted in Helen from the very beginning, and it gives her character a lot more weight than what we see at face value. There have been full essays written on her death scene alone, and she has remained surprisingly influential.\" West states that her story line is the most visible out of the four central characters.\n\nReferences\n\nWorks cited\n \n \n \n\nFemale characters in literature\nFemale horror fiction characters\nFictional actors\nI Know What You Did Last Summer (franchise)\nLiterary characters introduced in 1973",
"Arthur Kipps is the name of the protagonist in two distinct works of fiction.\n\nHG Wells character\nThe main character in HG Wells novel Kipps\nThe same character in derivative works:\nKipps (1921 film), starring George K. Arthur in the role\nKipps (1941 film), starring Michael Redgrave in the role\nHalf a Sixpence, a musical comedy starring Tommy Steele\nHalf a Sixpence (film), a film version of the musical, also starring Tommy Steele\n\nSusan Hill character\nThe main character in the Susan Hill novel The Woman in Black\nThe same character in derivative works:\nThe Woman in Black (play), a 1987 stage play\nThe Woman in Black (1989 film), a television film\nThe Woman in Black (2012 film), a cinematic release film, starring Daniel Radcliffe"
] |
[
"Hayden Christensen",
"1993-2005",
"what occurred in 1993?",
"Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993,",
"what was the film?",
"at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions.",
"what film did he star in as a youth?",
"The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness.",
"what film was a big break for him?",
"He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000,",
"what character did he play in that film?",
"a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair."
] |
C_5cd093d5a0db40cdbdebf5567c901c03_1
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what did critics think about his acting skills?
| 6 |
what did critics think about Hayden Christensen's acting skills?
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Hayden Christensen
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Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993, when, at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions. The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. From 1995 through 1999, he appeared in several films and television series, including Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Goosebumps, The Virgin Suicides, and Are You Afraid of the Dark? He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000, portraying a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair. Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, as well as the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year. However, the performance did not receive widespread public notice. In 2002, Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth. He went on to receive good reviews for 2003's Shattered Glass, which tells the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who was discovered to be fabricating stories as a writer for The New Republic and other publications. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "Hayden Christensen is sensational as Glass, finding the wonder boy and the weasel in a disturbed kid flying high on a fame he hasn't earned." In 2005, Christensen made his Broadway debut when he appeared briefly in a 10-minute play. In 2005, he took part in the fifth annual "24 Hour Plays" benefit, which raises cash for nonprofit groups in the Big Apple. CANNOTANSWER
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Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations,
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Hayden Christensen (born April 19, 1981) is a Canadian actor and producer. He began his career on Canadian television at the age of 13, then diversified into American television in the late 1990s. He was praised for his acting as Sam in Life as a House (2001), earning Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
Christensen gained international fame for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader in the Star Wars prequel trilogy films, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), a role he will reprise for the announced Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka. His honours for these films include a nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Actor and the Cannes Film Festival Revelation Award. He also received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Stephen Glass in the 2003 film Shattered Glass.
Early life
Christensen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Alie, an American speechwriter, and David Christensen, a Canadian computer programmer and communications executive. His father is of Danish descent, and his mother has Swedish and Italian ancestry. Christensen is one of four children, with three actor siblings: older brother Tove, older sister Hejsa, and younger sister Kaylen. Christensen was an athlete in high school, playing hockey competitively and tennis on a provincial level.
He spent summers on Long Island with his maternal grandmother, Rose Schwartz, and attended the Actors Studio in New York City; he studied as well at the Arts York drama program at Unionville High School in Markham, Ontario. After accompanying his older sister to her agent's office after she landed a role in a Pringles commercial, he began being cast in commercials as well, including for Triaminic cough syrup in 1988.
Career
1993–2005
Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993, when, at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions. The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. From 1995 through 1999, he appeared in several films and television series, including Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Goosebumps, The Virgin Suicides, and Are You Afraid of the Dark?
He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000, portraying a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair.
Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, as well as the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year. However, the performance did not receive widespread public notice. In 2002, Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth.
He went on to receive positive reviews for 2003's Shattered Glass, which tells the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who was discovered to be fabricating stories as a writer for The New Republic and other publications. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "Hayden Christensen is sensational as Glass, finding the wonder boy and the weasel in a disturbed kid flying high on a fame he hasn't earned." In 2005, Christensen made his Broadway debut when he appeared briefly in a 10-minute play.
In 2005, he took part in the fifth annual "24 Hour Plays" benefit, which raises cash for nonprofit groups in the Big Apple.
Star Wars
On May 12, 2000, Christensen announced that he would be starring as an adult Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), Skywalker was previously portrayed by Jake Lloyd as a child in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). The casting director reviewed about 1,500 other candidates before director George Lucas selected Christensen. Lucas is quoted as saying that he chose Christensen because he "needed an actor who has that presence of the Dark Side". This was essential to solidify the story that Lucas was trying to tell: Anakin Skywalker's fall from grace and transformation into Darth Vader.
During the production of Revenge of the Sith, Christensen asked Lucas if a special Vader suit could be constructed to fit his own body, rather than have a different actor don one of the original sets of Vader armour worn by David Prowse. Lucas agreed, and a suit was engineered to fit Christensen's frame, even including extensions to allow for the actor to attain Vader's height. His voice as the "robotic" Vader, however, was dubbed over by James Earl Jones, who first made the voice famous in the original trilogy.
Stock footage of Christensen was used in the 2004 DVD-release edition of Return of the Jedi, where he was inserted to replace Sebastian Shaw as the force ghost of the redeemed Anakin Skywalker. This was one of the most controversial changes. Lucas wanted Anakin's inner person to return to who he was before he turned to the dark side. Christensen insisted this was done without his knowledge, an act that was confirmed by Lucasfilm itself in the featurette "Return of the Jedi: What has changed?" as seen on the official website to commemorate the 2006 DVDs.
His performance in both Episode II and III received generally mixed reviews by critics (earning him the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor in both films).
Christensen was named in both People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People and Teen Peoples 25 Hottest Stars under 25. For his performance in Episode III, he won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.
2006–2018
Between 2006 and 2007, he starred in Awake, with Jessica Alba, which tells the story of a man who remains awake but paralyzed during heart surgery, and co-starred in Factory Girl, opposite Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce. Christensen next co-starred with Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Bell, and Rachel Bilson in the film Jumper, the story of a young man who discovers he has the ability to teleport; the film was released on February 14, 2008. Bilson and Christensen co-starred again in the same segment of the film New York, I Love You. Christensen appeared opposite Mischa Barton in Virgin Territory, which was released directly-to-DVD in North America on August 26, 2008. The film, based on The Decameron, is about a group of people who escape the Black Plague epidemic by hiding out in a Tuscan villa in Italy.
In October 2009, Christensen started shooting the horror film Vanishing on 7th Street, directed by Brad Anderson, with Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo. Christensen appeared in the crime drama Takers with Idris Elba and Paul Walker, released in the United States on August 27, 2010. Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey is the fourth film in which Christensen stars with Samuel L. Jackson.
In 2010, Christensen sued USA Network over allegations that they stole his idea for the TV show Royal Pains. The suit alleges that Christensen met with USA to pitch a similar series entitled Housecalls. During the meeting, Christensen alleges, he was never informed that a similar program was in development. Although a federal judge at first dismissed Christensen's lawsuit in 2011, in June 2012, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed this decision and remanded the case back to the district court for further proceedings, in what was considered a legal victory for Christensen.
On May 20, 2013, during the Cannes Film Festival, the Russian company Enjoy Movies announced the creation of Glacier Films, an alliance company with Christensen and his brother Tove. Over a three-year period, Glacier Films intends to make 11 "micro-budget" movies costing $1.5M each. The first project, American Heist, starring Christensen, Adrien Brody and Jordana Brewster, started filming in June 2013. It is a remake of Steve McQueen's The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery. In 2014, he starred in the American-Chinese-Canadian film Outcast, an action drama, alongside Nicolas Cage.
In 2015, Christensen starred in the film 90 Minutes in Heaven co-starring Kate Bosworth and directed by Michael Polish based on the best-selling novel by the same name. In 2015, filming began of an unreleased World War II Nazi zombies horror movie titled Untöt, set to star Christensen. In 2017, he was in the film First Kill alongside Bruce Willis. In 2018 he appeared in the Canadian-American romantic comedy Little Italy with Emma Roberts and in the same year was in The Last Man.
Return to the Star Wars franchise
In 2019, Christensen returned to the role of Anakin Skywalker, providing a voice cameo of the character's voice in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Christensen also received a voice credit as Anakin Skywalker jointly alongside Matt Lanter for the penultimate episode of the final season of the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars entitled "Shattered" despite the fact the dialogue used for the episode spoken by Christensen was reused archival audio from Revenge of the Sith. On December 10, 2020 during Disney+ Investor Day 2020, it was announced that Christensen would reprise his role of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader for the Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series on Disney+. On October 22, 2021, it was reported that Christensen would also reprise the role for the Disney+ series Ahsoka.
Personal life
In 2007, Christensen began dating actress Rachel Bilson, with whom he starred in the movie Jumper. They became engaged on December 25, 2008. In mid-2010, they broke up, but began dating again a few months later. On October 29, 2014, Bilson gave birth to their daughter Briar Rose. Christensen and Bilson separated in September 2017.
In 2007, Christensen bought a farm near Uxbridge, Ontario. He noted in 2008 that he had been renovating the property himself and devoting time to learning about "livestock, crops, and agricultural machinery". In November 2013, Christensen collaborated with Canadian fashion chain RW&Co to release a men's clothing line inspired by his farm.
An avid Toronto Maple Leafs fan, Christensen performed a public service announcement for Do Something's Teens for Jeans Campaign in 2008. He modelled in Louis Vuitton's advertising, and was also named as the face of Lacoste's newest fragrance, Lacoste Challenge. He was featured in RED's Lazarus Effect Campaign, which is intended to increase awareness for its efforts to fight AIDS in Africa.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
1981 births
20th-century Canadian male actors
21st-century Canadian male actors
Male actors from Toronto
Male actors from Vancouver
Actors Studio alumni
Canadian male child actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian people of American descent
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
Canadian people of Danish descent
Canadian people of Italian descent
Canadian people of Swedish descent
Canadian male soap opera actors
Canadian male stage actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male voice actors
Golden Raspberry Award winners
Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni
Living people
People from Thornhill, Ontario
| true |
[
"Scene study is a technique used to teach acting. One or more actors perform a dramatic scene and are then offered feedback from teachers, classmates, or each other.\n\nScene Study is a very broad description for an acting class that will vary depending on the teacher or school that teaches it. Its foundation is in the performance of a \"scene\" or a segment of a play by the students. From this performance the instructor gives notes and suggestions to improve the student’s acting. Scene Study is instrumental for actors to get experience being directed. For beginning actors the Scene Study class may also include acting exercises that help them develop their technique. \n\nUta Hagen's textbook Respect for Acting, mentions the three entrances in Part Two, chapter twelve. The moment before is the first entrance, actors must think of the scene before entering the stage. Actors entering in scene one must think of what the character's circumstances before the play would be. These exercises may help with skills such as emotional connection or character development and for the real novice it may be used to teach the vocabulary of acting (for example terms like down stage and subtext). Other acting vocabulary includes objective, tactics, essential action, character, scene, acts, costumes, setting, and literal action. Objective, essential action, and literal action relates to what the character wants, as well as what the character is doing. Tactics are what the character does in order to get what they want. The other terms are design elements or basic elements that one sees on stage. It is the job of the actor to implement all of these terms in order to create a believable moment. However, most Scene Study classes are used for actors who already have their training and technique and now need the opportunity to take their skills and apply them towards performing on stage or on set. \n\nThe best Scene Study classes will be able to keep improving an actor’s technique, as well as give them the opportunity to be directed and see if they are able to perform to a director’s specification. Scene Study is important because it allows an actor to see if all the techniques and exercises they use in class can be harnessed to create an honest and dynamic performance. Scene study is also important because the actor needs to focus on the other actor. Reacting is just as important as acting, if the actor fails to react to their scene partner then the believability diminishes. Scene study gives the actors the opportunity to work together and remember that it is not \"all about them.\"\n\nReferences \n \n \n\nActing\nTeaching\nPedagogy",
"Guy P. Harrison (born October 8, 1963) is an American author of multiple bestselling books. He resides in the United States and is known for his written works on science, critical thinking, history, race, and nature.\n\nEarly life and education\nHarrison has degrees in history and anthropology at the University of South Florida. He was influenced towards skepticism in childhood by thinking about Erich von Däniken's book Chariots of the Gods?, which theorized that Earth had been visited by aliens during antiquity.\n\nCareer\nFrom 1992 to 2010 Harrison wrote for Cayman Free Press in the Cayman Islands as a journalist, editor and photographer. As a journalist he has interviewed people such as Jane Goodall, Chuck Yeager, Edward Teller, Paul Tibbets and Armin Lehmann. From 2014–2015 he did medical writing for Kaiser Permanente. He has a blog at Psychology Today named About Thinking.\n\nHarrison has written multiple books on science, skeptical and philosophical issues, beginning with 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God in 2008. He has been widely interviewed regarding these works on many podcasts and websites, and the books have been endorsed by prominent scientists such as Neil deGrasse Tyson, Seth Shostak, and Donald Johanson.\n\nHonors\nHarrison was a recipient of the World Health Organization Award for Health Reporting in 1997 and the Commonwealth Media Award for Excellence in Journalism in 1994.\n\nBibliography\n 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God (2008)\n Race and Reality: What Everyone Should Know about Our Biological Diversity (2010))\n 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian (2013))\n 50 Popular Beliefs that People Think are True (2013))\n Think: Why You Should Question Everything (2013))\n Good Thinking: What You Need to Know to be Smarter, Safer, Wealthier, and Wiser\n Think Before You Like: Social Media's Effect on the Brain and the Tools You Need to Navigate Your Newsfeed (2017))\n What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why you Should do the Opposite (Prometheus Books, 2018)\n At Least Know This: Essential Science to Enhance Your Life (Prometheus Books, 2018)\n\nThink Before You Like\nIn a review in Skeptical Inquirer magazine, researcher Ben Radford writes that Harrison examines social media offering \"practical advice on media literacy and cyber self-defense\". Radford states that Chapter 2 might be the most relevant to skeptics trying to \"understand the psychological and social consequences of social media\". Think Before You Like was published in 2017 before information about how the power of social media was used in the US Presidential elections. Yet, according to Radford, \"Harrison's book will only become more timely in the coming years\".\n\nAt Least Know This\nReviewed in the Spring 2019 issue of Skeptical Inquirer by Russ Dobler, who writes that At Least Know This is a primer for the layperson who wants to understand what we know, not necessarily how we know it. Dobler calls this “a Herculean organizational effort” that “excels”. Harrison brings his skills as a journalist as well as his degrees in history and anthropology to discuss weighty topics “spanning all of time and space”. It almost “feels a bit like an attempt at a twenty-first century version of Cosmos''” yet, some “science purists who prioritize methodology over trivia” may not agree. Dobler writes: “one step at a time. Bring the wonder, and maybe the rigor will follow”.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n LinkedIn page\n Guy P. Harrison: A Skeptic's Perspective (YouTube video: 1 hour and 15 minutes)\n Author quotes on Goodreads\n\nAmerican atheists\nAmerican skeptics\nLiving people\n1963 births\nCritics of creationism\nCritics of religions\nUniversity of South Florida alumni\nPlace of birth missing (living people)\nAmerican male non-fiction writers\n21st-century American male writers\n21st-century American non-fiction writers"
] |
[
"Hayden Christensen",
"1993-2005",
"what occurred in 1993?",
"Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993,",
"what was the film?",
"at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions.",
"what film did he star in as a youth?",
"The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness.",
"what film was a big break for him?",
"He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000,",
"what character did he play in that film?",
"a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair.",
"what did critics think about his acting skills?",
"Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations,"
] |
C_5cd093d5a0db40cdbdebf5567c901c03_1
|
what award did he win?
| 7 |
what award did Hayden Christensen win?
|
Hayden Christensen
|
Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993, when, at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions. The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. From 1995 through 1999, he appeared in several films and television series, including Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Goosebumps, The Virgin Suicides, and Are You Afraid of the Dark? He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000, portraying a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair. Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, as well as the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year. However, the performance did not receive widespread public notice. In 2002, Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth. He went on to receive good reviews for 2003's Shattered Glass, which tells the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who was discovered to be fabricating stories as a writer for The New Republic and other publications. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "Hayden Christensen is sensational as Glass, finding the wonder boy and the weasel in a disturbed kid flying high on a fame he hasn't earned." In 2005, Christensen made his Broadway debut when he appeared briefly in a 10-minute play. In 2005, he took part in the fifth annual "24 Hour Plays" benefit, which raises cash for nonprofit groups in the Big Apple. CANNOTANSWER
|
the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year.
|
Hayden Christensen (born April 19, 1981) is a Canadian actor and producer. He began his career on Canadian television at the age of 13, then diversified into American television in the late 1990s. He was praised for his acting as Sam in Life as a House (2001), earning Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
Christensen gained international fame for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader in the Star Wars prequel trilogy films, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), a role he will reprise for the announced Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka. His honours for these films include a nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Actor and the Cannes Film Festival Revelation Award. He also received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Stephen Glass in the 2003 film Shattered Glass.
Early life
Christensen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Alie, an American speechwriter, and David Christensen, a Canadian computer programmer and communications executive. His father is of Danish descent, and his mother has Swedish and Italian ancestry. Christensen is one of four children, with three actor siblings: older brother Tove, older sister Hejsa, and younger sister Kaylen. Christensen was an athlete in high school, playing hockey competitively and tennis on a provincial level.
He spent summers on Long Island with his maternal grandmother, Rose Schwartz, and attended the Actors Studio in New York City; he studied as well at the Arts York drama program at Unionville High School in Markham, Ontario. After accompanying his older sister to her agent's office after she landed a role in a Pringles commercial, he began being cast in commercials as well, including for Triaminic cough syrup in 1988.
Career
1993–2005
Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993, when, at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions. The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. From 1995 through 1999, he appeared in several films and television series, including Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Goosebumps, The Virgin Suicides, and Are You Afraid of the Dark?
He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000, portraying a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair.
Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, as well as the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year. However, the performance did not receive widespread public notice. In 2002, Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth.
He went on to receive positive reviews for 2003's Shattered Glass, which tells the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who was discovered to be fabricating stories as a writer for The New Republic and other publications. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "Hayden Christensen is sensational as Glass, finding the wonder boy and the weasel in a disturbed kid flying high on a fame he hasn't earned." In 2005, Christensen made his Broadway debut when he appeared briefly in a 10-minute play.
In 2005, he took part in the fifth annual "24 Hour Plays" benefit, which raises cash for nonprofit groups in the Big Apple.
Star Wars
On May 12, 2000, Christensen announced that he would be starring as an adult Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), Skywalker was previously portrayed by Jake Lloyd as a child in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). The casting director reviewed about 1,500 other candidates before director George Lucas selected Christensen. Lucas is quoted as saying that he chose Christensen because he "needed an actor who has that presence of the Dark Side". This was essential to solidify the story that Lucas was trying to tell: Anakin Skywalker's fall from grace and transformation into Darth Vader.
During the production of Revenge of the Sith, Christensen asked Lucas if a special Vader suit could be constructed to fit his own body, rather than have a different actor don one of the original sets of Vader armour worn by David Prowse. Lucas agreed, and a suit was engineered to fit Christensen's frame, even including extensions to allow for the actor to attain Vader's height. His voice as the "robotic" Vader, however, was dubbed over by James Earl Jones, who first made the voice famous in the original trilogy.
Stock footage of Christensen was used in the 2004 DVD-release edition of Return of the Jedi, where he was inserted to replace Sebastian Shaw as the force ghost of the redeemed Anakin Skywalker. This was one of the most controversial changes. Lucas wanted Anakin's inner person to return to who he was before he turned to the dark side. Christensen insisted this was done without his knowledge, an act that was confirmed by Lucasfilm itself in the featurette "Return of the Jedi: What has changed?" as seen on the official website to commemorate the 2006 DVDs.
His performance in both Episode II and III received generally mixed reviews by critics (earning him the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor in both films).
Christensen was named in both People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People and Teen Peoples 25 Hottest Stars under 25. For his performance in Episode III, he won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.
2006–2018
Between 2006 and 2007, he starred in Awake, with Jessica Alba, which tells the story of a man who remains awake but paralyzed during heart surgery, and co-starred in Factory Girl, opposite Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce. Christensen next co-starred with Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Bell, and Rachel Bilson in the film Jumper, the story of a young man who discovers he has the ability to teleport; the film was released on February 14, 2008. Bilson and Christensen co-starred again in the same segment of the film New York, I Love You. Christensen appeared opposite Mischa Barton in Virgin Territory, which was released directly-to-DVD in North America on August 26, 2008. The film, based on The Decameron, is about a group of people who escape the Black Plague epidemic by hiding out in a Tuscan villa in Italy.
In October 2009, Christensen started shooting the horror film Vanishing on 7th Street, directed by Brad Anderson, with Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo. Christensen appeared in the crime drama Takers with Idris Elba and Paul Walker, released in the United States on August 27, 2010. Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey is the fourth film in which Christensen stars with Samuel L. Jackson.
In 2010, Christensen sued USA Network over allegations that they stole his idea for the TV show Royal Pains. The suit alleges that Christensen met with USA to pitch a similar series entitled Housecalls. During the meeting, Christensen alleges, he was never informed that a similar program was in development. Although a federal judge at first dismissed Christensen's lawsuit in 2011, in June 2012, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed this decision and remanded the case back to the district court for further proceedings, in what was considered a legal victory for Christensen.
On May 20, 2013, during the Cannes Film Festival, the Russian company Enjoy Movies announced the creation of Glacier Films, an alliance company with Christensen and his brother Tove. Over a three-year period, Glacier Films intends to make 11 "micro-budget" movies costing $1.5M each. The first project, American Heist, starring Christensen, Adrien Brody and Jordana Brewster, started filming in June 2013. It is a remake of Steve McQueen's The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery. In 2014, he starred in the American-Chinese-Canadian film Outcast, an action drama, alongside Nicolas Cage.
In 2015, Christensen starred in the film 90 Minutes in Heaven co-starring Kate Bosworth and directed by Michael Polish based on the best-selling novel by the same name. In 2015, filming began of an unreleased World War II Nazi zombies horror movie titled Untöt, set to star Christensen. In 2017, he was in the film First Kill alongside Bruce Willis. In 2018 he appeared in the Canadian-American romantic comedy Little Italy with Emma Roberts and in the same year was in The Last Man.
Return to the Star Wars franchise
In 2019, Christensen returned to the role of Anakin Skywalker, providing a voice cameo of the character's voice in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Christensen also received a voice credit as Anakin Skywalker jointly alongside Matt Lanter for the penultimate episode of the final season of the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars entitled "Shattered" despite the fact the dialogue used for the episode spoken by Christensen was reused archival audio from Revenge of the Sith. On December 10, 2020 during Disney+ Investor Day 2020, it was announced that Christensen would reprise his role of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader for the Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series on Disney+. On October 22, 2021, it was reported that Christensen would also reprise the role for the Disney+ series Ahsoka.
Personal life
In 2007, Christensen began dating actress Rachel Bilson, with whom he starred in the movie Jumper. They became engaged on December 25, 2008. In mid-2010, they broke up, but began dating again a few months later. On October 29, 2014, Bilson gave birth to their daughter Briar Rose. Christensen and Bilson separated in September 2017.
In 2007, Christensen bought a farm near Uxbridge, Ontario. He noted in 2008 that he had been renovating the property himself and devoting time to learning about "livestock, crops, and agricultural machinery". In November 2013, Christensen collaborated with Canadian fashion chain RW&Co to release a men's clothing line inspired by his farm.
An avid Toronto Maple Leafs fan, Christensen performed a public service announcement for Do Something's Teens for Jeans Campaign in 2008. He modelled in Louis Vuitton's advertising, and was also named as the face of Lacoste's newest fragrance, Lacoste Challenge. He was featured in RED's Lazarus Effect Campaign, which is intended to increase awareness for its efforts to fight AIDS in Africa.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
1981 births
20th-century Canadian male actors
21st-century Canadian male actors
Male actors from Toronto
Male actors from Vancouver
Actors Studio alumni
Canadian male child actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian people of American descent
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
Canadian people of Danish descent
Canadian people of Italian descent
Canadian people of Swedish descent
Canadian male soap opera actors
Canadian male stage actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male voice actors
Golden Raspberry Award winners
Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni
Living people
People from Thornhill, Ontario
| true |
[
"Alex Henning is a visual effects supervisor.\n\nOn January 24, 2012, he was nominated for an Oscar for the film Hugo, which he did win at the 84th Academy Awards in the category of Best Visual Effects. His win was shared with Ben Grossmann, Robert Legato, and Joss Williams.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nLiving people\nVisual effects supervisors\nBest Visual Effects Academy Award winners\nYear of birth missing (living people)",
"A Man's Gotta Do is a 2004 Australian award winning film from Australian director, Chris Kennedy. The film stars John Howard.\n\nTagline \nMost men hold their head high, put their backs to the wall and do what they must do to give their family what they want.\n\nPlot \n\nIn A Man's Gotta Do, Eddy (John Howard), lives with his wife, Yvonne (Rebecca Frith), and their daughter, Chantelle (Alyssa McClelland), in a new suburb in the Illawarra part, south of Sydney.\n\nEddy is a fisherman by day, but by night he works as a standover man, literally a toe-cutter. Dominic, (Gyton Grantley), is his new offsider.\n\nChantelle is upset because her fiancé, Rudi, a Russian air conditioning specialist, has disappeared. Did her Dad have something to do with it?\n\nThe frustrated Yvonne begins flirting with Paul, the plumber, (Rohan Nicol). Eddy encourages Dominic to read his daughter's diary thinking that's the way to get a better understanding of her needs.\n\nReception\n\nReviews \nThe film received Mixed reviews. Australian TV show At the Movies gave it three and a half stars. It holds a 40 metascore, with the Village voice giving it 30/100\n\nAwards \nThe film wasn't nominated for many awards but did win the only award it was nominated for, a Golden Zenith for the Best film from Oceania at the Montreal Film Festival.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\nAustralian films\nAustralian comedy films\n2004 films\n2004 comedy films"
] |
[
"Hayden Christensen",
"1993-2005",
"what occurred in 1993?",
"Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993,",
"what was the film?",
"at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions.",
"what film did he star in as a youth?",
"The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness.",
"what film was a big break for him?",
"He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000,",
"what character did he play in that film?",
"a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair.",
"what did critics think about his acting skills?",
"Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations,",
"what award did he win?",
"the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year."
] |
C_5cd093d5a0db40cdbdebf5567c901c03_1
|
what is an interesting fact regarding his career?
| 8 |
what is an interesting fact regarding Hayden Christensen's career?
|
Hayden Christensen
|
Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993, when, at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions. The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. From 1995 through 1999, he appeared in several films and television series, including Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Goosebumps, The Virgin Suicides, and Are You Afraid of the Dark? He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000, portraying a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair. Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, as well as the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year. However, the performance did not receive widespread public notice. In 2002, Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth. He went on to receive good reviews for 2003's Shattered Glass, which tells the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who was discovered to be fabricating stories as a writer for The New Republic and other publications. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "Hayden Christensen is sensational as Glass, finding the wonder boy and the weasel in a disturbed kid flying high on a fame he hasn't earned." In 2005, Christensen made his Broadway debut when he appeared briefly in a 10-minute play. In 2005, he took part in the fifth annual "24 Hour Plays" benefit, which raises cash for nonprofit groups in the Big Apple. CANNOTANSWER
|
Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth.
|
Hayden Christensen (born April 19, 1981) is a Canadian actor and producer. He began his career on Canadian television at the age of 13, then diversified into American television in the late 1990s. He was praised for his acting as Sam in Life as a House (2001), earning Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
Christensen gained international fame for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader in the Star Wars prequel trilogy films, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), a role he will reprise for the announced Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka. His honours for these films include a nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Actor and the Cannes Film Festival Revelation Award. He also received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Stephen Glass in the 2003 film Shattered Glass.
Early life
Christensen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Alie, an American speechwriter, and David Christensen, a Canadian computer programmer and communications executive. His father is of Danish descent, and his mother has Swedish and Italian ancestry. Christensen is one of four children, with three actor siblings: older brother Tove, older sister Hejsa, and younger sister Kaylen. Christensen was an athlete in high school, playing hockey competitively and tennis on a provincial level.
He spent summers on Long Island with his maternal grandmother, Rose Schwartz, and attended the Actors Studio in New York City; he studied as well at the Arts York drama program at Unionville High School in Markham, Ontario. After accompanying his older sister to her agent's office after she landed a role in a Pringles commercial, he began being cast in commercials as well, including for Triaminic cough syrup in 1988.
Career
1993–2005
Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993, when, at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions. The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. From 1995 through 1999, he appeared in several films and television series, including Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Goosebumps, The Virgin Suicides, and Are You Afraid of the Dark?
He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000, portraying a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair.
Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, as well as the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year. However, the performance did not receive widespread public notice. In 2002, Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth.
He went on to receive positive reviews for 2003's Shattered Glass, which tells the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who was discovered to be fabricating stories as a writer for The New Republic and other publications. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "Hayden Christensen is sensational as Glass, finding the wonder boy and the weasel in a disturbed kid flying high on a fame he hasn't earned." In 2005, Christensen made his Broadway debut when he appeared briefly in a 10-minute play.
In 2005, he took part in the fifth annual "24 Hour Plays" benefit, which raises cash for nonprofit groups in the Big Apple.
Star Wars
On May 12, 2000, Christensen announced that he would be starring as an adult Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), Skywalker was previously portrayed by Jake Lloyd as a child in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). The casting director reviewed about 1,500 other candidates before director George Lucas selected Christensen. Lucas is quoted as saying that he chose Christensen because he "needed an actor who has that presence of the Dark Side". This was essential to solidify the story that Lucas was trying to tell: Anakin Skywalker's fall from grace and transformation into Darth Vader.
During the production of Revenge of the Sith, Christensen asked Lucas if a special Vader suit could be constructed to fit his own body, rather than have a different actor don one of the original sets of Vader armour worn by David Prowse. Lucas agreed, and a suit was engineered to fit Christensen's frame, even including extensions to allow for the actor to attain Vader's height. His voice as the "robotic" Vader, however, was dubbed over by James Earl Jones, who first made the voice famous in the original trilogy.
Stock footage of Christensen was used in the 2004 DVD-release edition of Return of the Jedi, where he was inserted to replace Sebastian Shaw as the force ghost of the redeemed Anakin Skywalker. This was one of the most controversial changes. Lucas wanted Anakin's inner person to return to who he was before he turned to the dark side. Christensen insisted this was done without his knowledge, an act that was confirmed by Lucasfilm itself in the featurette "Return of the Jedi: What has changed?" as seen on the official website to commemorate the 2006 DVDs.
His performance in both Episode II and III received generally mixed reviews by critics (earning him the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor in both films).
Christensen was named in both People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People and Teen Peoples 25 Hottest Stars under 25. For his performance in Episode III, he won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.
2006–2018
Between 2006 and 2007, he starred in Awake, with Jessica Alba, which tells the story of a man who remains awake but paralyzed during heart surgery, and co-starred in Factory Girl, opposite Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce. Christensen next co-starred with Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Bell, and Rachel Bilson in the film Jumper, the story of a young man who discovers he has the ability to teleport; the film was released on February 14, 2008. Bilson and Christensen co-starred again in the same segment of the film New York, I Love You. Christensen appeared opposite Mischa Barton in Virgin Territory, which was released directly-to-DVD in North America on August 26, 2008. The film, based on The Decameron, is about a group of people who escape the Black Plague epidemic by hiding out in a Tuscan villa in Italy.
In October 2009, Christensen started shooting the horror film Vanishing on 7th Street, directed by Brad Anderson, with Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo. Christensen appeared in the crime drama Takers with Idris Elba and Paul Walker, released in the United States on August 27, 2010. Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey is the fourth film in which Christensen stars with Samuel L. Jackson.
In 2010, Christensen sued USA Network over allegations that they stole his idea for the TV show Royal Pains. The suit alleges that Christensen met with USA to pitch a similar series entitled Housecalls. During the meeting, Christensen alleges, he was never informed that a similar program was in development. Although a federal judge at first dismissed Christensen's lawsuit in 2011, in June 2012, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed this decision and remanded the case back to the district court for further proceedings, in what was considered a legal victory for Christensen.
On May 20, 2013, during the Cannes Film Festival, the Russian company Enjoy Movies announced the creation of Glacier Films, an alliance company with Christensen and his brother Tove. Over a three-year period, Glacier Films intends to make 11 "micro-budget" movies costing $1.5M each. The first project, American Heist, starring Christensen, Adrien Brody and Jordana Brewster, started filming in June 2013. It is a remake of Steve McQueen's The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery. In 2014, he starred in the American-Chinese-Canadian film Outcast, an action drama, alongside Nicolas Cage.
In 2015, Christensen starred in the film 90 Minutes in Heaven co-starring Kate Bosworth and directed by Michael Polish based on the best-selling novel by the same name. In 2015, filming began of an unreleased World War II Nazi zombies horror movie titled Untöt, set to star Christensen. In 2017, he was in the film First Kill alongside Bruce Willis. In 2018 he appeared in the Canadian-American romantic comedy Little Italy with Emma Roberts and in the same year was in The Last Man.
Return to the Star Wars franchise
In 2019, Christensen returned to the role of Anakin Skywalker, providing a voice cameo of the character's voice in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Christensen also received a voice credit as Anakin Skywalker jointly alongside Matt Lanter for the penultimate episode of the final season of the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars entitled "Shattered" despite the fact the dialogue used for the episode spoken by Christensen was reused archival audio from Revenge of the Sith. On December 10, 2020 during Disney+ Investor Day 2020, it was announced that Christensen would reprise his role of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader for the Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series on Disney+. On October 22, 2021, it was reported that Christensen would also reprise the role for the Disney+ series Ahsoka.
Personal life
In 2007, Christensen began dating actress Rachel Bilson, with whom he starred in the movie Jumper. They became engaged on December 25, 2008. In mid-2010, they broke up, but began dating again a few months later. On October 29, 2014, Bilson gave birth to their daughter Briar Rose. Christensen and Bilson separated in September 2017.
In 2007, Christensen bought a farm near Uxbridge, Ontario. He noted in 2008 that he had been renovating the property himself and devoting time to learning about "livestock, crops, and agricultural machinery". In November 2013, Christensen collaborated with Canadian fashion chain RW&Co to release a men's clothing line inspired by his farm.
An avid Toronto Maple Leafs fan, Christensen performed a public service announcement for Do Something's Teens for Jeans Campaign in 2008. He modelled in Louis Vuitton's advertising, and was also named as the face of Lacoste's newest fragrance, Lacoste Challenge. He was featured in RED's Lazarus Effect Campaign, which is intended to increase awareness for its efforts to fight AIDS in Africa.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
1981 births
20th-century Canadian male actors
21st-century Canadian male actors
Male actors from Toronto
Male actors from Vancouver
Actors Studio alumni
Canadian male child actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian people of American descent
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
Canadian people of Danish descent
Canadian people of Italian descent
Canadian people of Swedish descent
Canadian male soap opera actors
Canadian male stage actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male voice actors
Golden Raspberry Award winners
Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni
Living people
People from Thornhill, Ontario
| true |
[
"The Tamil Panar (or , ) were an ancient musical community of the Tamil area in India, attested from the classical Sangam texts onwards through medieval inscriptions. They sang their songs to the accompaniment of the yāl harp.\n\nIn fact medieval inscriptions present evidence for their performing Sanskrit drama and for singing and training temple dancers in hindu temples. As Palaniappan states therein: \"What is interesting about the traditional views regarding the social status of the Pāṇars is that they were not informed by any real data on the Pāṇars actually living in Tamil Nadu during medieval times. Such real data are indeed available to us from Tamil inscriptions, which present a drastically different picture of the social status of the Pāṇars\".\n\nNotable personages \n Tiru Nilakanta Yazhpanar (7th century CE)\n Thiruppaan Alvar (8–9th century CE)\n\nSee also \n Panar (Kundapura), a modern-day community of Karnataka\n\nReferences\n\nTamil history\nTamil",
"Andhra Pradesh is an official monthly magazine brought by the Department of Information and Public Relations Department of Government of Andhra Pradesh. The magazine was started in 1952. It is published in English, Telugu and Urdu languages from Hyderabad. The magazine provides information regarding developmental activities undertaken by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. It also features interesting articles of personality development, humor, career counselling, entertainment, short stories and poetry. There is an online edition of the magazine.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nAndhra Pradesh magazine\n\n1952 establishments in India\nGovernment of Andhra Pradesh\nMonthly magazines published in India\nNews magazines published in India\nMagazines established in 1952\nMass media in Andhra Pradesh\nMass media in Hyderabad, India\nMultilingual magazines\nState media"
] |
[
"Hayden Christensen",
"1993-2005",
"what occurred in 1993?",
"Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993,",
"what was the film?",
"at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions.",
"what film did he star in as a youth?",
"The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness.",
"what film was a big break for him?",
"He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000,",
"what character did he play in that film?",
"a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair.",
"what did critics think about his acting skills?",
"Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations,",
"what award did he win?",
"the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year.",
"what is an interesting fact regarding his career?",
"Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth."
] |
C_5cd093d5a0db40cdbdebf5567c901c03_1
|
what is the name of the play?
| 9 |
what is the name of the play Hayden Christensen was part of?
|
Hayden Christensen
|
Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993, when, at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions. The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. From 1995 through 1999, he appeared in several films and television series, including Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Goosebumps, The Virgin Suicides, and Are You Afraid of the Dark? He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000, portraying a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair. Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, as well as the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year. However, the performance did not receive widespread public notice. In 2002, Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth. He went on to receive good reviews for 2003's Shattered Glass, which tells the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who was discovered to be fabricating stories as a writer for The New Republic and other publications. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "Hayden Christensen is sensational as Glass, finding the wonder boy and the weasel in a disturbed kid flying high on a fame he hasn't earned." In 2005, Christensen made his Broadway debut when he appeared briefly in a 10-minute play. In 2005, he took part in the fifth annual "24 Hour Plays" benefit, which raises cash for nonprofit groups in the Big Apple. CANNOTANSWER
|
This Is Our Youth.
|
Hayden Christensen (born April 19, 1981) is a Canadian actor and producer. He began his career on Canadian television at the age of 13, then diversified into American television in the late 1990s. He was praised for his acting as Sam in Life as a House (2001), earning Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
Christensen gained international fame for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader in the Star Wars prequel trilogy films, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), a role he will reprise for the announced Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka. His honours for these films include a nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Actor and the Cannes Film Festival Revelation Award. He also received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Stephen Glass in the 2003 film Shattered Glass.
Early life
Christensen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Alie, an American speechwriter, and David Christensen, a Canadian computer programmer and communications executive. His father is of Danish descent, and his mother has Swedish and Italian ancestry. Christensen is one of four children, with three actor siblings: older brother Tove, older sister Hejsa, and younger sister Kaylen. Christensen was an athlete in high school, playing hockey competitively and tennis on a provincial level.
He spent summers on Long Island with his maternal grandmother, Rose Schwartz, and attended the Actors Studio in New York City; he studied as well at the Arts York drama program at Unionville High School in Markham, Ontario. After accompanying his older sister to her agent's office after she landed a role in a Pringles commercial, he began being cast in commercials as well, including for Triaminic cough syrup in 1988.
Career
1993–2005
Christensen made his acting debut in September 1993, when, at the age of 12, he played a supporting role on the German-Canadian television series Macht Der Leidenschaft/Family Passions. The following year, he had a minor role in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. From 1995 through 1999, he appeared in several films and television series, including Harrison Bergeron, Forever Knight, Goosebumps, The Virgin Suicides, and Are You Afraid of the Dark?
He acquired wider notice while starring in Fox Family Channel's television series Higher Ground in 2000, portraying a teen who was sexually molested by his stepmother, and then turned to drugs in his despair.
Christensen's critically acclaimed portrayal of a misunderstood teenager in Life as a House (2001) earned him Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, as well as the National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year. However, the performance did not receive widespread public notice. In 2002, Christensen made his London theatre debut with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Paquin in This Is Our Youth.
He went on to receive positive reviews for 2003's Shattered Glass, which tells the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who was discovered to be fabricating stories as a writer for The New Republic and other publications. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "Hayden Christensen is sensational as Glass, finding the wonder boy and the weasel in a disturbed kid flying high on a fame he hasn't earned." In 2005, Christensen made his Broadway debut when he appeared briefly in a 10-minute play.
In 2005, he took part in the fifth annual "24 Hour Plays" benefit, which raises cash for nonprofit groups in the Big Apple.
Star Wars
On May 12, 2000, Christensen announced that he would be starring as an adult Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), Skywalker was previously portrayed by Jake Lloyd as a child in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). The casting director reviewed about 1,500 other candidates before director George Lucas selected Christensen. Lucas is quoted as saying that he chose Christensen because he "needed an actor who has that presence of the Dark Side". This was essential to solidify the story that Lucas was trying to tell: Anakin Skywalker's fall from grace and transformation into Darth Vader.
During the production of Revenge of the Sith, Christensen asked Lucas if a special Vader suit could be constructed to fit his own body, rather than have a different actor don one of the original sets of Vader armour worn by David Prowse. Lucas agreed, and a suit was engineered to fit Christensen's frame, even including extensions to allow for the actor to attain Vader's height. His voice as the "robotic" Vader, however, was dubbed over by James Earl Jones, who first made the voice famous in the original trilogy.
Stock footage of Christensen was used in the 2004 DVD-release edition of Return of the Jedi, where he was inserted to replace Sebastian Shaw as the force ghost of the redeemed Anakin Skywalker. This was one of the most controversial changes. Lucas wanted Anakin's inner person to return to who he was before he turned to the dark side. Christensen insisted this was done without his knowledge, an act that was confirmed by Lucasfilm itself in the featurette "Return of the Jedi: What has changed?" as seen on the official website to commemorate the 2006 DVDs.
His performance in both Episode II and III received generally mixed reviews by critics (earning him the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor in both films).
Christensen was named in both People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People and Teen Peoples 25 Hottest Stars under 25. For his performance in Episode III, he won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.
2006–2018
Between 2006 and 2007, he starred in Awake, with Jessica Alba, which tells the story of a man who remains awake but paralyzed during heart surgery, and co-starred in Factory Girl, opposite Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce. Christensen next co-starred with Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Bell, and Rachel Bilson in the film Jumper, the story of a young man who discovers he has the ability to teleport; the film was released on February 14, 2008. Bilson and Christensen co-starred again in the same segment of the film New York, I Love You. Christensen appeared opposite Mischa Barton in Virgin Territory, which was released directly-to-DVD in North America on August 26, 2008. The film, based on The Decameron, is about a group of people who escape the Black Plague epidemic by hiding out in a Tuscan villa in Italy.
In October 2009, Christensen started shooting the horror film Vanishing on 7th Street, directed by Brad Anderson, with Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo. Christensen appeared in the crime drama Takers with Idris Elba and Paul Walker, released in the United States on August 27, 2010. Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey is the fourth film in which Christensen stars with Samuel L. Jackson.
In 2010, Christensen sued USA Network over allegations that they stole his idea for the TV show Royal Pains. The suit alleges that Christensen met with USA to pitch a similar series entitled Housecalls. During the meeting, Christensen alleges, he was never informed that a similar program was in development. Although a federal judge at first dismissed Christensen's lawsuit in 2011, in June 2012, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed this decision and remanded the case back to the district court for further proceedings, in what was considered a legal victory for Christensen.
On May 20, 2013, during the Cannes Film Festival, the Russian company Enjoy Movies announced the creation of Glacier Films, an alliance company with Christensen and his brother Tove. Over a three-year period, Glacier Films intends to make 11 "micro-budget" movies costing $1.5M each. The first project, American Heist, starring Christensen, Adrien Brody and Jordana Brewster, started filming in June 2013. It is a remake of Steve McQueen's The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery. In 2014, he starred in the American-Chinese-Canadian film Outcast, an action drama, alongside Nicolas Cage.
In 2015, Christensen starred in the film 90 Minutes in Heaven co-starring Kate Bosworth and directed by Michael Polish based on the best-selling novel by the same name. In 2015, filming began of an unreleased World War II Nazi zombies horror movie titled Untöt, set to star Christensen. In 2017, he was in the film First Kill alongside Bruce Willis. In 2018 he appeared in the Canadian-American romantic comedy Little Italy with Emma Roberts and in the same year was in The Last Man.
Return to the Star Wars franchise
In 2019, Christensen returned to the role of Anakin Skywalker, providing a voice cameo of the character's voice in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Christensen also received a voice credit as Anakin Skywalker jointly alongside Matt Lanter for the penultimate episode of the final season of the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars entitled "Shattered" despite the fact the dialogue used for the episode spoken by Christensen was reused archival audio from Revenge of the Sith. On December 10, 2020 during Disney+ Investor Day 2020, it was announced that Christensen would reprise his role of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader for the Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series on Disney+. On October 22, 2021, it was reported that Christensen would also reprise the role for the Disney+ series Ahsoka.
Personal life
In 2007, Christensen began dating actress Rachel Bilson, with whom he starred in the movie Jumper. They became engaged on December 25, 2008. In mid-2010, they broke up, but began dating again a few months later. On October 29, 2014, Bilson gave birth to their daughter Briar Rose. Christensen and Bilson separated in September 2017.
In 2007, Christensen bought a farm near Uxbridge, Ontario. He noted in 2008 that he had been renovating the property himself and devoting time to learning about "livestock, crops, and agricultural machinery". In November 2013, Christensen collaborated with Canadian fashion chain RW&Co to release a men's clothing line inspired by his farm.
An avid Toronto Maple Leafs fan, Christensen performed a public service announcement for Do Something's Teens for Jeans Campaign in 2008. He modelled in Louis Vuitton's advertising, and was also named as the face of Lacoste's newest fragrance, Lacoste Challenge. He was featured in RED's Lazarus Effect Campaign, which is intended to increase awareness for its efforts to fight AIDS in Africa.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
1981 births
20th-century Canadian male actors
21st-century Canadian male actors
Male actors from Toronto
Male actors from Vancouver
Actors Studio alumni
Canadian male child actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian people of American descent
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
Canadian people of Danish descent
Canadian people of Italian descent
Canadian people of Swedish descent
Canadian male soap opera actors
Canadian male stage actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male voice actors
Golden Raspberry Award winners
Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni
Living people
People from Thornhill, Ontario
| true |
[
"\"What's past is prologue\" is a quotation from the 1611 play The Tempest by William Shakespeare.\n\nWhat's Past Is Prologue may also refer to:\n\n \"What's Past Is Prologue\" (The Flash), a 2018 episode\n \"What's Past Is Prologue\", a 2005 episode of the TV series Summerland\n \"What's Past Is Prologue\" (Star Trek: Discovery), a 2018 episode\n \"What's Past Is Prologue\", a 2019 episode of the Indian web series Bard of Blood\n\nSee also\n Past Is Prologue (disambiguation)",
"\"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet\" is a popular adage from William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, in which Juliet seems to argue that it does not matter that Romeo is from her family's rival house of Montague. The reference is used to state that the names of things do not affect what they really are. This formulation is, however, a paraphrase of Shakespeare's actual language. Juliet compares Romeo to a rose saying that if he were not named Romeo he would still be handsome and be Juliet's love. This states that if he were not Romeo, then he would not be a Montague and she would be able to marry him without hindrance.\n\nOrigin\nIn the famous speech of Act II, Scene II of the play, the line is said by Juliet in reference to Romeo's house: Montague. The line implies that his name (and thus his family's feud with Juliet's family) means nothing and they should be together.\n\nJuliet:\n\nO Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?\nDeny thy father and refuse thy name;\nOr, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,\nAnd I'll no longer be a Capulet.\n\nRomeo:\n\n[Aside] Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?\n\nJuliet:\n\n'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;\nThou art thyself, though not a Montague.\nWhat's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,\nNor arm, nor face, nor any other part\nBelonging to a man. O, be some other name!\nWhat's in a name? That which we call a rose\nBy any other name would smell as sweet;\nSo Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,\nRetain that dear perfection which he owes\nWithout that title. Romeo, doff thy name,\nAnd for that name which is no part of thee\nTake all myself.\n\nRomeo:\n\nI take thee at thy word:\nCall me but love, and I'll be new baptized;\nHenceforth I never will be Romeo.\n\nOriginal texts\nAlthough it is one of the most famous quotes from the work of Shakespeare, no printing in Shakespeare's lifetime presents the text in the form known to modern readers: it is a skillful amalgam assembled by Edmond Malone, an editor in the eighteenth century.\n\nRomeo and Juliet was published twice, in two very different versions. The first version of 1597, named \"Q1\", is believed to have been an unauthorised pirate copy or bad quarto provided to the printer by actors off the books: a memorial reconstruction. It may also, separately, represent a version of the play improved and trimmed after rehearsals for more dramatic impact.\n\nIt runs:\n’Tis but thy name that is mine enemy:\nWhat's Montague? It is not hand nor foot,\nNor arm, nor face, nor any other part.\nWhat's in a name? That which we call a rose,\nBy any other name would smell as sweet.\nQ2, a superior 1599 printing, is believed to be a more official version printed from Shakespeare's original manuscript although perhaps not with Shakespeare's personal input. This is believed since there are textual oddities such as \"false starts\" for speeches that were presumably not clearly crossed out enough for the printer to spot.\n\nIt uses the text:\n’Tis but thy name that is my enemy:\nThou art thyself, though not a Montague,\nWhat's Montague? It is not hand nor foot,\nNor arm nor face. O be some other name,\nbelonging to a man!\nWhat's in a name? That which we call a rose,\nBy any other word would smell as sweet.\nMalone reasoned that the awkward half-line of ‘belonging to a man’ could be reconnected into verse through correction with Q1. Modern editors have generally concurred.\n\nSee also\nLaw of identity\nRhetorical device\nThe Importance of Being Earnest\nRectification of names\n\nReferences\n\nShakespearean phrases\nRomeo and Juliet\nPhilosophy of love\nIdentity (social science)\nMetaphors referring to objects"
] |
[
"Russell Wilson",
"NC State"
] |
C_2f249d115d06400fb9cc05c11f751d04_1
|
What is Russell's connection to NC State?
| 1 |
What is Russell Wilson's connection to NC State?
|
Russell Wilson
|
Wilson redshirted during the 2007 season at NC State. In 2008, Wilson initially split time at quarterback with senior Daniel Evans and junior Harrison Beck. However, Evans and Beck saw no regular season action after Week 2 and Week 5, respectively. Thereafter, Wilson led the team to a 4-3 record in the regular season which NC State finished out on a four-game winning streak. During a win over East Carolina, Wilson threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns. He threw for two touchdowns in each of the last six games in the regular season. In the 2008 PapaJohns.com Bowl against Rutgers, Wilson threw for 186 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 46 yards before halftime. Late in the first half, he scrambled to the Rutgers' four-yard line, where he was tackled and suffered a knee sprain. With Wilson sitting out the remainder of the game, his replacements threw a combined total of three interceptions with NC State eventually losing, 23-29. Over the course of the season, he completed 150 of 275 attempts for 1,955 yards and 17 touchdowns with just one interception. He also recorded 116 carries for 394 yards and four touchdowns. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) named him the first-team All-ACC quarterback. It was the first time in the conference's history that a freshman quarterback was named to the first team. Prior to the 2009 season, Wilson was named as the quarterback on the pre-season all-ACC football team on July 12. On September 19, Wilson broke Andre Woodson's all-time NCAA record of 325 consecutive pass attempts without an interception against Gardner-Webb. The 379-pass streak ended in a game against Wake Forest on October 3. Wilson held the record until November 10, 2012, when it was broken by Louisiana Tech quarterback Colby Cameron. Wilson was named honorable mention All-ACC in 2009. Wilson led the 2010 Wolfpack to a 9-4 season that included a 23-7 win over West Virginia in the 2010 Champs Sports Bowl. He led the ACC in passing yards per game (274.1) and total offensive yards per game (307.5). He was named second-team All-ACC and runner-up for ACC Football Player of the Year. In May 2010, Wilson graduated from NC State in three years with a BA in communication, and took graduate-level business courses in the fall semester during the 2010 football season. CANNOTANSWER
|
Wilson redshirted during the 2007 season at NC State.
|
Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). Wilson initially played college football and baseball at NC State from 2008 to 2010 before transferring to Wisconsin in 2011, in which he set the single-season FBS record for passing efficiency (191.8) and led them to a Big Ten title and the 2012 Rose Bowl. He also played minor league baseball for the Tri-City Dust Devils in 2010 and the Asheville Tourists in 2011 as a second baseman, and as of 2019 his professional baseball rights are held by the Somerset Patriots, the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees.
He was selected by the Seahawks in the third round (75th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft. After beating out Matt Flynn for the starting job during training camp, Wilson ended up having a successful debut season, tying Peyton Manning's then-record for most passing touchdowns by a rookie (26) and was named Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year.
Wilson has been named to nine Pro Bowls and has started in two Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl XLVIII over the Denver Broncos. He holds the record for most wins by an NFL quarterback through nine seasons (98) and is one of four quarterbacks in NFL history with a career passer rating over 100. In April 2019, Wilson signed a four-year, $140 million contract extension with the Seahawks, making him the highest paid player in the NFL at the time. In 2020, he became just the third quarterback in NFL history to throw for thirty touchdowns in four consecutive seasons. Wilson is widely regarded as one of the greatest dual-threat quarterbacks in NFL history.
Wilson is part owner of the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer (MLS). After he purchased his minority stake, the Sounders won the 2019 MLS Cup.
Early life and background
Wilson was born at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, and grew up in Richmond, Virginia. His parents are Harrison Benjamin Wilson III, a lawyer, and Tammy Wilson (née Turner), a nurse director. He has an older brother, Harrison IV, and a younger sister, Anna. Wilson started playing football with his father and brother at the age of four, and played his first organized game for the Tuckahoe Tomahawks youth football team in sixth grade.
Wilson's great-great-grandfather was a slave to a Confederate colonel and was freed after the American Civil War. Wilson's paternal grandfather, Harrison B. Wilson Jr., was a former president of Norfolk State University who played football and basketball at Kentucky State University, and his paternal grandmother, Anna W. Wilson, was on the faculty at Jackson State University. Wilson's maternal grandfather was noted painter A. B. Jackson. According to genetic admixture analysis, Wilson is 62% African, 36% European, 1% West Asian, and 1% Central Asian. His European family lineage has been traced back to 524 A.D. to Saint Arnulf of Metz via Charlemagne.
Wilson's father played football and baseball at Dartmouth and was a wide receiver for the San Diego Chargers preseason squad in 1980. Wilson's brother, Harry, played football and baseball at the University of Richmond, and his sister Anna plays basketball for Stanford.
Wilson's father died on June 9, 2010, at age 55 due to complications from diabetes, the day after Wilson was drafted by the Rockies.
High school career
Wilson attended Stone Bridge High School public high school for a semester before attending Collegiate School, a preparatory school in Richmond, Virginia. As a junior in 2005, he threw for 3,287 passing yards and 40 passing touchdowns and rushed for 634 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns. He was named an all-district, all-region, and all-state player. Wilson was twice named the Richmond Times-Dispatch Player of the Year.
As a senior, he threw for 3,009 passing yards, 34 passing touchdowns, and seven interceptions. In addition, he rushed for 1,132 yards and 18 touchdowns. That year, he was named an all-conference and all-state player as well as conference player of the year. He was featured in Sports Illustrated magazine for his performance in the state championship game win. Wilson also served as his senior class president.
During his time in high school, Wilson attended the Manning Passing Academy, a summer football clinic run by multiple NFL MVP winner and eventual Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning. Due to this encounter, Manning recognized Wilson many years later when the latter had flown to Denver to discuss the prospect of getting drafted by the Denver Broncos, where Manning had recently signed.
Wilson was also a member of the Collegiate School basketball and baseball teams.
Wilson committed to North Carolina State University on July 23, 2006. He also received a football scholarship offer from Duke University.
College football career
NC State
Wilson redshirted during the 2007 season at NC State. In 2008, Wilson initially split time at quarterback with senior Daniel Evans and junior Harrison Beck. However, Evans and Beck saw no regular season action after Week 2 and Week 5, respectively. Thereafter, Wilson led the team to a 4–3 record in the regular season which NC State finished out on a four-game winning streak. During a 30–24 win over East Carolina, Wilson threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns. He threw for two touchdowns in each of the last six games in the regular season.
In the 2008 PapaJohns.com Bowl against Rutgers, Wilson threw for 186 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 46 yards before halftime. Late in the first half, he scrambled to the Rutgers' four-yard line, where he was tackled and suffered a knee sprain. With Wilson sitting out the remainder of the game, his replacements threw a combined total of three interceptions with NC State eventually losing, 23–29. Over the course of the season, he completed 150 of 275 attempts for 1,955 yards and 17 touchdowns with just one interception. He also recorded 116 carries for 394 yards and four touchdowns. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) named him the first-team All-ACC quarterback. It was the first time in the conference's history that a freshman quarterback was named to the first team.
Prior to the 2009 season, Wilson was named as the quarterback on the pre-season all-ACC football team on July 12. On September 19, Wilson broke Andre Woodson's all-time NCAA record of 325 consecutive pass attempts without an interception against Gardner–Webb. The 379-pass streak ended in a game against Wake Forest on October 3. Wilson held the record until November 10, 2012, when it was broken by Louisiana Tech quarterback Colby Cameron. Wilson was named honorable mention All-ACC in 2009. Wilson finished the 2009 regular season with 3,027 passing yards, 31 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions as the team finished with a 5–7 record.
Wilson led the 2010 Wolfpack to a 9–4 season that included a 23–7 win over West Virginia in the 2010 Champs Sports Bowl. He led the ACC in passing yards per game (274.1) and total offensive yards per game (307.5). He was named second-team All-ACC and runner-up for ACC Football Player of the Year. In May 2010, Wilson graduated from NC State in three years with a BA in communication, and took graduate-level business courses in the fall semester during the 2010 football season.
Transfer
In January 2011, Wilson announced that he would report to spring training with the Colorado Rockies organization. NC State head coach Tom O'Brien expressed reservations with Wilson's decision, saying "Russell and I have had very open conversations about his responsibilities respective to baseball and football. While I am certainly respectful of Russell's dedication to baseball these last several years, within those discussions I also communicated to him the importance of his time commitment to NC State football."
O'Brien and his staff reached out to NFL coaches and general managers on Wilson's behalf, but he failed to receive an invitation to the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine.
On April 29, 2011, O'Brien announced that Wilson had been granted a release from his football scholarship with one year of eligibility remaining.
Wisconsin
On June 27, 2011, Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema announced that Wilson had committed to Wisconsin for the 2011 season. In the season opener against UNLV, Wilson passed for 255 yards and two passing touchdowns in a 51–17 victory. He also rushed for 62 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown run. At the end of the regular season, Wilson was named first team All-Big Ten by both the coaches and media. He also won the Griese-Brees Big Ten Quarterback of the Year award.
In the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game on December 3, Wilson threw for three touchdowns and led the Badgers to a 42–39 win over the Michigan State Spartans. Wilson was named the game's Grange-Griffin MVP. In December 2011, Wilson was named a third team All-American by Yahoo! Sports, and he finished ninth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy with 52 points.
In the 2012 Rose Bowl against the Oregon Ducks on January 2, 2012, Wilson had 19 pass completions on 25 attempts for 296 yards, 18 rushing yards, and 3 touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing) as the Badgers lost by a score of 38–45. Wilson finished the season with 33 passing touchdowns, which set the single season record at Wisconsin and was the second-most in Big Ten history behind Drew Brees during the 1998 season at Purdue (39). Wilson also set the single season FBS record for passing efficiency (191.8). On January 28, 2012, Wilson completed his college football career at the 2012 Senior Bowl.
Statistics
Professional football career
On January 16, 2012, Wilson began training for the NFL Scouting Combine at the IMG Madden Football Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Prior to the 2012 NFL Draft, Wilson had been projected by NFL scouts and analysts to be a middle-round pick. In February 2012, former NFL quarterback and director of the IMG Madden Football Academy Chris Weinke said of Wilson, "If he was 6–5, he'd probably be the No. 1 pick in the draft." On April 11, 2012, ESPN Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden said, "The only issue with Russell Wilson is his height. That might be the reason he's not picked in the first couple rounds."
2012
Wilson was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the third round (picked 75th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft, the sixth quarterback selected. The Seahawks received significant criticism for their selections in this draft, and for Wilson in particular, as they had just signed free agent Matt Flynn. Two weeks later, Wilson signed a four-year, $2.99 million contract with the Seahawks on May 7, 2012. He made his preseason debut against the Tennessee Titans on August 11, 2012 and had his first preseason start on August 24 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Two days later on August 26, 2012, Wilson was named the starting quarterback for the first regular season game after competing with Matt Flynn and Tarvaris Jackson for the position.
On September 9, 2012, Wilson made his regular season debut in a 20–16 road loss to the Arizona Cardinals. He had 18 completions on 34 passing attempts for 153 yards, one passing touchdown, and one interception. In the third regular season game on Monday night, the Seahawks won 14–12 over the Green Bay Packers on a controversial Hail Mary touchdown pass to Golden Tate. The contentious nature of the replacement officials' decision on the play was widely considered to have been the tipping point that led to an agreement being reached to end the referee lockout.
Wilson earned the Rookie of the Week honors for his stellar performance in a 28–7 victory over the New York Jets on November 11; he completed 12 of 19 attempts for 188 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for 34 yards on seven attempts. He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week and Player of the Week for his performance in the 23–17 road win over the Chicago Bears in overtime on December 2. In the 50–17 victory over the Buffalo Bills in Toronto on December 16, Wilson had 205 passing yards, one passing touchdown, nine rushes, 92 rushing yards, and a career-high three rushing touchdowns. He earned NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month honors for December 2012 after the Seahawks went 5–0 and he had a passer rating of 115.2.
Wilson finished the regular season ranked fourth in the NFL in passer rating (100.0), beating the previous rookie record set by Ben Roethlisberger in 2004 (98.1), since broken by Robert Griffin III in 2012 (102.4) and Dak Prescott in (104.9). He threw for 3,118 yards and 26 touchdowns, tying Peyton Manning's record for most touchdowns thrown by a rookie, and rushed for 489 yards and four touchdowns. Wilson's scrambling mobility and ability to extend plays outside the pocket with his legs earned numerous comparisons to Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton.
Wilson led the Seahawks to the postseason in his rookie year, with both games on the road in January. He made his postseason debut in the NFC Wild Card Round against the Washington Redskins, passing for 187 yards and rushing for 67 yards as the Seahawks rallied for a 24–14 comeback victory. In the Divisional Round against the Atlanta Falcons, Wilson threw for 385 yards and rushed for 60 yards, and his team had a 28–27 lead with 31 seconds to go, but the Falcons managed to kick the winning field goal.
Wilson was selected as an alternate for the 2013 Pro Bowl, filling in for Matt Ryan of Atlanta. At the Pro Bowl in Hawaii on January 27, Wilson completed eight of ten attempts for 98 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions for a 147.1 rating.
At the end of the season, Wilson earned a bonus of $222,000 through the NFL's Performance-Based Pay program.
2013
Wilson's Seahawks opened the 2013 season with the first 4–0 start in franchise history, before losing to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 5. The Seahawks then went on a 7-game winning streak, including a 41–20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings where he posted a career-high 151.4 passer rating and culminating in a 34–7 victory over the Saints in Week 13 in which Wilson threw three touchdown passes and earned his second NFC Offensive Player of the Week award. Over the next three weeks, the Seahawks suffered divisional losses to the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals (the loss to the Cardinals was Wilson's first home loss), but defeated the Rams in Week 17 to finish the season with a 13–3 record, the NFC West title, and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. Wilson finished the season with 26 touchdown passes, 9 interceptions, and a 101.2 passer rating, becoming the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era to post a 100+ passer rating in each of his first two seasons. Wilson was named to his second Pro Bowl on December 27, 2013. In the Divisional Round, the Seahawks defeated the New Orleans Saints by a score of 23–15. On January 19, 2014, Wilson and the Seahawks defeated the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship by a score of 23–17, advancing to Super Bowl XLVIII. Wilson threw for 206 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions for a 123.1 passer rating in a 43–8 rout of the Denver Broncos. With the victory, Wilson became just the second black starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl, joining Super Bowl XXII winner Doug Williams. At 5'11" tall, he also became the shortest quarterback to win a Super Bowl, shorter than Len Dawson, Joe Theismann, and Drew Brees (all 6'0").
Wilson earned a bonus of $169,141.73 for the 2013 season through the NFL's Performance-Based Pay program.
2014
On September 21, 2014, Wilson led the Seahawks on an 80-yard touchdown drive in overtime to defeat the Denver Broncos, 26–20, in a Week 3 rematch of the previous season's Super Bowl. On October 6, 2014, against the Washington Redskins, Wilson set a new Monday Night Football record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a single game with 122.
The Seahawks clinched a playoff spot in Week 16 when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 42–7, eliminating the Philadelphia Eagles from postseason contention and allowing the Seahawks to clinch before their Sunday Night Football matchup. On December 21, 2014, Wilson went 20-of-31 and threw for a then-career-high 339 yards with two touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals in a primetime matchup on Sunday Night Football. Wilson also led the offense in gaining 596 yards, setting a franchise record for most yards gained in a game. The Cardinals had the third-best scoring defense heading into Week 16. The Seahawks won 35–6 as they snapped the Cardinals' seven-game home winning streak and regained first place in the NFC West as well as the NFC's #1 seed. The Seahawks defeated the St. Louis Rams 20–6 in Week 17 to clinch the NFC West and the #1 seed for the second consecutive season, securing homefield advantage for the entirety of the NFC playoffs.
Wilson led the Seahawks to a 31–17 home win over the Carolina Panthers in the Divisional Round, making the Seahawks the first defending Super Bowl Champion to win a playoff game since the 2005 Patriots. The Seahawks hosted the Green Bay Packers in their second consecutive NFC Championship. Wilson threw 3 first-half interceptions while completing only two passes to his own team as the Seahawks fell behind 16–0 at halftime. With the Packers leading 19–7 and five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Wilson threw his fourth interception. Then Wilson led the Seahawks on an improbable comeback. On the Seahawks' next drive, Wilson ran the ball in for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 19–14. After a successful onside kick recovery, Wilson led the Seahawks down the field, and Lynch scored to give the Seahawks a 20–19 lead. Wilson completed a 15-yard, two-point conversion pass to Luke Willson to make it 22–19. The Packers tied it up with a field goal at the end of regulation and forced overtime. The Seahawks won the coin toss, and the offense took the field. Wilson led the Seahawks on an 80-yard drive that was capped by a 35-yard game-winning touchdown pass to Kearse. The Seahawks completed their largest postseason comeback in franchise history and clinched a Super Bowl berth.
Wilson would have been selected as an alternate to the Pro Bowl, but did not play because the Seahawks advanced to the Super Bowl; as Wilson did not have a chance to decline the invitation, the NFL recognizes this as a Pro Bowl berth for him.
The Seahawks became the first defending champion to return to the Super Bowl since the 2004 Patriots. They faced the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX, where they were defeated by a final score of 28–24. Although the Seahawks led 24–14 heading into the fourth quarter, the Patriots scored two consecutive touchdowns to take a four-point lead with 2:02 remaining. Wilson led the Seahawks to the Patriots' one-yard line with 25 seconds remaining, but Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler intercepted a pass intended for Ricardo Lockette, sealing the victory for the Patriots.
2015
On July 31, 2015, the Seahawks and Wilson agreed to a 4-year, $87.6 million contract extension, making him, at the time, the second-highest-paid player in the NFL. In the first nine games of the season, Wilson threw 10 touchdown passes and seven interceptions. Over the next five games, Wilson threw 19 touchdowns and no interceptions, becoming the only quarterback in NFL history to throw 3+ touchdown passes and no interceptions in five consecutive games. After a 2–4 start to the season, Wilson led the Seahawks to win seven of their next eight games and clinch a fourth consecutive playoff appearance in their Week 15 win over the Cleveland Browns. His strong performance over the second half of the season, even after losing star running back Marshawn Lynch and tight end Jimmy Graham, led many analysts to consider Wilson an MVP candidate.
Wilson broke numerous Seahawks single season passing records in 2015, including most passing yards (4,024), most passing touchdowns (34), and highest passer rating (110.1). He became the first Seahawks quarterback to throw for over 4,000 yards in a season, and finished the year with the highest passer rating in the NFL. Wilson's 51.7% deep ball completion percentage was the highest among NFL quarterbacks. On December 22, 2015, Wilson was named to his third Pro Bowl. He was ranked 17th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.
The Seahawks traveled to Minnesota to face the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card Round. The temperature at kickoff was −6 °F (−25 °F wind chill), making it the third coldest game in NFL history. Wilson struggled in the sub-zero temperatures, throwing for 142 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. The Vikings missed a short field goal in the last minute, allowing the Seahawks to advance to the Divisional Round to face the 15–1 Carolina Panthers. Down 31–0 at the half, Wilson helped lead a furious comeback attempt, but the Panthers won 31–24, denying Wilson and the Seahawks their third consecutive in the NFC Championship and a shot at a third consecutive Super Bowl appearance. In that game, Wilson threw for 366 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Wilson was drafted first overall by Team Irvin in the 2016 Pro Bowl draft, and in the game threw eight completions on 12 attempts for 164 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions for a 149.3 rating. He was named the Pro Bowl offensive MVP.
2016
The Seahawks had a solid 2016 season with Wilson at the helm. However, Wilson drew two minor injuries: his ankle during Week 1 against the Miami Dolphins after getting stepped on by defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh, and his left knee against the San Francisco 49ers during Week 3 after a takedown by linebacker Eli Harold. The injuries hampered Wilson's trademark mobility, and many speculated that he would be rested in order to properly recover.
Regardless, Wilson started all 16 games in the season. On November 20, against the Philadelphia Eagles, he had a 15-yard touchdown reception on a pass from Doug Baldwin on a trick play. Wilson also played the worst game of his career in 2016, throwing 5 interceptions in a 38–10 loss to the Green Bay Packers during Week 14. The team finished with a 10–5–1 record and won the NFC West. Wilson put together a season where he recorded a career-high 4,219 passing yards, 21 passing touchdowns, 259 rushing yards, and one rushing touchdown. The Seahawks made the playoffs, where they defeated the Detroit Lions in the Wild Card Round. The win gave Wilson his eighth playoff victory. However, they fell to the eventual NFC champion Atlanta Falcons in the Divisional Round at the Georgia Dome. As of 2022, this is the only season where Wilson did not earn a Pro Bowl selection. He was ranked 24th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.
2017
On September 5, 2017, Wilson was voted Seahawks offensive captain for the fifth consecutive season. In Week 3, in a 33–27 loss to the Tennessee Titans, he was 29 of 49 for 373 passing yards and four passing touchdowns. In Week 8 against the Houston Texans, Wilson posted an astounding performance, going 26 of 41 for a career-high 452 passing yards and four touchdowns in a matchup where both he and Deshaun Watson each threw over 400 yards. Wilson also rushed for 30 yards, totaling 482 yards of offense in the 41–38 victory. With his strong performance, Wilson earned NFC Offensive Player of the Week. On December 21, 2017, the Seahawks were fined $100,000 for failure to properly apply the concussion protocol on a hit Wilson sustained during the Week 10 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
In Week 12, with the win over San Francisco, Wilson became the winningest quarterback in a player's first six seasons with 63 wins, surpassing Joe Flacco. Next week, with his 15-yard touchdown throw to running back J. D. McKissic, the third of his game, Wilson tied Eli Manning in 2011 for the most fourth quarter touchdowns in a single season with 15. He went 20 for 31 for 227 yards and three touchdowns in that game, earning him NFC Offensive Player of the Week. On December 19, 2017, Wilson was named to his fourth Pro Bowl.
The Seahawks ended the season with nine wins, ending Wilson's streak of five consecutive seasons with double-digit wins and a playoff appearance. He threw for 34 touchdown passes, finishing the season as the league's leader in touchdowns thrown. With 586 rushing yards and three touchdowns, he also finished the season as the team's leading rusher in both categories. Wilson was ranked 11th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.
2018
With the Seahawks having lost many Pro Bowl starters in the offseason such as Cliff Avril, Michael Bennett, Kam Chancellor, Jimmy Graham and Richard Sherman, and having star safety Earl Thomas injured in the beginning of the regular season, many considered the team a long shot to return to the playoffs. In addition to dealing with a re-tooled roster, Wilson also had a new offensive coordinator in Brian Schottenheimer, who replaced Darrell Bevell.
Wilson was once again named as a captain for the Seahawks going into the 2018 season. He started the season with 298 passing yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions in a 27–24 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 1. In Week 3, against the Dallas Cowboys, he helped lead the Seahawks to their first victory of the season with 192 passing yards and two touchdowns. In Weeks 5–8, against the Los Angeles Rams, Oakland Raiders, and Detroit Lions, he had three consecutive games with three passing touchdowns. In Week 13, against the San Francisco 49ers, he had 185 passing yards and four touchdowns in the 43–16 victory.
In Week 16, the Seahawks faced off against the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs on NBC Sunday Night Football. Wilson out-dueled the season's eventual MVP Patrick Mahomes to lead the team to a 38–31 victory. This not only ensured another winning season for the Seahawks, but also defied early-season expectations by returning to the post-season after a one-year absence. Wilson finished the season with 35 touchdowns and a 110.9 passer rating, both personal and franchise bests. He also set career franchise records with most quarterback regular-season wins (75) and most touchdowns (196). as the No. 5-seed in the NFC, the Seahawks faced off against the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card Round. Wilson passed for 233 yards and one passing touchdown to go along with a rushing touchdown as the Seahawks fell 24–22.
Wilson was named to the Pro Bowl for the sixth time in his career, replacing Aaron Rodgers.
2019
On April 16, 2019, Wilson signed a four-year, $140 million contract extension to remain with the Seahawks through the 2023 season, making him the highest paid player in the NFL. In Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Wilson threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns as the Seahawks won 28–26, earning him NFC Offensive Player of the Week. In Week 3 against the New Orleans Saints, Wilson completed 32 passes for 406 yards and two passing touchdowns. In addition, he rushed seven times for 51 yards and two rushing touchdowns in the 33–27 loss. In Week 5 against the Los Angeles Rams, Wilson threw for 268 yards and four touchdowns in the 30–29 win on Thursday Night Football. The next week, in a 32–28 victory over the Cleveland Browns, he had 295 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. In Week 9 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Wilson threw for 378 yards and five touchdowns in the 40–34 overtime win, taking over the league lead in touchdowns and quarterback rating. He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance. In Week 10 against the then-undefeated San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football, Wilson threw for 232 yards, one touchdown, one interception and led the Seahawks to a 27–24 overtime win.
Wilson finished the 2019 season with 4,110 passing yards, 31 passing touchdowns, and five interceptions to go along with 75 carries for 342 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns as the Seahawks finished with an 11–5 record and made the playoffs as the NFC's #5 seed. He was once again named to the Pro Bowl, but also made his first appearance on the AP All-Pro team, being named second-team quarterback after Lamar Jackson.
In the Wild Card Round against the Philadelphia Eagles, Wilson completed 18 of 30 passes for 325 yards and a touchdown. In addition, he rushed nine times for 45 yards. He accounted for 95 percent of the Seahawks total offense and led them to a 17–9 victory over the Eagles. In the Divisional Round against the Green Bay Packers, Wilson threw for 277 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 64 yards during the 28–23 loss.
Wilson was ranked 2nd on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2020, the highest of his career, and beat out the likes of renowned quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, and Tom Brady.
2020
Wilson started off the 2020 season going 31 of 35 for 322 passing yards and four passing touchdowns in the 38–25 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
He was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in Week 1.
In Week 2, against the New England Patriots on NBC Sunday Night Football, he had 288 passing yards, five passing touchdowns, and one interception in the 35–30 victory. Wilson continued his great start to the season with 315 passing yards and five touchdowns in the 38–31 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Wilson set an NFL record most passing touchdowns through three games with 14.
He was again named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in Week 3.
On October 1, 2020, Wilson was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for his performance in September. In Week 4, Wilson passed for 360 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in the 31–23 victory over the Miami Dolphins.
In Week 5 against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football, Wilson threw for 217 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winning six-yard touchdown pass to DK Metcalf with 14 seconds left in the game, during the 27–26 win. This win was his 100th win in 148 total games as starting quarterback for the Seahawks. In Week 7 against the Arizona Cardinals, Wilson completed 33 of 50 passes for 388 yards and three touchdowns, plus rushed 6 times for 48 yards, but threw three interceptions including a costly one to Isaiah Simmons with one minute left in overtime as the Seahawks lost 37–34. In Week 8 against the San Francisco 49ers, he threw for 261 yards and four passing touchdowns in the 37–27 victory. In Week 9, against the Buffalo Bills, he had 390 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and two interceptions to go along with a rushing touchdown in the 44–34 loss, with the 44 points the Buffalo Bills scored becoming the highest number of points allowed in the Pete Carroll era.
In Week 14 against the New York Jets, Wilson threw for 206 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception during the 40–3 win. In the Week 17 season finale against the San Francisco 49ers, Wilson threw for 20 of 36 for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns and also rushed for 29 yards in the 26–23 victory. Overall, Wilson finished the 2020 season with 4,212 passing yards, 40 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. Wilson broke his own franchise record for passing touchdowns in a single season with his efforts in 2020. In the Wild Card Round, Wilson couldn't recreate his success from the regular season, only completing 11 of 27 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns and one interception which was returned for a touchdown by Darious Williams in a 30–20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. A few days later on February 6, Wilson was named Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year for his consistent and outgoing community service throughout the entirety of his career.
Wilson was ranked 12th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2021, the third highest ranking of his career.
2021
During the Seahawks Week 5 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Wilson left the game after suffering a broken finger in the third quarter. He had surgery to repair the injury on October 8, 2021. On October 15, 2021, he was ruled out for the Seahawks' Week 6 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was the first game he missed in his career, which ended a streak of 149 consecutive games started by an NFL quarterback, which is sixth all-time. He was placed on injured reserved later that same day, ensuring he would miss the next three games at minimum. He was activated off injured reserve November 12.
NFL career statistics
Regular season
Postseason
NFL records
Most passing yards in a playoff game by a rookie: 385
Seattle Seahawks records
Highest passer rating, career (minimum 500 attempts): 101.7
Highest passer rating, season (minimum 200 attempts): 110.9, 2018
Highest passer rating, rookie season (minimum 200 attempts): 100.0
Highest completion percentage, career (minimum 500 attempts): 64.5
Highest completion percentage, season (minimum 200 attempts): 68.1, 2015
Highest completion percentage, rookie season (minimum 200 attempts): 64.1
Lowest percentage passes had intercepted, career (minimum 500 attempts): 1.80
Lowest percentage passes had intercepted, rookie season (minimum 200 attempts): 2.54
Most rushing yards by a quarterback, career: 3,993
Most rushing yards by a quarterback, season: 849, 2014
Most rushing yards by a quarterback, rookie season: 489
Highest yard rushing average, career (minimum 400 attempts): 5.6
Highest yard rushing average, season (minimum 100 attempts): 7.2
Most passing yards, career: 29,734
Most passing yards, season: 4,219, 2016
Most passing yards, rookie season: 3,118
Most passing yards, game: 452 on October 29, 2017, against the Houston Texans
Most passing touchdowns, career: 227
Most passing touchdowns, season: 35, 2018
Most passing touchdowns, rookie season: 26
Most passing touchdowns, game (tied with three players): 5
Most pass completions, season: 353, 2016
Most games with a passing TD, career: 126
Awards and honors
NFL
Super Bowl XLVIII Champion
8× Pro Bowl (2012–2015, 2017–2020)
Second-team All-Pro (2019)
NFC Offensive Player of the Month (September 2020)
NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month (December 2012)
11× NFC Offensive Player of the Week
Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week (Week 10, 2012)
PFWA Good Guy Award (2014)
7× FedEx Air Player of the Week
3x Steve Largent Award (2012, 2018, 2019)
NFL Top 100: 51st (2013), 20th (2014), 22nd (2015), 17th (2016), 24th (2017), 11th (2018), 25th (2019), 2nd (2020), 12th (2021)
Walter Payton Man Of The Year (2020)
Bart Starr Award (2022)
MLS
2019 MLS Cup Champion (as part owner of the Seattle Sounders)
Baseball career
After graduating from high school, Wilson was selected by the Baltimore Orioles with the fifth pick in the 41st round (1,222nd overall) of the 2007 MLB draft. The Orioles considered Wilson a talent worthy of the first ten rounds and offered him a $350,000 signing bonus, the third-largest they offered a draftee that year after Matt Wieters ($6 million) and Jake Arrieta ($1.1 million). Wilson instead elected to attend NC State that fall. In a 2008 interview, Wilson said, "I was leaning towards [entering the draft], but a college education is something you'll always have."
College baseball
Wilson was a member of the NC State Wolfpack baseball team from 2008 to 2010, and in the summer of 2009 played for the Gastonia Grizzlies, a collegiate summer baseball team in the Coastal Plain League. He hit .282/.384/.415 with five home runs and 30 runs batted in (RBIs) during his collegiate career.
Professional baseball
On June 8, 2010, Wilson was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the fourth round (140th pick overall) of the 2010 MLB draft. That summer he played 32 games as a second baseman for the Tri-City Dust Devils, the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Rockies in the Northwest League. He finished the season with two home runs, 11 RBIs, and a .230 batting average.
In the summer of 2011, Wilson played 61 games with the Asheville Tourists, the Class A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies in the South Atlantic League. He hit three home runs with 15 RBIs and a .228 batting average. In January 2012, Wilson informed the Rockies that he would be pursuing a career in the NFL and would not report to spring training for the 2012 season.
On December 12, 2013, Wilson was acquired from the Rockies by the Texas Rangers in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft. Wilson attended Rangers spring training in Surprise, Arizona in 2014 and 2015.
On February 7, 2018, Wilson was traded from the Rangers to the New York Yankees and assigned to the Yankees' Double-A affiliate, the Trenton Thunder. Wilson grew up as a Yankees fan and promised his late father that he would one day wear the Yankees uniform. On March 2, Wilson pinch-hit for Aaron Judge in the fifth inning against the Atlanta Braves, his first appearance in a professional baseball game since 2011. He struck out on five pitches from Braves pitcher Max Fried.
Business ventures and endorsements
On April 26, 2012, Wilson announced he had chosen French/West/Vaughan as his marketing, public relations, and endorsements agency. Since being named the starting quarterback of the Seahawks in August 2012, Wilson has appeared in advertisements for Levi's, American Family Insurance, Pepsi, Nike, Alaska Airlines, Microsoft, Duracell, Braun, Bose, United Way, and Larson Automotive Group.
In 2014, Wilson became part-owner and endorser of Eat the Ball, a European bread company. In 2015, he began endorsing Luvo, a frozen food company, and Reliant Recovery Water. On February 29, 2016, Wilson launched Good Man Brand, a clothing line which he co-founded. In August 2016, it was announced that Wilson had partnered with Juice Press to open the company's first Seattle franchise.
On November 14, 2016, Wilson announced he had joined Chris Hansen, Wally Walker, and Erik and Pete Nordstrom as partners in the investment group working to bring a new sports arena to Seattle's SoDo neighborhood for potential NBA and NHL teams.
Wilson in 2017 founded a fan network platform to connect fans with celebrities called TraceMe. TraceMe launched its public beta on September 8, 2017, and announced $9 million in Series A funding with investors including Jeff Bezos' Bezos Expeditions, Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai and YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley.
On November 20, 2017, football helmet manufacturer VICIS announced a $7 million investment round which included Wilson as an investor.
In June 2018, Wilson and his wife Ciara announced they were joining an effort to bring a Major League Baseball franchise to Portland, Oregon. In July 2018, Wilson became an investor and endorser for Molecule, a mattress company.
In September 2018, Wilson was announced as the next athlete to appear on the cover of the Wheaties cereal box.
In August 2019, Russell Wilson and his wife Ciara announced that they had joined the ownership group for Seattle Sounders FC, the local Major League Soccer club. The Sounders would go on to win the 2019 MLS Cup, thus giving Wilson an MLS Cup to his credit as part owner.
In January 2020, Russell Wilson has been named Chairman of NFL FLAG. The global partnership will focus on strengthening NFL FLAG domestically and expanding the league internationally. He has worked with the flag football organizations in China, Brazil, Canada and the United Kingdom to help spread awareness of the sport and get athletes engaged in the game at a young age. More recently, both Wilson and Ciara struck first look deal with Amazon Studios.
In popular culture
Wilson has appeared on the cover of several magazines including Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated Kids, Rolling Stone, ESPN The Magazine, Men's Fitness, and Men's Health.
Rapper Eminem mentions Wilson in his 2013 song, "The Monster":
Wilson has appeared on Late Show with David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Charlie Rose, and in the 2015 film Entourage. He also hosted the 2015, 2016, and 2017 Kids' Choice Sports on Nickelodeon
Wilson was the keynote speaker for the 2016 commencement ceremony at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Personal and academic life
Wilson graduated from NC State with a bachelor's degree in broadcast/communications in 2010 after three years of study. After transferring to the University of Wisconsin, he earned a master's degree in educational leadership and policy analysis.
Wilson met his first wife, Ashton Meem, while they were both high school students. They married in January 2012 and divorced in April 2014.
Wilson is married to American R&B singer Ciara. They began dating in early 2015 and announced their engagement on March 11, 2016. They were married on July 6, 2016, at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire, England. He has a stepson from her relationship with Future. Their daughter, was born on April 28, 2017. On January 30, 2020, they announced that they were expecting their second child together. Their son was born on July 23, 2020.
Wilson is a devout Christian. He frequently speaks about his Christian faith on his social media accounts. Wilson and Ciara made a vow to be celibate until they got married.
His net worth as of October 2016 is $120 million.
Wilson's younger sister Anna plays basketball at Stanford.
Charitable work
Wilson is an active volunteer in the Seattle community. During the NFL season, Wilson makes weekly visits on his days off to the Seattle Children's Hospital, and has also visited with soldiers at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. In the offseason, Wilson hosts the Russell Wilson Passing Academy, a youth football camp, in several cities. In 2012, proceeds from the camp went to the Charles Ray III Diabetes Association, for which Wilson is the National Ambassador. In 2013 and 2014, Wilson partnered with Russell Investments for its "Invested with Russell" program, which donated $3,000 to Wilson's charitable foundation for every touchdown he scored.
Wilson co-hosts an annual charity golf event along with NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne at Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum, Washington to support various organizations including Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Seattle Children's Hospital. In August 2016, Wilson's Why Not You Foundation presented a check for $1,060,005 to Seattle Children's Hospital for its Strong Against Cancer initiative.
In March 2020, Wilson and Ciara partnered with Food Lifeline to donate one million meals to those in need during the coronavirus pandemic.
See also
List of NCAA Division I FBS career passing touchdowns leaders
List of NCAA major college football yearly passing leaders
List of Seattle Seahawks starting quarterbacks
List of Super Bowl starting quarterbacks
List of NFL quarterbacks who have posted a perfect passer rating
List of National Football League annual passing touchdowns leaders
References
External links
Seattle Seahawks bio
NC State Wolfpack bio
Wisconsin Badgers bio
1988 births
Living people
African-American baseball players
African-American Christians
African-American players of American football
American football quarterbacks
American philanthropists
American soccer chairmen and investors
Asheville Tourists players
Baseball players from Cincinnati
Baseball players from Seattle
Baseball players from Richmond, Virginia
Baseball second basemen
National Conference Pro Bowl players
NC State Wolfpack baseball players
NC State Wolfpack football players
Players of American football from Cincinnati
Players of American football from Seattle
Players of American football from Richmond, Virginia
Seattle Seahawks players
Tri-City Dust Devils players
Unconferenced Pro Bowl players
Wisconsin Badgers football players
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[
"North Carolina Highway 184 (NC 184) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It runs from NC 105 at Tynecastle (Sugar Mountain) to the town of Beech Mountain.\n\nRoute description\n\nServing as a spur of NC 105, NC 184 allows easy connection from Boone or Linville to Banner Elk and golf/ski resorts at Sugar and Beech mountains. It is predominantly a two-lane mountain highway with a speed limit no greater than . Congestion is common, which peaks in early autumn (fall colors) and winter holidays. The highway crosses the Eastern Continental Divide just north of Tynecastle, but is unmarked.\n\nThe final part of the highway, from the stoplight in Banner Elk to the Town Hall on Beech Mountain, served as a major finish in the Tour DuPont Bike Race during the 1990s. Lance Armstrong also made his return to biking after cancer on NC 184 up Beech Mountain.\n\nHistory\nIn 1937, NC 184 was originally established as a spur of NC 18 to Boiling Springs. In 1940, it was renumbered as part of NC 150.\n\nThe current NC 184 was established in 1956 as a new primary routing, connecting NC 105 to NC 194 in Banner Elk. In 1981, NC 184 was extended through Banner Elk, with brief overlap with NC 194, then continuing along Beech Mountain Parkway to the town of Beech Mountain; ending after crossing into Watauga County.\n\nJunction list\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n NCRoads.com: N.C. 184\n\nTransportation in Avery County, North Carolina\nTransportation in Watauga County, North Carolina\n184",
"North Carolina Highway 114 (NC 114) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It runs from I-40 to downtown Drexel.\n\nRoute description\nNC 114 is a spur route, starting at I-40 (exit 107), it goes north, crossing US 70 before entering the town of Drexel. The road ends, after the railroad tracks next to a what was a factory, at Oakland Avenue.\n\nHistory\nNC 114 was established in 1930 as a new primary route between US 70/NC 10 to Drexel. In 1976, NC 114 was extended south to its current southern terminus at I-40.\n\nJunction list\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nNCRoads.com: N.C. 114\n\n114\nTransportation in Burke County, North Carolina"
] |
[
"Russell Wilson",
"NC State",
"What is Russell's connection to NC State?",
"Wilson redshirted during the 2007 season at NC State."
] |
C_2f249d115d06400fb9cc05c11f751d04_1
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What position did he play?
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What position did Russell Wilson play?
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Russell Wilson
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Wilson redshirted during the 2007 season at NC State. In 2008, Wilson initially split time at quarterback with senior Daniel Evans and junior Harrison Beck. However, Evans and Beck saw no regular season action after Week 2 and Week 5, respectively. Thereafter, Wilson led the team to a 4-3 record in the regular season which NC State finished out on a four-game winning streak. During a win over East Carolina, Wilson threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns. He threw for two touchdowns in each of the last six games in the regular season. In the 2008 PapaJohns.com Bowl against Rutgers, Wilson threw for 186 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 46 yards before halftime. Late in the first half, he scrambled to the Rutgers' four-yard line, where he was tackled and suffered a knee sprain. With Wilson sitting out the remainder of the game, his replacements threw a combined total of three interceptions with NC State eventually losing, 23-29. Over the course of the season, he completed 150 of 275 attempts for 1,955 yards and 17 touchdowns with just one interception. He also recorded 116 carries for 394 yards and four touchdowns. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) named him the first-team All-ACC quarterback. It was the first time in the conference's history that a freshman quarterback was named to the first team. Prior to the 2009 season, Wilson was named as the quarterback on the pre-season all-ACC football team on July 12. On September 19, Wilson broke Andre Woodson's all-time NCAA record of 325 consecutive pass attempts without an interception against Gardner-Webb. The 379-pass streak ended in a game against Wake Forest on October 3. Wilson held the record until November 10, 2012, when it was broken by Louisiana Tech quarterback Colby Cameron. Wilson was named honorable mention All-ACC in 2009. Wilson led the 2010 Wolfpack to a 9-4 season that included a 23-7 win over West Virginia in the 2010 Champs Sports Bowl. He led the ACC in passing yards per game (274.1) and total offensive yards per game (307.5). He was named second-team All-ACC and runner-up for ACC Football Player of the Year. In May 2010, Wilson graduated from NC State in three years with a BA in communication, and took graduate-level business courses in the fall semester during the 2010 football season. CANNOTANSWER
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In 2008, Wilson initially split time at quarterback with senior Daniel Evans and junior Harrison Beck.
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Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). Wilson initially played college football and baseball at NC State from 2008 to 2010 before transferring to Wisconsin in 2011, in which he set the single-season FBS record for passing efficiency (191.8) and led them to a Big Ten title and the 2012 Rose Bowl. He also played minor league baseball for the Tri-City Dust Devils in 2010 and the Asheville Tourists in 2011 as a second baseman, and as of 2019 his professional baseball rights are held by the Somerset Patriots, the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees.
He was selected by the Seahawks in the third round (75th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft. After beating out Matt Flynn for the starting job during training camp, Wilson ended up having a successful debut season, tying Peyton Manning's then-record for most passing touchdowns by a rookie (26) and was named Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year.
Wilson has been named to nine Pro Bowls and has started in two Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl XLVIII over the Denver Broncos. He holds the record for most wins by an NFL quarterback through nine seasons (98) and is one of four quarterbacks in NFL history with a career passer rating over 100. In April 2019, Wilson signed a four-year, $140 million contract extension with the Seahawks, making him the highest paid player in the NFL at the time. In 2020, he became just the third quarterback in NFL history to throw for thirty touchdowns in four consecutive seasons. Wilson is widely regarded as one of the greatest dual-threat quarterbacks in NFL history.
Wilson is part owner of the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer (MLS). After he purchased his minority stake, the Sounders won the 2019 MLS Cup.
Early life and background
Wilson was born at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, and grew up in Richmond, Virginia. His parents are Harrison Benjamin Wilson III, a lawyer, and Tammy Wilson (née Turner), a nurse director. He has an older brother, Harrison IV, and a younger sister, Anna. Wilson started playing football with his father and brother at the age of four, and played his first organized game for the Tuckahoe Tomahawks youth football team in sixth grade.
Wilson's great-great-grandfather was a slave to a Confederate colonel and was freed after the American Civil War. Wilson's paternal grandfather, Harrison B. Wilson Jr., was a former president of Norfolk State University who played football and basketball at Kentucky State University, and his paternal grandmother, Anna W. Wilson, was on the faculty at Jackson State University. Wilson's maternal grandfather was noted painter A. B. Jackson. According to genetic admixture analysis, Wilson is 62% African, 36% European, 1% West Asian, and 1% Central Asian. His European family lineage has been traced back to 524 A.D. to Saint Arnulf of Metz via Charlemagne.
Wilson's father played football and baseball at Dartmouth and was a wide receiver for the San Diego Chargers preseason squad in 1980. Wilson's brother, Harry, played football and baseball at the University of Richmond, and his sister Anna plays basketball for Stanford.
Wilson's father died on June 9, 2010, at age 55 due to complications from diabetes, the day after Wilson was drafted by the Rockies.
High school career
Wilson attended Stone Bridge High School public high school for a semester before attending Collegiate School, a preparatory school in Richmond, Virginia. As a junior in 2005, he threw for 3,287 passing yards and 40 passing touchdowns and rushed for 634 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns. He was named an all-district, all-region, and all-state player. Wilson was twice named the Richmond Times-Dispatch Player of the Year.
As a senior, he threw for 3,009 passing yards, 34 passing touchdowns, and seven interceptions. In addition, he rushed for 1,132 yards and 18 touchdowns. That year, he was named an all-conference and all-state player as well as conference player of the year. He was featured in Sports Illustrated magazine for his performance in the state championship game win. Wilson also served as his senior class president.
During his time in high school, Wilson attended the Manning Passing Academy, a summer football clinic run by multiple NFL MVP winner and eventual Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning. Due to this encounter, Manning recognized Wilson many years later when the latter had flown to Denver to discuss the prospect of getting drafted by the Denver Broncos, where Manning had recently signed.
Wilson was also a member of the Collegiate School basketball and baseball teams.
Wilson committed to North Carolina State University on July 23, 2006. He also received a football scholarship offer from Duke University.
College football career
NC State
Wilson redshirted during the 2007 season at NC State. In 2008, Wilson initially split time at quarterback with senior Daniel Evans and junior Harrison Beck. However, Evans and Beck saw no regular season action after Week 2 and Week 5, respectively. Thereafter, Wilson led the team to a 4–3 record in the regular season which NC State finished out on a four-game winning streak. During a 30–24 win over East Carolina, Wilson threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns. He threw for two touchdowns in each of the last six games in the regular season.
In the 2008 PapaJohns.com Bowl against Rutgers, Wilson threw for 186 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 46 yards before halftime. Late in the first half, he scrambled to the Rutgers' four-yard line, where he was tackled and suffered a knee sprain. With Wilson sitting out the remainder of the game, his replacements threw a combined total of three interceptions with NC State eventually losing, 23–29. Over the course of the season, he completed 150 of 275 attempts for 1,955 yards and 17 touchdowns with just one interception. He also recorded 116 carries for 394 yards and four touchdowns. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) named him the first-team All-ACC quarterback. It was the first time in the conference's history that a freshman quarterback was named to the first team.
Prior to the 2009 season, Wilson was named as the quarterback on the pre-season all-ACC football team on July 12. On September 19, Wilson broke Andre Woodson's all-time NCAA record of 325 consecutive pass attempts without an interception against Gardner–Webb. The 379-pass streak ended in a game against Wake Forest on October 3. Wilson held the record until November 10, 2012, when it was broken by Louisiana Tech quarterback Colby Cameron. Wilson was named honorable mention All-ACC in 2009. Wilson finished the 2009 regular season with 3,027 passing yards, 31 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions as the team finished with a 5–7 record.
Wilson led the 2010 Wolfpack to a 9–4 season that included a 23–7 win over West Virginia in the 2010 Champs Sports Bowl. He led the ACC in passing yards per game (274.1) and total offensive yards per game (307.5). He was named second-team All-ACC and runner-up for ACC Football Player of the Year. In May 2010, Wilson graduated from NC State in three years with a BA in communication, and took graduate-level business courses in the fall semester during the 2010 football season.
Transfer
In January 2011, Wilson announced that he would report to spring training with the Colorado Rockies organization. NC State head coach Tom O'Brien expressed reservations with Wilson's decision, saying "Russell and I have had very open conversations about his responsibilities respective to baseball and football. While I am certainly respectful of Russell's dedication to baseball these last several years, within those discussions I also communicated to him the importance of his time commitment to NC State football."
O'Brien and his staff reached out to NFL coaches and general managers on Wilson's behalf, but he failed to receive an invitation to the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine.
On April 29, 2011, O'Brien announced that Wilson had been granted a release from his football scholarship with one year of eligibility remaining.
Wisconsin
On June 27, 2011, Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema announced that Wilson had committed to Wisconsin for the 2011 season. In the season opener against UNLV, Wilson passed for 255 yards and two passing touchdowns in a 51–17 victory. He also rushed for 62 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown run. At the end of the regular season, Wilson was named first team All-Big Ten by both the coaches and media. He also won the Griese-Brees Big Ten Quarterback of the Year award.
In the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game on December 3, Wilson threw for three touchdowns and led the Badgers to a 42–39 win over the Michigan State Spartans. Wilson was named the game's Grange-Griffin MVP. In December 2011, Wilson was named a third team All-American by Yahoo! Sports, and he finished ninth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy with 52 points.
In the 2012 Rose Bowl against the Oregon Ducks on January 2, 2012, Wilson had 19 pass completions on 25 attempts for 296 yards, 18 rushing yards, and 3 touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing) as the Badgers lost by a score of 38–45. Wilson finished the season with 33 passing touchdowns, which set the single season record at Wisconsin and was the second-most in Big Ten history behind Drew Brees during the 1998 season at Purdue (39). Wilson also set the single season FBS record for passing efficiency (191.8). On January 28, 2012, Wilson completed his college football career at the 2012 Senior Bowl.
Statistics
Professional football career
On January 16, 2012, Wilson began training for the NFL Scouting Combine at the IMG Madden Football Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Prior to the 2012 NFL Draft, Wilson had been projected by NFL scouts and analysts to be a middle-round pick. In February 2012, former NFL quarterback and director of the IMG Madden Football Academy Chris Weinke said of Wilson, "If he was 6–5, he'd probably be the No. 1 pick in the draft." On April 11, 2012, ESPN Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden said, "The only issue with Russell Wilson is his height. That might be the reason he's not picked in the first couple rounds."
2012
Wilson was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the third round (picked 75th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft, the sixth quarterback selected. The Seahawks received significant criticism for their selections in this draft, and for Wilson in particular, as they had just signed free agent Matt Flynn. Two weeks later, Wilson signed a four-year, $2.99 million contract with the Seahawks on May 7, 2012. He made his preseason debut against the Tennessee Titans on August 11, 2012 and had his first preseason start on August 24 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Two days later on August 26, 2012, Wilson was named the starting quarterback for the first regular season game after competing with Matt Flynn and Tarvaris Jackson for the position.
On September 9, 2012, Wilson made his regular season debut in a 20–16 road loss to the Arizona Cardinals. He had 18 completions on 34 passing attempts for 153 yards, one passing touchdown, and one interception. In the third regular season game on Monday night, the Seahawks won 14–12 over the Green Bay Packers on a controversial Hail Mary touchdown pass to Golden Tate. The contentious nature of the replacement officials' decision on the play was widely considered to have been the tipping point that led to an agreement being reached to end the referee lockout.
Wilson earned the Rookie of the Week honors for his stellar performance in a 28–7 victory over the New York Jets on November 11; he completed 12 of 19 attempts for 188 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for 34 yards on seven attempts. He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week and Player of the Week for his performance in the 23–17 road win over the Chicago Bears in overtime on December 2. In the 50–17 victory over the Buffalo Bills in Toronto on December 16, Wilson had 205 passing yards, one passing touchdown, nine rushes, 92 rushing yards, and a career-high three rushing touchdowns. He earned NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month honors for December 2012 after the Seahawks went 5–0 and he had a passer rating of 115.2.
Wilson finished the regular season ranked fourth in the NFL in passer rating (100.0), beating the previous rookie record set by Ben Roethlisberger in 2004 (98.1), since broken by Robert Griffin III in 2012 (102.4) and Dak Prescott in (104.9). He threw for 3,118 yards and 26 touchdowns, tying Peyton Manning's record for most touchdowns thrown by a rookie, and rushed for 489 yards and four touchdowns. Wilson's scrambling mobility and ability to extend plays outside the pocket with his legs earned numerous comparisons to Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton.
Wilson led the Seahawks to the postseason in his rookie year, with both games on the road in January. He made his postseason debut in the NFC Wild Card Round against the Washington Redskins, passing for 187 yards and rushing for 67 yards as the Seahawks rallied for a 24–14 comeback victory. In the Divisional Round against the Atlanta Falcons, Wilson threw for 385 yards and rushed for 60 yards, and his team had a 28–27 lead with 31 seconds to go, but the Falcons managed to kick the winning field goal.
Wilson was selected as an alternate for the 2013 Pro Bowl, filling in for Matt Ryan of Atlanta. At the Pro Bowl in Hawaii on January 27, Wilson completed eight of ten attempts for 98 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions for a 147.1 rating.
At the end of the season, Wilson earned a bonus of $222,000 through the NFL's Performance-Based Pay program.
2013
Wilson's Seahawks opened the 2013 season with the first 4–0 start in franchise history, before losing to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 5. The Seahawks then went on a 7-game winning streak, including a 41–20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings where he posted a career-high 151.4 passer rating and culminating in a 34–7 victory over the Saints in Week 13 in which Wilson threw three touchdown passes and earned his second NFC Offensive Player of the Week award. Over the next three weeks, the Seahawks suffered divisional losses to the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals (the loss to the Cardinals was Wilson's first home loss), but defeated the Rams in Week 17 to finish the season with a 13–3 record, the NFC West title, and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. Wilson finished the season with 26 touchdown passes, 9 interceptions, and a 101.2 passer rating, becoming the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era to post a 100+ passer rating in each of his first two seasons. Wilson was named to his second Pro Bowl on December 27, 2013. In the Divisional Round, the Seahawks defeated the New Orleans Saints by a score of 23–15. On January 19, 2014, Wilson and the Seahawks defeated the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship by a score of 23–17, advancing to Super Bowl XLVIII. Wilson threw for 206 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions for a 123.1 passer rating in a 43–8 rout of the Denver Broncos. With the victory, Wilson became just the second black starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl, joining Super Bowl XXII winner Doug Williams. At 5'11" tall, he also became the shortest quarterback to win a Super Bowl, shorter than Len Dawson, Joe Theismann, and Drew Brees (all 6'0").
Wilson earned a bonus of $169,141.73 for the 2013 season through the NFL's Performance-Based Pay program.
2014
On September 21, 2014, Wilson led the Seahawks on an 80-yard touchdown drive in overtime to defeat the Denver Broncos, 26–20, in a Week 3 rematch of the previous season's Super Bowl. On October 6, 2014, against the Washington Redskins, Wilson set a new Monday Night Football record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a single game with 122.
The Seahawks clinched a playoff spot in Week 16 when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 42–7, eliminating the Philadelphia Eagles from postseason contention and allowing the Seahawks to clinch before their Sunday Night Football matchup. On December 21, 2014, Wilson went 20-of-31 and threw for a then-career-high 339 yards with two touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals in a primetime matchup on Sunday Night Football. Wilson also led the offense in gaining 596 yards, setting a franchise record for most yards gained in a game. The Cardinals had the third-best scoring defense heading into Week 16. The Seahawks won 35–6 as they snapped the Cardinals' seven-game home winning streak and regained first place in the NFC West as well as the NFC's #1 seed. The Seahawks defeated the St. Louis Rams 20–6 in Week 17 to clinch the NFC West and the #1 seed for the second consecutive season, securing homefield advantage for the entirety of the NFC playoffs.
Wilson led the Seahawks to a 31–17 home win over the Carolina Panthers in the Divisional Round, making the Seahawks the first defending Super Bowl Champion to win a playoff game since the 2005 Patriots. The Seahawks hosted the Green Bay Packers in their second consecutive NFC Championship. Wilson threw 3 first-half interceptions while completing only two passes to his own team as the Seahawks fell behind 16–0 at halftime. With the Packers leading 19–7 and five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Wilson threw his fourth interception. Then Wilson led the Seahawks on an improbable comeback. On the Seahawks' next drive, Wilson ran the ball in for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 19–14. After a successful onside kick recovery, Wilson led the Seahawks down the field, and Lynch scored to give the Seahawks a 20–19 lead. Wilson completed a 15-yard, two-point conversion pass to Luke Willson to make it 22–19. The Packers tied it up with a field goal at the end of regulation and forced overtime. The Seahawks won the coin toss, and the offense took the field. Wilson led the Seahawks on an 80-yard drive that was capped by a 35-yard game-winning touchdown pass to Kearse. The Seahawks completed their largest postseason comeback in franchise history and clinched a Super Bowl berth.
Wilson would have been selected as an alternate to the Pro Bowl, but did not play because the Seahawks advanced to the Super Bowl; as Wilson did not have a chance to decline the invitation, the NFL recognizes this as a Pro Bowl berth for him.
The Seahawks became the first defending champion to return to the Super Bowl since the 2004 Patriots. They faced the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX, where they were defeated by a final score of 28–24. Although the Seahawks led 24–14 heading into the fourth quarter, the Patriots scored two consecutive touchdowns to take a four-point lead with 2:02 remaining. Wilson led the Seahawks to the Patriots' one-yard line with 25 seconds remaining, but Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler intercepted a pass intended for Ricardo Lockette, sealing the victory for the Patriots.
2015
On July 31, 2015, the Seahawks and Wilson agreed to a 4-year, $87.6 million contract extension, making him, at the time, the second-highest-paid player in the NFL. In the first nine games of the season, Wilson threw 10 touchdown passes and seven interceptions. Over the next five games, Wilson threw 19 touchdowns and no interceptions, becoming the only quarterback in NFL history to throw 3+ touchdown passes and no interceptions in five consecutive games. After a 2–4 start to the season, Wilson led the Seahawks to win seven of their next eight games and clinch a fourth consecutive playoff appearance in their Week 15 win over the Cleveland Browns. His strong performance over the second half of the season, even after losing star running back Marshawn Lynch and tight end Jimmy Graham, led many analysts to consider Wilson an MVP candidate.
Wilson broke numerous Seahawks single season passing records in 2015, including most passing yards (4,024), most passing touchdowns (34), and highest passer rating (110.1). He became the first Seahawks quarterback to throw for over 4,000 yards in a season, and finished the year with the highest passer rating in the NFL. Wilson's 51.7% deep ball completion percentage was the highest among NFL quarterbacks. On December 22, 2015, Wilson was named to his third Pro Bowl. He was ranked 17th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.
The Seahawks traveled to Minnesota to face the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card Round. The temperature at kickoff was −6 °F (−25 °F wind chill), making it the third coldest game in NFL history. Wilson struggled in the sub-zero temperatures, throwing for 142 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. The Vikings missed a short field goal in the last minute, allowing the Seahawks to advance to the Divisional Round to face the 15–1 Carolina Panthers. Down 31–0 at the half, Wilson helped lead a furious comeback attempt, but the Panthers won 31–24, denying Wilson and the Seahawks their third consecutive in the NFC Championship and a shot at a third consecutive Super Bowl appearance. In that game, Wilson threw for 366 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Wilson was drafted first overall by Team Irvin in the 2016 Pro Bowl draft, and in the game threw eight completions on 12 attempts for 164 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions for a 149.3 rating. He was named the Pro Bowl offensive MVP.
2016
The Seahawks had a solid 2016 season with Wilson at the helm. However, Wilson drew two minor injuries: his ankle during Week 1 against the Miami Dolphins after getting stepped on by defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh, and his left knee against the San Francisco 49ers during Week 3 after a takedown by linebacker Eli Harold. The injuries hampered Wilson's trademark mobility, and many speculated that he would be rested in order to properly recover.
Regardless, Wilson started all 16 games in the season. On November 20, against the Philadelphia Eagles, he had a 15-yard touchdown reception on a pass from Doug Baldwin on a trick play. Wilson also played the worst game of his career in 2016, throwing 5 interceptions in a 38–10 loss to the Green Bay Packers during Week 14. The team finished with a 10–5–1 record and won the NFC West. Wilson put together a season where he recorded a career-high 4,219 passing yards, 21 passing touchdowns, 259 rushing yards, and one rushing touchdown. The Seahawks made the playoffs, where they defeated the Detroit Lions in the Wild Card Round. The win gave Wilson his eighth playoff victory. However, they fell to the eventual NFC champion Atlanta Falcons in the Divisional Round at the Georgia Dome. As of 2022, this is the only season where Wilson did not earn a Pro Bowl selection. He was ranked 24th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.
2017
On September 5, 2017, Wilson was voted Seahawks offensive captain for the fifth consecutive season. In Week 3, in a 33–27 loss to the Tennessee Titans, he was 29 of 49 for 373 passing yards and four passing touchdowns. In Week 8 against the Houston Texans, Wilson posted an astounding performance, going 26 of 41 for a career-high 452 passing yards and four touchdowns in a matchup where both he and Deshaun Watson each threw over 400 yards. Wilson also rushed for 30 yards, totaling 482 yards of offense in the 41–38 victory. With his strong performance, Wilson earned NFC Offensive Player of the Week. On December 21, 2017, the Seahawks were fined $100,000 for failure to properly apply the concussion protocol on a hit Wilson sustained during the Week 10 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
In Week 12, with the win over San Francisco, Wilson became the winningest quarterback in a player's first six seasons with 63 wins, surpassing Joe Flacco. Next week, with his 15-yard touchdown throw to running back J. D. McKissic, the third of his game, Wilson tied Eli Manning in 2011 for the most fourth quarter touchdowns in a single season with 15. He went 20 for 31 for 227 yards and three touchdowns in that game, earning him NFC Offensive Player of the Week. On December 19, 2017, Wilson was named to his fourth Pro Bowl.
The Seahawks ended the season with nine wins, ending Wilson's streak of five consecutive seasons with double-digit wins and a playoff appearance. He threw for 34 touchdown passes, finishing the season as the league's leader in touchdowns thrown. With 586 rushing yards and three touchdowns, he also finished the season as the team's leading rusher in both categories. Wilson was ranked 11th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.
2018
With the Seahawks having lost many Pro Bowl starters in the offseason such as Cliff Avril, Michael Bennett, Kam Chancellor, Jimmy Graham and Richard Sherman, and having star safety Earl Thomas injured in the beginning of the regular season, many considered the team a long shot to return to the playoffs. In addition to dealing with a re-tooled roster, Wilson also had a new offensive coordinator in Brian Schottenheimer, who replaced Darrell Bevell.
Wilson was once again named as a captain for the Seahawks going into the 2018 season. He started the season with 298 passing yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions in a 27–24 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 1. In Week 3, against the Dallas Cowboys, he helped lead the Seahawks to their first victory of the season with 192 passing yards and two touchdowns. In Weeks 5–8, against the Los Angeles Rams, Oakland Raiders, and Detroit Lions, he had three consecutive games with three passing touchdowns. In Week 13, against the San Francisco 49ers, he had 185 passing yards and four touchdowns in the 43–16 victory.
In Week 16, the Seahawks faced off against the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs on NBC Sunday Night Football. Wilson out-dueled the season's eventual MVP Patrick Mahomes to lead the team to a 38–31 victory. This not only ensured another winning season for the Seahawks, but also defied early-season expectations by returning to the post-season after a one-year absence. Wilson finished the season with 35 touchdowns and a 110.9 passer rating, both personal and franchise bests. He also set career franchise records with most quarterback regular-season wins (75) and most touchdowns (196). as the No. 5-seed in the NFC, the Seahawks faced off against the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card Round. Wilson passed for 233 yards and one passing touchdown to go along with a rushing touchdown as the Seahawks fell 24–22.
Wilson was named to the Pro Bowl for the sixth time in his career, replacing Aaron Rodgers.
2019
On April 16, 2019, Wilson signed a four-year, $140 million contract extension to remain with the Seahawks through the 2023 season, making him the highest paid player in the NFL. In Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Wilson threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns as the Seahawks won 28–26, earning him NFC Offensive Player of the Week. In Week 3 against the New Orleans Saints, Wilson completed 32 passes for 406 yards and two passing touchdowns. In addition, he rushed seven times for 51 yards and two rushing touchdowns in the 33–27 loss. In Week 5 against the Los Angeles Rams, Wilson threw for 268 yards and four touchdowns in the 30–29 win on Thursday Night Football. The next week, in a 32–28 victory over the Cleveland Browns, he had 295 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. In Week 9 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Wilson threw for 378 yards and five touchdowns in the 40–34 overtime win, taking over the league lead in touchdowns and quarterback rating. He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance. In Week 10 against the then-undefeated San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football, Wilson threw for 232 yards, one touchdown, one interception and led the Seahawks to a 27–24 overtime win.
Wilson finished the 2019 season with 4,110 passing yards, 31 passing touchdowns, and five interceptions to go along with 75 carries for 342 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns as the Seahawks finished with an 11–5 record and made the playoffs as the NFC's #5 seed. He was once again named to the Pro Bowl, but also made his first appearance on the AP All-Pro team, being named second-team quarterback after Lamar Jackson.
In the Wild Card Round against the Philadelphia Eagles, Wilson completed 18 of 30 passes for 325 yards and a touchdown. In addition, he rushed nine times for 45 yards. He accounted for 95 percent of the Seahawks total offense and led them to a 17–9 victory over the Eagles. In the Divisional Round against the Green Bay Packers, Wilson threw for 277 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 64 yards during the 28–23 loss.
Wilson was ranked 2nd on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2020, the highest of his career, and beat out the likes of renowned quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, and Tom Brady.
2020
Wilson started off the 2020 season going 31 of 35 for 322 passing yards and four passing touchdowns in the 38–25 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
He was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in Week 1.
In Week 2, against the New England Patriots on NBC Sunday Night Football, he had 288 passing yards, five passing touchdowns, and one interception in the 35–30 victory. Wilson continued his great start to the season with 315 passing yards and five touchdowns in the 38–31 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Wilson set an NFL record most passing touchdowns through three games with 14.
He was again named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in Week 3.
On October 1, 2020, Wilson was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for his performance in September. In Week 4, Wilson passed for 360 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in the 31–23 victory over the Miami Dolphins.
In Week 5 against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football, Wilson threw for 217 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winning six-yard touchdown pass to DK Metcalf with 14 seconds left in the game, during the 27–26 win. This win was his 100th win in 148 total games as starting quarterback for the Seahawks. In Week 7 against the Arizona Cardinals, Wilson completed 33 of 50 passes for 388 yards and three touchdowns, plus rushed 6 times for 48 yards, but threw three interceptions including a costly one to Isaiah Simmons with one minute left in overtime as the Seahawks lost 37–34. In Week 8 against the San Francisco 49ers, he threw for 261 yards and four passing touchdowns in the 37–27 victory. In Week 9, against the Buffalo Bills, he had 390 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and two interceptions to go along with a rushing touchdown in the 44–34 loss, with the 44 points the Buffalo Bills scored becoming the highest number of points allowed in the Pete Carroll era.
In Week 14 against the New York Jets, Wilson threw for 206 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception during the 40–3 win. In the Week 17 season finale against the San Francisco 49ers, Wilson threw for 20 of 36 for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns and also rushed for 29 yards in the 26–23 victory. Overall, Wilson finished the 2020 season with 4,212 passing yards, 40 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. Wilson broke his own franchise record for passing touchdowns in a single season with his efforts in 2020. In the Wild Card Round, Wilson couldn't recreate his success from the regular season, only completing 11 of 27 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns and one interception which was returned for a touchdown by Darious Williams in a 30–20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. A few days later on February 6, Wilson was named Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year for his consistent and outgoing community service throughout the entirety of his career.
Wilson was ranked 12th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2021, the third highest ranking of his career.
2021
During the Seahawks Week 5 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Wilson left the game after suffering a broken finger in the third quarter. He had surgery to repair the injury on October 8, 2021. On October 15, 2021, he was ruled out for the Seahawks' Week 6 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was the first game he missed in his career, which ended a streak of 149 consecutive games started by an NFL quarterback, which is sixth all-time. He was placed on injured reserved later that same day, ensuring he would miss the next three games at minimum. He was activated off injured reserve November 12.
NFL career statistics
Regular season
Postseason
NFL records
Most passing yards in a playoff game by a rookie: 385
Seattle Seahawks records
Highest passer rating, career (minimum 500 attempts): 101.7
Highest passer rating, season (minimum 200 attempts): 110.9, 2018
Highest passer rating, rookie season (minimum 200 attempts): 100.0
Highest completion percentage, career (minimum 500 attempts): 64.5
Highest completion percentage, season (minimum 200 attempts): 68.1, 2015
Highest completion percentage, rookie season (minimum 200 attempts): 64.1
Lowest percentage passes had intercepted, career (minimum 500 attempts): 1.80
Lowest percentage passes had intercepted, rookie season (minimum 200 attempts): 2.54
Most rushing yards by a quarterback, career: 3,993
Most rushing yards by a quarterback, season: 849, 2014
Most rushing yards by a quarterback, rookie season: 489
Highest yard rushing average, career (minimum 400 attempts): 5.6
Highest yard rushing average, season (minimum 100 attempts): 7.2
Most passing yards, career: 29,734
Most passing yards, season: 4,219, 2016
Most passing yards, rookie season: 3,118
Most passing yards, game: 452 on October 29, 2017, against the Houston Texans
Most passing touchdowns, career: 227
Most passing touchdowns, season: 35, 2018
Most passing touchdowns, rookie season: 26
Most passing touchdowns, game (tied with three players): 5
Most pass completions, season: 353, 2016
Most games with a passing TD, career: 126
Awards and honors
NFL
Super Bowl XLVIII Champion
8× Pro Bowl (2012–2015, 2017–2020)
Second-team All-Pro (2019)
NFC Offensive Player of the Month (September 2020)
NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month (December 2012)
11× NFC Offensive Player of the Week
Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week (Week 10, 2012)
PFWA Good Guy Award (2014)
7× FedEx Air Player of the Week
3x Steve Largent Award (2012, 2018, 2019)
NFL Top 100: 51st (2013), 20th (2014), 22nd (2015), 17th (2016), 24th (2017), 11th (2018), 25th (2019), 2nd (2020), 12th (2021)
Walter Payton Man Of The Year (2020)
Bart Starr Award (2022)
MLS
2019 MLS Cup Champion (as part owner of the Seattle Sounders)
Baseball career
After graduating from high school, Wilson was selected by the Baltimore Orioles with the fifth pick in the 41st round (1,222nd overall) of the 2007 MLB draft. The Orioles considered Wilson a talent worthy of the first ten rounds and offered him a $350,000 signing bonus, the third-largest they offered a draftee that year after Matt Wieters ($6 million) and Jake Arrieta ($1.1 million). Wilson instead elected to attend NC State that fall. In a 2008 interview, Wilson said, "I was leaning towards [entering the draft], but a college education is something you'll always have."
College baseball
Wilson was a member of the NC State Wolfpack baseball team from 2008 to 2010, and in the summer of 2009 played for the Gastonia Grizzlies, a collegiate summer baseball team in the Coastal Plain League. He hit .282/.384/.415 with five home runs and 30 runs batted in (RBIs) during his collegiate career.
Professional baseball
On June 8, 2010, Wilson was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the fourth round (140th pick overall) of the 2010 MLB draft. That summer he played 32 games as a second baseman for the Tri-City Dust Devils, the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Rockies in the Northwest League. He finished the season with two home runs, 11 RBIs, and a .230 batting average.
In the summer of 2011, Wilson played 61 games with the Asheville Tourists, the Class A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies in the South Atlantic League. He hit three home runs with 15 RBIs and a .228 batting average. In January 2012, Wilson informed the Rockies that he would be pursuing a career in the NFL and would not report to spring training for the 2012 season.
On December 12, 2013, Wilson was acquired from the Rockies by the Texas Rangers in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft. Wilson attended Rangers spring training in Surprise, Arizona in 2014 and 2015.
On February 7, 2018, Wilson was traded from the Rangers to the New York Yankees and assigned to the Yankees' Double-A affiliate, the Trenton Thunder. Wilson grew up as a Yankees fan and promised his late father that he would one day wear the Yankees uniform. On March 2, Wilson pinch-hit for Aaron Judge in the fifth inning against the Atlanta Braves, his first appearance in a professional baseball game since 2011. He struck out on five pitches from Braves pitcher Max Fried.
Business ventures and endorsements
On April 26, 2012, Wilson announced he had chosen French/West/Vaughan as his marketing, public relations, and endorsements agency. Since being named the starting quarterback of the Seahawks in August 2012, Wilson has appeared in advertisements for Levi's, American Family Insurance, Pepsi, Nike, Alaska Airlines, Microsoft, Duracell, Braun, Bose, United Way, and Larson Automotive Group.
In 2014, Wilson became part-owner and endorser of Eat the Ball, a European bread company. In 2015, he began endorsing Luvo, a frozen food company, and Reliant Recovery Water. On February 29, 2016, Wilson launched Good Man Brand, a clothing line which he co-founded. In August 2016, it was announced that Wilson had partnered with Juice Press to open the company's first Seattle franchise.
On November 14, 2016, Wilson announced he had joined Chris Hansen, Wally Walker, and Erik and Pete Nordstrom as partners in the investment group working to bring a new sports arena to Seattle's SoDo neighborhood for potential NBA and NHL teams.
Wilson in 2017 founded a fan network platform to connect fans with celebrities called TraceMe. TraceMe launched its public beta on September 8, 2017, and announced $9 million in Series A funding with investors including Jeff Bezos' Bezos Expeditions, Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai and YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley.
On November 20, 2017, football helmet manufacturer VICIS announced a $7 million investment round which included Wilson as an investor.
In June 2018, Wilson and his wife Ciara announced they were joining an effort to bring a Major League Baseball franchise to Portland, Oregon. In July 2018, Wilson became an investor and endorser for Molecule, a mattress company.
In September 2018, Wilson was announced as the next athlete to appear on the cover of the Wheaties cereal box.
In August 2019, Russell Wilson and his wife Ciara announced that they had joined the ownership group for Seattle Sounders FC, the local Major League Soccer club. The Sounders would go on to win the 2019 MLS Cup, thus giving Wilson an MLS Cup to his credit as part owner.
In January 2020, Russell Wilson has been named Chairman of NFL FLAG. The global partnership will focus on strengthening NFL FLAG domestically and expanding the league internationally. He has worked with the flag football organizations in China, Brazil, Canada and the United Kingdom to help spread awareness of the sport and get athletes engaged in the game at a young age. More recently, both Wilson and Ciara struck first look deal with Amazon Studios.
In popular culture
Wilson has appeared on the cover of several magazines including Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated Kids, Rolling Stone, ESPN The Magazine, Men's Fitness, and Men's Health.
Rapper Eminem mentions Wilson in his 2013 song, "The Monster":
Wilson has appeared on Late Show with David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Charlie Rose, and in the 2015 film Entourage. He also hosted the 2015, 2016, and 2017 Kids' Choice Sports on Nickelodeon
Wilson was the keynote speaker for the 2016 commencement ceremony at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Personal and academic life
Wilson graduated from NC State with a bachelor's degree in broadcast/communications in 2010 after three years of study. After transferring to the University of Wisconsin, he earned a master's degree in educational leadership and policy analysis.
Wilson met his first wife, Ashton Meem, while they were both high school students. They married in January 2012 and divorced in April 2014.
Wilson is married to American R&B singer Ciara. They began dating in early 2015 and announced their engagement on March 11, 2016. They were married on July 6, 2016, at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire, England. He has a stepson from her relationship with Future. Their daughter, was born on April 28, 2017. On January 30, 2020, they announced that they were expecting their second child together. Their son was born on July 23, 2020.
Wilson is a devout Christian. He frequently speaks about his Christian faith on his social media accounts. Wilson and Ciara made a vow to be celibate until they got married.
His net worth as of October 2016 is $120 million.
Wilson's younger sister Anna plays basketball at Stanford.
Charitable work
Wilson is an active volunteer in the Seattle community. During the NFL season, Wilson makes weekly visits on his days off to the Seattle Children's Hospital, and has also visited with soldiers at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. In the offseason, Wilson hosts the Russell Wilson Passing Academy, a youth football camp, in several cities. In 2012, proceeds from the camp went to the Charles Ray III Diabetes Association, for which Wilson is the National Ambassador. In 2013 and 2014, Wilson partnered with Russell Investments for its "Invested with Russell" program, which donated $3,000 to Wilson's charitable foundation for every touchdown he scored.
Wilson co-hosts an annual charity golf event along with NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne at Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum, Washington to support various organizations including Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Seattle Children's Hospital. In August 2016, Wilson's Why Not You Foundation presented a check for $1,060,005 to Seattle Children's Hospital for its Strong Against Cancer initiative.
In March 2020, Wilson and Ciara partnered with Food Lifeline to donate one million meals to those in need during the coronavirus pandemic.
See also
List of NCAA Division I FBS career passing touchdowns leaders
List of NCAA major college football yearly passing leaders
List of Seattle Seahawks starting quarterbacks
List of Super Bowl starting quarterbacks
List of NFL quarterbacks who have posted a perfect passer rating
List of National Football League annual passing touchdowns leaders
References
External links
Seattle Seahawks bio
NC State Wolfpack bio
Wisconsin Badgers bio
1988 births
Living people
African-American baseball players
African-American Christians
African-American players of American football
American football quarterbacks
American philanthropists
American soccer chairmen and investors
Asheville Tourists players
Baseball players from Cincinnati
Baseball players from Seattle
Baseball players from Richmond, Virginia
Baseball second basemen
National Conference Pro Bowl players
NC State Wolfpack baseball players
NC State Wolfpack football players
Players of American football from Cincinnati
Players of American football from Seattle
Players of American football from Richmond, Virginia
Seattle Seahawks players
Tri-City Dust Devils players
Unconferenced Pro Bowl players
Wisconsin Badgers football players
| true |
[
"is a former Japanese football player.\n\nPlaying career\nIwamaru was born in Fujioka on December 4, 1981. After graduating from high school, he joined the J1 League club Vissel Kobe in 2000. However he did not play as much as Makoto Kakegawa until 2003. In 2004, he played more often, after Kakegawa got hurt. In September 2004, he moved to Júbilo Iwata. In late 2004, he played often, after regular goalkeeper Yohei Sato got hurt. In 2005, he moved to the newly promoted J2 League club, Thespa Kusatsu (later Thespakusatsu Gunma), based in his home region. He competed with Nobuyuki Kojima for the position and played often. \n\nIn 2006, he moved to the newly promoted J1 club, Avispa Fukuoka. However he did not play as much as Yuichi Mizutani. In 2007, he moved to the newly promoted J1 club, Yokohama FC. However he did not play as much as Takanori Sugeno and the club was relegated to J2 within a year. Although he did not play as much as Kenji Koyama in 2008, he played often in 2009. He did not play at all in 2010. \n\nIn 2011, he moved to the J2 club Roasso Kumamoto. He did not play as much as Yuta Minami. In 2013, he moved to the newly promoted J2 club, V-Varen Nagasaki. Although he played in the first three matches, he did play at all after the fourth match, when Junki Kanayama played in his place. In 2014, he moved to the J2 club Thespakusatsu Gunma based in his local region. However he did not play at all, and retired at the end of the 2014 season.\n\nClub statistics\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n \n\n1981 births\nLiving people\nAssociation football people from Gunma Prefecture\nJapanese footballers\nJ1 League players\nJ2 League players\nVissel Kobe players\nJúbilo Iwata players\nThespakusatsu Gunma players\nAvispa Fukuoka players\nYokohama FC players\nRoasso Kumamoto players\nV-Varen Nagasaki players\nAssociation football goalkeepers",
"John Stirk (born 5 September 1955) is an English former footballer. His primary position was as a right back. During his career he played for Ipswich Town, Watford, Chesterfield and North Shields. He also made two appearances for England at youth level.\n\nCareer \n\nBorn in Consett, Stirk played youth football for local non-league team Consett A.F.C. He joined Ipswich Town on schoolboy terms in 1971, and after making two appearances for the England youth team, turned professional in 1973. During his time at Ipswich he was largely a reserve. He made his first-team debut on 5 November 1977, in a Football League First Division match against Manchester City at Portman Road. His manager at the time was Bobby Robson, who later went on to manage the England national football team. Ipswich won the FA Cup in 1978, in what proved to be Stirk's final season at the club. However, Stirk himself did not play in the final, nor did he play in any of the rounds en route to the final.\n\nAnother future England manager, Watford's Graham Taylor, signed Stirk for a transfer fee of £30,000 at the end of the 1977–78 season. Stirk went on to play every Watford league game in the 1978–79 season, as Watford gained promotion to the Second Division. However, Stirk did not play for Watford in the Second Division. Two months before the end of the 1979–80 season, Stirk was sold to Third Division side Chesterfield, at a profit to Watford of £10,000. After making 56 league appearances over two and a half seasons, Stirk left Chesterfield in 1983 moving on to Blyth Spartans then Tow Law Town, and finished his career at non-league North Shields.\n\nReferences \n\n1955 births\nLiving people\nConsett A.F.C. players\nIpswich Town F.C. players\nWatford F.C. players\nChesterfield F.C. players\nEnglish Football League players\nNorth Shields F.C. players\nSportspeople from Consett\nAssociation football fullbacks\nEnglish footballers"
] |
[
"Russell Wilson",
"NC State",
"What is Russell's connection to NC State?",
"Wilson redshirted during the 2007 season at NC State.",
"What position did he play?",
"In 2008, Wilson initially split time at quarterback with senior Daniel Evans and junior Harrison Beck."
] |
C_2f249d115d06400fb9cc05c11f751d04_1
|
DId he win?
| 3 |
DId Russel Wilson win at NC State?
|
Russell Wilson
|
Wilson redshirted during the 2007 season at NC State. In 2008, Wilson initially split time at quarterback with senior Daniel Evans and junior Harrison Beck. However, Evans and Beck saw no regular season action after Week 2 and Week 5, respectively. Thereafter, Wilson led the team to a 4-3 record in the regular season which NC State finished out on a four-game winning streak. During a win over East Carolina, Wilson threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns. He threw for two touchdowns in each of the last six games in the regular season. In the 2008 PapaJohns.com Bowl against Rutgers, Wilson threw for 186 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 46 yards before halftime. Late in the first half, he scrambled to the Rutgers' four-yard line, where he was tackled and suffered a knee sprain. With Wilson sitting out the remainder of the game, his replacements threw a combined total of three interceptions with NC State eventually losing, 23-29. Over the course of the season, he completed 150 of 275 attempts for 1,955 yards and 17 touchdowns with just one interception. He also recorded 116 carries for 394 yards and four touchdowns. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) named him the first-team All-ACC quarterback. It was the first time in the conference's history that a freshman quarterback was named to the first team. Prior to the 2009 season, Wilson was named as the quarterback on the pre-season all-ACC football team on July 12. On September 19, Wilson broke Andre Woodson's all-time NCAA record of 325 consecutive pass attempts without an interception against Gardner-Webb. The 379-pass streak ended in a game against Wake Forest on October 3. Wilson held the record until November 10, 2012, when it was broken by Louisiana Tech quarterback Colby Cameron. Wilson was named honorable mention All-ACC in 2009. Wilson led the 2010 Wolfpack to a 9-4 season that included a 23-7 win over West Virginia in the 2010 Champs Sports Bowl. He led the ACC in passing yards per game (274.1) and total offensive yards per game (307.5). He was named second-team All-ACC and runner-up for ACC Football Player of the Year. In May 2010, Wilson graduated from NC State in three years with a BA in communication, and took graduate-level business courses in the fall semester during the 2010 football season. CANNOTANSWER
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Thereafter, Wilson led the team to a 4-3 record in the regular season which NC State finished out on a four-game winning streak.
|
Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). Wilson initially played college football and baseball at NC State from 2008 to 2010 before transferring to Wisconsin in 2011, in which he set the single-season FBS record for passing efficiency (191.8) and led them to a Big Ten title and the 2012 Rose Bowl. He also played minor league baseball for the Tri-City Dust Devils in 2010 and the Asheville Tourists in 2011 as a second baseman, and as of 2019 his professional baseball rights are held by the Somerset Patriots, the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees.
He was selected by the Seahawks in the third round (75th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft. After beating out Matt Flynn for the starting job during training camp, Wilson ended up having a successful debut season, tying Peyton Manning's then-record for most passing touchdowns by a rookie (26) and was named Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year.
Wilson has been named to nine Pro Bowls and has started in two Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl XLVIII over the Denver Broncos. He holds the record for most wins by an NFL quarterback through nine seasons (98) and is one of four quarterbacks in NFL history with a career passer rating over 100. In April 2019, Wilson signed a four-year, $140 million contract extension with the Seahawks, making him the highest paid player in the NFL at the time. In 2020, he became just the third quarterback in NFL history to throw for thirty touchdowns in four consecutive seasons. Wilson is widely regarded as one of the greatest dual-threat quarterbacks in NFL history.
Wilson is part owner of the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer (MLS). After he purchased his minority stake, the Sounders won the 2019 MLS Cup.
Early life and background
Wilson was born at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, and grew up in Richmond, Virginia. His parents are Harrison Benjamin Wilson III, a lawyer, and Tammy Wilson (née Turner), a nurse director. He has an older brother, Harrison IV, and a younger sister, Anna. Wilson started playing football with his father and brother at the age of four, and played his first organized game for the Tuckahoe Tomahawks youth football team in sixth grade.
Wilson's great-great-grandfather was a slave to a Confederate colonel and was freed after the American Civil War. Wilson's paternal grandfather, Harrison B. Wilson Jr., was a former president of Norfolk State University who played football and basketball at Kentucky State University, and his paternal grandmother, Anna W. Wilson, was on the faculty at Jackson State University. Wilson's maternal grandfather was noted painter A. B. Jackson. According to genetic admixture analysis, Wilson is 62% African, 36% European, 1% West Asian, and 1% Central Asian. His European family lineage has been traced back to 524 A.D. to Saint Arnulf of Metz via Charlemagne.
Wilson's father played football and baseball at Dartmouth and was a wide receiver for the San Diego Chargers preseason squad in 1980. Wilson's brother, Harry, played football and baseball at the University of Richmond, and his sister Anna plays basketball for Stanford.
Wilson's father died on June 9, 2010, at age 55 due to complications from diabetes, the day after Wilson was drafted by the Rockies.
High school career
Wilson attended Stone Bridge High School public high school for a semester before attending Collegiate School, a preparatory school in Richmond, Virginia. As a junior in 2005, he threw for 3,287 passing yards and 40 passing touchdowns and rushed for 634 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns. He was named an all-district, all-region, and all-state player. Wilson was twice named the Richmond Times-Dispatch Player of the Year.
As a senior, he threw for 3,009 passing yards, 34 passing touchdowns, and seven interceptions. In addition, he rushed for 1,132 yards and 18 touchdowns. That year, he was named an all-conference and all-state player as well as conference player of the year. He was featured in Sports Illustrated magazine for his performance in the state championship game win. Wilson also served as his senior class president.
During his time in high school, Wilson attended the Manning Passing Academy, a summer football clinic run by multiple NFL MVP winner and eventual Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning. Due to this encounter, Manning recognized Wilson many years later when the latter had flown to Denver to discuss the prospect of getting drafted by the Denver Broncos, where Manning had recently signed.
Wilson was also a member of the Collegiate School basketball and baseball teams.
Wilson committed to North Carolina State University on July 23, 2006. He also received a football scholarship offer from Duke University.
College football career
NC State
Wilson redshirted during the 2007 season at NC State. In 2008, Wilson initially split time at quarterback with senior Daniel Evans and junior Harrison Beck. However, Evans and Beck saw no regular season action after Week 2 and Week 5, respectively. Thereafter, Wilson led the team to a 4–3 record in the regular season which NC State finished out on a four-game winning streak. During a 30–24 win over East Carolina, Wilson threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns. He threw for two touchdowns in each of the last six games in the regular season.
In the 2008 PapaJohns.com Bowl against Rutgers, Wilson threw for 186 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 46 yards before halftime. Late in the first half, he scrambled to the Rutgers' four-yard line, where he was tackled and suffered a knee sprain. With Wilson sitting out the remainder of the game, his replacements threw a combined total of three interceptions with NC State eventually losing, 23–29. Over the course of the season, he completed 150 of 275 attempts for 1,955 yards and 17 touchdowns with just one interception. He also recorded 116 carries for 394 yards and four touchdowns. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) named him the first-team All-ACC quarterback. It was the first time in the conference's history that a freshman quarterback was named to the first team.
Prior to the 2009 season, Wilson was named as the quarterback on the pre-season all-ACC football team on July 12. On September 19, Wilson broke Andre Woodson's all-time NCAA record of 325 consecutive pass attempts without an interception against Gardner–Webb. The 379-pass streak ended in a game against Wake Forest on October 3. Wilson held the record until November 10, 2012, when it was broken by Louisiana Tech quarterback Colby Cameron. Wilson was named honorable mention All-ACC in 2009. Wilson finished the 2009 regular season with 3,027 passing yards, 31 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions as the team finished with a 5–7 record.
Wilson led the 2010 Wolfpack to a 9–4 season that included a 23–7 win over West Virginia in the 2010 Champs Sports Bowl. He led the ACC in passing yards per game (274.1) and total offensive yards per game (307.5). He was named second-team All-ACC and runner-up for ACC Football Player of the Year. In May 2010, Wilson graduated from NC State in three years with a BA in communication, and took graduate-level business courses in the fall semester during the 2010 football season.
Transfer
In January 2011, Wilson announced that he would report to spring training with the Colorado Rockies organization. NC State head coach Tom O'Brien expressed reservations with Wilson's decision, saying "Russell and I have had very open conversations about his responsibilities respective to baseball and football. While I am certainly respectful of Russell's dedication to baseball these last several years, within those discussions I also communicated to him the importance of his time commitment to NC State football."
O'Brien and his staff reached out to NFL coaches and general managers on Wilson's behalf, but he failed to receive an invitation to the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine.
On April 29, 2011, O'Brien announced that Wilson had been granted a release from his football scholarship with one year of eligibility remaining.
Wisconsin
On June 27, 2011, Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema announced that Wilson had committed to Wisconsin for the 2011 season. In the season opener against UNLV, Wilson passed for 255 yards and two passing touchdowns in a 51–17 victory. He also rushed for 62 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown run. At the end of the regular season, Wilson was named first team All-Big Ten by both the coaches and media. He also won the Griese-Brees Big Ten Quarterback of the Year award.
In the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game on December 3, Wilson threw for three touchdowns and led the Badgers to a 42–39 win over the Michigan State Spartans. Wilson was named the game's Grange-Griffin MVP. In December 2011, Wilson was named a third team All-American by Yahoo! Sports, and he finished ninth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy with 52 points.
In the 2012 Rose Bowl against the Oregon Ducks on January 2, 2012, Wilson had 19 pass completions on 25 attempts for 296 yards, 18 rushing yards, and 3 touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing) as the Badgers lost by a score of 38–45. Wilson finished the season with 33 passing touchdowns, which set the single season record at Wisconsin and was the second-most in Big Ten history behind Drew Brees during the 1998 season at Purdue (39). Wilson also set the single season FBS record for passing efficiency (191.8). On January 28, 2012, Wilson completed his college football career at the 2012 Senior Bowl.
Statistics
Professional football career
On January 16, 2012, Wilson began training for the NFL Scouting Combine at the IMG Madden Football Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Prior to the 2012 NFL Draft, Wilson had been projected by NFL scouts and analysts to be a middle-round pick. In February 2012, former NFL quarterback and director of the IMG Madden Football Academy Chris Weinke said of Wilson, "If he was 6–5, he'd probably be the No. 1 pick in the draft." On April 11, 2012, ESPN Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden said, "The only issue with Russell Wilson is his height. That might be the reason he's not picked in the first couple rounds."
2012
Wilson was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the third round (picked 75th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft, the sixth quarterback selected. The Seahawks received significant criticism for their selections in this draft, and for Wilson in particular, as they had just signed free agent Matt Flynn. Two weeks later, Wilson signed a four-year, $2.99 million contract with the Seahawks on May 7, 2012. He made his preseason debut against the Tennessee Titans on August 11, 2012 and had his first preseason start on August 24 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Two days later on August 26, 2012, Wilson was named the starting quarterback for the first regular season game after competing with Matt Flynn and Tarvaris Jackson for the position.
On September 9, 2012, Wilson made his regular season debut in a 20–16 road loss to the Arizona Cardinals. He had 18 completions on 34 passing attempts for 153 yards, one passing touchdown, and one interception. In the third regular season game on Monday night, the Seahawks won 14–12 over the Green Bay Packers on a controversial Hail Mary touchdown pass to Golden Tate. The contentious nature of the replacement officials' decision on the play was widely considered to have been the tipping point that led to an agreement being reached to end the referee lockout.
Wilson earned the Rookie of the Week honors for his stellar performance in a 28–7 victory over the New York Jets on November 11; he completed 12 of 19 attempts for 188 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for 34 yards on seven attempts. He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week and Player of the Week for his performance in the 23–17 road win over the Chicago Bears in overtime on December 2. In the 50–17 victory over the Buffalo Bills in Toronto on December 16, Wilson had 205 passing yards, one passing touchdown, nine rushes, 92 rushing yards, and a career-high three rushing touchdowns. He earned NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month honors for December 2012 after the Seahawks went 5–0 and he had a passer rating of 115.2.
Wilson finished the regular season ranked fourth in the NFL in passer rating (100.0), beating the previous rookie record set by Ben Roethlisberger in 2004 (98.1), since broken by Robert Griffin III in 2012 (102.4) and Dak Prescott in (104.9). He threw for 3,118 yards and 26 touchdowns, tying Peyton Manning's record for most touchdowns thrown by a rookie, and rushed for 489 yards and four touchdowns. Wilson's scrambling mobility and ability to extend plays outside the pocket with his legs earned numerous comparisons to Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton.
Wilson led the Seahawks to the postseason in his rookie year, with both games on the road in January. He made his postseason debut in the NFC Wild Card Round against the Washington Redskins, passing for 187 yards and rushing for 67 yards as the Seahawks rallied for a 24–14 comeback victory. In the Divisional Round against the Atlanta Falcons, Wilson threw for 385 yards and rushed for 60 yards, and his team had a 28–27 lead with 31 seconds to go, but the Falcons managed to kick the winning field goal.
Wilson was selected as an alternate for the 2013 Pro Bowl, filling in for Matt Ryan of Atlanta. At the Pro Bowl in Hawaii on January 27, Wilson completed eight of ten attempts for 98 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions for a 147.1 rating.
At the end of the season, Wilson earned a bonus of $222,000 through the NFL's Performance-Based Pay program.
2013
Wilson's Seahawks opened the 2013 season with the first 4–0 start in franchise history, before losing to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 5. The Seahawks then went on a 7-game winning streak, including a 41–20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings where he posted a career-high 151.4 passer rating and culminating in a 34–7 victory over the Saints in Week 13 in which Wilson threw three touchdown passes and earned his second NFC Offensive Player of the Week award. Over the next three weeks, the Seahawks suffered divisional losses to the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals (the loss to the Cardinals was Wilson's first home loss), but defeated the Rams in Week 17 to finish the season with a 13–3 record, the NFC West title, and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. Wilson finished the season with 26 touchdown passes, 9 interceptions, and a 101.2 passer rating, becoming the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era to post a 100+ passer rating in each of his first two seasons. Wilson was named to his second Pro Bowl on December 27, 2013. In the Divisional Round, the Seahawks defeated the New Orleans Saints by a score of 23–15. On January 19, 2014, Wilson and the Seahawks defeated the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship by a score of 23–17, advancing to Super Bowl XLVIII. Wilson threw for 206 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions for a 123.1 passer rating in a 43–8 rout of the Denver Broncos. With the victory, Wilson became just the second black starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl, joining Super Bowl XXII winner Doug Williams. At 5'11" tall, he also became the shortest quarterback to win a Super Bowl, shorter than Len Dawson, Joe Theismann, and Drew Brees (all 6'0").
Wilson earned a bonus of $169,141.73 for the 2013 season through the NFL's Performance-Based Pay program.
2014
On September 21, 2014, Wilson led the Seahawks on an 80-yard touchdown drive in overtime to defeat the Denver Broncos, 26–20, in a Week 3 rematch of the previous season's Super Bowl. On October 6, 2014, against the Washington Redskins, Wilson set a new Monday Night Football record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a single game with 122.
The Seahawks clinched a playoff spot in Week 16 when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 42–7, eliminating the Philadelphia Eagles from postseason contention and allowing the Seahawks to clinch before their Sunday Night Football matchup. On December 21, 2014, Wilson went 20-of-31 and threw for a then-career-high 339 yards with two touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals in a primetime matchup on Sunday Night Football. Wilson also led the offense in gaining 596 yards, setting a franchise record for most yards gained in a game. The Cardinals had the third-best scoring defense heading into Week 16. The Seahawks won 35–6 as they snapped the Cardinals' seven-game home winning streak and regained first place in the NFC West as well as the NFC's #1 seed. The Seahawks defeated the St. Louis Rams 20–6 in Week 17 to clinch the NFC West and the #1 seed for the second consecutive season, securing homefield advantage for the entirety of the NFC playoffs.
Wilson led the Seahawks to a 31–17 home win over the Carolina Panthers in the Divisional Round, making the Seahawks the first defending Super Bowl Champion to win a playoff game since the 2005 Patriots. The Seahawks hosted the Green Bay Packers in their second consecutive NFC Championship. Wilson threw 3 first-half interceptions while completing only two passes to his own team as the Seahawks fell behind 16–0 at halftime. With the Packers leading 19–7 and five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Wilson threw his fourth interception. Then Wilson led the Seahawks on an improbable comeback. On the Seahawks' next drive, Wilson ran the ball in for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 19–14. After a successful onside kick recovery, Wilson led the Seahawks down the field, and Lynch scored to give the Seahawks a 20–19 lead. Wilson completed a 15-yard, two-point conversion pass to Luke Willson to make it 22–19. The Packers tied it up with a field goal at the end of regulation and forced overtime. The Seahawks won the coin toss, and the offense took the field. Wilson led the Seahawks on an 80-yard drive that was capped by a 35-yard game-winning touchdown pass to Kearse. The Seahawks completed their largest postseason comeback in franchise history and clinched a Super Bowl berth.
Wilson would have been selected as an alternate to the Pro Bowl, but did not play because the Seahawks advanced to the Super Bowl; as Wilson did not have a chance to decline the invitation, the NFL recognizes this as a Pro Bowl berth for him.
The Seahawks became the first defending champion to return to the Super Bowl since the 2004 Patriots. They faced the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX, where they were defeated by a final score of 28–24. Although the Seahawks led 24–14 heading into the fourth quarter, the Patriots scored two consecutive touchdowns to take a four-point lead with 2:02 remaining. Wilson led the Seahawks to the Patriots' one-yard line with 25 seconds remaining, but Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler intercepted a pass intended for Ricardo Lockette, sealing the victory for the Patriots.
2015
On July 31, 2015, the Seahawks and Wilson agreed to a 4-year, $87.6 million contract extension, making him, at the time, the second-highest-paid player in the NFL. In the first nine games of the season, Wilson threw 10 touchdown passes and seven interceptions. Over the next five games, Wilson threw 19 touchdowns and no interceptions, becoming the only quarterback in NFL history to throw 3+ touchdown passes and no interceptions in five consecutive games. After a 2–4 start to the season, Wilson led the Seahawks to win seven of their next eight games and clinch a fourth consecutive playoff appearance in their Week 15 win over the Cleveland Browns. His strong performance over the second half of the season, even after losing star running back Marshawn Lynch and tight end Jimmy Graham, led many analysts to consider Wilson an MVP candidate.
Wilson broke numerous Seahawks single season passing records in 2015, including most passing yards (4,024), most passing touchdowns (34), and highest passer rating (110.1). He became the first Seahawks quarterback to throw for over 4,000 yards in a season, and finished the year with the highest passer rating in the NFL. Wilson's 51.7% deep ball completion percentage was the highest among NFL quarterbacks. On December 22, 2015, Wilson was named to his third Pro Bowl. He was ranked 17th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.
The Seahawks traveled to Minnesota to face the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card Round. The temperature at kickoff was −6 °F (−25 °F wind chill), making it the third coldest game in NFL history. Wilson struggled in the sub-zero temperatures, throwing for 142 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. The Vikings missed a short field goal in the last minute, allowing the Seahawks to advance to the Divisional Round to face the 15–1 Carolina Panthers. Down 31–0 at the half, Wilson helped lead a furious comeback attempt, but the Panthers won 31–24, denying Wilson and the Seahawks their third consecutive in the NFC Championship and a shot at a third consecutive Super Bowl appearance. In that game, Wilson threw for 366 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Wilson was drafted first overall by Team Irvin in the 2016 Pro Bowl draft, and in the game threw eight completions on 12 attempts for 164 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions for a 149.3 rating. He was named the Pro Bowl offensive MVP.
2016
The Seahawks had a solid 2016 season with Wilson at the helm. However, Wilson drew two minor injuries: his ankle during Week 1 against the Miami Dolphins after getting stepped on by defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh, and his left knee against the San Francisco 49ers during Week 3 after a takedown by linebacker Eli Harold. The injuries hampered Wilson's trademark mobility, and many speculated that he would be rested in order to properly recover.
Regardless, Wilson started all 16 games in the season. On November 20, against the Philadelphia Eagles, he had a 15-yard touchdown reception on a pass from Doug Baldwin on a trick play. Wilson also played the worst game of his career in 2016, throwing 5 interceptions in a 38–10 loss to the Green Bay Packers during Week 14. The team finished with a 10–5–1 record and won the NFC West. Wilson put together a season where he recorded a career-high 4,219 passing yards, 21 passing touchdowns, 259 rushing yards, and one rushing touchdown. The Seahawks made the playoffs, where they defeated the Detroit Lions in the Wild Card Round. The win gave Wilson his eighth playoff victory. However, they fell to the eventual NFC champion Atlanta Falcons in the Divisional Round at the Georgia Dome. As of 2022, this is the only season where Wilson did not earn a Pro Bowl selection. He was ranked 24th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.
2017
On September 5, 2017, Wilson was voted Seahawks offensive captain for the fifth consecutive season. In Week 3, in a 33–27 loss to the Tennessee Titans, he was 29 of 49 for 373 passing yards and four passing touchdowns. In Week 8 against the Houston Texans, Wilson posted an astounding performance, going 26 of 41 for a career-high 452 passing yards and four touchdowns in a matchup where both he and Deshaun Watson each threw over 400 yards. Wilson also rushed for 30 yards, totaling 482 yards of offense in the 41–38 victory. With his strong performance, Wilson earned NFC Offensive Player of the Week. On December 21, 2017, the Seahawks were fined $100,000 for failure to properly apply the concussion protocol on a hit Wilson sustained during the Week 10 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
In Week 12, with the win over San Francisco, Wilson became the winningest quarterback in a player's first six seasons with 63 wins, surpassing Joe Flacco. Next week, with his 15-yard touchdown throw to running back J. D. McKissic, the third of his game, Wilson tied Eli Manning in 2011 for the most fourth quarter touchdowns in a single season with 15. He went 20 for 31 for 227 yards and three touchdowns in that game, earning him NFC Offensive Player of the Week. On December 19, 2017, Wilson was named to his fourth Pro Bowl.
The Seahawks ended the season with nine wins, ending Wilson's streak of five consecutive seasons with double-digit wins and a playoff appearance. He threw for 34 touchdown passes, finishing the season as the league's leader in touchdowns thrown. With 586 rushing yards and three touchdowns, he also finished the season as the team's leading rusher in both categories. Wilson was ranked 11th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.
2018
With the Seahawks having lost many Pro Bowl starters in the offseason such as Cliff Avril, Michael Bennett, Kam Chancellor, Jimmy Graham and Richard Sherman, and having star safety Earl Thomas injured in the beginning of the regular season, many considered the team a long shot to return to the playoffs. In addition to dealing with a re-tooled roster, Wilson also had a new offensive coordinator in Brian Schottenheimer, who replaced Darrell Bevell.
Wilson was once again named as a captain for the Seahawks going into the 2018 season. He started the season with 298 passing yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions in a 27–24 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 1. In Week 3, against the Dallas Cowboys, he helped lead the Seahawks to their first victory of the season with 192 passing yards and two touchdowns. In Weeks 5–8, against the Los Angeles Rams, Oakland Raiders, and Detroit Lions, he had three consecutive games with three passing touchdowns. In Week 13, against the San Francisco 49ers, he had 185 passing yards and four touchdowns in the 43–16 victory.
In Week 16, the Seahawks faced off against the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs on NBC Sunday Night Football. Wilson out-dueled the season's eventual MVP Patrick Mahomes to lead the team to a 38–31 victory. This not only ensured another winning season for the Seahawks, but also defied early-season expectations by returning to the post-season after a one-year absence. Wilson finished the season with 35 touchdowns and a 110.9 passer rating, both personal and franchise bests. He also set career franchise records with most quarterback regular-season wins (75) and most touchdowns (196). as the No. 5-seed in the NFC, the Seahawks faced off against the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card Round. Wilson passed for 233 yards and one passing touchdown to go along with a rushing touchdown as the Seahawks fell 24–22.
Wilson was named to the Pro Bowl for the sixth time in his career, replacing Aaron Rodgers.
2019
On April 16, 2019, Wilson signed a four-year, $140 million contract extension to remain with the Seahawks through the 2023 season, making him the highest paid player in the NFL. In Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Wilson threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns as the Seahawks won 28–26, earning him NFC Offensive Player of the Week. In Week 3 against the New Orleans Saints, Wilson completed 32 passes for 406 yards and two passing touchdowns. In addition, he rushed seven times for 51 yards and two rushing touchdowns in the 33–27 loss. In Week 5 against the Los Angeles Rams, Wilson threw for 268 yards and four touchdowns in the 30–29 win on Thursday Night Football. The next week, in a 32–28 victory over the Cleveland Browns, he had 295 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. In Week 9 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Wilson threw for 378 yards and five touchdowns in the 40–34 overtime win, taking over the league lead in touchdowns and quarterback rating. He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance. In Week 10 against the then-undefeated San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football, Wilson threw for 232 yards, one touchdown, one interception and led the Seahawks to a 27–24 overtime win.
Wilson finished the 2019 season with 4,110 passing yards, 31 passing touchdowns, and five interceptions to go along with 75 carries for 342 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns as the Seahawks finished with an 11–5 record and made the playoffs as the NFC's #5 seed. He was once again named to the Pro Bowl, but also made his first appearance on the AP All-Pro team, being named second-team quarterback after Lamar Jackson.
In the Wild Card Round against the Philadelphia Eagles, Wilson completed 18 of 30 passes for 325 yards and a touchdown. In addition, he rushed nine times for 45 yards. He accounted for 95 percent of the Seahawks total offense and led them to a 17–9 victory over the Eagles. In the Divisional Round against the Green Bay Packers, Wilson threw for 277 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 64 yards during the 28–23 loss.
Wilson was ranked 2nd on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2020, the highest of his career, and beat out the likes of renowned quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, and Tom Brady.
2020
Wilson started off the 2020 season going 31 of 35 for 322 passing yards and four passing touchdowns in the 38–25 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
He was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in Week 1.
In Week 2, against the New England Patriots on NBC Sunday Night Football, he had 288 passing yards, five passing touchdowns, and one interception in the 35–30 victory. Wilson continued his great start to the season with 315 passing yards and five touchdowns in the 38–31 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Wilson set an NFL record most passing touchdowns through three games with 14.
He was again named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in Week 3.
On October 1, 2020, Wilson was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for his performance in September. In Week 4, Wilson passed for 360 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in the 31–23 victory over the Miami Dolphins.
In Week 5 against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football, Wilson threw for 217 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winning six-yard touchdown pass to DK Metcalf with 14 seconds left in the game, during the 27–26 win. This win was his 100th win in 148 total games as starting quarterback for the Seahawks. In Week 7 against the Arizona Cardinals, Wilson completed 33 of 50 passes for 388 yards and three touchdowns, plus rushed 6 times for 48 yards, but threw three interceptions including a costly one to Isaiah Simmons with one minute left in overtime as the Seahawks lost 37–34. In Week 8 against the San Francisco 49ers, he threw for 261 yards and four passing touchdowns in the 37–27 victory. In Week 9, against the Buffalo Bills, he had 390 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and two interceptions to go along with a rushing touchdown in the 44–34 loss, with the 44 points the Buffalo Bills scored becoming the highest number of points allowed in the Pete Carroll era.
In Week 14 against the New York Jets, Wilson threw for 206 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception during the 40–3 win. In the Week 17 season finale against the San Francisco 49ers, Wilson threw for 20 of 36 for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns and also rushed for 29 yards in the 26–23 victory. Overall, Wilson finished the 2020 season with 4,212 passing yards, 40 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. Wilson broke his own franchise record for passing touchdowns in a single season with his efforts in 2020. In the Wild Card Round, Wilson couldn't recreate his success from the regular season, only completing 11 of 27 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns and one interception which was returned for a touchdown by Darious Williams in a 30–20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. A few days later on February 6, Wilson was named Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year for his consistent and outgoing community service throughout the entirety of his career.
Wilson was ranked 12th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2021, the third highest ranking of his career.
2021
During the Seahawks Week 5 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Wilson left the game after suffering a broken finger in the third quarter. He had surgery to repair the injury on October 8, 2021. On October 15, 2021, he was ruled out for the Seahawks' Week 6 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was the first game he missed in his career, which ended a streak of 149 consecutive games started by an NFL quarterback, which is sixth all-time. He was placed on injured reserved later that same day, ensuring he would miss the next three games at minimum. He was activated off injured reserve November 12.
NFL career statistics
Regular season
Postseason
NFL records
Most passing yards in a playoff game by a rookie: 385
Seattle Seahawks records
Highest passer rating, career (minimum 500 attempts): 101.7
Highest passer rating, season (minimum 200 attempts): 110.9, 2018
Highest passer rating, rookie season (minimum 200 attempts): 100.0
Highest completion percentage, career (minimum 500 attempts): 64.5
Highest completion percentage, season (minimum 200 attempts): 68.1, 2015
Highest completion percentage, rookie season (minimum 200 attempts): 64.1
Lowest percentage passes had intercepted, career (minimum 500 attempts): 1.80
Lowest percentage passes had intercepted, rookie season (minimum 200 attempts): 2.54
Most rushing yards by a quarterback, career: 3,993
Most rushing yards by a quarterback, season: 849, 2014
Most rushing yards by a quarterback, rookie season: 489
Highest yard rushing average, career (minimum 400 attempts): 5.6
Highest yard rushing average, season (minimum 100 attempts): 7.2
Most passing yards, career: 29,734
Most passing yards, season: 4,219, 2016
Most passing yards, rookie season: 3,118
Most passing yards, game: 452 on October 29, 2017, against the Houston Texans
Most passing touchdowns, career: 227
Most passing touchdowns, season: 35, 2018
Most passing touchdowns, rookie season: 26
Most passing touchdowns, game (tied with three players): 5
Most pass completions, season: 353, 2016
Most games with a passing TD, career: 126
Awards and honors
NFL
Super Bowl XLVIII Champion
8× Pro Bowl (2012–2015, 2017–2020)
Second-team All-Pro (2019)
NFC Offensive Player of the Month (September 2020)
NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month (December 2012)
11× NFC Offensive Player of the Week
Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week (Week 10, 2012)
PFWA Good Guy Award (2014)
7× FedEx Air Player of the Week
3x Steve Largent Award (2012, 2018, 2019)
NFL Top 100: 51st (2013), 20th (2014), 22nd (2015), 17th (2016), 24th (2017), 11th (2018), 25th (2019), 2nd (2020), 12th (2021)
Walter Payton Man Of The Year (2020)
Bart Starr Award (2022)
MLS
2019 MLS Cup Champion (as part owner of the Seattle Sounders)
Baseball career
After graduating from high school, Wilson was selected by the Baltimore Orioles with the fifth pick in the 41st round (1,222nd overall) of the 2007 MLB draft. The Orioles considered Wilson a talent worthy of the first ten rounds and offered him a $350,000 signing bonus, the third-largest they offered a draftee that year after Matt Wieters ($6 million) and Jake Arrieta ($1.1 million). Wilson instead elected to attend NC State that fall. In a 2008 interview, Wilson said, "I was leaning towards [entering the draft], but a college education is something you'll always have."
College baseball
Wilson was a member of the NC State Wolfpack baseball team from 2008 to 2010, and in the summer of 2009 played for the Gastonia Grizzlies, a collegiate summer baseball team in the Coastal Plain League. He hit .282/.384/.415 with five home runs and 30 runs batted in (RBIs) during his collegiate career.
Professional baseball
On June 8, 2010, Wilson was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the fourth round (140th pick overall) of the 2010 MLB draft. That summer he played 32 games as a second baseman for the Tri-City Dust Devils, the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Rockies in the Northwest League. He finished the season with two home runs, 11 RBIs, and a .230 batting average.
In the summer of 2011, Wilson played 61 games with the Asheville Tourists, the Class A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies in the South Atlantic League. He hit three home runs with 15 RBIs and a .228 batting average. In January 2012, Wilson informed the Rockies that he would be pursuing a career in the NFL and would not report to spring training for the 2012 season.
On December 12, 2013, Wilson was acquired from the Rockies by the Texas Rangers in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft. Wilson attended Rangers spring training in Surprise, Arizona in 2014 and 2015.
On February 7, 2018, Wilson was traded from the Rangers to the New York Yankees and assigned to the Yankees' Double-A affiliate, the Trenton Thunder. Wilson grew up as a Yankees fan and promised his late father that he would one day wear the Yankees uniform. On March 2, Wilson pinch-hit for Aaron Judge in the fifth inning against the Atlanta Braves, his first appearance in a professional baseball game since 2011. He struck out on five pitches from Braves pitcher Max Fried.
Business ventures and endorsements
On April 26, 2012, Wilson announced he had chosen French/West/Vaughan as his marketing, public relations, and endorsements agency. Since being named the starting quarterback of the Seahawks in August 2012, Wilson has appeared in advertisements for Levi's, American Family Insurance, Pepsi, Nike, Alaska Airlines, Microsoft, Duracell, Braun, Bose, United Way, and Larson Automotive Group.
In 2014, Wilson became part-owner and endorser of Eat the Ball, a European bread company. In 2015, he began endorsing Luvo, a frozen food company, and Reliant Recovery Water. On February 29, 2016, Wilson launched Good Man Brand, a clothing line which he co-founded. In August 2016, it was announced that Wilson had partnered with Juice Press to open the company's first Seattle franchise.
On November 14, 2016, Wilson announced he had joined Chris Hansen, Wally Walker, and Erik and Pete Nordstrom as partners in the investment group working to bring a new sports arena to Seattle's SoDo neighborhood for potential NBA and NHL teams.
Wilson in 2017 founded a fan network platform to connect fans with celebrities called TraceMe. TraceMe launched its public beta on September 8, 2017, and announced $9 million in Series A funding with investors including Jeff Bezos' Bezos Expeditions, Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai and YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley.
On November 20, 2017, football helmet manufacturer VICIS announced a $7 million investment round which included Wilson as an investor.
In June 2018, Wilson and his wife Ciara announced they were joining an effort to bring a Major League Baseball franchise to Portland, Oregon. In July 2018, Wilson became an investor and endorser for Molecule, a mattress company.
In September 2018, Wilson was announced as the next athlete to appear on the cover of the Wheaties cereal box.
In August 2019, Russell Wilson and his wife Ciara announced that they had joined the ownership group for Seattle Sounders FC, the local Major League Soccer club. The Sounders would go on to win the 2019 MLS Cup, thus giving Wilson an MLS Cup to his credit as part owner.
In January 2020, Russell Wilson has been named Chairman of NFL FLAG. The global partnership will focus on strengthening NFL FLAG domestically and expanding the league internationally. He has worked with the flag football organizations in China, Brazil, Canada and the United Kingdom to help spread awareness of the sport and get athletes engaged in the game at a young age. More recently, both Wilson and Ciara struck first look deal with Amazon Studios.
In popular culture
Wilson has appeared on the cover of several magazines including Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated Kids, Rolling Stone, ESPN The Magazine, Men's Fitness, and Men's Health.
Rapper Eminem mentions Wilson in his 2013 song, "The Monster":
Wilson has appeared on Late Show with David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Charlie Rose, and in the 2015 film Entourage. He also hosted the 2015, 2016, and 2017 Kids' Choice Sports on Nickelodeon
Wilson was the keynote speaker for the 2016 commencement ceremony at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Personal and academic life
Wilson graduated from NC State with a bachelor's degree in broadcast/communications in 2010 after three years of study. After transferring to the University of Wisconsin, he earned a master's degree in educational leadership and policy analysis.
Wilson met his first wife, Ashton Meem, while they were both high school students. They married in January 2012 and divorced in April 2014.
Wilson is married to American R&B singer Ciara. They began dating in early 2015 and announced their engagement on March 11, 2016. They were married on July 6, 2016, at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire, England. He has a stepson from her relationship with Future. Their daughter, was born on April 28, 2017. On January 30, 2020, they announced that they were expecting their second child together. Their son was born on July 23, 2020.
Wilson is a devout Christian. He frequently speaks about his Christian faith on his social media accounts. Wilson and Ciara made a vow to be celibate until they got married.
His net worth as of October 2016 is $120 million.
Wilson's younger sister Anna plays basketball at Stanford.
Charitable work
Wilson is an active volunteer in the Seattle community. During the NFL season, Wilson makes weekly visits on his days off to the Seattle Children's Hospital, and has also visited with soldiers at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. In the offseason, Wilson hosts the Russell Wilson Passing Academy, a youth football camp, in several cities. In 2012, proceeds from the camp went to the Charles Ray III Diabetes Association, for which Wilson is the National Ambassador. In 2013 and 2014, Wilson partnered with Russell Investments for its "Invested with Russell" program, which donated $3,000 to Wilson's charitable foundation for every touchdown he scored.
Wilson co-hosts an annual charity golf event along with NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne at Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum, Washington to support various organizations including Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Seattle Children's Hospital. In August 2016, Wilson's Why Not You Foundation presented a check for $1,060,005 to Seattle Children's Hospital for its Strong Against Cancer initiative.
In March 2020, Wilson and Ciara partnered with Food Lifeline to donate one million meals to those in need during the coronavirus pandemic.
See also
List of NCAA Division I FBS career passing touchdowns leaders
List of NCAA major college football yearly passing leaders
List of Seattle Seahawks starting quarterbacks
List of Super Bowl starting quarterbacks
List of NFL quarterbacks who have posted a perfect passer rating
List of National Football League annual passing touchdowns leaders
References
External links
Seattle Seahawks bio
NC State Wolfpack bio
Wisconsin Badgers bio
1988 births
Living people
African-American baseball players
African-American Christians
African-American players of American football
American football quarterbacks
American philanthropists
American soccer chairmen and investors
Asheville Tourists players
Baseball players from Cincinnati
Baseball players from Seattle
Baseball players from Richmond, Virginia
Baseball second basemen
National Conference Pro Bowl players
NC State Wolfpack baseball players
NC State Wolfpack football players
Players of American football from Cincinnati
Players of American football from Seattle
Players of American football from Richmond, Virginia
Seattle Seahawks players
Tri-City Dust Devils players
Unconferenced Pro Bowl players
Wisconsin Badgers football players
| false |
[
"Karl Cordin (born 3 November 1948) is an Austrian former alpine skier who did only compete in Downhill Races; he competed in the 1972 Winter Olympics, becoming 7th silver medal at FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1970 in downhill.\n\nBiography\nCording did win three World Cup races: on February 21, 1970, at Jackson Hole, on December 20th, 1970, at Val-d’Isère, and on December 18, 1973, at Zell am See; he did become five-times second and twice third too. He also could achieve the Downhill World Cup in 1969-70.\nHe won the silver medal in the FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships 1970 and became fourth in the FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships 1974; in both races he was overtaken by a racer with a higher number. In 1970, he was in lead (and it looked that he could gain the gold medal) - but Bernhard Russi did win. In 1974, he was on the way to win the bronze medal, but Willi Frommelt did catch it.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1948 births\nLiving people\nAustrian male alpine skiers\nOlympic alpine skiers of Austria\nAlpine skiers at the 1972 Winter Olympics\nFIS Alpine Ski World Cup champions",
"The 1972 UEFA European Under-23 Championship, which spanned two years (1970–72) had 23 entrants. Czechoslovakia U-23s won the competition.\n\nThe 23 national teams were divided into eight groups. The group winners played off against each other on a two-legged home-and-away basis until the winner was decided. There was no finals tournament or 3rd-place playoff.\n\nQualifying Stage\n\nDraw\nThe allocation of teams into qualifying groups was based on that of UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying tournament with several changes, reflecting the absence of some nations:\n Group 2 and 8 had the same competing nations\n Group 1 did not include Wales\n Group 3 did not include England and Malta\n Group 4 did not include Northern Ireland and Cyprus\n Group 5 did not include Belgium and Scotland\n Group 6 did not include Republic of Ireland\n Group 7 did not include Luxembourg\n\nGroup 1\n\nGroup 2\n\nGroup 3\n\nGroup 4\n\nGroup 5\n\nGroup 6\n\nGroup 7\n\nGroup 8\n\nKnockout Stages\n{|width=100%\n|valign=\"center\"|\nQuarter Finals\n Bulgaria 2–2 Netherlands\n Netherlands 0–0 Bulgaria\n Bulgaria 2–0 Netherlands\n2–2: win playoff match\n\n Denmark 2–0 Greece\n Greece 5–0 Denmark\n win 5–2 on aggregate\n\n Soviet Union 3–1 West Germany\n West Germany 0–0 Soviet Union\n win 3–1 on aggregate\n\n Sweden 1–0 Czechoslovakia\n Czechoslovakia 3–1 Sweden\n win 3–2 on aggregate|width=\"5%\"| \n|valign=\"center\"|\nSemi Finals\n Czechoslovakia 2–0 Greece\n Greece 2–1 Czechoslovakia win 3–2 on aggregate Soviet Union 4–0 Bulgaria\n Bulgaria 3–3 Soviet Union win 7–3 on aggregate|width=\"5%\"| \n|valign=\"center\"|\nFinal\n Soviet Union 2–2 Czechoslovakia\n Czechoslovakia 3–1 Soviet Union win 5–3 on aggregate finish as Champions\n|}\n\nSee also\n UEFA European Under-21 Championship\n\nExternal links\n RSSSF Results Archive at rsssf.com\n\nUEFA European Under-21 Championship\n1970–71 in European football\n1971–72 in European football\n1972 in youth association football"
] |
[
"Russell Wilson",
"NC State",
"What is Russell's connection to NC State?",
"Wilson redshirted during the 2007 season at NC State.",
"What position did he play?",
"In 2008, Wilson initially split time at quarterback with senior Daniel Evans and junior Harrison Beck.",
"DId he win?",
"Thereafter, Wilson led the team to a 4-3 record in the regular season which NC State finished out on a four-game winning streak."
] |
C_2f249d115d06400fb9cc05c11f751d04_1
|
What did he do the next season?
| 4 |
What did Wilson do the next season after 2008?
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Russell Wilson
|
Wilson redshirted during the 2007 season at NC State. In 2008, Wilson initially split time at quarterback with senior Daniel Evans and junior Harrison Beck. However, Evans and Beck saw no regular season action after Week 2 and Week 5, respectively. Thereafter, Wilson led the team to a 4-3 record in the regular season which NC State finished out on a four-game winning streak. During a win over East Carolina, Wilson threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns. He threw for two touchdowns in each of the last six games in the regular season. In the 2008 PapaJohns.com Bowl against Rutgers, Wilson threw for 186 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 46 yards before halftime. Late in the first half, he scrambled to the Rutgers' four-yard line, where he was tackled and suffered a knee sprain. With Wilson sitting out the remainder of the game, his replacements threw a combined total of three interceptions with NC State eventually losing, 23-29. Over the course of the season, he completed 150 of 275 attempts for 1,955 yards and 17 touchdowns with just one interception. He also recorded 116 carries for 394 yards and four touchdowns. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) named him the first-team All-ACC quarterback. It was the first time in the conference's history that a freshman quarterback was named to the first team. Prior to the 2009 season, Wilson was named as the quarterback on the pre-season all-ACC football team on July 12. On September 19, Wilson broke Andre Woodson's all-time NCAA record of 325 consecutive pass attempts without an interception against Gardner-Webb. The 379-pass streak ended in a game against Wake Forest on October 3. Wilson held the record until November 10, 2012, when it was broken by Louisiana Tech quarterback Colby Cameron. Wilson was named honorable mention All-ACC in 2009. Wilson led the 2010 Wolfpack to a 9-4 season that included a 23-7 win over West Virginia in the 2010 Champs Sports Bowl. He led the ACC in passing yards per game (274.1) and total offensive yards per game (307.5). He was named second-team All-ACC and runner-up for ACC Football Player of the Year. In May 2010, Wilson graduated from NC State in three years with a BA in communication, and took graduate-level business courses in the fall semester during the 2010 football season. CANNOTANSWER
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In the 2008 PapaJohns.com Bowl against Rutgers, Wilson threw for 186 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 46 yards before halftime.
|
Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). Wilson initially played college football and baseball at NC State from 2008 to 2010 before transferring to Wisconsin in 2011, in which he set the single-season FBS record for passing efficiency (191.8) and led them to a Big Ten title and the 2012 Rose Bowl. He also played minor league baseball for the Tri-City Dust Devils in 2010 and the Asheville Tourists in 2011 as a second baseman, and as of 2019 his professional baseball rights are held by the Somerset Patriots, the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees.
He was selected by the Seahawks in the third round (75th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft. After beating out Matt Flynn for the starting job during training camp, Wilson ended up having a successful debut season, tying Peyton Manning's then-record for most passing touchdowns by a rookie (26) and was named Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year.
Wilson has been named to nine Pro Bowls and has started in two Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl XLVIII over the Denver Broncos. He holds the record for most wins by an NFL quarterback through nine seasons (98) and is one of four quarterbacks in NFL history with a career passer rating over 100. In April 2019, Wilson signed a four-year, $140 million contract extension with the Seahawks, making him the highest paid player in the NFL at the time. In 2020, he became just the third quarterback in NFL history to throw for thirty touchdowns in four consecutive seasons. Wilson is widely regarded as one of the greatest dual-threat quarterbacks in NFL history.
Wilson is part owner of the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer (MLS). After he purchased his minority stake, the Sounders won the 2019 MLS Cup.
Early life and background
Wilson was born at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, and grew up in Richmond, Virginia. His parents are Harrison Benjamin Wilson III, a lawyer, and Tammy Wilson (née Turner), a nurse director. He has an older brother, Harrison IV, and a younger sister, Anna. Wilson started playing football with his father and brother at the age of four, and played his first organized game for the Tuckahoe Tomahawks youth football team in sixth grade.
Wilson's great-great-grandfather was a slave to a Confederate colonel and was freed after the American Civil War. Wilson's paternal grandfather, Harrison B. Wilson Jr., was a former president of Norfolk State University who played football and basketball at Kentucky State University, and his paternal grandmother, Anna W. Wilson, was on the faculty at Jackson State University. Wilson's maternal grandfather was noted painter A. B. Jackson. According to genetic admixture analysis, Wilson is 62% African, 36% European, 1% West Asian, and 1% Central Asian. His European family lineage has been traced back to 524 A.D. to Saint Arnulf of Metz via Charlemagne.
Wilson's father played football and baseball at Dartmouth and was a wide receiver for the San Diego Chargers preseason squad in 1980. Wilson's brother, Harry, played football and baseball at the University of Richmond, and his sister Anna plays basketball for Stanford.
Wilson's father died on June 9, 2010, at age 55 due to complications from diabetes, the day after Wilson was drafted by the Rockies.
High school career
Wilson attended Stone Bridge High School public high school for a semester before attending Collegiate School, a preparatory school in Richmond, Virginia. As a junior in 2005, he threw for 3,287 passing yards and 40 passing touchdowns and rushed for 634 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns. He was named an all-district, all-region, and all-state player. Wilson was twice named the Richmond Times-Dispatch Player of the Year.
As a senior, he threw for 3,009 passing yards, 34 passing touchdowns, and seven interceptions. In addition, he rushed for 1,132 yards and 18 touchdowns. That year, he was named an all-conference and all-state player as well as conference player of the year. He was featured in Sports Illustrated magazine for his performance in the state championship game win. Wilson also served as his senior class president.
During his time in high school, Wilson attended the Manning Passing Academy, a summer football clinic run by multiple NFL MVP winner and eventual Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning. Due to this encounter, Manning recognized Wilson many years later when the latter had flown to Denver to discuss the prospect of getting drafted by the Denver Broncos, where Manning had recently signed.
Wilson was also a member of the Collegiate School basketball and baseball teams.
Wilson committed to North Carolina State University on July 23, 2006. He also received a football scholarship offer from Duke University.
College football career
NC State
Wilson redshirted during the 2007 season at NC State. In 2008, Wilson initially split time at quarterback with senior Daniel Evans and junior Harrison Beck. However, Evans and Beck saw no regular season action after Week 2 and Week 5, respectively. Thereafter, Wilson led the team to a 4–3 record in the regular season which NC State finished out on a four-game winning streak. During a 30–24 win over East Carolina, Wilson threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns. He threw for two touchdowns in each of the last six games in the regular season.
In the 2008 PapaJohns.com Bowl against Rutgers, Wilson threw for 186 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 46 yards before halftime. Late in the first half, he scrambled to the Rutgers' four-yard line, where he was tackled and suffered a knee sprain. With Wilson sitting out the remainder of the game, his replacements threw a combined total of three interceptions with NC State eventually losing, 23–29. Over the course of the season, he completed 150 of 275 attempts for 1,955 yards and 17 touchdowns with just one interception. He also recorded 116 carries for 394 yards and four touchdowns. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) named him the first-team All-ACC quarterback. It was the first time in the conference's history that a freshman quarterback was named to the first team.
Prior to the 2009 season, Wilson was named as the quarterback on the pre-season all-ACC football team on July 12. On September 19, Wilson broke Andre Woodson's all-time NCAA record of 325 consecutive pass attempts without an interception against Gardner–Webb. The 379-pass streak ended in a game against Wake Forest on October 3. Wilson held the record until November 10, 2012, when it was broken by Louisiana Tech quarterback Colby Cameron. Wilson was named honorable mention All-ACC in 2009. Wilson finished the 2009 regular season with 3,027 passing yards, 31 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions as the team finished with a 5–7 record.
Wilson led the 2010 Wolfpack to a 9–4 season that included a 23–7 win over West Virginia in the 2010 Champs Sports Bowl. He led the ACC in passing yards per game (274.1) and total offensive yards per game (307.5). He was named second-team All-ACC and runner-up for ACC Football Player of the Year. In May 2010, Wilson graduated from NC State in three years with a BA in communication, and took graduate-level business courses in the fall semester during the 2010 football season.
Transfer
In January 2011, Wilson announced that he would report to spring training with the Colorado Rockies organization. NC State head coach Tom O'Brien expressed reservations with Wilson's decision, saying "Russell and I have had very open conversations about his responsibilities respective to baseball and football. While I am certainly respectful of Russell's dedication to baseball these last several years, within those discussions I also communicated to him the importance of his time commitment to NC State football."
O'Brien and his staff reached out to NFL coaches and general managers on Wilson's behalf, but he failed to receive an invitation to the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine.
On April 29, 2011, O'Brien announced that Wilson had been granted a release from his football scholarship with one year of eligibility remaining.
Wisconsin
On June 27, 2011, Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema announced that Wilson had committed to Wisconsin for the 2011 season. In the season opener against UNLV, Wilson passed for 255 yards and two passing touchdowns in a 51–17 victory. He also rushed for 62 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown run. At the end of the regular season, Wilson was named first team All-Big Ten by both the coaches and media. He also won the Griese-Brees Big Ten Quarterback of the Year award.
In the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game on December 3, Wilson threw for three touchdowns and led the Badgers to a 42–39 win over the Michigan State Spartans. Wilson was named the game's Grange-Griffin MVP. In December 2011, Wilson was named a third team All-American by Yahoo! Sports, and he finished ninth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy with 52 points.
In the 2012 Rose Bowl against the Oregon Ducks on January 2, 2012, Wilson had 19 pass completions on 25 attempts for 296 yards, 18 rushing yards, and 3 touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing) as the Badgers lost by a score of 38–45. Wilson finished the season with 33 passing touchdowns, which set the single season record at Wisconsin and was the second-most in Big Ten history behind Drew Brees during the 1998 season at Purdue (39). Wilson also set the single season FBS record for passing efficiency (191.8). On January 28, 2012, Wilson completed his college football career at the 2012 Senior Bowl.
Statistics
Professional football career
On January 16, 2012, Wilson began training for the NFL Scouting Combine at the IMG Madden Football Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Prior to the 2012 NFL Draft, Wilson had been projected by NFL scouts and analysts to be a middle-round pick. In February 2012, former NFL quarterback and director of the IMG Madden Football Academy Chris Weinke said of Wilson, "If he was 6–5, he'd probably be the No. 1 pick in the draft." On April 11, 2012, ESPN Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden said, "The only issue with Russell Wilson is his height. That might be the reason he's not picked in the first couple rounds."
2012
Wilson was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the third round (picked 75th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft, the sixth quarterback selected. The Seahawks received significant criticism for their selections in this draft, and for Wilson in particular, as they had just signed free agent Matt Flynn. Two weeks later, Wilson signed a four-year, $2.99 million contract with the Seahawks on May 7, 2012. He made his preseason debut against the Tennessee Titans on August 11, 2012 and had his first preseason start on August 24 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Two days later on August 26, 2012, Wilson was named the starting quarterback for the first regular season game after competing with Matt Flynn and Tarvaris Jackson for the position.
On September 9, 2012, Wilson made his regular season debut in a 20–16 road loss to the Arizona Cardinals. He had 18 completions on 34 passing attempts for 153 yards, one passing touchdown, and one interception. In the third regular season game on Monday night, the Seahawks won 14–12 over the Green Bay Packers on a controversial Hail Mary touchdown pass to Golden Tate. The contentious nature of the replacement officials' decision on the play was widely considered to have been the tipping point that led to an agreement being reached to end the referee lockout.
Wilson earned the Rookie of the Week honors for his stellar performance in a 28–7 victory over the New York Jets on November 11; he completed 12 of 19 attempts for 188 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for 34 yards on seven attempts. He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week and Player of the Week for his performance in the 23–17 road win over the Chicago Bears in overtime on December 2. In the 50–17 victory over the Buffalo Bills in Toronto on December 16, Wilson had 205 passing yards, one passing touchdown, nine rushes, 92 rushing yards, and a career-high three rushing touchdowns. He earned NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month honors for December 2012 after the Seahawks went 5–0 and he had a passer rating of 115.2.
Wilson finished the regular season ranked fourth in the NFL in passer rating (100.0), beating the previous rookie record set by Ben Roethlisberger in 2004 (98.1), since broken by Robert Griffin III in 2012 (102.4) and Dak Prescott in (104.9). He threw for 3,118 yards and 26 touchdowns, tying Peyton Manning's record for most touchdowns thrown by a rookie, and rushed for 489 yards and four touchdowns. Wilson's scrambling mobility and ability to extend plays outside the pocket with his legs earned numerous comparisons to Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton.
Wilson led the Seahawks to the postseason in his rookie year, with both games on the road in January. He made his postseason debut in the NFC Wild Card Round against the Washington Redskins, passing for 187 yards and rushing for 67 yards as the Seahawks rallied for a 24–14 comeback victory. In the Divisional Round against the Atlanta Falcons, Wilson threw for 385 yards and rushed for 60 yards, and his team had a 28–27 lead with 31 seconds to go, but the Falcons managed to kick the winning field goal.
Wilson was selected as an alternate for the 2013 Pro Bowl, filling in for Matt Ryan of Atlanta. At the Pro Bowl in Hawaii on January 27, Wilson completed eight of ten attempts for 98 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions for a 147.1 rating.
At the end of the season, Wilson earned a bonus of $222,000 through the NFL's Performance-Based Pay program.
2013
Wilson's Seahawks opened the 2013 season with the first 4–0 start in franchise history, before losing to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 5. The Seahawks then went on a 7-game winning streak, including a 41–20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings where he posted a career-high 151.4 passer rating and culminating in a 34–7 victory over the Saints in Week 13 in which Wilson threw three touchdown passes and earned his second NFC Offensive Player of the Week award. Over the next three weeks, the Seahawks suffered divisional losses to the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals (the loss to the Cardinals was Wilson's first home loss), but defeated the Rams in Week 17 to finish the season with a 13–3 record, the NFC West title, and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. Wilson finished the season with 26 touchdown passes, 9 interceptions, and a 101.2 passer rating, becoming the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era to post a 100+ passer rating in each of his first two seasons. Wilson was named to his second Pro Bowl on December 27, 2013. In the Divisional Round, the Seahawks defeated the New Orleans Saints by a score of 23–15. On January 19, 2014, Wilson and the Seahawks defeated the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship by a score of 23–17, advancing to Super Bowl XLVIII. Wilson threw for 206 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions for a 123.1 passer rating in a 43–8 rout of the Denver Broncos. With the victory, Wilson became just the second black starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl, joining Super Bowl XXII winner Doug Williams. At 5'11" tall, he also became the shortest quarterback to win a Super Bowl, shorter than Len Dawson, Joe Theismann, and Drew Brees (all 6'0").
Wilson earned a bonus of $169,141.73 for the 2013 season through the NFL's Performance-Based Pay program.
2014
On September 21, 2014, Wilson led the Seahawks on an 80-yard touchdown drive in overtime to defeat the Denver Broncos, 26–20, in a Week 3 rematch of the previous season's Super Bowl. On October 6, 2014, against the Washington Redskins, Wilson set a new Monday Night Football record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a single game with 122.
The Seahawks clinched a playoff spot in Week 16 when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 42–7, eliminating the Philadelphia Eagles from postseason contention and allowing the Seahawks to clinch before their Sunday Night Football matchup. On December 21, 2014, Wilson went 20-of-31 and threw for a then-career-high 339 yards with two touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals in a primetime matchup on Sunday Night Football. Wilson also led the offense in gaining 596 yards, setting a franchise record for most yards gained in a game. The Cardinals had the third-best scoring defense heading into Week 16. The Seahawks won 35–6 as they snapped the Cardinals' seven-game home winning streak and regained first place in the NFC West as well as the NFC's #1 seed. The Seahawks defeated the St. Louis Rams 20–6 in Week 17 to clinch the NFC West and the #1 seed for the second consecutive season, securing homefield advantage for the entirety of the NFC playoffs.
Wilson led the Seahawks to a 31–17 home win over the Carolina Panthers in the Divisional Round, making the Seahawks the first defending Super Bowl Champion to win a playoff game since the 2005 Patriots. The Seahawks hosted the Green Bay Packers in their second consecutive NFC Championship. Wilson threw 3 first-half interceptions while completing only two passes to his own team as the Seahawks fell behind 16–0 at halftime. With the Packers leading 19–7 and five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Wilson threw his fourth interception. Then Wilson led the Seahawks on an improbable comeback. On the Seahawks' next drive, Wilson ran the ball in for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 19–14. After a successful onside kick recovery, Wilson led the Seahawks down the field, and Lynch scored to give the Seahawks a 20–19 lead. Wilson completed a 15-yard, two-point conversion pass to Luke Willson to make it 22–19. The Packers tied it up with a field goal at the end of regulation and forced overtime. The Seahawks won the coin toss, and the offense took the field. Wilson led the Seahawks on an 80-yard drive that was capped by a 35-yard game-winning touchdown pass to Kearse. The Seahawks completed their largest postseason comeback in franchise history and clinched a Super Bowl berth.
Wilson would have been selected as an alternate to the Pro Bowl, but did not play because the Seahawks advanced to the Super Bowl; as Wilson did not have a chance to decline the invitation, the NFL recognizes this as a Pro Bowl berth for him.
The Seahawks became the first defending champion to return to the Super Bowl since the 2004 Patriots. They faced the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX, where they were defeated by a final score of 28–24. Although the Seahawks led 24–14 heading into the fourth quarter, the Patriots scored two consecutive touchdowns to take a four-point lead with 2:02 remaining. Wilson led the Seahawks to the Patriots' one-yard line with 25 seconds remaining, but Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler intercepted a pass intended for Ricardo Lockette, sealing the victory for the Patriots.
2015
On July 31, 2015, the Seahawks and Wilson agreed to a 4-year, $87.6 million contract extension, making him, at the time, the second-highest-paid player in the NFL. In the first nine games of the season, Wilson threw 10 touchdown passes and seven interceptions. Over the next five games, Wilson threw 19 touchdowns and no interceptions, becoming the only quarterback in NFL history to throw 3+ touchdown passes and no interceptions in five consecutive games. After a 2–4 start to the season, Wilson led the Seahawks to win seven of their next eight games and clinch a fourth consecutive playoff appearance in their Week 15 win over the Cleveland Browns. His strong performance over the second half of the season, even after losing star running back Marshawn Lynch and tight end Jimmy Graham, led many analysts to consider Wilson an MVP candidate.
Wilson broke numerous Seahawks single season passing records in 2015, including most passing yards (4,024), most passing touchdowns (34), and highest passer rating (110.1). He became the first Seahawks quarterback to throw for over 4,000 yards in a season, and finished the year with the highest passer rating in the NFL. Wilson's 51.7% deep ball completion percentage was the highest among NFL quarterbacks. On December 22, 2015, Wilson was named to his third Pro Bowl. He was ranked 17th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.
The Seahawks traveled to Minnesota to face the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card Round. The temperature at kickoff was −6 °F (−25 °F wind chill), making it the third coldest game in NFL history. Wilson struggled in the sub-zero temperatures, throwing for 142 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. The Vikings missed a short field goal in the last minute, allowing the Seahawks to advance to the Divisional Round to face the 15–1 Carolina Panthers. Down 31–0 at the half, Wilson helped lead a furious comeback attempt, but the Panthers won 31–24, denying Wilson and the Seahawks their third consecutive in the NFC Championship and a shot at a third consecutive Super Bowl appearance. In that game, Wilson threw for 366 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Wilson was drafted first overall by Team Irvin in the 2016 Pro Bowl draft, and in the game threw eight completions on 12 attempts for 164 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions for a 149.3 rating. He was named the Pro Bowl offensive MVP.
2016
The Seahawks had a solid 2016 season with Wilson at the helm. However, Wilson drew two minor injuries: his ankle during Week 1 against the Miami Dolphins after getting stepped on by defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh, and his left knee against the San Francisco 49ers during Week 3 after a takedown by linebacker Eli Harold. The injuries hampered Wilson's trademark mobility, and many speculated that he would be rested in order to properly recover.
Regardless, Wilson started all 16 games in the season. On November 20, against the Philadelphia Eagles, he had a 15-yard touchdown reception on a pass from Doug Baldwin on a trick play. Wilson also played the worst game of his career in 2016, throwing 5 interceptions in a 38–10 loss to the Green Bay Packers during Week 14. The team finished with a 10–5–1 record and won the NFC West. Wilson put together a season where he recorded a career-high 4,219 passing yards, 21 passing touchdowns, 259 rushing yards, and one rushing touchdown. The Seahawks made the playoffs, where they defeated the Detroit Lions in the Wild Card Round. The win gave Wilson his eighth playoff victory. However, they fell to the eventual NFC champion Atlanta Falcons in the Divisional Round at the Georgia Dome. As of 2022, this is the only season where Wilson did not earn a Pro Bowl selection. He was ranked 24th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.
2017
On September 5, 2017, Wilson was voted Seahawks offensive captain for the fifth consecutive season. In Week 3, in a 33–27 loss to the Tennessee Titans, he was 29 of 49 for 373 passing yards and four passing touchdowns. In Week 8 against the Houston Texans, Wilson posted an astounding performance, going 26 of 41 for a career-high 452 passing yards and four touchdowns in a matchup where both he and Deshaun Watson each threw over 400 yards. Wilson also rushed for 30 yards, totaling 482 yards of offense in the 41–38 victory. With his strong performance, Wilson earned NFC Offensive Player of the Week. On December 21, 2017, the Seahawks were fined $100,000 for failure to properly apply the concussion protocol on a hit Wilson sustained during the Week 10 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
In Week 12, with the win over San Francisco, Wilson became the winningest quarterback in a player's first six seasons with 63 wins, surpassing Joe Flacco. Next week, with his 15-yard touchdown throw to running back J. D. McKissic, the third of his game, Wilson tied Eli Manning in 2011 for the most fourth quarter touchdowns in a single season with 15. He went 20 for 31 for 227 yards and three touchdowns in that game, earning him NFC Offensive Player of the Week. On December 19, 2017, Wilson was named to his fourth Pro Bowl.
The Seahawks ended the season with nine wins, ending Wilson's streak of five consecutive seasons with double-digit wins and a playoff appearance. He threw for 34 touchdown passes, finishing the season as the league's leader in touchdowns thrown. With 586 rushing yards and three touchdowns, he also finished the season as the team's leading rusher in both categories. Wilson was ranked 11th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.
2018
With the Seahawks having lost many Pro Bowl starters in the offseason such as Cliff Avril, Michael Bennett, Kam Chancellor, Jimmy Graham and Richard Sherman, and having star safety Earl Thomas injured in the beginning of the regular season, many considered the team a long shot to return to the playoffs. In addition to dealing with a re-tooled roster, Wilson also had a new offensive coordinator in Brian Schottenheimer, who replaced Darrell Bevell.
Wilson was once again named as a captain for the Seahawks going into the 2018 season. He started the season with 298 passing yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions in a 27–24 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 1. In Week 3, against the Dallas Cowboys, he helped lead the Seahawks to their first victory of the season with 192 passing yards and two touchdowns. In Weeks 5–8, against the Los Angeles Rams, Oakland Raiders, and Detroit Lions, he had three consecutive games with three passing touchdowns. In Week 13, against the San Francisco 49ers, he had 185 passing yards and four touchdowns in the 43–16 victory.
In Week 16, the Seahawks faced off against the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs on NBC Sunday Night Football. Wilson out-dueled the season's eventual MVP Patrick Mahomes to lead the team to a 38–31 victory. This not only ensured another winning season for the Seahawks, but also defied early-season expectations by returning to the post-season after a one-year absence. Wilson finished the season with 35 touchdowns and a 110.9 passer rating, both personal and franchise bests. He also set career franchise records with most quarterback regular-season wins (75) and most touchdowns (196). as the No. 5-seed in the NFC, the Seahawks faced off against the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card Round. Wilson passed for 233 yards and one passing touchdown to go along with a rushing touchdown as the Seahawks fell 24–22.
Wilson was named to the Pro Bowl for the sixth time in his career, replacing Aaron Rodgers.
2019
On April 16, 2019, Wilson signed a four-year, $140 million contract extension to remain with the Seahawks through the 2023 season, making him the highest paid player in the NFL. In Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Wilson threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns as the Seahawks won 28–26, earning him NFC Offensive Player of the Week. In Week 3 against the New Orleans Saints, Wilson completed 32 passes for 406 yards and two passing touchdowns. In addition, he rushed seven times for 51 yards and two rushing touchdowns in the 33–27 loss. In Week 5 against the Los Angeles Rams, Wilson threw for 268 yards and four touchdowns in the 30–29 win on Thursday Night Football. The next week, in a 32–28 victory over the Cleveland Browns, he had 295 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. In Week 9 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Wilson threw for 378 yards and five touchdowns in the 40–34 overtime win, taking over the league lead in touchdowns and quarterback rating. He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance. In Week 10 against the then-undefeated San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football, Wilson threw for 232 yards, one touchdown, one interception and led the Seahawks to a 27–24 overtime win.
Wilson finished the 2019 season with 4,110 passing yards, 31 passing touchdowns, and five interceptions to go along with 75 carries for 342 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns as the Seahawks finished with an 11–5 record and made the playoffs as the NFC's #5 seed. He was once again named to the Pro Bowl, but also made his first appearance on the AP All-Pro team, being named second-team quarterback after Lamar Jackson.
In the Wild Card Round against the Philadelphia Eagles, Wilson completed 18 of 30 passes for 325 yards and a touchdown. In addition, he rushed nine times for 45 yards. He accounted for 95 percent of the Seahawks total offense and led them to a 17–9 victory over the Eagles. In the Divisional Round against the Green Bay Packers, Wilson threw for 277 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 64 yards during the 28–23 loss.
Wilson was ranked 2nd on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2020, the highest of his career, and beat out the likes of renowned quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, and Tom Brady.
2020
Wilson started off the 2020 season going 31 of 35 for 322 passing yards and four passing touchdowns in the 38–25 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
He was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in Week 1.
In Week 2, against the New England Patriots on NBC Sunday Night Football, he had 288 passing yards, five passing touchdowns, and one interception in the 35–30 victory. Wilson continued his great start to the season with 315 passing yards and five touchdowns in the 38–31 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Wilson set an NFL record most passing touchdowns through three games with 14.
He was again named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in Week 3.
On October 1, 2020, Wilson was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for his performance in September. In Week 4, Wilson passed for 360 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in the 31–23 victory over the Miami Dolphins.
In Week 5 against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football, Wilson threw for 217 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winning six-yard touchdown pass to DK Metcalf with 14 seconds left in the game, during the 27–26 win. This win was his 100th win in 148 total games as starting quarterback for the Seahawks. In Week 7 against the Arizona Cardinals, Wilson completed 33 of 50 passes for 388 yards and three touchdowns, plus rushed 6 times for 48 yards, but threw three interceptions including a costly one to Isaiah Simmons with one minute left in overtime as the Seahawks lost 37–34. In Week 8 against the San Francisco 49ers, he threw for 261 yards and four passing touchdowns in the 37–27 victory. In Week 9, against the Buffalo Bills, he had 390 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and two interceptions to go along with a rushing touchdown in the 44–34 loss, with the 44 points the Buffalo Bills scored becoming the highest number of points allowed in the Pete Carroll era.
In Week 14 against the New York Jets, Wilson threw for 206 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception during the 40–3 win. In the Week 17 season finale against the San Francisco 49ers, Wilson threw for 20 of 36 for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns and also rushed for 29 yards in the 26–23 victory. Overall, Wilson finished the 2020 season with 4,212 passing yards, 40 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. Wilson broke his own franchise record for passing touchdowns in a single season with his efforts in 2020. In the Wild Card Round, Wilson couldn't recreate his success from the regular season, only completing 11 of 27 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns and one interception which was returned for a touchdown by Darious Williams in a 30–20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. A few days later on February 6, Wilson was named Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year for his consistent and outgoing community service throughout the entirety of his career.
Wilson was ranked 12th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2021, the third highest ranking of his career.
2021
During the Seahawks Week 5 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Wilson left the game after suffering a broken finger in the third quarter. He had surgery to repair the injury on October 8, 2021. On October 15, 2021, he was ruled out for the Seahawks' Week 6 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was the first game he missed in his career, which ended a streak of 149 consecutive games started by an NFL quarterback, which is sixth all-time. He was placed on injured reserved later that same day, ensuring he would miss the next three games at minimum. He was activated off injured reserve November 12.
NFL career statistics
Regular season
Postseason
NFL records
Most passing yards in a playoff game by a rookie: 385
Seattle Seahawks records
Highest passer rating, career (minimum 500 attempts): 101.7
Highest passer rating, season (minimum 200 attempts): 110.9, 2018
Highest passer rating, rookie season (minimum 200 attempts): 100.0
Highest completion percentage, career (minimum 500 attempts): 64.5
Highest completion percentage, season (minimum 200 attempts): 68.1, 2015
Highest completion percentage, rookie season (minimum 200 attempts): 64.1
Lowest percentage passes had intercepted, career (minimum 500 attempts): 1.80
Lowest percentage passes had intercepted, rookie season (minimum 200 attempts): 2.54
Most rushing yards by a quarterback, career: 3,993
Most rushing yards by a quarterback, season: 849, 2014
Most rushing yards by a quarterback, rookie season: 489
Highest yard rushing average, career (minimum 400 attempts): 5.6
Highest yard rushing average, season (minimum 100 attempts): 7.2
Most passing yards, career: 29,734
Most passing yards, season: 4,219, 2016
Most passing yards, rookie season: 3,118
Most passing yards, game: 452 on October 29, 2017, against the Houston Texans
Most passing touchdowns, career: 227
Most passing touchdowns, season: 35, 2018
Most passing touchdowns, rookie season: 26
Most passing touchdowns, game (tied with three players): 5
Most pass completions, season: 353, 2016
Most games with a passing TD, career: 126
Awards and honors
NFL
Super Bowl XLVIII Champion
8× Pro Bowl (2012–2015, 2017–2020)
Second-team All-Pro (2019)
NFC Offensive Player of the Month (September 2020)
NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month (December 2012)
11× NFC Offensive Player of the Week
Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week (Week 10, 2012)
PFWA Good Guy Award (2014)
7× FedEx Air Player of the Week
3x Steve Largent Award (2012, 2018, 2019)
NFL Top 100: 51st (2013), 20th (2014), 22nd (2015), 17th (2016), 24th (2017), 11th (2018), 25th (2019), 2nd (2020), 12th (2021)
Walter Payton Man Of The Year (2020)
Bart Starr Award (2022)
MLS
2019 MLS Cup Champion (as part owner of the Seattle Sounders)
Baseball career
After graduating from high school, Wilson was selected by the Baltimore Orioles with the fifth pick in the 41st round (1,222nd overall) of the 2007 MLB draft. The Orioles considered Wilson a talent worthy of the first ten rounds and offered him a $350,000 signing bonus, the third-largest they offered a draftee that year after Matt Wieters ($6 million) and Jake Arrieta ($1.1 million). Wilson instead elected to attend NC State that fall. In a 2008 interview, Wilson said, "I was leaning towards [entering the draft], but a college education is something you'll always have."
College baseball
Wilson was a member of the NC State Wolfpack baseball team from 2008 to 2010, and in the summer of 2009 played for the Gastonia Grizzlies, a collegiate summer baseball team in the Coastal Plain League. He hit .282/.384/.415 with five home runs and 30 runs batted in (RBIs) during his collegiate career.
Professional baseball
On June 8, 2010, Wilson was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the fourth round (140th pick overall) of the 2010 MLB draft. That summer he played 32 games as a second baseman for the Tri-City Dust Devils, the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Rockies in the Northwest League. He finished the season with two home runs, 11 RBIs, and a .230 batting average.
In the summer of 2011, Wilson played 61 games with the Asheville Tourists, the Class A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies in the South Atlantic League. He hit three home runs with 15 RBIs and a .228 batting average. In January 2012, Wilson informed the Rockies that he would be pursuing a career in the NFL and would not report to spring training for the 2012 season.
On December 12, 2013, Wilson was acquired from the Rockies by the Texas Rangers in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft. Wilson attended Rangers spring training in Surprise, Arizona in 2014 and 2015.
On February 7, 2018, Wilson was traded from the Rangers to the New York Yankees and assigned to the Yankees' Double-A affiliate, the Trenton Thunder. Wilson grew up as a Yankees fan and promised his late father that he would one day wear the Yankees uniform. On March 2, Wilson pinch-hit for Aaron Judge in the fifth inning against the Atlanta Braves, his first appearance in a professional baseball game since 2011. He struck out on five pitches from Braves pitcher Max Fried.
Business ventures and endorsements
On April 26, 2012, Wilson announced he had chosen French/West/Vaughan as his marketing, public relations, and endorsements agency. Since being named the starting quarterback of the Seahawks in August 2012, Wilson has appeared in advertisements for Levi's, American Family Insurance, Pepsi, Nike, Alaska Airlines, Microsoft, Duracell, Braun, Bose, United Way, and Larson Automotive Group.
In 2014, Wilson became part-owner and endorser of Eat the Ball, a European bread company. In 2015, he began endorsing Luvo, a frozen food company, and Reliant Recovery Water. On February 29, 2016, Wilson launched Good Man Brand, a clothing line which he co-founded. In August 2016, it was announced that Wilson had partnered with Juice Press to open the company's first Seattle franchise.
On November 14, 2016, Wilson announced he had joined Chris Hansen, Wally Walker, and Erik and Pete Nordstrom as partners in the investment group working to bring a new sports arena to Seattle's SoDo neighborhood for potential NBA and NHL teams.
Wilson in 2017 founded a fan network platform to connect fans with celebrities called TraceMe. TraceMe launched its public beta on September 8, 2017, and announced $9 million in Series A funding with investors including Jeff Bezos' Bezos Expeditions, Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai and YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley.
On November 20, 2017, football helmet manufacturer VICIS announced a $7 million investment round which included Wilson as an investor.
In June 2018, Wilson and his wife Ciara announced they were joining an effort to bring a Major League Baseball franchise to Portland, Oregon. In July 2018, Wilson became an investor and endorser for Molecule, a mattress company.
In September 2018, Wilson was announced as the next athlete to appear on the cover of the Wheaties cereal box.
In August 2019, Russell Wilson and his wife Ciara announced that they had joined the ownership group for Seattle Sounders FC, the local Major League Soccer club. The Sounders would go on to win the 2019 MLS Cup, thus giving Wilson an MLS Cup to his credit as part owner.
In January 2020, Russell Wilson has been named Chairman of NFL FLAG. The global partnership will focus on strengthening NFL FLAG domestically and expanding the league internationally. He has worked with the flag football organizations in China, Brazil, Canada and the United Kingdom to help spread awareness of the sport and get athletes engaged in the game at a young age. More recently, both Wilson and Ciara struck first look deal with Amazon Studios.
In popular culture
Wilson has appeared on the cover of several magazines including Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated Kids, Rolling Stone, ESPN The Magazine, Men's Fitness, and Men's Health.
Rapper Eminem mentions Wilson in his 2013 song, "The Monster":
Wilson has appeared on Late Show with David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Charlie Rose, and in the 2015 film Entourage. He also hosted the 2015, 2016, and 2017 Kids' Choice Sports on Nickelodeon
Wilson was the keynote speaker for the 2016 commencement ceremony at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Personal and academic life
Wilson graduated from NC State with a bachelor's degree in broadcast/communications in 2010 after three years of study. After transferring to the University of Wisconsin, he earned a master's degree in educational leadership and policy analysis.
Wilson met his first wife, Ashton Meem, while they were both high school students. They married in January 2012 and divorced in April 2014.
Wilson is married to American R&B singer Ciara. They began dating in early 2015 and announced their engagement on March 11, 2016. They were married on July 6, 2016, at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire, England. He has a stepson from her relationship with Future. Their daughter, was born on April 28, 2017. On January 30, 2020, they announced that they were expecting their second child together. Their son was born on July 23, 2020.
Wilson is a devout Christian. He frequently speaks about his Christian faith on his social media accounts. Wilson and Ciara made a vow to be celibate until they got married.
His net worth as of October 2016 is $120 million.
Wilson's younger sister Anna plays basketball at Stanford.
Charitable work
Wilson is an active volunteer in the Seattle community. During the NFL season, Wilson makes weekly visits on his days off to the Seattle Children's Hospital, and has also visited with soldiers at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. In the offseason, Wilson hosts the Russell Wilson Passing Academy, a youth football camp, in several cities. In 2012, proceeds from the camp went to the Charles Ray III Diabetes Association, for which Wilson is the National Ambassador. In 2013 and 2014, Wilson partnered with Russell Investments for its "Invested with Russell" program, which donated $3,000 to Wilson's charitable foundation for every touchdown he scored.
Wilson co-hosts an annual charity golf event along with NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne at Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum, Washington to support various organizations including Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Seattle Children's Hospital. In August 2016, Wilson's Why Not You Foundation presented a check for $1,060,005 to Seattle Children's Hospital for its Strong Against Cancer initiative.
In March 2020, Wilson and Ciara partnered with Food Lifeline to donate one million meals to those in need during the coronavirus pandemic.
See also
List of NCAA Division I FBS career passing touchdowns leaders
List of NCAA major college football yearly passing leaders
List of Seattle Seahawks starting quarterbacks
List of Super Bowl starting quarterbacks
List of NFL quarterbacks who have posted a perfect passer rating
List of National Football League annual passing touchdowns leaders
References
External links
Seattle Seahawks bio
NC State Wolfpack bio
Wisconsin Badgers bio
1988 births
Living people
African-American baseball players
African-American Christians
African-American players of American football
American football quarterbacks
American philanthropists
American soccer chairmen and investors
Asheville Tourists players
Baseball players from Cincinnati
Baseball players from Seattle
Baseball players from Richmond, Virginia
Baseball second basemen
National Conference Pro Bowl players
NC State Wolfpack baseball players
NC State Wolfpack football players
Players of American football from Cincinnati
Players of American football from Seattle
Players of American football from Richmond, Virginia
Seattle Seahawks players
Tri-City Dust Devils players
Unconferenced Pro Bowl players
Wisconsin Badgers football players
| true |
[
"I Know What You Did Last Summer is a 1997 American slasher film based on the 1973 novel.\n\nI Know What You Did Last Summer may also refer to:\n\nFranchise\nI Know What You Did Last Summer (novel), a 1973 suspense novel for young adults by Lois Duncan\nI Know What You Did Last Summer (franchise)\nI Still Know What You Did Last Summer, a 1998 slasher film and a sequel to the 1997 film\nI'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, a 2006 horror film released straight to DVD and the third installment in the series\nI Know What You Did Last Summer (TV series), a 2021 Amazon Prime TV series\n\nOther uses\n\"I Know What You Did Last Summer\" (Supernatural), an episode of the TV series Supernatural\n\"I Know What You Did Last Summer\" (The Vampire Diaries), an episode of the TV series The Vampire Diaries\n\"I Know What You Did Last Summer\" (Scream), an episode of the TV series Scream\n\"I Know What You Did Last Summer (song)\", a 2015 song by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello\n\"I Know What You Did Last Summer\", a 2015 song by Jacob Whitesides featuring Kelly Rowland\n\nSee also\nI Know What You'll Do Next Summer, a third-season episode of the mystery series Veronica Mars",
"Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday? is a 1963 children's book published by Beginner Books and written by Helen Palmer Geisel, the first wife of Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss). Unlike most of the Beginner Books, Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday? did not follow the format of text with inline drawings, being illustrated with black-and-white photographs by Lynn Fayman, featuring a boy named Rawli Davis. It is sometimes misattributed to Dr. Seuss himself. The book's cover features a photograph of a young boy sitting at a breakfast table with a huge pile of pancakes.\n\nActivities mentioned in the book include bowling, water skiing, marching, boxing, and shooting guns with the United States Marines, and eating more spaghetti \"than anyone else has eaten before.\n\nHelen Palmer's photograph-based children's books did not prove to be as popular as the more traditional text-and-illustrations format; however, Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday received positive reviews and was listed by The New York Times as one of the best children's books of 1963. The book is currently out of print.\n\nReferences\n\n1963 children's books\nAmerican picture books"
] |
[
"Russell Wilson",
"NC State",
"What is Russell's connection to NC State?",
"Wilson redshirted during the 2007 season at NC State.",
"What position did he play?",
"In 2008, Wilson initially split time at quarterback with senior Daniel Evans and junior Harrison Beck.",
"DId he win?",
"Thereafter, Wilson led the team to a 4-3 record in the regular season which NC State finished out on a four-game winning streak.",
"What did he do the next season?",
"In the 2008 PapaJohns.com Bowl against Rutgers, Wilson threw for 186 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 46 yards before halftime."
] |
C_2f249d115d06400fb9cc05c11f751d04_1
|
What other accomplishments did he having during his time there?
| 5 |
What other accomplishments did Wilson having during Wilson's time there aside from the 2008 PapJohns.com Bowl?
|
Russell Wilson
|
Wilson redshirted during the 2007 season at NC State. In 2008, Wilson initially split time at quarterback with senior Daniel Evans and junior Harrison Beck. However, Evans and Beck saw no regular season action after Week 2 and Week 5, respectively. Thereafter, Wilson led the team to a 4-3 record in the regular season which NC State finished out on a four-game winning streak. During a win over East Carolina, Wilson threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns. He threw for two touchdowns in each of the last six games in the regular season. In the 2008 PapaJohns.com Bowl against Rutgers, Wilson threw for 186 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 46 yards before halftime. Late in the first half, he scrambled to the Rutgers' four-yard line, where he was tackled and suffered a knee sprain. With Wilson sitting out the remainder of the game, his replacements threw a combined total of three interceptions with NC State eventually losing, 23-29. Over the course of the season, he completed 150 of 275 attempts for 1,955 yards and 17 touchdowns with just one interception. He also recorded 116 carries for 394 yards and four touchdowns. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) named him the first-team All-ACC quarterback. It was the first time in the conference's history that a freshman quarterback was named to the first team. Prior to the 2009 season, Wilson was named as the quarterback on the pre-season all-ACC football team on July 12. On September 19, Wilson broke Andre Woodson's all-time NCAA record of 325 consecutive pass attempts without an interception against Gardner-Webb. The 379-pass streak ended in a game against Wake Forest on October 3. Wilson held the record until November 10, 2012, when it was broken by Louisiana Tech quarterback Colby Cameron. Wilson was named honorable mention All-ACC in 2009. Wilson led the 2010 Wolfpack to a 9-4 season that included a 23-7 win over West Virginia in the 2010 Champs Sports Bowl. He led the ACC in passing yards per game (274.1) and total offensive yards per game (307.5). He was named second-team All-ACC and runner-up for ACC Football Player of the Year. In May 2010, Wilson graduated from NC State in three years with a BA in communication, and took graduate-level business courses in the fall semester during the 2010 football season. CANNOTANSWER
|
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) named him the first-team All-ACC quarterback.
|
Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). Wilson initially played college football and baseball at NC State from 2008 to 2010 before transferring to Wisconsin in 2011, in which he set the single-season FBS record for passing efficiency (191.8) and led them to a Big Ten title and the 2012 Rose Bowl. He also played minor league baseball for the Tri-City Dust Devils in 2010 and the Asheville Tourists in 2011 as a second baseman, and as of 2019 his professional baseball rights are held by the Somerset Patriots, the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees.
He was selected by the Seahawks in the third round (75th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft. After beating out Matt Flynn for the starting job during training camp, Wilson ended up having a successful debut season, tying Peyton Manning's then-record for most passing touchdowns by a rookie (26) and was named Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year.
Wilson has been named to nine Pro Bowls and has started in two Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl XLVIII over the Denver Broncos. He holds the record for most wins by an NFL quarterback through nine seasons (98) and is one of four quarterbacks in NFL history with a career passer rating over 100. In April 2019, Wilson signed a four-year, $140 million contract extension with the Seahawks, making him the highest paid player in the NFL at the time. In 2020, he became just the third quarterback in NFL history to throw for thirty touchdowns in four consecutive seasons. Wilson is widely regarded as one of the greatest dual-threat quarterbacks in NFL history.
Wilson is part owner of the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer (MLS). After he purchased his minority stake, the Sounders won the 2019 MLS Cup.
Early life and background
Wilson was born at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, and grew up in Richmond, Virginia. His parents are Harrison Benjamin Wilson III, a lawyer, and Tammy Wilson (née Turner), a nurse director. He has an older brother, Harrison IV, and a younger sister, Anna. Wilson started playing football with his father and brother at the age of four, and played his first organized game for the Tuckahoe Tomahawks youth football team in sixth grade.
Wilson's great-great-grandfather was a slave to a Confederate colonel and was freed after the American Civil War. Wilson's paternal grandfather, Harrison B. Wilson Jr., was a former president of Norfolk State University who played football and basketball at Kentucky State University, and his paternal grandmother, Anna W. Wilson, was on the faculty at Jackson State University. Wilson's maternal grandfather was noted painter A. B. Jackson. According to genetic admixture analysis, Wilson is 62% African, 36% European, 1% West Asian, and 1% Central Asian. His European family lineage has been traced back to 524 A.D. to Saint Arnulf of Metz via Charlemagne.
Wilson's father played football and baseball at Dartmouth and was a wide receiver for the San Diego Chargers preseason squad in 1980. Wilson's brother, Harry, played football and baseball at the University of Richmond, and his sister Anna plays basketball for Stanford.
Wilson's father died on June 9, 2010, at age 55 due to complications from diabetes, the day after Wilson was drafted by the Rockies.
High school career
Wilson attended Stone Bridge High School public high school for a semester before attending Collegiate School, a preparatory school in Richmond, Virginia. As a junior in 2005, he threw for 3,287 passing yards and 40 passing touchdowns and rushed for 634 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns. He was named an all-district, all-region, and all-state player. Wilson was twice named the Richmond Times-Dispatch Player of the Year.
As a senior, he threw for 3,009 passing yards, 34 passing touchdowns, and seven interceptions. In addition, he rushed for 1,132 yards and 18 touchdowns. That year, he was named an all-conference and all-state player as well as conference player of the year. He was featured in Sports Illustrated magazine for his performance in the state championship game win. Wilson also served as his senior class president.
During his time in high school, Wilson attended the Manning Passing Academy, a summer football clinic run by multiple NFL MVP winner and eventual Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning. Due to this encounter, Manning recognized Wilson many years later when the latter had flown to Denver to discuss the prospect of getting drafted by the Denver Broncos, where Manning had recently signed.
Wilson was also a member of the Collegiate School basketball and baseball teams.
Wilson committed to North Carolina State University on July 23, 2006. He also received a football scholarship offer from Duke University.
College football career
NC State
Wilson redshirted during the 2007 season at NC State. In 2008, Wilson initially split time at quarterback with senior Daniel Evans and junior Harrison Beck. However, Evans and Beck saw no regular season action after Week 2 and Week 5, respectively. Thereafter, Wilson led the team to a 4–3 record in the regular season which NC State finished out on a four-game winning streak. During a 30–24 win over East Carolina, Wilson threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns. He threw for two touchdowns in each of the last six games in the regular season.
In the 2008 PapaJohns.com Bowl against Rutgers, Wilson threw for 186 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 46 yards before halftime. Late in the first half, he scrambled to the Rutgers' four-yard line, where he was tackled and suffered a knee sprain. With Wilson sitting out the remainder of the game, his replacements threw a combined total of three interceptions with NC State eventually losing, 23–29. Over the course of the season, he completed 150 of 275 attempts for 1,955 yards and 17 touchdowns with just one interception. He also recorded 116 carries for 394 yards and four touchdowns. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) named him the first-team All-ACC quarterback. It was the first time in the conference's history that a freshman quarterback was named to the first team.
Prior to the 2009 season, Wilson was named as the quarterback on the pre-season all-ACC football team on July 12. On September 19, Wilson broke Andre Woodson's all-time NCAA record of 325 consecutive pass attempts without an interception against Gardner–Webb. The 379-pass streak ended in a game against Wake Forest on October 3. Wilson held the record until November 10, 2012, when it was broken by Louisiana Tech quarterback Colby Cameron. Wilson was named honorable mention All-ACC in 2009. Wilson finished the 2009 regular season with 3,027 passing yards, 31 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions as the team finished with a 5–7 record.
Wilson led the 2010 Wolfpack to a 9–4 season that included a 23–7 win over West Virginia in the 2010 Champs Sports Bowl. He led the ACC in passing yards per game (274.1) and total offensive yards per game (307.5). He was named second-team All-ACC and runner-up for ACC Football Player of the Year. In May 2010, Wilson graduated from NC State in three years with a BA in communication, and took graduate-level business courses in the fall semester during the 2010 football season.
Transfer
In January 2011, Wilson announced that he would report to spring training with the Colorado Rockies organization. NC State head coach Tom O'Brien expressed reservations with Wilson's decision, saying "Russell and I have had very open conversations about his responsibilities respective to baseball and football. While I am certainly respectful of Russell's dedication to baseball these last several years, within those discussions I also communicated to him the importance of his time commitment to NC State football."
O'Brien and his staff reached out to NFL coaches and general managers on Wilson's behalf, but he failed to receive an invitation to the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine.
On April 29, 2011, O'Brien announced that Wilson had been granted a release from his football scholarship with one year of eligibility remaining.
Wisconsin
On June 27, 2011, Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema announced that Wilson had committed to Wisconsin for the 2011 season. In the season opener against UNLV, Wilson passed for 255 yards and two passing touchdowns in a 51–17 victory. He also rushed for 62 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown run. At the end of the regular season, Wilson was named first team All-Big Ten by both the coaches and media. He also won the Griese-Brees Big Ten Quarterback of the Year award.
In the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game on December 3, Wilson threw for three touchdowns and led the Badgers to a 42–39 win over the Michigan State Spartans. Wilson was named the game's Grange-Griffin MVP. In December 2011, Wilson was named a third team All-American by Yahoo! Sports, and he finished ninth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy with 52 points.
In the 2012 Rose Bowl against the Oregon Ducks on January 2, 2012, Wilson had 19 pass completions on 25 attempts for 296 yards, 18 rushing yards, and 3 touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing) as the Badgers lost by a score of 38–45. Wilson finished the season with 33 passing touchdowns, which set the single season record at Wisconsin and was the second-most in Big Ten history behind Drew Brees during the 1998 season at Purdue (39). Wilson also set the single season FBS record for passing efficiency (191.8). On January 28, 2012, Wilson completed his college football career at the 2012 Senior Bowl.
Statistics
Professional football career
On January 16, 2012, Wilson began training for the NFL Scouting Combine at the IMG Madden Football Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Prior to the 2012 NFL Draft, Wilson had been projected by NFL scouts and analysts to be a middle-round pick. In February 2012, former NFL quarterback and director of the IMG Madden Football Academy Chris Weinke said of Wilson, "If he was 6–5, he'd probably be the No. 1 pick in the draft." On April 11, 2012, ESPN Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden said, "The only issue with Russell Wilson is his height. That might be the reason he's not picked in the first couple rounds."
2012
Wilson was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the third round (picked 75th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft, the sixth quarterback selected. The Seahawks received significant criticism for their selections in this draft, and for Wilson in particular, as they had just signed free agent Matt Flynn. Two weeks later, Wilson signed a four-year, $2.99 million contract with the Seahawks on May 7, 2012. He made his preseason debut against the Tennessee Titans on August 11, 2012 and had his first preseason start on August 24 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Two days later on August 26, 2012, Wilson was named the starting quarterback for the first regular season game after competing with Matt Flynn and Tarvaris Jackson for the position.
On September 9, 2012, Wilson made his regular season debut in a 20–16 road loss to the Arizona Cardinals. He had 18 completions on 34 passing attempts for 153 yards, one passing touchdown, and one interception. In the third regular season game on Monday night, the Seahawks won 14–12 over the Green Bay Packers on a controversial Hail Mary touchdown pass to Golden Tate. The contentious nature of the replacement officials' decision on the play was widely considered to have been the tipping point that led to an agreement being reached to end the referee lockout.
Wilson earned the Rookie of the Week honors for his stellar performance in a 28–7 victory over the New York Jets on November 11; he completed 12 of 19 attempts for 188 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for 34 yards on seven attempts. He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week and Player of the Week for his performance in the 23–17 road win over the Chicago Bears in overtime on December 2. In the 50–17 victory over the Buffalo Bills in Toronto on December 16, Wilson had 205 passing yards, one passing touchdown, nine rushes, 92 rushing yards, and a career-high three rushing touchdowns. He earned NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month honors for December 2012 after the Seahawks went 5–0 and he had a passer rating of 115.2.
Wilson finished the regular season ranked fourth in the NFL in passer rating (100.0), beating the previous rookie record set by Ben Roethlisberger in 2004 (98.1), since broken by Robert Griffin III in 2012 (102.4) and Dak Prescott in (104.9). He threw for 3,118 yards and 26 touchdowns, tying Peyton Manning's record for most touchdowns thrown by a rookie, and rushed for 489 yards and four touchdowns. Wilson's scrambling mobility and ability to extend plays outside the pocket with his legs earned numerous comparisons to Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton.
Wilson led the Seahawks to the postseason in his rookie year, with both games on the road in January. He made his postseason debut in the NFC Wild Card Round against the Washington Redskins, passing for 187 yards and rushing for 67 yards as the Seahawks rallied for a 24–14 comeback victory. In the Divisional Round against the Atlanta Falcons, Wilson threw for 385 yards and rushed for 60 yards, and his team had a 28–27 lead with 31 seconds to go, but the Falcons managed to kick the winning field goal.
Wilson was selected as an alternate for the 2013 Pro Bowl, filling in for Matt Ryan of Atlanta. At the Pro Bowl in Hawaii on January 27, Wilson completed eight of ten attempts for 98 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions for a 147.1 rating.
At the end of the season, Wilson earned a bonus of $222,000 through the NFL's Performance-Based Pay program.
2013
Wilson's Seahawks opened the 2013 season with the first 4–0 start in franchise history, before losing to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 5. The Seahawks then went on a 7-game winning streak, including a 41–20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings where he posted a career-high 151.4 passer rating and culminating in a 34–7 victory over the Saints in Week 13 in which Wilson threw three touchdown passes and earned his second NFC Offensive Player of the Week award. Over the next three weeks, the Seahawks suffered divisional losses to the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals (the loss to the Cardinals was Wilson's first home loss), but defeated the Rams in Week 17 to finish the season with a 13–3 record, the NFC West title, and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. Wilson finished the season with 26 touchdown passes, 9 interceptions, and a 101.2 passer rating, becoming the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era to post a 100+ passer rating in each of his first two seasons. Wilson was named to his second Pro Bowl on December 27, 2013. In the Divisional Round, the Seahawks defeated the New Orleans Saints by a score of 23–15. On January 19, 2014, Wilson and the Seahawks defeated the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship by a score of 23–17, advancing to Super Bowl XLVIII. Wilson threw for 206 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions for a 123.1 passer rating in a 43–8 rout of the Denver Broncos. With the victory, Wilson became just the second black starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl, joining Super Bowl XXII winner Doug Williams. At 5'11" tall, he also became the shortest quarterback to win a Super Bowl, shorter than Len Dawson, Joe Theismann, and Drew Brees (all 6'0").
Wilson earned a bonus of $169,141.73 for the 2013 season through the NFL's Performance-Based Pay program.
2014
On September 21, 2014, Wilson led the Seahawks on an 80-yard touchdown drive in overtime to defeat the Denver Broncos, 26–20, in a Week 3 rematch of the previous season's Super Bowl. On October 6, 2014, against the Washington Redskins, Wilson set a new Monday Night Football record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a single game with 122.
The Seahawks clinched a playoff spot in Week 16 when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 42–7, eliminating the Philadelphia Eagles from postseason contention and allowing the Seahawks to clinch before their Sunday Night Football matchup. On December 21, 2014, Wilson went 20-of-31 and threw for a then-career-high 339 yards with two touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals in a primetime matchup on Sunday Night Football. Wilson also led the offense in gaining 596 yards, setting a franchise record for most yards gained in a game. The Cardinals had the third-best scoring defense heading into Week 16. The Seahawks won 35–6 as they snapped the Cardinals' seven-game home winning streak and regained first place in the NFC West as well as the NFC's #1 seed. The Seahawks defeated the St. Louis Rams 20–6 in Week 17 to clinch the NFC West and the #1 seed for the second consecutive season, securing homefield advantage for the entirety of the NFC playoffs.
Wilson led the Seahawks to a 31–17 home win over the Carolina Panthers in the Divisional Round, making the Seahawks the first defending Super Bowl Champion to win a playoff game since the 2005 Patriots. The Seahawks hosted the Green Bay Packers in their second consecutive NFC Championship. Wilson threw 3 first-half interceptions while completing only two passes to his own team as the Seahawks fell behind 16–0 at halftime. With the Packers leading 19–7 and five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Wilson threw his fourth interception. Then Wilson led the Seahawks on an improbable comeback. On the Seahawks' next drive, Wilson ran the ball in for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 19–14. After a successful onside kick recovery, Wilson led the Seahawks down the field, and Lynch scored to give the Seahawks a 20–19 lead. Wilson completed a 15-yard, two-point conversion pass to Luke Willson to make it 22–19. The Packers tied it up with a field goal at the end of regulation and forced overtime. The Seahawks won the coin toss, and the offense took the field. Wilson led the Seahawks on an 80-yard drive that was capped by a 35-yard game-winning touchdown pass to Kearse. The Seahawks completed their largest postseason comeback in franchise history and clinched a Super Bowl berth.
Wilson would have been selected as an alternate to the Pro Bowl, but did not play because the Seahawks advanced to the Super Bowl; as Wilson did not have a chance to decline the invitation, the NFL recognizes this as a Pro Bowl berth for him.
The Seahawks became the first defending champion to return to the Super Bowl since the 2004 Patriots. They faced the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX, where they were defeated by a final score of 28–24. Although the Seahawks led 24–14 heading into the fourth quarter, the Patriots scored two consecutive touchdowns to take a four-point lead with 2:02 remaining. Wilson led the Seahawks to the Patriots' one-yard line with 25 seconds remaining, but Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler intercepted a pass intended for Ricardo Lockette, sealing the victory for the Patriots.
2015
On July 31, 2015, the Seahawks and Wilson agreed to a 4-year, $87.6 million contract extension, making him, at the time, the second-highest-paid player in the NFL. In the first nine games of the season, Wilson threw 10 touchdown passes and seven interceptions. Over the next five games, Wilson threw 19 touchdowns and no interceptions, becoming the only quarterback in NFL history to throw 3+ touchdown passes and no interceptions in five consecutive games. After a 2–4 start to the season, Wilson led the Seahawks to win seven of their next eight games and clinch a fourth consecutive playoff appearance in their Week 15 win over the Cleveland Browns. His strong performance over the second half of the season, even after losing star running back Marshawn Lynch and tight end Jimmy Graham, led many analysts to consider Wilson an MVP candidate.
Wilson broke numerous Seahawks single season passing records in 2015, including most passing yards (4,024), most passing touchdowns (34), and highest passer rating (110.1). He became the first Seahawks quarterback to throw for over 4,000 yards in a season, and finished the year with the highest passer rating in the NFL. Wilson's 51.7% deep ball completion percentage was the highest among NFL quarterbacks. On December 22, 2015, Wilson was named to his third Pro Bowl. He was ranked 17th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.
The Seahawks traveled to Minnesota to face the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card Round. The temperature at kickoff was −6 °F (−25 °F wind chill), making it the third coldest game in NFL history. Wilson struggled in the sub-zero temperatures, throwing for 142 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. The Vikings missed a short field goal in the last minute, allowing the Seahawks to advance to the Divisional Round to face the 15–1 Carolina Panthers. Down 31–0 at the half, Wilson helped lead a furious comeback attempt, but the Panthers won 31–24, denying Wilson and the Seahawks their third consecutive in the NFC Championship and a shot at a third consecutive Super Bowl appearance. In that game, Wilson threw for 366 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Wilson was drafted first overall by Team Irvin in the 2016 Pro Bowl draft, and in the game threw eight completions on 12 attempts for 164 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions for a 149.3 rating. He was named the Pro Bowl offensive MVP.
2016
The Seahawks had a solid 2016 season with Wilson at the helm. However, Wilson drew two minor injuries: his ankle during Week 1 against the Miami Dolphins after getting stepped on by defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh, and his left knee against the San Francisco 49ers during Week 3 after a takedown by linebacker Eli Harold. The injuries hampered Wilson's trademark mobility, and many speculated that he would be rested in order to properly recover.
Regardless, Wilson started all 16 games in the season. On November 20, against the Philadelphia Eagles, he had a 15-yard touchdown reception on a pass from Doug Baldwin on a trick play. Wilson also played the worst game of his career in 2016, throwing 5 interceptions in a 38–10 loss to the Green Bay Packers during Week 14. The team finished with a 10–5–1 record and won the NFC West. Wilson put together a season where he recorded a career-high 4,219 passing yards, 21 passing touchdowns, 259 rushing yards, and one rushing touchdown. The Seahawks made the playoffs, where they defeated the Detroit Lions in the Wild Card Round. The win gave Wilson his eighth playoff victory. However, they fell to the eventual NFC champion Atlanta Falcons in the Divisional Round at the Georgia Dome. As of 2022, this is the only season where Wilson did not earn a Pro Bowl selection. He was ranked 24th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.
2017
On September 5, 2017, Wilson was voted Seahawks offensive captain for the fifth consecutive season. In Week 3, in a 33–27 loss to the Tennessee Titans, he was 29 of 49 for 373 passing yards and four passing touchdowns. In Week 8 against the Houston Texans, Wilson posted an astounding performance, going 26 of 41 for a career-high 452 passing yards and four touchdowns in a matchup where both he and Deshaun Watson each threw over 400 yards. Wilson also rushed for 30 yards, totaling 482 yards of offense in the 41–38 victory. With his strong performance, Wilson earned NFC Offensive Player of the Week. On December 21, 2017, the Seahawks were fined $100,000 for failure to properly apply the concussion protocol on a hit Wilson sustained during the Week 10 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
In Week 12, with the win over San Francisco, Wilson became the winningest quarterback in a player's first six seasons with 63 wins, surpassing Joe Flacco. Next week, with his 15-yard touchdown throw to running back J. D. McKissic, the third of his game, Wilson tied Eli Manning in 2011 for the most fourth quarter touchdowns in a single season with 15. He went 20 for 31 for 227 yards and three touchdowns in that game, earning him NFC Offensive Player of the Week. On December 19, 2017, Wilson was named to his fourth Pro Bowl.
The Seahawks ended the season with nine wins, ending Wilson's streak of five consecutive seasons with double-digit wins and a playoff appearance. He threw for 34 touchdown passes, finishing the season as the league's leader in touchdowns thrown. With 586 rushing yards and three touchdowns, he also finished the season as the team's leading rusher in both categories. Wilson was ranked 11th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.
2018
With the Seahawks having lost many Pro Bowl starters in the offseason such as Cliff Avril, Michael Bennett, Kam Chancellor, Jimmy Graham and Richard Sherman, and having star safety Earl Thomas injured in the beginning of the regular season, many considered the team a long shot to return to the playoffs. In addition to dealing with a re-tooled roster, Wilson also had a new offensive coordinator in Brian Schottenheimer, who replaced Darrell Bevell.
Wilson was once again named as a captain for the Seahawks going into the 2018 season. He started the season with 298 passing yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions in a 27–24 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 1. In Week 3, against the Dallas Cowboys, he helped lead the Seahawks to their first victory of the season with 192 passing yards and two touchdowns. In Weeks 5–8, against the Los Angeles Rams, Oakland Raiders, and Detroit Lions, he had three consecutive games with three passing touchdowns. In Week 13, against the San Francisco 49ers, he had 185 passing yards and four touchdowns in the 43–16 victory.
In Week 16, the Seahawks faced off against the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs on NBC Sunday Night Football. Wilson out-dueled the season's eventual MVP Patrick Mahomes to lead the team to a 38–31 victory. This not only ensured another winning season for the Seahawks, but also defied early-season expectations by returning to the post-season after a one-year absence. Wilson finished the season with 35 touchdowns and a 110.9 passer rating, both personal and franchise bests. He also set career franchise records with most quarterback regular-season wins (75) and most touchdowns (196). as the No. 5-seed in the NFC, the Seahawks faced off against the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card Round. Wilson passed for 233 yards and one passing touchdown to go along with a rushing touchdown as the Seahawks fell 24–22.
Wilson was named to the Pro Bowl for the sixth time in his career, replacing Aaron Rodgers.
2019
On April 16, 2019, Wilson signed a four-year, $140 million contract extension to remain with the Seahawks through the 2023 season, making him the highest paid player in the NFL. In Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Wilson threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns as the Seahawks won 28–26, earning him NFC Offensive Player of the Week. In Week 3 against the New Orleans Saints, Wilson completed 32 passes for 406 yards and two passing touchdowns. In addition, he rushed seven times for 51 yards and two rushing touchdowns in the 33–27 loss. In Week 5 against the Los Angeles Rams, Wilson threw for 268 yards and four touchdowns in the 30–29 win on Thursday Night Football. The next week, in a 32–28 victory over the Cleveland Browns, he had 295 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. In Week 9 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Wilson threw for 378 yards and five touchdowns in the 40–34 overtime win, taking over the league lead in touchdowns and quarterback rating. He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance. In Week 10 against the then-undefeated San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football, Wilson threw for 232 yards, one touchdown, one interception and led the Seahawks to a 27–24 overtime win.
Wilson finished the 2019 season with 4,110 passing yards, 31 passing touchdowns, and five interceptions to go along with 75 carries for 342 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns as the Seahawks finished with an 11–5 record and made the playoffs as the NFC's #5 seed. He was once again named to the Pro Bowl, but also made his first appearance on the AP All-Pro team, being named second-team quarterback after Lamar Jackson.
In the Wild Card Round against the Philadelphia Eagles, Wilson completed 18 of 30 passes for 325 yards and a touchdown. In addition, he rushed nine times for 45 yards. He accounted for 95 percent of the Seahawks total offense and led them to a 17–9 victory over the Eagles. In the Divisional Round against the Green Bay Packers, Wilson threw for 277 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 64 yards during the 28–23 loss.
Wilson was ranked 2nd on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2020, the highest of his career, and beat out the likes of renowned quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, and Tom Brady.
2020
Wilson started off the 2020 season going 31 of 35 for 322 passing yards and four passing touchdowns in the 38–25 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
He was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in Week 1.
In Week 2, against the New England Patriots on NBC Sunday Night Football, he had 288 passing yards, five passing touchdowns, and one interception in the 35–30 victory. Wilson continued his great start to the season with 315 passing yards and five touchdowns in the 38–31 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Wilson set an NFL record most passing touchdowns through three games with 14.
He was again named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in Week 3.
On October 1, 2020, Wilson was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for his performance in September. In Week 4, Wilson passed for 360 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in the 31–23 victory over the Miami Dolphins.
In Week 5 against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football, Wilson threw for 217 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winning six-yard touchdown pass to DK Metcalf with 14 seconds left in the game, during the 27–26 win. This win was his 100th win in 148 total games as starting quarterback for the Seahawks. In Week 7 against the Arizona Cardinals, Wilson completed 33 of 50 passes for 388 yards and three touchdowns, plus rushed 6 times for 48 yards, but threw three interceptions including a costly one to Isaiah Simmons with one minute left in overtime as the Seahawks lost 37–34. In Week 8 against the San Francisco 49ers, he threw for 261 yards and four passing touchdowns in the 37–27 victory. In Week 9, against the Buffalo Bills, he had 390 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and two interceptions to go along with a rushing touchdown in the 44–34 loss, with the 44 points the Buffalo Bills scored becoming the highest number of points allowed in the Pete Carroll era.
In Week 14 against the New York Jets, Wilson threw for 206 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception during the 40–3 win. In the Week 17 season finale against the San Francisco 49ers, Wilson threw for 20 of 36 for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns and also rushed for 29 yards in the 26–23 victory. Overall, Wilson finished the 2020 season with 4,212 passing yards, 40 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. Wilson broke his own franchise record for passing touchdowns in a single season with his efforts in 2020. In the Wild Card Round, Wilson couldn't recreate his success from the regular season, only completing 11 of 27 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns and one interception which was returned for a touchdown by Darious Williams in a 30–20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. A few days later on February 6, Wilson was named Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year for his consistent and outgoing community service throughout the entirety of his career.
Wilson was ranked 12th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2021, the third highest ranking of his career.
2021
During the Seahawks Week 5 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Wilson left the game after suffering a broken finger in the third quarter. He had surgery to repair the injury on October 8, 2021. On October 15, 2021, he was ruled out for the Seahawks' Week 6 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was the first game he missed in his career, which ended a streak of 149 consecutive games started by an NFL quarterback, which is sixth all-time. He was placed on injured reserved later that same day, ensuring he would miss the next three games at minimum. He was activated off injured reserve November 12.
NFL career statistics
Regular season
Postseason
NFL records
Most passing yards in a playoff game by a rookie: 385
Seattle Seahawks records
Highest passer rating, career (minimum 500 attempts): 101.7
Highest passer rating, season (minimum 200 attempts): 110.9, 2018
Highest passer rating, rookie season (minimum 200 attempts): 100.0
Highest completion percentage, career (minimum 500 attempts): 64.5
Highest completion percentage, season (minimum 200 attempts): 68.1, 2015
Highest completion percentage, rookie season (minimum 200 attempts): 64.1
Lowest percentage passes had intercepted, career (minimum 500 attempts): 1.80
Lowest percentage passes had intercepted, rookie season (minimum 200 attempts): 2.54
Most rushing yards by a quarterback, career: 3,993
Most rushing yards by a quarterback, season: 849, 2014
Most rushing yards by a quarterback, rookie season: 489
Highest yard rushing average, career (minimum 400 attempts): 5.6
Highest yard rushing average, season (minimum 100 attempts): 7.2
Most passing yards, career: 29,734
Most passing yards, season: 4,219, 2016
Most passing yards, rookie season: 3,118
Most passing yards, game: 452 on October 29, 2017, against the Houston Texans
Most passing touchdowns, career: 227
Most passing touchdowns, season: 35, 2018
Most passing touchdowns, rookie season: 26
Most passing touchdowns, game (tied with three players): 5
Most pass completions, season: 353, 2016
Most games with a passing TD, career: 126
Awards and honors
NFL
Super Bowl XLVIII Champion
8× Pro Bowl (2012–2015, 2017–2020)
Second-team All-Pro (2019)
NFC Offensive Player of the Month (September 2020)
NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month (December 2012)
11× NFC Offensive Player of the Week
Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week (Week 10, 2012)
PFWA Good Guy Award (2014)
7× FedEx Air Player of the Week
3x Steve Largent Award (2012, 2018, 2019)
NFL Top 100: 51st (2013), 20th (2014), 22nd (2015), 17th (2016), 24th (2017), 11th (2018), 25th (2019), 2nd (2020), 12th (2021)
Walter Payton Man Of The Year (2020)
Bart Starr Award (2022)
MLS
2019 MLS Cup Champion (as part owner of the Seattle Sounders)
Baseball career
After graduating from high school, Wilson was selected by the Baltimore Orioles with the fifth pick in the 41st round (1,222nd overall) of the 2007 MLB draft. The Orioles considered Wilson a talent worthy of the first ten rounds and offered him a $350,000 signing bonus, the third-largest they offered a draftee that year after Matt Wieters ($6 million) and Jake Arrieta ($1.1 million). Wilson instead elected to attend NC State that fall. In a 2008 interview, Wilson said, "I was leaning towards [entering the draft], but a college education is something you'll always have."
College baseball
Wilson was a member of the NC State Wolfpack baseball team from 2008 to 2010, and in the summer of 2009 played for the Gastonia Grizzlies, a collegiate summer baseball team in the Coastal Plain League. He hit .282/.384/.415 with five home runs and 30 runs batted in (RBIs) during his collegiate career.
Professional baseball
On June 8, 2010, Wilson was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the fourth round (140th pick overall) of the 2010 MLB draft. That summer he played 32 games as a second baseman for the Tri-City Dust Devils, the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Rockies in the Northwest League. He finished the season with two home runs, 11 RBIs, and a .230 batting average.
In the summer of 2011, Wilson played 61 games with the Asheville Tourists, the Class A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies in the South Atlantic League. He hit three home runs with 15 RBIs and a .228 batting average. In January 2012, Wilson informed the Rockies that he would be pursuing a career in the NFL and would not report to spring training for the 2012 season.
On December 12, 2013, Wilson was acquired from the Rockies by the Texas Rangers in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft. Wilson attended Rangers spring training in Surprise, Arizona in 2014 and 2015.
On February 7, 2018, Wilson was traded from the Rangers to the New York Yankees and assigned to the Yankees' Double-A affiliate, the Trenton Thunder. Wilson grew up as a Yankees fan and promised his late father that he would one day wear the Yankees uniform. On March 2, Wilson pinch-hit for Aaron Judge in the fifth inning against the Atlanta Braves, his first appearance in a professional baseball game since 2011. He struck out on five pitches from Braves pitcher Max Fried.
Business ventures and endorsements
On April 26, 2012, Wilson announced he had chosen French/West/Vaughan as his marketing, public relations, and endorsements agency. Since being named the starting quarterback of the Seahawks in August 2012, Wilson has appeared in advertisements for Levi's, American Family Insurance, Pepsi, Nike, Alaska Airlines, Microsoft, Duracell, Braun, Bose, United Way, and Larson Automotive Group.
In 2014, Wilson became part-owner and endorser of Eat the Ball, a European bread company. In 2015, he began endorsing Luvo, a frozen food company, and Reliant Recovery Water. On February 29, 2016, Wilson launched Good Man Brand, a clothing line which he co-founded. In August 2016, it was announced that Wilson had partnered with Juice Press to open the company's first Seattle franchise.
On November 14, 2016, Wilson announced he had joined Chris Hansen, Wally Walker, and Erik and Pete Nordstrom as partners in the investment group working to bring a new sports arena to Seattle's SoDo neighborhood for potential NBA and NHL teams.
Wilson in 2017 founded a fan network platform to connect fans with celebrities called TraceMe. TraceMe launched its public beta on September 8, 2017, and announced $9 million in Series A funding with investors including Jeff Bezos' Bezos Expeditions, Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai and YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley.
On November 20, 2017, football helmet manufacturer VICIS announced a $7 million investment round which included Wilson as an investor.
In June 2018, Wilson and his wife Ciara announced they were joining an effort to bring a Major League Baseball franchise to Portland, Oregon. In July 2018, Wilson became an investor and endorser for Molecule, a mattress company.
In September 2018, Wilson was announced as the next athlete to appear on the cover of the Wheaties cereal box.
In August 2019, Russell Wilson and his wife Ciara announced that they had joined the ownership group for Seattle Sounders FC, the local Major League Soccer club. The Sounders would go on to win the 2019 MLS Cup, thus giving Wilson an MLS Cup to his credit as part owner.
In January 2020, Russell Wilson has been named Chairman of NFL FLAG. The global partnership will focus on strengthening NFL FLAG domestically and expanding the league internationally. He has worked with the flag football organizations in China, Brazil, Canada and the United Kingdom to help spread awareness of the sport and get athletes engaged in the game at a young age. More recently, both Wilson and Ciara struck first look deal with Amazon Studios.
In popular culture
Wilson has appeared on the cover of several magazines including Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated Kids, Rolling Stone, ESPN The Magazine, Men's Fitness, and Men's Health.
Rapper Eminem mentions Wilson in his 2013 song, "The Monster":
Wilson has appeared on Late Show with David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Charlie Rose, and in the 2015 film Entourage. He also hosted the 2015, 2016, and 2017 Kids' Choice Sports on Nickelodeon
Wilson was the keynote speaker for the 2016 commencement ceremony at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Personal and academic life
Wilson graduated from NC State with a bachelor's degree in broadcast/communications in 2010 after three years of study. After transferring to the University of Wisconsin, he earned a master's degree in educational leadership and policy analysis.
Wilson met his first wife, Ashton Meem, while they were both high school students. They married in January 2012 and divorced in April 2014.
Wilson is married to American R&B singer Ciara. They began dating in early 2015 and announced their engagement on March 11, 2016. They were married on July 6, 2016, at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire, England. He has a stepson from her relationship with Future. Their daughter, was born on April 28, 2017. On January 30, 2020, they announced that they were expecting their second child together. Their son was born on July 23, 2020.
Wilson is a devout Christian. He frequently speaks about his Christian faith on his social media accounts. Wilson and Ciara made a vow to be celibate until they got married.
His net worth as of October 2016 is $120 million.
Wilson's younger sister Anna plays basketball at Stanford.
Charitable work
Wilson is an active volunteer in the Seattle community. During the NFL season, Wilson makes weekly visits on his days off to the Seattle Children's Hospital, and has also visited with soldiers at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. In the offseason, Wilson hosts the Russell Wilson Passing Academy, a youth football camp, in several cities. In 2012, proceeds from the camp went to the Charles Ray III Diabetes Association, for which Wilson is the National Ambassador. In 2013 and 2014, Wilson partnered with Russell Investments for its "Invested with Russell" program, which donated $3,000 to Wilson's charitable foundation for every touchdown he scored.
Wilson co-hosts an annual charity golf event along with NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne at Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum, Washington to support various organizations including Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Seattle Children's Hospital. In August 2016, Wilson's Why Not You Foundation presented a check for $1,060,005 to Seattle Children's Hospital for its Strong Against Cancer initiative.
In March 2020, Wilson and Ciara partnered with Food Lifeline to donate one million meals to those in need during the coronavirus pandemic.
See also
List of NCAA Division I FBS career passing touchdowns leaders
List of NCAA major college football yearly passing leaders
List of Seattle Seahawks starting quarterbacks
List of Super Bowl starting quarterbacks
List of NFL quarterbacks who have posted a perfect passer rating
List of National Football League annual passing touchdowns leaders
References
External links
Seattle Seahawks bio
NC State Wolfpack bio
Wisconsin Badgers bio
1988 births
Living people
African-American baseball players
African-American Christians
African-American players of American football
American football quarterbacks
American philanthropists
American soccer chairmen and investors
Asheville Tourists players
Baseball players from Cincinnati
Baseball players from Seattle
Baseball players from Richmond, Virginia
Baseball second basemen
National Conference Pro Bowl players
NC State Wolfpack baseball players
NC State Wolfpack football players
Players of American football from Cincinnati
Players of American football from Seattle
Players of American football from Richmond, Virginia
Seattle Seahawks players
Tri-City Dust Devils players
Unconferenced Pro Bowl players
Wisconsin Badgers football players
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"Arthur Bonnell Schirmer Jr. was the fifty-ninth mayor of Charleston, South Carolina, completing the final four months of J. Palmer Gaillard, after Gaillard's resignation. He did not run for election for a full term.\n\nSchirmer was born on February 24, 1933, and died on July 17, 2008; he is buried at Magnolia Cemetery.\n\nSchirmer was sworn in on August 19, 1975. Although Schirmer served for only four months, he did not want to be thought of as a mere interim mayor, once saying, \"When my accomplishments are considered, people will realize that I have been anything but an interim mayor.\" During his brief tenure, he directed the city to begin sharing its pools with the school district and also began planning for the sale of the municipal airport. His mayorship ended on December 15, 1975, with the inauguration of Joseph P. Riley Jr. At that time, he returned to his job running paving and landscaping companies and operating a limestone quarry.\n\nSchirmer was raised in downtown Charleston on Bull Street, but during his time in office, he lived in West Ashley, making him the one of the few mayors of Charleston to have lived there. A set of tennis courts at Bees Landing Recreation Center is named in his honor.\n\nReferences\n\nAmerican people of German descent\nMayors of Charleston, South Carolina\n1933 births\n2008 deaths\n20th-century American politicians",
"The Anderson family is a group of professional wrestlers, a part fictional, part real, extended family largely consisting of brothers, cousins and children.\n\nGene Anderson\n\nNWA Hall of Famer Gene Anderson (the only actual 'Anderson' of the original group), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, started his professional wrestling career in 1958. Gene was trained by WWE Hall of Famer Vern Gagne.\n\nThe Minnesota Wrecking Crew\n\nAfter spending a few years working for WWE Hall of Famer Stu Hart's Canadian wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling, Gene started working for Verne Gagne's Minneapolis, Minnesota based American Wrestling Association (AWA) in 1961. In 1965, Gene formed the tag team The Minnesota Wrecking Crew with fellow Minnesota native Larry Heiniemi, who had started his professional wrestling career that same year.\n\nLars Anderson\n\nLarry, who had been performing under his real name, became Lars Anderson and was billed as being Gene's brother.\n\nOle Anderson\n\nIn 1968, while working for Paul Jones' Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), Gene invited Alan Rogowski, who had been wrestling as Rock Rogowski since he started his professional wrestling career the year prior, to join the team. Alan began performing as Ole Anderson, the brother of Gene and Lars. The three would team together in different combinations until Lars moved to Hawaii in 1969. After Lars moved, Gene and Ole continued the team and Lars would only make sporadic appearances from then on. Gene and Ole remained a team until 1982.\n\nArn Anderson\n\nWhile working for Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrestling Association (MSW) in 1983, Martin Lunde, who started his professional wrestling career in 1981, was sitting in the locker room during an MSW event when Watts was having a conversation with Matt Osborne, Ted DiBiase and Jim Duggan. The three men Watts was talking to were nearing the end of their run with MSW and Watts was sending them to Atlanta, Georgia to work for GCW, which was owned by Jim Barnett at the time. Watts told Osborne that he was going to be managed by Paul Ellering and that he would be performing as a part of a tag team. Watts explained that they needed to find Osborne a tag team partner when Sylvester Ritter (Junkyard Dog), who was also in the locker room, suggested that since Martin strongly resembled Ole Anderson, who was currently working in GCW, he should be sent over to GCW as an Anderson and be Osborne's tag team partner. Watts looked over at Martin and agreed that he did in fact look a lot like Ole and then made the decision to send him to GCW as well.\n\nWhen Martin arrived in Atlanta he introduced himself to Ole who immediately reacted to the fact that Martin did in fact look like him. Ole gave Martin, who had previously wrestled under his real name and Super Olympia, the new name Arn Anderson. Arn was ultimately billed as the brother of Gene, Lars and Ole but at other times he was billed as a cousin or nephew. Ole and Arn would start teaming together later that year, shortly after Arn's tag partner Osborne was released from GCW. Ole and Arn would remain a team until Ole retired in 1987.\n\nIn combined total, the four original Andersons were tag team champions 41 times, winning 12 different tag team championships across the United States. Several modern tag teams have taken names similar to the Minnesota Wrecking Crew as an homage to the group.\n\nRic Flair\n\nAs early as 1974, the 2 time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair was being billed as the cousin of Ole and Gene, teaming with them sporadically until 1977.\n\nIn 1977, Flair teamed with Blackjack Mulligan and Greg Valentine in a feud against his storyline cousins Gene and Ole. In 1981, Ric reunited with Gene and Ole.\n\nIn 1985, while working for Southeastern Championship Wrestling (SECW), Arn was asked by SECW promoter Robert Fuller to ride with Flair while he was there working for the promotion. Arn, who was a fan of Flair, gladly accepted. Flair later convinced Arn to make the move from SECW, where he was very comfortable in his position in both his wrestling career and living situation in Pensacola, Florida, to Jim Crockett's Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (MACW). Arn would once again need Flair's convincing when Arn was prepared to leave MACW after receiving a payout that was less than he was making with SECW. During this time in MACW, Flair began working as a team with Ole and Arn in different combinations in a feud against WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes, Magnum TA, Billy Jack Haynes and Manny Fernandez.\n\nRip Hawk\n\nIn 1974, at the same time as being billed as an Anderson cousin, Flair was also being billed as the nephew of American professional wrestler Rip Hawk. Rip Hawk was by extension billed as related to the Anderson family.\n\nThe Four Horsemen\n\nIn June 1984, Flair began a feud with WWE Hall of Famer Tully Blanchard, until November 1985 when they became a team. In early 1986, Flair and Blanchard allied themselves with Flair's storyline cousins Ole and Arn. Shortly afterward, J.J. Dillon, who was already managing Blanchard, joined the team as their manager. According to Arn Anderson, the team finally felt complete when Dillon joined the group.\n\nDuring an impromptu interview after an 8 man tag team match that the group won, Arn said, \"The only time this much havoc had been wreaked by this few a number of people, you need to go all the way back to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse\". The name The Four Horsemen stuck and the team used that name going forward.\n\nOver the following years the team would change in combination of different variations of existing and new members, including; Lex Luger, Barry Windham, Sting, Sid Vicious, Paul Roma, Brian Pillman, Chris Benoit, Steve McMichael, Curt Hennig, Dean Malenko and Jeff Jarrett. Flair and Arn were part of every iteration of the team until August 25, 1997 during World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s live television broadcast of their TNT Network program Monday Nitro, Arn formally announced his retirement from in-ring work.\n\nThe stable was a major influence on professional wrestling in North America, creating the blueprint for future groups such as the New World Order, The Triple Threat, Evolution, The Four Horsewomen, The Pinnacle and The Extreme Horsemen.\n\nAnderson children\n\nBrad Anderson\n\nGene Anderson's son Bradley followed in his father's footsteps and became both a professional wrestler and a promoter. Bradley performed as Brad Anderson. Brad was a multiple time champion across many professional wrestling promotions throughout his career.\n\nBryant Anderson\n\nOle Anderson's son Bryant also pursued a career in professional wrestling. Bryant, working as Bryant Anderson, had a short career spanning from 1993 to 1995, working for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and various independent wrestling promotions before being forced to retire.\n\nRic Flair's children\nRic Flair's sons David and Reid, as well as his daughter Ashley also pursued professional wrestling careers and can be counted as part of the Anderson family by extension.\n\nDavid Flair\n\nDavid Flair is best known for his work performing in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) where he held the United States and World Tag Team championships.\n\nReid Flair\n\nReid Flair was working performing for various companies on the independent circuit and for All Japan Pro Wrestling before he passed away suddenly in 2013.\n\nCharlotte Flair\n\nInspired and determined to keep her brother Reid's professional wrestling legacy alive, Ashley started training to become a professional wrestler. Ashley now performs for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as Charlotte Flair and is a multiple time WWE champion holding every Women's Championship title throughout her career.\n\nBrock Anderson\n\nArn Anderson's son Brock asked his father to help him become a professional wrestler. Arn agreed under the condition that Brock finish college. After Brock graduated from East Carolina University he began training at the Nightmare Factory, AEW's training facility. Brock made his debut during a taping of All Elite Wrestling (AEW)'s television program Dynamite on June 6, 2021 performing as Brock Anderson. Brock is the newest addition to the Anderson family to date.\n\nOther storyline relatives\nOther professional wrestlers, under the Anderson heritage popped up on the independent circuit in the 1990s.\n\nRocky Anderson\n\nRocky Mills was the head trainer at Gene Anderson's gym. Rocky wrestled on the independent circuit as Rocky Anderson, a member of the Anderson family.\n\nThe Andersons\n\nPat Anderson\n\nRocky was contacted by Ivan Koloff who told him he had been training a guy named Pat Connors, who both looked and wrestled like an Anderson. Rocky attended a show in Monroe, North Carolina to watch Pat perform. Rocky was impressed and with the blessings of Gene he allowed Pat to use the Anderson gimmick. Pat worked his entire career as Pat Anderson.\n\nC.W. Anderson\n\nShortly afterwards Pat met Christopher Wright at a show he was working at for Carolina Championship Wrestling Alliance (CCWA). Pat was impressed with Christopher's skills and looks, so before approaching him Pat asked the CCWA booker Jim Massingale if he could work as a tag team together with Christopher. Pat and Christopher had a conversation and Christopher agreed to the tag team work. Gene Anderson had passed away at this point so Pat called Rocky to ask for permission to make Christopher an Anderson. Rocky told Pat to use his judgement and Christopher began performaing as C.W. Anderson.\n\nDuring their time as a tag team Pat and C.W. were tag team champions 9 times, including the NWA World Tag Team Championship titles and they held 3 tag team championship titles from 3 different promotions concurrently.\n\nAndrew Anderson\n\nAndrew Koloszuk had been performing as The Siberian Tiger, a Cold War era gimmick he adopted while working as a tag team with WWE Hall of Famer Nikolai Volkoff. Later in his career, professional wrestler and promoter Angelo Savoldi influenced Andrew to change his gimmick as the Cold War era was over. Savoldi told Andrew that he looked a lot like Arn Anderson. Andrew from then on until today performs as Andrew Anderson.\n\nKarl Anderson\n\nKarl Anderson distanced himself from the storyline relationship not long after adopting the name.\n\nTC Anderson\nTC Anderson is an independent wrestler.\n\nUnaffiliated Andersons\nWhen professional wrestler Ken Anderson joined WWE he used the last name Kennedy to avoid confusion with the Anderson family (as well as the former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback of the same name), despite Anderson being his actual last name. He subsequently wrestled under his real name for other promotions, though he remained unrelated to any member of the Anderson family in either reality or in storyline terms.\n\nWWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin's last name at birth was Anderson before being adopted and having his last name changed to Williams. Though having the last name at birth, Austin is not in any way related to Gene or any other Anderson family members.\n\nAnderson family members\nStoryline brothers:\nGene Anderson\nOle Anderson (Alan Rogowski)\nLars Anderson (Larry Heiniemi)\nArn Anderson (Marty Lunde)\nStoryline uncle\nRip Hawk (Harvey Evers)\nStoryline cousins:\nRic Flair (Richard Fliehr)\nPat Anderson (Pat Connors) \nC.W. Anderson (Chris Wright)\nChildren:\nBrad Anderson [son of Gene Anderson]\nBryant Anderson (Bryant Rogowski) [son of Ole Anderson]\nDavid Flair (David Fliehr) [son of Ric Flair]\nReid Flair (Reid Fliehr) [son of Ric Flair]\nCharlotte Flair (Ashley Fliehr) [daughter of Ric Flair]\nBrock Anderson (Brock Lunde) [son of Arn Anderson]\nOther storyline relatives:\nRocky Anderson (Rocky Mills)\nAndrew Anderson (Andrew Koloszuk)\nKarl Anderson (Chad Allegra)\nTC Anderson\n\nChampionships and accomplishments\n Andrew Anderson\nChampionships and accomplishments\n Arn Anderson\nChampionships and accomplishments\n Brad Anderson\nChampionships and accomplishments\n Bryant Anderson\nChampionships and accomplishments\n C.W. Anderson\nChampionships and accomplishments\n Charlotte Flair\nChampionships and accomplishments\n David Flair\nChampionships and accomplishments\n The Four Horsemen\nChampionships and accomplishments\n Gene Anderson\nChampionships and accomplishments\n Karl Anderson\nChampionships and accomplishments\n Lars Anderson\nChampionships and accomplishments\n The Minnesota Wrecking Crew\nChampionships and accomplishments\n Ole Anderson\nChampionships and accomplishments\n Pat Anderson\nChampionships and accomplishments\n Reid Flair\nChampionships and accomplishments\n Ric Flair\nChampionships and accomplishments\n Rip Hawk\nChampionships and accomplishments\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Glory Days - Classic Anderson Brothers page\n\nAll Elite Wrestling personnel\nAmerican adoptees\nAmerican catch wrestlers\nAmerican color commentators\nAmerican deputy sheriffs\nAmerican expatriate sportspeople in Japan\nAmerican families\nAmerican female professional wrestlers\nAmerican male film actors\nAmerican male professional wrestlers\nAmerican male television actors\nAmerican male writers\nAmerican men podcasters\nAmerican people of Finnish descent\nAmerican podcasters\nAnderson family\nAppalachian State Mountaineers women's volleyball players\nBullet Club members\nChaos (professional wrestling) members\nEast Carolina University alumni\nExpatriate professional wrestlers in Japan\nIndependent promotions teams and stables\nJim Crockett Promotions teams and stables\nMale actors from New Jersey\nMasked wrestlers\nNorth Carolina Republicans\nNorth Carolina State University alumni\nNWA/WCW World Television Champions\nNWA/WCW/WWE United States Heavyweight Champions\nSt. Cloud State University alumni\nStabbing survivors\nStampede Wrestling alumni\nSurvivors of aviation accidents or incidents\nThe Dangerous Alliance members\nThe Four Horsemen (professional wrestling) members\nThe Heenan Family members\nThe Stud Stable members\nWayland Academy, Wisconsin alumni\nWCW World Heavyweight Champions\nWorld Championship Wrestling executives\nWorld Championship Wrestling teams and stables\nWWE Hall of Fame inductees\nWWE Hall of Fame team inductees\nWWE Grand Slam champions\nWWF/WWE Intercontinental Champions"
] |
[
"Hey! Say! JUMP",
"2012: JUMP World, first tour in Asia, Imperial Garden Theater, singles and dramas"
] |
C_e859161ff1f54b10a21b92826f5f6b4e_0
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What happened in 2012?
| 1 |
What happened in 2012 to Hey! Say! JUMP?
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Hey! Say! JUMP
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The group held their first tour in Asia from March to June, with a series of concerts in Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, and Japan. It was also announced that they will be releasing their first single of the year and tenth in all, on February 22, titled "SUPER DELICATE". The single was a theme song for Risou no Musuko, in which Ryosuke Yamada stars in alongside Yuto Nakajima. On March 15, it was announced that Hong Kong leg tour would be postponed until May and that the Bangkok tour was cancelled respectively due to unknown reason. On the 22nd, it was announced that a new musical called Johnny's World will be produced and directed by Johnny Kitagawa which would start its run at the Imperial Garden Theater during the months of November through December. Hey! Say! JUMP would be the main cast while 100 others would be making an appearance including Kis-My-Ft2, Sexy Zone, A.B.C-Z and Johnny's Jr.. Kamenashi Kazuya, Takizawa Hideaki and Domoto Koichi will be making guest appearances as well. On April 25, almost two years since the released of their first album JUMP No. 1, the group announced that they will be releasing their second album on June 6. The album is called JUMP World and it contains their singles from "Arigato (Sekai no Doko ni Ite mo)" onwards. In the same month, Yuya Takaki starred as Shohei Tatsunami in the TV drama, Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou. In the same year, Takaki returned as Shohei Tatsunami in the Shiritsu Bakaleya Koko movie. Hey! Say! JUMP kicked off their first Asian tour at the Yokohama Arena on 3 May. At the end of 2012, it was announced that Ryosuke Yamada will be making his solo debut with the single "Mystery Virgin" on January 9, 2013. The song was first solicited to mainstream on the radio on November 30, 2012 and was available for digital download on December 26, 2012. CANNOTANSWER
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At the end of 2012, it was announced that Ryosuke Yamada will be making his solo debut
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Hey! Say! JUMP (HSJ or JUMP) is an eight-member Japanese boy band under the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates. The group is split into two sub-groups: Hey! Say! BEST and Hey! Say! 7. In Japan they sold more than 10 million physical copies.
Hey! Say! JUMP originally debuted with ten members, the largest group in Johnny's history. In 2011, Ryutaro Morimoto was indefinitely suspended from the group following an underage smoking scandal. On April 11, Keito Okamoto announced that he will leave the group in order to pursue a career in acting, but remained under Johnny & Associates.
History
Formation
During a KAT-TUN spring concert on April 3, 2007, Yuya Takaki, Daiki Arioka, Ryosuke Yamada, Yuto Nakajima and Yuri Chinen were announced to become part of a temporary group called Hey! Say! 7. The name refers to the Heisei period during which all members were born, as well as to the year 2007 as the group's formation year.
On June 16, 2007, it was announced that Hey! Say! 7 would release "Hey! Say!" as a single on August 1. This later became Hey! Say! JUMP's single. The song and the single's B-side, "Bon Bon", were used as the second opening and closing themes for the anime Lovely Complex. The single sold 120,520 copies in its first week, making the group the youngest male group to top the Oricon singles chart.
On September 24, the five members of Hey! Say! 7 were joined by Kota Yabu, Kei Inoo, Hikaru Yaotome, Keito Okamoto and Ryutaro Morimoto, all represented by Johnny's Jr's. The ten-member group was organized into two sub-groups of five, with the older members forming Hey! Say! BEST and the younger members in Hey! Say! 7.
Early releases
It was announced that they would release their first CD on November 14, 2007, including the song "Ultra Music Power", which was used as the theme at Japan's Volleyball World Cup Relay 2007.
On December 22, the group held their debut concert: Debut Concert Ikinari! in Tokyo Dome. With an average age of 15.7, they were the youngest group to perform in the Tokyo Dome. A concert DVD was released on April 30, 2008.
The group released their third single "Dreams Come True" on May 21, which topped the Oricon Chart. In July 2008, it was announced that the group's fourth new single "Your Seed" would be used as the title song for the Japanese release of the animated film Kung-Fu Panda.
In October 2008, the group released the single "Mayonaka no Shadow Boy". It was used as the theme song for the drama Scrap Teacher, which starred members Arioka, Yamada, Nakajima, and Chinen.
After the full group's tour, junior division Hey! Say! 7 had their first concert series called Hey! Say! 7 Spring Concert 09 MONKEY. Following this, the entire group toured their concert Hey! Say! JUMP CONCERT TOUR Spring '09. A second concert DVD, Hey! Say! JUMP-ing Tour '08–'09, was released in April 2009.
On February 24, 2010, after a year and a half of touring, the group released their sixth single "Hitomi no Screen", which topped the Oricon weekly single charts with 202,000 sales.
The group released its first album, JUMP No. 1, on July 7, 2010. On December 15, the group released the single "Arigatō (Sekai no Doko ni Ite mo)". It reached number one on the Oricon singles chart and sold 64,206 albums on its first day.
2011: Yan Yan JUMP, Morimoto's suspension, The Smurfs
Hey! Say! JUMP and other Johnny's Jr. members starred in the 2011 variety show Yan Yan JUMP. It was based on Yan Yan Utau Studio, which had aired two decades earlier, featuring senior celebrities of Johnny & Associates.
The group was surrounded by controversy in June 2011 after photos of Ryutaro Morimoto smoking while underage were leaked. When he was asked about the photos, he said "it was alright" and that it was "no big deal". In response to the scandal, Johnny's Entertainment issued a statement of apology the following day and planned to indefinitely suspend Morimoto from all of his activities. Following the removal of Morimoto's profile from the official Johnny & Associates website, Johnny Kitagawa stated that Morimoto had ambitions to focus on studying and denied any possibility of his returning to the group.
On June 29, the group released the new single "OVER". It peaked at number one on the Oricon singles chart on its first day, and was the group's highest-selling single since "Ultra Music Power" in 2007.
On September 21, 2011, they released their ninth single, "Magic Power", their first release after Morimoto's suspension. "Magic Power" was used as the theme for the Japanese dub of The Smurfs, in which members Yamada and Chinen provided the voices for Clumsy Smurf and Brainy Smurf.
2012: Asia tour, musical, second album
The group held their first Asian concert tour from March to June 2012, performing in Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, and Japan. However, on March 15, it was announced that the Hong Kong leg would be postponed until May and that the Bangkok tour was cancelled for unstated reasons. The tour was launched at the Yokohama Arena on May 3.
Their tenth single, "SUPER DELICATE", was released on February 22, and was used as a theme song for Risou no Musuko.
On March 22, it was announced that a new musical called Johnny's World would be produced and directed by Johnny Kitagawa and start its run at the Imperial Garden Theater in November 2012. Hey! Say! JUMP would be the main cast while one hundred others made an appearance including Kis-My-Ft2, Sexy Zone, A.B.C-Z and Johnny's Jr., and guest appearances by Kamenashi Kazuya, Takizawa Hideaki and Domoto Koichi.
On April 25, the group announced that they would be releasing their second album, JUMP World, with their singles from "Arigatō (Sekai no Doko ni Ite mo)" onwards.
At the end of 2012, it was announced that Ryosuke Yamada would be making his solo debut with the single "Mystery Virgin" on January 9, 2013. The song was first solicited to mainstream on the radio on November 30, 2012 and was available for digital download on December 26, 2012.
2013–2014: S3ART, LIVE With Me, shows
JUMP held another nationwide tour, Hey! Say! JUMP Zenkoku e JUMP Tour 2013, from April to August 2013. Both of the singles that they released in 2013, "Come On A My House" and "Ride With Me", went to number one on the Oricon chart. The latter was the theme song of the 2014 sequel to Kindaichi Case Files, with Yamada reprising his role.
In January 2014, the group released "AinoArika". The song was used as the theme for Dark System Koi no Ouza Ketteisen, starring Yaotome and Inoo. The single topped the Oricon chart.
Other acting appearances by the group's members include Yamada and Arioka in the drama Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo Neo, Nakajima and Takaki in Suikyu Yankees, with Takaki also appearing in Dr. DMAT and HAMU. The group released a double A-side single called "Weekender/Asu e no YELL", which was the theme song for Yamada's and Nakajima's dramas, and topped the Oricon chart.
The group's third album S3ART went to number one on the Oricon chart the week it was released. The group embarked on an accompanying tour for the album titled Hey! Say! JUMP LIVE TOUR 2014 S3ART including a show in Tokyo Dome.
2015: JUMPing CAR, "Chau#", Itadaki High JUMP, 24 hour television, JUMPing CARnival, "Kimi Attraction"
In 2015, the group started their first TV show called Itadaki High JUMP and hosted Little Tokyo Life with Johnny's WEST, another Johnny's group. They were also the main personalities of 24 Hour Television.
In March, Yamada made his film debut as Nagisa Shiota in the live action adaptation of Assassination Classroom. The movie topped the box office of Japan on its first opening week.
The group released the single Sensations, which was used as the image song of the movie Koro Sensations. It topped the Oricon chart as did following singles "Chau#/我 I Need You" and "Kimi Attraction", and their fourth album JUMPing CAR. They promoted the album with a tour titled Hey! Say! JUMP LIVE TOUR 2015 JUMPing CARnival and collaborated with the annual Johnny's Countdown Concert which was broadcast live.
JUMP held their own 2015–2016 countdown concert at Kyocera Dome, making them the youngest group of Johnny's Entertainment to ever hold their own countdown concert.
2016: DEAR, "Sayonara Sensation", "Maji SUNSHINE", "Fantastic Time", "Give Me Love", FNS 27Hour Festival
Hey! Say! JUMP returned as their sub unit, Sensations, and released the single for the movie titled "Sayonara Sensation". It was released for the film Assassination Classroom: Graduation, starring Yamada.
The group also released the single "Maji SUNSHINE". It topped the Oricon charts in its first week, and was used for the group's CM for KOSE Cosmeport Cosmetics. They were one of the main personalities of Fuji Television's FNS 27Hour Festival, with Inoo being one of the main MCs. During this, their show Itadaki High JUMP also had a crossover with Kis-My-Ft2's show Kisumai Busaiku in which the two groups competed in various activities.
On July 27, the group released their fifth album titled DEAR which sold 141,079 copies on its first day. It landed on the No. 1 spot at the Oricon Weekly Album Chart. In support of the album, a tour started on July 28 at the Osaka-jō Hall called Hey! Say! JUMP LIVE TOUR 2016 DEAR.
On October 26, the group released a new single called "Fantastic Time", which was used as the opening theme for anime Time Bokan 24.
On December 14, the group released a new single called "Give Me Love", which was used for the drama Cain and Abel starring member Yamada. It was described as a mellow R&B song about life's troubles and love.
2017–present
The song "Over the Top" was announced as the new opening theme song for the anime タイムボカン24 (Time Bokan 24).
To honor the group's tenth anniversary, the greatest hits album Hey! Say! JUMP 2007-2017 I/O was released on July 26, 2017, featuring all 23 singles from their first ten years.
"Maeomuke" was released on February 14, 2018, and was the theme song for the drama The Kitazawas: We Mind Our Own Business, which starred Yamada.
Members
Hey! Say! BEST
Kota Yabu
Yuya Takaki
Kei Inoo
Hikaru Yaotome
Daiki Arioka
Hey! Say! 7
Ryosuke Yamada
Yuto Nakajima
Yuri Chinen
Units
Hey! Say! 7 (a temporary group before Hey! Say! JUMP was formed)
Yuya Takaki
Daiki Arioka
Ryosuke Yamada
Yuto Nakajima
Yuri Chinen
S3ART Units
Kaito y-ELLOW-voice (怪盗y-ELLOW-voice)
Yuya Takaki
Hikaru Yaotome
Ryosuke Yamada
Night Style People
Kota Yabu
Yuto Nakajima
Yuri Chinen
Aioitai (愛追I隊)
Kei Inoo
Daiki Arioka
Keito Okamoto
Sensations
Kota Yabu as Scope (スコープ)
Yuya Takaki as Rapid Fire (ラピッドファイヤー)
Kei Inoo as Geek (ギーク)
Hikaru Yaotome as Sonic Hunter (ソニックハンター)
Daiki Arioka as Falcon Jr. (ファルコンJr.)
Keito Okamoto as Shinobi (SHINOBI)
Ryosuke Yamada as Commander (コマンダー)
Yuto Nakajima as Bullet (弾丸)
Yuri Chinen as Doctor (ドクター)
JUMPing Carnival Units
UNION
Kota Yabu
Hikaru Yaotome
Daiki Arioka
Pet Shop Love Motion
Yuya Takaki
Kei Inoo
Yuto Nakajima
Yuri Chinen
Sangatsu Juuyokka ~ Tokei
Yamada Ryosuke
Okamoto Keito
A.Y.T.
Yuya Takaki
Hikaru Yaotome
Daiki Arioka
Discography
Singles
2007: "Hey! Say!" – Hey! Say! 7 (Temporary group)
2007: "Ultra Music Power"
2008: "Dreams Come True"
2008: "Your Seed/Bōken Rider"
2008: "Mayonaka no Shadow Boy"
2010: "Hitomi no Screen"
2010: "Arigatō (Sekai no Doko ni Ite mo)"
2011: "OVER"
2011: "Magic Power"
2012: "SUPER DELICATE"
2013: "Come On A My House"
2013: "Ride With Me"
2014: "AinoArika/Aisureba Motto Happy Life"
2014: "Weekender/Asu e no YELL"
2015: "Koro Sensations" – Sensations
2015: "Chau#/我 I Need You"
2015: "Kimi Attraction"
2016: "Sayonara Sensation" - Sensations
2016: "Maji SUNSHINE"
2016: "Fantastic Time"
2016: "Give Me Love"
2017: "OVER THE TOP"
2017: "Precious Girl/Are You There? (A.Y.T)"
2017: "White Love"
2018: "Maeomuke"
2018: "COSMIC☆HUMAN"
2019: "Lucky-Unlucky / Oh! My Darling"
2019: "Fanfare!"
2020: "I AM / Muah Muah"
2020: "Last Mermaid..."
2020: "Your Song"
2021 "Negative Fighter"
2021 "Gunjo Runaway"
2021 "Sing-Along"
Albums
2010: JUMP No. 1
2012: JUMP World
2014: S3ART
2015: JUMPing CAR
2016: DEAR
2017: Hey! Say! JUMP 2007-2017 I/O (10th Anniversary Album)
2018: SENSE or LOVE
2019: Parade
2020: ''Fab! -Music Speaks.-
DVDs
2019: "Ai Dake Ga Subete / What Do You Want?"
Awards
Japan Gold Disc Awards
The Recording Industry Association of Japan recognized the group with the following Japan Gold Disc Awards for music sales:
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|rowspan="2"| 2008
| Hey! Say! JUMP
| The Best 10 New Artists
|
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| "Ultra Music Power"
| The Best 10 Singles
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| 2015
| Hey! Say! JUMP
| Yahoo! Search Awards: Idol Award
|
References
External links
Hey! Say! JUMP
Living people
Johnny & Associates
2007 establishments in Japan
Musical groups established in 2007
Japanese idol groups
J Storm
Musical groups from Tokyo
Japanese pop music groups
Japanese musical groups
Year of birth missing (living people)
| false |
[
"Don Juan Manuel's Tales of Count Lucanor, in Spanish Libro de los ejemplos del conde Lucanor y de Patronio (Book of the Examples of Count Lucanor and of Patronio), also commonly known as El Conde Lucanor, Libro de Patronio, or Libro de los ejemplos (original Old Castilian: Libro de los enxiemplos del Conde Lucanor et de Patronio), is one of the earliest works of prose in Castilian Spanish. It was first written in 1335.\n\nThe book is divided into four parts. The first and most well-known part is a series of 51 short stories (some no more than a page or two) drawn from various sources, such as Aesop and other classical writers, and Arabic folktales.\n\nTales of Count Lucanor was first printed in 1575 when it was published at Seville under the auspices of Argote de Molina. It was again printed at Madrid in 1642, after which it lay forgotten for nearly two centuries.\n\nPurpose and structure\n\nA didactic, moralistic purpose, which would color so much of the Spanish literature to follow (see Novela picaresca), is the mark of this book. Count Lucanor engages in conversation with his advisor Patronio, putting to him a problem (\"Some man has made me a proposition...\" or \"I fear that such and such person intends to...\") and asking for advice. Patronio responds always with the greatest humility, claiming not to wish to offer advice to so illustrious a person as the Count, but offering to tell him a story of which the Count's problem reminds him. (Thus, the stories are \"examples\" [ejemplos] of wise action.) At the end he advises the Count to do as the protagonist of his story did.\n\nEach chapter ends in more or less the same way, with slight variations on: \"And this pleased the Count greatly and he did just so, and found it well. And Don Johán (Juan) saw that this example was very good, and had it written in this book, and composed the following verses.\" A rhymed couplet closes, giving the moral of the story.\n\nOrigin of stories and influence on later literature\nMany of the stories written in the book are the first examples written in a modern European language of various stories, which many other writers would use in the proceeding centuries. Many of the stories he included were themselves derived from other stories, coming from western and Arab sources.\n\nShakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew has the basic elements of Tale 35, \"What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\".\n\nTale 32, \"What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth\" tells the story that Hans Christian Andersen made popular as The Emperor's New Clothes.\n\nStory 7, \"What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana\", a version of Aesop's The Milkmaid and Her Pail, was claimed by Max Müller to originate in the Hindu cycle Panchatantra.\n\nTale 2, \"What happened to a good Man and his Son, leading a beast to market,\" is the familiar fable The miller, his son and the donkey.\n\nIn 2016, Baroque Decay released a game under the name \"The Count Lucanor\". As well as some protagonists' names, certain events from the books inspired past events in the game.\n\nThe stories\n\nThe book opens with a prologue which introduces the characters of the Count and Patronio. The titles in the following list are those given in Keller and Keating's 1977 translation into English. James York's 1868 translation into English gives a significantly different ordering of the stories and omits the fifty-first.\n\n What Happened to a King and His Favorite \n What Happened to a Good Man and His Son \n How King Richard of England Leapt into the Sea against the Moors\n What a Genoese Said to His Soul When He Was about to Die \n What Happened to a Fox and a Crow Who Had a Piece of Cheese in His Beak\n How the Swallow Warned the Other Birds When She Saw Flax Being Sown \n What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana \n What Happened to a Man Whose Liver Had to Be Washed \n What Happened to Two Horses Which Were Thrown to the Lion \n What Happened to a Man Who on Account of Poverty and Lack of Other Food Was Eating Bitter Lentils \n What Happened to a Dean of Santiago de Compostela and Don Yllán, the Grand Master of Toledo\n What Happened to the Fox and the Rooster \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Hunting Partridges \n The Miracle of Saint Dominick When He Preached against the Usurer \n What Happened to Lorenzo Suárez at the Siege of Seville \n The Reply that count Fernán González Gave to His Relative Núño Laynes \n What Happened to a Very Hungry Man Who Was Half-heartedly Invited to Dinner \n What Happened to Pero Meléndez de Valdés When He Broke His Leg \n What Happened to the Crows and the Owls \n What Happened to a King for Whom a Man Promised to Perform Alchemy \n What Happened to a Young King and a Philosopher to Whom his Father Commended Him \n What Happened to the Lion and the Bull \n How the Ants Provide for Themselves \n What Happened to the King Who Wanted to Test His Three Sons \n What Happened to the Count of Provence and How He Was Freed from Prison by the Advice of Saladin\n What Happened to the Tree of Lies \n What Happened to an Emperor and to Don Alvarfáñez Minaya and Their Wives \n What Happened in Granada to Don Lorenzo Suárez Gallinato When He Beheaded the Renegade Chaplain \n What Happened to a Fox Who Lay down in the Street to Play Dead \n What Happened to King Abenabet of Seville and Ramayquía His Wife \n How a Cardinal Judged between the Canons of Paris and the Friars Minor \n What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth \n What Happened to Don Juan Manuel's Saker Falcon and an Eagle and a Heron \n What Happened to a Blind Man Who Was Leading Another \n What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\n What Happened to a Merchant When He Found His Son and His Wife Sleeping Together \n What Happened to Count Fernán González with His Men after He Had Won the Battle of Hacinas \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Loaded down with Precious Stones and Drowned in the River \n What Happened to a Man and a Swallow and a Sparrow \n Why the Seneschal of Carcassonne Lost His Soul \n What Happened to a King of Córdova Named Al-Haquem \n What Happened to a Woman of Sham Piety \n What Happened to Good and Evil and the Wise Man and the Madman \n What Happened to Don Pero Núñez the Loyal, to Don Ruy González de Zavallos, and to Don Gutier Roiz de Blaguiello with Don Rodrigo the Generous \n What Happened to a Man Who Became the Devil's Friend and Vassal \n What Happened to a Philosopher who by Accident Went down a Street Where Prostitutes Lived \n What Befell a Moor and His Sister Who Pretended That She Was Timid \n What Happened to a Man Who Tested His Friends \n What Happened to the Man Whom They Cast out Naked on an Island When They Took away from Him the Kingdom He Ruled \n What Happened to Saladin and a Lady, the Wife of a Knight Who Was His Vassal \n What Happened to a Christian King Who Was Very Powerful and Haughty\n\nReferences\n\nNotes\n\nBibliography\n\n Sturm, Harlan\n\n Wacks, David\n\nExternal links\n\nThe Internet Archive provides free access to the 1868 translation by James York.\nJSTOR has the to the 1977 translation by Keller and Keating.\nSelections in English and Spanish (pedagogical edition) with introduction, notes, and bibliography in Open Iberia/América (open access teaching anthology)\n\n14th-century books\nSpanish literature\n1335 books",
"\"What Happened to Us\" is a song by Australian recording artist Jessica Mauboy, featuring English recording artist Jay Sean. It was written by Sean, Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim and Israel Cruz. \"What Happened to Us\" was leaked online in October 2010, and was released on 10 March 2011, as the third single from Mauboy's second studio album, Get 'Em Girls (2010). The song received positive reviews from critics.\n\nA remix of \"What Happened to Us\" made by production team OFM, was released on 11 April 2011. A different version of the song which features Stan Walker, was released on 29 May 2011. \"What Happened to Us\" charted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number 14 and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). An accompanying music video was directed by Mark Alston, and reminisces on a former relationship between Mauboy and Sean.\n\nProduction and release\n\n\"What Happened to Us\" was written by Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim, Israel Cruz and Jay Sean. It was produced by Skaller, Cruz, Rohaim and Bobby Bass. The song uses C, D, and B minor chords in the chorus. \"What Happened to Us\" was sent to contemporary hit radio in Australia on 14 February 2011. The cover art for the song was revealed on 22 February on Mauboy's official Facebook page. A CD release was available for purchase via her official website on 10 March, for one week only. It was released digitally the following day.\n\nReception\nMajhid Heath from ABC Online Indigenous called the song a \"Jordin Sparks-esque duet\", and wrote that it \"has a nice innocence to it that rings true to the experience of losing a first love.\" Chris Urankar from Nine to Five wrote that it as a \"mid-tempo duet ballad\" which signifies Mauboy's strength as a global player. On 21 March 2011, \"What Happened to Us\" debuted at number 30 on the ARIA Singles Chart, and peaked at number 14 the following week. The song was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), for selling 70,000 copies. \"What Happened to Us\" spent a total of ten weeks in the ARIA top fifty.\n\nMusic video\n\nBackground\nThe music video for the song was shot in the Elizabeth Bay House in Sydney on 26 November 2010. The video was shot during Sean's visit to Australia for the Summerbeatz tour. During an interview with The Daily Telegraph while on the set of the video, Sean said \"the song is sick! ... Jessica's voice is amazing and we're shooting [the video] in this ridiculously beautiful mansion overlooking the harbour.\" The video was directed by Mark Alston, who had previously directed the video for Mauboy's single \"Let Me Be Me\" (2009). It premiered on YouTube on 10 February 2011.\n\nSynopsis and reception\nThe video begins showing Mauboy who appears to be sitting on a yellow antique couch in a mansion, wearing a purple dress. As the video progresses, scenes of memories are displayed of Mauboy and her love interest, played by Sean, spending time there previously. It then cuts to the scenes where Sean appears in the main entrance room of the mansion. The final scene shows Mauboy outdoors in a gold dress, surrounded by green grass and trees. She is later joined by Sean who appears in a black suit and a white shirt, and together they sing the chorus of the song to each other. David Lim of Feed Limmy wrote that the video is \"easily the best thing our R&B princess has committed to film – ever\" and praised the \"mansion and wondrous interior décor\". He also commended Mauboy for choosing Australian talent to direct the video instead of American directors, which she had used for her previous two music videos. Since its release, the video has received over two million views on Vevo.\n\nLive performances\nMauboy performed \"What Happened to Us\" live for the first time during her YouTube Live Sessions program on 4 December 2010. She also appeared on Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight on 23 February 2011 for an interview and later performed the song. On 15 March 2011, Mauboy performed \"What Happened to Us\" on Sunrise. She also performed the song with Stan Walker during the Australian leg of Chris Brown's F.A.M.E. Tour in April 2011. Mauboy and Walker later performed \"What Happened to Us\" on Dancing with the Stars Australia on 29 May 2011. From November 2013 to February 2014, \"What Happened to Us\" was part of the set list of the To the End of the Earth Tour, Mauboy's second headlining tour of Australia, with Nathaniel Willemse singing Sean's part.\n\nTrack listing\n\nDigital download\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean – 3:19\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Sgt Slick Remix) – 6:33\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Just Witness Remix) – 3:45\n\nCD single\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Album Version) – 3:19\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Sgt Slick Remix) – 6:33\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (OFM Remix) – 3:39\n\nDigital download – Remix\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (OFM Remix) – 3:38\n\nDigital download\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Stan Walker – 3:20\n\nPersonnel\nSongwriting – Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim, Israel Cruz, Jay Sean\nProduction – Jeremy Skaller, Bobby Bass\nAdditional production – Israel Cruz, Khaled Rohaim\nLead vocals – Jessica Mauboy, Jay Sean\nMixing – Phil Tan\nAdditional mixing – Damien Lewis\nMastering – Tom Coyne \nSource:\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly chart\n\nYear-end chart\n\nCertification\n\nRadio dates and release history\n\nReferences\n\n2010 songs\n2011 singles\nJessica Mauboy songs\nJay Sean songs\nSongs written by Billy Steinberg\nSongs written by Jay Sean\nSongs written by Josh Alexander\nSongs written by Israel Cruz\nVocal duets\nSony Music Australia singles\nSongs written by Khaled Rohaim"
] |
[
"Hey! Say! JUMP",
"2012: JUMP World, first tour in Asia, Imperial Garden Theater, singles and dramas",
"What happened in 2012?",
"At the end of 2012, it was announced that Ryosuke Yamada will be making his solo debut"
] |
C_e859161ff1f54b10a21b92826f5f6b4e_0
|
what was jump world?
| 2 |
what was Ryosuke Yamada's jump world?
|
Hey! Say! JUMP
|
The group held their first tour in Asia from March to June, with a series of concerts in Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, and Japan. It was also announced that they will be releasing their first single of the year and tenth in all, on February 22, titled "SUPER DELICATE". The single was a theme song for Risou no Musuko, in which Ryosuke Yamada stars in alongside Yuto Nakajima. On March 15, it was announced that Hong Kong leg tour would be postponed until May and that the Bangkok tour was cancelled respectively due to unknown reason. On the 22nd, it was announced that a new musical called Johnny's World will be produced and directed by Johnny Kitagawa which would start its run at the Imperial Garden Theater during the months of November through December. Hey! Say! JUMP would be the main cast while 100 others would be making an appearance including Kis-My-Ft2, Sexy Zone, A.B.C-Z and Johnny's Jr.. Kamenashi Kazuya, Takizawa Hideaki and Domoto Koichi will be making guest appearances as well. On April 25, almost two years since the released of their first album JUMP No. 1, the group announced that they will be releasing their second album on June 6. The album is called JUMP World and it contains their singles from "Arigato (Sekai no Doko ni Ite mo)" onwards. In the same month, Yuya Takaki starred as Shohei Tatsunami in the TV drama, Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou. In the same year, Takaki returned as Shohei Tatsunami in the Shiritsu Bakaleya Koko movie. Hey! Say! JUMP kicked off their first Asian tour at the Yokohama Arena on 3 May. At the end of 2012, it was announced that Ryosuke Yamada will be making his solo debut with the single "Mystery Virgin" on January 9, 2013. The song was first solicited to mainstream on the radio on November 30, 2012 and was available for digital download on December 26, 2012. CANNOTANSWER
|
the group announced that they will be releasing their second album on June 6. The album is called JUMP World
|
Hey! Say! JUMP (HSJ or JUMP) is an eight-member Japanese boy band under the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates. The group is split into two sub-groups: Hey! Say! BEST and Hey! Say! 7. In Japan they sold more than 10 million physical copies.
Hey! Say! JUMP originally debuted with ten members, the largest group in Johnny's history. In 2011, Ryutaro Morimoto was indefinitely suspended from the group following an underage smoking scandal. On April 11, Keito Okamoto announced that he will leave the group in order to pursue a career in acting, but remained under Johnny & Associates.
History
Formation
During a KAT-TUN spring concert on April 3, 2007, Yuya Takaki, Daiki Arioka, Ryosuke Yamada, Yuto Nakajima and Yuri Chinen were announced to become part of a temporary group called Hey! Say! 7. The name refers to the Heisei period during which all members were born, as well as to the year 2007 as the group's formation year.
On June 16, 2007, it was announced that Hey! Say! 7 would release "Hey! Say!" as a single on August 1. This later became Hey! Say! JUMP's single. The song and the single's B-side, "Bon Bon", were used as the second opening and closing themes for the anime Lovely Complex. The single sold 120,520 copies in its first week, making the group the youngest male group to top the Oricon singles chart.
On September 24, the five members of Hey! Say! 7 were joined by Kota Yabu, Kei Inoo, Hikaru Yaotome, Keito Okamoto and Ryutaro Morimoto, all represented by Johnny's Jr's. The ten-member group was organized into two sub-groups of five, with the older members forming Hey! Say! BEST and the younger members in Hey! Say! 7.
Early releases
It was announced that they would release their first CD on November 14, 2007, including the song "Ultra Music Power", which was used as the theme at Japan's Volleyball World Cup Relay 2007.
On December 22, the group held their debut concert: Debut Concert Ikinari! in Tokyo Dome. With an average age of 15.7, they were the youngest group to perform in the Tokyo Dome. A concert DVD was released on April 30, 2008.
The group released their third single "Dreams Come True" on May 21, which topped the Oricon Chart. In July 2008, it was announced that the group's fourth new single "Your Seed" would be used as the title song for the Japanese release of the animated film Kung-Fu Panda.
In October 2008, the group released the single "Mayonaka no Shadow Boy". It was used as the theme song for the drama Scrap Teacher, which starred members Arioka, Yamada, Nakajima, and Chinen.
After the full group's tour, junior division Hey! Say! 7 had their first concert series called Hey! Say! 7 Spring Concert 09 MONKEY. Following this, the entire group toured their concert Hey! Say! JUMP CONCERT TOUR Spring '09. A second concert DVD, Hey! Say! JUMP-ing Tour '08–'09, was released in April 2009.
On February 24, 2010, after a year and a half of touring, the group released their sixth single "Hitomi no Screen", which topped the Oricon weekly single charts with 202,000 sales.
The group released its first album, JUMP No. 1, on July 7, 2010. On December 15, the group released the single "Arigatō (Sekai no Doko ni Ite mo)". It reached number one on the Oricon singles chart and sold 64,206 albums on its first day.
2011: Yan Yan JUMP, Morimoto's suspension, The Smurfs
Hey! Say! JUMP and other Johnny's Jr. members starred in the 2011 variety show Yan Yan JUMP. It was based on Yan Yan Utau Studio, which had aired two decades earlier, featuring senior celebrities of Johnny & Associates.
The group was surrounded by controversy in June 2011 after photos of Ryutaro Morimoto smoking while underage were leaked. When he was asked about the photos, he said "it was alright" and that it was "no big deal". In response to the scandal, Johnny's Entertainment issued a statement of apology the following day and planned to indefinitely suspend Morimoto from all of his activities. Following the removal of Morimoto's profile from the official Johnny & Associates website, Johnny Kitagawa stated that Morimoto had ambitions to focus on studying and denied any possibility of his returning to the group.
On June 29, the group released the new single "OVER". It peaked at number one on the Oricon singles chart on its first day, and was the group's highest-selling single since "Ultra Music Power" in 2007.
On September 21, 2011, they released their ninth single, "Magic Power", their first release after Morimoto's suspension. "Magic Power" was used as the theme for the Japanese dub of The Smurfs, in which members Yamada and Chinen provided the voices for Clumsy Smurf and Brainy Smurf.
2012: Asia tour, musical, second album
The group held their first Asian concert tour from March to June 2012, performing in Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, and Japan. However, on March 15, it was announced that the Hong Kong leg would be postponed until May and that the Bangkok tour was cancelled for unstated reasons. The tour was launched at the Yokohama Arena on May 3.
Their tenth single, "SUPER DELICATE", was released on February 22, and was used as a theme song for Risou no Musuko.
On March 22, it was announced that a new musical called Johnny's World would be produced and directed by Johnny Kitagawa and start its run at the Imperial Garden Theater in November 2012. Hey! Say! JUMP would be the main cast while one hundred others made an appearance including Kis-My-Ft2, Sexy Zone, A.B.C-Z and Johnny's Jr., and guest appearances by Kamenashi Kazuya, Takizawa Hideaki and Domoto Koichi.
On April 25, the group announced that they would be releasing their second album, JUMP World, with their singles from "Arigatō (Sekai no Doko ni Ite mo)" onwards.
At the end of 2012, it was announced that Ryosuke Yamada would be making his solo debut with the single "Mystery Virgin" on January 9, 2013. The song was first solicited to mainstream on the radio on November 30, 2012 and was available for digital download on December 26, 2012.
2013–2014: S3ART, LIVE With Me, shows
JUMP held another nationwide tour, Hey! Say! JUMP Zenkoku e JUMP Tour 2013, from April to August 2013. Both of the singles that they released in 2013, "Come On A My House" and "Ride With Me", went to number one on the Oricon chart. The latter was the theme song of the 2014 sequel to Kindaichi Case Files, with Yamada reprising his role.
In January 2014, the group released "AinoArika". The song was used as the theme for Dark System Koi no Ouza Ketteisen, starring Yaotome and Inoo. The single topped the Oricon chart.
Other acting appearances by the group's members include Yamada and Arioka in the drama Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo Neo, Nakajima and Takaki in Suikyu Yankees, with Takaki also appearing in Dr. DMAT and HAMU. The group released a double A-side single called "Weekender/Asu e no YELL", which was the theme song for Yamada's and Nakajima's dramas, and topped the Oricon chart.
The group's third album S3ART went to number one on the Oricon chart the week it was released. The group embarked on an accompanying tour for the album titled Hey! Say! JUMP LIVE TOUR 2014 S3ART including a show in Tokyo Dome.
2015: JUMPing CAR, "Chau#", Itadaki High JUMP, 24 hour television, JUMPing CARnival, "Kimi Attraction"
In 2015, the group started their first TV show called Itadaki High JUMP and hosted Little Tokyo Life with Johnny's WEST, another Johnny's group. They were also the main personalities of 24 Hour Television.
In March, Yamada made his film debut as Nagisa Shiota in the live action adaptation of Assassination Classroom. The movie topped the box office of Japan on its first opening week.
The group released the single Sensations, which was used as the image song of the movie Koro Sensations. It topped the Oricon chart as did following singles "Chau#/我 I Need You" and "Kimi Attraction", and their fourth album JUMPing CAR. They promoted the album with a tour titled Hey! Say! JUMP LIVE TOUR 2015 JUMPing CARnival and collaborated with the annual Johnny's Countdown Concert which was broadcast live.
JUMP held their own 2015–2016 countdown concert at Kyocera Dome, making them the youngest group of Johnny's Entertainment to ever hold their own countdown concert.
2016: DEAR, "Sayonara Sensation", "Maji SUNSHINE", "Fantastic Time", "Give Me Love", FNS 27Hour Festival
Hey! Say! JUMP returned as their sub unit, Sensations, and released the single for the movie titled "Sayonara Sensation". It was released for the film Assassination Classroom: Graduation, starring Yamada.
The group also released the single "Maji SUNSHINE". It topped the Oricon charts in its first week, and was used for the group's CM for KOSE Cosmeport Cosmetics. They were one of the main personalities of Fuji Television's FNS 27Hour Festival, with Inoo being one of the main MCs. During this, their show Itadaki High JUMP also had a crossover with Kis-My-Ft2's show Kisumai Busaiku in which the two groups competed in various activities.
On July 27, the group released their fifth album titled DEAR which sold 141,079 copies on its first day. It landed on the No. 1 spot at the Oricon Weekly Album Chart. In support of the album, a tour started on July 28 at the Osaka-jō Hall called Hey! Say! JUMP LIVE TOUR 2016 DEAR.
On October 26, the group released a new single called "Fantastic Time", which was used as the opening theme for anime Time Bokan 24.
On December 14, the group released a new single called "Give Me Love", which was used for the drama Cain and Abel starring member Yamada. It was described as a mellow R&B song about life's troubles and love.
2017–present
The song "Over the Top" was announced as the new opening theme song for the anime タイムボカン24 (Time Bokan 24).
To honor the group's tenth anniversary, the greatest hits album Hey! Say! JUMP 2007-2017 I/O was released on July 26, 2017, featuring all 23 singles from their first ten years.
"Maeomuke" was released on February 14, 2018, and was the theme song for the drama The Kitazawas: We Mind Our Own Business, which starred Yamada.
Members
Hey! Say! BEST
Kota Yabu
Yuya Takaki
Kei Inoo
Hikaru Yaotome
Daiki Arioka
Hey! Say! 7
Ryosuke Yamada
Yuto Nakajima
Yuri Chinen
Units
Hey! Say! 7 (a temporary group before Hey! Say! JUMP was formed)
Yuya Takaki
Daiki Arioka
Ryosuke Yamada
Yuto Nakajima
Yuri Chinen
S3ART Units
Kaito y-ELLOW-voice (怪盗y-ELLOW-voice)
Yuya Takaki
Hikaru Yaotome
Ryosuke Yamada
Night Style People
Kota Yabu
Yuto Nakajima
Yuri Chinen
Aioitai (愛追I隊)
Kei Inoo
Daiki Arioka
Keito Okamoto
Sensations
Kota Yabu as Scope (スコープ)
Yuya Takaki as Rapid Fire (ラピッドファイヤー)
Kei Inoo as Geek (ギーク)
Hikaru Yaotome as Sonic Hunter (ソニックハンター)
Daiki Arioka as Falcon Jr. (ファルコンJr.)
Keito Okamoto as Shinobi (SHINOBI)
Ryosuke Yamada as Commander (コマンダー)
Yuto Nakajima as Bullet (弾丸)
Yuri Chinen as Doctor (ドクター)
JUMPing Carnival Units
UNION
Kota Yabu
Hikaru Yaotome
Daiki Arioka
Pet Shop Love Motion
Yuya Takaki
Kei Inoo
Yuto Nakajima
Yuri Chinen
Sangatsu Juuyokka ~ Tokei
Yamada Ryosuke
Okamoto Keito
A.Y.T.
Yuya Takaki
Hikaru Yaotome
Daiki Arioka
Discography
Singles
2007: "Hey! Say!" – Hey! Say! 7 (Temporary group)
2007: "Ultra Music Power"
2008: "Dreams Come True"
2008: "Your Seed/Bōken Rider"
2008: "Mayonaka no Shadow Boy"
2010: "Hitomi no Screen"
2010: "Arigatō (Sekai no Doko ni Ite mo)"
2011: "OVER"
2011: "Magic Power"
2012: "SUPER DELICATE"
2013: "Come On A My House"
2013: "Ride With Me"
2014: "AinoArika/Aisureba Motto Happy Life"
2014: "Weekender/Asu e no YELL"
2015: "Koro Sensations" – Sensations
2015: "Chau#/我 I Need You"
2015: "Kimi Attraction"
2016: "Sayonara Sensation" - Sensations
2016: "Maji SUNSHINE"
2016: "Fantastic Time"
2016: "Give Me Love"
2017: "OVER THE TOP"
2017: "Precious Girl/Are You There? (A.Y.T)"
2017: "White Love"
2018: "Maeomuke"
2018: "COSMIC☆HUMAN"
2019: "Lucky-Unlucky / Oh! My Darling"
2019: "Fanfare!"
2020: "I AM / Muah Muah"
2020: "Last Mermaid..."
2020: "Your Song"
2021 "Negative Fighter"
2021 "Gunjo Runaway"
2021 "Sing-Along"
Albums
2010: JUMP No. 1
2012: JUMP World
2014: S3ART
2015: JUMPing CAR
2016: DEAR
2017: Hey! Say! JUMP 2007-2017 I/O (10th Anniversary Album)
2018: SENSE or LOVE
2019: Parade
2020: ''Fab! -Music Speaks.-
DVDs
2019: "Ai Dake Ga Subete / What Do You Want?"
Awards
Japan Gold Disc Awards
The Recording Industry Association of Japan recognized the group with the following Japan Gold Disc Awards for music sales:
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2008
| Hey! Say! JUMP
| The Best 10 New Artists
|
|-
| "Ultra Music Power"
| The Best 10 Singles
|
|-
| 2015
| Hey! Say! JUMP
| Yahoo! Search Awards: Idol Award
|
References
External links
Hey! Say! JUMP
Living people
Johnny & Associates
2007 establishments in Japan
Musical groups established in 2007
Japanese idol groups
J Storm
Musical groups from Tokyo
Japanese pop music groups
Japanese musical groups
Year of birth missing (living people)
| false |
[
"The men's triple jump was a track & field athletics event at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. It was held on July 16, 1900. 13 athletes from six nations competed in the triple jump. The event was won by Myer Prinstein of the United States, the nation's second consecutive victory in the men's triple jump. Prinstein became the first, and through the 2016 Games, only, person to have won both the long jump and the triple jump. James Brendan Connolly took second, making him the first man to medal twice in the triple jump (he had won in 1896). Lewis Sheldon finished third, completing what would later be known as a medal sweep.\n\nBackground\n\nThis was the second appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. James Brendan Connolly of the United States, the defending champion, was the only jumper to return after the 1896 Games. There was no favorite as \"the event was rarely held at that time\" and was not even on the original program.\n\nGreat Britain and Sweden each appeared for the first time in the event. France, Germany, Hungary, and the United States all appeared for the second time.\n\nCompetition format\n\nThere was a single round of jumping.\n\nRecords\n\nThese were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1900 Summer Olympics.\n\n(*) unofficial\n\nMyer Prinstein set a new Olympic record with 14.47 metres.\n\nSchedule\n\nResults\n\nPrinstein defeated the defending champion Connolly to win the second Olympic triple jump competition. Distances for most of the competitors are unknown, as are placings after sixth.\n\nReferences\n\nSources\n International Olympic Committee.\n De Wael, Herman. Herman's Full Olympians: \"Athletics 1900\". Accessed 18 March 2006. Available electronically at .\n \n\nMen's jumping triple\nTriple jump at the Olympics",
"The men's heptathlon at the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships took place on March 18 and 19, 2016.\n\nResults\n\n60 metres\nThe 60 metres was started on March 18 at 11:30.\n\nLong jump\nThe long jump was started on March 18 at 12:20.\n\nShot put\nThe shot put was started on March 18 at 17:15.\n\nHigh jump\nThe high jump was started on March 18 at 18:45.\n\n60 metres hurdles\nThe 60 metres hurdles was started on March 19 at 11:00.\n\nPole vault\nThe pole vault was started on March 19 at 12:00.\n\n1000 metres\n\nThe 1000 metres was started on March 19 at 19:35.\n\nFinal standing\nAfter all events.\n\nReferences\n\nHeptathlon\nCombined events at the World Athletics Indoor Championships"
] |
[
"Hey! Say! JUMP",
"2012: JUMP World, first tour in Asia, Imperial Garden Theater, singles and dramas",
"What happened in 2012?",
"At the end of 2012, it was announced that Ryosuke Yamada will be making his solo debut",
"what was jump world?",
"the group announced that they will be releasing their second album on June 6. The album is called JUMP World"
] |
C_e859161ff1f54b10a21b92826f5f6b4e_0
|
was the album successful?
| 3 |
was the album JUMP World successful?
|
Hey! Say! JUMP
|
The group held their first tour in Asia from March to June, with a series of concerts in Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, and Japan. It was also announced that they will be releasing their first single of the year and tenth in all, on February 22, titled "SUPER DELICATE". The single was a theme song for Risou no Musuko, in which Ryosuke Yamada stars in alongside Yuto Nakajima. On March 15, it was announced that Hong Kong leg tour would be postponed until May and that the Bangkok tour was cancelled respectively due to unknown reason. On the 22nd, it was announced that a new musical called Johnny's World will be produced and directed by Johnny Kitagawa which would start its run at the Imperial Garden Theater during the months of November through December. Hey! Say! JUMP would be the main cast while 100 others would be making an appearance including Kis-My-Ft2, Sexy Zone, A.B.C-Z and Johnny's Jr.. Kamenashi Kazuya, Takizawa Hideaki and Domoto Koichi will be making guest appearances as well. On April 25, almost two years since the released of their first album JUMP No. 1, the group announced that they will be releasing their second album on June 6. The album is called JUMP World and it contains their singles from "Arigato (Sekai no Doko ni Ite mo)" onwards. In the same month, Yuya Takaki starred as Shohei Tatsunami in the TV drama, Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou. In the same year, Takaki returned as Shohei Tatsunami in the Shiritsu Bakaleya Koko movie. Hey! Say! JUMP kicked off their first Asian tour at the Yokohama Arena on 3 May. At the end of 2012, it was announced that Ryosuke Yamada will be making his solo debut with the single "Mystery Virgin" on January 9, 2013. The song was first solicited to mainstream on the radio on November 30, 2012 and was available for digital download on December 26, 2012. CANNOTANSWER
|
CANNOTANSWER
|
Hey! Say! JUMP (HSJ or JUMP) is an eight-member Japanese boy band under the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates. The group is split into two sub-groups: Hey! Say! BEST and Hey! Say! 7. In Japan they sold more than 10 million physical copies.
Hey! Say! JUMP originally debuted with ten members, the largest group in Johnny's history. In 2011, Ryutaro Morimoto was indefinitely suspended from the group following an underage smoking scandal. On April 11, Keito Okamoto announced that he will leave the group in order to pursue a career in acting, but remained under Johnny & Associates.
History
Formation
During a KAT-TUN spring concert on April 3, 2007, Yuya Takaki, Daiki Arioka, Ryosuke Yamada, Yuto Nakajima and Yuri Chinen were announced to become part of a temporary group called Hey! Say! 7. The name refers to the Heisei period during which all members were born, as well as to the year 2007 as the group's formation year.
On June 16, 2007, it was announced that Hey! Say! 7 would release "Hey! Say!" as a single on August 1. This later became Hey! Say! JUMP's single. The song and the single's B-side, "Bon Bon", were used as the second opening and closing themes for the anime Lovely Complex. The single sold 120,520 copies in its first week, making the group the youngest male group to top the Oricon singles chart.
On September 24, the five members of Hey! Say! 7 were joined by Kota Yabu, Kei Inoo, Hikaru Yaotome, Keito Okamoto and Ryutaro Morimoto, all represented by Johnny's Jr's. The ten-member group was organized into two sub-groups of five, with the older members forming Hey! Say! BEST and the younger members in Hey! Say! 7.
Early releases
It was announced that they would release their first CD on November 14, 2007, including the song "Ultra Music Power", which was used as the theme at Japan's Volleyball World Cup Relay 2007.
On December 22, the group held their debut concert: Debut Concert Ikinari! in Tokyo Dome. With an average age of 15.7, they were the youngest group to perform in the Tokyo Dome. A concert DVD was released on April 30, 2008.
The group released their third single "Dreams Come True" on May 21, which topped the Oricon Chart. In July 2008, it was announced that the group's fourth new single "Your Seed" would be used as the title song for the Japanese release of the animated film Kung-Fu Panda.
In October 2008, the group released the single "Mayonaka no Shadow Boy". It was used as the theme song for the drama Scrap Teacher, which starred members Arioka, Yamada, Nakajima, and Chinen.
After the full group's tour, junior division Hey! Say! 7 had their first concert series called Hey! Say! 7 Spring Concert 09 MONKEY. Following this, the entire group toured their concert Hey! Say! JUMP CONCERT TOUR Spring '09. A second concert DVD, Hey! Say! JUMP-ing Tour '08–'09, was released in April 2009.
On February 24, 2010, after a year and a half of touring, the group released their sixth single "Hitomi no Screen", which topped the Oricon weekly single charts with 202,000 sales.
The group released its first album, JUMP No. 1, on July 7, 2010. On December 15, the group released the single "Arigatō (Sekai no Doko ni Ite mo)". It reached number one on the Oricon singles chart and sold 64,206 albums on its first day.
2011: Yan Yan JUMP, Morimoto's suspension, The Smurfs
Hey! Say! JUMP and other Johnny's Jr. members starred in the 2011 variety show Yan Yan JUMP. It was based on Yan Yan Utau Studio, which had aired two decades earlier, featuring senior celebrities of Johnny & Associates.
The group was surrounded by controversy in June 2011 after photos of Ryutaro Morimoto smoking while underage were leaked. When he was asked about the photos, he said "it was alright" and that it was "no big deal". In response to the scandal, Johnny's Entertainment issued a statement of apology the following day and planned to indefinitely suspend Morimoto from all of his activities. Following the removal of Morimoto's profile from the official Johnny & Associates website, Johnny Kitagawa stated that Morimoto had ambitions to focus on studying and denied any possibility of his returning to the group.
On June 29, the group released the new single "OVER". It peaked at number one on the Oricon singles chart on its first day, and was the group's highest-selling single since "Ultra Music Power" in 2007.
On September 21, 2011, they released their ninth single, "Magic Power", their first release after Morimoto's suspension. "Magic Power" was used as the theme for the Japanese dub of The Smurfs, in which members Yamada and Chinen provided the voices for Clumsy Smurf and Brainy Smurf.
2012: Asia tour, musical, second album
The group held their first Asian concert tour from March to June 2012, performing in Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, and Japan. However, on March 15, it was announced that the Hong Kong leg would be postponed until May and that the Bangkok tour was cancelled for unstated reasons. The tour was launched at the Yokohama Arena on May 3.
Their tenth single, "SUPER DELICATE", was released on February 22, and was used as a theme song for Risou no Musuko.
On March 22, it was announced that a new musical called Johnny's World would be produced and directed by Johnny Kitagawa and start its run at the Imperial Garden Theater in November 2012. Hey! Say! JUMP would be the main cast while one hundred others made an appearance including Kis-My-Ft2, Sexy Zone, A.B.C-Z and Johnny's Jr., and guest appearances by Kamenashi Kazuya, Takizawa Hideaki and Domoto Koichi.
On April 25, the group announced that they would be releasing their second album, JUMP World, with their singles from "Arigatō (Sekai no Doko ni Ite mo)" onwards.
At the end of 2012, it was announced that Ryosuke Yamada would be making his solo debut with the single "Mystery Virgin" on January 9, 2013. The song was first solicited to mainstream on the radio on November 30, 2012 and was available for digital download on December 26, 2012.
2013–2014: S3ART, LIVE With Me, shows
JUMP held another nationwide tour, Hey! Say! JUMP Zenkoku e JUMP Tour 2013, from April to August 2013. Both of the singles that they released in 2013, "Come On A My House" and "Ride With Me", went to number one on the Oricon chart. The latter was the theme song of the 2014 sequel to Kindaichi Case Files, with Yamada reprising his role.
In January 2014, the group released "AinoArika". The song was used as the theme for Dark System Koi no Ouza Ketteisen, starring Yaotome and Inoo. The single topped the Oricon chart.
Other acting appearances by the group's members include Yamada and Arioka in the drama Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo Neo, Nakajima and Takaki in Suikyu Yankees, with Takaki also appearing in Dr. DMAT and HAMU. The group released a double A-side single called "Weekender/Asu e no YELL", which was the theme song for Yamada's and Nakajima's dramas, and topped the Oricon chart.
The group's third album S3ART went to number one on the Oricon chart the week it was released. The group embarked on an accompanying tour for the album titled Hey! Say! JUMP LIVE TOUR 2014 S3ART including a show in Tokyo Dome.
2015: JUMPing CAR, "Chau#", Itadaki High JUMP, 24 hour television, JUMPing CARnival, "Kimi Attraction"
In 2015, the group started their first TV show called Itadaki High JUMP and hosted Little Tokyo Life with Johnny's WEST, another Johnny's group. They were also the main personalities of 24 Hour Television.
In March, Yamada made his film debut as Nagisa Shiota in the live action adaptation of Assassination Classroom. The movie topped the box office of Japan on its first opening week.
The group released the single Sensations, which was used as the image song of the movie Koro Sensations. It topped the Oricon chart as did following singles "Chau#/我 I Need You" and "Kimi Attraction", and their fourth album JUMPing CAR. They promoted the album with a tour titled Hey! Say! JUMP LIVE TOUR 2015 JUMPing CARnival and collaborated with the annual Johnny's Countdown Concert which was broadcast live.
JUMP held their own 2015–2016 countdown concert at Kyocera Dome, making them the youngest group of Johnny's Entertainment to ever hold their own countdown concert.
2016: DEAR, "Sayonara Sensation", "Maji SUNSHINE", "Fantastic Time", "Give Me Love", FNS 27Hour Festival
Hey! Say! JUMP returned as their sub unit, Sensations, and released the single for the movie titled "Sayonara Sensation". It was released for the film Assassination Classroom: Graduation, starring Yamada.
The group also released the single "Maji SUNSHINE". It topped the Oricon charts in its first week, and was used for the group's CM for KOSE Cosmeport Cosmetics. They were one of the main personalities of Fuji Television's FNS 27Hour Festival, with Inoo being one of the main MCs. During this, their show Itadaki High JUMP also had a crossover with Kis-My-Ft2's show Kisumai Busaiku in which the two groups competed in various activities.
On July 27, the group released their fifth album titled DEAR which sold 141,079 copies on its first day. It landed on the No. 1 spot at the Oricon Weekly Album Chart. In support of the album, a tour started on July 28 at the Osaka-jō Hall called Hey! Say! JUMP LIVE TOUR 2016 DEAR.
On October 26, the group released a new single called "Fantastic Time", which was used as the opening theme for anime Time Bokan 24.
On December 14, the group released a new single called "Give Me Love", which was used for the drama Cain and Abel starring member Yamada. It was described as a mellow R&B song about life's troubles and love.
2017–present
The song "Over the Top" was announced as the new opening theme song for the anime タイムボカン24 (Time Bokan 24).
To honor the group's tenth anniversary, the greatest hits album Hey! Say! JUMP 2007-2017 I/O was released on July 26, 2017, featuring all 23 singles from their first ten years.
"Maeomuke" was released on February 14, 2018, and was the theme song for the drama The Kitazawas: We Mind Our Own Business, which starred Yamada.
Members
Hey! Say! BEST
Kota Yabu
Yuya Takaki
Kei Inoo
Hikaru Yaotome
Daiki Arioka
Hey! Say! 7
Ryosuke Yamada
Yuto Nakajima
Yuri Chinen
Units
Hey! Say! 7 (a temporary group before Hey! Say! JUMP was formed)
Yuya Takaki
Daiki Arioka
Ryosuke Yamada
Yuto Nakajima
Yuri Chinen
S3ART Units
Kaito y-ELLOW-voice (怪盗y-ELLOW-voice)
Yuya Takaki
Hikaru Yaotome
Ryosuke Yamada
Night Style People
Kota Yabu
Yuto Nakajima
Yuri Chinen
Aioitai (愛追I隊)
Kei Inoo
Daiki Arioka
Keito Okamoto
Sensations
Kota Yabu as Scope (スコープ)
Yuya Takaki as Rapid Fire (ラピッドファイヤー)
Kei Inoo as Geek (ギーク)
Hikaru Yaotome as Sonic Hunter (ソニックハンター)
Daiki Arioka as Falcon Jr. (ファルコンJr.)
Keito Okamoto as Shinobi (SHINOBI)
Ryosuke Yamada as Commander (コマンダー)
Yuto Nakajima as Bullet (弾丸)
Yuri Chinen as Doctor (ドクター)
JUMPing Carnival Units
UNION
Kota Yabu
Hikaru Yaotome
Daiki Arioka
Pet Shop Love Motion
Yuya Takaki
Kei Inoo
Yuto Nakajima
Yuri Chinen
Sangatsu Juuyokka ~ Tokei
Yamada Ryosuke
Okamoto Keito
A.Y.T.
Yuya Takaki
Hikaru Yaotome
Daiki Arioka
Discography
Singles
2007: "Hey! Say!" – Hey! Say! 7 (Temporary group)
2007: "Ultra Music Power"
2008: "Dreams Come True"
2008: "Your Seed/Bōken Rider"
2008: "Mayonaka no Shadow Boy"
2010: "Hitomi no Screen"
2010: "Arigatō (Sekai no Doko ni Ite mo)"
2011: "OVER"
2011: "Magic Power"
2012: "SUPER DELICATE"
2013: "Come On A My House"
2013: "Ride With Me"
2014: "AinoArika/Aisureba Motto Happy Life"
2014: "Weekender/Asu e no YELL"
2015: "Koro Sensations" – Sensations
2015: "Chau#/我 I Need You"
2015: "Kimi Attraction"
2016: "Sayonara Sensation" - Sensations
2016: "Maji SUNSHINE"
2016: "Fantastic Time"
2016: "Give Me Love"
2017: "OVER THE TOP"
2017: "Precious Girl/Are You There? (A.Y.T)"
2017: "White Love"
2018: "Maeomuke"
2018: "COSMIC☆HUMAN"
2019: "Lucky-Unlucky / Oh! My Darling"
2019: "Fanfare!"
2020: "I AM / Muah Muah"
2020: "Last Mermaid..."
2020: "Your Song"
2021 "Negative Fighter"
2021 "Gunjo Runaway"
2021 "Sing-Along"
Albums
2010: JUMP No. 1
2012: JUMP World
2014: S3ART
2015: JUMPing CAR
2016: DEAR
2017: Hey! Say! JUMP 2007-2017 I/O (10th Anniversary Album)
2018: SENSE or LOVE
2019: Parade
2020: ''Fab! -Music Speaks.-
DVDs
2019: "Ai Dake Ga Subete / What Do You Want?"
Awards
Japan Gold Disc Awards
The Recording Industry Association of Japan recognized the group with the following Japan Gold Disc Awards for music sales:
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2008
| Hey! Say! JUMP
| The Best 10 New Artists
|
|-
| "Ultra Music Power"
| The Best 10 Singles
|
|-
| 2015
| Hey! Say! JUMP
| Yahoo! Search Awards: Idol Award
|
References
External links
Hey! Say! JUMP
Living people
Johnny & Associates
2007 establishments in Japan
Musical groups established in 2007
Japanese idol groups
J Storm
Musical groups from Tokyo
Japanese pop music groups
Japanese musical groups
Year of birth missing (living people)
| false |
[
"Maria Arredondo is the first album by Norwegian singer Maria Arredondo, released in Norway on March 17, 2003, with a second edition released on June 30, 2003. The album was the most successful album by Arredondo either in critics or sales. It has 12 songs with the second edition and 5 singles were released. One of the singles, \"In Love With An Angel\", a duet with Christian Ingebrigtsen, was nominated for the 2003 Norwegian Grammy Awards as 'Song Of The Year'.\n\nHistory \nAfter two years recording the songs, Arredondo signed with Universal Music Norway. The album entered the Norwegian Top 40 and Norwegian Topp 30 Norsk at #2 and spent 23 weeks on the charts. It was recorded in Sweden and Norway, and was produced by several well-known Scandinavian producers such as Jonas von Der Burg, Espen Lind, Bluefish, Jonny Sjo, Harry Sommerdahl and Bjørn Erik Pedersen. Several successful songwriters also contributed, including Christian Ingebrigtsen, Jonas von Der Burg, Silje Nergaard, Espen Lind and Harry Sommerdahl. The first single released was \"Can Let Go\". The second single, \"Just A Little Heartache\" was very successful in the radio charts. \"In Love With An Angel\" was the third single and became the first and only #1 single for Arredondo.\n\nThe album was re-released with a new song, \"Hardly Hurts At All\", which was released as a single. The last single from the album was \"A Thousand Nights\". The album went platinum and sold more than 70,000 copies.\n\nTrack listing\n\nCharts\n\nAlbum\n\nSingles\n\nReferences \n\n2003 debut albums\nMaria Arredondo albums\nUniversal Music Norway albums",
"Black and White is the second studio album and major label debut by British hip hop recording artist Wretch 32. The album was released in the United Kingdom on 21 August 2011 through Ministry of Sound, debuting at number four on the UK Albums Chart with first week sales of nearly 25,000 copies. The album follows his independent debut album, Wretchrospective, which was released three years earlier, in 2008. The album spawned six singles over the course of eighteen months, all of which peaked inside the UK top 50, including three top five singles, and a number one single, \"Don't Go\". The album includes collaborations with Ed Sheeran, Daley, Etta Bond and Example.\n\nSingles\n \"Traktor\" was released as the first single released from the album on 16 January 2011. It peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the third most successful single from the album. The track features vocals from L Marshall and was produced by Yogi.\n \"Unorthodox\" was released as the second single from the album on 17 April 2011. It peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the second most successful single from the album. The track features vocals from Example.\n \"Don't Go\" was released as the third single from the album on 14 August 2011. It peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the album's most successful single. The track features vocals from upcoming musician and songwriter Josh Kumra.\n \"Forgiveness\" was released as the fourth single from the album on 11 December 2011. It peaked at number 39 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the least successful single from the album. The track features vocals from Etta Bond, and was produced by Labrinth.\n \"Long Way Home\" was released as a single from the album on 14 February 2012, in promotion of the track's featuring artist, Daley. It was ineligible to chart on the UK Singles Chart, and was simply released in the form of a promotional music video.\n \"Hush Little Baby\" was released as the fifth and final single from the album on 27 May 2012. It peaked at number 35 on the UK Singles Chart, due to little promotion. The track features vocals from singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran.\n\nTrack listing \n\nNotes\n \"Forgiveness\" features uncredited vocals from Labrinth.\n\nSample credits\n \"Black and White\" samples \"Different Strokes\" by Syl Johnson\n \"Unorthodox\" samples \"Fools Gold\" by The Stone Roses.\n \"Hush Little Baby\" adapts lyrics from the lullaby \"Hush, Little Baby\".\n\nCharts\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\n2011 albums\nWretch 32 albums\nMinistry of Sound albums\nAlbums produced by Labrinth"
] |
[
"Hey! Say! JUMP",
"2012: JUMP World, first tour in Asia, Imperial Garden Theater, singles and dramas",
"What happened in 2012?",
"At the end of 2012, it was announced that Ryosuke Yamada will be making his solo debut",
"what was jump world?",
"the group announced that they will be releasing their second album on June 6. The album is called JUMP World",
"was the album successful?",
"I don't know."
] |
C_e859161ff1f54b10a21b92826f5f6b4e_0
|
what was the first tour in asia?
| 4 |
what was the first tour in asia for JUMP World?
|
Hey! Say! JUMP
|
The group held their first tour in Asia from March to June, with a series of concerts in Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, and Japan. It was also announced that they will be releasing their first single of the year and tenth in all, on February 22, titled "SUPER DELICATE". The single was a theme song for Risou no Musuko, in which Ryosuke Yamada stars in alongside Yuto Nakajima. On March 15, it was announced that Hong Kong leg tour would be postponed until May and that the Bangkok tour was cancelled respectively due to unknown reason. On the 22nd, it was announced that a new musical called Johnny's World will be produced and directed by Johnny Kitagawa which would start its run at the Imperial Garden Theater during the months of November through December. Hey! Say! JUMP would be the main cast while 100 others would be making an appearance including Kis-My-Ft2, Sexy Zone, A.B.C-Z and Johnny's Jr.. Kamenashi Kazuya, Takizawa Hideaki and Domoto Koichi will be making guest appearances as well. On April 25, almost two years since the released of their first album JUMP No. 1, the group announced that they will be releasing their second album on June 6. The album is called JUMP World and it contains their singles from "Arigato (Sekai no Doko ni Ite mo)" onwards. In the same month, Yuya Takaki starred as Shohei Tatsunami in the TV drama, Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou. In the same year, Takaki returned as Shohei Tatsunami in the Shiritsu Bakaleya Koko movie. Hey! Say! JUMP kicked off their first Asian tour at the Yokohama Arena on 3 May. At the end of 2012, it was announced that Ryosuke Yamada will be making his solo debut with the single "Mystery Virgin" on January 9, 2013. The song was first solicited to mainstream on the radio on November 30, 2012 and was available for digital download on December 26, 2012. CANNOTANSWER
|
Hey! Say! JUMP kicked off their first Asian tour
|
Hey! Say! JUMP (HSJ or JUMP) is an eight-member Japanese boy band under the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates. The group is split into two sub-groups: Hey! Say! BEST and Hey! Say! 7. In Japan they sold more than 10 million physical copies.
Hey! Say! JUMP originally debuted with ten members, the largest group in Johnny's history. In 2011, Ryutaro Morimoto was indefinitely suspended from the group following an underage smoking scandal. On April 11, Keito Okamoto announced that he will leave the group in order to pursue a career in acting, but remained under Johnny & Associates.
History
Formation
During a KAT-TUN spring concert on April 3, 2007, Yuya Takaki, Daiki Arioka, Ryosuke Yamada, Yuto Nakajima and Yuri Chinen were announced to become part of a temporary group called Hey! Say! 7. The name refers to the Heisei period during which all members were born, as well as to the year 2007 as the group's formation year.
On June 16, 2007, it was announced that Hey! Say! 7 would release "Hey! Say!" as a single on August 1. This later became Hey! Say! JUMP's single. The song and the single's B-side, "Bon Bon", were used as the second opening and closing themes for the anime Lovely Complex. The single sold 120,520 copies in its first week, making the group the youngest male group to top the Oricon singles chart.
On September 24, the five members of Hey! Say! 7 were joined by Kota Yabu, Kei Inoo, Hikaru Yaotome, Keito Okamoto and Ryutaro Morimoto, all represented by Johnny's Jr's. The ten-member group was organized into two sub-groups of five, with the older members forming Hey! Say! BEST and the younger members in Hey! Say! 7.
Early releases
It was announced that they would release their first CD on November 14, 2007, including the song "Ultra Music Power", which was used as the theme at Japan's Volleyball World Cup Relay 2007.
On December 22, the group held their debut concert: Debut Concert Ikinari! in Tokyo Dome. With an average age of 15.7, they were the youngest group to perform in the Tokyo Dome. A concert DVD was released on April 30, 2008.
The group released their third single "Dreams Come True" on May 21, which topped the Oricon Chart. In July 2008, it was announced that the group's fourth new single "Your Seed" would be used as the title song for the Japanese release of the animated film Kung-Fu Panda.
In October 2008, the group released the single "Mayonaka no Shadow Boy". It was used as the theme song for the drama Scrap Teacher, which starred members Arioka, Yamada, Nakajima, and Chinen.
After the full group's tour, junior division Hey! Say! 7 had their first concert series called Hey! Say! 7 Spring Concert 09 MONKEY. Following this, the entire group toured their concert Hey! Say! JUMP CONCERT TOUR Spring '09. A second concert DVD, Hey! Say! JUMP-ing Tour '08–'09, was released in April 2009.
On February 24, 2010, after a year and a half of touring, the group released their sixth single "Hitomi no Screen", which topped the Oricon weekly single charts with 202,000 sales.
The group released its first album, JUMP No. 1, on July 7, 2010. On December 15, the group released the single "Arigatō (Sekai no Doko ni Ite mo)". It reached number one on the Oricon singles chart and sold 64,206 albums on its first day.
2011: Yan Yan JUMP, Morimoto's suspension, The Smurfs
Hey! Say! JUMP and other Johnny's Jr. members starred in the 2011 variety show Yan Yan JUMP. It was based on Yan Yan Utau Studio, which had aired two decades earlier, featuring senior celebrities of Johnny & Associates.
The group was surrounded by controversy in June 2011 after photos of Ryutaro Morimoto smoking while underage were leaked. When he was asked about the photos, he said "it was alright" and that it was "no big deal". In response to the scandal, Johnny's Entertainment issued a statement of apology the following day and planned to indefinitely suspend Morimoto from all of his activities. Following the removal of Morimoto's profile from the official Johnny & Associates website, Johnny Kitagawa stated that Morimoto had ambitions to focus on studying and denied any possibility of his returning to the group.
On June 29, the group released the new single "OVER". It peaked at number one on the Oricon singles chart on its first day, and was the group's highest-selling single since "Ultra Music Power" in 2007.
On September 21, 2011, they released their ninth single, "Magic Power", their first release after Morimoto's suspension. "Magic Power" was used as the theme for the Japanese dub of The Smurfs, in which members Yamada and Chinen provided the voices for Clumsy Smurf and Brainy Smurf.
2012: Asia tour, musical, second album
The group held their first Asian concert tour from March to June 2012, performing in Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, and Japan. However, on March 15, it was announced that the Hong Kong leg would be postponed until May and that the Bangkok tour was cancelled for unstated reasons. The tour was launched at the Yokohama Arena on May 3.
Their tenth single, "SUPER DELICATE", was released on February 22, and was used as a theme song for Risou no Musuko.
On March 22, it was announced that a new musical called Johnny's World would be produced and directed by Johnny Kitagawa and start its run at the Imperial Garden Theater in November 2012. Hey! Say! JUMP would be the main cast while one hundred others made an appearance including Kis-My-Ft2, Sexy Zone, A.B.C-Z and Johnny's Jr., and guest appearances by Kamenashi Kazuya, Takizawa Hideaki and Domoto Koichi.
On April 25, the group announced that they would be releasing their second album, JUMP World, with their singles from "Arigatō (Sekai no Doko ni Ite mo)" onwards.
At the end of 2012, it was announced that Ryosuke Yamada would be making his solo debut with the single "Mystery Virgin" on January 9, 2013. The song was first solicited to mainstream on the radio on November 30, 2012 and was available for digital download on December 26, 2012.
2013–2014: S3ART, LIVE With Me, shows
JUMP held another nationwide tour, Hey! Say! JUMP Zenkoku e JUMP Tour 2013, from April to August 2013. Both of the singles that they released in 2013, "Come On A My House" and "Ride With Me", went to number one on the Oricon chart. The latter was the theme song of the 2014 sequel to Kindaichi Case Files, with Yamada reprising his role.
In January 2014, the group released "AinoArika". The song was used as the theme for Dark System Koi no Ouza Ketteisen, starring Yaotome and Inoo. The single topped the Oricon chart.
Other acting appearances by the group's members include Yamada and Arioka in the drama Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo Neo, Nakajima and Takaki in Suikyu Yankees, with Takaki also appearing in Dr. DMAT and HAMU. The group released a double A-side single called "Weekender/Asu e no YELL", which was the theme song for Yamada's and Nakajima's dramas, and topped the Oricon chart.
The group's third album S3ART went to number one on the Oricon chart the week it was released. The group embarked on an accompanying tour for the album titled Hey! Say! JUMP LIVE TOUR 2014 S3ART including a show in Tokyo Dome.
2015: JUMPing CAR, "Chau#", Itadaki High JUMP, 24 hour television, JUMPing CARnival, "Kimi Attraction"
In 2015, the group started their first TV show called Itadaki High JUMP and hosted Little Tokyo Life with Johnny's WEST, another Johnny's group. They were also the main personalities of 24 Hour Television.
In March, Yamada made his film debut as Nagisa Shiota in the live action adaptation of Assassination Classroom. The movie topped the box office of Japan on its first opening week.
The group released the single Sensations, which was used as the image song of the movie Koro Sensations. It topped the Oricon chart as did following singles "Chau#/我 I Need You" and "Kimi Attraction", and their fourth album JUMPing CAR. They promoted the album with a tour titled Hey! Say! JUMP LIVE TOUR 2015 JUMPing CARnival and collaborated with the annual Johnny's Countdown Concert which was broadcast live.
JUMP held their own 2015–2016 countdown concert at Kyocera Dome, making them the youngest group of Johnny's Entertainment to ever hold their own countdown concert.
2016: DEAR, "Sayonara Sensation", "Maji SUNSHINE", "Fantastic Time", "Give Me Love", FNS 27Hour Festival
Hey! Say! JUMP returned as their sub unit, Sensations, and released the single for the movie titled "Sayonara Sensation". It was released for the film Assassination Classroom: Graduation, starring Yamada.
The group also released the single "Maji SUNSHINE". It topped the Oricon charts in its first week, and was used for the group's CM for KOSE Cosmeport Cosmetics. They were one of the main personalities of Fuji Television's FNS 27Hour Festival, with Inoo being one of the main MCs. During this, their show Itadaki High JUMP also had a crossover with Kis-My-Ft2's show Kisumai Busaiku in which the two groups competed in various activities.
On July 27, the group released their fifth album titled DEAR which sold 141,079 copies on its first day. It landed on the No. 1 spot at the Oricon Weekly Album Chart. In support of the album, a tour started on July 28 at the Osaka-jō Hall called Hey! Say! JUMP LIVE TOUR 2016 DEAR.
On October 26, the group released a new single called "Fantastic Time", which was used as the opening theme for anime Time Bokan 24.
On December 14, the group released a new single called "Give Me Love", which was used for the drama Cain and Abel starring member Yamada. It was described as a mellow R&B song about life's troubles and love.
2017–present
The song "Over the Top" was announced as the new opening theme song for the anime タイムボカン24 (Time Bokan 24).
To honor the group's tenth anniversary, the greatest hits album Hey! Say! JUMP 2007-2017 I/O was released on July 26, 2017, featuring all 23 singles from their first ten years.
"Maeomuke" was released on February 14, 2018, and was the theme song for the drama The Kitazawas: We Mind Our Own Business, which starred Yamada.
Members
Hey! Say! BEST
Kota Yabu
Yuya Takaki
Kei Inoo
Hikaru Yaotome
Daiki Arioka
Hey! Say! 7
Ryosuke Yamada
Yuto Nakajima
Yuri Chinen
Units
Hey! Say! 7 (a temporary group before Hey! Say! JUMP was formed)
Yuya Takaki
Daiki Arioka
Ryosuke Yamada
Yuto Nakajima
Yuri Chinen
S3ART Units
Kaito y-ELLOW-voice (怪盗y-ELLOW-voice)
Yuya Takaki
Hikaru Yaotome
Ryosuke Yamada
Night Style People
Kota Yabu
Yuto Nakajima
Yuri Chinen
Aioitai (愛追I隊)
Kei Inoo
Daiki Arioka
Keito Okamoto
Sensations
Kota Yabu as Scope (スコープ)
Yuya Takaki as Rapid Fire (ラピッドファイヤー)
Kei Inoo as Geek (ギーク)
Hikaru Yaotome as Sonic Hunter (ソニックハンター)
Daiki Arioka as Falcon Jr. (ファルコンJr.)
Keito Okamoto as Shinobi (SHINOBI)
Ryosuke Yamada as Commander (コマンダー)
Yuto Nakajima as Bullet (弾丸)
Yuri Chinen as Doctor (ドクター)
JUMPing Carnival Units
UNION
Kota Yabu
Hikaru Yaotome
Daiki Arioka
Pet Shop Love Motion
Yuya Takaki
Kei Inoo
Yuto Nakajima
Yuri Chinen
Sangatsu Juuyokka ~ Tokei
Yamada Ryosuke
Okamoto Keito
A.Y.T.
Yuya Takaki
Hikaru Yaotome
Daiki Arioka
Discography
Singles
2007: "Hey! Say!" – Hey! Say! 7 (Temporary group)
2007: "Ultra Music Power"
2008: "Dreams Come True"
2008: "Your Seed/Bōken Rider"
2008: "Mayonaka no Shadow Boy"
2010: "Hitomi no Screen"
2010: "Arigatō (Sekai no Doko ni Ite mo)"
2011: "OVER"
2011: "Magic Power"
2012: "SUPER DELICATE"
2013: "Come On A My House"
2013: "Ride With Me"
2014: "AinoArika/Aisureba Motto Happy Life"
2014: "Weekender/Asu e no YELL"
2015: "Koro Sensations" – Sensations
2015: "Chau#/我 I Need You"
2015: "Kimi Attraction"
2016: "Sayonara Sensation" - Sensations
2016: "Maji SUNSHINE"
2016: "Fantastic Time"
2016: "Give Me Love"
2017: "OVER THE TOP"
2017: "Precious Girl/Are You There? (A.Y.T)"
2017: "White Love"
2018: "Maeomuke"
2018: "COSMIC☆HUMAN"
2019: "Lucky-Unlucky / Oh! My Darling"
2019: "Fanfare!"
2020: "I AM / Muah Muah"
2020: "Last Mermaid..."
2020: "Your Song"
2021 "Negative Fighter"
2021 "Gunjo Runaway"
2021 "Sing-Along"
Albums
2010: JUMP No. 1
2012: JUMP World
2014: S3ART
2015: JUMPing CAR
2016: DEAR
2017: Hey! Say! JUMP 2007-2017 I/O (10th Anniversary Album)
2018: SENSE or LOVE
2019: Parade
2020: ''Fab! -Music Speaks.-
DVDs
2019: "Ai Dake Ga Subete / What Do You Want?"
Awards
Japan Gold Disc Awards
The Recording Industry Association of Japan recognized the group with the following Japan Gold Disc Awards for music sales:
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2008
| Hey! Say! JUMP
| The Best 10 New Artists
|
|-
| "Ultra Music Power"
| The Best 10 Singles
|
|-
| 2015
| Hey! Say! JUMP
| Yahoo! Search Awards: Idol Award
|
References
External links
Hey! Say! JUMP
Living people
Johnny & Associates
2007 establishments in Japan
Musical groups established in 2007
Japanese idol groups
J Storm
Musical groups from Tokyo
Japanese pop music groups
Japanese musical groups
Year of birth missing (living people)
| false |
[
"The True Colors World Tour is the second concert tour by American recording artist Cyndi Lauper. It was Lauper's first headlining world tour in 1986–87 in support of second studio album, True Colors. The True Colors tour included dates across North America, Asia and Europe.\n\nThis was Cyndi's first worldwide tour. The HBO special and home video Cyndi Lauper in Paris was filmed on this tour.\n\nSet list\n\"Change of Heart\"\n\"I'll Kiss You\" (Japan only) \n\"The Goonies 'R' Good Enough\"\n\"Boy Blue\"\n\"All Through the Night\"\n\"What's Going On\"\n\"Iko Iko\"\n\"She Bop\"\n\"Calm Inside the Storm\"\n\"911\"\n\"One Track Mind\"\n\"The Faraway Nearby\"\n\"True Colors\"\n\"Maybe He'll Know\"\n\"Yeah Yeah\"/ \"He's So Unusual\" (Asia only) \n\"Time After Time\"\n\"Money Changes Everything\"\n\"Girls Just Want to Have Fun\"\n\"True Colors\"\nNotes\n\"Iko Iko\" was performed on select dates in North America and Europe.\nI'll Kiss You and a medley of \"Yeah Yeah\"/ \"He's So Unusual\" was performed on select dates in Asia and Australia.\n\"Girls Just Want to Have Fun\"/\"He's a Rebel\"/\"Hang On Sloopy\" was performed as a medley on select dates in Europe.\n\"Baby Workout\" was performed on select dates, including the last show of the tour, which was filmed and released as \"Cyndi Lauper in Paris.\"\n\nTour dates\n\nBox office score data\n\nBroadcasting/Commercial release\n In 1987, Lauper's final show on March 12 in Paris, France was professionally recorded and released on VHS/LaserDisc: Cyndi Lauper in Paris. The concert was also broadcast on HBO. The music video for \"Boy Blue\" was from the footage.\n In addition, one of her shows at the Budokan in Tokyo, Japan was filmed and aired on television in Japan.\n\nThe Band\n David Rosenthal – Keyboards\n Sue Hadjopoulos – Percussion & Vocals\n Aldo Nova – Guitar & Vocals\n Rick Derringer – Guitar & Vocals\n Sterling Campbell – Drums\n Kevin Jenkins – Bass & Vocals\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Cyndi Lauper's Official Website\n\n1986 concert tours\nCyndi Lauper concert tours",
"The Johnnie Walker Classic was a European Tour golf tournament which was played in the Asia-Pacific region. Johnnie Walker is a brand name and the owners have a long history of tournament sponsorship. They also sponsored the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles which was a European Tour event played in Scotland. \n\nThe event was originally called the Johnnie Walker Asian Classic. There was a tournament already called the Johnnie Walker Classic in Australia, but when that event ceased in 1992, the word Asian was dropped from the name.\n\nHistory\nIn 1989 Johnnie Walker sponsored the Hong Kong Open, and it was decided to establish an additional tournament which it would sponsor on an ongoing basis. This tournament was called the Johnnie Walker Asian Classic, and was first staged in Hong Kong in 1990. Subsequently, it became a touring event, essentially used by its sponsor as a marketing exercise in the Asia Pacific region. In 1992 it became the first event to be sanctioned by the European Tour in East Asia (the Dubai Desert Classic was the first in Asia as a whole). \n\nIn 1993 the word Asian was dropped from the title. In 2005 the tournament was held in China for the first time, as part of the European Tour's push into China, which saw four events held in mainland China and one in Hong Kong in the 2005 season. The location of the tournament changes every year.\n\nThe tournament was co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour of Australasia from 1996, and by the Asian Tour from 1999. \n\nIn 2005 the tri-sanctioned event had a field consisting of 60 European Tour players, 60 Asian Tour players, 28 PGA Tour of Australasia players, and 8 sponsors' invitees. The prize fund was £1,250,000. This amount is large by Asian and Australasian Tour standards, but not by European Tour or PGA Tour standards. However the tournament attracts a number of the World's leading players each year by paying them large appearance fees. \n\nNine of the first fourteen editions were won by players who have topped the Official World Golf Ranking at some point in their career (Faldo, Els and Woods twice each; Woosnam, Norman and Couples once each).\n\nWinners\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nCoverage on the European Tour's official site\n\nFormer European Tour events\nFormer PGA Tour of Australasia events\nFormer Asian Tour events\nGolf tournaments in Hong Kong\nGolf tournaments in Singapore\nGolf tournaments in Australia\nGolf in Western Australia\nGolf tournaments in Thailand\nGolf tournaments in the Philippines\nGolf tournaments in Taiwan\nDiageo\nRecurring sporting events established in 1990\nRecurring sporting events disestablished in 2009"
] |
[
"Hoyt Wilhelm",
"Early years"
] |
C_27501c0f3d3c4169a037abccda765e47_1
|
When was Wilhelm born?
| 1 |
When was Hoyt Wilhelm born?
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Hoyt Wilhelm
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Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen. Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952 at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run. Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished in the top ten in Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, becoming the first relief pitcher to finish that high. He finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win-loss record decreased to 7-8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954. In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12-4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched 2 1/3 innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep. Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4-1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4-9 record and a 3.83 ERA in 89 1/3 innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction." CANNOTANSWER
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In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship.
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James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972. Wilhelm was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Wilhelm grew up in North Carolina, fought in World War II, and then spent several years in the minor leagues before starting his major league career at the age of 29. He was best known for his knuckleball, which enabled him to have great longevity. He appeared occasionally as a starting pitcher, but pitched mainly as a reliever. Wilhelm won 124 games in relief, which is still the major league record. He was the first pitcher to reach 200 saves, and the first to appear in 1,000 games.
Wilhelm was nearly 30 years old when he entered the major leagues, and pitched until he was nearly 50. He retired with one of the lowest career earned run averages, 2.52, in baseball history. After retiring as a player in 1972, Wilhelm held longtime coaching jobs with the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He lived in Sarasota, Florida, for many years, and died there in 2002.
Early life
Wilhelm was born in 1922, long thought to have been 1923. He was one of eleven children born to poor tenant farmers John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in Huntersville, North Carolina. He played baseball at Cornelius High School in Cornelius, North Carolina. Knowing he could not throw fast, he began experimenting with a knuckleball after reading about pitcher Dutch Leonard. He practiced honing it with a tennis ball, hoping it was his best shot at Big League success.
Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942. He served in the United States Army in the European Theater during World War II and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart for his actions. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant while in the Army, and played his entire career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back as a result of the wounds he received in battle. Wilhem carried the nickname "Old Sarge" because of his service in the military.
After his release from the military, Wilhelm returned to the Moors for the 1946 season, and earned 41 wins over the 1946 and 1947 seasons. He later recalled being dropped from a Class D minor league team and having the manager tell him to forget about the knuckleball, but he persisted with it. The Boston Braves purchased Wilhelm from Mooresville in 1947, and on November 20, 1947, he was drafted by the New York Giants from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.
Wilhelm's first assignment in the Giants organization was in Class B with the 1948 Knoxville Smokies, for whom he registered 13 wins and 9 losses. He also spent a few games that season with the Class A Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League, and returned to Jacksonville in 1949, earning a 17–12 win-loss record and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA). Wilhelm was promoted to the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers in 1950, where he was the starting pitcher in 25 of the 35 games he pitched in, registering a 15–11 record with a 4.95 ERA. His role in 1951 with the Millers was the same as the year before, primarily as a starter, but also making eleven relief appearances. His ERA came down to 3.94 in 1951, but his record fell to 11–14.
Major league career
Early years
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen.
Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952, at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.
Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished 4th in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, behind rookie reliever Joe Black of the Dodgers. Jim Konstanty had won it for the Phillies in 1950, and Ellis Kinder had finished 7th in the AL voting in 1951, so it was a time when relief pitchers were starting to receive appreciation from the sportswriters. Wilhelm finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting to Joe Black. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win–loss record decreased to 7–8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954.
In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12–4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4–1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4–9 record and a 3.83 ERA in innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction."
Middle career
On February 26, 1957, Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman. At the time of the trade, St. Louis manager Fred Hutchinson described Wilhelm as the type of pitcher who "makes us a definite pennant threat ... He'll help us where we need help the most." In 40 games with the Cardinals that season, he earned 11 saves but finished with a 1–4 record and his highest ERA to that point in his career (4.25). The Cardinals placed him on waivers in September and he was claimed by the Cleveland Indians, who used him in two games that year.
In 1958, Cleveland manager Bobby Bragan used Wilhelm occasionally as a starter. Although he had a 2.49 ERA, none of the Indians' catchers could handle Wilhelm's knuckleball. General manager Frank Lane, alarmed at the large number of passed balls, allowed the Baltimore Orioles to select Wilhelm off waivers on August 23, 1958. In Baltimore, Wilhelm lived near the home of third baseman Brooks Robinson and their families became close friends. On September 20 of that year, Wilhelm no-hit the eventual World Champion New York Yankees 1–0 at Memorial Stadium, in only his ninth career start. He allowed two baserunners on walks and struck out eight. The no-hitter had been threatened at one point in the ninth inning when Hank Bauer bunted along the baseline, but Robinson allowed the ball to roll and it veered foul. The no-hitter was the first in the franchise's Baltimore history; the Orioles had moved from St. Louis after the 1953 season.
Orioles catchers had difficulty catching the Wilhelm knuckleball again in 1959 and they set an MLB record with 49 passed balls. During one April game, catcher Gus Triandos had four passed balls while catching for Wilhelm and he described the game as "the roughest day I ever put in during my life." Author Bill James has written that Wilhelm and Triandos "established the principle that a knuckleball pitcher and a big, slow catcher make an awful combination." Triandos once said, "Heaven is a place where no one throws a knuckleball."
Despite the passed balls, Wilhelm won the American League ERA title with a 2.19 ERA. During the 1960 season, Orioles manager Paul Richards devised a larger mitt so his catchers could handle the knuckleball. Richards was well equipped with starting pitchers during that year. By the middle of the season, he said that eight of his pitchers could serve as starters. Wilhelm started 11 of the 41 games in which he appeared. He earned an 11–8 record, a 3.31 ERA and seven saves. He started only one game the following year, but he was an All-Star, registered 18 saves and had a 2.30 ERA.
In 1962, Wilhelm had his fourth All-Star season, finishing with a 7–10 record, a 1.94 ERA and 15 saves. On January 14, 1963, Wilhelm was traded by the Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith. Early in that season, White Sox manager Al López said that Wilhelm had improved his pitching staff by 40 percent. He said that Wilhelm was "worth more than a 20-game winner, and he works with so little effort that he probably can last as long as Satchel Paige." He registered 21 saves and a 2.64 ERA.
In 1964, Wilhelm finished with career highs in both saves (27) and games pitched (73). His ERA decreased to 1.99 that season; it remained less than 2.00 through the 1968 season. In 1965, Wilhelm contributed to another passed balls record when Chicago catcher J. C. Martin allowed 33 of them in one season. That total set a modern single-season baseball record for the category. Wilhelm's career-low ERA (1.31) came in 1967, when he earned an 8–3 record for the White Sox with 12 saves.
In the 1968 season, Wilhelm was getting close to breaking the all-time games pitched record belonging to Cy Young (906 games). Chicago manager Eddie Stanky began to think about using Wilhelm as a starting pitcher for game number 907. However, the White Sox fired Stanky before the record came up. Wilhelm later broke the record as a relief pitcher. He also set MLB records for consecutive errorless games by a pitcher, career victories in relief, games finished and innings pitched in relief. Despite Wilhelm's success, the White Sox, who had won at least 83 games per season in the 1960s, performed poorly. They finished 1968 with a 67–95 record.
Wilhelm was noted during this period for his mentoring of relief pitcher Wilbur Wood, who came to the 1967 White Sox in a trade. Wood sometimes threw a knuckleball upon his arrival in Chicago, but Wilhelm encouraged him to throw it full-time. By 1968, Wood won 13 games, saved 16 games and earned a 1.87 ERA. He credited Wilhelm with helping him to master the knuckleball, as the White Sox coaches did not know much about how to throw it. Between 1968 and 1970, Wood pitched in more games (241) than any other pitcher and more innings――than any other relief pitcher.
After the 1968 season, MLB expanded and an expansion draft was conducted in which the new teams could select certain players from the established teams. The White Sox left Wilhelm unprotected, possibly because they did not believe that teams would have interest in a much older pitcher. On October 15, 1968, Wilhelm was chosen in the expansion draft by the Kansas City Royals as the 49th pick. That offseason, he was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.
Later career
Wilhelm pitched 44 games for the 1969 California Angels and had a 2.47 ERA, ten saves, and a 5–7 record. On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm and Bob Priddy were traded to the Atlanta Braves for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers. He finished the 1969 season by pitching in eight games for the Braves, earning four saves and recording a 0.73 ERA over innings pitched. Wilhelm then spent most of the 1970 season with the Braves, pitching in 50 games for the team and earning ten saves.
On September 21, 1970, Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs, for whom he appeared in three games. He was traded back to the Braves for Hal Breeden on November 30, 1970. As the Cubs had acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, the trade back to the Braves was a source of controversy. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn investigated the transaction, and in December ruled that he did not find evidence of impropriety associated with the transactions that sent Wilhelm to the Cubs and quickly back to the Braves.
Wilhelm was released by the Braves on June 29, 1971, having pitched in three games for that year's Braves. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 10, 1971, and appeared in nine games for the Dodgers, giving up two earned runs in innings. He also pitched in eight games that season for the team's Class AAA minor league affiliate, the Spokane Indians. Wilhelm started six of those games and registered a 3.89 ERA.
Wilhelm pitched in 16 games for the Dodgers in 1972, registering a 4.62 ERA over 25 innings. The Dodgers released him on July 21, 1972. He never appeared in another game.
At the time of his retirement, Wilhelm had pitched in a then major league record 1,070 games. He is recognized as the first pitcher to have saved 200 games in his career, and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. Wilhelm is one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.
Wilhelm retired with the lowest career earned run average of any major league hurler after 1927 (Walter Johnson) who had pitched more than 2,000 innings.
Later life
After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61–66 record, then had a 33–33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres.
Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter.
He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002.
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Wilhelm as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.
Legacy
Wilhelm was known as a "relief ace", and his teams used him in a new way that became a trend. Rather than bringing in a relief pitcher only when the starting pitcher had begun to struggle, teams increasingly called upon their relief pitchers toward the end of any close game. Wilhelm was the first relief pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He is also remembered as one of the most successful and "probably the most famous 'old' player in history." Although, due largely to his military service, Wilhelm did not debut in the major leagues until he was already 29 years old, he nonetheless managed to appear in 21 major league seasons. He earned the nickname "Old Folks" while he still had more than a decade left in his playing career. He was the oldest player in Major League Baseball for each of his final seven seasons.
Former teammate Moose Skowron commented on Wilhelm's key pitch, saying, "Hoyt was a good guy, and he threw the best knuckleball I ever saw. You never knew what Hoyt's pitch would do. I don't think he did either." Baseball executive Roland Hemond agreed, saying, "Wilhelm's knuckleball did more than anyone else's ... There was so much action on it."
Before Wilhelm, the knuckleball was primarily mixed in to older pitchers' repertoires at the end of their careers to offset their slowing fastballs and to reduce stress on their arms, thereby extending their careers. Wilhelm broke with tradition when he began throwing the pitch as a teenager and threw it nearly every pitch. The New York Times linked his knuckleball with that of modern pitcher R. A. Dickey, as Wilhelm taught pitcher Charlie Hough the knuckleball in 1971, and Hough taught it to Dickey while coaching with the Texas Rangers.
See also
List of knuckleball pitchers
List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished
List of players with a home run in first major league at-bat
Notes
References
External links
Baseball Library
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (1 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (2 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
1922 births
2002 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from North Carolina
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
Atlanta Braves players
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago White Sox players
Cleveland Indians players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Giants (NL) players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Jacksonville Tars players
Knoxville Smokies players
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Mooresville Moors players
Spokane Indians players
People from Huntersville, North Carolina
Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida
Knuckleball pitchers
United States Army soldiers
United States Army personnel of World War II
Burials in Florida
| true |
[
"Wilhelm August, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach (30 November 1668 – 23 February 1671) was a duke of Saxe-Eisenach.\n\nHe was born at Eisenach, the youngest and only surviving son of Adolf Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach and Marie Elisabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.\n\nAll his older brothers died before his father, and Wilhelm August, the fifth and youngest child, was born nine days after the death of Adolf Wilhelm (21 November 1668) and succeeded him in the duchy of Saxe-Eisenach from the moment of his birth, under the guardianship of his uncle Johann Georg.\n\nA sickly boy, he died at Eisenach when only two years old, and Eisenach was inherited by Johann Georg.\n\nHouse of Wettin\n1668 births\n1671 deaths\nPeople from Eisenach\nDukes of Saxe-Eisenach\nRulers who died as children",
"Wilhelm Heinrich, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach (10 November 1691 – 26 July 1741), was a duke of Saxe-Eisenach.\n\nHe was born in Oranjewoud, the eldest and only surviving son of Johann Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach and his first wife Amalie of Nassau-Dietz.\n\nWilhelm Heinrich first married Albertine Juliane of Nassau-Idstein (daughter George August, Count of Nassau-Idstein) in Idstein on 15 February 1713. This marriage was childless. He married his second wife Anna Sophie Charlotte of Brandenburg-Schwedt in Berlin on 3 June 1723, just eight months after the death of Albertine Juliane. The second marriage was also childless.\n\nWilhelm Heinrich acceded to the duchy of Saxe-Eisenach in 1729 upon the death of his father and was succeeded by his second cousin, duke Ernst August I of Saxe-Weimar. The personal union between Eisenach and Weimar created by this succession was only nominal until 1809, when the two patrimonies were formally united. He died in Eisenach.\n\nHouse of Wettin\n1691 births\n1741 deaths\nPeople from Heerenveen\nDukes of Saxe-Eisenach"
] |
[
"Hoyt Wilhelm",
"Early years",
"When was Wilhelm born?",
"In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship."
] |
C_27501c0f3d3c4169a037abccda765e47_1
|
Who were Wilhelm's parents ?
| 2 |
Who were Hoyt Wilhelm's parents ?
|
Hoyt Wilhelm
|
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen. Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952 at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run. Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished in the top ten in Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, becoming the first relief pitcher to finish that high. He finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win-loss record decreased to 7-8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954. In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12-4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched 2 1/3 innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep. Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4-1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4-9 record and a 3.83 ERA in 89 1/3 innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction." CANNOTANSWER
|
CANNOTANSWER
|
James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972. Wilhelm was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Wilhelm grew up in North Carolina, fought in World War II, and then spent several years in the minor leagues before starting his major league career at the age of 29. He was best known for his knuckleball, which enabled him to have great longevity. He appeared occasionally as a starting pitcher, but pitched mainly as a reliever. Wilhelm won 124 games in relief, which is still the major league record. He was the first pitcher to reach 200 saves, and the first to appear in 1,000 games.
Wilhelm was nearly 30 years old when he entered the major leagues, and pitched until he was nearly 50. He retired with one of the lowest career earned run averages, 2.52, in baseball history. After retiring as a player in 1972, Wilhelm held longtime coaching jobs with the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He lived in Sarasota, Florida, for many years, and died there in 2002.
Early life
Wilhelm was born in 1922, long thought to have been 1923. He was one of eleven children born to poor tenant farmers John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in Huntersville, North Carolina. He played baseball at Cornelius High School in Cornelius, North Carolina. Knowing he could not throw fast, he began experimenting with a knuckleball after reading about pitcher Dutch Leonard. He practiced honing it with a tennis ball, hoping it was his best shot at Big League success.
Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942. He served in the United States Army in the European Theater during World War II and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart for his actions. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant while in the Army, and played his entire career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back as a result of the wounds he received in battle. Wilhem carried the nickname "Old Sarge" because of his service in the military.
After his release from the military, Wilhelm returned to the Moors for the 1946 season, and earned 41 wins over the 1946 and 1947 seasons. He later recalled being dropped from a Class D minor league team and having the manager tell him to forget about the knuckleball, but he persisted with it. The Boston Braves purchased Wilhelm from Mooresville in 1947, and on November 20, 1947, he was drafted by the New York Giants from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.
Wilhelm's first assignment in the Giants organization was in Class B with the 1948 Knoxville Smokies, for whom he registered 13 wins and 9 losses. He also spent a few games that season with the Class A Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League, and returned to Jacksonville in 1949, earning a 17–12 win-loss record and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA). Wilhelm was promoted to the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers in 1950, where he was the starting pitcher in 25 of the 35 games he pitched in, registering a 15–11 record with a 4.95 ERA. His role in 1951 with the Millers was the same as the year before, primarily as a starter, but also making eleven relief appearances. His ERA came down to 3.94 in 1951, but his record fell to 11–14.
Major league career
Early years
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen.
Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952, at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.
Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished 4th in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, behind rookie reliever Joe Black of the Dodgers. Jim Konstanty had won it for the Phillies in 1950, and Ellis Kinder had finished 7th in the AL voting in 1951, so it was a time when relief pitchers were starting to receive appreciation from the sportswriters. Wilhelm finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting to Joe Black. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win–loss record decreased to 7–8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954.
In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12–4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4–1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4–9 record and a 3.83 ERA in innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction."
Middle career
On February 26, 1957, Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman. At the time of the trade, St. Louis manager Fred Hutchinson described Wilhelm as the type of pitcher who "makes us a definite pennant threat ... He'll help us where we need help the most." In 40 games with the Cardinals that season, he earned 11 saves but finished with a 1–4 record and his highest ERA to that point in his career (4.25). The Cardinals placed him on waivers in September and he was claimed by the Cleveland Indians, who used him in two games that year.
In 1958, Cleveland manager Bobby Bragan used Wilhelm occasionally as a starter. Although he had a 2.49 ERA, none of the Indians' catchers could handle Wilhelm's knuckleball. General manager Frank Lane, alarmed at the large number of passed balls, allowed the Baltimore Orioles to select Wilhelm off waivers on August 23, 1958. In Baltimore, Wilhelm lived near the home of third baseman Brooks Robinson and their families became close friends. On September 20 of that year, Wilhelm no-hit the eventual World Champion New York Yankees 1–0 at Memorial Stadium, in only his ninth career start. He allowed two baserunners on walks and struck out eight. The no-hitter had been threatened at one point in the ninth inning when Hank Bauer bunted along the baseline, but Robinson allowed the ball to roll and it veered foul. The no-hitter was the first in the franchise's Baltimore history; the Orioles had moved from St. Louis after the 1953 season.
Orioles catchers had difficulty catching the Wilhelm knuckleball again in 1959 and they set an MLB record with 49 passed balls. During one April game, catcher Gus Triandos had four passed balls while catching for Wilhelm and he described the game as "the roughest day I ever put in during my life." Author Bill James has written that Wilhelm and Triandos "established the principle that a knuckleball pitcher and a big, slow catcher make an awful combination." Triandos once said, "Heaven is a place where no one throws a knuckleball."
Despite the passed balls, Wilhelm won the American League ERA title with a 2.19 ERA. During the 1960 season, Orioles manager Paul Richards devised a larger mitt so his catchers could handle the knuckleball. Richards was well equipped with starting pitchers during that year. By the middle of the season, he said that eight of his pitchers could serve as starters. Wilhelm started 11 of the 41 games in which he appeared. He earned an 11–8 record, a 3.31 ERA and seven saves. He started only one game the following year, but he was an All-Star, registered 18 saves and had a 2.30 ERA.
In 1962, Wilhelm had his fourth All-Star season, finishing with a 7–10 record, a 1.94 ERA and 15 saves. On January 14, 1963, Wilhelm was traded by the Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith. Early in that season, White Sox manager Al López said that Wilhelm had improved his pitching staff by 40 percent. He said that Wilhelm was "worth more than a 20-game winner, and he works with so little effort that he probably can last as long as Satchel Paige." He registered 21 saves and a 2.64 ERA.
In 1964, Wilhelm finished with career highs in both saves (27) and games pitched (73). His ERA decreased to 1.99 that season; it remained less than 2.00 through the 1968 season. In 1965, Wilhelm contributed to another passed balls record when Chicago catcher J. C. Martin allowed 33 of them in one season. That total set a modern single-season baseball record for the category. Wilhelm's career-low ERA (1.31) came in 1967, when he earned an 8–3 record for the White Sox with 12 saves.
In the 1968 season, Wilhelm was getting close to breaking the all-time games pitched record belonging to Cy Young (906 games). Chicago manager Eddie Stanky began to think about using Wilhelm as a starting pitcher for game number 907. However, the White Sox fired Stanky before the record came up. Wilhelm later broke the record as a relief pitcher. He also set MLB records for consecutive errorless games by a pitcher, career victories in relief, games finished and innings pitched in relief. Despite Wilhelm's success, the White Sox, who had won at least 83 games per season in the 1960s, performed poorly. They finished 1968 with a 67–95 record.
Wilhelm was noted during this period for his mentoring of relief pitcher Wilbur Wood, who came to the 1967 White Sox in a trade. Wood sometimes threw a knuckleball upon his arrival in Chicago, but Wilhelm encouraged him to throw it full-time. By 1968, Wood won 13 games, saved 16 games and earned a 1.87 ERA. He credited Wilhelm with helping him to master the knuckleball, as the White Sox coaches did not know much about how to throw it. Between 1968 and 1970, Wood pitched in more games (241) than any other pitcher and more innings――than any other relief pitcher.
After the 1968 season, MLB expanded and an expansion draft was conducted in which the new teams could select certain players from the established teams. The White Sox left Wilhelm unprotected, possibly because they did not believe that teams would have interest in a much older pitcher. On October 15, 1968, Wilhelm was chosen in the expansion draft by the Kansas City Royals as the 49th pick. That offseason, he was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.
Later career
Wilhelm pitched 44 games for the 1969 California Angels and had a 2.47 ERA, ten saves, and a 5–7 record. On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm and Bob Priddy were traded to the Atlanta Braves for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers. He finished the 1969 season by pitching in eight games for the Braves, earning four saves and recording a 0.73 ERA over innings pitched. Wilhelm then spent most of the 1970 season with the Braves, pitching in 50 games for the team and earning ten saves.
On September 21, 1970, Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs, for whom he appeared in three games. He was traded back to the Braves for Hal Breeden on November 30, 1970. As the Cubs had acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, the trade back to the Braves was a source of controversy. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn investigated the transaction, and in December ruled that he did not find evidence of impropriety associated with the transactions that sent Wilhelm to the Cubs and quickly back to the Braves.
Wilhelm was released by the Braves on June 29, 1971, having pitched in three games for that year's Braves. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 10, 1971, and appeared in nine games for the Dodgers, giving up two earned runs in innings. He also pitched in eight games that season for the team's Class AAA minor league affiliate, the Spokane Indians. Wilhelm started six of those games and registered a 3.89 ERA.
Wilhelm pitched in 16 games for the Dodgers in 1972, registering a 4.62 ERA over 25 innings. The Dodgers released him on July 21, 1972. He never appeared in another game.
At the time of his retirement, Wilhelm had pitched in a then major league record 1,070 games. He is recognized as the first pitcher to have saved 200 games in his career, and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. Wilhelm is one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.
Wilhelm retired with the lowest career earned run average of any major league hurler after 1927 (Walter Johnson) who had pitched more than 2,000 innings.
Later life
After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61–66 record, then had a 33–33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres.
Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter.
He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002.
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Wilhelm as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.
Legacy
Wilhelm was known as a "relief ace", and his teams used him in a new way that became a trend. Rather than bringing in a relief pitcher only when the starting pitcher had begun to struggle, teams increasingly called upon their relief pitchers toward the end of any close game. Wilhelm was the first relief pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He is also remembered as one of the most successful and "probably the most famous 'old' player in history." Although, due largely to his military service, Wilhelm did not debut in the major leagues until he was already 29 years old, he nonetheless managed to appear in 21 major league seasons. He earned the nickname "Old Folks" while he still had more than a decade left in his playing career. He was the oldest player in Major League Baseball for each of his final seven seasons.
Former teammate Moose Skowron commented on Wilhelm's key pitch, saying, "Hoyt was a good guy, and he threw the best knuckleball I ever saw. You never knew what Hoyt's pitch would do. I don't think he did either." Baseball executive Roland Hemond agreed, saying, "Wilhelm's knuckleball did more than anyone else's ... There was so much action on it."
Before Wilhelm, the knuckleball was primarily mixed in to older pitchers' repertoires at the end of their careers to offset their slowing fastballs and to reduce stress on their arms, thereby extending their careers. Wilhelm broke with tradition when he began throwing the pitch as a teenager and threw it nearly every pitch. The New York Times linked his knuckleball with that of modern pitcher R. A. Dickey, as Wilhelm taught pitcher Charlie Hough the knuckleball in 1971, and Hough taught it to Dickey while coaching with the Texas Rangers.
See also
List of knuckleball pitchers
List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished
List of players with a home run in first major league at-bat
Notes
References
External links
Baseball Library
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (1 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (2 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
1922 births
2002 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from North Carolina
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
Atlanta Braves players
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago White Sox players
Cleveland Indians players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Giants (NL) players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Jacksonville Tars players
Knoxville Smokies players
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Mooresville Moors players
Spokane Indians players
People from Huntersville, North Carolina
Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida
Knuckleball pitchers
United States Army soldiers
United States Army personnel of World War II
Burials in Florida
| false |
[
"Wolfgang Wilhelm von Pfalz-Neuburg (4 November 1578 in Neuburg an der Donau – 14 September 1653 in Düsseldorf) was a German Prince. He was Count palatine of Neuburg and Duke of Jülich and Berg.\n\nLife\nWolfgang Wilhelm's parents were Philip Louis, Count Palatine of Neuburg, and Anna of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, a daughter of Wilhelm, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg. He was the winner of the War of the Jülich Succession (1609–1614), and became thus the first ruler of Palatinate-Neuburg, who was also Duke of Jülich and Duke of Berg. In 1615, he was made a Knight in the Order of the Golden Fleece. Because he converted to Catholicism and practised a strict policy of neutrality in the Thirty Years' War, his territories escaped widespread destruction.\n\nWolfgang Wilhelm moved his residence to Düsseldorf in 1636.\n\nMarriage and issue\nWolfgang Wilhelm married three times:\n In 1613 to Magdalene of Bavaria, who gave birth to\n Philip William, his successor.\n In 1631 to , daughter of John II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, who gave birth to Ferdinand Philip and Eleonore Franziska. Both children died young.\nIn 1651 to Countess , daughter of Egon VIII of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg, they had no children.\n\nAncestry\n\nExternal links\n\nBiography and Portrait of Count palatine Wolfgang Wilhelm von Neuburg\n\n1578 births\n1653 deaths\nConverts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism\nGerman Roman Catholics\nHouse of Wittelsbach\nCounts Palatine of Neuburg\nDukes of Berg\nKnights of the Golden Fleece\nHereditary Princes of Neuburg\nPeople from Neuburg an der Donau",
"Prince Wilhelm of Schaumburg-Lippe (Wilhelm Friedrich Harald Christian Ernst August Karl Gustav zu Schaumburg-Lippe, born 19 August 1939) is the head of the Nachod branch of the princely house of Schaumburg-Lippe. Wilhelm is the son of Prince Christian Nicholas of Schaumburg-Lippe, and the great-grandson of Frederick VIII of Denmark, twice over, since his parents were first cousins.\n\nMarriage and issue\nHe married Ilona Hentschel Baronin von Gilgenheimb on 17 January 1971. They had two children:\nPrince Christian of Schaumburg-Lippe (b. 1971); married Lena Giese in 2009.\nPrincess Desiree of Schaumburg-Lippe (b. 1974); married Michael Iuel and have three children.\n\nAncestry\n\nReferences\n\n1939 births\nLiving people\nHouse of Lippe\nPrinces of Schaumburg-Lippe"
] |
[
"Hoyt Wilhelm",
"Early years",
"When was Wilhelm born?",
"In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship.",
"Who were Wilhelm's parents ?",
"I don't know."
] |
C_27501c0f3d3c4169a037abccda765e47_1
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When did Wilhelm first start playing baseball?
| 3 |
When did Hoyt Wilhelm first start playing baseball?
|
Hoyt Wilhelm
|
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen. Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952 at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run. Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished in the top ten in Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, becoming the first relief pitcher to finish that high. He finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win-loss record decreased to 7-8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954. In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12-4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched 2 1/3 innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep. Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4-1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4-9 record and a 3.83 ERA in 89 1/3 innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction." CANNOTANSWER
|
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues,
|
James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972. Wilhelm was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Wilhelm grew up in North Carolina, fought in World War II, and then spent several years in the minor leagues before starting his major league career at the age of 29. He was best known for his knuckleball, which enabled him to have great longevity. He appeared occasionally as a starting pitcher, but pitched mainly as a reliever. Wilhelm won 124 games in relief, which is still the major league record. He was the first pitcher to reach 200 saves, and the first to appear in 1,000 games.
Wilhelm was nearly 30 years old when he entered the major leagues, and pitched until he was nearly 50. He retired with one of the lowest career earned run averages, 2.52, in baseball history. After retiring as a player in 1972, Wilhelm held longtime coaching jobs with the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He lived in Sarasota, Florida, for many years, and died there in 2002.
Early life
Wilhelm was born in 1922, long thought to have been 1923. He was one of eleven children born to poor tenant farmers John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in Huntersville, North Carolina. He played baseball at Cornelius High School in Cornelius, North Carolina. Knowing he could not throw fast, he began experimenting with a knuckleball after reading about pitcher Dutch Leonard. He practiced honing it with a tennis ball, hoping it was his best shot at Big League success.
Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942. He served in the United States Army in the European Theater during World War II and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart for his actions. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant while in the Army, and played his entire career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back as a result of the wounds he received in battle. Wilhem carried the nickname "Old Sarge" because of his service in the military.
After his release from the military, Wilhelm returned to the Moors for the 1946 season, and earned 41 wins over the 1946 and 1947 seasons. He later recalled being dropped from a Class D minor league team and having the manager tell him to forget about the knuckleball, but he persisted with it. The Boston Braves purchased Wilhelm from Mooresville in 1947, and on November 20, 1947, he was drafted by the New York Giants from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.
Wilhelm's first assignment in the Giants organization was in Class B with the 1948 Knoxville Smokies, for whom he registered 13 wins and 9 losses. He also spent a few games that season with the Class A Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League, and returned to Jacksonville in 1949, earning a 17–12 win-loss record and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA). Wilhelm was promoted to the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers in 1950, where he was the starting pitcher in 25 of the 35 games he pitched in, registering a 15–11 record with a 4.95 ERA. His role in 1951 with the Millers was the same as the year before, primarily as a starter, but also making eleven relief appearances. His ERA came down to 3.94 in 1951, but his record fell to 11–14.
Major league career
Early years
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen.
Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952, at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.
Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished 4th in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, behind rookie reliever Joe Black of the Dodgers. Jim Konstanty had won it for the Phillies in 1950, and Ellis Kinder had finished 7th in the AL voting in 1951, so it was a time when relief pitchers were starting to receive appreciation from the sportswriters. Wilhelm finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting to Joe Black. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win–loss record decreased to 7–8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954.
In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12–4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4–1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4–9 record and a 3.83 ERA in innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction."
Middle career
On February 26, 1957, Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman. At the time of the trade, St. Louis manager Fred Hutchinson described Wilhelm as the type of pitcher who "makes us a definite pennant threat ... He'll help us where we need help the most." In 40 games with the Cardinals that season, he earned 11 saves but finished with a 1–4 record and his highest ERA to that point in his career (4.25). The Cardinals placed him on waivers in September and he was claimed by the Cleveland Indians, who used him in two games that year.
In 1958, Cleveland manager Bobby Bragan used Wilhelm occasionally as a starter. Although he had a 2.49 ERA, none of the Indians' catchers could handle Wilhelm's knuckleball. General manager Frank Lane, alarmed at the large number of passed balls, allowed the Baltimore Orioles to select Wilhelm off waivers on August 23, 1958. In Baltimore, Wilhelm lived near the home of third baseman Brooks Robinson and their families became close friends. On September 20 of that year, Wilhelm no-hit the eventual World Champion New York Yankees 1–0 at Memorial Stadium, in only his ninth career start. He allowed two baserunners on walks and struck out eight. The no-hitter had been threatened at one point in the ninth inning when Hank Bauer bunted along the baseline, but Robinson allowed the ball to roll and it veered foul. The no-hitter was the first in the franchise's Baltimore history; the Orioles had moved from St. Louis after the 1953 season.
Orioles catchers had difficulty catching the Wilhelm knuckleball again in 1959 and they set an MLB record with 49 passed balls. During one April game, catcher Gus Triandos had four passed balls while catching for Wilhelm and he described the game as "the roughest day I ever put in during my life." Author Bill James has written that Wilhelm and Triandos "established the principle that a knuckleball pitcher and a big, slow catcher make an awful combination." Triandos once said, "Heaven is a place where no one throws a knuckleball."
Despite the passed balls, Wilhelm won the American League ERA title with a 2.19 ERA. During the 1960 season, Orioles manager Paul Richards devised a larger mitt so his catchers could handle the knuckleball. Richards was well equipped with starting pitchers during that year. By the middle of the season, he said that eight of his pitchers could serve as starters. Wilhelm started 11 of the 41 games in which he appeared. He earned an 11–8 record, a 3.31 ERA and seven saves. He started only one game the following year, but he was an All-Star, registered 18 saves and had a 2.30 ERA.
In 1962, Wilhelm had his fourth All-Star season, finishing with a 7–10 record, a 1.94 ERA and 15 saves. On January 14, 1963, Wilhelm was traded by the Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith. Early in that season, White Sox manager Al López said that Wilhelm had improved his pitching staff by 40 percent. He said that Wilhelm was "worth more than a 20-game winner, and he works with so little effort that he probably can last as long as Satchel Paige." He registered 21 saves and a 2.64 ERA.
In 1964, Wilhelm finished with career highs in both saves (27) and games pitched (73). His ERA decreased to 1.99 that season; it remained less than 2.00 through the 1968 season. In 1965, Wilhelm contributed to another passed balls record when Chicago catcher J. C. Martin allowed 33 of them in one season. That total set a modern single-season baseball record for the category. Wilhelm's career-low ERA (1.31) came in 1967, when he earned an 8–3 record for the White Sox with 12 saves.
In the 1968 season, Wilhelm was getting close to breaking the all-time games pitched record belonging to Cy Young (906 games). Chicago manager Eddie Stanky began to think about using Wilhelm as a starting pitcher for game number 907. However, the White Sox fired Stanky before the record came up. Wilhelm later broke the record as a relief pitcher. He also set MLB records for consecutive errorless games by a pitcher, career victories in relief, games finished and innings pitched in relief. Despite Wilhelm's success, the White Sox, who had won at least 83 games per season in the 1960s, performed poorly. They finished 1968 with a 67–95 record.
Wilhelm was noted during this period for his mentoring of relief pitcher Wilbur Wood, who came to the 1967 White Sox in a trade. Wood sometimes threw a knuckleball upon his arrival in Chicago, but Wilhelm encouraged him to throw it full-time. By 1968, Wood won 13 games, saved 16 games and earned a 1.87 ERA. He credited Wilhelm with helping him to master the knuckleball, as the White Sox coaches did not know much about how to throw it. Between 1968 and 1970, Wood pitched in more games (241) than any other pitcher and more innings――than any other relief pitcher.
After the 1968 season, MLB expanded and an expansion draft was conducted in which the new teams could select certain players from the established teams. The White Sox left Wilhelm unprotected, possibly because they did not believe that teams would have interest in a much older pitcher. On October 15, 1968, Wilhelm was chosen in the expansion draft by the Kansas City Royals as the 49th pick. That offseason, he was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.
Later career
Wilhelm pitched 44 games for the 1969 California Angels and had a 2.47 ERA, ten saves, and a 5–7 record. On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm and Bob Priddy were traded to the Atlanta Braves for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers. He finished the 1969 season by pitching in eight games for the Braves, earning four saves and recording a 0.73 ERA over innings pitched. Wilhelm then spent most of the 1970 season with the Braves, pitching in 50 games for the team and earning ten saves.
On September 21, 1970, Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs, for whom he appeared in three games. He was traded back to the Braves for Hal Breeden on November 30, 1970. As the Cubs had acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, the trade back to the Braves was a source of controversy. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn investigated the transaction, and in December ruled that he did not find evidence of impropriety associated with the transactions that sent Wilhelm to the Cubs and quickly back to the Braves.
Wilhelm was released by the Braves on June 29, 1971, having pitched in three games for that year's Braves. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 10, 1971, and appeared in nine games for the Dodgers, giving up two earned runs in innings. He also pitched in eight games that season for the team's Class AAA minor league affiliate, the Spokane Indians. Wilhelm started six of those games and registered a 3.89 ERA.
Wilhelm pitched in 16 games for the Dodgers in 1972, registering a 4.62 ERA over 25 innings. The Dodgers released him on July 21, 1972. He never appeared in another game.
At the time of his retirement, Wilhelm had pitched in a then major league record 1,070 games. He is recognized as the first pitcher to have saved 200 games in his career, and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. Wilhelm is one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.
Wilhelm retired with the lowest career earned run average of any major league hurler after 1927 (Walter Johnson) who had pitched more than 2,000 innings.
Later life
After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61–66 record, then had a 33–33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres.
Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter.
He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002.
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Wilhelm as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.
Legacy
Wilhelm was known as a "relief ace", and his teams used him in a new way that became a trend. Rather than bringing in a relief pitcher only when the starting pitcher had begun to struggle, teams increasingly called upon their relief pitchers toward the end of any close game. Wilhelm was the first relief pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He is also remembered as one of the most successful and "probably the most famous 'old' player in history." Although, due largely to his military service, Wilhelm did not debut in the major leagues until he was already 29 years old, he nonetheless managed to appear in 21 major league seasons. He earned the nickname "Old Folks" while he still had more than a decade left in his playing career. He was the oldest player in Major League Baseball for each of his final seven seasons.
Former teammate Moose Skowron commented on Wilhelm's key pitch, saying, "Hoyt was a good guy, and he threw the best knuckleball I ever saw. You never knew what Hoyt's pitch would do. I don't think he did either." Baseball executive Roland Hemond agreed, saying, "Wilhelm's knuckleball did more than anyone else's ... There was so much action on it."
Before Wilhelm, the knuckleball was primarily mixed in to older pitchers' repertoires at the end of their careers to offset their slowing fastballs and to reduce stress on their arms, thereby extending their careers. Wilhelm broke with tradition when he began throwing the pitch as a teenager and threw it nearly every pitch. The New York Times linked his knuckleball with that of modern pitcher R. A. Dickey, as Wilhelm taught pitcher Charlie Hough the knuckleball in 1971, and Hough taught it to Dickey while coaching with the Texas Rangers.
See also
List of knuckleball pitchers
List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished
List of players with a home run in first major league at-bat
Notes
References
External links
Baseball Library
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (1 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (2 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
1922 births
2002 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from North Carolina
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
Atlanta Braves players
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago White Sox players
Cleveland Indians players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Giants (NL) players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Jacksonville Tars players
Knoxville Smokies players
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Mooresville Moors players
Spokane Indians players
People from Huntersville, North Carolina
Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida
Knuckleball pitchers
United States Army soldiers
United States Army personnel of World War II
Burials in Florida
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"Billy Wilhelm (June 11, 1929 – December 24, 2010) was an American college baseball coach who was the head coach of the Clemson Tigers from 1958 to 1993. In his 36 seasons as head coach, Wilhelm had a record of 1,161–536–10. Before coming to Clemson, Wilhelm played several seasons of minor league baseball and served one season as an assistant baseball coach at North Carolina.\n\nPlaying career\nWilhelm played two seasons of college baseball at NC State, and he signed a professional contract with the St. Louis Cardinals organization in 1950, splitting that season between the Goldsboro Cardinals and the Allentown Cardinals. Wilhelm then spent two years out of baseball from 1951 to 1952, when he served in the United States Army in the Korean War.\n\nIn 1953, Wilhelm returned from military service and had his most successful minor league season. In 96 games with the Paducah Chiefs of the Class D Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League, he batted .291 and hit 14 home runs. After the 1954 season, which he split between the Columbus Cardinals and the Allentown Cardinals, Wilhelm left the Cardinals organization.\n\nWilhelm played the 1955 and 1956 seasons in the Milwaukee Braves system, advancing as high as the Double-A Atlanta Crackers. He played his final season of professional baseball in summer 1957, with the Greensboro Patriots of the Boston Red Sox organization.\n\nHe appeared in a total of 401 minor league games, hitting .212 with 21 home runs.\n\nCoaching career\nPrior to his final season of professional baseball in summer 1957, Wilhelm had served as an assistant baseball coach for the North Carolina Tar Heels in spring 1957. In September 1957, Wilhelm accepted the head coaching position at Clemson.\n\nIn his first two seasons, Wilhelm led the program to two Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) championships and its first two College World Series appearances, in 1958 and 1959. In the next 13 season (1960–1972), however, Clemson made only one NCAA Tournament appearance, in 1967.\n\nWith the start of the ACC Tournament era in 1973, Wilhelm began a stretch of 11 regular season conference championships in 13 seasons (through 1985), including seven consecutive from 1973–1979. This 13-season period included three College World Series appearances, in 1976, 1977, and 1980.\n\nFrom 1986–1993, the final eight seasons of Wilhelm's head coaching career, Clemson won three regular season conference championships (1988, 1991, 1992), three conference tournament championships (1989, 1991, and 1993), and one College World Series appearance (1991).\n\nWilhelm's teams had winning records in each of his 36 seasons, and he won a total of 17 ACC Regular Season Championships and seven ACC Tournament Championships, both ACC coaching records, as of the end of the 2012 season. He also appeared in six College World Series. He coached 27 players who went on to play Major League Baseball.\n\nHead coaching record\nThe following is a table of Wilhelm's yearly records as an NCAA head baseball coach.\n\nDeath and posthumous awards\nWilhelm died at the age of 81 on December 24, 2010, in Seneca, South Carolina. Following his death, he was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011 and the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012.\n\nSee also\nList of college baseball coaches with 1,100 wins\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\n1929 births\n2010 deaths\nBaseball catchers\nAlbany Cardinals players\nAllentown Cardinals players\nAtlanta Crackers players\nClemson Tigers baseball coaches\nColumbus Cardinals players\nGreensboro Patriots players\nJacksonville Braves players\nNC State Wolfpack baseball players\nNorth Carolina Tar Heels baseball coaches\nPaducah Chiefs players\nNational College Baseball Hall of Fame inductees\nCatawba College alumni\nUnited States Army personnel of the Korean War",
"Irvin Key \"Kaiser\" Wilhelm (January 26, 1874 – May 22, 1936) was a pitcher and manager in Major League Baseball. Between 1903 and 1914, he moved between the major and minor leagues several times. He played with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Beaneaters, Brooklyn Superbas and Baltimore Terrapins. After 1914, Wilhelm spent time as a player, manager and scout for the minor leagues. In 1921, he became the manager for the Philadelphia Phillies and pitched in four games for the team.\n\nWilhelm held the minor league baseball pitching record for consecutive scoreless innings for 97 years, but was not recognized as the record holder by baseball officials until 2004. Baseball officials declared Wilhelm the record holder a few days before Brad Thompson was thought to have broken the record. Two days after Wilhelm's streak was thought to have been broken, The New York Times reported a historian found three scoreless innings which were previously left off Wilhelm's streak, indicating his record had not actually been broken. Wilhelm is still the current record holder.\n\nEarly life\nWilhelm was born in Wooster, Ohio, to Joseph H. and Celia P. DeMiller Wilhelm. His father had found work as a painter, blacksmith and house decorator. Wilhelm attended Wooster High School; the school did not have a baseball team. He entered professional baseball in 1895 with the Mansfield Kids.\n\nCareer\nWhile pitching for the Birmingham Barons in 1902, Wilhelm threw back-to-back one-hit games. This attracted the attention of Pittsburgh Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss, who invited Wilhelm to spring training with the Pirates in 1903. Wilhelm appeared in 12 games that year for the Pirates, finishing with a 5–3 win-loss record. He played with the Boston Beaneaters in the next two seasons. In 1904, Wilhelm earned a 14–20 record and gave up a league-high 118 earned runs. The next year he gave up 122 earned runs, second highest in the league, and finished with a 3–23 record. Wilhelm became commonly known as \"Kaiser\" during his career, a nickname which originated from the early 20th century German emperor Wilhelm II.\n\nPlaying with the Barons in 1906, Wilhelm pitched the team's first perfect game since its founding in 1884. The 1906 Barons won the team's first title since joining the Southern Association in 1901. His record that year was 22–13. He had similar success the following year, finishing 23–14. Wilhelm returned to the major leagues with the Brooklyn Superbas from 1908 to 1910. His most notable game from that period may have been a three-hit, thirteen-inning win on Opening Day 1909; opposing pitcher Red Ames had a no-hitter going into the tenth inning. In his three seasons with Brooklyn, he registered a 22–42 record.\n\nWilhelm was back in the minor leagues with Rochester in 1911. In three seasons with Rochester, he won 48 games and lost 24 games. Before the 1914 baseball season, Wilhelm was signed by the Baltimore Terrapins of the Federal League (FL). In 1915, the new Colonial League emerged with backing from the FL. An agreement between the leagues provided each Colonial League team with six FL players; the FL received $200 per month for each player sent to the new league. When ordered to the new league by FL officials, Wilhelm refused to report. Instead, he was made an FL umpire.\n\nIn 1916, Wilhelm sued the Terrapins on the grounds he had signed a three-year contract in 1914 worth $10,500 and was not allowed to continue with the team after July 1, 1915. Wilhelm spent the 1916 and 1917 seasons with the Elmira Colonels of the New York State League. In those two seasons, he finished 14–19 and 17–16 respectively. Wilhelm pitched for the Jersey City Skeeters of the International League in 1920. That year he was the winning pitcher of both games of a doubleheader, leading the team to 7–3 and 10–0 wins.\n\nWilhelm became manager of the Philadelphia Phillies during the 1921 season. In early September, The New York Times criticized Wilhelm's team after losing both games of a doubleheader, saying that \"Every day is Labor Day for the Phillies... The Quakers were in perfect stride during both contests and demonstrated they can lose as easily and dexterously on a holiday as on any other occasion.\" Wilhelm had become the interim manager earlier in the season after Wild Bill Donovan was called as a witness in the trial surrounding the Black Sox Scandal. Wilhelm was discharged from his position in late 1922. Wilhelm's managerial record was 83–137 in Philadelphia, which included 96 losses in 1922.\n\nIn 1923, Wilhelm made his final professional appearance as a player, taking part in a single game with the Rochester Tribe. In the summer of 1928, Wilhelm took a position as scout for the Montreal Royals. Wilhelm died in 1936 and a benefit minor league game was held in Rochester to assist his widow.\n\nScoreless innings streak\nWhile playing in the minor leagues in 1907, Wilhelm pitched a long streak of consecutive innings without giving up a run. In May 2004, pitcher Brad Thompson was approaching the minor league record for this statistical category, by this time thought by the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (NAPBL) to belong to Urban Shocker. Shocker threw 54 consecutive scoreless innings in 1916. A May 16 Associated Press article said the NAPBL took a further look at its records and recognized Wilhelm held the record, having thrown 56 consecutive scoreless innings in 1907. On May 19, 2004, Thompson took his streak to 57 innings before he gave up a run.\n\nTwo days after Thompson was thought to have broken the record, The New York Times published an article indicating three innings had been previously left off Wilhelm's scoreless innings streak, meaning Wilhelm should still hold the record for the longest such streak in the minor leagues—59 innings. The omitted innings had been discovered by Dave Chase, who was a baseball historian and a minor league general manager for the Memphis Redbirds. Baseball researcher Ray Nemec later found Wilhelm had come up to the major leagues with his streak intact, then returned to the minor leagues in 1911 and pitched 13 more consecutive scoreless innings. This took Wilhelm's minor league consecutive scoreless innings streak to 72.\n\nAccording to research by Walter Johnson's biographer, the actual record should be 77, from Johnson's 1907 season with the Weiser Kids of the Idaho State League.\n\nSee also\nList of Major League Baseball player–managers\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1877 births\n1936 deaths\nBaltimore Terrapins players\nBaseball players from Ohio\nBirmingham Barons managers\nBirmingham Barons players\nBoston Beaneaters players\nBrooklyn Superbas players\nElmira Colonels players\nJersey City Skeeters players\nLima Kids players\nMajor League Baseball pitchers\nMajor League Baseball player-managers\nMansfield Kids players\nPeople from Wooster, Ohio\nPhiladelphia Phillies coaches\nPhiladelphia Phillies managers\nPhiladelphia Phillies players\nPittsburgh Pirates players\nRochester Bronchos players\nRochester Hustlers players\nRochester Tribe players"
] |
[
"Hoyt Wilhelm",
"Early years",
"When was Wilhelm born?",
"In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship.",
"Who were Wilhelm's parents ?",
"I don't know.",
"When did Wilhelm first start playing baseball?",
"Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues,"
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C_27501c0f3d3c4169a037abccda765e47_1
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Are there any notable teams he played for or against?
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Are there any notable teams Hoyt Wilhelm played for or against?
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Hoyt Wilhelm
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Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen. Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952 at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run. Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished in the top ten in Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, becoming the first relief pitcher to finish that high. He finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win-loss record decreased to 7-8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954. In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12-4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched 2 1/3 innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep. Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4-1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4-9 record and a 3.83 ERA in 89 1/3 innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction." CANNOTANSWER
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Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952 at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out.
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James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972. Wilhelm was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Wilhelm grew up in North Carolina, fought in World War II, and then spent several years in the minor leagues before starting his major league career at the age of 29. He was best known for his knuckleball, which enabled him to have great longevity. He appeared occasionally as a starting pitcher, but pitched mainly as a reliever. Wilhelm won 124 games in relief, which is still the major league record. He was the first pitcher to reach 200 saves, and the first to appear in 1,000 games.
Wilhelm was nearly 30 years old when he entered the major leagues, and pitched until he was nearly 50. He retired with one of the lowest career earned run averages, 2.52, in baseball history. After retiring as a player in 1972, Wilhelm held longtime coaching jobs with the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He lived in Sarasota, Florida, for many years, and died there in 2002.
Early life
Wilhelm was born in 1922, long thought to have been 1923. He was one of eleven children born to poor tenant farmers John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in Huntersville, North Carolina. He played baseball at Cornelius High School in Cornelius, North Carolina. Knowing he could not throw fast, he began experimenting with a knuckleball after reading about pitcher Dutch Leonard. He practiced honing it with a tennis ball, hoping it was his best shot at Big League success.
Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942. He served in the United States Army in the European Theater during World War II and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart for his actions. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant while in the Army, and played his entire career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back as a result of the wounds he received in battle. Wilhem carried the nickname "Old Sarge" because of his service in the military.
After his release from the military, Wilhelm returned to the Moors for the 1946 season, and earned 41 wins over the 1946 and 1947 seasons. He later recalled being dropped from a Class D minor league team and having the manager tell him to forget about the knuckleball, but he persisted with it. The Boston Braves purchased Wilhelm from Mooresville in 1947, and on November 20, 1947, he was drafted by the New York Giants from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.
Wilhelm's first assignment in the Giants organization was in Class B with the 1948 Knoxville Smokies, for whom he registered 13 wins and 9 losses. He also spent a few games that season with the Class A Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League, and returned to Jacksonville in 1949, earning a 17–12 win-loss record and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA). Wilhelm was promoted to the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers in 1950, where he was the starting pitcher in 25 of the 35 games he pitched in, registering a 15–11 record with a 4.95 ERA. His role in 1951 with the Millers was the same as the year before, primarily as a starter, but also making eleven relief appearances. His ERA came down to 3.94 in 1951, but his record fell to 11–14.
Major league career
Early years
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen.
Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952, at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.
Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished 4th in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, behind rookie reliever Joe Black of the Dodgers. Jim Konstanty had won it for the Phillies in 1950, and Ellis Kinder had finished 7th in the AL voting in 1951, so it was a time when relief pitchers were starting to receive appreciation from the sportswriters. Wilhelm finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting to Joe Black. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win–loss record decreased to 7–8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954.
In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12–4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4–1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4–9 record and a 3.83 ERA in innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction."
Middle career
On February 26, 1957, Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman. At the time of the trade, St. Louis manager Fred Hutchinson described Wilhelm as the type of pitcher who "makes us a definite pennant threat ... He'll help us where we need help the most." In 40 games with the Cardinals that season, he earned 11 saves but finished with a 1–4 record and his highest ERA to that point in his career (4.25). The Cardinals placed him on waivers in September and he was claimed by the Cleveland Indians, who used him in two games that year.
In 1958, Cleveland manager Bobby Bragan used Wilhelm occasionally as a starter. Although he had a 2.49 ERA, none of the Indians' catchers could handle Wilhelm's knuckleball. General manager Frank Lane, alarmed at the large number of passed balls, allowed the Baltimore Orioles to select Wilhelm off waivers on August 23, 1958. In Baltimore, Wilhelm lived near the home of third baseman Brooks Robinson and their families became close friends. On September 20 of that year, Wilhelm no-hit the eventual World Champion New York Yankees 1–0 at Memorial Stadium, in only his ninth career start. He allowed two baserunners on walks and struck out eight. The no-hitter had been threatened at one point in the ninth inning when Hank Bauer bunted along the baseline, but Robinson allowed the ball to roll and it veered foul. The no-hitter was the first in the franchise's Baltimore history; the Orioles had moved from St. Louis after the 1953 season.
Orioles catchers had difficulty catching the Wilhelm knuckleball again in 1959 and they set an MLB record with 49 passed balls. During one April game, catcher Gus Triandos had four passed balls while catching for Wilhelm and he described the game as "the roughest day I ever put in during my life." Author Bill James has written that Wilhelm and Triandos "established the principle that a knuckleball pitcher and a big, slow catcher make an awful combination." Triandos once said, "Heaven is a place where no one throws a knuckleball."
Despite the passed balls, Wilhelm won the American League ERA title with a 2.19 ERA. During the 1960 season, Orioles manager Paul Richards devised a larger mitt so his catchers could handle the knuckleball. Richards was well equipped with starting pitchers during that year. By the middle of the season, he said that eight of his pitchers could serve as starters. Wilhelm started 11 of the 41 games in which he appeared. He earned an 11–8 record, a 3.31 ERA and seven saves. He started only one game the following year, but he was an All-Star, registered 18 saves and had a 2.30 ERA.
In 1962, Wilhelm had his fourth All-Star season, finishing with a 7–10 record, a 1.94 ERA and 15 saves. On January 14, 1963, Wilhelm was traded by the Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith. Early in that season, White Sox manager Al López said that Wilhelm had improved his pitching staff by 40 percent. He said that Wilhelm was "worth more than a 20-game winner, and he works with so little effort that he probably can last as long as Satchel Paige." He registered 21 saves and a 2.64 ERA.
In 1964, Wilhelm finished with career highs in both saves (27) and games pitched (73). His ERA decreased to 1.99 that season; it remained less than 2.00 through the 1968 season. In 1965, Wilhelm contributed to another passed balls record when Chicago catcher J. C. Martin allowed 33 of them in one season. That total set a modern single-season baseball record for the category. Wilhelm's career-low ERA (1.31) came in 1967, when he earned an 8–3 record for the White Sox with 12 saves.
In the 1968 season, Wilhelm was getting close to breaking the all-time games pitched record belonging to Cy Young (906 games). Chicago manager Eddie Stanky began to think about using Wilhelm as a starting pitcher for game number 907. However, the White Sox fired Stanky before the record came up. Wilhelm later broke the record as a relief pitcher. He also set MLB records for consecutive errorless games by a pitcher, career victories in relief, games finished and innings pitched in relief. Despite Wilhelm's success, the White Sox, who had won at least 83 games per season in the 1960s, performed poorly. They finished 1968 with a 67–95 record.
Wilhelm was noted during this period for his mentoring of relief pitcher Wilbur Wood, who came to the 1967 White Sox in a trade. Wood sometimes threw a knuckleball upon his arrival in Chicago, but Wilhelm encouraged him to throw it full-time. By 1968, Wood won 13 games, saved 16 games and earned a 1.87 ERA. He credited Wilhelm with helping him to master the knuckleball, as the White Sox coaches did not know much about how to throw it. Between 1968 and 1970, Wood pitched in more games (241) than any other pitcher and more innings――than any other relief pitcher.
After the 1968 season, MLB expanded and an expansion draft was conducted in which the new teams could select certain players from the established teams. The White Sox left Wilhelm unprotected, possibly because they did not believe that teams would have interest in a much older pitcher. On October 15, 1968, Wilhelm was chosen in the expansion draft by the Kansas City Royals as the 49th pick. That offseason, he was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.
Later career
Wilhelm pitched 44 games for the 1969 California Angels and had a 2.47 ERA, ten saves, and a 5–7 record. On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm and Bob Priddy were traded to the Atlanta Braves for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers. He finished the 1969 season by pitching in eight games for the Braves, earning four saves and recording a 0.73 ERA over innings pitched. Wilhelm then spent most of the 1970 season with the Braves, pitching in 50 games for the team and earning ten saves.
On September 21, 1970, Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs, for whom he appeared in three games. He was traded back to the Braves for Hal Breeden on November 30, 1970. As the Cubs had acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, the trade back to the Braves was a source of controversy. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn investigated the transaction, and in December ruled that he did not find evidence of impropriety associated with the transactions that sent Wilhelm to the Cubs and quickly back to the Braves.
Wilhelm was released by the Braves on June 29, 1971, having pitched in three games for that year's Braves. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 10, 1971, and appeared in nine games for the Dodgers, giving up two earned runs in innings. He also pitched in eight games that season for the team's Class AAA minor league affiliate, the Spokane Indians. Wilhelm started six of those games and registered a 3.89 ERA.
Wilhelm pitched in 16 games for the Dodgers in 1972, registering a 4.62 ERA over 25 innings. The Dodgers released him on July 21, 1972. He never appeared in another game.
At the time of his retirement, Wilhelm had pitched in a then major league record 1,070 games. He is recognized as the first pitcher to have saved 200 games in his career, and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. Wilhelm is one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.
Wilhelm retired with the lowest career earned run average of any major league hurler after 1927 (Walter Johnson) who had pitched more than 2,000 innings.
Later life
After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61–66 record, then had a 33–33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres.
Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter.
He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002.
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Wilhelm as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.
Legacy
Wilhelm was known as a "relief ace", and his teams used him in a new way that became a trend. Rather than bringing in a relief pitcher only when the starting pitcher had begun to struggle, teams increasingly called upon their relief pitchers toward the end of any close game. Wilhelm was the first relief pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He is also remembered as one of the most successful and "probably the most famous 'old' player in history." Although, due largely to his military service, Wilhelm did not debut in the major leagues until he was already 29 years old, he nonetheless managed to appear in 21 major league seasons. He earned the nickname "Old Folks" while he still had more than a decade left in his playing career. He was the oldest player in Major League Baseball for each of his final seven seasons.
Former teammate Moose Skowron commented on Wilhelm's key pitch, saying, "Hoyt was a good guy, and he threw the best knuckleball I ever saw. You never knew what Hoyt's pitch would do. I don't think he did either." Baseball executive Roland Hemond agreed, saying, "Wilhelm's knuckleball did more than anyone else's ... There was so much action on it."
Before Wilhelm, the knuckleball was primarily mixed in to older pitchers' repertoires at the end of their careers to offset their slowing fastballs and to reduce stress on their arms, thereby extending their careers. Wilhelm broke with tradition when he began throwing the pitch as a teenager and threw it nearly every pitch. The New York Times linked his knuckleball with that of modern pitcher R. A. Dickey, as Wilhelm taught pitcher Charlie Hough the knuckleball in 1971, and Hough taught it to Dickey while coaching with the Texas Rangers.
See also
List of knuckleball pitchers
List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished
List of players with a home run in first major league at-bat
Notes
References
External links
Baseball Library
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (1 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (2 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
1922 births
2002 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from North Carolina
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
Atlanta Braves players
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago White Sox players
Cleveland Indians players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Giants (NL) players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Jacksonville Tars players
Knoxville Smokies players
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Mooresville Moors players
Spokane Indians players
People from Huntersville, North Carolina
Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida
Knuckleball pitchers
United States Army soldiers
United States Army personnel of World War II
Burials in Florida
| false |
[
"The 1.Regionalliga is the fourth-tier level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 54 teams, separated into a 4-divisional structure wherein each regional structure consist of at least 14 teams. At the end of the league stage, the winning team of the playoffs in each division would be eligible to be promoted to play for the ProB, and the teams positioned in 9th place and lower, fight in the play-downs, for the whereabouts in the league. The last two placed teams of both divisions are relegated to the lower level.\n\nCurrent teams (2021-22)\nNorth\n\nNotable Players\nTo appear in this section a player must have played at least one season for the club OR either:\n- Set a club or team record or won an individual award as a professional player.\n- Played at least one official international match for his senior national team at any time. \n- Played at least one game for the NBA or any other professional leagues in various continents. \n C. J. Carr\n Tyrell Sturdivant\n\nNotable Coaches \n Johannes Strasser\n\nReferences \n\nBasketball leagues in Germany\nGermany\nProfessional sports leagues in Germany",
"This is a list of seasons and results completed by HC Slovan Bratislava since its foundation.\n\nLeague results\n\n1920s\n\n1930s\n\n1940s\n\n1950s\n\n1960s\n\n1970s\n\n1980s\n\n1990s\n\n2000s\n\n2010s\n\n2020s\n\nNotes\n Until 1985–1986 season no Play-offs were played\n In 1996–1997 season the 6 best teams qualified for final round, in which each team played two games against all other teams. After the final round, 4 best teams qualified for play-offs, the other two teams played two games for 5th place.\n In 1999–00 season only 8 teams participated in the league and only four teams played in the Play-off.\n Since 2001–02 season the Play-off matches are played in best-of-seven format. Before this year, Slovak extraliga matches were played in best-of-five format.\n Since 2006–07 season there are no ties in Slovak Extraliga. If the match is undecided after 60 minutes, a 5-min overtime follows. If it is still a draw, a penalty shootout decides the winner of the match. The winner of the match in regulation time gets 3 points, the loser gets 0 points. The winner after overtime (or shootout) gets 2 points, the loser gets 1 point.\n\nOther notable results\n\nSee also\nHC Slovan Bratislava all-time KHL record\n\nReferences\n\nHC Slovan Bratislava"
] |
[
"Hoyt Wilhelm",
"Early years",
"When was Wilhelm born?",
"In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship.",
"Who were Wilhelm's parents ?",
"I don't know.",
"When did Wilhelm first start playing baseball?",
"Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues,",
"Are there any notable teams he played for or against?",
"Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952 at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out."
] |
C_27501c0f3d3c4169a037abccda765e47_1
|
What were some of his wins?
| 5 |
What were some of Hoyt Wilhelm's wins?
|
Hoyt Wilhelm
|
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen. Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952 at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run. Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished in the top ten in Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, becoming the first relief pitcher to finish that high. He finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win-loss record decreased to 7-8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954. In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12-4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched 2 1/3 innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep. Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4-1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4-9 record and a 3.83 ERA in 89 1/3 innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction." CANNOTANSWER
|
Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three.
|
James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972. Wilhelm was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Wilhelm grew up in North Carolina, fought in World War II, and then spent several years in the minor leagues before starting his major league career at the age of 29. He was best known for his knuckleball, which enabled him to have great longevity. He appeared occasionally as a starting pitcher, but pitched mainly as a reliever. Wilhelm won 124 games in relief, which is still the major league record. He was the first pitcher to reach 200 saves, and the first to appear in 1,000 games.
Wilhelm was nearly 30 years old when he entered the major leagues, and pitched until he was nearly 50. He retired with one of the lowest career earned run averages, 2.52, in baseball history. After retiring as a player in 1972, Wilhelm held longtime coaching jobs with the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He lived in Sarasota, Florida, for many years, and died there in 2002.
Early life
Wilhelm was born in 1922, long thought to have been 1923. He was one of eleven children born to poor tenant farmers John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in Huntersville, North Carolina. He played baseball at Cornelius High School in Cornelius, North Carolina. Knowing he could not throw fast, he began experimenting with a knuckleball after reading about pitcher Dutch Leonard. He practiced honing it with a tennis ball, hoping it was his best shot at Big League success.
Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942. He served in the United States Army in the European Theater during World War II and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart for his actions. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant while in the Army, and played his entire career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back as a result of the wounds he received in battle. Wilhem carried the nickname "Old Sarge" because of his service in the military.
After his release from the military, Wilhelm returned to the Moors for the 1946 season, and earned 41 wins over the 1946 and 1947 seasons. He later recalled being dropped from a Class D minor league team and having the manager tell him to forget about the knuckleball, but he persisted with it. The Boston Braves purchased Wilhelm from Mooresville in 1947, and on November 20, 1947, he was drafted by the New York Giants from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.
Wilhelm's first assignment in the Giants organization was in Class B with the 1948 Knoxville Smokies, for whom he registered 13 wins and 9 losses. He also spent a few games that season with the Class A Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League, and returned to Jacksonville in 1949, earning a 17–12 win-loss record and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA). Wilhelm was promoted to the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers in 1950, where he was the starting pitcher in 25 of the 35 games he pitched in, registering a 15–11 record with a 4.95 ERA. His role in 1951 with the Millers was the same as the year before, primarily as a starter, but also making eleven relief appearances. His ERA came down to 3.94 in 1951, but his record fell to 11–14.
Major league career
Early years
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen.
Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952, at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.
Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished 4th in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, behind rookie reliever Joe Black of the Dodgers. Jim Konstanty had won it for the Phillies in 1950, and Ellis Kinder had finished 7th in the AL voting in 1951, so it was a time when relief pitchers were starting to receive appreciation from the sportswriters. Wilhelm finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting to Joe Black. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win–loss record decreased to 7–8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954.
In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12–4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4–1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4–9 record and a 3.83 ERA in innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction."
Middle career
On February 26, 1957, Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman. At the time of the trade, St. Louis manager Fred Hutchinson described Wilhelm as the type of pitcher who "makes us a definite pennant threat ... He'll help us where we need help the most." In 40 games with the Cardinals that season, he earned 11 saves but finished with a 1–4 record and his highest ERA to that point in his career (4.25). The Cardinals placed him on waivers in September and he was claimed by the Cleveland Indians, who used him in two games that year.
In 1958, Cleveland manager Bobby Bragan used Wilhelm occasionally as a starter. Although he had a 2.49 ERA, none of the Indians' catchers could handle Wilhelm's knuckleball. General manager Frank Lane, alarmed at the large number of passed balls, allowed the Baltimore Orioles to select Wilhelm off waivers on August 23, 1958. In Baltimore, Wilhelm lived near the home of third baseman Brooks Robinson and their families became close friends. On September 20 of that year, Wilhelm no-hit the eventual World Champion New York Yankees 1–0 at Memorial Stadium, in only his ninth career start. He allowed two baserunners on walks and struck out eight. The no-hitter had been threatened at one point in the ninth inning when Hank Bauer bunted along the baseline, but Robinson allowed the ball to roll and it veered foul. The no-hitter was the first in the franchise's Baltimore history; the Orioles had moved from St. Louis after the 1953 season.
Orioles catchers had difficulty catching the Wilhelm knuckleball again in 1959 and they set an MLB record with 49 passed balls. During one April game, catcher Gus Triandos had four passed balls while catching for Wilhelm and he described the game as "the roughest day I ever put in during my life." Author Bill James has written that Wilhelm and Triandos "established the principle that a knuckleball pitcher and a big, slow catcher make an awful combination." Triandos once said, "Heaven is a place where no one throws a knuckleball."
Despite the passed balls, Wilhelm won the American League ERA title with a 2.19 ERA. During the 1960 season, Orioles manager Paul Richards devised a larger mitt so his catchers could handle the knuckleball. Richards was well equipped with starting pitchers during that year. By the middle of the season, he said that eight of his pitchers could serve as starters. Wilhelm started 11 of the 41 games in which he appeared. He earned an 11–8 record, a 3.31 ERA and seven saves. He started only one game the following year, but he was an All-Star, registered 18 saves and had a 2.30 ERA.
In 1962, Wilhelm had his fourth All-Star season, finishing with a 7–10 record, a 1.94 ERA and 15 saves. On January 14, 1963, Wilhelm was traded by the Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith. Early in that season, White Sox manager Al López said that Wilhelm had improved his pitching staff by 40 percent. He said that Wilhelm was "worth more than a 20-game winner, and he works with so little effort that he probably can last as long as Satchel Paige." He registered 21 saves and a 2.64 ERA.
In 1964, Wilhelm finished with career highs in both saves (27) and games pitched (73). His ERA decreased to 1.99 that season; it remained less than 2.00 through the 1968 season. In 1965, Wilhelm contributed to another passed balls record when Chicago catcher J. C. Martin allowed 33 of them in one season. That total set a modern single-season baseball record for the category. Wilhelm's career-low ERA (1.31) came in 1967, when he earned an 8–3 record for the White Sox with 12 saves.
In the 1968 season, Wilhelm was getting close to breaking the all-time games pitched record belonging to Cy Young (906 games). Chicago manager Eddie Stanky began to think about using Wilhelm as a starting pitcher for game number 907. However, the White Sox fired Stanky before the record came up. Wilhelm later broke the record as a relief pitcher. He also set MLB records for consecutive errorless games by a pitcher, career victories in relief, games finished and innings pitched in relief. Despite Wilhelm's success, the White Sox, who had won at least 83 games per season in the 1960s, performed poorly. They finished 1968 with a 67–95 record.
Wilhelm was noted during this period for his mentoring of relief pitcher Wilbur Wood, who came to the 1967 White Sox in a trade. Wood sometimes threw a knuckleball upon his arrival in Chicago, but Wilhelm encouraged him to throw it full-time. By 1968, Wood won 13 games, saved 16 games and earned a 1.87 ERA. He credited Wilhelm with helping him to master the knuckleball, as the White Sox coaches did not know much about how to throw it. Between 1968 and 1970, Wood pitched in more games (241) than any other pitcher and more innings――than any other relief pitcher.
After the 1968 season, MLB expanded and an expansion draft was conducted in which the new teams could select certain players from the established teams. The White Sox left Wilhelm unprotected, possibly because they did not believe that teams would have interest in a much older pitcher. On October 15, 1968, Wilhelm was chosen in the expansion draft by the Kansas City Royals as the 49th pick. That offseason, he was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.
Later career
Wilhelm pitched 44 games for the 1969 California Angels and had a 2.47 ERA, ten saves, and a 5–7 record. On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm and Bob Priddy were traded to the Atlanta Braves for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers. He finished the 1969 season by pitching in eight games for the Braves, earning four saves and recording a 0.73 ERA over innings pitched. Wilhelm then spent most of the 1970 season with the Braves, pitching in 50 games for the team and earning ten saves.
On September 21, 1970, Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs, for whom he appeared in three games. He was traded back to the Braves for Hal Breeden on November 30, 1970. As the Cubs had acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, the trade back to the Braves was a source of controversy. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn investigated the transaction, and in December ruled that he did not find evidence of impropriety associated with the transactions that sent Wilhelm to the Cubs and quickly back to the Braves.
Wilhelm was released by the Braves on June 29, 1971, having pitched in three games for that year's Braves. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 10, 1971, and appeared in nine games for the Dodgers, giving up two earned runs in innings. He also pitched in eight games that season for the team's Class AAA minor league affiliate, the Spokane Indians. Wilhelm started six of those games and registered a 3.89 ERA.
Wilhelm pitched in 16 games for the Dodgers in 1972, registering a 4.62 ERA over 25 innings. The Dodgers released him on July 21, 1972. He never appeared in another game.
At the time of his retirement, Wilhelm had pitched in a then major league record 1,070 games. He is recognized as the first pitcher to have saved 200 games in his career, and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. Wilhelm is one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.
Wilhelm retired with the lowest career earned run average of any major league hurler after 1927 (Walter Johnson) who had pitched more than 2,000 innings.
Later life
After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61–66 record, then had a 33–33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres.
Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter.
He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002.
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Wilhelm as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.
Legacy
Wilhelm was known as a "relief ace", and his teams used him in a new way that became a trend. Rather than bringing in a relief pitcher only when the starting pitcher had begun to struggle, teams increasingly called upon their relief pitchers toward the end of any close game. Wilhelm was the first relief pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He is also remembered as one of the most successful and "probably the most famous 'old' player in history." Although, due largely to his military service, Wilhelm did not debut in the major leagues until he was already 29 years old, he nonetheless managed to appear in 21 major league seasons. He earned the nickname "Old Folks" while he still had more than a decade left in his playing career. He was the oldest player in Major League Baseball for each of his final seven seasons.
Former teammate Moose Skowron commented on Wilhelm's key pitch, saying, "Hoyt was a good guy, and he threw the best knuckleball I ever saw. You never knew what Hoyt's pitch would do. I don't think he did either." Baseball executive Roland Hemond agreed, saying, "Wilhelm's knuckleball did more than anyone else's ... There was so much action on it."
Before Wilhelm, the knuckleball was primarily mixed in to older pitchers' repertoires at the end of their careers to offset their slowing fastballs and to reduce stress on their arms, thereby extending their careers. Wilhelm broke with tradition when he began throwing the pitch as a teenager and threw it nearly every pitch. The New York Times linked his knuckleball with that of modern pitcher R. A. Dickey, as Wilhelm taught pitcher Charlie Hough the knuckleball in 1971, and Hough taught it to Dickey while coaching with the Texas Rangers.
See also
List of knuckleball pitchers
List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished
List of players with a home run in first major league at-bat
Notes
References
External links
Baseball Library
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (1 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (2 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
1922 births
2002 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from North Carolina
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
Atlanta Braves players
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago White Sox players
Cleveland Indians players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Giants (NL) players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Jacksonville Tars players
Knoxville Smokies players
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Mooresville Moors players
Spokane Indians players
People from Huntersville, North Carolina
Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida
Knuckleball pitchers
United States Army soldiers
United States Army personnel of World War II
Burials in Florida
| true |
[
"The Miss Budweiser were 22 hydroplanes sponsored by Budweiser beer that raced in the unlimited class under the U-12 banner. They were owned (some were leased backups) by Bernie Little. Anheuser-Busch sponsorship began in 1963, thanks to the friendship of Little and A-B president August Busch III. \n\nAfter Little's death in April 2003, his youngest son Joe ran the operation for the two final seasons. Following the 2004 season, changes in Anheuser-Busch leadership resulted in the end of their 42 successful years of sponsorship.\n\nNotable drivers\nBob Schroeder 1963\nChuck Hickling 1964–1965\nBill Brow 1966–1967; 1 win\nMike Thomas 1967; 1 win\nBill Sterett 1968–1969; 5 wins\nDean Chenoweth 1970–1972, 1973, 1979–1982; 23 wins\nTerry Sterett 1972\nHowie Benns 1974; 3 wins\nMickey Remund 1975–1977; 6 wins\nRon Snyder 1978; 1 win\nJim Kropfeld 1983–1989; 22 wins\nTom D'Eath 1988–1991; 13 wins\nScott Pierce 1991; 4 wins\nChip Hanauer 1992–1995; 22 wins\nMike Hanson 1994; 1 win\nN. Mark Evans 1994–1995\nMark Weber 1997; 1 win\nDave Villwock 1997–2004; 30 wins\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nBernie Little Companies – King of Boats\n\nRacing motorboats\nH1 Unlimited\nHydroplanes\nAnheuser-Busch\nAnheuser-Busch advertising",
"This is a list of golfers who have won eight or more events on the European Tour since it was established in 1972. There are some complications in preparing such a list, and different publications have produced different numbers. This list is based on what the European Tour reports the victories being according to their own player guide (through the 2009 season).\n\nThe number of wins a player can accumulate on the European Tour depends in part on how many years he devotes to the tour. There have always been some leading European players or European Tour members from outside Europe who have gone on to play part or full-time on the U.S.-based PGA Tour and cut back their commitments in Europe, and this seems to be an increasing trend.\n\nMany of the players on the list have won many events on other tours and unofficial events. The numbers in the \"Majors\" column are the total number of major championships the player won in his career whether or not he was a member of the European Tour at the time.\n\nPlayers under 50 years of age are shown in bold. At age 50, golfers become eligible for the major senior tours, most notably the European Senior Tour and the U.S.-based PGA Tour Champions, competing for substantial prize money against other golfers in that age group. Only Miguel Ángel Jiménez and Phil Mickelson have ever won a European Tour event after turning 50, and only three golfers of that age have won on the PGA Tour since 1975.\n\nPlayers with the same number of wins are listed alphabetically. This list is up to date through 3 October 2021.\n\nH signifies members of the World Golf Hall of Fame.\n\nDetailed criteria\nOnly European Tour sanctioned events are counted. As all elite golfers enter the four major championships and the four (three before 2009) individual World Golf Championships each season it is possible for a player to accumulate eight wins in European Tour sanctioned events without ever joining the European Tour, and Tiger Woods (who has never joined the European Tour) reached that mark in the 2000 Open Championship.\nThe three U.S.-based majors were not designated as European Tour events until 1997, so victories in them before that date were initially excluded. This is in contrast to the list of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, which includes Open Championship wins before that tournament became an official money event in 1995, because they were retrospectively designated as PGA Tour wins in 2002. Sometime prior to 2009, the European Tour made such a retrospective designation with respect to the three U.S. majors, as reflected in their 2009 media guide.\nWins in the Wentworth World Match Play Championship before 2003 are not included.\nThe win lists in the player profiles on the European Tour's official site include some miscellaneous items which are not regular individual tour wins and are therefore excluded: wins in 18 hole pro-ams associated with European Tour events; wins in the Volvo Bonus Pool; team wins in the Seve Trophy; wins on the Challenge Tour and the European Senior Tour.\n\nThere are additional players who won eight or more tournaments on the pre-tour European circuit and the European Tour in the period straddling 1972 who are not included on the list.\n\nSee also\nList of golfers with most PGA Tour wins\n\nReferences\n\nEuropean\nEuropean Tour\n \nEuropean Tour"
] |
[
"Hoyt Wilhelm",
"Early years",
"When was Wilhelm born?",
"In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship.",
"Who were Wilhelm's parents ?",
"I don't know.",
"When did Wilhelm first start playing baseball?",
"Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues,",
"Are there any notable teams he played for or against?",
"Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952 at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out.",
"What were some of his wins?",
"Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three."
] |
C_27501c0f3d3c4169a037abccda765e47_1
|
Did he win any other games ?
| 6 |
Did Hoyt Wilhelm win any other games besides the 15 games won in his rookie year?
|
Hoyt Wilhelm
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Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen. Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952 at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run. Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished in the top ten in Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, becoming the first relief pitcher to finish that high. He finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win-loss record decreased to 7-8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954. In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12-4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched 2 1/3 innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep. Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4-1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4-9 record and a 3.83 ERA in 89 1/3 innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction." CANNOTANSWER
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Wilhelm finished in the top ten in Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, becoming the first relief pitcher to finish that high.
|
James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972. Wilhelm was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Wilhelm grew up in North Carolina, fought in World War II, and then spent several years in the minor leagues before starting his major league career at the age of 29. He was best known for his knuckleball, which enabled him to have great longevity. He appeared occasionally as a starting pitcher, but pitched mainly as a reliever. Wilhelm won 124 games in relief, which is still the major league record. He was the first pitcher to reach 200 saves, and the first to appear in 1,000 games.
Wilhelm was nearly 30 years old when he entered the major leagues, and pitched until he was nearly 50. He retired with one of the lowest career earned run averages, 2.52, in baseball history. After retiring as a player in 1972, Wilhelm held longtime coaching jobs with the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He lived in Sarasota, Florida, for many years, and died there in 2002.
Early life
Wilhelm was born in 1922, long thought to have been 1923. He was one of eleven children born to poor tenant farmers John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in Huntersville, North Carolina. He played baseball at Cornelius High School in Cornelius, North Carolina. Knowing he could not throw fast, he began experimenting with a knuckleball after reading about pitcher Dutch Leonard. He practiced honing it with a tennis ball, hoping it was his best shot at Big League success.
Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942. He served in the United States Army in the European Theater during World War II and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart for his actions. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant while in the Army, and played his entire career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back as a result of the wounds he received in battle. Wilhem carried the nickname "Old Sarge" because of his service in the military.
After his release from the military, Wilhelm returned to the Moors for the 1946 season, and earned 41 wins over the 1946 and 1947 seasons. He later recalled being dropped from a Class D minor league team and having the manager tell him to forget about the knuckleball, but he persisted with it. The Boston Braves purchased Wilhelm from Mooresville in 1947, and on November 20, 1947, he was drafted by the New York Giants from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.
Wilhelm's first assignment in the Giants organization was in Class B with the 1948 Knoxville Smokies, for whom he registered 13 wins and 9 losses. He also spent a few games that season with the Class A Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League, and returned to Jacksonville in 1949, earning a 17–12 win-loss record and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA). Wilhelm was promoted to the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers in 1950, where he was the starting pitcher in 25 of the 35 games he pitched in, registering a 15–11 record with a 4.95 ERA. His role in 1951 with the Millers was the same as the year before, primarily as a starter, but also making eleven relief appearances. His ERA came down to 3.94 in 1951, but his record fell to 11–14.
Major league career
Early years
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen.
Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952, at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.
Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished 4th in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, behind rookie reliever Joe Black of the Dodgers. Jim Konstanty had won it for the Phillies in 1950, and Ellis Kinder had finished 7th in the AL voting in 1951, so it was a time when relief pitchers were starting to receive appreciation from the sportswriters. Wilhelm finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting to Joe Black. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win–loss record decreased to 7–8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954.
In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12–4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4–1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4–9 record and a 3.83 ERA in innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction."
Middle career
On February 26, 1957, Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman. At the time of the trade, St. Louis manager Fred Hutchinson described Wilhelm as the type of pitcher who "makes us a definite pennant threat ... He'll help us where we need help the most." In 40 games with the Cardinals that season, he earned 11 saves but finished with a 1–4 record and his highest ERA to that point in his career (4.25). The Cardinals placed him on waivers in September and he was claimed by the Cleveland Indians, who used him in two games that year.
In 1958, Cleveland manager Bobby Bragan used Wilhelm occasionally as a starter. Although he had a 2.49 ERA, none of the Indians' catchers could handle Wilhelm's knuckleball. General manager Frank Lane, alarmed at the large number of passed balls, allowed the Baltimore Orioles to select Wilhelm off waivers on August 23, 1958. In Baltimore, Wilhelm lived near the home of third baseman Brooks Robinson and their families became close friends. On September 20 of that year, Wilhelm no-hit the eventual World Champion New York Yankees 1–0 at Memorial Stadium, in only his ninth career start. He allowed two baserunners on walks and struck out eight. The no-hitter had been threatened at one point in the ninth inning when Hank Bauer bunted along the baseline, but Robinson allowed the ball to roll and it veered foul. The no-hitter was the first in the franchise's Baltimore history; the Orioles had moved from St. Louis after the 1953 season.
Orioles catchers had difficulty catching the Wilhelm knuckleball again in 1959 and they set an MLB record with 49 passed balls. During one April game, catcher Gus Triandos had four passed balls while catching for Wilhelm and he described the game as "the roughest day I ever put in during my life." Author Bill James has written that Wilhelm and Triandos "established the principle that a knuckleball pitcher and a big, slow catcher make an awful combination." Triandos once said, "Heaven is a place where no one throws a knuckleball."
Despite the passed balls, Wilhelm won the American League ERA title with a 2.19 ERA. During the 1960 season, Orioles manager Paul Richards devised a larger mitt so his catchers could handle the knuckleball. Richards was well equipped with starting pitchers during that year. By the middle of the season, he said that eight of his pitchers could serve as starters. Wilhelm started 11 of the 41 games in which he appeared. He earned an 11–8 record, a 3.31 ERA and seven saves. He started only one game the following year, but he was an All-Star, registered 18 saves and had a 2.30 ERA.
In 1962, Wilhelm had his fourth All-Star season, finishing with a 7–10 record, a 1.94 ERA and 15 saves. On January 14, 1963, Wilhelm was traded by the Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith. Early in that season, White Sox manager Al López said that Wilhelm had improved his pitching staff by 40 percent. He said that Wilhelm was "worth more than a 20-game winner, and he works with so little effort that he probably can last as long as Satchel Paige." He registered 21 saves and a 2.64 ERA.
In 1964, Wilhelm finished with career highs in both saves (27) and games pitched (73). His ERA decreased to 1.99 that season; it remained less than 2.00 through the 1968 season. In 1965, Wilhelm contributed to another passed balls record when Chicago catcher J. C. Martin allowed 33 of them in one season. That total set a modern single-season baseball record for the category. Wilhelm's career-low ERA (1.31) came in 1967, when he earned an 8–3 record for the White Sox with 12 saves.
In the 1968 season, Wilhelm was getting close to breaking the all-time games pitched record belonging to Cy Young (906 games). Chicago manager Eddie Stanky began to think about using Wilhelm as a starting pitcher for game number 907. However, the White Sox fired Stanky before the record came up. Wilhelm later broke the record as a relief pitcher. He also set MLB records for consecutive errorless games by a pitcher, career victories in relief, games finished and innings pitched in relief. Despite Wilhelm's success, the White Sox, who had won at least 83 games per season in the 1960s, performed poorly. They finished 1968 with a 67–95 record.
Wilhelm was noted during this period for his mentoring of relief pitcher Wilbur Wood, who came to the 1967 White Sox in a trade. Wood sometimes threw a knuckleball upon his arrival in Chicago, but Wilhelm encouraged him to throw it full-time. By 1968, Wood won 13 games, saved 16 games and earned a 1.87 ERA. He credited Wilhelm with helping him to master the knuckleball, as the White Sox coaches did not know much about how to throw it. Between 1968 and 1970, Wood pitched in more games (241) than any other pitcher and more innings――than any other relief pitcher.
After the 1968 season, MLB expanded and an expansion draft was conducted in which the new teams could select certain players from the established teams. The White Sox left Wilhelm unprotected, possibly because they did not believe that teams would have interest in a much older pitcher. On October 15, 1968, Wilhelm was chosen in the expansion draft by the Kansas City Royals as the 49th pick. That offseason, he was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.
Later career
Wilhelm pitched 44 games for the 1969 California Angels and had a 2.47 ERA, ten saves, and a 5–7 record. On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm and Bob Priddy were traded to the Atlanta Braves for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers. He finished the 1969 season by pitching in eight games for the Braves, earning four saves and recording a 0.73 ERA over innings pitched. Wilhelm then spent most of the 1970 season with the Braves, pitching in 50 games for the team and earning ten saves.
On September 21, 1970, Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs, for whom he appeared in three games. He was traded back to the Braves for Hal Breeden on November 30, 1970. As the Cubs had acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, the trade back to the Braves was a source of controversy. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn investigated the transaction, and in December ruled that he did not find evidence of impropriety associated with the transactions that sent Wilhelm to the Cubs and quickly back to the Braves.
Wilhelm was released by the Braves on June 29, 1971, having pitched in three games for that year's Braves. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 10, 1971, and appeared in nine games for the Dodgers, giving up two earned runs in innings. He also pitched in eight games that season for the team's Class AAA minor league affiliate, the Spokane Indians. Wilhelm started six of those games and registered a 3.89 ERA.
Wilhelm pitched in 16 games for the Dodgers in 1972, registering a 4.62 ERA over 25 innings. The Dodgers released him on July 21, 1972. He never appeared in another game.
At the time of his retirement, Wilhelm had pitched in a then major league record 1,070 games. He is recognized as the first pitcher to have saved 200 games in his career, and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. Wilhelm is one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.
Wilhelm retired with the lowest career earned run average of any major league hurler after 1927 (Walter Johnson) who had pitched more than 2,000 innings.
Later life
After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61–66 record, then had a 33–33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres.
Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter.
He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002.
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Wilhelm as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.
Legacy
Wilhelm was known as a "relief ace", and his teams used him in a new way that became a trend. Rather than bringing in a relief pitcher only when the starting pitcher had begun to struggle, teams increasingly called upon their relief pitchers toward the end of any close game. Wilhelm was the first relief pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He is also remembered as one of the most successful and "probably the most famous 'old' player in history." Although, due largely to his military service, Wilhelm did not debut in the major leagues until he was already 29 years old, he nonetheless managed to appear in 21 major league seasons. He earned the nickname "Old Folks" while he still had more than a decade left in his playing career. He was the oldest player in Major League Baseball for each of his final seven seasons.
Former teammate Moose Skowron commented on Wilhelm's key pitch, saying, "Hoyt was a good guy, and he threw the best knuckleball I ever saw. You never knew what Hoyt's pitch would do. I don't think he did either." Baseball executive Roland Hemond agreed, saying, "Wilhelm's knuckleball did more than anyone else's ... There was so much action on it."
Before Wilhelm, the knuckleball was primarily mixed in to older pitchers' repertoires at the end of their careers to offset their slowing fastballs and to reduce stress on their arms, thereby extending their careers. Wilhelm broke with tradition when he began throwing the pitch as a teenager and threw it nearly every pitch. The New York Times linked his knuckleball with that of modern pitcher R. A. Dickey, as Wilhelm taught pitcher Charlie Hough the knuckleball in 1971, and Hough taught it to Dickey while coaching with the Texas Rangers.
See also
List of knuckleball pitchers
List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished
List of players with a home run in first major league at-bat
Notes
References
External links
Baseball Library
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (1 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (2 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
1922 births
2002 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from North Carolina
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
Atlanta Braves players
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago White Sox players
Cleveland Indians players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Giants (NL) players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Jacksonville Tars players
Knoxville Smokies players
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Mooresville Moors players
Spokane Indians players
People from Huntersville, North Carolina
Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida
Knuckleball pitchers
United States Army soldiers
United States Army personnel of World War II
Burials in Florida
| false |
[
"Alex Hadley (born 14 September 1973) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer from the United Kingdom. He was born in Staines, England. He competed but did not win any medals at the 1996 Atlanta Games. At the 2004 Athens Games, he won a gold medal in the Men's 4 × 100 m Medley 34 pts event and a silver medal in the Men's 4 × 100 m Freestyle 34 pts event. He also competed but did not win any medals at the 2008 Beijing Games.\n\nReferences\n\nMale Paralympic swimmers of Australia\nSwimmers at the 1996 Summer Paralympics\nSwimmers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics\nSwimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics\nMedalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics\nParalympic gold medalists for Australia\nParalympic silver medalists for Australia\nEnglish emigrants to Australia\nPeople from Staines-upon-Thames\n1973 births\nLiving people\nParalympic medalists in swimming",
"Finland competed at the 1968 Summer Paralympics in Tel Aviv. It was the country's second participation in the Paralympics. Despite a good result in 1960 (with its sole representative winning gold in his single event), Finland did not take part in the 1964 Games. Finland again sent just one competitor: Veikko Puputti, who entered the men's javelin and club throw. He did not win any medal.\n\nBackground \nFinland did not take part in the 1964 Games.\n\nTeam \nIn 1968, Finland again sent just one competitor: Veikko Puputti, who entered the men's javelin and club throw. He did not win any medal. This is the only time Finland has taken part in the Summer Paralympic Games without winning a medal.\n\nOpening ceremony \nFinland the stadium during the Open Ceremonies behind Ethiopia.\n\nAthletics \n\nPuputti entered events in disability category A. In the javelin, he achieved a throw of 13.05m, placing him 22nd out of 35 competitors in the qualifying round. This was insufficient for him to advance to the final, where South Africa's Daniel Erasmus went on to win gold with a throw of 19.79m.\n\nPuputti's other event was the club throw. Here, a result of 25.90m ranked him 19th out of 45, causing him to be eliminated at the qualifying stage. Vic Renalson of Australia subsequently won gold, with a world record throw of 39.02m in the final round.\n\nSee also\nFinland at the 1968 Summer Olympics\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nInternational Paralympic Committee official website\n\nNations at the 1968 Summer Paralympics\n1968\nParalympics"
] |
[
"Hoyt Wilhelm",
"Early years",
"When was Wilhelm born?",
"In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship.",
"Who were Wilhelm's parents ?",
"I don't know.",
"When did Wilhelm first start playing baseball?",
"Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues,",
"Are there any notable teams he played for or against?",
"Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952 at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out.",
"What were some of his wins?",
"Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three.",
"Did he win any other games ?",
"Wilhelm finished in the top ten in Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, becoming the first relief pitcher to finish that high."
] |
C_27501c0f3d3c4169a037abccda765e47_1
|
Did he win any awards?
| 7 |
Did Hoyt Wilhelm win any awards?
|
Hoyt Wilhelm
|
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen. Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952 at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run. Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished in the top ten in Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, becoming the first relief pitcher to finish that high. He finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win-loss record decreased to 7-8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954. In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12-4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched 2 1/3 innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep. Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4-1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4-9 record and a 3.83 ERA in 89 1/3 innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction." CANNOTANSWER
|
The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
|
James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972. Wilhelm was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Wilhelm grew up in North Carolina, fought in World War II, and then spent several years in the minor leagues before starting his major league career at the age of 29. He was best known for his knuckleball, which enabled him to have great longevity. He appeared occasionally as a starting pitcher, but pitched mainly as a reliever. Wilhelm won 124 games in relief, which is still the major league record. He was the first pitcher to reach 200 saves, and the first to appear in 1,000 games.
Wilhelm was nearly 30 years old when he entered the major leagues, and pitched until he was nearly 50. He retired with one of the lowest career earned run averages, 2.52, in baseball history. After retiring as a player in 1972, Wilhelm held longtime coaching jobs with the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He lived in Sarasota, Florida, for many years, and died there in 2002.
Early life
Wilhelm was born in 1922, long thought to have been 1923. He was one of eleven children born to poor tenant farmers John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in Huntersville, North Carolina. He played baseball at Cornelius High School in Cornelius, North Carolina. Knowing he could not throw fast, he began experimenting with a knuckleball after reading about pitcher Dutch Leonard. He practiced honing it with a tennis ball, hoping it was his best shot at Big League success.
Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942. He served in the United States Army in the European Theater during World War II and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart for his actions. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant while in the Army, and played his entire career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back as a result of the wounds he received in battle. Wilhem carried the nickname "Old Sarge" because of his service in the military.
After his release from the military, Wilhelm returned to the Moors for the 1946 season, and earned 41 wins over the 1946 and 1947 seasons. He later recalled being dropped from a Class D minor league team and having the manager tell him to forget about the knuckleball, but he persisted with it. The Boston Braves purchased Wilhelm from Mooresville in 1947, and on November 20, 1947, he was drafted by the New York Giants from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.
Wilhelm's first assignment in the Giants organization was in Class B with the 1948 Knoxville Smokies, for whom he registered 13 wins and 9 losses. He also spent a few games that season with the Class A Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League, and returned to Jacksonville in 1949, earning a 17–12 win-loss record and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA). Wilhelm was promoted to the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers in 1950, where he was the starting pitcher in 25 of the 35 games he pitched in, registering a 15–11 record with a 4.95 ERA. His role in 1951 with the Millers was the same as the year before, primarily as a starter, but also making eleven relief appearances. His ERA came down to 3.94 in 1951, but his record fell to 11–14.
Major league career
Early years
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen.
Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952, at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.
Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished 4th in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, behind rookie reliever Joe Black of the Dodgers. Jim Konstanty had won it for the Phillies in 1950, and Ellis Kinder had finished 7th in the AL voting in 1951, so it was a time when relief pitchers were starting to receive appreciation from the sportswriters. Wilhelm finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting to Joe Black. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win–loss record decreased to 7–8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954.
In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12–4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4–1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4–9 record and a 3.83 ERA in innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction."
Middle career
On February 26, 1957, Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman. At the time of the trade, St. Louis manager Fred Hutchinson described Wilhelm as the type of pitcher who "makes us a definite pennant threat ... He'll help us where we need help the most." In 40 games with the Cardinals that season, he earned 11 saves but finished with a 1–4 record and his highest ERA to that point in his career (4.25). The Cardinals placed him on waivers in September and he was claimed by the Cleveland Indians, who used him in two games that year.
In 1958, Cleveland manager Bobby Bragan used Wilhelm occasionally as a starter. Although he had a 2.49 ERA, none of the Indians' catchers could handle Wilhelm's knuckleball. General manager Frank Lane, alarmed at the large number of passed balls, allowed the Baltimore Orioles to select Wilhelm off waivers on August 23, 1958. In Baltimore, Wilhelm lived near the home of third baseman Brooks Robinson and their families became close friends. On September 20 of that year, Wilhelm no-hit the eventual World Champion New York Yankees 1–0 at Memorial Stadium, in only his ninth career start. He allowed two baserunners on walks and struck out eight. The no-hitter had been threatened at one point in the ninth inning when Hank Bauer bunted along the baseline, but Robinson allowed the ball to roll and it veered foul. The no-hitter was the first in the franchise's Baltimore history; the Orioles had moved from St. Louis after the 1953 season.
Orioles catchers had difficulty catching the Wilhelm knuckleball again in 1959 and they set an MLB record with 49 passed balls. During one April game, catcher Gus Triandos had four passed balls while catching for Wilhelm and he described the game as "the roughest day I ever put in during my life." Author Bill James has written that Wilhelm and Triandos "established the principle that a knuckleball pitcher and a big, slow catcher make an awful combination." Triandos once said, "Heaven is a place where no one throws a knuckleball."
Despite the passed balls, Wilhelm won the American League ERA title with a 2.19 ERA. During the 1960 season, Orioles manager Paul Richards devised a larger mitt so his catchers could handle the knuckleball. Richards was well equipped with starting pitchers during that year. By the middle of the season, he said that eight of his pitchers could serve as starters. Wilhelm started 11 of the 41 games in which he appeared. He earned an 11–8 record, a 3.31 ERA and seven saves. He started only one game the following year, but he was an All-Star, registered 18 saves and had a 2.30 ERA.
In 1962, Wilhelm had his fourth All-Star season, finishing with a 7–10 record, a 1.94 ERA and 15 saves. On January 14, 1963, Wilhelm was traded by the Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith. Early in that season, White Sox manager Al López said that Wilhelm had improved his pitching staff by 40 percent. He said that Wilhelm was "worth more than a 20-game winner, and he works with so little effort that he probably can last as long as Satchel Paige." He registered 21 saves and a 2.64 ERA.
In 1964, Wilhelm finished with career highs in both saves (27) and games pitched (73). His ERA decreased to 1.99 that season; it remained less than 2.00 through the 1968 season. In 1965, Wilhelm contributed to another passed balls record when Chicago catcher J. C. Martin allowed 33 of them in one season. That total set a modern single-season baseball record for the category. Wilhelm's career-low ERA (1.31) came in 1967, when he earned an 8–3 record for the White Sox with 12 saves.
In the 1968 season, Wilhelm was getting close to breaking the all-time games pitched record belonging to Cy Young (906 games). Chicago manager Eddie Stanky began to think about using Wilhelm as a starting pitcher for game number 907. However, the White Sox fired Stanky before the record came up. Wilhelm later broke the record as a relief pitcher. He also set MLB records for consecutive errorless games by a pitcher, career victories in relief, games finished and innings pitched in relief. Despite Wilhelm's success, the White Sox, who had won at least 83 games per season in the 1960s, performed poorly. They finished 1968 with a 67–95 record.
Wilhelm was noted during this period for his mentoring of relief pitcher Wilbur Wood, who came to the 1967 White Sox in a trade. Wood sometimes threw a knuckleball upon his arrival in Chicago, but Wilhelm encouraged him to throw it full-time. By 1968, Wood won 13 games, saved 16 games and earned a 1.87 ERA. He credited Wilhelm with helping him to master the knuckleball, as the White Sox coaches did not know much about how to throw it. Between 1968 and 1970, Wood pitched in more games (241) than any other pitcher and more innings――than any other relief pitcher.
After the 1968 season, MLB expanded and an expansion draft was conducted in which the new teams could select certain players from the established teams. The White Sox left Wilhelm unprotected, possibly because they did not believe that teams would have interest in a much older pitcher. On October 15, 1968, Wilhelm was chosen in the expansion draft by the Kansas City Royals as the 49th pick. That offseason, he was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.
Later career
Wilhelm pitched 44 games for the 1969 California Angels and had a 2.47 ERA, ten saves, and a 5–7 record. On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm and Bob Priddy were traded to the Atlanta Braves for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers. He finished the 1969 season by pitching in eight games for the Braves, earning four saves and recording a 0.73 ERA over innings pitched. Wilhelm then spent most of the 1970 season with the Braves, pitching in 50 games for the team and earning ten saves.
On September 21, 1970, Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs, for whom he appeared in three games. He was traded back to the Braves for Hal Breeden on November 30, 1970. As the Cubs had acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, the trade back to the Braves was a source of controversy. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn investigated the transaction, and in December ruled that he did not find evidence of impropriety associated with the transactions that sent Wilhelm to the Cubs and quickly back to the Braves.
Wilhelm was released by the Braves on June 29, 1971, having pitched in three games for that year's Braves. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 10, 1971, and appeared in nine games for the Dodgers, giving up two earned runs in innings. He also pitched in eight games that season for the team's Class AAA minor league affiliate, the Spokane Indians. Wilhelm started six of those games and registered a 3.89 ERA.
Wilhelm pitched in 16 games for the Dodgers in 1972, registering a 4.62 ERA over 25 innings. The Dodgers released him on July 21, 1972. He never appeared in another game.
At the time of his retirement, Wilhelm had pitched in a then major league record 1,070 games. He is recognized as the first pitcher to have saved 200 games in his career, and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. Wilhelm is one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.
Wilhelm retired with the lowest career earned run average of any major league hurler after 1927 (Walter Johnson) who had pitched more than 2,000 innings.
Later life
After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61–66 record, then had a 33–33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres.
Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter.
He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002.
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Wilhelm as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.
Legacy
Wilhelm was known as a "relief ace", and his teams used him in a new way that became a trend. Rather than bringing in a relief pitcher only when the starting pitcher had begun to struggle, teams increasingly called upon their relief pitchers toward the end of any close game. Wilhelm was the first relief pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He is also remembered as one of the most successful and "probably the most famous 'old' player in history." Although, due largely to his military service, Wilhelm did not debut in the major leagues until he was already 29 years old, he nonetheless managed to appear in 21 major league seasons. He earned the nickname "Old Folks" while he still had more than a decade left in his playing career. He was the oldest player in Major League Baseball for each of his final seven seasons.
Former teammate Moose Skowron commented on Wilhelm's key pitch, saying, "Hoyt was a good guy, and he threw the best knuckleball I ever saw. You never knew what Hoyt's pitch would do. I don't think he did either." Baseball executive Roland Hemond agreed, saying, "Wilhelm's knuckleball did more than anyone else's ... There was so much action on it."
Before Wilhelm, the knuckleball was primarily mixed in to older pitchers' repertoires at the end of their careers to offset their slowing fastballs and to reduce stress on their arms, thereby extending their careers. Wilhelm broke with tradition when he began throwing the pitch as a teenager and threw it nearly every pitch. The New York Times linked his knuckleball with that of modern pitcher R. A. Dickey, as Wilhelm taught pitcher Charlie Hough the knuckleball in 1971, and Hough taught it to Dickey while coaching with the Texas Rangers.
See also
List of knuckleball pitchers
List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished
List of players with a home run in first major league at-bat
Notes
References
External links
Baseball Library
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (1 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (2 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
1922 births
2002 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from North Carolina
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
Atlanta Braves players
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago White Sox players
Cleveland Indians players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Giants (NL) players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Jacksonville Tars players
Knoxville Smokies players
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Mooresville Moors players
Spokane Indians players
People from Huntersville, North Carolina
Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida
Knuckleball pitchers
United States Army soldiers
United States Army personnel of World War II
Burials in Florida
| true |
[
"Le Cousin is a 1997 French film directed by Alain Corneau.\n\nPlot \nThe film deals with the relationship of the police and an informant in the drug scene.\n\nAwards and nominations\nLe Cousin was nominated for 5 César Awards but did not win in any category.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1997 films\n1997 crime films\nFilms about drugs\nFilms directed by Alain Corneau\nFrench crime films\nFrench films\nFrench-language films",
"The 23rd Fangoria Chainsaw Awards is an award ceremony presented for horror films that were released in 2020. The nominees were announced on January 20, 2021. The film The Invisible Man won five of its five nominations, including Best Wide Release, as well as the write-in poll of Best Kill. Color Out Of Space and Possessor each took two awards. His House did not win any of its seven nominations. The ceremony was exclusively livestreamed for the first time on the SHUDDER horror streaming service.\n\nWinners and nominees\n\nReferences\n\nFangoria Chainsaw Awards"
] |
[
"Hoyt Wilhelm",
"Early years",
"When was Wilhelm born?",
"In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship.",
"Who were Wilhelm's parents ?",
"I don't know.",
"When did Wilhelm first start playing baseball?",
"Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues,",
"Are there any notable teams he played for or against?",
"Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952 at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out.",
"What were some of his wins?",
"Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three.",
"Did he win any other games ?",
"Wilhelm finished in the top ten in Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, becoming the first relief pitcher to finish that high.",
"Did he win any awards?",
"The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep."
] |
C_27501c0f3d3c4169a037abccda765e47_1
|
Which team was this that won the World Series ?
| 8 |
Which team won the World Series in a four-game sweep?
|
Hoyt Wilhelm
|
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen. Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952 at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run. Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished in the top ten in Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, becoming the first relief pitcher to finish that high. He finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win-loss record decreased to 7-8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954. In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12-4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched 2 1/3 innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep. Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4-1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4-9 record and a 3.83 ERA in 89 1/3 innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction." CANNOTANSWER
|
The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched 2 1/3 innings over two games,
|
James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972. Wilhelm was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Wilhelm grew up in North Carolina, fought in World War II, and then spent several years in the minor leagues before starting his major league career at the age of 29. He was best known for his knuckleball, which enabled him to have great longevity. He appeared occasionally as a starting pitcher, but pitched mainly as a reliever. Wilhelm won 124 games in relief, which is still the major league record. He was the first pitcher to reach 200 saves, and the first to appear in 1,000 games.
Wilhelm was nearly 30 years old when he entered the major leagues, and pitched until he was nearly 50. He retired with one of the lowest career earned run averages, 2.52, in baseball history. After retiring as a player in 1972, Wilhelm held longtime coaching jobs with the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He lived in Sarasota, Florida, for many years, and died there in 2002.
Early life
Wilhelm was born in 1922, long thought to have been 1923. He was one of eleven children born to poor tenant farmers John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in Huntersville, North Carolina. He played baseball at Cornelius High School in Cornelius, North Carolina. Knowing he could not throw fast, he began experimenting with a knuckleball after reading about pitcher Dutch Leonard. He practiced honing it with a tennis ball, hoping it was his best shot at Big League success.
Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942. He served in the United States Army in the European Theater during World War II and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart for his actions. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant while in the Army, and played his entire career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back as a result of the wounds he received in battle. Wilhem carried the nickname "Old Sarge" because of his service in the military.
After his release from the military, Wilhelm returned to the Moors for the 1946 season, and earned 41 wins over the 1946 and 1947 seasons. He later recalled being dropped from a Class D minor league team and having the manager tell him to forget about the knuckleball, but he persisted with it. The Boston Braves purchased Wilhelm from Mooresville in 1947, and on November 20, 1947, he was drafted by the New York Giants from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.
Wilhelm's first assignment in the Giants organization was in Class B with the 1948 Knoxville Smokies, for whom he registered 13 wins and 9 losses. He also spent a few games that season with the Class A Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League, and returned to Jacksonville in 1949, earning a 17–12 win-loss record and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA). Wilhelm was promoted to the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers in 1950, where he was the starting pitcher in 25 of the 35 games he pitched in, registering a 15–11 record with a 4.95 ERA. His role in 1951 with the Millers was the same as the year before, primarily as a starter, but also making eleven relief appearances. His ERA came down to 3.94 in 1951, but his record fell to 11–14.
Major league career
Early years
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen.
Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952, at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.
Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished 4th in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, behind rookie reliever Joe Black of the Dodgers. Jim Konstanty had won it for the Phillies in 1950, and Ellis Kinder had finished 7th in the AL voting in 1951, so it was a time when relief pitchers were starting to receive appreciation from the sportswriters. Wilhelm finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting to Joe Black. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win–loss record decreased to 7–8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954.
In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12–4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4–1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4–9 record and a 3.83 ERA in innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction."
Middle career
On February 26, 1957, Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman. At the time of the trade, St. Louis manager Fred Hutchinson described Wilhelm as the type of pitcher who "makes us a definite pennant threat ... He'll help us where we need help the most." In 40 games with the Cardinals that season, he earned 11 saves but finished with a 1–4 record and his highest ERA to that point in his career (4.25). The Cardinals placed him on waivers in September and he was claimed by the Cleveland Indians, who used him in two games that year.
In 1958, Cleveland manager Bobby Bragan used Wilhelm occasionally as a starter. Although he had a 2.49 ERA, none of the Indians' catchers could handle Wilhelm's knuckleball. General manager Frank Lane, alarmed at the large number of passed balls, allowed the Baltimore Orioles to select Wilhelm off waivers on August 23, 1958. In Baltimore, Wilhelm lived near the home of third baseman Brooks Robinson and their families became close friends. On September 20 of that year, Wilhelm no-hit the eventual World Champion New York Yankees 1–0 at Memorial Stadium, in only his ninth career start. He allowed two baserunners on walks and struck out eight. The no-hitter had been threatened at one point in the ninth inning when Hank Bauer bunted along the baseline, but Robinson allowed the ball to roll and it veered foul. The no-hitter was the first in the franchise's Baltimore history; the Orioles had moved from St. Louis after the 1953 season.
Orioles catchers had difficulty catching the Wilhelm knuckleball again in 1959 and they set an MLB record with 49 passed balls. During one April game, catcher Gus Triandos had four passed balls while catching for Wilhelm and he described the game as "the roughest day I ever put in during my life." Author Bill James has written that Wilhelm and Triandos "established the principle that a knuckleball pitcher and a big, slow catcher make an awful combination." Triandos once said, "Heaven is a place where no one throws a knuckleball."
Despite the passed balls, Wilhelm won the American League ERA title with a 2.19 ERA. During the 1960 season, Orioles manager Paul Richards devised a larger mitt so his catchers could handle the knuckleball. Richards was well equipped with starting pitchers during that year. By the middle of the season, he said that eight of his pitchers could serve as starters. Wilhelm started 11 of the 41 games in which he appeared. He earned an 11–8 record, a 3.31 ERA and seven saves. He started only one game the following year, but he was an All-Star, registered 18 saves and had a 2.30 ERA.
In 1962, Wilhelm had his fourth All-Star season, finishing with a 7–10 record, a 1.94 ERA and 15 saves. On January 14, 1963, Wilhelm was traded by the Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith. Early in that season, White Sox manager Al López said that Wilhelm had improved his pitching staff by 40 percent. He said that Wilhelm was "worth more than a 20-game winner, and he works with so little effort that he probably can last as long as Satchel Paige." He registered 21 saves and a 2.64 ERA.
In 1964, Wilhelm finished with career highs in both saves (27) and games pitched (73). His ERA decreased to 1.99 that season; it remained less than 2.00 through the 1968 season. In 1965, Wilhelm contributed to another passed balls record when Chicago catcher J. C. Martin allowed 33 of them in one season. That total set a modern single-season baseball record for the category. Wilhelm's career-low ERA (1.31) came in 1967, when he earned an 8–3 record for the White Sox with 12 saves.
In the 1968 season, Wilhelm was getting close to breaking the all-time games pitched record belonging to Cy Young (906 games). Chicago manager Eddie Stanky began to think about using Wilhelm as a starting pitcher for game number 907. However, the White Sox fired Stanky before the record came up. Wilhelm later broke the record as a relief pitcher. He also set MLB records for consecutive errorless games by a pitcher, career victories in relief, games finished and innings pitched in relief. Despite Wilhelm's success, the White Sox, who had won at least 83 games per season in the 1960s, performed poorly. They finished 1968 with a 67–95 record.
Wilhelm was noted during this period for his mentoring of relief pitcher Wilbur Wood, who came to the 1967 White Sox in a trade. Wood sometimes threw a knuckleball upon his arrival in Chicago, but Wilhelm encouraged him to throw it full-time. By 1968, Wood won 13 games, saved 16 games and earned a 1.87 ERA. He credited Wilhelm with helping him to master the knuckleball, as the White Sox coaches did not know much about how to throw it. Between 1968 and 1970, Wood pitched in more games (241) than any other pitcher and more innings――than any other relief pitcher.
After the 1968 season, MLB expanded and an expansion draft was conducted in which the new teams could select certain players from the established teams. The White Sox left Wilhelm unprotected, possibly because they did not believe that teams would have interest in a much older pitcher. On October 15, 1968, Wilhelm was chosen in the expansion draft by the Kansas City Royals as the 49th pick. That offseason, he was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.
Later career
Wilhelm pitched 44 games for the 1969 California Angels and had a 2.47 ERA, ten saves, and a 5–7 record. On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm and Bob Priddy were traded to the Atlanta Braves for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers. He finished the 1969 season by pitching in eight games for the Braves, earning four saves and recording a 0.73 ERA over innings pitched. Wilhelm then spent most of the 1970 season with the Braves, pitching in 50 games for the team and earning ten saves.
On September 21, 1970, Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs, for whom he appeared in three games. He was traded back to the Braves for Hal Breeden on November 30, 1970. As the Cubs had acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, the trade back to the Braves was a source of controversy. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn investigated the transaction, and in December ruled that he did not find evidence of impropriety associated with the transactions that sent Wilhelm to the Cubs and quickly back to the Braves.
Wilhelm was released by the Braves on June 29, 1971, having pitched in three games for that year's Braves. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 10, 1971, and appeared in nine games for the Dodgers, giving up two earned runs in innings. He also pitched in eight games that season for the team's Class AAA minor league affiliate, the Spokane Indians. Wilhelm started six of those games and registered a 3.89 ERA.
Wilhelm pitched in 16 games for the Dodgers in 1972, registering a 4.62 ERA over 25 innings. The Dodgers released him on July 21, 1972. He never appeared in another game.
At the time of his retirement, Wilhelm had pitched in a then major league record 1,070 games. He is recognized as the first pitcher to have saved 200 games in his career, and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. Wilhelm is one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.
Wilhelm retired with the lowest career earned run average of any major league hurler after 1927 (Walter Johnson) who had pitched more than 2,000 innings.
Later life
After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61–66 record, then had a 33–33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres.
Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter.
He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002.
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Wilhelm as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.
Legacy
Wilhelm was known as a "relief ace", and his teams used him in a new way that became a trend. Rather than bringing in a relief pitcher only when the starting pitcher had begun to struggle, teams increasingly called upon their relief pitchers toward the end of any close game. Wilhelm was the first relief pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He is also remembered as one of the most successful and "probably the most famous 'old' player in history." Although, due largely to his military service, Wilhelm did not debut in the major leagues until he was already 29 years old, he nonetheless managed to appear in 21 major league seasons. He earned the nickname "Old Folks" while he still had more than a decade left in his playing career. He was the oldest player in Major League Baseball for each of his final seven seasons.
Former teammate Moose Skowron commented on Wilhelm's key pitch, saying, "Hoyt was a good guy, and he threw the best knuckleball I ever saw. You never knew what Hoyt's pitch would do. I don't think he did either." Baseball executive Roland Hemond agreed, saying, "Wilhelm's knuckleball did more than anyone else's ... There was so much action on it."
Before Wilhelm, the knuckleball was primarily mixed in to older pitchers' repertoires at the end of their careers to offset their slowing fastballs and to reduce stress on their arms, thereby extending their careers. Wilhelm broke with tradition when he began throwing the pitch as a teenager and threw it nearly every pitch. The New York Times linked his knuckleball with that of modern pitcher R. A. Dickey, as Wilhelm taught pitcher Charlie Hough the knuckleball in 1971, and Hough taught it to Dickey while coaching with the Texas Rangers.
See also
List of knuckleball pitchers
List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished
List of players with a home run in first major league at-bat
Notes
References
External links
Baseball Library
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (1 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (2 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
1922 births
2002 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from North Carolina
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
Atlanta Braves players
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago White Sox players
Cleveland Indians players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Giants (NL) players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Jacksonville Tars players
Knoxville Smokies players
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Mooresville Moors players
Spokane Indians players
People from Huntersville, North Carolina
Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida
Knuckleball pitchers
United States Army soldiers
United States Army personnel of World War II
Burials in Florida
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[
"Throughout the history of Major League Baseball (MLB), franchises have had various postseason and World Series droughts.\n\nAll 16 of the original Major League franchises (i.e., those in place when the first World Series was played in 1903) have won the World Series, with the longest wait for a franchise's first championship being for the Phillies ( seasons, ending in 1980). Since expansion began in 1961, six of the 14 expansion teams have never won the World Series. Furthermore, one franchise, the Cleveland Guardians, currently has a championship drought that pre-dates the expansion era. The three longest championship droughts in history were ended recently by the Red Sox ( seasons, ending in 2004), the White Sox ( seasons, ending in 2005), and the Cubs ( seasons, ending in 2016).\n\nOnly one expansion franchise (the Seattle Mariners) has never won a pennant (i.e., the league championship, the two winners of which meet in the World Series). The three longest pennant droughts in history were recently ended by the Nationals ( years, starting with the team's foundation and ending in 2019, and including the franchise's entire years as the Montreal Expos), the Rangers ( years, starting with the team's foundation and ending in 2010) and the Cubs ( years, ending in 2016). As the Nationals are the third franchise to be based in the city of Washington, their 2019 pennant also ended a drought of seasons played in Washington since their last pennant, which was in 1933 (here we discount the 33 seasons during which there was no team in Washington).\n\nAs of the 2020 season, every active MLB franchise has qualified for the playoffs, especially since expansion of the playoffs in 1994 made that feat easier. The Mariners have the longest active postseason drought at years. Long postseason droughts were ended recently by the Nationals ( years for the franchise, seasons over years for the city, ending in 2012), the Pirates ( years, ending in 2013), the Royals ( years, ending in 2014), and the Blue Jays ( years, ending in 2015).\n\nThis list includes only the modern World Series between the American League (AL) and the National League (NL), not the various 19th-century championship series. Those teams which have never achieved a particular accomplishment in their franchise history are listed by the date they entered the leagues.\n\nWorld Series championship droughts\n\nLongest current World Series championship droughts\nNo World Series was played in 1994, and counts as a drought season for those franchises.\n\nLongest World Series championship droughts through history\n\nThe first World Series was played in 1903. No World Series was played in 1904 or 1994. This list only shows droughts of 30 or more seasons. Active droughts are listed in bold type.\n\nWorld Series championship droughts by city/region\nThis list only includes cities/regions with current Major League Baseball franchises.\nYears during which a city/region did not field a Major League Baseball team are not counted.\n\n*city without Major League Baseball franchise for 4 seasons (1966–1969)\n\n†city without Major League Baseball franchise for 7 seasons (1970–1976)\n\n‡number doesn't indicate a title won, but rather total seasons played.\n\nWorld Series in which neither team had previously won a championship\n\nIn these instances, the World Series matchup ensured that one team would win the first championship in its history.\n\n*In these cases, each team was making its first World Series appearance.\n\nWorld Series in which neither team had previously lost a championship\n\nIn these instances, the World Series matchup ensured that one team would lose the first championship in its history.\n\n*In these cases, each team was making its first World Series appearance.\n\nWorld Series in which both teams had ended pennant droughts of 20-plus seasons\n\nWorld Series in which neither franchise had won a championship in 30-plus seasons\n\nTeams that had never won the World Series are included, even if they were less than 30 seasons old at the time. Bold denotes team that won.\n\nNumbers marked with * indicates that the number is counted from either the franchise's first year of existence or the first year of the modern World Series (1903).\n\nWorld Series appearance droughts\n\nLongest current World Series appearance droughts\nNo World Series was played in 1994 due to the players' strike that year.\n\nLongest Major League pennant droughts through history\nList begins with 1903, about the time the current configuration of National League and American League stabilized and also the year of the first World Series. No pennants were won in 1994 due to the players strike that year. This list only shows droughts of 20 or more seasons. Active droughts are listed in bold type.\n\nMajor League pennant droughts by city/region\nThis list only includes cities/regions with current Major League Baseball franchises.\nYears during which a city/region did not field a Major League Baseball team are not counted.\n\n*city without Major League Baseball franchise for 7 seasons (1970–1976)\n\n†number does not indicate a title won, but rather total seasons played.\n\nLeague championship appearance droughts\n\nLongest current league championship appearance droughts\nNo league championships were played in 1994 due to the players' strike that year.\n\nLeague division champion droughts\n\nLongest current division champion droughts\nNo league division champions were won in 1994 due to the players' strike that year.\n\n* Because of the wild card postseason berth, the franchise have won two World Series championships (1997, 2003) without winning the division.\n** Also the franchise without a winning record for 20 consecutive seasons (1993–2012). *** Lost in ALDS to Division Rival Houston.\n\nLongest division championship droughts through history\nList begins with 1969, the time divisional play started in Major League Baseball. This list only shows droughts of 10 or more seasons. Active droughts are listed in bold type.\n\nPostseason droughts\n\nLongest current postseason droughts\n\n* Also longest active drought in North American sports\n\nLongest postseason droughts in the expanded-postseason era\nAfter the postseason was expanded in 1995 to include eight teams (further expanded in 2012 to ten teams), 18 of the 30 teams qualified within the first five years, and few teams went for long droughts without at least participating in the first round of the postseason. This list only shows droughts of 15 or more seasons that occurred primarily in the expanded-postseason era. Active droughts are listed in bold type.\n\nSee also\n\nList of Major League Baseball franchise postseason streaks\nList of Major League Baseball postseason series\nList of Major League Baseball postseason teams\nList of all-time Major League Baseball win-loss records\nList of NBA franchise post-season droughts\nList of NFL franchise post-season droughts\nList of NHL franchise post-season droughts\nList of MLS club post-season droughts\n\nReferences\n\nMajor League Baseball playoffs and champions\nMajor League Baseball records\nMLB, postseason droughts",
"This article is part of a series on the history of Australian cricket; it covers the period from the 1970–71 season until 1985. Notable Australian players during this period include brothers Ian and Greg Chappell, Jeff Thomson, Dennis Lillee, Rod Marsh and Doug Walters.\n\nEvents\nThe key event in this period was the advent of World Series Cricket, which ran from 1977 to 1979.\n\nDomestic cricket\nWestern Australia had a very strong team during this period when they won the Sheffield Shield seven times.\n\nSheffield Shield winners\n 1970–71 – South Australia\n 1971–72 – Western Australia\n 1972–73 – Western Australia\n 1973–74 – Victoria\n 1974–75 – Western Australia\n 1975–76 – South Australia\n 1976–77 – Western Australia\n 1977–78 – Western Australia\n 1978–79 – Victoria\n 1979–80 – Victoria\n 1980–81 – Western Australia\n 1981–82 – South Australia\n 1982–83 – New South Wales\n 1983–84 – Western Australia\n 1984–85 – New South Wales\n\nInternational tours of Australia\n\nEngland 1970–71\n\nRay Illingworth captained the English cricket team in Australia in 1970–71, playing as England in the 1970-71 Ashes series against the Australians and as the MCC in their other matches on the tour. They had a successful tour, but an acrimonious one as Illingworth's team often argued with their own management and the Australian umpires. When they arrived the Australian selector Neil Harvey called them \"rubbish\". and others labelled them \"Dad's Army\" because of the seniority of the players, whose average age was over 30, but these experienced veterans beat the younger Australian team. They are the only touring team to play a full Test series in Australia without defeat.\n\nNew Zealand 1970–71\nNew Zealand took part in the V&G Knockout Cup, a limited overs competition for the Australian state teams. New Zealand were defeated in the semi-final by Western Australia.\n\nRest of the World XI 1971–72\n\nA Rest of the World cricket team captained by Gary Sobers toured Australia in the 1971–72 season and played a total of 16 matches. The World XI played five matches against Australia but these were not ranked as Test matches. The team played three limited overs internationals against Australia and the remaining games were first-class fixtures against each of the Australian state teams.\n\nThe World XI squad included Gary Sobers, Graeme Pollock, Clive Lloyd, Sunil Gavaskar, Zaheer Abbas, Tony Greig, Farokh Engineer, Intikhab Alam, Rohan Kanhai, Bob Taylor and Bishen Bedi\n\nPakistan 1972–73\n\nThe Pakistan national cricket team toured Australia in the 1972–73 season and played 3 Test matches against Australia. Australia won the series 3–0.\n\nNew Zealand 1972–73\n\nNew Zealand took part in the Coca-Cola Knockout Cup along with the Australian state teams. New Zealand won the competition, defeating Queensland by 38 runs in the final.\n\nNew Zealand 1973–74\n\nThe New Zealand national cricket team toured Australia in the 1973–74 season and played 3 Test matches. Australia won the series 2–0 with one match drawn.\n\nEngland 1974–75\n\nThe England national cricket team toured Australia in the 1974–75 season to play a six-match Test series against Australia for The Ashes. The tour was organised by the Marylebone Cricket Club and matches outside the Tests were played under the MCC name. Australia won the series 4–1 and regained The Ashes.\n\nWest Indies 1975–76\n\nThe West Indies cricket team toured Australia in the 1975–76 season and played 6 Test matches against Australia. Australia won the series 5–1.\n\nPakistan 1976–77\n\nThe Pakistan national cricket team toured Australia in the 1976–77 season and played 3 Test matches against Australia. The series was drawn 1–1.\n\nEngland 1976–77\nEngland visited Australia in the 1976–77 season to take part in a Centenary Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground to celebrate 100 years of Test cricket. By an amazing coincidence, Australia won the match by 45 runs, which was the same result as the original Test a century earlier.\n\nIndia 1977–78\n\nThe India national cricket team toured Australia in the 1977–78 season to play 5 Test matches. Australia won the test series 3–2.\n\nEngland 1978–79\n\nThe England cricket team toured Australia in the 1978–79 season to play a six-match Test series against Australia for The Ashes. England won the series 5–1, thereby retaining The Ashes. \n\nThis series was often over shadowed by Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket which meant many players from both sides were absent, including Greg Chappell. Australia were more handicapped which opened the way for England and their captain Mike Brearley.\n\nPakistan 1978–79\n\nThe Pakistan national cricket team toured Australia in the 1978–79 season and played 2 Test matches against Australia. The series was drawn 1–1.\n\nWest Indies and England 1979–80\nAs part of the settlement between World Series Cricket and the Australian board, two series were hastily arranged in which Australia played three Tests against both England and the West Indies. These series are seen by many as semi-official only: for example, The Ashes were not at stake.\n\nAustralia v West Indies\n\n [1st Test] at Brisbane Cricket Ground – match drawn\n [2nd Test] at Melbourne Cricket Ground – West Indies won by 10 wickets\n [3rd Test] at Adelaide Oval – West Indies won by 408 runs\n\nAustralia v England\n\n [1st Test] at Western Australia Cricket Association Ground – Australia won by 138 runs\n [2nd Test] at Sydney Cricket Ground – Australia won by 6 wickets\n [3rd Test] at Melbourne Cricket Ground – Australia won by 8 wickets\n\nIndia 1980–81\n\nThe India national cricket team toured Australia in the 1980–81 season to play 3 Test matches. The series was drawn 1–1.\n\nNew Zealand 1980–81\n\nThe New Zealand national cricket team toured Australia in the 1980–81 season and played 3 Test matches. Australia won the series 2–0 with one match drawn.\n\nPakistan 1981–82\n\nThe Pakistan national cricket team toured Australia in the 1981–82 season and played 3 Test matches against Australia. Australia won the series 2–1.\n\nWest Indies 1981–82\n\nThe West Indies cricket team toured Australia in the 1981–82 season and played 3 Test matches against Australia. The series was drawn 1–1.\n\nEngland 1982–83\n\nThe England cricket team toured Australia in the 1982–83 season to play a five-match Test series against Australia for The Ashes. Australia won the series 2–1 with two matches drawn and thereby regained The Ashes.\n\nNew Zealand 1982–83\n\nThe New Zealand national cricket team toured Australia in the 1982–83 season and played a total of 21 matches, mostly One Day Internationals in the Benson & Hedges World Series Cup against Australia and England. New Zealand reached the finals of the competition but lost to Australia 2–0. A highlight of the finals series was a 21-ball half century from Lance Cairns at the Melbourne Cricket Ground containing 6 sixes. This was a world record for One Day Internationals at the time.\n\nSri Lanka 1982–83\n\nThe Sri Lanka national cricket team toured Australia in the 1982–83 season. Although Sri Lanka had just acquired Test status, no Tests were played on this short tour which consisted of two first-class matches versus New South Wales and Tasmania; and a limited overs game versus Victoria.\n\nPakistan 1983–84\n\nThe Pakistan national cricket team toured Australia in the 1983–84 season and played 5 Test matches against Australia. Australia won the series 2–0.\n\nWest Indies 1983–84\n\nThe West Indies team took part in the Benson & Hedges World Series Cup, a limited overs tournament also involving Australia and Pakistan. West Indies won the competition, beating Australia in the final.\n\nEngland 1984–85\nThe England team made a short visit to Australia in February 1985 following a tour of India. The England team, captained by David Gower, played three limited overs matches in Australia: \n 14 Feb – versus Sydney Metropolitan at Village Green, Sydney\n 19 Feb – versus Victoria at Eastern Oval, Ballarat (ListA match)\n 28 Feb – versus New South Wales Second XI at Manly Oval, Sydney\n\nWest Indies 1984–85\n\nThe West Indies cricket team toured Australia in the 1984–85 season and played 5 Test matches against Australia. West Indies won the series 3–1 with one match drawn. The West Indies won the first three Tests quite easily against a very weak Australian team. Then captain Kim Hughes lost the captaincy due to his and the Australian's poor form after the Second Test and Allan Border took over. The Fourth Test at Melbourne ended West Indies' then world record of 11 consecutive Test wins as Australia held out for a draw. West Indies lost the Fifth Test by an innings at Sydney where Clive Lloyd played the last of his 110 Tests.\n\nSri Lanka 1984–85\nThe Sri Lanka team played a series of limited overs matches in the Benson and Hedges World Series Cup which also involved Australia and West Indies. Sri Lanka was eliminated in the qualifying stage of the competition which was won by West Indies. See : series itinerary\n\nReferences\n\nExternal sources\n CricketArchive – itinerary of Australian cricket\n\nFurther reading\n Bill Frindall, The Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1877–1978, Wisden, 1979\n Chris Harte, A History of Australian Cricket, Andre Deutsch, 1993\n Ray Robinson, On Top Down Under, Cassell, 1975"
] |
[
"Hoyt Wilhelm",
"Early years",
"When was Wilhelm born?",
"In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship.",
"Who were Wilhelm's parents ?",
"I don't know.",
"When did Wilhelm first start playing baseball?",
"Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues,",
"Are there any notable teams he played for or against?",
"Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952 at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out.",
"What were some of his wins?",
"Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three.",
"Did he win any other games ?",
"Wilhelm finished in the top ten in Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, becoming the first relief pitcher to finish that high.",
"Did he win any awards?",
"The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.",
"Which team was this that won the World Series ?",
"The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched 2 1/3 innings over two games,"
] |
C_27501c0f3d3c4169a037abccda765e47_1
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What did he do after this ?
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What did Hoyt Wilhelm do after pitching for the 1954 World Series?
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Hoyt Wilhelm
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Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen. Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952 at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run. Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished in the top ten in Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, becoming the first relief pitcher to finish that high. He finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win-loss record decreased to 7-8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954. In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12-4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched 2 1/3 innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep. Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4-1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4-9 record and a 3.83 ERA in 89 1/3 innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction." CANNOTANSWER
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Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum,
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James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972. Wilhelm was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Wilhelm grew up in North Carolina, fought in World War II, and then spent several years in the minor leagues before starting his major league career at the age of 29. He was best known for his knuckleball, which enabled him to have great longevity. He appeared occasionally as a starting pitcher, but pitched mainly as a reliever. Wilhelm won 124 games in relief, which is still the major league record. He was the first pitcher to reach 200 saves, and the first to appear in 1,000 games.
Wilhelm was nearly 30 years old when he entered the major leagues, and pitched until he was nearly 50. He retired with one of the lowest career earned run averages, 2.52, in baseball history. After retiring as a player in 1972, Wilhelm held longtime coaching jobs with the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He lived in Sarasota, Florida, for many years, and died there in 2002.
Early life
Wilhelm was born in 1922, long thought to have been 1923. He was one of eleven children born to poor tenant farmers John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in Huntersville, North Carolina. He played baseball at Cornelius High School in Cornelius, North Carolina. Knowing he could not throw fast, he began experimenting with a knuckleball after reading about pitcher Dutch Leonard. He practiced honing it with a tennis ball, hoping it was his best shot at Big League success.
Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942. He served in the United States Army in the European Theater during World War II and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart for his actions. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant while in the Army, and played his entire career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back as a result of the wounds he received in battle. Wilhem carried the nickname "Old Sarge" because of his service in the military.
After his release from the military, Wilhelm returned to the Moors for the 1946 season, and earned 41 wins over the 1946 and 1947 seasons. He later recalled being dropped from a Class D minor league team and having the manager tell him to forget about the knuckleball, but he persisted with it. The Boston Braves purchased Wilhelm from Mooresville in 1947, and on November 20, 1947, he was drafted by the New York Giants from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.
Wilhelm's first assignment in the Giants organization was in Class B with the 1948 Knoxville Smokies, for whom he registered 13 wins and 9 losses. He also spent a few games that season with the Class A Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League, and returned to Jacksonville in 1949, earning a 17–12 win-loss record and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA). Wilhelm was promoted to the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers in 1950, where he was the starting pitcher in 25 of the 35 games he pitched in, registering a 15–11 record with a 4.95 ERA. His role in 1951 with the Millers was the same as the year before, primarily as a starter, but also making eleven relief appearances. His ERA came down to 3.94 in 1951, but his record fell to 11–14.
Major league career
Early years
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen.
Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952, at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.
Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished 4th in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, behind rookie reliever Joe Black of the Dodgers. Jim Konstanty had won it for the Phillies in 1950, and Ellis Kinder had finished 7th in the AL voting in 1951, so it was a time when relief pitchers were starting to receive appreciation from the sportswriters. Wilhelm finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting to Joe Black. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win–loss record decreased to 7–8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954.
In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12–4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4–1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4–9 record and a 3.83 ERA in innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction."
Middle career
On February 26, 1957, Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman. At the time of the trade, St. Louis manager Fred Hutchinson described Wilhelm as the type of pitcher who "makes us a definite pennant threat ... He'll help us where we need help the most." In 40 games with the Cardinals that season, he earned 11 saves but finished with a 1–4 record and his highest ERA to that point in his career (4.25). The Cardinals placed him on waivers in September and he was claimed by the Cleveland Indians, who used him in two games that year.
In 1958, Cleveland manager Bobby Bragan used Wilhelm occasionally as a starter. Although he had a 2.49 ERA, none of the Indians' catchers could handle Wilhelm's knuckleball. General manager Frank Lane, alarmed at the large number of passed balls, allowed the Baltimore Orioles to select Wilhelm off waivers on August 23, 1958. In Baltimore, Wilhelm lived near the home of third baseman Brooks Robinson and their families became close friends. On September 20 of that year, Wilhelm no-hit the eventual World Champion New York Yankees 1–0 at Memorial Stadium, in only his ninth career start. He allowed two baserunners on walks and struck out eight. The no-hitter had been threatened at one point in the ninth inning when Hank Bauer bunted along the baseline, but Robinson allowed the ball to roll and it veered foul. The no-hitter was the first in the franchise's Baltimore history; the Orioles had moved from St. Louis after the 1953 season.
Orioles catchers had difficulty catching the Wilhelm knuckleball again in 1959 and they set an MLB record with 49 passed balls. During one April game, catcher Gus Triandos had four passed balls while catching for Wilhelm and he described the game as "the roughest day I ever put in during my life." Author Bill James has written that Wilhelm and Triandos "established the principle that a knuckleball pitcher and a big, slow catcher make an awful combination." Triandos once said, "Heaven is a place where no one throws a knuckleball."
Despite the passed balls, Wilhelm won the American League ERA title with a 2.19 ERA. During the 1960 season, Orioles manager Paul Richards devised a larger mitt so his catchers could handle the knuckleball. Richards was well equipped with starting pitchers during that year. By the middle of the season, he said that eight of his pitchers could serve as starters. Wilhelm started 11 of the 41 games in which he appeared. He earned an 11–8 record, a 3.31 ERA and seven saves. He started only one game the following year, but he was an All-Star, registered 18 saves and had a 2.30 ERA.
In 1962, Wilhelm had his fourth All-Star season, finishing with a 7–10 record, a 1.94 ERA and 15 saves. On January 14, 1963, Wilhelm was traded by the Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith. Early in that season, White Sox manager Al López said that Wilhelm had improved his pitching staff by 40 percent. He said that Wilhelm was "worth more than a 20-game winner, and he works with so little effort that he probably can last as long as Satchel Paige." He registered 21 saves and a 2.64 ERA.
In 1964, Wilhelm finished with career highs in both saves (27) and games pitched (73). His ERA decreased to 1.99 that season; it remained less than 2.00 through the 1968 season. In 1965, Wilhelm contributed to another passed balls record when Chicago catcher J. C. Martin allowed 33 of them in one season. That total set a modern single-season baseball record for the category. Wilhelm's career-low ERA (1.31) came in 1967, when he earned an 8–3 record for the White Sox with 12 saves.
In the 1968 season, Wilhelm was getting close to breaking the all-time games pitched record belonging to Cy Young (906 games). Chicago manager Eddie Stanky began to think about using Wilhelm as a starting pitcher for game number 907. However, the White Sox fired Stanky before the record came up. Wilhelm later broke the record as a relief pitcher. He also set MLB records for consecutive errorless games by a pitcher, career victories in relief, games finished and innings pitched in relief. Despite Wilhelm's success, the White Sox, who had won at least 83 games per season in the 1960s, performed poorly. They finished 1968 with a 67–95 record.
Wilhelm was noted during this period for his mentoring of relief pitcher Wilbur Wood, who came to the 1967 White Sox in a trade. Wood sometimes threw a knuckleball upon his arrival in Chicago, but Wilhelm encouraged him to throw it full-time. By 1968, Wood won 13 games, saved 16 games and earned a 1.87 ERA. He credited Wilhelm with helping him to master the knuckleball, as the White Sox coaches did not know much about how to throw it. Between 1968 and 1970, Wood pitched in more games (241) than any other pitcher and more innings――than any other relief pitcher.
After the 1968 season, MLB expanded and an expansion draft was conducted in which the new teams could select certain players from the established teams. The White Sox left Wilhelm unprotected, possibly because they did not believe that teams would have interest in a much older pitcher. On October 15, 1968, Wilhelm was chosen in the expansion draft by the Kansas City Royals as the 49th pick. That offseason, he was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.
Later career
Wilhelm pitched 44 games for the 1969 California Angels and had a 2.47 ERA, ten saves, and a 5–7 record. On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm and Bob Priddy were traded to the Atlanta Braves for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers. He finished the 1969 season by pitching in eight games for the Braves, earning four saves and recording a 0.73 ERA over innings pitched. Wilhelm then spent most of the 1970 season with the Braves, pitching in 50 games for the team and earning ten saves.
On September 21, 1970, Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs, for whom he appeared in three games. He was traded back to the Braves for Hal Breeden on November 30, 1970. As the Cubs had acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, the trade back to the Braves was a source of controversy. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn investigated the transaction, and in December ruled that he did not find evidence of impropriety associated with the transactions that sent Wilhelm to the Cubs and quickly back to the Braves.
Wilhelm was released by the Braves on June 29, 1971, having pitched in three games for that year's Braves. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 10, 1971, and appeared in nine games for the Dodgers, giving up two earned runs in innings. He also pitched in eight games that season for the team's Class AAA minor league affiliate, the Spokane Indians. Wilhelm started six of those games and registered a 3.89 ERA.
Wilhelm pitched in 16 games for the Dodgers in 1972, registering a 4.62 ERA over 25 innings. The Dodgers released him on July 21, 1972. He never appeared in another game.
At the time of his retirement, Wilhelm had pitched in a then major league record 1,070 games. He is recognized as the first pitcher to have saved 200 games in his career, and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. Wilhelm is one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.
Wilhelm retired with the lowest career earned run average of any major league hurler after 1927 (Walter Johnson) who had pitched more than 2,000 innings.
Later life
After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61–66 record, then had a 33–33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres.
Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter.
He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002.
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Wilhelm as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.
Legacy
Wilhelm was known as a "relief ace", and his teams used him in a new way that became a trend. Rather than bringing in a relief pitcher only when the starting pitcher had begun to struggle, teams increasingly called upon their relief pitchers toward the end of any close game. Wilhelm was the first relief pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He is also remembered as one of the most successful and "probably the most famous 'old' player in history." Although, due largely to his military service, Wilhelm did not debut in the major leagues until he was already 29 years old, he nonetheless managed to appear in 21 major league seasons. He earned the nickname "Old Folks" while he still had more than a decade left in his playing career. He was the oldest player in Major League Baseball for each of his final seven seasons.
Former teammate Moose Skowron commented on Wilhelm's key pitch, saying, "Hoyt was a good guy, and he threw the best knuckleball I ever saw. You never knew what Hoyt's pitch would do. I don't think he did either." Baseball executive Roland Hemond agreed, saying, "Wilhelm's knuckleball did more than anyone else's ... There was so much action on it."
Before Wilhelm, the knuckleball was primarily mixed in to older pitchers' repertoires at the end of their careers to offset their slowing fastballs and to reduce stress on their arms, thereby extending their careers. Wilhelm broke with tradition when he began throwing the pitch as a teenager and threw it nearly every pitch. The New York Times linked his knuckleball with that of modern pitcher R. A. Dickey, as Wilhelm taught pitcher Charlie Hough the knuckleball in 1971, and Hough taught it to Dickey while coaching with the Texas Rangers.
See also
List of knuckleball pitchers
List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished
List of players with a home run in first major league at-bat
Notes
References
External links
Baseball Library
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (1 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (2 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
1922 births
2002 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from North Carolina
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
Atlanta Braves players
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago White Sox players
Cleveland Indians players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Giants (NL) players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Jacksonville Tars players
Knoxville Smokies players
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Mooresville Moors players
Spokane Indians players
People from Huntersville, North Carolina
Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida
Knuckleball pitchers
United States Army soldiers
United States Army personnel of World War II
Burials in Florida
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[
"\"What Did I Do to You?\" is a song recorded by British singer Lisa Stansfield for her 1989 album, Affection. It was written by Stansfield, Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, and produced by Devaney and Morris. The song was released as the fourth European single on 30 April 1990. It included three previously unreleased songs written by Stansfield, Devaney and Morris: \"My Apple Heart,\" \"Lay Me Down\" and \"Something's Happenin'.\" \"What Did I Do to You?\" was remixed by Mark Saunders and by the Grammy Award-winning American house music DJ and producer, David Morales. The single became a top forty hit in the European countries reaching number eighteen in Finland, number twenty in Ireland and number twenty-five in the United Kingdom. \"What Did I Do to You?\" was also released in Japan.\n\nIn 2014, the remixes of \"What Did I Do to You?\" were included on the deluxe 2CD + DVD re-release of Affection and on People Hold On ... The Remix Anthology. They were also featured on The Collection 1989–2003 box set (2014), including previously unreleased Red Zone Mix by David Morales.\n\nCritical reception\nThe song received positive reviews from music critics. Matthew Hocter from Albumism viewed it as a \"upbeat offering\". David Giles from Music Week said it is \"beautifully performed\" by Stansfield. A reviewer from Reading Eagle wrote that \"What Did I Do to You?\" \"would be right at home on the \"Saturday Night Fever\" soundtrack.\"\n\nMusic video\nA music video was produced to promote the single, directed by Philip Richardson, who had previously directed the videos for \"All Around the World\" and \"Live Together\". It features Stansfield with her kiss curls, dressed in a white outfit and performing with her band on a stage in front of a jumping audience. The video was later published on Stansfield's official YouTube channel in November 2009. It has amassed more than 1,6 million views as of October 2021.\n\nTrack listings\n\n European/UK 7\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix Edit) – 4:20\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n European/UK/Japanese CD single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix Edit) – 4:20\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 5:19\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 4:17\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n UK 10\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix) – 5:52\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 5:19\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 4:17\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n European/UK 12\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Morales Mix) – 7:59\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 4:22\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 3:19\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:15\n\n UK 12\" promotional single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Morales Mix) – 7:59\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Anti Poll Tax Dub) – 6:31\n\n Other remixes\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Red Zone Mix) – 7:45\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nLisa Stansfield songs\n1990 singles\nSongs written by Lisa Stansfield\n1989 songs\nArista Records singles\nSongs written by Ian Devaney\nSongs written by Andy Morris (musician)",
"What Did I Do To Deserve This My Lord!? 2 (formerly known as Holy Invasion Of Privacy, Badman! 2: Time To Tighten Up Security!, known as Yūsha no Kuse ni Namaiki da or2, 勇者のくせになまいきだor2, literally \"For a hero, [you are] quite impudent/cheeky/bold] 2)\" in Japan) is a real-time strategy/god game for the PlayStation Portable, sequel to What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord?.\n\nThe game was released in Japan in 2008, and was announced for a North American release during Tokyo Game Show 2009. This release was delayed until May 4, 2010, due to NIS America changing the game's name from Holy Invasion Of Privacy, Badman! 2: Time to Tighten Up Security! to What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord!? 2 to avoid conflict with the Batman license.. The UMD release includes the first game.\n\nGameplay \nThe gameplay is almost identical to the first game, with a few different additions and changes. These include 'Mutation' (monsters can mutate in three forms: by deformity, by obesity and by gigantism) and 'The Overlord's Chamber', where you can grow monsters and observe their evolution.\nWhat Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord!? 2 contains \"4 times more stages, 3.3 times more monsters and 2.3 times more heroes\" than the first game.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Official website\n\n2008 video games\nGod games\nPlayStation Portable games\nPlayStation Portable-only games\nReal-time strategy video games\nSony Interactive Entertainment games\nVideo game sequels\nVideo games developed in Japan"
] |
[
"Hoyt Wilhelm",
"Early years",
"When was Wilhelm born?",
"In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship.",
"Who were Wilhelm's parents ?",
"I don't know.",
"When did Wilhelm first start playing baseball?",
"Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues,",
"Are there any notable teams he played for or against?",
"Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952 at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out.",
"What were some of his wins?",
"Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three.",
"Did he win any other games ?",
"Wilhelm finished in the top ten in Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, becoming the first relief pitcher to finish that high.",
"Did he win any awards?",
"The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.",
"Which team was this that won the World Series ?",
"The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched 2 1/3 innings over two games,",
"What did he do after this ?",
"Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum,"
] |
C_27501c0f3d3c4169a037abccda765e47_1
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Were there any other significant things in his life ?
| 10 |
Were there any other significant things in Hoyt Wilhelm's life besides facing difficulties in the mid-1950s?
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Hoyt Wilhelm
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Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen. Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952 at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run. Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished in the top ten in Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, becoming the first relief pitcher to finish that high. He finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win-loss record decreased to 7-8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954. In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12-4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched 2 1/3 innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep. Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4-1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4-9 record and a 3.83 ERA in 89 1/3 innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction." CANNOTANSWER
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writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction."
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James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972. Wilhelm was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Wilhelm grew up in North Carolina, fought in World War II, and then spent several years in the minor leagues before starting his major league career at the age of 29. He was best known for his knuckleball, which enabled him to have great longevity. He appeared occasionally as a starting pitcher, but pitched mainly as a reliever. Wilhelm won 124 games in relief, which is still the major league record. He was the first pitcher to reach 200 saves, and the first to appear in 1,000 games.
Wilhelm was nearly 30 years old when he entered the major leagues, and pitched until he was nearly 50. He retired with one of the lowest career earned run averages, 2.52, in baseball history. After retiring as a player in 1972, Wilhelm held longtime coaching jobs with the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He lived in Sarasota, Florida, for many years, and died there in 2002.
Early life
Wilhelm was born in 1922, long thought to have been 1923. He was one of eleven children born to poor tenant farmers John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in Huntersville, North Carolina. He played baseball at Cornelius High School in Cornelius, North Carolina. Knowing he could not throw fast, he began experimenting with a knuckleball after reading about pitcher Dutch Leonard. He practiced honing it with a tennis ball, hoping it was his best shot at Big League success.
Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942. He served in the United States Army in the European Theater during World War II and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart for his actions. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant while in the Army, and played his entire career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back as a result of the wounds he received in battle. Wilhem carried the nickname "Old Sarge" because of his service in the military.
After his release from the military, Wilhelm returned to the Moors for the 1946 season, and earned 41 wins over the 1946 and 1947 seasons. He later recalled being dropped from a Class D minor league team and having the manager tell him to forget about the knuckleball, but he persisted with it. The Boston Braves purchased Wilhelm from Mooresville in 1947, and on November 20, 1947, he was drafted by the New York Giants from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.
Wilhelm's first assignment in the Giants organization was in Class B with the 1948 Knoxville Smokies, for whom he registered 13 wins and 9 losses. He also spent a few games that season with the Class A Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League, and returned to Jacksonville in 1949, earning a 17–12 win-loss record and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA). Wilhelm was promoted to the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers in 1950, where he was the starting pitcher in 25 of the 35 games he pitched in, registering a 15–11 record with a 4.95 ERA. His role in 1951 with the Millers was the same as the year before, primarily as a starter, but also making eleven relief appearances. His ERA came down to 3.94 in 1951, but his record fell to 11–14.
Major league career
Early years
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen.
Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952, at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.
Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished 4th in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, behind rookie reliever Joe Black of the Dodgers. Jim Konstanty had won it for the Phillies in 1950, and Ellis Kinder had finished 7th in the AL voting in 1951, so it was a time when relief pitchers were starting to receive appreciation from the sportswriters. Wilhelm finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting to Joe Black. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win–loss record decreased to 7–8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954.
In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12–4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4–1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4–9 record and a 3.83 ERA in innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction."
Middle career
On February 26, 1957, Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman. At the time of the trade, St. Louis manager Fred Hutchinson described Wilhelm as the type of pitcher who "makes us a definite pennant threat ... He'll help us where we need help the most." In 40 games with the Cardinals that season, he earned 11 saves but finished with a 1–4 record and his highest ERA to that point in his career (4.25). The Cardinals placed him on waivers in September and he was claimed by the Cleveland Indians, who used him in two games that year.
In 1958, Cleveland manager Bobby Bragan used Wilhelm occasionally as a starter. Although he had a 2.49 ERA, none of the Indians' catchers could handle Wilhelm's knuckleball. General manager Frank Lane, alarmed at the large number of passed balls, allowed the Baltimore Orioles to select Wilhelm off waivers on August 23, 1958. In Baltimore, Wilhelm lived near the home of third baseman Brooks Robinson and their families became close friends. On September 20 of that year, Wilhelm no-hit the eventual World Champion New York Yankees 1–0 at Memorial Stadium, in only his ninth career start. He allowed two baserunners on walks and struck out eight. The no-hitter had been threatened at one point in the ninth inning when Hank Bauer bunted along the baseline, but Robinson allowed the ball to roll and it veered foul. The no-hitter was the first in the franchise's Baltimore history; the Orioles had moved from St. Louis after the 1953 season.
Orioles catchers had difficulty catching the Wilhelm knuckleball again in 1959 and they set an MLB record with 49 passed balls. During one April game, catcher Gus Triandos had four passed balls while catching for Wilhelm and he described the game as "the roughest day I ever put in during my life." Author Bill James has written that Wilhelm and Triandos "established the principle that a knuckleball pitcher and a big, slow catcher make an awful combination." Triandos once said, "Heaven is a place where no one throws a knuckleball."
Despite the passed balls, Wilhelm won the American League ERA title with a 2.19 ERA. During the 1960 season, Orioles manager Paul Richards devised a larger mitt so his catchers could handle the knuckleball. Richards was well equipped with starting pitchers during that year. By the middle of the season, he said that eight of his pitchers could serve as starters. Wilhelm started 11 of the 41 games in which he appeared. He earned an 11–8 record, a 3.31 ERA and seven saves. He started only one game the following year, but he was an All-Star, registered 18 saves and had a 2.30 ERA.
In 1962, Wilhelm had his fourth All-Star season, finishing with a 7–10 record, a 1.94 ERA and 15 saves. On January 14, 1963, Wilhelm was traded by the Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith. Early in that season, White Sox manager Al López said that Wilhelm had improved his pitching staff by 40 percent. He said that Wilhelm was "worth more than a 20-game winner, and he works with so little effort that he probably can last as long as Satchel Paige." He registered 21 saves and a 2.64 ERA.
In 1964, Wilhelm finished with career highs in both saves (27) and games pitched (73). His ERA decreased to 1.99 that season; it remained less than 2.00 through the 1968 season. In 1965, Wilhelm contributed to another passed balls record when Chicago catcher J. C. Martin allowed 33 of them in one season. That total set a modern single-season baseball record for the category. Wilhelm's career-low ERA (1.31) came in 1967, when he earned an 8–3 record for the White Sox with 12 saves.
In the 1968 season, Wilhelm was getting close to breaking the all-time games pitched record belonging to Cy Young (906 games). Chicago manager Eddie Stanky began to think about using Wilhelm as a starting pitcher for game number 907. However, the White Sox fired Stanky before the record came up. Wilhelm later broke the record as a relief pitcher. He also set MLB records for consecutive errorless games by a pitcher, career victories in relief, games finished and innings pitched in relief. Despite Wilhelm's success, the White Sox, who had won at least 83 games per season in the 1960s, performed poorly. They finished 1968 with a 67–95 record.
Wilhelm was noted during this period for his mentoring of relief pitcher Wilbur Wood, who came to the 1967 White Sox in a trade. Wood sometimes threw a knuckleball upon his arrival in Chicago, but Wilhelm encouraged him to throw it full-time. By 1968, Wood won 13 games, saved 16 games and earned a 1.87 ERA. He credited Wilhelm with helping him to master the knuckleball, as the White Sox coaches did not know much about how to throw it. Between 1968 and 1970, Wood pitched in more games (241) than any other pitcher and more innings――than any other relief pitcher.
After the 1968 season, MLB expanded and an expansion draft was conducted in which the new teams could select certain players from the established teams. The White Sox left Wilhelm unprotected, possibly because they did not believe that teams would have interest in a much older pitcher. On October 15, 1968, Wilhelm was chosen in the expansion draft by the Kansas City Royals as the 49th pick. That offseason, he was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.
Later career
Wilhelm pitched 44 games for the 1969 California Angels and had a 2.47 ERA, ten saves, and a 5–7 record. On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm and Bob Priddy were traded to the Atlanta Braves for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers. He finished the 1969 season by pitching in eight games for the Braves, earning four saves and recording a 0.73 ERA over innings pitched. Wilhelm then spent most of the 1970 season with the Braves, pitching in 50 games for the team and earning ten saves.
On September 21, 1970, Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs, for whom he appeared in three games. He was traded back to the Braves for Hal Breeden on November 30, 1970. As the Cubs had acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, the trade back to the Braves was a source of controversy. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn investigated the transaction, and in December ruled that he did not find evidence of impropriety associated with the transactions that sent Wilhelm to the Cubs and quickly back to the Braves.
Wilhelm was released by the Braves on June 29, 1971, having pitched in three games for that year's Braves. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 10, 1971, and appeared in nine games for the Dodgers, giving up two earned runs in innings. He also pitched in eight games that season for the team's Class AAA minor league affiliate, the Spokane Indians. Wilhelm started six of those games and registered a 3.89 ERA.
Wilhelm pitched in 16 games for the Dodgers in 1972, registering a 4.62 ERA over 25 innings. The Dodgers released him on July 21, 1972. He never appeared in another game.
At the time of his retirement, Wilhelm had pitched in a then major league record 1,070 games. He is recognized as the first pitcher to have saved 200 games in his career, and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. Wilhelm is one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.
Wilhelm retired with the lowest career earned run average of any major league hurler after 1927 (Walter Johnson) who had pitched more than 2,000 innings.
Later life
After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61–66 record, then had a 33–33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres.
Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter.
He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002.
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Wilhelm as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.
Legacy
Wilhelm was known as a "relief ace", and his teams used him in a new way that became a trend. Rather than bringing in a relief pitcher only when the starting pitcher had begun to struggle, teams increasingly called upon their relief pitchers toward the end of any close game. Wilhelm was the first relief pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He is also remembered as one of the most successful and "probably the most famous 'old' player in history." Although, due largely to his military service, Wilhelm did not debut in the major leagues until he was already 29 years old, he nonetheless managed to appear in 21 major league seasons. He earned the nickname "Old Folks" while he still had more than a decade left in his playing career. He was the oldest player in Major League Baseball for each of his final seven seasons.
Former teammate Moose Skowron commented on Wilhelm's key pitch, saying, "Hoyt was a good guy, and he threw the best knuckleball I ever saw. You never knew what Hoyt's pitch would do. I don't think he did either." Baseball executive Roland Hemond agreed, saying, "Wilhelm's knuckleball did more than anyone else's ... There was so much action on it."
Before Wilhelm, the knuckleball was primarily mixed in to older pitchers' repertoires at the end of their careers to offset their slowing fastballs and to reduce stress on their arms, thereby extending their careers. Wilhelm broke with tradition when he began throwing the pitch as a teenager and threw it nearly every pitch. The New York Times linked his knuckleball with that of modern pitcher R. A. Dickey, as Wilhelm taught pitcher Charlie Hough the knuckleball in 1971, and Hough taught it to Dickey while coaching with the Texas Rangers.
See also
List of knuckleball pitchers
List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished
List of players with a home run in first major league at-bat
Notes
References
External links
Baseball Library
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (1 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (2 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
1922 births
2002 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from North Carolina
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
Atlanta Braves players
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago White Sox players
Cleveland Indians players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Giants (NL) players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Jacksonville Tars players
Knoxville Smokies players
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Mooresville Moors players
Spokane Indians players
People from Huntersville, North Carolina
Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida
Knuckleball pitchers
United States Army soldiers
United States Army personnel of World War II
Burials in Florida
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"All Things Ransome is an unincorporated association registered in California in 2010. It operates two websites associated with the British author, Arthur Ransome. All Things Ransome is a repository of some of Ransome's very early works and contains published and original articles and other information about Ransome. TarBoard is a discussion board for Ransome related topics. Although there are close connections, All Things Ransome is a completely separate organization from The Arthur Ransome Society (TARS), a British-based literary society focussed on Ransome.\n\nAll Things Ransome\nAll Things Ransome (ATR) originated in a project to save the contents of the TARS website \"Literary Pages\" which were not included in the new design when the Society's website was updated. The TARS Literary Pages had original articles, contemporary reviews and links to on-line copyright expired ebooks about Ransome or used as sources by Ransome.\n\nAll Things Ransome is intended to be a research tool for the works and life of Arthur Ransome, and the sources and influences relevant to his work. ATR also provides a storage for Ransome-related materials, especially for non-ephemeral works, essays, articles, TARS related newsletters etc.. Among the unique items available are some very early Ransome books which have long been out of print but are made available in PDF form with the permission of the Arthur Ransome Literary executors. ATR also has links to many other Arthur Ransome sites available on the internet.\n\nThe All Things Ransome and TarBoard sites are linked to by most other Arthur Ransome websites as significant resources. In addition there are links from other sailing and boating related organizations.\n\nTarBoard\nTarBoard was originally set up as project of Iain Edmondson-Noble in 1996. It is a discussion board for Arthur Ransome related topics. When Edmondson-Noble decided that he could not continue to operate the discussion board in 2008, TarBoard was taken over by a group of participants. It was then included as one of the operations of All Things Ransome.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nAll Things Ransome website\nTarBoard discussion board\n\nArthur Ransome\nAmerican literature websites\nLiterary societies",
"Leo was a tyrant of the ancient Greek city of Phlius. He is best known for his participation in a story in which the word philosopher was first coined, in 518 BC.\n\nStory\nAccording to Cicero (Tusculanae Disputationes V-III), Pythagoras was in the court of Leo when he (Leo) asked Pythagoras what was his favorite art. Pythagoras said he had none, but that he was a philosopher:\n\n\"From whence all who occupied themselves in the contemplation of nature were both considered and called wise men; and that name of theirs continued to the age of Pythagoras, who is reported to have gone to Phlius, as we find it stated by Heraclides Ponticus, a very learned man, and a pupil of Plato, and to have discoursed very learnedly and copiously on certain subjects with Leon, prince of the Phliasii; and when Leon, admiring his ingenuity and eloquence, asked him what art he particularly professed, his answer was, that he was acquainted with no art, but that he was a philosopher. Leon, surprised at the novelty of the name, inquired what he meant by the name of philosopher, and in what philosophers differed from other men; on which Pythagoras replied, \"That the life of man seemed to him to resemble those games which were celebrated with the 166 greatest possible variety of sports and the general concourse of all Greece. For as in those games there were some persons whose object was glory and the honor of a crown, to be attained by the performance of bodily exercises, so others were led thither by the gain of buying and selling, and mere views of profit; but there was likewise one class of persons, and they were by far the best, whose aim was neither applause nor profit, but who came merely as spectators through curiosity, to observe what was done, and to see in what manner things were carried on there. And thus, said he, we come from another life and nature unto this one, just as men come out of some other city, to some much-frequented mart; some being slaves to glory, others to money; and there are some few who, taking no account of anything else, earnestly look into the nature of things; and these men call themselves studious of wisdom, that is, philosophers: and as there it is the most reputable occupation of all to be a looker-on without making any acquisition, so in life, the contemplating things, and acquainting one’s self with them, greatly exceeds every other pursuit of life.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nTusculanae Disputationes in English\n\nAncient Greek tyrants\n6th-century BC Greek people"
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"Pat Robertson",
"Family"
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Does Pat Robertson have a family?
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Does Pat Robertson have a family?
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Pat Robertson
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Marion Gordon Robertson was born on March 22, 1930, in Lexington, Virginia, into a prominent political family, the youngest of two sons. His parents were Absalom Willis Robertson (1887-1971), a conservative Democratic United States Senator, and his wife Gladys Churchill (nee Willis; 1897-1968), was a housewife and a musician. He met Adelia "Dede" Elmer (born December 3, 1927 in Columbus, Ohio), a fashion model and beauty queen in the Miss Ohio State contest, who was studying for her masters in Nursing at Yale University. She was also a nursing student at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. They were married on August 26, 1954, and they were both on the path of economic success. His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson and, as of mid-2016, 14 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed Pat by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby while saying "pat, pat, pat". As he got older, Robertson thought about which first name he would like people to use. He considered "Marion" to be effeminate, and "M. Gordon" to be affected, so he opted for his childhood nickname "Pat". His strong awareness for the importance of names in the creation of a public image showed itself again during his presidential run when he threatened to sue NBC news for calling him a "television evangelist", which later became "televangelist", at a time when Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker were objects of scandal. On April 2, 2015, fellow televangelist, Robert H. Schuller died after a two-year battle with esophageal cancer. Robertson released a statement through CBN News.com: "I am saddened by the passing of my dear friend, Robert Schuller, the Founding Pastor of Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. Robert Schuller set the dimensions for Twentieth Century Christian positive thinking and optimistic action. He is now with the Lord in Heaven, but his legacy on earth will long remain." In August 2017, Robertson was hospitalized after sustaining minor injuries from a horseback riding incident. On February 21, 2018, another fellow televangelist, Billy Graham died of complications of Parkinson's disease. Robertson released a statement through CBN News.com: "I join with millions of my fellow Christians in mourning the passing of Billy Graham. Without question, Billy was the preeminent voice of evangelical Christianity in America--an advisor to Presidents, and a spiritual guide to the multitudes who attended his crusades all over the world." He then added: "Billy has been a dear friend of mine personally and I will miss him. He is now with our heavenly Father, well and happy, and joined forever with his dear wife, Ruth. I extend my profound sympathy to Franklin, to Anne Graham Lotz, and to Billy's other children who are continuing his legacy throughout the world." CANNOTANSWER
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a prominent political family,
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Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is an American media mogul, televangelist, political commentator, former Republican presidential candidate, and former Southern Baptist minister. Robertson advocates a conservative Christian ideology and is known for his past activities in Republican party politics. He is associated with the Charismatic Movement within Protestant evangelicalism. He serves as chancellor and CEO of Regent University and chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). Until 2021 he appeared daily on The 700 Club, CBN's flagship television program.
On Robertson's own account, he was not a serious Christian until he underwent personal difficulty. He graduated near the top of his class at Yale Law School in 1955, but failed the New York bar exam. Failing the bar cost Robertson opportunities at post-graduate employment, and in the ensuing months of what he later described as disappointment, embarrassment, and unemployment, he became a born-again Christian and began a career as a minister.
Spanning over five decades, Robertson has had a career as the founder of several major organizations and corporations as well as a university: The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), the International Family Entertainment Inc. (ABC Family Channel), Regent University, the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ), the Founders Inn and Conference Center, the Christian Coalition, an L-1011 Flying Hospital, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, and CBN Asia. He is a best-selling author and the host of The 700 Club, a Christian News and TV program broadcast live weekdays on Freeform (formerly ABC Family) via satellite from CBN studios, as well as on channels throughout the United States, and on CBN network affiliates worldwide. Robertson announced his retirement at the age of 91 from the 700 Club in October 2021, on the sixtieth anniversary of the first telecast on October 1, 1961 of what eventually became CBN.
The son of U.S. Senator A. Willis Robertson, Robertson was a Southern Baptist and was active as an ordained minister with that denomination for many years, but holds to a charismatic theology not traditionally common among Southern Baptists. He unsuccessfully campaigned to become the Republican Party's nominee in the 1988 presidential election. As a result of his seeking political office, he no longer serves in an official role for any church, but continued as the main host for his series, The 700 Club until October 2021, advocating for religion to this day. His personal influence on media and financial resources make him a recognized, influential, and controversial public voice for conservative Christianity in the United States and around the world.
Life and career
Family
Marion Gordon Robertson was born on March 22, 1930, in Lexington, Virginia, into a prominent political family, the younger of two sons. His parents were Absalom Willis Robertson (1887–1971), a conservative Democratic Senator, and his wife Gladys Churchill (née Willis; 1897–1968), was a housewife and a musician. He met Adelia "Dede" Elmer (born December 3, 1927, in Columbus, Ohio), a fashion model and beauty queen in the Miss Ohio State contest, who was studying for her masters in Nursing at Yale University. She was also a nursing student at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. They were married on August 26, 1954. His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson and, as of mid-2016, 14 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.
At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed Pat by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby while saying "pat, pat, pat". As he got older, Robertson thought about which first name he would like people to use. He considered "Marion" to be effeminate, and "M. Gordon" to be affected, so he opted for his childhood nickname "Pat". His strong awareness for the importance of names in the creation of a public image showed itself again during his presidential run when he threatened to sue NBC news for calling him a "television evangelist", which later became "televangelist", at a time when Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker were objects of scandal.
Education and military service
When he was eleven, Robertson was enrolled in the preparatory McDonogh School outside Baltimore, Maryland. From 1940 until 1946 he attended The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he graduated with honors. He gained admission to Washington and Lee University, where he received a B.A. in History, graduating magna cum laude. He joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Robertson has said, "Although I worked hard at my studies, my real major centered around lovely young ladies who attended the nearby girls schools."
In 1948, the draft was reinstated and Robertson was given the option of joining the Marine Corps or being drafted into the Army; he opted for the first.
Robertson has described his military service as follows: "We did long, grueling marches to toughen the men, plus refresher training in firearms and bayonet combat." In the same year, he transferred to Korea, "I ended up at the headquarters command of the First Marine Division," says Robertson. "The Division was in combat in the hot and dusty, then bitterly cold portion of North Korea just above the 38th Parallel later identified as the 'Punchbowl' and 'Heartbreak Ridge.' For that service in the Korean War, the Marine Corps awarded me three battle stars for 'action against the enemy.'"
Parts of Robertson's description of his service were later proven to be false. Former Republican Congressman Paul "Pete" McCloskey, Jr., who served with Robertson in Korea, wrote a public letter that said that Robertson was actually spared combat duty when his powerful father, a U.S. Senator, intervened on his behalf, and that Robertson spent most of his time in an office in Japan. According to McCloskey, his time in the service was not in combat, but as the "liquor officer" responsible for keeping the officers' clubs supplied with alcohol. Robertson filed a $35 million libel suit against McCloskey in 1986. He dropped the case in 1988, before it came to trial and paid McCloskey's court costs. According to a newspaper report from 1986, Robertson confirmed elements of McCloskey's allegations and said that he never saw front-line duty.
Robertson was promoted to First Lieutenant in 1952 upon his return to the United States. He then went on to receive a law degree from Yale Law School in 1955, near the top of his class. However, he failed his first and only attempt at the New York bar exam necessary for admission to the New York State Bar Association. Shortly thereafter he underwent a religious conversion, and decided against pursuing a career in law. Instead, Robertson attended The Biblical Seminary in New York, where he received a Master of Divinity degree in 1959.
Christian broadcasting and higher education career
In 1956, Robertson met Dutch missionary Cornelius Vanderbreggen, who impressed Robertson both by his lifestyle and his message. Vanderbreggen quoted Proverbs (3:5, 6), "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths", which Robertson considers to be the "guiding principle" of his life. He was ordained as a minister of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1961.
In 1960, Robertson established the Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He started it by buying the license of a defunct UHF station in nearby Portsmouth. The station first went on the air as WYAH-TV on October 1, 1961. Later in 1977 he purchased a local Leased access cable TV channel in the Hampton Roads area and called it CBN. Originally he went door-to-door in Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads, and other surrounding areas asking Christians to buy cable boxes so that they could receive his new channel. He also canvassed local churches in the Virginia Beach area to do the same, and solicited donations through public speaking engagements at local churches and on CBN. One of his friends, John Giminez, the pastor of Rock Church Virginia Beach, was influential in helping Robertson establish CBN with donations, as well as offering the services of volunteers from his church.
CBN is now seen in 180 countries and broadcast in 71 languages. He founded the CBN Cable Network, which was renamed the CBN Family Channel in 1988 and later simply the Family Channel. When the Family Channel became too profitable for Robertson to keep it under the CBN umbrella without endangering CBN's non-profit status, he formed International Family Entertainment Inc. in 1990 with the Family Channel as its main subsidiary. Robertson sold the Family Channel to the News Corporation in 1997, which renamed it Fox Family. A condition of the sale was that the station would continue airing Robertson's television program, The 700 Club, twice a day in perpetuity, regardless of any changes of ownership. The channel is now owned by Disney and run as Freeform. On December 3, 2007, Robertson resigned as chief executive of CBN; he was succeeded by his son, Gordon.
Robertson founded CBN University in 1977 on CBN's Virginia Beach campus. It was renamed Regent University in 1989. Robertson serves as its chancellor. He is also founder and president of the American Center for Law & Justice, a major public interest law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. and associated with Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia, that defends Constitutional freedoms and conservative Christian ideals. Occasional critics have characterized Robertson as an advocate of dominionism; the idea that Christians have a right to rule.
In 1994, he was an endorser of the document Evangelicals and Catholics Together.
1988 presidential bid
In September 1986, Robertson announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Robertson said he would pursue the nomination only if three million people signed up to volunteer for his campaign by September 1987. Three million responded, and by the time Robertson announced he would be running in September 1987, he also had raised millions of dollars for his campaign fund. He surrendered his ministerial credentials and turned leadership of CBN over to his son, Tim. His campaign, however, against incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush, was seen as a long shot.
Robertson ran on a standard conservative platform. Among his policies, he wanted to ban pornography, reform the education system, and eliminate departments such as the Department of Education and the Department of Energy. He also supported a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget.
Robertson's campaign got off to a strong second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, ahead of Bush. He did poorly in the subsequent New Hampshire primary, however, and was unable to be competitive once the multiple-state primaries began. Robertson ended his campaign before the primaries were finished. His best finish was in Washington, winning the majority of caucus delegates. He later spoke at the 1988 Republican National Convention in New Orleans and told his remaining supporters to cast their votes for Bush, who ended up winning the nomination and the election. He then returned to CBN and has remained there as a religious broadcaster.
Books
Robertson's book The New World Order (1991) became a New York Times best seller, among his several works. Episcopalian professor of theology Ephraim Radner's critical review:
Business interests
Robertson is the founder and chairman of The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) Inc., and founder of International Family Entertainment Inc., Regent University, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, American Center for Law and Justice, The Flying Hospital, Inc. and several other organizations and broadcast entities. Robertson was the founder and co-chairman of International Family Entertainment Inc. (IFE).
Formed in 1990, IFE produced and distributed family entertainment and information programming worldwide. IFE's principal business was The Family Channel, a satellite delivered cable-television network with 63 million U.S. subscribers. IFE, a publicly held company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, was sold in 1997 to Fox Kids Worldwide, Inc. for $1.9 billion, whereupon it was renamed Fox Family Channel. Disney acquired FFC in 2001 and its name was changed again, to ABC Family. The network was renamed to Freeform on January 12, 2016, though Robertson's sale of the channel continues to require Freeform to carry four hours of CBN/700 Club programming per weekday, along with CBN's yearly telethon.
Robertson is a global businessman with media holdings in Asia, the United Kingdom, and Africa. He struck a deal with Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based General Nutrition Center to produce and market a weight-loss shake he created and promoted on The 700 Club.
In 1999, Robertson entered into a joint venture with the Bank of Scotland to provide financial services in the United States. However, the move was met with criticism in the UK due to Robertson's views on homosexuality. Robertson commented that "In Europe, the big word is tolerance. You tolerate everything. Homosexuals are riding high in the media ... And in Scotland, you can't believe how strong the homosexuals are." Shortly afterward, the Bank of Scotland canceled the venture.
Robertson's extensive business interests have earned him a net worth estimated between $200 million and $1 billion.
In 1994, in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, Robertson solicited donations for his charity organization Operation Blessing International to provide medical supplies to refugees in neighboring Zaire (present-day Congo), where Robertson had allegedly negotiated a diamond-mining contract with Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. According to two Operation Blessing pilots who reported the incident to the state of Virginia for investigation, rather than delivering relief supplies to refugees, the organization's planes were primarily used to haul diamond-mining equipment to Robertson's mines in Zaire.
According to a June 2, 1999 article in The Virginian-Pilot, Robertson had extensive business dealings with Liberian president Charles Taylor, with whom Robertson negotiated a multimillion-dollar contract for gold mining operations in Liberia. In response to Taylor's alleged crimes against humanity, the United States Congress passed a bill in November 2003 that offered two million dollars for his capture. Robertson accused President George W. Bush of "undermining a Christian, Baptist president to bring in Muslim rebels to take over the country." At the time Taylor was harboring Al Qaeda operatives who were funding their operations through the illegal diamond trade. On February 4, 2010, at his war crimes trial in the Hague, Taylor testified that Robertson was his main political ally in the U.S., and that he had volunteered to make Liberia's case before U.S. administration officials in exchange for concessions to Robertson's Freedom Gold, Ltd., to which Taylor gave a contract to mine gold in southeast Liberia. In 2010, a spokesman for Robertson said that the company's arrangements—in which the Liberian government got a 10 percent equity interest in the company and Liberians could purchase at least 15 percent of the shares after the exploration period—were similar to many American companies doing business in Africa at the time.
Tega Farm
Beginning in the latter part of the 1990s, Rev. Pat Robertson raced thoroughbred horses under the nom de course, Tega Farm. His gelding named Tappat won the 1999 Walter Haight Handicap at Laurel Park and the 2000 Pennsylvania Governor's Cup Handicap at Penn National Race Course. Following this success, Robertson paid $520,000 for a colt he named Mr. Pat. Trained by John Kimmel, Mr. Pat was not a successful runner. He was nominated for, but did not run in, the 2000 Kentucky Derby.
Health
On August 11, 2017, Robertson was hospitalized after sustaining minor injuries in a fall from a horseback riding incident.
On February 2, 2018, Robertson suffered an embolic stroke at his home in Virginia Beach around 12 noon local time. A member of his family noticed his symptoms and alerted emergency medical personnel. He was then taken to the nearest stroke center where he was administered the clot-busting drug tPA. Robertson was responsive, awake, and moving all of his limbs about eighty minutes after his stroke began. He was discharged two days later and recovered at home. Following this incident, Robertson and his family thanked the paramedics and medical staff for their "extraordinary care and rapid response." They also urged people to learn about stroke, its symptoms and treatments.
On February 12, 2018, Robertson returned to his normal duties as host of his television show The 700 Club just ten days after his stroke. He later released this statement: "I am grateful for the expressions of love and concern that have come toward me from all around the world, and I am thankful that I have received what amounted to a miraculous healing instead of what could have been a crippling illness. I am delighted to be back on the air to fulfill my life calling."
On June 5, 2019, Robertson returned to host The 700 Club after a few days off after breaking three ribs after falling into a chair. He described the experience as very painful but said "Us old guys are tough and we try to stay in there and keep on going." He then thanked viewers for their prayers.
Political service and activism
Robertson is a past president of the Council for National Policy. In 1982, he served on the Victims of Crime Task Force for President Reagan. In Virginia, he served on the Board of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and on the Governor's Council of Economic Advisors. After his unsuccessful presidential campaign, Robertson started the Christian Coalition, a 1.7-million-member Christian right organization that campaigned mostly for conservative candidates. Billy McCormack, a Southern Baptist pastor in Shreveport, Louisiana, served as one of the four directors of the coalition as well as its vice president.
The coalition was sued by the Federal Election Commission "for coordinating its activities with Republican candidates for office in 1990, 1992 and 1994 and failing to report its expenditures". Robertson was a fundraiser for the Nicaraguan Contras. In March 1986, he told Israeli Foreign Affairs that South Africa was a major contributor to the Reagan administration's efforts to help the anti-Sandinista forces.
In 1994, the Coalition was fined for "improperly [aiding] then Representative Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and Oliver North, who was then the Republican Senate nominee in Virginia." Robertson left the Coalition in 2001.
Robertson has been a governing member of the Council for National Policy (CNP): Board of Governors 1982, President Executive Committee 1985–86, member, 1984, 1988, 1998.
On November 7, 2007, Robertson announced that he was endorsing Rudy Giuliani to be the Republican nominee in the 2008 Presidential election. Some social conservatives criticized Robertson's endorsement of Giuliani, a pro-choice candidate who supported gay rights.
While usually associated with the political right, Pat Robertson has endorsed environmental causes. He appeared in a commercial with Al Sharpton, joking about this, and urging people to join the We Can Solve It campaign against global warming.
In January 2009, on a broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson stated that he is "adamantly opposed" to the division of Jerusalem between Israel and the Palestinians. He also stated that Armageddon is "not going to be fought at Megiddo" but will be the "battle of Jerusalem," when "the forces of all nations come together and try to take Jerusalem away from the Jews. Jews are not going to give up Jerusalem—they shouldn't—and the rest of the world is going to insist they give it up." Robertson added that Jerusalem is a "spiritual symbol that must not be given away" because "Jesus Christ the Messiah will come down to the part of Jerusalem that the Arabs want," and that's "not good."
Robertson has repeatedly called for the legalization of cannabis, saying that it should be treated in a manner analogous to the regulation of alcoholic beverages and tobacco. Robertson has said, "I just think it's shocking how many of these young people wind up in prison and they get turned into hard-core criminals because they had a possession of a very small amount of controlled substance. The whole thing is crazy." In 2014, he turned against the legalization of cannabis.
Controversies and criticisms
As a commentator and minister, Robertson frequently generates controversy. Some of his remarks have been the subject of national and international media attention prompting responses from politicians.
Robertson's service as a minister has included the belief in the healing power of God. He has cautioned believers that some Protestant denominations may harbor the spirit of the Antichrist; prayed to deflect hurricanes; denounced Hinduism as "demonic" and Islam as "Satanic". Robertson has denounced left-wing views of feminism, activism regarding homosexuality, abortion, and liberal college professors. Critics claim Robertson had business dealings in Africa with former president of Liberia and convicted war criminal Charles Taylor and former Zaire president Mobutu Sese Seko who both had been internationally denounced for claims of human rights violations. Robertson was criticized internationally for his call for Hugo Chávez's assassination and for his remarks concerning Ariel Sharon's ill-health as an act of God.
Robertson made American national news in October 2003 for interviews with author Joel Mowbray about his book Dangerous Diplomacy, a book critical of the State Department. Robertson's commentary implied that if a small nuclear device were to be found at the department, such a thing might wake up America's leaders to actually realize a potential threat; however, government officials expressed disdain at the thought of such a scenario.
During the week of September 11, 2001, Robertson discussed the terror attacks with Jerry Falwell, who said that "the ACLU has to take a lot of blame for this" in addition to "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays, and the lesbians [who have] helped [the terror attacks of September 11th] happen." Robertson replied, "I totally concur". Both evangelists were seriously criticized by President George W. Bush for their comments, for which Falwell later issued an apology.
Less than two weeks after Hurricane Katrina killed 1,836 people, Robertson implied on the September 12, 2005 broadcast of The 700 Club that the storm was God's punishment in response to America's abortion policy. He suggested that the September 11 attacks and the disaster in New Orleans "could ... be connected in some way".
On November 9, 2009, Robertson said that Islam is "a violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world and world domination". He went on to elaborate that "you're dealing with not a religion, you're dealing with a political system, and I think we should treat it as such, and treat its adherents as such as we would members of the communist party, members of some fascist group".
Robertson's response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake also drew international condemnation. Robertson claimed that Haiti's founders had sworn a "pact to the Devil" in order to liberate themselves from the French slave owners and indirectly attributed the earthquake to the consequences of the Haitian people being "cursed" for doing so. CBN later issued a statement saying that Robertson's comments "were based on the widely-discussed 1791 slave rebellion led by Dutty Boukman at Bois Caïman, where the slaves allegedly made a famous pact with the devil in exchange for victory over the French". Various figures in mainline and evangelical Christianity have on occasion disavowed some of Robertson's remarks.
In March 2015, Robertson compared Buddhism to a disease on The 700 Club. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a conservative Christian watchdog group Robertson founded to promote Christian prayer in public schools, is calling for a multi-pronged attack on mindfulness programs because "they appear to be similar to Buddhist religious practices. Proponents of secular mindfulness say mindfulness is not a Buddhist practice; it is a contemplative practice used in religious traditions around the world by many different names."
Predictions
Several times near New Year, Robertson has announced that God told him several truths or events that would happen in the following year. "I have a relatively good track record", he said. "Sometimes I miss."
1982: Judgment
In the May 19, 1982 broadcast of The 700 Club Robertson stated, "I guarantee you by the fall of 1982 there is going to be a judgment on the world."
In September 2011, Robertson and several others who incorrectly predicted various dates for the end of world were jointly awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for "teaching the world to be careful when making mathematical assumptions and calculations".
2004: Presidential election
In January 2004, Robertson said that God told him President Bush will be re-elected in a "blowout" in the election later that year. "I think George Bush is going to win in a walk", Robertson told viewers of his The 700 Club program. "I really believe I'm hearing from the Lord it's going to be like a blowout election in 2004. It's shaping up that way." Bush did in fact win re-election, but not in a landslide. Kerry lost the electoral college vote by 14%, an outcome that did not signal a significant shift in the direction of politics.
2006: Pacific Northwestern tsunami
In May 2006, Robertson declared that storms and possibly a tsunami would hit America's coastline sometime in 2006. Robertson supposedly received this revelation from God during an annual personal prayer retreat in January. The claim was repeated four times on The 700 Club.
On May 8, 2006, Robertson said, "If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms." On May 17, 2006, he elaborated, "There well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest."
2007: Terror attack
On the January 2, 2007 broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson said that God spoke to him and told him that "mass killings" were to come during 2007, due to a terrorist attack on the United States. He added, "The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that." When a terrorist attack failed to happen in 2007, Robertson said, in January 2008, "All I can think is that somehow the people of God prayed and God in his mercy spared us."
2008: Worldwide violence and American recession
On the January 2, 2008 episode of The 700 Club, Pat Robertson predicted that 2008 would be a year of worldwide violence. He also predicted that a recession would occur in the United States that would be followed by a stock market crash by 2010. However, there was a decrease in overall deaths for the period, and the American economy had already entered a recession in 2007, with increased household debt and the collapse of financial institutions.
2008: Mideast meltdown
In October 2008, Robertson posted a press release on the Georgian conflict speculating that the conflict is a Russian ploy to enter the Middle East, and that instability caused by a predicted pre-emptive strike by Israel on Iran would result in Syria's and Iran's launching nuclear strikes on other targets. He also said that if the United States were to oppose Russia's expansion, nuclear strikes on American soil are also pending. "We will suffer grave economic damage, but will not engage in military action to stop the conflict. However, we may not be spared nuclear strikes against coastal cities. In conclusion, it is my opinion that we have between 75 and 120 days before the Middle East starts spinning out of control."
2009: Economic chaos and recovery
On the January 1, 2009 broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson said, "If I'm hearing [God] right, gold will go to about $1900 an ounce and oil to $300 a barrel." He also suggested that Americans would broadly accept socialism. Despite these predictions, he also said that economically "things are getting ready to turn around."
2012: Presidential election
On January 4, 2012, Robertson reported that God had spoken to him and he "thinks He showed me the next president" but would not name who it is. He did give an indication that it would not be President Obama since Robertson said God told him Obama's views were at "odds with the majority", but left some room for interpretation had the 2012 election expanded beyond a two-person race. Closer to the election, however, he expressly stated that God had told him that Mitt Romney would win and would be a two-term President. Obama was reelected for a second term.
2020: Presidential election and asteroid strike
On October 20, 2020, Robertson said, "But first of all I want to say without question Trump is going to win the election." Trump went on to be defeated by Joe Biden. Robertson also said there would be assassination attempts against Trump, and later an asteroid will hit that could destroy earth. After Biden was certified the winner by the United States Electoral College in December, Robertson, after briefly supporting Trump's legal disputes seeking to overturn the results, said Trump should concede. He also said Trump running again in 2024 would be a "mistake" and offered Nikki Haley as an alternative.
Works
Shout It from the Housetops, an autobiography with Jamie Buckingham (1972, repr 1995)
My Prayer for You (1977)
The Secret Kingdom (1982)
Answers to 200 of Life's Most Probing Questions (1984)
Beyond Reason: How Miracles can Change your Life (1985)
America's Dates with Destiny (1986)
The Plan (1989)
The New Millennium (1990)
The New World Order (1991)
Turning Tide: The Fall of Liberalism and the Rise of Common Sense (1993)
The End of the Age (1995, fiction)
Six Steps to Spiritual Revival: God's Awesome Power in Your Life (2002)
Bring It on: Tough Questions, Candid Answers, Nashville, Tenn: W Pub. Group, 2003.
The Ten Offenses (2004)
Courting Disaster (2004)
Miracles Can Be Yours Today (2006)
On Humility (2009)
Right on the Money: Financial Advice for Tough Times (2009)
See also
Charismatic Movement
Christian Fundamentalism
Christian Zionism
Moral Majority
Christian Right
References
Further reading
Marley, David John. Pat Robertson: An American Life
External links
Brian Ross. Some Question Robertson's Katrina Charity, ABC News, September 9, 2005.
"Preacher: God told him about storms, tsunami"
2000 lbs. leg press
Robertson talks about his prostate cancer surgery with laparoscopic radical prostatectomy
NPR Audio Report: Televangelist Robertson Urges U.S. Hit on Chavez
Archive of American Television interview with Pat Robertson
1930 births
Living people
20th-century American politicians
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century apocalypticists
20th-century Baptists
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century apocalypticists
21st-century Baptists
American businesspeople
American Charismatics
American Christian writers
American Christian Zionists
American critics of Islam
American male non-fiction writers
United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War
American racehorse owners and breeders
American television evangelists
Anti-Masonry
Anti-pornography activists
Baptists from New York (state)
Baptists from Virginia
Christian conspiracy theorists
Christian fundamentalists
Christian critics of Islam
Male critics of feminism
Military personnel from Virginia
People from Lexington, Virginia
People from Staten Island
People from Virginia Beach, Virginia
Regent University people
Religious scandals
United States Marine Corps officers
Candidates in the 1988 United States presidential election
University and college founders
Virginia Republicans
Washington and Lee University alumni
Yale Law School alumni
Christian Old Earth creationists
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
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"Patrick or Pat Robertson may refer to:\n\n Pat Robertson (born 1930), American media mogul, Southern Baptist minister, and college administrator\n Pat Robertson (footballer) (1895–1947), Australian rules footballer for Essendon\n Patrick Robertson, Lord Robertson (1794–1855), Scottish judge\n Patrick Robertson (soccer) (born 1986), American soccer player \n Patrick Robertson (musician) (born 1977), Australian musician and songwriter\n Patrick Francis Robertson (1807–1885), British Member of Parliament for Hastings\n Patrick Robertson (set designer) (1922–2009), British theatre designer",
"Marion Robertson may refer to:\n Pat Robertson (born 1930, Marion Gordon \"Pat\" Robertson), American media mogul and former minister\nMarion Thomson (1911-2007, née Robertson), New Zealand lawyer"
] |
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"Pat Robertson",
"Family",
"Does Pat Robertson have a family?",
"a prominent political family,"
] |
C_d382da36d18049f58d96cbc298991f17_1
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Who in his family is involved in politics?
| 2 |
Who in Pat Robertson's family is involved in politics?
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Pat Robertson
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Marion Gordon Robertson was born on March 22, 1930, in Lexington, Virginia, into a prominent political family, the youngest of two sons. His parents were Absalom Willis Robertson (1887-1971), a conservative Democratic United States Senator, and his wife Gladys Churchill (nee Willis; 1897-1968), was a housewife and a musician. He met Adelia "Dede" Elmer (born December 3, 1927 in Columbus, Ohio), a fashion model and beauty queen in the Miss Ohio State contest, who was studying for her masters in Nursing at Yale University. She was also a nursing student at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. They were married on August 26, 1954, and they were both on the path of economic success. His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson and, as of mid-2016, 14 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed Pat by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby while saying "pat, pat, pat". As he got older, Robertson thought about which first name he would like people to use. He considered "Marion" to be effeminate, and "M. Gordon" to be affected, so he opted for his childhood nickname "Pat". His strong awareness for the importance of names in the creation of a public image showed itself again during his presidential run when he threatened to sue NBC news for calling him a "television evangelist", which later became "televangelist", at a time when Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker were objects of scandal. On April 2, 2015, fellow televangelist, Robert H. Schuller died after a two-year battle with esophageal cancer. Robertson released a statement through CBN News.com: "I am saddened by the passing of my dear friend, Robert Schuller, the Founding Pastor of Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. Robert Schuller set the dimensions for Twentieth Century Christian positive thinking and optimistic action. He is now with the Lord in Heaven, but his legacy on earth will long remain." In August 2017, Robertson was hospitalized after sustaining minor injuries from a horseback riding incident. On February 21, 2018, another fellow televangelist, Billy Graham died of complications of Parkinson's disease. Robertson released a statement through CBN News.com: "I join with millions of my fellow Christians in mourning the passing of Billy Graham. Without question, Billy was the preeminent voice of evangelical Christianity in America--an advisor to Presidents, and a spiritual guide to the multitudes who attended his crusades all over the world." He then added: "Billy has been a dear friend of mine personally and I will miss him. He is now with our heavenly Father, well and happy, and joined forever with his dear wife, Ruth. I extend my profound sympathy to Franklin, to Anne Graham Lotz, and to Billy's other children who are continuing his legacy throughout the world." CANNOTANSWER
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Absalom Willis Robertson (1887-1971), a conservative Democratic United States Senator,
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Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is an American media mogul, televangelist, political commentator, former Republican presidential candidate, and former Southern Baptist minister. Robertson advocates a conservative Christian ideology and is known for his past activities in Republican party politics. He is associated with the Charismatic Movement within Protestant evangelicalism. He serves as chancellor and CEO of Regent University and chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). Until 2021 he appeared daily on The 700 Club, CBN's flagship television program.
On Robertson's own account, he was not a serious Christian until he underwent personal difficulty. He graduated near the top of his class at Yale Law School in 1955, but failed the New York bar exam. Failing the bar cost Robertson opportunities at post-graduate employment, and in the ensuing months of what he later described as disappointment, embarrassment, and unemployment, he became a born-again Christian and began a career as a minister.
Spanning over five decades, Robertson has had a career as the founder of several major organizations and corporations as well as a university: The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), the International Family Entertainment Inc. (ABC Family Channel), Regent University, the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ), the Founders Inn and Conference Center, the Christian Coalition, an L-1011 Flying Hospital, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, and CBN Asia. He is a best-selling author and the host of The 700 Club, a Christian News and TV program broadcast live weekdays on Freeform (formerly ABC Family) via satellite from CBN studios, as well as on channels throughout the United States, and on CBN network affiliates worldwide. Robertson announced his retirement at the age of 91 from the 700 Club in October 2021, on the sixtieth anniversary of the first telecast on October 1, 1961 of what eventually became CBN.
The son of U.S. Senator A. Willis Robertson, Robertson was a Southern Baptist and was active as an ordained minister with that denomination for many years, but holds to a charismatic theology not traditionally common among Southern Baptists. He unsuccessfully campaigned to become the Republican Party's nominee in the 1988 presidential election. As a result of his seeking political office, he no longer serves in an official role for any church, but continued as the main host for his series, The 700 Club until October 2021, advocating for religion to this day. His personal influence on media and financial resources make him a recognized, influential, and controversial public voice for conservative Christianity in the United States and around the world.
Life and career
Family
Marion Gordon Robertson was born on March 22, 1930, in Lexington, Virginia, into a prominent political family, the younger of two sons. His parents were Absalom Willis Robertson (1887–1971), a conservative Democratic Senator, and his wife Gladys Churchill (née Willis; 1897–1968), was a housewife and a musician. He met Adelia "Dede" Elmer (born December 3, 1927, in Columbus, Ohio), a fashion model and beauty queen in the Miss Ohio State contest, who was studying for her masters in Nursing at Yale University. She was also a nursing student at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. They were married on August 26, 1954. His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson and, as of mid-2016, 14 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.
At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed Pat by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby while saying "pat, pat, pat". As he got older, Robertson thought about which first name he would like people to use. He considered "Marion" to be effeminate, and "M. Gordon" to be affected, so he opted for his childhood nickname "Pat". His strong awareness for the importance of names in the creation of a public image showed itself again during his presidential run when he threatened to sue NBC news for calling him a "television evangelist", which later became "televangelist", at a time when Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker were objects of scandal.
Education and military service
When he was eleven, Robertson was enrolled in the preparatory McDonogh School outside Baltimore, Maryland. From 1940 until 1946 he attended The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he graduated with honors. He gained admission to Washington and Lee University, where he received a B.A. in History, graduating magna cum laude. He joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Robertson has said, "Although I worked hard at my studies, my real major centered around lovely young ladies who attended the nearby girls schools."
In 1948, the draft was reinstated and Robertson was given the option of joining the Marine Corps or being drafted into the Army; he opted for the first.
Robertson has described his military service as follows: "We did long, grueling marches to toughen the men, plus refresher training in firearms and bayonet combat." In the same year, he transferred to Korea, "I ended up at the headquarters command of the First Marine Division," says Robertson. "The Division was in combat in the hot and dusty, then bitterly cold portion of North Korea just above the 38th Parallel later identified as the 'Punchbowl' and 'Heartbreak Ridge.' For that service in the Korean War, the Marine Corps awarded me three battle stars for 'action against the enemy.'"
Parts of Robertson's description of his service were later proven to be false. Former Republican Congressman Paul "Pete" McCloskey, Jr., who served with Robertson in Korea, wrote a public letter that said that Robertson was actually spared combat duty when his powerful father, a U.S. Senator, intervened on his behalf, and that Robertson spent most of his time in an office in Japan. According to McCloskey, his time in the service was not in combat, but as the "liquor officer" responsible for keeping the officers' clubs supplied with alcohol. Robertson filed a $35 million libel suit against McCloskey in 1986. He dropped the case in 1988, before it came to trial and paid McCloskey's court costs. According to a newspaper report from 1986, Robertson confirmed elements of McCloskey's allegations and said that he never saw front-line duty.
Robertson was promoted to First Lieutenant in 1952 upon his return to the United States. He then went on to receive a law degree from Yale Law School in 1955, near the top of his class. However, he failed his first and only attempt at the New York bar exam necessary for admission to the New York State Bar Association. Shortly thereafter he underwent a religious conversion, and decided against pursuing a career in law. Instead, Robertson attended The Biblical Seminary in New York, where he received a Master of Divinity degree in 1959.
Christian broadcasting and higher education career
In 1956, Robertson met Dutch missionary Cornelius Vanderbreggen, who impressed Robertson both by his lifestyle and his message. Vanderbreggen quoted Proverbs (3:5, 6), "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths", which Robertson considers to be the "guiding principle" of his life. He was ordained as a minister of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1961.
In 1960, Robertson established the Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He started it by buying the license of a defunct UHF station in nearby Portsmouth. The station first went on the air as WYAH-TV on October 1, 1961. Later in 1977 he purchased a local Leased access cable TV channel in the Hampton Roads area and called it CBN. Originally he went door-to-door in Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads, and other surrounding areas asking Christians to buy cable boxes so that they could receive his new channel. He also canvassed local churches in the Virginia Beach area to do the same, and solicited donations through public speaking engagements at local churches and on CBN. One of his friends, John Giminez, the pastor of Rock Church Virginia Beach, was influential in helping Robertson establish CBN with donations, as well as offering the services of volunteers from his church.
CBN is now seen in 180 countries and broadcast in 71 languages. He founded the CBN Cable Network, which was renamed the CBN Family Channel in 1988 and later simply the Family Channel. When the Family Channel became too profitable for Robertson to keep it under the CBN umbrella without endangering CBN's non-profit status, he formed International Family Entertainment Inc. in 1990 with the Family Channel as its main subsidiary. Robertson sold the Family Channel to the News Corporation in 1997, which renamed it Fox Family. A condition of the sale was that the station would continue airing Robertson's television program, The 700 Club, twice a day in perpetuity, regardless of any changes of ownership. The channel is now owned by Disney and run as Freeform. On December 3, 2007, Robertson resigned as chief executive of CBN; he was succeeded by his son, Gordon.
Robertson founded CBN University in 1977 on CBN's Virginia Beach campus. It was renamed Regent University in 1989. Robertson serves as its chancellor. He is also founder and president of the American Center for Law & Justice, a major public interest law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. and associated with Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia, that defends Constitutional freedoms and conservative Christian ideals. Occasional critics have characterized Robertson as an advocate of dominionism; the idea that Christians have a right to rule.
In 1994, he was an endorser of the document Evangelicals and Catholics Together.
1988 presidential bid
In September 1986, Robertson announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Robertson said he would pursue the nomination only if three million people signed up to volunteer for his campaign by September 1987. Three million responded, and by the time Robertson announced he would be running in September 1987, he also had raised millions of dollars for his campaign fund. He surrendered his ministerial credentials and turned leadership of CBN over to his son, Tim. His campaign, however, against incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush, was seen as a long shot.
Robertson ran on a standard conservative platform. Among his policies, he wanted to ban pornography, reform the education system, and eliminate departments such as the Department of Education and the Department of Energy. He also supported a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget.
Robertson's campaign got off to a strong second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, ahead of Bush. He did poorly in the subsequent New Hampshire primary, however, and was unable to be competitive once the multiple-state primaries began. Robertson ended his campaign before the primaries were finished. His best finish was in Washington, winning the majority of caucus delegates. He later spoke at the 1988 Republican National Convention in New Orleans and told his remaining supporters to cast their votes for Bush, who ended up winning the nomination and the election. He then returned to CBN and has remained there as a religious broadcaster.
Books
Robertson's book The New World Order (1991) became a New York Times best seller, among his several works. Episcopalian professor of theology Ephraim Radner's critical review:
Business interests
Robertson is the founder and chairman of The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) Inc., and founder of International Family Entertainment Inc., Regent University, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, American Center for Law and Justice, The Flying Hospital, Inc. and several other organizations and broadcast entities. Robertson was the founder and co-chairman of International Family Entertainment Inc. (IFE).
Formed in 1990, IFE produced and distributed family entertainment and information programming worldwide. IFE's principal business was The Family Channel, a satellite delivered cable-television network with 63 million U.S. subscribers. IFE, a publicly held company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, was sold in 1997 to Fox Kids Worldwide, Inc. for $1.9 billion, whereupon it was renamed Fox Family Channel. Disney acquired FFC in 2001 and its name was changed again, to ABC Family. The network was renamed to Freeform on January 12, 2016, though Robertson's sale of the channel continues to require Freeform to carry four hours of CBN/700 Club programming per weekday, along with CBN's yearly telethon.
Robertson is a global businessman with media holdings in Asia, the United Kingdom, and Africa. He struck a deal with Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based General Nutrition Center to produce and market a weight-loss shake he created and promoted on The 700 Club.
In 1999, Robertson entered into a joint venture with the Bank of Scotland to provide financial services in the United States. However, the move was met with criticism in the UK due to Robertson's views on homosexuality. Robertson commented that "In Europe, the big word is tolerance. You tolerate everything. Homosexuals are riding high in the media ... And in Scotland, you can't believe how strong the homosexuals are." Shortly afterward, the Bank of Scotland canceled the venture.
Robertson's extensive business interests have earned him a net worth estimated between $200 million and $1 billion.
In 1994, in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, Robertson solicited donations for his charity organization Operation Blessing International to provide medical supplies to refugees in neighboring Zaire (present-day Congo), where Robertson had allegedly negotiated a diamond-mining contract with Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. According to two Operation Blessing pilots who reported the incident to the state of Virginia for investigation, rather than delivering relief supplies to refugees, the organization's planes were primarily used to haul diamond-mining equipment to Robertson's mines in Zaire.
According to a June 2, 1999 article in The Virginian-Pilot, Robertson had extensive business dealings with Liberian president Charles Taylor, with whom Robertson negotiated a multimillion-dollar contract for gold mining operations in Liberia. In response to Taylor's alleged crimes against humanity, the United States Congress passed a bill in November 2003 that offered two million dollars for his capture. Robertson accused President George W. Bush of "undermining a Christian, Baptist president to bring in Muslim rebels to take over the country." At the time Taylor was harboring Al Qaeda operatives who were funding their operations through the illegal diamond trade. On February 4, 2010, at his war crimes trial in the Hague, Taylor testified that Robertson was his main political ally in the U.S., and that he had volunteered to make Liberia's case before U.S. administration officials in exchange for concessions to Robertson's Freedom Gold, Ltd., to which Taylor gave a contract to mine gold in southeast Liberia. In 2010, a spokesman for Robertson said that the company's arrangements—in which the Liberian government got a 10 percent equity interest in the company and Liberians could purchase at least 15 percent of the shares after the exploration period—were similar to many American companies doing business in Africa at the time.
Tega Farm
Beginning in the latter part of the 1990s, Rev. Pat Robertson raced thoroughbred horses under the nom de course, Tega Farm. His gelding named Tappat won the 1999 Walter Haight Handicap at Laurel Park and the 2000 Pennsylvania Governor's Cup Handicap at Penn National Race Course. Following this success, Robertson paid $520,000 for a colt he named Mr. Pat. Trained by John Kimmel, Mr. Pat was not a successful runner. He was nominated for, but did not run in, the 2000 Kentucky Derby.
Health
On August 11, 2017, Robertson was hospitalized after sustaining minor injuries in a fall from a horseback riding incident.
On February 2, 2018, Robertson suffered an embolic stroke at his home in Virginia Beach around 12 noon local time. A member of his family noticed his symptoms and alerted emergency medical personnel. He was then taken to the nearest stroke center where he was administered the clot-busting drug tPA. Robertson was responsive, awake, and moving all of his limbs about eighty minutes after his stroke began. He was discharged two days later and recovered at home. Following this incident, Robertson and his family thanked the paramedics and medical staff for their "extraordinary care and rapid response." They also urged people to learn about stroke, its symptoms and treatments.
On February 12, 2018, Robertson returned to his normal duties as host of his television show The 700 Club just ten days after his stroke. He later released this statement: "I am grateful for the expressions of love and concern that have come toward me from all around the world, and I am thankful that I have received what amounted to a miraculous healing instead of what could have been a crippling illness. I am delighted to be back on the air to fulfill my life calling."
On June 5, 2019, Robertson returned to host The 700 Club after a few days off after breaking three ribs after falling into a chair. He described the experience as very painful but said "Us old guys are tough and we try to stay in there and keep on going." He then thanked viewers for their prayers.
Political service and activism
Robertson is a past president of the Council for National Policy. In 1982, he served on the Victims of Crime Task Force for President Reagan. In Virginia, he served on the Board of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and on the Governor's Council of Economic Advisors. After his unsuccessful presidential campaign, Robertson started the Christian Coalition, a 1.7-million-member Christian right organization that campaigned mostly for conservative candidates. Billy McCormack, a Southern Baptist pastor in Shreveport, Louisiana, served as one of the four directors of the coalition as well as its vice president.
The coalition was sued by the Federal Election Commission "for coordinating its activities with Republican candidates for office in 1990, 1992 and 1994 and failing to report its expenditures". Robertson was a fundraiser for the Nicaraguan Contras. In March 1986, he told Israeli Foreign Affairs that South Africa was a major contributor to the Reagan administration's efforts to help the anti-Sandinista forces.
In 1994, the Coalition was fined for "improperly [aiding] then Representative Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and Oliver North, who was then the Republican Senate nominee in Virginia." Robertson left the Coalition in 2001.
Robertson has been a governing member of the Council for National Policy (CNP): Board of Governors 1982, President Executive Committee 1985–86, member, 1984, 1988, 1998.
On November 7, 2007, Robertson announced that he was endorsing Rudy Giuliani to be the Republican nominee in the 2008 Presidential election. Some social conservatives criticized Robertson's endorsement of Giuliani, a pro-choice candidate who supported gay rights.
While usually associated with the political right, Pat Robertson has endorsed environmental causes. He appeared in a commercial with Al Sharpton, joking about this, and urging people to join the We Can Solve It campaign against global warming.
In January 2009, on a broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson stated that he is "adamantly opposed" to the division of Jerusalem between Israel and the Palestinians. He also stated that Armageddon is "not going to be fought at Megiddo" but will be the "battle of Jerusalem," when "the forces of all nations come together and try to take Jerusalem away from the Jews. Jews are not going to give up Jerusalem—they shouldn't—and the rest of the world is going to insist they give it up." Robertson added that Jerusalem is a "spiritual symbol that must not be given away" because "Jesus Christ the Messiah will come down to the part of Jerusalem that the Arabs want," and that's "not good."
Robertson has repeatedly called for the legalization of cannabis, saying that it should be treated in a manner analogous to the regulation of alcoholic beverages and tobacco. Robertson has said, "I just think it's shocking how many of these young people wind up in prison and they get turned into hard-core criminals because they had a possession of a very small amount of controlled substance. The whole thing is crazy." In 2014, he turned against the legalization of cannabis.
Controversies and criticisms
As a commentator and minister, Robertson frequently generates controversy. Some of his remarks have been the subject of national and international media attention prompting responses from politicians.
Robertson's service as a minister has included the belief in the healing power of God. He has cautioned believers that some Protestant denominations may harbor the spirit of the Antichrist; prayed to deflect hurricanes; denounced Hinduism as "demonic" and Islam as "Satanic". Robertson has denounced left-wing views of feminism, activism regarding homosexuality, abortion, and liberal college professors. Critics claim Robertson had business dealings in Africa with former president of Liberia and convicted war criminal Charles Taylor and former Zaire president Mobutu Sese Seko who both had been internationally denounced for claims of human rights violations. Robertson was criticized internationally for his call for Hugo Chávez's assassination and for his remarks concerning Ariel Sharon's ill-health as an act of God.
Robertson made American national news in October 2003 for interviews with author Joel Mowbray about his book Dangerous Diplomacy, a book critical of the State Department. Robertson's commentary implied that if a small nuclear device were to be found at the department, such a thing might wake up America's leaders to actually realize a potential threat; however, government officials expressed disdain at the thought of such a scenario.
During the week of September 11, 2001, Robertson discussed the terror attacks with Jerry Falwell, who said that "the ACLU has to take a lot of blame for this" in addition to "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays, and the lesbians [who have] helped [the terror attacks of September 11th] happen." Robertson replied, "I totally concur". Both evangelists were seriously criticized by President George W. Bush for their comments, for which Falwell later issued an apology.
Less than two weeks after Hurricane Katrina killed 1,836 people, Robertson implied on the September 12, 2005 broadcast of The 700 Club that the storm was God's punishment in response to America's abortion policy. He suggested that the September 11 attacks and the disaster in New Orleans "could ... be connected in some way".
On November 9, 2009, Robertson said that Islam is "a violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world and world domination". He went on to elaborate that "you're dealing with not a religion, you're dealing with a political system, and I think we should treat it as such, and treat its adherents as such as we would members of the communist party, members of some fascist group".
Robertson's response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake also drew international condemnation. Robertson claimed that Haiti's founders had sworn a "pact to the Devil" in order to liberate themselves from the French slave owners and indirectly attributed the earthquake to the consequences of the Haitian people being "cursed" for doing so. CBN later issued a statement saying that Robertson's comments "were based on the widely-discussed 1791 slave rebellion led by Dutty Boukman at Bois Caïman, where the slaves allegedly made a famous pact with the devil in exchange for victory over the French". Various figures in mainline and evangelical Christianity have on occasion disavowed some of Robertson's remarks.
In March 2015, Robertson compared Buddhism to a disease on The 700 Club. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a conservative Christian watchdog group Robertson founded to promote Christian prayer in public schools, is calling for a multi-pronged attack on mindfulness programs because "they appear to be similar to Buddhist religious practices. Proponents of secular mindfulness say mindfulness is not a Buddhist practice; it is a contemplative practice used in religious traditions around the world by many different names."
Predictions
Several times near New Year, Robertson has announced that God told him several truths or events that would happen in the following year. "I have a relatively good track record", he said. "Sometimes I miss."
1982: Judgment
In the May 19, 1982 broadcast of The 700 Club Robertson stated, "I guarantee you by the fall of 1982 there is going to be a judgment on the world."
In September 2011, Robertson and several others who incorrectly predicted various dates for the end of world were jointly awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for "teaching the world to be careful when making mathematical assumptions and calculations".
2004: Presidential election
In January 2004, Robertson said that God told him President Bush will be re-elected in a "blowout" in the election later that year. "I think George Bush is going to win in a walk", Robertson told viewers of his The 700 Club program. "I really believe I'm hearing from the Lord it's going to be like a blowout election in 2004. It's shaping up that way." Bush did in fact win re-election, but not in a landslide. Kerry lost the electoral college vote by 14%, an outcome that did not signal a significant shift in the direction of politics.
2006: Pacific Northwestern tsunami
In May 2006, Robertson declared that storms and possibly a tsunami would hit America's coastline sometime in 2006. Robertson supposedly received this revelation from God during an annual personal prayer retreat in January. The claim was repeated four times on The 700 Club.
On May 8, 2006, Robertson said, "If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms." On May 17, 2006, he elaborated, "There well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest."
2007: Terror attack
On the January 2, 2007 broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson said that God spoke to him and told him that "mass killings" were to come during 2007, due to a terrorist attack on the United States. He added, "The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that." When a terrorist attack failed to happen in 2007, Robertson said, in January 2008, "All I can think is that somehow the people of God prayed and God in his mercy spared us."
2008: Worldwide violence and American recession
On the January 2, 2008 episode of The 700 Club, Pat Robertson predicted that 2008 would be a year of worldwide violence. He also predicted that a recession would occur in the United States that would be followed by a stock market crash by 2010. However, there was a decrease in overall deaths for the period, and the American economy had already entered a recession in 2007, with increased household debt and the collapse of financial institutions.
2008: Mideast meltdown
In October 2008, Robertson posted a press release on the Georgian conflict speculating that the conflict is a Russian ploy to enter the Middle East, and that instability caused by a predicted pre-emptive strike by Israel on Iran would result in Syria's and Iran's launching nuclear strikes on other targets. He also said that if the United States were to oppose Russia's expansion, nuclear strikes on American soil are also pending. "We will suffer grave economic damage, but will not engage in military action to stop the conflict. However, we may not be spared nuclear strikes against coastal cities. In conclusion, it is my opinion that we have between 75 and 120 days before the Middle East starts spinning out of control."
2009: Economic chaos and recovery
On the January 1, 2009 broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson said, "If I'm hearing [God] right, gold will go to about $1900 an ounce and oil to $300 a barrel." He also suggested that Americans would broadly accept socialism. Despite these predictions, he also said that economically "things are getting ready to turn around."
2012: Presidential election
On January 4, 2012, Robertson reported that God had spoken to him and he "thinks He showed me the next president" but would not name who it is. He did give an indication that it would not be President Obama since Robertson said God told him Obama's views were at "odds with the majority", but left some room for interpretation had the 2012 election expanded beyond a two-person race. Closer to the election, however, he expressly stated that God had told him that Mitt Romney would win and would be a two-term President. Obama was reelected for a second term.
2020: Presidential election and asteroid strike
On October 20, 2020, Robertson said, "But first of all I want to say without question Trump is going to win the election." Trump went on to be defeated by Joe Biden. Robertson also said there would be assassination attempts against Trump, and later an asteroid will hit that could destroy earth. After Biden was certified the winner by the United States Electoral College in December, Robertson, after briefly supporting Trump's legal disputes seeking to overturn the results, said Trump should concede. He also said Trump running again in 2024 would be a "mistake" and offered Nikki Haley as an alternative.
Works
Shout It from the Housetops, an autobiography with Jamie Buckingham (1972, repr 1995)
My Prayer for You (1977)
The Secret Kingdom (1982)
Answers to 200 of Life's Most Probing Questions (1984)
Beyond Reason: How Miracles can Change your Life (1985)
America's Dates with Destiny (1986)
The Plan (1989)
The New Millennium (1990)
The New World Order (1991)
Turning Tide: The Fall of Liberalism and the Rise of Common Sense (1993)
The End of the Age (1995, fiction)
Six Steps to Spiritual Revival: God's Awesome Power in Your Life (2002)
Bring It on: Tough Questions, Candid Answers, Nashville, Tenn: W Pub. Group, 2003.
The Ten Offenses (2004)
Courting Disaster (2004)
Miracles Can Be Yours Today (2006)
On Humility (2009)
Right on the Money: Financial Advice for Tough Times (2009)
See also
Charismatic Movement
Christian Fundamentalism
Christian Zionism
Moral Majority
Christian Right
References
Further reading
Marley, David John. Pat Robertson: An American Life
External links
Brian Ross. Some Question Robertson's Katrina Charity, ABC News, September 9, 2005.
"Preacher: God told him about storms, tsunami"
2000 lbs. leg press
Robertson talks about his prostate cancer surgery with laparoscopic radical prostatectomy
NPR Audio Report: Televangelist Robertson Urges U.S. Hit on Chavez
Archive of American Television interview with Pat Robertson
1930 births
Living people
20th-century American politicians
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20th-century Baptists
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century apocalypticists
21st-century Baptists
American businesspeople
American Charismatics
American Christian writers
American Christian Zionists
American critics of Islam
American male non-fiction writers
United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War
American racehorse owners and breeders
American television evangelists
Anti-Masonry
Anti-pornography activists
Baptists from New York (state)
Baptists from Virginia
Christian conspiracy theorists
Christian fundamentalists
Christian critics of Islam
Male critics of feminism
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People from Lexington, Virginia
People from Staten Island
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Regent University people
Religious scandals
United States Marine Corps officers
Candidates in the 1988 United States presidential election
University and college founders
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Washington and Lee University alumni
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Christian Old Earth creationists
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
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"Maria Reig i Moles (born 17 May 1951) is an Andorran entrepreneur. She is president of the Reig Capital Group\n\nLife\nReig was born in Andorra on 17 May 1951. She is a member of a family who are important in the Andorran banking and tobacco industries. She was the only woman involved in drafting the Constitution of Andorra that was agreed in 1993. She was (2014) president of the Reig Capital Group and a director of the bank Crèdit Andorrà and Fills de Julià Reig.\n\nReferences\n\n1951 births\nLiving people\nAndorran women in politics",
"Mungo Bovey, QC (born 1 May 1959) is a Scottish advocate (lawyer). He is Keeper of the Faculty of Advocates' Library.\n\nHe is a graduate of the University of Glasgow, in his time there he was involved in student politics, and opposed the twinning with Beir Zeit University.\n\nHe is involved in the Scottish National Party, and has represented them in court cases (e.g. SNP, Petitioners). He stood as the SNP candidate in Edinburgh East. His father was Keith Bovey, who was an SNP candidate a few times, including in the 1978 Glasgow Garscadden by-election.\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\nScottish Queen's Counsel\nMembers of the Faculty of Advocates\nAlumni of the University of Glasgow\n1959 births\nScottish National Party parliamentary candidates"
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"Pat Robertson",
"Family",
"Does Pat Robertson have a family?",
"a prominent political family,",
"Who in his family is involved in politics?",
"Absalom Willis Robertson (1887-1971), a conservative Democratic United States Senator,"
] |
C_d382da36d18049f58d96cbc298991f17_1
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Is Robertson married?
| 3 |
Is Pat Robertson married?
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Pat Robertson
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Marion Gordon Robertson was born on March 22, 1930, in Lexington, Virginia, into a prominent political family, the youngest of two sons. His parents were Absalom Willis Robertson (1887-1971), a conservative Democratic United States Senator, and his wife Gladys Churchill (nee Willis; 1897-1968), was a housewife and a musician. He met Adelia "Dede" Elmer (born December 3, 1927 in Columbus, Ohio), a fashion model and beauty queen in the Miss Ohio State contest, who was studying for her masters in Nursing at Yale University. She was also a nursing student at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. They were married on August 26, 1954, and they were both on the path of economic success. His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson and, as of mid-2016, 14 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed Pat by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby while saying "pat, pat, pat". As he got older, Robertson thought about which first name he would like people to use. He considered "Marion" to be effeminate, and "M. Gordon" to be affected, so he opted for his childhood nickname "Pat". His strong awareness for the importance of names in the creation of a public image showed itself again during his presidential run when he threatened to sue NBC news for calling him a "television evangelist", which later became "televangelist", at a time when Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker were objects of scandal. On April 2, 2015, fellow televangelist, Robert H. Schuller died after a two-year battle with esophageal cancer. Robertson released a statement through CBN News.com: "I am saddened by the passing of my dear friend, Robert Schuller, the Founding Pastor of Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. Robert Schuller set the dimensions for Twentieth Century Christian positive thinking and optimistic action. He is now with the Lord in Heaven, but his legacy on earth will long remain." In August 2017, Robertson was hospitalized after sustaining minor injuries from a horseback riding incident. On February 21, 2018, another fellow televangelist, Billy Graham died of complications of Parkinson's disease. Robertson released a statement through CBN News.com: "I join with millions of my fellow Christians in mourning the passing of Billy Graham. Without question, Billy was the preeminent voice of evangelical Christianity in America--an advisor to Presidents, and a spiritual guide to the multitudes who attended his crusades all over the world." He then added: "Billy has been a dear friend of mine personally and I will miss him. He is now with our heavenly Father, well and happy, and joined forever with his dear wife, Ruth. I extend my profound sympathy to Franklin, to Anne Graham Lotz, and to Billy's other children who are continuing his legacy throughout the world." CANNOTANSWER
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They were married on August 26, 1954, and they were both on the path of economic success.
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Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is an American media mogul, televangelist, political commentator, former Republican presidential candidate, and former Southern Baptist minister. Robertson advocates a conservative Christian ideology and is known for his past activities in Republican party politics. He is associated with the Charismatic Movement within Protestant evangelicalism. He serves as chancellor and CEO of Regent University and chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). Until 2021 he appeared daily on The 700 Club, CBN's flagship television program.
On Robertson's own account, he was not a serious Christian until he underwent personal difficulty. He graduated near the top of his class at Yale Law School in 1955, but failed the New York bar exam. Failing the bar cost Robertson opportunities at post-graduate employment, and in the ensuing months of what he later described as disappointment, embarrassment, and unemployment, he became a born-again Christian and began a career as a minister.
Spanning over five decades, Robertson has had a career as the founder of several major organizations and corporations as well as a university: The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), the International Family Entertainment Inc. (ABC Family Channel), Regent University, the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ), the Founders Inn and Conference Center, the Christian Coalition, an L-1011 Flying Hospital, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, and CBN Asia. He is a best-selling author and the host of The 700 Club, a Christian News and TV program broadcast live weekdays on Freeform (formerly ABC Family) via satellite from CBN studios, as well as on channels throughout the United States, and on CBN network affiliates worldwide. Robertson announced his retirement at the age of 91 from the 700 Club in October 2021, on the sixtieth anniversary of the first telecast on October 1, 1961 of what eventually became CBN.
The son of U.S. Senator A. Willis Robertson, Robertson was a Southern Baptist and was active as an ordained minister with that denomination for many years, but holds to a charismatic theology not traditionally common among Southern Baptists. He unsuccessfully campaigned to become the Republican Party's nominee in the 1988 presidential election. As a result of his seeking political office, he no longer serves in an official role for any church, but continued as the main host for his series, The 700 Club until October 2021, advocating for religion to this day. His personal influence on media and financial resources make him a recognized, influential, and controversial public voice for conservative Christianity in the United States and around the world.
Life and career
Family
Marion Gordon Robertson was born on March 22, 1930, in Lexington, Virginia, into a prominent political family, the younger of two sons. His parents were Absalom Willis Robertson (1887–1971), a conservative Democratic Senator, and his wife Gladys Churchill (née Willis; 1897–1968), was a housewife and a musician. He met Adelia "Dede" Elmer (born December 3, 1927, in Columbus, Ohio), a fashion model and beauty queen in the Miss Ohio State contest, who was studying for her masters in Nursing at Yale University. She was also a nursing student at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. They were married on August 26, 1954. His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson and, as of mid-2016, 14 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.
At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed Pat by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby while saying "pat, pat, pat". As he got older, Robertson thought about which first name he would like people to use. He considered "Marion" to be effeminate, and "M. Gordon" to be affected, so he opted for his childhood nickname "Pat". His strong awareness for the importance of names in the creation of a public image showed itself again during his presidential run when he threatened to sue NBC news for calling him a "television evangelist", which later became "televangelist", at a time when Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker were objects of scandal.
Education and military service
When he was eleven, Robertson was enrolled in the preparatory McDonogh School outside Baltimore, Maryland. From 1940 until 1946 he attended The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he graduated with honors. He gained admission to Washington and Lee University, where he received a B.A. in History, graduating magna cum laude. He joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Robertson has said, "Although I worked hard at my studies, my real major centered around lovely young ladies who attended the nearby girls schools."
In 1948, the draft was reinstated and Robertson was given the option of joining the Marine Corps or being drafted into the Army; he opted for the first.
Robertson has described his military service as follows: "We did long, grueling marches to toughen the men, plus refresher training in firearms and bayonet combat." In the same year, he transferred to Korea, "I ended up at the headquarters command of the First Marine Division," says Robertson. "The Division was in combat in the hot and dusty, then bitterly cold portion of North Korea just above the 38th Parallel later identified as the 'Punchbowl' and 'Heartbreak Ridge.' For that service in the Korean War, the Marine Corps awarded me three battle stars for 'action against the enemy.'"
Parts of Robertson's description of his service were later proven to be false. Former Republican Congressman Paul "Pete" McCloskey, Jr., who served with Robertson in Korea, wrote a public letter that said that Robertson was actually spared combat duty when his powerful father, a U.S. Senator, intervened on his behalf, and that Robertson spent most of his time in an office in Japan. According to McCloskey, his time in the service was not in combat, but as the "liquor officer" responsible for keeping the officers' clubs supplied with alcohol. Robertson filed a $35 million libel suit against McCloskey in 1986. He dropped the case in 1988, before it came to trial and paid McCloskey's court costs. According to a newspaper report from 1986, Robertson confirmed elements of McCloskey's allegations and said that he never saw front-line duty.
Robertson was promoted to First Lieutenant in 1952 upon his return to the United States. He then went on to receive a law degree from Yale Law School in 1955, near the top of his class. However, he failed his first and only attempt at the New York bar exam necessary for admission to the New York State Bar Association. Shortly thereafter he underwent a religious conversion, and decided against pursuing a career in law. Instead, Robertson attended The Biblical Seminary in New York, where he received a Master of Divinity degree in 1959.
Christian broadcasting and higher education career
In 1956, Robertson met Dutch missionary Cornelius Vanderbreggen, who impressed Robertson both by his lifestyle and his message. Vanderbreggen quoted Proverbs (3:5, 6), "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths", which Robertson considers to be the "guiding principle" of his life. He was ordained as a minister of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1961.
In 1960, Robertson established the Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He started it by buying the license of a defunct UHF station in nearby Portsmouth. The station first went on the air as WYAH-TV on October 1, 1961. Later in 1977 he purchased a local Leased access cable TV channel in the Hampton Roads area and called it CBN. Originally he went door-to-door in Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads, and other surrounding areas asking Christians to buy cable boxes so that they could receive his new channel. He also canvassed local churches in the Virginia Beach area to do the same, and solicited donations through public speaking engagements at local churches and on CBN. One of his friends, John Giminez, the pastor of Rock Church Virginia Beach, was influential in helping Robertson establish CBN with donations, as well as offering the services of volunteers from his church.
CBN is now seen in 180 countries and broadcast in 71 languages. He founded the CBN Cable Network, which was renamed the CBN Family Channel in 1988 and later simply the Family Channel. When the Family Channel became too profitable for Robertson to keep it under the CBN umbrella without endangering CBN's non-profit status, he formed International Family Entertainment Inc. in 1990 with the Family Channel as its main subsidiary. Robertson sold the Family Channel to the News Corporation in 1997, which renamed it Fox Family. A condition of the sale was that the station would continue airing Robertson's television program, The 700 Club, twice a day in perpetuity, regardless of any changes of ownership. The channel is now owned by Disney and run as Freeform. On December 3, 2007, Robertson resigned as chief executive of CBN; he was succeeded by his son, Gordon.
Robertson founded CBN University in 1977 on CBN's Virginia Beach campus. It was renamed Regent University in 1989. Robertson serves as its chancellor. He is also founder and president of the American Center for Law & Justice, a major public interest law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. and associated with Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia, that defends Constitutional freedoms and conservative Christian ideals. Occasional critics have characterized Robertson as an advocate of dominionism; the idea that Christians have a right to rule.
In 1994, he was an endorser of the document Evangelicals and Catholics Together.
1988 presidential bid
In September 1986, Robertson announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Robertson said he would pursue the nomination only if three million people signed up to volunteer for his campaign by September 1987. Three million responded, and by the time Robertson announced he would be running in September 1987, he also had raised millions of dollars for his campaign fund. He surrendered his ministerial credentials and turned leadership of CBN over to his son, Tim. His campaign, however, against incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush, was seen as a long shot.
Robertson ran on a standard conservative platform. Among his policies, he wanted to ban pornography, reform the education system, and eliminate departments such as the Department of Education and the Department of Energy. He also supported a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget.
Robertson's campaign got off to a strong second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, ahead of Bush. He did poorly in the subsequent New Hampshire primary, however, and was unable to be competitive once the multiple-state primaries began. Robertson ended his campaign before the primaries were finished. His best finish was in Washington, winning the majority of caucus delegates. He later spoke at the 1988 Republican National Convention in New Orleans and told his remaining supporters to cast their votes for Bush, who ended up winning the nomination and the election. He then returned to CBN and has remained there as a religious broadcaster.
Books
Robertson's book The New World Order (1991) became a New York Times best seller, among his several works. Episcopalian professor of theology Ephraim Radner's critical review:
Business interests
Robertson is the founder and chairman of The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) Inc., and founder of International Family Entertainment Inc., Regent University, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, American Center for Law and Justice, The Flying Hospital, Inc. and several other organizations and broadcast entities. Robertson was the founder and co-chairman of International Family Entertainment Inc. (IFE).
Formed in 1990, IFE produced and distributed family entertainment and information programming worldwide. IFE's principal business was The Family Channel, a satellite delivered cable-television network with 63 million U.S. subscribers. IFE, a publicly held company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, was sold in 1997 to Fox Kids Worldwide, Inc. for $1.9 billion, whereupon it was renamed Fox Family Channel. Disney acquired FFC in 2001 and its name was changed again, to ABC Family. The network was renamed to Freeform on January 12, 2016, though Robertson's sale of the channel continues to require Freeform to carry four hours of CBN/700 Club programming per weekday, along with CBN's yearly telethon.
Robertson is a global businessman with media holdings in Asia, the United Kingdom, and Africa. He struck a deal with Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based General Nutrition Center to produce and market a weight-loss shake he created and promoted on The 700 Club.
In 1999, Robertson entered into a joint venture with the Bank of Scotland to provide financial services in the United States. However, the move was met with criticism in the UK due to Robertson's views on homosexuality. Robertson commented that "In Europe, the big word is tolerance. You tolerate everything. Homosexuals are riding high in the media ... And in Scotland, you can't believe how strong the homosexuals are." Shortly afterward, the Bank of Scotland canceled the venture.
Robertson's extensive business interests have earned him a net worth estimated between $200 million and $1 billion.
In 1994, in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, Robertson solicited donations for his charity organization Operation Blessing International to provide medical supplies to refugees in neighboring Zaire (present-day Congo), where Robertson had allegedly negotiated a diamond-mining contract with Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. According to two Operation Blessing pilots who reported the incident to the state of Virginia for investigation, rather than delivering relief supplies to refugees, the organization's planes were primarily used to haul diamond-mining equipment to Robertson's mines in Zaire.
According to a June 2, 1999 article in The Virginian-Pilot, Robertson had extensive business dealings with Liberian president Charles Taylor, with whom Robertson negotiated a multimillion-dollar contract for gold mining operations in Liberia. In response to Taylor's alleged crimes against humanity, the United States Congress passed a bill in November 2003 that offered two million dollars for his capture. Robertson accused President George W. Bush of "undermining a Christian, Baptist president to bring in Muslim rebels to take over the country." At the time Taylor was harboring Al Qaeda operatives who were funding their operations through the illegal diamond trade. On February 4, 2010, at his war crimes trial in the Hague, Taylor testified that Robertson was his main political ally in the U.S., and that he had volunteered to make Liberia's case before U.S. administration officials in exchange for concessions to Robertson's Freedom Gold, Ltd., to which Taylor gave a contract to mine gold in southeast Liberia. In 2010, a spokesman for Robertson said that the company's arrangements—in which the Liberian government got a 10 percent equity interest in the company and Liberians could purchase at least 15 percent of the shares after the exploration period—were similar to many American companies doing business in Africa at the time.
Tega Farm
Beginning in the latter part of the 1990s, Rev. Pat Robertson raced thoroughbred horses under the nom de course, Tega Farm. His gelding named Tappat won the 1999 Walter Haight Handicap at Laurel Park and the 2000 Pennsylvania Governor's Cup Handicap at Penn National Race Course. Following this success, Robertson paid $520,000 for a colt he named Mr. Pat. Trained by John Kimmel, Mr. Pat was not a successful runner. He was nominated for, but did not run in, the 2000 Kentucky Derby.
Health
On August 11, 2017, Robertson was hospitalized after sustaining minor injuries in a fall from a horseback riding incident.
On February 2, 2018, Robertson suffered an embolic stroke at his home in Virginia Beach around 12 noon local time. A member of his family noticed his symptoms and alerted emergency medical personnel. He was then taken to the nearest stroke center where he was administered the clot-busting drug tPA. Robertson was responsive, awake, and moving all of his limbs about eighty minutes after his stroke began. He was discharged two days later and recovered at home. Following this incident, Robertson and his family thanked the paramedics and medical staff for their "extraordinary care and rapid response." They also urged people to learn about stroke, its symptoms and treatments.
On February 12, 2018, Robertson returned to his normal duties as host of his television show The 700 Club just ten days after his stroke. He later released this statement: "I am grateful for the expressions of love and concern that have come toward me from all around the world, and I am thankful that I have received what amounted to a miraculous healing instead of what could have been a crippling illness. I am delighted to be back on the air to fulfill my life calling."
On June 5, 2019, Robertson returned to host The 700 Club after a few days off after breaking three ribs after falling into a chair. He described the experience as very painful but said "Us old guys are tough and we try to stay in there and keep on going." He then thanked viewers for their prayers.
Political service and activism
Robertson is a past president of the Council for National Policy. In 1982, he served on the Victims of Crime Task Force for President Reagan. In Virginia, he served on the Board of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and on the Governor's Council of Economic Advisors. After his unsuccessful presidential campaign, Robertson started the Christian Coalition, a 1.7-million-member Christian right organization that campaigned mostly for conservative candidates. Billy McCormack, a Southern Baptist pastor in Shreveport, Louisiana, served as one of the four directors of the coalition as well as its vice president.
The coalition was sued by the Federal Election Commission "for coordinating its activities with Republican candidates for office in 1990, 1992 and 1994 and failing to report its expenditures". Robertson was a fundraiser for the Nicaraguan Contras. In March 1986, he told Israeli Foreign Affairs that South Africa was a major contributor to the Reagan administration's efforts to help the anti-Sandinista forces.
In 1994, the Coalition was fined for "improperly [aiding] then Representative Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and Oliver North, who was then the Republican Senate nominee in Virginia." Robertson left the Coalition in 2001.
Robertson has been a governing member of the Council for National Policy (CNP): Board of Governors 1982, President Executive Committee 1985–86, member, 1984, 1988, 1998.
On November 7, 2007, Robertson announced that he was endorsing Rudy Giuliani to be the Republican nominee in the 2008 Presidential election. Some social conservatives criticized Robertson's endorsement of Giuliani, a pro-choice candidate who supported gay rights.
While usually associated with the political right, Pat Robertson has endorsed environmental causes. He appeared in a commercial with Al Sharpton, joking about this, and urging people to join the We Can Solve It campaign against global warming.
In January 2009, on a broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson stated that he is "adamantly opposed" to the division of Jerusalem between Israel and the Palestinians. He also stated that Armageddon is "not going to be fought at Megiddo" but will be the "battle of Jerusalem," when "the forces of all nations come together and try to take Jerusalem away from the Jews. Jews are not going to give up Jerusalem—they shouldn't—and the rest of the world is going to insist they give it up." Robertson added that Jerusalem is a "spiritual symbol that must not be given away" because "Jesus Christ the Messiah will come down to the part of Jerusalem that the Arabs want," and that's "not good."
Robertson has repeatedly called for the legalization of cannabis, saying that it should be treated in a manner analogous to the regulation of alcoholic beverages and tobacco. Robertson has said, "I just think it's shocking how many of these young people wind up in prison and they get turned into hard-core criminals because they had a possession of a very small amount of controlled substance. The whole thing is crazy." In 2014, he turned against the legalization of cannabis.
Controversies and criticisms
As a commentator and minister, Robertson frequently generates controversy. Some of his remarks have been the subject of national and international media attention prompting responses from politicians.
Robertson's service as a minister has included the belief in the healing power of God. He has cautioned believers that some Protestant denominations may harbor the spirit of the Antichrist; prayed to deflect hurricanes; denounced Hinduism as "demonic" and Islam as "Satanic". Robertson has denounced left-wing views of feminism, activism regarding homosexuality, abortion, and liberal college professors. Critics claim Robertson had business dealings in Africa with former president of Liberia and convicted war criminal Charles Taylor and former Zaire president Mobutu Sese Seko who both had been internationally denounced for claims of human rights violations. Robertson was criticized internationally for his call for Hugo Chávez's assassination and for his remarks concerning Ariel Sharon's ill-health as an act of God.
Robertson made American national news in October 2003 for interviews with author Joel Mowbray about his book Dangerous Diplomacy, a book critical of the State Department. Robertson's commentary implied that if a small nuclear device were to be found at the department, such a thing might wake up America's leaders to actually realize a potential threat; however, government officials expressed disdain at the thought of such a scenario.
During the week of September 11, 2001, Robertson discussed the terror attacks with Jerry Falwell, who said that "the ACLU has to take a lot of blame for this" in addition to "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays, and the lesbians [who have] helped [the terror attacks of September 11th] happen." Robertson replied, "I totally concur". Both evangelists were seriously criticized by President George W. Bush for their comments, for which Falwell later issued an apology.
Less than two weeks after Hurricane Katrina killed 1,836 people, Robertson implied on the September 12, 2005 broadcast of The 700 Club that the storm was God's punishment in response to America's abortion policy. He suggested that the September 11 attacks and the disaster in New Orleans "could ... be connected in some way".
On November 9, 2009, Robertson said that Islam is "a violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world and world domination". He went on to elaborate that "you're dealing with not a religion, you're dealing with a political system, and I think we should treat it as such, and treat its adherents as such as we would members of the communist party, members of some fascist group".
Robertson's response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake also drew international condemnation. Robertson claimed that Haiti's founders had sworn a "pact to the Devil" in order to liberate themselves from the French slave owners and indirectly attributed the earthquake to the consequences of the Haitian people being "cursed" for doing so. CBN later issued a statement saying that Robertson's comments "were based on the widely-discussed 1791 slave rebellion led by Dutty Boukman at Bois Caïman, where the slaves allegedly made a famous pact with the devil in exchange for victory over the French". Various figures in mainline and evangelical Christianity have on occasion disavowed some of Robertson's remarks.
In March 2015, Robertson compared Buddhism to a disease on The 700 Club. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a conservative Christian watchdog group Robertson founded to promote Christian prayer in public schools, is calling for a multi-pronged attack on mindfulness programs because "they appear to be similar to Buddhist religious practices. Proponents of secular mindfulness say mindfulness is not a Buddhist practice; it is a contemplative practice used in religious traditions around the world by many different names."
Predictions
Several times near New Year, Robertson has announced that God told him several truths or events that would happen in the following year. "I have a relatively good track record", he said. "Sometimes I miss."
1982: Judgment
In the May 19, 1982 broadcast of The 700 Club Robertson stated, "I guarantee you by the fall of 1982 there is going to be a judgment on the world."
In September 2011, Robertson and several others who incorrectly predicted various dates for the end of world were jointly awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for "teaching the world to be careful when making mathematical assumptions and calculations".
2004: Presidential election
In January 2004, Robertson said that God told him President Bush will be re-elected in a "blowout" in the election later that year. "I think George Bush is going to win in a walk", Robertson told viewers of his The 700 Club program. "I really believe I'm hearing from the Lord it's going to be like a blowout election in 2004. It's shaping up that way." Bush did in fact win re-election, but not in a landslide. Kerry lost the electoral college vote by 14%, an outcome that did not signal a significant shift in the direction of politics.
2006: Pacific Northwestern tsunami
In May 2006, Robertson declared that storms and possibly a tsunami would hit America's coastline sometime in 2006. Robertson supposedly received this revelation from God during an annual personal prayer retreat in January. The claim was repeated four times on The 700 Club.
On May 8, 2006, Robertson said, "If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms." On May 17, 2006, he elaborated, "There well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest."
2007: Terror attack
On the January 2, 2007 broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson said that God spoke to him and told him that "mass killings" were to come during 2007, due to a terrorist attack on the United States. He added, "The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that." When a terrorist attack failed to happen in 2007, Robertson said, in January 2008, "All I can think is that somehow the people of God prayed and God in his mercy spared us."
2008: Worldwide violence and American recession
On the January 2, 2008 episode of The 700 Club, Pat Robertson predicted that 2008 would be a year of worldwide violence. He also predicted that a recession would occur in the United States that would be followed by a stock market crash by 2010. However, there was a decrease in overall deaths for the period, and the American economy had already entered a recession in 2007, with increased household debt and the collapse of financial institutions.
2008: Mideast meltdown
In October 2008, Robertson posted a press release on the Georgian conflict speculating that the conflict is a Russian ploy to enter the Middle East, and that instability caused by a predicted pre-emptive strike by Israel on Iran would result in Syria's and Iran's launching nuclear strikes on other targets. He also said that if the United States were to oppose Russia's expansion, nuclear strikes on American soil are also pending. "We will suffer grave economic damage, but will not engage in military action to stop the conflict. However, we may not be spared nuclear strikes against coastal cities. In conclusion, it is my opinion that we have between 75 and 120 days before the Middle East starts spinning out of control."
2009: Economic chaos and recovery
On the January 1, 2009 broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson said, "If I'm hearing [God] right, gold will go to about $1900 an ounce and oil to $300 a barrel." He also suggested that Americans would broadly accept socialism. Despite these predictions, he also said that economically "things are getting ready to turn around."
2012: Presidential election
On January 4, 2012, Robertson reported that God had spoken to him and he "thinks He showed me the next president" but would not name who it is. He did give an indication that it would not be President Obama since Robertson said God told him Obama's views were at "odds with the majority", but left some room for interpretation had the 2012 election expanded beyond a two-person race. Closer to the election, however, he expressly stated that God had told him that Mitt Romney would win and would be a two-term President. Obama was reelected for a second term.
2020: Presidential election and asteroid strike
On October 20, 2020, Robertson said, "But first of all I want to say without question Trump is going to win the election." Trump went on to be defeated by Joe Biden. Robertson also said there would be assassination attempts against Trump, and later an asteroid will hit that could destroy earth. After Biden was certified the winner by the United States Electoral College in December, Robertson, after briefly supporting Trump's legal disputes seeking to overturn the results, said Trump should concede. He also said Trump running again in 2024 would be a "mistake" and offered Nikki Haley as an alternative.
Works
Shout It from the Housetops, an autobiography with Jamie Buckingham (1972, repr 1995)
My Prayer for You (1977)
The Secret Kingdom (1982)
Answers to 200 of Life's Most Probing Questions (1984)
Beyond Reason: How Miracles can Change your Life (1985)
America's Dates with Destiny (1986)
The Plan (1989)
The New Millennium (1990)
The New World Order (1991)
Turning Tide: The Fall of Liberalism and the Rise of Common Sense (1993)
The End of the Age (1995, fiction)
Six Steps to Spiritual Revival: God's Awesome Power in Your Life (2002)
Bring It on: Tough Questions, Candid Answers, Nashville, Tenn: W Pub. Group, 2003.
The Ten Offenses (2004)
Courting Disaster (2004)
Miracles Can Be Yours Today (2006)
On Humility (2009)
Right on the Money: Financial Advice for Tough Times (2009)
See also
Charismatic Movement
Christian Fundamentalism
Christian Zionism
Moral Majority
Christian Right
References
Further reading
Marley, David John. Pat Robertson: An American Life
External links
Brian Ross. Some Question Robertson's Katrina Charity, ABC News, September 9, 2005.
"Preacher: God told him about storms, tsunami"
2000 lbs. leg press
Robertson talks about his prostate cancer surgery with laparoscopic radical prostatectomy
NPR Audio Report: Televangelist Robertson Urges U.S. Hit on Chavez
Archive of American Television interview with Pat Robertson
1930 births
Living people
20th-century American politicians
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century apocalypticists
20th-century Baptists
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century apocalypticists
21st-century Baptists
American businesspeople
American Charismatics
American Christian writers
American Christian Zionists
American critics of Islam
American male non-fiction writers
United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War
American racehorse owners and breeders
American television evangelists
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[
"Charles Robertson (1875–1958) was the Norwegian Minister of Trade 1926–1928 and part of Lykke's Cabinet.\n\nHe was the son of merchant Nicolai George Robertson and his wife Anna Albrethson. His father's family came from Scotland to Hammerfest with his grandfather Charles Robertson the Elder in 1827. The family business G. Robertson traded in salted fish, stockfish, shark fishing and seal hunting. They had a number of branches and fishing villages along the Finnmark coast.\n\nOn the 24th May 1899 he married his cousin Gudrun Brandt-Rantzau, daughter of district physician Johannes Brandt-Rantzau and Nicoline Cecilie Mathea Robertson. His sister Anna Robertson married Attorney General and later Minister of State Andreas Urbye. His niece Gudrun Martius, married the diplomat Johan Georg Alexius Ræder.\n\nCharles Robertson had four children: George Robertson (born 1900), Dorohea Robertson (born 1904), Ole Robertson (born 1905) and Charles Robertson (born 1911).\n\nCharlesbreen, a glacier in Svalbard is named after him.\n\nAncestors\nOn his father's side Charles is a descendant of many Scottish clan chiefs, lairds, earls, (and other Scottish nobility) such as Sir John Maclean, 4th Baronet of Duart and Morvern, Colin Cam Mackenzie, 11th Laird of Kintail and William Graham, 3rd Earl of Menteith. James II of Scotland is Charles' 13×-great-grandfather. On his mother's side he is a descendant of Jens Holmboe and a part of the Holmboe family.\n\nReferences\n\n1875 births\n1958 deaths\nPeople from Hammerfest\nGovernment ministers of Norway\nRoyal Norwegian Navy personnel of World War II\nNorwegian people of Scottish descent\nConservative Party (Norway) politicians\n20th-century Norwegian politicians\nHolmboe family\nMinisters of Trade and Shipping of Norway",
"Gary David Robertson (born 12 April 1950 in Oamaru, Otago) is a former New Zealand rower who won an Olympic gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.\n\nHe teamed with Dick Joyce, Wybo Veldman, John Hunter, Lindsay Wilson, Joe Earl, Trevor Coker and Tony Hurt and Simon Dickie (cox) to win the gold medal in the coxed eight. Robertson is one of only two New Zealand Olympic gold medallists who never won a national premier title. Robertson is the nephew of famed New Zealand rowing coach Rusty Robertson. His daughter, who is also a rower, married Olympic champion rower Eric Murray. The Robertsons lived in Australia for a while but returned to live in Cambridge, New Zealand when their daughter was pregnant.\n\nGary Robertson later worked as a full-time rowing coach in Christchurch. He now coaches at Waikato Diocesan School for Girls, previously Sydney Rowing Club.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1950 births\nLiving people\nNew Zealand male rowers\nOlympic gold medalists for New Zealand in rowing\nRowers at the 1972 Summer Olympics\nSportspeople from Oamaru\nMedalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics\nWorld Rowing Championships medalists for New Zealand\nEuropean Rowing Championships medalists"
] |
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"Pat Robertson",
"Family",
"Does Pat Robertson have a family?",
"a prominent political family,",
"Who in his family is involved in politics?",
"Absalom Willis Robertson (1887-1971), a conservative Democratic United States Senator,",
"Is Robertson married?",
"They were married on August 26, 1954, and they were both on the path of economic success."
] |
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Does Robertson have any children?
| 4 |
Does Pat Robertson have any children?
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Pat Robertson
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Marion Gordon Robertson was born on March 22, 1930, in Lexington, Virginia, into a prominent political family, the youngest of two sons. His parents were Absalom Willis Robertson (1887-1971), a conservative Democratic United States Senator, and his wife Gladys Churchill (nee Willis; 1897-1968), was a housewife and a musician. He met Adelia "Dede" Elmer (born December 3, 1927 in Columbus, Ohio), a fashion model and beauty queen in the Miss Ohio State contest, who was studying for her masters in Nursing at Yale University. She was also a nursing student at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. They were married on August 26, 1954, and they were both on the path of economic success. His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson and, as of mid-2016, 14 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed Pat by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby while saying "pat, pat, pat". As he got older, Robertson thought about which first name he would like people to use. He considered "Marion" to be effeminate, and "M. Gordon" to be affected, so he opted for his childhood nickname "Pat". His strong awareness for the importance of names in the creation of a public image showed itself again during his presidential run when he threatened to sue NBC news for calling him a "television evangelist", which later became "televangelist", at a time when Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker were objects of scandal. On April 2, 2015, fellow televangelist, Robert H. Schuller died after a two-year battle with esophageal cancer. Robertson released a statement through CBN News.com: "I am saddened by the passing of my dear friend, Robert Schuller, the Founding Pastor of Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. Robert Schuller set the dimensions for Twentieth Century Christian positive thinking and optimistic action. He is now with the Lord in Heaven, but his legacy on earth will long remain." In August 2017, Robertson was hospitalized after sustaining minor injuries from a horseback riding incident. On February 21, 2018, another fellow televangelist, Billy Graham died of complications of Parkinson's disease. Robertson released a statement through CBN News.com: "I join with millions of my fellow Christians in mourning the passing of Billy Graham. Without question, Billy was the preeminent voice of evangelical Christianity in America--an advisor to Presidents, and a spiritual guide to the multitudes who attended his crusades all over the world." He then added: "Billy has been a dear friend of mine personally and I will miss him. He is now with our heavenly Father, well and happy, and joined forever with his dear wife, Ruth. I extend my profound sympathy to Franklin, to Anne Graham Lotz, and to Billy's other children who are continuing his legacy throughout the world." CANNOTANSWER
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His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson
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Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is an American media mogul, televangelist, political commentator, former Republican presidential candidate, and former Southern Baptist minister. Robertson advocates a conservative Christian ideology and is known for his past activities in Republican party politics. He is associated with the Charismatic Movement within Protestant evangelicalism. He serves as chancellor and CEO of Regent University and chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). Until 2021 he appeared daily on The 700 Club, CBN's flagship television program.
On Robertson's own account, he was not a serious Christian until he underwent personal difficulty. He graduated near the top of his class at Yale Law School in 1955, but failed the New York bar exam. Failing the bar cost Robertson opportunities at post-graduate employment, and in the ensuing months of what he later described as disappointment, embarrassment, and unemployment, he became a born-again Christian and began a career as a minister.
Spanning over five decades, Robertson has had a career as the founder of several major organizations and corporations as well as a university: The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), the International Family Entertainment Inc. (ABC Family Channel), Regent University, the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ), the Founders Inn and Conference Center, the Christian Coalition, an L-1011 Flying Hospital, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, and CBN Asia. He is a best-selling author and the host of The 700 Club, a Christian News and TV program broadcast live weekdays on Freeform (formerly ABC Family) via satellite from CBN studios, as well as on channels throughout the United States, and on CBN network affiliates worldwide. Robertson announced his retirement at the age of 91 from the 700 Club in October 2021, on the sixtieth anniversary of the first telecast on October 1, 1961 of what eventually became CBN.
The son of U.S. Senator A. Willis Robertson, Robertson was a Southern Baptist and was active as an ordained minister with that denomination for many years, but holds to a charismatic theology not traditionally common among Southern Baptists. He unsuccessfully campaigned to become the Republican Party's nominee in the 1988 presidential election. As a result of his seeking political office, he no longer serves in an official role for any church, but continued as the main host for his series, The 700 Club until October 2021, advocating for religion to this day. His personal influence on media and financial resources make him a recognized, influential, and controversial public voice for conservative Christianity in the United States and around the world.
Life and career
Family
Marion Gordon Robertson was born on March 22, 1930, in Lexington, Virginia, into a prominent political family, the younger of two sons. His parents were Absalom Willis Robertson (1887–1971), a conservative Democratic Senator, and his wife Gladys Churchill (née Willis; 1897–1968), was a housewife and a musician. He met Adelia "Dede" Elmer (born December 3, 1927, in Columbus, Ohio), a fashion model and beauty queen in the Miss Ohio State contest, who was studying for her masters in Nursing at Yale University. She was also a nursing student at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. They were married on August 26, 1954. His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson and, as of mid-2016, 14 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.
At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed Pat by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby while saying "pat, pat, pat". As he got older, Robertson thought about which first name he would like people to use. He considered "Marion" to be effeminate, and "M. Gordon" to be affected, so he opted for his childhood nickname "Pat". His strong awareness for the importance of names in the creation of a public image showed itself again during his presidential run when he threatened to sue NBC news for calling him a "television evangelist", which later became "televangelist", at a time when Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker were objects of scandal.
Education and military service
When he was eleven, Robertson was enrolled in the preparatory McDonogh School outside Baltimore, Maryland. From 1940 until 1946 he attended The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he graduated with honors. He gained admission to Washington and Lee University, where he received a B.A. in History, graduating magna cum laude. He joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Robertson has said, "Although I worked hard at my studies, my real major centered around lovely young ladies who attended the nearby girls schools."
In 1948, the draft was reinstated and Robertson was given the option of joining the Marine Corps or being drafted into the Army; he opted for the first.
Robertson has described his military service as follows: "We did long, grueling marches to toughen the men, plus refresher training in firearms and bayonet combat." In the same year, he transferred to Korea, "I ended up at the headquarters command of the First Marine Division," says Robertson. "The Division was in combat in the hot and dusty, then bitterly cold portion of North Korea just above the 38th Parallel later identified as the 'Punchbowl' and 'Heartbreak Ridge.' For that service in the Korean War, the Marine Corps awarded me three battle stars for 'action against the enemy.'"
Parts of Robertson's description of his service were later proven to be false. Former Republican Congressman Paul "Pete" McCloskey, Jr., who served with Robertson in Korea, wrote a public letter that said that Robertson was actually spared combat duty when his powerful father, a U.S. Senator, intervened on his behalf, and that Robertson spent most of his time in an office in Japan. According to McCloskey, his time in the service was not in combat, but as the "liquor officer" responsible for keeping the officers' clubs supplied with alcohol. Robertson filed a $35 million libel suit against McCloskey in 1986. He dropped the case in 1988, before it came to trial and paid McCloskey's court costs. According to a newspaper report from 1986, Robertson confirmed elements of McCloskey's allegations and said that he never saw front-line duty.
Robertson was promoted to First Lieutenant in 1952 upon his return to the United States. He then went on to receive a law degree from Yale Law School in 1955, near the top of his class. However, he failed his first and only attempt at the New York bar exam necessary for admission to the New York State Bar Association. Shortly thereafter he underwent a religious conversion, and decided against pursuing a career in law. Instead, Robertson attended The Biblical Seminary in New York, where he received a Master of Divinity degree in 1959.
Christian broadcasting and higher education career
In 1956, Robertson met Dutch missionary Cornelius Vanderbreggen, who impressed Robertson both by his lifestyle and his message. Vanderbreggen quoted Proverbs (3:5, 6), "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths", which Robertson considers to be the "guiding principle" of his life. He was ordained as a minister of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1961.
In 1960, Robertson established the Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He started it by buying the license of a defunct UHF station in nearby Portsmouth. The station first went on the air as WYAH-TV on October 1, 1961. Later in 1977 he purchased a local Leased access cable TV channel in the Hampton Roads area and called it CBN. Originally he went door-to-door in Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads, and other surrounding areas asking Christians to buy cable boxes so that they could receive his new channel. He also canvassed local churches in the Virginia Beach area to do the same, and solicited donations through public speaking engagements at local churches and on CBN. One of his friends, John Giminez, the pastor of Rock Church Virginia Beach, was influential in helping Robertson establish CBN with donations, as well as offering the services of volunteers from his church.
CBN is now seen in 180 countries and broadcast in 71 languages. He founded the CBN Cable Network, which was renamed the CBN Family Channel in 1988 and later simply the Family Channel. When the Family Channel became too profitable for Robertson to keep it under the CBN umbrella without endangering CBN's non-profit status, he formed International Family Entertainment Inc. in 1990 with the Family Channel as its main subsidiary. Robertson sold the Family Channel to the News Corporation in 1997, which renamed it Fox Family. A condition of the sale was that the station would continue airing Robertson's television program, The 700 Club, twice a day in perpetuity, regardless of any changes of ownership. The channel is now owned by Disney and run as Freeform. On December 3, 2007, Robertson resigned as chief executive of CBN; he was succeeded by his son, Gordon.
Robertson founded CBN University in 1977 on CBN's Virginia Beach campus. It was renamed Regent University in 1989. Robertson serves as its chancellor. He is also founder and president of the American Center for Law & Justice, a major public interest law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. and associated with Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia, that defends Constitutional freedoms and conservative Christian ideals. Occasional critics have characterized Robertson as an advocate of dominionism; the idea that Christians have a right to rule.
In 1994, he was an endorser of the document Evangelicals and Catholics Together.
1988 presidential bid
In September 1986, Robertson announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Robertson said he would pursue the nomination only if three million people signed up to volunteer for his campaign by September 1987. Three million responded, and by the time Robertson announced he would be running in September 1987, he also had raised millions of dollars for his campaign fund. He surrendered his ministerial credentials and turned leadership of CBN over to his son, Tim. His campaign, however, against incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush, was seen as a long shot.
Robertson ran on a standard conservative platform. Among his policies, he wanted to ban pornography, reform the education system, and eliminate departments such as the Department of Education and the Department of Energy. He also supported a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget.
Robertson's campaign got off to a strong second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, ahead of Bush. He did poorly in the subsequent New Hampshire primary, however, and was unable to be competitive once the multiple-state primaries began. Robertson ended his campaign before the primaries were finished. His best finish was in Washington, winning the majority of caucus delegates. He later spoke at the 1988 Republican National Convention in New Orleans and told his remaining supporters to cast their votes for Bush, who ended up winning the nomination and the election. He then returned to CBN and has remained there as a religious broadcaster.
Books
Robertson's book The New World Order (1991) became a New York Times best seller, among his several works. Episcopalian professor of theology Ephraim Radner's critical review:
Business interests
Robertson is the founder and chairman of The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) Inc., and founder of International Family Entertainment Inc., Regent University, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, American Center for Law and Justice, The Flying Hospital, Inc. and several other organizations and broadcast entities. Robertson was the founder and co-chairman of International Family Entertainment Inc. (IFE).
Formed in 1990, IFE produced and distributed family entertainment and information programming worldwide. IFE's principal business was The Family Channel, a satellite delivered cable-television network with 63 million U.S. subscribers. IFE, a publicly held company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, was sold in 1997 to Fox Kids Worldwide, Inc. for $1.9 billion, whereupon it was renamed Fox Family Channel. Disney acquired FFC in 2001 and its name was changed again, to ABC Family. The network was renamed to Freeform on January 12, 2016, though Robertson's sale of the channel continues to require Freeform to carry four hours of CBN/700 Club programming per weekday, along with CBN's yearly telethon.
Robertson is a global businessman with media holdings in Asia, the United Kingdom, and Africa. He struck a deal with Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based General Nutrition Center to produce and market a weight-loss shake he created and promoted on The 700 Club.
In 1999, Robertson entered into a joint venture with the Bank of Scotland to provide financial services in the United States. However, the move was met with criticism in the UK due to Robertson's views on homosexuality. Robertson commented that "In Europe, the big word is tolerance. You tolerate everything. Homosexuals are riding high in the media ... And in Scotland, you can't believe how strong the homosexuals are." Shortly afterward, the Bank of Scotland canceled the venture.
Robertson's extensive business interests have earned him a net worth estimated between $200 million and $1 billion.
In 1994, in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, Robertson solicited donations for his charity organization Operation Blessing International to provide medical supplies to refugees in neighboring Zaire (present-day Congo), where Robertson had allegedly negotiated a diamond-mining contract with Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. According to two Operation Blessing pilots who reported the incident to the state of Virginia for investigation, rather than delivering relief supplies to refugees, the organization's planes were primarily used to haul diamond-mining equipment to Robertson's mines in Zaire.
According to a June 2, 1999 article in The Virginian-Pilot, Robertson had extensive business dealings with Liberian president Charles Taylor, with whom Robertson negotiated a multimillion-dollar contract for gold mining operations in Liberia. In response to Taylor's alleged crimes against humanity, the United States Congress passed a bill in November 2003 that offered two million dollars for his capture. Robertson accused President George W. Bush of "undermining a Christian, Baptist president to bring in Muslim rebels to take over the country." At the time Taylor was harboring Al Qaeda operatives who were funding their operations through the illegal diamond trade. On February 4, 2010, at his war crimes trial in the Hague, Taylor testified that Robertson was his main political ally in the U.S., and that he had volunteered to make Liberia's case before U.S. administration officials in exchange for concessions to Robertson's Freedom Gold, Ltd., to which Taylor gave a contract to mine gold in southeast Liberia. In 2010, a spokesman for Robertson said that the company's arrangements—in which the Liberian government got a 10 percent equity interest in the company and Liberians could purchase at least 15 percent of the shares after the exploration period—were similar to many American companies doing business in Africa at the time.
Tega Farm
Beginning in the latter part of the 1990s, Rev. Pat Robertson raced thoroughbred horses under the nom de course, Tega Farm. His gelding named Tappat won the 1999 Walter Haight Handicap at Laurel Park and the 2000 Pennsylvania Governor's Cup Handicap at Penn National Race Course. Following this success, Robertson paid $520,000 for a colt he named Mr. Pat. Trained by John Kimmel, Mr. Pat was not a successful runner. He was nominated for, but did not run in, the 2000 Kentucky Derby.
Health
On August 11, 2017, Robertson was hospitalized after sustaining minor injuries in a fall from a horseback riding incident.
On February 2, 2018, Robertson suffered an embolic stroke at his home in Virginia Beach around 12 noon local time. A member of his family noticed his symptoms and alerted emergency medical personnel. He was then taken to the nearest stroke center where he was administered the clot-busting drug tPA. Robertson was responsive, awake, and moving all of his limbs about eighty minutes after his stroke began. He was discharged two days later and recovered at home. Following this incident, Robertson and his family thanked the paramedics and medical staff for their "extraordinary care and rapid response." They also urged people to learn about stroke, its symptoms and treatments.
On February 12, 2018, Robertson returned to his normal duties as host of his television show The 700 Club just ten days after his stroke. He later released this statement: "I am grateful for the expressions of love and concern that have come toward me from all around the world, and I am thankful that I have received what amounted to a miraculous healing instead of what could have been a crippling illness. I am delighted to be back on the air to fulfill my life calling."
On June 5, 2019, Robertson returned to host The 700 Club after a few days off after breaking three ribs after falling into a chair. He described the experience as very painful but said "Us old guys are tough and we try to stay in there and keep on going." He then thanked viewers for their prayers.
Political service and activism
Robertson is a past president of the Council for National Policy. In 1982, he served on the Victims of Crime Task Force for President Reagan. In Virginia, he served on the Board of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and on the Governor's Council of Economic Advisors. After his unsuccessful presidential campaign, Robertson started the Christian Coalition, a 1.7-million-member Christian right organization that campaigned mostly for conservative candidates. Billy McCormack, a Southern Baptist pastor in Shreveport, Louisiana, served as one of the four directors of the coalition as well as its vice president.
The coalition was sued by the Federal Election Commission "for coordinating its activities with Republican candidates for office in 1990, 1992 and 1994 and failing to report its expenditures". Robertson was a fundraiser for the Nicaraguan Contras. In March 1986, he told Israeli Foreign Affairs that South Africa was a major contributor to the Reagan administration's efforts to help the anti-Sandinista forces.
In 1994, the Coalition was fined for "improperly [aiding] then Representative Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and Oliver North, who was then the Republican Senate nominee in Virginia." Robertson left the Coalition in 2001.
Robertson has been a governing member of the Council for National Policy (CNP): Board of Governors 1982, President Executive Committee 1985–86, member, 1984, 1988, 1998.
On November 7, 2007, Robertson announced that he was endorsing Rudy Giuliani to be the Republican nominee in the 2008 Presidential election. Some social conservatives criticized Robertson's endorsement of Giuliani, a pro-choice candidate who supported gay rights.
While usually associated with the political right, Pat Robertson has endorsed environmental causes. He appeared in a commercial with Al Sharpton, joking about this, and urging people to join the We Can Solve It campaign against global warming.
In January 2009, on a broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson stated that he is "adamantly opposed" to the division of Jerusalem between Israel and the Palestinians. He also stated that Armageddon is "not going to be fought at Megiddo" but will be the "battle of Jerusalem," when "the forces of all nations come together and try to take Jerusalem away from the Jews. Jews are not going to give up Jerusalem—they shouldn't—and the rest of the world is going to insist they give it up." Robertson added that Jerusalem is a "spiritual symbol that must not be given away" because "Jesus Christ the Messiah will come down to the part of Jerusalem that the Arabs want," and that's "not good."
Robertson has repeatedly called for the legalization of cannabis, saying that it should be treated in a manner analogous to the regulation of alcoholic beverages and tobacco. Robertson has said, "I just think it's shocking how many of these young people wind up in prison and they get turned into hard-core criminals because they had a possession of a very small amount of controlled substance. The whole thing is crazy." In 2014, he turned against the legalization of cannabis.
Controversies and criticisms
As a commentator and minister, Robertson frequently generates controversy. Some of his remarks have been the subject of national and international media attention prompting responses from politicians.
Robertson's service as a minister has included the belief in the healing power of God. He has cautioned believers that some Protestant denominations may harbor the spirit of the Antichrist; prayed to deflect hurricanes; denounced Hinduism as "demonic" and Islam as "Satanic". Robertson has denounced left-wing views of feminism, activism regarding homosexuality, abortion, and liberal college professors. Critics claim Robertson had business dealings in Africa with former president of Liberia and convicted war criminal Charles Taylor and former Zaire president Mobutu Sese Seko who both had been internationally denounced for claims of human rights violations. Robertson was criticized internationally for his call for Hugo Chávez's assassination and for his remarks concerning Ariel Sharon's ill-health as an act of God.
Robertson made American national news in October 2003 for interviews with author Joel Mowbray about his book Dangerous Diplomacy, a book critical of the State Department. Robertson's commentary implied that if a small nuclear device were to be found at the department, such a thing might wake up America's leaders to actually realize a potential threat; however, government officials expressed disdain at the thought of such a scenario.
During the week of September 11, 2001, Robertson discussed the terror attacks with Jerry Falwell, who said that "the ACLU has to take a lot of blame for this" in addition to "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays, and the lesbians [who have] helped [the terror attacks of September 11th] happen." Robertson replied, "I totally concur". Both evangelists were seriously criticized by President George W. Bush for their comments, for which Falwell later issued an apology.
Less than two weeks after Hurricane Katrina killed 1,836 people, Robertson implied on the September 12, 2005 broadcast of The 700 Club that the storm was God's punishment in response to America's abortion policy. He suggested that the September 11 attacks and the disaster in New Orleans "could ... be connected in some way".
On November 9, 2009, Robertson said that Islam is "a violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world and world domination". He went on to elaborate that "you're dealing with not a religion, you're dealing with a political system, and I think we should treat it as such, and treat its adherents as such as we would members of the communist party, members of some fascist group".
Robertson's response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake also drew international condemnation. Robertson claimed that Haiti's founders had sworn a "pact to the Devil" in order to liberate themselves from the French slave owners and indirectly attributed the earthquake to the consequences of the Haitian people being "cursed" for doing so. CBN later issued a statement saying that Robertson's comments "were based on the widely-discussed 1791 slave rebellion led by Dutty Boukman at Bois Caïman, where the slaves allegedly made a famous pact with the devil in exchange for victory over the French". Various figures in mainline and evangelical Christianity have on occasion disavowed some of Robertson's remarks.
In March 2015, Robertson compared Buddhism to a disease on The 700 Club. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a conservative Christian watchdog group Robertson founded to promote Christian prayer in public schools, is calling for a multi-pronged attack on mindfulness programs because "they appear to be similar to Buddhist religious practices. Proponents of secular mindfulness say mindfulness is not a Buddhist practice; it is a contemplative practice used in religious traditions around the world by many different names."
Predictions
Several times near New Year, Robertson has announced that God told him several truths or events that would happen in the following year. "I have a relatively good track record", he said. "Sometimes I miss."
1982: Judgment
In the May 19, 1982 broadcast of The 700 Club Robertson stated, "I guarantee you by the fall of 1982 there is going to be a judgment on the world."
In September 2011, Robertson and several others who incorrectly predicted various dates for the end of world were jointly awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for "teaching the world to be careful when making mathematical assumptions and calculations".
2004: Presidential election
In January 2004, Robertson said that God told him President Bush will be re-elected in a "blowout" in the election later that year. "I think George Bush is going to win in a walk", Robertson told viewers of his The 700 Club program. "I really believe I'm hearing from the Lord it's going to be like a blowout election in 2004. It's shaping up that way." Bush did in fact win re-election, but not in a landslide. Kerry lost the electoral college vote by 14%, an outcome that did not signal a significant shift in the direction of politics.
2006: Pacific Northwestern tsunami
In May 2006, Robertson declared that storms and possibly a tsunami would hit America's coastline sometime in 2006. Robertson supposedly received this revelation from God during an annual personal prayer retreat in January. The claim was repeated four times on The 700 Club.
On May 8, 2006, Robertson said, "If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms." On May 17, 2006, he elaborated, "There well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest."
2007: Terror attack
On the January 2, 2007 broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson said that God spoke to him and told him that "mass killings" were to come during 2007, due to a terrorist attack on the United States. He added, "The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that." When a terrorist attack failed to happen in 2007, Robertson said, in January 2008, "All I can think is that somehow the people of God prayed and God in his mercy spared us."
2008: Worldwide violence and American recession
On the January 2, 2008 episode of The 700 Club, Pat Robertson predicted that 2008 would be a year of worldwide violence. He also predicted that a recession would occur in the United States that would be followed by a stock market crash by 2010. However, there was a decrease in overall deaths for the period, and the American economy had already entered a recession in 2007, with increased household debt and the collapse of financial institutions.
2008: Mideast meltdown
In October 2008, Robertson posted a press release on the Georgian conflict speculating that the conflict is a Russian ploy to enter the Middle East, and that instability caused by a predicted pre-emptive strike by Israel on Iran would result in Syria's and Iran's launching nuclear strikes on other targets. He also said that if the United States were to oppose Russia's expansion, nuclear strikes on American soil are also pending. "We will suffer grave economic damage, but will not engage in military action to stop the conflict. However, we may not be spared nuclear strikes against coastal cities. In conclusion, it is my opinion that we have between 75 and 120 days before the Middle East starts spinning out of control."
2009: Economic chaos and recovery
On the January 1, 2009 broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson said, "If I'm hearing [God] right, gold will go to about $1900 an ounce and oil to $300 a barrel." He also suggested that Americans would broadly accept socialism. Despite these predictions, he also said that economically "things are getting ready to turn around."
2012: Presidential election
On January 4, 2012, Robertson reported that God had spoken to him and he "thinks He showed me the next president" but would not name who it is. He did give an indication that it would not be President Obama since Robertson said God told him Obama's views were at "odds with the majority", but left some room for interpretation had the 2012 election expanded beyond a two-person race. Closer to the election, however, he expressly stated that God had told him that Mitt Romney would win and would be a two-term President. Obama was reelected for a second term.
2020: Presidential election and asteroid strike
On October 20, 2020, Robertson said, "But first of all I want to say without question Trump is going to win the election." Trump went on to be defeated by Joe Biden. Robertson also said there would be assassination attempts against Trump, and later an asteroid will hit that could destroy earth. After Biden was certified the winner by the United States Electoral College in December, Robertson, after briefly supporting Trump's legal disputes seeking to overturn the results, said Trump should concede. He also said Trump running again in 2024 would be a "mistake" and offered Nikki Haley as an alternative.
Works
Shout It from the Housetops, an autobiography with Jamie Buckingham (1972, repr 1995)
My Prayer for You (1977)
The Secret Kingdom (1982)
Answers to 200 of Life's Most Probing Questions (1984)
Beyond Reason: How Miracles can Change your Life (1985)
America's Dates with Destiny (1986)
The Plan (1989)
The New Millennium (1990)
The New World Order (1991)
Turning Tide: The Fall of Liberalism and the Rise of Common Sense (1993)
The End of the Age (1995, fiction)
Six Steps to Spiritual Revival: God's Awesome Power in Your Life (2002)
Bring It on: Tough Questions, Candid Answers, Nashville, Tenn: W Pub. Group, 2003.
The Ten Offenses (2004)
Courting Disaster (2004)
Miracles Can Be Yours Today (2006)
On Humility (2009)
Right on the Money: Financial Advice for Tough Times (2009)
See also
Charismatic Movement
Christian Fundamentalism
Christian Zionism
Moral Majority
Christian Right
References
Further reading
Marley, David John. Pat Robertson: An American Life
External links
Brian Ross. Some Question Robertson's Katrina Charity, ABC News, September 9, 2005.
"Preacher: God told him about storms, tsunami"
2000 lbs. leg press
Robertson talks about his prostate cancer surgery with laparoscopic radical prostatectomy
NPR Audio Report: Televangelist Robertson Urges U.S. Hit on Chavez
Archive of American Television interview with Pat Robertson
1930 births
Living people
20th-century American politicians
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century apocalypticists
20th-century Baptists
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century apocalypticists
21st-century Baptists
American businesspeople
American Charismatics
American Christian writers
American Christian Zionists
American critics of Islam
American male non-fiction writers
United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War
American racehorse owners and breeders
American television evangelists
Anti-Masonry
Anti-pornography activists
Baptists from New York (state)
Baptists from Virginia
Christian conspiracy theorists
Christian fundamentalists
Christian critics of Islam
Male critics of feminism
Military personnel from Virginia
People from Lexington, Virginia
People from Staten Island
People from Virginia Beach, Virginia
Regent University people
Religious scandals
United States Marine Corps officers
Candidates in the 1988 United States presidential election
University and college founders
Virginia Republicans
Washington and Lee University alumni
Yale Law School alumni
Christian Old Earth creationists
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
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[
"Sebastian Robertson is an American non-fiction children's author, musician, composer, and studio engineer.\n\nAs a children's author, Robertson has written the book Rock and Roll Highway (2014), a biographical book about his father, The Band co-founder Robbie Robertson. He has also co-written Legends, Icons, and Rebels (2013), a contemporary pop and rock and roll history starter book, which he created in collaboration with Robbie Robertson, Jared Levine, and Jim Guerinot.\n\nAs a musician and composer, Robertson has composed over 4,000 pieces of music that have been used in over 100 different television shows, films, and advertisements. He has collaborated with musician Daniel Davies on several projects, including songs featured in the soundtracks of the films Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! and The Vatican Tapes, as well as the entirety of the soundtrack to the film Condemned (all 2015).\n\nRobertson has also performed on two of Robbie Robertson's solo albums, and was project coordinator on The Band box set Live at the Academy of Music 1971 (2013).\n\nBiography\n\nChildhood\n\nAs a child, Robertson had little knowledge of his father Robbie Robertson's prominence, as The Band had recorded their last performance when the younger Robertson was two years old. Robertson remembers his father at the time as \"the guy that made me do my homework, drove me to little league games, made me breakfast and brought me to school.\" It was through listening to the Peter Gabriel album Security that the younger Robertson started to connect with music on a more personal level. This led to Robertson picking albums from his father's collection to listen to, and his father telling him the stories about the artists, many of which were from the elder Robertson's personal experiences. It was in his teens that Robertson came to better understand his father's place in music history. Robertson began playing the drums at age 14 after listening to the drumming of Led Zeppelin's John Bonham.\n\nChildren's author\n\nIt was when Robertson was working a part-time job involving programming music for children that he noticed that children would respond overwhelmingly favorably when he would play music by artists such as Marvin Gaye and Johnny Cash amongst more traditional children's music. Robertson expressed to his father an interest in creating a resource that would give children a foundation in music education, and help them choose quality music. The elder Robertson discussed the idea with his friend Jared Levine, and then met music industry professional Jim Guerinot, who initiated the work of building the project. The four worked together over the course of five years to create the book, which was entitled Legends, Icons, and Rebels: Music that Changed the World.\n\nReleased by Tundra Books in 2013, Legends, Icons, and Rebels is a hardcover book with two CD's that introduces children ages nine to twelve to the stories of twenty-seven foundational contemporary music artists such as Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Billie Holiday, and others. The book was featured as Best of the Month in Non Fiction Books by Amazon.com, and was listed as one of Rolling Stone magazine's \"20 Best Music Books of 2013\".\n\nAfter the release of Legends, Icons, and Rebels, publisher Christy Ottaviano approached Robertson about writing a children's book about his father. Entitled Rock and Roll Highway: The Robbie Robertson Story, the book was published by Henry Holt and Co. in 2014, and tells the story of Robbie Robertson's life. The book is intended for children ages six to nine, and is illustrated with paintings by Adam Gustavson. At the end of the book, Robertson conducts a question and answer session with his father, which is intended to encourage the book's young readers to interview their own parents to learn more from them. Rock and Roll Highway received favorable reviews from Publishers Weekly, who compared it to \"iconic compositions that might have been pulled from dusty album covers,\" and from The American Library Association's Booklist, who called it \"insightful\". The book received a mixed review from School Library Journal, who called the book a \"well-illustrated and nicely told story,\" but were concerned that \"the details aren't likely to resonate with the intended audience.\"\n\nRobertson plans to write a third book about his Native American heritage. The book will highlight eight to ten influential Native American tribal chiefs.\n\nComposer, musician, and studio engineer\n\nRobertson's primary line of work is in composing music for television. He owns and operates a music library called \"We the People\", which services approximately 45 different television shows. Robertson has worked extensively providing background music for Access Hollywood and Access Hollywood Live. His work has been featured in television series such as Fresh Off the Boat, Wicked Tuna, Preachers' Daughters, Married to Jonas, and others. Robertson has composed the soundtracks for the feature films The Anna Nicole Smith Story (2007) and Walk of Shame (2014), as well as for the Matthew Cooke-directed documentary Survivors Guide to Prison (2018).\n\nRobertson has also assisted on a number of his father's musical projects. In 1994, Robertson played drums on Robbie Robertson's soundtrack to the Barry Levinson film Jimmy Hollywood. That same year, Robertson played drums again on parts of the elder Robertson's album Music for The Native Americans. In 2011, Robertson appeared on the elder Robinson's album How to Become Clairvoyant, this time providing effects.\n\nIn 2013, Robertson was enlisted to assist in the release of The Band box set Live at the Academy of Music 1971 (2013), an expanded presentation of the source material that the live album Rock of Ages (1972) is taken from. Robertson worked on the stereo mixes of the complete New Year's Eve show that appears on discs 3 and 4 of the set alongside mixing engineer Jon Castelli. It was Robertson's idea to preserve and even highlight the imperfections and personal moments that fans of bootleg recordings enjoy, instead of mixing them out. Robertson also sourced the previously unpublished photos that were used to illustrate the album's release.\n\nRobertson has been longtime friends with Daniel Davies, sometime member of the rock bands Year Long Disaster and CKY and son of The Kinks guitarist Dave Davies. The two have built a recording studio, and have worked together in several musical collaborations. The pair co-wrote a song for the 2008 movie The Coverup, as well as another song for the soundtrack to the horror-thriller The Vatican Tapes (2015). The latter song, entitled \"Rebel Shake\", was performed on the Vatican Tapes soundtrack by Robertson's and Davies' rock band The Bootleggers. Robertson's and Davies' cover version of alternative rock band The Pixies' song \"Wave of Mutilation\" was featured in the soundtrack to the Syfy film Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! (also 2015). Later the same year, they scored the entirety of the Eli Morgan Gesner-directed film Condemned over the course of a three-week period. The film soundtrack album was praised by Something Else! as \"inventive – to say nothing of bone-chilling.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n \n\nLiving people\nAmerican children's writers\nChildren's non-fiction writers\nAmerican film score composers\nAmerican male film score composers\n1974 births",
"Jen Storer (born 25 April 1961) is an Australian children's author. Many of her works have been short-listed for major Australian awards such as, the Prime Minister's Literary Awards, the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year and the Aurealis Awards. Her works feature strong female characters, humour, adventure and, occasionally, elements of horror.\n\nBiography\nThe youngest of four children, Storer was born in Horsham, Victoria.\n\nStorer graduated from Monash University with a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) degree in 2000. After graduating she worked as an editor and in creative development for a publishing house in Melbourne. Storer then went on to write children's fiction. Her first title I Hate Sport was published by Penguin Australia in 2004 as part of their Aussie Chomps series.\n\nStorer lives and works as a writer in Melbourne from a studio at the Abbotsford Convent.\n\nBooks\nWibble Wobble (2019) Illustrated by Lisa Stewart.\nTruly Tan: Baffled! (2017) Illustrated by Claire Robertson.\nDanny Best: Me First! (2017) Illustrated by Mitch Vane.\nTruly Tan: Trapped! (2017) Illustrated by Claire Robertson\nBlue, the Builder's Dog (2016) Illustrated by Andrew Joyner\nClarrie's Pig Day Out (2016) Illustrated by Sue deGennaro\nDanny Best: Never Wrong (2016) Illustrated by Mitch Vane.\nTruly Tan: Hoodwinked! (2016) Illustrated by Claire Robertson\nThe Fourteenth Summer of Angus Jack (2015) Illustrated by Lucinda Gifford \nDanny Best: Full On (2015) illustrated by Mitch Vane.\nTruly Tan: Freaked! (2014) Illustrated by Claire Robertson\nRomy Bright: Crystal Bay Girls (Book 2) (2014)\nQuincy Jordan: Crystal Bay Girls (Book 1) (2014)\nTruly Tan: Spooked! (2013)\nTruly Tan: Jinxed! (2012)\nTruly Tan (2012)\nThe Accidental Princess (2011)\nNorman Does Nothing: Aussie Bites (2011)\nHaggis McGregor and the Night of the Skull Moon : Aussie Bites (2010)\nTensy Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children (2009)\nTan Callahan's Secret Spy Files: The Mystery of Purple Haunt (2008)\nSing, Pepi, Sing! : Aussie Bites (2006)\nI Hate Sport: Aussie Chomps (2004) – this title written under the pseudonym Prue Storer\n\nNominations and awards\n\nAustralian Publishers Association Book Design Awards \n Short-listed in 2010 for Tensy Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children (Best Children's Cover)\n Winner 2010 for Tensy Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children (Best Design Children's Fiction))\nAurealis Award \n Short-listed in 2011 for Haggis McGregor and the Night of the Skull Moon (Children's Fiction – told primarily through words)\n Short-listed in 2009 for Tensy Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children (Children's Novel)\nCBCA Book of the Year\n Notable Book 2014 for Truly Tan: Jinxed! (Younger Readers) \n Notable Book 2012 for The Accidental Princess (Younger Readers)\n Notable Book 2012 for Norman Does Nothing (Younger Readers)\n Notable Book 2010 for Tensy Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children (Younger Readers)\n Short-listed in 2010 for Tensy Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children (Younger Readers)\nPrime Minister's Literary Award\n Highly Commended in 2012 for The Accidental Princess (Children's Fiction) \n Short-listed in 2010 for Tensy Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children (Children's Fiction)\nDavitt Award \n Winner in 2014 for Truly Tan: Spooked! (Best Children’s Novel)\n Short-listed in 2014 for Truly Tan: Jinxed! (Best Children’s Novel)\nW.A. Young Readers Book Award (WAYRBA) \n Short-listed in 2010 for Tensy Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children'' (Younger Readers)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \nOfficial site\nPenguin Author page\nHarperCollins Publishers Author page\n\nAustralian children's writers\n1961 births\nLiving people"
] |
[
"Pat Robertson",
"Family",
"Does Pat Robertson have a family?",
"a prominent political family,",
"Who in his family is involved in politics?",
"Absalom Willis Robertson (1887-1971), a conservative Democratic United States Senator,",
"Is Robertson married?",
"They were married on August 26, 1954, and they were both on the path of economic success.",
"Does Robertson have any children?",
"His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson"
] |
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Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
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Besides having four children, are there any other interesting aspects about Pat Robertson?
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Pat Robertson
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Marion Gordon Robertson was born on March 22, 1930, in Lexington, Virginia, into a prominent political family, the youngest of two sons. His parents were Absalom Willis Robertson (1887-1971), a conservative Democratic United States Senator, and his wife Gladys Churchill (nee Willis; 1897-1968), was a housewife and a musician. He met Adelia "Dede" Elmer (born December 3, 1927 in Columbus, Ohio), a fashion model and beauty queen in the Miss Ohio State contest, who was studying for her masters in Nursing at Yale University. She was also a nursing student at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. They were married on August 26, 1954, and they were both on the path of economic success. His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson and, as of mid-2016, 14 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed Pat by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby while saying "pat, pat, pat". As he got older, Robertson thought about which first name he would like people to use. He considered "Marion" to be effeminate, and "M. Gordon" to be affected, so he opted for his childhood nickname "Pat". His strong awareness for the importance of names in the creation of a public image showed itself again during his presidential run when he threatened to sue NBC news for calling him a "television evangelist", which later became "televangelist", at a time when Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker were objects of scandal. On April 2, 2015, fellow televangelist, Robert H. Schuller died after a two-year battle with esophageal cancer. Robertson released a statement through CBN News.com: "I am saddened by the passing of my dear friend, Robert Schuller, the Founding Pastor of Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. Robert Schuller set the dimensions for Twentieth Century Christian positive thinking and optimistic action. He is now with the Lord in Heaven, but his legacy on earth will long remain." In August 2017, Robertson was hospitalized after sustaining minor injuries from a horseback riding incident. On February 21, 2018, another fellow televangelist, Billy Graham died of complications of Parkinson's disease. Robertson released a statement through CBN News.com: "I join with millions of my fellow Christians in mourning the passing of Billy Graham. Without question, Billy was the preeminent voice of evangelical Christianity in America--an advisor to Presidents, and a spiritual guide to the multitudes who attended his crusades all over the world." He then added: "Billy has been a dear friend of mine personally and I will miss him. He is now with our heavenly Father, well and happy, and joined forever with his dear wife, Ruth. I extend my profound sympathy to Franklin, to Anne Graham Lotz, and to Billy's other children who are continuing his legacy throughout the world." CANNOTANSWER
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At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed Pat by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby
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Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is an American media mogul, televangelist, political commentator, former Republican presidential candidate, and former Southern Baptist minister. Robertson advocates a conservative Christian ideology and is known for his past activities in Republican party politics. He is associated with the Charismatic Movement within Protestant evangelicalism. He serves as chancellor and CEO of Regent University and chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). Until 2021 he appeared daily on The 700 Club, CBN's flagship television program.
On Robertson's own account, he was not a serious Christian until he underwent personal difficulty. He graduated near the top of his class at Yale Law School in 1955, but failed the New York bar exam. Failing the bar cost Robertson opportunities at post-graduate employment, and in the ensuing months of what he later described as disappointment, embarrassment, and unemployment, he became a born-again Christian and began a career as a minister.
Spanning over five decades, Robertson has had a career as the founder of several major organizations and corporations as well as a university: The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), the International Family Entertainment Inc. (ABC Family Channel), Regent University, the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ), the Founders Inn and Conference Center, the Christian Coalition, an L-1011 Flying Hospital, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, and CBN Asia. He is a best-selling author and the host of The 700 Club, a Christian News and TV program broadcast live weekdays on Freeform (formerly ABC Family) via satellite from CBN studios, as well as on channels throughout the United States, and on CBN network affiliates worldwide. Robertson announced his retirement at the age of 91 from the 700 Club in October 2021, on the sixtieth anniversary of the first telecast on October 1, 1961 of what eventually became CBN.
The son of U.S. Senator A. Willis Robertson, Robertson was a Southern Baptist and was active as an ordained minister with that denomination for many years, but holds to a charismatic theology not traditionally common among Southern Baptists. He unsuccessfully campaigned to become the Republican Party's nominee in the 1988 presidential election. As a result of his seeking political office, he no longer serves in an official role for any church, but continued as the main host for his series, The 700 Club until October 2021, advocating for religion to this day. His personal influence on media and financial resources make him a recognized, influential, and controversial public voice for conservative Christianity in the United States and around the world.
Life and career
Family
Marion Gordon Robertson was born on March 22, 1930, in Lexington, Virginia, into a prominent political family, the younger of two sons. His parents were Absalom Willis Robertson (1887–1971), a conservative Democratic Senator, and his wife Gladys Churchill (née Willis; 1897–1968), was a housewife and a musician. He met Adelia "Dede" Elmer (born December 3, 1927, in Columbus, Ohio), a fashion model and beauty queen in the Miss Ohio State contest, who was studying for her masters in Nursing at Yale University. She was also a nursing student at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. They were married on August 26, 1954. His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson and, as of mid-2016, 14 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.
At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed Pat by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby while saying "pat, pat, pat". As he got older, Robertson thought about which first name he would like people to use. He considered "Marion" to be effeminate, and "M. Gordon" to be affected, so he opted for his childhood nickname "Pat". His strong awareness for the importance of names in the creation of a public image showed itself again during his presidential run when he threatened to sue NBC news for calling him a "television evangelist", which later became "televangelist", at a time when Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker were objects of scandal.
Education and military service
When he was eleven, Robertson was enrolled in the preparatory McDonogh School outside Baltimore, Maryland. From 1940 until 1946 he attended The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he graduated with honors. He gained admission to Washington and Lee University, where he received a B.A. in History, graduating magna cum laude. He joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Robertson has said, "Although I worked hard at my studies, my real major centered around lovely young ladies who attended the nearby girls schools."
In 1948, the draft was reinstated and Robertson was given the option of joining the Marine Corps or being drafted into the Army; he opted for the first.
Robertson has described his military service as follows: "We did long, grueling marches to toughen the men, plus refresher training in firearms and bayonet combat." In the same year, he transferred to Korea, "I ended up at the headquarters command of the First Marine Division," says Robertson. "The Division was in combat in the hot and dusty, then bitterly cold portion of North Korea just above the 38th Parallel later identified as the 'Punchbowl' and 'Heartbreak Ridge.' For that service in the Korean War, the Marine Corps awarded me three battle stars for 'action against the enemy.'"
Parts of Robertson's description of his service were later proven to be false. Former Republican Congressman Paul "Pete" McCloskey, Jr., who served with Robertson in Korea, wrote a public letter that said that Robertson was actually spared combat duty when his powerful father, a U.S. Senator, intervened on his behalf, and that Robertson spent most of his time in an office in Japan. According to McCloskey, his time in the service was not in combat, but as the "liquor officer" responsible for keeping the officers' clubs supplied with alcohol. Robertson filed a $35 million libel suit against McCloskey in 1986. He dropped the case in 1988, before it came to trial and paid McCloskey's court costs. According to a newspaper report from 1986, Robertson confirmed elements of McCloskey's allegations and said that he never saw front-line duty.
Robertson was promoted to First Lieutenant in 1952 upon his return to the United States. He then went on to receive a law degree from Yale Law School in 1955, near the top of his class. However, he failed his first and only attempt at the New York bar exam necessary for admission to the New York State Bar Association. Shortly thereafter he underwent a religious conversion, and decided against pursuing a career in law. Instead, Robertson attended The Biblical Seminary in New York, where he received a Master of Divinity degree in 1959.
Christian broadcasting and higher education career
In 1956, Robertson met Dutch missionary Cornelius Vanderbreggen, who impressed Robertson both by his lifestyle and his message. Vanderbreggen quoted Proverbs (3:5, 6), "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths", which Robertson considers to be the "guiding principle" of his life. He was ordained as a minister of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1961.
In 1960, Robertson established the Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He started it by buying the license of a defunct UHF station in nearby Portsmouth. The station first went on the air as WYAH-TV on October 1, 1961. Later in 1977 he purchased a local Leased access cable TV channel in the Hampton Roads area and called it CBN. Originally he went door-to-door in Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads, and other surrounding areas asking Christians to buy cable boxes so that they could receive his new channel. He also canvassed local churches in the Virginia Beach area to do the same, and solicited donations through public speaking engagements at local churches and on CBN. One of his friends, John Giminez, the pastor of Rock Church Virginia Beach, was influential in helping Robertson establish CBN with donations, as well as offering the services of volunteers from his church.
CBN is now seen in 180 countries and broadcast in 71 languages. He founded the CBN Cable Network, which was renamed the CBN Family Channel in 1988 and later simply the Family Channel. When the Family Channel became too profitable for Robertson to keep it under the CBN umbrella without endangering CBN's non-profit status, he formed International Family Entertainment Inc. in 1990 with the Family Channel as its main subsidiary. Robertson sold the Family Channel to the News Corporation in 1997, which renamed it Fox Family. A condition of the sale was that the station would continue airing Robertson's television program, The 700 Club, twice a day in perpetuity, regardless of any changes of ownership. The channel is now owned by Disney and run as Freeform. On December 3, 2007, Robertson resigned as chief executive of CBN; he was succeeded by his son, Gordon.
Robertson founded CBN University in 1977 on CBN's Virginia Beach campus. It was renamed Regent University in 1989. Robertson serves as its chancellor. He is also founder and president of the American Center for Law & Justice, a major public interest law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. and associated with Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia, that defends Constitutional freedoms and conservative Christian ideals. Occasional critics have characterized Robertson as an advocate of dominionism; the idea that Christians have a right to rule.
In 1994, he was an endorser of the document Evangelicals and Catholics Together.
1988 presidential bid
In September 1986, Robertson announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Robertson said he would pursue the nomination only if three million people signed up to volunteer for his campaign by September 1987. Three million responded, and by the time Robertson announced he would be running in September 1987, he also had raised millions of dollars for his campaign fund. He surrendered his ministerial credentials and turned leadership of CBN over to his son, Tim. His campaign, however, against incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush, was seen as a long shot.
Robertson ran on a standard conservative platform. Among his policies, he wanted to ban pornography, reform the education system, and eliminate departments such as the Department of Education and the Department of Energy. He also supported a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget.
Robertson's campaign got off to a strong second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, ahead of Bush. He did poorly in the subsequent New Hampshire primary, however, and was unable to be competitive once the multiple-state primaries began. Robertson ended his campaign before the primaries were finished. His best finish was in Washington, winning the majority of caucus delegates. He later spoke at the 1988 Republican National Convention in New Orleans and told his remaining supporters to cast their votes for Bush, who ended up winning the nomination and the election. He then returned to CBN and has remained there as a religious broadcaster.
Books
Robertson's book The New World Order (1991) became a New York Times best seller, among his several works. Episcopalian professor of theology Ephraim Radner's critical review:
Business interests
Robertson is the founder and chairman of The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) Inc., and founder of International Family Entertainment Inc., Regent University, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, American Center for Law and Justice, The Flying Hospital, Inc. and several other organizations and broadcast entities. Robertson was the founder and co-chairman of International Family Entertainment Inc. (IFE).
Formed in 1990, IFE produced and distributed family entertainment and information programming worldwide. IFE's principal business was The Family Channel, a satellite delivered cable-television network with 63 million U.S. subscribers. IFE, a publicly held company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, was sold in 1997 to Fox Kids Worldwide, Inc. for $1.9 billion, whereupon it was renamed Fox Family Channel. Disney acquired FFC in 2001 and its name was changed again, to ABC Family. The network was renamed to Freeform on January 12, 2016, though Robertson's sale of the channel continues to require Freeform to carry four hours of CBN/700 Club programming per weekday, along with CBN's yearly telethon.
Robertson is a global businessman with media holdings in Asia, the United Kingdom, and Africa. He struck a deal with Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based General Nutrition Center to produce and market a weight-loss shake he created and promoted on The 700 Club.
In 1999, Robertson entered into a joint venture with the Bank of Scotland to provide financial services in the United States. However, the move was met with criticism in the UK due to Robertson's views on homosexuality. Robertson commented that "In Europe, the big word is tolerance. You tolerate everything. Homosexuals are riding high in the media ... And in Scotland, you can't believe how strong the homosexuals are." Shortly afterward, the Bank of Scotland canceled the venture.
Robertson's extensive business interests have earned him a net worth estimated between $200 million and $1 billion.
In 1994, in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, Robertson solicited donations for his charity organization Operation Blessing International to provide medical supplies to refugees in neighboring Zaire (present-day Congo), where Robertson had allegedly negotiated a diamond-mining contract with Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. According to two Operation Blessing pilots who reported the incident to the state of Virginia for investigation, rather than delivering relief supplies to refugees, the organization's planes were primarily used to haul diamond-mining equipment to Robertson's mines in Zaire.
According to a June 2, 1999 article in The Virginian-Pilot, Robertson had extensive business dealings with Liberian president Charles Taylor, with whom Robertson negotiated a multimillion-dollar contract for gold mining operations in Liberia. In response to Taylor's alleged crimes against humanity, the United States Congress passed a bill in November 2003 that offered two million dollars for his capture. Robertson accused President George W. Bush of "undermining a Christian, Baptist president to bring in Muslim rebels to take over the country." At the time Taylor was harboring Al Qaeda operatives who were funding their operations through the illegal diamond trade. On February 4, 2010, at his war crimes trial in the Hague, Taylor testified that Robertson was his main political ally in the U.S., and that he had volunteered to make Liberia's case before U.S. administration officials in exchange for concessions to Robertson's Freedom Gold, Ltd., to which Taylor gave a contract to mine gold in southeast Liberia. In 2010, a spokesman for Robertson said that the company's arrangements—in which the Liberian government got a 10 percent equity interest in the company and Liberians could purchase at least 15 percent of the shares after the exploration period—were similar to many American companies doing business in Africa at the time.
Tega Farm
Beginning in the latter part of the 1990s, Rev. Pat Robertson raced thoroughbred horses under the nom de course, Tega Farm. His gelding named Tappat won the 1999 Walter Haight Handicap at Laurel Park and the 2000 Pennsylvania Governor's Cup Handicap at Penn National Race Course. Following this success, Robertson paid $520,000 for a colt he named Mr. Pat. Trained by John Kimmel, Mr. Pat was not a successful runner. He was nominated for, but did not run in, the 2000 Kentucky Derby.
Health
On August 11, 2017, Robertson was hospitalized after sustaining minor injuries in a fall from a horseback riding incident.
On February 2, 2018, Robertson suffered an embolic stroke at his home in Virginia Beach around 12 noon local time. A member of his family noticed his symptoms and alerted emergency medical personnel. He was then taken to the nearest stroke center where he was administered the clot-busting drug tPA. Robertson was responsive, awake, and moving all of his limbs about eighty minutes after his stroke began. He was discharged two days later and recovered at home. Following this incident, Robertson and his family thanked the paramedics and medical staff for their "extraordinary care and rapid response." They also urged people to learn about stroke, its symptoms and treatments.
On February 12, 2018, Robertson returned to his normal duties as host of his television show The 700 Club just ten days after his stroke. He later released this statement: "I am grateful for the expressions of love and concern that have come toward me from all around the world, and I am thankful that I have received what amounted to a miraculous healing instead of what could have been a crippling illness. I am delighted to be back on the air to fulfill my life calling."
On June 5, 2019, Robertson returned to host The 700 Club after a few days off after breaking three ribs after falling into a chair. He described the experience as very painful but said "Us old guys are tough and we try to stay in there and keep on going." He then thanked viewers for their prayers.
Political service and activism
Robertson is a past president of the Council for National Policy. In 1982, he served on the Victims of Crime Task Force for President Reagan. In Virginia, he served on the Board of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and on the Governor's Council of Economic Advisors. After his unsuccessful presidential campaign, Robertson started the Christian Coalition, a 1.7-million-member Christian right organization that campaigned mostly for conservative candidates. Billy McCormack, a Southern Baptist pastor in Shreveport, Louisiana, served as one of the four directors of the coalition as well as its vice president.
The coalition was sued by the Federal Election Commission "for coordinating its activities with Republican candidates for office in 1990, 1992 and 1994 and failing to report its expenditures". Robertson was a fundraiser for the Nicaraguan Contras. In March 1986, he told Israeli Foreign Affairs that South Africa was a major contributor to the Reagan administration's efforts to help the anti-Sandinista forces.
In 1994, the Coalition was fined for "improperly [aiding] then Representative Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and Oliver North, who was then the Republican Senate nominee in Virginia." Robertson left the Coalition in 2001.
Robertson has been a governing member of the Council for National Policy (CNP): Board of Governors 1982, President Executive Committee 1985–86, member, 1984, 1988, 1998.
On November 7, 2007, Robertson announced that he was endorsing Rudy Giuliani to be the Republican nominee in the 2008 Presidential election. Some social conservatives criticized Robertson's endorsement of Giuliani, a pro-choice candidate who supported gay rights.
While usually associated with the political right, Pat Robertson has endorsed environmental causes. He appeared in a commercial with Al Sharpton, joking about this, and urging people to join the We Can Solve It campaign against global warming.
In January 2009, on a broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson stated that he is "adamantly opposed" to the division of Jerusalem between Israel and the Palestinians. He also stated that Armageddon is "not going to be fought at Megiddo" but will be the "battle of Jerusalem," when "the forces of all nations come together and try to take Jerusalem away from the Jews. Jews are not going to give up Jerusalem—they shouldn't—and the rest of the world is going to insist they give it up." Robertson added that Jerusalem is a "spiritual symbol that must not be given away" because "Jesus Christ the Messiah will come down to the part of Jerusalem that the Arabs want," and that's "not good."
Robertson has repeatedly called for the legalization of cannabis, saying that it should be treated in a manner analogous to the regulation of alcoholic beverages and tobacco. Robertson has said, "I just think it's shocking how many of these young people wind up in prison and they get turned into hard-core criminals because they had a possession of a very small amount of controlled substance. The whole thing is crazy." In 2014, he turned against the legalization of cannabis.
Controversies and criticisms
As a commentator and minister, Robertson frequently generates controversy. Some of his remarks have been the subject of national and international media attention prompting responses from politicians.
Robertson's service as a minister has included the belief in the healing power of God. He has cautioned believers that some Protestant denominations may harbor the spirit of the Antichrist; prayed to deflect hurricanes; denounced Hinduism as "demonic" and Islam as "Satanic". Robertson has denounced left-wing views of feminism, activism regarding homosexuality, abortion, and liberal college professors. Critics claim Robertson had business dealings in Africa with former president of Liberia and convicted war criminal Charles Taylor and former Zaire president Mobutu Sese Seko who both had been internationally denounced for claims of human rights violations. Robertson was criticized internationally for his call for Hugo Chávez's assassination and for his remarks concerning Ariel Sharon's ill-health as an act of God.
Robertson made American national news in October 2003 for interviews with author Joel Mowbray about his book Dangerous Diplomacy, a book critical of the State Department. Robertson's commentary implied that if a small nuclear device were to be found at the department, such a thing might wake up America's leaders to actually realize a potential threat; however, government officials expressed disdain at the thought of such a scenario.
During the week of September 11, 2001, Robertson discussed the terror attacks with Jerry Falwell, who said that "the ACLU has to take a lot of blame for this" in addition to "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays, and the lesbians [who have] helped [the terror attacks of September 11th] happen." Robertson replied, "I totally concur". Both evangelists were seriously criticized by President George W. Bush for their comments, for which Falwell later issued an apology.
Less than two weeks after Hurricane Katrina killed 1,836 people, Robertson implied on the September 12, 2005 broadcast of The 700 Club that the storm was God's punishment in response to America's abortion policy. He suggested that the September 11 attacks and the disaster in New Orleans "could ... be connected in some way".
On November 9, 2009, Robertson said that Islam is "a violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world and world domination". He went on to elaborate that "you're dealing with not a religion, you're dealing with a political system, and I think we should treat it as such, and treat its adherents as such as we would members of the communist party, members of some fascist group".
Robertson's response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake also drew international condemnation. Robertson claimed that Haiti's founders had sworn a "pact to the Devil" in order to liberate themselves from the French slave owners and indirectly attributed the earthquake to the consequences of the Haitian people being "cursed" for doing so. CBN later issued a statement saying that Robertson's comments "were based on the widely-discussed 1791 slave rebellion led by Dutty Boukman at Bois Caïman, where the slaves allegedly made a famous pact with the devil in exchange for victory over the French". Various figures in mainline and evangelical Christianity have on occasion disavowed some of Robertson's remarks.
In March 2015, Robertson compared Buddhism to a disease on The 700 Club. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a conservative Christian watchdog group Robertson founded to promote Christian prayer in public schools, is calling for a multi-pronged attack on mindfulness programs because "they appear to be similar to Buddhist religious practices. Proponents of secular mindfulness say mindfulness is not a Buddhist practice; it is a contemplative practice used in religious traditions around the world by many different names."
Predictions
Several times near New Year, Robertson has announced that God told him several truths or events that would happen in the following year. "I have a relatively good track record", he said. "Sometimes I miss."
1982: Judgment
In the May 19, 1982 broadcast of The 700 Club Robertson stated, "I guarantee you by the fall of 1982 there is going to be a judgment on the world."
In September 2011, Robertson and several others who incorrectly predicted various dates for the end of world were jointly awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for "teaching the world to be careful when making mathematical assumptions and calculations".
2004: Presidential election
In January 2004, Robertson said that God told him President Bush will be re-elected in a "blowout" in the election later that year. "I think George Bush is going to win in a walk", Robertson told viewers of his The 700 Club program. "I really believe I'm hearing from the Lord it's going to be like a blowout election in 2004. It's shaping up that way." Bush did in fact win re-election, but not in a landslide. Kerry lost the electoral college vote by 14%, an outcome that did not signal a significant shift in the direction of politics.
2006: Pacific Northwestern tsunami
In May 2006, Robertson declared that storms and possibly a tsunami would hit America's coastline sometime in 2006. Robertson supposedly received this revelation from God during an annual personal prayer retreat in January. The claim was repeated four times on The 700 Club.
On May 8, 2006, Robertson said, "If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms." On May 17, 2006, he elaborated, "There well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest."
2007: Terror attack
On the January 2, 2007 broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson said that God spoke to him and told him that "mass killings" were to come during 2007, due to a terrorist attack on the United States. He added, "The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that." When a terrorist attack failed to happen in 2007, Robertson said, in January 2008, "All I can think is that somehow the people of God prayed and God in his mercy spared us."
2008: Worldwide violence and American recession
On the January 2, 2008 episode of The 700 Club, Pat Robertson predicted that 2008 would be a year of worldwide violence. He also predicted that a recession would occur in the United States that would be followed by a stock market crash by 2010. However, there was a decrease in overall deaths for the period, and the American economy had already entered a recession in 2007, with increased household debt and the collapse of financial institutions.
2008: Mideast meltdown
In October 2008, Robertson posted a press release on the Georgian conflict speculating that the conflict is a Russian ploy to enter the Middle East, and that instability caused by a predicted pre-emptive strike by Israel on Iran would result in Syria's and Iran's launching nuclear strikes on other targets. He also said that if the United States were to oppose Russia's expansion, nuclear strikes on American soil are also pending. "We will suffer grave economic damage, but will not engage in military action to stop the conflict. However, we may not be spared nuclear strikes against coastal cities. In conclusion, it is my opinion that we have between 75 and 120 days before the Middle East starts spinning out of control."
2009: Economic chaos and recovery
On the January 1, 2009 broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson said, "If I'm hearing [God] right, gold will go to about $1900 an ounce and oil to $300 a barrel." He also suggested that Americans would broadly accept socialism. Despite these predictions, he also said that economically "things are getting ready to turn around."
2012: Presidential election
On January 4, 2012, Robertson reported that God had spoken to him and he "thinks He showed me the next president" but would not name who it is. He did give an indication that it would not be President Obama since Robertson said God told him Obama's views were at "odds with the majority", but left some room for interpretation had the 2012 election expanded beyond a two-person race. Closer to the election, however, he expressly stated that God had told him that Mitt Romney would win and would be a two-term President. Obama was reelected for a second term.
2020: Presidential election and asteroid strike
On October 20, 2020, Robertson said, "But first of all I want to say without question Trump is going to win the election." Trump went on to be defeated by Joe Biden. Robertson also said there would be assassination attempts against Trump, and later an asteroid will hit that could destroy earth. After Biden was certified the winner by the United States Electoral College in December, Robertson, after briefly supporting Trump's legal disputes seeking to overturn the results, said Trump should concede. He also said Trump running again in 2024 would be a "mistake" and offered Nikki Haley as an alternative.
Works
Shout It from the Housetops, an autobiography with Jamie Buckingham (1972, repr 1995)
My Prayer for You (1977)
The Secret Kingdom (1982)
Answers to 200 of Life's Most Probing Questions (1984)
Beyond Reason: How Miracles can Change your Life (1985)
America's Dates with Destiny (1986)
The Plan (1989)
The New Millennium (1990)
The New World Order (1991)
Turning Tide: The Fall of Liberalism and the Rise of Common Sense (1993)
The End of the Age (1995, fiction)
Six Steps to Spiritual Revival: God's Awesome Power in Your Life (2002)
Bring It on: Tough Questions, Candid Answers, Nashville, Tenn: W Pub. Group, 2003.
The Ten Offenses (2004)
Courting Disaster (2004)
Miracles Can Be Yours Today (2006)
On Humility (2009)
Right on the Money: Financial Advice for Tough Times (2009)
See also
Charismatic Movement
Christian Fundamentalism
Christian Zionism
Moral Majority
Christian Right
References
Further reading
Marley, David John. Pat Robertson: An American Life
External links
Brian Ross. Some Question Robertson's Katrina Charity, ABC News, September 9, 2005.
"Preacher: God told him about storms, tsunami"
2000 lbs. leg press
Robertson talks about his prostate cancer surgery with laparoscopic radical prostatectomy
NPR Audio Report: Televangelist Robertson Urges U.S. Hit on Chavez
Archive of American Television interview with Pat Robertson
1930 births
Living people
20th-century American politicians
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century apocalypticists
20th-century Baptists
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century apocalypticists
21st-century Baptists
American businesspeople
American Charismatics
American Christian writers
American Christian Zionists
American critics of Islam
American male non-fiction writers
United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War
American racehorse owners and breeders
American television evangelists
Anti-Masonry
Anti-pornography activists
Baptists from New York (state)
Baptists from Virginia
Christian conspiracy theorists
Christian fundamentalists
Christian critics of Islam
Male critics of feminism
Military personnel from Virginia
People from Lexington, Virginia
People from Staten Island
People from Virginia Beach, Virginia
Regent University people
Religious scandals
United States Marine Corps officers
Candidates in the 1988 United States presidential election
University and college founders
Virginia Republicans
Washington and Lee University alumni
Yale Law School alumni
Christian Old Earth creationists
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
| true |
[
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
] |
[
"Pat Robertson",
"Family",
"Does Pat Robertson have a family?",
"a prominent political family,",
"Who in his family is involved in politics?",
"Absalom Willis Robertson (1887-1971), a conservative Democratic United States Senator,",
"Is Robertson married?",
"They were married on August 26, 1954, and they were both on the path of economic success.",
"Does Robertson have any children?",
"His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed Pat by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby"
] |
C_d382da36d18049f58d96cbc298991f17_1
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Is there anything that I should know about Robertson's childhood?
| 6 |
Is there anything that I should know about Pat Robertson childhood?
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Pat Robertson
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Marion Gordon Robertson was born on March 22, 1930, in Lexington, Virginia, into a prominent political family, the youngest of two sons. His parents were Absalom Willis Robertson (1887-1971), a conservative Democratic United States Senator, and his wife Gladys Churchill (nee Willis; 1897-1968), was a housewife and a musician. He met Adelia "Dede" Elmer (born December 3, 1927 in Columbus, Ohio), a fashion model and beauty queen in the Miss Ohio State contest, who was studying for her masters in Nursing at Yale University. She was also a nursing student at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. They were married on August 26, 1954, and they were both on the path of economic success. His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson and, as of mid-2016, 14 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed Pat by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby while saying "pat, pat, pat". As he got older, Robertson thought about which first name he would like people to use. He considered "Marion" to be effeminate, and "M. Gordon" to be affected, so he opted for his childhood nickname "Pat". His strong awareness for the importance of names in the creation of a public image showed itself again during his presidential run when he threatened to sue NBC news for calling him a "television evangelist", which later became "televangelist", at a time when Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker were objects of scandal. On April 2, 2015, fellow televangelist, Robert H. Schuller died after a two-year battle with esophageal cancer. Robertson released a statement through CBN News.com: "I am saddened by the passing of my dear friend, Robert Schuller, the Founding Pastor of Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. Robert Schuller set the dimensions for Twentieth Century Christian positive thinking and optimistic action. He is now with the Lord in Heaven, but his legacy on earth will long remain." In August 2017, Robertson was hospitalized after sustaining minor injuries from a horseback riding incident. On February 21, 2018, another fellow televangelist, Billy Graham died of complications of Parkinson's disease. Robertson released a statement through CBN News.com: "I join with millions of my fellow Christians in mourning the passing of Billy Graham. Without question, Billy was the preeminent voice of evangelical Christianity in America--an advisor to Presidents, and a spiritual guide to the multitudes who attended his crusades all over the world." He then added: "Billy has been a dear friend of mine personally and I will miss him. He is now with our heavenly Father, well and happy, and joined forever with his dear wife, Ruth. I extend my profound sympathy to Franklin, to Anne Graham Lotz, and to Billy's other children who are continuing his legacy throughout the world." CANNOTANSWER
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the youngest of two sons.
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Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is an American media mogul, televangelist, political commentator, former Republican presidential candidate, and former Southern Baptist minister. Robertson advocates a conservative Christian ideology and is known for his past activities in Republican party politics. He is associated with the Charismatic Movement within Protestant evangelicalism. He serves as chancellor and CEO of Regent University and chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). Until 2021 he appeared daily on The 700 Club, CBN's flagship television program.
On Robertson's own account, he was not a serious Christian until he underwent personal difficulty. He graduated near the top of his class at Yale Law School in 1955, but failed the New York bar exam. Failing the bar cost Robertson opportunities at post-graduate employment, and in the ensuing months of what he later described as disappointment, embarrassment, and unemployment, he became a born-again Christian and began a career as a minister.
Spanning over five decades, Robertson has had a career as the founder of several major organizations and corporations as well as a university: The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), the International Family Entertainment Inc. (ABC Family Channel), Regent University, the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ), the Founders Inn and Conference Center, the Christian Coalition, an L-1011 Flying Hospital, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, and CBN Asia. He is a best-selling author and the host of The 700 Club, a Christian News and TV program broadcast live weekdays on Freeform (formerly ABC Family) via satellite from CBN studios, as well as on channels throughout the United States, and on CBN network affiliates worldwide. Robertson announced his retirement at the age of 91 from the 700 Club in October 2021, on the sixtieth anniversary of the first telecast on October 1, 1961 of what eventually became CBN.
The son of U.S. Senator A. Willis Robertson, Robertson was a Southern Baptist and was active as an ordained minister with that denomination for many years, but holds to a charismatic theology not traditionally common among Southern Baptists. He unsuccessfully campaigned to become the Republican Party's nominee in the 1988 presidential election. As a result of his seeking political office, he no longer serves in an official role for any church, but continued as the main host for his series, The 700 Club until October 2021, advocating for religion to this day. His personal influence on media and financial resources make him a recognized, influential, and controversial public voice for conservative Christianity in the United States and around the world.
Life and career
Family
Marion Gordon Robertson was born on March 22, 1930, in Lexington, Virginia, into a prominent political family, the younger of two sons. His parents were Absalom Willis Robertson (1887–1971), a conservative Democratic Senator, and his wife Gladys Churchill (née Willis; 1897–1968), was a housewife and a musician. He met Adelia "Dede" Elmer (born December 3, 1927, in Columbus, Ohio), a fashion model and beauty queen in the Miss Ohio State contest, who was studying for her masters in Nursing at Yale University. She was also a nursing student at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. They were married on August 26, 1954. His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson and, as of mid-2016, 14 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.
At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed Pat by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby while saying "pat, pat, pat". As he got older, Robertson thought about which first name he would like people to use. He considered "Marion" to be effeminate, and "M. Gordon" to be affected, so he opted for his childhood nickname "Pat". His strong awareness for the importance of names in the creation of a public image showed itself again during his presidential run when he threatened to sue NBC news for calling him a "television evangelist", which later became "televangelist", at a time when Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker were objects of scandal.
Education and military service
When he was eleven, Robertson was enrolled in the preparatory McDonogh School outside Baltimore, Maryland. From 1940 until 1946 he attended The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he graduated with honors. He gained admission to Washington and Lee University, where he received a B.A. in History, graduating magna cum laude. He joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Robertson has said, "Although I worked hard at my studies, my real major centered around lovely young ladies who attended the nearby girls schools."
In 1948, the draft was reinstated and Robertson was given the option of joining the Marine Corps or being drafted into the Army; he opted for the first.
Robertson has described his military service as follows: "We did long, grueling marches to toughen the men, plus refresher training in firearms and bayonet combat." In the same year, he transferred to Korea, "I ended up at the headquarters command of the First Marine Division," says Robertson. "The Division was in combat in the hot and dusty, then bitterly cold portion of North Korea just above the 38th Parallel later identified as the 'Punchbowl' and 'Heartbreak Ridge.' For that service in the Korean War, the Marine Corps awarded me three battle stars for 'action against the enemy.'"
Parts of Robertson's description of his service were later proven to be false. Former Republican Congressman Paul "Pete" McCloskey, Jr., who served with Robertson in Korea, wrote a public letter that said that Robertson was actually spared combat duty when his powerful father, a U.S. Senator, intervened on his behalf, and that Robertson spent most of his time in an office in Japan. According to McCloskey, his time in the service was not in combat, but as the "liquor officer" responsible for keeping the officers' clubs supplied with alcohol. Robertson filed a $35 million libel suit against McCloskey in 1986. He dropped the case in 1988, before it came to trial and paid McCloskey's court costs. According to a newspaper report from 1986, Robertson confirmed elements of McCloskey's allegations and said that he never saw front-line duty.
Robertson was promoted to First Lieutenant in 1952 upon his return to the United States. He then went on to receive a law degree from Yale Law School in 1955, near the top of his class. However, he failed his first and only attempt at the New York bar exam necessary for admission to the New York State Bar Association. Shortly thereafter he underwent a religious conversion, and decided against pursuing a career in law. Instead, Robertson attended The Biblical Seminary in New York, where he received a Master of Divinity degree in 1959.
Christian broadcasting and higher education career
In 1956, Robertson met Dutch missionary Cornelius Vanderbreggen, who impressed Robertson both by his lifestyle and his message. Vanderbreggen quoted Proverbs (3:5, 6), "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths", which Robertson considers to be the "guiding principle" of his life. He was ordained as a minister of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1961.
In 1960, Robertson established the Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He started it by buying the license of a defunct UHF station in nearby Portsmouth. The station first went on the air as WYAH-TV on October 1, 1961. Later in 1977 he purchased a local Leased access cable TV channel in the Hampton Roads area and called it CBN. Originally he went door-to-door in Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads, and other surrounding areas asking Christians to buy cable boxes so that they could receive his new channel. He also canvassed local churches in the Virginia Beach area to do the same, and solicited donations through public speaking engagements at local churches and on CBN. One of his friends, John Giminez, the pastor of Rock Church Virginia Beach, was influential in helping Robertson establish CBN with donations, as well as offering the services of volunteers from his church.
CBN is now seen in 180 countries and broadcast in 71 languages. He founded the CBN Cable Network, which was renamed the CBN Family Channel in 1988 and later simply the Family Channel. When the Family Channel became too profitable for Robertson to keep it under the CBN umbrella without endangering CBN's non-profit status, he formed International Family Entertainment Inc. in 1990 with the Family Channel as its main subsidiary. Robertson sold the Family Channel to the News Corporation in 1997, which renamed it Fox Family. A condition of the sale was that the station would continue airing Robertson's television program, The 700 Club, twice a day in perpetuity, regardless of any changes of ownership. The channel is now owned by Disney and run as Freeform. On December 3, 2007, Robertson resigned as chief executive of CBN; he was succeeded by his son, Gordon.
Robertson founded CBN University in 1977 on CBN's Virginia Beach campus. It was renamed Regent University in 1989. Robertson serves as its chancellor. He is also founder and president of the American Center for Law & Justice, a major public interest law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. and associated with Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia, that defends Constitutional freedoms and conservative Christian ideals. Occasional critics have characterized Robertson as an advocate of dominionism; the idea that Christians have a right to rule.
In 1994, he was an endorser of the document Evangelicals and Catholics Together.
1988 presidential bid
In September 1986, Robertson announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Robertson said he would pursue the nomination only if three million people signed up to volunteer for his campaign by September 1987. Three million responded, and by the time Robertson announced he would be running in September 1987, he also had raised millions of dollars for his campaign fund. He surrendered his ministerial credentials and turned leadership of CBN over to his son, Tim. His campaign, however, against incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush, was seen as a long shot.
Robertson ran on a standard conservative platform. Among his policies, he wanted to ban pornography, reform the education system, and eliminate departments such as the Department of Education and the Department of Energy. He also supported a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget.
Robertson's campaign got off to a strong second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, ahead of Bush. He did poorly in the subsequent New Hampshire primary, however, and was unable to be competitive once the multiple-state primaries began. Robertson ended his campaign before the primaries were finished. His best finish was in Washington, winning the majority of caucus delegates. He later spoke at the 1988 Republican National Convention in New Orleans and told his remaining supporters to cast their votes for Bush, who ended up winning the nomination and the election. He then returned to CBN and has remained there as a religious broadcaster.
Books
Robertson's book The New World Order (1991) became a New York Times best seller, among his several works. Episcopalian professor of theology Ephraim Radner's critical review:
Business interests
Robertson is the founder and chairman of The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) Inc., and founder of International Family Entertainment Inc., Regent University, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, American Center for Law and Justice, The Flying Hospital, Inc. and several other organizations and broadcast entities. Robertson was the founder and co-chairman of International Family Entertainment Inc. (IFE).
Formed in 1990, IFE produced and distributed family entertainment and information programming worldwide. IFE's principal business was The Family Channel, a satellite delivered cable-television network with 63 million U.S. subscribers. IFE, a publicly held company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, was sold in 1997 to Fox Kids Worldwide, Inc. for $1.9 billion, whereupon it was renamed Fox Family Channel. Disney acquired FFC in 2001 and its name was changed again, to ABC Family. The network was renamed to Freeform on January 12, 2016, though Robertson's sale of the channel continues to require Freeform to carry four hours of CBN/700 Club programming per weekday, along with CBN's yearly telethon.
Robertson is a global businessman with media holdings in Asia, the United Kingdom, and Africa. He struck a deal with Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based General Nutrition Center to produce and market a weight-loss shake he created and promoted on The 700 Club.
In 1999, Robertson entered into a joint venture with the Bank of Scotland to provide financial services in the United States. However, the move was met with criticism in the UK due to Robertson's views on homosexuality. Robertson commented that "In Europe, the big word is tolerance. You tolerate everything. Homosexuals are riding high in the media ... And in Scotland, you can't believe how strong the homosexuals are." Shortly afterward, the Bank of Scotland canceled the venture.
Robertson's extensive business interests have earned him a net worth estimated between $200 million and $1 billion.
In 1994, in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, Robertson solicited donations for his charity organization Operation Blessing International to provide medical supplies to refugees in neighboring Zaire (present-day Congo), where Robertson had allegedly negotiated a diamond-mining contract with Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. According to two Operation Blessing pilots who reported the incident to the state of Virginia for investigation, rather than delivering relief supplies to refugees, the organization's planes were primarily used to haul diamond-mining equipment to Robertson's mines in Zaire.
According to a June 2, 1999 article in The Virginian-Pilot, Robertson had extensive business dealings with Liberian president Charles Taylor, with whom Robertson negotiated a multimillion-dollar contract for gold mining operations in Liberia. In response to Taylor's alleged crimes against humanity, the United States Congress passed a bill in November 2003 that offered two million dollars for his capture. Robertson accused President George W. Bush of "undermining a Christian, Baptist president to bring in Muslim rebels to take over the country." At the time Taylor was harboring Al Qaeda operatives who were funding their operations through the illegal diamond trade. On February 4, 2010, at his war crimes trial in the Hague, Taylor testified that Robertson was his main political ally in the U.S., and that he had volunteered to make Liberia's case before U.S. administration officials in exchange for concessions to Robertson's Freedom Gold, Ltd., to which Taylor gave a contract to mine gold in southeast Liberia. In 2010, a spokesman for Robertson said that the company's arrangements—in which the Liberian government got a 10 percent equity interest in the company and Liberians could purchase at least 15 percent of the shares after the exploration period—were similar to many American companies doing business in Africa at the time.
Tega Farm
Beginning in the latter part of the 1990s, Rev. Pat Robertson raced thoroughbred horses under the nom de course, Tega Farm. His gelding named Tappat won the 1999 Walter Haight Handicap at Laurel Park and the 2000 Pennsylvania Governor's Cup Handicap at Penn National Race Course. Following this success, Robertson paid $520,000 for a colt he named Mr. Pat. Trained by John Kimmel, Mr. Pat was not a successful runner. He was nominated for, but did not run in, the 2000 Kentucky Derby.
Health
On August 11, 2017, Robertson was hospitalized after sustaining minor injuries in a fall from a horseback riding incident.
On February 2, 2018, Robertson suffered an embolic stroke at his home in Virginia Beach around 12 noon local time. A member of his family noticed his symptoms and alerted emergency medical personnel. He was then taken to the nearest stroke center where he was administered the clot-busting drug tPA. Robertson was responsive, awake, and moving all of his limbs about eighty minutes after his stroke began. He was discharged two days later and recovered at home. Following this incident, Robertson and his family thanked the paramedics and medical staff for their "extraordinary care and rapid response." They also urged people to learn about stroke, its symptoms and treatments.
On February 12, 2018, Robertson returned to his normal duties as host of his television show The 700 Club just ten days after his stroke. He later released this statement: "I am grateful for the expressions of love and concern that have come toward me from all around the world, and I am thankful that I have received what amounted to a miraculous healing instead of what could have been a crippling illness. I am delighted to be back on the air to fulfill my life calling."
On June 5, 2019, Robertson returned to host The 700 Club after a few days off after breaking three ribs after falling into a chair. He described the experience as very painful but said "Us old guys are tough and we try to stay in there and keep on going." He then thanked viewers for their prayers.
Political service and activism
Robertson is a past president of the Council for National Policy. In 1982, he served on the Victims of Crime Task Force for President Reagan. In Virginia, he served on the Board of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and on the Governor's Council of Economic Advisors. After his unsuccessful presidential campaign, Robertson started the Christian Coalition, a 1.7-million-member Christian right organization that campaigned mostly for conservative candidates. Billy McCormack, a Southern Baptist pastor in Shreveport, Louisiana, served as one of the four directors of the coalition as well as its vice president.
The coalition was sued by the Federal Election Commission "for coordinating its activities with Republican candidates for office in 1990, 1992 and 1994 and failing to report its expenditures". Robertson was a fundraiser for the Nicaraguan Contras. In March 1986, he told Israeli Foreign Affairs that South Africa was a major contributor to the Reagan administration's efforts to help the anti-Sandinista forces.
In 1994, the Coalition was fined for "improperly [aiding] then Representative Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and Oliver North, who was then the Republican Senate nominee in Virginia." Robertson left the Coalition in 2001.
Robertson has been a governing member of the Council for National Policy (CNP): Board of Governors 1982, President Executive Committee 1985–86, member, 1984, 1988, 1998.
On November 7, 2007, Robertson announced that he was endorsing Rudy Giuliani to be the Republican nominee in the 2008 Presidential election. Some social conservatives criticized Robertson's endorsement of Giuliani, a pro-choice candidate who supported gay rights.
While usually associated with the political right, Pat Robertson has endorsed environmental causes. He appeared in a commercial with Al Sharpton, joking about this, and urging people to join the We Can Solve It campaign against global warming.
In January 2009, on a broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson stated that he is "adamantly opposed" to the division of Jerusalem between Israel and the Palestinians. He also stated that Armageddon is "not going to be fought at Megiddo" but will be the "battle of Jerusalem," when "the forces of all nations come together and try to take Jerusalem away from the Jews. Jews are not going to give up Jerusalem—they shouldn't—and the rest of the world is going to insist they give it up." Robertson added that Jerusalem is a "spiritual symbol that must not be given away" because "Jesus Christ the Messiah will come down to the part of Jerusalem that the Arabs want," and that's "not good."
Robertson has repeatedly called for the legalization of cannabis, saying that it should be treated in a manner analogous to the regulation of alcoholic beverages and tobacco. Robertson has said, "I just think it's shocking how many of these young people wind up in prison and they get turned into hard-core criminals because they had a possession of a very small amount of controlled substance. The whole thing is crazy." In 2014, he turned against the legalization of cannabis.
Controversies and criticisms
As a commentator and minister, Robertson frequently generates controversy. Some of his remarks have been the subject of national and international media attention prompting responses from politicians.
Robertson's service as a minister has included the belief in the healing power of God. He has cautioned believers that some Protestant denominations may harbor the spirit of the Antichrist; prayed to deflect hurricanes; denounced Hinduism as "demonic" and Islam as "Satanic". Robertson has denounced left-wing views of feminism, activism regarding homosexuality, abortion, and liberal college professors. Critics claim Robertson had business dealings in Africa with former president of Liberia and convicted war criminal Charles Taylor and former Zaire president Mobutu Sese Seko who both had been internationally denounced for claims of human rights violations. Robertson was criticized internationally for his call for Hugo Chávez's assassination and for his remarks concerning Ariel Sharon's ill-health as an act of God.
Robertson made American national news in October 2003 for interviews with author Joel Mowbray about his book Dangerous Diplomacy, a book critical of the State Department. Robertson's commentary implied that if a small nuclear device were to be found at the department, such a thing might wake up America's leaders to actually realize a potential threat; however, government officials expressed disdain at the thought of such a scenario.
During the week of September 11, 2001, Robertson discussed the terror attacks with Jerry Falwell, who said that "the ACLU has to take a lot of blame for this" in addition to "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays, and the lesbians [who have] helped [the terror attacks of September 11th] happen." Robertson replied, "I totally concur". Both evangelists were seriously criticized by President George W. Bush for their comments, for which Falwell later issued an apology.
Less than two weeks after Hurricane Katrina killed 1,836 people, Robertson implied on the September 12, 2005 broadcast of The 700 Club that the storm was God's punishment in response to America's abortion policy. He suggested that the September 11 attacks and the disaster in New Orleans "could ... be connected in some way".
On November 9, 2009, Robertson said that Islam is "a violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world and world domination". He went on to elaborate that "you're dealing with not a religion, you're dealing with a political system, and I think we should treat it as such, and treat its adherents as such as we would members of the communist party, members of some fascist group".
Robertson's response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake also drew international condemnation. Robertson claimed that Haiti's founders had sworn a "pact to the Devil" in order to liberate themselves from the French slave owners and indirectly attributed the earthquake to the consequences of the Haitian people being "cursed" for doing so. CBN later issued a statement saying that Robertson's comments "were based on the widely-discussed 1791 slave rebellion led by Dutty Boukman at Bois Caïman, where the slaves allegedly made a famous pact with the devil in exchange for victory over the French". Various figures in mainline and evangelical Christianity have on occasion disavowed some of Robertson's remarks.
In March 2015, Robertson compared Buddhism to a disease on The 700 Club. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a conservative Christian watchdog group Robertson founded to promote Christian prayer in public schools, is calling for a multi-pronged attack on mindfulness programs because "they appear to be similar to Buddhist religious practices. Proponents of secular mindfulness say mindfulness is not a Buddhist practice; it is a contemplative practice used in religious traditions around the world by many different names."
Predictions
Several times near New Year, Robertson has announced that God told him several truths or events that would happen in the following year. "I have a relatively good track record", he said. "Sometimes I miss."
1982: Judgment
In the May 19, 1982 broadcast of The 700 Club Robertson stated, "I guarantee you by the fall of 1982 there is going to be a judgment on the world."
In September 2011, Robertson and several others who incorrectly predicted various dates for the end of world were jointly awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for "teaching the world to be careful when making mathematical assumptions and calculations".
2004: Presidential election
In January 2004, Robertson said that God told him President Bush will be re-elected in a "blowout" in the election later that year. "I think George Bush is going to win in a walk", Robertson told viewers of his The 700 Club program. "I really believe I'm hearing from the Lord it's going to be like a blowout election in 2004. It's shaping up that way." Bush did in fact win re-election, but not in a landslide. Kerry lost the electoral college vote by 14%, an outcome that did not signal a significant shift in the direction of politics.
2006: Pacific Northwestern tsunami
In May 2006, Robertson declared that storms and possibly a tsunami would hit America's coastline sometime in 2006. Robertson supposedly received this revelation from God during an annual personal prayer retreat in January. The claim was repeated four times on The 700 Club.
On May 8, 2006, Robertson said, "If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms." On May 17, 2006, he elaborated, "There well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest."
2007: Terror attack
On the January 2, 2007 broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson said that God spoke to him and told him that "mass killings" were to come during 2007, due to a terrorist attack on the United States. He added, "The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that." When a terrorist attack failed to happen in 2007, Robertson said, in January 2008, "All I can think is that somehow the people of God prayed and God in his mercy spared us."
2008: Worldwide violence and American recession
On the January 2, 2008 episode of The 700 Club, Pat Robertson predicted that 2008 would be a year of worldwide violence. He also predicted that a recession would occur in the United States that would be followed by a stock market crash by 2010. However, there was a decrease in overall deaths for the period, and the American economy had already entered a recession in 2007, with increased household debt and the collapse of financial institutions.
2008: Mideast meltdown
In October 2008, Robertson posted a press release on the Georgian conflict speculating that the conflict is a Russian ploy to enter the Middle East, and that instability caused by a predicted pre-emptive strike by Israel on Iran would result in Syria's and Iran's launching nuclear strikes on other targets. He also said that if the United States were to oppose Russia's expansion, nuclear strikes on American soil are also pending. "We will suffer grave economic damage, but will not engage in military action to stop the conflict. However, we may not be spared nuclear strikes against coastal cities. In conclusion, it is my opinion that we have between 75 and 120 days before the Middle East starts spinning out of control."
2009: Economic chaos and recovery
On the January 1, 2009 broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson said, "If I'm hearing [God] right, gold will go to about $1900 an ounce and oil to $300 a barrel." He also suggested that Americans would broadly accept socialism. Despite these predictions, he also said that economically "things are getting ready to turn around."
2012: Presidential election
On January 4, 2012, Robertson reported that God had spoken to him and he "thinks He showed me the next president" but would not name who it is. He did give an indication that it would not be President Obama since Robertson said God told him Obama's views were at "odds with the majority", but left some room for interpretation had the 2012 election expanded beyond a two-person race. Closer to the election, however, he expressly stated that God had told him that Mitt Romney would win and would be a two-term President. Obama was reelected for a second term.
2020: Presidential election and asteroid strike
On October 20, 2020, Robertson said, "But first of all I want to say without question Trump is going to win the election." Trump went on to be defeated by Joe Biden. Robertson also said there would be assassination attempts against Trump, and later an asteroid will hit that could destroy earth. After Biden was certified the winner by the United States Electoral College in December, Robertson, after briefly supporting Trump's legal disputes seeking to overturn the results, said Trump should concede. He also said Trump running again in 2024 would be a "mistake" and offered Nikki Haley as an alternative.
Works
Shout It from the Housetops, an autobiography with Jamie Buckingham (1972, repr 1995)
My Prayer for You (1977)
The Secret Kingdom (1982)
Answers to 200 of Life's Most Probing Questions (1984)
Beyond Reason: How Miracles can Change your Life (1985)
America's Dates with Destiny (1986)
The Plan (1989)
The New Millennium (1990)
The New World Order (1991)
Turning Tide: The Fall of Liberalism and the Rise of Common Sense (1993)
The End of the Age (1995, fiction)
Six Steps to Spiritual Revival: God's Awesome Power in Your Life (2002)
Bring It on: Tough Questions, Candid Answers, Nashville, Tenn: W Pub. Group, 2003.
The Ten Offenses (2004)
Courting Disaster (2004)
Miracles Can Be Yours Today (2006)
On Humility (2009)
Right on the Money: Financial Advice for Tough Times (2009)
See also
Charismatic Movement
Christian Fundamentalism
Christian Zionism
Moral Majority
Christian Right
References
Further reading
Marley, David John. Pat Robertson: An American Life
External links
Brian Ross. Some Question Robertson's Katrina Charity, ABC News, September 9, 2005.
"Preacher: God told him about storms, tsunami"
2000 lbs. leg press
Robertson talks about his prostate cancer surgery with laparoscopic radical prostatectomy
NPR Audio Report: Televangelist Robertson Urges U.S. Hit on Chavez
Archive of American Television interview with Pat Robertson
1930 births
Living people
20th-century American politicians
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century apocalypticists
20th-century Baptists
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century apocalypticists
21st-century Baptists
American businesspeople
American Charismatics
American Christian writers
American Christian Zionists
American critics of Islam
American male non-fiction writers
United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War
American racehorse owners and breeders
American television evangelists
Anti-Masonry
Anti-pornography activists
Baptists from New York (state)
Baptists from Virginia
Christian conspiracy theorists
Christian fundamentalists
Christian critics of Islam
Male critics of feminism
Military personnel from Virginia
People from Lexington, Virginia
People from Staten Island
People from Virginia Beach, Virginia
Regent University people
Religious scandals
United States Marine Corps officers
Candidates in the 1988 United States presidential election
University and college founders
Virginia Republicans
Washington and Lee University alumni
Yale Law School alumni
Christian Old Earth creationists
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
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[
"\"Is There Something I Should Know?\" is the eighth single by British pop band Duran Duran, released on 19 March 1983.\n\nThe song was released as a stand-alone single and became the band's first UK number one record. It debuted in the number one position on the UK Singles Chart on 26 March 1983. The single also had great success in America, where it was released in late May: The song debuted on the charts on 4 June at #57, and it reached number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 on 6 August 1983 and sold more than a million copies.\n\nBackground\n\"Is There Something I Should Know?\" was recorded at Tony Visconti’s Good Earth Studios in Soho, London with producer Ian Little, who was recommended to the group by Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera. Eventually, the song would undergo several rounds of mixing due to a lack of compression on the drums as Little asserted: one mix was done at Good Earth, one at Eel Pie Studios, one at The Gallery and one at The Power Station in New York with Bob Clearmountain. Keyboardist Nick Rhodes remembered being present most of the night during the mix with Clearmountain and leaving the next day thinking the band had something special on their hands. But upon reflection some days later, it was decided that despite being what they considered a \"beautiful mix\", it was a little too soft for the sound they were trying to achieve for the record. So the final mix would be done with producer Alex Sadkin (who’d be brought in to produce the band’s next album alongside Little, Seven and the Ragged Tiger) and Phil Thornalley at RAK Studios, London, who replaced the drums with samples triggered via AMS delay units.\n\nAlthough generally regarded as a stand-alone single, it was added to the 1983 US re-issue of the band's 1981 debut album, Duran Duran. The first album on which the song featured in the UK was the inaugural Now That's What I Call Music compilation at the end of the year.\n\nThe singles from the Duran Duran album did not receive much airplay in the United States on the album's first release; both the band and the New Romantic fashion style were unknown, and very few British bands were able to break into American radio at that time. However, by the end of 1982, the band's Rio album was rapidly climbing the American charts, fueled by saturation airplay of various Duran Duran videos on MTV. The band and their label, Capitol/EMI, decided to re-release the debut album in the United States with the inclusion of this newly recorded single.\n\nBecause of the time limitations of vinyl records, the inclusion of \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" required the omission of the album track \"To The Shore\" on the reissue. \"To The Shore\" was reinstated on later compact disc pressings.\n\n\"Is There Something I Should Know?\" was the opening song on Duran Duran’s set list for the 1983/84 Seven and the Ragged Tiger tour - as well as Duran Duran's charity concert at Aston Villa football ground in 1983.\n\nIn a retrospective review of the song, Allmusic journalist Donald A. Guarisco wrote that the lyrics \"deal with a difficult romantic relationship in rather obtuse terms.\" Guarisco highlighted what he described as \"odd turns of phrase\" in the lyrics, such as: \"and fiery demons all dance when you walk through that door/Don't say you're easy on me 'cause you're about as easy as a nuclear war.\"\n\nAlthough Guarisco questioned the lyrics, he praised the melody in the song. He wrote: \"The melody of 'Is There Something I Should Know?' is one of Duran Duran's catchiest, matching twisty verse melodies full of ear-catching hooks with a harmonized chorus.\"\n\nAccording to Rhodes, the pulsing keyboard sound is from a Roland Jupiter-8 synth, while the Prophet-5 was used for a small melodic part.\n\nMusic video\nThe memorable and much-played video for \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" featured colour clips of the band members, in blue shirts with tucked-in white ties, interspersed with surreal images in black-and-white. The video made a point of marking the transition between albums one and two - and the third, featuring clips from several earlier Duran Duran videos. This included \"My Own Way\" - presented on the Duran Duran Video Album but never released to MTV.\n\nThe video was directed by Russell Mulcahy, and was one of the most popular videos of 1983 on MTV. The video is longer as there are verses that were edited out of the original 45 release, that subsequently made it to album, tape and CD. The DVD Greatest Hits has the long version video\n\nWhen asked if there was anything about their videos they'd like to change, drummer Roger Taylor commented, \"The only part of a video I would change is the end of 'Is There Something I Should Know?' where I am singing to the camera. I look very uncomfortable doing this and cringe every time I see it to this day.\"\n\nB-sides, bonus tracks and remixes\nThe B-side to \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" in the UK is the instrumental \"Faith in This Colour\". An \"Alternate Slow Mix\" of \"Faith in this Colour\" was used on the 7\" single, some pressings of which included brief unauthorized sound samples from the movie Star Wars—these were promptly withdrawn when copyright concerns were raised, although on the \"Alternate Slow Mix\" from the singles box set, the scene, in which Obi-Wan leaves to disable the tractor beam, can clearly be heard in the last minute. Duran Duran has not confirmed this, though.\n\nThe mainly instrumental \"Monster Mix\" of \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" was completed by producers Ian Little and Alex Sadkin and Phil Thornalley at RAK studio One.\n\nIn the US, the song \"Careless Memories\" is the B-side of \"Is There Something I Should Know?\".\n\nFormats and track listing\n\n7\": EMI. / EMI 5371 United Kingdom\n \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" – 4:11\n \"Faith in This Colour (Alternate Slow Mix)\" – 4:06\n\n12\": EMI. / 12 EMI 5371 United Kingdom\n \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" (Monster Mix) – 6:43\n \"Faith in This Colour\" – 4:06\n\n7\": Capitol Records. / B-5233 United States \n \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" – 4:07\n \"Careless Memories\" – 3:53\n Track 2 is the \"Album Version\".\n\n12\": Capitol Records. / 8551 United States \n \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" (Monster Mix) – 6:40\n \"Faith in This Colour\" – 4:05\n\n12\": EMI. / EMI Electrola 1C K062-65-106Z Germany \n \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" (Monster Mix) – 6:43\n \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" (Short Mix) – 4:06\n \"Faith in This Colour\" – 4:04\n Track 2 \"Short Mix\" is the \"Single Version\".\n\nCD: Part of \"Singles Box Set 1981–1985\" boxset\n \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" – 4:11\n \"Faith in This Colour\" – 4:05\n \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" (Monster Mix) – 6:40\n \"Faith in This Colour (Alternate Slow Mix)\" – 4:05\n\"Monster Mix\" remixed by Alex Sadkin, Ian Little and Phil Thornalley.\n\nCovers, samples and media references\n\nThe band Sugar Ray took elements from the video and featured them in a segment of the music video for their single \"When It's Over\".\n\nCover versions of the song have been recorded by The Mr. T Experience, Harvey Danger and allSTARS*, the last of which took the song back into the UK charts at #12 in September 2001 as a double-A-side with their own track \"Things That Go Bump In The Night\".\n\nThe line \"you're about as easy as a nuclear war\" was the inspiration for the Duran Duran song \"Yo Bad Azizi\", included as a B-side to the \"Serious\" single released seven years later.\n\nallSTARS* version \n\nTrack Listing\n\nCD\n \"Things That Go Bump In The Night\"\n \"Is There Something I Should Know\"\n \"Is There Something I Should Know\" (Almighty Mix)\n \"Things That Go Bump In The Night\" (Video)\n\nCassette\n \"Things That Go Bump In The Night\"\n \"Is There Something I Should Know\"\n \"That Crazy Thing That We Call Love\"\n\n12\" Vinyl\n \"Is There Something I Should Know\" (Mothership Mix)\n \"Is There Something I Should Know\" (Almighty Mix)\n \"Is There Something I Should Know\" (K Boys Club Mix)\n \"Is There Something I Should Know\" (Radio Edit)\n \"Things That Go Bump In The Night\" (Xenomania Mix)\n \"Things That Go Bump In The Night\" (Radio Edit)\n\nPromo CD\n \"Things That Go Bump In The Night\" (Radio Edit)\n \"Is There Something I Should Know\" (Radio Edit)\n\nChart performance\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nOther appearances\nApart from the single, \"Is There Something I Should Know?\" has also appeared on:\n\nAlbums:\nDuran Duran (1983 US Re-release)\nArena (1984 live album)\nTiger! Tiger! EP (Japan only, 1984)\nDecade (1989)\nNight Versions: The Essential Duran Duran (US only, 1998)\nGreatest (1998)\nStrange Behaviour (1999)\nSingles Box Set 1981–1985 (2003)\nSingles Box Set 1986–1995 (2004)\nSeven and the Ragged Tiger (2010 remastered version)\n\nSingles:\nCapitol Gold Cuts (1990)\nCome Undone (1993)\n\nPersonnel\nDuran Duran are:\nSimon Le Bon – vocals, harmonica \nNick Rhodes – keyboards\nJohn Taylor – bass guitar\nRoger Taylor – drums\nAndy Taylor – guitar, vocals\n\nAlso credited:\nIan Little – producer\nAlex Sadkin – mixer\nPhil Thornalley – mix engineer \nMike Nocito – mix assistant engineer\nRAK studios – mix studio\n\nReferences\n\n1983 singles\nDuran Duran songs\nUK Singles Chart number-one singles\nMusic videos directed by Russell Mulcahy\nAllstars (band) songs\nSongs written by Simon Le Bon\nSongs written by John Taylor (bass guitarist)\nSongs written by Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer)\nSongs written by Andy Taylor (guitarist)\nSongs written by Nick Rhodes\nCapitol Records singles\nEMI Records singles",
"Transparency is the debut album by trumpeter Herb Robertson recorded in 1985 and released on the JMT label.\n\nReception\nThe AllMusic review by Glenn Astarita states, \"this is a significant outing by a trumpeter who has influenced many yet has evaded widespread recognition over the years. Recommended\".\n\nTrack listing\nAll compositions by Herb Robertson\n \"Prolog\" - 0:45 \n \"Floatasia\" - 8:24 \n \"Flocculus\" - 9:18 \n \"Transparency\" - 2:45 \n \"They Don't Know About Me Yet\" - 5:05 \n \"Enigmatic Suite: Part 1 - Synergy, Part 2 - Overcast\" - 6:15 \n \"Part 3 - A Little Ditty\" - 11:38\n \"Epilog\" - 1:06\n\nPersonnel\nHerb Robertson - cornet, trumpet, flugelhorn\nTim Berne - alto saxophone\nBill Frisell - guitar\nLindsey Horner - bass\nJoey Baron - drums, percussion\n\nReferences \n\n1985 albums\nHerb Robertson albums\nJMT Records albums\nWinter & Winter Records albums"
] |
[
"Pat Robertson",
"Family",
"Does Pat Robertson have a family?",
"a prominent political family,",
"Who in his family is involved in politics?",
"Absalom Willis Robertson (1887-1971), a conservative Democratic United States Senator,",
"Is Robertson married?",
"They were married on August 26, 1954, and they were both on the path of economic success.",
"Does Robertson have any children?",
"His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed Pat by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby",
"Is there anything that I should know about Robertson's childhood?",
"the youngest of two sons."
] |
C_d382da36d18049f58d96cbc298991f17_1
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What did Pat Robertson's wife do for a living?
| 7 |
What did Pat Robertson's wife do for a living?
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Pat Robertson
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Marion Gordon Robertson was born on March 22, 1930, in Lexington, Virginia, into a prominent political family, the youngest of two sons. His parents were Absalom Willis Robertson (1887-1971), a conservative Democratic United States Senator, and his wife Gladys Churchill (nee Willis; 1897-1968), was a housewife and a musician. He met Adelia "Dede" Elmer (born December 3, 1927 in Columbus, Ohio), a fashion model and beauty queen in the Miss Ohio State contest, who was studying for her masters in Nursing at Yale University. She was also a nursing student at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. They were married on August 26, 1954, and they were both on the path of economic success. His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson and, as of mid-2016, 14 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed Pat by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby while saying "pat, pat, pat". As he got older, Robertson thought about which first name he would like people to use. He considered "Marion" to be effeminate, and "M. Gordon" to be affected, so he opted for his childhood nickname "Pat". His strong awareness for the importance of names in the creation of a public image showed itself again during his presidential run when he threatened to sue NBC news for calling him a "television evangelist", which later became "televangelist", at a time when Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker were objects of scandal. On April 2, 2015, fellow televangelist, Robert H. Schuller died after a two-year battle with esophageal cancer. Robertson released a statement through CBN News.com: "I am saddened by the passing of my dear friend, Robert Schuller, the Founding Pastor of Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. Robert Schuller set the dimensions for Twentieth Century Christian positive thinking and optimistic action. He is now with the Lord in Heaven, but his legacy on earth will long remain." In August 2017, Robertson was hospitalized after sustaining minor injuries from a horseback riding incident. On February 21, 2018, another fellow televangelist, Billy Graham died of complications of Parkinson's disease. Robertson released a statement through CBN News.com: "I join with millions of my fellow Christians in mourning the passing of Billy Graham. Without question, Billy was the preeminent voice of evangelical Christianity in America--an advisor to Presidents, and a spiritual guide to the multitudes who attended his crusades all over the world." He then added: "Billy has been a dear friend of mine personally and I will miss him. He is now with our heavenly Father, well and happy, and joined forever with his dear wife, Ruth. I extend my profound sympathy to Franklin, to Anne Graham Lotz, and to Billy's other children who are continuing his legacy throughout the world." CANNOTANSWER
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She was also a nursing student at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.
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Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is an American media mogul, televangelist, political commentator, former Republican presidential candidate, and former Southern Baptist minister. Robertson advocates a conservative Christian ideology and is known for his past activities in Republican party politics. He is associated with the Charismatic Movement within Protestant evangelicalism. He serves as chancellor and CEO of Regent University and chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). Until 2021 he appeared daily on The 700 Club, CBN's flagship television program.
On Robertson's own account, he was not a serious Christian until he underwent personal difficulty. He graduated near the top of his class at Yale Law School in 1955, but failed the New York bar exam. Failing the bar cost Robertson opportunities at post-graduate employment, and in the ensuing months of what he later described as disappointment, embarrassment, and unemployment, he became a born-again Christian and began a career as a minister.
Spanning over five decades, Robertson has had a career as the founder of several major organizations and corporations as well as a university: The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), the International Family Entertainment Inc. (ABC Family Channel), Regent University, the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ), the Founders Inn and Conference Center, the Christian Coalition, an L-1011 Flying Hospital, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, and CBN Asia. He is a best-selling author and the host of The 700 Club, a Christian News and TV program broadcast live weekdays on Freeform (formerly ABC Family) via satellite from CBN studios, as well as on channels throughout the United States, and on CBN network affiliates worldwide. Robertson announced his retirement at the age of 91 from the 700 Club in October 2021, on the sixtieth anniversary of the first telecast on October 1, 1961 of what eventually became CBN.
The son of U.S. Senator A. Willis Robertson, Robertson was a Southern Baptist and was active as an ordained minister with that denomination for many years, but holds to a charismatic theology not traditionally common among Southern Baptists. He unsuccessfully campaigned to become the Republican Party's nominee in the 1988 presidential election. As a result of his seeking political office, he no longer serves in an official role for any church, but continued as the main host for his series, The 700 Club until October 2021, advocating for religion to this day. His personal influence on media and financial resources make him a recognized, influential, and controversial public voice for conservative Christianity in the United States and around the world.
Life and career
Family
Marion Gordon Robertson was born on March 22, 1930, in Lexington, Virginia, into a prominent political family, the younger of two sons. His parents were Absalom Willis Robertson (1887–1971), a conservative Democratic Senator, and his wife Gladys Churchill (née Willis; 1897–1968), was a housewife and a musician. He met Adelia "Dede" Elmer (born December 3, 1927, in Columbus, Ohio), a fashion model and beauty queen in the Miss Ohio State contest, who was studying for her masters in Nursing at Yale University. She was also a nursing student at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. They were married on August 26, 1954. His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson and, as of mid-2016, 14 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.
At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed Pat by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby while saying "pat, pat, pat". As he got older, Robertson thought about which first name he would like people to use. He considered "Marion" to be effeminate, and "M. Gordon" to be affected, so he opted for his childhood nickname "Pat". His strong awareness for the importance of names in the creation of a public image showed itself again during his presidential run when he threatened to sue NBC news for calling him a "television evangelist", which later became "televangelist", at a time when Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker were objects of scandal.
Education and military service
When he was eleven, Robertson was enrolled in the preparatory McDonogh School outside Baltimore, Maryland. From 1940 until 1946 he attended The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he graduated with honors. He gained admission to Washington and Lee University, where he received a B.A. in History, graduating magna cum laude. He joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Robertson has said, "Although I worked hard at my studies, my real major centered around lovely young ladies who attended the nearby girls schools."
In 1948, the draft was reinstated and Robertson was given the option of joining the Marine Corps or being drafted into the Army; he opted for the first.
Robertson has described his military service as follows: "We did long, grueling marches to toughen the men, plus refresher training in firearms and bayonet combat." In the same year, he transferred to Korea, "I ended up at the headquarters command of the First Marine Division," says Robertson. "The Division was in combat in the hot and dusty, then bitterly cold portion of North Korea just above the 38th Parallel later identified as the 'Punchbowl' and 'Heartbreak Ridge.' For that service in the Korean War, the Marine Corps awarded me three battle stars for 'action against the enemy.'"
Parts of Robertson's description of his service were later proven to be false. Former Republican Congressman Paul "Pete" McCloskey, Jr., who served with Robertson in Korea, wrote a public letter that said that Robertson was actually spared combat duty when his powerful father, a U.S. Senator, intervened on his behalf, and that Robertson spent most of his time in an office in Japan. According to McCloskey, his time in the service was not in combat, but as the "liquor officer" responsible for keeping the officers' clubs supplied with alcohol. Robertson filed a $35 million libel suit against McCloskey in 1986. He dropped the case in 1988, before it came to trial and paid McCloskey's court costs. According to a newspaper report from 1986, Robertson confirmed elements of McCloskey's allegations and said that he never saw front-line duty.
Robertson was promoted to First Lieutenant in 1952 upon his return to the United States. He then went on to receive a law degree from Yale Law School in 1955, near the top of his class. However, he failed his first and only attempt at the New York bar exam necessary for admission to the New York State Bar Association. Shortly thereafter he underwent a religious conversion, and decided against pursuing a career in law. Instead, Robertson attended The Biblical Seminary in New York, where he received a Master of Divinity degree in 1959.
Christian broadcasting and higher education career
In 1956, Robertson met Dutch missionary Cornelius Vanderbreggen, who impressed Robertson both by his lifestyle and his message. Vanderbreggen quoted Proverbs (3:5, 6), "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths", which Robertson considers to be the "guiding principle" of his life. He was ordained as a minister of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1961.
In 1960, Robertson established the Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He started it by buying the license of a defunct UHF station in nearby Portsmouth. The station first went on the air as WYAH-TV on October 1, 1961. Later in 1977 he purchased a local Leased access cable TV channel in the Hampton Roads area and called it CBN. Originally he went door-to-door in Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads, and other surrounding areas asking Christians to buy cable boxes so that they could receive his new channel. He also canvassed local churches in the Virginia Beach area to do the same, and solicited donations through public speaking engagements at local churches and on CBN. One of his friends, John Giminez, the pastor of Rock Church Virginia Beach, was influential in helping Robertson establish CBN with donations, as well as offering the services of volunteers from his church.
CBN is now seen in 180 countries and broadcast in 71 languages. He founded the CBN Cable Network, which was renamed the CBN Family Channel in 1988 and later simply the Family Channel. When the Family Channel became too profitable for Robertson to keep it under the CBN umbrella without endangering CBN's non-profit status, he formed International Family Entertainment Inc. in 1990 with the Family Channel as its main subsidiary. Robertson sold the Family Channel to the News Corporation in 1997, which renamed it Fox Family. A condition of the sale was that the station would continue airing Robertson's television program, The 700 Club, twice a day in perpetuity, regardless of any changes of ownership. The channel is now owned by Disney and run as Freeform. On December 3, 2007, Robertson resigned as chief executive of CBN; he was succeeded by his son, Gordon.
Robertson founded CBN University in 1977 on CBN's Virginia Beach campus. It was renamed Regent University in 1989. Robertson serves as its chancellor. He is also founder and president of the American Center for Law & Justice, a major public interest law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. and associated with Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia, that defends Constitutional freedoms and conservative Christian ideals. Occasional critics have characterized Robertson as an advocate of dominionism; the idea that Christians have a right to rule.
In 1994, he was an endorser of the document Evangelicals and Catholics Together.
1988 presidential bid
In September 1986, Robertson announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Robertson said he would pursue the nomination only if three million people signed up to volunteer for his campaign by September 1987. Three million responded, and by the time Robertson announced he would be running in September 1987, he also had raised millions of dollars for his campaign fund. He surrendered his ministerial credentials and turned leadership of CBN over to his son, Tim. His campaign, however, against incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush, was seen as a long shot.
Robertson ran on a standard conservative platform. Among his policies, he wanted to ban pornography, reform the education system, and eliminate departments such as the Department of Education and the Department of Energy. He also supported a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget.
Robertson's campaign got off to a strong second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, ahead of Bush. He did poorly in the subsequent New Hampshire primary, however, and was unable to be competitive once the multiple-state primaries began. Robertson ended his campaign before the primaries were finished. His best finish was in Washington, winning the majority of caucus delegates. He later spoke at the 1988 Republican National Convention in New Orleans and told his remaining supporters to cast their votes for Bush, who ended up winning the nomination and the election. He then returned to CBN and has remained there as a religious broadcaster.
Books
Robertson's book The New World Order (1991) became a New York Times best seller, among his several works. Episcopalian professor of theology Ephraim Radner's critical review:
Business interests
Robertson is the founder and chairman of The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) Inc., and founder of International Family Entertainment Inc., Regent University, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, American Center for Law and Justice, The Flying Hospital, Inc. and several other organizations and broadcast entities. Robertson was the founder and co-chairman of International Family Entertainment Inc. (IFE).
Formed in 1990, IFE produced and distributed family entertainment and information programming worldwide. IFE's principal business was The Family Channel, a satellite delivered cable-television network with 63 million U.S. subscribers. IFE, a publicly held company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, was sold in 1997 to Fox Kids Worldwide, Inc. for $1.9 billion, whereupon it was renamed Fox Family Channel. Disney acquired FFC in 2001 and its name was changed again, to ABC Family. The network was renamed to Freeform on January 12, 2016, though Robertson's sale of the channel continues to require Freeform to carry four hours of CBN/700 Club programming per weekday, along with CBN's yearly telethon.
Robertson is a global businessman with media holdings in Asia, the United Kingdom, and Africa. He struck a deal with Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based General Nutrition Center to produce and market a weight-loss shake he created and promoted on The 700 Club.
In 1999, Robertson entered into a joint venture with the Bank of Scotland to provide financial services in the United States. However, the move was met with criticism in the UK due to Robertson's views on homosexuality. Robertson commented that "In Europe, the big word is tolerance. You tolerate everything. Homosexuals are riding high in the media ... And in Scotland, you can't believe how strong the homosexuals are." Shortly afterward, the Bank of Scotland canceled the venture.
Robertson's extensive business interests have earned him a net worth estimated between $200 million and $1 billion.
In 1994, in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, Robertson solicited donations for his charity organization Operation Blessing International to provide medical supplies to refugees in neighboring Zaire (present-day Congo), where Robertson had allegedly negotiated a diamond-mining contract with Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. According to two Operation Blessing pilots who reported the incident to the state of Virginia for investigation, rather than delivering relief supplies to refugees, the organization's planes were primarily used to haul diamond-mining equipment to Robertson's mines in Zaire.
According to a June 2, 1999 article in The Virginian-Pilot, Robertson had extensive business dealings with Liberian president Charles Taylor, with whom Robertson negotiated a multimillion-dollar contract for gold mining operations in Liberia. In response to Taylor's alleged crimes against humanity, the United States Congress passed a bill in November 2003 that offered two million dollars for his capture. Robertson accused President George W. Bush of "undermining a Christian, Baptist president to bring in Muslim rebels to take over the country." At the time Taylor was harboring Al Qaeda operatives who were funding their operations through the illegal diamond trade. On February 4, 2010, at his war crimes trial in the Hague, Taylor testified that Robertson was his main political ally in the U.S., and that he had volunteered to make Liberia's case before U.S. administration officials in exchange for concessions to Robertson's Freedom Gold, Ltd., to which Taylor gave a contract to mine gold in southeast Liberia. In 2010, a spokesman for Robertson said that the company's arrangements—in which the Liberian government got a 10 percent equity interest in the company and Liberians could purchase at least 15 percent of the shares after the exploration period—were similar to many American companies doing business in Africa at the time.
Tega Farm
Beginning in the latter part of the 1990s, Rev. Pat Robertson raced thoroughbred horses under the nom de course, Tega Farm. His gelding named Tappat won the 1999 Walter Haight Handicap at Laurel Park and the 2000 Pennsylvania Governor's Cup Handicap at Penn National Race Course. Following this success, Robertson paid $520,000 for a colt he named Mr. Pat. Trained by John Kimmel, Mr. Pat was not a successful runner. He was nominated for, but did not run in, the 2000 Kentucky Derby.
Health
On August 11, 2017, Robertson was hospitalized after sustaining minor injuries in a fall from a horseback riding incident.
On February 2, 2018, Robertson suffered an embolic stroke at his home in Virginia Beach around 12 noon local time. A member of his family noticed his symptoms and alerted emergency medical personnel. He was then taken to the nearest stroke center where he was administered the clot-busting drug tPA. Robertson was responsive, awake, and moving all of his limbs about eighty minutes after his stroke began. He was discharged two days later and recovered at home. Following this incident, Robertson and his family thanked the paramedics and medical staff for their "extraordinary care and rapid response." They also urged people to learn about stroke, its symptoms and treatments.
On February 12, 2018, Robertson returned to his normal duties as host of his television show The 700 Club just ten days after his stroke. He later released this statement: "I am grateful for the expressions of love and concern that have come toward me from all around the world, and I am thankful that I have received what amounted to a miraculous healing instead of what could have been a crippling illness. I am delighted to be back on the air to fulfill my life calling."
On June 5, 2019, Robertson returned to host The 700 Club after a few days off after breaking three ribs after falling into a chair. He described the experience as very painful but said "Us old guys are tough and we try to stay in there and keep on going." He then thanked viewers for their prayers.
Political service and activism
Robertson is a past president of the Council for National Policy. In 1982, he served on the Victims of Crime Task Force for President Reagan. In Virginia, he served on the Board of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and on the Governor's Council of Economic Advisors. After his unsuccessful presidential campaign, Robertson started the Christian Coalition, a 1.7-million-member Christian right organization that campaigned mostly for conservative candidates. Billy McCormack, a Southern Baptist pastor in Shreveport, Louisiana, served as one of the four directors of the coalition as well as its vice president.
The coalition was sued by the Federal Election Commission "for coordinating its activities with Republican candidates for office in 1990, 1992 and 1994 and failing to report its expenditures". Robertson was a fundraiser for the Nicaraguan Contras. In March 1986, he told Israeli Foreign Affairs that South Africa was a major contributor to the Reagan administration's efforts to help the anti-Sandinista forces.
In 1994, the Coalition was fined for "improperly [aiding] then Representative Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and Oliver North, who was then the Republican Senate nominee in Virginia." Robertson left the Coalition in 2001.
Robertson has been a governing member of the Council for National Policy (CNP): Board of Governors 1982, President Executive Committee 1985–86, member, 1984, 1988, 1998.
On November 7, 2007, Robertson announced that he was endorsing Rudy Giuliani to be the Republican nominee in the 2008 Presidential election. Some social conservatives criticized Robertson's endorsement of Giuliani, a pro-choice candidate who supported gay rights.
While usually associated with the political right, Pat Robertson has endorsed environmental causes. He appeared in a commercial with Al Sharpton, joking about this, and urging people to join the We Can Solve It campaign against global warming.
In January 2009, on a broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson stated that he is "adamantly opposed" to the division of Jerusalem between Israel and the Palestinians. He also stated that Armageddon is "not going to be fought at Megiddo" but will be the "battle of Jerusalem," when "the forces of all nations come together and try to take Jerusalem away from the Jews. Jews are not going to give up Jerusalem—they shouldn't—and the rest of the world is going to insist they give it up." Robertson added that Jerusalem is a "spiritual symbol that must not be given away" because "Jesus Christ the Messiah will come down to the part of Jerusalem that the Arabs want," and that's "not good."
Robertson has repeatedly called for the legalization of cannabis, saying that it should be treated in a manner analogous to the regulation of alcoholic beverages and tobacco. Robertson has said, "I just think it's shocking how many of these young people wind up in prison and they get turned into hard-core criminals because they had a possession of a very small amount of controlled substance. The whole thing is crazy." In 2014, he turned against the legalization of cannabis.
Controversies and criticisms
As a commentator and minister, Robertson frequently generates controversy. Some of his remarks have been the subject of national and international media attention prompting responses from politicians.
Robertson's service as a minister has included the belief in the healing power of God. He has cautioned believers that some Protestant denominations may harbor the spirit of the Antichrist; prayed to deflect hurricanes; denounced Hinduism as "demonic" and Islam as "Satanic". Robertson has denounced left-wing views of feminism, activism regarding homosexuality, abortion, and liberal college professors. Critics claim Robertson had business dealings in Africa with former president of Liberia and convicted war criminal Charles Taylor and former Zaire president Mobutu Sese Seko who both had been internationally denounced for claims of human rights violations. Robertson was criticized internationally for his call for Hugo Chávez's assassination and for his remarks concerning Ariel Sharon's ill-health as an act of God.
Robertson made American national news in October 2003 for interviews with author Joel Mowbray about his book Dangerous Diplomacy, a book critical of the State Department. Robertson's commentary implied that if a small nuclear device were to be found at the department, such a thing might wake up America's leaders to actually realize a potential threat; however, government officials expressed disdain at the thought of such a scenario.
During the week of September 11, 2001, Robertson discussed the terror attacks with Jerry Falwell, who said that "the ACLU has to take a lot of blame for this" in addition to "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays, and the lesbians [who have] helped [the terror attacks of September 11th] happen." Robertson replied, "I totally concur". Both evangelists were seriously criticized by President George W. Bush for their comments, for which Falwell later issued an apology.
Less than two weeks after Hurricane Katrina killed 1,836 people, Robertson implied on the September 12, 2005 broadcast of The 700 Club that the storm was God's punishment in response to America's abortion policy. He suggested that the September 11 attacks and the disaster in New Orleans "could ... be connected in some way".
On November 9, 2009, Robertson said that Islam is "a violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world and world domination". He went on to elaborate that "you're dealing with not a religion, you're dealing with a political system, and I think we should treat it as such, and treat its adherents as such as we would members of the communist party, members of some fascist group".
Robertson's response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake also drew international condemnation. Robertson claimed that Haiti's founders had sworn a "pact to the Devil" in order to liberate themselves from the French slave owners and indirectly attributed the earthquake to the consequences of the Haitian people being "cursed" for doing so. CBN later issued a statement saying that Robertson's comments "were based on the widely-discussed 1791 slave rebellion led by Dutty Boukman at Bois Caïman, where the slaves allegedly made a famous pact with the devil in exchange for victory over the French". Various figures in mainline and evangelical Christianity have on occasion disavowed some of Robertson's remarks.
In March 2015, Robertson compared Buddhism to a disease on The 700 Club. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a conservative Christian watchdog group Robertson founded to promote Christian prayer in public schools, is calling for a multi-pronged attack on mindfulness programs because "they appear to be similar to Buddhist religious practices. Proponents of secular mindfulness say mindfulness is not a Buddhist practice; it is a contemplative practice used in religious traditions around the world by many different names."
Predictions
Several times near New Year, Robertson has announced that God told him several truths or events that would happen in the following year. "I have a relatively good track record", he said. "Sometimes I miss."
1982: Judgment
In the May 19, 1982 broadcast of The 700 Club Robertson stated, "I guarantee you by the fall of 1982 there is going to be a judgment on the world."
In September 2011, Robertson and several others who incorrectly predicted various dates for the end of world were jointly awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for "teaching the world to be careful when making mathematical assumptions and calculations".
2004: Presidential election
In January 2004, Robertson said that God told him President Bush will be re-elected in a "blowout" in the election later that year. "I think George Bush is going to win in a walk", Robertson told viewers of his The 700 Club program. "I really believe I'm hearing from the Lord it's going to be like a blowout election in 2004. It's shaping up that way." Bush did in fact win re-election, but not in a landslide. Kerry lost the electoral college vote by 14%, an outcome that did not signal a significant shift in the direction of politics.
2006: Pacific Northwestern tsunami
In May 2006, Robertson declared that storms and possibly a tsunami would hit America's coastline sometime in 2006. Robertson supposedly received this revelation from God during an annual personal prayer retreat in January. The claim was repeated four times on The 700 Club.
On May 8, 2006, Robertson said, "If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms." On May 17, 2006, he elaborated, "There well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest."
2007: Terror attack
On the January 2, 2007 broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson said that God spoke to him and told him that "mass killings" were to come during 2007, due to a terrorist attack on the United States. He added, "The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that." When a terrorist attack failed to happen in 2007, Robertson said, in January 2008, "All I can think is that somehow the people of God prayed and God in his mercy spared us."
2008: Worldwide violence and American recession
On the January 2, 2008 episode of The 700 Club, Pat Robertson predicted that 2008 would be a year of worldwide violence. He also predicted that a recession would occur in the United States that would be followed by a stock market crash by 2010. However, there was a decrease in overall deaths for the period, and the American economy had already entered a recession in 2007, with increased household debt and the collapse of financial institutions.
2008: Mideast meltdown
In October 2008, Robertson posted a press release on the Georgian conflict speculating that the conflict is a Russian ploy to enter the Middle East, and that instability caused by a predicted pre-emptive strike by Israel on Iran would result in Syria's and Iran's launching nuclear strikes on other targets. He also said that if the United States were to oppose Russia's expansion, nuclear strikes on American soil are also pending. "We will suffer grave economic damage, but will not engage in military action to stop the conflict. However, we may not be spared nuclear strikes against coastal cities. In conclusion, it is my opinion that we have between 75 and 120 days before the Middle East starts spinning out of control."
2009: Economic chaos and recovery
On the January 1, 2009 broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson said, "If I'm hearing [God] right, gold will go to about $1900 an ounce and oil to $300 a barrel." He also suggested that Americans would broadly accept socialism. Despite these predictions, he also said that economically "things are getting ready to turn around."
2012: Presidential election
On January 4, 2012, Robertson reported that God had spoken to him and he "thinks He showed me the next president" but would not name who it is. He did give an indication that it would not be President Obama since Robertson said God told him Obama's views were at "odds with the majority", but left some room for interpretation had the 2012 election expanded beyond a two-person race. Closer to the election, however, he expressly stated that God had told him that Mitt Romney would win and would be a two-term President. Obama was reelected for a second term.
2020: Presidential election and asteroid strike
On October 20, 2020, Robertson said, "But first of all I want to say without question Trump is going to win the election." Trump went on to be defeated by Joe Biden. Robertson also said there would be assassination attempts against Trump, and later an asteroid will hit that could destroy earth. After Biden was certified the winner by the United States Electoral College in December, Robertson, after briefly supporting Trump's legal disputes seeking to overturn the results, said Trump should concede. He also said Trump running again in 2024 would be a "mistake" and offered Nikki Haley as an alternative.
Works
Shout It from the Housetops, an autobiography with Jamie Buckingham (1972, repr 1995)
My Prayer for You (1977)
The Secret Kingdom (1982)
Answers to 200 of Life's Most Probing Questions (1984)
Beyond Reason: How Miracles can Change your Life (1985)
America's Dates with Destiny (1986)
The Plan (1989)
The New Millennium (1990)
The New World Order (1991)
Turning Tide: The Fall of Liberalism and the Rise of Common Sense (1993)
The End of the Age (1995, fiction)
Six Steps to Spiritual Revival: God's Awesome Power in Your Life (2002)
Bring It on: Tough Questions, Candid Answers, Nashville, Tenn: W Pub. Group, 2003.
The Ten Offenses (2004)
Courting Disaster (2004)
Miracles Can Be Yours Today (2006)
On Humility (2009)
Right on the Money: Financial Advice for Tough Times (2009)
See also
Charismatic Movement
Christian Fundamentalism
Christian Zionism
Moral Majority
Christian Right
References
Further reading
Marley, David John. Pat Robertson: An American Life
External links
Brian Ross. Some Question Robertson's Katrina Charity, ABC News, September 9, 2005.
"Preacher: God told him about storms, tsunami"
2000 lbs. leg press
Robertson talks about his prostate cancer surgery with laparoscopic radical prostatectomy
NPR Audio Report: Televangelist Robertson Urges U.S. Hit on Chavez
Archive of American Television interview with Pat Robertson
1930 births
Living people
20th-century American politicians
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21st-century American non-fiction writers
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"Patrick or Pat Robertson may refer to:\n\n Pat Robertson (born 1930), American media mogul, Southern Baptist minister, and college administrator\n Pat Robertson (footballer) (1895–1947), Australian rules footballer for Essendon\n Patrick Robertson, Lord Robertson (1794–1855), Scottish judge\n Patrick Robertson (soccer) (born 1986), American soccer player \n Patrick Robertson (musician) (born 1977), Australian musician and songwriter\n Patrick Francis Robertson (1807–1885), British Member of Parliament for Hastings\n Patrick Robertson (set designer) (1922–2009), British theatre designer",
"Pat Robertson has made outspoken opinions with respect to religion, politics and several other subjects. Many of his statements have stirred controversy and several have been headline news in the United States, and elsewhere. Many of these comments have been made on his daily talk show, The 700 Club.\n\nCriticism of Robertson's faith healing\nIn the 1970s and 1980s Robertson was a faith healer. James Randi devoted a chapter of his book The Faith Healers to criticizing Robertson's faith healing. Randi commented that \"in 1986, soon after the full importance of the AIDS epidemic began to become evident, Robertson was attempting to cure it by proclaiming people cured after prayer.\" Randi also noted, \"Gerry Straub, a former associate of Pat Robertson and his television producer, pointed out in his book Salvation for Sale the astonishing fact that God seemed to time miracles to conform with standard television format,\" and \"God would stop speaking to Pat and stop healing exactly in time with the theme music.\" Randi explained that \"in 1979, it appeared to Robertson's staff that their boss had been taking lessons from Oral Roberts\" and \"proposed to film the Second Coming!\". The project was eventually publicly dropped, but \"budget allocations [CBN] are made for their development.\"\n\nEfficacy of Robertson's prayers\nRobertson prayed to God to steer hurricanes away from his company's Virginia Beach, Virginia headquarters. He credited his prayers for steering the course of Hurricane Gloria in 1985. The storm instead hit the Mid-Atlantic states and New England, causing $900 million in damage and eight deaths.\n\nCalling non-Christians \"termites\"\nIn an August 1986 New York magazine article Robertson is quoted saying, \"It is interesting, that termites don't build things, and the great builders of our nation almost to a man have been Christians, because Christians have the desire to build something. He is motivated by love of man and God, so he builds. The people who have come into [our] institutions [today] are primarily termites. They are into destroying institutions that have been built by Christians, whether it is universities, governments, our own traditions, that we have ... The termites are in charge now, and that is not the way it ought to be, and the time has arrived for a godly fumigation.\"\n\nFirst child conceived out of wedlock\nDuring Robertson's unsuccessful presidential bid in 1987, Robertson told a Wall Street Journal reporter that his wedding date was actually five months after the date he had always maintained. Reporters said that the actual wedding date meant that his first son was conceived out of wedlock and that Robertson had lied about the date of his marriage in an attempt to cover the truth up. While conceding the reports were accurate, Robertson said that begetting his son out of wedlock occurred before Jesus Christ had entered his life. Robertson denounced the media choosing to report on the issue as \"outrageous\" and \"reprehensible.\"\n\nComments on other Christian denominations\nOn January 14, 1991, on The 700 Club, Pat Robertson attacked a number of Protestant denominations when he declared: \"You say you're supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense. I don't have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist.\"\n\nComments on Islam\nRobertson frequently denounces the religion of Islam and Muslim people. During a 1995 taping of The 700 Club, he called the religion a \"Christian heresy\". During a September 19, 2002 episode of Fox News Channel's Hannity & Colmes, Robertson claimed that the Muslim prophet Muhammad was \"an absolute wild-eyed fanatic ... a robber and a brigand.\" On the July 14, 2005 broadcast of The 700 Club, he claimed that \"Islam, at its core, teaches violence.\"\n\nOn the March 13, 2006 broadcast of The 700 Club Robertson stated that Muslims want global domination and that the outpouring of rage elicited by cartoon drawings of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad \"just shows the kind of people we're dealing with. These people are crazed fanatics, and I want to say it now: I believe it's motivated by demonic power. It is Satanic and it's time we recognize what we're dealing with.\" He finished by stating \"by the way, Islam is not a religion of peace.\" The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, slammed Robertson's comments as \"grossly irresponsible\". Lynn went on to say, \"At a time when inter-religious tensions around the world are at an all-time high, Robertson seems determined to throw gasoline on the fire.\"\n\nOn the September 25, 2006 broadcast of The 700 Club Robertson stated \"It's amazing how the Muslims deal with history and the truth with violence. They don't understand what reasoned dialogue is ...\"\n\nOn the November 9, 2009 edition of The 700 Club Robertson stated \"Islam is a violent – I was going to say, 'religion', but it's not a religion; it's a political system. It's a violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world, and world domination. That is the ultimate aim. And they talk about infidels and all this, but the truth is that's what the game is. So, you're dealing with a – not a religion – you're dealing with a political system. And I think we should treat it as such, and treat its adherents as such, as we would members of the Communist Party, or members of some fascist group.\"\n\nComments on Hinduism\nOn March 23, 1995, Pat Robertson led a television program in which he attacked Hinduism, calling it \"demonic\". He said that they worship \"idols\" and \"hundreds of millions of deities,\" which \"has put a nation in bondage to spiritual forces that have deceived many for thousands of years.\" He spoke against the doctrines of karma and reincarnation.\n\nThese and other remarks have been repudiated by some Hindus. Dr. Kusumita Pedersen, Director for the Project on Human Rights and Religion, commented that Robertson has employed \"almost every negative image and cliché that has been used about Hinduism since the 18th century.\"\n\nIn his book The New World Order, Robertson wrote: \"When I said during my presidential bid that I would bring only Christians and Jews into the government, I hit a firestorm. 'What do you mean?' the media challenged me. 'You're not going to bring atheists into the government? How dare you maintain that those who believe in Christian values are better qualified to govern America than Hindus and Muslims?' My simple answer is, 'Yes, they are.'\"\n\nDavid Cantor, Senior Research Analyst of the Anti-Defamation League, points out that such \"religious tests for office are unconstitutional. It's not just a purely a religious statement. It's a political statement.\"\n\nFeminism, homosexuality, abortion and liberalism\nRobertson is opposed to abortion and same-sex marriage. He has described feminism as a \"socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.\"\n\nMany of Robertson's views mirror those of fellow evangelical activist pastor Jerry Falwell, who made frequent appearances on The 700 Club. He agreed with Falwell when Falwell stated that the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were caused by \"pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays, lesbians, the American Civil Liberties Union and the People For the American Way.\"\n\nThe June 8, 1998 edition of his show, where Robertson denounced Orlando, Florida and Disney World for allowing a privately sponsored \"Gay Days\" weekend, also drew criticism from Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Robertson stated that the acceptance of homosexuality could result in hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, terrorist bombings and \"possibly a meteor,\" prompting Americans United to criticize Robertson, saying it was \"deplorable that Robertson is using the tragedy of these fires to promote his religious and political agenda.\" The resulting outcry prompted Robertson to return to the topic on June 24, where he quoted the Book of Revelation to support his claims. The first hurricane of the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season, Hurricane Bonnie, actually turned away from Florida and instead damaged the rest of the East Coast. The area hardest hit by the hurricane was the Hampton Roads region, which includes Virginia Beach, the place of origin of Robertson's The 700 Club. While other hurricanes did hit Florida, none of them hit Disney World.\n\nWhile discussing the Mark Foley scandal on the October 5, 2006 broadcast of the show, Robertson condemned Foley, saying he \"does what gay people do\" and claiming that it would not hurt Republican chances in the elections, as \"the church people understand forgiveness, they understand sin.\"\n\nFollowing the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges that legalized same-sex marriage in the United States, Robertson stated, on the June 29, 2015 episode of The 700 Club, in response to the ruling that, \"You're gonna say that you like anal sex, you like oral sex, you like bestiality.\" He went on to say, \"Sooner or later, you're going to have to conform your religious beliefs to the group of some abhorrent thing. It won't stop at homosexuality.\"\n\nComments on Scotland \nIn 1999, Bank of Scotland announced a joint venture with Robertson to establish banks in the United States that conduct all business by telephone, a business model that had been successful in the United Kingdom. Robertson said that the Church of Scotland and the Scottish Episcopal Church ignored the teachings of Saint Paul because they have ordained gays. Robertson also said that Scotland was \"a dark land\" overrun by gays. In response the Bank of Scotland dropped their plans for a business operation with Robertson, following customer complaints. In a press release, Robertson said that \"media comments about him had made it impossible to proceed.\"\n\nFinancial ties to politicians\nAn investigation by the Commonwealth of Virginia's Office of Consumer Affairs determined that Robertson \"willfully induced contributions from the public through the use of misleading statements and other implications\" and called for a criminal prosecution against Robertson in 1999. However, Virginia Attorney General Mark Earley, a Republican whose largest campaign contributor two years earlier was Robertson himself, intervened, accepting that Robertson had made deceptive appeals but overruling the recommendation for his prosecution.\n\nComments on Chinese abortions\nIn a 2001 interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, he said that the Chinese were \"doing what they have to do,\" regarding China's one-child policy, sometimes enforced with compulsory abortions, though he said that he did not personally agree with the practice. The statement drew criticisms from a variety of groups, including the Family Research Council, Traditional Values Coalition, and Concerned Women for America.\n\nRacehorse ownership\nIn April 2002, Robertson acknowledged buying a race horse, named \"Mr. Pat\", for $520,000. He told a New York Times reporter that his interest in the horse was based purely on its aesthetics. \"I don't bet and I don't gamble. I just enjoy watching horses running and performing.\" Christian scholar Martin Marty criticised this statement by Robertson, stating \"The whole culture of horse racing involves gambling, and all the money comes from people trying to hit it big gambling. This is like saying you're investing in a bordello but aren't in favor of prostitution.\"\n\nFinancial ties to African leaders\nRobertson repeatedly supported former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor, in various episodes of his The 700 Club program during the United States' involvement in the Second Liberian Civil War in June and July 2003. Robertson accuses the U.S. State Department of giving President Bush bad advice in supporting Taylor's ouster as president, and of trying \"as hard as they can to destabilize Liberia.\"\n\nRobertson was criticized for failing to mention in his broadcasts his $8,000,000 (USD) investment in a Liberian gold mine. Taylor had been indicted by the United Nations for war crimes at the time of Robertson's support, and was found guilty of crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, slavery and the use of child soldiers.\n\nProsecutors also said that Taylor had harbored members of Al Qaeda responsible for the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. According to Robertson, the Liberian gold mine Freedom Gold was intended to help pay for humanitarian and evangelical efforts in Liberia, when in fact the company was allowed to fail leaving many debts both in Liberia and in the international mining service sector. Regarding this controversy, Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Convention's public policy said, \"I would say that Pat Robertson is way out on his own, in a leaking life raft, on this one.\"\n\nOperation Blessing\nRobertson has also been accused of using his tax-exempt, nonprofit organization, Operation Blessing International, as a front for his own financial gain, and then using his influence in the Republican Party to cover his tracks. After Robertson made emotional pleas in 1994 on The 700 Club for cash donations to Operation Blessing to support airlifts of refugees from Rwanda to Zaire, a reporter from The Virginian-Pilot stated that Operation Blessing's planes were transporting diamond-mining equipment for the Robertson-owned African Development Corporation, a venture Robertson had established in cooperation with Zaire's dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko, whom Robertson had befriended earlier in 1993. According to Operation Blessing documents, Robertson personally owned the planes used for Operation Blessing airlifts. A documentary exploring the Operation Blessing controversies, entitled Mission Congo, premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.\n\nRobertson continues to state that Operation Blessing was largely responsible for providing aid to Rwanda following the 1994 genocide, even after an official investigation into Operation Blessing described it as a \"fraudulent and deceptive\" operation that provided almost no aid. According to The Guardian, all Operation Blessing volunteers did was recite Bible passages at dying refugees. Robertson was accused of taking credit for work that was actually done by Médecins Sans Frontières. On December 12, 2013, The Guardian issued an apology to Operation Blessing over false claims in the article \"Mission Congo: how Pat Robertson raised millions on the back of a non-existent aid project\" and agreed to make a contribution to Operation Blessing to be used in its relief efforts for victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. A 1999 report concluded that whilst Robertson's requests for donations to Operation Blessing had been misleading, they were not an intentional attempt to commit fraud.\n\nComments on the US State Department\nOn his The 700 Club television program, Pat Robertson has sharply criticized elements of the United States government and \"special interest\" groups that do not share his views. In October 2003 interviews with author Joel Mowbray about his book \"Dangerous Diplomacy\", a book critical of the United States Department of State, Robertson made suggestions that the explosion of a nuclear weapon at State Department Headquarters would be good for the country, and repeated those comments on the air. \"What we need is for somebody to place a small nuke at Foggy Bottom.\"\n\nIraq War\nPat Robertson claimed in 2004 that President George W. Bush told him before he led the United States into the Iraq War, that he expected there to be no casualties. He made this claim in an interview with CNN, on October 19, 2004. President Bush's then-press secretary Scott McClellan denied the allegation. Mike McCurry, press secretary for Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, who was Bush's opponent for the presidency in the 2004 election, said that Bush deserved the benefit of the doubt, but he should say whether or not Robertson was telling the truth or lying.\n\nVenezuela\n\nComments on assassinating Hugo Chávez\n\nOn the August 22, 2005 broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson said of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez:\n\nRobertson also said that Chávez was \"going to make Venezuela a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over the continent\" and called the leader an \"out-of-control dictator ... a dangerous enemy to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil that could hurt us very badly.\"\n\nAssassinations of heads of state have been against U.S. policy since an executive order against them was issued in 1976; in response, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that \"our department doesn't do that kind of thing.\" Bernardo Álvarez, Venezuela's ambassador to the U.S., demanded a stronger condemnation from the White House and that the United States \"respect our country and its president.\"\n\nOn the August 24 edition of The 700 Club, Robertson asserted that he hadn't actually called for Chávez's assassination, but that there were other ways of \"taking him out\", such as having special forces carry out a kidnapping. Robertson explicitly denied having used the word \"assassination\", though the word \"assassinate\" was present in his initial statement.<ref>The 700 Club, August 24, 2005.</ref> Later that day, he issued a written statement in which he said, \"Is it right to call for assassination? No, and I apologize for that statement. I spoke in frustration that we should accommodate the man who thinks the U.S. is out to kill him\". However, he continued to justify his original stance on the potential threat Chávez posed to U.S. interests, even reiterating his support for Chavez's assassination on the February 2, 2006 edition of Hannity and Colmes, replying \"[N]ot now, but one day, one day, one day,\" when asked whether Robertson wanted Chavez taken out.\n\nOn Sunday, August 28, 2005, Chávez called on the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the matter: \"My government is going to take legal action in the United States,\" he said in a televised speech. \"If the U.S. government does not take the necessary steps, we will denounce the U.S. government at the United Nations and the Organization of American States\".\nComments about assassinating Nicolas Maduro\nOn April 4, 2019, amidst the Venezuelan presidential crisis, Robertson called for the assassination of Nicolás Maduro. Robertson called for the United States to take out Maduro with a “hellfire missile” strike. Maduro survived a drone attack in 2018. Robertson’s remark occurred 14 years after Robertson called for the assassination of Chavez.\n\nAttributing statement to Barry W. Lynn\nOn the November 5, 2005 airing of The 700 Club, Robertson claimed that Reverend Barry W. Lynn, director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said that \"if a church is burning down, the local community could not send the fire engine to put the fire out because that would violate, quote, separation of church and state.\" Rev. Lynn responded, denying the allegation and saying \"I've seen [Robertson] take pot shots at me with information I have repeatedly told them is not true. Robertson, for example, continues to tell national television audiences that I believe that a public fire department can't go to a burning church without violating the separation of church and state. He apparently uses this \"anecdote\" to demonstrate my radical, wacky beliefs. Trouble is (for him), I never said it and don't believe it.\" Robertson also drew criticism from Focus on the Family for the statement in their magazine, Citizen, saying that \"One Christian conservative leader [presumably Robertson] has mistakenly suggested that Lynn would say a burning church shouldn't be able to call the fire department lest it violate the bounds of church-state separation.\"\n\nComments on Dover, Pennsylvania\n\nOn his November 10, 2005 broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson told citizens of Dover, Pennsylvania that they had rejected God by voting out of office all seven members of the school board who support intelligent design.\n\n\"I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected him from your city\", Robertson said on his broadcast.\n\n\"And don't wonder why he hasn't helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I'm not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that's the case, don't ask for his help because he might not be there.\"\n\nIn a written statement, Robertson later clarified his comments:\n\n\"God is tolerant and loving, but we can't keep sticking our finger in his eye forever. If they have future problems in Dover, I recommend they call on Charles Darwin. Maybe he can help them.\"\n\nComments on Ariel Sharon's health\nThe lead story on the January 5, 2006, edition of The 700 Club was Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's hospitalization for a severe stroke. After the story, Robertson said that Sharon's illness was possibly retribution from God for his recent drive to give more land to the Palestinians. He also claimed former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin's 1995 assassination may have occurred for the same reason.\n\nThe remarks drew criticism from all sides, even from other evangelicals. For instance, Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said that Robertson \"ought to know better\" than to say such things. He added, \"...the arrogance of the statement shocks me almost as much as the insensitivity of it.\" Ted Haggard, then president of the National Association of Evangelicals, said that \"any doctor could have predicted (Sharon's) going to have health problems\" and that his illness was medical, not divine retribution. The White House called Robertson's statement \"wholly inappropriate and offensive\". Robertson was also chastised by Israeli officials and members of the Anti-Defamation League.\n\nOn January 11, Israel responded by announcing that Robertson would be banned from involvement in a project to build a Christian tourist attraction and pilgrimage site near the Sea of Galilee known as the Christian Heritage Center. The plan had called for Israel leasing of land to a group of evangelicals (including Robertson) for free to create several tourist attractions and pilgrimage sites in exchange for the evangelicals raising 50 million dollars in funding. A spokesman for the Tourism Ministry commented, \"We cannot accept these statements, and we will not sign any contracts with Mr. Robertson.\"\n\nHe added that the decision would not apply to all members of the evangelical community: \"We want to see who in the group supports his (Robertson's) statements. Those who support the statements cannot do business with us. Those that publicly support Ariel Sharon's recovery ... are welcome to do business with us.\"\n\nOn January 12, Robertson sent a letter to Sharon's son Omri, apologizing for his comments. In the letter, Robertson called Ariel Sharon a \"kind, gracious and gentle man\" who was \"carrying an almost insurmountable burden of making decisions for his nation.\" He added that his \"concern for the future safety of your nation led me to make remarks which I can now view in retrospect as inappropriate and insensitive in light of a national grief experienced because of your father's illness ... I ask your forgiveness and the forgiveness of the people of Israel.\" Omri and the Israeli government accepted the apology, though it remained unclear whether the deal with Robertson would be rehabilitated..\n\nWhile some observers were satisfied by the gesture, some reporters also accused Robertson of using the apology as a tactic allowing him to make such statements while promoting a public image among evangelicals as a leader who does not compromise on his values. Surprisingly, some of the harsher criticism of Robertson did not come from American or Israeli Jews, but from his fellow evangelicals and conservative Christians, who charged that Robertson's behavior did serious harm to evangelicals' image, and led to unfair generalizations and criticism of them.\n\nThe fallout from Robertson's comments was still visible over a month after the event; after speaking with organizers of the National Religious Broadcasters February 2006 convention, Robertson wound up cancelling his planned keynote speech.\n\nA representative from Israel's Tourism Ministry diplomatically commented, \"Pat Robertson has been a long-term friend of the state of Israel, and continues to be so.\"\n\nIn March 2006, Robertson lost a bid for re-election to the board of directors of the National Religious Broadcasters.\n\nComments about \"liberal professors\"\nOn the March 21, 2006 broadcast of The 700 Club, while reviewing The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America by David Horowitz, the subject of which is radical academics in American universities, Robertson went on to say that the 101 professors named in the book are only but a few of \"thirty to forty thousand\" left-wing professors in the United States, all of whom he accused of being \"racists, murderers, sexual deviants and supporters of Al-Qaeda,\" further labeling them as \"termites that have worked into the woodwork of our academic society.\" Later in the broadcast, he went on to say, \"these guys are out and out communists, they are radicals, they are, you know, some of them killers, and they are propagandists of the first order ... you don't want your child to be brainwashed by these radicals, you just don't want it to happen. Not only brainwashed but also beat up, they beat these people up, cower them into submission.\"\n\n Leg press claims\nIn May 2006 Robertson began claiming on his web site that through training and his \"Age-Defying energy shake\", he is able to leg press while others claim he is a liar, pushing a common energy formula. Two thousand pounds would be an exceptional accomplishment for a world-class athlete, to say nothing of Robertson, then in his seventies. For comparative purposes, when Dan Kendra set the Florida State University record of , the leg press machine required extensive modifications to hold the proper amount of weight, and the capillaries in both of Kendra's eyes burst during his successful attempt. Thus, Robertson's claimed achievement would add to the best-ever total of Kendra, a top athlete in his physical prime, who later played in the National Football League and tried unsuccessfully to become a Navy SEAL.\n\nIn response to the skepticism about this claim, Robertson's website has claimed that his doctor is able to leg press , and that \"It is not nearly as hard as the authors of these reports make it out to be.\" A video has also been provided supposedly demonstrating Robertson doing several reps with a weight of . In the video Pat Robertson is seen using a 45-degree sled-type leg press machine, which reduces the effective weight to (sin(45°) x 1000 lbs [454 kg]). He keeps the safety locks in place at the second step, which severely limits the range of possible motion. The seat is positioned to allow approximately six inches of travel after the lock. This setup gives Pat Robertson the maximum mechanical advantage at the last few inches of travel. In contrast, actual leg press technique is allowing the weight to slide down until the hip and knee joints are at significant flexion. The video of Roberson's lift has also been criticized because it does not appear to verify his claim that he's lifting . Mike DeBonis of Slate noted \"It appears as if 16 plates are loaded on the machine. Four of them look like 100-pound [45 kg] plates, and the rest are 45s [20 kg]. That adds up to 940 pounds [425 kg].\" DeBonis also noted that Robertson is using incorrect form as he \"helps his legs by pushing on his knees with his arms. That's a no-no. He also achieves nowhere near the recommended full range of motion, which is to bring the knees to at least a 90-degree angle.\" DeBonis saw the claims made by Robertson and similar claims by Madeleine Albright (that she can press ) as yet another proof of the inferiority of that particular machine in comparison to the barbell squat, \"Most leg press machines are constructed as either a sled angled at 45 degrees or a lever. (There are some that use cables, too.) In all cases, some of the weight gets borne by the machine. You may be loading 400 pounds [180 kg], but your muscles are feeling only 200 [90 kg].\" The video has since been removed from the CBN website.\n\nRobertson responded to questions concerning the lift in an interview with CBS. He maintained his claim to have done it but admitted \"I didn't do it with the same form that these professional bodybuilders do, which is a full squat, and it's very difficult. But I did do it. I regularly can do 1,000 pounds [454 kg] and 1,200 pounds [544 kg].\" He said he used an incline leg press and did \"the full extension on that particular machine. They have a brake on it. I was told put the brake on. When the professionals do it, they take the brake off and let the weight come all the way down on them. And if you don't have a lot of help, you've got a Volkswagen sitting on your hips. I didn't do that.\"\n\nIn June 2006, General Nutrition Center, a nutritional supplement retailer, announced without explanation that it would stop carrying Robertson's energy drink.\n\nRacist comments about Asian appearance\nOn the February 7, 2007 edition of The 700 Club, Robertson stated that people who have too much plastic surgery \"got the eyes like they're Oriental\" and stretched his eyelids in a manner stereotypical of Asians.\n\n2010 Haiti earthquake\nOn the January 13, 2010 broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson blamed the Haitians for making a deal with the Devil during their 1791 slave rebellion, resulting in the Haiti earthquake of January 12, 2010 and other misfortunes. He told viewers of his Christian Broadcasting Network:\n\nHe went on to state:\n\nThe reference to a \"pact to the devil\" was later said by CBN to be a reference to the Vodou ceremony conducted by Dutty Boukman involving animal sacrifice in Bois Caïman that began the Haitian revolution. Contrary to Robertson's claims however, this ceremony and the religion of Vodou in general does not involve Satan or devil worship. Robertson mistakenly identified the French government as that of Napoleon III, as Haiti became independent (and the Revolution won) four years before Napoleon III was born. In fact, it was Napoleon Bonaparte (by far, the more famous of the two rulers), who sent a French army to try to recapture Haiti a decade after its revolution. The force was destroyed by yellow fever and the fierce resistance led by Haitian generals.\n\nVeteran Christian radio broadcaster Michael Ireland stated that this Haitian Vodou ceremony has long been erroneously referenced by various self-assoiling Christian sources as the \"pact with the devil\" or \"pact to the devil\" that began the Haitian revolution. This Vodou ceremony was a ceremonial impulsion to the liberation of thousands of abjectly enslaved peoples under French, mostly Christian, tyranny: and as such has been perverted over the following decades to besmear a righteous liberty-struggle as formed of wicked means. These Christians were influenced by spiritual warfare theology and concerned that the Aristide government had made efforts to incorporate the Vodou sector more fully into the political process. These Evangelicals developed a counter-narrative to the official national story. In this narrative, the ancestral spirits at the Vodou cemetery were re-cast as demons. In their view, the engagement with demons amounted to a pact that put Haiti under the rule of Satan. While some Haitian Evangelicals subscribe to this idea, most Haitian nationalists vehemently oppose it. According to Gothenburg University researcher Markel Thylefors, \"The event of the Bois Caïman ceremony forms an important part of Haitian national identity as it relates to the very genesis of Haiti.\"\n\nIn his daily press briefing on January 14, 2010, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said of Robertson's commentary: \"It never ceases to amaze that in times of amazing human suffering somebody says something that could be so utterly stupid.\"\n\nMainline and evangelical Christian voices appeared mostly unanimous in criticizing Robertson's remarks as untrue, untimely and insensitive.\n\nComments on marijuana laws\nOn the December 16, 2010 broadcast of The 700 Club Pat Robertson condemned harsh sentences for people convicted of possession of cannabis. Robertson stated, \"We're locking up people that take a couple of puffs of marijuana, and the next thing you know they've got 10 years.\" He went on to say, \"I'm not exactly for the use of drugs – don't get me wrong – but I just believe that criminalizing marijuana, criminalizing the possession of a few ounces of pot and that kind of thing, I mean, it's just costing us a fortune and it's ruining young people.\"\n\nRobertson's remarks were applauded by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and the Drug Policy Alliance. Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance Ethan Nadelmann said, \"The people who are listening to him may roll their eyes when the Democrats say this, but when Pat Robertson says this he has credibility in the faith community.\"\n\nAppearing on Good Morning America, Vice President Joe Biden condemned Robertson's commentary, saying, \"I still believe it's a gateway drug. I've spent a lot of my life as chairman of the Judiciary Committee dealing with this. I think it would be a mistake to legalize.\"\n\nComments advocating divorce\nOn the September 14, 2011, broadcast of The 700 Club, a viewer talked about a friend who was bitter at God because his wife had Alzheimer's disease, and the friend had started seeing another woman. The viewer asked Robertson for his advice. Robertson responded, \"I know it sounds cruel, but if he's going to do something, he should divorce her and start all over again, but make sure she has custodial care and somebody looking after her.\" He continued saying, \"If you respect that vow, you say 'til death do us part. This is a kind of death.\"\n\nIn response, Russell D. Moore, Dean of the School of Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote that Robertson's comments were \"a repudiation of the gospel of Jesus Christ\" and that \"Pat Robertson's cruel marriage statement is no anomaly. He and his cohorts have given us for years a prosperity gospel with more in common with an Asherah pole than a cross.\"\n\nFollowing a backlash over Robertson's advice, Robertson said, \"Basically I'm saying, adultery is not a good thing and you might as well straighten your life out and the only way to do it is to kind of get your affair with your wife in order. ... I was not giving advice to the whole world and nor was I counseling anybody to be unscriptural and leave their spouse. ... Please know that I believe the Bible. Please know that I never would tell anybody to leave their sick spouse. I never never would say such a thing because I need my spouse when I get sick and she needs me when she gets sick. In sickness and in health, I believe it!\"\n\nComments on spousal abuse\nRobertson was criticized in September 2012 after a man named Michael called The 700 Club asking for advice on what to do about his wife not respecting him. Robertson called the woman a \"rebellious child\" who did not want to \"submit to any authority.\" He jokingly suggested that Michael become a Muslim and move to Saudi Arabia where he could beat her. Critics noted that Robertson's comments about wife-beating were edited out of the episode when it appeared on the Christian Broadcasting Network.\n\nComments on Young Earth creationism\nIn November 2012, a viewer of The 700 Club wrote that one of her biggest fears was that her children and husband would not go to heaven \"because they question why the Bible could not explain the existence of dinosaurs.\"\n\nBefore answering the question, Robertson acknowledged the statement was controversial by saying, \"I know that people will probably try to lynch me when I say this.\" He then replied: \"You go back in time, you've got radiocarbon dating. You got all these things, and you've got the carcasses of dinosaurs frozen in time out in the Dakotas. They're out there. So, there was a time when these giant reptiles were on the Earth, and it was before the time of the Bible. So, don't try and cover it up and make like everything was 6,000 years. That's not the Bible. If you fight science, you're going to lose your children, and I believe in telling them the way it was.\"\n\nYoung Earth creationist and director of Answers in Genesis, Ken Ham responded to Robertson's commentary by saying: \"Not only do we have to work hard to not let our kids be led astray by the anti-God teaching of the secularists, we have to work hard to not let them be led astray by compromising church leaders like Pat Robertson. Pat Robertson gives more fodder to our enemies.\" Ham said, referring to secularists and atheists who applauded Robertson online for his statements. He went on to say that, \"Such leaders — including Pat Robertson — have a lot to answer to the Lord for one day, such leaders are guilty of putting stumbling blocks in the way of kids and adults in regards to believing God's word and the Gospel.\"\n\nIn May 2014, Robertson responded to a caller regarding the age of the earth: \"You have to be deaf, dumb and blind to think that this Earth that we live in only has 6,000 years of existence, it just doesn't, I'm sorry ... To deny the clear record that's there before us makes us looks silly ... There's no way that all this that you have here took place in 6,000 years, it just couldn't have been done, couldn't possibly have been done.\"\n\nOnce again, Ham vociferously criticized Robertson's remarks saying: \"Pat Robertson illustrates one of the biggest problems we have today in the church-people like Robertson compromise the Word of God with the pagan ideas of fallible men!\" Ham went on to say: \"Pat Robertson is not upholding the Word of God with his ridiculous statements -- he is undermining the authority of the Word.\"\n\nComments on AIDS\nOn the August 27, 2013 episode of The 700 Club, Robertson said that members of the San Francisco gay community would deliberately infect people with AIDS by cutting them with a sharp, infected ring while shaking hands. The comment was edited out when the clip was posted online, but as of September 5, 2013 the video was available from other outlets. He also said that the homosexual community had put laws on the books prohibiting people from mentioning their HIV status.\n\nDuring the October 16, 2014 episode of The 700 Club, a viewer sent in an email saying she had been called by God to go on a mission trip to Kenya but friends and family had expressed fears that she could catch Ebola in Kenya. In his answer, Robertson pointed out that there was not currently an outbreak of Ebola in Kenya, but warned of the risk of AIDS, stating: \"You might get AIDS in Kenya, people have AIDS, you've got to be careful. I mean, the towels could have AIDS.\" Health experts subsequently stated that towels cannot have AIDS. The comment angered viewers in Kenya who took to Twitter to express their disapproval using the hashtag someonetellPatRobertson''. The show later apologized.\n\nComments on US-Saudi Arabia relations after the death of Jamal Khashoggi\nRobertson received criticism after stating that \"we've got an arms deal that everybody wanted a piece of ... it'll be a lot of jobs, a lot of money come to our coffers. It's not something you want to blow up willy-nilly\" in the wake of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.\n\nComments about critical race theory\nOn June 25, 2021, Robertson sparked controversy after he said that critical race theory is a “monstrous evil”. He also said that it gives people of color “the whip handle” over white people. Several people questioned and condemned Robertson’s remarks. Former Colorado House Speaker Terrance Carroll said that he was disappointed with Robertson’s remarks.\n\nComments about mass shootings\nThe day after the Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting, Robertson claimed that the shooting was caused by atheists and \"people who hate God\", garnering controversy as some people saw his comments as inflammatory towards atheists.\n\nRobertson also garnered controversy after blaming the 2017 Las Vegas shooting on disrespect for then-president Donald Trump, as well as NFL players taking the knee during the National Anthem.\n\nComments about the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine\nOn February 28, 2022, Robertson sparked controversy after saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin was \"compelled by God\" to invade Ukraine to fulfill the \"end times prophecy\" in Israel. His claims have been described as having a \"lack of evidence\" to support them.\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n \n\nControversies by person\nIntelligent design controversies\nPolitical controversies in the United States\nProtestantism-related controversies\nTelevision controversies in the United States"
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[
"Pat Robertson",
"Family",
"Does Pat Robertson have a family?",
"a prominent political family,",
"Who in his family is involved in politics?",
"Absalom Willis Robertson (1887-1971), a conservative Democratic United States Senator,",
"Is Robertson married?",
"They were married on August 26, 1954, and they were both on the path of economic success.",
"Does Robertson have any children?",
"His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed Pat by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby",
"Is there anything that I should know about Robertson's childhood?",
"the youngest of two sons.",
"What did Pat Robertson's wife do for a living?",
"She was also a nursing student at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio."
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C_d382da36d18049f58d96cbc298991f17_1
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Did Pat Robertson have a mother involved in his life?
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Did Pat Robertson have a mother involved in his life?
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Pat Robertson
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Marion Gordon Robertson was born on March 22, 1930, in Lexington, Virginia, into a prominent political family, the youngest of two sons. His parents were Absalom Willis Robertson (1887-1971), a conservative Democratic United States Senator, and his wife Gladys Churchill (nee Willis; 1897-1968), was a housewife and a musician. He met Adelia "Dede" Elmer (born December 3, 1927 in Columbus, Ohio), a fashion model and beauty queen in the Miss Ohio State contest, who was studying for her masters in Nursing at Yale University. She was also a nursing student at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. They were married on August 26, 1954, and they were both on the path of economic success. His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson and, as of mid-2016, 14 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed Pat by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby while saying "pat, pat, pat". As he got older, Robertson thought about which first name he would like people to use. He considered "Marion" to be effeminate, and "M. Gordon" to be affected, so he opted for his childhood nickname "Pat". His strong awareness for the importance of names in the creation of a public image showed itself again during his presidential run when he threatened to sue NBC news for calling him a "television evangelist", which later became "televangelist", at a time when Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker were objects of scandal. On April 2, 2015, fellow televangelist, Robert H. Schuller died after a two-year battle with esophageal cancer. Robertson released a statement through CBN News.com: "I am saddened by the passing of my dear friend, Robert Schuller, the Founding Pastor of Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. Robert Schuller set the dimensions for Twentieth Century Christian positive thinking and optimistic action. He is now with the Lord in Heaven, but his legacy on earth will long remain." In August 2017, Robertson was hospitalized after sustaining minor injuries from a horseback riding incident. On February 21, 2018, another fellow televangelist, Billy Graham died of complications of Parkinson's disease. Robertson released a statement through CBN News.com: "I join with millions of my fellow Christians in mourning the passing of Billy Graham. Without question, Billy was the preeminent voice of evangelical Christianity in America--an advisor to Presidents, and a spiritual guide to the multitudes who attended his crusades all over the world." He then added: "Billy has been a dear friend of mine personally and I will miss him. He is now with our heavenly Father, well and happy, and joined forever with his dear wife, Ruth. I extend my profound sympathy to Franklin, to Anne Graham Lotz, and to Billy's other children who are continuing his legacy throughout the world." CANNOTANSWER
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Gladys Churchill (nee Willis; 1897-1968), was a housewife and a musician.
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Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is an American media mogul, televangelist, political commentator, former Republican presidential candidate, and former Southern Baptist minister. Robertson advocates a conservative Christian ideology and is known for his past activities in Republican party politics. He is associated with the Charismatic Movement within Protestant evangelicalism. He serves as chancellor and CEO of Regent University and chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). Until 2021 he appeared daily on The 700 Club, CBN's flagship television program.
On Robertson's own account, he was not a serious Christian until he underwent personal difficulty. He graduated near the top of his class at Yale Law School in 1955, but failed the New York bar exam. Failing the bar cost Robertson opportunities at post-graduate employment, and in the ensuing months of what he later described as disappointment, embarrassment, and unemployment, he became a born-again Christian and began a career as a minister.
Spanning over five decades, Robertson has had a career as the founder of several major organizations and corporations as well as a university: The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), the International Family Entertainment Inc. (ABC Family Channel), Regent University, the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ), the Founders Inn and Conference Center, the Christian Coalition, an L-1011 Flying Hospital, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, and CBN Asia. He is a best-selling author and the host of The 700 Club, a Christian News and TV program broadcast live weekdays on Freeform (formerly ABC Family) via satellite from CBN studios, as well as on channels throughout the United States, and on CBN network affiliates worldwide. Robertson announced his retirement at the age of 91 from the 700 Club in October 2021, on the sixtieth anniversary of the first telecast on October 1, 1961 of what eventually became CBN.
The son of U.S. Senator A. Willis Robertson, Robertson was a Southern Baptist and was active as an ordained minister with that denomination for many years, but holds to a charismatic theology not traditionally common among Southern Baptists. He unsuccessfully campaigned to become the Republican Party's nominee in the 1988 presidential election. As a result of his seeking political office, he no longer serves in an official role for any church, but continued as the main host for his series, The 700 Club until October 2021, advocating for religion to this day. His personal influence on media and financial resources make him a recognized, influential, and controversial public voice for conservative Christianity in the United States and around the world.
Life and career
Family
Marion Gordon Robertson was born on March 22, 1930, in Lexington, Virginia, into a prominent political family, the younger of two sons. His parents were Absalom Willis Robertson (1887–1971), a conservative Democratic Senator, and his wife Gladys Churchill (née Willis; 1897–1968), was a housewife and a musician. He met Adelia "Dede" Elmer (born December 3, 1927, in Columbus, Ohio), a fashion model and beauty queen in the Miss Ohio State contest, who was studying for her masters in Nursing at Yale University. She was also a nursing student at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. They were married on August 26, 1954. His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson and, as of mid-2016, 14 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.
At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed Pat by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby while saying "pat, pat, pat". As he got older, Robertson thought about which first name he would like people to use. He considered "Marion" to be effeminate, and "M. Gordon" to be affected, so he opted for his childhood nickname "Pat". His strong awareness for the importance of names in the creation of a public image showed itself again during his presidential run when he threatened to sue NBC news for calling him a "television evangelist", which later became "televangelist", at a time when Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker were objects of scandal.
Education and military service
When he was eleven, Robertson was enrolled in the preparatory McDonogh School outside Baltimore, Maryland. From 1940 until 1946 he attended The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he graduated with honors. He gained admission to Washington and Lee University, where he received a B.A. in History, graduating magna cum laude. He joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Robertson has said, "Although I worked hard at my studies, my real major centered around lovely young ladies who attended the nearby girls schools."
In 1948, the draft was reinstated and Robertson was given the option of joining the Marine Corps or being drafted into the Army; he opted for the first.
Robertson has described his military service as follows: "We did long, grueling marches to toughen the men, plus refresher training in firearms and bayonet combat." In the same year, he transferred to Korea, "I ended up at the headquarters command of the First Marine Division," says Robertson. "The Division was in combat in the hot and dusty, then bitterly cold portion of North Korea just above the 38th Parallel later identified as the 'Punchbowl' and 'Heartbreak Ridge.' For that service in the Korean War, the Marine Corps awarded me three battle stars for 'action against the enemy.'"
Parts of Robertson's description of his service were later proven to be false. Former Republican Congressman Paul "Pete" McCloskey, Jr., who served with Robertson in Korea, wrote a public letter that said that Robertson was actually spared combat duty when his powerful father, a U.S. Senator, intervened on his behalf, and that Robertson spent most of his time in an office in Japan. According to McCloskey, his time in the service was not in combat, but as the "liquor officer" responsible for keeping the officers' clubs supplied with alcohol. Robertson filed a $35 million libel suit against McCloskey in 1986. He dropped the case in 1988, before it came to trial and paid McCloskey's court costs. According to a newspaper report from 1986, Robertson confirmed elements of McCloskey's allegations and said that he never saw front-line duty.
Robertson was promoted to First Lieutenant in 1952 upon his return to the United States. He then went on to receive a law degree from Yale Law School in 1955, near the top of his class. However, he failed his first and only attempt at the New York bar exam necessary for admission to the New York State Bar Association. Shortly thereafter he underwent a religious conversion, and decided against pursuing a career in law. Instead, Robertson attended The Biblical Seminary in New York, where he received a Master of Divinity degree in 1959.
Christian broadcasting and higher education career
In 1956, Robertson met Dutch missionary Cornelius Vanderbreggen, who impressed Robertson both by his lifestyle and his message. Vanderbreggen quoted Proverbs (3:5, 6), "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths", which Robertson considers to be the "guiding principle" of his life. He was ordained as a minister of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1961.
In 1960, Robertson established the Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He started it by buying the license of a defunct UHF station in nearby Portsmouth. The station first went on the air as WYAH-TV on October 1, 1961. Later in 1977 he purchased a local Leased access cable TV channel in the Hampton Roads area and called it CBN. Originally he went door-to-door in Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads, and other surrounding areas asking Christians to buy cable boxes so that they could receive his new channel. He also canvassed local churches in the Virginia Beach area to do the same, and solicited donations through public speaking engagements at local churches and on CBN. One of his friends, John Giminez, the pastor of Rock Church Virginia Beach, was influential in helping Robertson establish CBN with donations, as well as offering the services of volunteers from his church.
CBN is now seen in 180 countries and broadcast in 71 languages. He founded the CBN Cable Network, which was renamed the CBN Family Channel in 1988 and later simply the Family Channel. When the Family Channel became too profitable for Robertson to keep it under the CBN umbrella without endangering CBN's non-profit status, he formed International Family Entertainment Inc. in 1990 with the Family Channel as its main subsidiary. Robertson sold the Family Channel to the News Corporation in 1997, which renamed it Fox Family. A condition of the sale was that the station would continue airing Robertson's television program, The 700 Club, twice a day in perpetuity, regardless of any changes of ownership. The channel is now owned by Disney and run as Freeform. On December 3, 2007, Robertson resigned as chief executive of CBN; he was succeeded by his son, Gordon.
Robertson founded CBN University in 1977 on CBN's Virginia Beach campus. It was renamed Regent University in 1989. Robertson serves as its chancellor. He is also founder and president of the American Center for Law & Justice, a major public interest law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. and associated with Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia, that defends Constitutional freedoms and conservative Christian ideals. Occasional critics have characterized Robertson as an advocate of dominionism; the idea that Christians have a right to rule.
In 1994, he was an endorser of the document Evangelicals and Catholics Together.
1988 presidential bid
In September 1986, Robertson announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Robertson said he would pursue the nomination only if three million people signed up to volunteer for his campaign by September 1987. Three million responded, and by the time Robertson announced he would be running in September 1987, he also had raised millions of dollars for his campaign fund. He surrendered his ministerial credentials and turned leadership of CBN over to his son, Tim. His campaign, however, against incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush, was seen as a long shot.
Robertson ran on a standard conservative platform. Among his policies, he wanted to ban pornography, reform the education system, and eliminate departments such as the Department of Education and the Department of Energy. He also supported a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget.
Robertson's campaign got off to a strong second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, ahead of Bush. He did poorly in the subsequent New Hampshire primary, however, and was unable to be competitive once the multiple-state primaries began. Robertson ended his campaign before the primaries were finished. His best finish was in Washington, winning the majority of caucus delegates. He later spoke at the 1988 Republican National Convention in New Orleans and told his remaining supporters to cast their votes for Bush, who ended up winning the nomination and the election. He then returned to CBN and has remained there as a religious broadcaster.
Books
Robertson's book The New World Order (1991) became a New York Times best seller, among his several works. Episcopalian professor of theology Ephraim Radner's critical review:
Business interests
Robertson is the founder and chairman of The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) Inc., and founder of International Family Entertainment Inc., Regent University, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, American Center for Law and Justice, The Flying Hospital, Inc. and several other organizations and broadcast entities. Robertson was the founder and co-chairman of International Family Entertainment Inc. (IFE).
Formed in 1990, IFE produced and distributed family entertainment and information programming worldwide. IFE's principal business was The Family Channel, a satellite delivered cable-television network with 63 million U.S. subscribers. IFE, a publicly held company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, was sold in 1997 to Fox Kids Worldwide, Inc. for $1.9 billion, whereupon it was renamed Fox Family Channel. Disney acquired FFC in 2001 and its name was changed again, to ABC Family. The network was renamed to Freeform on January 12, 2016, though Robertson's sale of the channel continues to require Freeform to carry four hours of CBN/700 Club programming per weekday, along with CBN's yearly telethon.
Robertson is a global businessman with media holdings in Asia, the United Kingdom, and Africa. He struck a deal with Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based General Nutrition Center to produce and market a weight-loss shake he created and promoted on The 700 Club.
In 1999, Robertson entered into a joint venture with the Bank of Scotland to provide financial services in the United States. However, the move was met with criticism in the UK due to Robertson's views on homosexuality. Robertson commented that "In Europe, the big word is tolerance. You tolerate everything. Homosexuals are riding high in the media ... And in Scotland, you can't believe how strong the homosexuals are." Shortly afterward, the Bank of Scotland canceled the venture.
Robertson's extensive business interests have earned him a net worth estimated between $200 million and $1 billion.
In 1994, in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, Robertson solicited donations for his charity organization Operation Blessing International to provide medical supplies to refugees in neighboring Zaire (present-day Congo), where Robertson had allegedly negotiated a diamond-mining contract with Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. According to two Operation Blessing pilots who reported the incident to the state of Virginia for investigation, rather than delivering relief supplies to refugees, the organization's planes were primarily used to haul diamond-mining equipment to Robertson's mines in Zaire.
According to a June 2, 1999 article in The Virginian-Pilot, Robertson had extensive business dealings with Liberian president Charles Taylor, with whom Robertson negotiated a multimillion-dollar contract for gold mining operations in Liberia. In response to Taylor's alleged crimes against humanity, the United States Congress passed a bill in November 2003 that offered two million dollars for his capture. Robertson accused President George W. Bush of "undermining a Christian, Baptist president to bring in Muslim rebels to take over the country." At the time Taylor was harboring Al Qaeda operatives who were funding their operations through the illegal diamond trade. On February 4, 2010, at his war crimes trial in the Hague, Taylor testified that Robertson was his main political ally in the U.S., and that he had volunteered to make Liberia's case before U.S. administration officials in exchange for concessions to Robertson's Freedom Gold, Ltd., to which Taylor gave a contract to mine gold in southeast Liberia. In 2010, a spokesman for Robertson said that the company's arrangements—in which the Liberian government got a 10 percent equity interest in the company and Liberians could purchase at least 15 percent of the shares after the exploration period—were similar to many American companies doing business in Africa at the time.
Tega Farm
Beginning in the latter part of the 1990s, Rev. Pat Robertson raced thoroughbred horses under the nom de course, Tega Farm. His gelding named Tappat won the 1999 Walter Haight Handicap at Laurel Park and the 2000 Pennsylvania Governor's Cup Handicap at Penn National Race Course. Following this success, Robertson paid $520,000 for a colt he named Mr. Pat. Trained by John Kimmel, Mr. Pat was not a successful runner. He was nominated for, but did not run in, the 2000 Kentucky Derby.
Health
On August 11, 2017, Robertson was hospitalized after sustaining minor injuries in a fall from a horseback riding incident.
On February 2, 2018, Robertson suffered an embolic stroke at his home in Virginia Beach around 12 noon local time. A member of his family noticed his symptoms and alerted emergency medical personnel. He was then taken to the nearest stroke center where he was administered the clot-busting drug tPA. Robertson was responsive, awake, and moving all of his limbs about eighty minutes after his stroke began. He was discharged two days later and recovered at home. Following this incident, Robertson and his family thanked the paramedics and medical staff for their "extraordinary care and rapid response." They also urged people to learn about stroke, its symptoms and treatments.
On February 12, 2018, Robertson returned to his normal duties as host of his television show The 700 Club just ten days after his stroke. He later released this statement: "I am grateful for the expressions of love and concern that have come toward me from all around the world, and I am thankful that I have received what amounted to a miraculous healing instead of what could have been a crippling illness. I am delighted to be back on the air to fulfill my life calling."
On June 5, 2019, Robertson returned to host The 700 Club after a few days off after breaking three ribs after falling into a chair. He described the experience as very painful but said "Us old guys are tough and we try to stay in there and keep on going." He then thanked viewers for their prayers.
Political service and activism
Robertson is a past president of the Council for National Policy. In 1982, he served on the Victims of Crime Task Force for President Reagan. In Virginia, he served on the Board of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and on the Governor's Council of Economic Advisors. After his unsuccessful presidential campaign, Robertson started the Christian Coalition, a 1.7-million-member Christian right organization that campaigned mostly for conservative candidates. Billy McCormack, a Southern Baptist pastor in Shreveport, Louisiana, served as one of the four directors of the coalition as well as its vice president.
The coalition was sued by the Federal Election Commission "for coordinating its activities with Republican candidates for office in 1990, 1992 and 1994 and failing to report its expenditures". Robertson was a fundraiser for the Nicaraguan Contras. In March 1986, he told Israeli Foreign Affairs that South Africa was a major contributor to the Reagan administration's efforts to help the anti-Sandinista forces.
In 1994, the Coalition was fined for "improperly [aiding] then Representative Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and Oliver North, who was then the Republican Senate nominee in Virginia." Robertson left the Coalition in 2001.
Robertson has been a governing member of the Council for National Policy (CNP): Board of Governors 1982, President Executive Committee 1985–86, member, 1984, 1988, 1998.
On November 7, 2007, Robertson announced that he was endorsing Rudy Giuliani to be the Republican nominee in the 2008 Presidential election. Some social conservatives criticized Robertson's endorsement of Giuliani, a pro-choice candidate who supported gay rights.
While usually associated with the political right, Pat Robertson has endorsed environmental causes. He appeared in a commercial with Al Sharpton, joking about this, and urging people to join the We Can Solve It campaign against global warming.
In January 2009, on a broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson stated that he is "adamantly opposed" to the division of Jerusalem between Israel and the Palestinians. He also stated that Armageddon is "not going to be fought at Megiddo" but will be the "battle of Jerusalem," when "the forces of all nations come together and try to take Jerusalem away from the Jews. Jews are not going to give up Jerusalem—they shouldn't—and the rest of the world is going to insist they give it up." Robertson added that Jerusalem is a "spiritual symbol that must not be given away" because "Jesus Christ the Messiah will come down to the part of Jerusalem that the Arabs want," and that's "not good."
Robertson has repeatedly called for the legalization of cannabis, saying that it should be treated in a manner analogous to the regulation of alcoholic beverages and tobacco. Robertson has said, "I just think it's shocking how many of these young people wind up in prison and they get turned into hard-core criminals because they had a possession of a very small amount of controlled substance. The whole thing is crazy." In 2014, he turned against the legalization of cannabis.
Controversies and criticisms
As a commentator and minister, Robertson frequently generates controversy. Some of his remarks have been the subject of national and international media attention prompting responses from politicians.
Robertson's service as a minister has included the belief in the healing power of God. He has cautioned believers that some Protestant denominations may harbor the spirit of the Antichrist; prayed to deflect hurricanes; denounced Hinduism as "demonic" and Islam as "Satanic". Robertson has denounced left-wing views of feminism, activism regarding homosexuality, abortion, and liberal college professors. Critics claim Robertson had business dealings in Africa with former president of Liberia and convicted war criminal Charles Taylor and former Zaire president Mobutu Sese Seko who both had been internationally denounced for claims of human rights violations. Robertson was criticized internationally for his call for Hugo Chávez's assassination and for his remarks concerning Ariel Sharon's ill-health as an act of God.
Robertson made American national news in October 2003 for interviews with author Joel Mowbray about his book Dangerous Diplomacy, a book critical of the State Department. Robertson's commentary implied that if a small nuclear device were to be found at the department, such a thing might wake up America's leaders to actually realize a potential threat; however, government officials expressed disdain at the thought of such a scenario.
During the week of September 11, 2001, Robertson discussed the terror attacks with Jerry Falwell, who said that "the ACLU has to take a lot of blame for this" in addition to "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays, and the lesbians [who have] helped [the terror attacks of September 11th] happen." Robertson replied, "I totally concur". Both evangelists were seriously criticized by President George W. Bush for their comments, for which Falwell later issued an apology.
Less than two weeks after Hurricane Katrina killed 1,836 people, Robertson implied on the September 12, 2005 broadcast of The 700 Club that the storm was God's punishment in response to America's abortion policy. He suggested that the September 11 attacks and the disaster in New Orleans "could ... be connected in some way".
On November 9, 2009, Robertson said that Islam is "a violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world and world domination". He went on to elaborate that "you're dealing with not a religion, you're dealing with a political system, and I think we should treat it as such, and treat its adherents as such as we would members of the communist party, members of some fascist group".
Robertson's response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake also drew international condemnation. Robertson claimed that Haiti's founders had sworn a "pact to the Devil" in order to liberate themselves from the French slave owners and indirectly attributed the earthquake to the consequences of the Haitian people being "cursed" for doing so. CBN later issued a statement saying that Robertson's comments "were based on the widely-discussed 1791 slave rebellion led by Dutty Boukman at Bois Caïman, where the slaves allegedly made a famous pact with the devil in exchange for victory over the French". Various figures in mainline and evangelical Christianity have on occasion disavowed some of Robertson's remarks.
In March 2015, Robertson compared Buddhism to a disease on The 700 Club. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a conservative Christian watchdog group Robertson founded to promote Christian prayer in public schools, is calling for a multi-pronged attack on mindfulness programs because "they appear to be similar to Buddhist religious practices. Proponents of secular mindfulness say mindfulness is not a Buddhist practice; it is a contemplative practice used in religious traditions around the world by many different names."
Predictions
Several times near New Year, Robertson has announced that God told him several truths or events that would happen in the following year. "I have a relatively good track record", he said. "Sometimes I miss."
1982: Judgment
In the May 19, 1982 broadcast of The 700 Club Robertson stated, "I guarantee you by the fall of 1982 there is going to be a judgment on the world."
In September 2011, Robertson and several others who incorrectly predicted various dates for the end of world were jointly awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for "teaching the world to be careful when making mathematical assumptions and calculations".
2004: Presidential election
In January 2004, Robertson said that God told him President Bush will be re-elected in a "blowout" in the election later that year. "I think George Bush is going to win in a walk", Robertson told viewers of his The 700 Club program. "I really believe I'm hearing from the Lord it's going to be like a blowout election in 2004. It's shaping up that way." Bush did in fact win re-election, but not in a landslide. Kerry lost the electoral college vote by 14%, an outcome that did not signal a significant shift in the direction of politics.
2006: Pacific Northwestern tsunami
In May 2006, Robertson declared that storms and possibly a tsunami would hit America's coastline sometime in 2006. Robertson supposedly received this revelation from God during an annual personal prayer retreat in January. The claim was repeated four times on The 700 Club.
On May 8, 2006, Robertson said, "If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms." On May 17, 2006, he elaborated, "There well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest."
2007: Terror attack
On the January 2, 2007 broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson said that God spoke to him and told him that "mass killings" were to come during 2007, due to a terrorist attack on the United States. He added, "The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that." When a terrorist attack failed to happen in 2007, Robertson said, in January 2008, "All I can think is that somehow the people of God prayed and God in his mercy spared us."
2008: Worldwide violence and American recession
On the January 2, 2008 episode of The 700 Club, Pat Robertson predicted that 2008 would be a year of worldwide violence. He also predicted that a recession would occur in the United States that would be followed by a stock market crash by 2010. However, there was a decrease in overall deaths for the period, and the American economy had already entered a recession in 2007, with increased household debt and the collapse of financial institutions.
2008: Mideast meltdown
In October 2008, Robertson posted a press release on the Georgian conflict speculating that the conflict is a Russian ploy to enter the Middle East, and that instability caused by a predicted pre-emptive strike by Israel on Iran would result in Syria's and Iran's launching nuclear strikes on other targets. He also said that if the United States were to oppose Russia's expansion, nuclear strikes on American soil are also pending. "We will suffer grave economic damage, but will not engage in military action to stop the conflict. However, we may not be spared nuclear strikes against coastal cities. In conclusion, it is my opinion that we have between 75 and 120 days before the Middle East starts spinning out of control."
2009: Economic chaos and recovery
On the January 1, 2009 broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson said, "If I'm hearing [God] right, gold will go to about $1900 an ounce and oil to $300 a barrel." He also suggested that Americans would broadly accept socialism. Despite these predictions, he also said that economically "things are getting ready to turn around."
2012: Presidential election
On January 4, 2012, Robertson reported that God had spoken to him and he "thinks He showed me the next president" but would not name who it is. He did give an indication that it would not be President Obama since Robertson said God told him Obama's views were at "odds with the majority", but left some room for interpretation had the 2012 election expanded beyond a two-person race. Closer to the election, however, he expressly stated that God had told him that Mitt Romney would win and would be a two-term President. Obama was reelected for a second term.
2020: Presidential election and asteroid strike
On October 20, 2020, Robertson said, "But first of all I want to say without question Trump is going to win the election." Trump went on to be defeated by Joe Biden. Robertson also said there would be assassination attempts against Trump, and later an asteroid will hit that could destroy earth. After Biden was certified the winner by the United States Electoral College in December, Robertson, after briefly supporting Trump's legal disputes seeking to overturn the results, said Trump should concede. He also said Trump running again in 2024 would be a "mistake" and offered Nikki Haley as an alternative.
Works
Shout It from the Housetops, an autobiography with Jamie Buckingham (1972, repr 1995)
My Prayer for You (1977)
The Secret Kingdom (1982)
Answers to 200 of Life's Most Probing Questions (1984)
Beyond Reason: How Miracles can Change your Life (1985)
America's Dates with Destiny (1986)
The Plan (1989)
The New Millennium (1990)
The New World Order (1991)
Turning Tide: The Fall of Liberalism and the Rise of Common Sense (1993)
The End of the Age (1995, fiction)
Six Steps to Spiritual Revival: God's Awesome Power in Your Life (2002)
Bring It on: Tough Questions, Candid Answers, Nashville, Tenn: W Pub. Group, 2003.
The Ten Offenses (2004)
Courting Disaster (2004)
Miracles Can Be Yours Today (2006)
On Humility (2009)
Right on the Money: Financial Advice for Tough Times (2009)
See also
Charismatic Movement
Christian Fundamentalism
Christian Zionism
Moral Majority
Christian Right
References
Further reading
Marley, David John. Pat Robertson: An American Life
External links
Brian Ross. Some Question Robertson's Katrina Charity, ABC News, September 9, 2005.
"Preacher: God told him about storms, tsunami"
2000 lbs. leg press
Robertson talks about his prostate cancer surgery with laparoscopic radical prostatectomy
NPR Audio Report: Televangelist Robertson Urges U.S. Hit on Chavez
Archive of American Television interview with Pat Robertson
1930 births
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"Nellie Gray Robertson (February 28, 1894 – May 20, 1955) was a lawyer and jurist in Texas. She was nominated to the All-Woman Supreme Court of 1925, though she did not serve in the position. She was the first female county attorney in the state.\n\nLife and career\nRobertson was a native of Granbury, and was the youngest of six children of William Jarrett and Arminda Barton Robertson. Her father left the family soon after her birth, and her mother struggled with poverty as he drifted in and out of her life for some years before dying in Louisiana in 1910. Nellie's elder brothers provided for the family; her mother was eligible for a Confederate widow's pension, but she did not begin to get money from it until 1937.\n\nRobertson graduated from Granbury High School in 1912 and, determined to study law, enrolled in the University of Texas at Austin that fall; women in Texas would not begin to be licensed as attorneys until the following year. She graduated in 1918. That year she became the state's first female county attorney; she had run unopposed in the Democratic Party primary in July, and in November received 446 out of 448 votes cast. She ran again in 1920, prevailing over her primary opponent and running unopposed in the general election. As the role of county attorney was only a part-time one, in 1921 Robertson opened the Hood County Abstract Company, whose owner and operator she remained until 1925. She ran for county judge in the 1922 primary, but lost; she was reappointed to her old position in 1923, when the new county attorney resigned his post, and was reelected once more in 1924. Besides serving the county, Robertson was an officer of the Texas District & County Attorneys Association, being elected its secretary and treasurer in 1921. She was appointed a district judge in 1922 when the regular local judge was disqualified on a case. She contemplated for a time running for the Texas State Legislature, but retired from public life in 1926 instead.\n\nWhen, in 1924, a case involving the Woodmen of the World came up before the Supreme Court of Texas, all three justices were required to recuse themselves due to their ties with the organization; many other male attorneys and jurists in the state had similar ties, and a new Court could not be empaneled. After deliberation, Governor of Texas Pat M. Neff hit upon a solution to the problem: he would name three women to the special court instead, as the Woodmen were a fraternal organization and so had no female members. Robertson was chosen as acting chief justice; the associate justices were Edith Wilmans and Hortense Sparks Ward. In the end, neither Robertson nor Wilmans proved to be eligible, as neither had the required seven years' experience practicing law in Texas; Robertson missed the qualification by three months. Both women were replaced on the court, by Hattie Leah Henenberg and Ruth Virginia Brazzil. Robertson proved sanguine about her position; when asked how she felt about missing the chance to be remembered as the first female chief justice on a United States high court, she responded simply, \"It is what it is.\"\n\nAfter leaving office Robertson moved to New York City, where she worked writing law books for Doubleday Publishing. By 1930 she had returned to her home state, soon operating Stewart Title in Beaumont; also in that town she practiced law as a member of the firm of Stewart, Burgess, Morris & Robertson. She was an associate lay leader for the local district of the Central Texas Methodist Conference, and a grand matron of the Order of the Eastern Star as well. In her private life she was known for her skill at poker.\n\nRobertson never married. She retired in 1954 and died the next year of complications from diabetes; she is interred in the Granbury Cemetery. She had died in Granbury while visiting from Beaumont. In 2015 a Texas Historical Commission marker was erected in her honor in her hometown, before the courthouse where she had practiced and had her office.\n\nReferences\n\n1894 births\n1955 deaths\nPeople from Granbury, Texas\nTexas lawyers\n20th-century American lawyers\nWomen in Texas\nDistrict attorneys\nUniversity of Texas at Austin alumni\nTexas Democrats\nDeaths from diabetes\n20th-century American politicians\n20th-century American women lawyers\n20th-century American women politicians",
"James Alexander Robertson (August 19, 1873 – March 20, 1939) was an American academic historian, archivist, translator and bibliographer. He is most noted for his contributions to the history and historiography of the Philippines and other former territorial possessions of the Viceroyalty of New Spain.\n\nLife\nJames Alexander Robertson was born 1873 in Corry, Pennsylvania. He was the sixth of eight children born to Canadian parents, who became naturalized U.S. citizens after relocating to Corry in 1866. His father, John McGregor Robertson, was a building contractor originally from Verulam, Ontario, near Peterborough. His mother, Elizabeth Borrowman Robertson, had emigrated to Canada from her native Scotland as a child.\n\nRobertson's mother died when he was seven. Three years later he and his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where James completed his secondary education.\n\nIn 1892 he enrolled for graduate studies at Western Reserve University's Adelbert College. He majored in the study of Romance languages, specializing in Old French, and was awarded his Bachelor of Philosophy degree from Western Reserve in 1896.\n\nIn 1902 Robertson became involved in the compilation of a massive multivolume work on the history of the Philippines, initially called The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803.\n\nOn the completion of the Philippine Islands project Robertson went to the Carnegie Institution of Washington to work in its historical research department (1909–10). In 1910 he moved to Manila and became bibliographer and librarian at the National Library of the Philippines for the next six years. During his time in the Philippines Robertson was instrumental in establishing library science as a discipline for instruction at the University of the Philippines.\n\nRobertson returned to the U.S. and Washington in 1917, taking up a position with the federal Department of Commerce. In 1918 Robertson was the founding editor of the Hispanic American Historical Review, an academic journal devoted to Latin American and Hispanic history. He remained the journal's editor-in-chief until his death.\n\nIn 1923 he gained a position as professor at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, and lectured there for the next ten years. In 1935 he moved to Annapolis, Maryland, as the archivist for the Maryland State Archives' Hall of Records.\n\nRobertson died three years later on March 20, 1939 in Annapolis.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n \n \n\n1873 births\n1939 deaths\nPeople from Corry, Pennsylvania\nHistorians from Pennsylvania\nCase Western Reserve University alumni\nUniversity of the Philippines faculty\nStetson University faculty\nSpanish–English translators\n American people of Scottish descent\n American people of Canadian descent"
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"Umar",
"Reforms"
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C_654036212102425a9563bc9ff40d6c66_0
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what was a reform that was made?
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what was a reform that was made related to Umar?
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Umar
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While under his leadership, the empire expanded and he also began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast empire. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy. He established an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories. During his rule, the garrison cities (amsar) of Basra and Kufa were founded or expanded. In 638, he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina. Umar also ordered the expulsion to Syria and Iraq of the Christian and Jewish communities of Najran and Khaybar. He also permitted Jewish families to resettle in Jerusalem, which had previously been barred from all Jews. He issued orders that these Christians and Jews should be treated well and allotted them the equivalent amount of land in their new settlements. Umar also forbade non-Muslims to reside in the Hejaz for longer than three days. He was first to establish the army as a state department. Umar was founder of Fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded by Sunni Muslims to be one of the greatest Faqih. Umar as a jurist started the process of codifying Islamic Law. In 641, he established Bayt al-mal, a financial institution and started annual allowance for the Muslims. As a leader, 'Umar was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had when Muslims were poor and persecuted. In 638, his fourth year as caliph and the seventeenth year 17 since the Hijra, he decreed that the Islamic calendar should be counted from the year of the Hijra of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina. CANNOTANSWER
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While under his leadership, the empire expanded and he also began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast empire.
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ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (; 3 November 644), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, reigning from 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr (632–634) as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate on 23 August 634. Umar was a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was also an expert Muslim jurist known for his pious and just nature, which earned him the epithet al-Farooq ("the one who distinguishes (between right and wrong)").
An arbitator of the Adi clan, Umar initially opposed Muhammad, his distant Qurayshid kinsman. After his conversion to Islam in 616, he became the first Muslim to openly pray at the Kaaba. Umar participated in almost all battles and expeditions under Muhammad, who bestowed the title Al-Farooq ('the Distinguisher') upon Umar, for his judgements. After Muhammad's demise, Umar pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr as the first caliph, and served as a close advisor to the latter until his death in 634, when Abu Bakr nominated Umar as his successor.
Under Umar, the caliphate expanded at an unprecedented rate, ruling the Sasanian Empire and more than two-thirds of the Byzantine Empire. His attacks against the Sasanian Empire resulted in the conquest of Persia in less than two years (642–644). According to Jewish tradition, Umar set aside the Christian ban on Jews and allowed them into Jerusalem and to worship. Umar was assassinated by the Persian slave Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz in 644.
Umar is generally viewed by historians to be one of the most powerful and influential Muslim caliphs in history. He is revered in the Sunni Islamic tradition as a great just ruler and paragon of Islamic virtues, and some hadiths identify him as the second greatest of the Sahabah after Abu Bakr. He is viewed negatively in the Twelver Shia tradition.
Early life
Umar was born in Mecca to the Banu Adi clan, which was responsible for arbitration among the tribes. His father was Khattab ibn Nufayl and his mother was Hantama bint Hisham, from the tribe of Banu Makhzum. In his youth he used to tend to his father's camels in the plains near Mecca. His merchant father was famed for his intelligence among his tribe. Umar himself said: "My father, al-Khattab, was a ruthless man. He used to make me work hard; if I didn't work he used to beat me and he used to work me to exhaustion."
Despite literacy being uncommon in pre-Islamic Arabia, Umar learned to read and write in his youth. Though not a poet himself, he developed a love for poetry and literature. According to the tradition of Quraish, while still in his teenage years, Umar learned martial arts, horse riding and wrestling. He was tall, physically powerful and a renowned wrestler. He was also a gifted orator who succeeded his father as an arbitrator among the tribes.
Umar became a merchant and made several journeys to Rome and Persia, where he is said to have met various scholars and analyzed Roman and Persian societies. As a merchant he was unsuccessful. Like others around him, Umar was fond of drinking in his pre-Islamic days.
During Muhammad's era
Initial hostility to Islam
In 610, Muhammad started preaching the message of Islam. However, like many others in Mecca, Umar opposed Islam and even threatened to kill Muhammad. He resolved to defend the traditional polytheistic religion of Arabia. He was adamant and cruel in opposing Muhammad, and very prominent in persecuting Muslims. He recommended Muhammad's death. He firmly believed in the unity of the Quraish and saw the new faith of Islam as a cause of division and discord.
Due to persecution, Muhammad ordered some of his followers to migrate to Abyssinia. When a small group of Muslims migrated, Umar became worried about the future unity of the Quraish and decided to have Muhammad assassinated.
Conversion to Islam
Umar converted to Islam in 616, one year after the Migration to Abyssinia.
The story was recounted in Ibn Ishaq's Sīrah. On his way to murder Muhammad, Umar met his best friend Nu'aym ibn Abd Allah who had secretly converted to Islam but had not told Umar. When Umar informed him that he had set out to kill Muhammad, Nu'aym said, “By God, you have deceived yourself, O Umar! Do you think that Banu Abd al-Manaf would let you run around alive once you had killed their son Muhammad? Why don't you return to your own house and at least set it straight?"
Nuaimal Hakim told him to inquire about his own house where his sister and her husband had converted to Islam. Upon arriving at her house, Umar found his sister and brother-in-law Saeed bin Zaid (Umar's cousin) reciting the verses of the Quran from sura Ta-Ha. He started quarreling with his brother-in-law. When his sister came to rescue her husband, he also started quarreling with her. Yet still they kept on saying "you may kill us but we will not give up Islam". Upon hearing these words, Umar slapped his sister so hard that she fell to the ground bleeding from her mouth. When he saw what he did to his sister, he calmed down out of guilt and asked his sister to give him what she was reciting. His sister replied in the negative and said "You are unclean, and no unclean person can touch the Scripture." He insisted, but his sister was not prepared to allow him to touch the pages unless he washed his body. Umar at last gave in. He washed his body and then began to read the verses that were: Verily, I am Allah: there is no God but Me; so serve Me (only), and establish regular prayer for My remembrance (Quran 20:14). He wept and declared, "Surely this is the word of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." On hearing this, Khabbab came out from inside and said: "O, Umar! Glad tidings for you. Yesterday Muhammad prayed to Allah, 'O, Allah! Strengthen Islam with either Umar or Abu Jahl, whomsoever Thou likest.' It seems that his prayer has been answered in your favour."
Umar then went to Muhammad with the same sword he intended to kill him with and accepted Islam in front of him and his companions. Umar was 39 years old when he accepted Islam.
According to one account, after his conversion to Islam Umar openly prayed at the Kaaba as the Quraish chiefs, Abu Jahl and Abu Sufyan, reportedly watched in anger. This further helped the Muslims to gain confidence in practicing Islam openly. At this stage Umar even challenged anyone who dared to stop the Muslims from praying, although no one dared to interfere with Umar when he was openly praying.
Umar's conversion to Islam granted power to the Muslims and to the Islamic faith in Mecca. It was after this event that Muslims offered prayers openly in Masjid al-Haram for the first time. Abdullah Ibn Masud said,
Migration to Medina
In 622 CE, due to the safety offered by Yathrib (later renamed Medīnat an-Nabī, or simply Medina), Muhammad ordered his followers to migrate to Medina. Most Muslims migrated at night fearing Quraish resistance, but Umar is reported to have left openly during the day saying: "Any one who wants to make his wife a widow and his children orphans should come and meet me there behind that cliff." Umar migrated to Medina accompanied by his cousin and brother-in-law Saeed ibn Zaid.
Life in Medina
When Muhammad arrived in Medina, he paired each immigrant (Muhajir) with one of the residents of the city (Ansari), joining Muhammad ibn Maslamah with Umar, making them brothers in faith. Later in Umar's reign as caliph, Muhammad ibn Muslamah would be assigned the office of Chief Inspector of Accountability.
Muslims remained in peace in Medina for approximately a year before the Quraish raised an army to attack them.
In 624, Umar participated in the first battle between Muslims and Quraish of Mecca i.e., the Battle of Badr. In 625, he took part in the Battle of Uhud. In the second phase of the battle, when Khalid ibn Walid's cavalry attacked the Muslim rear, turning the tide of battle, rumours of Muhammad's death were spread and many Muslim warriors were routed from the battlefield, Umar among them. However, hearing that Muhammad was still alive, he went to Muhammad at the mountain of Uhud and prepared for the defence of the hill.
Later in the year Umar was a part of a campaign against the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir.
In 625, Umar's daughter Hafsah was married to Muhammad.
Later in 627, he participated in the Battle of the Trench and also in the Battle of Banu Qurayza. In 628, Umar witnessed the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.
In 628, he fought in the Battle of Khaybar. In 629, Muhammad sent Amr ibn al-A’as to Zaat-ul-Sallasal, after which, Muhammad sent Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah with reinforcements, including Abu Bakr and Umar, whereupon they attacked and defeated the enemy.
In 630, when Muslim armies rushed for the conquest of Mecca, he was part of that army. Later in 630, he fought in the Battle of Hunayn and the Siege of Ta'if. He was part of the Muslim army that contested the Battle of Tabouk under Muhammad's command and he was reported to have given half of his wealth for the preparation of this expedition. He also participated in the farewell Hajj of Muhammad in 632.
Death of Muhammad
When Muhammad died on 8 June 632 Umar initially disbelieved that he was dead. It is said that Umar promised to strike the head of any man who would say that Muhammad died. Umar said: "He has not died but rather he has gone to his lord just as Moses went, remaining absent from his people for forty nights after which he has returned to them. By Allah, the messenger of Allah will indeed return just as Moses returned (to his people) and he will cut off the hands and legs of those men who claimed he has died." Abu Bakr then publicly spoke to the community in the mosque, saying:
Abū Bakr then recited these verses from the Qur'an:
Hearing this, Umar fell on his knees in sorrow and acceptance. Sunni Muslims say that this denial of Muhammad's death was occasioned by his deep love for him.
Foundation of the caliphate
Umar's political capacity first manifested as the architect of the caliphate after Muhammad died on 8 June 632. While the funeral of Muhammad was being arranged a group of Muhammad's followers who were natives of Medina, the Ansar (helpers), organised a meeting on the outskirts of the city, effectively locking out those companions known as Muhajirs (The Emigrants) including Umar. Umar found out about this meeting at Saqifah Bani Saadah, and, taking with him two other Muhajirs, Abu Bakr and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, proceeded to the meeting, presumably to head off the Ansars' plans for political separation. Arriving at the meeting, Umar was faced with a unified community of tribes from the Ansar who refused to accept the leadership of the Muhajirs. However, Umar was undeterred in his belief the caliphate should be under the control of the Muhajirs. Though the Khazraj were in disagreement, Umar, after strained negotiations lasting one or two days, brilliantly divided the Ansar into their old warring factions of Aws and Khazraj tribes. Umar resolved the divisions by placing his hand on that of Abu Bakr as a unity candidate for those gathered in the Saqifah. Others at the Saqifah followed suit, with the exception of the Khazraj tribe and their leader, Sa'd ibn 'Ubada, who were ostracized as a result. The Khazraj tribe is said to have posed no significant threat as there were sufficient men of war from the Medinan tribes such as the Banu Aws to immediately organize them into a military bodyguard for Abu Bakr.
Wilferd Madelung summarises Umar's contribution:
According to various Twelver Shia sources and Madelung, Umar and Abu Bakr had in effect mounted a political coup against Ali at the Saqifah According to one version of narrations in primary sources, Umar and Abu Bakr are also said to have used force to try to secure the allegiance from Ali and his party. It has been reported in mainly Persian historical sources written 300 years later, such as in the History of al-Tabari, that after Ali's refusal to pay homage, Abu Bakr sent Umar with an armed contingent to Fatimah's house where Ali and his supporters are said to have gathered. Umar is reported to have warned those in the House that unless Ali succumbed to Abu Bakr, he would set the House on fire and under these circumstances Ali was forced to capitulate. This version of events, fully accepted by Shia scholars, is generally rejected by Sunni scholars who, in view of other reports in their literature, believe that Ali gave an oath of alliance to Abu Bakr without any grievance. But then other Sunni and Shia sources say that Ali did not swear allegiance to Abu Bakr after his election but six months later after the death of his wife Fatimah putting into question al-Tabari's account. Either way the Sunni and the Shia accounts both accept that Ali felt that Abu Bakr should have informed him before going into the meeting with the Ansar and that Ali did swear allegiance to Abu Bakr.
Western scholars tend to agree that Ali believed he had a clear mandate to succeed Muhammad, but offer differing views as to the extent of use of force by Umar in an attempt to intimidate Ali and his supporters. For instance, Madelung discounts the possibility of the use of force and argues that:
According to Tom Holland, Umar's historicity is beyond dispute. An Armenian bishop writing a decade or so after Qadisiyya describes Umar as a "mighty potentate coordinating the advance of the sons of Ismael from the depths of the desert". Tom Holland writes "What added incomparably to his prestige, was that his earth-shaking qualities as a generalissimo were combined with the most distinctive cast of virtues. Rather than ape the manner of a Caesar, as the Ghassanid kings had done, he drew on the example of a quite different kind of Christian. Umar's threadbare robes, his diet of bread, salt and water, and his rejection of worldly riches would have reminded anyone from the desert reaches beyond Palestine of a very particular kind of person. Monks out in the Judaean desert had long been casting themselves as warriors of God. The achievement of Umar was to take such language to a literal and previously unimaginable extreme."
Abu Bakr's era
Due to the delicate political situation in Arabia, Umar initially opposed military operations against the rebel tribes there, hoping to gain their support in the event of an invasion by the Romans or the Persians. Later, however, he came to agree with Abu Bakr's strategy to crush the rebellion by force. By late 632 CE, Khalid ibn Walid had successfully united Arabia after consecutive victories against the rebels. During his own reign later, Umar would mostly adopt the policy of avoiding wars and consolidating his power in the incorporated lands rather than expanding his empire through continuous warfare.
Umar advised Abu Bakr to compile the Quran in the form of a book after 300 huffāẓ (memorizers) of the Quran died in the Battle of Yamamah.
Appointment as a caliph
Abu Bakr appointed Umar as his successor before dying in 634 CE. Due to his strict and autocratic nature, Umar was not a very popular figure among the notables of Medina and members of Majlis al Shura; accordingly, high-ranking companions of Abu Bakr attempted to discourage him from naming Umar.
Nevertheless, Abu Bakr decided to make Umar his successor.
Umar was well known for his extraordinary willpower, intelligence, political astuteness, impartiality, justice, and care for the poor.
Abu Bakr is reported to have said to the high-ranking advisers:
Abu Bakr was aware of Umar's power and ability to succeed him. His was perhaps one of the smoothest transitions of power from one authority to another in the Muslim lands.
Before his death, Abu Bakr called Uthman to write his will in which he declared Umar his successor. In his will he instructed Umar to continue the conquests on Iraqi and Syrian fronts.
Reign as caliph
Initial challenges
Even though almost all of the Muslims had given their pledge of loyalty to Umar, he was feared more than loved. According to Muhammad Husayn Haykal, the first challenge for Umar was to win over his subjects and the members of Majlis al Shura.
Umar was a gifted orator, and he used his ability to improve his reputation among the people.
Muhammad Husayn Haykal wrote that Umar's stress was on the well-being of the poor and underprivileged.
In addition to this, Umar, in order to improve his reputation and relation with the Banu Hashim, the tribe of Ali, delivered to the latter his disputed estates in Khayber. He followed Abu Bakr's decision over the disputed land of Fidak, continuing to treat it as state property.
In the Ridda wars, thousands of prisoners from rebel and apostate tribes were taken away as slaves during the expeditions. Umar ordered a general amnesty for the prisoners, and their immediate emancipation. This made Umar quite popular among the Bedouin tribes.
With the necessary public support on his side, Umar took the bold decision of recalling Khalid ibn Walid from supreme command on the Roman front.
Political and civil administration
The government of Umar was a unitary government, where the sovereign political authority was the caliph. The empire of Umar was divided into provinces and some autonomous territories, e.g., Azerbaijan and Armenia, that had accepted the suzerainty of the caliphate. The provinces were administered by the provincial governors or Wali, personally and fastidiously selected by Umar. Provinces were further divided into about 100 districts. Each district or main city was under the charge of a junior governor or Amir, usually appointed by Umar himself, but occasionally also appointed by the provincial governor. Other officers at the provincial level were:
Katib, the Chief Secretary.
Katib-ud-Diwan, the Military Secretary.
Sahib-ul-Kharaj, the Revenue Collector.
Sahib-ul-Ahdath, the Police chief.
Sahib-Bait-ul-Mal, the Treasury Officer.
Qadi, the Chief Judge.
In some districts there were separate military officers, though the Wali was, in most cases, the Commander-in-chief of the army quartered in the province.
Every appointment was made in writing. At the time of appointment an instrument of instructions was issued with a view to regulating the Wali's conduct. On assuming office, the Wali was required to assemble the people in the main mosque, and read the instrument of instructions before them.
Umar's general instructions to his officers were:
Various other strict codes of conduct were to be obeyed by the governors and state officials. The principal officers were required to travel to Mecca on the occasion of the Hajj, during which people were free to present any complaint against them. In order to minimize the chances of corruption, Umar made it a point to pay high salaries to the staff. Provincial governors received as much as five to seven thousand dirham annually besides their shares of the spoils of war (if they were also the commander in chief of the army of their sector).
Under Umar the empire was divided into the following provinces:
Mecca (Arabia)
Medina (Arabia)
Basra (Iraq)
Kufa (Iraq)
Jazira, in the upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates
Syria
Iliyā' (إلياء) (Palestine)
Ramlah (Palestine)
Upper Egypt
Lower Egypt
Khorasan (Persia)
Azerbaijan (Persia)
Fars (Persia)
Umar was first to establish a special department for the investigation of complaints against the officers of the State. This department acted as the Administrative court, where the legal proceedings were personally led by Umar.
The department was under the charge of Muhammad ibn Maslamah, one of Umar's most trusted men. In important cases Muhammad ibn Maslamah was deputed by Umar to proceed to the spot, investigate the charge and take action. Sometimes an Inquiry Commission was constituted to investigate the charge. On occasion, the officers against whom complaints were received were summoned to Medina, and charged in Umar's administrative court.
Umar was known for this intelligence service through which he made his officials accountable. This service was also said to have inspired fear in his subjects.
Umar was a pioneer in some affairs:
Umar was the first to introduce the public ministry system, where the records of officials and soldiers were kept. He also kept a record system for messages he sent to Governors and heads of state.
He was the first to appoint police forces to keep civil order.
He was the first to discipline the people when they became disordered.
Another important aspect of Umar's rule was that he forbade any of his governors and agents from engaging in any sort of business dealings whilst in a position of power. An agent of Umar by the name of Al Harith ibn K'ab ibn Wahb was once found to have extra money beyond his salary and Umar enquired about his wealth. Al Harith replied that he had some money and he engaged in trade with it. Umar said: By Allah, we did not send you to engage in trade! and he took from him the profits he had made.
Canals
Since Medina, with a rapidly growing population, was at risk of recurring famines when crops were lacking, Umar sought to facilitate the import of grain. He ordered the building of a canal connecting the Nile to the Red Sea and an improvement of port infrastructure on the Arabian coast. When Basra was established during Umar's rule, he started building a nine-mile canal from the Tigris to the new city for irrigation and drinking water. Al-Tabari reports that Utba ibn Ghazwan built the first canal from the Tigris River to the site of Basra when the city was in the planning stage. After the city was built, Umar appointed Abu Musa Ashaari (17-29/638 – 650) as its first governor. He began building two important canals, the al-Ubulla and the Ma'qil, linking Basra with the Tigris River. These two canals were the basis for the agricultural development for the whole Basra region and used for drinking water. Umar also adopted a policy of assigning barren lands to those who undertook to cultivate them. This policy continued during the Umayyad period and resulted in the cultivation of large areas of barren lands through the construction of irrigation canals by the state and by individuals.
Reforms
Under Umar's leadership, the empire expanded; accordingly, he began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast territory. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy, establishing an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories. During his rule, the garrison cities (amsar) of Basra and Kufa were founded or expanded. In 638, he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina.
Umar also ordered the expulsion to Syria and Iraq of the Christian and Jewish communities of Najran and Khaybar. He also permitted Jewish families to resettle in Jerusalem, which had previously been barred from all Jews. He issued orders that these Christians and Jews should be treated well and allotted them the equivalent amount of land in their new settlements. Umar also forbade non-Muslims from residing in the Hejaz for longer than three days.
He was first to establish the army as a state department.
Umar was founder of Fiqh, or Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded by Sunni Muslims as one of the greatest Faqih, and, as such, he started the process of codifying Islamic Law.
In 641, he established Bayt al-mal, a financial institution and started annual allowances for the Muslims.
As a leader, Umar was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had when Muslims were poor and persecuted. In 638, his fourth year as caliph and the seventeenth year since the Hijra, he decreed that the Islamic calendar should be counted from the year of the Hijra of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina.
Visit to Jerusalem in 637 CE
Umar's visit to Jerusalem is documented in several sources. A recently discovered Judeo-Arabic text has disclosed the following anecdote:
"Umar ordered Gentiles and a group of Jews to sweep the area of the Temple Mount. Umar oversaw the work. The Jews who had come sent letters to the rest of the Jews in Palestine and informed them that Umar had permitted resettlement of Jerusalem by Jews. Umar, after some consultation, permitted seventy Jewish households to return. They returned to live in the southern part of the city, i.e., the Market of the Jews. (Their aim was to be near the water of Silwan and the Temple Mount and its gates). Then the Commander Umar granted them this request. The seventy families moved to Jerusalem from Tiberias and the area around it with their wives and children."
It is also reported in the name of the Alexandrian Bishop Eutychius (932–940 CE) that the rock known as the Temple Mount had been a place of ruins as far back as the time of the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, who built churches in Jerusalem. "The Byzantines," he said, "had deliberately left the ancient site of the Temple as it was, and had even thrown rubbish on it, so that a great heap of rubble formed." It was only when Umar marched into Jerusalem with an army that he asked Kaab, who was Jewish before he converted to Islam, "Where do you advise me to build a place of worship?" Kaab indicated the Temple Rock, now a gigantic heap of ruins from the temple of Jupiter. The Jews, Kaab explained, had briefly won back their old capital a quarter of a century before (when Persians overran Syria and Palestine), but they had not had time to clear the site of the Temple, for the Rums (Byzantines) had recaptured the city. It was then that Umar ordered the rubbish on the Ṣakhra (rock) to be removed by the Nabataeans, and after three showers of heavy rain had cleansed the Rock, he instituted prayers there. To this day, the place is known as ḳubbat es ṣakhra, the Dome of the Rock.
According to lexicographer David ben Abraham al-Fasi (died before 1026 CE), the Muslim conquest of Palestine brought relief to the country's Jewish citizens, who had previously been barred by the Byzantines from praying on the Temple Mount.
Military expansion
The military conquests were partially terminated between 638 and 639 during the years of great famine in Arabia and plague in the Levant. During his reign the Levant, Egypt, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, Fezzan, Eastern Anatolia, almost the whole of the Sassanid Persian Empire including Bactria, Persia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Caucasus and Makran were annexed to the Rashidun Caliphate. According to one estimate more than 4,050 cities were captured during these military conquests. Prior to his death in 644, Umar had ceased all military expeditions apparently to consolidate his rule in recently conquered Roman Egypt and the newly conquered Sassanid Empire (642–644). At his death in November 644, his rule extended from present day Libya in the west to the Indus river in the east and the Oxus river in the north.
Great famine
In 638 CE, Arabia fell into severe drought followed by a famine. Soon after, the reserves of food at Medina began to run out. Umar ordered caravans of supplies from Syria and Iraq, and personally supervised their distribution. His actions saved countless lives throughout Arabia. The first governor to respond was Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, the governor of Syria and supreme commander of the Rashidun army.
Later, Abu Ubaidah paid a personal visit to Medina and acted as an officer of disaster management, which was headed personally by Umar. For internally displaced people, Umar hosted a dinner every night at Medina, which according to one estimate, had attendance of more than a hundred thousand people.
Great plague
While famine was ending in Arabia, many districts in Syria and Palestine were devastated by plague. While Umar was on his way to visit Syria, at Elat, he was received by Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, governor of Syria, who informed him about the plague and its intensity, and suggested that Umar go back to Medina. Umar tried to persuade Abu Ubaidah to come with him to Medina, but he declined to leave his troops in that critical situation. Abu Ubaidah died in 639 of the plague, which also cost the lives of 25,000 Muslims in Syria. After the plague had weakened, in late 639, Umar visited Syria for political and administrative re-organization, as most of the veteran commanders and governors had died of the plague.
Welfare state
To be close to the poor, Umar lived in a simple mud hut without doors and walked the streets every evening. After consulting with the poor, Umar established the first welfare state, Bayt al-mal. The Bayt al-mal aided the Muslim and non-Muslim poor, needy, elderly, orphans, widows, and the disabled. The Bayt al-mal ran for hundreds of years, from the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century through the Umayyad period (661–750) and well into the Abbasid era. Umar also introduced a child benefit and pensions for the children and the elderly.
Free trade
Local populations of Jews and Christians, persecuted as religious minorities and taxed heavily to finance the Byzantine–Sassanid Wars, often aided Muslims to take over their lands from the Byzantines and Persians, resulting in exceptionally speedy conquests. As new areas were attached to the Caliphate, they also benefited from free trade, while trading with other areas in the Caliphate (to encourage commerce, in Islam trade is not taxed, but wealth is subject to the zakat). Since the so-called Constitution of Medina, drafted by Muhammad, the Jews and the Christians continued to use their own laws in the Caliphate and had their own judges.
Assassination
In 644, Umar was assassinated by a Persian slave named Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz. His motivation for the assassination is not clear. One possible explanation was that it was done in response to the Muslim conquest of Persia. The assassination was planned several months earlier. In October 644, Umar undertook a Hajj to Mecca, during which the assassins pronounced Umar's imminent death that year, and the massive crowd of the congregation was used by the conspirators as a veil to hide themselves.
During one of rituals of Hajj, the Ramy al-Jamarat (stoning of the Devil), someone threw a stone at Umar that wounded his head; a voice was heard that Umar will not attend the Hajj ever again.
Abu Lu'lu'a brought a complaint to Umar about the high tax charged by his master Mughirah. Umar wrote to Mughirah and inquired about the tax; Mughirah's reply was satisfactory, but Umar held that the tax charged to Abu Lu'lu'a was reasonable, owing to his daily income. Umar then is reported to have asked Abu Lu'lu'a: "I heard that you make windmills; make one for me as well." In a sullen mood, Abu Lu'lu'a said, "Verily I will make such a mill for you, that the whole world would remember it".
It was Abu Lu'lu'a who was assigned the mission of assassinating Umar. According to the plan, before the Fajr prayers (the morning prayers before the dawn) Abu Lu'lu'a would enter al-Masjid al-Nabawi, the main mosque of Medina where Umar led the prayers and would attack Umar during the prayers, and then flee or mix with the congregation at the mosque.
On 31 October 644, Abu Lu'lu'a attacked Umar while he was leading the morning prayers, stabbing him six times in the belly and finally in the navel, that proved fatal. Umar was left profusely bleeding while Abu Lu'lu'a tried to flee, but people from all sides rushed to capture him; in his efforts to escape he is reported to have wounded twelve other people, six or nine of whom later died, before slashing himself with his own blade to commit suicide.
Umar died of the wounds three days later on Wednesday 3 November 644 (26 Dhu al-Hijjah 23 AH).
He was buried at the Green Dome in al-Masjid al-Nabawi alongside Muhammad and caliph Abu Bakr by the permission of Aisha.
Aftermath
On his deathbed, Umar vacillated on his succession. However, it has been reported that he said that if Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, Khalid ibn Walid or Salim, the mawla and freed Persian slave, were alive he would have appointed one of them his successor. Umar finally appointed a committee of six persons to choose a caliph from amongst them: Abdur Rahman bin Awf, Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, Talha ibn Ubaidullah, Uthman ibn Affan, Ali ibn Abi Talib and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam.
All six are among the ten to whom Paradise was promised according to Sunnis. The only one out of the 'famous ten' left out of the committee who was still alive at the time was Saeed ibn Zaid, the cousin and brother-in-law of Umar. He was excluded on the basis of being related by blood and of the same tribe as Umar. Umar had a policy of not appointing anyone related to him to a position of authority even if they were qualified by his standards.
Umar appointed a band of fifty armed soldiers to protect the house where the meeting was proceeding.
Until the appointment of the next caliph, Umar appointed a notable Sahabi and mawla, Suhayb ar-Rumi (Suhayb the Roman), as a caretaker caliph.
While the meeting for selection of a caliph was proceeding, Abdulrehman ibn Abu Bakr and Abdur Rahman bin Awf revealed that they saw the dagger used by Abu Lu'lu'a, the assassin of Umar. A night before Umar's assassination, reported Abdur Rahman bin Awf, he saw Hurmuzan, Jafina and Abu Lu'lu'a, while they were suspiciously discussing something. Surprised by his presence, the dagger fell; it was the same two-sided dagger used in the assassination. Abdulrehman ibn Abu Bakr, son of the late caliph Abu Bakr, confirmed that, a few days before Umar's assassination, he saw this dagger in Hurmuzan's possession. After this revelation, it seemed clear that it had been planned by the Persians residing in Medina. Infuriated by this, Umar's younger son Ubaidullah ibn Umar sought to kill all the Persians in Medina. He killed Hurmuzan, Jafinah, and the daughter of Umar's assassin Abu Lu'lu'a, who is believed to have been a Muslim. Ubaidullah was intercepted by the people of Medina, who prevented him from continuing the massacre. Amr ibn al-Aas is said to have intercepted him and convinced him to hand over his sword. The murder of Jafinah enraged Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, his foster brother, and he assaulted Ubaidullah ibn Umar; again the companions intervened. When Umar was informed about the incident, he ordered Ubaidullah imprisoned, and that the next caliph should decide his fate.
Umar died on 3 November 644; on 7 November Uthman succeeded him as caliph. After prolonged negotiations, the tribunal decided to give blood money to the victims, and released Umar's son Ubaidullah on the ground that, after the tragedy of Umar's assassination, people would be further infuriated by the execution of his son the very next day.
Physical appearance
Umar was strong, fit, athletic and good at wrestling. He is said to have participated in the wrestling matches on the occasion of the annual fair of Ukaz. From first hand accounts of his physical appearance Umar is said to be vigorous, robust and a very tall man; in markets he would tower above the people. The front part of his head was bald, always A'sara Yusran (working with two hands), both his eyes were black, with yellow skin; however, ibn Sa'ad in his book stated that he never knew that Umar had yellow skin, except for a certain part of Umar's life where his color changed due to his frequent consumption of oil. Others say he had reddish-white skin. His teeth were ashnabul asnan (very white shining). He would always color his beard and take care of his hair using a type of plant.
The early Muslim historians Ibn Saad and al-Hakim mention that Abu Miriam Zir, a native of Kufa, described Umar as being "advanced in years, bald, of a tawny colour – a left handed man, tall and towering above the people". Umar's eldest son Abdullah described his father as "a man of fair complexion, a ruddy tint prevailing, tall, bald and grey". Historian Salima bin al-Akwa'a said that "Umar was ambidextrous, he could use both his hands equally well". On the authority of Abu Raja al-U'taridi, Ibn Asakir records that "Umar was a man tall, stout, very bald, very ruddy with scanty hair on the cheeks, his moustaches large, and the ends thereof reddish".
Assessments
Political legacy
One writer states that Umar was a political genius and, as an architect of the Islamic Empire, rates him as the 52nd most influential figure in history. Umar was one of Muhammad's chief advisers. After Muhammad's passing, it was Umar who reconciled the Medinan Muslims to accept Abu Bakr, a Meccan, as the caliph. During Abu Bakr's era, he actively participated as his secretary and main adviser. After succeeding Abu Bakr as caliph, Umar won over the hearts of Bedouin tribes by emancipating all their prisoners and slaves taken during the Ridda wars.
He built up an efficient administrative structure that held together his vast realm. He organized an effective intelligence network, one of the reasons for his strong grip on his bureaucracy.
Umar never appointed governors for more than two years, for they might amass too much local power. He dismissed his most successful general, Khalid ibn Walid, because he wanted people to know that it is Allah who grants victory, and to counter the cult of personality that had built up around Khalid, for the sake of the Muslim faith.
He would patrol the streets of Medina with a whip in his hand, ready to punish any offenders he might come across. It is said that Umar's whip was feared more than the sword of another man. But with all of this, he was also known for being kindhearted, answering the needs of the fatherless and widows.
Umar's swift imposition of justice against his governors for misdeeds made even powerful governors such as Muawiyah scared of him. Ali ibn Abu Talib, during the later rule of Uthman ibn Affan, wanted Uthman to be more strict with his governors, saying, "I adjure you by God, do you know that Mu'awiyah was more afraid of Umar than was Umar's own servant Yarfa?"
Under Umar's rule, in order to promote strict discipline, Arab soldiers were settled outside of cities, between the desert and cultivated lands in special garrison towns known as "amsar". Known examples of such settlements are Basra and Kufa, in Iraq, and Fustat south of what would later become Cairo. His soldiers were forbidden to own land outside of Arabia. There were restrictions on their right to seize buildings and other immovable things usually thought of as prizes of war. Movable spoils were shared with the people of the umma, regardless of their social stratum.
A modern researcher writes about this:
In The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Gibbon refers to Umar in the following terms:
His rule was one of the few moments in the history of Islam where Muslims were united as a single community. Abdullah ibn Masʿud would often weep whenever the subject of Umar was brought up. He said: "Umar was a fortress of Islam. People would enter Islam and not leave. When he died, the fortress was breached and now people are going out of Islam". Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah before Umar died famously said: "If Umar dies, Islam would be weakened". People asked him why and his reply was "You will see what I am speaking about if you survive."
His greatest achievement from a religious perspective was the compilation of the Qur'an. This had not been done during the time of Muhammad. However, during the Battle of Yamama a great number of the memorizers of the Quran perished in the battle. On the advice of Umar, Abu Bakr tasked Zayd ibn Thabit with the momentous task of compiling the Quran into a single Book.
Military legacy
Along with Khalid ibn Walid, Umar was influential in the Ridda wars.
One strategic success was his sundering of the Byzantine-Sassanid alliance in 636, when Emperor Heraclius and Emperor Yazdegerd III allied against their common enemy. He was lucky in that the Persian Emperor Yazdegerd III couldn't synchronize with Heraclius as planned. Umar fully availed himself of the opportunity by inducing the Byzantines to act prematurely. This was contrary to the orders of Emperor Heraclius, who presumably wanted a coordinated attack along with the Persians. Umar did this by sending reinforcements to the Roman front in the Battle of Yarmouk, with instructions that they should appear in the form of small bands, one after the other, giving the impression of a continuous stream of reinforcements that finally lured the Byzantines to an untimely battle. On the other hand, Yazdegerd III was engaged in negotiations that further gave Umar time to transfer his troops from Syria to Iraq. These troops proved decisive in the Battle of Qadisiyyah.
His strategy resulted in a Muslim victory at the Second Battle of Emesa in 638, where the pro-Byzantine Christian Arabs of Jazira, aided by the Byzantine Emperor, made an unexpected flanking movement and laid siege to Emesa (Homs).
Umar issued an order to invade the very homeland of the Christian Arab forces besieging Emesa, the Jazirah. A three-pronged attack against Jazirah was launched from Iraq. To further pressure the Christian Arab armies, Umar instructed Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, commander of Muslim forces in Iraq, to send reinforcements to Emesa. Umar himself led reinforcements there from Medina. Under this unprecedented pressure, the Christian Arabs retreated from Emesa before Muslim reinforcements could arrive. The Muslims annexed Mesopotamia and parts of Byzantine Armenia.
After the Battle of Nahavand, Umar launched a full-scale invasion of the Sassanid Persian Empire. The invasion was a series of well-coordinated multi-pronged attacks designed to isolate and destroy their targets. Umar launched the invasion by attacking the very heart of Persia, aiming to isolate Azerbaijan and eastern Persia. This was immediately followed by simultaneous attacks on Azerbaijan and Fars. Next, Sistan and Kirman were captured, thus isolating the stronghold of Persia, the Khurasan. The final expedition was launched against Khurasan, where, after the Battle of Oxus River, the Persian empire ceased to exist, and Yazdegerd III fled to Central Asia.
Religious legacy
Sunni views
Umar is remembered by Sunnis as a rigid Muslim of a sound and just disposition in matters of religion; a man they title Farooq, meaning "leader, jurist and statesman", and the second of the rightly guided caliphs. He patched his clothes with skin, took buckets on his two shoulders, always riding his donkey without the saddle, rarely laughing and never joking with anyone. On his ring is written the words "Enough is Death as a reminder to you O' Umar". He did not seek advancement for his own family, but rather sought to advance the interests of the Muslim community, the ummah. According to one of Muhammad's companions, Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud:
Shia views
Umar is viewed very negatively in the literature of Twelver Shi'a (the main branch of Shia Islam) and is often regarded as a usurper of Ali's right to the Caliphate. After the Saqifah assembly chose Abu Bakr as caliph, Umar marched with armed men to Ali's house in order to get the allegiance of Ali and his supporters. Sources indicate that a threat was made to burn Ali's house if he refused, but the encounter ended when Fatimah, wife of Ali, intervened. According to the majority of Twelver scholar writings, Fatimah was physically assaulted by Umar, that this caused her to miscarry her child, Muhsin ibn Ali, and led to her death soon after. (see Umar at Fatimah's house). However, some Twelver scholars, such as Fadhlalla, reject these accounts of physical abuse as a "myth", although Fadlallah mentioned that his speech is a probability, and not a certain reason to reject that event.
Another Shia sect, the Zaidiyyah followers of Zaid ibn Ali, generally has two views about that. Some branches, such as Jaroudiah (Sarhubiyya), don't accept Umar and Abu Bakr as legitimate caliphs. For instance, Jarudiyya believes that Muhammad appointed Ali and believes that the denial of the Imamate of Ali after Muhammad's passing would lead to infidelity and deviation from the right path. The other view accepts Umar and Abu Bakr as legitimate caliphs, albeit inferior to Ali. According to al-Tabari (and Ibn A'tham), when asked about Abu Bakr and Umar, Zayd ibn Ali replied: "I have not heard anyone in my family renouncing them both nor saying anything but good about them...when they were entrusted with government they behaved justly with the people and acted according to the Qur'an and the Sunnah.".
Family
Umar married nine women in his lifetime and had fourteen children: ten sons and four daughters.
Wives
The known wives of Umar are:
Zaynab bint Madhun, she was the mother of Hafsa and Abdullah
Umm Kulthum bint Jarwal, she was divorced by Umar. She was the mother of Ubayd Allah
Qurayba bint Abi Umayya, divorced by Umar in 628.
Jamila bint Thabit, She married Umar about between May 627 and May 628. They had one son, Asim.
Umm Hakim, She was married to Umar, in 634 and was mother of Fatimah.
Umm Kulthum bint Ali from this marriage Umar had a son named Zayd.
Sons
The sons of Umar are:
Abdullah, born 610 in Mecca
Abd al-Rahman ibn Umar
Zayd, He was the son of Umar and Umm Kulthum bint Ali.
Ubayd Allah
Abd al-Rahman "Abu Shahmah" ibn Umar
Asim ibn Umar
Abd al-Rahman Abu'l-Mujabbar
Iyaad ibn Umar
Abdur Rahman
Zayd ibn Umar
Daughters
The daughters of Umar are:
Hafsa
Fatima
Ruqayya
Zaynab
Archeological evidence
In 2012, an inscription was found on a rock in al-Murakkab (Saudi Arabia) which is thought to be an autograph of Umar's signature.
See also
Al-Farooq, modern biography about Umar
Omar ibn al-Khattab Mosque, is a historic mosque in Dumat al-Jandal in northern Arabia, it was built by Umar.
Al Farooq Omar Bin Al Khattab Mosque, mosque named for him in Dubai
Sahaba
Farooqi
Omar (TV series)
Pact of Umar
Umar ibn Ibrahim ibn Waqid al-Umari
References
Notes
Bibliography
Guillaume, A., The Life of Muhammad, Oxford University Press, 1955.
Previte-Orton, C. W. (1971). The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Donner, Fred, The Early Islamic Conquests, Princeton University Press, 1981.
Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, Faber and Faber, 1991.
Madelung, Wilferd, The Succession to Muhammad, Cambridge University Press, 1997.
External links
Excerpt from The History of the Khalifahs by Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti
Sirah of Amirul Muminin Umar Bin Khattab by Shaykh Sayyed Muhammad bin Yahya al-Husayni al-Ninowy.
584 births
644 deaths
7th-century caliphs
7th-century murdered monarchs
Assassinated caliphs
Deaths by blade weapons
Male murder victims
People of the Muslim conquest of Persia
People who memorized the Quran
Rashidun caliphs
Sahabah who participated in the battle of Uhud
Shahnameh characters
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"What Is the Matter with Willi? () is a 1970 German comedy film directed by Werner Jacobs and starring Heinz Erhardt, Ralf Wolter and Ruth Stephan. A tax inspector tries to reform the Ministry of Finance. It was based on a character Heinz Erhardt played on television. It was followed by a loose sequel That Can't Shake Our Willi! and in 1971 a third film Our Willi Is the Best was made with Erhard returning as Willi. The final film Willi Manages The Whole Thing was released in 1972.\n\nCast\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1970 films\n1970 comedy films\nGerman comedy films\nWest German films\n1970s German-language films\nFilms directed by Werner Jacobs\nConstantin Film films",
"Great Partition (In Swedish; Storskiftet, In Finnish; Isojako) was an agricultural land reform in Swedish Empire. It was a reform supported by the government with the purpose of shifting the land of the village communities, from the Solskifte, where every farmer owned several pieces of land split about the village, to a new system, were every farmer owned a connected piece of farmland. The purpose was to increase profit. This was the greatest land reform in Swedish history. \n\nThe shift begun in 1749 by the initiative of Jacob Faggot, and in 1757 a regulation was issued to given the reform a set organization. Initially, the request to start a reform of a peasant community demanded consensus, but in the regulation of 1757, a village could be shifted upon the request of only one farmer. \n\nThe reform greatly changed the rural life. According to the old rules, Solskifte, the farmers of a village all had equal share in the land owned by the village collectively, and the land belonging to their farm were split around the area. This made the land belonging to each farm hard to access and work, as it was spread with long distances, but it also secured a greater social justice, as everyone had both bad and good land in their possession. \n\nThe result of the reform was that less, but connected, land belonged to each farm. This made it easier to use, but also lessened the standard of living for those being allotted bad land. \n\nThe reform was slow, however, and new reform laws were introduced: the radical Enskiftet of 1803-07 by initiative of Rutger Macklean signified the partition of the traditional villages in to separate farms, while the Laga skiftet of 1827 was a more mild reform with better consideration for local necessities.\n\nReferences\n\n Niklas Cserhalmi, Fårad mark. Handbok för tolkning av historiska kartor och landskap, temanummer av tidskriften Bygd och Natur (Lund 1998).\n Eirik Hornborg, Finlands hävder III, Det svenska väldets upplösning: tiden 1697-1809 (Helsingfors: Schildt, 1931)\nHistory of agriculture\nAgriculture in Sweden\n18th century in Sweden\nSweden during the Age of Liberty\nAgriculture in Finland\n18th century in Finland"
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"While under his leadership, the empire expanded and he also began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast empire."
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C_654036212102425a9563bc9ff40d6c66_0
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were there any other reforms?
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were there any other reforms besides expanding the empire and building a political structure that would hold the vase empire together during Umar's leadership??
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Umar
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While under his leadership, the empire expanded and he also began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast empire. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy. He established an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories. During his rule, the garrison cities (amsar) of Basra and Kufa were founded or expanded. In 638, he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina. Umar also ordered the expulsion to Syria and Iraq of the Christian and Jewish communities of Najran and Khaybar. He also permitted Jewish families to resettle in Jerusalem, which had previously been barred from all Jews. He issued orders that these Christians and Jews should be treated well and allotted them the equivalent amount of land in their new settlements. Umar also forbade non-Muslims to reside in the Hejaz for longer than three days. He was first to establish the army as a state department. Umar was founder of Fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded by Sunni Muslims to be one of the greatest Faqih. Umar as a jurist started the process of codifying Islamic Law. In 641, he established Bayt al-mal, a financial institution and started annual allowance for the Muslims. As a leader, 'Umar was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had when Muslims were poor and persecuted. In 638, his fourth year as caliph and the seventeenth year 17 since the Hijra, he decreed that the Islamic calendar should be counted from the year of the Hijra of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina. CANNOTANSWER
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together the vast empire. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy.
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ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (; 3 November 644), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, reigning from 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr (632–634) as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate on 23 August 634. Umar was a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was also an expert Muslim jurist known for his pious and just nature, which earned him the epithet al-Farooq ("the one who distinguishes (between right and wrong)").
An arbitator of the Adi clan, Umar initially opposed Muhammad, his distant Qurayshid kinsman. After his conversion to Islam in 616, he became the first Muslim to openly pray at the Kaaba. Umar participated in almost all battles and expeditions under Muhammad, who bestowed the title Al-Farooq ('the Distinguisher') upon Umar, for his judgements. After Muhammad's demise, Umar pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr as the first caliph, and served as a close advisor to the latter until his death in 634, when Abu Bakr nominated Umar as his successor.
Under Umar, the caliphate expanded at an unprecedented rate, ruling the Sasanian Empire and more than two-thirds of the Byzantine Empire. His attacks against the Sasanian Empire resulted in the conquest of Persia in less than two years (642–644). According to Jewish tradition, Umar set aside the Christian ban on Jews and allowed them into Jerusalem and to worship. Umar was assassinated by the Persian slave Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz in 644.
Umar is generally viewed by historians to be one of the most powerful and influential Muslim caliphs in history. He is revered in the Sunni Islamic tradition as a great just ruler and paragon of Islamic virtues, and some hadiths identify him as the second greatest of the Sahabah after Abu Bakr. He is viewed negatively in the Twelver Shia tradition.
Early life
Umar was born in Mecca to the Banu Adi clan, which was responsible for arbitration among the tribes. His father was Khattab ibn Nufayl and his mother was Hantama bint Hisham, from the tribe of Banu Makhzum. In his youth he used to tend to his father's camels in the plains near Mecca. His merchant father was famed for his intelligence among his tribe. Umar himself said: "My father, al-Khattab, was a ruthless man. He used to make me work hard; if I didn't work he used to beat me and he used to work me to exhaustion."
Despite literacy being uncommon in pre-Islamic Arabia, Umar learned to read and write in his youth. Though not a poet himself, he developed a love for poetry and literature. According to the tradition of Quraish, while still in his teenage years, Umar learned martial arts, horse riding and wrestling. He was tall, physically powerful and a renowned wrestler. He was also a gifted orator who succeeded his father as an arbitrator among the tribes.
Umar became a merchant and made several journeys to Rome and Persia, where he is said to have met various scholars and analyzed Roman and Persian societies. As a merchant he was unsuccessful. Like others around him, Umar was fond of drinking in his pre-Islamic days.
During Muhammad's era
Initial hostility to Islam
In 610, Muhammad started preaching the message of Islam. However, like many others in Mecca, Umar opposed Islam and even threatened to kill Muhammad. He resolved to defend the traditional polytheistic religion of Arabia. He was adamant and cruel in opposing Muhammad, and very prominent in persecuting Muslims. He recommended Muhammad's death. He firmly believed in the unity of the Quraish and saw the new faith of Islam as a cause of division and discord.
Due to persecution, Muhammad ordered some of his followers to migrate to Abyssinia. When a small group of Muslims migrated, Umar became worried about the future unity of the Quraish and decided to have Muhammad assassinated.
Conversion to Islam
Umar converted to Islam in 616, one year after the Migration to Abyssinia.
The story was recounted in Ibn Ishaq's Sīrah. On his way to murder Muhammad, Umar met his best friend Nu'aym ibn Abd Allah who had secretly converted to Islam but had not told Umar. When Umar informed him that he had set out to kill Muhammad, Nu'aym said, “By God, you have deceived yourself, O Umar! Do you think that Banu Abd al-Manaf would let you run around alive once you had killed their son Muhammad? Why don't you return to your own house and at least set it straight?"
Nuaimal Hakim told him to inquire about his own house where his sister and her husband had converted to Islam. Upon arriving at her house, Umar found his sister and brother-in-law Saeed bin Zaid (Umar's cousin) reciting the verses of the Quran from sura Ta-Ha. He started quarreling with his brother-in-law. When his sister came to rescue her husband, he also started quarreling with her. Yet still they kept on saying "you may kill us but we will not give up Islam". Upon hearing these words, Umar slapped his sister so hard that she fell to the ground bleeding from her mouth. When he saw what he did to his sister, he calmed down out of guilt and asked his sister to give him what she was reciting. His sister replied in the negative and said "You are unclean, and no unclean person can touch the Scripture." He insisted, but his sister was not prepared to allow him to touch the pages unless he washed his body. Umar at last gave in. He washed his body and then began to read the verses that were: Verily, I am Allah: there is no God but Me; so serve Me (only), and establish regular prayer for My remembrance (Quran 20:14). He wept and declared, "Surely this is the word of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." On hearing this, Khabbab came out from inside and said: "O, Umar! Glad tidings for you. Yesterday Muhammad prayed to Allah, 'O, Allah! Strengthen Islam with either Umar or Abu Jahl, whomsoever Thou likest.' It seems that his prayer has been answered in your favour."
Umar then went to Muhammad with the same sword he intended to kill him with and accepted Islam in front of him and his companions. Umar was 39 years old when he accepted Islam.
According to one account, after his conversion to Islam Umar openly prayed at the Kaaba as the Quraish chiefs, Abu Jahl and Abu Sufyan, reportedly watched in anger. This further helped the Muslims to gain confidence in practicing Islam openly. At this stage Umar even challenged anyone who dared to stop the Muslims from praying, although no one dared to interfere with Umar when he was openly praying.
Umar's conversion to Islam granted power to the Muslims and to the Islamic faith in Mecca. It was after this event that Muslims offered prayers openly in Masjid al-Haram for the first time. Abdullah Ibn Masud said,
Migration to Medina
In 622 CE, due to the safety offered by Yathrib (later renamed Medīnat an-Nabī, or simply Medina), Muhammad ordered his followers to migrate to Medina. Most Muslims migrated at night fearing Quraish resistance, but Umar is reported to have left openly during the day saying: "Any one who wants to make his wife a widow and his children orphans should come and meet me there behind that cliff." Umar migrated to Medina accompanied by his cousin and brother-in-law Saeed ibn Zaid.
Life in Medina
When Muhammad arrived in Medina, he paired each immigrant (Muhajir) with one of the residents of the city (Ansari), joining Muhammad ibn Maslamah with Umar, making them brothers in faith. Later in Umar's reign as caliph, Muhammad ibn Muslamah would be assigned the office of Chief Inspector of Accountability.
Muslims remained in peace in Medina for approximately a year before the Quraish raised an army to attack them.
In 624, Umar participated in the first battle between Muslims and Quraish of Mecca i.e., the Battle of Badr. In 625, he took part in the Battle of Uhud. In the second phase of the battle, when Khalid ibn Walid's cavalry attacked the Muslim rear, turning the tide of battle, rumours of Muhammad's death were spread and many Muslim warriors were routed from the battlefield, Umar among them. However, hearing that Muhammad was still alive, he went to Muhammad at the mountain of Uhud and prepared for the defence of the hill.
Later in the year Umar was a part of a campaign against the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir.
In 625, Umar's daughter Hafsah was married to Muhammad.
Later in 627, he participated in the Battle of the Trench and also in the Battle of Banu Qurayza. In 628, Umar witnessed the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.
In 628, he fought in the Battle of Khaybar. In 629, Muhammad sent Amr ibn al-A’as to Zaat-ul-Sallasal, after which, Muhammad sent Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah with reinforcements, including Abu Bakr and Umar, whereupon they attacked and defeated the enemy.
In 630, when Muslim armies rushed for the conquest of Mecca, he was part of that army. Later in 630, he fought in the Battle of Hunayn and the Siege of Ta'if. He was part of the Muslim army that contested the Battle of Tabouk under Muhammad's command and he was reported to have given half of his wealth for the preparation of this expedition. He also participated in the farewell Hajj of Muhammad in 632.
Death of Muhammad
When Muhammad died on 8 June 632 Umar initially disbelieved that he was dead. It is said that Umar promised to strike the head of any man who would say that Muhammad died. Umar said: "He has not died but rather he has gone to his lord just as Moses went, remaining absent from his people for forty nights after which he has returned to them. By Allah, the messenger of Allah will indeed return just as Moses returned (to his people) and he will cut off the hands and legs of those men who claimed he has died." Abu Bakr then publicly spoke to the community in the mosque, saying:
Abū Bakr then recited these verses from the Qur'an:
Hearing this, Umar fell on his knees in sorrow and acceptance. Sunni Muslims say that this denial of Muhammad's death was occasioned by his deep love for him.
Foundation of the caliphate
Umar's political capacity first manifested as the architect of the caliphate after Muhammad died on 8 June 632. While the funeral of Muhammad was being arranged a group of Muhammad's followers who were natives of Medina, the Ansar (helpers), organised a meeting on the outskirts of the city, effectively locking out those companions known as Muhajirs (The Emigrants) including Umar. Umar found out about this meeting at Saqifah Bani Saadah, and, taking with him two other Muhajirs, Abu Bakr and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, proceeded to the meeting, presumably to head off the Ansars' plans for political separation. Arriving at the meeting, Umar was faced with a unified community of tribes from the Ansar who refused to accept the leadership of the Muhajirs. However, Umar was undeterred in his belief the caliphate should be under the control of the Muhajirs. Though the Khazraj were in disagreement, Umar, after strained negotiations lasting one or two days, brilliantly divided the Ansar into their old warring factions of Aws and Khazraj tribes. Umar resolved the divisions by placing his hand on that of Abu Bakr as a unity candidate for those gathered in the Saqifah. Others at the Saqifah followed suit, with the exception of the Khazraj tribe and their leader, Sa'd ibn 'Ubada, who were ostracized as a result. The Khazraj tribe is said to have posed no significant threat as there were sufficient men of war from the Medinan tribes such as the Banu Aws to immediately organize them into a military bodyguard for Abu Bakr.
Wilferd Madelung summarises Umar's contribution:
According to various Twelver Shia sources and Madelung, Umar and Abu Bakr had in effect mounted a political coup against Ali at the Saqifah According to one version of narrations in primary sources, Umar and Abu Bakr are also said to have used force to try to secure the allegiance from Ali and his party. It has been reported in mainly Persian historical sources written 300 years later, such as in the History of al-Tabari, that after Ali's refusal to pay homage, Abu Bakr sent Umar with an armed contingent to Fatimah's house where Ali and his supporters are said to have gathered. Umar is reported to have warned those in the House that unless Ali succumbed to Abu Bakr, he would set the House on fire and under these circumstances Ali was forced to capitulate. This version of events, fully accepted by Shia scholars, is generally rejected by Sunni scholars who, in view of other reports in their literature, believe that Ali gave an oath of alliance to Abu Bakr without any grievance. But then other Sunni and Shia sources say that Ali did not swear allegiance to Abu Bakr after his election but six months later after the death of his wife Fatimah putting into question al-Tabari's account. Either way the Sunni and the Shia accounts both accept that Ali felt that Abu Bakr should have informed him before going into the meeting with the Ansar and that Ali did swear allegiance to Abu Bakr.
Western scholars tend to agree that Ali believed he had a clear mandate to succeed Muhammad, but offer differing views as to the extent of use of force by Umar in an attempt to intimidate Ali and his supporters. For instance, Madelung discounts the possibility of the use of force and argues that:
According to Tom Holland, Umar's historicity is beyond dispute. An Armenian bishop writing a decade or so after Qadisiyya describes Umar as a "mighty potentate coordinating the advance of the sons of Ismael from the depths of the desert". Tom Holland writes "What added incomparably to his prestige, was that his earth-shaking qualities as a generalissimo were combined with the most distinctive cast of virtues. Rather than ape the manner of a Caesar, as the Ghassanid kings had done, he drew on the example of a quite different kind of Christian. Umar's threadbare robes, his diet of bread, salt and water, and his rejection of worldly riches would have reminded anyone from the desert reaches beyond Palestine of a very particular kind of person. Monks out in the Judaean desert had long been casting themselves as warriors of God. The achievement of Umar was to take such language to a literal and previously unimaginable extreme."
Abu Bakr's era
Due to the delicate political situation in Arabia, Umar initially opposed military operations against the rebel tribes there, hoping to gain their support in the event of an invasion by the Romans or the Persians. Later, however, he came to agree with Abu Bakr's strategy to crush the rebellion by force. By late 632 CE, Khalid ibn Walid had successfully united Arabia after consecutive victories against the rebels. During his own reign later, Umar would mostly adopt the policy of avoiding wars and consolidating his power in the incorporated lands rather than expanding his empire through continuous warfare.
Umar advised Abu Bakr to compile the Quran in the form of a book after 300 huffāẓ (memorizers) of the Quran died in the Battle of Yamamah.
Appointment as a caliph
Abu Bakr appointed Umar as his successor before dying in 634 CE. Due to his strict and autocratic nature, Umar was not a very popular figure among the notables of Medina and members of Majlis al Shura; accordingly, high-ranking companions of Abu Bakr attempted to discourage him from naming Umar.
Nevertheless, Abu Bakr decided to make Umar his successor.
Umar was well known for his extraordinary willpower, intelligence, political astuteness, impartiality, justice, and care for the poor.
Abu Bakr is reported to have said to the high-ranking advisers:
Abu Bakr was aware of Umar's power and ability to succeed him. His was perhaps one of the smoothest transitions of power from one authority to another in the Muslim lands.
Before his death, Abu Bakr called Uthman to write his will in which he declared Umar his successor. In his will he instructed Umar to continue the conquests on Iraqi and Syrian fronts.
Reign as caliph
Initial challenges
Even though almost all of the Muslims had given their pledge of loyalty to Umar, he was feared more than loved. According to Muhammad Husayn Haykal, the first challenge for Umar was to win over his subjects and the members of Majlis al Shura.
Umar was a gifted orator, and he used his ability to improve his reputation among the people.
Muhammad Husayn Haykal wrote that Umar's stress was on the well-being of the poor and underprivileged.
In addition to this, Umar, in order to improve his reputation and relation with the Banu Hashim, the tribe of Ali, delivered to the latter his disputed estates in Khayber. He followed Abu Bakr's decision over the disputed land of Fidak, continuing to treat it as state property.
In the Ridda wars, thousands of prisoners from rebel and apostate tribes were taken away as slaves during the expeditions. Umar ordered a general amnesty for the prisoners, and their immediate emancipation. This made Umar quite popular among the Bedouin tribes.
With the necessary public support on his side, Umar took the bold decision of recalling Khalid ibn Walid from supreme command on the Roman front.
Political and civil administration
The government of Umar was a unitary government, where the sovereign political authority was the caliph. The empire of Umar was divided into provinces and some autonomous territories, e.g., Azerbaijan and Armenia, that had accepted the suzerainty of the caliphate. The provinces were administered by the provincial governors or Wali, personally and fastidiously selected by Umar. Provinces were further divided into about 100 districts. Each district or main city was under the charge of a junior governor or Amir, usually appointed by Umar himself, but occasionally also appointed by the provincial governor. Other officers at the provincial level were:
Katib, the Chief Secretary.
Katib-ud-Diwan, the Military Secretary.
Sahib-ul-Kharaj, the Revenue Collector.
Sahib-ul-Ahdath, the Police chief.
Sahib-Bait-ul-Mal, the Treasury Officer.
Qadi, the Chief Judge.
In some districts there were separate military officers, though the Wali was, in most cases, the Commander-in-chief of the army quartered in the province.
Every appointment was made in writing. At the time of appointment an instrument of instructions was issued with a view to regulating the Wali's conduct. On assuming office, the Wali was required to assemble the people in the main mosque, and read the instrument of instructions before them.
Umar's general instructions to his officers were:
Various other strict codes of conduct were to be obeyed by the governors and state officials. The principal officers were required to travel to Mecca on the occasion of the Hajj, during which people were free to present any complaint against them. In order to minimize the chances of corruption, Umar made it a point to pay high salaries to the staff. Provincial governors received as much as five to seven thousand dirham annually besides their shares of the spoils of war (if they were also the commander in chief of the army of their sector).
Under Umar the empire was divided into the following provinces:
Mecca (Arabia)
Medina (Arabia)
Basra (Iraq)
Kufa (Iraq)
Jazira, in the upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates
Syria
Iliyā' (إلياء) (Palestine)
Ramlah (Palestine)
Upper Egypt
Lower Egypt
Khorasan (Persia)
Azerbaijan (Persia)
Fars (Persia)
Umar was first to establish a special department for the investigation of complaints against the officers of the State. This department acted as the Administrative court, where the legal proceedings were personally led by Umar.
The department was under the charge of Muhammad ibn Maslamah, one of Umar's most trusted men. In important cases Muhammad ibn Maslamah was deputed by Umar to proceed to the spot, investigate the charge and take action. Sometimes an Inquiry Commission was constituted to investigate the charge. On occasion, the officers against whom complaints were received were summoned to Medina, and charged in Umar's administrative court.
Umar was known for this intelligence service through which he made his officials accountable. This service was also said to have inspired fear in his subjects.
Umar was a pioneer in some affairs:
Umar was the first to introduce the public ministry system, where the records of officials and soldiers were kept. He also kept a record system for messages he sent to Governors and heads of state.
He was the first to appoint police forces to keep civil order.
He was the first to discipline the people when they became disordered.
Another important aspect of Umar's rule was that he forbade any of his governors and agents from engaging in any sort of business dealings whilst in a position of power. An agent of Umar by the name of Al Harith ibn K'ab ibn Wahb was once found to have extra money beyond his salary and Umar enquired about his wealth. Al Harith replied that he had some money and he engaged in trade with it. Umar said: By Allah, we did not send you to engage in trade! and he took from him the profits he had made.
Canals
Since Medina, with a rapidly growing population, was at risk of recurring famines when crops were lacking, Umar sought to facilitate the import of grain. He ordered the building of a canal connecting the Nile to the Red Sea and an improvement of port infrastructure on the Arabian coast. When Basra was established during Umar's rule, he started building a nine-mile canal from the Tigris to the new city for irrigation and drinking water. Al-Tabari reports that Utba ibn Ghazwan built the first canal from the Tigris River to the site of Basra when the city was in the planning stage. After the city was built, Umar appointed Abu Musa Ashaari (17-29/638 – 650) as its first governor. He began building two important canals, the al-Ubulla and the Ma'qil, linking Basra with the Tigris River. These two canals were the basis for the agricultural development for the whole Basra region and used for drinking water. Umar also adopted a policy of assigning barren lands to those who undertook to cultivate them. This policy continued during the Umayyad period and resulted in the cultivation of large areas of barren lands through the construction of irrigation canals by the state and by individuals.
Reforms
Under Umar's leadership, the empire expanded; accordingly, he began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast territory. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy, establishing an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories. During his rule, the garrison cities (amsar) of Basra and Kufa were founded or expanded. In 638, he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina.
Umar also ordered the expulsion to Syria and Iraq of the Christian and Jewish communities of Najran and Khaybar. He also permitted Jewish families to resettle in Jerusalem, which had previously been barred from all Jews. He issued orders that these Christians and Jews should be treated well and allotted them the equivalent amount of land in their new settlements. Umar also forbade non-Muslims from residing in the Hejaz for longer than three days.
He was first to establish the army as a state department.
Umar was founder of Fiqh, or Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded by Sunni Muslims as one of the greatest Faqih, and, as such, he started the process of codifying Islamic Law.
In 641, he established Bayt al-mal, a financial institution and started annual allowances for the Muslims.
As a leader, Umar was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had when Muslims were poor and persecuted. In 638, his fourth year as caliph and the seventeenth year since the Hijra, he decreed that the Islamic calendar should be counted from the year of the Hijra of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina.
Visit to Jerusalem in 637 CE
Umar's visit to Jerusalem is documented in several sources. A recently discovered Judeo-Arabic text has disclosed the following anecdote:
"Umar ordered Gentiles and a group of Jews to sweep the area of the Temple Mount. Umar oversaw the work. The Jews who had come sent letters to the rest of the Jews in Palestine and informed them that Umar had permitted resettlement of Jerusalem by Jews. Umar, after some consultation, permitted seventy Jewish households to return. They returned to live in the southern part of the city, i.e., the Market of the Jews. (Their aim was to be near the water of Silwan and the Temple Mount and its gates). Then the Commander Umar granted them this request. The seventy families moved to Jerusalem from Tiberias and the area around it with their wives and children."
It is also reported in the name of the Alexandrian Bishop Eutychius (932–940 CE) that the rock known as the Temple Mount had been a place of ruins as far back as the time of the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, who built churches in Jerusalem. "The Byzantines," he said, "had deliberately left the ancient site of the Temple as it was, and had even thrown rubbish on it, so that a great heap of rubble formed." It was only when Umar marched into Jerusalem with an army that he asked Kaab, who was Jewish before he converted to Islam, "Where do you advise me to build a place of worship?" Kaab indicated the Temple Rock, now a gigantic heap of ruins from the temple of Jupiter. The Jews, Kaab explained, had briefly won back their old capital a quarter of a century before (when Persians overran Syria and Palestine), but they had not had time to clear the site of the Temple, for the Rums (Byzantines) had recaptured the city. It was then that Umar ordered the rubbish on the Ṣakhra (rock) to be removed by the Nabataeans, and after three showers of heavy rain had cleansed the Rock, he instituted prayers there. To this day, the place is known as ḳubbat es ṣakhra, the Dome of the Rock.
According to lexicographer David ben Abraham al-Fasi (died before 1026 CE), the Muslim conquest of Palestine brought relief to the country's Jewish citizens, who had previously been barred by the Byzantines from praying on the Temple Mount.
Military expansion
The military conquests were partially terminated between 638 and 639 during the years of great famine in Arabia and plague in the Levant. During his reign the Levant, Egypt, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, Fezzan, Eastern Anatolia, almost the whole of the Sassanid Persian Empire including Bactria, Persia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Caucasus and Makran were annexed to the Rashidun Caliphate. According to one estimate more than 4,050 cities were captured during these military conquests. Prior to his death in 644, Umar had ceased all military expeditions apparently to consolidate his rule in recently conquered Roman Egypt and the newly conquered Sassanid Empire (642–644). At his death in November 644, his rule extended from present day Libya in the west to the Indus river in the east and the Oxus river in the north.
Great famine
In 638 CE, Arabia fell into severe drought followed by a famine. Soon after, the reserves of food at Medina began to run out. Umar ordered caravans of supplies from Syria and Iraq, and personally supervised their distribution. His actions saved countless lives throughout Arabia. The first governor to respond was Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, the governor of Syria and supreme commander of the Rashidun army.
Later, Abu Ubaidah paid a personal visit to Medina and acted as an officer of disaster management, which was headed personally by Umar. For internally displaced people, Umar hosted a dinner every night at Medina, which according to one estimate, had attendance of more than a hundred thousand people.
Great plague
While famine was ending in Arabia, many districts in Syria and Palestine were devastated by plague. While Umar was on his way to visit Syria, at Elat, he was received by Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, governor of Syria, who informed him about the plague and its intensity, and suggested that Umar go back to Medina. Umar tried to persuade Abu Ubaidah to come with him to Medina, but he declined to leave his troops in that critical situation. Abu Ubaidah died in 639 of the plague, which also cost the lives of 25,000 Muslims in Syria. After the plague had weakened, in late 639, Umar visited Syria for political and administrative re-organization, as most of the veteran commanders and governors had died of the plague.
Welfare state
To be close to the poor, Umar lived in a simple mud hut without doors and walked the streets every evening. After consulting with the poor, Umar established the first welfare state, Bayt al-mal. The Bayt al-mal aided the Muslim and non-Muslim poor, needy, elderly, orphans, widows, and the disabled. The Bayt al-mal ran for hundreds of years, from the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century through the Umayyad period (661–750) and well into the Abbasid era. Umar also introduced a child benefit and pensions for the children and the elderly.
Free trade
Local populations of Jews and Christians, persecuted as religious minorities and taxed heavily to finance the Byzantine–Sassanid Wars, often aided Muslims to take over their lands from the Byzantines and Persians, resulting in exceptionally speedy conquests. As new areas were attached to the Caliphate, they also benefited from free trade, while trading with other areas in the Caliphate (to encourage commerce, in Islam trade is not taxed, but wealth is subject to the zakat). Since the so-called Constitution of Medina, drafted by Muhammad, the Jews and the Christians continued to use their own laws in the Caliphate and had their own judges.
Assassination
In 644, Umar was assassinated by a Persian slave named Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz. His motivation for the assassination is not clear. One possible explanation was that it was done in response to the Muslim conquest of Persia. The assassination was planned several months earlier. In October 644, Umar undertook a Hajj to Mecca, during which the assassins pronounced Umar's imminent death that year, and the massive crowd of the congregation was used by the conspirators as a veil to hide themselves.
During one of rituals of Hajj, the Ramy al-Jamarat (stoning of the Devil), someone threw a stone at Umar that wounded his head; a voice was heard that Umar will not attend the Hajj ever again.
Abu Lu'lu'a brought a complaint to Umar about the high tax charged by his master Mughirah. Umar wrote to Mughirah and inquired about the tax; Mughirah's reply was satisfactory, but Umar held that the tax charged to Abu Lu'lu'a was reasonable, owing to his daily income. Umar then is reported to have asked Abu Lu'lu'a: "I heard that you make windmills; make one for me as well." In a sullen mood, Abu Lu'lu'a said, "Verily I will make such a mill for you, that the whole world would remember it".
It was Abu Lu'lu'a who was assigned the mission of assassinating Umar. According to the plan, before the Fajr prayers (the morning prayers before the dawn) Abu Lu'lu'a would enter al-Masjid al-Nabawi, the main mosque of Medina where Umar led the prayers and would attack Umar during the prayers, and then flee or mix with the congregation at the mosque.
On 31 October 644, Abu Lu'lu'a attacked Umar while he was leading the morning prayers, stabbing him six times in the belly and finally in the navel, that proved fatal. Umar was left profusely bleeding while Abu Lu'lu'a tried to flee, but people from all sides rushed to capture him; in his efforts to escape he is reported to have wounded twelve other people, six or nine of whom later died, before slashing himself with his own blade to commit suicide.
Umar died of the wounds three days later on Wednesday 3 November 644 (26 Dhu al-Hijjah 23 AH).
He was buried at the Green Dome in al-Masjid al-Nabawi alongside Muhammad and caliph Abu Bakr by the permission of Aisha.
Aftermath
On his deathbed, Umar vacillated on his succession. However, it has been reported that he said that if Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, Khalid ibn Walid or Salim, the mawla and freed Persian slave, were alive he would have appointed one of them his successor. Umar finally appointed a committee of six persons to choose a caliph from amongst them: Abdur Rahman bin Awf, Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, Talha ibn Ubaidullah, Uthman ibn Affan, Ali ibn Abi Talib and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam.
All six are among the ten to whom Paradise was promised according to Sunnis. The only one out of the 'famous ten' left out of the committee who was still alive at the time was Saeed ibn Zaid, the cousin and brother-in-law of Umar. He was excluded on the basis of being related by blood and of the same tribe as Umar. Umar had a policy of not appointing anyone related to him to a position of authority even if they were qualified by his standards.
Umar appointed a band of fifty armed soldiers to protect the house where the meeting was proceeding.
Until the appointment of the next caliph, Umar appointed a notable Sahabi and mawla, Suhayb ar-Rumi (Suhayb the Roman), as a caretaker caliph.
While the meeting for selection of a caliph was proceeding, Abdulrehman ibn Abu Bakr and Abdur Rahman bin Awf revealed that they saw the dagger used by Abu Lu'lu'a, the assassin of Umar. A night before Umar's assassination, reported Abdur Rahman bin Awf, he saw Hurmuzan, Jafina and Abu Lu'lu'a, while they were suspiciously discussing something. Surprised by his presence, the dagger fell; it was the same two-sided dagger used in the assassination. Abdulrehman ibn Abu Bakr, son of the late caliph Abu Bakr, confirmed that, a few days before Umar's assassination, he saw this dagger in Hurmuzan's possession. After this revelation, it seemed clear that it had been planned by the Persians residing in Medina. Infuriated by this, Umar's younger son Ubaidullah ibn Umar sought to kill all the Persians in Medina. He killed Hurmuzan, Jafinah, and the daughter of Umar's assassin Abu Lu'lu'a, who is believed to have been a Muslim. Ubaidullah was intercepted by the people of Medina, who prevented him from continuing the massacre. Amr ibn al-Aas is said to have intercepted him and convinced him to hand over his sword. The murder of Jafinah enraged Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, his foster brother, and he assaulted Ubaidullah ibn Umar; again the companions intervened. When Umar was informed about the incident, he ordered Ubaidullah imprisoned, and that the next caliph should decide his fate.
Umar died on 3 November 644; on 7 November Uthman succeeded him as caliph. After prolonged negotiations, the tribunal decided to give blood money to the victims, and released Umar's son Ubaidullah on the ground that, after the tragedy of Umar's assassination, people would be further infuriated by the execution of his son the very next day.
Physical appearance
Umar was strong, fit, athletic and good at wrestling. He is said to have participated in the wrestling matches on the occasion of the annual fair of Ukaz. From first hand accounts of his physical appearance Umar is said to be vigorous, robust and a very tall man; in markets he would tower above the people. The front part of his head was bald, always A'sara Yusran (working with two hands), both his eyes were black, with yellow skin; however, ibn Sa'ad in his book stated that he never knew that Umar had yellow skin, except for a certain part of Umar's life where his color changed due to his frequent consumption of oil. Others say he had reddish-white skin. His teeth were ashnabul asnan (very white shining). He would always color his beard and take care of his hair using a type of plant.
The early Muslim historians Ibn Saad and al-Hakim mention that Abu Miriam Zir, a native of Kufa, described Umar as being "advanced in years, bald, of a tawny colour – a left handed man, tall and towering above the people". Umar's eldest son Abdullah described his father as "a man of fair complexion, a ruddy tint prevailing, tall, bald and grey". Historian Salima bin al-Akwa'a said that "Umar was ambidextrous, he could use both his hands equally well". On the authority of Abu Raja al-U'taridi, Ibn Asakir records that "Umar was a man tall, stout, very bald, very ruddy with scanty hair on the cheeks, his moustaches large, and the ends thereof reddish".
Assessments
Political legacy
One writer states that Umar was a political genius and, as an architect of the Islamic Empire, rates him as the 52nd most influential figure in history. Umar was one of Muhammad's chief advisers. After Muhammad's passing, it was Umar who reconciled the Medinan Muslims to accept Abu Bakr, a Meccan, as the caliph. During Abu Bakr's era, he actively participated as his secretary and main adviser. After succeeding Abu Bakr as caliph, Umar won over the hearts of Bedouin tribes by emancipating all their prisoners and slaves taken during the Ridda wars.
He built up an efficient administrative structure that held together his vast realm. He organized an effective intelligence network, one of the reasons for his strong grip on his bureaucracy.
Umar never appointed governors for more than two years, for they might amass too much local power. He dismissed his most successful general, Khalid ibn Walid, because he wanted people to know that it is Allah who grants victory, and to counter the cult of personality that had built up around Khalid, for the sake of the Muslim faith.
He would patrol the streets of Medina with a whip in his hand, ready to punish any offenders he might come across. It is said that Umar's whip was feared more than the sword of another man. But with all of this, he was also known for being kindhearted, answering the needs of the fatherless and widows.
Umar's swift imposition of justice against his governors for misdeeds made even powerful governors such as Muawiyah scared of him. Ali ibn Abu Talib, during the later rule of Uthman ibn Affan, wanted Uthman to be more strict with his governors, saying, "I adjure you by God, do you know that Mu'awiyah was more afraid of Umar than was Umar's own servant Yarfa?"
Under Umar's rule, in order to promote strict discipline, Arab soldiers were settled outside of cities, between the desert and cultivated lands in special garrison towns known as "amsar". Known examples of such settlements are Basra and Kufa, in Iraq, and Fustat south of what would later become Cairo. His soldiers were forbidden to own land outside of Arabia. There were restrictions on their right to seize buildings and other immovable things usually thought of as prizes of war. Movable spoils were shared with the people of the umma, regardless of their social stratum.
A modern researcher writes about this:
In The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Gibbon refers to Umar in the following terms:
His rule was one of the few moments in the history of Islam where Muslims were united as a single community. Abdullah ibn Masʿud would often weep whenever the subject of Umar was brought up. He said: "Umar was a fortress of Islam. People would enter Islam and not leave. When he died, the fortress was breached and now people are going out of Islam". Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah before Umar died famously said: "If Umar dies, Islam would be weakened". People asked him why and his reply was "You will see what I am speaking about if you survive."
His greatest achievement from a religious perspective was the compilation of the Qur'an. This had not been done during the time of Muhammad. However, during the Battle of Yamama a great number of the memorizers of the Quran perished in the battle. On the advice of Umar, Abu Bakr tasked Zayd ibn Thabit with the momentous task of compiling the Quran into a single Book.
Military legacy
Along with Khalid ibn Walid, Umar was influential in the Ridda wars.
One strategic success was his sundering of the Byzantine-Sassanid alliance in 636, when Emperor Heraclius and Emperor Yazdegerd III allied against their common enemy. He was lucky in that the Persian Emperor Yazdegerd III couldn't synchronize with Heraclius as planned. Umar fully availed himself of the opportunity by inducing the Byzantines to act prematurely. This was contrary to the orders of Emperor Heraclius, who presumably wanted a coordinated attack along with the Persians. Umar did this by sending reinforcements to the Roman front in the Battle of Yarmouk, with instructions that they should appear in the form of small bands, one after the other, giving the impression of a continuous stream of reinforcements that finally lured the Byzantines to an untimely battle. On the other hand, Yazdegerd III was engaged in negotiations that further gave Umar time to transfer his troops from Syria to Iraq. These troops proved decisive in the Battle of Qadisiyyah.
His strategy resulted in a Muslim victory at the Second Battle of Emesa in 638, where the pro-Byzantine Christian Arabs of Jazira, aided by the Byzantine Emperor, made an unexpected flanking movement and laid siege to Emesa (Homs).
Umar issued an order to invade the very homeland of the Christian Arab forces besieging Emesa, the Jazirah. A three-pronged attack against Jazirah was launched from Iraq. To further pressure the Christian Arab armies, Umar instructed Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, commander of Muslim forces in Iraq, to send reinforcements to Emesa. Umar himself led reinforcements there from Medina. Under this unprecedented pressure, the Christian Arabs retreated from Emesa before Muslim reinforcements could arrive. The Muslims annexed Mesopotamia and parts of Byzantine Armenia.
After the Battle of Nahavand, Umar launched a full-scale invasion of the Sassanid Persian Empire. The invasion was a series of well-coordinated multi-pronged attacks designed to isolate and destroy their targets. Umar launched the invasion by attacking the very heart of Persia, aiming to isolate Azerbaijan and eastern Persia. This was immediately followed by simultaneous attacks on Azerbaijan and Fars. Next, Sistan and Kirman were captured, thus isolating the stronghold of Persia, the Khurasan. The final expedition was launched against Khurasan, where, after the Battle of Oxus River, the Persian empire ceased to exist, and Yazdegerd III fled to Central Asia.
Religious legacy
Sunni views
Umar is remembered by Sunnis as a rigid Muslim of a sound and just disposition in matters of religion; a man they title Farooq, meaning "leader, jurist and statesman", and the second of the rightly guided caliphs. He patched his clothes with skin, took buckets on his two shoulders, always riding his donkey without the saddle, rarely laughing and never joking with anyone. On his ring is written the words "Enough is Death as a reminder to you O' Umar". He did not seek advancement for his own family, but rather sought to advance the interests of the Muslim community, the ummah. According to one of Muhammad's companions, Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud:
Shia views
Umar is viewed very negatively in the literature of Twelver Shi'a (the main branch of Shia Islam) and is often regarded as a usurper of Ali's right to the Caliphate. After the Saqifah assembly chose Abu Bakr as caliph, Umar marched with armed men to Ali's house in order to get the allegiance of Ali and his supporters. Sources indicate that a threat was made to burn Ali's house if he refused, but the encounter ended when Fatimah, wife of Ali, intervened. According to the majority of Twelver scholar writings, Fatimah was physically assaulted by Umar, that this caused her to miscarry her child, Muhsin ibn Ali, and led to her death soon after. (see Umar at Fatimah's house). However, some Twelver scholars, such as Fadhlalla, reject these accounts of physical abuse as a "myth", although Fadlallah mentioned that his speech is a probability, and not a certain reason to reject that event.
Another Shia sect, the Zaidiyyah followers of Zaid ibn Ali, generally has two views about that. Some branches, such as Jaroudiah (Sarhubiyya), don't accept Umar and Abu Bakr as legitimate caliphs. For instance, Jarudiyya believes that Muhammad appointed Ali and believes that the denial of the Imamate of Ali after Muhammad's passing would lead to infidelity and deviation from the right path. The other view accepts Umar and Abu Bakr as legitimate caliphs, albeit inferior to Ali. According to al-Tabari (and Ibn A'tham), when asked about Abu Bakr and Umar, Zayd ibn Ali replied: "I have not heard anyone in my family renouncing them both nor saying anything but good about them...when they were entrusted with government they behaved justly with the people and acted according to the Qur'an and the Sunnah.".
Family
Umar married nine women in his lifetime and had fourteen children: ten sons and four daughters.
Wives
The known wives of Umar are:
Zaynab bint Madhun, she was the mother of Hafsa and Abdullah
Umm Kulthum bint Jarwal, she was divorced by Umar. She was the mother of Ubayd Allah
Qurayba bint Abi Umayya, divorced by Umar in 628.
Jamila bint Thabit, She married Umar about between May 627 and May 628. They had one son, Asim.
Umm Hakim, She was married to Umar, in 634 and was mother of Fatimah.
Umm Kulthum bint Ali from this marriage Umar had a son named Zayd.
Sons
The sons of Umar are:
Abdullah, born 610 in Mecca
Abd al-Rahman ibn Umar
Zayd, He was the son of Umar and Umm Kulthum bint Ali.
Ubayd Allah
Abd al-Rahman "Abu Shahmah" ibn Umar
Asim ibn Umar
Abd al-Rahman Abu'l-Mujabbar
Iyaad ibn Umar
Abdur Rahman
Zayd ibn Umar
Daughters
The daughters of Umar are:
Hafsa
Fatima
Ruqayya
Zaynab
Archeological evidence
In 2012, an inscription was found on a rock in al-Murakkab (Saudi Arabia) which is thought to be an autograph of Umar's signature.
See also
Al-Farooq, modern biography about Umar
Omar ibn al-Khattab Mosque, is a historic mosque in Dumat al-Jandal in northern Arabia, it was built by Umar.
Al Farooq Omar Bin Al Khattab Mosque, mosque named for him in Dubai
Sahaba
Farooqi
Omar (TV series)
Pact of Umar
Umar ibn Ibrahim ibn Waqid al-Umari
References
Notes
Bibliography
Guillaume, A., The Life of Muhammad, Oxford University Press, 1955.
Previte-Orton, C. W. (1971). The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Donner, Fred, The Early Islamic Conquests, Princeton University Press, 1981.
Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, Faber and Faber, 1991.
Madelung, Wilferd, The Succession to Muhammad, Cambridge University Press, 1997.
External links
Excerpt from The History of the Khalifahs by Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti
Sirah of Amirul Muminin Umar Bin Khattab by Shaykh Sayyed Muhammad bin Yahya al-Husayni al-Ninowy.
584 births
644 deaths
7th-century caliphs
7th-century murdered monarchs
Assassinated caliphs
Deaths by blade weapons
Male murder victims
People of the Muslim conquest of Persia
People who memorized the Quran
Rashidun caliphs
Sahabah who participated in the battle of Uhud
Shahnameh characters
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"Land reform refers to efforts to reform the ownership and regulation of land in India. Or, those lands which are redistributed by the government from landholders to landless people for agriculture or special purpose is known as Land Reform.\n\nGoals \nLand distribution has been part of India's state policy from the very beginning. Independent India's most revolutionary land policy was perhaps the abolition of the Zamindari system (feudal landholding practices). Land-reform policy in India had two specific objectives:\n\"The first is to remove such impediments to increase in agricultural production as arise from the agrarian structure inherited from the past. The second objective, which is closely related to the first, is to eliminate all elements of exploitation and social injustice within the agrarian system, to provide security for the tiller of the soil and assure equality of status and opportunity to all sections of the rural population.” (Government of India 1961 as quoted by Appu 1996)\n\nCategories \nThere are six main categories of reforms: \n Abolition of intermediaries (rent collectors under the pre-Independence land revenue system); \n Tenancy regulation (to improve the contractual terms including the security of tenure); \n A ceiling on landholdings (to redistributing surplus land to the landless); \n Attempts to consolidate disparate landholdings;\nencouragement of cooperative joint farming;\nsettlement and regulation of tenancy.\n\nHistory \nSince its independence in 1947, there has been voluntary and state-initiated/mediated land reforms in several states with dual objective of efficient use of land and ensuring social justice. The most notable and successful example of land reforms are in the states of West Bengal and Kerala. Other than these state-sponsored attempts of reforming land ownership and control, there was another attempt to bring changes in the regime which achieved limited success; famously known as Bhoodan movement (Government of India, Ministry of Rural Development 2003, Annex XXXIX). Some other research has shown that during the movement, in the Vidarbha region, 14 per cent of the land records are incomplete, thus prohibiting transfer to the poor. 24 per cent of the land promised had never actually become part of the movement. The Gramdan which arguably took place in 160,000 pockets did not legalise the process under the state laws (Committee on Land Reform 2009, 77, Ministry of Rural Development).\n\nAfter promising land reforms and elected to power in West Bengal in 1977, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) kept their word and initiated gradual land reforms, such as Operation Barga. Though the Land Reform system was done under the Leadership of Hare Krishna Konar and Benoy Choudhury. The result was a more equitable distribution of land among the landless farmers, and enumeration of landless farmers. This has ensured an almost lifelong loyalty from the farmers and the communists were in power till 2011 assembly election.\n\nIn land reform in Kerala, the only other large state where the CPI(M) came to power, state administrations have actually carried out the most extensive land, tenancy and agrarian labour wage reforms in the non-socialist late-industrialising world. Another successful land reform program was launched in Jammu and Kashmir after 1947.\n\nAll in all, land reforms have been successful only in pockets of the country, as people have often found loopholes in the laws that set limits on the maximum area of land that is allowed to be held by any one person.\n\nErnest Feder, a specialist of rural economics, has said of the matter:\n\n\"...though since 1947, India has enacted perhaps more land reform legislation than any other country in the world, it has not succeeded in changing in any essentials the power pattern, the deep economic disparities, nor the traditional hierarchical nature of intergroup relationships which govern the economic life of village society.\"\n\nLand ceilings\nThe following table shows land ceilings for each state in India.\n\nSee also \n Land reform in Kerala\n\nReferences \n\nIndia\nLand management in India\nReform in India",
"General elections was held in Oman on 15 October 2011 to choose 84-members of the Consultative Assembly.\n\nBackground\n\nFollowing the self-immolation of Mohammed Bouazizi in Tunisia and the consequent 2010-2011 Tunisian uprising, protests around the Arab world for some form of democratic reforms. The Omani protests were crushed by the regime, although reforms were offered.\n\nSultan Qaboos bin Said then said that the Shura Council would get some legislative powers, while he also promised the initiation of programmes to create more jobs and to fight corruption.\n\nVoting registration\nFollowing the protests, about 520,000 people registered for the election, which saw an increase of 388,000 from 2007.\n\nCandidates\nAccording to the Oman News Agency, there were 1,300 candidates, 77 of whom were women, more than any previous election.\n\nCampaign\nAccording to Al Jazeera voters sought an increase in salaries, more jobs and ending graft as part of a campaign against corruption.\n\nElection\nVoting districts that have a population of 30,000 or more choose two MPs, while others have one MP. There were 105 polling stations. The voter turnout was 76%.\n\nReferences\n\n2011\n2011 elections in Asia\n2011 in Oman"
] |
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"Umar",
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"what was a reform that was made?",
"While under his leadership, the empire expanded and he also began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast empire.",
"were there any other reforms?",
"together the vast empire. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy."
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C_654036212102425a9563bc9ff40d6c66_0
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what other reforms did he make?
| 3 |
what other reforms did Umar make besides the administrative reforms and close oversight of public policy?
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Umar
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While under his leadership, the empire expanded and he also began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast empire. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy. He established an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories. During his rule, the garrison cities (amsar) of Basra and Kufa were founded or expanded. In 638, he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina. Umar also ordered the expulsion to Syria and Iraq of the Christian and Jewish communities of Najran and Khaybar. He also permitted Jewish families to resettle in Jerusalem, which had previously been barred from all Jews. He issued orders that these Christians and Jews should be treated well and allotted them the equivalent amount of land in their new settlements. Umar also forbade non-Muslims to reside in the Hejaz for longer than three days. He was first to establish the army as a state department. Umar was founder of Fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded by Sunni Muslims to be one of the greatest Faqih. Umar as a jurist started the process of codifying Islamic Law. In 641, he established Bayt al-mal, a financial institution and started annual allowance for the Muslims. As a leader, 'Umar was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had when Muslims were poor and persecuted. In 638, his fourth year as caliph and the seventeenth year 17 since the Hijra, he decreed that the Islamic calendar should be counted from the year of the Hijra of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina. CANNOTANSWER
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He established an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories.
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ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (; 3 November 644), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, reigning from 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr (632–634) as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate on 23 August 634. Umar was a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was also an expert Muslim jurist known for his pious and just nature, which earned him the epithet al-Farooq ("the one who distinguishes (between right and wrong)").
An arbitator of the Adi clan, Umar initially opposed Muhammad, his distant Qurayshid kinsman. After his conversion to Islam in 616, he became the first Muslim to openly pray at the Kaaba. Umar participated in almost all battles and expeditions under Muhammad, who bestowed the title Al-Farooq ('the Distinguisher') upon Umar, for his judgements. After Muhammad's demise, Umar pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr as the first caliph, and served as a close advisor to the latter until his death in 634, when Abu Bakr nominated Umar as his successor.
Under Umar, the caliphate expanded at an unprecedented rate, ruling the Sasanian Empire and more than two-thirds of the Byzantine Empire. His attacks against the Sasanian Empire resulted in the conquest of Persia in less than two years (642–644). According to Jewish tradition, Umar set aside the Christian ban on Jews and allowed them into Jerusalem and to worship. Umar was assassinated by the Persian slave Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz in 644.
Umar is generally viewed by historians to be one of the most powerful and influential Muslim caliphs in history. He is revered in the Sunni Islamic tradition as a great just ruler and paragon of Islamic virtues, and some hadiths identify him as the second greatest of the Sahabah after Abu Bakr. He is viewed negatively in the Twelver Shia tradition.
Early life
Umar was born in Mecca to the Banu Adi clan, which was responsible for arbitration among the tribes. His father was Khattab ibn Nufayl and his mother was Hantama bint Hisham, from the tribe of Banu Makhzum. In his youth he used to tend to his father's camels in the plains near Mecca. His merchant father was famed for his intelligence among his tribe. Umar himself said: "My father, al-Khattab, was a ruthless man. He used to make me work hard; if I didn't work he used to beat me and he used to work me to exhaustion."
Despite literacy being uncommon in pre-Islamic Arabia, Umar learned to read and write in his youth. Though not a poet himself, he developed a love for poetry and literature. According to the tradition of Quraish, while still in his teenage years, Umar learned martial arts, horse riding and wrestling. He was tall, physically powerful and a renowned wrestler. He was also a gifted orator who succeeded his father as an arbitrator among the tribes.
Umar became a merchant and made several journeys to Rome and Persia, where he is said to have met various scholars and analyzed Roman and Persian societies. As a merchant he was unsuccessful. Like others around him, Umar was fond of drinking in his pre-Islamic days.
During Muhammad's era
Initial hostility to Islam
In 610, Muhammad started preaching the message of Islam. However, like many others in Mecca, Umar opposed Islam and even threatened to kill Muhammad. He resolved to defend the traditional polytheistic religion of Arabia. He was adamant and cruel in opposing Muhammad, and very prominent in persecuting Muslims. He recommended Muhammad's death. He firmly believed in the unity of the Quraish and saw the new faith of Islam as a cause of division and discord.
Due to persecution, Muhammad ordered some of his followers to migrate to Abyssinia. When a small group of Muslims migrated, Umar became worried about the future unity of the Quraish and decided to have Muhammad assassinated.
Conversion to Islam
Umar converted to Islam in 616, one year after the Migration to Abyssinia.
The story was recounted in Ibn Ishaq's Sīrah. On his way to murder Muhammad, Umar met his best friend Nu'aym ibn Abd Allah who had secretly converted to Islam but had not told Umar. When Umar informed him that he had set out to kill Muhammad, Nu'aym said, “By God, you have deceived yourself, O Umar! Do you think that Banu Abd al-Manaf would let you run around alive once you had killed their son Muhammad? Why don't you return to your own house and at least set it straight?"
Nuaimal Hakim told him to inquire about his own house where his sister and her husband had converted to Islam. Upon arriving at her house, Umar found his sister and brother-in-law Saeed bin Zaid (Umar's cousin) reciting the verses of the Quran from sura Ta-Ha. He started quarreling with his brother-in-law. When his sister came to rescue her husband, he also started quarreling with her. Yet still they kept on saying "you may kill us but we will not give up Islam". Upon hearing these words, Umar slapped his sister so hard that she fell to the ground bleeding from her mouth. When he saw what he did to his sister, he calmed down out of guilt and asked his sister to give him what she was reciting. His sister replied in the negative and said "You are unclean, and no unclean person can touch the Scripture." He insisted, but his sister was not prepared to allow him to touch the pages unless he washed his body. Umar at last gave in. He washed his body and then began to read the verses that were: Verily, I am Allah: there is no God but Me; so serve Me (only), and establish regular prayer for My remembrance (Quran 20:14). He wept and declared, "Surely this is the word of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." On hearing this, Khabbab came out from inside and said: "O, Umar! Glad tidings for you. Yesterday Muhammad prayed to Allah, 'O, Allah! Strengthen Islam with either Umar or Abu Jahl, whomsoever Thou likest.' It seems that his prayer has been answered in your favour."
Umar then went to Muhammad with the same sword he intended to kill him with and accepted Islam in front of him and his companions. Umar was 39 years old when he accepted Islam.
According to one account, after his conversion to Islam Umar openly prayed at the Kaaba as the Quraish chiefs, Abu Jahl and Abu Sufyan, reportedly watched in anger. This further helped the Muslims to gain confidence in practicing Islam openly. At this stage Umar even challenged anyone who dared to stop the Muslims from praying, although no one dared to interfere with Umar when he was openly praying.
Umar's conversion to Islam granted power to the Muslims and to the Islamic faith in Mecca. It was after this event that Muslims offered prayers openly in Masjid al-Haram for the first time. Abdullah Ibn Masud said,
Migration to Medina
In 622 CE, due to the safety offered by Yathrib (later renamed Medīnat an-Nabī, or simply Medina), Muhammad ordered his followers to migrate to Medina. Most Muslims migrated at night fearing Quraish resistance, but Umar is reported to have left openly during the day saying: "Any one who wants to make his wife a widow and his children orphans should come and meet me there behind that cliff." Umar migrated to Medina accompanied by his cousin and brother-in-law Saeed ibn Zaid.
Life in Medina
When Muhammad arrived in Medina, he paired each immigrant (Muhajir) with one of the residents of the city (Ansari), joining Muhammad ibn Maslamah with Umar, making them brothers in faith. Later in Umar's reign as caliph, Muhammad ibn Muslamah would be assigned the office of Chief Inspector of Accountability.
Muslims remained in peace in Medina for approximately a year before the Quraish raised an army to attack them.
In 624, Umar participated in the first battle between Muslims and Quraish of Mecca i.e., the Battle of Badr. In 625, he took part in the Battle of Uhud. In the second phase of the battle, when Khalid ibn Walid's cavalry attacked the Muslim rear, turning the tide of battle, rumours of Muhammad's death were spread and many Muslim warriors were routed from the battlefield, Umar among them. However, hearing that Muhammad was still alive, he went to Muhammad at the mountain of Uhud and prepared for the defence of the hill.
Later in the year Umar was a part of a campaign against the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir.
In 625, Umar's daughter Hafsah was married to Muhammad.
Later in 627, he participated in the Battle of the Trench and also in the Battle of Banu Qurayza. In 628, Umar witnessed the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.
In 628, he fought in the Battle of Khaybar. In 629, Muhammad sent Amr ibn al-A’as to Zaat-ul-Sallasal, after which, Muhammad sent Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah with reinforcements, including Abu Bakr and Umar, whereupon they attacked and defeated the enemy.
In 630, when Muslim armies rushed for the conquest of Mecca, he was part of that army. Later in 630, he fought in the Battle of Hunayn and the Siege of Ta'if. He was part of the Muslim army that contested the Battle of Tabouk under Muhammad's command and he was reported to have given half of his wealth for the preparation of this expedition. He also participated in the farewell Hajj of Muhammad in 632.
Death of Muhammad
When Muhammad died on 8 June 632 Umar initially disbelieved that he was dead. It is said that Umar promised to strike the head of any man who would say that Muhammad died. Umar said: "He has not died but rather he has gone to his lord just as Moses went, remaining absent from his people for forty nights after which he has returned to them. By Allah, the messenger of Allah will indeed return just as Moses returned (to his people) and he will cut off the hands and legs of those men who claimed he has died." Abu Bakr then publicly spoke to the community in the mosque, saying:
Abū Bakr then recited these verses from the Qur'an:
Hearing this, Umar fell on his knees in sorrow and acceptance. Sunni Muslims say that this denial of Muhammad's death was occasioned by his deep love for him.
Foundation of the caliphate
Umar's political capacity first manifested as the architect of the caliphate after Muhammad died on 8 June 632. While the funeral of Muhammad was being arranged a group of Muhammad's followers who were natives of Medina, the Ansar (helpers), organised a meeting on the outskirts of the city, effectively locking out those companions known as Muhajirs (The Emigrants) including Umar. Umar found out about this meeting at Saqifah Bani Saadah, and, taking with him two other Muhajirs, Abu Bakr and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, proceeded to the meeting, presumably to head off the Ansars' plans for political separation. Arriving at the meeting, Umar was faced with a unified community of tribes from the Ansar who refused to accept the leadership of the Muhajirs. However, Umar was undeterred in his belief the caliphate should be under the control of the Muhajirs. Though the Khazraj were in disagreement, Umar, after strained negotiations lasting one or two days, brilliantly divided the Ansar into their old warring factions of Aws and Khazraj tribes. Umar resolved the divisions by placing his hand on that of Abu Bakr as a unity candidate for those gathered in the Saqifah. Others at the Saqifah followed suit, with the exception of the Khazraj tribe and their leader, Sa'd ibn 'Ubada, who were ostracized as a result. The Khazraj tribe is said to have posed no significant threat as there were sufficient men of war from the Medinan tribes such as the Banu Aws to immediately organize them into a military bodyguard for Abu Bakr.
Wilferd Madelung summarises Umar's contribution:
According to various Twelver Shia sources and Madelung, Umar and Abu Bakr had in effect mounted a political coup against Ali at the Saqifah According to one version of narrations in primary sources, Umar and Abu Bakr are also said to have used force to try to secure the allegiance from Ali and his party. It has been reported in mainly Persian historical sources written 300 years later, such as in the History of al-Tabari, that after Ali's refusal to pay homage, Abu Bakr sent Umar with an armed contingent to Fatimah's house where Ali and his supporters are said to have gathered. Umar is reported to have warned those in the House that unless Ali succumbed to Abu Bakr, he would set the House on fire and under these circumstances Ali was forced to capitulate. This version of events, fully accepted by Shia scholars, is generally rejected by Sunni scholars who, in view of other reports in their literature, believe that Ali gave an oath of alliance to Abu Bakr without any grievance. But then other Sunni and Shia sources say that Ali did not swear allegiance to Abu Bakr after his election but six months later after the death of his wife Fatimah putting into question al-Tabari's account. Either way the Sunni and the Shia accounts both accept that Ali felt that Abu Bakr should have informed him before going into the meeting with the Ansar and that Ali did swear allegiance to Abu Bakr.
Western scholars tend to agree that Ali believed he had a clear mandate to succeed Muhammad, but offer differing views as to the extent of use of force by Umar in an attempt to intimidate Ali and his supporters. For instance, Madelung discounts the possibility of the use of force and argues that:
According to Tom Holland, Umar's historicity is beyond dispute. An Armenian bishop writing a decade or so after Qadisiyya describes Umar as a "mighty potentate coordinating the advance of the sons of Ismael from the depths of the desert". Tom Holland writes "What added incomparably to his prestige, was that his earth-shaking qualities as a generalissimo were combined with the most distinctive cast of virtues. Rather than ape the manner of a Caesar, as the Ghassanid kings had done, he drew on the example of a quite different kind of Christian. Umar's threadbare robes, his diet of bread, salt and water, and his rejection of worldly riches would have reminded anyone from the desert reaches beyond Palestine of a very particular kind of person. Monks out in the Judaean desert had long been casting themselves as warriors of God. The achievement of Umar was to take such language to a literal and previously unimaginable extreme."
Abu Bakr's era
Due to the delicate political situation in Arabia, Umar initially opposed military operations against the rebel tribes there, hoping to gain their support in the event of an invasion by the Romans or the Persians. Later, however, he came to agree with Abu Bakr's strategy to crush the rebellion by force. By late 632 CE, Khalid ibn Walid had successfully united Arabia after consecutive victories against the rebels. During his own reign later, Umar would mostly adopt the policy of avoiding wars and consolidating his power in the incorporated lands rather than expanding his empire through continuous warfare.
Umar advised Abu Bakr to compile the Quran in the form of a book after 300 huffāẓ (memorizers) of the Quran died in the Battle of Yamamah.
Appointment as a caliph
Abu Bakr appointed Umar as his successor before dying in 634 CE. Due to his strict and autocratic nature, Umar was not a very popular figure among the notables of Medina and members of Majlis al Shura; accordingly, high-ranking companions of Abu Bakr attempted to discourage him from naming Umar.
Nevertheless, Abu Bakr decided to make Umar his successor.
Umar was well known for his extraordinary willpower, intelligence, political astuteness, impartiality, justice, and care for the poor.
Abu Bakr is reported to have said to the high-ranking advisers:
Abu Bakr was aware of Umar's power and ability to succeed him. His was perhaps one of the smoothest transitions of power from one authority to another in the Muslim lands.
Before his death, Abu Bakr called Uthman to write his will in which he declared Umar his successor. In his will he instructed Umar to continue the conquests on Iraqi and Syrian fronts.
Reign as caliph
Initial challenges
Even though almost all of the Muslims had given their pledge of loyalty to Umar, he was feared more than loved. According to Muhammad Husayn Haykal, the first challenge for Umar was to win over his subjects and the members of Majlis al Shura.
Umar was a gifted orator, and he used his ability to improve his reputation among the people.
Muhammad Husayn Haykal wrote that Umar's stress was on the well-being of the poor and underprivileged.
In addition to this, Umar, in order to improve his reputation and relation with the Banu Hashim, the tribe of Ali, delivered to the latter his disputed estates in Khayber. He followed Abu Bakr's decision over the disputed land of Fidak, continuing to treat it as state property.
In the Ridda wars, thousands of prisoners from rebel and apostate tribes were taken away as slaves during the expeditions. Umar ordered a general amnesty for the prisoners, and their immediate emancipation. This made Umar quite popular among the Bedouin tribes.
With the necessary public support on his side, Umar took the bold decision of recalling Khalid ibn Walid from supreme command on the Roman front.
Political and civil administration
The government of Umar was a unitary government, where the sovereign political authority was the caliph. The empire of Umar was divided into provinces and some autonomous territories, e.g., Azerbaijan and Armenia, that had accepted the suzerainty of the caliphate. The provinces were administered by the provincial governors or Wali, personally and fastidiously selected by Umar. Provinces were further divided into about 100 districts. Each district or main city was under the charge of a junior governor or Amir, usually appointed by Umar himself, but occasionally also appointed by the provincial governor. Other officers at the provincial level were:
Katib, the Chief Secretary.
Katib-ud-Diwan, the Military Secretary.
Sahib-ul-Kharaj, the Revenue Collector.
Sahib-ul-Ahdath, the Police chief.
Sahib-Bait-ul-Mal, the Treasury Officer.
Qadi, the Chief Judge.
In some districts there were separate military officers, though the Wali was, in most cases, the Commander-in-chief of the army quartered in the province.
Every appointment was made in writing. At the time of appointment an instrument of instructions was issued with a view to regulating the Wali's conduct. On assuming office, the Wali was required to assemble the people in the main mosque, and read the instrument of instructions before them.
Umar's general instructions to his officers were:
Various other strict codes of conduct were to be obeyed by the governors and state officials. The principal officers were required to travel to Mecca on the occasion of the Hajj, during which people were free to present any complaint against them. In order to minimize the chances of corruption, Umar made it a point to pay high salaries to the staff. Provincial governors received as much as five to seven thousand dirham annually besides their shares of the spoils of war (if they were also the commander in chief of the army of their sector).
Under Umar the empire was divided into the following provinces:
Mecca (Arabia)
Medina (Arabia)
Basra (Iraq)
Kufa (Iraq)
Jazira, in the upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates
Syria
Iliyā' (إلياء) (Palestine)
Ramlah (Palestine)
Upper Egypt
Lower Egypt
Khorasan (Persia)
Azerbaijan (Persia)
Fars (Persia)
Umar was first to establish a special department for the investigation of complaints against the officers of the State. This department acted as the Administrative court, where the legal proceedings were personally led by Umar.
The department was under the charge of Muhammad ibn Maslamah, one of Umar's most trusted men. In important cases Muhammad ibn Maslamah was deputed by Umar to proceed to the spot, investigate the charge and take action. Sometimes an Inquiry Commission was constituted to investigate the charge. On occasion, the officers against whom complaints were received were summoned to Medina, and charged in Umar's administrative court.
Umar was known for this intelligence service through which he made his officials accountable. This service was also said to have inspired fear in his subjects.
Umar was a pioneer in some affairs:
Umar was the first to introduce the public ministry system, where the records of officials and soldiers were kept. He also kept a record system for messages he sent to Governors and heads of state.
He was the first to appoint police forces to keep civil order.
He was the first to discipline the people when they became disordered.
Another important aspect of Umar's rule was that he forbade any of his governors and agents from engaging in any sort of business dealings whilst in a position of power. An agent of Umar by the name of Al Harith ibn K'ab ibn Wahb was once found to have extra money beyond his salary and Umar enquired about his wealth. Al Harith replied that he had some money and he engaged in trade with it. Umar said: By Allah, we did not send you to engage in trade! and he took from him the profits he had made.
Canals
Since Medina, with a rapidly growing population, was at risk of recurring famines when crops were lacking, Umar sought to facilitate the import of grain. He ordered the building of a canal connecting the Nile to the Red Sea and an improvement of port infrastructure on the Arabian coast. When Basra was established during Umar's rule, he started building a nine-mile canal from the Tigris to the new city for irrigation and drinking water. Al-Tabari reports that Utba ibn Ghazwan built the first canal from the Tigris River to the site of Basra when the city was in the planning stage. After the city was built, Umar appointed Abu Musa Ashaari (17-29/638 – 650) as its first governor. He began building two important canals, the al-Ubulla and the Ma'qil, linking Basra with the Tigris River. These two canals were the basis for the agricultural development for the whole Basra region and used for drinking water. Umar also adopted a policy of assigning barren lands to those who undertook to cultivate them. This policy continued during the Umayyad period and resulted in the cultivation of large areas of barren lands through the construction of irrigation canals by the state and by individuals.
Reforms
Under Umar's leadership, the empire expanded; accordingly, he began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast territory. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy, establishing an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories. During his rule, the garrison cities (amsar) of Basra and Kufa were founded or expanded. In 638, he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina.
Umar also ordered the expulsion to Syria and Iraq of the Christian and Jewish communities of Najran and Khaybar. He also permitted Jewish families to resettle in Jerusalem, which had previously been barred from all Jews. He issued orders that these Christians and Jews should be treated well and allotted them the equivalent amount of land in their new settlements. Umar also forbade non-Muslims from residing in the Hejaz for longer than three days.
He was first to establish the army as a state department.
Umar was founder of Fiqh, or Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded by Sunni Muslims as one of the greatest Faqih, and, as such, he started the process of codifying Islamic Law.
In 641, he established Bayt al-mal, a financial institution and started annual allowances for the Muslims.
As a leader, Umar was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had when Muslims were poor and persecuted. In 638, his fourth year as caliph and the seventeenth year since the Hijra, he decreed that the Islamic calendar should be counted from the year of the Hijra of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina.
Visit to Jerusalem in 637 CE
Umar's visit to Jerusalem is documented in several sources. A recently discovered Judeo-Arabic text has disclosed the following anecdote:
"Umar ordered Gentiles and a group of Jews to sweep the area of the Temple Mount. Umar oversaw the work. The Jews who had come sent letters to the rest of the Jews in Palestine and informed them that Umar had permitted resettlement of Jerusalem by Jews. Umar, after some consultation, permitted seventy Jewish households to return. They returned to live in the southern part of the city, i.e., the Market of the Jews. (Their aim was to be near the water of Silwan and the Temple Mount and its gates). Then the Commander Umar granted them this request. The seventy families moved to Jerusalem from Tiberias and the area around it with their wives and children."
It is also reported in the name of the Alexandrian Bishop Eutychius (932–940 CE) that the rock known as the Temple Mount had been a place of ruins as far back as the time of the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, who built churches in Jerusalem. "The Byzantines," he said, "had deliberately left the ancient site of the Temple as it was, and had even thrown rubbish on it, so that a great heap of rubble formed." It was only when Umar marched into Jerusalem with an army that he asked Kaab, who was Jewish before he converted to Islam, "Where do you advise me to build a place of worship?" Kaab indicated the Temple Rock, now a gigantic heap of ruins from the temple of Jupiter. The Jews, Kaab explained, had briefly won back their old capital a quarter of a century before (when Persians overran Syria and Palestine), but they had not had time to clear the site of the Temple, for the Rums (Byzantines) had recaptured the city. It was then that Umar ordered the rubbish on the Ṣakhra (rock) to be removed by the Nabataeans, and after three showers of heavy rain had cleansed the Rock, he instituted prayers there. To this day, the place is known as ḳubbat es ṣakhra, the Dome of the Rock.
According to lexicographer David ben Abraham al-Fasi (died before 1026 CE), the Muslim conquest of Palestine brought relief to the country's Jewish citizens, who had previously been barred by the Byzantines from praying on the Temple Mount.
Military expansion
The military conquests were partially terminated between 638 and 639 during the years of great famine in Arabia and plague in the Levant. During his reign the Levant, Egypt, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, Fezzan, Eastern Anatolia, almost the whole of the Sassanid Persian Empire including Bactria, Persia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Caucasus and Makran were annexed to the Rashidun Caliphate. According to one estimate more than 4,050 cities were captured during these military conquests. Prior to his death in 644, Umar had ceased all military expeditions apparently to consolidate his rule in recently conquered Roman Egypt and the newly conquered Sassanid Empire (642–644). At his death in November 644, his rule extended from present day Libya in the west to the Indus river in the east and the Oxus river in the north.
Great famine
In 638 CE, Arabia fell into severe drought followed by a famine. Soon after, the reserves of food at Medina began to run out. Umar ordered caravans of supplies from Syria and Iraq, and personally supervised their distribution. His actions saved countless lives throughout Arabia. The first governor to respond was Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, the governor of Syria and supreme commander of the Rashidun army.
Later, Abu Ubaidah paid a personal visit to Medina and acted as an officer of disaster management, which was headed personally by Umar. For internally displaced people, Umar hosted a dinner every night at Medina, which according to one estimate, had attendance of more than a hundred thousand people.
Great plague
While famine was ending in Arabia, many districts in Syria and Palestine were devastated by plague. While Umar was on his way to visit Syria, at Elat, he was received by Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, governor of Syria, who informed him about the plague and its intensity, and suggested that Umar go back to Medina. Umar tried to persuade Abu Ubaidah to come with him to Medina, but he declined to leave his troops in that critical situation. Abu Ubaidah died in 639 of the plague, which also cost the lives of 25,000 Muslims in Syria. After the plague had weakened, in late 639, Umar visited Syria for political and administrative re-organization, as most of the veteran commanders and governors had died of the plague.
Welfare state
To be close to the poor, Umar lived in a simple mud hut without doors and walked the streets every evening. After consulting with the poor, Umar established the first welfare state, Bayt al-mal. The Bayt al-mal aided the Muslim and non-Muslim poor, needy, elderly, orphans, widows, and the disabled. The Bayt al-mal ran for hundreds of years, from the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century through the Umayyad period (661–750) and well into the Abbasid era. Umar also introduced a child benefit and pensions for the children and the elderly.
Free trade
Local populations of Jews and Christians, persecuted as religious minorities and taxed heavily to finance the Byzantine–Sassanid Wars, often aided Muslims to take over their lands from the Byzantines and Persians, resulting in exceptionally speedy conquests. As new areas were attached to the Caliphate, they also benefited from free trade, while trading with other areas in the Caliphate (to encourage commerce, in Islam trade is not taxed, but wealth is subject to the zakat). Since the so-called Constitution of Medina, drafted by Muhammad, the Jews and the Christians continued to use their own laws in the Caliphate and had their own judges.
Assassination
In 644, Umar was assassinated by a Persian slave named Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz. His motivation for the assassination is not clear. One possible explanation was that it was done in response to the Muslim conquest of Persia. The assassination was planned several months earlier. In October 644, Umar undertook a Hajj to Mecca, during which the assassins pronounced Umar's imminent death that year, and the massive crowd of the congregation was used by the conspirators as a veil to hide themselves.
During one of rituals of Hajj, the Ramy al-Jamarat (stoning of the Devil), someone threw a stone at Umar that wounded his head; a voice was heard that Umar will not attend the Hajj ever again.
Abu Lu'lu'a brought a complaint to Umar about the high tax charged by his master Mughirah. Umar wrote to Mughirah and inquired about the tax; Mughirah's reply was satisfactory, but Umar held that the tax charged to Abu Lu'lu'a was reasonable, owing to his daily income. Umar then is reported to have asked Abu Lu'lu'a: "I heard that you make windmills; make one for me as well." In a sullen mood, Abu Lu'lu'a said, "Verily I will make such a mill for you, that the whole world would remember it".
It was Abu Lu'lu'a who was assigned the mission of assassinating Umar. According to the plan, before the Fajr prayers (the morning prayers before the dawn) Abu Lu'lu'a would enter al-Masjid al-Nabawi, the main mosque of Medina where Umar led the prayers and would attack Umar during the prayers, and then flee or mix with the congregation at the mosque.
On 31 October 644, Abu Lu'lu'a attacked Umar while he was leading the morning prayers, stabbing him six times in the belly and finally in the navel, that proved fatal. Umar was left profusely bleeding while Abu Lu'lu'a tried to flee, but people from all sides rushed to capture him; in his efforts to escape he is reported to have wounded twelve other people, six or nine of whom later died, before slashing himself with his own blade to commit suicide.
Umar died of the wounds three days later on Wednesday 3 November 644 (26 Dhu al-Hijjah 23 AH).
He was buried at the Green Dome in al-Masjid al-Nabawi alongside Muhammad and caliph Abu Bakr by the permission of Aisha.
Aftermath
On his deathbed, Umar vacillated on his succession. However, it has been reported that he said that if Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, Khalid ibn Walid or Salim, the mawla and freed Persian slave, were alive he would have appointed one of them his successor. Umar finally appointed a committee of six persons to choose a caliph from amongst them: Abdur Rahman bin Awf, Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, Talha ibn Ubaidullah, Uthman ibn Affan, Ali ibn Abi Talib and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam.
All six are among the ten to whom Paradise was promised according to Sunnis. The only one out of the 'famous ten' left out of the committee who was still alive at the time was Saeed ibn Zaid, the cousin and brother-in-law of Umar. He was excluded on the basis of being related by blood and of the same tribe as Umar. Umar had a policy of not appointing anyone related to him to a position of authority even if they were qualified by his standards.
Umar appointed a band of fifty armed soldiers to protect the house where the meeting was proceeding.
Until the appointment of the next caliph, Umar appointed a notable Sahabi and mawla, Suhayb ar-Rumi (Suhayb the Roman), as a caretaker caliph.
While the meeting for selection of a caliph was proceeding, Abdulrehman ibn Abu Bakr and Abdur Rahman bin Awf revealed that they saw the dagger used by Abu Lu'lu'a, the assassin of Umar. A night before Umar's assassination, reported Abdur Rahman bin Awf, he saw Hurmuzan, Jafina and Abu Lu'lu'a, while they were suspiciously discussing something. Surprised by his presence, the dagger fell; it was the same two-sided dagger used in the assassination. Abdulrehman ibn Abu Bakr, son of the late caliph Abu Bakr, confirmed that, a few days before Umar's assassination, he saw this dagger in Hurmuzan's possession. After this revelation, it seemed clear that it had been planned by the Persians residing in Medina. Infuriated by this, Umar's younger son Ubaidullah ibn Umar sought to kill all the Persians in Medina. He killed Hurmuzan, Jafinah, and the daughter of Umar's assassin Abu Lu'lu'a, who is believed to have been a Muslim. Ubaidullah was intercepted by the people of Medina, who prevented him from continuing the massacre. Amr ibn al-Aas is said to have intercepted him and convinced him to hand over his sword. The murder of Jafinah enraged Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, his foster brother, and he assaulted Ubaidullah ibn Umar; again the companions intervened. When Umar was informed about the incident, he ordered Ubaidullah imprisoned, and that the next caliph should decide his fate.
Umar died on 3 November 644; on 7 November Uthman succeeded him as caliph. After prolonged negotiations, the tribunal decided to give blood money to the victims, and released Umar's son Ubaidullah on the ground that, after the tragedy of Umar's assassination, people would be further infuriated by the execution of his son the very next day.
Physical appearance
Umar was strong, fit, athletic and good at wrestling. He is said to have participated in the wrestling matches on the occasion of the annual fair of Ukaz. From first hand accounts of his physical appearance Umar is said to be vigorous, robust and a very tall man; in markets he would tower above the people. The front part of his head was bald, always A'sara Yusran (working with two hands), both his eyes were black, with yellow skin; however, ibn Sa'ad in his book stated that he never knew that Umar had yellow skin, except for a certain part of Umar's life where his color changed due to his frequent consumption of oil. Others say he had reddish-white skin. His teeth were ashnabul asnan (very white shining). He would always color his beard and take care of his hair using a type of plant.
The early Muslim historians Ibn Saad and al-Hakim mention that Abu Miriam Zir, a native of Kufa, described Umar as being "advanced in years, bald, of a tawny colour – a left handed man, tall and towering above the people". Umar's eldest son Abdullah described his father as "a man of fair complexion, a ruddy tint prevailing, tall, bald and grey". Historian Salima bin al-Akwa'a said that "Umar was ambidextrous, he could use both his hands equally well". On the authority of Abu Raja al-U'taridi, Ibn Asakir records that "Umar was a man tall, stout, very bald, very ruddy with scanty hair on the cheeks, his moustaches large, and the ends thereof reddish".
Assessments
Political legacy
One writer states that Umar was a political genius and, as an architect of the Islamic Empire, rates him as the 52nd most influential figure in history. Umar was one of Muhammad's chief advisers. After Muhammad's passing, it was Umar who reconciled the Medinan Muslims to accept Abu Bakr, a Meccan, as the caliph. During Abu Bakr's era, he actively participated as his secretary and main adviser. After succeeding Abu Bakr as caliph, Umar won over the hearts of Bedouin tribes by emancipating all their prisoners and slaves taken during the Ridda wars.
He built up an efficient administrative structure that held together his vast realm. He organized an effective intelligence network, one of the reasons for his strong grip on his bureaucracy.
Umar never appointed governors for more than two years, for they might amass too much local power. He dismissed his most successful general, Khalid ibn Walid, because he wanted people to know that it is Allah who grants victory, and to counter the cult of personality that had built up around Khalid, for the sake of the Muslim faith.
He would patrol the streets of Medina with a whip in his hand, ready to punish any offenders he might come across. It is said that Umar's whip was feared more than the sword of another man. But with all of this, he was also known for being kindhearted, answering the needs of the fatherless and widows.
Umar's swift imposition of justice against his governors for misdeeds made even powerful governors such as Muawiyah scared of him. Ali ibn Abu Talib, during the later rule of Uthman ibn Affan, wanted Uthman to be more strict with his governors, saying, "I adjure you by God, do you know that Mu'awiyah was more afraid of Umar than was Umar's own servant Yarfa?"
Under Umar's rule, in order to promote strict discipline, Arab soldiers were settled outside of cities, between the desert and cultivated lands in special garrison towns known as "amsar". Known examples of such settlements are Basra and Kufa, in Iraq, and Fustat south of what would later become Cairo. His soldiers were forbidden to own land outside of Arabia. There were restrictions on their right to seize buildings and other immovable things usually thought of as prizes of war. Movable spoils were shared with the people of the umma, regardless of their social stratum.
A modern researcher writes about this:
In The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Gibbon refers to Umar in the following terms:
His rule was one of the few moments in the history of Islam where Muslims were united as a single community. Abdullah ibn Masʿud would often weep whenever the subject of Umar was brought up. He said: "Umar was a fortress of Islam. People would enter Islam and not leave. When he died, the fortress was breached and now people are going out of Islam". Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah before Umar died famously said: "If Umar dies, Islam would be weakened". People asked him why and his reply was "You will see what I am speaking about if you survive."
His greatest achievement from a religious perspective was the compilation of the Qur'an. This had not been done during the time of Muhammad. However, during the Battle of Yamama a great number of the memorizers of the Quran perished in the battle. On the advice of Umar, Abu Bakr tasked Zayd ibn Thabit with the momentous task of compiling the Quran into a single Book.
Military legacy
Along with Khalid ibn Walid, Umar was influential in the Ridda wars.
One strategic success was his sundering of the Byzantine-Sassanid alliance in 636, when Emperor Heraclius and Emperor Yazdegerd III allied against their common enemy. He was lucky in that the Persian Emperor Yazdegerd III couldn't synchronize with Heraclius as planned. Umar fully availed himself of the opportunity by inducing the Byzantines to act prematurely. This was contrary to the orders of Emperor Heraclius, who presumably wanted a coordinated attack along with the Persians. Umar did this by sending reinforcements to the Roman front in the Battle of Yarmouk, with instructions that they should appear in the form of small bands, one after the other, giving the impression of a continuous stream of reinforcements that finally lured the Byzantines to an untimely battle. On the other hand, Yazdegerd III was engaged in negotiations that further gave Umar time to transfer his troops from Syria to Iraq. These troops proved decisive in the Battle of Qadisiyyah.
His strategy resulted in a Muslim victory at the Second Battle of Emesa in 638, where the pro-Byzantine Christian Arabs of Jazira, aided by the Byzantine Emperor, made an unexpected flanking movement and laid siege to Emesa (Homs).
Umar issued an order to invade the very homeland of the Christian Arab forces besieging Emesa, the Jazirah. A three-pronged attack against Jazirah was launched from Iraq. To further pressure the Christian Arab armies, Umar instructed Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, commander of Muslim forces in Iraq, to send reinforcements to Emesa. Umar himself led reinforcements there from Medina. Under this unprecedented pressure, the Christian Arabs retreated from Emesa before Muslim reinforcements could arrive. The Muslims annexed Mesopotamia and parts of Byzantine Armenia.
After the Battle of Nahavand, Umar launched a full-scale invasion of the Sassanid Persian Empire. The invasion was a series of well-coordinated multi-pronged attacks designed to isolate and destroy their targets. Umar launched the invasion by attacking the very heart of Persia, aiming to isolate Azerbaijan and eastern Persia. This was immediately followed by simultaneous attacks on Azerbaijan and Fars. Next, Sistan and Kirman were captured, thus isolating the stronghold of Persia, the Khurasan. The final expedition was launched against Khurasan, where, after the Battle of Oxus River, the Persian empire ceased to exist, and Yazdegerd III fled to Central Asia.
Religious legacy
Sunni views
Umar is remembered by Sunnis as a rigid Muslim of a sound and just disposition in matters of religion; a man they title Farooq, meaning "leader, jurist and statesman", and the second of the rightly guided caliphs. He patched his clothes with skin, took buckets on his two shoulders, always riding his donkey without the saddle, rarely laughing and never joking with anyone. On his ring is written the words "Enough is Death as a reminder to you O' Umar". He did not seek advancement for his own family, but rather sought to advance the interests of the Muslim community, the ummah. According to one of Muhammad's companions, Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud:
Shia views
Umar is viewed very negatively in the literature of Twelver Shi'a (the main branch of Shia Islam) and is often regarded as a usurper of Ali's right to the Caliphate. After the Saqifah assembly chose Abu Bakr as caliph, Umar marched with armed men to Ali's house in order to get the allegiance of Ali and his supporters. Sources indicate that a threat was made to burn Ali's house if he refused, but the encounter ended when Fatimah, wife of Ali, intervened. According to the majority of Twelver scholar writings, Fatimah was physically assaulted by Umar, that this caused her to miscarry her child, Muhsin ibn Ali, and led to her death soon after. (see Umar at Fatimah's house). However, some Twelver scholars, such as Fadhlalla, reject these accounts of physical abuse as a "myth", although Fadlallah mentioned that his speech is a probability, and not a certain reason to reject that event.
Another Shia sect, the Zaidiyyah followers of Zaid ibn Ali, generally has two views about that. Some branches, such as Jaroudiah (Sarhubiyya), don't accept Umar and Abu Bakr as legitimate caliphs. For instance, Jarudiyya believes that Muhammad appointed Ali and believes that the denial of the Imamate of Ali after Muhammad's passing would lead to infidelity and deviation from the right path. The other view accepts Umar and Abu Bakr as legitimate caliphs, albeit inferior to Ali. According to al-Tabari (and Ibn A'tham), when asked about Abu Bakr and Umar, Zayd ibn Ali replied: "I have not heard anyone in my family renouncing them both nor saying anything but good about them...when they were entrusted with government they behaved justly with the people and acted according to the Qur'an and the Sunnah.".
Family
Umar married nine women in his lifetime and had fourteen children: ten sons and four daughters.
Wives
The known wives of Umar are:
Zaynab bint Madhun, she was the mother of Hafsa and Abdullah
Umm Kulthum bint Jarwal, she was divorced by Umar. She was the mother of Ubayd Allah
Qurayba bint Abi Umayya, divorced by Umar in 628.
Jamila bint Thabit, She married Umar about between May 627 and May 628. They had one son, Asim.
Umm Hakim, She was married to Umar, in 634 and was mother of Fatimah.
Umm Kulthum bint Ali from this marriage Umar had a son named Zayd.
Sons
The sons of Umar are:
Abdullah, born 610 in Mecca
Abd al-Rahman ibn Umar
Zayd, He was the son of Umar and Umm Kulthum bint Ali.
Ubayd Allah
Abd al-Rahman "Abu Shahmah" ibn Umar
Asim ibn Umar
Abd al-Rahman Abu'l-Mujabbar
Iyaad ibn Umar
Abdur Rahman
Zayd ibn Umar
Daughters
The daughters of Umar are:
Hafsa
Fatima
Ruqayya
Zaynab
Archeological evidence
In 2012, an inscription was found on a rock in al-Murakkab (Saudi Arabia) which is thought to be an autograph of Umar's signature.
See also
Al-Farooq, modern biography about Umar
Omar ibn al-Khattab Mosque, is a historic mosque in Dumat al-Jandal in northern Arabia, it was built by Umar.
Al Farooq Omar Bin Al Khattab Mosque, mosque named for him in Dubai
Sahaba
Farooqi
Omar (TV series)
Pact of Umar
Umar ibn Ibrahim ibn Waqid al-Umari
References
Notes
Bibliography
Guillaume, A., The Life of Muhammad, Oxford University Press, 1955.
Previte-Orton, C. W. (1971). The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Donner, Fred, The Early Islamic Conquests, Princeton University Press, 1981.
Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, Faber and Faber, 1991.
Madelung, Wilferd, The Succession to Muhammad, Cambridge University Press, 1997.
External links
Excerpt from The History of the Khalifahs by Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti
Sirah of Amirul Muminin Umar Bin Khattab by Shaykh Sayyed Muhammad bin Yahya al-Husayni al-Ninowy.
584 births
644 deaths
7th-century caliphs
7th-century murdered monarchs
Assassinated caliphs
Deaths by blade weapons
Male murder victims
People of the Muslim conquest of Persia
People who memorized the Quran
Rashidun caliphs
Sahabah who participated in the battle of Uhud
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"The were an array of new policies introduced in 1866 by the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. The reforms created in reaction to the rising violence on the part of Satsuma and other domains; the initial steps taken during this period became a key part of the reforms and changes made during the rule of Emperor Meiji.\n\nWhen the shōgun and Emperor happened to both die at the same time, the bakufu (shogunate government) created the Keiō Reform to keep Japan from falling into disunity or disarray. It Westernized many aspects of the system of bureaucracy, the military, and the economy, focusing on governmental promotions by merit (not by birth) and trade policies with other nations.\n\nThe bakufu hoped that these Reforms would somehow end the Rebellions of Satsuma and Chōshū – that did not happen. The rebels did not wish to see the bakufu profit from these changes which were so close to the core of what the rebels had been fighting against all along.\n\nThis reform period was preceded by three others during the Edo period: the Kyōhō reforms (1716–1736), the Kansei reforms of the 1790s and the Tenpō reforms (1830–1844).\n\nChronology\nThe shogunate's interventions had only limited success. In addition to the death of the shōgun Iemochi and the death of Emperor Kōmei, intervening factors exacerbated some of the conditions which the shogun intended to ameliorate.\n September 28, 1866 (Keiō 2, 20th day of the 8th month): Shogun Iemochi died at Osaka; and the bakufu petitioned that Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu should be appointed as his successor.\n January 10, 1867 (Keiō 2, 5th day of the 12th month): Yoshinobu was appointed shogun.\n January 30, 1867 (Keiō 2, 25th day of the 12th month): Emperor Komei died.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n McDougall, Walter (1993). \"Let the Sea Make a Noise: Four Hundred Years of Cataclysm, Conquest, War and Folly in the North Pacific\". New York: Avon Books.\n Ponsonby-Fane, Richard A. B. (1956). Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794–1869. Kyoto: The Ponsonby Memorial Society. \n Traugott, Mark. (1995). Repertoires and Cycles of Collective Action. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press. ; ; OCLC 243809107\n\nMeiji Restoration\n1866 in Japan",
"Two land reforms were attempted at ancient Sparta in the 3rd century BC.\n\nBackground \n\nIn the 7th century BC, Sparta conquered much land in wars with neighbouring states. This land, and many of the 500,000 inhabitants thereof, were divided among the 25,000 Spartiates.\n\nBy the 3rd century BC, However, Sparta had been greatly weakened by wars of over 300 years. Fewer than 700 families of the genuine Spartan stock (i.e. full citizenship) remained. In consequence of the innovation introduced by Epitadeus, who procured a repeal of the law which secured to every Spartan head of a family an equal portion of land, the landed property had passed into the hands of very few individuals, so that fewer than 100 Spartan families held estates, while the poor were greatly burdened with debt.\n\nAgis' reforms \n\nIn 244 BC, Sparta was faced by war with the Achaean League. Agis IV, a co-king of Sparta, tried to rehabilitate the military strength of Sparta by social reforms, including:\n General amnesty of debts;\n Redistribution of lands;\n Giving citizenship to a number of provincial inhabitants (\"perioikoi\") in order to make them eligible for army service;\n\nOutcomes \n\nThe landowners, in cooperation with the other co-king Leonidas I, opposed to the reforms. After a lot of fighting, Agis was able to forgive the debts, but not to redistribute the lands.\n\nHis opponents exploited a period when he was absent from Sparta and, on his return he was subjected to a travesty of a trial. In 241 BC, Agis was betrayed by friends, who delivered him to his enemies, and murdered.\n\nCleomenes' reforms \n\nCleomenes III was the son of Leonidas. His father forced him to marry Agiatis, the widow of his political rival Agis. He then fell in love with her, and she convinced him to resume the reforms of Agis.\n\nIn 227, Cleomenes murdered five of the six Ephors (high magistrates) and resumed what Agis could not do – redistribution of land among all Spartiates capable of army service.\n\nHe first handed over all his own land to the state; he was soon followed by his stepfather and his friends and the rest of the citizens. He divided up all the land and gave an equal lot to every citizen. To increase the declining Spartan citizen body, he made some of the perioikoi into citizens.\n\nThere is a controversy about the motives of both Agis' and Cleomenes' reforms. Some historians, such as Plutarch, claim that they were moral patriots who cared for the poor. Modern historians claim that their only goal was to strengthen their army.\n\nOutcomes \n\nCleomenes' reforms excited hostility amongst the wealthy of the Peloponnese who feared social revolution. For others, especially among the poor, Cleomenes inspired hope – a hope that was to be quickly dashed when Cleomenes started taking cities and it became obvious that social reform outside Sparta was the last thing on his mind.\n\nCleomenes was defeated by the Achaeans and fled to Egypt, where he eventually died. His reforms were lost with his death.\n\nSee also \n History of Sparta#3rd century BC\n\nReferences\n\nSources \n \n \n\nSparta\nSparta"
] |
[
"Umar",
"Reforms",
"what was a reform that was made?",
"While under his leadership, the empire expanded and he also began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast empire.",
"were there any other reforms?",
"together the vast empire. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy.",
"what other reforms did he make?",
"He established an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories."
] |
C_654036212102425a9563bc9ff40d6c66_0
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was there another reform?
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was there another reform that Umar initiated other than advancing administration in newly conquered lands, adding several new ministries and bureaucracies and ordering a census of all Muslim territories?
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Umar
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While under his leadership, the empire expanded and he also began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast empire. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy. He established an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories. During his rule, the garrison cities (amsar) of Basra and Kufa were founded or expanded. In 638, he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina. Umar also ordered the expulsion to Syria and Iraq of the Christian and Jewish communities of Najran and Khaybar. He also permitted Jewish families to resettle in Jerusalem, which had previously been barred from all Jews. He issued orders that these Christians and Jews should be treated well and allotted them the equivalent amount of land in their new settlements. Umar also forbade non-Muslims to reside in the Hejaz for longer than three days. He was first to establish the army as a state department. Umar was founder of Fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded by Sunni Muslims to be one of the greatest Faqih. Umar as a jurist started the process of codifying Islamic Law. In 641, he established Bayt al-mal, a financial institution and started annual allowance for the Muslims. As a leader, 'Umar was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had when Muslims were poor and persecuted. In 638, his fourth year as caliph and the seventeenth year 17 since the Hijra, he decreed that the Islamic calendar should be counted from the year of the Hijra of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina. CANNOTANSWER
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he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina.
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ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (; 3 November 644), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, reigning from 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr (632–634) as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate on 23 August 634. Umar was a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was also an expert Muslim jurist known for his pious and just nature, which earned him the epithet al-Farooq ("the one who distinguishes (between right and wrong)").
An arbitator of the Adi clan, Umar initially opposed Muhammad, his distant Qurayshid kinsman. After his conversion to Islam in 616, he became the first Muslim to openly pray at the Kaaba. Umar participated in almost all battles and expeditions under Muhammad, who bestowed the title Al-Farooq ('the Distinguisher') upon Umar, for his judgements. After Muhammad's demise, Umar pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr as the first caliph, and served as a close advisor to the latter until his death in 634, when Abu Bakr nominated Umar as his successor.
Under Umar, the caliphate expanded at an unprecedented rate, ruling the Sasanian Empire and more than two-thirds of the Byzantine Empire. His attacks against the Sasanian Empire resulted in the conquest of Persia in less than two years (642–644). According to Jewish tradition, Umar set aside the Christian ban on Jews and allowed them into Jerusalem and to worship. Umar was assassinated by the Persian slave Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz in 644.
Umar is generally viewed by historians to be one of the most powerful and influential Muslim caliphs in history. He is revered in the Sunni Islamic tradition as a great just ruler and paragon of Islamic virtues, and some hadiths identify him as the second greatest of the Sahabah after Abu Bakr. He is viewed negatively in the Twelver Shia tradition.
Early life
Umar was born in Mecca to the Banu Adi clan, which was responsible for arbitration among the tribes. His father was Khattab ibn Nufayl and his mother was Hantama bint Hisham, from the tribe of Banu Makhzum. In his youth he used to tend to his father's camels in the plains near Mecca. His merchant father was famed for his intelligence among his tribe. Umar himself said: "My father, al-Khattab, was a ruthless man. He used to make me work hard; if I didn't work he used to beat me and he used to work me to exhaustion."
Despite literacy being uncommon in pre-Islamic Arabia, Umar learned to read and write in his youth. Though not a poet himself, he developed a love for poetry and literature. According to the tradition of Quraish, while still in his teenage years, Umar learned martial arts, horse riding and wrestling. He was tall, physically powerful and a renowned wrestler. He was also a gifted orator who succeeded his father as an arbitrator among the tribes.
Umar became a merchant and made several journeys to Rome and Persia, where he is said to have met various scholars and analyzed Roman and Persian societies. As a merchant he was unsuccessful. Like others around him, Umar was fond of drinking in his pre-Islamic days.
During Muhammad's era
Initial hostility to Islam
In 610, Muhammad started preaching the message of Islam. However, like many others in Mecca, Umar opposed Islam and even threatened to kill Muhammad. He resolved to defend the traditional polytheistic religion of Arabia. He was adamant and cruel in opposing Muhammad, and very prominent in persecuting Muslims. He recommended Muhammad's death. He firmly believed in the unity of the Quraish and saw the new faith of Islam as a cause of division and discord.
Due to persecution, Muhammad ordered some of his followers to migrate to Abyssinia. When a small group of Muslims migrated, Umar became worried about the future unity of the Quraish and decided to have Muhammad assassinated.
Conversion to Islam
Umar converted to Islam in 616, one year after the Migration to Abyssinia.
The story was recounted in Ibn Ishaq's Sīrah. On his way to murder Muhammad, Umar met his best friend Nu'aym ibn Abd Allah who had secretly converted to Islam but had not told Umar. When Umar informed him that he had set out to kill Muhammad, Nu'aym said, “By God, you have deceived yourself, O Umar! Do you think that Banu Abd al-Manaf would let you run around alive once you had killed their son Muhammad? Why don't you return to your own house and at least set it straight?"
Nuaimal Hakim told him to inquire about his own house where his sister and her husband had converted to Islam. Upon arriving at her house, Umar found his sister and brother-in-law Saeed bin Zaid (Umar's cousin) reciting the verses of the Quran from sura Ta-Ha. He started quarreling with his brother-in-law. When his sister came to rescue her husband, he also started quarreling with her. Yet still they kept on saying "you may kill us but we will not give up Islam". Upon hearing these words, Umar slapped his sister so hard that she fell to the ground bleeding from her mouth. When he saw what he did to his sister, he calmed down out of guilt and asked his sister to give him what she was reciting. His sister replied in the negative and said "You are unclean, and no unclean person can touch the Scripture." He insisted, but his sister was not prepared to allow him to touch the pages unless he washed his body. Umar at last gave in. He washed his body and then began to read the verses that were: Verily, I am Allah: there is no God but Me; so serve Me (only), and establish regular prayer for My remembrance (Quran 20:14). He wept and declared, "Surely this is the word of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." On hearing this, Khabbab came out from inside and said: "O, Umar! Glad tidings for you. Yesterday Muhammad prayed to Allah, 'O, Allah! Strengthen Islam with either Umar or Abu Jahl, whomsoever Thou likest.' It seems that his prayer has been answered in your favour."
Umar then went to Muhammad with the same sword he intended to kill him with and accepted Islam in front of him and his companions. Umar was 39 years old when he accepted Islam.
According to one account, after his conversion to Islam Umar openly prayed at the Kaaba as the Quraish chiefs, Abu Jahl and Abu Sufyan, reportedly watched in anger. This further helped the Muslims to gain confidence in practicing Islam openly. At this stage Umar even challenged anyone who dared to stop the Muslims from praying, although no one dared to interfere with Umar when he was openly praying.
Umar's conversion to Islam granted power to the Muslims and to the Islamic faith in Mecca. It was after this event that Muslims offered prayers openly in Masjid al-Haram for the first time. Abdullah Ibn Masud said,
Migration to Medina
In 622 CE, due to the safety offered by Yathrib (later renamed Medīnat an-Nabī, or simply Medina), Muhammad ordered his followers to migrate to Medina. Most Muslims migrated at night fearing Quraish resistance, but Umar is reported to have left openly during the day saying: "Any one who wants to make his wife a widow and his children orphans should come and meet me there behind that cliff." Umar migrated to Medina accompanied by his cousin and brother-in-law Saeed ibn Zaid.
Life in Medina
When Muhammad arrived in Medina, he paired each immigrant (Muhajir) with one of the residents of the city (Ansari), joining Muhammad ibn Maslamah with Umar, making them brothers in faith. Later in Umar's reign as caliph, Muhammad ibn Muslamah would be assigned the office of Chief Inspector of Accountability.
Muslims remained in peace in Medina for approximately a year before the Quraish raised an army to attack them.
In 624, Umar participated in the first battle between Muslims and Quraish of Mecca i.e., the Battle of Badr. In 625, he took part in the Battle of Uhud. In the second phase of the battle, when Khalid ibn Walid's cavalry attacked the Muslim rear, turning the tide of battle, rumours of Muhammad's death were spread and many Muslim warriors were routed from the battlefield, Umar among them. However, hearing that Muhammad was still alive, he went to Muhammad at the mountain of Uhud and prepared for the defence of the hill.
Later in the year Umar was a part of a campaign against the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir.
In 625, Umar's daughter Hafsah was married to Muhammad.
Later in 627, he participated in the Battle of the Trench and also in the Battle of Banu Qurayza. In 628, Umar witnessed the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.
In 628, he fought in the Battle of Khaybar. In 629, Muhammad sent Amr ibn al-A’as to Zaat-ul-Sallasal, after which, Muhammad sent Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah with reinforcements, including Abu Bakr and Umar, whereupon they attacked and defeated the enemy.
In 630, when Muslim armies rushed for the conquest of Mecca, he was part of that army. Later in 630, he fought in the Battle of Hunayn and the Siege of Ta'if. He was part of the Muslim army that contested the Battle of Tabouk under Muhammad's command and he was reported to have given half of his wealth for the preparation of this expedition. He also participated in the farewell Hajj of Muhammad in 632.
Death of Muhammad
When Muhammad died on 8 June 632 Umar initially disbelieved that he was dead. It is said that Umar promised to strike the head of any man who would say that Muhammad died. Umar said: "He has not died but rather he has gone to his lord just as Moses went, remaining absent from his people for forty nights after which he has returned to them. By Allah, the messenger of Allah will indeed return just as Moses returned (to his people) and he will cut off the hands and legs of those men who claimed he has died." Abu Bakr then publicly spoke to the community in the mosque, saying:
Abū Bakr then recited these verses from the Qur'an:
Hearing this, Umar fell on his knees in sorrow and acceptance. Sunni Muslims say that this denial of Muhammad's death was occasioned by his deep love for him.
Foundation of the caliphate
Umar's political capacity first manifested as the architect of the caliphate after Muhammad died on 8 June 632. While the funeral of Muhammad was being arranged a group of Muhammad's followers who were natives of Medina, the Ansar (helpers), organised a meeting on the outskirts of the city, effectively locking out those companions known as Muhajirs (The Emigrants) including Umar. Umar found out about this meeting at Saqifah Bani Saadah, and, taking with him two other Muhajirs, Abu Bakr and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, proceeded to the meeting, presumably to head off the Ansars' plans for political separation. Arriving at the meeting, Umar was faced with a unified community of tribes from the Ansar who refused to accept the leadership of the Muhajirs. However, Umar was undeterred in his belief the caliphate should be under the control of the Muhajirs. Though the Khazraj were in disagreement, Umar, after strained negotiations lasting one or two days, brilliantly divided the Ansar into their old warring factions of Aws and Khazraj tribes. Umar resolved the divisions by placing his hand on that of Abu Bakr as a unity candidate for those gathered in the Saqifah. Others at the Saqifah followed suit, with the exception of the Khazraj tribe and their leader, Sa'd ibn 'Ubada, who were ostracized as a result. The Khazraj tribe is said to have posed no significant threat as there were sufficient men of war from the Medinan tribes such as the Banu Aws to immediately organize them into a military bodyguard for Abu Bakr.
Wilferd Madelung summarises Umar's contribution:
According to various Twelver Shia sources and Madelung, Umar and Abu Bakr had in effect mounted a political coup against Ali at the Saqifah According to one version of narrations in primary sources, Umar and Abu Bakr are also said to have used force to try to secure the allegiance from Ali and his party. It has been reported in mainly Persian historical sources written 300 years later, such as in the History of al-Tabari, that after Ali's refusal to pay homage, Abu Bakr sent Umar with an armed contingent to Fatimah's house where Ali and his supporters are said to have gathered. Umar is reported to have warned those in the House that unless Ali succumbed to Abu Bakr, he would set the House on fire and under these circumstances Ali was forced to capitulate. This version of events, fully accepted by Shia scholars, is generally rejected by Sunni scholars who, in view of other reports in their literature, believe that Ali gave an oath of alliance to Abu Bakr without any grievance. But then other Sunni and Shia sources say that Ali did not swear allegiance to Abu Bakr after his election but six months later after the death of his wife Fatimah putting into question al-Tabari's account. Either way the Sunni and the Shia accounts both accept that Ali felt that Abu Bakr should have informed him before going into the meeting with the Ansar and that Ali did swear allegiance to Abu Bakr.
Western scholars tend to agree that Ali believed he had a clear mandate to succeed Muhammad, but offer differing views as to the extent of use of force by Umar in an attempt to intimidate Ali and his supporters. For instance, Madelung discounts the possibility of the use of force and argues that:
According to Tom Holland, Umar's historicity is beyond dispute. An Armenian bishop writing a decade or so after Qadisiyya describes Umar as a "mighty potentate coordinating the advance of the sons of Ismael from the depths of the desert". Tom Holland writes "What added incomparably to his prestige, was that his earth-shaking qualities as a generalissimo were combined with the most distinctive cast of virtues. Rather than ape the manner of a Caesar, as the Ghassanid kings had done, he drew on the example of a quite different kind of Christian. Umar's threadbare robes, his diet of bread, salt and water, and his rejection of worldly riches would have reminded anyone from the desert reaches beyond Palestine of a very particular kind of person. Monks out in the Judaean desert had long been casting themselves as warriors of God. The achievement of Umar was to take such language to a literal and previously unimaginable extreme."
Abu Bakr's era
Due to the delicate political situation in Arabia, Umar initially opposed military operations against the rebel tribes there, hoping to gain their support in the event of an invasion by the Romans or the Persians. Later, however, he came to agree with Abu Bakr's strategy to crush the rebellion by force. By late 632 CE, Khalid ibn Walid had successfully united Arabia after consecutive victories against the rebels. During his own reign later, Umar would mostly adopt the policy of avoiding wars and consolidating his power in the incorporated lands rather than expanding his empire through continuous warfare.
Umar advised Abu Bakr to compile the Quran in the form of a book after 300 huffāẓ (memorizers) of the Quran died in the Battle of Yamamah.
Appointment as a caliph
Abu Bakr appointed Umar as his successor before dying in 634 CE. Due to his strict and autocratic nature, Umar was not a very popular figure among the notables of Medina and members of Majlis al Shura; accordingly, high-ranking companions of Abu Bakr attempted to discourage him from naming Umar.
Nevertheless, Abu Bakr decided to make Umar his successor.
Umar was well known for his extraordinary willpower, intelligence, political astuteness, impartiality, justice, and care for the poor.
Abu Bakr is reported to have said to the high-ranking advisers:
Abu Bakr was aware of Umar's power and ability to succeed him. His was perhaps one of the smoothest transitions of power from one authority to another in the Muslim lands.
Before his death, Abu Bakr called Uthman to write his will in which he declared Umar his successor. In his will he instructed Umar to continue the conquests on Iraqi and Syrian fronts.
Reign as caliph
Initial challenges
Even though almost all of the Muslims had given their pledge of loyalty to Umar, he was feared more than loved. According to Muhammad Husayn Haykal, the first challenge for Umar was to win over his subjects and the members of Majlis al Shura.
Umar was a gifted orator, and he used his ability to improve his reputation among the people.
Muhammad Husayn Haykal wrote that Umar's stress was on the well-being of the poor and underprivileged.
In addition to this, Umar, in order to improve his reputation and relation with the Banu Hashim, the tribe of Ali, delivered to the latter his disputed estates in Khayber. He followed Abu Bakr's decision over the disputed land of Fidak, continuing to treat it as state property.
In the Ridda wars, thousands of prisoners from rebel and apostate tribes were taken away as slaves during the expeditions. Umar ordered a general amnesty for the prisoners, and their immediate emancipation. This made Umar quite popular among the Bedouin tribes.
With the necessary public support on his side, Umar took the bold decision of recalling Khalid ibn Walid from supreme command on the Roman front.
Political and civil administration
The government of Umar was a unitary government, where the sovereign political authority was the caliph. The empire of Umar was divided into provinces and some autonomous territories, e.g., Azerbaijan and Armenia, that had accepted the suzerainty of the caliphate. The provinces were administered by the provincial governors or Wali, personally and fastidiously selected by Umar. Provinces were further divided into about 100 districts. Each district or main city was under the charge of a junior governor or Amir, usually appointed by Umar himself, but occasionally also appointed by the provincial governor. Other officers at the provincial level were:
Katib, the Chief Secretary.
Katib-ud-Diwan, the Military Secretary.
Sahib-ul-Kharaj, the Revenue Collector.
Sahib-ul-Ahdath, the Police chief.
Sahib-Bait-ul-Mal, the Treasury Officer.
Qadi, the Chief Judge.
In some districts there were separate military officers, though the Wali was, in most cases, the Commander-in-chief of the army quartered in the province.
Every appointment was made in writing. At the time of appointment an instrument of instructions was issued with a view to regulating the Wali's conduct. On assuming office, the Wali was required to assemble the people in the main mosque, and read the instrument of instructions before them.
Umar's general instructions to his officers were:
Various other strict codes of conduct were to be obeyed by the governors and state officials. The principal officers were required to travel to Mecca on the occasion of the Hajj, during which people were free to present any complaint against them. In order to minimize the chances of corruption, Umar made it a point to pay high salaries to the staff. Provincial governors received as much as five to seven thousand dirham annually besides their shares of the spoils of war (if they were also the commander in chief of the army of their sector).
Under Umar the empire was divided into the following provinces:
Mecca (Arabia)
Medina (Arabia)
Basra (Iraq)
Kufa (Iraq)
Jazira, in the upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates
Syria
Iliyā' (إلياء) (Palestine)
Ramlah (Palestine)
Upper Egypt
Lower Egypt
Khorasan (Persia)
Azerbaijan (Persia)
Fars (Persia)
Umar was first to establish a special department for the investigation of complaints against the officers of the State. This department acted as the Administrative court, where the legal proceedings were personally led by Umar.
The department was under the charge of Muhammad ibn Maslamah, one of Umar's most trusted men. In important cases Muhammad ibn Maslamah was deputed by Umar to proceed to the spot, investigate the charge and take action. Sometimes an Inquiry Commission was constituted to investigate the charge. On occasion, the officers against whom complaints were received were summoned to Medina, and charged in Umar's administrative court.
Umar was known for this intelligence service through which he made his officials accountable. This service was also said to have inspired fear in his subjects.
Umar was a pioneer in some affairs:
Umar was the first to introduce the public ministry system, where the records of officials and soldiers were kept. He also kept a record system for messages he sent to Governors and heads of state.
He was the first to appoint police forces to keep civil order.
He was the first to discipline the people when they became disordered.
Another important aspect of Umar's rule was that he forbade any of his governors and agents from engaging in any sort of business dealings whilst in a position of power. An agent of Umar by the name of Al Harith ibn K'ab ibn Wahb was once found to have extra money beyond his salary and Umar enquired about his wealth. Al Harith replied that he had some money and he engaged in trade with it. Umar said: By Allah, we did not send you to engage in trade! and he took from him the profits he had made.
Canals
Since Medina, with a rapidly growing population, was at risk of recurring famines when crops were lacking, Umar sought to facilitate the import of grain. He ordered the building of a canal connecting the Nile to the Red Sea and an improvement of port infrastructure on the Arabian coast. When Basra was established during Umar's rule, he started building a nine-mile canal from the Tigris to the new city for irrigation and drinking water. Al-Tabari reports that Utba ibn Ghazwan built the first canal from the Tigris River to the site of Basra when the city was in the planning stage. After the city was built, Umar appointed Abu Musa Ashaari (17-29/638 – 650) as its first governor. He began building two important canals, the al-Ubulla and the Ma'qil, linking Basra with the Tigris River. These two canals were the basis for the agricultural development for the whole Basra region and used for drinking water. Umar also adopted a policy of assigning barren lands to those who undertook to cultivate them. This policy continued during the Umayyad period and resulted in the cultivation of large areas of barren lands through the construction of irrigation canals by the state and by individuals.
Reforms
Under Umar's leadership, the empire expanded; accordingly, he began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast territory. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy, establishing an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories. During his rule, the garrison cities (amsar) of Basra and Kufa were founded or expanded. In 638, he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina.
Umar also ordered the expulsion to Syria and Iraq of the Christian and Jewish communities of Najran and Khaybar. He also permitted Jewish families to resettle in Jerusalem, which had previously been barred from all Jews. He issued orders that these Christians and Jews should be treated well and allotted them the equivalent amount of land in their new settlements. Umar also forbade non-Muslims from residing in the Hejaz for longer than three days.
He was first to establish the army as a state department.
Umar was founder of Fiqh, or Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded by Sunni Muslims as one of the greatest Faqih, and, as such, he started the process of codifying Islamic Law.
In 641, he established Bayt al-mal, a financial institution and started annual allowances for the Muslims.
As a leader, Umar was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had when Muslims were poor and persecuted. In 638, his fourth year as caliph and the seventeenth year since the Hijra, he decreed that the Islamic calendar should be counted from the year of the Hijra of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina.
Visit to Jerusalem in 637 CE
Umar's visit to Jerusalem is documented in several sources. A recently discovered Judeo-Arabic text has disclosed the following anecdote:
"Umar ordered Gentiles and a group of Jews to sweep the area of the Temple Mount. Umar oversaw the work. The Jews who had come sent letters to the rest of the Jews in Palestine and informed them that Umar had permitted resettlement of Jerusalem by Jews. Umar, after some consultation, permitted seventy Jewish households to return. They returned to live in the southern part of the city, i.e., the Market of the Jews. (Their aim was to be near the water of Silwan and the Temple Mount and its gates). Then the Commander Umar granted them this request. The seventy families moved to Jerusalem from Tiberias and the area around it with their wives and children."
It is also reported in the name of the Alexandrian Bishop Eutychius (932–940 CE) that the rock known as the Temple Mount had been a place of ruins as far back as the time of the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, who built churches in Jerusalem. "The Byzantines," he said, "had deliberately left the ancient site of the Temple as it was, and had even thrown rubbish on it, so that a great heap of rubble formed." It was only when Umar marched into Jerusalem with an army that he asked Kaab, who was Jewish before he converted to Islam, "Where do you advise me to build a place of worship?" Kaab indicated the Temple Rock, now a gigantic heap of ruins from the temple of Jupiter. The Jews, Kaab explained, had briefly won back their old capital a quarter of a century before (when Persians overran Syria and Palestine), but they had not had time to clear the site of the Temple, for the Rums (Byzantines) had recaptured the city. It was then that Umar ordered the rubbish on the Ṣakhra (rock) to be removed by the Nabataeans, and after three showers of heavy rain had cleansed the Rock, he instituted prayers there. To this day, the place is known as ḳubbat es ṣakhra, the Dome of the Rock.
According to lexicographer David ben Abraham al-Fasi (died before 1026 CE), the Muslim conquest of Palestine brought relief to the country's Jewish citizens, who had previously been barred by the Byzantines from praying on the Temple Mount.
Military expansion
The military conquests were partially terminated between 638 and 639 during the years of great famine in Arabia and plague in the Levant. During his reign the Levant, Egypt, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, Fezzan, Eastern Anatolia, almost the whole of the Sassanid Persian Empire including Bactria, Persia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Caucasus and Makran were annexed to the Rashidun Caliphate. According to one estimate more than 4,050 cities were captured during these military conquests. Prior to his death in 644, Umar had ceased all military expeditions apparently to consolidate his rule in recently conquered Roman Egypt and the newly conquered Sassanid Empire (642–644). At his death in November 644, his rule extended from present day Libya in the west to the Indus river in the east and the Oxus river in the north.
Great famine
In 638 CE, Arabia fell into severe drought followed by a famine. Soon after, the reserves of food at Medina began to run out. Umar ordered caravans of supplies from Syria and Iraq, and personally supervised their distribution. His actions saved countless lives throughout Arabia. The first governor to respond was Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, the governor of Syria and supreme commander of the Rashidun army.
Later, Abu Ubaidah paid a personal visit to Medina and acted as an officer of disaster management, which was headed personally by Umar. For internally displaced people, Umar hosted a dinner every night at Medina, which according to one estimate, had attendance of more than a hundred thousand people.
Great plague
While famine was ending in Arabia, many districts in Syria and Palestine were devastated by plague. While Umar was on his way to visit Syria, at Elat, he was received by Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, governor of Syria, who informed him about the plague and its intensity, and suggested that Umar go back to Medina. Umar tried to persuade Abu Ubaidah to come with him to Medina, but he declined to leave his troops in that critical situation. Abu Ubaidah died in 639 of the plague, which also cost the lives of 25,000 Muslims in Syria. After the plague had weakened, in late 639, Umar visited Syria for political and administrative re-organization, as most of the veteran commanders and governors had died of the plague.
Welfare state
To be close to the poor, Umar lived in a simple mud hut without doors and walked the streets every evening. After consulting with the poor, Umar established the first welfare state, Bayt al-mal. The Bayt al-mal aided the Muslim and non-Muslim poor, needy, elderly, orphans, widows, and the disabled. The Bayt al-mal ran for hundreds of years, from the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century through the Umayyad period (661–750) and well into the Abbasid era. Umar also introduced a child benefit and pensions for the children and the elderly.
Free trade
Local populations of Jews and Christians, persecuted as religious minorities and taxed heavily to finance the Byzantine–Sassanid Wars, often aided Muslims to take over their lands from the Byzantines and Persians, resulting in exceptionally speedy conquests. As new areas were attached to the Caliphate, they also benefited from free trade, while trading with other areas in the Caliphate (to encourage commerce, in Islam trade is not taxed, but wealth is subject to the zakat). Since the so-called Constitution of Medina, drafted by Muhammad, the Jews and the Christians continued to use their own laws in the Caliphate and had their own judges.
Assassination
In 644, Umar was assassinated by a Persian slave named Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz. His motivation for the assassination is not clear. One possible explanation was that it was done in response to the Muslim conquest of Persia. The assassination was planned several months earlier. In October 644, Umar undertook a Hajj to Mecca, during which the assassins pronounced Umar's imminent death that year, and the massive crowd of the congregation was used by the conspirators as a veil to hide themselves.
During one of rituals of Hajj, the Ramy al-Jamarat (stoning of the Devil), someone threw a stone at Umar that wounded his head; a voice was heard that Umar will not attend the Hajj ever again.
Abu Lu'lu'a brought a complaint to Umar about the high tax charged by his master Mughirah. Umar wrote to Mughirah and inquired about the tax; Mughirah's reply was satisfactory, but Umar held that the tax charged to Abu Lu'lu'a was reasonable, owing to his daily income. Umar then is reported to have asked Abu Lu'lu'a: "I heard that you make windmills; make one for me as well." In a sullen mood, Abu Lu'lu'a said, "Verily I will make such a mill for you, that the whole world would remember it".
It was Abu Lu'lu'a who was assigned the mission of assassinating Umar. According to the plan, before the Fajr prayers (the morning prayers before the dawn) Abu Lu'lu'a would enter al-Masjid al-Nabawi, the main mosque of Medina where Umar led the prayers and would attack Umar during the prayers, and then flee or mix with the congregation at the mosque.
On 31 October 644, Abu Lu'lu'a attacked Umar while he was leading the morning prayers, stabbing him six times in the belly and finally in the navel, that proved fatal. Umar was left profusely bleeding while Abu Lu'lu'a tried to flee, but people from all sides rushed to capture him; in his efforts to escape he is reported to have wounded twelve other people, six or nine of whom later died, before slashing himself with his own blade to commit suicide.
Umar died of the wounds three days later on Wednesday 3 November 644 (26 Dhu al-Hijjah 23 AH).
He was buried at the Green Dome in al-Masjid al-Nabawi alongside Muhammad and caliph Abu Bakr by the permission of Aisha.
Aftermath
On his deathbed, Umar vacillated on his succession. However, it has been reported that he said that if Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, Khalid ibn Walid or Salim, the mawla and freed Persian slave, were alive he would have appointed one of them his successor. Umar finally appointed a committee of six persons to choose a caliph from amongst them: Abdur Rahman bin Awf, Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, Talha ibn Ubaidullah, Uthman ibn Affan, Ali ibn Abi Talib and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam.
All six are among the ten to whom Paradise was promised according to Sunnis. The only one out of the 'famous ten' left out of the committee who was still alive at the time was Saeed ibn Zaid, the cousin and brother-in-law of Umar. He was excluded on the basis of being related by blood and of the same tribe as Umar. Umar had a policy of not appointing anyone related to him to a position of authority even if they were qualified by his standards.
Umar appointed a band of fifty armed soldiers to protect the house where the meeting was proceeding.
Until the appointment of the next caliph, Umar appointed a notable Sahabi and mawla, Suhayb ar-Rumi (Suhayb the Roman), as a caretaker caliph.
While the meeting for selection of a caliph was proceeding, Abdulrehman ibn Abu Bakr and Abdur Rahman bin Awf revealed that they saw the dagger used by Abu Lu'lu'a, the assassin of Umar. A night before Umar's assassination, reported Abdur Rahman bin Awf, he saw Hurmuzan, Jafina and Abu Lu'lu'a, while they were suspiciously discussing something. Surprised by his presence, the dagger fell; it was the same two-sided dagger used in the assassination. Abdulrehman ibn Abu Bakr, son of the late caliph Abu Bakr, confirmed that, a few days before Umar's assassination, he saw this dagger in Hurmuzan's possession. After this revelation, it seemed clear that it had been planned by the Persians residing in Medina. Infuriated by this, Umar's younger son Ubaidullah ibn Umar sought to kill all the Persians in Medina. He killed Hurmuzan, Jafinah, and the daughter of Umar's assassin Abu Lu'lu'a, who is believed to have been a Muslim. Ubaidullah was intercepted by the people of Medina, who prevented him from continuing the massacre. Amr ibn al-Aas is said to have intercepted him and convinced him to hand over his sword. The murder of Jafinah enraged Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, his foster brother, and he assaulted Ubaidullah ibn Umar; again the companions intervened. When Umar was informed about the incident, he ordered Ubaidullah imprisoned, and that the next caliph should decide his fate.
Umar died on 3 November 644; on 7 November Uthman succeeded him as caliph. After prolonged negotiations, the tribunal decided to give blood money to the victims, and released Umar's son Ubaidullah on the ground that, after the tragedy of Umar's assassination, people would be further infuriated by the execution of his son the very next day.
Physical appearance
Umar was strong, fit, athletic and good at wrestling. He is said to have participated in the wrestling matches on the occasion of the annual fair of Ukaz. From first hand accounts of his physical appearance Umar is said to be vigorous, robust and a very tall man; in markets he would tower above the people. The front part of his head was bald, always A'sara Yusran (working with two hands), both his eyes were black, with yellow skin; however, ibn Sa'ad in his book stated that he never knew that Umar had yellow skin, except for a certain part of Umar's life where his color changed due to his frequent consumption of oil. Others say he had reddish-white skin. His teeth were ashnabul asnan (very white shining). He would always color his beard and take care of his hair using a type of plant.
The early Muslim historians Ibn Saad and al-Hakim mention that Abu Miriam Zir, a native of Kufa, described Umar as being "advanced in years, bald, of a tawny colour – a left handed man, tall and towering above the people". Umar's eldest son Abdullah described his father as "a man of fair complexion, a ruddy tint prevailing, tall, bald and grey". Historian Salima bin al-Akwa'a said that "Umar was ambidextrous, he could use both his hands equally well". On the authority of Abu Raja al-U'taridi, Ibn Asakir records that "Umar was a man tall, stout, very bald, very ruddy with scanty hair on the cheeks, his moustaches large, and the ends thereof reddish".
Assessments
Political legacy
One writer states that Umar was a political genius and, as an architect of the Islamic Empire, rates him as the 52nd most influential figure in history. Umar was one of Muhammad's chief advisers. After Muhammad's passing, it was Umar who reconciled the Medinan Muslims to accept Abu Bakr, a Meccan, as the caliph. During Abu Bakr's era, he actively participated as his secretary and main adviser. After succeeding Abu Bakr as caliph, Umar won over the hearts of Bedouin tribes by emancipating all their prisoners and slaves taken during the Ridda wars.
He built up an efficient administrative structure that held together his vast realm. He organized an effective intelligence network, one of the reasons for his strong grip on his bureaucracy.
Umar never appointed governors for more than two years, for they might amass too much local power. He dismissed his most successful general, Khalid ibn Walid, because he wanted people to know that it is Allah who grants victory, and to counter the cult of personality that had built up around Khalid, for the sake of the Muslim faith.
He would patrol the streets of Medina with a whip in his hand, ready to punish any offenders he might come across. It is said that Umar's whip was feared more than the sword of another man. But with all of this, he was also known for being kindhearted, answering the needs of the fatherless and widows.
Umar's swift imposition of justice against his governors for misdeeds made even powerful governors such as Muawiyah scared of him. Ali ibn Abu Talib, during the later rule of Uthman ibn Affan, wanted Uthman to be more strict with his governors, saying, "I adjure you by God, do you know that Mu'awiyah was more afraid of Umar than was Umar's own servant Yarfa?"
Under Umar's rule, in order to promote strict discipline, Arab soldiers were settled outside of cities, between the desert and cultivated lands in special garrison towns known as "amsar". Known examples of such settlements are Basra and Kufa, in Iraq, and Fustat south of what would later become Cairo. His soldiers were forbidden to own land outside of Arabia. There were restrictions on their right to seize buildings and other immovable things usually thought of as prizes of war. Movable spoils were shared with the people of the umma, regardless of their social stratum.
A modern researcher writes about this:
In The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Gibbon refers to Umar in the following terms:
His rule was one of the few moments in the history of Islam where Muslims were united as a single community. Abdullah ibn Masʿud would often weep whenever the subject of Umar was brought up. He said: "Umar was a fortress of Islam. People would enter Islam and not leave. When he died, the fortress was breached and now people are going out of Islam". Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah before Umar died famously said: "If Umar dies, Islam would be weakened". People asked him why and his reply was "You will see what I am speaking about if you survive."
His greatest achievement from a religious perspective was the compilation of the Qur'an. This had not been done during the time of Muhammad. However, during the Battle of Yamama a great number of the memorizers of the Quran perished in the battle. On the advice of Umar, Abu Bakr tasked Zayd ibn Thabit with the momentous task of compiling the Quran into a single Book.
Military legacy
Along with Khalid ibn Walid, Umar was influential in the Ridda wars.
One strategic success was his sundering of the Byzantine-Sassanid alliance in 636, when Emperor Heraclius and Emperor Yazdegerd III allied against their common enemy. He was lucky in that the Persian Emperor Yazdegerd III couldn't synchronize with Heraclius as planned. Umar fully availed himself of the opportunity by inducing the Byzantines to act prematurely. This was contrary to the orders of Emperor Heraclius, who presumably wanted a coordinated attack along with the Persians. Umar did this by sending reinforcements to the Roman front in the Battle of Yarmouk, with instructions that they should appear in the form of small bands, one after the other, giving the impression of a continuous stream of reinforcements that finally lured the Byzantines to an untimely battle. On the other hand, Yazdegerd III was engaged in negotiations that further gave Umar time to transfer his troops from Syria to Iraq. These troops proved decisive in the Battle of Qadisiyyah.
His strategy resulted in a Muslim victory at the Second Battle of Emesa in 638, where the pro-Byzantine Christian Arabs of Jazira, aided by the Byzantine Emperor, made an unexpected flanking movement and laid siege to Emesa (Homs).
Umar issued an order to invade the very homeland of the Christian Arab forces besieging Emesa, the Jazirah. A three-pronged attack against Jazirah was launched from Iraq. To further pressure the Christian Arab armies, Umar instructed Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, commander of Muslim forces in Iraq, to send reinforcements to Emesa. Umar himself led reinforcements there from Medina. Under this unprecedented pressure, the Christian Arabs retreated from Emesa before Muslim reinforcements could arrive. The Muslims annexed Mesopotamia and parts of Byzantine Armenia.
After the Battle of Nahavand, Umar launched a full-scale invasion of the Sassanid Persian Empire. The invasion was a series of well-coordinated multi-pronged attacks designed to isolate and destroy their targets. Umar launched the invasion by attacking the very heart of Persia, aiming to isolate Azerbaijan and eastern Persia. This was immediately followed by simultaneous attacks on Azerbaijan and Fars. Next, Sistan and Kirman were captured, thus isolating the stronghold of Persia, the Khurasan. The final expedition was launched against Khurasan, where, after the Battle of Oxus River, the Persian empire ceased to exist, and Yazdegerd III fled to Central Asia.
Religious legacy
Sunni views
Umar is remembered by Sunnis as a rigid Muslim of a sound and just disposition in matters of religion; a man they title Farooq, meaning "leader, jurist and statesman", and the second of the rightly guided caliphs. He patched his clothes with skin, took buckets on his two shoulders, always riding his donkey without the saddle, rarely laughing and never joking with anyone. On his ring is written the words "Enough is Death as a reminder to you O' Umar". He did not seek advancement for his own family, but rather sought to advance the interests of the Muslim community, the ummah. According to one of Muhammad's companions, Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud:
Shia views
Umar is viewed very negatively in the literature of Twelver Shi'a (the main branch of Shia Islam) and is often regarded as a usurper of Ali's right to the Caliphate. After the Saqifah assembly chose Abu Bakr as caliph, Umar marched with armed men to Ali's house in order to get the allegiance of Ali and his supporters. Sources indicate that a threat was made to burn Ali's house if he refused, but the encounter ended when Fatimah, wife of Ali, intervened. According to the majority of Twelver scholar writings, Fatimah was physically assaulted by Umar, that this caused her to miscarry her child, Muhsin ibn Ali, and led to her death soon after. (see Umar at Fatimah's house). However, some Twelver scholars, such as Fadhlalla, reject these accounts of physical abuse as a "myth", although Fadlallah mentioned that his speech is a probability, and not a certain reason to reject that event.
Another Shia sect, the Zaidiyyah followers of Zaid ibn Ali, generally has two views about that. Some branches, such as Jaroudiah (Sarhubiyya), don't accept Umar and Abu Bakr as legitimate caliphs. For instance, Jarudiyya believes that Muhammad appointed Ali and believes that the denial of the Imamate of Ali after Muhammad's passing would lead to infidelity and deviation from the right path. The other view accepts Umar and Abu Bakr as legitimate caliphs, albeit inferior to Ali. According to al-Tabari (and Ibn A'tham), when asked about Abu Bakr and Umar, Zayd ibn Ali replied: "I have not heard anyone in my family renouncing them both nor saying anything but good about them...when they were entrusted with government they behaved justly with the people and acted according to the Qur'an and the Sunnah.".
Family
Umar married nine women in his lifetime and had fourteen children: ten sons and four daughters.
Wives
The known wives of Umar are:
Zaynab bint Madhun, she was the mother of Hafsa and Abdullah
Umm Kulthum bint Jarwal, she was divorced by Umar. She was the mother of Ubayd Allah
Qurayba bint Abi Umayya, divorced by Umar in 628.
Jamila bint Thabit, She married Umar about between May 627 and May 628. They had one son, Asim.
Umm Hakim, She was married to Umar, in 634 and was mother of Fatimah.
Umm Kulthum bint Ali from this marriage Umar had a son named Zayd.
Sons
The sons of Umar are:
Abdullah, born 610 in Mecca
Abd al-Rahman ibn Umar
Zayd, He was the son of Umar and Umm Kulthum bint Ali.
Ubayd Allah
Abd al-Rahman "Abu Shahmah" ibn Umar
Asim ibn Umar
Abd al-Rahman Abu'l-Mujabbar
Iyaad ibn Umar
Abdur Rahman
Zayd ibn Umar
Daughters
The daughters of Umar are:
Hafsa
Fatima
Ruqayya
Zaynab
Archeological evidence
In 2012, an inscription was found on a rock in al-Murakkab (Saudi Arabia) which is thought to be an autograph of Umar's signature.
See also
Al-Farooq, modern biography about Umar
Omar ibn al-Khattab Mosque, is a historic mosque in Dumat al-Jandal in northern Arabia, it was built by Umar.
Al Farooq Omar Bin Al Khattab Mosque, mosque named for him in Dubai
Sahaba
Farooqi
Omar (TV series)
Pact of Umar
Umar ibn Ibrahim ibn Waqid al-Umari
References
Notes
Bibliography
Guillaume, A., The Life of Muhammad, Oxford University Press, 1955.
Previte-Orton, C. W. (1971). The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Donner, Fred, The Early Islamic Conquests, Princeton University Press, 1981.
Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, Faber and Faber, 1991.
Madelung, Wilferd, The Succession to Muhammad, Cambridge University Press, 1997.
External links
Excerpt from The History of the Khalifahs by Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti
Sirah of Amirul Muminin Umar Bin Khattab by Shaykh Sayyed Muhammad bin Yahya al-Husayni al-Ninowy.
584 births
644 deaths
7th-century caliphs
7th-century murdered monarchs
Assassinated caliphs
Deaths by blade weapons
Male murder victims
People of the Muslim conquest of Persia
People who memorized the Quran
Rashidun caliphs
Sahabah who participated in the battle of Uhud
Shahnameh characters
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"Vindeln Municipality () is a municipality in Västerbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Vindeln.\n\nHistory\nIn 1971 a local government reform was implemented in Sweden. This municipality was, however, not amalgamated with any other. But in preparation for the reform the name was changed in 1969 from Degerfors Municipality to Vindeln Municipality. The reason was that there is another Degerfors Municipality (in Örebro County), and every municipality in Sweden should have a unique name.\n\nGeography\nThe Vindel River, which is the main tributary of the Ume River, runs through the municipality and has given it its name. The municipality's coat of arms depicts a salmon, of which there are plenty in the river.\n\nLocalities\n\nThere are five localities (or urban areas) in Vindeln Municipality:\n\nThe municipal seat in bold\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n Vindeln Municipality - Official site\n\nMunicipalities of Västerbotten County",
"Reni Raion (; ) was a raion (district) in Odessa Oblast in south-western Ukraine, in the historic Budjak region of Bessarabia. Its administrative center was the city of Reni. The raion was abolished and its territory was merged into Izmail Raion on 18 July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Odessa Oblast to seven. The last estimate of the raion population was In 2001, population was 40,680.\n\nThe raion was predominantly Moldavian and the Ukrainian language was rare. According to the 2001 Ukrainian census the population was 49% Moldovan, 18% Ukrainian, 15% Russian, 8.5% Bulgarian and 8% Gagauz. Most of villages (five) are Romanophone while there was one village populated by Gagauz and another one was populated by Bulgarians. The city of Reni was mostly Russophone although 50% of its residents are Moldavians.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Reniyskyi Raion\n Reniyskyi Raion\n\nFormer raions of Odessa Oblast\nRomanian communities in Ukraine\nUkrainian raions abolished during the 2020 administrative reform"
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[
"Umar",
"Reforms",
"what was a reform that was made?",
"While under his leadership, the empire expanded and he also began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast empire.",
"were there any other reforms?",
"together the vast empire. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy.",
"what other reforms did he make?",
"He established an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories.",
"was there another reform?",
"he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina."
] |
C_654036212102425a9563bc9ff40d6c66_0
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was there any opposition to any of his reforms?
| 5 |
was there any opposition to any of Umar's reforms?
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Umar
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While under his leadership, the empire expanded and he also began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast empire. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy. He established an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories. During his rule, the garrison cities (amsar) of Basra and Kufa were founded or expanded. In 638, he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina. Umar also ordered the expulsion to Syria and Iraq of the Christian and Jewish communities of Najran and Khaybar. He also permitted Jewish families to resettle in Jerusalem, which had previously been barred from all Jews. He issued orders that these Christians and Jews should be treated well and allotted them the equivalent amount of land in their new settlements. Umar also forbade non-Muslims to reside in the Hejaz for longer than three days. He was first to establish the army as a state department. Umar was founder of Fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded by Sunni Muslims to be one of the greatest Faqih. Umar as a jurist started the process of codifying Islamic Law. In 641, he established Bayt al-mal, a financial institution and started annual allowance for the Muslims. As a leader, 'Umar was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had when Muslims were poor and persecuted. In 638, his fourth year as caliph and the seventeenth year 17 since the Hijra, he decreed that the Islamic calendar should be counted from the year of the Hijra of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (; 3 November 644), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, reigning from 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr (632–634) as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate on 23 August 634. Umar was a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was also an expert Muslim jurist known for his pious and just nature, which earned him the epithet al-Farooq ("the one who distinguishes (between right and wrong)").
An arbitator of the Adi clan, Umar initially opposed Muhammad, his distant Qurayshid kinsman. After his conversion to Islam in 616, he became the first Muslim to openly pray at the Kaaba. Umar participated in almost all battles and expeditions under Muhammad, who bestowed the title Al-Farooq ('the Distinguisher') upon Umar, for his judgements. After Muhammad's demise, Umar pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr as the first caliph, and served as a close advisor to the latter until his death in 634, when Abu Bakr nominated Umar as his successor.
Under Umar, the caliphate expanded at an unprecedented rate, ruling the Sasanian Empire and more than two-thirds of the Byzantine Empire. His attacks against the Sasanian Empire resulted in the conquest of Persia in less than two years (642–644). According to Jewish tradition, Umar set aside the Christian ban on Jews and allowed them into Jerusalem and to worship. Umar was assassinated by the Persian slave Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz in 644.
Umar is generally viewed by historians to be one of the most powerful and influential Muslim caliphs in history. He is revered in the Sunni Islamic tradition as a great just ruler and paragon of Islamic virtues, and some hadiths identify him as the second greatest of the Sahabah after Abu Bakr. He is viewed negatively in the Twelver Shia tradition.
Early life
Umar was born in Mecca to the Banu Adi clan, which was responsible for arbitration among the tribes. His father was Khattab ibn Nufayl and his mother was Hantama bint Hisham, from the tribe of Banu Makhzum. In his youth he used to tend to his father's camels in the plains near Mecca. His merchant father was famed for his intelligence among his tribe. Umar himself said: "My father, al-Khattab, was a ruthless man. He used to make me work hard; if I didn't work he used to beat me and he used to work me to exhaustion."
Despite literacy being uncommon in pre-Islamic Arabia, Umar learned to read and write in his youth. Though not a poet himself, he developed a love for poetry and literature. According to the tradition of Quraish, while still in his teenage years, Umar learned martial arts, horse riding and wrestling. He was tall, physically powerful and a renowned wrestler. He was also a gifted orator who succeeded his father as an arbitrator among the tribes.
Umar became a merchant and made several journeys to Rome and Persia, where he is said to have met various scholars and analyzed Roman and Persian societies. As a merchant he was unsuccessful. Like others around him, Umar was fond of drinking in his pre-Islamic days.
During Muhammad's era
Initial hostility to Islam
In 610, Muhammad started preaching the message of Islam. However, like many others in Mecca, Umar opposed Islam and even threatened to kill Muhammad. He resolved to defend the traditional polytheistic religion of Arabia. He was adamant and cruel in opposing Muhammad, and very prominent in persecuting Muslims. He recommended Muhammad's death. He firmly believed in the unity of the Quraish and saw the new faith of Islam as a cause of division and discord.
Due to persecution, Muhammad ordered some of his followers to migrate to Abyssinia. When a small group of Muslims migrated, Umar became worried about the future unity of the Quraish and decided to have Muhammad assassinated.
Conversion to Islam
Umar converted to Islam in 616, one year after the Migration to Abyssinia.
The story was recounted in Ibn Ishaq's Sīrah. On his way to murder Muhammad, Umar met his best friend Nu'aym ibn Abd Allah who had secretly converted to Islam but had not told Umar. When Umar informed him that he had set out to kill Muhammad, Nu'aym said, “By God, you have deceived yourself, O Umar! Do you think that Banu Abd al-Manaf would let you run around alive once you had killed their son Muhammad? Why don't you return to your own house and at least set it straight?"
Nuaimal Hakim told him to inquire about his own house where his sister and her husband had converted to Islam. Upon arriving at her house, Umar found his sister and brother-in-law Saeed bin Zaid (Umar's cousin) reciting the verses of the Quran from sura Ta-Ha. He started quarreling with his brother-in-law. When his sister came to rescue her husband, he also started quarreling with her. Yet still they kept on saying "you may kill us but we will not give up Islam". Upon hearing these words, Umar slapped his sister so hard that she fell to the ground bleeding from her mouth. When he saw what he did to his sister, he calmed down out of guilt and asked his sister to give him what she was reciting. His sister replied in the negative and said "You are unclean, and no unclean person can touch the Scripture." He insisted, but his sister was not prepared to allow him to touch the pages unless he washed his body. Umar at last gave in. He washed his body and then began to read the verses that were: Verily, I am Allah: there is no God but Me; so serve Me (only), and establish regular prayer for My remembrance (Quran 20:14). He wept and declared, "Surely this is the word of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." On hearing this, Khabbab came out from inside and said: "O, Umar! Glad tidings for you. Yesterday Muhammad prayed to Allah, 'O, Allah! Strengthen Islam with either Umar or Abu Jahl, whomsoever Thou likest.' It seems that his prayer has been answered in your favour."
Umar then went to Muhammad with the same sword he intended to kill him with and accepted Islam in front of him and his companions. Umar was 39 years old when he accepted Islam.
According to one account, after his conversion to Islam Umar openly prayed at the Kaaba as the Quraish chiefs, Abu Jahl and Abu Sufyan, reportedly watched in anger. This further helped the Muslims to gain confidence in practicing Islam openly. At this stage Umar even challenged anyone who dared to stop the Muslims from praying, although no one dared to interfere with Umar when he was openly praying.
Umar's conversion to Islam granted power to the Muslims and to the Islamic faith in Mecca. It was after this event that Muslims offered prayers openly in Masjid al-Haram for the first time. Abdullah Ibn Masud said,
Migration to Medina
In 622 CE, due to the safety offered by Yathrib (later renamed Medīnat an-Nabī, or simply Medina), Muhammad ordered his followers to migrate to Medina. Most Muslims migrated at night fearing Quraish resistance, but Umar is reported to have left openly during the day saying: "Any one who wants to make his wife a widow and his children orphans should come and meet me there behind that cliff." Umar migrated to Medina accompanied by his cousin and brother-in-law Saeed ibn Zaid.
Life in Medina
When Muhammad arrived in Medina, he paired each immigrant (Muhajir) with one of the residents of the city (Ansari), joining Muhammad ibn Maslamah with Umar, making them brothers in faith. Later in Umar's reign as caliph, Muhammad ibn Muslamah would be assigned the office of Chief Inspector of Accountability.
Muslims remained in peace in Medina for approximately a year before the Quraish raised an army to attack them.
In 624, Umar participated in the first battle between Muslims and Quraish of Mecca i.e., the Battle of Badr. In 625, he took part in the Battle of Uhud. In the second phase of the battle, when Khalid ibn Walid's cavalry attacked the Muslim rear, turning the tide of battle, rumours of Muhammad's death were spread and many Muslim warriors were routed from the battlefield, Umar among them. However, hearing that Muhammad was still alive, he went to Muhammad at the mountain of Uhud and prepared for the defence of the hill.
Later in the year Umar was a part of a campaign against the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir.
In 625, Umar's daughter Hafsah was married to Muhammad.
Later in 627, he participated in the Battle of the Trench and also in the Battle of Banu Qurayza. In 628, Umar witnessed the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.
In 628, he fought in the Battle of Khaybar. In 629, Muhammad sent Amr ibn al-A’as to Zaat-ul-Sallasal, after which, Muhammad sent Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah with reinforcements, including Abu Bakr and Umar, whereupon they attacked and defeated the enemy.
In 630, when Muslim armies rushed for the conquest of Mecca, he was part of that army. Later in 630, he fought in the Battle of Hunayn and the Siege of Ta'if. He was part of the Muslim army that contested the Battle of Tabouk under Muhammad's command and he was reported to have given half of his wealth for the preparation of this expedition. He also participated in the farewell Hajj of Muhammad in 632.
Death of Muhammad
When Muhammad died on 8 June 632 Umar initially disbelieved that he was dead. It is said that Umar promised to strike the head of any man who would say that Muhammad died. Umar said: "He has not died but rather he has gone to his lord just as Moses went, remaining absent from his people for forty nights after which he has returned to them. By Allah, the messenger of Allah will indeed return just as Moses returned (to his people) and he will cut off the hands and legs of those men who claimed he has died." Abu Bakr then publicly spoke to the community in the mosque, saying:
Abū Bakr then recited these verses from the Qur'an:
Hearing this, Umar fell on his knees in sorrow and acceptance. Sunni Muslims say that this denial of Muhammad's death was occasioned by his deep love for him.
Foundation of the caliphate
Umar's political capacity first manifested as the architect of the caliphate after Muhammad died on 8 June 632. While the funeral of Muhammad was being arranged a group of Muhammad's followers who were natives of Medina, the Ansar (helpers), organised a meeting on the outskirts of the city, effectively locking out those companions known as Muhajirs (The Emigrants) including Umar. Umar found out about this meeting at Saqifah Bani Saadah, and, taking with him two other Muhajirs, Abu Bakr and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, proceeded to the meeting, presumably to head off the Ansars' plans for political separation. Arriving at the meeting, Umar was faced with a unified community of tribes from the Ansar who refused to accept the leadership of the Muhajirs. However, Umar was undeterred in his belief the caliphate should be under the control of the Muhajirs. Though the Khazraj were in disagreement, Umar, after strained negotiations lasting one or two days, brilliantly divided the Ansar into their old warring factions of Aws and Khazraj tribes. Umar resolved the divisions by placing his hand on that of Abu Bakr as a unity candidate for those gathered in the Saqifah. Others at the Saqifah followed suit, with the exception of the Khazraj tribe and their leader, Sa'd ibn 'Ubada, who were ostracized as a result. The Khazraj tribe is said to have posed no significant threat as there were sufficient men of war from the Medinan tribes such as the Banu Aws to immediately organize them into a military bodyguard for Abu Bakr.
Wilferd Madelung summarises Umar's contribution:
According to various Twelver Shia sources and Madelung, Umar and Abu Bakr had in effect mounted a political coup against Ali at the Saqifah According to one version of narrations in primary sources, Umar and Abu Bakr are also said to have used force to try to secure the allegiance from Ali and his party. It has been reported in mainly Persian historical sources written 300 years later, such as in the History of al-Tabari, that after Ali's refusal to pay homage, Abu Bakr sent Umar with an armed contingent to Fatimah's house where Ali and his supporters are said to have gathered. Umar is reported to have warned those in the House that unless Ali succumbed to Abu Bakr, he would set the House on fire and under these circumstances Ali was forced to capitulate. This version of events, fully accepted by Shia scholars, is generally rejected by Sunni scholars who, in view of other reports in their literature, believe that Ali gave an oath of alliance to Abu Bakr without any grievance. But then other Sunni and Shia sources say that Ali did not swear allegiance to Abu Bakr after his election but six months later after the death of his wife Fatimah putting into question al-Tabari's account. Either way the Sunni and the Shia accounts both accept that Ali felt that Abu Bakr should have informed him before going into the meeting with the Ansar and that Ali did swear allegiance to Abu Bakr.
Western scholars tend to agree that Ali believed he had a clear mandate to succeed Muhammad, but offer differing views as to the extent of use of force by Umar in an attempt to intimidate Ali and his supporters. For instance, Madelung discounts the possibility of the use of force and argues that:
According to Tom Holland, Umar's historicity is beyond dispute. An Armenian bishop writing a decade or so after Qadisiyya describes Umar as a "mighty potentate coordinating the advance of the sons of Ismael from the depths of the desert". Tom Holland writes "What added incomparably to his prestige, was that his earth-shaking qualities as a generalissimo were combined with the most distinctive cast of virtues. Rather than ape the manner of a Caesar, as the Ghassanid kings had done, he drew on the example of a quite different kind of Christian. Umar's threadbare robes, his diet of bread, salt and water, and his rejection of worldly riches would have reminded anyone from the desert reaches beyond Palestine of a very particular kind of person. Monks out in the Judaean desert had long been casting themselves as warriors of God. The achievement of Umar was to take such language to a literal and previously unimaginable extreme."
Abu Bakr's era
Due to the delicate political situation in Arabia, Umar initially opposed military operations against the rebel tribes there, hoping to gain their support in the event of an invasion by the Romans or the Persians. Later, however, he came to agree with Abu Bakr's strategy to crush the rebellion by force. By late 632 CE, Khalid ibn Walid had successfully united Arabia after consecutive victories against the rebels. During his own reign later, Umar would mostly adopt the policy of avoiding wars and consolidating his power in the incorporated lands rather than expanding his empire through continuous warfare.
Umar advised Abu Bakr to compile the Quran in the form of a book after 300 huffāẓ (memorizers) of the Quran died in the Battle of Yamamah.
Appointment as a caliph
Abu Bakr appointed Umar as his successor before dying in 634 CE. Due to his strict and autocratic nature, Umar was not a very popular figure among the notables of Medina and members of Majlis al Shura; accordingly, high-ranking companions of Abu Bakr attempted to discourage him from naming Umar.
Nevertheless, Abu Bakr decided to make Umar his successor.
Umar was well known for his extraordinary willpower, intelligence, political astuteness, impartiality, justice, and care for the poor.
Abu Bakr is reported to have said to the high-ranking advisers:
Abu Bakr was aware of Umar's power and ability to succeed him. His was perhaps one of the smoothest transitions of power from one authority to another in the Muslim lands.
Before his death, Abu Bakr called Uthman to write his will in which he declared Umar his successor. In his will he instructed Umar to continue the conquests on Iraqi and Syrian fronts.
Reign as caliph
Initial challenges
Even though almost all of the Muslims had given their pledge of loyalty to Umar, he was feared more than loved. According to Muhammad Husayn Haykal, the first challenge for Umar was to win over his subjects and the members of Majlis al Shura.
Umar was a gifted orator, and he used his ability to improve his reputation among the people.
Muhammad Husayn Haykal wrote that Umar's stress was on the well-being of the poor and underprivileged.
In addition to this, Umar, in order to improve his reputation and relation with the Banu Hashim, the tribe of Ali, delivered to the latter his disputed estates in Khayber. He followed Abu Bakr's decision over the disputed land of Fidak, continuing to treat it as state property.
In the Ridda wars, thousands of prisoners from rebel and apostate tribes were taken away as slaves during the expeditions. Umar ordered a general amnesty for the prisoners, and their immediate emancipation. This made Umar quite popular among the Bedouin tribes.
With the necessary public support on his side, Umar took the bold decision of recalling Khalid ibn Walid from supreme command on the Roman front.
Political and civil administration
The government of Umar was a unitary government, where the sovereign political authority was the caliph. The empire of Umar was divided into provinces and some autonomous territories, e.g., Azerbaijan and Armenia, that had accepted the suzerainty of the caliphate. The provinces were administered by the provincial governors or Wali, personally and fastidiously selected by Umar. Provinces were further divided into about 100 districts. Each district or main city was under the charge of a junior governor or Amir, usually appointed by Umar himself, but occasionally also appointed by the provincial governor. Other officers at the provincial level were:
Katib, the Chief Secretary.
Katib-ud-Diwan, the Military Secretary.
Sahib-ul-Kharaj, the Revenue Collector.
Sahib-ul-Ahdath, the Police chief.
Sahib-Bait-ul-Mal, the Treasury Officer.
Qadi, the Chief Judge.
In some districts there were separate military officers, though the Wali was, in most cases, the Commander-in-chief of the army quartered in the province.
Every appointment was made in writing. At the time of appointment an instrument of instructions was issued with a view to regulating the Wali's conduct. On assuming office, the Wali was required to assemble the people in the main mosque, and read the instrument of instructions before them.
Umar's general instructions to his officers were:
Various other strict codes of conduct were to be obeyed by the governors and state officials. The principal officers were required to travel to Mecca on the occasion of the Hajj, during which people were free to present any complaint against them. In order to minimize the chances of corruption, Umar made it a point to pay high salaries to the staff. Provincial governors received as much as five to seven thousand dirham annually besides their shares of the spoils of war (if they were also the commander in chief of the army of their sector).
Under Umar the empire was divided into the following provinces:
Mecca (Arabia)
Medina (Arabia)
Basra (Iraq)
Kufa (Iraq)
Jazira, in the upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates
Syria
Iliyā' (إلياء) (Palestine)
Ramlah (Palestine)
Upper Egypt
Lower Egypt
Khorasan (Persia)
Azerbaijan (Persia)
Fars (Persia)
Umar was first to establish a special department for the investigation of complaints against the officers of the State. This department acted as the Administrative court, where the legal proceedings were personally led by Umar.
The department was under the charge of Muhammad ibn Maslamah, one of Umar's most trusted men. In important cases Muhammad ibn Maslamah was deputed by Umar to proceed to the spot, investigate the charge and take action. Sometimes an Inquiry Commission was constituted to investigate the charge. On occasion, the officers against whom complaints were received were summoned to Medina, and charged in Umar's administrative court.
Umar was known for this intelligence service through which he made his officials accountable. This service was also said to have inspired fear in his subjects.
Umar was a pioneer in some affairs:
Umar was the first to introduce the public ministry system, where the records of officials and soldiers were kept. He also kept a record system for messages he sent to Governors and heads of state.
He was the first to appoint police forces to keep civil order.
He was the first to discipline the people when they became disordered.
Another important aspect of Umar's rule was that he forbade any of his governors and agents from engaging in any sort of business dealings whilst in a position of power. An agent of Umar by the name of Al Harith ibn K'ab ibn Wahb was once found to have extra money beyond his salary and Umar enquired about his wealth. Al Harith replied that he had some money and he engaged in trade with it. Umar said: By Allah, we did not send you to engage in trade! and he took from him the profits he had made.
Canals
Since Medina, with a rapidly growing population, was at risk of recurring famines when crops were lacking, Umar sought to facilitate the import of grain. He ordered the building of a canal connecting the Nile to the Red Sea and an improvement of port infrastructure on the Arabian coast. When Basra was established during Umar's rule, he started building a nine-mile canal from the Tigris to the new city for irrigation and drinking water. Al-Tabari reports that Utba ibn Ghazwan built the first canal from the Tigris River to the site of Basra when the city was in the planning stage. After the city was built, Umar appointed Abu Musa Ashaari (17-29/638 – 650) as its first governor. He began building two important canals, the al-Ubulla and the Ma'qil, linking Basra with the Tigris River. These two canals were the basis for the agricultural development for the whole Basra region and used for drinking water. Umar also adopted a policy of assigning barren lands to those who undertook to cultivate them. This policy continued during the Umayyad period and resulted in the cultivation of large areas of barren lands through the construction of irrigation canals by the state and by individuals.
Reforms
Under Umar's leadership, the empire expanded; accordingly, he began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast territory. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy, establishing an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories. During his rule, the garrison cities (amsar) of Basra and Kufa were founded or expanded. In 638, he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina.
Umar also ordered the expulsion to Syria and Iraq of the Christian and Jewish communities of Najran and Khaybar. He also permitted Jewish families to resettle in Jerusalem, which had previously been barred from all Jews. He issued orders that these Christians and Jews should be treated well and allotted them the equivalent amount of land in their new settlements. Umar also forbade non-Muslims from residing in the Hejaz for longer than three days.
He was first to establish the army as a state department.
Umar was founder of Fiqh, or Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded by Sunni Muslims as one of the greatest Faqih, and, as such, he started the process of codifying Islamic Law.
In 641, he established Bayt al-mal, a financial institution and started annual allowances for the Muslims.
As a leader, Umar was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had when Muslims were poor and persecuted. In 638, his fourth year as caliph and the seventeenth year since the Hijra, he decreed that the Islamic calendar should be counted from the year of the Hijra of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina.
Visit to Jerusalem in 637 CE
Umar's visit to Jerusalem is documented in several sources. A recently discovered Judeo-Arabic text has disclosed the following anecdote:
"Umar ordered Gentiles and a group of Jews to sweep the area of the Temple Mount. Umar oversaw the work. The Jews who had come sent letters to the rest of the Jews in Palestine and informed them that Umar had permitted resettlement of Jerusalem by Jews. Umar, after some consultation, permitted seventy Jewish households to return. They returned to live in the southern part of the city, i.e., the Market of the Jews. (Their aim was to be near the water of Silwan and the Temple Mount and its gates). Then the Commander Umar granted them this request. The seventy families moved to Jerusalem from Tiberias and the area around it with their wives and children."
It is also reported in the name of the Alexandrian Bishop Eutychius (932–940 CE) that the rock known as the Temple Mount had been a place of ruins as far back as the time of the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, who built churches in Jerusalem. "The Byzantines," he said, "had deliberately left the ancient site of the Temple as it was, and had even thrown rubbish on it, so that a great heap of rubble formed." It was only when Umar marched into Jerusalem with an army that he asked Kaab, who was Jewish before he converted to Islam, "Where do you advise me to build a place of worship?" Kaab indicated the Temple Rock, now a gigantic heap of ruins from the temple of Jupiter. The Jews, Kaab explained, had briefly won back their old capital a quarter of a century before (when Persians overran Syria and Palestine), but they had not had time to clear the site of the Temple, for the Rums (Byzantines) had recaptured the city. It was then that Umar ordered the rubbish on the Ṣakhra (rock) to be removed by the Nabataeans, and after three showers of heavy rain had cleansed the Rock, he instituted prayers there. To this day, the place is known as ḳubbat es ṣakhra, the Dome of the Rock.
According to lexicographer David ben Abraham al-Fasi (died before 1026 CE), the Muslim conquest of Palestine brought relief to the country's Jewish citizens, who had previously been barred by the Byzantines from praying on the Temple Mount.
Military expansion
The military conquests were partially terminated between 638 and 639 during the years of great famine in Arabia and plague in the Levant. During his reign the Levant, Egypt, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, Fezzan, Eastern Anatolia, almost the whole of the Sassanid Persian Empire including Bactria, Persia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Caucasus and Makran were annexed to the Rashidun Caliphate. According to one estimate more than 4,050 cities were captured during these military conquests. Prior to his death in 644, Umar had ceased all military expeditions apparently to consolidate his rule in recently conquered Roman Egypt and the newly conquered Sassanid Empire (642–644). At his death in November 644, his rule extended from present day Libya in the west to the Indus river in the east and the Oxus river in the north.
Great famine
In 638 CE, Arabia fell into severe drought followed by a famine. Soon after, the reserves of food at Medina began to run out. Umar ordered caravans of supplies from Syria and Iraq, and personally supervised their distribution. His actions saved countless lives throughout Arabia. The first governor to respond was Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, the governor of Syria and supreme commander of the Rashidun army.
Later, Abu Ubaidah paid a personal visit to Medina and acted as an officer of disaster management, which was headed personally by Umar. For internally displaced people, Umar hosted a dinner every night at Medina, which according to one estimate, had attendance of more than a hundred thousand people.
Great plague
While famine was ending in Arabia, many districts in Syria and Palestine were devastated by plague. While Umar was on his way to visit Syria, at Elat, he was received by Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, governor of Syria, who informed him about the plague and its intensity, and suggested that Umar go back to Medina. Umar tried to persuade Abu Ubaidah to come with him to Medina, but he declined to leave his troops in that critical situation. Abu Ubaidah died in 639 of the plague, which also cost the lives of 25,000 Muslims in Syria. After the plague had weakened, in late 639, Umar visited Syria for political and administrative re-organization, as most of the veteran commanders and governors had died of the plague.
Welfare state
To be close to the poor, Umar lived in a simple mud hut without doors and walked the streets every evening. After consulting with the poor, Umar established the first welfare state, Bayt al-mal. The Bayt al-mal aided the Muslim and non-Muslim poor, needy, elderly, orphans, widows, and the disabled. The Bayt al-mal ran for hundreds of years, from the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century through the Umayyad period (661–750) and well into the Abbasid era. Umar also introduced a child benefit and pensions for the children and the elderly.
Free trade
Local populations of Jews and Christians, persecuted as religious minorities and taxed heavily to finance the Byzantine–Sassanid Wars, often aided Muslims to take over their lands from the Byzantines and Persians, resulting in exceptionally speedy conquests. As new areas were attached to the Caliphate, they also benefited from free trade, while trading with other areas in the Caliphate (to encourage commerce, in Islam trade is not taxed, but wealth is subject to the zakat). Since the so-called Constitution of Medina, drafted by Muhammad, the Jews and the Christians continued to use their own laws in the Caliphate and had their own judges.
Assassination
In 644, Umar was assassinated by a Persian slave named Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz. His motivation for the assassination is not clear. One possible explanation was that it was done in response to the Muslim conquest of Persia. The assassination was planned several months earlier. In October 644, Umar undertook a Hajj to Mecca, during which the assassins pronounced Umar's imminent death that year, and the massive crowd of the congregation was used by the conspirators as a veil to hide themselves.
During one of rituals of Hajj, the Ramy al-Jamarat (stoning of the Devil), someone threw a stone at Umar that wounded his head; a voice was heard that Umar will not attend the Hajj ever again.
Abu Lu'lu'a brought a complaint to Umar about the high tax charged by his master Mughirah. Umar wrote to Mughirah and inquired about the tax; Mughirah's reply was satisfactory, but Umar held that the tax charged to Abu Lu'lu'a was reasonable, owing to his daily income. Umar then is reported to have asked Abu Lu'lu'a: "I heard that you make windmills; make one for me as well." In a sullen mood, Abu Lu'lu'a said, "Verily I will make such a mill for you, that the whole world would remember it".
It was Abu Lu'lu'a who was assigned the mission of assassinating Umar. According to the plan, before the Fajr prayers (the morning prayers before the dawn) Abu Lu'lu'a would enter al-Masjid al-Nabawi, the main mosque of Medina where Umar led the prayers and would attack Umar during the prayers, and then flee or mix with the congregation at the mosque.
On 31 October 644, Abu Lu'lu'a attacked Umar while he was leading the morning prayers, stabbing him six times in the belly and finally in the navel, that proved fatal. Umar was left profusely bleeding while Abu Lu'lu'a tried to flee, but people from all sides rushed to capture him; in his efforts to escape he is reported to have wounded twelve other people, six or nine of whom later died, before slashing himself with his own blade to commit suicide.
Umar died of the wounds three days later on Wednesday 3 November 644 (26 Dhu al-Hijjah 23 AH).
He was buried at the Green Dome in al-Masjid al-Nabawi alongside Muhammad and caliph Abu Bakr by the permission of Aisha.
Aftermath
On his deathbed, Umar vacillated on his succession. However, it has been reported that he said that if Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, Khalid ibn Walid or Salim, the mawla and freed Persian slave, were alive he would have appointed one of them his successor. Umar finally appointed a committee of six persons to choose a caliph from amongst them: Abdur Rahman bin Awf, Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, Talha ibn Ubaidullah, Uthman ibn Affan, Ali ibn Abi Talib and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam.
All six are among the ten to whom Paradise was promised according to Sunnis. The only one out of the 'famous ten' left out of the committee who was still alive at the time was Saeed ibn Zaid, the cousin and brother-in-law of Umar. He was excluded on the basis of being related by blood and of the same tribe as Umar. Umar had a policy of not appointing anyone related to him to a position of authority even if they were qualified by his standards.
Umar appointed a band of fifty armed soldiers to protect the house where the meeting was proceeding.
Until the appointment of the next caliph, Umar appointed a notable Sahabi and mawla, Suhayb ar-Rumi (Suhayb the Roman), as a caretaker caliph.
While the meeting for selection of a caliph was proceeding, Abdulrehman ibn Abu Bakr and Abdur Rahman bin Awf revealed that they saw the dagger used by Abu Lu'lu'a, the assassin of Umar. A night before Umar's assassination, reported Abdur Rahman bin Awf, he saw Hurmuzan, Jafina and Abu Lu'lu'a, while they were suspiciously discussing something. Surprised by his presence, the dagger fell; it was the same two-sided dagger used in the assassination. Abdulrehman ibn Abu Bakr, son of the late caliph Abu Bakr, confirmed that, a few days before Umar's assassination, he saw this dagger in Hurmuzan's possession. After this revelation, it seemed clear that it had been planned by the Persians residing in Medina. Infuriated by this, Umar's younger son Ubaidullah ibn Umar sought to kill all the Persians in Medina. He killed Hurmuzan, Jafinah, and the daughter of Umar's assassin Abu Lu'lu'a, who is believed to have been a Muslim. Ubaidullah was intercepted by the people of Medina, who prevented him from continuing the massacre. Amr ibn al-Aas is said to have intercepted him and convinced him to hand over his sword. The murder of Jafinah enraged Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, his foster brother, and he assaulted Ubaidullah ibn Umar; again the companions intervened. When Umar was informed about the incident, he ordered Ubaidullah imprisoned, and that the next caliph should decide his fate.
Umar died on 3 November 644; on 7 November Uthman succeeded him as caliph. After prolonged negotiations, the tribunal decided to give blood money to the victims, and released Umar's son Ubaidullah on the ground that, after the tragedy of Umar's assassination, people would be further infuriated by the execution of his son the very next day.
Physical appearance
Umar was strong, fit, athletic and good at wrestling. He is said to have participated in the wrestling matches on the occasion of the annual fair of Ukaz. From first hand accounts of his physical appearance Umar is said to be vigorous, robust and a very tall man; in markets he would tower above the people. The front part of his head was bald, always A'sara Yusran (working with two hands), both his eyes were black, with yellow skin; however, ibn Sa'ad in his book stated that he never knew that Umar had yellow skin, except for a certain part of Umar's life where his color changed due to his frequent consumption of oil. Others say he had reddish-white skin. His teeth were ashnabul asnan (very white shining). He would always color his beard and take care of his hair using a type of plant.
The early Muslim historians Ibn Saad and al-Hakim mention that Abu Miriam Zir, a native of Kufa, described Umar as being "advanced in years, bald, of a tawny colour – a left handed man, tall and towering above the people". Umar's eldest son Abdullah described his father as "a man of fair complexion, a ruddy tint prevailing, tall, bald and grey". Historian Salima bin al-Akwa'a said that "Umar was ambidextrous, he could use both his hands equally well". On the authority of Abu Raja al-U'taridi, Ibn Asakir records that "Umar was a man tall, stout, very bald, very ruddy with scanty hair on the cheeks, his moustaches large, and the ends thereof reddish".
Assessments
Political legacy
One writer states that Umar was a political genius and, as an architect of the Islamic Empire, rates him as the 52nd most influential figure in history. Umar was one of Muhammad's chief advisers. After Muhammad's passing, it was Umar who reconciled the Medinan Muslims to accept Abu Bakr, a Meccan, as the caliph. During Abu Bakr's era, he actively participated as his secretary and main adviser. After succeeding Abu Bakr as caliph, Umar won over the hearts of Bedouin tribes by emancipating all their prisoners and slaves taken during the Ridda wars.
He built up an efficient administrative structure that held together his vast realm. He organized an effective intelligence network, one of the reasons for his strong grip on his bureaucracy.
Umar never appointed governors for more than two years, for they might amass too much local power. He dismissed his most successful general, Khalid ibn Walid, because he wanted people to know that it is Allah who grants victory, and to counter the cult of personality that had built up around Khalid, for the sake of the Muslim faith.
He would patrol the streets of Medina with a whip in his hand, ready to punish any offenders he might come across. It is said that Umar's whip was feared more than the sword of another man. But with all of this, he was also known for being kindhearted, answering the needs of the fatherless and widows.
Umar's swift imposition of justice against his governors for misdeeds made even powerful governors such as Muawiyah scared of him. Ali ibn Abu Talib, during the later rule of Uthman ibn Affan, wanted Uthman to be more strict with his governors, saying, "I adjure you by God, do you know that Mu'awiyah was more afraid of Umar than was Umar's own servant Yarfa?"
Under Umar's rule, in order to promote strict discipline, Arab soldiers were settled outside of cities, between the desert and cultivated lands in special garrison towns known as "amsar". Known examples of such settlements are Basra and Kufa, in Iraq, and Fustat south of what would later become Cairo. His soldiers were forbidden to own land outside of Arabia. There were restrictions on their right to seize buildings and other immovable things usually thought of as prizes of war. Movable spoils were shared with the people of the umma, regardless of their social stratum.
A modern researcher writes about this:
In The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Gibbon refers to Umar in the following terms:
His rule was one of the few moments in the history of Islam where Muslims were united as a single community. Abdullah ibn Masʿud would often weep whenever the subject of Umar was brought up. He said: "Umar was a fortress of Islam. People would enter Islam and not leave. When he died, the fortress was breached and now people are going out of Islam". Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah before Umar died famously said: "If Umar dies, Islam would be weakened". People asked him why and his reply was "You will see what I am speaking about if you survive."
His greatest achievement from a religious perspective was the compilation of the Qur'an. This had not been done during the time of Muhammad. However, during the Battle of Yamama a great number of the memorizers of the Quran perished in the battle. On the advice of Umar, Abu Bakr tasked Zayd ibn Thabit with the momentous task of compiling the Quran into a single Book.
Military legacy
Along with Khalid ibn Walid, Umar was influential in the Ridda wars.
One strategic success was his sundering of the Byzantine-Sassanid alliance in 636, when Emperor Heraclius and Emperor Yazdegerd III allied against their common enemy. He was lucky in that the Persian Emperor Yazdegerd III couldn't synchronize with Heraclius as planned. Umar fully availed himself of the opportunity by inducing the Byzantines to act prematurely. This was contrary to the orders of Emperor Heraclius, who presumably wanted a coordinated attack along with the Persians. Umar did this by sending reinforcements to the Roman front in the Battle of Yarmouk, with instructions that they should appear in the form of small bands, one after the other, giving the impression of a continuous stream of reinforcements that finally lured the Byzantines to an untimely battle. On the other hand, Yazdegerd III was engaged in negotiations that further gave Umar time to transfer his troops from Syria to Iraq. These troops proved decisive in the Battle of Qadisiyyah.
His strategy resulted in a Muslim victory at the Second Battle of Emesa in 638, where the pro-Byzantine Christian Arabs of Jazira, aided by the Byzantine Emperor, made an unexpected flanking movement and laid siege to Emesa (Homs).
Umar issued an order to invade the very homeland of the Christian Arab forces besieging Emesa, the Jazirah. A three-pronged attack against Jazirah was launched from Iraq. To further pressure the Christian Arab armies, Umar instructed Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, commander of Muslim forces in Iraq, to send reinforcements to Emesa. Umar himself led reinforcements there from Medina. Under this unprecedented pressure, the Christian Arabs retreated from Emesa before Muslim reinforcements could arrive. The Muslims annexed Mesopotamia and parts of Byzantine Armenia.
After the Battle of Nahavand, Umar launched a full-scale invasion of the Sassanid Persian Empire. The invasion was a series of well-coordinated multi-pronged attacks designed to isolate and destroy their targets. Umar launched the invasion by attacking the very heart of Persia, aiming to isolate Azerbaijan and eastern Persia. This was immediately followed by simultaneous attacks on Azerbaijan and Fars. Next, Sistan and Kirman were captured, thus isolating the stronghold of Persia, the Khurasan. The final expedition was launched against Khurasan, where, after the Battle of Oxus River, the Persian empire ceased to exist, and Yazdegerd III fled to Central Asia.
Religious legacy
Sunni views
Umar is remembered by Sunnis as a rigid Muslim of a sound and just disposition in matters of religion; a man they title Farooq, meaning "leader, jurist and statesman", and the second of the rightly guided caliphs. He patched his clothes with skin, took buckets on his two shoulders, always riding his donkey without the saddle, rarely laughing and never joking with anyone. On his ring is written the words "Enough is Death as a reminder to you O' Umar". He did not seek advancement for his own family, but rather sought to advance the interests of the Muslim community, the ummah. According to one of Muhammad's companions, Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud:
Shia views
Umar is viewed very negatively in the literature of Twelver Shi'a (the main branch of Shia Islam) and is often regarded as a usurper of Ali's right to the Caliphate. After the Saqifah assembly chose Abu Bakr as caliph, Umar marched with armed men to Ali's house in order to get the allegiance of Ali and his supporters. Sources indicate that a threat was made to burn Ali's house if he refused, but the encounter ended when Fatimah, wife of Ali, intervened. According to the majority of Twelver scholar writings, Fatimah was physically assaulted by Umar, that this caused her to miscarry her child, Muhsin ibn Ali, and led to her death soon after. (see Umar at Fatimah's house). However, some Twelver scholars, such as Fadhlalla, reject these accounts of physical abuse as a "myth", although Fadlallah mentioned that his speech is a probability, and not a certain reason to reject that event.
Another Shia sect, the Zaidiyyah followers of Zaid ibn Ali, generally has two views about that. Some branches, such as Jaroudiah (Sarhubiyya), don't accept Umar and Abu Bakr as legitimate caliphs. For instance, Jarudiyya believes that Muhammad appointed Ali and believes that the denial of the Imamate of Ali after Muhammad's passing would lead to infidelity and deviation from the right path. The other view accepts Umar and Abu Bakr as legitimate caliphs, albeit inferior to Ali. According to al-Tabari (and Ibn A'tham), when asked about Abu Bakr and Umar, Zayd ibn Ali replied: "I have not heard anyone in my family renouncing them both nor saying anything but good about them...when they were entrusted with government they behaved justly with the people and acted according to the Qur'an and the Sunnah.".
Family
Umar married nine women in his lifetime and had fourteen children: ten sons and four daughters.
Wives
The known wives of Umar are:
Zaynab bint Madhun, she was the mother of Hafsa and Abdullah
Umm Kulthum bint Jarwal, she was divorced by Umar. She was the mother of Ubayd Allah
Qurayba bint Abi Umayya, divorced by Umar in 628.
Jamila bint Thabit, She married Umar about between May 627 and May 628. They had one son, Asim.
Umm Hakim, She was married to Umar, in 634 and was mother of Fatimah.
Umm Kulthum bint Ali from this marriage Umar had a son named Zayd.
Sons
The sons of Umar are:
Abdullah, born 610 in Mecca
Abd al-Rahman ibn Umar
Zayd, He was the son of Umar and Umm Kulthum bint Ali.
Ubayd Allah
Abd al-Rahman "Abu Shahmah" ibn Umar
Asim ibn Umar
Abd al-Rahman Abu'l-Mujabbar
Iyaad ibn Umar
Abdur Rahman
Zayd ibn Umar
Daughters
The daughters of Umar are:
Hafsa
Fatima
Ruqayya
Zaynab
Archeological evidence
In 2012, an inscription was found on a rock in al-Murakkab (Saudi Arabia) which is thought to be an autograph of Umar's signature.
See also
Al-Farooq, modern biography about Umar
Omar ibn al-Khattab Mosque, is a historic mosque in Dumat al-Jandal in northern Arabia, it was built by Umar.
Al Farooq Omar Bin Al Khattab Mosque, mosque named for him in Dubai
Sahaba
Farooqi
Omar (TV series)
Pact of Umar
Umar ibn Ibrahim ibn Waqid al-Umari
References
Notes
Bibliography
Guillaume, A., The Life of Muhammad, Oxford University Press, 1955.
Previte-Orton, C. W. (1971). The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Donner, Fred, The Early Islamic Conquests, Princeton University Press, 1981.
Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, Faber and Faber, 1991.
Madelung, Wilferd, The Succession to Muhammad, Cambridge University Press, 1997.
External links
Excerpt from The History of the Khalifahs by Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti
Sirah of Amirul Muminin Umar Bin Khattab by Shaykh Sayyed Muhammad bin Yahya al-Husayni al-Ninowy.
584 births
644 deaths
7th-century caliphs
7th-century murdered monarchs
Assassinated caliphs
Deaths by blade weapons
Male murder victims
People of the Muslim conquest of Persia
People who memorized the Quran
Rashidun caliphs
Sahabah who participated in the battle of Uhud
Shahnameh characters
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"Avvakum Petrov (; 20 November 1620/21 – 14 April 1682) (also spelled Awakum) was a Russian protopope of the Kazan Cathedral on Red Square who led the opposition to Patriarch Nikon's reforms of the Russian Orthodox Church. His autobiography and letters to the tsar, Boyarynya Morozova, and other Old Believers are considered masterpieces of 17th-century Russian literature.\n\nLife and writings\nHe was born in Grigorovo, in present-day Nizhny Novgorod. Starting in 1652 Nikon, as Patriarch of the Russian Church, initiated a wide range of reforms in Russian liturgy and theology. These reforms were intended mostly to bring the Russian Church into line with the other Eastern Orthodox Churches of Eastern Europe and the Middle East. \n\nAvvakum and others strongly rejected these changes. They saw them as a corruption of the Russian Church, which they considered to be the true Church of God. The other Churches were more closely related to Constantinople in their liturgies. Avvakum argued that Constantinople fell to the Turks because of these heretical beliefs and practices. \n \n\nFor his opposition to the reforms, Avvakum was repeatedly imprisoned. First, he was exiled to Siberia, to the city of Tobolsk, and partook in an exploration expedition under Afanasii Pashkov to the Chinese border. In 1664, after Nikon was no longer patriarch he was allowed to return to Moscow, then exiled again to Mezen, then allowed to return to Moscow again for the Church Council of 1666–67, but due to continued opposition to the reforms, he was exiled to Pustozyorsk in 1667. For the last fourteen years of his life, he was imprisoned in a pit or dugout (a sunken, log-framed hut) at Pustozyorsk above the Arctic Circle. He was finally executed by being burned at the stake. The spot where he was burned has been commemorated by an ornate wooden cross. \n\nAvvakum's autobiography recounts hardships of his imprisonment and exile to the Russian Far East, the story of his friendship and fallout with the Tsar Alexis, his practice of exorcising demons and devils, and his boundless admiration for nature and other works of God. Numerous manuscript copies of the text circulated for nearly two centuries before it was first printed in 1861.\n\nLegacy\nDespite his persecution and death, groups rejecting the liturgical changes persisted. They came to be referred to as Old Believers.\n\nEnglish translations\nThe Life Written by Himself, Columbia University Press, 2021 (The Russian Library). Translated by Kenneth N. Brostrom.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nLife of Avvakum, academic edition with commentary (in Russian)\nAvvakum's letters to the Tzar and Old Believers (pub. Paris, 1951, in Russian)\nParallel text version of Life of Avvakum \nEnglish and Russian Articles on Avvakum by P. Hunt\n\n1621 births\n1682 deaths\nPeople from Bolshemurashkinsky District\nOld Believer saints\nTsardom of Russia people\n17th-century Christian saints",
"Domingo Isabelino Laíno Figueredo (July 8, 1935 in Asunción, Paraguay) is a Paraguayan politician, economist, and activist. The leader of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party, a Senator, and a former Member of the Chamber of Deputies, Laino first became known for his opposition to the Stroessner dictatorship: in 1956, he was arrested for having publicly opposed the arrest of university students. In the years that followed, he was arrested so many times that he \"lost count\".\n\nIn September 1979, Laíno was confined to the town of Mbuyapey, 182 km from Asuncion. In December 1982, he was arrested, allegedly for painting anti-government slogans on walls; he was subsequently deported to Argentina. He attempted to return in March 1983, in March 1985, twice in December 1985, and in June 1986; each time, he was blocked.\n\nIn April 1987, Laíno was finally allowed to return to Paraguay; however, he continued his opposition to the Stroessner regime, leading to his being arrested again in September 1987 and February 1988.\n\nIn February 1989, Alfredo Stroessner was overthrown by Andrés Rodríguez, who implemented widespread reforms; these reforms included a presidential election in May 1989. Laino ran for President, but lost to Rodriguez. Laino ran for President in the two subsequent elections as well, but came second each time (losing to Juan Carlos Wasmosy in 1993, and to Raúl Cubas Grau in 1998).\n\nAwards\nIn 1991, Liberal International named Laino co-winner of that year's Prize For Freedom.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOfficial page at the Senate of Paraguay\n\n1935 births\nMembers of the Chamber of Deputies of Paraguay\nMembers of the Senate of Paraguay\nLiving people\nParaguayan economists\nAuthentic Radical Liberal Party politicians"
] |
[
"Umar",
"Reforms",
"what was a reform that was made?",
"While under his leadership, the empire expanded and he also began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast empire.",
"were there any other reforms?",
"together the vast empire. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy.",
"what other reforms did he make?",
"He established an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories.",
"was there another reform?",
"he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina.",
"was there any opposition to any of his reforms?",
"I don't know."
] |
C_654036212102425a9563bc9ff40d6c66_0
|
were there any other reforms not yet mentioned?
| 6 |
were there any other reforms other than establishing advanced administration for newly conquered lands, adding several new ministries and bureaucracies and ordering a census for all Muslim territories?
|
Umar
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While under his leadership, the empire expanded and he also began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast empire. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy. He established an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories. During his rule, the garrison cities (amsar) of Basra and Kufa were founded or expanded. In 638, he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina. Umar also ordered the expulsion to Syria and Iraq of the Christian and Jewish communities of Najran and Khaybar. He also permitted Jewish families to resettle in Jerusalem, which had previously been barred from all Jews. He issued orders that these Christians and Jews should be treated well and allotted them the equivalent amount of land in their new settlements. Umar also forbade non-Muslims to reside in the Hejaz for longer than three days. He was first to establish the army as a state department. Umar was founder of Fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded by Sunni Muslims to be one of the greatest Faqih. Umar as a jurist started the process of codifying Islamic Law. In 641, he established Bayt al-mal, a financial institution and started annual allowance for the Muslims. As a leader, 'Umar was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had when Muslims were poor and persecuted. In 638, his fourth year as caliph and the seventeenth year 17 since the Hijra, he decreed that the Islamic calendar should be counted from the year of the Hijra of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina. CANNOTANSWER
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Umar was founder of Fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence.
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ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (; 3 November 644), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, reigning from 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr (632–634) as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate on 23 August 634. Umar was a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was also an expert Muslim jurist known for his pious and just nature, which earned him the epithet al-Farooq ("the one who distinguishes (between right and wrong)").
An arbitator of the Adi clan, Umar initially opposed Muhammad, his distant Qurayshid kinsman. After his conversion to Islam in 616, he became the first Muslim to openly pray at the Kaaba. Umar participated in almost all battles and expeditions under Muhammad, who bestowed the title Al-Farooq ('the Distinguisher') upon Umar, for his judgements. After Muhammad's demise, Umar pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr as the first caliph, and served as a close advisor to the latter until his death in 634, when Abu Bakr nominated Umar as his successor.
Under Umar, the caliphate expanded at an unprecedented rate, ruling the Sasanian Empire and more than two-thirds of the Byzantine Empire. His attacks against the Sasanian Empire resulted in the conquest of Persia in less than two years (642–644). According to Jewish tradition, Umar set aside the Christian ban on Jews and allowed them into Jerusalem and to worship. Umar was assassinated by the Persian slave Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz in 644.
Umar is generally viewed by historians to be one of the most powerful and influential Muslim caliphs in history. He is revered in the Sunni Islamic tradition as a great just ruler and paragon of Islamic virtues, and some hadiths identify him as the second greatest of the Sahabah after Abu Bakr. He is viewed negatively in the Twelver Shia tradition.
Early life
Umar was born in Mecca to the Banu Adi clan, which was responsible for arbitration among the tribes. His father was Khattab ibn Nufayl and his mother was Hantama bint Hisham, from the tribe of Banu Makhzum. In his youth he used to tend to his father's camels in the plains near Mecca. His merchant father was famed for his intelligence among his tribe. Umar himself said: "My father, al-Khattab, was a ruthless man. He used to make me work hard; if I didn't work he used to beat me and he used to work me to exhaustion."
Despite literacy being uncommon in pre-Islamic Arabia, Umar learned to read and write in his youth. Though not a poet himself, he developed a love for poetry and literature. According to the tradition of Quraish, while still in his teenage years, Umar learned martial arts, horse riding and wrestling. He was tall, physically powerful and a renowned wrestler. He was also a gifted orator who succeeded his father as an arbitrator among the tribes.
Umar became a merchant and made several journeys to Rome and Persia, where he is said to have met various scholars and analyzed Roman and Persian societies. As a merchant he was unsuccessful. Like others around him, Umar was fond of drinking in his pre-Islamic days.
During Muhammad's era
Initial hostility to Islam
In 610, Muhammad started preaching the message of Islam. However, like many others in Mecca, Umar opposed Islam and even threatened to kill Muhammad. He resolved to defend the traditional polytheistic religion of Arabia. He was adamant and cruel in opposing Muhammad, and very prominent in persecuting Muslims. He recommended Muhammad's death. He firmly believed in the unity of the Quraish and saw the new faith of Islam as a cause of division and discord.
Due to persecution, Muhammad ordered some of his followers to migrate to Abyssinia. When a small group of Muslims migrated, Umar became worried about the future unity of the Quraish and decided to have Muhammad assassinated.
Conversion to Islam
Umar converted to Islam in 616, one year after the Migration to Abyssinia.
The story was recounted in Ibn Ishaq's Sīrah. On his way to murder Muhammad, Umar met his best friend Nu'aym ibn Abd Allah who had secretly converted to Islam but had not told Umar. When Umar informed him that he had set out to kill Muhammad, Nu'aym said, “By God, you have deceived yourself, O Umar! Do you think that Banu Abd al-Manaf would let you run around alive once you had killed their son Muhammad? Why don't you return to your own house and at least set it straight?"
Nuaimal Hakim told him to inquire about his own house where his sister and her husband had converted to Islam. Upon arriving at her house, Umar found his sister and brother-in-law Saeed bin Zaid (Umar's cousin) reciting the verses of the Quran from sura Ta-Ha. He started quarreling with his brother-in-law. When his sister came to rescue her husband, he also started quarreling with her. Yet still they kept on saying "you may kill us but we will not give up Islam". Upon hearing these words, Umar slapped his sister so hard that she fell to the ground bleeding from her mouth. When he saw what he did to his sister, he calmed down out of guilt and asked his sister to give him what she was reciting. His sister replied in the negative and said "You are unclean, and no unclean person can touch the Scripture." He insisted, but his sister was not prepared to allow him to touch the pages unless he washed his body. Umar at last gave in. He washed his body and then began to read the verses that were: Verily, I am Allah: there is no God but Me; so serve Me (only), and establish regular prayer for My remembrance (Quran 20:14). He wept and declared, "Surely this is the word of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." On hearing this, Khabbab came out from inside and said: "O, Umar! Glad tidings for you. Yesterday Muhammad prayed to Allah, 'O, Allah! Strengthen Islam with either Umar or Abu Jahl, whomsoever Thou likest.' It seems that his prayer has been answered in your favour."
Umar then went to Muhammad with the same sword he intended to kill him with and accepted Islam in front of him and his companions. Umar was 39 years old when he accepted Islam.
According to one account, after his conversion to Islam Umar openly prayed at the Kaaba as the Quraish chiefs, Abu Jahl and Abu Sufyan, reportedly watched in anger. This further helped the Muslims to gain confidence in practicing Islam openly. At this stage Umar even challenged anyone who dared to stop the Muslims from praying, although no one dared to interfere with Umar when he was openly praying.
Umar's conversion to Islam granted power to the Muslims and to the Islamic faith in Mecca. It was after this event that Muslims offered prayers openly in Masjid al-Haram for the first time. Abdullah Ibn Masud said,
Migration to Medina
In 622 CE, due to the safety offered by Yathrib (later renamed Medīnat an-Nabī, or simply Medina), Muhammad ordered his followers to migrate to Medina. Most Muslims migrated at night fearing Quraish resistance, but Umar is reported to have left openly during the day saying: "Any one who wants to make his wife a widow and his children orphans should come and meet me there behind that cliff." Umar migrated to Medina accompanied by his cousin and brother-in-law Saeed ibn Zaid.
Life in Medina
When Muhammad arrived in Medina, he paired each immigrant (Muhajir) with one of the residents of the city (Ansari), joining Muhammad ibn Maslamah with Umar, making them brothers in faith. Later in Umar's reign as caliph, Muhammad ibn Muslamah would be assigned the office of Chief Inspector of Accountability.
Muslims remained in peace in Medina for approximately a year before the Quraish raised an army to attack them.
In 624, Umar participated in the first battle between Muslims and Quraish of Mecca i.e., the Battle of Badr. In 625, he took part in the Battle of Uhud. In the second phase of the battle, when Khalid ibn Walid's cavalry attacked the Muslim rear, turning the tide of battle, rumours of Muhammad's death were spread and many Muslim warriors were routed from the battlefield, Umar among them. However, hearing that Muhammad was still alive, he went to Muhammad at the mountain of Uhud and prepared for the defence of the hill.
Later in the year Umar was a part of a campaign against the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir.
In 625, Umar's daughter Hafsah was married to Muhammad.
Later in 627, he participated in the Battle of the Trench and also in the Battle of Banu Qurayza. In 628, Umar witnessed the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.
In 628, he fought in the Battle of Khaybar. In 629, Muhammad sent Amr ibn al-A’as to Zaat-ul-Sallasal, after which, Muhammad sent Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah with reinforcements, including Abu Bakr and Umar, whereupon they attacked and defeated the enemy.
In 630, when Muslim armies rushed for the conquest of Mecca, he was part of that army. Later in 630, he fought in the Battle of Hunayn and the Siege of Ta'if. He was part of the Muslim army that contested the Battle of Tabouk under Muhammad's command and he was reported to have given half of his wealth for the preparation of this expedition. He also participated in the farewell Hajj of Muhammad in 632.
Death of Muhammad
When Muhammad died on 8 June 632 Umar initially disbelieved that he was dead. It is said that Umar promised to strike the head of any man who would say that Muhammad died. Umar said: "He has not died but rather he has gone to his lord just as Moses went, remaining absent from his people for forty nights after which he has returned to them. By Allah, the messenger of Allah will indeed return just as Moses returned (to his people) and he will cut off the hands and legs of those men who claimed he has died." Abu Bakr then publicly spoke to the community in the mosque, saying:
Abū Bakr then recited these verses from the Qur'an:
Hearing this, Umar fell on his knees in sorrow and acceptance. Sunni Muslims say that this denial of Muhammad's death was occasioned by his deep love for him.
Foundation of the caliphate
Umar's political capacity first manifested as the architect of the caliphate after Muhammad died on 8 June 632. While the funeral of Muhammad was being arranged a group of Muhammad's followers who were natives of Medina, the Ansar (helpers), organised a meeting on the outskirts of the city, effectively locking out those companions known as Muhajirs (The Emigrants) including Umar. Umar found out about this meeting at Saqifah Bani Saadah, and, taking with him two other Muhajirs, Abu Bakr and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, proceeded to the meeting, presumably to head off the Ansars' plans for political separation. Arriving at the meeting, Umar was faced with a unified community of tribes from the Ansar who refused to accept the leadership of the Muhajirs. However, Umar was undeterred in his belief the caliphate should be under the control of the Muhajirs. Though the Khazraj were in disagreement, Umar, after strained negotiations lasting one or two days, brilliantly divided the Ansar into their old warring factions of Aws and Khazraj tribes. Umar resolved the divisions by placing his hand on that of Abu Bakr as a unity candidate for those gathered in the Saqifah. Others at the Saqifah followed suit, with the exception of the Khazraj tribe and their leader, Sa'd ibn 'Ubada, who were ostracized as a result. The Khazraj tribe is said to have posed no significant threat as there were sufficient men of war from the Medinan tribes such as the Banu Aws to immediately organize them into a military bodyguard for Abu Bakr.
Wilferd Madelung summarises Umar's contribution:
According to various Twelver Shia sources and Madelung, Umar and Abu Bakr had in effect mounted a political coup against Ali at the Saqifah According to one version of narrations in primary sources, Umar and Abu Bakr are also said to have used force to try to secure the allegiance from Ali and his party. It has been reported in mainly Persian historical sources written 300 years later, such as in the History of al-Tabari, that after Ali's refusal to pay homage, Abu Bakr sent Umar with an armed contingent to Fatimah's house where Ali and his supporters are said to have gathered. Umar is reported to have warned those in the House that unless Ali succumbed to Abu Bakr, he would set the House on fire and under these circumstances Ali was forced to capitulate. This version of events, fully accepted by Shia scholars, is generally rejected by Sunni scholars who, in view of other reports in their literature, believe that Ali gave an oath of alliance to Abu Bakr without any grievance. But then other Sunni and Shia sources say that Ali did not swear allegiance to Abu Bakr after his election but six months later after the death of his wife Fatimah putting into question al-Tabari's account. Either way the Sunni and the Shia accounts both accept that Ali felt that Abu Bakr should have informed him before going into the meeting with the Ansar and that Ali did swear allegiance to Abu Bakr.
Western scholars tend to agree that Ali believed he had a clear mandate to succeed Muhammad, but offer differing views as to the extent of use of force by Umar in an attempt to intimidate Ali and his supporters. For instance, Madelung discounts the possibility of the use of force and argues that:
According to Tom Holland, Umar's historicity is beyond dispute. An Armenian bishop writing a decade or so after Qadisiyya describes Umar as a "mighty potentate coordinating the advance of the sons of Ismael from the depths of the desert". Tom Holland writes "What added incomparably to his prestige, was that his earth-shaking qualities as a generalissimo were combined with the most distinctive cast of virtues. Rather than ape the manner of a Caesar, as the Ghassanid kings had done, he drew on the example of a quite different kind of Christian. Umar's threadbare robes, his diet of bread, salt and water, and his rejection of worldly riches would have reminded anyone from the desert reaches beyond Palestine of a very particular kind of person. Monks out in the Judaean desert had long been casting themselves as warriors of God. The achievement of Umar was to take such language to a literal and previously unimaginable extreme."
Abu Bakr's era
Due to the delicate political situation in Arabia, Umar initially opposed military operations against the rebel tribes there, hoping to gain their support in the event of an invasion by the Romans or the Persians. Later, however, he came to agree with Abu Bakr's strategy to crush the rebellion by force. By late 632 CE, Khalid ibn Walid had successfully united Arabia after consecutive victories against the rebels. During his own reign later, Umar would mostly adopt the policy of avoiding wars and consolidating his power in the incorporated lands rather than expanding his empire through continuous warfare.
Umar advised Abu Bakr to compile the Quran in the form of a book after 300 huffāẓ (memorizers) of the Quran died in the Battle of Yamamah.
Appointment as a caliph
Abu Bakr appointed Umar as his successor before dying in 634 CE. Due to his strict and autocratic nature, Umar was not a very popular figure among the notables of Medina and members of Majlis al Shura; accordingly, high-ranking companions of Abu Bakr attempted to discourage him from naming Umar.
Nevertheless, Abu Bakr decided to make Umar his successor.
Umar was well known for his extraordinary willpower, intelligence, political astuteness, impartiality, justice, and care for the poor.
Abu Bakr is reported to have said to the high-ranking advisers:
Abu Bakr was aware of Umar's power and ability to succeed him. His was perhaps one of the smoothest transitions of power from one authority to another in the Muslim lands.
Before his death, Abu Bakr called Uthman to write his will in which he declared Umar his successor. In his will he instructed Umar to continue the conquests on Iraqi and Syrian fronts.
Reign as caliph
Initial challenges
Even though almost all of the Muslims had given their pledge of loyalty to Umar, he was feared more than loved. According to Muhammad Husayn Haykal, the first challenge for Umar was to win over his subjects and the members of Majlis al Shura.
Umar was a gifted orator, and he used his ability to improve his reputation among the people.
Muhammad Husayn Haykal wrote that Umar's stress was on the well-being of the poor and underprivileged.
In addition to this, Umar, in order to improve his reputation and relation with the Banu Hashim, the tribe of Ali, delivered to the latter his disputed estates in Khayber. He followed Abu Bakr's decision over the disputed land of Fidak, continuing to treat it as state property.
In the Ridda wars, thousands of prisoners from rebel and apostate tribes were taken away as slaves during the expeditions. Umar ordered a general amnesty for the prisoners, and their immediate emancipation. This made Umar quite popular among the Bedouin tribes.
With the necessary public support on his side, Umar took the bold decision of recalling Khalid ibn Walid from supreme command on the Roman front.
Political and civil administration
The government of Umar was a unitary government, where the sovereign political authority was the caliph. The empire of Umar was divided into provinces and some autonomous territories, e.g., Azerbaijan and Armenia, that had accepted the suzerainty of the caliphate. The provinces were administered by the provincial governors or Wali, personally and fastidiously selected by Umar. Provinces were further divided into about 100 districts. Each district or main city was under the charge of a junior governor or Amir, usually appointed by Umar himself, but occasionally also appointed by the provincial governor. Other officers at the provincial level were:
Katib, the Chief Secretary.
Katib-ud-Diwan, the Military Secretary.
Sahib-ul-Kharaj, the Revenue Collector.
Sahib-ul-Ahdath, the Police chief.
Sahib-Bait-ul-Mal, the Treasury Officer.
Qadi, the Chief Judge.
In some districts there were separate military officers, though the Wali was, in most cases, the Commander-in-chief of the army quartered in the province.
Every appointment was made in writing. At the time of appointment an instrument of instructions was issued with a view to regulating the Wali's conduct. On assuming office, the Wali was required to assemble the people in the main mosque, and read the instrument of instructions before them.
Umar's general instructions to his officers were:
Various other strict codes of conduct were to be obeyed by the governors and state officials. The principal officers were required to travel to Mecca on the occasion of the Hajj, during which people were free to present any complaint against them. In order to minimize the chances of corruption, Umar made it a point to pay high salaries to the staff. Provincial governors received as much as five to seven thousand dirham annually besides their shares of the spoils of war (if they were also the commander in chief of the army of their sector).
Under Umar the empire was divided into the following provinces:
Mecca (Arabia)
Medina (Arabia)
Basra (Iraq)
Kufa (Iraq)
Jazira, in the upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates
Syria
Iliyā' (إلياء) (Palestine)
Ramlah (Palestine)
Upper Egypt
Lower Egypt
Khorasan (Persia)
Azerbaijan (Persia)
Fars (Persia)
Umar was first to establish a special department for the investigation of complaints against the officers of the State. This department acted as the Administrative court, where the legal proceedings were personally led by Umar.
The department was under the charge of Muhammad ibn Maslamah, one of Umar's most trusted men. In important cases Muhammad ibn Maslamah was deputed by Umar to proceed to the spot, investigate the charge and take action. Sometimes an Inquiry Commission was constituted to investigate the charge. On occasion, the officers against whom complaints were received were summoned to Medina, and charged in Umar's administrative court.
Umar was known for this intelligence service through which he made his officials accountable. This service was also said to have inspired fear in his subjects.
Umar was a pioneer in some affairs:
Umar was the first to introduce the public ministry system, where the records of officials and soldiers were kept. He also kept a record system for messages he sent to Governors and heads of state.
He was the first to appoint police forces to keep civil order.
He was the first to discipline the people when they became disordered.
Another important aspect of Umar's rule was that he forbade any of his governors and agents from engaging in any sort of business dealings whilst in a position of power. An agent of Umar by the name of Al Harith ibn K'ab ibn Wahb was once found to have extra money beyond his salary and Umar enquired about his wealth. Al Harith replied that he had some money and he engaged in trade with it. Umar said: By Allah, we did not send you to engage in trade! and he took from him the profits he had made.
Canals
Since Medina, with a rapidly growing population, was at risk of recurring famines when crops were lacking, Umar sought to facilitate the import of grain. He ordered the building of a canal connecting the Nile to the Red Sea and an improvement of port infrastructure on the Arabian coast. When Basra was established during Umar's rule, he started building a nine-mile canal from the Tigris to the new city for irrigation and drinking water. Al-Tabari reports that Utba ibn Ghazwan built the first canal from the Tigris River to the site of Basra when the city was in the planning stage. After the city was built, Umar appointed Abu Musa Ashaari (17-29/638 – 650) as its first governor. He began building two important canals, the al-Ubulla and the Ma'qil, linking Basra with the Tigris River. These two canals were the basis for the agricultural development for the whole Basra region and used for drinking water. Umar also adopted a policy of assigning barren lands to those who undertook to cultivate them. This policy continued during the Umayyad period and resulted in the cultivation of large areas of barren lands through the construction of irrigation canals by the state and by individuals.
Reforms
Under Umar's leadership, the empire expanded; accordingly, he began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast territory. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy, establishing an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories. During his rule, the garrison cities (amsar) of Basra and Kufa were founded or expanded. In 638, he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina.
Umar also ordered the expulsion to Syria and Iraq of the Christian and Jewish communities of Najran and Khaybar. He also permitted Jewish families to resettle in Jerusalem, which had previously been barred from all Jews. He issued orders that these Christians and Jews should be treated well and allotted them the equivalent amount of land in their new settlements. Umar also forbade non-Muslims from residing in the Hejaz for longer than three days.
He was first to establish the army as a state department.
Umar was founder of Fiqh, or Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded by Sunni Muslims as one of the greatest Faqih, and, as such, he started the process of codifying Islamic Law.
In 641, he established Bayt al-mal, a financial institution and started annual allowances for the Muslims.
As a leader, Umar was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had when Muslims were poor and persecuted. In 638, his fourth year as caliph and the seventeenth year since the Hijra, he decreed that the Islamic calendar should be counted from the year of the Hijra of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina.
Visit to Jerusalem in 637 CE
Umar's visit to Jerusalem is documented in several sources. A recently discovered Judeo-Arabic text has disclosed the following anecdote:
"Umar ordered Gentiles and a group of Jews to sweep the area of the Temple Mount. Umar oversaw the work. The Jews who had come sent letters to the rest of the Jews in Palestine and informed them that Umar had permitted resettlement of Jerusalem by Jews. Umar, after some consultation, permitted seventy Jewish households to return. They returned to live in the southern part of the city, i.e., the Market of the Jews. (Their aim was to be near the water of Silwan and the Temple Mount and its gates). Then the Commander Umar granted them this request. The seventy families moved to Jerusalem from Tiberias and the area around it with their wives and children."
It is also reported in the name of the Alexandrian Bishop Eutychius (932–940 CE) that the rock known as the Temple Mount had been a place of ruins as far back as the time of the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, who built churches in Jerusalem. "The Byzantines," he said, "had deliberately left the ancient site of the Temple as it was, and had even thrown rubbish on it, so that a great heap of rubble formed." It was only when Umar marched into Jerusalem with an army that he asked Kaab, who was Jewish before he converted to Islam, "Where do you advise me to build a place of worship?" Kaab indicated the Temple Rock, now a gigantic heap of ruins from the temple of Jupiter. The Jews, Kaab explained, had briefly won back their old capital a quarter of a century before (when Persians overran Syria and Palestine), but they had not had time to clear the site of the Temple, for the Rums (Byzantines) had recaptured the city. It was then that Umar ordered the rubbish on the Ṣakhra (rock) to be removed by the Nabataeans, and after three showers of heavy rain had cleansed the Rock, he instituted prayers there. To this day, the place is known as ḳubbat es ṣakhra, the Dome of the Rock.
According to lexicographer David ben Abraham al-Fasi (died before 1026 CE), the Muslim conquest of Palestine brought relief to the country's Jewish citizens, who had previously been barred by the Byzantines from praying on the Temple Mount.
Military expansion
The military conquests were partially terminated between 638 and 639 during the years of great famine in Arabia and plague in the Levant. During his reign the Levant, Egypt, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, Fezzan, Eastern Anatolia, almost the whole of the Sassanid Persian Empire including Bactria, Persia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Caucasus and Makran were annexed to the Rashidun Caliphate. According to one estimate more than 4,050 cities were captured during these military conquests. Prior to his death in 644, Umar had ceased all military expeditions apparently to consolidate his rule in recently conquered Roman Egypt and the newly conquered Sassanid Empire (642–644). At his death in November 644, his rule extended from present day Libya in the west to the Indus river in the east and the Oxus river in the north.
Great famine
In 638 CE, Arabia fell into severe drought followed by a famine. Soon after, the reserves of food at Medina began to run out. Umar ordered caravans of supplies from Syria and Iraq, and personally supervised their distribution. His actions saved countless lives throughout Arabia. The first governor to respond was Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, the governor of Syria and supreme commander of the Rashidun army.
Later, Abu Ubaidah paid a personal visit to Medina and acted as an officer of disaster management, which was headed personally by Umar. For internally displaced people, Umar hosted a dinner every night at Medina, which according to one estimate, had attendance of more than a hundred thousand people.
Great plague
While famine was ending in Arabia, many districts in Syria and Palestine were devastated by plague. While Umar was on his way to visit Syria, at Elat, he was received by Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, governor of Syria, who informed him about the plague and its intensity, and suggested that Umar go back to Medina. Umar tried to persuade Abu Ubaidah to come with him to Medina, but he declined to leave his troops in that critical situation. Abu Ubaidah died in 639 of the plague, which also cost the lives of 25,000 Muslims in Syria. After the plague had weakened, in late 639, Umar visited Syria for political and administrative re-organization, as most of the veteran commanders and governors had died of the plague.
Welfare state
To be close to the poor, Umar lived in a simple mud hut without doors and walked the streets every evening. After consulting with the poor, Umar established the first welfare state, Bayt al-mal. The Bayt al-mal aided the Muslim and non-Muslim poor, needy, elderly, orphans, widows, and the disabled. The Bayt al-mal ran for hundreds of years, from the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century through the Umayyad period (661–750) and well into the Abbasid era. Umar also introduced a child benefit and pensions for the children and the elderly.
Free trade
Local populations of Jews and Christians, persecuted as religious minorities and taxed heavily to finance the Byzantine–Sassanid Wars, often aided Muslims to take over their lands from the Byzantines and Persians, resulting in exceptionally speedy conquests. As new areas were attached to the Caliphate, they also benefited from free trade, while trading with other areas in the Caliphate (to encourage commerce, in Islam trade is not taxed, but wealth is subject to the zakat). Since the so-called Constitution of Medina, drafted by Muhammad, the Jews and the Christians continued to use their own laws in the Caliphate and had their own judges.
Assassination
In 644, Umar was assassinated by a Persian slave named Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz. His motivation for the assassination is not clear. One possible explanation was that it was done in response to the Muslim conquest of Persia. The assassination was planned several months earlier. In October 644, Umar undertook a Hajj to Mecca, during which the assassins pronounced Umar's imminent death that year, and the massive crowd of the congregation was used by the conspirators as a veil to hide themselves.
During one of rituals of Hajj, the Ramy al-Jamarat (stoning of the Devil), someone threw a stone at Umar that wounded his head; a voice was heard that Umar will not attend the Hajj ever again.
Abu Lu'lu'a brought a complaint to Umar about the high tax charged by his master Mughirah. Umar wrote to Mughirah and inquired about the tax; Mughirah's reply was satisfactory, but Umar held that the tax charged to Abu Lu'lu'a was reasonable, owing to his daily income. Umar then is reported to have asked Abu Lu'lu'a: "I heard that you make windmills; make one for me as well." In a sullen mood, Abu Lu'lu'a said, "Verily I will make such a mill for you, that the whole world would remember it".
It was Abu Lu'lu'a who was assigned the mission of assassinating Umar. According to the plan, before the Fajr prayers (the morning prayers before the dawn) Abu Lu'lu'a would enter al-Masjid al-Nabawi, the main mosque of Medina where Umar led the prayers and would attack Umar during the prayers, and then flee or mix with the congregation at the mosque.
On 31 October 644, Abu Lu'lu'a attacked Umar while he was leading the morning prayers, stabbing him six times in the belly and finally in the navel, that proved fatal. Umar was left profusely bleeding while Abu Lu'lu'a tried to flee, but people from all sides rushed to capture him; in his efforts to escape he is reported to have wounded twelve other people, six or nine of whom later died, before slashing himself with his own blade to commit suicide.
Umar died of the wounds three days later on Wednesday 3 November 644 (26 Dhu al-Hijjah 23 AH).
He was buried at the Green Dome in al-Masjid al-Nabawi alongside Muhammad and caliph Abu Bakr by the permission of Aisha.
Aftermath
On his deathbed, Umar vacillated on his succession. However, it has been reported that he said that if Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, Khalid ibn Walid or Salim, the mawla and freed Persian slave, were alive he would have appointed one of them his successor. Umar finally appointed a committee of six persons to choose a caliph from amongst them: Abdur Rahman bin Awf, Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, Talha ibn Ubaidullah, Uthman ibn Affan, Ali ibn Abi Talib and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam.
All six are among the ten to whom Paradise was promised according to Sunnis. The only one out of the 'famous ten' left out of the committee who was still alive at the time was Saeed ibn Zaid, the cousin and brother-in-law of Umar. He was excluded on the basis of being related by blood and of the same tribe as Umar. Umar had a policy of not appointing anyone related to him to a position of authority even if they were qualified by his standards.
Umar appointed a band of fifty armed soldiers to protect the house where the meeting was proceeding.
Until the appointment of the next caliph, Umar appointed a notable Sahabi and mawla, Suhayb ar-Rumi (Suhayb the Roman), as a caretaker caliph.
While the meeting for selection of a caliph was proceeding, Abdulrehman ibn Abu Bakr and Abdur Rahman bin Awf revealed that they saw the dagger used by Abu Lu'lu'a, the assassin of Umar. A night before Umar's assassination, reported Abdur Rahman bin Awf, he saw Hurmuzan, Jafina and Abu Lu'lu'a, while they were suspiciously discussing something. Surprised by his presence, the dagger fell; it was the same two-sided dagger used in the assassination. Abdulrehman ibn Abu Bakr, son of the late caliph Abu Bakr, confirmed that, a few days before Umar's assassination, he saw this dagger in Hurmuzan's possession. After this revelation, it seemed clear that it had been planned by the Persians residing in Medina. Infuriated by this, Umar's younger son Ubaidullah ibn Umar sought to kill all the Persians in Medina. He killed Hurmuzan, Jafinah, and the daughter of Umar's assassin Abu Lu'lu'a, who is believed to have been a Muslim. Ubaidullah was intercepted by the people of Medina, who prevented him from continuing the massacre. Amr ibn al-Aas is said to have intercepted him and convinced him to hand over his sword. The murder of Jafinah enraged Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, his foster brother, and he assaulted Ubaidullah ibn Umar; again the companions intervened. When Umar was informed about the incident, he ordered Ubaidullah imprisoned, and that the next caliph should decide his fate.
Umar died on 3 November 644; on 7 November Uthman succeeded him as caliph. After prolonged negotiations, the tribunal decided to give blood money to the victims, and released Umar's son Ubaidullah on the ground that, after the tragedy of Umar's assassination, people would be further infuriated by the execution of his son the very next day.
Physical appearance
Umar was strong, fit, athletic and good at wrestling. He is said to have participated in the wrestling matches on the occasion of the annual fair of Ukaz. From first hand accounts of his physical appearance Umar is said to be vigorous, robust and a very tall man; in markets he would tower above the people. The front part of his head was bald, always A'sara Yusran (working with two hands), both his eyes were black, with yellow skin; however, ibn Sa'ad in his book stated that he never knew that Umar had yellow skin, except for a certain part of Umar's life where his color changed due to his frequent consumption of oil. Others say he had reddish-white skin. His teeth were ashnabul asnan (very white shining). He would always color his beard and take care of his hair using a type of plant.
The early Muslim historians Ibn Saad and al-Hakim mention that Abu Miriam Zir, a native of Kufa, described Umar as being "advanced in years, bald, of a tawny colour – a left handed man, tall and towering above the people". Umar's eldest son Abdullah described his father as "a man of fair complexion, a ruddy tint prevailing, tall, bald and grey". Historian Salima bin al-Akwa'a said that "Umar was ambidextrous, he could use both his hands equally well". On the authority of Abu Raja al-U'taridi, Ibn Asakir records that "Umar was a man tall, stout, very bald, very ruddy with scanty hair on the cheeks, his moustaches large, and the ends thereof reddish".
Assessments
Political legacy
One writer states that Umar was a political genius and, as an architect of the Islamic Empire, rates him as the 52nd most influential figure in history. Umar was one of Muhammad's chief advisers. After Muhammad's passing, it was Umar who reconciled the Medinan Muslims to accept Abu Bakr, a Meccan, as the caliph. During Abu Bakr's era, he actively participated as his secretary and main adviser. After succeeding Abu Bakr as caliph, Umar won over the hearts of Bedouin tribes by emancipating all their prisoners and slaves taken during the Ridda wars.
He built up an efficient administrative structure that held together his vast realm. He organized an effective intelligence network, one of the reasons for his strong grip on his bureaucracy.
Umar never appointed governors for more than two years, for they might amass too much local power. He dismissed his most successful general, Khalid ibn Walid, because he wanted people to know that it is Allah who grants victory, and to counter the cult of personality that had built up around Khalid, for the sake of the Muslim faith.
He would patrol the streets of Medina with a whip in his hand, ready to punish any offenders he might come across. It is said that Umar's whip was feared more than the sword of another man. But with all of this, he was also known for being kindhearted, answering the needs of the fatherless and widows.
Umar's swift imposition of justice against his governors for misdeeds made even powerful governors such as Muawiyah scared of him. Ali ibn Abu Talib, during the later rule of Uthman ibn Affan, wanted Uthman to be more strict with his governors, saying, "I adjure you by God, do you know that Mu'awiyah was more afraid of Umar than was Umar's own servant Yarfa?"
Under Umar's rule, in order to promote strict discipline, Arab soldiers were settled outside of cities, between the desert and cultivated lands in special garrison towns known as "amsar". Known examples of such settlements are Basra and Kufa, in Iraq, and Fustat south of what would later become Cairo. His soldiers were forbidden to own land outside of Arabia. There were restrictions on their right to seize buildings and other immovable things usually thought of as prizes of war. Movable spoils were shared with the people of the umma, regardless of their social stratum.
A modern researcher writes about this:
In The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Gibbon refers to Umar in the following terms:
His rule was one of the few moments in the history of Islam where Muslims were united as a single community. Abdullah ibn Masʿud would often weep whenever the subject of Umar was brought up. He said: "Umar was a fortress of Islam. People would enter Islam and not leave. When he died, the fortress was breached and now people are going out of Islam". Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah before Umar died famously said: "If Umar dies, Islam would be weakened". People asked him why and his reply was "You will see what I am speaking about if you survive."
His greatest achievement from a religious perspective was the compilation of the Qur'an. This had not been done during the time of Muhammad. However, during the Battle of Yamama a great number of the memorizers of the Quran perished in the battle. On the advice of Umar, Abu Bakr tasked Zayd ibn Thabit with the momentous task of compiling the Quran into a single Book.
Military legacy
Along with Khalid ibn Walid, Umar was influential in the Ridda wars.
One strategic success was his sundering of the Byzantine-Sassanid alliance in 636, when Emperor Heraclius and Emperor Yazdegerd III allied against their common enemy. He was lucky in that the Persian Emperor Yazdegerd III couldn't synchronize with Heraclius as planned. Umar fully availed himself of the opportunity by inducing the Byzantines to act prematurely. This was contrary to the orders of Emperor Heraclius, who presumably wanted a coordinated attack along with the Persians. Umar did this by sending reinforcements to the Roman front in the Battle of Yarmouk, with instructions that they should appear in the form of small bands, one after the other, giving the impression of a continuous stream of reinforcements that finally lured the Byzantines to an untimely battle. On the other hand, Yazdegerd III was engaged in negotiations that further gave Umar time to transfer his troops from Syria to Iraq. These troops proved decisive in the Battle of Qadisiyyah.
His strategy resulted in a Muslim victory at the Second Battle of Emesa in 638, where the pro-Byzantine Christian Arabs of Jazira, aided by the Byzantine Emperor, made an unexpected flanking movement and laid siege to Emesa (Homs).
Umar issued an order to invade the very homeland of the Christian Arab forces besieging Emesa, the Jazirah. A three-pronged attack against Jazirah was launched from Iraq. To further pressure the Christian Arab armies, Umar instructed Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, commander of Muslim forces in Iraq, to send reinforcements to Emesa. Umar himself led reinforcements there from Medina. Under this unprecedented pressure, the Christian Arabs retreated from Emesa before Muslim reinforcements could arrive. The Muslims annexed Mesopotamia and parts of Byzantine Armenia.
After the Battle of Nahavand, Umar launched a full-scale invasion of the Sassanid Persian Empire. The invasion was a series of well-coordinated multi-pronged attacks designed to isolate and destroy their targets. Umar launched the invasion by attacking the very heart of Persia, aiming to isolate Azerbaijan and eastern Persia. This was immediately followed by simultaneous attacks on Azerbaijan and Fars. Next, Sistan and Kirman were captured, thus isolating the stronghold of Persia, the Khurasan. The final expedition was launched against Khurasan, where, after the Battle of Oxus River, the Persian empire ceased to exist, and Yazdegerd III fled to Central Asia.
Religious legacy
Sunni views
Umar is remembered by Sunnis as a rigid Muslim of a sound and just disposition in matters of religion; a man they title Farooq, meaning "leader, jurist and statesman", and the second of the rightly guided caliphs. He patched his clothes with skin, took buckets on his two shoulders, always riding his donkey without the saddle, rarely laughing and never joking with anyone. On his ring is written the words "Enough is Death as a reminder to you O' Umar". He did not seek advancement for his own family, but rather sought to advance the interests of the Muslim community, the ummah. According to one of Muhammad's companions, Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud:
Shia views
Umar is viewed very negatively in the literature of Twelver Shi'a (the main branch of Shia Islam) and is often regarded as a usurper of Ali's right to the Caliphate. After the Saqifah assembly chose Abu Bakr as caliph, Umar marched with armed men to Ali's house in order to get the allegiance of Ali and his supporters. Sources indicate that a threat was made to burn Ali's house if he refused, but the encounter ended when Fatimah, wife of Ali, intervened. According to the majority of Twelver scholar writings, Fatimah was physically assaulted by Umar, that this caused her to miscarry her child, Muhsin ibn Ali, and led to her death soon after. (see Umar at Fatimah's house). However, some Twelver scholars, such as Fadhlalla, reject these accounts of physical abuse as a "myth", although Fadlallah mentioned that his speech is a probability, and not a certain reason to reject that event.
Another Shia sect, the Zaidiyyah followers of Zaid ibn Ali, generally has two views about that. Some branches, such as Jaroudiah (Sarhubiyya), don't accept Umar and Abu Bakr as legitimate caliphs. For instance, Jarudiyya believes that Muhammad appointed Ali and believes that the denial of the Imamate of Ali after Muhammad's passing would lead to infidelity and deviation from the right path. The other view accepts Umar and Abu Bakr as legitimate caliphs, albeit inferior to Ali. According to al-Tabari (and Ibn A'tham), when asked about Abu Bakr and Umar, Zayd ibn Ali replied: "I have not heard anyone in my family renouncing them both nor saying anything but good about them...when they were entrusted with government they behaved justly with the people and acted according to the Qur'an and the Sunnah.".
Family
Umar married nine women in his lifetime and had fourteen children: ten sons and four daughters.
Wives
The known wives of Umar are:
Zaynab bint Madhun, she was the mother of Hafsa and Abdullah
Umm Kulthum bint Jarwal, she was divorced by Umar. She was the mother of Ubayd Allah
Qurayba bint Abi Umayya, divorced by Umar in 628.
Jamila bint Thabit, She married Umar about between May 627 and May 628. They had one son, Asim.
Umm Hakim, She was married to Umar, in 634 and was mother of Fatimah.
Umm Kulthum bint Ali from this marriage Umar had a son named Zayd.
Sons
The sons of Umar are:
Abdullah, born 610 in Mecca
Abd al-Rahman ibn Umar
Zayd, He was the son of Umar and Umm Kulthum bint Ali.
Ubayd Allah
Abd al-Rahman "Abu Shahmah" ibn Umar
Asim ibn Umar
Abd al-Rahman Abu'l-Mujabbar
Iyaad ibn Umar
Abdur Rahman
Zayd ibn Umar
Daughters
The daughters of Umar are:
Hafsa
Fatima
Ruqayya
Zaynab
Archeological evidence
In 2012, an inscription was found on a rock in al-Murakkab (Saudi Arabia) which is thought to be an autograph of Umar's signature.
See also
Al-Farooq, modern biography about Umar
Omar ibn al-Khattab Mosque, is a historic mosque in Dumat al-Jandal in northern Arabia, it was built by Umar.
Al Farooq Omar Bin Al Khattab Mosque, mosque named for him in Dubai
Sahaba
Farooqi
Omar (TV series)
Pact of Umar
Umar ibn Ibrahim ibn Waqid al-Umari
References
Notes
Bibliography
Guillaume, A., The Life of Muhammad, Oxford University Press, 1955.
Previte-Orton, C. W. (1971). The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Donner, Fred, The Early Islamic Conquests, Princeton University Press, 1981.
Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, Faber and Faber, 1991.
Madelung, Wilferd, The Succession to Muhammad, Cambridge University Press, 1997.
External links
Excerpt from The History of the Khalifahs by Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti
Sirah of Amirul Muminin Umar Bin Khattab by Shaykh Sayyed Muhammad bin Yahya al-Husayni al-Ninowy.
584 births
644 deaths
7th-century caliphs
7th-century murdered monarchs
Assassinated caliphs
Deaths by blade weapons
Male murder victims
People of the Muslim conquest of Persia
People who memorized the Quran
Rashidun caliphs
Sahabah who participated in the battle of Uhud
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"A religious reform (from Latin re: back, again, and formare: to form; i.e. put together: to restore, reconstruct, or rebuild) aims at the reform of religious teachings. It is not to be confused with an organizational reform of a religious community, though mostly this is a consequence of a reform of religious teachings.\n\nDefinition \n\nReligious reforms are performed when a religious community reaches the conclusion that it deviated from its - assumed - true faith. Mostly religious reforms are started by parts of a religious community and meet resistance in other parts of the same religious community. Religious reforms usually lead to a reformulation of the religious teachings held for true, and to the condemnation resp. rejection of teachings held for wrong.\n\nMostly the deviation from the assumed true faith which gives reason for a religious reform crept in over a longer period of time, sometimes over centuries. A religious reform is always a reorientation at the historical beginnings of a religion (therefore: re-formare, reconstruct) under the perspective of the present time and with the knowledge of the present time. A typical example for deviations from an assumed true faith are social changes within society which lead a loss purpose for ethical prescriptions, so they have to be replaced by other ethical prescriptions in order to protect the underlying, unchanged value for the future. Another typical example is the factual falsification of traditional views, e.g. by better insights into historical events or into natural science, by which the traditional views are falsified.\n\nThe eternally continuing change of society and the progress of human knowledge are the reasons why a \"final\" reform of religious teachings is not possible. Religious teachings have to be reformed again and again. This realization was formulated in a concise sentence by Karl Barth in 1947: Ecclesia semper reformanda est, i.e. The church is always to be reformed.\n\nReligious reforms do not aim at an adjustment to the spirit of the time in the first place, yet they naturally bring about certain adjustments to the present time, since the religious tradition is reconsidered and reformed under the perspective of the present time and with the knowledge of the present time. A full adjustment of a religious teaching to the spirit of the present time cannot be expected from a credible religious reform. Religious reforms which do not aim at the reestablishment of an assumed true faith in the first place, yet at a mere adjustment of religious teaching to the spirit of the time without respect to an assumed true faith are no religious reforms, strictly speaking. Their purpose is questionable since those reforms are not based on the faith of the believers. Reforms of this nature are often based on compulsion and are usually not long-lasting but are reversed in the next generations. An example is the attempt of the Roman emperor Julian the Apostate to restore paganism as state religion.\n\nThe opponents of justified religious reforms are called traditionalists, their ideology is traditionalism. The adherents of reforms to adjust to the spirit of the time in the first place without respect for an assumed true faith are called modernists, their ideology is modernism. Both concepts were coined by Christian-Catholic historical developments, yet today they are applied to all religions.\n\nFamous examples of religious reforms \n The Buddhist councils for the clarification of the teachings of the Buddha.\n The First Council of Nicaea for the clarification of the doctrine of the Trinity, 325 AD.\n The Muslim Muʿtazila movement of the 8th to 10th centuries.\n The Protestant Reformation of 1517 by Martin Luther, John Calvin and others.\n The introduction of the Historical-Critical Method in Christianity in the 19th and 20th century.\n The Second Vatican Council of the Catholic Church, 1962–1965.\n\nSee also \n Aggiornamento\n Gamaliel's principle\n Sociology of religion\n Religious studies\n Criticism of Christianity\n Criticism of Islam\n Islamic Modernism\n\nBibliography \n Ronald L. Johnstone: Religion in Society: A Sociology of Religion, Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2006.\n Armin W. Geertz, Jeppe Sinding Jensen: Religion, Tradition, and Renewal, Aarhus Universitetsforlag, 1991.\n Michael Molloy, Richard C. Trussell: Experiencing the World's Religions: Tradition, Challenge and Change, McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 1998.\n John P. Bradbury: Perpetually Reforming: A Theology of Church Reform and Renewal, 2013.\n\nExternal links \n Religious Reforms, General thoughts on reform on Almuslih.org.\n\nReferences \n\nReform\nReligion",
"Under Pope Pius XII, there were the several reforms of Oriental canon law and the Codex Iuris Canonici Orientalis, applying to the Oriental Catholic Churches.\n\nReforms of Eastern canon law \n\nA commission was established in 1929 by Pius XI to draw up a schema for an Oriental Catholic canon code, the Commissionem Cardinalitiam pro Studiis Praeparatoriis Codificationis Orientalis. In 1935, the same pope established another commission with the same goal, the Pontificia Commissio ad redigendum Codicem iuris canonici orientalis, to replace the former.\n\nThe Eastern Catholic Churches, not unlike the Latin Church before the Code of 1917, had their own ancient laws, which were not codified. Some reforms of Eastern Church laws for the Eastern Churches were done during the pontificate of Pius XII. The new Church canons promulgated by Pius XII for the government of the Eastern Catholic Churches concern matrimonial law, Church trials, administration of Church properties and religious orders and individual rights.\n\nEastern groups in the West \nAfter World War II, a new situation developed as millions of united Christians from Eastern Europe emigrated to the Western hemisphere: United States, Western Europe, Canada, South America, the Middle East and Australia. The new Church law was welcomed, yet in some points, it was critiqued, for not fully adopting to these new Western circumstances. Traditionaly, Oriental Christians insisted on legal exemptions, allowing them to keep most of the ancient customs and laws.\n\nDecentralization from Rome \nPope Pius XII claimed in his encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi those reforms were intended to establish Eastern Catholics as equal parts of the mystical body of Christ.\n\nLater developments\n\nThese individual canon law reforms of Pope Pius XII were revised in 1991. The Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches for members of the Eastern Catholic Churches were promulgated on 18 October 1990 by Pope John Paul II and came into effect on 1 October 1991.\n\nSee also\n\nLegal history of the Catholic Church\nNomocanon\n1983 Code of Canon Law\n\nReferences\n\nTheology of Pope Pius XII\nEastern Catholic canon law\nCanon law history\nCanon law codifications"
] |
[
"Umar",
"Reforms",
"what was a reform that was made?",
"While under his leadership, the empire expanded and he also began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast empire.",
"were there any other reforms?",
"together the vast empire. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy.",
"what other reforms did he make?",
"He established an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories.",
"was there another reform?",
"he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina.",
"was there any opposition to any of his reforms?",
"I don't know.",
"were there any other reforms not yet mentioned?",
"Umar was founder of Fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence."
] |
C_654036212102425a9563bc9ff40d6c66_0
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what year was one of the reforms created?
| 7 |
what year was Fiqh, the census of all Muslim territories or the establishment of advanced administration in newly conquered lands created?
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Umar
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While under his leadership, the empire expanded and he also began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast empire. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy. He established an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories. During his rule, the garrison cities (amsar) of Basra and Kufa were founded or expanded. In 638, he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina. Umar also ordered the expulsion to Syria and Iraq of the Christian and Jewish communities of Najran and Khaybar. He also permitted Jewish families to resettle in Jerusalem, which had previously been barred from all Jews. He issued orders that these Christians and Jews should be treated well and allotted them the equivalent amount of land in their new settlements. Umar also forbade non-Muslims to reside in the Hejaz for longer than three days. He was first to establish the army as a state department. Umar was founder of Fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded by Sunni Muslims to be one of the greatest Faqih. Umar as a jurist started the process of codifying Islamic Law. In 641, he established Bayt al-mal, a financial institution and started annual allowance for the Muslims. As a leader, 'Umar was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had when Muslims were poor and persecuted. In 638, his fourth year as caliph and the seventeenth year 17 since the Hijra, he decreed that the Islamic calendar should be counted from the year of the Hijra of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (; 3 November 644), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, reigning from 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr (632–634) as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate on 23 August 634. Umar was a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was also an expert Muslim jurist known for his pious and just nature, which earned him the epithet al-Farooq ("the one who distinguishes (between right and wrong)").
An arbitator of the Adi clan, Umar initially opposed Muhammad, his distant Qurayshid kinsman. After his conversion to Islam in 616, he became the first Muslim to openly pray at the Kaaba. Umar participated in almost all battles and expeditions under Muhammad, who bestowed the title Al-Farooq ('the Distinguisher') upon Umar, for his judgements. After Muhammad's demise, Umar pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr as the first caliph, and served as a close advisor to the latter until his death in 634, when Abu Bakr nominated Umar as his successor.
Under Umar, the caliphate expanded at an unprecedented rate, ruling the Sasanian Empire and more than two-thirds of the Byzantine Empire. His attacks against the Sasanian Empire resulted in the conquest of Persia in less than two years (642–644). According to Jewish tradition, Umar set aside the Christian ban on Jews and allowed them into Jerusalem and to worship. Umar was assassinated by the Persian slave Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz in 644.
Umar is generally viewed by historians to be one of the most powerful and influential Muslim caliphs in history. He is revered in the Sunni Islamic tradition as a great just ruler and paragon of Islamic virtues, and some hadiths identify him as the second greatest of the Sahabah after Abu Bakr. He is viewed negatively in the Twelver Shia tradition.
Early life
Umar was born in Mecca to the Banu Adi clan, which was responsible for arbitration among the tribes. His father was Khattab ibn Nufayl and his mother was Hantama bint Hisham, from the tribe of Banu Makhzum. In his youth he used to tend to his father's camels in the plains near Mecca. His merchant father was famed for his intelligence among his tribe. Umar himself said: "My father, al-Khattab, was a ruthless man. He used to make me work hard; if I didn't work he used to beat me and he used to work me to exhaustion."
Despite literacy being uncommon in pre-Islamic Arabia, Umar learned to read and write in his youth. Though not a poet himself, he developed a love for poetry and literature. According to the tradition of Quraish, while still in his teenage years, Umar learned martial arts, horse riding and wrestling. He was tall, physically powerful and a renowned wrestler. He was also a gifted orator who succeeded his father as an arbitrator among the tribes.
Umar became a merchant and made several journeys to Rome and Persia, where he is said to have met various scholars and analyzed Roman and Persian societies. As a merchant he was unsuccessful. Like others around him, Umar was fond of drinking in his pre-Islamic days.
During Muhammad's era
Initial hostility to Islam
In 610, Muhammad started preaching the message of Islam. However, like many others in Mecca, Umar opposed Islam and even threatened to kill Muhammad. He resolved to defend the traditional polytheistic religion of Arabia. He was adamant and cruel in opposing Muhammad, and very prominent in persecuting Muslims. He recommended Muhammad's death. He firmly believed in the unity of the Quraish and saw the new faith of Islam as a cause of division and discord.
Due to persecution, Muhammad ordered some of his followers to migrate to Abyssinia. When a small group of Muslims migrated, Umar became worried about the future unity of the Quraish and decided to have Muhammad assassinated.
Conversion to Islam
Umar converted to Islam in 616, one year after the Migration to Abyssinia.
The story was recounted in Ibn Ishaq's Sīrah. On his way to murder Muhammad, Umar met his best friend Nu'aym ibn Abd Allah who had secretly converted to Islam but had not told Umar. When Umar informed him that he had set out to kill Muhammad, Nu'aym said, “By God, you have deceived yourself, O Umar! Do you think that Banu Abd al-Manaf would let you run around alive once you had killed their son Muhammad? Why don't you return to your own house and at least set it straight?"
Nuaimal Hakim told him to inquire about his own house where his sister and her husband had converted to Islam. Upon arriving at her house, Umar found his sister and brother-in-law Saeed bin Zaid (Umar's cousin) reciting the verses of the Quran from sura Ta-Ha. He started quarreling with his brother-in-law. When his sister came to rescue her husband, he also started quarreling with her. Yet still they kept on saying "you may kill us but we will not give up Islam". Upon hearing these words, Umar slapped his sister so hard that she fell to the ground bleeding from her mouth. When he saw what he did to his sister, he calmed down out of guilt and asked his sister to give him what she was reciting. His sister replied in the negative and said "You are unclean, and no unclean person can touch the Scripture." He insisted, but his sister was not prepared to allow him to touch the pages unless he washed his body. Umar at last gave in. He washed his body and then began to read the verses that were: Verily, I am Allah: there is no God but Me; so serve Me (only), and establish regular prayer for My remembrance (Quran 20:14). He wept and declared, "Surely this is the word of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." On hearing this, Khabbab came out from inside and said: "O, Umar! Glad tidings for you. Yesterday Muhammad prayed to Allah, 'O, Allah! Strengthen Islam with either Umar or Abu Jahl, whomsoever Thou likest.' It seems that his prayer has been answered in your favour."
Umar then went to Muhammad with the same sword he intended to kill him with and accepted Islam in front of him and his companions. Umar was 39 years old when he accepted Islam.
According to one account, after his conversion to Islam Umar openly prayed at the Kaaba as the Quraish chiefs, Abu Jahl and Abu Sufyan, reportedly watched in anger. This further helped the Muslims to gain confidence in practicing Islam openly. At this stage Umar even challenged anyone who dared to stop the Muslims from praying, although no one dared to interfere with Umar when he was openly praying.
Umar's conversion to Islam granted power to the Muslims and to the Islamic faith in Mecca. It was after this event that Muslims offered prayers openly in Masjid al-Haram for the first time. Abdullah Ibn Masud said,
Migration to Medina
In 622 CE, due to the safety offered by Yathrib (later renamed Medīnat an-Nabī, or simply Medina), Muhammad ordered his followers to migrate to Medina. Most Muslims migrated at night fearing Quraish resistance, but Umar is reported to have left openly during the day saying: "Any one who wants to make his wife a widow and his children orphans should come and meet me there behind that cliff." Umar migrated to Medina accompanied by his cousin and brother-in-law Saeed ibn Zaid.
Life in Medina
When Muhammad arrived in Medina, he paired each immigrant (Muhajir) with one of the residents of the city (Ansari), joining Muhammad ibn Maslamah with Umar, making them brothers in faith. Later in Umar's reign as caliph, Muhammad ibn Muslamah would be assigned the office of Chief Inspector of Accountability.
Muslims remained in peace in Medina for approximately a year before the Quraish raised an army to attack them.
In 624, Umar participated in the first battle between Muslims and Quraish of Mecca i.e., the Battle of Badr. In 625, he took part in the Battle of Uhud. In the second phase of the battle, when Khalid ibn Walid's cavalry attacked the Muslim rear, turning the tide of battle, rumours of Muhammad's death were spread and many Muslim warriors were routed from the battlefield, Umar among them. However, hearing that Muhammad was still alive, he went to Muhammad at the mountain of Uhud and prepared for the defence of the hill.
Later in the year Umar was a part of a campaign against the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir.
In 625, Umar's daughter Hafsah was married to Muhammad.
Later in 627, he participated in the Battle of the Trench and also in the Battle of Banu Qurayza. In 628, Umar witnessed the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.
In 628, he fought in the Battle of Khaybar. In 629, Muhammad sent Amr ibn al-A’as to Zaat-ul-Sallasal, after which, Muhammad sent Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah with reinforcements, including Abu Bakr and Umar, whereupon they attacked and defeated the enemy.
In 630, when Muslim armies rushed for the conquest of Mecca, he was part of that army. Later in 630, he fought in the Battle of Hunayn and the Siege of Ta'if. He was part of the Muslim army that contested the Battle of Tabouk under Muhammad's command and he was reported to have given half of his wealth for the preparation of this expedition. He also participated in the farewell Hajj of Muhammad in 632.
Death of Muhammad
When Muhammad died on 8 June 632 Umar initially disbelieved that he was dead. It is said that Umar promised to strike the head of any man who would say that Muhammad died. Umar said: "He has not died but rather he has gone to his lord just as Moses went, remaining absent from his people for forty nights after which he has returned to them. By Allah, the messenger of Allah will indeed return just as Moses returned (to his people) and he will cut off the hands and legs of those men who claimed he has died." Abu Bakr then publicly spoke to the community in the mosque, saying:
Abū Bakr then recited these verses from the Qur'an:
Hearing this, Umar fell on his knees in sorrow and acceptance. Sunni Muslims say that this denial of Muhammad's death was occasioned by his deep love for him.
Foundation of the caliphate
Umar's political capacity first manifested as the architect of the caliphate after Muhammad died on 8 June 632. While the funeral of Muhammad was being arranged a group of Muhammad's followers who were natives of Medina, the Ansar (helpers), organised a meeting on the outskirts of the city, effectively locking out those companions known as Muhajirs (The Emigrants) including Umar. Umar found out about this meeting at Saqifah Bani Saadah, and, taking with him two other Muhajirs, Abu Bakr and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, proceeded to the meeting, presumably to head off the Ansars' plans for political separation. Arriving at the meeting, Umar was faced with a unified community of tribes from the Ansar who refused to accept the leadership of the Muhajirs. However, Umar was undeterred in his belief the caliphate should be under the control of the Muhajirs. Though the Khazraj were in disagreement, Umar, after strained negotiations lasting one or two days, brilliantly divided the Ansar into their old warring factions of Aws and Khazraj tribes. Umar resolved the divisions by placing his hand on that of Abu Bakr as a unity candidate for those gathered in the Saqifah. Others at the Saqifah followed suit, with the exception of the Khazraj tribe and their leader, Sa'd ibn 'Ubada, who were ostracized as a result. The Khazraj tribe is said to have posed no significant threat as there were sufficient men of war from the Medinan tribes such as the Banu Aws to immediately organize them into a military bodyguard for Abu Bakr.
Wilferd Madelung summarises Umar's contribution:
According to various Twelver Shia sources and Madelung, Umar and Abu Bakr had in effect mounted a political coup against Ali at the Saqifah According to one version of narrations in primary sources, Umar and Abu Bakr are also said to have used force to try to secure the allegiance from Ali and his party. It has been reported in mainly Persian historical sources written 300 years later, such as in the History of al-Tabari, that after Ali's refusal to pay homage, Abu Bakr sent Umar with an armed contingent to Fatimah's house where Ali and his supporters are said to have gathered. Umar is reported to have warned those in the House that unless Ali succumbed to Abu Bakr, he would set the House on fire and under these circumstances Ali was forced to capitulate. This version of events, fully accepted by Shia scholars, is generally rejected by Sunni scholars who, in view of other reports in their literature, believe that Ali gave an oath of alliance to Abu Bakr without any grievance. But then other Sunni and Shia sources say that Ali did not swear allegiance to Abu Bakr after his election but six months later after the death of his wife Fatimah putting into question al-Tabari's account. Either way the Sunni and the Shia accounts both accept that Ali felt that Abu Bakr should have informed him before going into the meeting with the Ansar and that Ali did swear allegiance to Abu Bakr.
Western scholars tend to agree that Ali believed he had a clear mandate to succeed Muhammad, but offer differing views as to the extent of use of force by Umar in an attempt to intimidate Ali and his supporters. For instance, Madelung discounts the possibility of the use of force and argues that:
According to Tom Holland, Umar's historicity is beyond dispute. An Armenian bishop writing a decade or so after Qadisiyya describes Umar as a "mighty potentate coordinating the advance of the sons of Ismael from the depths of the desert". Tom Holland writes "What added incomparably to his prestige, was that his earth-shaking qualities as a generalissimo were combined with the most distinctive cast of virtues. Rather than ape the manner of a Caesar, as the Ghassanid kings had done, he drew on the example of a quite different kind of Christian. Umar's threadbare robes, his diet of bread, salt and water, and his rejection of worldly riches would have reminded anyone from the desert reaches beyond Palestine of a very particular kind of person. Monks out in the Judaean desert had long been casting themselves as warriors of God. The achievement of Umar was to take such language to a literal and previously unimaginable extreme."
Abu Bakr's era
Due to the delicate political situation in Arabia, Umar initially opposed military operations against the rebel tribes there, hoping to gain their support in the event of an invasion by the Romans or the Persians. Later, however, he came to agree with Abu Bakr's strategy to crush the rebellion by force. By late 632 CE, Khalid ibn Walid had successfully united Arabia after consecutive victories against the rebels. During his own reign later, Umar would mostly adopt the policy of avoiding wars and consolidating his power in the incorporated lands rather than expanding his empire through continuous warfare.
Umar advised Abu Bakr to compile the Quran in the form of a book after 300 huffāẓ (memorizers) of the Quran died in the Battle of Yamamah.
Appointment as a caliph
Abu Bakr appointed Umar as his successor before dying in 634 CE. Due to his strict and autocratic nature, Umar was not a very popular figure among the notables of Medina and members of Majlis al Shura; accordingly, high-ranking companions of Abu Bakr attempted to discourage him from naming Umar.
Nevertheless, Abu Bakr decided to make Umar his successor.
Umar was well known for his extraordinary willpower, intelligence, political astuteness, impartiality, justice, and care for the poor.
Abu Bakr is reported to have said to the high-ranking advisers:
Abu Bakr was aware of Umar's power and ability to succeed him. His was perhaps one of the smoothest transitions of power from one authority to another in the Muslim lands.
Before his death, Abu Bakr called Uthman to write his will in which he declared Umar his successor. In his will he instructed Umar to continue the conquests on Iraqi and Syrian fronts.
Reign as caliph
Initial challenges
Even though almost all of the Muslims had given their pledge of loyalty to Umar, he was feared more than loved. According to Muhammad Husayn Haykal, the first challenge for Umar was to win over his subjects and the members of Majlis al Shura.
Umar was a gifted orator, and he used his ability to improve his reputation among the people.
Muhammad Husayn Haykal wrote that Umar's stress was on the well-being of the poor and underprivileged.
In addition to this, Umar, in order to improve his reputation and relation with the Banu Hashim, the tribe of Ali, delivered to the latter his disputed estates in Khayber. He followed Abu Bakr's decision over the disputed land of Fidak, continuing to treat it as state property.
In the Ridda wars, thousands of prisoners from rebel and apostate tribes were taken away as slaves during the expeditions. Umar ordered a general amnesty for the prisoners, and their immediate emancipation. This made Umar quite popular among the Bedouin tribes.
With the necessary public support on his side, Umar took the bold decision of recalling Khalid ibn Walid from supreme command on the Roman front.
Political and civil administration
The government of Umar was a unitary government, where the sovereign political authority was the caliph. The empire of Umar was divided into provinces and some autonomous territories, e.g., Azerbaijan and Armenia, that had accepted the suzerainty of the caliphate. The provinces were administered by the provincial governors or Wali, personally and fastidiously selected by Umar. Provinces were further divided into about 100 districts. Each district or main city was under the charge of a junior governor or Amir, usually appointed by Umar himself, but occasionally also appointed by the provincial governor. Other officers at the provincial level were:
Katib, the Chief Secretary.
Katib-ud-Diwan, the Military Secretary.
Sahib-ul-Kharaj, the Revenue Collector.
Sahib-ul-Ahdath, the Police chief.
Sahib-Bait-ul-Mal, the Treasury Officer.
Qadi, the Chief Judge.
In some districts there were separate military officers, though the Wali was, in most cases, the Commander-in-chief of the army quartered in the province.
Every appointment was made in writing. At the time of appointment an instrument of instructions was issued with a view to regulating the Wali's conduct. On assuming office, the Wali was required to assemble the people in the main mosque, and read the instrument of instructions before them.
Umar's general instructions to his officers were:
Various other strict codes of conduct were to be obeyed by the governors and state officials. The principal officers were required to travel to Mecca on the occasion of the Hajj, during which people were free to present any complaint against them. In order to minimize the chances of corruption, Umar made it a point to pay high salaries to the staff. Provincial governors received as much as five to seven thousand dirham annually besides their shares of the spoils of war (if they were also the commander in chief of the army of their sector).
Under Umar the empire was divided into the following provinces:
Mecca (Arabia)
Medina (Arabia)
Basra (Iraq)
Kufa (Iraq)
Jazira, in the upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates
Syria
Iliyā' (إلياء) (Palestine)
Ramlah (Palestine)
Upper Egypt
Lower Egypt
Khorasan (Persia)
Azerbaijan (Persia)
Fars (Persia)
Umar was first to establish a special department for the investigation of complaints against the officers of the State. This department acted as the Administrative court, where the legal proceedings were personally led by Umar.
The department was under the charge of Muhammad ibn Maslamah, one of Umar's most trusted men. In important cases Muhammad ibn Maslamah was deputed by Umar to proceed to the spot, investigate the charge and take action. Sometimes an Inquiry Commission was constituted to investigate the charge. On occasion, the officers against whom complaints were received were summoned to Medina, and charged in Umar's administrative court.
Umar was known for this intelligence service through which he made his officials accountable. This service was also said to have inspired fear in his subjects.
Umar was a pioneer in some affairs:
Umar was the first to introduce the public ministry system, where the records of officials and soldiers were kept. He also kept a record system for messages he sent to Governors and heads of state.
He was the first to appoint police forces to keep civil order.
He was the first to discipline the people when they became disordered.
Another important aspect of Umar's rule was that he forbade any of his governors and agents from engaging in any sort of business dealings whilst in a position of power. An agent of Umar by the name of Al Harith ibn K'ab ibn Wahb was once found to have extra money beyond his salary and Umar enquired about his wealth. Al Harith replied that he had some money and he engaged in trade with it. Umar said: By Allah, we did not send you to engage in trade! and he took from him the profits he had made.
Canals
Since Medina, with a rapidly growing population, was at risk of recurring famines when crops were lacking, Umar sought to facilitate the import of grain. He ordered the building of a canal connecting the Nile to the Red Sea and an improvement of port infrastructure on the Arabian coast. When Basra was established during Umar's rule, he started building a nine-mile canal from the Tigris to the new city for irrigation and drinking water. Al-Tabari reports that Utba ibn Ghazwan built the first canal from the Tigris River to the site of Basra when the city was in the planning stage. After the city was built, Umar appointed Abu Musa Ashaari (17-29/638 – 650) as its first governor. He began building two important canals, the al-Ubulla and the Ma'qil, linking Basra with the Tigris River. These two canals were the basis for the agricultural development for the whole Basra region and used for drinking water. Umar also adopted a policy of assigning barren lands to those who undertook to cultivate them. This policy continued during the Umayyad period and resulted in the cultivation of large areas of barren lands through the construction of irrigation canals by the state and by individuals.
Reforms
Under Umar's leadership, the empire expanded; accordingly, he began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast territory. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy, establishing an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories. During his rule, the garrison cities (amsar) of Basra and Kufa were founded or expanded. In 638, he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina.
Umar also ordered the expulsion to Syria and Iraq of the Christian and Jewish communities of Najran and Khaybar. He also permitted Jewish families to resettle in Jerusalem, which had previously been barred from all Jews. He issued orders that these Christians and Jews should be treated well and allotted them the equivalent amount of land in their new settlements. Umar also forbade non-Muslims from residing in the Hejaz for longer than three days.
He was first to establish the army as a state department.
Umar was founder of Fiqh, or Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded by Sunni Muslims as one of the greatest Faqih, and, as such, he started the process of codifying Islamic Law.
In 641, he established Bayt al-mal, a financial institution and started annual allowances for the Muslims.
As a leader, Umar was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had when Muslims were poor and persecuted. In 638, his fourth year as caliph and the seventeenth year since the Hijra, he decreed that the Islamic calendar should be counted from the year of the Hijra of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina.
Visit to Jerusalem in 637 CE
Umar's visit to Jerusalem is documented in several sources. A recently discovered Judeo-Arabic text has disclosed the following anecdote:
"Umar ordered Gentiles and a group of Jews to sweep the area of the Temple Mount. Umar oversaw the work. The Jews who had come sent letters to the rest of the Jews in Palestine and informed them that Umar had permitted resettlement of Jerusalem by Jews. Umar, after some consultation, permitted seventy Jewish households to return. They returned to live in the southern part of the city, i.e., the Market of the Jews. (Their aim was to be near the water of Silwan and the Temple Mount and its gates). Then the Commander Umar granted them this request. The seventy families moved to Jerusalem from Tiberias and the area around it with their wives and children."
It is also reported in the name of the Alexandrian Bishop Eutychius (932–940 CE) that the rock known as the Temple Mount had been a place of ruins as far back as the time of the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, who built churches in Jerusalem. "The Byzantines," he said, "had deliberately left the ancient site of the Temple as it was, and had even thrown rubbish on it, so that a great heap of rubble formed." It was only when Umar marched into Jerusalem with an army that he asked Kaab, who was Jewish before he converted to Islam, "Where do you advise me to build a place of worship?" Kaab indicated the Temple Rock, now a gigantic heap of ruins from the temple of Jupiter. The Jews, Kaab explained, had briefly won back their old capital a quarter of a century before (when Persians overran Syria and Palestine), but they had not had time to clear the site of the Temple, for the Rums (Byzantines) had recaptured the city. It was then that Umar ordered the rubbish on the Ṣakhra (rock) to be removed by the Nabataeans, and after three showers of heavy rain had cleansed the Rock, he instituted prayers there. To this day, the place is known as ḳubbat es ṣakhra, the Dome of the Rock.
According to lexicographer David ben Abraham al-Fasi (died before 1026 CE), the Muslim conquest of Palestine brought relief to the country's Jewish citizens, who had previously been barred by the Byzantines from praying on the Temple Mount.
Military expansion
The military conquests were partially terminated between 638 and 639 during the years of great famine in Arabia and plague in the Levant. During his reign the Levant, Egypt, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, Fezzan, Eastern Anatolia, almost the whole of the Sassanid Persian Empire including Bactria, Persia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Caucasus and Makran were annexed to the Rashidun Caliphate. According to one estimate more than 4,050 cities were captured during these military conquests. Prior to his death in 644, Umar had ceased all military expeditions apparently to consolidate his rule in recently conquered Roman Egypt and the newly conquered Sassanid Empire (642–644). At his death in November 644, his rule extended from present day Libya in the west to the Indus river in the east and the Oxus river in the north.
Great famine
In 638 CE, Arabia fell into severe drought followed by a famine. Soon after, the reserves of food at Medina began to run out. Umar ordered caravans of supplies from Syria and Iraq, and personally supervised their distribution. His actions saved countless lives throughout Arabia. The first governor to respond was Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, the governor of Syria and supreme commander of the Rashidun army.
Later, Abu Ubaidah paid a personal visit to Medina and acted as an officer of disaster management, which was headed personally by Umar. For internally displaced people, Umar hosted a dinner every night at Medina, which according to one estimate, had attendance of more than a hundred thousand people.
Great plague
While famine was ending in Arabia, many districts in Syria and Palestine were devastated by plague. While Umar was on his way to visit Syria, at Elat, he was received by Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, governor of Syria, who informed him about the plague and its intensity, and suggested that Umar go back to Medina. Umar tried to persuade Abu Ubaidah to come with him to Medina, but he declined to leave his troops in that critical situation. Abu Ubaidah died in 639 of the plague, which also cost the lives of 25,000 Muslims in Syria. After the plague had weakened, in late 639, Umar visited Syria for political and administrative re-organization, as most of the veteran commanders and governors had died of the plague.
Welfare state
To be close to the poor, Umar lived in a simple mud hut without doors and walked the streets every evening. After consulting with the poor, Umar established the first welfare state, Bayt al-mal. The Bayt al-mal aided the Muslim and non-Muslim poor, needy, elderly, orphans, widows, and the disabled. The Bayt al-mal ran for hundreds of years, from the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century through the Umayyad period (661–750) and well into the Abbasid era. Umar also introduced a child benefit and pensions for the children and the elderly.
Free trade
Local populations of Jews and Christians, persecuted as religious minorities and taxed heavily to finance the Byzantine–Sassanid Wars, often aided Muslims to take over their lands from the Byzantines and Persians, resulting in exceptionally speedy conquests. As new areas were attached to the Caliphate, they also benefited from free trade, while trading with other areas in the Caliphate (to encourage commerce, in Islam trade is not taxed, but wealth is subject to the zakat). Since the so-called Constitution of Medina, drafted by Muhammad, the Jews and the Christians continued to use their own laws in the Caliphate and had their own judges.
Assassination
In 644, Umar was assassinated by a Persian slave named Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz. His motivation for the assassination is not clear. One possible explanation was that it was done in response to the Muslim conquest of Persia. The assassination was planned several months earlier. In October 644, Umar undertook a Hajj to Mecca, during which the assassins pronounced Umar's imminent death that year, and the massive crowd of the congregation was used by the conspirators as a veil to hide themselves.
During one of rituals of Hajj, the Ramy al-Jamarat (stoning of the Devil), someone threw a stone at Umar that wounded his head; a voice was heard that Umar will not attend the Hajj ever again.
Abu Lu'lu'a brought a complaint to Umar about the high tax charged by his master Mughirah. Umar wrote to Mughirah and inquired about the tax; Mughirah's reply was satisfactory, but Umar held that the tax charged to Abu Lu'lu'a was reasonable, owing to his daily income. Umar then is reported to have asked Abu Lu'lu'a: "I heard that you make windmills; make one for me as well." In a sullen mood, Abu Lu'lu'a said, "Verily I will make such a mill for you, that the whole world would remember it".
It was Abu Lu'lu'a who was assigned the mission of assassinating Umar. According to the plan, before the Fajr prayers (the morning prayers before the dawn) Abu Lu'lu'a would enter al-Masjid al-Nabawi, the main mosque of Medina where Umar led the prayers and would attack Umar during the prayers, and then flee or mix with the congregation at the mosque.
On 31 October 644, Abu Lu'lu'a attacked Umar while he was leading the morning prayers, stabbing him six times in the belly and finally in the navel, that proved fatal. Umar was left profusely bleeding while Abu Lu'lu'a tried to flee, but people from all sides rushed to capture him; in his efforts to escape he is reported to have wounded twelve other people, six or nine of whom later died, before slashing himself with his own blade to commit suicide.
Umar died of the wounds three days later on Wednesday 3 November 644 (26 Dhu al-Hijjah 23 AH).
He was buried at the Green Dome in al-Masjid al-Nabawi alongside Muhammad and caliph Abu Bakr by the permission of Aisha.
Aftermath
On his deathbed, Umar vacillated on his succession. However, it has been reported that he said that if Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, Khalid ibn Walid or Salim, the mawla and freed Persian slave, were alive he would have appointed one of them his successor. Umar finally appointed a committee of six persons to choose a caliph from amongst them: Abdur Rahman bin Awf, Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, Talha ibn Ubaidullah, Uthman ibn Affan, Ali ibn Abi Talib and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam.
All six are among the ten to whom Paradise was promised according to Sunnis. The only one out of the 'famous ten' left out of the committee who was still alive at the time was Saeed ibn Zaid, the cousin and brother-in-law of Umar. He was excluded on the basis of being related by blood and of the same tribe as Umar. Umar had a policy of not appointing anyone related to him to a position of authority even if they were qualified by his standards.
Umar appointed a band of fifty armed soldiers to protect the house where the meeting was proceeding.
Until the appointment of the next caliph, Umar appointed a notable Sahabi and mawla, Suhayb ar-Rumi (Suhayb the Roman), as a caretaker caliph.
While the meeting for selection of a caliph was proceeding, Abdulrehman ibn Abu Bakr and Abdur Rahman bin Awf revealed that they saw the dagger used by Abu Lu'lu'a, the assassin of Umar. A night before Umar's assassination, reported Abdur Rahman bin Awf, he saw Hurmuzan, Jafina and Abu Lu'lu'a, while they were suspiciously discussing something. Surprised by his presence, the dagger fell; it was the same two-sided dagger used in the assassination. Abdulrehman ibn Abu Bakr, son of the late caliph Abu Bakr, confirmed that, a few days before Umar's assassination, he saw this dagger in Hurmuzan's possession. After this revelation, it seemed clear that it had been planned by the Persians residing in Medina. Infuriated by this, Umar's younger son Ubaidullah ibn Umar sought to kill all the Persians in Medina. He killed Hurmuzan, Jafinah, and the daughter of Umar's assassin Abu Lu'lu'a, who is believed to have been a Muslim. Ubaidullah was intercepted by the people of Medina, who prevented him from continuing the massacre. Amr ibn al-Aas is said to have intercepted him and convinced him to hand over his sword. The murder of Jafinah enraged Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, his foster brother, and he assaulted Ubaidullah ibn Umar; again the companions intervened. When Umar was informed about the incident, he ordered Ubaidullah imprisoned, and that the next caliph should decide his fate.
Umar died on 3 November 644; on 7 November Uthman succeeded him as caliph. After prolonged negotiations, the tribunal decided to give blood money to the victims, and released Umar's son Ubaidullah on the ground that, after the tragedy of Umar's assassination, people would be further infuriated by the execution of his son the very next day.
Physical appearance
Umar was strong, fit, athletic and good at wrestling. He is said to have participated in the wrestling matches on the occasion of the annual fair of Ukaz. From first hand accounts of his physical appearance Umar is said to be vigorous, robust and a very tall man; in markets he would tower above the people. The front part of his head was bald, always A'sara Yusran (working with two hands), both his eyes were black, with yellow skin; however, ibn Sa'ad in his book stated that he never knew that Umar had yellow skin, except for a certain part of Umar's life where his color changed due to his frequent consumption of oil. Others say he had reddish-white skin. His teeth were ashnabul asnan (very white shining). He would always color his beard and take care of his hair using a type of plant.
The early Muslim historians Ibn Saad and al-Hakim mention that Abu Miriam Zir, a native of Kufa, described Umar as being "advanced in years, bald, of a tawny colour – a left handed man, tall and towering above the people". Umar's eldest son Abdullah described his father as "a man of fair complexion, a ruddy tint prevailing, tall, bald and grey". Historian Salima bin al-Akwa'a said that "Umar was ambidextrous, he could use both his hands equally well". On the authority of Abu Raja al-U'taridi, Ibn Asakir records that "Umar was a man tall, stout, very bald, very ruddy with scanty hair on the cheeks, his moustaches large, and the ends thereof reddish".
Assessments
Political legacy
One writer states that Umar was a political genius and, as an architect of the Islamic Empire, rates him as the 52nd most influential figure in history. Umar was one of Muhammad's chief advisers. After Muhammad's passing, it was Umar who reconciled the Medinan Muslims to accept Abu Bakr, a Meccan, as the caliph. During Abu Bakr's era, he actively participated as his secretary and main adviser. After succeeding Abu Bakr as caliph, Umar won over the hearts of Bedouin tribes by emancipating all their prisoners and slaves taken during the Ridda wars.
He built up an efficient administrative structure that held together his vast realm. He organized an effective intelligence network, one of the reasons for his strong grip on his bureaucracy.
Umar never appointed governors for more than two years, for they might amass too much local power. He dismissed his most successful general, Khalid ibn Walid, because he wanted people to know that it is Allah who grants victory, and to counter the cult of personality that had built up around Khalid, for the sake of the Muslim faith.
He would patrol the streets of Medina with a whip in his hand, ready to punish any offenders he might come across. It is said that Umar's whip was feared more than the sword of another man. But with all of this, he was also known for being kindhearted, answering the needs of the fatherless and widows.
Umar's swift imposition of justice against his governors for misdeeds made even powerful governors such as Muawiyah scared of him. Ali ibn Abu Talib, during the later rule of Uthman ibn Affan, wanted Uthman to be more strict with his governors, saying, "I adjure you by God, do you know that Mu'awiyah was more afraid of Umar than was Umar's own servant Yarfa?"
Under Umar's rule, in order to promote strict discipline, Arab soldiers were settled outside of cities, between the desert and cultivated lands in special garrison towns known as "amsar". Known examples of such settlements are Basra and Kufa, in Iraq, and Fustat south of what would later become Cairo. His soldiers were forbidden to own land outside of Arabia. There were restrictions on their right to seize buildings and other immovable things usually thought of as prizes of war. Movable spoils were shared with the people of the umma, regardless of their social stratum.
A modern researcher writes about this:
In The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Gibbon refers to Umar in the following terms:
His rule was one of the few moments in the history of Islam where Muslims were united as a single community. Abdullah ibn Masʿud would often weep whenever the subject of Umar was brought up. He said: "Umar was a fortress of Islam. People would enter Islam and not leave. When he died, the fortress was breached and now people are going out of Islam". Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah before Umar died famously said: "If Umar dies, Islam would be weakened". People asked him why and his reply was "You will see what I am speaking about if you survive."
His greatest achievement from a religious perspective was the compilation of the Qur'an. This had not been done during the time of Muhammad. However, during the Battle of Yamama a great number of the memorizers of the Quran perished in the battle. On the advice of Umar, Abu Bakr tasked Zayd ibn Thabit with the momentous task of compiling the Quran into a single Book.
Military legacy
Along with Khalid ibn Walid, Umar was influential in the Ridda wars.
One strategic success was his sundering of the Byzantine-Sassanid alliance in 636, when Emperor Heraclius and Emperor Yazdegerd III allied against their common enemy. He was lucky in that the Persian Emperor Yazdegerd III couldn't synchronize with Heraclius as planned. Umar fully availed himself of the opportunity by inducing the Byzantines to act prematurely. This was contrary to the orders of Emperor Heraclius, who presumably wanted a coordinated attack along with the Persians. Umar did this by sending reinforcements to the Roman front in the Battle of Yarmouk, with instructions that they should appear in the form of small bands, one after the other, giving the impression of a continuous stream of reinforcements that finally lured the Byzantines to an untimely battle. On the other hand, Yazdegerd III was engaged in negotiations that further gave Umar time to transfer his troops from Syria to Iraq. These troops proved decisive in the Battle of Qadisiyyah.
His strategy resulted in a Muslim victory at the Second Battle of Emesa in 638, where the pro-Byzantine Christian Arabs of Jazira, aided by the Byzantine Emperor, made an unexpected flanking movement and laid siege to Emesa (Homs).
Umar issued an order to invade the very homeland of the Christian Arab forces besieging Emesa, the Jazirah. A three-pronged attack against Jazirah was launched from Iraq. To further pressure the Christian Arab armies, Umar instructed Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, commander of Muslim forces in Iraq, to send reinforcements to Emesa. Umar himself led reinforcements there from Medina. Under this unprecedented pressure, the Christian Arabs retreated from Emesa before Muslim reinforcements could arrive. The Muslims annexed Mesopotamia and parts of Byzantine Armenia.
After the Battle of Nahavand, Umar launched a full-scale invasion of the Sassanid Persian Empire. The invasion was a series of well-coordinated multi-pronged attacks designed to isolate and destroy their targets. Umar launched the invasion by attacking the very heart of Persia, aiming to isolate Azerbaijan and eastern Persia. This was immediately followed by simultaneous attacks on Azerbaijan and Fars. Next, Sistan and Kirman were captured, thus isolating the stronghold of Persia, the Khurasan. The final expedition was launched against Khurasan, where, after the Battle of Oxus River, the Persian empire ceased to exist, and Yazdegerd III fled to Central Asia.
Religious legacy
Sunni views
Umar is remembered by Sunnis as a rigid Muslim of a sound and just disposition in matters of religion; a man they title Farooq, meaning "leader, jurist and statesman", and the second of the rightly guided caliphs. He patched his clothes with skin, took buckets on his two shoulders, always riding his donkey without the saddle, rarely laughing and never joking with anyone. On his ring is written the words "Enough is Death as a reminder to you O' Umar". He did not seek advancement for his own family, but rather sought to advance the interests of the Muslim community, the ummah. According to one of Muhammad's companions, Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud:
Shia views
Umar is viewed very negatively in the literature of Twelver Shi'a (the main branch of Shia Islam) and is often regarded as a usurper of Ali's right to the Caliphate. After the Saqifah assembly chose Abu Bakr as caliph, Umar marched with armed men to Ali's house in order to get the allegiance of Ali and his supporters. Sources indicate that a threat was made to burn Ali's house if he refused, but the encounter ended when Fatimah, wife of Ali, intervened. According to the majority of Twelver scholar writings, Fatimah was physically assaulted by Umar, that this caused her to miscarry her child, Muhsin ibn Ali, and led to her death soon after. (see Umar at Fatimah's house). However, some Twelver scholars, such as Fadhlalla, reject these accounts of physical abuse as a "myth", although Fadlallah mentioned that his speech is a probability, and not a certain reason to reject that event.
Another Shia sect, the Zaidiyyah followers of Zaid ibn Ali, generally has two views about that. Some branches, such as Jaroudiah (Sarhubiyya), don't accept Umar and Abu Bakr as legitimate caliphs. For instance, Jarudiyya believes that Muhammad appointed Ali and believes that the denial of the Imamate of Ali after Muhammad's passing would lead to infidelity and deviation from the right path. The other view accepts Umar and Abu Bakr as legitimate caliphs, albeit inferior to Ali. According to al-Tabari (and Ibn A'tham), when asked about Abu Bakr and Umar, Zayd ibn Ali replied: "I have not heard anyone in my family renouncing them both nor saying anything but good about them...when they were entrusted with government they behaved justly with the people and acted according to the Qur'an and the Sunnah.".
Family
Umar married nine women in his lifetime and had fourteen children: ten sons and four daughters.
Wives
The known wives of Umar are:
Zaynab bint Madhun, she was the mother of Hafsa and Abdullah
Umm Kulthum bint Jarwal, she was divorced by Umar. She was the mother of Ubayd Allah
Qurayba bint Abi Umayya, divorced by Umar in 628.
Jamila bint Thabit, She married Umar about between May 627 and May 628. They had one son, Asim.
Umm Hakim, She was married to Umar, in 634 and was mother of Fatimah.
Umm Kulthum bint Ali from this marriage Umar had a son named Zayd.
Sons
The sons of Umar are:
Abdullah, born 610 in Mecca
Abd al-Rahman ibn Umar
Zayd, He was the son of Umar and Umm Kulthum bint Ali.
Ubayd Allah
Abd al-Rahman "Abu Shahmah" ibn Umar
Asim ibn Umar
Abd al-Rahman Abu'l-Mujabbar
Iyaad ibn Umar
Abdur Rahman
Zayd ibn Umar
Daughters
The daughters of Umar are:
Hafsa
Fatima
Ruqayya
Zaynab
Archeological evidence
In 2012, an inscription was found on a rock in al-Murakkab (Saudi Arabia) which is thought to be an autograph of Umar's signature.
See also
Al-Farooq, modern biography about Umar
Omar ibn al-Khattab Mosque, is a historic mosque in Dumat al-Jandal in northern Arabia, it was built by Umar.
Al Farooq Omar Bin Al Khattab Mosque, mosque named for him in Dubai
Sahaba
Farooqi
Omar (TV series)
Pact of Umar
Umar ibn Ibrahim ibn Waqid al-Umari
References
Notes
Bibliography
Guillaume, A., The Life of Muhammad, Oxford University Press, 1955.
Previte-Orton, C. W. (1971). The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Donner, Fred, The Early Islamic Conquests, Princeton University Press, 1981.
Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, Faber and Faber, 1991.
Madelung, Wilferd, The Succession to Muhammad, Cambridge University Press, 1997.
External links
Excerpt from The History of the Khalifahs by Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti
Sirah of Amirul Muminin Umar Bin Khattab by Shaykh Sayyed Muhammad bin Yahya al-Husayni al-Ninowy.
584 births
644 deaths
7th-century caliphs
7th-century murdered monarchs
Assassinated caliphs
Deaths by blade weapons
Male murder victims
People of the Muslim conquest of Persia
People who memorized the Quran
Rashidun caliphs
Sahabah who participated in the battle of Uhud
Shahnameh characters
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[
"The Qingli Reforms or Qingli New Deal (), or Qingli New Policies, also called Minor Reforms (小改革), took place in China’s Song dynasty under the leadership of Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu. Taking place from 1043 to 1045 and so called for falling in the 1041-1048 era of the same name, it was a short-lived attempt to introduce reforms into the traditional way of conducting governmental affairs in China. It was a precursor to a grander effort three decades later led by Wang Anshi.\n\nQingli Reforms was the first political reform of the Northern Song Dynasty, which lasted for one year and four months, eventually ended in failure. After the failure of the reform, Fan Zhongyan was deported to Dengzhou.\n\nFan Zhongyan\n\nFan Zhongyan was prefect of Kaifeng, the imperial capital during the Northern Song era, in the 1030s. However, he was demoted to regional posts for criticizing the Chief Councillor. In 1040, the Liao and Western Xia to the north threatened Song security. Fan was brought back to organize a strong defense.\n\nOuyang Xiu\n\nOuyang Xiu was posted to Kaifeng four years after passing his jinshi examination in 1030. He began his association with Fan from this time in Kaifeng. Like Fan, he also was demoted. After Fan's demotion, Ouyang criticized Fan's principle critic, resulting in being sent to a minor post in Hubei. Like Fan, he was brought back to the capital in the 1040s where he was assigned to work on cataloguing the entire imperial library.\n\nTen-Point Memorial\n\nFan Zhongyan submitted a ten-point memorial in which he outlined his reform objectives. They can be divided into three categories:\n\n Administrative efficiency \n Strengthen local governments\n Strengthen defense\n\nImplementation\n\nThe first measure undertaken was to allow competent officials to stay in one post for more than three years and for unable or treacherous officials to be removed more easily. Sons and relatives of state officials were banned from automatically inheriting the post of their father. The importance of poetry in the imperial examinations was reduced in favour of essays and the Confucian Classics. Supervision over officials in the provinces responsible for the transport of tax grains was increased and appointed directly by the central government. Land allotted to officials was redistributed more adequately. Agricultural productivity was enhanced by the construction of dykes and canals to improve irrigation. Troops garrisoned around the capital was to engage in agriculture and be trained in a more effective way. Service corvée was to be reduced. Proclamations and edicts issued by the court were to be followed by imminent implementation, with an greater control over their implementation.\n\nMany of these reforms were put into effect in the two-year period from 1043 to 1045. However, without the full support of the emperor, there never was complete implementation of the reforms. Not long after they began, backlash from groups of officials, large land owners, and the wealthy in general resulted in the dismissal Fan Zhongyan and Fu Bi in 1045.\n\nThe Imperial University was created as part of the reforms for the education of the children of commoners and low-ranking officials. It was the only institution that survived the reversal of the reforms.\n\nLegacy\nWang Anshi would take up the banner of reform in the 1070s, not only pushing for many of the Qingli Reforms, but going even further. However, while they remained in place longer than the Qingli Reforms, with the exception of some reforms to the examination system, this reform effort similarly met a dead end.\n\nSee also\nNew Policies (Song dynasty)\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n \n \n \n\nSong dynasty",
"Wolston was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland from 1972 to 1992.\n\nFirst created for the 1972 state election, the district was based in the eastern part of Ipswich, essentially replacing the abolished district of Ipswich East. Wolston was a safe seat for the Labor Party.\n\nWolston was abolished by the 1991 redistribution; the first redistribution undertaken to comply with the one vote one value reforms. Its territory was largely divided between the new electorates of Bundamba and Inala with parts also added to the new district of Mount Ommaney.\n\nMembers for Wolston\n\nElection results\n\nSee also\n Electoral districts of Queensland\n Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly by year\n :Category:Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly by name\n\nReferences\n\nFormer electoral districts of Queensland"
] |
[
"Umar",
"Reforms",
"what was a reform that was made?",
"While under his leadership, the empire expanded and he also began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast empire.",
"were there any other reforms?",
"together the vast empire. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy.",
"what other reforms did he make?",
"He established an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories.",
"was there another reform?",
"he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina.",
"was there any opposition to any of his reforms?",
"I don't know.",
"were there any other reforms not yet mentioned?",
"Umar was founder of Fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence.",
"what year was one of the reforms created?",
"I don't know."
] |
C_654036212102425a9563bc9ff40d6c66_0
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was there another reform?
| 8 |
was there another reform in addition to the creation of the census in all Muslim countries, the founding of Fiqh or the establishment of advanced administration in newly conquered countries ?
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Umar
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While under his leadership, the empire expanded and he also began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast empire. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy. He established an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories. During his rule, the garrison cities (amsar) of Basra and Kufa were founded or expanded. In 638, he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina. Umar also ordered the expulsion to Syria and Iraq of the Christian and Jewish communities of Najran and Khaybar. He also permitted Jewish families to resettle in Jerusalem, which had previously been barred from all Jews. He issued orders that these Christians and Jews should be treated well and allotted them the equivalent amount of land in their new settlements. Umar also forbade non-Muslims to reside in the Hejaz for longer than three days. He was first to establish the army as a state department. Umar was founder of Fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded by Sunni Muslims to be one of the greatest Faqih. Umar as a jurist started the process of codifying Islamic Law. In 641, he established Bayt al-mal, a financial institution and started annual allowance for the Muslims. As a leader, 'Umar was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had when Muslims were poor and persecuted. In 638, his fourth year as caliph and the seventeenth year 17 since the Hijra, he decreed that the Islamic calendar should be counted from the year of the Hijra of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina. CANNOTANSWER
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he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina.
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ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (; 3 November 644), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, reigning from 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr (632–634) as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate on 23 August 634. Umar was a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was also an expert Muslim jurist known for his pious and just nature, which earned him the epithet al-Farooq ("the one who distinguishes (between right and wrong)").
An arbitator of the Adi clan, Umar initially opposed Muhammad, his distant Qurayshid kinsman. After his conversion to Islam in 616, he became the first Muslim to openly pray at the Kaaba. Umar participated in almost all battles and expeditions under Muhammad, who bestowed the title Al-Farooq ('the Distinguisher') upon Umar, for his judgements. After Muhammad's demise, Umar pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr as the first caliph, and served as a close advisor to the latter until his death in 634, when Abu Bakr nominated Umar as his successor.
Under Umar, the caliphate expanded at an unprecedented rate, ruling the Sasanian Empire and more than two-thirds of the Byzantine Empire. His attacks against the Sasanian Empire resulted in the conquest of Persia in less than two years (642–644). According to Jewish tradition, Umar set aside the Christian ban on Jews and allowed them into Jerusalem and to worship. Umar was assassinated by the Persian slave Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz in 644.
Umar is generally viewed by historians to be one of the most powerful and influential Muslim caliphs in history. He is revered in the Sunni Islamic tradition as a great just ruler and paragon of Islamic virtues, and some hadiths identify him as the second greatest of the Sahabah after Abu Bakr. He is viewed negatively in the Twelver Shia tradition.
Early life
Umar was born in Mecca to the Banu Adi clan, which was responsible for arbitration among the tribes. His father was Khattab ibn Nufayl and his mother was Hantama bint Hisham, from the tribe of Banu Makhzum. In his youth he used to tend to his father's camels in the plains near Mecca. His merchant father was famed for his intelligence among his tribe. Umar himself said: "My father, al-Khattab, was a ruthless man. He used to make me work hard; if I didn't work he used to beat me and he used to work me to exhaustion."
Despite literacy being uncommon in pre-Islamic Arabia, Umar learned to read and write in his youth. Though not a poet himself, he developed a love for poetry and literature. According to the tradition of Quraish, while still in his teenage years, Umar learned martial arts, horse riding and wrestling. He was tall, physically powerful and a renowned wrestler. He was also a gifted orator who succeeded his father as an arbitrator among the tribes.
Umar became a merchant and made several journeys to Rome and Persia, where he is said to have met various scholars and analyzed Roman and Persian societies. As a merchant he was unsuccessful. Like others around him, Umar was fond of drinking in his pre-Islamic days.
During Muhammad's era
Initial hostility to Islam
In 610, Muhammad started preaching the message of Islam. However, like many others in Mecca, Umar opposed Islam and even threatened to kill Muhammad. He resolved to defend the traditional polytheistic religion of Arabia. He was adamant and cruel in opposing Muhammad, and very prominent in persecuting Muslims. He recommended Muhammad's death. He firmly believed in the unity of the Quraish and saw the new faith of Islam as a cause of division and discord.
Due to persecution, Muhammad ordered some of his followers to migrate to Abyssinia. When a small group of Muslims migrated, Umar became worried about the future unity of the Quraish and decided to have Muhammad assassinated.
Conversion to Islam
Umar converted to Islam in 616, one year after the Migration to Abyssinia.
The story was recounted in Ibn Ishaq's Sīrah. On his way to murder Muhammad, Umar met his best friend Nu'aym ibn Abd Allah who had secretly converted to Islam but had not told Umar. When Umar informed him that he had set out to kill Muhammad, Nu'aym said, “By God, you have deceived yourself, O Umar! Do you think that Banu Abd al-Manaf would let you run around alive once you had killed their son Muhammad? Why don't you return to your own house and at least set it straight?"
Nuaimal Hakim told him to inquire about his own house where his sister and her husband had converted to Islam. Upon arriving at her house, Umar found his sister and brother-in-law Saeed bin Zaid (Umar's cousin) reciting the verses of the Quran from sura Ta-Ha. He started quarreling with his brother-in-law. When his sister came to rescue her husband, he also started quarreling with her. Yet still they kept on saying "you may kill us but we will not give up Islam". Upon hearing these words, Umar slapped his sister so hard that she fell to the ground bleeding from her mouth. When he saw what he did to his sister, he calmed down out of guilt and asked his sister to give him what she was reciting. His sister replied in the negative and said "You are unclean, and no unclean person can touch the Scripture." He insisted, but his sister was not prepared to allow him to touch the pages unless he washed his body. Umar at last gave in. He washed his body and then began to read the verses that were: Verily, I am Allah: there is no God but Me; so serve Me (only), and establish regular prayer for My remembrance (Quran 20:14). He wept and declared, "Surely this is the word of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." On hearing this, Khabbab came out from inside and said: "O, Umar! Glad tidings for you. Yesterday Muhammad prayed to Allah, 'O, Allah! Strengthen Islam with either Umar or Abu Jahl, whomsoever Thou likest.' It seems that his prayer has been answered in your favour."
Umar then went to Muhammad with the same sword he intended to kill him with and accepted Islam in front of him and his companions. Umar was 39 years old when he accepted Islam.
According to one account, after his conversion to Islam Umar openly prayed at the Kaaba as the Quraish chiefs, Abu Jahl and Abu Sufyan, reportedly watched in anger. This further helped the Muslims to gain confidence in practicing Islam openly. At this stage Umar even challenged anyone who dared to stop the Muslims from praying, although no one dared to interfere with Umar when he was openly praying.
Umar's conversion to Islam granted power to the Muslims and to the Islamic faith in Mecca. It was after this event that Muslims offered prayers openly in Masjid al-Haram for the first time. Abdullah Ibn Masud said,
Migration to Medina
In 622 CE, due to the safety offered by Yathrib (later renamed Medīnat an-Nabī, or simply Medina), Muhammad ordered his followers to migrate to Medina. Most Muslims migrated at night fearing Quraish resistance, but Umar is reported to have left openly during the day saying: "Any one who wants to make his wife a widow and his children orphans should come and meet me there behind that cliff." Umar migrated to Medina accompanied by his cousin and brother-in-law Saeed ibn Zaid.
Life in Medina
When Muhammad arrived in Medina, he paired each immigrant (Muhajir) with one of the residents of the city (Ansari), joining Muhammad ibn Maslamah with Umar, making them brothers in faith. Later in Umar's reign as caliph, Muhammad ibn Muslamah would be assigned the office of Chief Inspector of Accountability.
Muslims remained in peace in Medina for approximately a year before the Quraish raised an army to attack them.
In 624, Umar participated in the first battle between Muslims and Quraish of Mecca i.e., the Battle of Badr. In 625, he took part in the Battle of Uhud. In the second phase of the battle, when Khalid ibn Walid's cavalry attacked the Muslim rear, turning the tide of battle, rumours of Muhammad's death were spread and many Muslim warriors were routed from the battlefield, Umar among them. However, hearing that Muhammad was still alive, he went to Muhammad at the mountain of Uhud and prepared for the defence of the hill.
Later in the year Umar was a part of a campaign against the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir.
In 625, Umar's daughter Hafsah was married to Muhammad.
Later in 627, he participated in the Battle of the Trench and also in the Battle of Banu Qurayza. In 628, Umar witnessed the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.
In 628, he fought in the Battle of Khaybar. In 629, Muhammad sent Amr ibn al-A’as to Zaat-ul-Sallasal, after which, Muhammad sent Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah with reinforcements, including Abu Bakr and Umar, whereupon they attacked and defeated the enemy.
In 630, when Muslim armies rushed for the conquest of Mecca, he was part of that army. Later in 630, he fought in the Battle of Hunayn and the Siege of Ta'if. He was part of the Muslim army that contested the Battle of Tabouk under Muhammad's command and he was reported to have given half of his wealth for the preparation of this expedition. He also participated in the farewell Hajj of Muhammad in 632.
Death of Muhammad
When Muhammad died on 8 June 632 Umar initially disbelieved that he was dead. It is said that Umar promised to strike the head of any man who would say that Muhammad died. Umar said: "He has not died but rather he has gone to his lord just as Moses went, remaining absent from his people for forty nights after which he has returned to them. By Allah, the messenger of Allah will indeed return just as Moses returned (to his people) and he will cut off the hands and legs of those men who claimed he has died." Abu Bakr then publicly spoke to the community in the mosque, saying:
Abū Bakr then recited these verses from the Qur'an:
Hearing this, Umar fell on his knees in sorrow and acceptance. Sunni Muslims say that this denial of Muhammad's death was occasioned by his deep love for him.
Foundation of the caliphate
Umar's political capacity first manifested as the architect of the caliphate after Muhammad died on 8 June 632. While the funeral of Muhammad was being arranged a group of Muhammad's followers who were natives of Medina, the Ansar (helpers), organised a meeting on the outskirts of the city, effectively locking out those companions known as Muhajirs (The Emigrants) including Umar. Umar found out about this meeting at Saqifah Bani Saadah, and, taking with him two other Muhajirs, Abu Bakr and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, proceeded to the meeting, presumably to head off the Ansars' plans for political separation. Arriving at the meeting, Umar was faced with a unified community of tribes from the Ansar who refused to accept the leadership of the Muhajirs. However, Umar was undeterred in his belief the caliphate should be under the control of the Muhajirs. Though the Khazraj were in disagreement, Umar, after strained negotiations lasting one or two days, brilliantly divided the Ansar into their old warring factions of Aws and Khazraj tribes. Umar resolved the divisions by placing his hand on that of Abu Bakr as a unity candidate for those gathered in the Saqifah. Others at the Saqifah followed suit, with the exception of the Khazraj tribe and their leader, Sa'd ibn 'Ubada, who were ostracized as a result. The Khazraj tribe is said to have posed no significant threat as there were sufficient men of war from the Medinan tribes such as the Banu Aws to immediately organize them into a military bodyguard for Abu Bakr.
Wilferd Madelung summarises Umar's contribution:
According to various Twelver Shia sources and Madelung, Umar and Abu Bakr had in effect mounted a political coup against Ali at the Saqifah According to one version of narrations in primary sources, Umar and Abu Bakr are also said to have used force to try to secure the allegiance from Ali and his party. It has been reported in mainly Persian historical sources written 300 years later, such as in the History of al-Tabari, that after Ali's refusal to pay homage, Abu Bakr sent Umar with an armed contingent to Fatimah's house where Ali and his supporters are said to have gathered. Umar is reported to have warned those in the House that unless Ali succumbed to Abu Bakr, he would set the House on fire and under these circumstances Ali was forced to capitulate. This version of events, fully accepted by Shia scholars, is generally rejected by Sunni scholars who, in view of other reports in their literature, believe that Ali gave an oath of alliance to Abu Bakr without any grievance. But then other Sunni and Shia sources say that Ali did not swear allegiance to Abu Bakr after his election but six months later after the death of his wife Fatimah putting into question al-Tabari's account. Either way the Sunni and the Shia accounts both accept that Ali felt that Abu Bakr should have informed him before going into the meeting with the Ansar and that Ali did swear allegiance to Abu Bakr.
Western scholars tend to agree that Ali believed he had a clear mandate to succeed Muhammad, but offer differing views as to the extent of use of force by Umar in an attempt to intimidate Ali and his supporters. For instance, Madelung discounts the possibility of the use of force and argues that:
According to Tom Holland, Umar's historicity is beyond dispute. An Armenian bishop writing a decade or so after Qadisiyya describes Umar as a "mighty potentate coordinating the advance of the sons of Ismael from the depths of the desert". Tom Holland writes "What added incomparably to his prestige, was that his earth-shaking qualities as a generalissimo were combined with the most distinctive cast of virtues. Rather than ape the manner of a Caesar, as the Ghassanid kings had done, he drew on the example of a quite different kind of Christian. Umar's threadbare robes, his diet of bread, salt and water, and his rejection of worldly riches would have reminded anyone from the desert reaches beyond Palestine of a very particular kind of person. Monks out in the Judaean desert had long been casting themselves as warriors of God. The achievement of Umar was to take such language to a literal and previously unimaginable extreme."
Abu Bakr's era
Due to the delicate political situation in Arabia, Umar initially opposed military operations against the rebel tribes there, hoping to gain their support in the event of an invasion by the Romans or the Persians. Later, however, he came to agree with Abu Bakr's strategy to crush the rebellion by force. By late 632 CE, Khalid ibn Walid had successfully united Arabia after consecutive victories against the rebels. During his own reign later, Umar would mostly adopt the policy of avoiding wars and consolidating his power in the incorporated lands rather than expanding his empire through continuous warfare.
Umar advised Abu Bakr to compile the Quran in the form of a book after 300 huffāẓ (memorizers) of the Quran died in the Battle of Yamamah.
Appointment as a caliph
Abu Bakr appointed Umar as his successor before dying in 634 CE. Due to his strict and autocratic nature, Umar was not a very popular figure among the notables of Medina and members of Majlis al Shura; accordingly, high-ranking companions of Abu Bakr attempted to discourage him from naming Umar.
Nevertheless, Abu Bakr decided to make Umar his successor.
Umar was well known for his extraordinary willpower, intelligence, political astuteness, impartiality, justice, and care for the poor.
Abu Bakr is reported to have said to the high-ranking advisers:
Abu Bakr was aware of Umar's power and ability to succeed him. His was perhaps one of the smoothest transitions of power from one authority to another in the Muslim lands.
Before his death, Abu Bakr called Uthman to write his will in which he declared Umar his successor. In his will he instructed Umar to continue the conquests on Iraqi and Syrian fronts.
Reign as caliph
Initial challenges
Even though almost all of the Muslims had given their pledge of loyalty to Umar, he was feared more than loved. According to Muhammad Husayn Haykal, the first challenge for Umar was to win over his subjects and the members of Majlis al Shura.
Umar was a gifted orator, and he used his ability to improve his reputation among the people.
Muhammad Husayn Haykal wrote that Umar's stress was on the well-being of the poor and underprivileged.
In addition to this, Umar, in order to improve his reputation and relation with the Banu Hashim, the tribe of Ali, delivered to the latter his disputed estates in Khayber. He followed Abu Bakr's decision over the disputed land of Fidak, continuing to treat it as state property.
In the Ridda wars, thousands of prisoners from rebel and apostate tribes were taken away as slaves during the expeditions. Umar ordered a general amnesty for the prisoners, and their immediate emancipation. This made Umar quite popular among the Bedouin tribes.
With the necessary public support on his side, Umar took the bold decision of recalling Khalid ibn Walid from supreme command on the Roman front.
Political and civil administration
The government of Umar was a unitary government, where the sovereign political authority was the caliph. The empire of Umar was divided into provinces and some autonomous territories, e.g., Azerbaijan and Armenia, that had accepted the suzerainty of the caliphate. The provinces were administered by the provincial governors or Wali, personally and fastidiously selected by Umar. Provinces were further divided into about 100 districts. Each district or main city was under the charge of a junior governor or Amir, usually appointed by Umar himself, but occasionally also appointed by the provincial governor. Other officers at the provincial level were:
Katib, the Chief Secretary.
Katib-ud-Diwan, the Military Secretary.
Sahib-ul-Kharaj, the Revenue Collector.
Sahib-ul-Ahdath, the Police chief.
Sahib-Bait-ul-Mal, the Treasury Officer.
Qadi, the Chief Judge.
In some districts there were separate military officers, though the Wali was, in most cases, the Commander-in-chief of the army quartered in the province.
Every appointment was made in writing. At the time of appointment an instrument of instructions was issued with a view to regulating the Wali's conduct. On assuming office, the Wali was required to assemble the people in the main mosque, and read the instrument of instructions before them.
Umar's general instructions to his officers were:
Various other strict codes of conduct were to be obeyed by the governors and state officials. The principal officers were required to travel to Mecca on the occasion of the Hajj, during which people were free to present any complaint against them. In order to minimize the chances of corruption, Umar made it a point to pay high salaries to the staff. Provincial governors received as much as five to seven thousand dirham annually besides their shares of the spoils of war (if they were also the commander in chief of the army of their sector).
Under Umar the empire was divided into the following provinces:
Mecca (Arabia)
Medina (Arabia)
Basra (Iraq)
Kufa (Iraq)
Jazira, in the upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates
Syria
Iliyā' (إلياء) (Palestine)
Ramlah (Palestine)
Upper Egypt
Lower Egypt
Khorasan (Persia)
Azerbaijan (Persia)
Fars (Persia)
Umar was first to establish a special department for the investigation of complaints against the officers of the State. This department acted as the Administrative court, where the legal proceedings were personally led by Umar.
The department was under the charge of Muhammad ibn Maslamah, one of Umar's most trusted men. In important cases Muhammad ibn Maslamah was deputed by Umar to proceed to the spot, investigate the charge and take action. Sometimes an Inquiry Commission was constituted to investigate the charge. On occasion, the officers against whom complaints were received were summoned to Medina, and charged in Umar's administrative court.
Umar was known for this intelligence service through which he made his officials accountable. This service was also said to have inspired fear in his subjects.
Umar was a pioneer in some affairs:
Umar was the first to introduce the public ministry system, where the records of officials and soldiers were kept. He also kept a record system for messages he sent to Governors and heads of state.
He was the first to appoint police forces to keep civil order.
He was the first to discipline the people when they became disordered.
Another important aspect of Umar's rule was that he forbade any of his governors and agents from engaging in any sort of business dealings whilst in a position of power. An agent of Umar by the name of Al Harith ibn K'ab ibn Wahb was once found to have extra money beyond his salary and Umar enquired about his wealth. Al Harith replied that he had some money and he engaged in trade with it. Umar said: By Allah, we did not send you to engage in trade! and he took from him the profits he had made.
Canals
Since Medina, with a rapidly growing population, was at risk of recurring famines when crops were lacking, Umar sought to facilitate the import of grain. He ordered the building of a canal connecting the Nile to the Red Sea and an improvement of port infrastructure on the Arabian coast. When Basra was established during Umar's rule, he started building a nine-mile canal from the Tigris to the new city for irrigation and drinking water. Al-Tabari reports that Utba ibn Ghazwan built the first canal from the Tigris River to the site of Basra when the city was in the planning stage. After the city was built, Umar appointed Abu Musa Ashaari (17-29/638 – 650) as its first governor. He began building two important canals, the al-Ubulla and the Ma'qil, linking Basra with the Tigris River. These two canals were the basis for the agricultural development for the whole Basra region and used for drinking water. Umar also adopted a policy of assigning barren lands to those who undertook to cultivate them. This policy continued during the Umayyad period and resulted in the cultivation of large areas of barren lands through the construction of irrigation canals by the state and by individuals.
Reforms
Under Umar's leadership, the empire expanded; accordingly, he began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast territory. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy, establishing an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories. During his rule, the garrison cities (amsar) of Basra and Kufa were founded or expanded. In 638, he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina.
Umar also ordered the expulsion to Syria and Iraq of the Christian and Jewish communities of Najran and Khaybar. He also permitted Jewish families to resettle in Jerusalem, which had previously been barred from all Jews. He issued orders that these Christians and Jews should be treated well and allotted them the equivalent amount of land in their new settlements. Umar also forbade non-Muslims from residing in the Hejaz for longer than three days.
He was first to establish the army as a state department.
Umar was founder of Fiqh, or Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded by Sunni Muslims as one of the greatest Faqih, and, as such, he started the process of codifying Islamic Law.
In 641, he established Bayt al-mal, a financial institution and started annual allowances for the Muslims.
As a leader, Umar was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had when Muslims were poor and persecuted. In 638, his fourth year as caliph and the seventeenth year since the Hijra, he decreed that the Islamic calendar should be counted from the year of the Hijra of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina.
Visit to Jerusalem in 637 CE
Umar's visit to Jerusalem is documented in several sources. A recently discovered Judeo-Arabic text has disclosed the following anecdote:
"Umar ordered Gentiles and a group of Jews to sweep the area of the Temple Mount. Umar oversaw the work. The Jews who had come sent letters to the rest of the Jews in Palestine and informed them that Umar had permitted resettlement of Jerusalem by Jews. Umar, after some consultation, permitted seventy Jewish households to return. They returned to live in the southern part of the city, i.e., the Market of the Jews. (Their aim was to be near the water of Silwan and the Temple Mount and its gates). Then the Commander Umar granted them this request. The seventy families moved to Jerusalem from Tiberias and the area around it with their wives and children."
It is also reported in the name of the Alexandrian Bishop Eutychius (932–940 CE) that the rock known as the Temple Mount had been a place of ruins as far back as the time of the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, who built churches in Jerusalem. "The Byzantines," he said, "had deliberately left the ancient site of the Temple as it was, and had even thrown rubbish on it, so that a great heap of rubble formed." It was only when Umar marched into Jerusalem with an army that he asked Kaab, who was Jewish before he converted to Islam, "Where do you advise me to build a place of worship?" Kaab indicated the Temple Rock, now a gigantic heap of ruins from the temple of Jupiter. The Jews, Kaab explained, had briefly won back their old capital a quarter of a century before (when Persians overran Syria and Palestine), but they had not had time to clear the site of the Temple, for the Rums (Byzantines) had recaptured the city. It was then that Umar ordered the rubbish on the Ṣakhra (rock) to be removed by the Nabataeans, and after three showers of heavy rain had cleansed the Rock, he instituted prayers there. To this day, the place is known as ḳubbat es ṣakhra, the Dome of the Rock.
According to lexicographer David ben Abraham al-Fasi (died before 1026 CE), the Muslim conquest of Palestine brought relief to the country's Jewish citizens, who had previously been barred by the Byzantines from praying on the Temple Mount.
Military expansion
The military conquests were partially terminated between 638 and 639 during the years of great famine in Arabia and plague in the Levant. During his reign the Levant, Egypt, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, Fezzan, Eastern Anatolia, almost the whole of the Sassanid Persian Empire including Bactria, Persia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Caucasus and Makran were annexed to the Rashidun Caliphate. According to one estimate more than 4,050 cities were captured during these military conquests. Prior to his death in 644, Umar had ceased all military expeditions apparently to consolidate his rule in recently conquered Roman Egypt and the newly conquered Sassanid Empire (642–644). At his death in November 644, his rule extended from present day Libya in the west to the Indus river in the east and the Oxus river in the north.
Great famine
In 638 CE, Arabia fell into severe drought followed by a famine. Soon after, the reserves of food at Medina began to run out. Umar ordered caravans of supplies from Syria and Iraq, and personally supervised their distribution. His actions saved countless lives throughout Arabia. The first governor to respond was Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, the governor of Syria and supreme commander of the Rashidun army.
Later, Abu Ubaidah paid a personal visit to Medina and acted as an officer of disaster management, which was headed personally by Umar. For internally displaced people, Umar hosted a dinner every night at Medina, which according to one estimate, had attendance of more than a hundred thousand people.
Great plague
While famine was ending in Arabia, many districts in Syria and Palestine were devastated by plague. While Umar was on his way to visit Syria, at Elat, he was received by Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, governor of Syria, who informed him about the plague and its intensity, and suggested that Umar go back to Medina. Umar tried to persuade Abu Ubaidah to come with him to Medina, but he declined to leave his troops in that critical situation. Abu Ubaidah died in 639 of the plague, which also cost the lives of 25,000 Muslims in Syria. After the plague had weakened, in late 639, Umar visited Syria for political and administrative re-organization, as most of the veteran commanders and governors had died of the plague.
Welfare state
To be close to the poor, Umar lived in a simple mud hut without doors and walked the streets every evening. After consulting with the poor, Umar established the first welfare state, Bayt al-mal. The Bayt al-mal aided the Muslim and non-Muslim poor, needy, elderly, orphans, widows, and the disabled. The Bayt al-mal ran for hundreds of years, from the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century through the Umayyad period (661–750) and well into the Abbasid era. Umar also introduced a child benefit and pensions for the children and the elderly.
Free trade
Local populations of Jews and Christians, persecuted as religious minorities and taxed heavily to finance the Byzantine–Sassanid Wars, often aided Muslims to take over their lands from the Byzantines and Persians, resulting in exceptionally speedy conquests. As new areas were attached to the Caliphate, they also benefited from free trade, while trading with other areas in the Caliphate (to encourage commerce, in Islam trade is not taxed, but wealth is subject to the zakat). Since the so-called Constitution of Medina, drafted by Muhammad, the Jews and the Christians continued to use their own laws in the Caliphate and had their own judges.
Assassination
In 644, Umar was assassinated by a Persian slave named Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz. His motivation for the assassination is not clear. One possible explanation was that it was done in response to the Muslim conquest of Persia. The assassination was planned several months earlier. In October 644, Umar undertook a Hajj to Mecca, during which the assassins pronounced Umar's imminent death that year, and the massive crowd of the congregation was used by the conspirators as a veil to hide themselves.
During one of rituals of Hajj, the Ramy al-Jamarat (stoning of the Devil), someone threw a stone at Umar that wounded his head; a voice was heard that Umar will not attend the Hajj ever again.
Abu Lu'lu'a brought a complaint to Umar about the high tax charged by his master Mughirah. Umar wrote to Mughirah and inquired about the tax; Mughirah's reply was satisfactory, but Umar held that the tax charged to Abu Lu'lu'a was reasonable, owing to his daily income. Umar then is reported to have asked Abu Lu'lu'a: "I heard that you make windmills; make one for me as well." In a sullen mood, Abu Lu'lu'a said, "Verily I will make such a mill for you, that the whole world would remember it".
It was Abu Lu'lu'a who was assigned the mission of assassinating Umar. According to the plan, before the Fajr prayers (the morning prayers before the dawn) Abu Lu'lu'a would enter al-Masjid al-Nabawi, the main mosque of Medina where Umar led the prayers and would attack Umar during the prayers, and then flee or mix with the congregation at the mosque.
On 31 October 644, Abu Lu'lu'a attacked Umar while he was leading the morning prayers, stabbing him six times in the belly and finally in the navel, that proved fatal. Umar was left profusely bleeding while Abu Lu'lu'a tried to flee, but people from all sides rushed to capture him; in his efforts to escape he is reported to have wounded twelve other people, six or nine of whom later died, before slashing himself with his own blade to commit suicide.
Umar died of the wounds three days later on Wednesday 3 November 644 (26 Dhu al-Hijjah 23 AH).
He was buried at the Green Dome in al-Masjid al-Nabawi alongside Muhammad and caliph Abu Bakr by the permission of Aisha.
Aftermath
On his deathbed, Umar vacillated on his succession. However, it has been reported that he said that if Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, Khalid ibn Walid or Salim, the mawla and freed Persian slave, were alive he would have appointed one of them his successor. Umar finally appointed a committee of six persons to choose a caliph from amongst them: Abdur Rahman bin Awf, Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, Talha ibn Ubaidullah, Uthman ibn Affan, Ali ibn Abi Talib and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam.
All six are among the ten to whom Paradise was promised according to Sunnis. The only one out of the 'famous ten' left out of the committee who was still alive at the time was Saeed ibn Zaid, the cousin and brother-in-law of Umar. He was excluded on the basis of being related by blood and of the same tribe as Umar. Umar had a policy of not appointing anyone related to him to a position of authority even if they were qualified by his standards.
Umar appointed a band of fifty armed soldiers to protect the house where the meeting was proceeding.
Until the appointment of the next caliph, Umar appointed a notable Sahabi and mawla, Suhayb ar-Rumi (Suhayb the Roman), as a caretaker caliph.
While the meeting for selection of a caliph was proceeding, Abdulrehman ibn Abu Bakr and Abdur Rahman bin Awf revealed that they saw the dagger used by Abu Lu'lu'a, the assassin of Umar. A night before Umar's assassination, reported Abdur Rahman bin Awf, he saw Hurmuzan, Jafina and Abu Lu'lu'a, while they were suspiciously discussing something. Surprised by his presence, the dagger fell; it was the same two-sided dagger used in the assassination. Abdulrehman ibn Abu Bakr, son of the late caliph Abu Bakr, confirmed that, a few days before Umar's assassination, he saw this dagger in Hurmuzan's possession. After this revelation, it seemed clear that it had been planned by the Persians residing in Medina. Infuriated by this, Umar's younger son Ubaidullah ibn Umar sought to kill all the Persians in Medina. He killed Hurmuzan, Jafinah, and the daughter of Umar's assassin Abu Lu'lu'a, who is believed to have been a Muslim. Ubaidullah was intercepted by the people of Medina, who prevented him from continuing the massacre. Amr ibn al-Aas is said to have intercepted him and convinced him to hand over his sword. The murder of Jafinah enraged Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, his foster brother, and he assaulted Ubaidullah ibn Umar; again the companions intervened. When Umar was informed about the incident, he ordered Ubaidullah imprisoned, and that the next caliph should decide his fate.
Umar died on 3 November 644; on 7 November Uthman succeeded him as caliph. After prolonged negotiations, the tribunal decided to give blood money to the victims, and released Umar's son Ubaidullah on the ground that, after the tragedy of Umar's assassination, people would be further infuriated by the execution of his son the very next day.
Physical appearance
Umar was strong, fit, athletic and good at wrestling. He is said to have participated in the wrestling matches on the occasion of the annual fair of Ukaz. From first hand accounts of his physical appearance Umar is said to be vigorous, robust and a very tall man; in markets he would tower above the people. The front part of his head was bald, always A'sara Yusran (working with two hands), both his eyes were black, with yellow skin; however, ibn Sa'ad in his book stated that he never knew that Umar had yellow skin, except for a certain part of Umar's life where his color changed due to his frequent consumption of oil. Others say he had reddish-white skin. His teeth were ashnabul asnan (very white shining). He would always color his beard and take care of his hair using a type of plant.
The early Muslim historians Ibn Saad and al-Hakim mention that Abu Miriam Zir, a native of Kufa, described Umar as being "advanced in years, bald, of a tawny colour – a left handed man, tall and towering above the people". Umar's eldest son Abdullah described his father as "a man of fair complexion, a ruddy tint prevailing, tall, bald and grey". Historian Salima bin al-Akwa'a said that "Umar was ambidextrous, he could use both his hands equally well". On the authority of Abu Raja al-U'taridi, Ibn Asakir records that "Umar was a man tall, stout, very bald, very ruddy with scanty hair on the cheeks, his moustaches large, and the ends thereof reddish".
Assessments
Political legacy
One writer states that Umar was a political genius and, as an architect of the Islamic Empire, rates him as the 52nd most influential figure in history. Umar was one of Muhammad's chief advisers. After Muhammad's passing, it was Umar who reconciled the Medinan Muslims to accept Abu Bakr, a Meccan, as the caliph. During Abu Bakr's era, he actively participated as his secretary and main adviser. After succeeding Abu Bakr as caliph, Umar won over the hearts of Bedouin tribes by emancipating all their prisoners and slaves taken during the Ridda wars.
He built up an efficient administrative structure that held together his vast realm. He organized an effective intelligence network, one of the reasons for his strong grip on his bureaucracy.
Umar never appointed governors for more than two years, for they might amass too much local power. He dismissed his most successful general, Khalid ibn Walid, because he wanted people to know that it is Allah who grants victory, and to counter the cult of personality that had built up around Khalid, for the sake of the Muslim faith.
He would patrol the streets of Medina with a whip in his hand, ready to punish any offenders he might come across. It is said that Umar's whip was feared more than the sword of another man. But with all of this, he was also known for being kindhearted, answering the needs of the fatherless and widows.
Umar's swift imposition of justice against his governors for misdeeds made even powerful governors such as Muawiyah scared of him. Ali ibn Abu Talib, during the later rule of Uthman ibn Affan, wanted Uthman to be more strict with his governors, saying, "I adjure you by God, do you know that Mu'awiyah was more afraid of Umar than was Umar's own servant Yarfa?"
Under Umar's rule, in order to promote strict discipline, Arab soldiers were settled outside of cities, between the desert and cultivated lands in special garrison towns known as "amsar". Known examples of such settlements are Basra and Kufa, in Iraq, and Fustat south of what would later become Cairo. His soldiers were forbidden to own land outside of Arabia. There were restrictions on their right to seize buildings and other immovable things usually thought of as prizes of war. Movable spoils were shared with the people of the umma, regardless of their social stratum.
A modern researcher writes about this:
In The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Gibbon refers to Umar in the following terms:
His rule was one of the few moments in the history of Islam where Muslims were united as a single community. Abdullah ibn Masʿud would often weep whenever the subject of Umar was brought up. He said: "Umar was a fortress of Islam. People would enter Islam and not leave. When he died, the fortress was breached and now people are going out of Islam". Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah before Umar died famously said: "If Umar dies, Islam would be weakened". People asked him why and his reply was "You will see what I am speaking about if you survive."
His greatest achievement from a religious perspective was the compilation of the Qur'an. This had not been done during the time of Muhammad. However, during the Battle of Yamama a great number of the memorizers of the Quran perished in the battle. On the advice of Umar, Abu Bakr tasked Zayd ibn Thabit with the momentous task of compiling the Quran into a single Book.
Military legacy
Along with Khalid ibn Walid, Umar was influential in the Ridda wars.
One strategic success was his sundering of the Byzantine-Sassanid alliance in 636, when Emperor Heraclius and Emperor Yazdegerd III allied against their common enemy. He was lucky in that the Persian Emperor Yazdegerd III couldn't synchronize with Heraclius as planned. Umar fully availed himself of the opportunity by inducing the Byzantines to act prematurely. This was contrary to the orders of Emperor Heraclius, who presumably wanted a coordinated attack along with the Persians. Umar did this by sending reinforcements to the Roman front in the Battle of Yarmouk, with instructions that they should appear in the form of small bands, one after the other, giving the impression of a continuous stream of reinforcements that finally lured the Byzantines to an untimely battle. On the other hand, Yazdegerd III was engaged in negotiations that further gave Umar time to transfer his troops from Syria to Iraq. These troops proved decisive in the Battle of Qadisiyyah.
His strategy resulted in a Muslim victory at the Second Battle of Emesa in 638, where the pro-Byzantine Christian Arabs of Jazira, aided by the Byzantine Emperor, made an unexpected flanking movement and laid siege to Emesa (Homs).
Umar issued an order to invade the very homeland of the Christian Arab forces besieging Emesa, the Jazirah. A three-pronged attack against Jazirah was launched from Iraq. To further pressure the Christian Arab armies, Umar instructed Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, commander of Muslim forces in Iraq, to send reinforcements to Emesa. Umar himself led reinforcements there from Medina. Under this unprecedented pressure, the Christian Arabs retreated from Emesa before Muslim reinforcements could arrive. The Muslims annexed Mesopotamia and parts of Byzantine Armenia.
After the Battle of Nahavand, Umar launched a full-scale invasion of the Sassanid Persian Empire. The invasion was a series of well-coordinated multi-pronged attacks designed to isolate and destroy their targets. Umar launched the invasion by attacking the very heart of Persia, aiming to isolate Azerbaijan and eastern Persia. This was immediately followed by simultaneous attacks on Azerbaijan and Fars. Next, Sistan and Kirman were captured, thus isolating the stronghold of Persia, the Khurasan. The final expedition was launched against Khurasan, where, after the Battle of Oxus River, the Persian empire ceased to exist, and Yazdegerd III fled to Central Asia.
Religious legacy
Sunni views
Umar is remembered by Sunnis as a rigid Muslim of a sound and just disposition in matters of religion; a man they title Farooq, meaning "leader, jurist and statesman", and the second of the rightly guided caliphs. He patched his clothes with skin, took buckets on his two shoulders, always riding his donkey without the saddle, rarely laughing and never joking with anyone. On his ring is written the words "Enough is Death as a reminder to you O' Umar". He did not seek advancement for his own family, but rather sought to advance the interests of the Muslim community, the ummah. According to one of Muhammad's companions, Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud:
Shia views
Umar is viewed very negatively in the literature of Twelver Shi'a (the main branch of Shia Islam) and is often regarded as a usurper of Ali's right to the Caliphate. After the Saqifah assembly chose Abu Bakr as caliph, Umar marched with armed men to Ali's house in order to get the allegiance of Ali and his supporters. Sources indicate that a threat was made to burn Ali's house if he refused, but the encounter ended when Fatimah, wife of Ali, intervened. According to the majority of Twelver scholar writings, Fatimah was physically assaulted by Umar, that this caused her to miscarry her child, Muhsin ibn Ali, and led to her death soon after. (see Umar at Fatimah's house). However, some Twelver scholars, such as Fadhlalla, reject these accounts of physical abuse as a "myth", although Fadlallah mentioned that his speech is a probability, and not a certain reason to reject that event.
Another Shia sect, the Zaidiyyah followers of Zaid ibn Ali, generally has two views about that. Some branches, such as Jaroudiah (Sarhubiyya), don't accept Umar and Abu Bakr as legitimate caliphs. For instance, Jarudiyya believes that Muhammad appointed Ali and believes that the denial of the Imamate of Ali after Muhammad's passing would lead to infidelity and deviation from the right path. The other view accepts Umar and Abu Bakr as legitimate caliphs, albeit inferior to Ali. According to al-Tabari (and Ibn A'tham), when asked about Abu Bakr and Umar, Zayd ibn Ali replied: "I have not heard anyone in my family renouncing them both nor saying anything but good about them...when they were entrusted with government they behaved justly with the people and acted according to the Qur'an and the Sunnah.".
Family
Umar married nine women in his lifetime and had fourteen children: ten sons and four daughters.
Wives
The known wives of Umar are:
Zaynab bint Madhun, she was the mother of Hafsa and Abdullah
Umm Kulthum bint Jarwal, she was divorced by Umar. She was the mother of Ubayd Allah
Qurayba bint Abi Umayya, divorced by Umar in 628.
Jamila bint Thabit, She married Umar about between May 627 and May 628. They had one son, Asim.
Umm Hakim, She was married to Umar, in 634 and was mother of Fatimah.
Umm Kulthum bint Ali from this marriage Umar had a son named Zayd.
Sons
The sons of Umar are:
Abdullah, born 610 in Mecca
Abd al-Rahman ibn Umar
Zayd, He was the son of Umar and Umm Kulthum bint Ali.
Ubayd Allah
Abd al-Rahman "Abu Shahmah" ibn Umar
Asim ibn Umar
Abd al-Rahman Abu'l-Mujabbar
Iyaad ibn Umar
Abdur Rahman
Zayd ibn Umar
Daughters
The daughters of Umar are:
Hafsa
Fatima
Ruqayya
Zaynab
Archeological evidence
In 2012, an inscription was found on a rock in al-Murakkab (Saudi Arabia) which is thought to be an autograph of Umar's signature.
See also
Al-Farooq, modern biography about Umar
Omar ibn al-Khattab Mosque, is a historic mosque in Dumat al-Jandal in northern Arabia, it was built by Umar.
Al Farooq Omar Bin Al Khattab Mosque, mosque named for him in Dubai
Sahaba
Farooqi
Omar (TV series)
Pact of Umar
Umar ibn Ibrahim ibn Waqid al-Umari
References
Notes
Bibliography
Guillaume, A., The Life of Muhammad, Oxford University Press, 1955.
Previte-Orton, C. W. (1971). The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Donner, Fred, The Early Islamic Conquests, Princeton University Press, 1981.
Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, Faber and Faber, 1991.
Madelung, Wilferd, The Succession to Muhammad, Cambridge University Press, 1997.
External links
Excerpt from The History of the Khalifahs by Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti
Sirah of Amirul Muminin Umar Bin Khattab by Shaykh Sayyed Muhammad bin Yahya al-Husayni al-Ninowy.
584 births
644 deaths
7th-century caliphs
7th-century murdered monarchs
Assassinated caliphs
Deaths by blade weapons
Male murder victims
People of the Muslim conquest of Persia
People who memorized the Quran
Rashidun caliphs
Sahabah who participated in the battle of Uhud
Shahnameh characters
| true |
[
"Vindeln Municipality () is a municipality in Västerbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Vindeln.\n\nHistory\nIn 1971 a local government reform was implemented in Sweden. This municipality was, however, not amalgamated with any other. But in preparation for the reform the name was changed in 1969 from Degerfors Municipality to Vindeln Municipality. The reason was that there is another Degerfors Municipality (in Örebro County), and every municipality in Sweden should have a unique name.\n\nGeography\nThe Vindel River, which is the main tributary of the Ume River, runs through the municipality and has given it its name. The municipality's coat of arms depicts a salmon, of which there are plenty in the river.\n\nLocalities\n\nThere are five localities (or urban areas) in Vindeln Municipality:\n\nThe municipal seat in bold\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n Vindeln Municipality - Official site\n\nMunicipalities of Västerbotten County",
"Reni Raion (; ) was a raion (district) in Odessa Oblast in south-western Ukraine, in the historic Budjak region of Bessarabia. Its administrative center was the city of Reni. The raion was abolished and its territory was merged into Izmail Raion on 18 July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Odessa Oblast to seven. The last estimate of the raion population was In 2001, population was 40,680.\n\nThe raion was predominantly Moldavian and the Ukrainian language was rare. According to the 2001 Ukrainian census the population was 49% Moldovan, 18% Ukrainian, 15% Russian, 8.5% Bulgarian and 8% Gagauz. Most of villages (five) are Romanophone while there was one village populated by Gagauz and another one was populated by Bulgarians. The city of Reni was mostly Russophone although 50% of its residents are Moldavians.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Reniyskyi Raion\n Reniyskyi Raion\n\nFormer raions of Odessa Oblast\nRomanian communities in Ukraine\nUkrainian raions abolished during the 2020 administrative reform"
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[
"Umar",
"Reforms",
"what was a reform that was made?",
"While under his leadership, the empire expanded and he also began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast empire.",
"were there any other reforms?",
"together the vast empire. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy.",
"what other reforms did he make?",
"He established an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories.",
"was there another reform?",
"he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina.",
"was there any opposition to any of his reforms?",
"I don't know.",
"were there any other reforms not yet mentioned?",
"Umar was founder of Fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence.",
"what year was one of the reforms created?",
"I don't know.",
"was there another reform?",
"In 641, he established Bayt al-mal, a financial institution and started annual allowance for the Muslims."
] |
C_654036212102425a9563bc9ff40d6c66_0
|
was he respected for his reforms?
| 9 |
was Umar respected for his reforms?
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Umar
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While under his leadership, the empire expanded and he also began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast empire. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy. He established an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories. During his rule, the garrison cities (amsar) of Basra and Kufa were founded or expanded. In 638, he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina. Umar also ordered the expulsion to Syria and Iraq of the Christian and Jewish communities of Najran and Khaybar. He also permitted Jewish families to resettle in Jerusalem, which had previously been barred from all Jews. He issued orders that these Christians and Jews should be treated well and allotted them the equivalent amount of land in their new settlements. Umar also forbade non-Muslims to reside in the Hejaz for longer than three days. He was first to establish the army as a state department. Umar was founder of Fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded by Sunni Muslims to be one of the greatest Faqih. Umar as a jurist started the process of codifying Islamic Law. In 641, he established Bayt al-mal, a financial institution and started annual allowance for the Muslims. As a leader, 'Umar was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had when Muslims were poor and persecuted. In 638, his fourth year as caliph and the seventeenth year 17 since the Hijra, he decreed that the Islamic calendar should be counted from the year of the Hijra of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (; 3 November 644), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, reigning from 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr (632–634) as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate on 23 August 634. Umar was a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was also an expert Muslim jurist known for his pious and just nature, which earned him the epithet al-Farooq ("the one who distinguishes (between right and wrong)").
An arbitator of the Adi clan, Umar initially opposed Muhammad, his distant Qurayshid kinsman. After his conversion to Islam in 616, he became the first Muslim to openly pray at the Kaaba. Umar participated in almost all battles and expeditions under Muhammad, who bestowed the title Al-Farooq ('the Distinguisher') upon Umar, for his judgements. After Muhammad's demise, Umar pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr as the first caliph, and served as a close advisor to the latter until his death in 634, when Abu Bakr nominated Umar as his successor.
Under Umar, the caliphate expanded at an unprecedented rate, ruling the Sasanian Empire and more than two-thirds of the Byzantine Empire. His attacks against the Sasanian Empire resulted in the conquest of Persia in less than two years (642–644). According to Jewish tradition, Umar set aside the Christian ban on Jews and allowed them into Jerusalem and to worship. Umar was assassinated by the Persian slave Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz in 644.
Umar is generally viewed by historians to be one of the most powerful and influential Muslim caliphs in history. He is revered in the Sunni Islamic tradition as a great just ruler and paragon of Islamic virtues, and some hadiths identify him as the second greatest of the Sahabah after Abu Bakr. He is viewed negatively in the Twelver Shia tradition.
Early life
Umar was born in Mecca to the Banu Adi clan, which was responsible for arbitration among the tribes. His father was Khattab ibn Nufayl and his mother was Hantama bint Hisham, from the tribe of Banu Makhzum. In his youth he used to tend to his father's camels in the plains near Mecca. His merchant father was famed for his intelligence among his tribe. Umar himself said: "My father, al-Khattab, was a ruthless man. He used to make me work hard; if I didn't work he used to beat me and he used to work me to exhaustion."
Despite literacy being uncommon in pre-Islamic Arabia, Umar learned to read and write in his youth. Though not a poet himself, he developed a love for poetry and literature. According to the tradition of Quraish, while still in his teenage years, Umar learned martial arts, horse riding and wrestling. He was tall, physically powerful and a renowned wrestler. He was also a gifted orator who succeeded his father as an arbitrator among the tribes.
Umar became a merchant and made several journeys to Rome and Persia, where he is said to have met various scholars and analyzed Roman and Persian societies. As a merchant he was unsuccessful. Like others around him, Umar was fond of drinking in his pre-Islamic days.
During Muhammad's era
Initial hostility to Islam
In 610, Muhammad started preaching the message of Islam. However, like many others in Mecca, Umar opposed Islam and even threatened to kill Muhammad. He resolved to defend the traditional polytheistic religion of Arabia. He was adamant and cruel in opposing Muhammad, and very prominent in persecuting Muslims. He recommended Muhammad's death. He firmly believed in the unity of the Quraish and saw the new faith of Islam as a cause of division and discord.
Due to persecution, Muhammad ordered some of his followers to migrate to Abyssinia. When a small group of Muslims migrated, Umar became worried about the future unity of the Quraish and decided to have Muhammad assassinated.
Conversion to Islam
Umar converted to Islam in 616, one year after the Migration to Abyssinia.
The story was recounted in Ibn Ishaq's Sīrah. On his way to murder Muhammad, Umar met his best friend Nu'aym ibn Abd Allah who had secretly converted to Islam but had not told Umar. When Umar informed him that he had set out to kill Muhammad, Nu'aym said, “By God, you have deceived yourself, O Umar! Do you think that Banu Abd al-Manaf would let you run around alive once you had killed their son Muhammad? Why don't you return to your own house and at least set it straight?"
Nuaimal Hakim told him to inquire about his own house where his sister and her husband had converted to Islam. Upon arriving at her house, Umar found his sister and brother-in-law Saeed bin Zaid (Umar's cousin) reciting the verses of the Quran from sura Ta-Ha. He started quarreling with his brother-in-law. When his sister came to rescue her husband, he also started quarreling with her. Yet still they kept on saying "you may kill us but we will not give up Islam". Upon hearing these words, Umar slapped his sister so hard that she fell to the ground bleeding from her mouth. When he saw what he did to his sister, he calmed down out of guilt and asked his sister to give him what she was reciting. His sister replied in the negative and said "You are unclean, and no unclean person can touch the Scripture." He insisted, but his sister was not prepared to allow him to touch the pages unless he washed his body. Umar at last gave in. He washed his body and then began to read the verses that were: Verily, I am Allah: there is no God but Me; so serve Me (only), and establish regular prayer for My remembrance (Quran 20:14). He wept and declared, "Surely this is the word of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." On hearing this, Khabbab came out from inside and said: "O, Umar! Glad tidings for you. Yesterday Muhammad prayed to Allah, 'O, Allah! Strengthen Islam with either Umar or Abu Jahl, whomsoever Thou likest.' It seems that his prayer has been answered in your favour."
Umar then went to Muhammad with the same sword he intended to kill him with and accepted Islam in front of him and his companions. Umar was 39 years old when he accepted Islam.
According to one account, after his conversion to Islam Umar openly prayed at the Kaaba as the Quraish chiefs, Abu Jahl and Abu Sufyan, reportedly watched in anger. This further helped the Muslims to gain confidence in practicing Islam openly. At this stage Umar even challenged anyone who dared to stop the Muslims from praying, although no one dared to interfere with Umar when he was openly praying.
Umar's conversion to Islam granted power to the Muslims and to the Islamic faith in Mecca. It was after this event that Muslims offered prayers openly in Masjid al-Haram for the first time. Abdullah Ibn Masud said,
Migration to Medina
In 622 CE, due to the safety offered by Yathrib (later renamed Medīnat an-Nabī, or simply Medina), Muhammad ordered his followers to migrate to Medina. Most Muslims migrated at night fearing Quraish resistance, but Umar is reported to have left openly during the day saying: "Any one who wants to make his wife a widow and his children orphans should come and meet me there behind that cliff." Umar migrated to Medina accompanied by his cousin and brother-in-law Saeed ibn Zaid.
Life in Medina
When Muhammad arrived in Medina, he paired each immigrant (Muhajir) with one of the residents of the city (Ansari), joining Muhammad ibn Maslamah with Umar, making them brothers in faith. Later in Umar's reign as caliph, Muhammad ibn Muslamah would be assigned the office of Chief Inspector of Accountability.
Muslims remained in peace in Medina for approximately a year before the Quraish raised an army to attack them.
In 624, Umar participated in the first battle between Muslims and Quraish of Mecca i.e., the Battle of Badr. In 625, he took part in the Battle of Uhud. In the second phase of the battle, when Khalid ibn Walid's cavalry attacked the Muslim rear, turning the tide of battle, rumours of Muhammad's death were spread and many Muslim warriors were routed from the battlefield, Umar among them. However, hearing that Muhammad was still alive, he went to Muhammad at the mountain of Uhud and prepared for the defence of the hill.
Later in the year Umar was a part of a campaign against the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir.
In 625, Umar's daughter Hafsah was married to Muhammad.
Later in 627, he participated in the Battle of the Trench and also in the Battle of Banu Qurayza. In 628, Umar witnessed the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.
In 628, he fought in the Battle of Khaybar. In 629, Muhammad sent Amr ibn al-A’as to Zaat-ul-Sallasal, after which, Muhammad sent Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah with reinforcements, including Abu Bakr and Umar, whereupon they attacked and defeated the enemy.
In 630, when Muslim armies rushed for the conquest of Mecca, he was part of that army. Later in 630, he fought in the Battle of Hunayn and the Siege of Ta'if. He was part of the Muslim army that contested the Battle of Tabouk under Muhammad's command and he was reported to have given half of his wealth for the preparation of this expedition. He also participated in the farewell Hajj of Muhammad in 632.
Death of Muhammad
When Muhammad died on 8 June 632 Umar initially disbelieved that he was dead. It is said that Umar promised to strike the head of any man who would say that Muhammad died. Umar said: "He has not died but rather he has gone to his lord just as Moses went, remaining absent from his people for forty nights after which he has returned to them. By Allah, the messenger of Allah will indeed return just as Moses returned (to his people) and he will cut off the hands and legs of those men who claimed he has died." Abu Bakr then publicly spoke to the community in the mosque, saying:
Abū Bakr then recited these verses from the Qur'an:
Hearing this, Umar fell on his knees in sorrow and acceptance. Sunni Muslims say that this denial of Muhammad's death was occasioned by his deep love for him.
Foundation of the caliphate
Umar's political capacity first manifested as the architect of the caliphate after Muhammad died on 8 June 632. While the funeral of Muhammad was being arranged a group of Muhammad's followers who were natives of Medina, the Ansar (helpers), organised a meeting on the outskirts of the city, effectively locking out those companions known as Muhajirs (The Emigrants) including Umar. Umar found out about this meeting at Saqifah Bani Saadah, and, taking with him two other Muhajirs, Abu Bakr and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, proceeded to the meeting, presumably to head off the Ansars' plans for political separation. Arriving at the meeting, Umar was faced with a unified community of tribes from the Ansar who refused to accept the leadership of the Muhajirs. However, Umar was undeterred in his belief the caliphate should be under the control of the Muhajirs. Though the Khazraj were in disagreement, Umar, after strained negotiations lasting one or two days, brilliantly divided the Ansar into their old warring factions of Aws and Khazraj tribes. Umar resolved the divisions by placing his hand on that of Abu Bakr as a unity candidate for those gathered in the Saqifah. Others at the Saqifah followed suit, with the exception of the Khazraj tribe and their leader, Sa'd ibn 'Ubada, who were ostracized as a result. The Khazraj tribe is said to have posed no significant threat as there were sufficient men of war from the Medinan tribes such as the Banu Aws to immediately organize them into a military bodyguard for Abu Bakr.
Wilferd Madelung summarises Umar's contribution:
According to various Twelver Shia sources and Madelung, Umar and Abu Bakr had in effect mounted a political coup against Ali at the Saqifah According to one version of narrations in primary sources, Umar and Abu Bakr are also said to have used force to try to secure the allegiance from Ali and his party. It has been reported in mainly Persian historical sources written 300 years later, such as in the History of al-Tabari, that after Ali's refusal to pay homage, Abu Bakr sent Umar with an armed contingent to Fatimah's house where Ali and his supporters are said to have gathered. Umar is reported to have warned those in the House that unless Ali succumbed to Abu Bakr, he would set the House on fire and under these circumstances Ali was forced to capitulate. This version of events, fully accepted by Shia scholars, is generally rejected by Sunni scholars who, in view of other reports in their literature, believe that Ali gave an oath of alliance to Abu Bakr without any grievance. But then other Sunni and Shia sources say that Ali did not swear allegiance to Abu Bakr after his election but six months later after the death of his wife Fatimah putting into question al-Tabari's account. Either way the Sunni and the Shia accounts both accept that Ali felt that Abu Bakr should have informed him before going into the meeting with the Ansar and that Ali did swear allegiance to Abu Bakr.
Western scholars tend to agree that Ali believed he had a clear mandate to succeed Muhammad, but offer differing views as to the extent of use of force by Umar in an attempt to intimidate Ali and his supporters. For instance, Madelung discounts the possibility of the use of force and argues that:
According to Tom Holland, Umar's historicity is beyond dispute. An Armenian bishop writing a decade or so after Qadisiyya describes Umar as a "mighty potentate coordinating the advance of the sons of Ismael from the depths of the desert". Tom Holland writes "What added incomparably to his prestige, was that his earth-shaking qualities as a generalissimo were combined with the most distinctive cast of virtues. Rather than ape the manner of a Caesar, as the Ghassanid kings had done, he drew on the example of a quite different kind of Christian. Umar's threadbare robes, his diet of bread, salt and water, and his rejection of worldly riches would have reminded anyone from the desert reaches beyond Palestine of a very particular kind of person. Monks out in the Judaean desert had long been casting themselves as warriors of God. The achievement of Umar was to take such language to a literal and previously unimaginable extreme."
Abu Bakr's era
Due to the delicate political situation in Arabia, Umar initially opposed military operations against the rebel tribes there, hoping to gain their support in the event of an invasion by the Romans or the Persians. Later, however, he came to agree with Abu Bakr's strategy to crush the rebellion by force. By late 632 CE, Khalid ibn Walid had successfully united Arabia after consecutive victories against the rebels. During his own reign later, Umar would mostly adopt the policy of avoiding wars and consolidating his power in the incorporated lands rather than expanding his empire through continuous warfare.
Umar advised Abu Bakr to compile the Quran in the form of a book after 300 huffāẓ (memorizers) of the Quran died in the Battle of Yamamah.
Appointment as a caliph
Abu Bakr appointed Umar as his successor before dying in 634 CE. Due to his strict and autocratic nature, Umar was not a very popular figure among the notables of Medina and members of Majlis al Shura; accordingly, high-ranking companions of Abu Bakr attempted to discourage him from naming Umar.
Nevertheless, Abu Bakr decided to make Umar his successor.
Umar was well known for his extraordinary willpower, intelligence, political astuteness, impartiality, justice, and care for the poor.
Abu Bakr is reported to have said to the high-ranking advisers:
Abu Bakr was aware of Umar's power and ability to succeed him. His was perhaps one of the smoothest transitions of power from one authority to another in the Muslim lands.
Before his death, Abu Bakr called Uthman to write his will in which he declared Umar his successor. In his will he instructed Umar to continue the conquests on Iraqi and Syrian fronts.
Reign as caliph
Initial challenges
Even though almost all of the Muslims had given their pledge of loyalty to Umar, he was feared more than loved. According to Muhammad Husayn Haykal, the first challenge for Umar was to win over his subjects and the members of Majlis al Shura.
Umar was a gifted orator, and he used his ability to improve his reputation among the people.
Muhammad Husayn Haykal wrote that Umar's stress was on the well-being of the poor and underprivileged.
In addition to this, Umar, in order to improve his reputation and relation with the Banu Hashim, the tribe of Ali, delivered to the latter his disputed estates in Khayber. He followed Abu Bakr's decision over the disputed land of Fidak, continuing to treat it as state property.
In the Ridda wars, thousands of prisoners from rebel and apostate tribes were taken away as slaves during the expeditions. Umar ordered a general amnesty for the prisoners, and their immediate emancipation. This made Umar quite popular among the Bedouin tribes.
With the necessary public support on his side, Umar took the bold decision of recalling Khalid ibn Walid from supreme command on the Roman front.
Political and civil administration
The government of Umar was a unitary government, where the sovereign political authority was the caliph. The empire of Umar was divided into provinces and some autonomous territories, e.g., Azerbaijan and Armenia, that had accepted the suzerainty of the caliphate. The provinces were administered by the provincial governors or Wali, personally and fastidiously selected by Umar. Provinces were further divided into about 100 districts. Each district or main city was under the charge of a junior governor or Amir, usually appointed by Umar himself, but occasionally also appointed by the provincial governor. Other officers at the provincial level were:
Katib, the Chief Secretary.
Katib-ud-Diwan, the Military Secretary.
Sahib-ul-Kharaj, the Revenue Collector.
Sahib-ul-Ahdath, the Police chief.
Sahib-Bait-ul-Mal, the Treasury Officer.
Qadi, the Chief Judge.
In some districts there were separate military officers, though the Wali was, in most cases, the Commander-in-chief of the army quartered in the province.
Every appointment was made in writing. At the time of appointment an instrument of instructions was issued with a view to regulating the Wali's conduct. On assuming office, the Wali was required to assemble the people in the main mosque, and read the instrument of instructions before them.
Umar's general instructions to his officers were:
Various other strict codes of conduct were to be obeyed by the governors and state officials. The principal officers were required to travel to Mecca on the occasion of the Hajj, during which people were free to present any complaint against them. In order to minimize the chances of corruption, Umar made it a point to pay high salaries to the staff. Provincial governors received as much as five to seven thousand dirham annually besides their shares of the spoils of war (if they were also the commander in chief of the army of their sector).
Under Umar the empire was divided into the following provinces:
Mecca (Arabia)
Medina (Arabia)
Basra (Iraq)
Kufa (Iraq)
Jazira, in the upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates
Syria
Iliyā' (إلياء) (Palestine)
Ramlah (Palestine)
Upper Egypt
Lower Egypt
Khorasan (Persia)
Azerbaijan (Persia)
Fars (Persia)
Umar was first to establish a special department for the investigation of complaints against the officers of the State. This department acted as the Administrative court, where the legal proceedings were personally led by Umar.
The department was under the charge of Muhammad ibn Maslamah, one of Umar's most trusted men. In important cases Muhammad ibn Maslamah was deputed by Umar to proceed to the spot, investigate the charge and take action. Sometimes an Inquiry Commission was constituted to investigate the charge. On occasion, the officers against whom complaints were received were summoned to Medina, and charged in Umar's administrative court.
Umar was known for this intelligence service through which he made his officials accountable. This service was also said to have inspired fear in his subjects.
Umar was a pioneer in some affairs:
Umar was the first to introduce the public ministry system, where the records of officials and soldiers were kept. He also kept a record system for messages he sent to Governors and heads of state.
He was the first to appoint police forces to keep civil order.
He was the first to discipline the people when they became disordered.
Another important aspect of Umar's rule was that he forbade any of his governors and agents from engaging in any sort of business dealings whilst in a position of power. An agent of Umar by the name of Al Harith ibn K'ab ibn Wahb was once found to have extra money beyond his salary and Umar enquired about his wealth. Al Harith replied that he had some money and he engaged in trade with it. Umar said: By Allah, we did not send you to engage in trade! and he took from him the profits he had made.
Canals
Since Medina, with a rapidly growing population, was at risk of recurring famines when crops were lacking, Umar sought to facilitate the import of grain. He ordered the building of a canal connecting the Nile to the Red Sea and an improvement of port infrastructure on the Arabian coast. When Basra was established during Umar's rule, he started building a nine-mile canal from the Tigris to the new city for irrigation and drinking water. Al-Tabari reports that Utba ibn Ghazwan built the first canal from the Tigris River to the site of Basra when the city was in the planning stage. After the city was built, Umar appointed Abu Musa Ashaari (17-29/638 – 650) as its first governor. He began building two important canals, the al-Ubulla and the Ma'qil, linking Basra with the Tigris River. These two canals were the basis for the agricultural development for the whole Basra region and used for drinking water. Umar also adopted a policy of assigning barren lands to those who undertook to cultivate them. This policy continued during the Umayyad period and resulted in the cultivation of large areas of barren lands through the construction of irrigation canals by the state and by individuals.
Reforms
Under Umar's leadership, the empire expanded; accordingly, he began to build a political structure that would hold together the vast territory. He undertook many administrative reforms and closely oversaw public policy, establishing an advanced administration for the newly conquered lands, including several new ministries and bureaucracies, and ordered a census of all the Muslim territories. During his rule, the garrison cities (amsar) of Basra and Kufa were founded or expanded. In 638, he extended and renovated the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca and al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina.
Umar also ordered the expulsion to Syria and Iraq of the Christian and Jewish communities of Najran and Khaybar. He also permitted Jewish families to resettle in Jerusalem, which had previously been barred from all Jews. He issued orders that these Christians and Jews should be treated well and allotted them the equivalent amount of land in their new settlements. Umar also forbade non-Muslims from residing in the Hejaz for longer than three days.
He was first to establish the army as a state department.
Umar was founder of Fiqh, or Islamic jurisprudence. He is regarded by Sunni Muslims as one of the greatest Faqih, and, as such, he started the process of codifying Islamic Law.
In 641, he established Bayt al-mal, a financial institution and started annual allowances for the Muslims.
As a leader, Umar was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had when Muslims were poor and persecuted. In 638, his fourth year as caliph and the seventeenth year since the Hijra, he decreed that the Islamic calendar should be counted from the year of the Hijra of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina.
Visit to Jerusalem in 637 CE
Umar's visit to Jerusalem is documented in several sources. A recently discovered Judeo-Arabic text has disclosed the following anecdote:
"Umar ordered Gentiles and a group of Jews to sweep the area of the Temple Mount. Umar oversaw the work. The Jews who had come sent letters to the rest of the Jews in Palestine and informed them that Umar had permitted resettlement of Jerusalem by Jews. Umar, after some consultation, permitted seventy Jewish households to return. They returned to live in the southern part of the city, i.e., the Market of the Jews. (Their aim was to be near the water of Silwan and the Temple Mount and its gates). Then the Commander Umar granted them this request. The seventy families moved to Jerusalem from Tiberias and the area around it with their wives and children."
It is also reported in the name of the Alexandrian Bishop Eutychius (932–940 CE) that the rock known as the Temple Mount had been a place of ruins as far back as the time of the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, who built churches in Jerusalem. "The Byzantines," he said, "had deliberately left the ancient site of the Temple as it was, and had even thrown rubbish on it, so that a great heap of rubble formed." It was only when Umar marched into Jerusalem with an army that he asked Kaab, who was Jewish before he converted to Islam, "Where do you advise me to build a place of worship?" Kaab indicated the Temple Rock, now a gigantic heap of ruins from the temple of Jupiter. The Jews, Kaab explained, had briefly won back their old capital a quarter of a century before (when Persians overran Syria and Palestine), but they had not had time to clear the site of the Temple, for the Rums (Byzantines) had recaptured the city. It was then that Umar ordered the rubbish on the Ṣakhra (rock) to be removed by the Nabataeans, and after three showers of heavy rain had cleansed the Rock, he instituted prayers there. To this day, the place is known as ḳubbat es ṣakhra, the Dome of the Rock.
According to lexicographer David ben Abraham al-Fasi (died before 1026 CE), the Muslim conquest of Palestine brought relief to the country's Jewish citizens, who had previously been barred by the Byzantines from praying on the Temple Mount.
Military expansion
The military conquests were partially terminated between 638 and 639 during the years of great famine in Arabia and plague in the Levant. During his reign the Levant, Egypt, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, Fezzan, Eastern Anatolia, almost the whole of the Sassanid Persian Empire including Bactria, Persia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Caucasus and Makran were annexed to the Rashidun Caliphate. According to one estimate more than 4,050 cities were captured during these military conquests. Prior to his death in 644, Umar had ceased all military expeditions apparently to consolidate his rule in recently conquered Roman Egypt and the newly conquered Sassanid Empire (642–644). At his death in November 644, his rule extended from present day Libya in the west to the Indus river in the east and the Oxus river in the north.
Great famine
In 638 CE, Arabia fell into severe drought followed by a famine. Soon after, the reserves of food at Medina began to run out. Umar ordered caravans of supplies from Syria and Iraq, and personally supervised their distribution. His actions saved countless lives throughout Arabia. The first governor to respond was Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, the governor of Syria and supreme commander of the Rashidun army.
Later, Abu Ubaidah paid a personal visit to Medina and acted as an officer of disaster management, which was headed personally by Umar. For internally displaced people, Umar hosted a dinner every night at Medina, which according to one estimate, had attendance of more than a hundred thousand people.
Great plague
While famine was ending in Arabia, many districts in Syria and Palestine were devastated by plague. While Umar was on his way to visit Syria, at Elat, he was received by Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, governor of Syria, who informed him about the plague and its intensity, and suggested that Umar go back to Medina. Umar tried to persuade Abu Ubaidah to come with him to Medina, but he declined to leave his troops in that critical situation. Abu Ubaidah died in 639 of the plague, which also cost the lives of 25,000 Muslims in Syria. After the plague had weakened, in late 639, Umar visited Syria for political and administrative re-organization, as most of the veteran commanders and governors had died of the plague.
Welfare state
To be close to the poor, Umar lived in a simple mud hut without doors and walked the streets every evening. After consulting with the poor, Umar established the first welfare state, Bayt al-mal. The Bayt al-mal aided the Muslim and non-Muslim poor, needy, elderly, orphans, widows, and the disabled. The Bayt al-mal ran for hundreds of years, from the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century through the Umayyad period (661–750) and well into the Abbasid era. Umar also introduced a child benefit and pensions for the children and the elderly.
Free trade
Local populations of Jews and Christians, persecuted as religious minorities and taxed heavily to finance the Byzantine–Sassanid Wars, often aided Muslims to take over their lands from the Byzantines and Persians, resulting in exceptionally speedy conquests. As new areas were attached to the Caliphate, they also benefited from free trade, while trading with other areas in the Caliphate (to encourage commerce, in Islam trade is not taxed, but wealth is subject to the zakat). Since the so-called Constitution of Medina, drafted by Muhammad, the Jews and the Christians continued to use their own laws in the Caliphate and had their own judges.
Assassination
In 644, Umar was assassinated by a Persian slave named Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz. His motivation for the assassination is not clear. One possible explanation was that it was done in response to the Muslim conquest of Persia. The assassination was planned several months earlier. In October 644, Umar undertook a Hajj to Mecca, during which the assassins pronounced Umar's imminent death that year, and the massive crowd of the congregation was used by the conspirators as a veil to hide themselves.
During one of rituals of Hajj, the Ramy al-Jamarat (stoning of the Devil), someone threw a stone at Umar that wounded his head; a voice was heard that Umar will not attend the Hajj ever again.
Abu Lu'lu'a brought a complaint to Umar about the high tax charged by his master Mughirah. Umar wrote to Mughirah and inquired about the tax; Mughirah's reply was satisfactory, but Umar held that the tax charged to Abu Lu'lu'a was reasonable, owing to his daily income. Umar then is reported to have asked Abu Lu'lu'a: "I heard that you make windmills; make one for me as well." In a sullen mood, Abu Lu'lu'a said, "Verily I will make such a mill for you, that the whole world would remember it".
It was Abu Lu'lu'a who was assigned the mission of assassinating Umar. According to the plan, before the Fajr prayers (the morning prayers before the dawn) Abu Lu'lu'a would enter al-Masjid al-Nabawi, the main mosque of Medina where Umar led the prayers and would attack Umar during the prayers, and then flee or mix with the congregation at the mosque.
On 31 October 644, Abu Lu'lu'a attacked Umar while he was leading the morning prayers, stabbing him six times in the belly and finally in the navel, that proved fatal. Umar was left profusely bleeding while Abu Lu'lu'a tried to flee, but people from all sides rushed to capture him; in his efforts to escape he is reported to have wounded twelve other people, six or nine of whom later died, before slashing himself with his own blade to commit suicide.
Umar died of the wounds three days later on Wednesday 3 November 644 (26 Dhu al-Hijjah 23 AH).
He was buried at the Green Dome in al-Masjid al-Nabawi alongside Muhammad and caliph Abu Bakr by the permission of Aisha.
Aftermath
On his deathbed, Umar vacillated on his succession. However, it has been reported that he said that if Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, Khalid ibn Walid or Salim, the mawla and freed Persian slave, were alive he would have appointed one of them his successor. Umar finally appointed a committee of six persons to choose a caliph from amongst them: Abdur Rahman bin Awf, Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, Talha ibn Ubaidullah, Uthman ibn Affan, Ali ibn Abi Talib and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam.
All six are among the ten to whom Paradise was promised according to Sunnis. The only one out of the 'famous ten' left out of the committee who was still alive at the time was Saeed ibn Zaid, the cousin and brother-in-law of Umar. He was excluded on the basis of being related by blood and of the same tribe as Umar. Umar had a policy of not appointing anyone related to him to a position of authority even if they were qualified by his standards.
Umar appointed a band of fifty armed soldiers to protect the house where the meeting was proceeding.
Until the appointment of the next caliph, Umar appointed a notable Sahabi and mawla, Suhayb ar-Rumi (Suhayb the Roman), as a caretaker caliph.
While the meeting for selection of a caliph was proceeding, Abdulrehman ibn Abu Bakr and Abdur Rahman bin Awf revealed that they saw the dagger used by Abu Lu'lu'a, the assassin of Umar. A night before Umar's assassination, reported Abdur Rahman bin Awf, he saw Hurmuzan, Jafina and Abu Lu'lu'a, while they were suspiciously discussing something. Surprised by his presence, the dagger fell; it was the same two-sided dagger used in the assassination. Abdulrehman ibn Abu Bakr, son of the late caliph Abu Bakr, confirmed that, a few days before Umar's assassination, he saw this dagger in Hurmuzan's possession. After this revelation, it seemed clear that it had been planned by the Persians residing in Medina. Infuriated by this, Umar's younger son Ubaidullah ibn Umar sought to kill all the Persians in Medina. He killed Hurmuzan, Jafinah, and the daughter of Umar's assassin Abu Lu'lu'a, who is believed to have been a Muslim. Ubaidullah was intercepted by the people of Medina, who prevented him from continuing the massacre. Amr ibn al-Aas is said to have intercepted him and convinced him to hand over his sword. The murder of Jafinah enraged Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, his foster brother, and he assaulted Ubaidullah ibn Umar; again the companions intervened. When Umar was informed about the incident, he ordered Ubaidullah imprisoned, and that the next caliph should decide his fate.
Umar died on 3 November 644; on 7 November Uthman succeeded him as caliph. After prolonged negotiations, the tribunal decided to give blood money to the victims, and released Umar's son Ubaidullah on the ground that, after the tragedy of Umar's assassination, people would be further infuriated by the execution of his son the very next day.
Physical appearance
Umar was strong, fit, athletic and good at wrestling. He is said to have participated in the wrestling matches on the occasion of the annual fair of Ukaz. From first hand accounts of his physical appearance Umar is said to be vigorous, robust and a very tall man; in markets he would tower above the people. The front part of his head was bald, always A'sara Yusran (working with two hands), both his eyes were black, with yellow skin; however, ibn Sa'ad in his book stated that he never knew that Umar had yellow skin, except for a certain part of Umar's life where his color changed due to his frequent consumption of oil. Others say he had reddish-white skin. His teeth were ashnabul asnan (very white shining). He would always color his beard and take care of his hair using a type of plant.
The early Muslim historians Ibn Saad and al-Hakim mention that Abu Miriam Zir, a native of Kufa, described Umar as being "advanced in years, bald, of a tawny colour – a left handed man, tall and towering above the people". Umar's eldest son Abdullah described his father as "a man of fair complexion, a ruddy tint prevailing, tall, bald and grey". Historian Salima bin al-Akwa'a said that "Umar was ambidextrous, he could use both his hands equally well". On the authority of Abu Raja al-U'taridi, Ibn Asakir records that "Umar was a man tall, stout, very bald, very ruddy with scanty hair on the cheeks, his moustaches large, and the ends thereof reddish".
Assessments
Political legacy
One writer states that Umar was a political genius and, as an architect of the Islamic Empire, rates him as the 52nd most influential figure in history. Umar was one of Muhammad's chief advisers. After Muhammad's passing, it was Umar who reconciled the Medinan Muslims to accept Abu Bakr, a Meccan, as the caliph. During Abu Bakr's era, he actively participated as his secretary and main adviser. After succeeding Abu Bakr as caliph, Umar won over the hearts of Bedouin tribes by emancipating all their prisoners and slaves taken during the Ridda wars.
He built up an efficient administrative structure that held together his vast realm. He organized an effective intelligence network, one of the reasons for his strong grip on his bureaucracy.
Umar never appointed governors for more than two years, for they might amass too much local power. He dismissed his most successful general, Khalid ibn Walid, because he wanted people to know that it is Allah who grants victory, and to counter the cult of personality that had built up around Khalid, for the sake of the Muslim faith.
He would patrol the streets of Medina with a whip in his hand, ready to punish any offenders he might come across. It is said that Umar's whip was feared more than the sword of another man. But with all of this, he was also known for being kindhearted, answering the needs of the fatherless and widows.
Umar's swift imposition of justice against his governors for misdeeds made even powerful governors such as Muawiyah scared of him. Ali ibn Abu Talib, during the later rule of Uthman ibn Affan, wanted Uthman to be more strict with his governors, saying, "I adjure you by God, do you know that Mu'awiyah was more afraid of Umar than was Umar's own servant Yarfa?"
Under Umar's rule, in order to promote strict discipline, Arab soldiers were settled outside of cities, between the desert and cultivated lands in special garrison towns known as "amsar". Known examples of such settlements are Basra and Kufa, in Iraq, and Fustat south of what would later become Cairo. His soldiers were forbidden to own land outside of Arabia. There were restrictions on their right to seize buildings and other immovable things usually thought of as prizes of war. Movable spoils were shared with the people of the umma, regardless of their social stratum.
A modern researcher writes about this:
In The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Gibbon refers to Umar in the following terms:
His rule was one of the few moments in the history of Islam where Muslims were united as a single community. Abdullah ibn Masʿud would often weep whenever the subject of Umar was brought up. He said: "Umar was a fortress of Islam. People would enter Islam and not leave. When he died, the fortress was breached and now people are going out of Islam". Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah before Umar died famously said: "If Umar dies, Islam would be weakened". People asked him why and his reply was "You will see what I am speaking about if you survive."
His greatest achievement from a religious perspective was the compilation of the Qur'an. This had not been done during the time of Muhammad. However, during the Battle of Yamama a great number of the memorizers of the Quran perished in the battle. On the advice of Umar, Abu Bakr tasked Zayd ibn Thabit with the momentous task of compiling the Quran into a single Book.
Military legacy
Along with Khalid ibn Walid, Umar was influential in the Ridda wars.
One strategic success was his sundering of the Byzantine-Sassanid alliance in 636, when Emperor Heraclius and Emperor Yazdegerd III allied against their common enemy. He was lucky in that the Persian Emperor Yazdegerd III couldn't synchronize with Heraclius as planned. Umar fully availed himself of the opportunity by inducing the Byzantines to act prematurely. This was contrary to the orders of Emperor Heraclius, who presumably wanted a coordinated attack along with the Persians. Umar did this by sending reinforcements to the Roman front in the Battle of Yarmouk, with instructions that they should appear in the form of small bands, one after the other, giving the impression of a continuous stream of reinforcements that finally lured the Byzantines to an untimely battle. On the other hand, Yazdegerd III was engaged in negotiations that further gave Umar time to transfer his troops from Syria to Iraq. These troops proved decisive in the Battle of Qadisiyyah.
His strategy resulted in a Muslim victory at the Second Battle of Emesa in 638, where the pro-Byzantine Christian Arabs of Jazira, aided by the Byzantine Emperor, made an unexpected flanking movement and laid siege to Emesa (Homs).
Umar issued an order to invade the very homeland of the Christian Arab forces besieging Emesa, the Jazirah. A three-pronged attack against Jazirah was launched from Iraq. To further pressure the Christian Arab armies, Umar instructed Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, commander of Muslim forces in Iraq, to send reinforcements to Emesa. Umar himself led reinforcements there from Medina. Under this unprecedented pressure, the Christian Arabs retreated from Emesa before Muslim reinforcements could arrive. The Muslims annexed Mesopotamia and parts of Byzantine Armenia.
After the Battle of Nahavand, Umar launched a full-scale invasion of the Sassanid Persian Empire. The invasion was a series of well-coordinated multi-pronged attacks designed to isolate and destroy their targets. Umar launched the invasion by attacking the very heart of Persia, aiming to isolate Azerbaijan and eastern Persia. This was immediately followed by simultaneous attacks on Azerbaijan and Fars. Next, Sistan and Kirman were captured, thus isolating the stronghold of Persia, the Khurasan. The final expedition was launched against Khurasan, where, after the Battle of Oxus River, the Persian empire ceased to exist, and Yazdegerd III fled to Central Asia.
Religious legacy
Sunni views
Umar is remembered by Sunnis as a rigid Muslim of a sound and just disposition in matters of religion; a man they title Farooq, meaning "leader, jurist and statesman", and the second of the rightly guided caliphs. He patched his clothes with skin, took buckets on his two shoulders, always riding his donkey without the saddle, rarely laughing and never joking with anyone. On his ring is written the words "Enough is Death as a reminder to you O' Umar". He did not seek advancement for his own family, but rather sought to advance the interests of the Muslim community, the ummah. According to one of Muhammad's companions, Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud:
Shia views
Umar is viewed very negatively in the literature of Twelver Shi'a (the main branch of Shia Islam) and is often regarded as a usurper of Ali's right to the Caliphate. After the Saqifah assembly chose Abu Bakr as caliph, Umar marched with armed men to Ali's house in order to get the allegiance of Ali and his supporters. Sources indicate that a threat was made to burn Ali's house if he refused, but the encounter ended when Fatimah, wife of Ali, intervened. According to the majority of Twelver scholar writings, Fatimah was physically assaulted by Umar, that this caused her to miscarry her child, Muhsin ibn Ali, and led to her death soon after. (see Umar at Fatimah's house). However, some Twelver scholars, such as Fadhlalla, reject these accounts of physical abuse as a "myth", although Fadlallah mentioned that his speech is a probability, and not a certain reason to reject that event.
Another Shia sect, the Zaidiyyah followers of Zaid ibn Ali, generally has two views about that. Some branches, such as Jaroudiah (Sarhubiyya), don't accept Umar and Abu Bakr as legitimate caliphs. For instance, Jarudiyya believes that Muhammad appointed Ali and believes that the denial of the Imamate of Ali after Muhammad's passing would lead to infidelity and deviation from the right path. The other view accepts Umar and Abu Bakr as legitimate caliphs, albeit inferior to Ali. According to al-Tabari (and Ibn A'tham), when asked about Abu Bakr and Umar, Zayd ibn Ali replied: "I have not heard anyone in my family renouncing them both nor saying anything but good about them...when they were entrusted with government they behaved justly with the people and acted according to the Qur'an and the Sunnah.".
Family
Umar married nine women in his lifetime and had fourteen children: ten sons and four daughters.
Wives
The known wives of Umar are:
Zaynab bint Madhun, she was the mother of Hafsa and Abdullah
Umm Kulthum bint Jarwal, she was divorced by Umar. She was the mother of Ubayd Allah
Qurayba bint Abi Umayya, divorced by Umar in 628.
Jamila bint Thabit, She married Umar about between May 627 and May 628. They had one son, Asim.
Umm Hakim, She was married to Umar, in 634 and was mother of Fatimah.
Umm Kulthum bint Ali from this marriage Umar had a son named Zayd.
Sons
The sons of Umar are:
Abdullah, born 610 in Mecca
Abd al-Rahman ibn Umar
Zayd, He was the son of Umar and Umm Kulthum bint Ali.
Ubayd Allah
Abd al-Rahman "Abu Shahmah" ibn Umar
Asim ibn Umar
Abd al-Rahman Abu'l-Mujabbar
Iyaad ibn Umar
Abdur Rahman
Zayd ibn Umar
Daughters
The daughters of Umar are:
Hafsa
Fatima
Ruqayya
Zaynab
Archeological evidence
In 2012, an inscription was found on a rock in al-Murakkab (Saudi Arabia) which is thought to be an autograph of Umar's signature.
See also
Al-Farooq, modern biography about Umar
Omar ibn al-Khattab Mosque, is a historic mosque in Dumat al-Jandal in northern Arabia, it was built by Umar.
Al Farooq Omar Bin Al Khattab Mosque, mosque named for him in Dubai
Sahaba
Farooqi
Omar (TV series)
Pact of Umar
Umar ibn Ibrahim ibn Waqid al-Umari
References
Notes
Bibliography
Guillaume, A., The Life of Muhammad, Oxford University Press, 1955.
Previte-Orton, C. W. (1971). The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Donner, Fred, The Early Islamic Conquests, Princeton University Press, 1981.
Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, Faber and Faber, 1991.
Madelung, Wilferd, The Succession to Muhammad, Cambridge University Press, 1997.
External links
Excerpt from The History of the Khalifahs by Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti
Sirah of Amirul Muminin Umar Bin Khattab by Shaykh Sayyed Muhammad bin Yahya al-Husayni al-Ninowy.
584 births
644 deaths
7th-century caliphs
7th-century murdered monarchs
Assassinated caliphs
Deaths by blade weapons
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People of the Muslim conquest of Persia
People who memorized the Quran
Rashidun caliphs
Sahabah who participated in the battle of Uhud
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"The Qingli Reforms or Qingli New Deal (), or Qingli New Policies, also called Minor Reforms (小改革), took place in China’s Song dynasty under the leadership of Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu. Taking place from 1043 to 1045 and so called for falling in the 1041-1048 era of the same name, it was a short-lived attempt to introduce reforms into the traditional way of conducting governmental affairs in China. It was a precursor to a grander effort three decades later led by Wang Anshi.\n\nQingli Reforms was the first political reform of the Northern Song Dynasty, which lasted for one year and four months, eventually ended in failure. After the failure of the reform, Fan Zhongyan was deported to Dengzhou.\n\nFan Zhongyan\n\nFan Zhongyan was prefect of Kaifeng, the imperial capital during the Northern Song era, in the 1030s. However, he was demoted to regional posts for criticizing the Chief Councillor. In 1040, the Liao and Western Xia to the north threatened Song security. Fan was brought back to organize a strong defense.\n\nOuyang Xiu\n\nOuyang Xiu was posted to Kaifeng four years after passing his jinshi examination in 1030. He began his association with Fan from this time in Kaifeng. Like Fan, he also was demoted. After Fan's demotion, Ouyang criticized Fan's principle critic, resulting in being sent to a minor post in Hubei. Like Fan, he was brought back to the capital in the 1040s where he was assigned to work on cataloguing the entire imperial library.\n\nTen-Point Memorial\n\nFan Zhongyan submitted a ten-point memorial in which he outlined his reform objectives. They can be divided into three categories:\n\n Administrative efficiency \n Strengthen local governments\n Strengthen defense\n\nImplementation\n\nThe first measure undertaken was to allow competent officials to stay in one post for more than three years and for unable or treacherous officials to be removed more easily. Sons and relatives of state officials were banned from automatically inheriting the post of their father. The importance of poetry in the imperial examinations was reduced in favour of essays and the Confucian Classics. Supervision over officials in the provinces responsible for the transport of tax grains was increased and appointed directly by the central government. Land allotted to officials was redistributed more adequately. Agricultural productivity was enhanced by the construction of dykes and canals to improve irrigation. Troops garrisoned around the capital was to engage in agriculture and be trained in a more effective way. Service corvée was to be reduced. Proclamations and edicts issued by the court were to be followed by imminent implementation, with an greater control over their implementation.\n\nMany of these reforms were put into effect in the two-year period from 1043 to 1045. However, without the full support of the emperor, there never was complete implementation of the reforms. Not long after they began, backlash from groups of officials, large land owners, and the wealthy in general resulted in the dismissal Fan Zhongyan and Fu Bi in 1045.\n\nThe Imperial University was created as part of the reforms for the education of the children of commoners and low-ranking officials. It was the only institution that survived the reversal of the reforms.\n\nLegacy\nWang Anshi would take up the banner of reform in the 1070s, not only pushing for many of the Qingli Reforms, but going even further. However, while they remained in place longer than the Qingli Reforms, with the exception of some reforms to the examination system, this reform effort similarly met a dead end.\n\nSee also\nNew Policies (Song dynasty)\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n \n \n \n\nSong dynasty",
"The 1990 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election was held on 4 September to determine the leadership of the New Zealand Labour Party. The leadership was won by MP Mike Moore.\n\nBackground \nBy 1990 the Labour Party had been torn apart by internal frictions between the supporters of Rogernomics (open market free trade policy) and those still favouring Labour's traditional protectionist fiscal policies. There had been two leadership challenges in the past 12 months with opponents of Rogernomics being successful. However Labour's popularity had fallen further still due to the increasing public outrage over the reforms. After seeing off a challenge from Roger Douglas in 1988, David Lange had resigned mid-1989 and replaced with Geoffrey Palmer who, while respected, was unpopular. Palmer was persuaded to step aside in favour of a more suitable candidate more capable of lessening the damage of what was already being predicted as a certain defeat for Labour.\n\nCandidates\n\nMike Moore \nMoore was one of the senior cabinet ministers in the government and was ranked third in Labour's caucus. He was a supporter of the Rogernomics reforms, albeit less radical. As a result he was seen as a more acceptable alternative leader to both Douglas and his supporters as well as critics of Douglas. He had previously stood for the leadership in 1989 against Palmer but was defeated.\n\nRichard Northey \nNorthey, an MP serving since 1984, was a surprise candidate to most. He was the sitting member for and was not a member of cabinet. Many saw his candidature as merely token and he was viewed as a stalking horse like figure.\n\nResult\nA caucus vote was held on 4 September 1990 in which Moore was successful. Helen Clark, Palmer's deputy leader retained her position despite the change in leaders.\n\nLeadership ballot\n\nAftermath \nMoore would lead Labour until he himself was defeated as leader in 1993 by his deputy Helen Clark. He served as Prime Minister for 8 weeks before going on to lose the next election in a landslide, and narrowly lose in 1993. Northey lost his seat in the 1990 election, but returned in 1993 only to be defeated again in 1996. Palmer later stated he had been prepared to lead the party to a likely defeat but was just as happy to step aside \"I was actually pretty pleased to get out at the end of 1990. I was quite happy to run through as PM and take the defeat, but if other people wanted to do it — be my guest\"!\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nLabour Party leadership\n1990\nIndirect elections\nNew Zealand Labour Party leadership election"
] |
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"Steve Young",
"1992 season: first MVP"
] |
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What happened in 1992
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What happened with Steve Young in 1992?
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Steve Young
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By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril. In addition to having to compete with Bono, Montana appeared to be close to recovering from his elbow tendon surgery. San Francisco came close to trading Young to the Los Angeles Raiders, but no deal was finalized and it turned out that Montana would not recover in time to start in the opening game. Montana would not return until the final game of the 1992 season, a Monday Night home game against the Detroit Lions. Montana played the entire second half and guided the 49ers to victory. Young ended up as San Francisco's starting quarterback, but once again got off to a rough start. On the fifth play of the opening game at the Giants, he suffered a concussion and was replaced by Bono, who threw two touchdown passes while leading the 49ers to a 31-14 win. The following week, San Francisco lost 34-31 to the Buffalo Bills, despite a career-high 449 passing yards and three touchdowns from Young, in a game that for the first time in NFL history there were zero punts from either team. Young recovered and led the 49ers on a five-game winning streak, capped off by a 56-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons in which Young passed for 399 yards and three touchdowns. After missing most of the next game (a 24-14 loss to the Cardinals) with the flu, he led San Francisco to victory in all of their remaining games of the season, giving the team a 14-2 record. He went on to throw for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns, and rush for 73 yards, in a 20-13 divisional playoff win over the Washington Redskins. The 49ers lost the NFC title game, however, 30-20 against the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys. Young threw for 313 yards, completing 71.4% of his passes while passing for one touchdown and rushing for another. He also threw two interceptions, but the final one came with the outcome of the game already decided. Young finished the season with 3,465 passing yards and 537 rushing yards, along with an NFL best 25 touchdown passes and 107.0 passer rating, earning him the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and his first selection to the Pro Bowl. He was the first quarterback ever to record a triple digit rating in consecutive seasons. Many credit Young's turnaround to the mentoring of the 49ers' new Offensive Coordinator Mike Shanahan, who worked with Young on combining his running skill with on-the-move passing decisions. CANNOTANSWER
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By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril.
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Jon Steven Young (born October 11, 1961) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. He also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Prior to his NFL career, he was a member of the Los Angeles Express in the United States Football League (USFL) for two seasons. Young played college football for Brigham Young University (BYU), setting school and NCAA records en route to being runner-up for the 1983 Heisman Trophy.
Young was named the AP's NFL Most Valuable Player in 1992 and 1994, and was the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX. During his 1994 MVP campaign, he set a new NFL record for passer rating at 112.8. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Young was an extremely efficient passer – leading the league in passer rating a record six times, and completion percentage and yards per attempt five times. At the time of his retirement, he had the highest passer rating among NFL quarterbacks with at least 1,500 passing attempts (96.8). As of the end of the 2020 season, he is ranked tenth all-time in passer rating, and is ranked fourth highest amongst retired players, behind only Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Tony Romo. His 43 career rushing touchdowns are second among quarterbacks, while his 4,239 rushing yards ranks fifth all time.
Early years
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Young attended Greenwich High School in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he played quarterback on its Cardinals football team. He earned 1978 All-FCIAC West Division First Team honors in his junior year, his first year as a starter. In his senior year he rushed for 13 touchdowns and earned All-FCIAC West Division First Team honors, and was named to the CIAC All-State team. In the rush-first option offense run by Greenwich he completed only 41 percent of his throws for 1,220 yards, but ran the ball 267 times for 1,928 yards. On Thanksgiving Day in November 1979, Greenwich lost to Darien High School, known for its "Tidal Wave Defense", 17–0. During his senior year, he was co-captain of the football, basketball and baseball teams. In basketball, he averaged 15 points a game. In baseball, he hit .384 and played center field when he wasn't pitching. He was 5–1 and threw a 3–0 no-hitter against New Canaan High School.
College football
Young was heavily recruited by the University of North Carolina. Coach Dick Crum was enamored by Young's running ability, and wanted him to run his option offense. Young instead chose BYU. Initially, he struggled at throwing the ball, and BYU's coaching staff considered switching him to defensive back because of his athleticism. However, he worked hard to improve his passing skills and eventually succeeded record-setting Jim McMahon as BYU's starting QB. Young's senior season (1983) was spectacular. He passed for 3,902 yards and 33 touchdowns in the regular season, and his 71.3% completion percentage set an NCAA single-season record. He also added 544 yards rushing. With Young at quarterback, BYU set an NCAA record by averaging 584.2 yards of total offense per game, with 370.5 of those yards coming from Young's passing and rushing. The Cougars finished the year with an impressive 11–1 record; Young was named a unanimous All-American and received the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, which recognizes the nation's best collegiate quarterback each year. He also finished second in voting for the Heisman Trophy, behind Nebraska running back Mike Rozier. Young capped his college career by scoring the game-winning touchdown on a pass from the halfback in BYU's 21–17 victory over Missouri in the 1983 Holiday Bowl.
Young finished his college career with 592 pass completions for 7,733 yards and 56 touchdowns, along with 1,048 yards and 18 touchdowns rushing. He was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001.
Professional football
USFL
Los Angeles Express
Young was selected by the Los Angeles Express in the first round (11th overall) of the 1984 USFL Draft. He signed a record ten-year, $40 million contract with the Express in He agreed to take his payment in the form of an annuity paid out over forty years to help the fledgling team.
It was taken for granted that Young would be the first pick in the 1984 NFL Draft, and that he would be selected by the Cincinnati Bengals, who were three years removed from the Super Bowl and had landed the No. 1 pick in a trade with the then-moribund Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, the Bengals still had Ken Anderson as their quarterback and planned to have Young sit behind Anderson for the 1984 season before possibly taking over in 1985. Young found that prospect unappealing, which opened the door for the Express. Express general manager Don Klosterman told Young that if he signed with the Express, his head coach would be John Hadl, a former All-Pro quarterback who had shepherded John Elway through his first year in the NFL. Klosterman also told Young that Hall of Fame coach Sid Gillman, who had been hired as a consultant, would tutor him on how to be a pro quarterback. Young was convinced, and signed with the Express.
At the time, it was another huge signing by the fledgling league, which had already succeeded in signing both the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, running back Mike Rozier of Nebraska; and the previous winner, Georgia running back Herschel Walker. After missing the first six games of his rookie season while taking some college classes in order to graduate on time, Young started the final twelve. He had a respectable year, highlighted by becoming the first pro football player ever to pass for 300 yards and rush for 100 in a single game. Despite being surrounded with talent which included such future NFL players as Jojo Townsell, Mel Gray, and Kevin Nelson, and making the playoffs in Young's first season, the Express was never able to create a sustaining fan base in Los Angeles.
Late in the season, The New York Times published an investigation of owner J. William Oldenburg's finances that suggested Oldenburg was not as well off as he claimed. The FBI had been investigating Oldenburg since the middle of the season. A week after the Times article, Oldenburg stopped paying the Express' bills, forcing the league to draw on the team's emergency line of credit to keep it going through the playoffs. Houston Gamblers minority partner Jay Roulier stepped in to buy the team, only to be pushed out when it emerged that he too had misrepresented his net worth. The league took control of the team and cut expenditures to the bare minimum. The other teams made contributions to keep the Express going through the season – enough to meet payroll, but not much else.
Under the circumstances, the 1985 season rapidly became a fiasco. Before one game, the team bus driver refused to drive the Express to their final home game – which had been moved to Los Angeles Pierce College in the San Fernando Valley – unless he was paid up front in cash. Young contributed some money, as did the team trainer, and the driver took them to the game. In the season finale at Orlando, Young had to line up at tailback because a rash of injuries had left the Express without any healthy running backs. The owners had refused to allocate any money to allow the Express to replace injured players.
It was reported that Young had insured the contract and would still be paid until 2027. However, a 1985 Los Angeles Times article stated that he received a $1.4 million settlement on the annuity.
The league ceased operations in 1986 after losing most of its claims in an antitrust suit against the NFL, with its top talent absorbed by the NFL in a dispersal draft conducted in the aftermath.
NFL
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Young grew increasingly dissatisfied with the disarray surrounding the Express. Just a week before what proved to be the last USFL title game, Young gave the USFL an ultimatum – find a new owner for the Express, or allow him to buy out his contract and go to the NFL. Soon after the league decided to suspend the Express's operations for the 1986 season, Young bought out his Express contract and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who had made him the first pick in a supplemental draft of USFL and CFL players a year earlier.
By this time, the Bucs were in the midst of what would be 12 consecutive 10-loss seasons. They posted identical 2–14 records in Young's two seasons with them, going 3–16 with him as a starter. Young threw for only 11 touchdowns with 21 interceptions while completing fewer than 55% of his passes.
San Francisco 49ers
The Buccaneers selected University of Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde first overall in the 1987 NFL Draft because Young was deemed a bust. Young was traded to the San Francisco 49ers on April 24, 1987 to serve as a backup to Joe Montana. 49ers coach Bill Walsh was impressed by Young's natural abilities, and believed his lackluster numbers were primarily due to the lack of talent around him in Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers received second and fourth round draft picks in the trade, which they used to draft Miami linebacker Winston Moss, and Arizona State wide receiver Bruce Hill, respectively.
Montana's backup: 1987–1990
Young played behind Montana for four years, but shone as a backup. Substituting for an injured Montana, early in the first quarter of a 1987 game against the Chicago Bears, he threw four touchdown passes in a 41–0 victory. In their 1987 divisional playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings, he replaced Montana in the second half after the team fell behind 27–10. The 49ers still lost the game, but Young had a good performance, completing 12 of 17 pass attempts for 158 yards and a touchdown, with one interception, while also leading San Francisco in rushing with 72 yards and a touchdown on six carries. On October 30, 1988, Young ran for a 49-yard, game-winning touchdown against the Vikings. He started the game out with a 73-yard touchdown pass to John Taylor, after Montana went down with an injury. The play earned the 49ers a 24–21 victory and a bit of revenge on the Vikings for their previous season's playoff loss. The win turned out to be crucial, as without it the 49ers would have finished the season 9–7 and missed the playoffs, as two other teams in their division, the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints, had 10–6 records. Instead, the 49ers won their division, earned the #2 playoff seed, and went on to win the Super Bowl.
In 1989, he displayed potential to become the team's starter in the future. While Montana won the NFL MVP award and led the team to victory in Super Bowl XXIV, Young still had a good season, completing 69% of his passes for 1,001 yards and eight touchdowns, with only three interceptions. On October 22, 1989, he posted a perfect passer rating of 158.3 when he completed 11 of 12 passes for 188 yards and three touchdown passes in a 37–20 victory over the New England Patriots.
He rushed for a career-high 102 yards on just eight carries against the New Orleans Saints on December 23, 1990, making him only the second 49ers quarterback to rush for at least 100 yards in a single game. The 49ers lost the game 13–10.
In his four seasons as a backup, Young threw 23 touchdown passes and only six interceptions.
1991 season
Following an injury to Montana's elbow in the 1990 NFC Championship Game, which forced him to miss the entire 1991 season, Young got his chance to lead the 49ers. He got off to a rough start. Midway through the season, the 49ers found themselves struggling with a 4–4 record. In the ninth game of the season, after throwing a franchise-record 97-yard touchdown pass to Taylor, Young suffered a knee injury and was replaced by backup quarterback Steve Bono. After a loss in that game and the next, Bono led the 49ers to five consecutive victories, playing so well that coach George Seifert decided to keep him in the starting lineup after Young had recovered. It wasn't until late in the 15th game of the season, after Bono went down with an injury of his own, that Young got to play again. Young then closed out the season by throwing for 338 yards and three touchdowns and also rushing for 63 yards and another touchdown in a 52–14 win over the Chicago Bears in a Monday Night Football game at Candlestick Park.
Young finished the season with an NFL best 101.8 passer rating. Despite missing five full games and most of a sixth, he still threw for 2,517 yards and 17 touchdowns with only 8 interceptions. But despite Young's strong season, the season for the team was widely regarded as a disappointment. The 49ers had slipped from a 14–2 record in the previous season to a 10–6 record in 1991. While 10 wins is usually enough to make the playoffs, this time it was not, and San Francisco ended up not playing in the postseason for the first time since 1982. It was thought by many that Young's days as the 49ers starter were numbered due to the impending return of Montana from the injury to his right elbow, and some observers said the 49ers should trade Young and keep Montana and Bono. However, the trade never happened.
1992 season: first MVP
By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril. In addition to having to compete with Bono, Montana appeared to be close to recovering from his elbow tendon surgery. San Francisco came close to trading Young to the Los Angeles Raiders, but no deal was finalized and it turned out that Montana would not recover in time to start in the opening game. Montana would not return until the final game of the 1992 season, a Monday Night home game against the Detroit Lions. Montana played the entire second half of that final game and guided the 49ers to victory.
Young ended up as San Francisco's starting quarterback, but once again got off to a rough start. On the fifth play of the opening game at the Giants, he suffered a concussion and was replaced by Bono, who threw two touchdown passes while leading the 49ers to a 31–14 win. The following week, San Francisco lost 34–31 to the Buffalo Bills, despite a career-high 449 passing yards and three touchdowns from Young, in a game that for the first time in NFL history had zero punts from either team.
Young recovered and led the 49ers on a five-game winning streak, capped off by a 56–17 win over the Atlanta Falcons in which Young passed for 399 yards and three touchdowns. After missing most of the next game (a 24–14 loss to the Cardinals) with the flu, he led San Francisco to victory in all of their remaining games of the season, giving the team a 14–2 record. He went on to throw for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns, and rush for 73 yards, in a 20–13 divisional playoff win over the Washington Redskins. The 49ers lost the NFC title game, however, 30–20 against the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys. Young threw for 313 yards, completing 71.4% of his passes while passing for one touchdown and rushing for another. He also threw two interceptions, but the final one came with the outcome of the game already decided.
Young finished the season with 3,465 passing yards and 537 rushing yards, along with an NFL-best 25 touchdown passes and 107.0 passer rating, earning him the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and his first selection to the Pro Bowl. He was the first quarterback ever to record a triple-digit rating in consecutive seasons. Many credit Young's turnaround to the mentoring of the 49ers' new offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, who worked with Young on combining his running skill with on-the-move passing decisions.
1993 season
Before the start of the 1993 season, team owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. announced that he wanted Montana to resume his role as starting quarterback for the 49ers. However, a rift in the locker room had developed, with players split on whom they wanted at quarterback. In the spring of 1993, at Montana's request, San Francisco traded Montana to the Kansas City Chiefs. Young was now the 49ers' undisputed starter, and would remain so for the rest of his career. But once again, he had a rough start to the season. Over the first four games of 1993, Young, who was hindered by a swollen thumb on his throwing hand, threw eight interceptions, more than he had thrown during the entire 1992 season. But after his thumb healed, Young went on an incredible streak over a span of seven games, throwing 16 touchdown passes with only 2 interceptions and a 122.2 passer rating. By the end of the year, Young set franchise records for most passing yards (4,023), and consecutive passes thrown without an interception (189), (later eclipsed by Alex Smith in 2012) while leading the NFL in touchdown passes (29) and passer rating (101.5). The team slipped to a 10–6 record, but advanced to the NFC championship game again by blowing out the New York Giants 44–3 in the divisional round. However, once again they were defeated by the Dallas Cowboys, this time 38–21.
1994 season: second MVP and Super Bowl run
After several key free agent signings including All-Pro cornerback Deion Sanders and NFL Draft selections, the 49ers looked to win their first Super Bowl since 1989. They started fast, beating the Los Angeles Raiders 44–14 on the strength of four touchdown passes from Young, one of four games during the regular season in which he had at least four. After a loss in a much-anticipated game to Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs, the 49ers won their next two games before losing to the Philadelphia Eagles 40–8 at Candlestick Park, a game in which Young was eventually benched in the middle of an offensive series. Although head coach George Seifert later said he only pulled Young because he was getting manhandled by the Eagles' defense, Young had had enough of being scapegoated for 49er shortfalls and loudly (and visibly) lambasted Seifert over his decision while standing on the sideline during the game.
But the game was considered a turning point in the season; from there, Young led the team to 10 consecutive wins, by an average of 20 points, before losing the meaningless finale against the Vikings in which Young completed his first 12 of 13 attempts before going to the sidelines. They finished an NFL best 13–3, securing home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. The 49ers had the number-one offense in the NFL, and were so dominant that Seifert often took Young out of games early if he felt that the 49ers had an insurmountable lead at the time.
After an easy 44–15 victory over the Chicago Bears in the divisional round of the playoffs, the 49ers jumped out to a 31–14 halftime lead over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game, holding on to win 38–28. Young threw for two touchdowns, while adding 47 yards and another touchdown on the ground. As a result, he went to his first Super Bowl as a starting quarterback. The 49ers were heavy favorites to become the first team with five Super Bowl victories.
On the strength of a six-touchdown performance that surpassed the previous Super Bowl record of five, owned by the man Young replaced, Joe Montana, Steve Young was named the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX, as the 49ers defeated the San Diego Chargers, 49–26. Young also threw for 325 yards and rushed for 49 yards, making him the first player ever to finish a Super Bowl as the game's leader in both rushing and passing yards.
The victory capped off an incredible year for Young, who had one of the best seasons by a quarterback in NFL history. He threw for 3,969 yards, a then-franchise record 35 touchdown passes with only 10 interceptions, completed 70.3 percent of his passes – the highest completion percentage of the 1990s, third all-time, and at the time, the best completion percentage by any quarterback with more than 400 attempts (later eclipsed by Drew Brees in 2009). Additionally, Young broke Joe Montana's single-season mark with a then-record 112.8 passer rating, and also once again demonstrated his great scrambling ability, accumulating another 289 yards and 7 touchdowns on the ground. For his record-breaking season performances, Young was awarded his second AP NFL MVP award, becoming the 7th player in NFL history to win both league and Super Bowl MVP honors in the same season.
Later years and injuries
In the three years following Super Bowl XXIX, the 49ers would be eliminated each year by Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers, twice in San Francisco. In addition to the early playoff exits, Young suffered a series of injuries that forced him to miss several games from 1995 to 1997. Young entered the 1998 season at age 37 and some began to wonder if his skills would diminish because of his history of injuries and a general decline in his game due to age. However, he silenced all critics once again, putting up career numbers in passing yards (4,170) and passing touchdowns (36). The 49ers finally beat Favre and the Packers in an NFC wild card game that year, as Young threw the winning touchdown to wide receiver Terrell Owens with three seconds remaining to win the game 30–27. In reference to Dwight Clark's legendary catch against the Dallas Cowboys in the 1981 NFC championship game, Owens's grab was called "The Catch II". A week later, however, Garrison Hearst broke his ankle on the 49ers' first play from scrimmage. Without the threat of a running game, Young threw three interceptions (the last one a Hail Mary pass with under 30 seconds remaining in the game) and the 49ers were defeated by the Atlanta Falcons 20–18. Over that span of seasons from 1995 to 1998, Young led the NFL in passer rating twice (in 1996 and 1997), and led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes in 1998.
The 1999 season would turn out to be Young's last in the NFL. Young was plagued by concussions throughout his career. During a Week 3 Monday Night Football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Young was violently sacked by Cardinals cornerback Aeneas Williams on a blitz. Running back Lawrence Phillips was supposed to pick up Williams, but missed. Young was knocked out of the game with a concussion, and didn't return again for the rest of the season due to symptoms of post-concussion syndrome. The concussion he suffered against the Cardinals was reportedly his second in a season that was only three weeks old, and the seventh (at least) of his career. Following the season, the 49ers told him that he would be released if he did not retire. Although Young was offered a job as the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos (where his former offensive coordinator, Mike Shanahan, was the head coach), he retired because of his repeated concussions. In a 2013 Frontline interview, Young said that, partially based upon their own experiences, he and many retired players are increasingly concerned about repeated concussions and subconcussive hits. He is particularly concerned about certain positions that take frequent hits, such as running backs and linemen.
Career statistics and records
USFL career
NFL career
Records and legacy
Although Young did not become the 49ers' starter until his 8th NFL season, and he played a full season only three times (all consecutively) during his 15-year career, Young had a significant impact on the NFL. A two-time league MVP, he completed 2,667 of 4,149 passes for 33,124 yards and 232 touchdowns, with 107 interceptions, and 43 rushing touchdowns. His 96.8 career passer rating is the sixth highest in NFL history and second highest among retired players, behind Tony Romo; his 4,239 rushing yards are the fourth most ever gained by a quarterback, behind Michael Vick, Cam Newton, and Randall Cunningham. He was the NFL's top rated passer in six different seasons and led the league in touchdown passes four times. In 20 postseason games, he threw 20 touchdown passes with only 13 interceptions, and scored 8 touchdowns on the ground. In his stint with the San Francisco 49ers, Young passed for 29,907 yards, 221 touchdowns, and 86 interceptions, with a passer rating of 101.4, highest in franchise history. He was also sacked 290 times, also most in franchise history.
NFL records
Tenth highest passer rating, career, including active players – 96.8
Fourth highest passer rating, career, retired players only – 96.8
Eighth highest career completion percentage, retired players – 64.3%
Most times led the league in passer rating, career – 6 (tied w/ Sammy Baugh)
Most consecutive times led the league in passer rating – 4 (1991–94)
One of seven QBs to lead the league in touchdown passes 4 times (tied with Johnny Unitas, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Len Dawson)
Most passes attempted, playoff game – 65 vs. Green Bay, 1995
Most TD passes, playoff game – 6 (tied w/Daryle Lamonica & Tom Brady)
Most TD passes in one Super Bowl – 6
Most rushing yards by a QB, postseason career – 594
Most rushing touchdowns by a QB, postseason career – 8
49ers records
Highest completion percentage (20+ Atts) (Game): vs Detroit (10/20/91), 90.0
Most average yards per attempt (20+ Atts) (Game): vs Detroit (12/19/93), 15.39
Most touchdown passes (season): 36 (1998)
Best completion percentage (season): 70.3 (1994)
Best passer rating (season): 112.8 (1994)
Most 300-yard passing games (season): 7 (1998)
Best passer rating (career): 101.4
Most average yards per attempt (career): 8.20
Most consecutive games with a touchdown pass: 18, at Det. (10/9/94) to vs. StL (11/26/95) note: (DNP in 5 games in 1995)
Best completion percentage (career): 65.8
Most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (career): 43
In 1999, he was ranked No. 63 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. Young was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on February 5, 2005; he was the first left-handed quarterback to be so honored. He was enshrined August 7, 2005. His induction speech was given by his father, LeGrande "Grit" Young.
The San Francisco 49ers had his No. 8 jersey retired during a halftime ceremony against the New England Patriots on October 5, 2008. He was the 11th player in team history to receive this honor. He is also the only 49er in team history to wear No. 8.
Post-football
Business career
In 1994, Young received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School.
In 2000, Young spoke at the Republican National Convention.
In 2007, Young co-founded Huntsman Gay Global Capital (HGGC), with billionaire industrialist Jon M. Huntsman and former Bain Capital executive Robert C. Gay. After being involved in business ventures with the private equity firm, he has continued to serve as a managing director.
In 2011, Young was one of several notable BYU athletes and coaches who appeared in the school's "Real Cougar" advertising campaign, which featured the individuals telling an actual cougar about being a "real cougar". In one of the ads, Young poked fun at himself:
Young: I love BYU so much I even got my law degree here.
Cougar: (growls)
Young: Lawyers... I know.
Acting career
Young has both performed dramatic roles and appeared as himself in a limited acting career. He appeared in one episode of Frasier and one episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (cast as Lois' former high school football quarterback boyfriend, Joe Maloy). He also made a guest appearance as himself in the Dharma & Greg episode "Are You Ready for Some Football?" encouraging Dharma, the team's Number One Fan. In 1995, Young appeared as himself in the Season 6, Episode 12 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. He also made cameo appearances in the LDS comedy The Singles Ward (2002) and in a season 5 episode of BYUtv's Studio C (2014). Young also made a guest appearance as himself in season 8 of the NBC comedy series Wings in the episode "Just Call Me Angel".
Young was originally offered a part in the 1998 movie There's Something About Mary, but turned the role down. He was replaced by Brett Favre.
Philanthropy
Young serves as a National Advisor to ASCEND: A Humanitarian Alliance. This non-profit organization plans expeditions to African and South American countries to provide life skills mentoring with sustainable solutions in education, enterprise, health and simple technology.
In 1993, Young founded a charitable foundation known as the Forever Young Foundation, which serves children facing significant physical, emotional, and financial challenges by providing academic, athletic, and therapeutic opportunities otherwise unavailable to them.
Young also serves as the national spokesman for an organization founded by former Save Darfur Coalition executive director and founder, David Rubenstein. He began his affiliation with the organization in 2009, when he became the honorary league commissioner for their charitable dodgeball tournaments held on college campuses nationwide.
Personal life
Young is a great-great-great-nephew of Brigham Young, second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for whom BYU is named. His father, LeGrande "Grit" Young, played football at BYU in the late 1950s. He led the school in scoring in 1955 and in rushing and total offense in 1959. Steve Young's younger brothers, Mike and Tom, both played quarterback at BYU after Steve, but neither received much playing time.
Young has been married to Barbara Graham since 2000. They have two sons and two daughters. According to A Football Life: As his playing career ended before his eldest child was born, he wrote his autobiography QB: My Life Behind the Spiral initially as a private memoir for his children.
See also
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
List of NCAA major college football yearly passing leaders
List of NCAA major college football yearly total offense leaders
List of NFL quarterbacks who have posted a perfect passer rating
References
External links
1961 births
All-American college football players
American color commentators
American football quarterbacks
American male television actors
American philanthropists
Brigham Young University alumni
BYU Cougars football players
College Football Hall of Fame inductees
Greenwich High School alumni
J. Reuben Clark Law School alumni
Latter Day Saints from California
Latter Day Saints from Connecticut
Latter Day Saints from Utah
Living people
Los Angeles Express players
National Conference Pro Bowl players
National Football League Most Valuable Player Award winners
National Football League Offensive Player of the Year Award winners
National Football League players with retired numbers
Players of American football from Connecticut
Players of American football from Salt Lake City
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
Richards–Young family
San Francisco 49ers players
Sportspeople from Greenwich, Connecticut
Super Bowl MVPs
Tampa Bay Buccaneers players
Utah Republicans
| true |
[
"Don Juan Manuel's Tales of Count Lucanor, in Spanish Libro de los ejemplos del conde Lucanor y de Patronio (Book of the Examples of Count Lucanor and of Patronio), also commonly known as El Conde Lucanor, Libro de Patronio, or Libro de los ejemplos (original Old Castilian: Libro de los enxiemplos del Conde Lucanor et de Patronio), is one of the earliest works of prose in Castilian Spanish. It was first written in 1335.\n\nThe book is divided into four parts. The first and most well-known part is a series of 51 short stories (some no more than a page or two) drawn from various sources, such as Aesop and other classical writers, and Arabic folktales.\n\nTales of Count Lucanor was first printed in 1575 when it was published at Seville under the auspices of Argote de Molina. It was again printed at Madrid in 1642, after which it lay forgotten for nearly two centuries.\n\nPurpose and structure\n\nA didactic, moralistic purpose, which would color so much of the Spanish literature to follow (see Novela picaresca), is the mark of this book. Count Lucanor engages in conversation with his advisor Patronio, putting to him a problem (\"Some man has made me a proposition...\" or \"I fear that such and such person intends to...\") and asking for advice. Patronio responds always with the greatest humility, claiming not to wish to offer advice to so illustrious a person as the Count, but offering to tell him a story of which the Count's problem reminds him. (Thus, the stories are \"examples\" [ejemplos] of wise action.) At the end he advises the Count to do as the protagonist of his story did.\n\nEach chapter ends in more or less the same way, with slight variations on: \"And this pleased the Count greatly and he did just so, and found it well. And Don Johán (Juan) saw that this example was very good, and had it written in this book, and composed the following verses.\" A rhymed couplet closes, giving the moral of the story.\n\nOrigin of stories and influence on later literature\nMany of the stories written in the book are the first examples written in a modern European language of various stories, which many other writers would use in the proceeding centuries. Many of the stories he included were themselves derived from other stories, coming from western and Arab sources.\n\nShakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew has the basic elements of Tale 35, \"What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\".\n\nTale 32, \"What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth\" tells the story that Hans Christian Andersen made popular as The Emperor's New Clothes.\n\nStory 7, \"What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana\", a version of Aesop's The Milkmaid and Her Pail, was claimed by Max Müller to originate in the Hindu cycle Panchatantra.\n\nTale 2, \"What happened to a good Man and his Son, leading a beast to market,\" is the familiar fable The miller, his son and the donkey.\n\nIn 2016, Baroque Decay released a game under the name \"The Count Lucanor\". As well as some protagonists' names, certain events from the books inspired past events in the game.\n\nThe stories\n\nThe book opens with a prologue which introduces the characters of the Count and Patronio. The titles in the following list are those given in Keller and Keating's 1977 translation into English. James York's 1868 translation into English gives a significantly different ordering of the stories and omits the fifty-first.\n\n What Happened to a King and His Favorite \n What Happened to a Good Man and His Son \n How King Richard of England Leapt into the Sea against the Moors\n What a Genoese Said to His Soul When He Was about to Die \n What Happened to a Fox and a Crow Who Had a Piece of Cheese in His Beak\n How the Swallow Warned the Other Birds When She Saw Flax Being Sown \n What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana \n What Happened to a Man Whose Liver Had to Be Washed \n What Happened to Two Horses Which Were Thrown to the Lion \n What Happened to a Man Who on Account of Poverty and Lack of Other Food Was Eating Bitter Lentils \n What Happened to a Dean of Santiago de Compostela and Don Yllán, the Grand Master of Toledo\n What Happened to the Fox and the Rooster \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Hunting Partridges \n The Miracle of Saint Dominick When He Preached against the Usurer \n What Happened to Lorenzo Suárez at the Siege of Seville \n The Reply that count Fernán González Gave to His Relative Núño Laynes \n What Happened to a Very Hungry Man Who Was Half-heartedly Invited to Dinner \n What Happened to Pero Meléndez de Valdés When He Broke His Leg \n What Happened to the Crows and the Owls \n What Happened to a King for Whom a Man Promised to Perform Alchemy \n What Happened to a Young King and a Philosopher to Whom his Father Commended Him \n What Happened to the Lion and the Bull \n How the Ants Provide for Themselves \n What Happened to the King Who Wanted to Test His Three Sons \n What Happened to the Count of Provence and How He Was Freed from Prison by the Advice of Saladin\n What Happened to the Tree of Lies \n What Happened to an Emperor and to Don Alvarfáñez Minaya and Their Wives \n What Happened in Granada to Don Lorenzo Suárez Gallinato When He Beheaded the Renegade Chaplain \n What Happened to a Fox Who Lay down in the Street to Play Dead \n What Happened to King Abenabet of Seville and Ramayquía His Wife \n How a Cardinal Judged between the Canons of Paris and the Friars Minor \n What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth \n What Happened to Don Juan Manuel's Saker Falcon and an Eagle and a Heron \n What Happened to a Blind Man Who Was Leading Another \n What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\n What Happened to a Merchant When He Found His Son and His Wife Sleeping Together \n What Happened to Count Fernán González with His Men after He Had Won the Battle of Hacinas \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Loaded down with Precious Stones and Drowned in the River \n What Happened to a Man and a Swallow and a Sparrow \n Why the Seneschal of Carcassonne Lost His Soul \n What Happened to a King of Córdova Named Al-Haquem \n What Happened to a Woman of Sham Piety \n What Happened to Good and Evil and the Wise Man and the Madman \n What Happened to Don Pero Núñez the Loyal, to Don Ruy González de Zavallos, and to Don Gutier Roiz de Blaguiello with Don Rodrigo the Generous \n What Happened to a Man Who Became the Devil's Friend and Vassal \n What Happened to a Philosopher who by Accident Went down a Street Where Prostitutes Lived \n What Befell a Moor and His Sister Who Pretended That She Was Timid \n What Happened to a Man Who Tested His Friends \n What Happened to the Man Whom They Cast out Naked on an Island When They Took away from Him the Kingdom He Ruled \n What Happened to Saladin and a Lady, the Wife of a Knight Who Was His Vassal \n What Happened to a Christian King Who Was Very Powerful and Haughty\n\nReferences\n\nNotes\n\nBibliography\n\n Sturm, Harlan\n\n Wacks, David\n\nExternal links\n\nThe Internet Archive provides free access to the 1868 translation by James York.\nJSTOR has the to the 1977 translation by Keller and Keating.\nSelections in English and Spanish (pedagogical edition) with introduction, notes, and bibliography in Open Iberia/América (open access teaching anthology)\n\n14th-century books\nSpanish literature\n1335 books",
"\"What Happened to Us\" is a song by Australian recording artist Jessica Mauboy, featuring English recording artist Jay Sean. It was written by Sean, Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim and Israel Cruz. \"What Happened to Us\" was leaked online in October 2010, and was released on 10 March 2011, as the third single from Mauboy's second studio album, Get 'Em Girls (2010). The song received positive reviews from critics.\n\nA remix of \"What Happened to Us\" made by production team OFM, was released on 11 April 2011. A different version of the song which features Stan Walker, was released on 29 May 2011. \"What Happened to Us\" charted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number 14 and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). An accompanying music video was directed by Mark Alston, and reminisces on a former relationship between Mauboy and Sean.\n\nProduction and release\n\n\"What Happened to Us\" was written by Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim, Israel Cruz and Jay Sean. It was produced by Skaller, Cruz, Rohaim and Bobby Bass. The song uses C, D, and B minor chords in the chorus. \"What Happened to Us\" was sent to contemporary hit radio in Australia on 14 February 2011. The cover art for the song was revealed on 22 February on Mauboy's official Facebook page. A CD release was available for purchase via her official website on 10 March, for one week only. It was released digitally the following day.\n\nReception\nMajhid Heath from ABC Online Indigenous called the song a \"Jordin Sparks-esque duet\", and wrote that it \"has a nice innocence to it that rings true to the experience of losing a first love.\" Chris Urankar from Nine to Five wrote that it as a \"mid-tempo duet ballad\" which signifies Mauboy's strength as a global player. On 21 March 2011, \"What Happened to Us\" debuted at number 30 on the ARIA Singles Chart, and peaked at number 14 the following week. The song was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), for selling 70,000 copies. \"What Happened to Us\" spent a total of ten weeks in the ARIA top fifty.\n\nMusic video\n\nBackground\nThe music video for the song was shot in the Elizabeth Bay House in Sydney on 26 November 2010. The video was shot during Sean's visit to Australia for the Summerbeatz tour. During an interview with The Daily Telegraph while on the set of the video, Sean said \"the song is sick! ... Jessica's voice is amazing and we're shooting [the video] in this ridiculously beautiful mansion overlooking the harbour.\" The video was directed by Mark Alston, who had previously directed the video for Mauboy's single \"Let Me Be Me\" (2009). It premiered on YouTube on 10 February 2011.\n\nSynopsis and reception\nThe video begins showing Mauboy who appears to be sitting on a yellow antique couch in a mansion, wearing a purple dress. As the video progresses, scenes of memories are displayed of Mauboy and her love interest, played by Sean, spending time there previously. It then cuts to the scenes where Sean appears in the main entrance room of the mansion. The final scene shows Mauboy outdoors in a gold dress, surrounded by green grass and trees. She is later joined by Sean who appears in a black suit and a white shirt, and together they sing the chorus of the song to each other. David Lim of Feed Limmy wrote that the video is \"easily the best thing our R&B princess has committed to film – ever\" and praised the \"mansion and wondrous interior décor\". He also commended Mauboy for choosing Australian talent to direct the video instead of American directors, which she had used for her previous two music videos. Since its release, the video has received over two million views on Vevo.\n\nLive performances\nMauboy performed \"What Happened to Us\" live for the first time during her YouTube Live Sessions program on 4 December 2010. She also appeared on Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight on 23 February 2011 for an interview and later performed the song. On 15 March 2011, Mauboy performed \"What Happened to Us\" on Sunrise. She also performed the song with Stan Walker during the Australian leg of Chris Brown's F.A.M.E. Tour in April 2011. Mauboy and Walker later performed \"What Happened to Us\" on Dancing with the Stars Australia on 29 May 2011. From November 2013 to February 2014, \"What Happened to Us\" was part of the set list of the To the End of the Earth Tour, Mauboy's second headlining tour of Australia, with Nathaniel Willemse singing Sean's part.\n\nTrack listing\n\nDigital download\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean – 3:19\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Sgt Slick Remix) – 6:33\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Just Witness Remix) – 3:45\n\nCD single\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Album Version) – 3:19\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Sgt Slick Remix) – 6:33\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (OFM Remix) – 3:39\n\nDigital download – Remix\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (OFM Remix) – 3:38\n\nDigital download\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Stan Walker – 3:20\n\nPersonnel\nSongwriting – Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim, Israel Cruz, Jay Sean\nProduction – Jeremy Skaller, Bobby Bass\nAdditional production – Israel Cruz, Khaled Rohaim\nLead vocals – Jessica Mauboy, Jay Sean\nMixing – Phil Tan\nAdditional mixing – Damien Lewis\nMastering – Tom Coyne \nSource:\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly chart\n\nYear-end chart\n\nCertification\n\nRadio dates and release history\n\nReferences\n\n2010 songs\n2011 singles\nJessica Mauboy songs\nJay Sean songs\nSongs written by Billy Steinberg\nSongs written by Jay Sean\nSongs written by Josh Alexander\nSongs written by Israel Cruz\nVocal duets\nSony Music Australia singles\nSongs written by Khaled Rohaim"
] |
[
"Steve Young",
"1992 season: first MVP",
"What happened in 1992",
"By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril."
] |
C_52dfda507a2f476c98e838aa6c80d9e5_0
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What was his starting job
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What was Steve Young's starting job?
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Steve Young
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By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril. In addition to having to compete with Bono, Montana appeared to be close to recovering from his elbow tendon surgery. San Francisco came close to trading Young to the Los Angeles Raiders, but no deal was finalized and it turned out that Montana would not recover in time to start in the opening game. Montana would not return until the final game of the 1992 season, a Monday Night home game against the Detroit Lions. Montana played the entire second half and guided the 49ers to victory. Young ended up as San Francisco's starting quarterback, but once again got off to a rough start. On the fifth play of the opening game at the Giants, he suffered a concussion and was replaced by Bono, who threw two touchdown passes while leading the 49ers to a 31-14 win. The following week, San Francisco lost 34-31 to the Buffalo Bills, despite a career-high 449 passing yards and three touchdowns from Young, in a game that for the first time in NFL history there were zero punts from either team. Young recovered and led the 49ers on a five-game winning streak, capped off by a 56-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons in which Young passed for 399 yards and three touchdowns. After missing most of the next game (a 24-14 loss to the Cardinals) with the flu, he led San Francisco to victory in all of their remaining games of the season, giving the team a 14-2 record. He went on to throw for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns, and rush for 73 yards, in a 20-13 divisional playoff win over the Washington Redskins. The 49ers lost the NFC title game, however, 30-20 against the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys. Young threw for 313 yards, completing 71.4% of his passes while passing for one touchdown and rushing for another. He also threw two interceptions, but the final one came with the outcome of the game already decided. Young finished the season with 3,465 passing yards and 537 rushing yards, along with an NFL best 25 touchdown passes and 107.0 passer rating, earning him the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and his first selection to the Pro Bowl. He was the first quarterback ever to record a triple digit rating in consecutive seasons. Many credit Young's turnaround to the mentoring of the 49ers' new Offensive Coordinator Mike Shanahan, who worked with Young on combining his running skill with on-the-move passing decisions. CANNOTANSWER
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San Francisco's starting quarterback,
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Jon Steven Young (born October 11, 1961) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. He also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Prior to his NFL career, he was a member of the Los Angeles Express in the United States Football League (USFL) for two seasons. Young played college football for Brigham Young University (BYU), setting school and NCAA records en route to being runner-up for the 1983 Heisman Trophy.
Young was named the AP's NFL Most Valuable Player in 1992 and 1994, and was the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX. During his 1994 MVP campaign, he set a new NFL record for passer rating at 112.8. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Young was an extremely efficient passer – leading the league in passer rating a record six times, and completion percentage and yards per attempt five times. At the time of his retirement, he had the highest passer rating among NFL quarterbacks with at least 1,500 passing attempts (96.8). As of the end of the 2020 season, he is ranked tenth all-time in passer rating, and is ranked fourth highest amongst retired players, behind only Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Tony Romo. His 43 career rushing touchdowns are second among quarterbacks, while his 4,239 rushing yards ranks fifth all time.
Early years
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Young attended Greenwich High School in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he played quarterback on its Cardinals football team. He earned 1978 All-FCIAC West Division First Team honors in his junior year, his first year as a starter. In his senior year he rushed for 13 touchdowns and earned All-FCIAC West Division First Team honors, and was named to the CIAC All-State team. In the rush-first option offense run by Greenwich he completed only 41 percent of his throws for 1,220 yards, but ran the ball 267 times for 1,928 yards. On Thanksgiving Day in November 1979, Greenwich lost to Darien High School, known for its "Tidal Wave Defense", 17–0. During his senior year, he was co-captain of the football, basketball and baseball teams. In basketball, he averaged 15 points a game. In baseball, he hit .384 and played center field when he wasn't pitching. He was 5–1 and threw a 3–0 no-hitter against New Canaan High School.
College football
Young was heavily recruited by the University of North Carolina. Coach Dick Crum was enamored by Young's running ability, and wanted him to run his option offense. Young instead chose BYU. Initially, he struggled at throwing the ball, and BYU's coaching staff considered switching him to defensive back because of his athleticism. However, he worked hard to improve his passing skills and eventually succeeded record-setting Jim McMahon as BYU's starting QB. Young's senior season (1983) was spectacular. He passed for 3,902 yards and 33 touchdowns in the regular season, and his 71.3% completion percentage set an NCAA single-season record. He also added 544 yards rushing. With Young at quarterback, BYU set an NCAA record by averaging 584.2 yards of total offense per game, with 370.5 of those yards coming from Young's passing and rushing. The Cougars finished the year with an impressive 11–1 record; Young was named a unanimous All-American and received the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, which recognizes the nation's best collegiate quarterback each year. He also finished second in voting for the Heisman Trophy, behind Nebraska running back Mike Rozier. Young capped his college career by scoring the game-winning touchdown on a pass from the halfback in BYU's 21–17 victory over Missouri in the 1983 Holiday Bowl.
Young finished his college career with 592 pass completions for 7,733 yards and 56 touchdowns, along with 1,048 yards and 18 touchdowns rushing. He was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001.
Professional football
USFL
Los Angeles Express
Young was selected by the Los Angeles Express in the first round (11th overall) of the 1984 USFL Draft. He signed a record ten-year, $40 million contract with the Express in He agreed to take his payment in the form of an annuity paid out over forty years to help the fledgling team.
It was taken for granted that Young would be the first pick in the 1984 NFL Draft, and that he would be selected by the Cincinnati Bengals, who were three years removed from the Super Bowl and had landed the No. 1 pick in a trade with the then-moribund Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, the Bengals still had Ken Anderson as their quarterback and planned to have Young sit behind Anderson for the 1984 season before possibly taking over in 1985. Young found that prospect unappealing, which opened the door for the Express. Express general manager Don Klosterman told Young that if he signed with the Express, his head coach would be John Hadl, a former All-Pro quarterback who had shepherded John Elway through his first year in the NFL. Klosterman also told Young that Hall of Fame coach Sid Gillman, who had been hired as a consultant, would tutor him on how to be a pro quarterback. Young was convinced, and signed with the Express.
At the time, it was another huge signing by the fledgling league, which had already succeeded in signing both the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, running back Mike Rozier of Nebraska; and the previous winner, Georgia running back Herschel Walker. After missing the first six games of his rookie season while taking some college classes in order to graduate on time, Young started the final twelve. He had a respectable year, highlighted by becoming the first pro football player ever to pass for 300 yards and rush for 100 in a single game. Despite being surrounded with talent which included such future NFL players as Jojo Townsell, Mel Gray, and Kevin Nelson, and making the playoffs in Young's first season, the Express was never able to create a sustaining fan base in Los Angeles.
Late in the season, The New York Times published an investigation of owner J. William Oldenburg's finances that suggested Oldenburg was not as well off as he claimed. The FBI had been investigating Oldenburg since the middle of the season. A week after the Times article, Oldenburg stopped paying the Express' bills, forcing the league to draw on the team's emergency line of credit to keep it going through the playoffs. Houston Gamblers minority partner Jay Roulier stepped in to buy the team, only to be pushed out when it emerged that he too had misrepresented his net worth. The league took control of the team and cut expenditures to the bare minimum. The other teams made contributions to keep the Express going through the season – enough to meet payroll, but not much else.
Under the circumstances, the 1985 season rapidly became a fiasco. Before one game, the team bus driver refused to drive the Express to their final home game – which had been moved to Los Angeles Pierce College in the San Fernando Valley – unless he was paid up front in cash. Young contributed some money, as did the team trainer, and the driver took them to the game. In the season finale at Orlando, Young had to line up at tailback because a rash of injuries had left the Express without any healthy running backs. The owners had refused to allocate any money to allow the Express to replace injured players.
It was reported that Young had insured the contract and would still be paid until 2027. However, a 1985 Los Angeles Times article stated that he received a $1.4 million settlement on the annuity.
The league ceased operations in 1986 after losing most of its claims in an antitrust suit against the NFL, with its top talent absorbed by the NFL in a dispersal draft conducted in the aftermath.
NFL
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Young grew increasingly dissatisfied with the disarray surrounding the Express. Just a week before what proved to be the last USFL title game, Young gave the USFL an ultimatum – find a new owner for the Express, or allow him to buy out his contract and go to the NFL. Soon after the league decided to suspend the Express's operations for the 1986 season, Young bought out his Express contract and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who had made him the first pick in a supplemental draft of USFL and CFL players a year earlier.
By this time, the Bucs were in the midst of what would be 12 consecutive 10-loss seasons. They posted identical 2–14 records in Young's two seasons with them, going 3–16 with him as a starter. Young threw for only 11 touchdowns with 21 interceptions while completing fewer than 55% of his passes.
San Francisco 49ers
The Buccaneers selected University of Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde first overall in the 1987 NFL Draft because Young was deemed a bust. Young was traded to the San Francisco 49ers on April 24, 1987 to serve as a backup to Joe Montana. 49ers coach Bill Walsh was impressed by Young's natural abilities, and believed his lackluster numbers were primarily due to the lack of talent around him in Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers received second and fourth round draft picks in the trade, which they used to draft Miami linebacker Winston Moss, and Arizona State wide receiver Bruce Hill, respectively.
Montana's backup: 1987–1990
Young played behind Montana for four years, but shone as a backup. Substituting for an injured Montana, early in the first quarter of a 1987 game against the Chicago Bears, he threw four touchdown passes in a 41–0 victory. In their 1987 divisional playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings, he replaced Montana in the second half after the team fell behind 27–10. The 49ers still lost the game, but Young had a good performance, completing 12 of 17 pass attempts for 158 yards and a touchdown, with one interception, while also leading San Francisco in rushing with 72 yards and a touchdown on six carries. On October 30, 1988, Young ran for a 49-yard, game-winning touchdown against the Vikings. He started the game out with a 73-yard touchdown pass to John Taylor, after Montana went down with an injury. The play earned the 49ers a 24–21 victory and a bit of revenge on the Vikings for their previous season's playoff loss. The win turned out to be crucial, as without it the 49ers would have finished the season 9–7 and missed the playoffs, as two other teams in their division, the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints, had 10–6 records. Instead, the 49ers won their division, earned the #2 playoff seed, and went on to win the Super Bowl.
In 1989, he displayed potential to become the team's starter in the future. While Montana won the NFL MVP award and led the team to victory in Super Bowl XXIV, Young still had a good season, completing 69% of his passes for 1,001 yards and eight touchdowns, with only three interceptions. On October 22, 1989, he posted a perfect passer rating of 158.3 when he completed 11 of 12 passes for 188 yards and three touchdown passes in a 37–20 victory over the New England Patriots.
He rushed for a career-high 102 yards on just eight carries against the New Orleans Saints on December 23, 1990, making him only the second 49ers quarterback to rush for at least 100 yards in a single game. The 49ers lost the game 13–10.
In his four seasons as a backup, Young threw 23 touchdown passes and only six interceptions.
1991 season
Following an injury to Montana's elbow in the 1990 NFC Championship Game, which forced him to miss the entire 1991 season, Young got his chance to lead the 49ers. He got off to a rough start. Midway through the season, the 49ers found themselves struggling with a 4–4 record. In the ninth game of the season, after throwing a franchise-record 97-yard touchdown pass to Taylor, Young suffered a knee injury and was replaced by backup quarterback Steve Bono. After a loss in that game and the next, Bono led the 49ers to five consecutive victories, playing so well that coach George Seifert decided to keep him in the starting lineup after Young had recovered. It wasn't until late in the 15th game of the season, after Bono went down with an injury of his own, that Young got to play again. Young then closed out the season by throwing for 338 yards and three touchdowns and also rushing for 63 yards and another touchdown in a 52–14 win over the Chicago Bears in a Monday Night Football game at Candlestick Park.
Young finished the season with an NFL best 101.8 passer rating. Despite missing five full games and most of a sixth, he still threw for 2,517 yards and 17 touchdowns with only 8 interceptions. But despite Young's strong season, the season for the team was widely regarded as a disappointment. The 49ers had slipped from a 14–2 record in the previous season to a 10–6 record in 1991. While 10 wins is usually enough to make the playoffs, this time it was not, and San Francisco ended up not playing in the postseason for the first time since 1982. It was thought by many that Young's days as the 49ers starter were numbered due to the impending return of Montana from the injury to his right elbow, and some observers said the 49ers should trade Young and keep Montana and Bono. However, the trade never happened.
1992 season: first MVP
By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril. In addition to having to compete with Bono, Montana appeared to be close to recovering from his elbow tendon surgery. San Francisco came close to trading Young to the Los Angeles Raiders, but no deal was finalized and it turned out that Montana would not recover in time to start in the opening game. Montana would not return until the final game of the 1992 season, a Monday Night home game against the Detroit Lions. Montana played the entire second half of that final game and guided the 49ers to victory.
Young ended up as San Francisco's starting quarterback, but once again got off to a rough start. On the fifth play of the opening game at the Giants, he suffered a concussion and was replaced by Bono, who threw two touchdown passes while leading the 49ers to a 31–14 win. The following week, San Francisco lost 34–31 to the Buffalo Bills, despite a career-high 449 passing yards and three touchdowns from Young, in a game that for the first time in NFL history had zero punts from either team.
Young recovered and led the 49ers on a five-game winning streak, capped off by a 56–17 win over the Atlanta Falcons in which Young passed for 399 yards and three touchdowns. After missing most of the next game (a 24–14 loss to the Cardinals) with the flu, he led San Francisco to victory in all of their remaining games of the season, giving the team a 14–2 record. He went on to throw for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns, and rush for 73 yards, in a 20–13 divisional playoff win over the Washington Redskins. The 49ers lost the NFC title game, however, 30–20 against the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys. Young threw for 313 yards, completing 71.4% of his passes while passing for one touchdown and rushing for another. He also threw two interceptions, but the final one came with the outcome of the game already decided.
Young finished the season with 3,465 passing yards and 537 rushing yards, along with an NFL-best 25 touchdown passes and 107.0 passer rating, earning him the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and his first selection to the Pro Bowl. He was the first quarterback ever to record a triple-digit rating in consecutive seasons. Many credit Young's turnaround to the mentoring of the 49ers' new offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, who worked with Young on combining his running skill with on-the-move passing decisions.
1993 season
Before the start of the 1993 season, team owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. announced that he wanted Montana to resume his role as starting quarterback for the 49ers. However, a rift in the locker room had developed, with players split on whom they wanted at quarterback. In the spring of 1993, at Montana's request, San Francisco traded Montana to the Kansas City Chiefs. Young was now the 49ers' undisputed starter, and would remain so for the rest of his career. But once again, he had a rough start to the season. Over the first four games of 1993, Young, who was hindered by a swollen thumb on his throwing hand, threw eight interceptions, more than he had thrown during the entire 1992 season. But after his thumb healed, Young went on an incredible streak over a span of seven games, throwing 16 touchdown passes with only 2 interceptions and a 122.2 passer rating. By the end of the year, Young set franchise records for most passing yards (4,023), and consecutive passes thrown without an interception (189), (later eclipsed by Alex Smith in 2012) while leading the NFL in touchdown passes (29) and passer rating (101.5). The team slipped to a 10–6 record, but advanced to the NFC championship game again by blowing out the New York Giants 44–3 in the divisional round. However, once again they were defeated by the Dallas Cowboys, this time 38–21.
1994 season: second MVP and Super Bowl run
After several key free agent signings including All-Pro cornerback Deion Sanders and NFL Draft selections, the 49ers looked to win their first Super Bowl since 1989. They started fast, beating the Los Angeles Raiders 44–14 on the strength of four touchdown passes from Young, one of four games during the regular season in which he had at least four. After a loss in a much-anticipated game to Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs, the 49ers won their next two games before losing to the Philadelphia Eagles 40–8 at Candlestick Park, a game in which Young was eventually benched in the middle of an offensive series. Although head coach George Seifert later said he only pulled Young because he was getting manhandled by the Eagles' defense, Young had had enough of being scapegoated for 49er shortfalls and loudly (and visibly) lambasted Seifert over his decision while standing on the sideline during the game.
But the game was considered a turning point in the season; from there, Young led the team to 10 consecutive wins, by an average of 20 points, before losing the meaningless finale against the Vikings in which Young completed his first 12 of 13 attempts before going to the sidelines. They finished an NFL best 13–3, securing home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. The 49ers had the number-one offense in the NFL, and were so dominant that Seifert often took Young out of games early if he felt that the 49ers had an insurmountable lead at the time.
After an easy 44–15 victory over the Chicago Bears in the divisional round of the playoffs, the 49ers jumped out to a 31–14 halftime lead over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game, holding on to win 38–28. Young threw for two touchdowns, while adding 47 yards and another touchdown on the ground. As a result, he went to his first Super Bowl as a starting quarterback. The 49ers were heavy favorites to become the first team with five Super Bowl victories.
On the strength of a six-touchdown performance that surpassed the previous Super Bowl record of five, owned by the man Young replaced, Joe Montana, Steve Young was named the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX, as the 49ers defeated the San Diego Chargers, 49–26. Young also threw for 325 yards and rushed for 49 yards, making him the first player ever to finish a Super Bowl as the game's leader in both rushing and passing yards.
The victory capped off an incredible year for Young, who had one of the best seasons by a quarterback in NFL history. He threw for 3,969 yards, a then-franchise record 35 touchdown passes with only 10 interceptions, completed 70.3 percent of his passes – the highest completion percentage of the 1990s, third all-time, and at the time, the best completion percentage by any quarterback with more than 400 attempts (later eclipsed by Drew Brees in 2009). Additionally, Young broke Joe Montana's single-season mark with a then-record 112.8 passer rating, and also once again demonstrated his great scrambling ability, accumulating another 289 yards and 7 touchdowns on the ground. For his record-breaking season performances, Young was awarded his second AP NFL MVP award, becoming the 7th player in NFL history to win both league and Super Bowl MVP honors in the same season.
Later years and injuries
In the three years following Super Bowl XXIX, the 49ers would be eliminated each year by Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers, twice in San Francisco. In addition to the early playoff exits, Young suffered a series of injuries that forced him to miss several games from 1995 to 1997. Young entered the 1998 season at age 37 and some began to wonder if his skills would diminish because of his history of injuries and a general decline in his game due to age. However, he silenced all critics once again, putting up career numbers in passing yards (4,170) and passing touchdowns (36). The 49ers finally beat Favre and the Packers in an NFC wild card game that year, as Young threw the winning touchdown to wide receiver Terrell Owens with three seconds remaining to win the game 30–27. In reference to Dwight Clark's legendary catch against the Dallas Cowboys in the 1981 NFC championship game, Owens's grab was called "The Catch II". A week later, however, Garrison Hearst broke his ankle on the 49ers' first play from scrimmage. Without the threat of a running game, Young threw three interceptions (the last one a Hail Mary pass with under 30 seconds remaining in the game) and the 49ers were defeated by the Atlanta Falcons 20–18. Over that span of seasons from 1995 to 1998, Young led the NFL in passer rating twice (in 1996 and 1997), and led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes in 1998.
The 1999 season would turn out to be Young's last in the NFL. Young was plagued by concussions throughout his career. During a Week 3 Monday Night Football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Young was violently sacked by Cardinals cornerback Aeneas Williams on a blitz. Running back Lawrence Phillips was supposed to pick up Williams, but missed. Young was knocked out of the game with a concussion, and didn't return again for the rest of the season due to symptoms of post-concussion syndrome. The concussion he suffered against the Cardinals was reportedly his second in a season that was only three weeks old, and the seventh (at least) of his career. Following the season, the 49ers told him that he would be released if he did not retire. Although Young was offered a job as the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos (where his former offensive coordinator, Mike Shanahan, was the head coach), he retired because of his repeated concussions. In a 2013 Frontline interview, Young said that, partially based upon their own experiences, he and many retired players are increasingly concerned about repeated concussions and subconcussive hits. He is particularly concerned about certain positions that take frequent hits, such as running backs and linemen.
Career statistics and records
USFL career
NFL career
Records and legacy
Although Young did not become the 49ers' starter until his 8th NFL season, and he played a full season only three times (all consecutively) during his 15-year career, Young had a significant impact on the NFL. A two-time league MVP, he completed 2,667 of 4,149 passes for 33,124 yards and 232 touchdowns, with 107 interceptions, and 43 rushing touchdowns. His 96.8 career passer rating is the sixth highest in NFL history and second highest among retired players, behind Tony Romo; his 4,239 rushing yards are the fourth most ever gained by a quarterback, behind Michael Vick, Cam Newton, and Randall Cunningham. He was the NFL's top rated passer in six different seasons and led the league in touchdown passes four times. In 20 postseason games, he threw 20 touchdown passes with only 13 interceptions, and scored 8 touchdowns on the ground. In his stint with the San Francisco 49ers, Young passed for 29,907 yards, 221 touchdowns, and 86 interceptions, with a passer rating of 101.4, highest in franchise history. He was also sacked 290 times, also most in franchise history.
NFL records
Tenth highest passer rating, career, including active players – 96.8
Fourth highest passer rating, career, retired players only – 96.8
Eighth highest career completion percentage, retired players – 64.3%
Most times led the league in passer rating, career – 6 (tied w/ Sammy Baugh)
Most consecutive times led the league in passer rating – 4 (1991–94)
One of seven QBs to lead the league in touchdown passes 4 times (tied with Johnny Unitas, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Len Dawson)
Most passes attempted, playoff game – 65 vs. Green Bay, 1995
Most TD passes, playoff game – 6 (tied w/Daryle Lamonica & Tom Brady)
Most TD passes in one Super Bowl – 6
Most rushing yards by a QB, postseason career – 594
Most rushing touchdowns by a QB, postseason career – 8
49ers records
Highest completion percentage (20+ Atts) (Game): vs Detroit (10/20/91), 90.0
Most average yards per attempt (20+ Atts) (Game): vs Detroit (12/19/93), 15.39
Most touchdown passes (season): 36 (1998)
Best completion percentage (season): 70.3 (1994)
Best passer rating (season): 112.8 (1994)
Most 300-yard passing games (season): 7 (1998)
Best passer rating (career): 101.4
Most average yards per attempt (career): 8.20
Most consecutive games with a touchdown pass: 18, at Det. (10/9/94) to vs. StL (11/26/95) note: (DNP in 5 games in 1995)
Best completion percentage (career): 65.8
Most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (career): 43
In 1999, he was ranked No. 63 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. Young was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on February 5, 2005; he was the first left-handed quarterback to be so honored. He was enshrined August 7, 2005. His induction speech was given by his father, LeGrande "Grit" Young.
The San Francisco 49ers had his No. 8 jersey retired during a halftime ceremony against the New England Patriots on October 5, 2008. He was the 11th player in team history to receive this honor. He is also the only 49er in team history to wear No. 8.
Post-football
Business career
In 1994, Young received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School.
In 2000, Young spoke at the Republican National Convention.
In 2007, Young co-founded Huntsman Gay Global Capital (HGGC), with billionaire industrialist Jon M. Huntsman and former Bain Capital executive Robert C. Gay. After being involved in business ventures with the private equity firm, he has continued to serve as a managing director.
In 2011, Young was one of several notable BYU athletes and coaches who appeared in the school's "Real Cougar" advertising campaign, which featured the individuals telling an actual cougar about being a "real cougar". In one of the ads, Young poked fun at himself:
Young: I love BYU so much I even got my law degree here.
Cougar: (growls)
Young: Lawyers... I know.
Acting career
Young has both performed dramatic roles and appeared as himself in a limited acting career. He appeared in one episode of Frasier and one episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (cast as Lois' former high school football quarterback boyfriend, Joe Maloy). He also made a guest appearance as himself in the Dharma & Greg episode "Are You Ready for Some Football?" encouraging Dharma, the team's Number One Fan. In 1995, Young appeared as himself in the Season 6, Episode 12 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. He also made cameo appearances in the LDS comedy The Singles Ward (2002) and in a season 5 episode of BYUtv's Studio C (2014). Young also made a guest appearance as himself in season 8 of the NBC comedy series Wings in the episode "Just Call Me Angel".
Young was originally offered a part in the 1998 movie There's Something About Mary, but turned the role down. He was replaced by Brett Favre.
Philanthropy
Young serves as a National Advisor to ASCEND: A Humanitarian Alliance. This non-profit organization plans expeditions to African and South American countries to provide life skills mentoring with sustainable solutions in education, enterprise, health and simple technology.
In 1993, Young founded a charitable foundation known as the Forever Young Foundation, which serves children facing significant physical, emotional, and financial challenges by providing academic, athletic, and therapeutic opportunities otherwise unavailable to them.
Young also serves as the national spokesman for an organization founded by former Save Darfur Coalition executive director and founder, David Rubenstein. He began his affiliation with the organization in 2009, when he became the honorary league commissioner for their charitable dodgeball tournaments held on college campuses nationwide.
Personal life
Young is a great-great-great-nephew of Brigham Young, second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for whom BYU is named. His father, LeGrande "Grit" Young, played football at BYU in the late 1950s. He led the school in scoring in 1955 and in rushing and total offense in 1959. Steve Young's younger brothers, Mike and Tom, both played quarterback at BYU after Steve, but neither received much playing time.
Young has been married to Barbara Graham since 2000. They have two sons and two daughters. According to A Football Life: As his playing career ended before his eldest child was born, he wrote his autobiography QB: My Life Behind the Spiral initially as a private memoir for his children.
See also
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
List of NCAA major college football yearly passing leaders
List of NCAA major college football yearly total offense leaders
List of NFL quarterbacks who have posted a perfect passer rating
References
External links
1961 births
All-American college football players
American color commentators
American football quarterbacks
American male television actors
American philanthropists
Brigham Young University alumni
BYU Cougars football players
College Football Hall of Fame inductees
Greenwich High School alumni
J. Reuben Clark Law School alumni
Latter Day Saints from California
Latter Day Saints from Connecticut
Latter Day Saints from Utah
Living people
Los Angeles Express players
National Conference Pro Bowl players
National Football League Most Valuable Player Award winners
National Football League Offensive Player of the Year Award winners
National Football League players with retired numbers
Players of American football from Connecticut
Players of American football from Salt Lake City
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
Richards–Young family
San Francisco 49ers players
Sportspeople from Greenwich, Connecticut
Super Bowl MVPs
Tampa Bay Buccaneers players
Utah Republicans
| true |
[
"Bryant Jacob \"Jake\" Coker (born August 4, 1992) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at Florida State and Alabama. He won the national championship with the Alabama Crimson Tide in his senior year in 2015.\n\nEarly years\nCoker attended St. Paul's Episcopal School in Mobile, Alabama. He played both football and basketball. He was ranked by Rivals.com as the 18th best pro-style quarterback recruit in his class. He committed to Florida State University in June 2010.\n\nCollege career\nCoker was redshirted as a freshman in 2011. As a backup to EJ Manuel in 2012, he appeared in three games, completing three-of-five passes for 45 yards and one touchdown. As a redshirt sophomore, Coker competed with Jameis Winston for the starting quarterback job in 2013. Winston won the job and Coker was his backup until a knee injury in November caused him to miss the rest of the season. He had appeared in six games, going 18 of 36 for 250 yards and one interception.\n\nIn January 2014, Coker transferred to the University of Alabama. He was eligible to play immediately and did not have to sit out a year after graduating from Florida State in April. In his first year at Alabama he competed for the Crimson Tide's starting job. Blake Sims won the competition with Coker as the backup. Coker again competed for the starting job in 2015, and this time won the competition.\n\nCoker helped lead the Crimson Tide to win the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship Game against the Clemson Tigers, with a final score of 45–40.\n\nOn January 30, 2016, Coker was the starting quarterback for the South in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. In one quarter, he was 3-of-8 passing for 23 yards and led his team to the first touchdown of the game.\n\nProfessional career\nOn April 30, 2016, Coker signed a free agent deal with the Arizona Cardinals after going undrafted in the 2016 NFL Draft. He was released by the team on August 29, 2016, as part of a roster cut to 75 players.\n\nOn April 21, 2017, after being unable to fully recover from knee surgery, Coker announced his retirement from football. “I’m just going to move on,” Coker said. “I had another surgery when I was with the (Arizona) Cardinals, and that was kind of the last thing. I didn’t want another surgery. I’m just kind of ready to move on. I’m excited about what’s ahead.”\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Alabama Crimson Tide bio \n Florida State Seminoles bio\n\n1992 births\nLiving people\nSportspeople from Mobile, Alabama\nPlayers of American football from Alabama\nAmerican football quarterbacks\nFlorida State Seminoles football players\nAlabama Crimson Tide football players\nArizona Cardinals players",
"Bildad ( Bildaḏ), the Shuhite, was one of Job's three friends who visited the patriarch in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Job. He was a descendant of Shuah, son of Abraham and Keturah (Genesis 25:1 - 25:2), whose family lived in the deserts of Arabia, or a resident of the district. In speaking with Job, his intent was consolation, but he became an accuser, asking Job what he has done to deserve God's wrath.\n\nSpeeches\nThe three speeches of Bildad are contained in Job 8, Job 18 and Job 25. In substance, they were largely an echo of what had been maintained by Eliphaz the Temanite, the first of Job's friends to speak, but charged with somewhat increased vehemence because he deemed Job's words so impious and wrathful. Bildad was the first to attribute Job's calamity to actual wickedness, albeit indirectly, by accusing his children (who were destroyed, Job 1:19) of sin to warrant their punishment (Job 8:4). His brief third speech, just five verses in length, marked the silencing of the friends.\n\nSee also \nEliphaz\nZophar\n Elihu\n Bildad is also the name of one of the owners of the Pequod in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nHebrew Bible people\nBook of Job"
] |
[
"Steve Young",
"1992 season: first MVP",
"What happened in 1992",
"By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril.",
"What was his starting job",
"San Francisco's starting quarterback,"
] |
C_52dfda507a2f476c98e838aa6c80d9e5_0
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How was it in peril?
| 3 |
How was Steve Young's starting job in peril?
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Steve Young
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By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril. In addition to having to compete with Bono, Montana appeared to be close to recovering from his elbow tendon surgery. San Francisco came close to trading Young to the Los Angeles Raiders, but no deal was finalized and it turned out that Montana would not recover in time to start in the opening game. Montana would not return until the final game of the 1992 season, a Monday Night home game against the Detroit Lions. Montana played the entire second half and guided the 49ers to victory. Young ended up as San Francisco's starting quarterback, but once again got off to a rough start. On the fifth play of the opening game at the Giants, he suffered a concussion and was replaced by Bono, who threw two touchdown passes while leading the 49ers to a 31-14 win. The following week, San Francisco lost 34-31 to the Buffalo Bills, despite a career-high 449 passing yards and three touchdowns from Young, in a game that for the first time in NFL history there were zero punts from either team. Young recovered and led the 49ers on a five-game winning streak, capped off by a 56-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons in which Young passed for 399 yards and three touchdowns. After missing most of the next game (a 24-14 loss to the Cardinals) with the flu, he led San Francisco to victory in all of their remaining games of the season, giving the team a 14-2 record. He went on to throw for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns, and rush for 73 yards, in a 20-13 divisional playoff win over the Washington Redskins. The 49ers lost the NFC title game, however, 30-20 against the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys. Young threw for 313 yards, completing 71.4% of his passes while passing for one touchdown and rushing for another. He also threw two interceptions, but the final one came with the outcome of the game already decided. Young finished the season with 3,465 passing yards and 537 rushing yards, along with an NFL best 25 touchdown passes and 107.0 passer rating, earning him the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and his first selection to the Pro Bowl. He was the first quarterback ever to record a triple digit rating in consecutive seasons. Many credit Young's turnaround to the mentoring of the 49ers' new Offensive Coordinator Mike Shanahan, who worked with Young on combining his running skill with on-the-move passing decisions. CANNOTANSWER
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In addition to having to compete with Bono, Montana appeared to be close to recovering from his elbow tendon surgery.
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Jon Steven Young (born October 11, 1961) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. He also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Prior to his NFL career, he was a member of the Los Angeles Express in the United States Football League (USFL) for two seasons. Young played college football for Brigham Young University (BYU), setting school and NCAA records en route to being runner-up for the 1983 Heisman Trophy.
Young was named the AP's NFL Most Valuable Player in 1992 and 1994, and was the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX. During his 1994 MVP campaign, he set a new NFL record for passer rating at 112.8. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Young was an extremely efficient passer – leading the league in passer rating a record six times, and completion percentage and yards per attempt five times. At the time of his retirement, he had the highest passer rating among NFL quarterbacks with at least 1,500 passing attempts (96.8). As of the end of the 2020 season, he is ranked tenth all-time in passer rating, and is ranked fourth highest amongst retired players, behind only Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Tony Romo. His 43 career rushing touchdowns are second among quarterbacks, while his 4,239 rushing yards ranks fifth all time.
Early years
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Young attended Greenwich High School in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he played quarterback on its Cardinals football team. He earned 1978 All-FCIAC West Division First Team honors in his junior year, his first year as a starter. In his senior year he rushed for 13 touchdowns and earned All-FCIAC West Division First Team honors, and was named to the CIAC All-State team. In the rush-first option offense run by Greenwich he completed only 41 percent of his throws for 1,220 yards, but ran the ball 267 times for 1,928 yards. On Thanksgiving Day in November 1979, Greenwich lost to Darien High School, known for its "Tidal Wave Defense", 17–0. During his senior year, he was co-captain of the football, basketball and baseball teams. In basketball, he averaged 15 points a game. In baseball, he hit .384 and played center field when he wasn't pitching. He was 5–1 and threw a 3–0 no-hitter against New Canaan High School.
College football
Young was heavily recruited by the University of North Carolina. Coach Dick Crum was enamored by Young's running ability, and wanted him to run his option offense. Young instead chose BYU. Initially, he struggled at throwing the ball, and BYU's coaching staff considered switching him to defensive back because of his athleticism. However, he worked hard to improve his passing skills and eventually succeeded record-setting Jim McMahon as BYU's starting QB. Young's senior season (1983) was spectacular. He passed for 3,902 yards and 33 touchdowns in the regular season, and his 71.3% completion percentage set an NCAA single-season record. He also added 544 yards rushing. With Young at quarterback, BYU set an NCAA record by averaging 584.2 yards of total offense per game, with 370.5 of those yards coming from Young's passing and rushing. The Cougars finished the year with an impressive 11–1 record; Young was named a unanimous All-American and received the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, which recognizes the nation's best collegiate quarterback each year. He also finished second in voting for the Heisman Trophy, behind Nebraska running back Mike Rozier. Young capped his college career by scoring the game-winning touchdown on a pass from the halfback in BYU's 21–17 victory over Missouri in the 1983 Holiday Bowl.
Young finished his college career with 592 pass completions for 7,733 yards and 56 touchdowns, along with 1,048 yards and 18 touchdowns rushing. He was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001.
Professional football
USFL
Los Angeles Express
Young was selected by the Los Angeles Express in the first round (11th overall) of the 1984 USFL Draft. He signed a record ten-year, $40 million contract with the Express in He agreed to take his payment in the form of an annuity paid out over forty years to help the fledgling team.
It was taken for granted that Young would be the first pick in the 1984 NFL Draft, and that he would be selected by the Cincinnati Bengals, who were three years removed from the Super Bowl and had landed the No. 1 pick in a trade with the then-moribund Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, the Bengals still had Ken Anderson as their quarterback and planned to have Young sit behind Anderson for the 1984 season before possibly taking over in 1985. Young found that prospect unappealing, which opened the door for the Express. Express general manager Don Klosterman told Young that if he signed with the Express, his head coach would be John Hadl, a former All-Pro quarterback who had shepherded John Elway through his first year in the NFL. Klosterman also told Young that Hall of Fame coach Sid Gillman, who had been hired as a consultant, would tutor him on how to be a pro quarterback. Young was convinced, and signed with the Express.
At the time, it was another huge signing by the fledgling league, which had already succeeded in signing both the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, running back Mike Rozier of Nebraska; and the previous winner, Georgia running back Herschel Walker. After missing the first six games of his rookie season while taking some college classes in order to graduate on time, Young started the final twelve. He had a respectable year, highlighted by becoming the first pro football player ever to pass for 300 yards and rush for 100 in a single game. Despite being surrounded with talent which included such future NFL players as Jojo Townsell, Mel Gray, and Kevin Nelson, and making the playoffs in Young's first season, the Express was never able to create a sustaining fan base in Los Angeles.
Late in the season, The New York Times published an investigation of owner J. William Oldenburg's finances that suggested Oldenburg was not as well off as he claimed. The FBI had been investigating Oldenburg since the middle of the season. A week after the Times article, Oldenburg stopped paying the Express' bills, forcing the league to draw on the team's emergency line of credit to keep it going through the playoffs. Houston Gamblers minority partner Jay Roulier stepped in to buy the team, only to be pushed out when it emerged that he too had misrepresented his net worth. The league took control of the team and cut expenditures to the bare minimum. The other teams made contributions to keep the Express going through the season – enough to meet payroll, but not much else.
Under the circumstances, the 1985 season rapidly became a fiasco. Before one game, the team bus driver refused to drive the Express to their final home game – which had been moved to Los Angeles Pierce College in the San Fernando Valley – unless he was paid up front in cash. Young contributed some money, as did the team trainer, and the driver took them to the game. In the season finale at Orlando, Young had to line up at tailback because a rash of injuries had left the Express without any healthy running backs. The owners had refused to allocate any money to allow the Express to replace injured players.
It was reported that Young had insured the contract and would still be paid until 2027. However, a 1985 Los Angeles Times article stated that he received a $1.4 million settlement on the annuity.
The league ceased operations in 1986 after losing most of its claims in an antitrust suit against the NFL, with its top talent absorbed by the NFL in a dispersal draft conducted in the aftermath.
NFL
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Young grew increasingly dissatisfied with the disarray surrounding the Express. Just a week before what proved to be the last USFL title game, Young gave the USFL an ultimatum – find a new owner for the Express, or allow him to buy out his contract and go to the NFL. Soon after the league decided to suspend the Express's operations for the 1986 season, Young bought out his Express contract and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who had made him the first pick in a supplemental draft of USFL and CFL players a year earlier.
By this time, the Bucs were in the midst of what would be 12 consecutive 10-loss seasons. They posted identical 2–14 records in Young's two seasons with them, going 3–16 with him as a starter. Young threw for only 11 touchdowns with 21 interceptions while completing fewer than 55% of his passes.
San Francisco 49ers
The Buccaneers selected University of Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde first overall in the 1987 NFL Draft because Young was deemed a bust. Young was traded to the San Francisco 49ers on April 24, 1987 to serve as a backup to Joe Montana. 49ers coach Bill Walsh was impressed by Young's natural abilities, and believed his lackluster numbers were primarily due to the lack of talent around him in Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers received second and fourth round draft picks in the trade, which they used to draft Miami linebacker Winston Moss, and Arizona State wide receiver Bruce Hill, respectively.
Montana's backup: 1987–1990
Young played behind Montana for four years, but shone as a backup. Substituting for an injured Montana, early in the first quarter of a 1987 game against the Chicago Bears, he threw four touchdown passes in a 41–0 victory. In their 1987 divisional playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings, he replaced Montana in the second half after the team fell behind 27–10. The 49ers still lost the game, but Young had a good performance, completing 12 of 17 pass attempts for 158 yards and a touchdown, with one interception, while also leading San Francisco in rushing with 72 yards and a touchdown on six carries. On October 30, 1988, Young ran for a 49-yard, game-winning touchdown against the Vikings. He started the game out with a 73-yard touchdown pass to John Taylor, after Montana went down with an injury. The play earned the 49ers a 24–21 victory and a bit of revenge on the Vikings for their previous season's playoff loss. The win turned out to be crucial, as without it the 49ers would have finished the season 9–7 and missed the playoffs, as two other teams in their division, the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints, had 10–6 records. Instead, the 49ers won their division, earned the #2 playoff seed, and went on to win the Super Bowl.
In 1989, he displayed potential to become the team's starter in the future. While Montana won the NFL MVP award and led the team to victory in Super Bowl XXIV, Young still had a good season, completing 69% of his passes for 1,001 yards and eight touchdowns, with only three interceptions. On October 22, 1989, he posted a perfect passer rating of 158.3 when he completed 11 of 12 passes for 188 yards and three touchdown passes in a 37–20 victory over the New England Patriots.
He rushed for a career-high 102 yards on just eight carries against the New Orleans Saints on December 23, 1990, making him only the second 49ers quarterback to rush for at least 100 yards in a single game. The 49ers lost the game 13–10.
In his four seasons as a backup, Young threw 23 touchdown passes and only six interceptions.
1991 season
Following an injury to Montana's elbow in the 1990 NFC Championship Game, which forced him to miss the entire 1991 season, Young got his chance to lead the 49ers. He got off to a rough start. Midway through the season, the 49ers found themselves struggling with a 4–4 record. In the ninth game of the season, after throwing a franchise-record 97-yard touchdown pass to Taylor, Young suffered a knee injury and was replaced by backup quarterback Steve Bono. After a loss in that game and the next, Bono led the 49ers to five consecutive victories, playing so well that coach George Seifert decided to keep him in the starting lineup after Young had recovered. It wasn't until late in the 15th game of the season, after Bono went down with an injury of his own, that Young got to play again. Young then closed out the season by throwing for 338 yards and three touchdowns and also rushing for 63 yards and another touchdown in a 52–14 win over the Chicago Bears in a Monday Night Football game at Candlestick Park.
Young finished the season with an NFL best 101.8 passer rating. Despite missing five full games and most of a sixth, he still threw for 2,517 yards and 17 touchdowns with only 8 interceptions. But despite Young's strong season, the season for the team was widely regarded as a disappointment. The 49ers had slipped from a 14–2 record in the previous season to a 10–6 record in 1991. While 10 wins is usually enough to make the playoffs, this time it was not, and San Francisco ended up not playing in the postseason for the first time since 1982. It was thought by many that Young's days as the 49ers starter were numbered due to the impending return of Montana from the injury to his right elbow, and some observers said the 49ers should trade Young and keep Montana and Bono. However, the trade never happened.
1992 season: first MVP
By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril. In addition to having to compete with Bono, Montana appeared to be close to recovering from his elbow tendon surgery. San Francisco came close to trading Young to the Los Angeles Raiders, but no deal was finalized and it turned out that Montana would not recover in time to start in the opening game. Montana would not return until the final game of the 1992 season, a Monday Night home game against the Detroit Lions. Montana played the entire second half of that final game and guided the 49ers to victory.
Young ended up as San Francisco's starting quarterback, but once again got off to a rough start. On the fifth play of the opening game at the Giants, he suffered a concussion and was replaced by Bono, who threw two touchdown passes while leading the 49ers to a 31–14 win. The following week, San Francisco lost 34–31 to the Buffalo Bills, despite a career-high 449 passing yards and three touchdowns from Young, in a game that for the first time in NFL history had zero punts from either team.
Young recovered and led the 49ers on a five-game winning streak, capped off by a 56–17 win over the Atlanta Falcons in which Young passed for 399 yards and three touchdowns. After missing most of the next game (a 24–14 loss to the Cardinals) with the flu, he led San Francisco to victory in all of their remaining games of the season, giving the team a 14–2 record. He went on to throw for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns, and rush for 73 yards, in a 20–13 divisional playoff win over the Washington Redskins. The 49ers lost the NFC title game, however, 30–20 against the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys. Young threw for 313 yards, completing 71.4% of his passes while passing for one touchdown and rushing for another. He also threw two interceptions, but the final one came with the outcome of the game already decided.
Young finished the season with 3,465 passing yards and 537 rushing yards, along with an NFL-best 25 touchdown passes and 107.0 passer rating, earning him the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and his first selection to the Pro Bowl. He was the first quarterback ever to record a triple-digit rating in consecutive seasons. Many credit Young's turnaround to the mentoring of the 49ers' new offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, who worked with Young on combining his running skill with on-the-move passing decisions.
1993 season
Before the start of the 1993 season, team owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. announced that he wanted Montana to resume his role as starting quarterback for the 49ers. However, a rift in the locker room had developed, with players split on whom they wanted at quarterback. In the spring of 1993, at Montana's request, San Francisco traded Montana to the Kansas City Chiefs. Young was now the 49ers' undisputed starter, and would remain so for the rest of his career. But once again, he had a rough start to the season. Over the first four games of 1993, Young, who was hindered by a swollen thumb on his throwing hand, threw eight interceptions, more than he had thrown during the entire 1992 season. But after his thumb healed, Young went on an incredible streak over a span of seven games, throwing 16 touchdown passes with only 2 interceptions and a 122.2 passer rating. By the end of the year, Young set franchise records for most passing yards (4,023), and consecutive passes thrown without an interception (189), (later eclipsed by Alex Smith in 2012) while leading the NFL in touchdown passes (29) and passer rating (101.5). The team slipped to a 10–6 record, but advanced to the NFC championship game again by blowing out the New York Giants 44–3 in the divisional round. However, once again they were defeated by the Dallas Cowboys, this time 38–21.
1994 season: second MVP and Super Bowl run
After several key free agent signings including All-Pro cornerback Deion Sanders and NFL Draft selections, the 49ers looked to win their first Super Bowl since 1989. They started fast, beating the Los Angeles Raiders 44–14 on the strength of four touchdown passes from Young, one of four games during the regular season in which he had at least four. After a loss in a much-anticipated game to Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs, the 49ers won their next two games before losing to the Philadelphia Eagles 40–8 at Candlestick Park, a game in which Young was eventually benched in the middle of an offensive series. Although head coach George Seifert later said he only pulled Young because he was getting manhandled by the Eagles' defense, Young had had enough of being scapegoated for 49er shortfalls and loudly (and visibly) lambasted Seifert over his decision while standing on the sideline during the game.
But the game was considered a turning point in the season; from there, Young led the team to 10 consecutive wins, by an average of 20 points, before losing the meaningless finale against the Vikings in which Young completed his first 12 of 13 attempts before going to the sidelines. They finished an NFL best 13–3, securing home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. The 49ers had the number-one offense in the NFL, and were so dominant that Seifert often took Young out of games early if he felt that the 49ers had an insurmountable lead at the time.
After an easy 44–15 victory over the Chicago Bears in the divisional round of the playoffs, the 49ers jumped out to a 31–14 halftime lead over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game, holding on to win 38–28. Young threw for two touchdowns, while adding 47 yards and another touchdown on the ground. As a result, he went to his first Super Bowl as a starting quarterback. The 49ers were heavy favorites to become the first team with five Super Bowl victories.
On the strength of a six-touchdown performance that surpassed the previous Super Bowl record of five, owned by the man Young replaced, Joe Montana, Steve Young was named the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX, as the 49ers defeated the San Diego Chargers, 49–26. Young also threw for 325 yards and rushed for 49 yards, making him the first player ever to finish a Super Bowl as the game's leader in both rushing and passing yards.
The victory capped off an incredible year for Young, who had one of the best seasons by a quarterback in NFL history. He threw for 3,969 yards, a then-franchise record 35 touchdown passes with only 10 interceptions, completed 70.3 percent of his passes – the highest completion percentage of the 1990s, third all-time, and at the time, the best completion percentage by any quarterback with more than 400 attempts (later eclipsed by Drew Brees in 2009). Additionally, Young broke Joe Montana's single-season mark with a then-record 112.8 passer rating, and also once again demonstrated his great scrambling ability, accumulating another 289 yards and 7 touchdowns on the ground. For his record-breaking season performances, Young was awarded his second AP NFL MVP award, becoming the 7th player in NFL history to win both league and Super Bowl MVP honors in the same season.
Later years and injuries
In the three years following Super Bowl XXIX, the 49ers would be eliminated each year by Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers, twice in San Francisco. In addition to the early playoff exits, Young suffered a series of injuries that forced him to miss several games from 1995 to 1997. Young entered the 1998 season at age 37 and some began to wonder if his skills would diminish because of his history of injuries and a general decline in his game due to age. However, he silenced all critics once again, putting up career numbers in passing yards (4,170) and passing touchdowns (36). The 49ers finally beat Favre and the Packers in an NFC wild card game that year, as Young threw the winning touchdown to wide receiver Terrell Owens with three seconds remaining to win the game 30–27. In reference to Dwight Clark's legendary catch against the Dallas Cowboys in the 1981 NFC championship game, Owens's grab was called "The Catch II". A week later, however, Garrison Hearst broke his ankle on the 49ers' first play from scrimmage. Without the threat of a running game, Young threw three interceptions (the last one a Hail Mary pass with under 30 seconds remaining in the game) and the 49ers were defeated by the Atlanta Falcons 20–18. Over that span of seasons from 1995 to 1998, Young led the NFL in passer rating twice (in 1996 and 1997), and led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes in 1998.
The 1999 season would turn out to be Young's last in the NFL. Young was plagued by concussions throughout his career. During a Week 3 Monday Night Football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Young was violently sacked by Cardinals cornerback Aeneas Williams on a blitz. Running back Lawrence Phillips was supposed to pick up Williams, but missed. Young was knocked out of the game with a concussion, and didn't return again for the rest of the season due to symptoms of post-concussion syndrome. The concussion he suffered against the Cardinals was reportedly his second in a season that was only three weeks old, and the seventh (at least) of his career. Following the season, the 49ers told him that he would be released if he did not retire. Although Young was offered a job as the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos (where his former offensive coordinator, Mike Shanahan, was the head coach), he retired because of his repeated concussions. In a 2013 Frontline interview, Young said that, partially based upon their own experiences, he and many retired players are increasingly concerned about repeated concussions and subconcussive hits. He is particularly concerned about certain positions that take frequent hits, such as running backs and linemen.
Career statistics and records
USFL career
NFL career
Records and legacy
Although Young did not become the 49ers' starter until his 8th NFL season, and he played a full season only three times (all consecutively) during his 15-year career, Young had a significant impact on the NFL. A two-time league MVP, he completed 2,667 of 4,149 passes for 33,124 yards and 232 touchdowns, with 107 interceptions, and 43 rushing touchdowns. His 96.8 career passer rating is the sixth highest in NFL history and second highest among retired players, behind Tony Romo; his 4,239 rushing yards are the fourth most ever gained by a quarterback, behind Michael Vick, Cam Newton, and Randall Cunningham. He was the NFL's top rated passer in six different seasons and led the league in touchdown passes four times. In 20 postseason games, he threw 20 touchdown passes with only 13 interceptions, and scored 8 touchdowns on the ground. In his stint with the San Francisco 49ers, Young passed for 29,907 yards, 221 touchdowns, and 86 interceptions, with a passer rating of 101.4, highest in franchise history. He was also sacked 290 times, also most in franchise history.
NFL records
Tenth highest passer rating, career, including active players – 96.8
Fourth highest passer rating, career, retired players only – 96.8
Eighth highest career completion percentage, retired players – 64.3%
Most times led the league in passer rating, career – 6 (tied w/ Sammy Baugh)
Most consecutive times led the league in passer rating – 4 (1991–94)
One of seven QBs to lead the league in touchdown passes 4 times (tied with Johnny Unitas, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Len Dawson)
Most passes attempted, playoff game – 65 vs. Green Bay, 1995
Most TD passes, playoff game – 6 (tied w/Daryle Lamonica & Tom Brady)
Most TD passes in one Super Bowl – 6
Most rushing yards by a QB, postseason career – 594
Most rushing touchdowns by a QB, postseason career – 8
49ers records
Highest completion percentage (20+ Atts) (Game): vs Detroit (10/20/91), 90.0
Most average yards per attempt (20+ Atts) (Game): vs Detroit (12/19/93), 15.39
Most touchdown passes (season): 36 (1998)
Best completion percentage (season): 70.3 (1994)
Best passer rating (season): 112.8 (1994)
Most 300-yard passing games (season): 7 (1998)
Best passer rating (career): 101.4
Most average yards per attempt (career): 8.20
Most consecutive games with a touchdown pass: 18, at Det. (10/9/94) to vs. StL (11/26/95) note: (DNP in 5 games in 1995)
Best completion percentage (career): 65.8
Most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (career): 43
In 1999, he was ranked No. 63 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. Young was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on February 5, 2005; he was the first left-handed quarterback to be so honored. He was enshrined August 7, 2005. His induction speech was given by his father, LeGrande "Grit" Young.
The San Francisco 49ers had his No. 8 jersey retired during a halftime ceremony against the New England Patriots on October 5, 2008. He was the 11th player in team history to receive this honor. He is also the only 49er in team history to wear No. 8.
Post-football
Business career
In 1994, Young received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School.
In 2000, Young spoke at the Republican National Convention.
In 2007, Young co-founded Huntsman Gay Global Capital (HGGC), with billionaire industrialist Jon M. Huntsman and former Bain Capital executive Robert C. Gay. After being involved in business ventures with the private equity firm, he has continued to serve as a managing director.
In 2011, Young was one of several notable BYU athletes and coaches who appeared in the school's "Real Cougar" advertising campaign, which featured the individuals telling an actual cougar about being a "real cougar". In one of the ads, Young poked fun at himself:
Young: I love BYU so much I even got my law degree here.
Cougar: (growls)
Young: Lawyers... I know.
Acting career
Young has both performed dramatic roles and appeared as himself in a limited acting career. He appeared in one episode of Frasier and one episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (cast as Lois' former high school football quarterback boyfriend, Joe Maloy). He also made a guest appearance as himself in the Dharma & Greg episode "Are You Ready for Some Football?" encouraging Dharma, the team's Number One Fan. In 1995, Young appeared as himself in the Season 6, Episode 12 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. He also made cameo appearances in the LDS comedy The Singles Ward (2002) and in a season 5 episode of BYUtv's Studio C (2014). Young also made a guest appearance as himself in season 8 of the NBC comedy series Wings in the episode "Just Call Me Angel".
Young was originally offered a part in the 1998 movie There's Something About Mary, but turned the role down. He was replaced by Brett Favre.
Philanthropy
Young serves as a National Advisor to ASCEND: A Humanitarian Alliance. This non-profit organization plans expeditions to African and South American countries to provide life skills mentoring with sustainable solutions in education, enterprise, health and simple technology.
In 1993, Young founded a charitable foundation known as the Forever Young Foundation, which serves children facing significant physical, emotional, and financial challenges by providing academic, athletic, and therapeutic opportunities otherwise unavailable to them.
Young also serves as the national spokesman for an organization founded by former Save Darfur Coalition executive director and founder, David Rubenstein. He began his affiliation with the organization in 2009, when he became the honorary league commissioner for their charitable dodgeball tournaments held on college campuses nationwide.
Personal life
Young is a great-great-great-nephew of Brigham Young, second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for whom BYU is named. His father, LeGrande "Grit" Young, played football at BYU in the late 1950s. He led the school in scoring in 1955 and in rushing and total offense in 1959. Steve Young's younger brothers, Mike and Tom, both played quarterback at BYU after Steve, but neither received much playing time.
Young has been married to Barbara Graham since 2000. They have two sons and two daughters. According to A Football Life: As his playing career ended before his eldest child was born, he wrote his autobiography QB: My Life Behind the Spiral initially as a private memoir for his children.
See also
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
List of NCAA major college football yearly passing leaders
List of NCAA major college football yearly total offense leaders
List of NFL quarterbacks who have posted a perfect passer rating
References
External links
1961 births
All-American college football players
American color commentators
American football quarterbacks
American male television actors
American philanthropists
Brigham Young University alumni
BYU Cougars football players
College Football Hall of Fame inductees
Greenwich High School alumni
J. Reuben Clark Law School alumni
Latter Day Saints from California
Latter Day Saints from Connecticut
Latter Day Saints from Utah
Living people
Los Angeles Express players
National Conference Pro Bowl players
National Football League Most Valuable Player Award winners
National Football League Offensive Player of the Year Award winners
National Football League players with retired numbers
Players of American football from Connecticut
Players of American football from Salt Lake City
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
Richards–Young family
San Francisco 49ers players
Sportspeople from Greenwich, Connecticut
Super Bowl MVPs
Tampa Bay Buccaneers players
Utah Republicans
| true |
[
"Peril were a Japanese and Australian industrial band operating from 1992 to 1996. They released three albums, Peril (1993), Multiverse (1994) and Astro (1996).\n\nHistory \n\nPeril were founded in Melbourne by Tony Buck on drums, samples and machine (also in the Necks) and they were active from 1992 to 1996. Their music was mostly improvised with Buck's drum-triggered samples providing a complex rhythmic base, over this is the turntablism and guitar of Otomo Yoshihide (also in Ground Zero (band)) and other rock improvised elements from Michael Sheridan on guitar (ex-No) and Kato Hideki (bass guitar, vocals) from Japan.\n\nIn 2006 Buck listed ten of his most influential albums, including The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste (November 1989) by Ministry, which he described as \"The sound, power, great mix of sampling and big guitars, space, simplicity, beats...I couldn't get enough of it for quite sometime. The influence of this band played a big part in some of the sounds I was going for in my band Peril I think.\"\n\nPeril performed at the Sydney Sesquicentenary Jazz Festival in February 1992. The group recorded and performed internationally throughout Europe and Asia. Their debut, self-titled album was released via the local label, Dr Jim's Records, in 1993. It had been recorded partly in Melbourne and in Tokyo.\n\"The music was the most extreme collage of styles and textures that I've ever been gloriously immersed in. The depth to which sounds were crossed made Zorn's Naked City sound like a mere pit band.\"– Michael Sheridan\n\nA second album, Multiverse, was recorded in the Netherlands between July and October 1993, and released in 1994 via Invisible / SF Records (Sound Factory) – the latter label is from Hong Kong. Buck and the group had relocated to the Netherlands where Hideki was replaced by Melbourne-born Thierry Fossemalle on bass guitar, for that album.\n\nFrançois Couture of AllMusic described how Multiverse \"pushes the trio's art further into aural assault while retaining a wild funk-rock basis.\" In early 1994 Buck, Sheridan and Yoshihide were members of the Chaotic Violin, alongside Chris Abrahams (of the Necks) and Jon Rose, which performed at the Harbourside Brasserie in Sydney where Peril also appeared.\n\nThe group's third album, Astro, was released in 1996 via Red Note, with Buck producing. By that time they had relocated to Berlin where they disbanded during that year. Buck formed a group, Glacial, and also worked on experimental music. Sheridan issued his solo album, Digital Jamming, in 1996. Yoshihide continued with Ground Zero and his solo work. Fossemalle was later in Ute and from 1999 lives in Byron Bay.\n\nDiscography\n\n Peril – Dr Jim's Records (1993)\n Multiverse – Invisible / SF Records (Sound Factory) (1994)\n Astro – Red Note (1996)\n\nReferences\n\nAustralian electronic musicians\nVictoria (Australia) musical groups\nJapanese industrial music groups\nAustralian industrial music groups",
"Jamie Noguchi is a Japanese/Chinese-American artist and webcomic author who currently publishes Yellow Peril, an Asian-American office romance comedy webcomic, and Sherlock Holmes' Seriously Short Mini Mysteries, with Steve Napierski. The first Yellow Peril compilation, Back to the Grind: A Yellow Peril Collection, was published in 2011 and the second, The Client is Always: A Yellow Peril Collection, was published in 2013. Noguchi was also the first in the series of illustrators for the Erfworld webcomic. During his time as illustrator, it was listed as one of Time magazine's \"Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2007\".\n\nSeparately, Noguchi is a co-founder of Super Art Fight, a show based in Baltimore, Maryland, where notable artists engage in a real-time artistic competition incorporating various design elements over the course of 30 minutes, occasionally opting to interact with each other's art in a battle, with audience participation determining the winner.\n\nYellow Peril\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Yellow Peril\n Sherlock Holmes' Seriously Short Mini Mysteries\n Super Art Fight\n\nAmerican webcomic creators\nAmerican comic strip cartoonists\nLiving people\nYear of birth missing (living people)"
] |
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"San Francisco's starting quarterback,",
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"In addition to having to compete with Bono, Montana appeared to be close to recovering from his elbow tendon surgery."
] |
C_52dfda507a2f476c98e838aa6c80d9e5_0
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Did he recover?
| 4 |
Did Steve Young recover from his elbow tendon surgery?
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Steve Young
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By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril. In addition to having to compete with Bono, Montana appeared to be close to recovering from his elbow tendon surgery. San Francisco came close to trading Young to the Los Angeles Raiders, but no deal was finalized and it turned out that Montana would not recover in time to start in the opening game. Montana would not return until the final game of the 1992 season, a Monday Night home game against the Detroit Lions. Montana played the entire second half and guided the 49ers to victory. Young ended up as San Francisco's starting quarterback, but once again got off to a rough start. On the fifth play of the opening game at the Giants, he suffered a concussion and was replaced by Bono, who threw two touchdown passes while leading the 49ers to a 31-14 win. The following week, San Francisco lost 34-31 to the Buffalo Bills, despite a career-high 449 passing yards and three touchdowns from Young, in a game that for the first time in NFL history there were zero punts from either team. Young recovered and led the 49ers on a five-game winning streak, capped off by a 56-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons in which Young passed for 399 yards and three touchdowns. After missing most of the next game (a 24-14 loss to the Cardinals) with the flu, he led San Francisco to victory in all of their remaining games of the season, giving the team a 14-2 record. He went on to throw for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns, and rush for 73 yards, in a 20-13 divisional playoff win over the Washington Redskins. The 49ers lost the NFC title game, however, 30-20 against the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys. Young threw for 313 yards, completing 71.4% of his passes while passing for one touchdown and rushing for another. He also threw two interceptions, but the final one came with the outcome of the game already decided. Young finished the season with 3,465 passing yards and 537 rushing yards, along with an NFL best 25 touchdown passes and 107.0 passer rating, earning him the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and his first selection to the Pro Bowl. He was the first quarterback ever to record a triple digit rating in consecutive seasons. Many credit Young's turnaround to the mentoring of the 49ers' new Offensive Coordinator Mike Shanahan, who worked with Young on combining his running skill with on-the-move passing decisions. CANNOTANSWER
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it turned out that Montana would not recover in time to start in the opening game.
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Jon Steven Young (born October 11, 1961) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. He also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Prior to his NFL career, he was a member of the Los Angeles Express in the United States Football League (USFL) for two seasons. Young played college football for Brigham Young University (BYU), setting school and NCAA records en route to being runner-up for the 1983 Heisman Trophy.
Young was named the AP's NFL Most Valuable Player in 1992 and 1994, and was the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX. During his 1994 MVP campaign, he set a new NFL record for passer rating at 112.8. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Young was an extremely efficient passer – leading the league in passer rating a record six times, and completion percentage and yards per attempt five times. At the time of his retirement, he had the highest passer rating among NFL quarterbacks with at least 1,500 passing attempts (96.8). As of the end of the 2020 season, he is ranked tenth all-time in passer rating, and is ranked fourth highest amongst retired players, behind only Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Tony Romo. His 43 career rushing touchdowns are second among quarterbacks, while his 4,239 rushing yards ranks fifth all time.
Early years
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Young attended Greenwich High School in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he played quarterback on its Cardinals football team. He earned 1978 All-FCIAC West Division First Team honors in his junior year, his first year as a starter. In his senior year he rushed for 13 touchdowns and earned All-FCIAC West Division First Team honors, and was named to the CIAC All-State team. In the rush-first option offense run by Greenwich he completed only 41 percent of his throws for 1,220 yards, but ran the ball 267 times for 1,928 yards. On Thanksgiving Day in November 1979, Greenwich lost to Darien High School, known for its "Tidal Wave Defense", 17–0. During his senior year, he was co-captain of the football, basketball and baseball teams. In basketball, he averaged 15 points a game. In baseball, he hit .384 and played center field when he wasn't pitching. He was 5–1 and threw a 3–0 no-hitter against New Canaan High School.
College football
Young was heavily recruited by the University of North Carolina. Coach Dick Crum was enamored by Young's running ability, and wanted him to run his option offense. Young instead chose BYU. Initially, he struggled at throwing the ball, and BYU's coaching staff considered switching him to defensive back because of his athleticism. However, he worked hard to improve his passing skills and eventually succeeded record-setting Jim McMahon as BYU's starting QB. Young's senior season (1983) was spectacular. He passed for 3,902 yards and 33 touchdowns in the regular season, and his 71.3% completion percentage set an NCAA single-season record. He also added 544 yards rushing. With Young at quarterback, BYU set an NCAA record by averaging 584.2 yards of total offense per game, with 370.5 of those yards coming from Young's passing and rushing. The Cougars finished the year with an impressive 11–1 record; Young was named a unanimous All-American and received the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, which recognizes the nation's best collegiate quarterback each year. He also finished second in voting for the Heisman Trophy, behind Nebraska running back Mike Rozier. Young capped his college career by scoring the game-winning touchdown on a pass from the halfback in BYU's 21–17 victory over Missouri in the 1983 Holiday Bowl.
Young finished his college career with 592 pass completions for 7,733 yards and 56 touchdowns, along with 1,048 yards and 18 touchdowns rushing. He was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001.
Professional football
USFL
Los Angeles Express
Young was selected by the Los Angeles Express in the first round (11th overall) of the 1984 USFL Draft. He signed a record ten-year, $40 million contract with the Express in He agreed to take his payment in the form of an annuity paid out over forty years to help the fledgling team.
It was taken for granted that Young would be the first pick in the 1984 NFL Draft, and that he would be selected by the Cincinnati Bengals, who were three years removed from the Super Bowl and had landed the No. 1 pick in a trade with the then-moribund Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, the Bengals still had Ken Anderson as their quarterback and planned to have Young sit behind Anderson for the 1984 season before possibly taking over in 1985. Young found that prospect unappealing, which opened the door for the Express. Express general manager Don Klosterman told Young that if he signed with the Express, his head coach would be John Hadl, a former All-Pro quarterback who had shepherded John Elway through his first year in the NFL. Klosterman also told Young that Hall of Fame coach Sid Gillman, who had been hired as a consultant, would tutor him on how to be a pro quarterback. Young was convinced, and signed with the Express.
At the time, it was another huge signing by the fledgling league, which had already succeeded in signing both the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, running back Mike Rozier of Nebraska; and the previous winner, Georgia running back Herschel Walker. After missing the first six games of his rookie season while taking some college classes in order to graduate on time, Young started the final twelve. He had a respectable year, highlighted by becoming the first pro football player ever to pass for 300 yards and rush for 100 in a single game. Despite being surrounded with talent which included such future NFL players as Jojo Townsell, Mel Gray, and Kevin Nelson, and making the playoffs in Young's first season, the Express was never able to create a sustaining fan base in Los Angeles.
Late in the season, The New York Times published an investigation of owner J. William Oldenburg's finances that suggested Oldenburg was not as well off as he claimed. The FBI had been investigating Oldenburg since the middle of the season. A week after the Times article, Oldenburg stopped paying the Express' bills, forcing the league to draw on the team's emergency line of credit to keep it going through the playoffs. Houston Gamblers minority partner Jay Roulier stepped in to buy the team, only to be pushed out when it emerged that he too had misrepresented his net worth. The league took control of the team and cut expenditures to the bare minimum. The other teams made contributions to keep the Express going through the season – enough to meet payroll, but not much else.
Under the circumstances, the 1985 season rapidly became a fiasco. Before one game, the team bus driver refused to drive the Express to their final home game – which had been moved to Los Angeles Pierce College in the San Fernando Valley – unless he was paid up front in cash. Young contributed some money, as did the team trainer, and the driver took them to the game. In the season finale at Orlando, Young had to line up at tailback because a rash of injuries had left the Express without any healthy running backs. The owners had refused to allocate any money to allow the Express to replace injured players.
It was reported that Young had insured the contract and would still be paid until 2027. However, a 1985 Los Angeles Times article stated that he received a $1.4 million settlement on the annuity.
The league ceased operations in 1986 after losing most of its claims in an antitrust suit against the NFL, with its top talent absorbed by the NFL in a dispersal draft conducted in the aftermath.
NFL
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Young grew increasingly dissatisfied with the disarray surrounding the Express. Just a week before what proved to be the last USFL title game, Young gave the USFL an ultimatum – find a new owner for the Express, or allow him to buy out his contract and go to the NFL. Soon after the league decided to suspend the Express's operations for the 1986 season, Young bought out his Express contract and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who had made him the first pick in a supplemental draft of USFL and CFL players a year earlier.
By this time, the Bucs were in the midst of what would be 12 consecutive 10-loss seasons. They posted identical 2–14 records in Young's two seasons with them, going 3–16 with him as a starter. Young threw for only 11 touchdowns with 21 interceptions while completing fewer than 55% of his passes.
San Francisco 49ers
The Buccaneers selected University of Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde first overall in the 1987 NFL Draft because Young was deemed a bust. Young was traded to the San Francisco 49ers on April 24, 1987 to serve as a backup to Joe Montana. 49ers coach Bill Walsh was impressed by Young's natural abilities, and believed his lackluster numbers were primarily due to the lack of talent around him in Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers received second and fourth round draft picks in the trade, which they used to draft Miami linebacker Winston Moss, and Arizona State wide receiver Bruce Hill, respectively.
Montana's backup: 1987–1990
Young played behind Montana for four years, but shone as a backup. Substituting for an injured Montana, early in the first quarter of a 1987 game against the Chicago Bears, he threw four touchdown passes in a 41–0 victory. In their 1987 divisional playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings, he replaced Montana in the second half after the team fell behind 27–10. The 49ers still lost the game, but Young had a good performance, completing 12 of 17 pass attempts for 158 yards and a touchdown, with one interception, while also leading San Francisco in rushing with 72 yards and a touchdown on six carries. On October 30, 1988, Young ran for a 49-yard, game-winning touchdown against the Vikings. He started the game out with a 73-yard touchdown pass to John Taylor, after Montana went down with an injury. The play earned the 49ers a 24–21 victory and a bit of revenge on the Vikings for their previous season's playoff loss. The win turned out to be crucial, as without it the 49ers would have finished the season 9–7 and missed the playoffs, as two other teams in their division, the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints, had 10–6 records. Instead, the 49ers won their division, earned the #2 playoff seed, and went on to win the Super Bowl.
In 1989, he displayed potential to become the team's starter in the future. While Montana won the NFL MVP award and led the team to victory in Super Bowl XXIV, Young still had a good season, completing 69% of his passes for 1,001 yards and eight touchdowns, with only three interceptions. On October 22, 1989, he posted a perfect passer rating of 158.3 when he completed 11 of 12 passes for 188 yards and three touchdown passes in a 37–20 victory over the New England Patriots.
He rushed for a career-high 102 yards on just eight carries against the New Orleans Saints on December 23, 1990, making him only the second 49ers quarterback to rush for at least 100 yards in a single game. The 49ers lost the game 13–10.
In his four seasons as a backup, Young threw 23 touchdown passes and only six interceptions.
1991 season
Following an injury to Montana's elbow in the 1990 NFC Championship Game, which forced him to miss the entire 1991 season, Young got his chance to lead the 49ers. He got off to a rough start. Midway through the season, the 49ers found themselves struggling with a 4–4 record. In the ninth game of the season, after throwing a franchise-record 97-yard touchdown pass to Taylor, Young suffered a knee injury and was replaced by backup quarterback Steve Bono. After a loss in that game and the next, Bono led the 49ers to five consecutive victories, playing so well that coach George Seifert decided to keep him in the starting lineup after Young had recovered. It wasn't until late in the 15th game of the season, after Bono went down with an injury of his own, that Young got to play again. Young then closed out the season by throwing for 338 yards and three touchdowns and also rushing for 63 yards and another touchdown in a 52–14 win over the Chicago Bears in a Monday Night Football game at Candlestick Park.
Young finished the season with an NFL best 101.8 passer rating. Despite missing five full games and most of a sixth, he still threw for 2,517 yards and 17 touchdowns with only 8 interceptions. But despite Young's strong season, the season for the team was widely regarded as a disappointment. The 49ers had slipped from a 14–2 record in the previous season to a 10–6 record in 1991. While 10 wins is usually enough to make the playoffs, this time it was not, and San Francisco ended up not playing in the postseason for the first time since 1982. It was thought by many that Young's days as the 49ers starter were numbered due to the impending return of Montana from the injury to his right elbow, and some observers said the 49ers should trade Young and keep Montana and Bono. However, the trade never happened.
1992 season: first MVP
By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril. In addition to having to compete with Bono, Montana appeared to be close to recovering from his elbow tendon surgery. San Francisco came close to trading Young to the Los Angeles Raiders, but no deal was finalized and it turned out that Montana would not recover in time to start in the opening game. Montana would not return until the final game of the 1992 season, a Monday Night home game against the Detroit Lions. Montana played the entire second half of that final game and guided the 49ers to victory.
Young ended up as San Francisco's starting quarterback, but once again got off to a rough start. On the fifth play of the opening game at the Giants, he suffered a concussion and was replaced by Bono, who threw two touchdown passes while leading the 49ers to a 31–14 win. The following week, San Francisco lost 34–31 to the Buffalo Bills, despite a career-high 449 passing yards and three touchdowns from Young, in a game that for the first time in NFL history had zero punts from either team.
Young recovered and led the 49ers on a five-game winning streak, capped off by a 56–17 win over the Atlanta Falcons in which Young passed for 399 yards and three touchdowns. After missing most of the next game (a 24–14 loss to the Cardinals) with the flu, he led San Francisco to victory in all of their remaining games of the season, giving the team a 14–2 record. He went on to throw for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns, and rush for 73 yards, in a 20–13 divisional playoff win over the Washington Redskins. The 49ers lost the NFC title game, however, 30–20 against the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys. Young threw for 313 yards, completing 71.4% of his passes while passing for one touchdown and rushing for another. He also threw two interceptions, but the final one came with the outcome of the game already decided.
Young finished the season with 3,465 passing yards and 537 rushing yards, along with an NFL-best 25 touchdown passes and 107.0 passer rating, earning him the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and his first selection to the Pro Bowl. He was the first quarterback ever to record a triple-digit rating in consecutive seasons. Many credit Young's turnaround to the mentoring of the 49ers' new offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, who worked with Young on combining his running skill with on-the-move passing decisions.
1993 season
Before the start of the 1993 season, team owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. announced that he wanted Montana to resume his role as starting quarterback for the 49ers. However, a rift in the locker room had developed, with players split on whom they wanted at quarterback. In the spring of 1993, at Montana's request, San Francisco traded Montana to the Kansas City Chiefs. Young was now the 49ers' undisputed starter, and would remain so for the rest of his career. But once again, he had a rough start to the season. Over the first four games of 1993, Young, who was hindered by a swollen thumb on his throwing hand, threw eight interceptions, more than he had thrown during the entire 1992 season. But after his thumb healed, Young went on an incredible streak over a span of seven games, throwing 16 touchdown passes with only 2 interceptions and a 122.2 passer rating. By the end of the year, Young set franchise records for most passing yards (4,023), and consecutive passes thrown without an interception (189), (later eclipsed by Alex Smith in 2012) while leading the NFL in touchdown passes (29) and passer rating (101.5). The team slipped to a 10–6 record, but advanced to the NFC championship game again by blowing out the New York Giants 44–3 in the divisional round. However, once again they were defeated by the Dallas Cowboys, this time 38–21.
1994 season: second MVP and Super Bowl run
After several key free agent signings including All-Pro cornerback Deion Sanders and NFL Draft selections, the 49ers looked to win their first Super Bowl since 1989. They started fast, beating the Los Angeles Raiders 44–14 on the strength of four touchdown passes from Young, one of four games during the regular season in which he had at least four. After a loss in a much-anticipated game to Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs, the 49ers won their next two games before losing to the Philadelphia Eagles 40–8 at Candlestick Park, a game in which Young was eventually benched in the middle of an offensive series. Although head coach George Seifert later said he only pulled Young because he was getting manhandled by the Eagles' defense, Young had had enough of being scapegoated for 49er shortfalls and loudly (and visibly) lambasted Seifert over his decision while standing on the sideline during the game.
But the game was considered a turning point in the season; from there, Young led the team to 10 consecutive wins, by an average of 20 points, before losing the meaningless finale against the Vikings in which Young completed his first 12 of 13 attempts before going to the sidelines. They finished an NFL best 13–3, securing home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. The 49ers had the number-one offense in the NFL, and were so dominant that Seifert often took Young out of games early if he felt that the 49ers had an insurmountable lead at the time.
After an easy 44–15 victory over the Chicago Bears in the divisional round of the playoffs, the 49ers jumped out to a 31–14 halftime lead over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game, holding on to win 38–28. Young threw for two touchdowns, while adding 47 yards and another touchdown on the ground. As a result, he went to his first Super Bowl as a starting quarterback. The 49ers were heavy favorites to become the first team with five Super Bowl victories.
On the strength of a six-touchdown performance that surpassed the previous Super Bowl record of five, owned by the man Young replaced, Joe Montana, Steve Young was named the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX, as the 49ers defeated the San Diego Chargers, 49–26. Young also threw for 325 yards and rushed for 49 yards, making him the first player ever to finish a Super Bowl as the game's leader in both rushing and passing yards.
The victory capped off an incredible year for Young, who had one of the best seasons by a quarterback in NFL history. He threw for 3,969 yards, a then-franchise record 35 touchdown passes with only 10 interceptions, completed 70.3 percent of his passes – the highest completion percentage of the 1990s, third all-time, and at the time, the best completion percentage by any quarterback with more than 400 attempts (later eclipsed by Drew Brees in 2009). Additionally, Young broke Joe Montana's single-season mark with a then-record 112.8 passer rating, and also once again demonstrated his great scrambling ability, accumulating another 289 yards and 7 touchdowns on the ground. For his record-breaking season performances, Young was awarded his second AP NFL MVP award, becoming the 7th player in NFL history to win both league and Super Bowl MVP honors in the same season.
Later years and injuries
In the three years following Super Bowl XXIX, the 49ers would be eliminated each year by Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers, twice in San Francisco. In addition to the early playoff exits, Young suffered a series of injuries that forced him to miss several games from 1995 to 1997. Young entered the 1998 season at age 37 and some began to wonder if his skills would diminish because of his history of injuries and a general decline in his game due to age. However, he silenced all critics once again, putting up career numbers in passing yards (4,170) and passing touchdowns (36). The 49ers finally beat Favre and the Packers in an NFC wild card game that year, as Young threw the winning touchdown to wide receiver Terrell Owens with three seconds remaining to win the game 30–27. In reference to Dwight Clark's legendary catch against the Dallas Cowboys in the 1981 NFC championship game, Owens's grab was called "The Catch II". A week later, however, Garrison Hearst broke his ankle on the 49ers' first play from scrimmage. Without the threat of a running game, Young threw three interceptions (the last one a Hail Mary pass with under 30 seconds remaining in the game) and the 49ers were defeated by the Atlanta Falcons 20–18. Over that span of seasons from 1995 to 1998, Young led the NFL in passer rating twice (in 1996 and 1997), and led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes in 1998.
The 1999 season would turn out to be Young's last in the NFL. Young was plagued by concussions throughout his career. During a Week 3 Monday Night Football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Young was violently sacked by Cardinals cornerback Aeneas Williams on a blitz. Running back Lawrence Phillips was supposed to pick up Williams, but missed. Young was knocked out of the game with a concussion, and didn't return again for the rest of the season due to symptoms of post-concussion syndrome. The concussion he suffered against the Cardinals was reportedly his second in a season that was only three weeks old, and the seventh (at least) of his career. Following the season, the 49ers told him that he would be released if he did not retire. Although Young was offered a job as the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos (where his former offensive coordinator, Mike Shanahan, was the head coach), he retired because of his repeated concussions. In a 2013 Frontline interview, Young said that, partially based upon their own experiences, he and many retired players are increasingly concerned about repeated concussions and subconcussive hits. He is particularly concerned about certain positions that take frequent hits, such as running backs and linemen.
Career statistics and records
USFL career
NFL career
Records and legacy
Although Young did not become the 49ers' starter until his 8th NFL season, and he played a full season only three times (all consecutively) during his 15-year career, Young had a significant impact on the NFL. A two-time league MVP, he completed 2,667 of 4,149 passes for 33,124 yards and 232 touchdowns, with 107 interceptions, and 43 rushing touchdowns. His 96.8 career passer rating is the sixth highest in NFL history and second highest among retired players, behind Tony Romo; his 4,239 rushing yards are the fourth most ever gained by a quarterback, behind Michael Vick, Cam Newton, and Randall Cunningham. He was the NFL's top rated passer in six different seasons and led the league in touchdown passes four times. In 20 postseason games, he threw 20 touchdown passes with only 13 interceptions, and scored 8 touchdowns on the ground. In his stint with the San Francisco 49ers, Young passed for 29,907 yards, 221 touchdowns, and 86 interceptions, with a passer rating of 101.4, highest in franchise history. He was also sacked 290 times, also most in franchise history.
NFL records
Tenth highest passer rating, career, including active players – 96.8
Fourth highest passer rating, career, retired players only – 96.8
Eighth highest career completion percentage, retired players – 64.3%
Most times led the league in passer rating, career – 6 (tied w/ Sammy Baugh)
Most consecutive times led the league in passer rating – 4 (1991–94)
One of seven QBs to lead the league in touchdown passes 4 times (tied with Johnny Unitas, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Len Dawson)
Most passes attempted, playoff game – 65 vs. Green Bay, 1995
Most TD passes, playoff game – 6 (tied w/Daryle Lamonica & Tom Brady)
Most TD passes in one Super Bowl – 6
Most rushing yards by a QB, postseason career – 594
Most rushing touchdowns by a QB, postseason career – 8
49ers records
Highest completion percentage (20+ Atts) (Game): vs Detroit (10/20/91), 90.0
Most average yards per attempt (20+ Atts) (Game): vs Detroit (12/19/93), 15.39
Most touchdown passes (season): 36 (1998)
Best completion percentage (season): 70.3 (1994)
Best passer rating (season): 112.8 (1994)
Most 300-yard passing games (season): 7 (1998)
Best passer rating (career): 101.4
Most average yards per attempt (career): 8.20
Most consecutive games with a touchdown pass: 18, at Det. (10/9/94) to vs. StL (11/26/95) note: (DNP in 5 games in 1995)
Best completion percentage (career): 65.8
Most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (career): 43
In 1999, he was ranked No. 63 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. Young was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on February 5, 2005; he was the first left-handed quarterback to be so honored. He was enshrined August 7, 2005. His induction speech was given by his father, LeGrande "Grit" Young.
The San Francisco 49ers had his No. 8 jersey retired during a halftime ceremony against the New England Patriots on October 5, 2008. He was the 11th player in team history to receive this honor. He is also the only 49er in team history to wear No. 8.
Post-football
Business career
In 1994, Young received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School.
In 2000, Young spoke at the Republican National Convention.
In 2007, Young co-founded Huntsman Gay Global Capital (HGGC), with billionaire industrialist Jon M. Huntsman and former Bain Capital executive Robert C. Gay. After being involved in business ventures with the private equity firm, he has continued to serve as a managing director.
In 2011, Young was one of several notable BYU athletes and coaches who appeared in the school's "Real Cougar" advertising campaign, which featured the individuals telling an actual cougar about being a "real cougar". In one of the ads, Young poked fun at himself:
Young: I love BYU so much I even got my law degree here.
Cougar: (growls)
Young: Lawyers... I know.
Acting career
Young has both performed dramatic roles and appeared as himself in a limited acting career. He appeared in one episode of Frasier and one episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (cast as Lois' former high school football quarterback boyfriend, Joe Maloy). He also made a guest appearance as himself in the Dharma & Greg episode "Are You Ready for Some Football?" encouraging Dharma, the team's Number One Fan. In 1995, Young appeared as himself in the Season 6, Episode 12 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. He also made cameo appearances in the LDS comedy The Singles Ward (2002) and in a season 5 episode of BYUtv's Studio C (2014). Young also made a guest appearance as himself in season 8 of the NBC comedy series Wings in the episode "Just Call Me Angel".
Young was originally offered a part in the 1998 movie There's Something About Mary, but turned the role down. He was replaced by Brett Favre.
Philanthropy
Young serves as a National Advisor to ASCEND: A Humanitarian Alliance. This non-profit organization plans expeditions to African and South American countries to provide life skills mentoring with sustainable solutions in education, enterprise, health and simple technology.
In 1993, Young founded a charitable foundation known as the Forever Young Foundation, which serves children facing significant physical, emotional, and financial challenges by providing academic, athletic, and therapeutic opportunities otherwise unavailable to them.
Young also serves as the national spokesman for an organization founded by former Save Darfur Coalition executive director and founder, David Rubenstein. He began his affiliation with the organization in 2009, when he became the honorary league commissioner for their charitable dodgeball tournaments held on college campuses nationwide.
Personal life
Young is a great-great-great-nephew of Brigham Young, second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for whom BYU is named. His father, LeGrande "Grit" Young, played football at BYU in the late 1950s. He led the school in scoring in 1955 and in rushing and total offense in 1959. Steve Young's younger brothers, Mike and Tom, both played quarterback at BYU after Steve, but neither received much playing time.
Young has been married to Barbara Graham since 2000. They have two sons and two daughters. According to A Football Life: As his playing career ended before his eldest child was born, he wrote his autobiography QB: My Life Behind the Spiral initially as a private memoir for his children.
See also
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
List of NCAA major college football yearly passing leaders
List of NCAA major college football yearly total offense leaders
List of NFL quarterbacks who have posted a perfect passer rating
References
External links
1961 births
All-American college football players
American color commentators
American football quarterbacks
American male television actors
American philanthropists
Brigham Young University alumni
BYU Cougars football players
College Football Hall of Fame inductees
Greenwich High School alumni
J. Reuben Clark Law School alumni
Latter Day Saints from California
Latter Day Saints from Connecticut
Latter Day Saints from Utah
Living people
Los Angeles Express players
National Conference Pro Bowl players
National Football League Most Valuable Player Award winners
National Football League Offensive Player of the Year Award winners
National Football League players with retired numbers
Players of American football from Connecticut
Players of American football from Salt Lake City
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
Richards–Young family
San Francisco 49ers players
Sportspeople from Greenwich, Connecticut
Super Bowl MVPs
Tampa Bay Buccaneers players
Utah Republicans
| true |
[
"Never Recover may refer to:\n\nSongs\n \"Never Recover\", 1996 song by The Cardigans from their 1996 album First Band on the Moon\n \"Never Recover\", 2002 song by Dave Pirner from his 2002 album Faces & Names\n \"Never Recover\", 2018 song by Lil Baby and Gunna from their 2018 album Drip Harder\n\nSee also\n Recovery (disambiguation)",
"Morrisson v Robertson (1908 SC 332) is a case establishing the common law principles that govern unilateral error in Scots law.\n\nFacts\nA man claiming to be the son of Wilson of Bonnyrigg approached Morrisson and offered to buy two cows from him. Although Morrisson did not know the man, he knew of Wilson, who was a neighbouring farmer of good financial standing. Accordingly, he let the man have the two cows on credit. In fact, the man was not the son of Wilson but a rogue called Telford. Telford sold the two cows to Robertson. When Morrisson found this out he sought to recover the cows from Robertson.\n\nJudgment\nThe action was successful. It was held that there had been no contract between Morrisson and Telford. The purported transaction was a complete nullity. Accordingly, Telford had no rights which he could pass on to Robertson, so Morrisson was entitled to recover his cows.\n\nSee also\n Cundy v Lindsay (1878) 3 App Cas 459, a similar case in English law\n Shogun Finance Ltd v Hudson, a 2003 case\n\nReferences \n\n Contract, Third Edition, Greens Concise Scots Law, Stephen Woolman & Jonathan Lake.\n\nScottish case law\n1908 in case law\n1908 in Scotland\nScots law articles needing infoboxes\n1908 in British law"
] |
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C_52dfda507a2f476c98e838aa6c80d9e5_0
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What did he do?
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What did Steve Young do?
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Steve Young
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By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril. In addition to having to compete with Bono, Montana appeared to be close to recovering from his elbow tendon surgery. San Francisco came close to trading Young to the Los Angeles Raiders, but no deal was finalized and it turned out that Montana would not recover in time to start in the opening game. Montana would not return until the final game of the 1992 season, a Monday Night home game against the Detroit Lions. Montana played the entire second half and guided the 49ers to victory. Young ended up as San Francisco's starting quarterback, but once again got off to a rough start. On the fifth play of the opening game at the Giants, he suffered a concussion and was replaced by Bono, who threw two touchdown passes while leading the 49ers to a 31-14 win. The following week, San Francisco lost 34-31 to the Buffalo Bills, despite a career-high 449 passing yards and three touchdowns from Young, in a game that for the first time in NFL history there were zero punts from either team. Young recovered and led the 49ers on a five-game winning streak, capped off by a 56-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons in which Young passed for 399 yards and three touchdowns. After missing most of the next game (a 24-14 loss to the Cardinals) with the flu, he led San Francisco to victory in all of their remaining games of the season, giving the team a 14-2 record. He went on to throw for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns, and rush for 73 yards, in a 20-13 divisional playoff win over the Washington Redskins. The 49ers lost the NFC title game, however, 30-20 against the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys. Young threw for 313 yards, completing 71.4% of his passes while passing for one touchdown and rushing for another. He also threw two interceptions, but the final one came with the outcome of the game already decided. Young finished the season with 3,465 passing yards and 537 rushing yards, along with an NFL best 25 touchdown passes and 107.0 passer rating, earning him the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and his first selection to the Pro Bowl. He was the first quarterback ever to record a triple digit rating in consecutive seasons. Many credit Young's turnaround to the mentoring of the 49ers' new Offensive Coordinator Mike Shanahan, who worked with Young on combining his running skill with on-the-move passing decisions. CANNOTANSWER
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Montana would not return until the final game of the 1992 season, a Monday Night home game against the Detroit Lions.
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Jon Steven Young (born October 11, 1961) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. He also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Prior to his NFL career, he was a member of the Los Angeles Express in the United States Football League (USFL) for two seasons. Young played college football for Brigham Young University (BYU), setting school and NCAA records en route to being runner-up for the 1983 Heisman Trophy.
Young was named the AP's NFL Most Valuable Player in 1992 and 1994, and was the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX. During his 1994 MVP campaign, he set a new NFL record for passer rating at 112.8. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Young was an extremely efficient passer – leading the league in passer rating a record six times, and completion percentage and yards per attempt five times. At the time of his retirement, he had the highest passer rating among NFL quarterbacks with at least 1,500 passing attempts (96.8). As of the end of the 2020 season, he is ranked tenth all-time in passer rating, and is ranked fourth highest amongst retired players, behind only Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Tony Romo. His 43 career rushing touchdowns are second among quarterbacks, while his 4,239 rushing yards ranks fifth all time.
Early years
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Young attended Greenwich High School in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he played quarterback on its Cardinals football team. He earned 1978 All-FCIAC West Division First Team honors in his junior year, his first year as a starter. In his senior year he rushed for 13 touchdowns and earned All-FCIAC West Division First Team honors, and was named to the CIAC All-State team. In the rush-first option offense run by Greenwich he completed only 41 percent of his throws for 1,220 yards, but ran the ball 267 times for 1,928 yards. On Thanksgiving Day in November 1979, Greenwich lost to Darien High School, known for its "Tidal Wave Defense", 17–0. During his senior year, he was co-captain of the football, basketball and baseball teams. In basketball, he averaged 15 points a game. In baseball, he hit .384 and played center field when he wasn't pitching. He was 5–1 and threw a 3–0 no-hitter against New Canaan High School.
College football
Young was heavily recruited by the University of North Carolina. Coach Dick Crum was enamored by Young's running ability, and wanted him to run his option offense. Young instead chose BYU. Initially, he struggled at throwing the ball, and BYU's coaching staff considered switching him to defensive back because of his athleticism. However, he worked hard to improve his passing skills and eventually succeeded record-setting Jim McMahon as BYU's starting QB. Young's senior season (1983) was spectacular. He passed for 3,902 yards and 33 touchdowns in the regular season, and his 71.3% completion percentage set an NCAA single-season record. He also added 544 yards rushing. With Young at quarterback, BYU set an NCAA record by averaging 584.2 yards of total offense per game, with 370.5 of those yards coming from Young's passing and rushing. The Cougars finished the year with an impressive 11–1 record; Young was named a unanimous All-American and received the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, which recognizes the nation's best collegiate quarterback each year. He also finished second in voting for the Heisman Trophy, behind Nebraska running back Mike Rozier. Young capped his college career by scoring the game-winning touchdown on a pass from the halfback in BYU's 21–17 victory over Missouri in the 1983 Holiday Bowl.
Young finished his college career with 592 pass completions for 7,733 yards and 56 touchdowns, along with 1,048 yards and 18 touchdowns rushing. He was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001.
Professional football
USFL
Los Angeles Express
Young was selected by the Los Angeles Express in the first round (11th overall) of the 1984 USFL Draft. He signed a record ten-year, $40 million contract with the Express in He agreed to take his payment in the form of an annuity paid out over forty years to help the fledgling team.
It was taken for granted that Young would be the first pick in the 1984 NFL Draft, and that he would be selected by the Cincinnati Bengals, who were three years removed from the Super Bowl and had landed the No. 1 pick in a trade with the then-moribund Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, the Bengals still had Ken Anderson as their quarterback and planned to have Young sit behind Anderson for the 1984 season before possibly taking over in 1985. Young found that prospect unappealing, which opened the door for the Express. Express general manager Don Klosterman told Young that if he signed with the Express, his head coach would be John Hadl, a former All-Pro quarterback who had shepherded John Elway through his first year in the NFL. Klosterman also told Young that Hall of Fame coach Sid Gillman, who had been hired as a consultant, would tutor him on how to be a pro quarterback. Young was convinced, and signed with the Express.
At the time, it was another huge signing by the fledgling league, which had already succeeded in signing both the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, running back Mike Rozier of Nebraska; and the previous winner, Georgia running back Herschel Walker. After missing the first six games of his rookie season while taking some college classes in order to graduate on time, Young started the final twelve. He had a respectable year, highlighted by becoming the first pro football player ever to pass for 300 yards and rush for 100 in a single game. Despite being surrounded with talent which included such future NFL players as Jojo Townsell, Mel Gray, and Kevin Nelson, and making the playoffs in Young's first season, the Express was never able to create a sustaining fan base in Los Angeles.
Late in the season, The New York Times published an investigation of owner J. William Oldenburg's finances that suggested Oldenburg was not as well off as he claimed. The FBI had been investigating Oldenburg since the middle of the season. A week after the Times article, Oldenburg stopped paying the Express' bills, forcing the league to draw on the team's emergency line of credit to keep it going through the playoffs. Houston Gamblers minority partner Jay Roulier stepped in to buy the team, only to be pushed out when it emerged that he too had misrepresented his net worth. The league took control of the team and cut expenditures to the bare minimum. The other teams made contributions to keep the Express going through the season – enough to meet payroll, but not much else.
Under the circumstances, the 1985 season rapidly became a fiasco. Before one game, the team bus driver refused to drive the Express to their final home game – which had been moved to Los Angeles Pierce College in the San Fernando Valley – unless he was paid up front in cash. Young contributed some money, as did the team trainer, and the driver took them to the game. In the season finale at Orlando, Young had to line up at tailback because a rash of injuries had left the Express without any healthy running backs. The owners had refused to allocate any money to allow the Express to replace injured players.
It was reported that Young had insured the contract and would still be paid until 2027. However, a 1985 Los Angeles Times article stated that he received a $1.4 million settlement on the annuity.
The league ceased operations in 1986 after losing most of its claims in an antitrust suit against the NFL, with its top talent absorbed by the NFL in a dispersal draft conducted in the aftermath.
NFL
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Young grew increasingly dissatisfied with the disarray surrounding the Express. Just a week before what proved to be the last USFL title game, Young gave the USFL an ultimatum – find a new owner for the Express, or allow him to buy out his contract and go to the NFL. Soon after the league decided to suspend the Express's operations for the 1986 season, Young bought out his Express contract and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who had made him the first pick in a supplemental draft of USFL and CFL players a year earlier.
By this time, the Bucs were in the midst of what would be 12 consecutive 10-loss seasons. They posted identical 2–14 records in Young's two seasons with them, going 3–16 with him as a starter. Young threw for only 11 touchdowns with 21 interceptions while completing fewer than 55% of his passes.
San Francisco 49ers
The Buccaneers selected University of Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde first overall in the 1987 NFL Draft because Young was deemed a bust. Young was traded to the San Francisco 49ers on April 24, 1987 to serve as a backup to Joe Montana. 49ers coach Bill Walsh was impressed by Young's natural abilities, and believed his lackluster numbers were primarily due to the lack of talent around him in Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers received second and fourth round draft picks in the trade, which they used to draft Miami linebacker Winston Moss, and Arizona State wide receiver Bruce Hill, respectively.
Montana's backup: 1987–1990
Young played behind Montana for four years, but shone as a backup. Substituting for an injured Montana, early in the first quarter of a 1987 game against the Chicago Bears, he threw four touchdown passes in a 41–0 victory. In their 1987 divisional playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings, he replaced Montana in the second half after the team fell behind 27–10. The 49ers still lost the game, but Young had a good performance, completing 12 of 17 pass attempts for 158 yards and a touchdown, with one interception, while also leading San Francisco in rushing with 72 yards and a touchdown on six carries. On October 30, 1988, Young ran for a 49-yard, game-winning touchdown against the Vikings. He started the game out with a 73-yard touchdown pass to John Taylor, after Montana went down with an injury. The play earned the 49ers a 24–21 victory and a bit of revenge on the Vikings for their previous season's playoff loss. The win turned out to be crucial, as without it the 49ers would have finished the season 9–7 and missed the playoffs, as two other teams in their division, the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints, had 10–6 records. Instead, the 49ers won their division, earned the #2 playoff seed, and went on to win the Super Bowl.
In 1989, he displayed potential to become the team's starter in the future. While Montana won the NFL MVP award and led the team to victory in Super Bowl XXIV, Young still had a good season, completing 69% of his passes for 1,001 yards and eight touchdowns, with only three interceptions. On October 22, 1989, he posted a perfect passer rating of 158.3 when he completed 11 of 12 passes for 188 yards and three touchdown passes in a 37–20 victory over the New England Patriots.
He rushed for a career-high 102 yards on just eight carries against the New Orleans Saints on December 23, 1990, making him only the second 49ers quarterback to rush for at least 100 yards in a single game. The 49ers lost the game 13–10.
In his four seasons as a backup, Young threw 23 touchdown passes and only six interceptions.
1991 season
Following an injury to Montana's elbow in the 1990 NFC Championship Game, which forced him to miss the entire 1991 season, Young got his chance to lead the 49ers. He got off to a rough start. Midway through the season, the 49ers found themselves struggling with a 4–4 record. In the ninth game of the season, after throwing a franchise-record 97-yard touchdown pass to Taylor, Young suffered a knee injury and was replaced by backup quarterback Steve Bono. After a loss in that game and the next, Bono led the 49ers to five consecutive victories, playing so well that coach George Seifert decided to keep him in the starting lineup after Young had recovered. It wasn't until late in the 15th game of the season, after Bono went down with an injury of his own, that Young got to play again. Young then closed out the season by throwing for 338 yards and three touchdowns and also rushing for 63 yards and another touchdown in a 52–14 win over the Chicago Bears in a Monday Night Football game at Candlestick Park.
Young finished the season with an NFL best 101.8 passer rating. Despite missing five full games and most of a sixth, he still threw for 2,517 yards and 17 touchdowns with only 8 interceptions. But despite Young's strong season, the season for the team was widely regarded as a disappointment. The 49ers had slipped from a 14–2 record in the previous season to a 10–6 record in 1991. While 10 wins is usually enough to make the playoffs, this time it was not, and San Francisco ended up not playing in the postseason for the first time since 1982. It was thought by many that Young's days as the 49ers starter were numbered due to the impending return of Montana from the injury to his right elbow, and some observers said the 49ers should trade Young and keep Montana and Bono. However, the trade never happened.
1992 season: first MVP
By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril. In addition to having to compete with Bono, Montana appeared to be close to recovering from his elbow tendon surgery. San Francisco came close to trading Young to the Los Angeles Raiders, but no deal was finalized and it turned out that Montana would not recover in time to start in the opening game. Montana would not return until the final game of the 1992 season, a Monday Night home game against the Detroit Lions. Montana played the entire second half of that final game and guided the 49ers to victory.
Young ended up as San Francisco's starting quarterback, but once again got off to a rough start. On the fifth play of the opening game at the Giants, he suffered a concussion and was replaced by Bono, who threw two touchdown passes while leading the 49ers to a 31–14 win. The following week, San Francisco lost 34–31 to the Buffalo Bills, despite a career-high 449 passing yards and three touchdowns from Young, in a game that for the first time in NFL history had zero punts from either team.
Young recovered and led the 49ers on a five-game winning streak, capped off by a 56–17 win over the Atlanta Falcons in which Young passed for 399 yards and three touchdowns. After missing most of the next game (a 24–14 loss to the Cardinals) with the flu, he led San Francisco to victory in all of their remaining games of the season, giving the team a 14–2 record. He went on to throw for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns, and rush for 73 yards, in a 20–13 divisional playoff win over the Washington Redskins. The 49ers lost the NFC title game, however, 30–20 against the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys. Young threw for 313 yards, completing 71.4% of his passes while passing for one touchdown and rushing for another. He also threw two interceptions, but the final one came with the outcome of the game already decided.
Young finished the season with 3,465 passing yards and 537 rushing yards, along with an NFL-best 25 touchdown passes and 107.0 passer rating, earning him the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and his first selection to the Pro Bowl. He was the first quarterback ever to record a triple-digit rating in consecutive seasons. Many credit Young's turnaround to the mentoring of the 49ers' new offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, who worked with Young on combining his running skill with on-the-move passing decisions.
1993 season
Before the start of the 1993 season, team owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. announced that he wanted Montana to resume his role as starting quarterback for the 49ers. However, a rift in the locker room had developed, with players split on whom they wanted at quarterback. In the spring of 1993, at Montana's request, San Francisco traded Montana to the Kansas City Chiefs. Young was now the 49ers' undisputed starter, and would remain so for the rest of his career. But once again, he had a rough start to the season. Over the first four games of 1993, Young, who was hindered by a swollen thumb on his throwing hand, threw eight interceptions, more than he had thrown during the entire 1992 season. But after his thumb healed, Young went on an incredible streak over a span of seven games, throwing 16 touchdown passes with only 2 interceptions and a 122.2 passer rating. By the end of the year, Young set franchise records for most passing yards (4,023), and consecutive passes thrown without an interception (189), (later eclipsed by Alex Smith in 2012) while leading the NFL in touchdown passes (29) and passer rating (101.5). The team slipped to a 10–6 record, but advanced to the NFC championship game again by blowing out the New York Giants 44–3 in the divisional round. However, once again they were defeated by the Dallas Cowboys, this time 38–21.
1994 season: second MVP and Super Bowl run
After several key free agent signings including All-Pro cornerback Deion Sanders and NFL Draft selections, the 49ers looked to win their first Super Bowl since 1989. They started fast, beating the Los Angeles Raiders 44–14 on the strength of four touchdown passes from Young, one of four games during the regular season in which he had at least four. After a loss in a much-anticipated game to Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs, the 49ers won their next two games before losing to the Philadelphia Eagles 40–8 at Candlestick Park, a game in which Young was eventually benched in the middle of an offensive series. Although head coach George Seifert later said he only pulled Young because he was getting manhandled by the Eagles' defense, Young had had enough of being scapegoated for 49er shortfalls and loudly (and visibly) lambasted Seifert over his decision while standing on the sideline during the game.
But the game was considered a turning point in the season; from there, Young led the team to 10 consecutive wins, by an average of 20 points, before losing the meaningless finale against the Vikings in which Young completed his first 12 of 13 attempts before going to the sidelines. They finished an NFL best 13–3, securing home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. The 49ers had the number-one offense in the NFL, and were so dominant that Seifert often took Young out of games early if he felt that the 49ers had an insurmountable lead at the time.
After an easy 44–15 victory over the Chicago Bears in the divisional round of the playoffs, the 49ers jumped out to a 31–14 halftime lead over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game, holding on to win 38–28. Young threw for two touchdowns, while adding 47 yards and another touchdown on the ground. As a result, he went to his first Super Bowl as a starting quarterback. The 49ers were heavy favorites to become the first team with five Super Bowl victories.
On the strength of a six-touchdown performance that surpassed the previous Super Bowl record of five, owned by the man Young replaced, Joe Montana, Steve Young was named the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX, as the 49ers defeated the San Diego Chargers, 49–26. Young also threw for 325 yards and rushed for 49 yards, making him the first player ever to finish a Super Bowl as the game's leader in both rushing and passing yards.
The victory capped off an incredible year for Young, who had one of the best seasons by a quarterback in NFL history. He threw for 3,969 yards, a then-franchise record 35 touchdown passes with only 10 interceptions, completed 70.3 percent of his passes – the highest completion percentage of the 1990s, third all-time, and at the time, the best completion percentage by any quarterback with more than 400 attempts (later eclipsed by Drew Brees in 2009). Additionally, Young broke Joe Montana's single-season mark with a then-record 112.8 passer rating, and also once again demonstrated his great scrambling ability, accumulating another 289 yards and 7 touchdowns on the ground. For his record-breaking season performances, Young was awarded his second AP NFL MVP award, becoming the 7th player in NFL history to win both league and Super Bowl MVP honors in the same season.
Later years and injuries
In the three years following Super Bowl XXIX, the 49ers would be eliminated each year by Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers, twice in San Francisco. In addition to the early playoff exits, Young suffered a series of injuries that forced him to miss several games from 1995 to 1997. Young entered the 1998 season at age 37 and some began to wonder if his skills would diminish because of his history of injuries and a general decline in his game due to age. However, he silenced all critics once again, putting up career numbers in passing yards (4,170) and passing touchdowns (36). The 49ers finally beat Favre and the Packers in an NFC wild card game that year, as Young threw the winning touchdown to wide receiver Terrell Owens with three seconds remaining to win the game 30–27. In reference to Dwight Clark's legendary catch against the Dallas Cowboys in the 1981 NFC championship game, Owens's grab was called "The Catch II". A week later, however, Garrison Hearst broke his ankle on the 49ers' first play from scrimmage. Without the threat of a running game, Young threw three interceptions (the last one a Hail Mary pass with under 30 seconds remaining in the game) and the 49ers were defeated by the Atlanta Falcons 20–18. Over that span of seasons from 1995 to 1998, Young led the NFL in passer rating twice (in 1996 and 1997), and led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes in 1998.
The 1999 season would turn out to be Young's last in the NFL. Young was plagued by concussions throughout his career. During a Week 3 Monday Night Football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Young was violently sacked by Cardinals cornerback Aeneas Williams on a blitz. Running back Lawrence Phillips was supposed to pick up Williams, but missed. Young was knocked out of the game with a concussion, and didn't return again for the rest of the season due to symptoms of post-concussion syndrome. The concussion he suffered against the Cardinals was reportedly his second in a season that was only three weeks old, and the seventh (at least) of his career. Following the season, the 49ers told him that he would be released if he did not retire. Although Young was offered a job as the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos (where his former offensive coordinator, Mike Shanahan, was the head coach), he retired because of his repeated concussions. In a 2013 Frontline interview, Young said that, partially based upon their own experiences, he and many retired players are increasingly concerned about repeated concussions and subconcussive hits. He is particularly concerned about certain positions that take frequent hits, such as running backs and linemen.
Career statistics and records
USFL career
NFL career
Records and legacy
Although Young did not become the 49ers' starter until his 8th NFL season, and he played a full season only three times (all consecutively) during his 15-year career, Young had a significant impact on the NFL. A two-time league MVP, he completed 2,667 of 4,149 passes for 33,124 yards and 232 touchdowns, with 107 interceptions, and 43 rushing touchdowns. His 96.8 career passer rating is the sixth highest in NFL history and second highest among retired players, behind Tony Romo; his 4,239 rushing yards are the fourth most ever gained by a quarterback, behind Michael Vick, Cam Newton, and Randall Cunningham. He was the NFL's top rated passer in six different seasons and led the league in touchdown passes four times. In 20 postseason games, he threw 20 touchdown passes with only 13 interceptions, and scored 8 touchdowns on the ground. In his stint with the San Francisco 49ers, Young passed for 29,907 yards, 221 touchdowns, and 86 interceptions, with a passer rating of 101.4, highest in franchise history. He was also sacked 290 times, also most in franchise history.
NFL records
Tenth highest passer rating, career, including active players – 96.8
Fourth highest passer rating, career, retired players only – 96.8
Eighth highest career completion percentage, retired players – 64.3%
Most times led the league in passer rating, career – 6 (tied w/ Sammy Baugh)
Most consecutive times led the league in passer rating – 4 (1991–94)
One of seven QBs to lead the league in touchdown passes 4 times (tied with Johnny Unitas, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Len Dawson)
Most passes attempted, playoff game – 65 vs. Green Bay, 1995
Most TD passes, playoff game – 6 (tied w/Daryle Lamonica & Tom Brady)
Most TD passes in one Super Bowl – 6
Most rushing yards by a QB, postseason career – 594
Most rushing touchdowns by a QB, postseason career – 8
49ers records
Highest completion percentage (20+ Atts) (Game): vs Detroit (10/20/91), 90.0
Most average yards per attempt (20+ Atts) (Game): vs Detroit (12/19/93), 15.39
Most touchdown passes (season): 36 (1998)
Best completion percentage (season): 70.3 (1994)
Best passer rating (season): 112.8 (1994)
Most 300-yard passing games (season): 7 (1998)
Best passer rating (career): 101.4
Most average yards per attempt (career): 8.20
Most consecutive games with a touchdown pass: 18, at Det. (10/9/94) to vs. StL (11/26/95) note: (DNP in 5 games in 1995)
Best completion percentage (career): 65.8
Most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (career): 43
In 1999, he was ranked No. 63 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. Young was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on February 5, 2005; he was the first left-handed quarterback to be so honored. He was enshrined August 7, 2005. His induction speech was given by his father, LeGrande "Grit" Young.
The San Francisco 49ers had his No. 8 jersey retired during a halftime ceremony against the New England Patriots on October 5, 2008. He was the 11th player in team history to receive this honor. He is also the only 49er in team history to wear No. 8.
Post-football
Business career
In 1994, Young received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School.
In 2000, Young spoke at the Republican National Convention.
In 2007, Young co-founded Huntsman Gay Global Capital (HGGC), with billionaire industrialist Jon M. Huntsman and former Bain Capital executive Robert C. Gay. After being involved in business ventures with the private equity firm, he has continued to serve as a managing director.
In 2011, Young was one of several notable BYU athletes and coaches who appeared in the school's "Real Cougar" advertising campaign, which featured the individuals telling an actual cougar about being a "real cougar". In one of the ads, Young poked fun at himself:
Young: I love BYU so much I even got my law degree here.
Cougar: (growls)
Young: Lawyers... I know.
Acting career
Young has both performed dramatic roles and appeared as himself in a limited acting career. He appeared in one episode of Frasier and one episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (cast as Lois' former high school football quarterback boyfriend, Joe Maloy). He also made a guest appearance as himself in the Dharma & Greg episode "Are You Ready for Some Football?" encouraging Dharma, the team's Number One Fan. In 1995, Young appeared as himself in the Season 6, Episode 12 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. He also made cameo appearances in the LDS comedy The Singles Ward (2002) and in a season 5 episode of BYUtv's Studio C (2014). Young also made a guest appearance as himself in season 8 of the NBC comedy series Wings in the episode "Just Call Me Angel".
Young was originally offered a part in the 1998 movie There's Something About Mary, but turned the role down. He was replaced by Brett Favre.
Philanthropy
Young serves as a National Advisor to ASCEND: A Humanitarian Alliance. This non-profit organization plans expeditions to African and South American countries to provide life skills mentoring with sustainable solutions in education, enterprise, health and simple technology.
In 1993, Young founded a charitable foundation known as the Forever Young Foundation, which serves children facing significant physical, emotional, and financial challenges by providing academic, athletic, and therapeutic opportunities otherwise unavailable to them.
Young also serves as the national spokesman for an organization founded by former Save Darfur Coalition executive director and founder, David Rubenstein. He began his affiliation with the organization in 2009, when he became the honorary league commissioner for their charitable dodgeball tournaments held on college campuses nationwide.
Personal life
Young is a great-great-great-nephew of Brigham Young, second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for whom BYU is named. His father, LeGrande "Grit" Young, played football at BYU in the late 1950s. He led the school in scoring in 1955 and in rushing and total offense in 1959. Steve Young's younger brothers, Mike and Tom, both played quarterback at BYU after Steve, but neither received much playing time.
Young has been married to Barbara Graham since 2000. They have two sons and two daughters. According to A Football Life: As his playing career ended before his eldest child was born, he wrote his autobiography QB: My Life Behind the Spiral initially as a private memoir for his children.
See also
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
List of NCAA major college football yearly passing leaders
List of NCAA major college football yearly total offense leaders
List of NFL quarterbacks who have posted a perfect passer rating
References
External links
1961 births
All-American college football players
American color commentators
American football quarterbacks
American male television actors
American philanthropists
Brigham Young University alumni
BYU Cougars football players
College Football Hall of Fame inductees
Greenwich High School alumni
J. Reuben Clark Law School alumni
Latter Day Saints from California
Latter Day Saints from Connecticut
Latter Day Saints from Utah
Living people
Los Angeles Express players
National Conference Pro Bowl players
National Football League Most Valuable Player Award winners
National Football League Offensive Player of the Year Award winners
National Football League players with retired numbers
Players of American football from Connecticut
Players of American football from Salt Lake City
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
Richards–Young family
San Francisco 49ers players
Sportspeople from Greenwich, Connecticut
Super Bowl MVPs
Tampa Bay Buccaneers players
Utah Republicans
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[
"\"What Did I Do to You?\" is a song recorded by British singer Lisa Stansfield for her 1989 album, Affection. It was written by Stansfield, Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, and produced by Devaney and Morris. The song was released as the fourth European single on 30 April 1990. It included three previously unreleased songs written by Stansfield, Devaney and Morris: \"My Apple Heart,\" \"Lay Me Down\" and \"Something's Happenin'.\" \"What Did I Do to You?\" was remixed by Mark Saunders and by the Grammy Award-winning American house music DJ and producer, David Morales. The single became a top forty hit in the European countries reaching number eighteen in Finland, number twenty in Ireland and number twenty-five in the United Kingdom. \"What Did I Do to You?\" was also released in Japan.\n\nIn 2014, the remixes of \"What Did I Do to You?\" were included on the deluxe 2CD + DVD re-release of Affection and on People Hold On ... The Remix Anthology. They were also featured on The Collection 1989–2003 box set (2014), including previously unreleased Red Zone Mix by David Morales.\n\nCritical reception\nThe song received positive reviews from music critics. Matthew Hocter from Albumism viewed it as a \"upbeat offering\". David Giles from Music Week said it is \"beautifully performed\" by Stansfield. A reviewer from Reading Eagle wrote that \"What Did I Do to You?\" \"would be right at home on the \"Saturday Night Fever\" soundtrack.\"\n\nMusic video\nA music video was produced to promote the single, directed by Philip Richardson, who had previously directed the videos for \"All Around the World\" and \"Live Together\". It features Stansfield with her kiss curls, dressed in a white outfit and performing with her band on a stage in front of a jumping audience. The video was later published on Stansfield's official YouTube channel in November 2009. It has amassed more than 1,6 million views as of October 2021.\n\nTrack listings\n\n European/UK 7\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix Edit) – 4:20\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n European/UK/Japanese CD single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix Edit) – 4:20\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 5:19\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 4:17\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n UK 10\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix) – 5:52\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 5:19\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 4:17\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n European/UK 12\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Morales Mix) – 7:59\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 4:22\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 3:19\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:15\n\n UK 12\" promotional single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Morales Mix) – 7:59\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Anti Poll Tax Dub) – 6:31\n\n Other remixes\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Red Zone Mix) – 7:45\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nLisa Stansfield songs\n1990 singles\nSongs written by Lisa Stansfield\n1989 songs\nArista Records singles\nSongs written by Ian Devaney\nSongs written by Andy Morris (musician)",
"\"What Would Steve Do?\" is the second single released by Mumm-Ra on Columbia Records, which was released on February 19, 2007. It is a re-recorded version of the self-release they did in April 2006. It reached #40 in the UK Singles Chart, making it their highest charting single.\n\nTrack listings\nAll songs written by Mumm-Ra.\n\nCD\n\"What Would Steve Do?\"\n\"Cute As\"\n\"Without You\"\n\n7\"\n\"What Would Steve Do?\"\n\"What Would Steve Do? (Floorboard Mix)\"\n\nGatefold 7\"\n\"What Would Steve Do?\"\n\"Cute As\"\n\nReferences\n\n2007 singles\nMumm-Ra (band) songs\n2006 songs\nColumbia Records singles"
] |
[
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"1992 season: first MVP",
"What happened in 1992",
"By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril.",
"What was his starting job",
"San Francisco's starting quarterback,",
"How was it in peril?",
"In addition to having to compete with Bono, Montana appeared to be close to recovering from his elbow tendon surgery.",
"Did he recover?",
"it turned out that Montana would not recover in time to start in the opening game.",
"What did he do?",
"Montana would not return until the final game of the 1992 season, a Monday Night home game against the Detroit Lions."
] |
C_52dfda507a2f476c98e838aa6c80d9e5_0
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Did he play well on his return
| 6 |
Did Steve Young play well on his return?
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Steve Young
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By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril. In addition to having to compete with Bono, Montana appeared to be close to recovering from his elbow tendon surgery. San Francisco came close to trading Young to the Los Angeles Raiders, but no deal was finalized and it turned out that Montana would not recover in time to start in the opening game. Montana would not return until the final game of the 1992 season, a Monday Night home game against the Detroit Lions. Montana played the entire second half and guided the 49ers to victory. Young ended up as San Francisco's starting quarterback, but once again got off to a rough start. On the fifth play of the opening game at the Giants, he suffered a concussion and was replaced by Bono, who threw two touchdown passes while leading the 49ers to a 31-14 win. The following week, San Francisco lost 34-31 to the Buffalo Bills, despite a career-high 449 passing yards and three touchdowns from Young, in a game that for the first time in NFL history there were zero punts from either team. Young recovered and led the 49ers on a five-game winning streak, capped off by a 56-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons in which Young passed for 399 yards and three touchdowns. After missing most of the next game (a 24-14 loss to the Cardinals) with the flu, he led San Francisco to victory in all of their remaining games of the season, giving the team a 14-2 record. He went on to throw for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns, and rush for 73 yards, in a 20-13 divisional playoff win over the Washington Redskins. The 49ers lost the NFC title game, however, 30-20 against the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys. Young threw for 313 yards, completing 71.4% of his passes while passing for one touchdown and rushing for another. He also threw two interceptions, but the final one came with the outcome of the game already decided. Young finished the season with 3,465 passing yards and 537 rushing yards, along with an NFL best 25 touchdown passes and 107.0 passer rating, earning him the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and his first selection to the Pro Bowl. He was the first quarterback ever to record a triple digit rating in consecutive seasons. Many credit Young's turnaround to the mentoring of the 49ers' new Offensive Coordinator Mike Shanahan, who worked with Young on combining his running skill with on-the-move passing decisions. CANNOTANSWER
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Montana played the entire second half and guided the 49ers to victory.
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Jon Steven Young (born October 11, 1961) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. He also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Prior to his NFL career, he was a member of the Los Angeles Express in the United States Football League (USFL) for two seasons. Young played college football for Brigham Young University (BYU), setting school and NCAA records en route to being runner-up for the 1983 Heisman Trophy.
Young was named the AP's NFL Most Valuable Player in 1992 and 1994, and was the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX. During his 1994 MVP campaign, he set a new NFL record for passer rating at 112.8. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Young was an extremely efficient passer – leading the league in passer rating a record six times, and completion percentage and yards per attempt five times. At the time of his retirement, he had the highest passer rating among NFL quarterbacks with at least 1,500 passing attempts (96.8). As of the end of the 2020 season, he is ranked tenth all-time in passer rating, and is ranked fourth highest amongst retired players, behind only Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Tony Romo. His 43 career rushing touchdowns are second among quarterbacks, while his 4,239 rushing yards ranks fifth all time.
Early years
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Young attended Greenwich High School in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he played quarterback on its Cardinals football team. He earned 1978 All-FCIAC West Division First Team honors in his junior year, his first year as a starter. In his senior year he rushed for 13 touchdowns and earned All-FCIAC West Division First Team honors, and was named to the CIAC All-State team. In the rush-first option offense run by Greenwich he completed only 41 percent of his throws for 1,220 yards, but ran the ball 267 times for 1,928 yards. On Thanksgiving Day in November 1979, Greenwich lost to Darien High School, known for its "Tidal Wave Defense", 17–0. During his senior year, he was co-captain of the football, basketball and baseball teams. In basketball, he averaged 15 points a game. In baseball, he hit .384 and played center field when he wasn't pitching. He was 5–1 and threw a 3–0 no-hitter against New Canaan High School.
College football
Young was heavily recruited by the University of North Carolina. Coach Dick Crum was enamored by Young's running ability, and wanted him to run his option offense. Young instead chose BYU. Initially, he struggled at throwing the ball, and BYU's coaching staff considered switching him to defensive back because of his athleticism. However, he worked hard to improve his passing skills and eventually succeeded record-setting Jim McMahon as BYU's starting QB. Young's senior season (1983) was spectacular. He passed for 3,902 yards and 33 touchdowns in the regular season, and his 71.3% completion percentage set an NCAA single-season record. He also added 544 yards rushing. With Young at quarterback, BYU set an NCAA record by averaging 584.2 yards of total offense per game, with 370.5 of those yards coming from Young's passing and rushing. The Cougars finished the year with an impressive 11–1 record; Young was named a unanimous All-American and received the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, which recognizes the nation's best collegiate quarterback each year. He also finished second in voting for the Heisman Trophy, behind Nebraska running back Mike Rozier. Young capped his college career by scoring the game-winning touchdown on a pass from the halfback in BYU's 21–17 victory over Missouri in the 1983 Holiday Bowl.
Young finished his college career with 592 pass completions for 7,733 yards and 56 touchdowns, along with 1,048 yards and 18 touchdowns rushing. He was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001.
Professional football
USFL
Los Angeles Express
Young was selected by the Los Angeles Express in the first round (11th overall) of the 1984 USFL Draft. He signed a record ten-year, $40 million contract with the Express in He agreed to take his payment in the form of an annuity paid out over forty years to help the fledgling team.
It was taken for granted that Young would be the first pick in the 1984 NFL Draft, and that he would be selected by the Cincinnati Bengals, who were three years removed from the Super Bowl and had landed the No. 1 pick in a trade with the then-moribund Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, the Bengals still had Ken Anderson as their quarterback and planned to have Young sit behind Anderson for the 1984 season before possibly taking over in 1985. Young found that prospect unappealing, which opened the door for the Express. Express general manager Don Klosterman told Young that if he signed with the Express, his head coach would be John Hadl, a former All-Pro quarterback who had shepherded John Elway through his first year in the NFL. Klosterman also told Young that Hall of Fame coach Sid Gillman, who had been hired as a consultant, would tutor him on how to be a pro quarterback. Young was convinced, and signed with the Express.
At the time, it was another huge signing by the fledgling league, which had already succeeded in signing both the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, running back Mike Rozier of Nebraska; and the previous winner, Georgia running back Herschel Walker. After missing the first six games of his rookie season while taking some college classes in order to graduate on time, Young started the final twelve. He had a respectable year, highlighted by becoming the first pro football player ever to pass for 300 yards and rush for 100 in a single game. Despite being surrounded with talent which included such future NFL players as Jojo Townsell, Mel Gray, and Kevin Nelson, and making the playoffs in Young's first season, the Express was never able to create a sustaining fan base in Los Angeles.
Late in the season, The New York Times published an investigation of owner J. William Oldenburg's finances that suggested Oldenburg was not as well off as he claimed. The FBI had been investigating Oldenburg since the middle of the season. A week after the Times article, Oldenburg stopped paying the Express' bills, forcing the league to draw on the team's emergency line of credit to keep it going through the playoffs. Houston Gamblers minority partner Jay Roulier stepped in to buy the team, only to be pushed out when it emerged that he too had misrepresented his net worth. The league took control of the team and cut expenditures to the bare minimum. The other teams made contributions to keep the Express going through the season – enough to meet payroll, but not much else.
Under the circumstances, the 1985 season rapidly became a fiasco. Before one game, the team bus driver refused to drive the Express to their final home game – which had been moved to Los Angeles Pierce College in the San Fernando Valley – unless he was paid up front in cash. Young contributed some money, as did the team trainer, and the driver took them to the game. In the season finale at Orlando, Young had to line up at tailback because a rash of injuries had left the Express without any healthy running backs. The owners had refused to allocate any money to allow the Express to replace injured players.
It was reported that Young had insured the contract and would still be paid until 2027. However, a 1985 Los Angeles Times article stated that he received a $1.4 million settlement on the annuity.
The league ceased operations in 1986 after losing most of its claims in an antitrust suit against the NFL, with its top talent absorbed by the NFL in a dispersal draft conducted in the aftermath.
NFL
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Young grew increasingly dissatisfied with the disarray surrounding the Express. Just a week before what proved to be the last USFL title game, Young gave the USFL an ultimatum – find a new owner for the Express, or allow him to buy out his contract and go to the NFL. Soon after the league decided to suspend the Express's operations for the 1986 season, Young bought out his Express contract and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who had made him the first pick in a supplemental draft of USFL and CFL players a year earlier.
By this time, the Bucs were in the midst of what would be 12 consecutive 10-loss seasons. They posted identical 2–14 records in Young's two seasons with them, going 3–16 with him as a starter. Young threw for only 11 touchdowns with 21 interceptions while completing fewer than 55% of his passes.
San Francisco 49ers
The Buccaneers selected University of Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde first overall in the 1987 NFL Draft because Young was deemed a bust. Young was traded to the San Francisco 49ers on April 24, 1987 to serve as a backup to Joe Montana. 49ers coach Bill Walsh was impressed by Young's natural abilities, and believed his lackluster numbers were primarily due to the lack of talent around him in Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers received second and fourth round draft picks in the trade, which they used to draft Miami linebacker Winston Moss, and Arizona State wide receiver Bruce Hill, respectively.
Montana's backup: 1987–1990
Young played behind Montana for four years, but shone as a backup. Substituting for an injured Montana, early in the first quarter of a 1987 game against the Chicago Bears, he threw four touchdown passes in a 41–0 victory. In their 1987 divisional playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings, he replaced Montana in the second half after the team fell behind 27–10. The 49ers still lost the game, but Young had a good performance, completing 12 of 17 pass attempts for 158 yards and a touchdown, with one interception, while also leading San Francisco in rushing with 72 yards and a touchdown on six carries. On October 30, 1988, Young ran for a 49-yard, game-winning touchdown against the Vikings. He started the game out with a 73-yard touchdown pass to John Taylor, after Montana went down with an injury. The play earned the 49ers a 24–21 victory and a bit of revenge on the Vikings for their previous season's playoff loss. The win turned out to be crucial, as without it the 49ers would have finished the season 9–7 and missed the playoffs, as two other teams in their division, the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints, had 10–6 records. Instead, the 49ers won their division, earned the #2 playoff seed, and went on to win the Super Bowl.
In 1989, he displayed potential to become the team's starter in the future. While Montana won the NFL MVP award and led the team to victory in Super Bowl XXIV, Young still had a good season, completing 69% of his passes for 1,001 yards and eight touchdowns, with only three interceptions. On October 22, 1989, he posted a perfect passer rating of 158.3 when he completed 11 of 12 passes for 188 yards and three touchdown passes in a 37–20 victory over the New England Patriots.
He rushed for a career-high 102 yards on just eight carries against the New Orleans Saints on December 23, 1990, making him only the second 49ers quarterback to rush for at least 100 yards in a single game. The 49ers lost the game 13–10.
In his four seasons as a backup, Young threw 23 touchdown passes and only six interceptions.
1991 season
Following an injury to Montana's elbow in the 1990 NFC Championship Game, which forced him to miss the entire 1991 season, Young got his chance to lead the 49ers. He got off to a rough start. Midway through the season, the 49ers found themselves struggling with a 4–4 record. In the ninth game of the season, after throwing a franchise-record 97-yard touchdown pass to Taylor, Young suffered a knee injury and was replaced by backup quarterback Steve Bono. After a loss in that game and the next, Bono led the 49ers to five consecutive victories, playing so well that coach George Seifert decided to keep him in the starting lineup after Young had recovered. It wasn't until late in the 15th game of the season, after Bono went down with an injury of his own, that Young got to play again. Young then closed out the season by throwing for 338 yards and three touchdowns and also rushing for 63 yards and another touchdown in a 52–14 win over the Chicago Bears in a Monday Night Football game at Candlestick Park.
Young finished the season with an NFL best 101.8 passer rating. Despite missing five full games and most of a sixth, he still threw for 2,517 yards and 17 touchdowns with only 8 interceptions. But despite Young's strong season, the season for the team was widely regarded as a disappointment. The 49ers had slipped from a 14–2 record in the previous season to a 10–6 record in 1991. While 10 wins is usually enough to make the playoffs, this time it was not, and San Francisco ended up not playing in the postseason for the first time since 1982. It was thought by many that Young's days as the 49ers starter were numbered due to the impending return of Montana from the injury to his right elbow, and some observers said the 49ers should trade Young and keep Montana and Bono. However, the trade never happened.
1992 season: first MVP
By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril. In addition to having to compete with Bono, Montana appeared to be close to recovering from his elbow tendon surgery. San Francisco came close to trading Young to the Los Angeles Raiders, but no deal was finalized and it turned out that Montana would not recover in time to start in the opening game. Montana would not return until the final game of the 1992 season, a Monday Night home game against the Detroit Lions. Montana played the entire second half of that final game and guided the 49ers to victory.
Young ended up as San Francisco's starting quarterback, but once again got off to a rough start. On the fifth play of the opening game at the Giants, he suffered a concussion and was replaced by Bono, who threw two touchdown passes while leading the 49ers to a 31–14 win. The following week, San Francisco lost 34–31 to the Buffalo Bills, despite a career-high 449 passing yards and three touchdowns from Young, in a game that for the first time in NFL history had zero punts from either team.
Young recovered and led the 49ers on a five-game winning streak, capped off by a 56–17 win over the Atlanta Falcons in which Young passed for 399 yards and three touchdowns. After missing most of the next game (a 24–14 loss to the Cardinals) with the flu, he led San Francisco to victory in all of their remaining games of the season, giving the team a 14–2 record. He went on to throw for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns, and rush for 73 yards, in a 20–13 divisional playoff win over the Washington Redskins. The 49ers lost the NFC title game, however, 30–20 against the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys. Young threw for 313 yards, completing 71.4% of his passes while passing for one touchdown and rushing for another. He also threw two interceptions, but the final one came with the outcome of the game already decided.
Young finished the season with 3,465 passing yards and 537 rushing yards, along with an NFL-best 25 touchdown passes and 107.0 passer rating, earning him the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and his first selection to the Pro Bowl. He was the first quarterback ever to record a triple-digit rating in consecutive seasons. Many credit Young's turnaround to the mentoring of the 49ers' new offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, who worked with Young on combining his running skill with on-the-move passing decisions.
1993 season
Before the start of the 1993 season, team owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. announced that he wanted Montana to resume his role as starting quarterback for the 49ers. However, a rift in the locker room had developed, with players split on whom they wanted at quarterback. In the spring of 1993, at Montana's request, San Francisco traded Montana to the Kansas City Chiefs. Young was now the 49ers' undisputed starter, and would remain so for the rest of his career. But once again, he had a rough start to the season. Over the first four games of 1993, Young, who was hindered by a swollen thumb on his throwing hand, threw eight interceptions, more than he had thrown during the entire 1992 season. But after his thumb healed, Young went on an incredible streak over a span of seven games, throwing 16 touchdown passes with only 2 interceptions and a 122.2 passer rating. By the end of the year, Young set franchise records for most passing yards (4,023), and consecutive passes thrown without an interception (189), (later eclipsed by Alex Smith in 2012) while leading the NFL in touchdown passes (29) and passer rating (101.5). The team slipped to a 10–6 record, but advanced to the NFC championship game again by blowing out the New York Giants 44–3 in the divisional round. However, once again they were defeated by the Dallas Cowboys, this time 38–21.
1994 season: second MVP and Super Bowl run
After several key free agent signings including All-Pro cornerback Deion Sanders and NFL Draft selections, the 49ers looked to win their first Super Bowl since 1989. They started fast, beating the Los Angeles Raiders 44–14 on the strength of four touchdown passes from Young, one of four games during the regular season in which he had at least four. After a loss in a much-anticipated game to Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs, the 49ers won their next two games before losing to the Philadelphia Eagles 40–8 at Candlestick Park, a game in which Young was eventually benched in the middle of an offensive series. Although head coach George Seifert later said he only pulled Young because he was getting manhandled by the Eagles' defense, Young had had enough of being scapegoated for 49er shortfalls and loudly (and visibly) lambasted Seifert over his decision while standing on the sideline during the game.
But the game was considered a turning point in the season; from there, Young led the team to 10 consecutive wins, by an average of 20 points, before losing the meaningless finale against the Vikings in which Young completed his first 12 of 13 attempts before going to the sidelines. They finished an NFL best 13–3, securing home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. The 49ers had the number-one offense in the NFL, and were so dominant that Seifert often took Young out of games early if he felt that the 49ers had an insurmountable lead at the time.
After an easy 44–15 victory over the Chicago Bears in the divisional round of the playoffs, the 49ers jumped out to a 31–14 halftime lead over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game, holding on to win 38–28. Young threw for two touchdowns, while adding 47 yards and another touchdown on the ground. As a result, he went to his first Super Bowl as a starting quarterback. The 49ers were heavy favorites to become the first team with five Super Bowl victories.
On the strength of a six-touchdown performance that surpassed the previous Super Bowl record of five, owned by the man Young replaced, Joe Montana, Steve Young was named the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX, as the 49ers defeated the San Diego Chargers, 49–26. Young also threw for 325 yards and rushed for 49 yards, making him the first player ever to finish a Super Bowl as the game's leader in both rushing and passing yards.
The victory capped off an incredible year for Young, who had one of the best seasons by a quarterback in NFL history. He threw for 3,969 yards, a then-franchise record 35 touchdown passes with only 10 interceptions, completed 70.3 percent of his passes – the highest completion percentage of the 1990s, third all-time, and at the time, the best completion percentage by any quarterback with more than 400 attempts (later eclipsed by Drew Brees in 2009). Additionally, Young broke Joe Montana's single-season mark with a then-record 112.8 passer rating, and also once again demonstrated his great scrambling ability, accumulating another 289 yards and 7 touchdowns on the ground. For his record-breaking season performances, Young was awarded his second AP NFL MVP award, becoming the 7th player in NFL history to win both league and Super Bowl MVP honors in the same season.
Later years and injuries
In the three years following Super Bowl XXIX, the 49ers would be eliminated each year by Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers, twice in San Francisco. In addition to the early playoff exits, Young suffered a series of injuries that forced him to miss several games from 1995 to 1997. Young entered the 1998 season at age 37 and some began to wonder if his skills would diminish because of his history of injuries and a general decline in his game due to age. However, he silenced all critics once again, putting up career numbers in passing yards (4,170) and passing touchdowns (36). The 49ers finally beat Favre and the Packers in an NFC wild card game that year, as Young threw the winning touchdown to wide receiver Terrell Owens with three seconds remaining to win the game 30–27. In reference to Dwight Clark's legendary catch against the Dallas Cowboys in the 1981 NFC championship game, Owens's grab was called "The Catch II". A week later, however, Garrison Hearst broke his ankle on the 49ers' first play from scrimmage. Without the threat of a running game, Young threw three interceptions (the last one a Hail Mary pass with under 30 seconds remaining in the game) and the 49ers were defeated by the Atlanta Falcons 20–18. Over that span of seasons from 1995 to 1998, Young led the NFL in passer rating twice (in 1996 and 1997), and led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes in 1998.
The 1999 season would turn out to be Young's last in the NFL. Young was plagued by concussions throughout his career. During a Week 3 Monday Night Football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Young was violently sacked by Cardinals cornerback Aeneas Williams on a blitz. Running back Lawrence Phillips was supposed to pick up Williams, but missed. Young was knocked out of the game with a concussion, and didn't return again for the rest of the season due to symptoms of post-concussion syndrome. The concussion he suffered against the Cardinals was reportedly his second in a season that was only three weeks old, and the seventh (at least) of his career. Following the season, the 49ers told him that he would be released if he did not retire. Although Young was offered a job as the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos (where his former offensive coordinator, Mike Shanahan, was the head coach), he retired because of his repeated concussions. In a 2013 Frontline interview, Young said that, partially based upon their own experiences, he and many retired players are increasingly concerned about repeated concussions and subconcussive hits. He is particularly concerned about certain positions that take frequent hits, such as running backs and linemen.
Career statistics and records
USFL career
NFL career
Records and legacy
Although Young did not become the 49ers' starter until his 8th NFL season, and he played a full season only three times (all consecutively) during his 15-year career, Young had a significant impact on the NFL. A two-time league MVP, he completed 2,667 of 4,149 passes for 33,124 yards and 232 touchdowns, with 107 interceptions, and 43 rushing touchdowns. His 96.8 career passer rating is the sixth highest in NFL history and second highest among retired players, behind Tony Romo; his 4,239 rushing yards are the fourth most ever gained by a quarterback, behind Michael Vick, Cam Newton, and Randall Cunningham. He was the NFL's top rated passer in six different seasons and led the league in touchdown passes four times. In 20 postseason games, he threw 20 touchdown passes with only 13 interceptions, and scored 8 touchdowns on the ground. In his stint with the San Francisco 49ers, Young passed for 29,907 yards, 221 touchdowns, and 86 interceptions, with a passer rating of 101.4, highest in franchise history. He was also sacked 290 times, also most in franchise history.
NFL records
Tenth highest passer rating, career, including active players – 96.8
Fourth highest passer rating, career, retired players only – 96.8
Eighth highest career completion percentage, retired players – 64.3%
Most times led the league in passer rating, career – 6 (tied w/ Sammy Baugh)
Most consecutive times led the league in passer rating – 4 (1991–94)
One of seven QBs to lead the league in touchdown passes 4 times (tied with Johnny Unitas, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Len Dawson)
Most passes attempted, playoff game – 65 vs. Green Bay, 1995
Most TD passes, playoff game – 6 (tied w/Daryle Lamonica & Tom Brady)
Most TD passes in one Super Bowl – 6
Most rushing yards by a QB, postseason career – 594
Most rushing touchdowns by a QB, postseason career – 8
49ers records
Highest completion percentage (20+ Atts) (Game): vs Detroit (10/20/91), 90.0
Most average yards per attempt (20+ Atts) (Game): vs Detroit (12/19/93), 15.39
Most touchdown passes (season): 36 (1998)
Best completion percentage (season): 70.3 (1994)
Best passer rating (season): 112.8 (1994)
Most 300-yard passing games (season): 7 (1998)
Best passer rating (career): 101.4
Most average yards per attempt (career): 8.20
Most consecutive games with a touchdown pass: 18, at Det. (10/9/94) to vs. StL (11/26/95) note: (DNP in 5 games in 1995)
Best completion percentage (career): 65.8
Most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (career): 43
In 1999, he was ranked No. 63 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. Young was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on February 5, 2005; he was the first left-handed quarterback to be so honored. He was enshrined August 7, 2005. His induction speech was given by his father, LeGrande "Grit" Young.
The San Francisco 49ers had his No. 8 jersey retired during a halftime ceremony against the New England Patriots on October 5, 2008. He was the 11th player in team history to receive this honor. He is also the only 49er in team history to wear No. 8.
Post-football
Business career
In 1994, Young received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School.
In 2000, Young spoke at the Republican National Convention.
In 2007, Young co-founded Huntsman Gay Global Capital (HGGC), with billionaire industrialist Jon M. Huntsman and former Bain Capital executive Robert C. Gay. After being involved in business ventures with the private equity firm, he has continued to serve as a managing director.
In 2011, Young was one of several notable BYU athletes and coaches who appeared in the school's "Real Cougar" advertising campaign, which featured the individuals telling an actual cougar about being a "real cougar". In one of the ads, Young poked fun at himself:
Young: I love BYU so much I even got my law degree here.
Cougar: (growls)
Young: Lawyers... I know.
Acting career
Young has both performed dramatic roles and appeared as himself in a limited acting career. He appeared in one episode of Frasier and one episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (cast as Lois' former high school football quarterback boyfriend, Joe Maloy). He also made a guest appearance as himself in the Dharma & Greg episode "Are You Ready for Some Football?" encouraging Dharma, the team's Number One Fan. In 1995, Young appeared as himself in the Season 6, Episode 12 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. He also made cameo appearances in the LDS comedy The Singles Ward (2002) and in a season 5 episode of BYUtv's Studio C (2014). Young also made a guest appearance as himself in season 8 of the NBC comedy series Wings in the episode "Just Call Me Angel".
Young was originally offered a part in the 1998 movie There's Something About Mary, but turned the role down. He was replaced by Brett Favre.
Philanthropy
Young serves as a National Advisor to ASCEND: A Humanitarian Alliance. This non-profit organization plans expeditions to African and South American countries to provide life skills mentoring with sustainable solutions in education, enterprise, health and simple technology.
In 1993, Young founded a charitable foundation known as the Forever Young Foundation, which serves children facing significant physical, emotional, and financial challenges by providing academic, athletic, and therapeutic opportunities otherwise unavailable to them.
Young also serves as the national spokesman for an organization founded by former Save Darfur Coalition executive director and founder, David Rubenstein. He began his affiliation with the organization in 2009, when he became the honorary league commissioner for their charitable dodgeball tournaments held on college campuses nationwide.
Personal life
Young is a great-great-great-nephew of Brigham Young, second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for whom BYU is named. His father, LeGrande "Grit" Young, played football at BYU in the late 1950s. He led the school in scoring in 1955 and in rushing and total offense in 1959. Steve Young's younger brothers, Mike and Tom, both played quarterback at BYU after Steve, but neither received much playing time.
Young has been married to Barbara Graham since 2000. They have two sons and two daughters. According to A Football Life: As his playing career ended before his eldest child was born, he wrote his autobiography QB: My Life Behind the Spiral initially as a private memoir for his children.
See also
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
List of NCAA major college football yearly passing leaders
List of NCAA major college football yearly total offense leaders
List of NFL quarterbacks who have posted a perfect passer rating
References
External links
1961 births
All-American college football players
American color commentators
American football quarterbacks
American male television actors
American philanthropists
Brigham Young University alumni
BYU Cougars football players
College Football Hall of Fame inductees
Greenwich High School alumni
J. Reuben Clark Law School alumni
Latter Day Saints from California
Latter Day Saints from Connecticut
Latter Day Saints from Utah
Living people
Los Angeles Express players
National Conference Pro Bowl players
National Football League Most Valuable Player Award winners
National Football League Offensive Player of the Year Award winners
National Football League players with retired numbers
Players of American football from Connecticut
Players of American football from Salt Lake City
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
Richards–Young family
San Francisco 49ers players
Sportspeople from Greenwich, Connecticut
Super Bowl MVPs
Tampa Bay Buccaneers players
Utah Republicans
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[
"Olivier Martinez (born 6 October 1966) is a French former professional footballer who played as a defender and defensive midfielder.\n\nCareer \nMartinez was a graduate of the Paris Saint-Germain Academy. He made his debut for the senior team on 28 May 1985 in a 6–1 loss to Nancy. On 1 May 1987, he played his second game for PSG, a 0–0 draw against Nancy as well. Martinez made his final appearance for the Parisian club in a 2–1 win in Le Classique over Marseille on 21 May 1988.\n\nDuring the 1989–90 season, Martinez was loaned out to Abbeville in the Division 2. There, he played more matches than he did at PSG, and he scored the first goal of his professional career. On his return to Paris, he played mostly with the reserve team, before joining Charleville. Martinez would go on to play four years in Charleville before retiring at the age of 29 in 1995.\n\nCareer statistics\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n \n\nLiving people\n1966 births\nPeople from La Garenne-Colombes\nAssociation football defenders\nAssociation football midfielders\nFrench footballers\nParis Saint-Germain F.C. players\nSC Abbeville players\nOFC Charleville players\nLigue 1 players\nLigue 2 players\nChampionnat National players",
"The Return of Elvis Du Pisanie is a play by South Africa's Paul Slabolepszy. It is a one-man play where the actor plays a raft of characters.\n\nPlot\nEddie grows up in Modderfontein and is an Elvis Presley fanatic. He gets married, has kids and finds a job selling underfloor heating. He jokes: In an age of global warming?. He also feels depressed.\n\nThe play begins with Elvis standing on a street corner (Union Crescent) in Witbank where he is reminiscing about his youth. Across the road is the cinema where he used to enjoy Dick Tracey. Many years ago he carved the initials of his first love on the lamp post he is leaning on.\n\nHe decides that his life is worthless and decides to commit suicide by gassing himself in his car. While he is waiting for the carbon monoxide to make him unconscious, he turns on the radio only to hear Elvis singing. This cheers him up so he decides to return to the cinema in Union Crescent where apparently Elvis was recently sighted.\n\nWhile standing underneath the lamp post, waiting for Elvis to arrive, he reflects on his past and some of the funny incidents that shaped it. He also recalls an incident which terrified him and still haunts him.\n\nAs he reflects on that incident, he realises that Elvis saved his life then. This inspires him and gives him hope for the future.\n\nPerformances\nThe first performance was in 1992. The play won more awards in a single year than any other play in the history of South African theatre. It won the 1993 Vita, Fleur du Cap and Dalro Awards including Best New South African Play, Best Actor, Best Production, Best Director – as well as The Star Tonight IGI Life Vita Award for Comedy. It has been presented – by invitation – in Washington DC and Chicago, USA.\n\nBooks\n Mooi Street and Other Moves, by Paul Slabolepszy, Robert Greig (Introduction), Wits University Press, 1994, . Includes The Return of Elvis Du Pisanie\n\nExternal links\nReview of the play\n\nReferences\n\nSouth African plays\n1992 plays\nPlays set in South Africa\nCultural depictions of Elvis Presley"
] |
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"By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril.",
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"San Francisco's starting quarterback,",
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"In addition to having to compete with Bono, Montana appeared to be close to recovering from his elbow tendon surgery.",
"Did he recover?",
"it turned out that Montana would not recover in time to start in the opening game.",
"What did he do?",
"Montana would not return until the final game of the 1992 season, a Monday Night home game against the Detroit Lions.",
"Did he play well on his return",
"Montana played the entire second half and guided the 49ers to victory."
] |
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What are some interesting aspects about this article?
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What are some interesting aspects about the article Steve Young, 1992 season: first MVP?
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Steve Young
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By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril. In addition to having to compete with Bono, Montana appeared to be close to recovering from his elbow tendon surgery. San Francisco came close to trading Young to the Los Angeles Raiders, but no deal was finalized and it turned out that Montana would not recover in time to start in the opening game. Montana would not return until the final game of the 1992 season, a Monday Night home game against the Detroit Lions. Montana played the entire second half and guided the 49ers to victory. Young ended up as San Francisco's starting quarterback, but once again got off to a rough start. On the fifth play of the opening game at the Giants, he suffered a concussion and was replaced by Bono, who threw two touchdown passes while leading the 49ers to a 31-14 win. The following week, San Francisco lost 34-31 to the Buffalo Bills, despite a career-high 449 passing yards and three touchdowns from Young, in a game that for the first time in NFL history there were zero punts from either team. Young recovered and led the 49ers on a five-game winning streak, capped off by a 56-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons in which Young passed for 399 yards and three touchdowns. After missing most of the next game (a 24-14 loss to the Cardinals) with the flu, he led San Francisco to victory in all of their remaining games of the season, giving the team a 14-2 record. He went on to throw for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns, and rush for 73 yards, in a 20-13 divisional playoff win over the Washington Redskins. The 49ers lost the NFC title game, however, 30-20 against the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys. Young threw for 313 yards, completing 71.4% of his passes while passing for one touchdown and rushing for another. He also threw two interceptions, but the final one came with the outcome of the game already decided. Young finished the season with 3,465 passing yards and 537 rushing yards, along with an NFL best 25 touchdown passes and 107.0 passer rating, earning him the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and his first selection to the Pro Bowl. He was the first quarterback ever to record a triple digit rating in consecutive seasons. Many credit Young's turnaround to the mentoring of the 49ers' new Offensive Coordinator Mike Shanahan, who worked with Young on combining his running skill with on-the-move passing decisions. CANNOTANSWER
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Young ended up as San Francisco's starting quarterback, but once again got off to a rough start.
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Jon Steven Young (born October 11, 1961) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. He also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Prior to his NFL career, he was a member of the Los Angeles Express in the United States Football League (USFL) for two seasons. Young played college football for Brigham Young University (BYU), setting school and NCAA records en route to being runner-up for the 1983 Heisman Trophy.
Young was named the AP's NFL Most Valuable Player in 1992 and 1994, and was the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX. During his 1994 MVP campaign, he set a new NFL record for passer rating at 112.8. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Young was an extremely efficient passer – leading the league in passer rating a record six times, and completion percentage and yards per attempt five times. At the time of his retirement, he had the highest passer rating among NFL quarterbacks with at least 1,500 passing attempts (96.8). As of the end of the 2020 season, he is ranked tenth all-time in passer rating, and is ranked fourth highest amongst retired players, behind only Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Tony Romo. His 43 career rushing touchdowns are second among quarterbacks, while his 4,239 rushing yards ranks fifth all time.
Early years
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Young attended Greenwich High School in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he played quarterback on its Cardinals football team. He earned 1978 All-FCIAC West Division First Team honors in his junior year, his first year as a starter. In his senior year he rushed for 13 touchdowns and earned All-FCIAC West Division First Team honors, and was named to the CIAC All-State team. In the rush-first option offense run by Greenwich he completed only 41 percent of his throws for 1,220 yards, but ran the ball 267 times for 1,928 yards. On Thanksgiving Day in November 1979, Greenwich lost to Darien High School, known for its "Tidal Wave Defense", 17–0. During his senior year, he was co-captain of the football, basketball and baseball teams. In basketball, he averaged 15 points a game. In baseball, he hit .384 and played center field when he wasn't pitching. He was 5–1 and threw a 3–0 no-hitter against New Canaan High School.
College football
Young was heavily recruited by the University of North Carolina. Coach Dick Crum was enamored by Young's running ability, and wanted him to run his option offense. Young instead chose BYU. Initially, he struggled at throwing the ball, and BYU's coaching staff considered switching him to defensive back because of his athleticism. However, he worked hard to improve his passing skills and eventually succeeded record-setting Jim McMahon as BYU's starting QB. Young's senior season (1983) was spectacular. He passed for 3,902 yards and 33 touchdowns in the regular season, and his 71.3% completion percentage set an NCAA single-season record. He also added 544 yards rushing. With Young at quarterback, BYU set an NCAA record by averaging 584.2 yards of total offense per game, with 370.5 of those yards coming from Young's passing and rushing. The Cougars finished the year with an impressive 11–1 record; Young was named a unanimous All-American and received the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, which recognizes the nation's best collegiate quarterback each year. He also finished second in voting for the Heisman Trophy, behind Nebraska running back Mike Rozier. Young capped his college career by scoring the game-winning touchdown on a pass from the halfback in BYU's 21–17 victory over Missouri in the 1983 Holiday Bowl.
Young finished his college career with 592 pass completions for 7,733 yards and 56 touchdowns, along with 1,048 yards and 18 touchdowns rushing. He was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001.
Professional football
USFL
Los Angeles Express
Young was selected by the Los Angeles Express in the first round (11th overall) of the 1984 USFL Draft. He signed a record ten-year, $40 million contract with the Express in He agreed to take his payment in the form of an annuity paid out over forty years to help the fledgling team.
It was taken for granted that Young would be the first pick in the 1984 NFL Draft, and that he would be selected by the Cincinnati Bengals, who were three years removed from the Super Bowl and had landed the No. 1 pick in a trade with the then-moribund Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, the Bengals still had Ken Anderson as their quarterback and planned to have Young sit behind Anderson for the 1984 season before possibly taking over in 1985. Young found that prospect unappealing, which opened the door for the Express. Express general manager Don Klosterman told Young that if he signed with the Express, his head coach would be John Hadl, a former All-Pro quarterback who had shepherded John Elway through his first year in the NFL. Klosterman also told Young that Hall of Fame coach Sid Gillman, who had been hired as a consultant, would tutor him on how to be a pro quarterback. Young was convinced, and signed with the Express.
At the time, it was another huge signing by the fledgling league, which had already succeeded in signing both the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, running back Mike Rozier of Nebraska; and the previous winner, Georgia running back Herschel Walker. After missing the first six games of his rookie season while taking some college classes in order to graduate on time, Young started the final twelve. He had a respectable year, highlighted by becoming the first pro football player ever to pass for 300 yards and rush for 100 in a single game. Despite being surrounded with talent which included such future NFL players as Jojo Townsell, Mel Gray, and Kevin Nelson, and making the playoffs in Young's first season, the Express was never able to create a sustaining fan base in Los Angeles.
Late in the season, The New York Times published an investigation of owner J. William Oldenburg's finances that suggested Oldenburg was not as well off as he claimed. The FBI had been investigating Oldenburg since the middle of the season. A week after the Times article, Oldenburg stopped paying the Express' bills, forcing the league to draw on the team's emergency line of credit to keep it going through the playoffs. Houston Gamblers minority partner Jay Roulier stepped in to buy the team, only to be pushed out when it emerged that he too had misrepresented his net worth. The league took control of the team and cut expenditures to the bare minimum. The other teams made contributions to keep the Express going through the season – enough to meet payroll, but not much else.
Under the circumstances, the 1985 season rapidly became a fiasco. Before one game, the team bus driver refused to drive the Express to their final home game – which had been moved to Los Angeles Pierce College in the San Fernando Valley – unless he was paid up front in cash. Young contributed some money, as did the team trainer, and the driver took them to the game. In the season finale at Orlando, Young had to line up at tailback because a rash of injuries had left the Express without any healthy running backs. The owners had refused to allocate any money to allow the Express to replace injured players.
It was reported that Young had insured the contract and would still be paid until 2027. However, a 1985 Los Angeles Times article stated that he received a $1.4 million settlement on the annuity.
The league ceased operations in 1986 after losing most of its claims in an antitrust suit against the NFL, with its top talent absorbed by the NFL in a dispersal draft conducted in the aftermath.
NFL
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Young grew increasingly dissatisfied with the disarray surrounding the Express. Just a week before what proved to be the last USFL title game, Young gave the USFL an ultimatum – find a new owner for the Express, or allow him to buy out his contract and go to the NFL. Soon after the league decided to suspend the Express's operations for the 1986 season, Young bought out his Express contract and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who had made him the first pick in a supplemental draft of USFL and CFL players a year earlier.
By this time, the Bucs were in the midst of what would be 12 consecutive 10-loss seasons. They posted identical 2–14 records in Young's two seasons with them, going 3–16 with him as a starter. Young threw for only 11 touchdowns with 21 interceptions while completing fewer than 55% of his passes.
San Francisco 49ers
The Buccaneers selected University of Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde first overall in the 1987 NFL Draft because Young was deemed a bust. Young was traded to the San Francisco 49ers on April 24, 1987 to serve as a backup to Joe Montana. 49ers coach Bill Walsh was impressed by Young's natural abilities, and believed his lackluster numbers were primarily due to the lack of talent around him in Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers received second and fourth round draft picks in the trade, which they used to draft Miami linebacker Winston Moss, and Arizona State wide receiver Bruce Hill, respectively.
Montana's backup: 1987–1990
Young played behind Montana for four years, but shone as a backup. Substituting for an injured Montana, early in the first quarter of a 1987 game against the Chicago Bears, he threw four touchdown passes in a 41–0 victory. In their 1987 divisional playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings, he replaced Montana in the second half after the team fell behind 27–10. The 49ers still lost the game, but Young had a good performance, completing 12 of 17 pass attempts for 158 yards and a touchdown, with one interception, while also leading San Francisco in rushing with 72 yards and a touchdown on six carries. On October 30, 1988, Young ran for a 49-yard, game-winning touchdown against the Vikings. He started the game out with a 73-yard touchdown pass to John Taylor, after Montana went down with an injury. The play earned the 49ers a 24–21 victory and a bit of revenge on the Vikings for their previous season's playoff loss. The win turned out to be crucial, as without it the 49ers would have finished the season 9–7 and missed the playoffs, as two other teams in their division, the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints, had 10–6 records. Instead, the 49ers won their division, earned the #2 playoff seed, and went on to win the Super Bowl.
In 1989, he displayed potential to become the team's starter in the future. While Montana won the NFL MVP award and led the team to victory in Super Bowl XXIV, Young still had a good season, completing 69% of his passes for 1,001 yards and eight touchdowns, with only three interceptions. On October 22, 1989, he posted a perfect passer rating of 158.3 when he completed 11 of 12 passes for 188 yards and three touchdown passes in a 37–20 victory over the New England Patriots.
He rushed for a career-high 102 yards on just eight carries against the New Orleans Saints on December 23, 1990, making him only the second 49ers quarterback to rush for at least 100 yards in a single game. The 49ers lost the game 13–10.
In his four seasons as a backup, Young threw 23 touchdown passes and only six interceptions.
1991 season
Following an injury to Montana's elbow in the 1990 NFC Championship Game, which forced him to miss the entire 1991 season, Young got his chance to lead the 49ers. He got off to a rough start. Midway through the season, the 49ers found themselves struggling with a 4–4 record. In the ninth game of the season, after throwing a franchise-record 97-yard touchdown pass to Taylor, Young suffered a knee injury and was replaced by backup quarterback Steve Bono. After a loss in that game and the next, Bono led the 49ers to five consecutive victories, playing so well that coach George Seifert decided to keep him in the starting lineup after Young had recovered. It wasn't until late in the 15th game of the season, after Bono went down with an injury of his own, that Young got to play again. Young then closed out the season by throwing for 338 yards and three touchdowns and also rushing for 63 yards and another touchdown in a 52–14 win over the Chicago Bears in a Monday Night Football game at Candlestick Park.
Young finished the season with an NFL best 101.8 passer rating. Despite missing five full games and most of a sixth, he still threw for 2,517 yards and 17 touchdowns with only 8 interceptions. But despite Young's strong season, the season for the team was widely regarded as a disappointment. The 49ers had slipped from a 14–2 record in the previous season to a 10–6 record in 1991. While 10 wins is usually enough to make the playoffs, this time it was not, and San Francisco ended up not playing in the postseason for the first time since 1982. It was thought by many that Young's days as the 49ers starter were numbered due to the impending return of Montana from the injury to his right elbow, and some observers said the 49ers should trade Young and keep Montana and Bono. However, the trade never happened.
1992 season: first MVP
By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril. In addition to having to compete with Bono, Montana appeared to be close to recovering from his elbow tendon surgery. San Francisco came close to trading Young to the Los Angeles Raiders, but no deal was finalized and it turned out that Montana would not recover in time to start in the opening game. Montana would not return until the final game of the 1992 season, a Monday Night home game against the Detroit Lions. Montana played the entire second half of that final game and guided the 49ers to victory.
Young ended up as San Francisco's starting quarterback, but once again got off to a rough start. On the fifth play of the opening game at the Giants, he suffered a concussion and was replaced by Bono, who threw two touchdown passes while leading the 49ers to a 31–14 win. The following week, San Francisco lost 34–31 to the Buffalo Bills, despite a career-high 449 passing yards and three touchdowns from Young, in a game that for the first time in NFL history had zero punts from either team.
Young recovered and led the 49ers on a five-game winning streak, capped off by a 56–17 win over the Atlanta Falcons in which Young passed for 399 yards and three touchdowns. After missing most of the next game (a 24–14 loss to the Cardinals) with the flu, he led San Francisco to victory in all of their remaining games of the season, giving the team a 14–2 record. He went on to throw for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns, and rush for 73 yards, in a 20–13 divisional playoff win over the Washington Redskins. The 49ers lost the NFC title game, however, 30–20 against the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys. Young threw for 313 yards, completing 71.4% of his passes while passing for one touchdown and rushing for another. He also threw two interceptions, but the final one came with the outcome of the game already decided.
Young finished the season with 3,465 passing yards and 537 rushing yards, along with an NFL-best 25 touchdown passes and 107.0 passer rating, earning him the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and his first selection to the Pro Bowl. He was the first quarterback ever to record a triple-digit rating in consecutive seasons. Many credit Young's turnaround to the mentoring of the 49ers' new offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, who worked with Young on combining his running skill with on-the-move passing decisions.
1993 season
Before the start of the 1993 season, team owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. announced that he wanted Montana to resume his role as starting quarterback for the 49ers. However, a rift in the locker room had developed, with players split on whom they wanted at quarterback. In the spring of 1993, at Montana's request, San Francisco traded Montana to the Kansas City Chiefs. Young was now the 49ers' undisputed starter, and would remain so for the rest of his career. But once again, he had a rough start to the season. Over the first four games of 1993, Young, who was hindered by a swollen thumb on his throwing hand, threw eight interceptions, more than he had thrown during the entire 1992 season. But after his thumb healed, Young went on an incredible streak over a span of seven games, throwing 16 touchdown passes with only 2 interceptions and a 122.2 passer rating. By the end of the year, Young set franchise records for most passing yards (4,023), and consecutive passes thrown without an interception (189), (later eclipsed by Alex Smith in 2012) while leading the NFL in touchdown passes (29) and passer rating (101.5). The team slipped to a 10–6 record, but advanced to the NFC championship game again by blowing out the New York Giants 44–3 in the divisional round. However, once again they were defeated by the Dallas Cowboys, this time 38–21.
1994 season: second MVP and Super Bowl run
After several key free agent signings including All-Pro cornerback Deion Sanders and NFL Draft selections, the 49ers looked to win their first Super Bowl since 1989. They started fast, beating the Los Angeles Raiders 44–14 on the strength of four touchdown passes from Young, one of four games during the regular season in which he had at least four. After a loss in a much-anticipated game to Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs, the 49ers won their next two games before losing to the Philadelphia Eagles 40–8 at Candlestick Park, a game in which Young was eventually benched in the middle of an offensive series. Although head coach George Seifert later said he only pulled Young because he was getting manhandled by the Eagles' defense, Young had had enough of being scapegoated for 49er shortfalls and loudly (and visibly) lambasted Seifert over his decision while standing on the sideline during the game.
But the game was considered a turning point in the season; from there, Young led the team to 10 consecutive wins, by an average of 20 points, before losing the meaningless finale against the Vikings in which Young completed his first 12 of 13 attempts before going to the sidelines. They finished an NFL best 13–3, securing home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. The 49ers had the number-one offense in the NFL, and were so dominant that Seifert often took Young out of games early if he felt that the 49ers had an insurmountable lead at the time.
After an easy 44–15 victory over the Chicago Bears in the divisional round of the playoffs, the 49ers jumped out to a 31–14 halftime lead over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game, holding on to win 38–28. Young threw for two touchdowns, while adding 47 yards and another touchdown on the ground. As a result, he went to his first Super Bowl as a starting quarterback. The 49ers were heavy favorites to become the first team with five Super Bowl victories.
On the strength of a six-touchdown performance that surpassed the previous Super Bowl record of five, owned by the man Young replaced, Joe Montana, Steve Young was named the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX, as the 49ers defeated the San Diego Chargers, 49–26. Young also threw for 325 yards and rushed for 49 yards, making him the first player ever to finish a Super Bowl as the game's leader in both rushing and passing yards.
The victory capped off an incredible year for Young, who had one of the best seasons by a quarterback in NFL history. He threw for 3,969 yards, a then-franchise record 35 touchdown passes with only 10 interceptions, completed 70.3 percent of his passes – the highest completion percentage of the 1990s, third all-time, and at the time, the best completion percentage by any quarterback with more than 400 attempts (later eclipsed by Drew Brees in 2009). Additionally, Young broke Joe Montana's single-season mark with a then-record 112.8 passer rating, and also once again demonstrated his great scrambling ability, accumulating another 289 yards and 7 touchdowns on the ground. For his record-breaking season performances, Young was awarded his second AP NFL MVP award, becoming the 7th player in NFL history to win both league and Super Bowl MVP honors in the same season.
Later years and injuries
In the three years following Super Bowl XXIX, the 49ers would be eliminated each year by Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers, twice in San Francisco. In addition to the early playoff exits, Young suffered a series of injuries that forced him to miss several games from 1995 to 1997. Young entered the 1998 season at age 37 and some began to wonder if his skills would diminish because of his history of injuries and a general decline in his game due to age. However, he silenced all critics once again, putting up career numbers in passing yards (4,170) and passing touchdowns (36). The 49ers finally beat Favre and the Packers in an NFC wild card game that year, as Young threw the winning touchdown to wide receiver Terrell Owens with three seconds remaining to win the game 30–27. In reference to Dwight Clark's legendary catch against the Dallas Cowboys in the 1981 NFC championship game, Owens's grab was called "The Catch II". A week later, however, Garrison Hearst broke his ankle on the 49ers' first play from scrimmage. Without the threat of a running game, Young threw three interceptions (the last one a Hail Mary pass with under 30 seconds remaining in the game) and the 49ers were defeated by the Atlanta Falcons 20–18. Over that span of seasons from 1995 to 1998, Young led the NFL in passer rating twice (in 1996 and 1997), and led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes in 1998.
The 1999 season would turn out to be Young's last in the NFL. Young was plagued by concussions throughout his career. During a Week 3 Monday Night Football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Young was violently sacked by Cardinals cornerback Aeneas Williams on a blitz. Running back Lawrence Phillips was supposed to pick up Williams, but missed. Young was knocked out of the game with a concussion, and didn't return again for the rest of the season due to symptoms of post-concussion syndrome. The concussion he suffered against the Cardinals was reportedly his second in a season that was only three weeks old, and the seventh (at least) of his career. Following the season, the 49ers told him that he would be released if he did not retire. Although Young was offered a job as the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos (where his former offensive coordinator, Mike Shanahan, was the head coach), he retired because of his repeated concussions. In a 2013 Frontline interview, Young said that, partially based upon their own experiences, he and many retired players are increasingly concerned about repeated concussions and subconcussive hits. He is particularly concerned about certain positions that take frequent hits, such as running backs and linemen.
Career statistics and records
USFL career
NFL career
Records and legacy
Although Young did not become the 49ers' starter until his 8th NFL season, and he played a full season only three times (all consecutively) during his 15-year career, Young had a significant impact on the NFL. A two-time league MVP, he completed 2,667 of 4,149 passes for 33,124 yards and 232 touchdowns, with 107 interceptions, and 43 rushing touchdowns. His 96.8 career passer rating is the sixth highest in NFL history and second highest among retired players, behind Tony Romo; his 4,239 rushing yards are the fourth most ever gained by a quarterback, behind Michael Vick, Cam Newton, and Randall Cunningham. He was the NFL's top rated passer in six different seasons and led the league in touchdown passes four times. In 20 postseason games, he threw 20 touchdown passes with only 13 interceptions, and scored 8 touchdowns on the ground. In his stint with the San Francisco 49ers, Young passed for 29,907 yards, 221 touchdowns, and 86 interceptions, with a passer rating of 101.4, highest in franchise history. He was also sacked 290 times, also most in franchise history.
NFL records
Tenth highest passer rating, career, including active players – 96.8
Fourth highest passer rating, career, retired players only – 96.8
Eighth highest career completion percentage, retired players – 64.3%
Most times led the league in passer rating, career – 6 (tied w/ Sammy Baugh)
Most consecutive times led the league in passer rating – 4 (1991–94)
One of seven QBs to lead the league in touchdown passes 4 times (tied with Johnny Unitas, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Len Dawson)
Most passes attempted, playoff game – 65 vs. Green Bay, 1995
Most TD passes, playoff game – 6 (tied w/Daryle Lamonica & Tom Brady)
Most TD passes in one Super Bowl – 6
Most rushing yards by a QB, postseason career – 594
Most rushing touchdowns by a QB, postseason career – 8
49ers records
Highest completion percentage (20+ Atts) (Game): vs Detroit (10/20/91), 90.0
Most average yards per attempt (20+ Atts) (Game): vs Detroit (12/19/93), 15.39
Most touchdown passes (season): 36 (1998)
Best completion percentage (season): 70.3 (1994)
Best passer rating (season): 112.8 (1994)
Most 300-yard passing games (season): 7 (1998)
Best passer rating (career): 101.4
Most average yards per attempt (career): 8.20
Most consecutive games with a touchdown pass: 18, at Det. (10/9/94) to vs. StL (11/26/95) note: (DNP in 5 games in 1995)
Best completion percentage (career): 65.8
Most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (career): 43
In 1999, he was ranked No. 63 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. Young was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on February 5, 2005; he was the first left-handed quarterback to be so honored. He was enshrined August 7, 2005. His induction speech was given by his father, LeGrande "Grit" Young.
The San Francisco 49ers had his No. 8 jersey retired during a halftime ceremony against the New England Patriots on October 5, 2008. He was the 11th player in team history to receive this honor. He is also the only 49er in team history to wear No. 8.
Post-football
Business career
In 1994, Young received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School.
In 2000, Young spoke at the Republican National Convention.
In 2007, Young co-founded Huntsman Gay Global Capital (HGGC), with billionaire industrialist Jon M. Huntsman and former Bain Capital executive Robert C. Gay. After being involved in business ventures with the private equity firm, he has continued to serve as a managing director.
In 2011, Young was one of several notable BYU athletes and coaches who appeared in the school's "Real Cougar" advertising campaign, which featured the individuals telling an actual cougar about being a "real cougar". In one of the ads, Young poked fun at himself:
Young: I love BYU so much I even got my law degree here.
Cougar: (growls)
Young: Lawyers... I know.
Acting career
Young has both performed dramatic roles and appeared as himself in a limited acting career. He appeared in one episode of Frasier and one episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (cast as Lois' former high school football quarterback boyfriend, Joe Maloy). He also made a guest appearance as himself in the Dharma & Greg episode "Are You Ready for Some Football?" encouraging Dharma, the team's Number One Fan. In 1995, Young appeared as himself in the Season 6, Episode 12 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. He also made cameo appearances in the LDS comedy The Singles Ward (2002) and in a season 5 episode of BYUtv's Studio C (2014). Young also made a guest appearance as himself in season 8 of the NBC comedy series Wings in the episode "Just Call Me Angel".
Young was originally offered a part in the 1998 movie There's Something About Mary, but turned the role down. He was replaced by Brett Favre.
Philanthropy
Young serves as a National Advisor to ASCEND: A Humanitarian Alliance. This non-profit organization plans expeditions to African and South American countries to provide life skills mentoring with sustainable solutions in education, enterprise, health and simple technology.
In 1993, Young founded a charitable foundation known as the Forever Young Foundation, which serves children facing significant physical, emotional, and financial challenges by providing academic, athletic, and therapeutic opportunities otherwise unavailable to them.
Young also serves as the national spokesman for an organization founded by former Save Darfur Coalition executive director and founder, David Rubenstein. He began his affiliation with the organization in 2009, when he became the honorary league commissioner for their charitable dodgeball tournaments held on college campuses nationwide.
Personal life
Young is a great-great-great-nephew of Brigham Young, second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for whom BYU is named. His father, LeGrande "Grit" Young, played football at BYU in the late 1950s. He led the school in scoring in 1955 and in rushing and total offense in 1959. Steve Young's younger brothers, Mike and Tom, both played quarterback at BYU after Steve, but neither received much playing time.
Young has been married to Barbara Graham since 2000. They have two sons and two daughters. According to A Football Life: As his playing career ended before his eldest child was born, he wrote his autobiography QB: My Life Behind the Spiral initially as a private memoir for his children.
See also
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
List of NCAA major college football yearly passing leaders
List of NCAA major college football yearly total offense leaders
List of NFL quarterbacks who have posted a perfect passer rating
References
External links
1961 births
All-American college football players
American color commentators
American football quarterbacks
American male television actors
American philanthropists
Brigham Young University alumni
BYU Cougars football players
College Football Hall of Fame inductees
Greenwich High School alumni
J. Reuben Clark Law School alumni
Latter Day Saints from California
Latter Day Saints from Connecticut
Latter Day Saints from Utah
Living people
Los Angeles Express players
National Conference Pro Bowl players
National Football League Most Valuable Player Award winners
National Football League Offensive Player of the Year Award winners
National Football League players with retired numbers
Players of American football from Connecticut
Players of American football from Salt Lake City
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
Richards–Young family
San Francisco 49ers players
Sportspeople from Greenwich, Connecticut
Super Bowl MVPs
Tampa Bay Buccaneers players
Utah Republicans
| true |
[
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts",
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region"
] |
[
"Steve Young",
"1992 season: first MVP",
"What happened in 1992",
"By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril.",
"What was his starting job",
"San Francisco's starting quarterback,",
"How was it in peril?",
"In addition to having to compete with Bono, Montana appeared to be close to recovering from his elbow tendon surgery.",
"Did he recover?",
"it turned out that Montana would not recover in time to start in the opening game.",
"What did he do?",
"Montana would not return until the final game of the 1992 season, a Monday Night home game against the Detroit Lions.",
"Did he play well on his return",
"Montana played the entire second half and guided the 49ers to victory.",
"What are some interesting aspects about this article?",
"Young ended up as San Francisco's starting quarterback, but once again got off to a rough start."
] |
C_52dfda507a2f476c98e838aa6c80d9e5_0
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How did he get a rough start?
| 8 |
How did Steve Young get a rough start?
|
Steve Young
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By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril. In addition to having to compete with Bono, Montana appeared to be close to recovering from his elbow tendon surgery. San Francisco came close to trading Young to the Los Angeles Raiders, but no deal was finalized and it turned out that Montana would not recover in time to start in the opening game. Montana would not return until the final game of the 1992 season, a Monday Night home game against the Detroit Lions. Montana played the entire second half and guided the 49ers to victory. Young ended up as San Francisco's starting quarterback, but once again got off to a rough start. On the fifth play of the opening game at the Giants, he suffered a concussion and was replaced by Bono, who threw two touchdown passes while leading the 49ers to a 31-14 win. The following week, San Francisco lost 34-31 to the Buffalo Bills, despite a career-high 449 passing yards and three touchdowns from Young, in a game that for the first time in NFL history there were zero punts from either team. Young recovered and led the 49ers on a five-game winning streak, capped off by a 56-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons in which Young passed for 399 yards and three touchdowns. After missing most of the next game (a 24-14 loss to the Cardinals) with the flu, he led San Francisco to victory in all of their remaining games of the season, giving the team a 14-2 record. He went on to throw for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns, and rush for 73 yards, in a 20-13 divisional playoff win over the Washington Redskins. The 49ers lost the NFC title game, however, 30-20 against the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys. Young threw for 313 yards, completing 71.4% of his passes while passing for one touchdown and rushing for another. He also threw two interceptions, but the final one came with the outcome of the game already decided. Young finished the season with 3,465 passing yards and 537 rushing yards, along with an NFL best 25 touchdown passes and 107.0 passer rating, earning him the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and his first selection to the Pro Bowl. He was the first quarterback ever to record a triple digit rating in consecutive seasons. Many credit Young's turnaround to the mentoring of the 49ers' new Offensive Coordinator Mike Shanahan, who worked with Young on combining his running skill with on-the-move passing decisions. CANNOTANSWER
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On the fifth play of the opening game at the Giants, he suffered a concussion and was replaced by Bono,
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Jon Steven Young (born October 11, 1961) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. He also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Prior to his NFL career, he was a member of the Los Angeles Express in the United States Football League (USFL) for two seasons. Young played college football for Brigham Young University (BYU), setting school and NCAA records en route to being runner-up for the 1983 Heisman Trophy.
Young was named the AP's NFL Most Valuable Player in 1992 and 1994, and was the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX. During his 1994 MVP campaign, he set a new NFL record for passer rating at 112.8. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Young was an extremely efficient passer – leading the league in passer rating a record six times, and completion percentage and yards per attempt five times. At the time of his retirement, he had the highest passer rating among NFL quarterbacks with at least 1,500 passing attempts (96.8). As of the end of the 2020 season, he is ranked tenth all-time in passer rating, and is ranked fourth highest amongst retired players, behind only Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Tony Romo. His 43 career rushing touchdowns are second among quarterbacks, while his 4,239 rushing yards ranks fifth all time.
Early years
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Young attended Greenwich High School in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he played quarterback on its Cardinals football team. He earned 1978 All-FCIAC West Division First Team honors in his junior year, his first year as a starter. In his senior year he rushed for 13 touchdowns and earned All-FCIAC West Division First Team honors, and was named to the CIAC All-State team. In the rush-first option offense run by Greenwich he completed only 41 percent of his throws for 1,220 yards, but ran the ball 267 times for 1,928 yards. On Thanksgiving Day in November 1979, Greenwich lost to Darien High School, known for its "Tidal Wave Defense", 17–0. During his senior year, he was co-captain of the football, basketball and baseball teams. In basketball, he averaged 15 points a game. In baseball, he hit .384 and played center field when he wasn't pitching. He was 5–1 and threw a 3–0 no-hitter against New Canaan High School.
College football
Young was heavily recruited by the University of North Carolina. Coach Dick Crum was enamored by Young's running ability, and wanted him to run his option offense. Young instead chose BYU. Initially, he struggled at throwing the ball, and BYU's coaching staff considered switching him to defensive back because of his athleticism. However, he worked hard to improve his passing skills and eventually succeeded record-setting Jim McMahon as BYU's starting QB. Young's senior season (1983) was spectacular. He passed for 3,902 yards and 33 touchdowns in the regular season, and his 71.3% completion percentage set an NCAA single-season record. He also added 544 yards rushing. With Young at quarterback, BYU set an NCAA record by averaging 584.2 yards of total offense per game, with 370.5 of those yards coming from Young's passing and rushing. The Cougars finished the year with an impressive 11–1 record; Young was named a unanimous All-American and received the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, which recognizes the nation's best collegiate quarterback each year. He also finished second in voting for the Heisman Trophy, behind Nebraska running back Mike Rozier. Young capped his college career by scoring the game-winning touchdown on a pass from the halfback in BYU's 21–17 victory over Missouri in the 1983 Holiday Bowl.
Young finished his college career with 592 pass completions for 7,733 yards and 56 touchdowns, along with 1,048 yards and 18 touchdowns rushing. He was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001.
Professional football
USFL
Los Angeles Express
Young was selected by the Los Angeles Express in the first round (11th overall) of the 1984 USFL Draft. He signed a record ten-year, $40 million contract with the Express in He agreed to take his payment in the form of an annuity paid out over forty years to help the fledgling team.
It was taken for granted that Young would be the first pick in the 1984 NFL Draft, and that he would be selected by the Cincinnati Bengals, who were three years removed from the Super Bowl and had landed the No. 1 pick in a trade with the then-moribund Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, the Bengals still had Ken Anderson as their quarterback and planned to have Young sit behind Anderson for the 1984 season before possibly taking over in 1985. Young found that prospect unappealing, which opened the door for the Express. Express general manager Don Klosterman told Young that if he signed with the Express, his head coach would be John Hadl, a former All-Pro quarterback who had shepherded John Elway through his first year in the NFL. Klosterman also told Young that Hall of Fame coach Sid Gillman, who had been hired as a consultant, would tutor him on how to be a pro quarterback. Young was convinced, and signed with the Express.
At the time, it was another huge signing by the fledgling league, which had already succeeded in signing both the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, running back Mike Rozier of Nebraska; and the previous winner, Georgia running back Herschel Walker. After missing the first six games of his rookie season while taking some college classes in order to graduate on time, Young started the final twelve. He had a respectable year, highlighted by becoming the first pro football player ever to pass for 300 yards and rush for 100 in a single game. Despite being surrounded with talent which included such future NFL players as Jojo Townsell, Mel Gray, and Kevin Nelson, and making the playoffs in Young's first season, the Express was never able to create a sustaining fan base in Los Angeles.
Late in the season, The New York Times published an investigation of owner J. William Oldenburg's finances that suggested Oldenburg was not as well off as he claimed. The FBI had been investigating Oldenburg since the middle of the season. A week after the Times article, Oldenburg stopped paying the Express' bills, forcing the league to draw on the team's emergency line of credit to keep it going through the playoffs. Houston Gamblers minority partner Jay Roulier stepped in to buy the team, only to be pushed out when it emerged that he too had misrepresented his net worth. The league took control of the team and cut expenditures to the bare minimum. The other teams made contributions to keep the Express going through the season – enough to meet payroll, but not much else.
Under the circumstances, the 1985 season rapidly became a fiasco. Before one game, the team bus driver refused to drive the Express to their final home game – which had been moved to Los Angeles Pierce College in the San Fernando Valley – unless he was paid up front in cash. Young contributed some money, as did the team trainer, and the driver took them to the game. In the season finale at Orlando, Young had to line up at tailback because a rash of injuries had left the Express without any healthy running backs. The owners had refused to allocate any money to allow the Express to replace injured players.
It was reported that Young had insured the contract and would still be paid until 2027. However, a 1985 Los Angeles Times article stated that he received a $1.4 million settlement on the annuity.
The league ceased operations in 1986 after losing most of its claims in an antitrust suit against the NFL, with its top talent absorbed by the NFL in a dispersal draft conducted in the aftermath.
NFL
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Young grew increasingly dissatisfied with the disarray surrounding the Express. Just a week before what proved to be the last USFL title game, Young gave the USFL an ultimatum – find a new owner for the Express, or allow him to buy out his contract and go to the NFL. Soon after the league decided to suspend the Express's operations for the 1986 season, Young bought out his Express contract and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who had made him the first pick in a supplemental draft of USFL and CFL players a year earlier.
By this time, the Bucs were in the midst of what would be 12 consecutive 10-loss seasons. They posted identical 2–14 records in Young's two seasons with them, going 3–16 with him as a starter. Young threw for only 11 touchdowns with 21 interceptions while completing fewer than 55% of his passes.
San Francisco 49ers
The Buccaneers selected University of Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde first overall in the 1987 NFL Draft because Young was deemed a bust. Young was traded to the San Francisco 49ers on April 24, 1987 to serve as a backup to Joe Montana. 49ers coach Bill Walsh was impressed by Young's natural abilities, and believed his lackluster numbers were primarily due to the lack of talent around him in Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers received second and fourth round draft picks in the trade, which they used to draft Miami linebacker Winston Moss, and Arizona State wide receiver Bruce Hill, respectively.
Montana's backup: 1987–1990
Young played behind Montana for four years, but shone as a backup. Substituting for an injured Montana, early in the first quarter of a 1987 game against the Chicago Bears, he threw four touchdown passes in a 41–0 victory. In their 1987 divisional playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings, he replaced Montana in the second half after the team fell behind 27–10. The 49ers still lost the game, but Young had a good performance, completing 12 of 17 pass attempts for 158 yards and a touchdown, with one interception, while also leading San Francisco in rushing with 72 yards and a touchdown on six carries. On October 30, 1988, Young ran for a 49-yard, game-winning touchdown against the Vikings. He started the game out with a 73-yard touchdown pass to John Taylor, after Montana went down with an injury. The play earned the 49ers a 24–21 victory and a bit of revenge on the Vikings for their previous season's playoff loss. The win turned out to be crucial, as without it the 49ers would have finished the season 9–7 and missed the playoffs, as two other teams in their division, the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints, had 10–6 records. Instead, the 49ers won their division, earned the #2 playoff seed, and went on to win the Super Bowl.
In 1989, he displayed potential to become the team's starter in the future. While Montana won the NFL MVP award and led the team to victory in Super Bowl XXIV, Young still had a good season, completing 69% of his passes for 1,001 yards and eight touchdowns, with only three interceptions. On October 22, 1989, he posted a perfect passer rating of 158.3 when he completed 11 of 12 passes for 188 yards and three touchdown passes in a 37–20 victory over the New England Patriots.
He rushed for a career-high 102 yards on just eight carries against the New Orleans Saints on December 23, 1990, making him only the second 49ers quarterback to rush for at least 100 yards in a single game. The 49ers lost the game 13–10.
In his four seasons as a backup, Young threw 23 touchdown passes and only six interceptions.
1991 season
Following an injury to Montana's elbow in the 1990 NFC Championship Game, which forced him to miss the entire 1991 season, Young got his chance to lead the 49ers. He got off to a rough start. Midway through the season, the 49ers found themselves struggling with a 4–4 record. In the ninth game of the season, after throwing a franchise-record 97-yard touchdown pass to Taylor, Young suffered a knee injury and was replaced by backup quarterback Steve Bono. After a loss in that game and the next, Bono led the 49ers to five consecutive victories, playing so well that coach George Seifert decided to keep him in the starting lineup after Young had recovered. It wasn't until late in the 15th game of the season, after Bono went down with an injury of his own, that Young got to play again. Young then closed out the season by throwing for 338 yards and three touchdowns and also rushing for 63 yards and another touchdown in a 52–14 win over the Chicago Bears in a Monday Night Football game at Candlestick Park.
Young finished the season with an NFL best 101.8 passer rating. Despite missing five full games and most of a sixth, he still threw for 2,517 yards and 17 touchdowns with only 8 interceptions. But despite Young's strong season, the season for the team was widely regarded as a disappointment. The 49ers had slipped from a 14–2 record in the previous season to a 10–6 record in 1991. While 10 wins is usually enough to make the playoffs, this time it was not, and San Francisco ended up not playing in the postseason for the first time since 1982. It was thought by many that Young's days as the 49ers starter were numbered due to the impending return of Montana from the injury to his right elbow, and some observers said the 49ers should trade Young and keep Montana and Bono. However, the trade never happened.
1992 season: first MVP
By the start of the 1992 season, it appeared that Young's starting job was in serious peril. In addition to having to compete with Bono, Montana appeared to be close to recovering from his elbow tendon surgery. San Francisco came close to trading Young to the Los Angeles Raiders, but no deal was finalized and it turned out that Montana would not recover in time to start in the opening game. Montana would not return until the final game of the 1992 season, a Monday Night home game against the Detroit Lions. Montana played the entire second half of that final game and guided the 49ers to victory.
Young ended up as San Francisco's starting quarterback, but once again got off to a rough start. On the fifth play of the opening game at the Giants, he suffered a concussion and was replaced by Bono, who threw two touchdown passes while leading the 49ers to a 31–14 win. The following week, San Francisco lost 34–31 to the Buffalo Bills, despite a career-high 449 passing yards and three touchdowns from Young, in a game that for the first time in NFL history had zero punts from either team.
Young recovered and led the 49ers on a five-game winning streak, capped off by a 56–17 win over the Atlanta Falcons in which Young passed for 399 yards and three touchdowns. After missing most of the next game (a 24–14 loss to the Cardinals) with the flu, he led San Francisco to victory in all of their remaining games of the season, giving the team a 14–2 record. He went on to throw for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns, and rush for 73 yards, in a 20–13 divisional playoff win over the Washington Redskins. The 49ers lost the NFC title game, however, 30–20 against the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys. Young threw for 313 yards, completing 71.4% of his passes while passing for one touchdown and rushing for another. He also threw two interceptions, but the final one came with the outcome of the game already decided.
Young finished the season with 3,465 passing yards and 537 rushing yards, along with an NFL-best 25 touchdown passes and 107.0 passer rating, earning him the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and his first selection to the Pro Bowl. He was the first quarterback ever to record a triple-digit rating in consecutive seasons. Many credit Young's turnaround to the mentoring of the 49ers' new offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, who worked with Young on combining his running skill with on-the-move passing decisions.
1993 season
Before the start of the 1993 season, team owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. announced that he wanted Montana to resume his role as starting quarterback for the 49ers. However, a rift in the locker room had developed, with players split on whom they wanted at quarterback. In the spring of 1993, at Montana's request, San Francisco traded Montana to the Kansas City Chiefs. Young was now the 49ers' undisputed starter, and would remain so for the rest of his career. But once again, he had a rough start to the season. Over the first four games of 1993, Young, who was hindered by a swollen thumb on his throwing hand, threw eight interceptions, more than he had thrown during the entire 1992 season. But after his thumb healed, Young went on an incredible streak over a span of seven games, throwing 16 touchdown passes with only 2 interceptions and a 122.2 passer rating. By the end of the year, Young set franchise records for most passing yards (4,023), and consecutive passes thrown without an interception (189), (later eclipsed by Alex Smith in 2012) while leading the NFL in touchdown passes (29) and passer rating (101.5). The team slipped to a 10–6 record, but advanced to the NFC championship game again by blowing out the New York Giants 44–3 in the divisional round. However, once again they were defeated by the Dallas Cowboys, this time 38–21.
1994 season: second MVP and Super Bowl run
After several key free agent signings including All-Pro cornerback Deion Sanders and NFL Draft selections, the 49ers looked to win their first Super Bowl since 1989. They started fast, beating the Los Angeles Raiders 44–14 on the strength of four touchdown passes from Young, one of four games during the regular season in which he had at least four. After a loss in a much-anticipated game to Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs, the 49ers won their next two games before losing to the Philadelphia Eagles 40–8 at Candlestick Park, a game in which Young was eventually benched in the middle of an offensive series. Although head coach George Seifert later said he only pulled Young because he was getting manhandled by the Eagles' defense, Young had had enough of being scapegoated for 49er shortfalls and loudly (and visibly) lambasted Seifert over his decision while standing on the sideline during the game.
But the game was considered a turning point in the season; from there, Young led the team to 10 consecutive wins, by an average of 20 points, before losing the meaningless finale against the Vikings in which Young completed his first 12 of 13 attempts before going to the sidelines. They finished an NFL best 13–3, securing home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. The 49ers had the number-one offense in the NFL, and were so dominant that Seifert often took Young out of games early if he felt that the 49ers had an insurmountable lead at the time.
After an easy 44–15 victory over the Chicago Bears in the divisional round of the playoffs, the 49ers jumped out to a 31–14 halftime lead over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game, holding on to win 38–28. Young threw for two touchdowns, while adding 47 yards and another touchdown on the ground. As a result, he went to his first Super Bowl as a starting quarterback. The 49ers were heavy favorites to become the first team with five Super Bowl victories.
On the strength of a six-touchdown performance that surpassed the previous Super Bowl record of five, owned by the man Young replaced, Joe Montana, Steve Young was named the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX, as the 49ers defeated the San Diego Chargers, 49–26. Young also threw for 325 yards and rushed for 49 yards, making him the first player ever to finish a Super Bowl as the game's leader in both rushing and passing yards.
The victory capped off an incredible year for Young, who had one of the best seasons by a quarterback in NFL history. He threw for 3,969 yards, a then-franchise record 35 touchdown passes with only 10 interceptions, completed 70.3 percent of his passes – the highest completion percentage of the 1990s, third all-time, and at the time, the best completion percentage by any quarterback with more than 400 attempts (later eclipsed by Drew Brees in 2009). Additionally, Young broke Joe Montana's single-season mark with a then-record 112.8 passer rating, and also once again demonstrated his great scrambling ability, accumulating another 289 yards and 7 touchdowns on the ground. For his record-breaking season performances, Young was awarded his second AP NFL MVP award, becoming the 7th player in NFL history to win both league and Super Bowl MVP honors in the same season.
Later years and injuries
In the three years following Super Bowl XXIX, the 49ers would be eliminated each year by Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers, twice in San Francisco. In addition to the early playoff exits, Young suffered a series of injuries that forced him to miss several games from 1995 to 1997. Young entered the 1998 season at age 37 and some began to wonder if his skills would diminish because of his history of injuries and a general decline in his game due to age. However, he silenced all critics once again, putting up career numbers in passing yards (4,170) and passing touchdowns (36). The 49ers finally beat Favre and the Packers in an NFC wild card game that year, as Young threw the winning touchdown to wide receiver Terrell Owens with three seconds remaining to win the game 30–27. In reference to Dwight Clark's legendary catch against the Dallas Cowboys in the 1981 NFC championship game, Owens's grab was called "The Catch II". A week later, however, Garrison Hearst broke his ankle on the 49ers' first play from scrimmage. Without the threat of a running game, Young threw three interceptions (the last one a Hail Mary pass with under 30 seconds remaining in the game) and the 49ers were defeated by the Atlanta Falcons 20–18. Over that span of seasons from 1995 to 1998, Young led the NFL in passer rating twice (in 1996 and 1997), and led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes in 1998.
The 1999 season would turn out to be Young's last in the NFL. Young was plagued by concussions throughout his career. During a Week 3 Monday Night Football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Young was violently sacked by Cardinals cornerback Aeneas Williams on a blitz. Running back Lawrence Phillips was supposed to pick up Williams, but missed. Young was knocked out of the game with a concussion, and didn't return again for the rest of the season due to symptoms of post-concussion syndrome. The concussion he suffered against the Cardinals was reportedly his second in a season that was only three weeks old, and the seventh (at least) of his career. Following the season, the 49ers told him that he would be released if he did not retire. Although Young was offered a job as the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos (where his former offensive coordinator, Mike Shanahan, was the head coach), he retired because of his repeated concussions. In a 2013 Frontline interview, Young said that, partially based upon their own experiences, he and many retired players are increasingly concerned about repeated concussions and subconcussive hits. He is particularly concerned about certain positions that take frequent hits, such as running backs and linemen.
Career statistics and records
USFL career
NFL career
Records and legacy
Although Young did not become the 49ers' starter until his 8th NFL season, and he played a full season only three times (all consecutively) during his 15-year career, Young had a significant impact on the NFL. A two-time league MVP, he completed 2,667 of 4,149 passes for 33,124 yards and 232 touchdowns, with 107 interceptions, and 43 rushing touchdowns. His 96.8 career passer rating is the sixth highest in NFL history and second highest among retired players, behind Tony Romo; his 4,239 rushing yards are the fourth most ever gained by a quarterback, behind Michael Vick, Cam Newton, and Randall Cunningham. He was the NFL's top rated passer in six different seasons and led the league in touchdown passes four times. In 20 postseason games, he threw 20 touchdown passes with only 13 interceptions, and scored 8 touchdowns on the ground. In his stint with the San Francisco 49ers, Young passed for 29,907 yards, 221 touchdowns, and 86 interceptions, with a passer rating of 101.4, highest in franchise history. He was also sacked 290 times, also most in franchise history.
NFL records
Tenth highest passer rating, career, including active players – 96.8
Fourth highest passer rating, career, retired players only – 96.8
Eighth highest career completion percentage, retired players – 64.3%
Most times led the league in passer rating, career – 6 (tied w/ Sammy Baugh)
Most consecutive times led the league in passer rating – 4 (1991–94)
One of seven QBs to lead the league in touchdown passes 4 times (tied with Johnny Unitas, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Len Dawson)
Most passes attempted, playoff game – 65 vs. Green Bay, 1995
Most TD passes, playoff game – 6 (tied w/Daryle Lamonica & Tom Brady)
Most TD passes in one Super Bowl – 6
Most rushing yards by a QB, postseason career – 594
Most rushing touchdowns by a QB, postseason career – 8
49ers records
Highest completion percentage (20+ Atts) (Game): vs Detroit (10/20/91), 90.0
Most average yards per attempt (20+ Atts) (Game): vs Detroit (12/19/93), 15.39
Most touchdown passes (season): 36 (1998)
Best completion percentage (season): 70.3 (1994)
Best passer rating (season): 112.8 (1994)
Most 300-yard passing games (season): 7 (1998)
Best passer rating (career): 101.4
Most average yards per attempt (career): 8.20
Most consecutive games with a touchdown pass: 18, at Det. (10/9/94) to vs. StL (11/26/95) note: (DNP in 5 games in 1995)
Best completion percentage (career): 65.8
Most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (career): 43
In 1999, he was ranked No. 63 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. Young was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on February 5, 2005; he was the first left-handed quarterback to be so honored. He was enshrined August 7, 2005. His induction speech was given by his father, LeGrande "Grit" Young.
The San Francisco 49ers had his No. 8 jersey retired during a halftime ceremony against the New England Patriots on October 5, 2008. He was the 11th player in team history to receive this honor. He is also the only 49er in team history to wear No. 8.
Post-football
Business career
In 1994, Young received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School.
In 2000, Young spoke at the Republican National Convention.
In 2007, Young co-founded Huntsman Gay Global Capital (HGGC), with billionaire industrialist Jon M. Huntsman and former Bain Capital executive Robert C. Gay. After being involved in business ventures with the private equity firm, he has continued to serve as a managing director.
In 2011, Young was one of several notable BYU athletes and coaches who appeared in the school's "Real Cougar" advertising campaign, which featured the individuals telling an actual cougar about being a "real cougar". In one of the ads, Young poked fun at himself:
Young: I love BYU so much I even got my law degree here.
Cougar: (growls)
Young: Lawyers... I know.
Acting career
Young has both performed dramatic roles and appeared as himself in a limited acting career. He appeared in one episode of Frasier and one episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (cast as Lois' former high school football quarterback boyfriend, Joe Maloy). He also made a guest appearance as himself in the Dharma & Greg episode "Are You Ready for Some Football?" encouraging Dharma, the team's Number One Fan. In 1995, Young appeared as himself in the Season 6, Episode 12 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. He also made cameo appearances in the LDS comedy The Singles Ward (2002) and in a season 5 episode of BYUtv's Studio C (2014). Young also made a guest appearance as himself in season 8 of the NBC comedy series Wings in the episode "Just Call Me Angel".
Young was originally offered a part in the 1998 movie There's Something About Mary, but turned the role down. He was replaced by Brett Favre.
Philanthropy
Young serves as a National Advisor to ASCEND: A Humanitarian Alliance. This non-profit organization plans expeditions to African and South American countries to provide life skills mentoring with sustainable solutions in education, enterprise, health and simple technology.
In 1993, Young founded a charitable foundation known as the Forever Young Foundation, which serves children facing significant physical, emotional, and financial challenges by providing academic, athletic, and therapeutic opportunities otherwise unavailable to them.
Young also serves as the national spokesman for an organization founded by former Save Darfur Coalition executive director and founder, David Rubenstein. He began his affiliation with the organization in 2009, when he became the honorary league commissioner for their charitable dodgeball tournaments held on college campuses nationwide.
Personal life
Young is a great-great-great-nephew of Brigham Young, second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for whom BYU is named. His father, LeGrande "Grit" Young, played football at BYU in the late 1950s. He led the school in scoring in 1955 and in rushing and total offense in 1959. Steve Young's younger brothers, Mike and Tom, both played quarterback at BYU after Steve, but neither received much playing time.
Young has been married to Barbara Graham since 2000. They have two sons and two daughters. According to A Football Life: As his playing career ended before his eldest child was born, he wrote his autobiography QB: My Life Behind the Spiral initially as a private memoir for his children.
See also
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
List of NCAA major college football yearly passing leaders
List of NCAA major college football yearly total offense leaders
List of NFL quarterbacks who have posted a perfect passer rating
References
External links
1961 births
All-American college football players
American color commentators
American football quarterbacks
American male television actors
American philanthropists
Brigham Young University alumni
BYU Cougars football players
College Football Hall of Fame inductees
Greenwich High School alumni
J. Reuben Clark Law School alumni
Latter Day Saints from California
Latter Day Saints from Connecticut
Latter Day Saints from Utah
Living people
Los Angeles Express players
National Conference Pro Bowl players
National Football League Most Valuable Player Award winners
National Football League Offensive Player of the Year Award winners
National Football League players with retired numbers
Players of American football from Connecticut
Players of American football from Salt Lake City
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
Richards–Young family
San Francisco 49ers players
Sportspeople from Greenwich, Connecticut
Super Bowl MVPs
Tampa Bay Buccaneers players
Utah Republicans
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"How Did This Get Made? is a comedy podcast on the Earwolf network hosted by Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas.\n\nGenerally, How Did This Get Made? is released every two weeks. During the show's off-week, a \".5\" episode is uploaded featuring Scheer announcing the next week's movie, as well as challenges for the fans. In addition to the shows and mini-shows, the How Did This Get Made? stream hosted the first three episodes of Bitch Sesh, the podcast of previous guests Casey Wilson and Danielle Schneider, in December 2015. It has also hosted episodes of its own spin-off podcast, the How Did This Get Made? Origin Stories, in which Blake Harris interviews people involved with the films covered by the main show. In December 2017, an episode was recorded for the Pee Cast Blast event, and released exclusively on Stitcher Premium.\n\nEvery episode has featured Paul Scheer as the host of the podcast. The only episode to date in which Scheer hosted remotely was The Smurfs, in which he Skyped in. Raphael has taken extended breaks from the podcast for both filming commitments and maternity leave. Mantzoukas has also missed episodes due to work, but has also Skyped in for various episodes. On the occasions that neither Raphael nor Mantzoukas are available for live appearances, Scheer calls in previous fan-favorite guests for what is known as a How Did This Get Made? All-Stars episode.\n\nList of episodes\n\nMini episodes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n List of How Did This Get Made? episodes\n\nHow Did This Get Made\nHow Did This Get Made",
"Moe Segal was a Grey Cup champion Canadian Football League player. He played offensive guard and tackle.\n\nA native Québécois, Segal played football with Ottawa Technical High School. He won the Grey Cup with the champion St. Hyacinthe-Donnacona Navy team in 1944 (unfortunately Segal was injured just before the championship game and did not get to play.) He played with the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1946 and the Ottawa Trojans in 1947.\n\nReferences\n\n1925 births\nPeople from Outaouais\nOttawa Rough Riders players\nOntario Rugby Football Union players\n2016 deaths\nPlayers of Canadian football from Quebec\nSt. Hyacinthe-Donnacona Navy football players"
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"Kevin Durant",
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C_f0baba80a9794299b0e55746c6b38b78_1
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What year did he join
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What year did Kevin Durant join?
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Kevin Durant
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In February 2007, Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp. Despite a strong performance, he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit. Coach Mike Krzyzewski cited the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor in making the cut. Durant was finally selected to the national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and became their leader as other All-Stars were unavailable, a role he downplayed. At the tournament, he led Team USA to its first FIBA World Championship since 1994, earning MVP honors in the process. His final averages for the competition were 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in nine games. At the 2012 Olympics, Durant set the record for total points scored in an Olympic basketball tournament. With averages of 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, he helped the national team go undefeated en route to a gold medal. In the tournament's final game, he led all scorers with 30 points. Less than a month before the start of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Durant announced that he would be dropping out of the competition, citing mental and physical exhaustion as reasons for his departure. He rejoined Team USA in 2016 for the Olympics, where he led them to a gold medal. In recognition of his performances, Durant was named the 2016 co-USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, along with Carmelo Anthony, for the second time in his career. CANNOTANSWER
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Kevin Wayne Durant (; born September 29, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for the Texas Longhorns, and was selected as the second overall pick by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2007 NBA draft. He played nine seasons with the franchise, which became the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008, before signing with the Golden State Warriors in 2016, winning consecutive NBA championships in 2017 and 2018. After sustaining an Achilles injury in the 2019 finals, he joined the Nets as a free agent that summer. Durant has often been called the best player in the NBA and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
Durant was a heavily recruited high school prospect who was widely regarded as the second-best player in his class. In college, he won numerous year-end awards and became the first freshman to be named Naismith College Player of the Year. As a professional, he has won two NBA championships, an NBA Most Valuable Player Award, two Finals MVP Awards, two NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Awards, four NBA scoring titles, the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, been named to nine All-NBA teams (including six First Teams), and selected 12 times as an NBA All-Star. In October 2021, Durant was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. In international play as a member of USA Basketball, Durant has won three Olympic gold medals (2012, 2016, and 2020) and the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
Off the court, Durant is one of the highest-earning basketball players in the world, due in part to endorsement deals with companies such as Foot Locker and Nike. He has developed a reputation for philanthropy and regularly leads the league in All-Star votes and jersey sales. In recent years, he has contributed to The Players' Tribune as both a photographer and writer. In 2012, he ventured into acting, appearing in the film Thunderstruck.
Early life
Durant was born on September 29, 1988, in Washington, D.C., to Wanda (née Durant) and Wayne Pratt. When Durant was an infant, his father deserted the family; Wanda and Wayne eventually divorced, and Durant's grandmother Barbara Davis helped raise him. By age 13, his father reentered his life and traveled the country with him to basketball tournaments. Durant has a sister, Brianna, and two brothers, Tony and Rayvonne.
Durant and his siblings grew up in Prince George's County, Maryland, on the eastern outskirts of Washington, D.C. He was unusually tall from a young age, and reached in height while still in middle school (age 10-12). Growing up, Durant wanted to play for his favorite team, the Toronto Raptors, which included his favorite player, Vince Carter. He played Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball for several teams in the Maryland area and was teammates with future NBA players Michael Beasley, Greivis Vásquez, and Ty Lawson, the first of whom Durant remains friends with to this day. During this time, he began wearing #35 as his jersey number in honor of his AAU coach, Charles Craig, who was murdered at the age of 35.
After playing two years of high school basketball at National Christian Academy and one year at Oak Hill Academy, Durant transferred to Montrose Christian School for his senior year, growing before the start of the season and beginning the year at .
Prior to the start of the season, he committed to the University of Texas at Austin. He had visited University of Connecticut and University of North Carolina, and said he considered Duke University, University of Kentucky and University of Louisville. When asked why he chose a college with a lesser-known program, he said, "Wanted to set my own path."
At the end of the year, he was named the Washington Post All-Met Basketball Player of the Year, as well as the Most Valuable Player of the 2006 McDonald's All-American Game. He was widely regarded as the second-best high school prospect of 2006, behind Greg Oden.
College career
For the 2006–07 college season, Durantwho had grown to averaged 25.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game for the Texas Longhorns. They finished the year with a 25–10 record overall and a 12–4 record in conference. Awarded a fourth seed in the NCAA Tournament, Texas won their first round match-up against New Mexico State but were upset in the second round by USC despite a 30-point and 9-rebound performance from Durant. For his outstanding play, Durant was recognized as the unanimous national player of the year, winning the John R. Wooden Award, the Naismith College Player of the Year Award, and all eight other widely recognized honors and awards. This made Durant the first freshman to win any of the national player of the year awards. Following the season, he declared for the NBA draft. His No. 35 jersey was later retired by the Longhorns.
Professional career
Seattle SuperSonics / Oklahoma City Thunder (2007–2016)
Rookie of the Year (2007–2008)
Durant was selected as the second overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, after Greg Oden was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the first pick of the draft. In his first regular season game, the 19-year-old Durant registered 18 points, five rebounds and three steals against the Denver Nuggets. On November 16, he made the first game-winning shot of his career in a game against the Atlanta Hawks. At the conclusion of the 2007–08 NBA season, he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year following averages of 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He joined Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James as the only teenagers in league history to average at least 20 points per game over an entire season.
Breakthrough (2008–2010)
Following Durant's debut season, the SuperSonics relocated from Seattle to Oklahoma City, becoming the Thunder and switching to new colors – blue, orange, and yellow. The team also drafted UCLA guard Russell Westbrook, who would form an All-Star combination with Durant in later years. At the 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend, Durant set a Rookie Challenge record with 46 points. By the conclusion of the 2008–09 NBA season, he had raised his scoring average by five points from the prior season to 25.3 points per game, and was considered a strong candidate for the Most Improved Player Award, eventually finishing third in the voting. Durant continued to grow during his first few years in the NBA, finally reaching a height of .
During the 2009–10 season, Durant was selected to his first NBA All-Star Game. Behind his play, the Thunder improved their record by 27 wins from the previous year and defied expectations to make the playoffs. With a scoring average of 30.1 points per game, Durant became the youngest NBA scoring champion and was selected to his first All-NBA team. In his playoff debut, he scored 24 points in a Game 1 loss against the Los Angeles Lakers. Oklahoma City would go on to lose the series in six games, but the team's performance led many analysts to label them as an upcoming title contender.
Deep playoff runs (2010–2013)
Prior to the start of the 2010–11 season, Durant announced via Twitter that he had signed a five-year contract extension with the Thunder worth approximately $86 million. For the second consecutive year, he led the NBA in scoring, averaging 27.7 points a game. Behind Durant's leadership, the Thunder won 55 games and earned the fourth seed in the Western Conference. In the 2011 NBA playoffs, Oklahoma City defeated the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies en route to a Conference Finals match-up versus the Dallas Mavericks, losing in five games.
On February 19 of the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season, Durant recorded his first career 50-point game, scoring 51 points against the Denver Nuggets. At the All-Star Game, he scored 36 points and was awarded the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award. Durant finished the year with a scoring average of 28 points per game, representing his third straight scoring title. Behind his play, the Thunder won 47 games and entered the 2012 NBA playoffs as the Western Conference's second seed. In Game 1 of the first round against the Dallas Mavericks, Durant hit a game-winner with 1.5 seconds remaining. Oklahoma City would go on to defeat Dallas, the Lakers, and the San Antonio Spurs before losing to the Miami Heat in the 2012 NBA Finals. For the NBA Finals, Durant led all players with 30.6 points per game, doing so on a 54.8 shooting rate.
With a scoring average of 28.1 points per game to finish the 2012–13 season, Durant failed to defend his scoring title; however, with a 51 percent shooting rate, a 41.6 percent three point shooting rate, and a 90.5 free throw shooting rate, he became the youngest player in NBA history to join the 50–40–90 club. Finishing the year with a 60–22 record, Oklahoma City earned the first seed in the Western Conference. In the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs against the Houston Rockets, Westbrook tore his meniscus, forcing him to miss the remainder of the postseason. Without Westbrook, Durant was given more responsibility, averaging a career-high 30.8 points per game throughout the playoffs, but Oklahoma City were eventually eliminated in the second round by the Memphis Grizzlies in five games.
MVP season (2013–14)
In January of the 2013–14 season, Durant averaged 35.9 points per game while scoring 30 or more points in 12 straight games, including a career-high 54 points against the Golden State Warriors. In April, he surpassed Michael Jordan's record for consecutive games scoring 25 points or more at 41. The Thunder finished the year with 59 wins and Durant was voted the NBA Most Valuable Player behind averages of 32 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. To begin the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs, he struggled against the physical play of the Grizzlies, converting on only 24 percent of his field goals in Game 4. Through five games, the Thunder trailed the series 3–2, prompting The Oklahoman to dub Durant "Mr. Unreliable". He responded by scoring 36 points in a Game 6 victory. Oklahoma City eventually eliminated Memphis and the Los Angeles Clippers before losing to the Spurs in the Conference Finals in six games.
Final seasons with the Thunder (2014–2016)
Prior to the start of the 2014–15 season, Durant was diagnosed with a Jones fracture in his right foot and was ruled out for six to eight weeks. He subsequently missed the first 17 games of the year, making his season debut for the Thunder on December 2 against the New Orleans Pelicans. On December 18, he injured his ankle against the Golden State Warriors, returning to action on December 31 against the Phoenix Suns to score a season-high 44 points. He then sprained his left big toe in late January. On February 22, he was sidelined again after undergoing a minor procedure to help reduce pain and discomfort in his surgically repaired right foot, and on March 27, he was officially ruled out for the rest of the season after deciding to undergo foot surgery. In just 27 games, he averaged 25.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game.
To begin the 2015–16 season, Durant and Westbrook reached several historical milestones together, including becoming the first pair of teammates to each score at least 40 points in a single game since 1996, doing so in a win over the Orlando Magic on October 30. For the year, Durant averaged 28.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game, leading the Thunder to 55 wins and the third seed in the West. In Game 2 of the first round of the 2016 NBA playoffs against the Mavericks, he scored 21 points but converted only 7 out of 33 shots in the worst postseason shooting performance, both by percentage and number of misses, of his career. After defeating Dallas, Oklahoma City moved on to face the Spurs in the second round, falling behind 2–1 to start the series. In Game 4, Durant tied his playoff career high with 41 points in a Thunder win. Oklahoma City eventually defeated the Spurs in six games, drawing a matchup with the record-setting 73-win Golden State Warriors in the Conference Finals. Despite going up 3–1, the Thunder were ousted in seven games, with Durant providing 27 points in Game 7.
Golden State Warriors (2016–2019)
2016 free agency
On July 4, Durant announced his intentions to sign with the Warriors in The Players' Tribune. The move was received negatively by fans and pundits, who felt that he took the easy route by leaving a team that had been up 3–1 and close to reaching the Finals to instead join their opponents, who had defeated them and were coming off a record-setting 73-win season; the Warriors had also won a championship the year before. On July 7, Durant officially signed with Golden State on a two-year, $54.3 million contract with a player option after the first year. Reflecting on the move for Sports Illustrated, Ben Golliver wrote, "He chose an ideal roster fit and a shot at playing for the highest-scoring offense the NBA has seen in decades. He chose life alongside Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the greatest shooting backcourt in history, and he chose to go against Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green, two elite defenders, in practices rather than in Western Conference finals games."
Back-to-back championships (2016–2018)
Durant made his debut for the Warriors on October 25 against the San Antonio Spurs, scoring a team-high 27 points in a blowout loss. On November 26, he recorded 28 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and a career-high six blocked shots in a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, becoming the first player in team history to finish with at least 25 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and five blocks in a single game. On February 11, in his first game back in Oklahoma City since leaving for Golden State, Durant scored 34 points while being booed throughout the night as he helped the Warriors defeat the Thunder for the third time that year. In March, Durant suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain and a tibial bone bruise, which forced him to miss the final 19 games of the season. Golden State finished the year with a 67–15 record and entered the playoffs as the first seed.
Durant returned from injury in time for the 2017 NBA playoffs and helped the Warriors advance to their third consecutive Finals, while also becoming the first team in league history to start the postseason 12–0. In Game 1 of the series, Durant had 38 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists to lead the Warriors past LeBron James and the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers. Durant then helped the Warriors go up 3–0 in the series with a 31-point effort in Game 3, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 45.3 seconds left in regulation. In Game 5, he scored 39 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists in a series-clinching win. For the Finals, Durant was the Golden State's top scorer in every game, averaging 35.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 5.4 assists while shooting 55.5 percent from the field, 47.4 percent from three-point range, and 92.7 percent from the free throw line. He was subsequently named the NBA Finals MVP.
After the Finals, Durant declined his $27.7 million player option and became an unrestricted free agent. On July 25, he re-signed with the Warriors for less money than the maximum, which helped the franchise create enough salary cap space to keep their core roster intact and add free agents. On January 10 of the 2017–18 season, Durant scored 40 points in a loss to the Clippers, becoming the second-youngest player in league history to reach the 20,000-point milestone. On January 23, he registered a career-high 14 assists in a win over the New York Knicks. On February 14, he scored a season-high 50 points in a loss to the Trail Blazers. In March, he missed games with a fractured rib, joining teammates Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson on the sidelines for the back-end of the season. Golden State eventually finished the year with 58 wins and Durant set a career high for blocks in season with 119.
In Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Durant scored 37 points in a win over the higher-seeded Houston Rockets. Through six games, the Warriors found themselves trailing 3–2, and Durant was criticized for contributing to Golden State's struggles by playing too much in isolation. The Warriors staved off elimination in Game 6, and in Game 7, Durant scored 34 points, helping Golden State return to the Finals with a series-clinching victory. In Game 3 of the 2018 NBA Finals, Durant recorded a playoff career-high 43 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists in a win over the Cavaliers, leading the Warriors to a 3–0 advantage. Golden State ultimately swept Cleveland and clinched a second straight championship; with averages of 28.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 7.5 assists, Durant also won his second Finals MVP Award.
Three-peat chase and injury (2018–2019)
On July 7, 2018, Durant re-signed with the Warriors, on a reported two-year, $61.5 million contract, which included a player option for the second year. During an overtime loss to the Clippers on November 12, 2018, Green cursed out Durant over his upcoming free agency status after the season, and he was suspended for the much-publicized blowup. On November 29, Durant scored a season-high 51 points in a 131–128 overtime loss to the Toronto Raptors, thus scoring 40 or more in his third straight game. With Curry and Green sidelined for most of November, the Warriors finished the month with a 15–8 record and five straight road losses, after starting the season at 10–1.
In Game 5 of the first round of the playoffs, he scored a playoff career-high 45 points in a 129–121 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. In Game 6, he set a new playoff career high with 50 points in a 129–110 win to close out the series. During Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets, Durant suffered a right calf strain, subsequently missing Game 6, in which the Warriors won the series, as well as the entire Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers, which the Warriors won in a four-game sweep.
After missing nine games with the strained right calf, Durant returned to action in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals against Toronto, and scored 11 points in the first quarter. However, he was lost for the game two minutes into the second quarter when he tried to drive by former teammate Serge Ibaka and suffered an Achilles tendon injury, falling and grabbing his lower right calf. He limped off the court and was helped to the locker room. The Warriors won the game to cut the Raptors' series lead to 3–2. The Warriors went on to lose the NBA Finals in Game 6, ending their quest for a three-peat.
Brooklyn Nets (2019–present)
Year absence (2019–2020)
On June 30, 2019, Durant announced that he planned to sign with the Brooklyn Nets after the July moratorium ended on July 6. On July 1, Golden State CEO Joe Lacob announced that Durant's No. 35 will no longer be issued by the Warriors. Durant signed with Brooklyn on July 7, in a sign-and-trade deal. Durant did not appear at all in the 2019–20 season and later revealed that he had decided shortly after his June 2019 injury that he would be sitting out the entire 2019–20 season. On March 17, 2020, Durant and three other Nets players tested positive for COVID-19. On April 1, it was announced that Durant was cleared and had recovered.
Return to the court (2020–2021)
On December 22, 2020, Durant made his Nets debut, putting up 22 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, in a 125–99 win over the Golden State Warriors. On January 14, 2021, James Harden was traded to the Nets in a blockbuster four-team deal, reuniting Durant with his former Thunder teammate. On January 16, 2021, Durant scored a season-high 42 points in a 122–115 win over the Orlando Magic. On February 5, due to health and safety protocols, Durant came off the bench for the first time in his career in a 117–123 loss to the Toronto Raptors. In February, Durant suffered a hamstring injury, which forced him to miss 23 games. On April 2, the NBA fined Durant $50,000 for private messages he sent through social media to actor Michael Rapaport in a feud. Durant made his return on April 7, 2021, scoring 17 points off the bench in a 139–119 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. The Nets finished the season with a 48–24 record, and the second seed in the East.
In Game 4 of the first round of the playoffs, Durant scored 42 points in a 141–126 win over the Boston Celtics to take a 3–1 lead in the series. In Game 5, he scored 24 points in a 123–109 win to close out the series. In Game 1 against the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference semifinals, Durant had 29 points and 10 rebounds in a 115–107 win. In Game 5, Durant put up 49 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists, leading the Nets to a 114–108 comeback win. In Game 7 against the Bucks, Durant dropped 48 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists, including a two-pointer to send the game into overtime, in the 115–111 loss; Durant's 48 points were the most in a Game 7 in NBA playoff history.
2021–22
On August 8, 2021, Durant signed a four-year, $198 million extension with the Brooklyn Nets. On October 22, Durant recorded his thirteenth career triple-double, and first as a Net with 29 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists in a 114–109 comeback win over the Philadelphia 76ers. On November 10, Durant scored 30 points on 11-for-12 shooting in a 123–90 win over the Orlando Magic. On December 12, Durant scored a season-high 51 points in a 116–104 win over the Detroit Pistons. On December 14, Durant recorded his fourteenth career triple-double with 34 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists in a 131–129 overtime win over the Toronto Raptors. On December 16, Durant scored 34 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, dished out 8 assists in a 114–105 win against the Philadelphia 76ers. On January 15, 2022, during a 120–105 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, Durant exited in the second quarter after suffering a left knee injury, later revealed to be a sprained MCL, and was subsequently ruled out for four to six weeks.
National team career
In February 2007, Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp. Despite a strong performance, he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit. Coach Mike Krzyzewski cited the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor in making the cut. Durant was finally selected to the national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and became their leader as other All-Stars were unavailable, a role he downplayed. At the tournament, he led Team USA to its first FIBA World Championship since 1994, earning tournament MVP honors in the process. His final averages for the competition were 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in nine games.
At the 2012 Olympics, Durant set the record for total points scored in an Olympic basketball tournament. With averages of 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, he helped the national team go undefeated en route to a gold medal. In the tournament's final game, he led all scorers with 30 points.
Less than a month before the start of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Durant announced that he would be dropping out of the competition, citing mental and physical exhaustion as reasons for his departure. He rejoined Team USA on the 2016 Olympic team, where he led them to a gold medal. In recognition of his performances, Durant was named the 2016 co-USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, along with Carmelo Anthony, for the second time in his career.
Durant committed to playing on the 2020 Olympic team, delayed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He entered the Games ranked second in U.S. men's Olympic basketball history with 311 career points, needing 25 to match Anthony's record of 336. Durant broke Anthony's record on July 31 against the Czech Republic. He led Team USA to a gold medal.
Player profile
Durant's height is officially and his primary position is small forward. In December 2016, Durant stated that his height in shoes was actually and that he understated his height in order to be listed as a small forward, rather than a power forward. His career averages are 27.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. Widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation, Durant has earned All-NBA honors nine times (2009–2014, 2016–2019) and was voted Rookie of the Year in his debut season. He has also won an MVP Award and finished second in the voting three times, a trend that he has expressed frustration over.
Durant is best known for his prodigious scoring ability. From 2010 to 2014, he won four scoring titles, becoming one of only two players to win four scoring titles in a five-year span. Early in his career, his playing style was isolation-driven, but he quickly developed into an excellent off-ball player who was capable of scoring from the outside as well. By 2013, he was shooting at a historically great clip, which helped him become one of only nine members of the 50–40–90 club. This ability to impact the offense in a variety of ways helped Durant remain effective and improve an already elite offense upon joining the Warriors in 2016. Throughout his career, his height and wingspan have created matchup problems for defenses as he is able to get off a clean shot regardless of the situation. Upon beating his man or gaining momentum, he also becomes a strong finisher at the rim; for example, he converted 72.2% of shots in the paint in 2012.
Early in Durant's career, he was criticized for his slim build, defense, and passing. Over time, he grew as a playmaker, increasing his assist numbers every year from 2010 to 2014, though his overall vision still lagged behind the league's best passers'. He also showed defensive improvement, with opponents averaging just .62 points per isolation play against him in 2014, the best success rate for defensive players who faced at least 100 isolations that season. Upon going to Golden State, he developed into a more reliable off-ball defender and rim protector, and in 2018 was considered for the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Personal life
Durant is very close with his mother, Wanda, a relationship that was detailed in the Lifetime movie The Real MVP: The Wanda Pratt Story. During his time with the Thunder, Durant described himself as a "high school kid" who enjoys playing video games in his spare time. A Christian, Durant has religious tattoos on his stomach, wrist, and back. He owns several properties in the Oklahoma City area and listed his primary residence, located in the affluent Club Villa neighborhood, for sale for $1.95 million in 2013. That same year, he opened a restaurant, KD's Southern Cuisine, in the Bricktown neighborhood and briefly became engaged to Monica Wright, a WNBA player. In 2016, he was a credentialed photographer for The Players' Tribune at Super Bowl 50.
Durant was formerly represented by agents Aaron Goodwin and Rob Pelinka. He left Pelinka in 2013 and signed with the Roc Nation group, headed by Jay-Z. Durant has endorsement deals with Nike, Sprint, Gatorade, Panini, General Electric, and 2K Sports. In 2012, he tried his hand at acting, appearing in the children's film Thunderstruck. In 2013, he earned $35 million, making him the fourth-highest-earning basketball player that year. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Durant claimed that, despite his high earnings potential, "global marketing and all that stuff" does not interest him.
One of the most popular players in the league, Durant's jersey regularly ranks as one of the NBA's best-selling and he is consistently one of the top All-Star vote-getters. Early in his career, he developed a reputation for his kind demeanor; in 2013, Foot Locker released a series of commercials calling him the "nicest guy in the NBA", and become a beloved figure in Oklahoma City, known for his "nice escapades" toward the Thunder's staff. In 2014, he partnered with KIND snacks and launched StrongAndKind.com to show "being kind is not a sign of weakness." Since joining the Warriors, he has become more outspoken and controversial; for example, he was involved in a Twitter back-and-forth with C. J. McCollum in July 2018. Durant has admitted to feeling more genuine in Golden State as opposed to Oklahoma City, where he was "just trying to please everybody".
Throughout his career, Durant has participated in philanthropic causes. In 2013, he pledged $1 million to the American Red Cross for the victims of the 2013 Moore tornado. His generosity inspired the Thunder and Nike to match his donation. He is also a spokesperson for the Washington, D. C. branch of P'Tones Records, a nationwide non-profit after-school music program.
In 2017, Durant became involved with YouTube. In February, he visited YouTube's headquarters for a speaking engagement. On April 7, 2017, he created a YouTube account and soon began to upload live stream vlogs onto it. In his first vlog, he detailed, "I'm so excited because I got off social media. I got off the Instagram, Twitter, all that stuff, just to distance myself a bit. But somebody talked me into getting on the YouTube." As of June 2020, Durant's YouTube channel has received over 790,000 subscribers and 38 million video views. On February 13, 2018, Deadline reported that Durant, in partnership with producer Brian Grazer's Imagine Television, will create a basketball-themed scripted drama for Apple.
In 2017, Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman founded Thirty Five Ventures. In 2020, Thirty Five Ventures produced Basketball County, a documentary about youth basketball in Durant's home county of Prince George's County, Maryland. Durant served as an executive producer and appeared in interviews. Thirty Five Ventures' work Two Distant Strangers won the 2021 Academy Award for Short Film (Live Action).
Durant was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018.
On June 15, 2020, Durant became a minority owner of MLS side Philadelphia Union, acquiring a 5% stake with the possibility to add another 5% in the near future.
In August 2021, Durant announced a partnership between his multimedia company Boardroom and the cannabis technology company Weedmaps through which an original content series would be developed and Weedmaps would become an official sponsor of Boardroom. Durant said of the partnership: "I think it's far past time to address the stigmas around cannabis that still exist in the sports world as well as globally. This partnership is going to help us continue to normalize those conversations, as well as create content, events, and a lot more through our Boardroom media network."
On December 22, 2021, he had signed a deal with Coinbase to serve himself as a brand ambassador.
Career statistics
Source:
NBA
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Seattle
| 80 || 80 || 34.6 || .430 || .288 || .873 || 4.4 || 2.4 || 1.0 || .9 || 20.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 74 || 74 || 39.0 || .476 || .422 || .863 || 6.5 || 2.8 || 1.3 || .7 || 25.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| style="background:#cfecec;"|82* || style="background:#cfecec;"|82* || 39.5 || .476 || .365 || .900 || 7.6 || 2.8 || 1.4 || 1.0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|30.1*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 78 || 78 || 38.9 || .462 || .350 || .880 || 6.8 || 2.7 || 1.1 || 1.0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|27.7*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| style="background:#cfecec;"|66* || style="background:#cfecec;"|66* || 38.6 || .496 || .387 || .860 || 8.0 || 3.5 || 1.3 || 1.2 || style="background:#cfecec;"|28.0*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 81 || 81 || 38.5 || .510 || .416 || style="background:#cfecec;"|.905* || 7.9 || 4.6 || 1.4 || 1.3 || 28.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 81 || 81 || 38.5 || .503 || .391 || .873 || 7.4 || 5.5 || 1.3 || .7 || style="background:#cfecec;"|32.0*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 27 || 27 || 33.8 || .510 || .403 || .854 || 6.6 || 4.1 || .9 || .9 || 25.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 72 || 72 || 35.8 || .505 || .388 || .898 || 8.2 || 5.0 || 1.0 || 1.2 || 28.2
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 62 || 62 || 33.4 || .537 || .375 || .875 || 8.3 || 4.9 || 1.1 || 1.6 || 25.1
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 68 || 68 || 34.2 || .516 || .419 || .889 || 6.8 || 5.4 || .7 || 1.8 || 26.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 78 || 78 || 34.6 || .521 || .353 || .885 || 6.4 || 5.9 || .7 || 1.1 || 26.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Brooklyn
| 35 || 32 || 33.1 || .537 || .450 || .882 || 7.1 || 5.6 || .7 || 1.3 || 26.9
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 884 || 881 || 36.7 || .494 || .384 || .883 || 7.1 || 4.2 || 1.1 || 1.1 || 27.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|All-Star
| 10 || 8 || 26.9 || .536 || .349 || .897 || 6.2 || 3.7 || 1.7 || .5 || 25.0
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2010
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 6 || 6 || 38.5 || .350 || .286 || .871 || 7.7 || 2.3 || .5 || 1.3 || 25.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2011
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 17 || 17 || 42.5 || .449 || .339 || .838 || 8.2 || 2.8 || .9 || 1.1 || 28.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2012
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 20 || 20 || 41.9 || .517 || .373 || .864 || 7.4 || 3.7 || 1.5 || 1.2 || 28.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2013
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 11 || 11 || 44.1 || .455 || .314 || .830 || 9.0 || 6.3 || 1.3 || 1.1 || 30.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2014
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 19 || 19 || 42.9 || .460 || .344 || .810 || 8.9 || 3.9 || 1.0 || 1.3 || 29.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2016
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 18 || 18 || 40.3 || .430 || .282 || .890 || 7.1 || 3.3 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 28.4
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;|2017†
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 15 || 15 || 35.5 || .556 || .442 || .893 || 8.0 || 4.3 || .8 || 1.3 || 28.5
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;|2018†
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 21 || 21 || 38.4 || .487 || .341 || .901 || 7.8 || 4.7 || .7 || 1.2 || 29.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2019
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 12 || 12 || 36.8 || .514 || .438 || .903 || 4.9 || 4.5 || 1.1 || 1.0 || 32.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2021
| style="text-align:left;"|Brooklyn
| 12 || 12 || 40.4 || .514 || .402 || .871 || 9.3 || 4.4 || 1.5 || 1.6 || 34.3
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 151 || 151 || 40.3 || .478 || .357 || .865 || 7.8 || 4.0 || 1.0 || 1.2 || 29.5
College
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2006–07
| style="text-align:left;"|Texas
| 35 || 35 || 35.9 || .473 || .404 || .816 || 11.1 || 1.3 || 1.9 || 1.9 || 25.8
Awards and honors
NBA
Cited from Basketball Reference's Kevin Durant page unless noted otherwise.
2× NBA champion: 2017, 2018
2× NBA Finals Most Valuable Player: 2017, 2018
NBA Most Valuable Player: 2014
12× NBA All-Star: 2010–2019, 2021, 2022
6× All-NBA First Team: 2010–2014, 2018
3× All-NBA Second Team: 2016, 2017, 2019
4× NBA scoring champion: 2010–2012, 2014
2× NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2012, 2019
NBA Rookie of the Year: 2008
NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2008
NBA Rookie Challenge MVP: 2009
USA Basketball
Cited from USA Basketball's Kevin Durant page unless noted otherwise.
3× Olympic gold medalist: 2012, 2016, 2020
Olympics Most Valuable Player: 2020
FIBA World Cup gold medalist: 2010
FIBA World Cup Most Valuable Player: 2010
NCAA
Naismith College Player of the Year: 2007
NABC Division I Player of the Year: 2007
Oscar Robertson Trophy: 2007
Adolph Rupp Trophy: 2007
John R. Wooden Award: 2007
Big 12 Player of the Year: 2007
USBWA National Freshman of the Year: 2007
Jersey number (35) retired at Texas
Media
AP Player of the Year: 2007
AP All-America 1st Team: 2007
Two-time ESPY Award winner:
2014 Best NBA Player
2017 Outstanding Team (as a member of the Golden State Warriors)
See also
List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career 3-point scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff turnovers leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff 3-point scoring leaders
References
External links
1988 births
Living people
2010 FIBA World Championship players
All-American college men's basketball players
American Christians
American men's basketball players
American YouTubers
Basketball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Basketball players from Maryland
Basketball players from Washington, D.C.
Brooklyn Nets players
Businesspeople in the cannabis industry
FIBA World Championship-winning players
Golden State Warriors players
Male bloggers
Male YouTubers
McDonald's High School All-Americans
Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
National Basketball Association All-Stars
Oklahoma City Thunder players
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball
Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
Seattle SuperSonics draft picks
Seattle SuperSonics players
Small forwards
Sportspeople from Rockville, Maryland
Texas Longhorns men's basketball players
United States men's national basketball team players
YouTube vloggers
| true |
[
"The Quicuchabe were one of 20 groups of American Indians who chose to join Juan Domínguez de Mendoza on his trek across Texas from the area of El Paso to the area around what is now San Angelo between 1683 and 1684. Mendoza did not indicate at what point the Quicuchabe joined his party; consequently, ascertaining where, exactly, they lived, and with what tribe they were affiliated is impossible. As the tribes between the Pecos River and the vicinity of San Angelo were being pushed by the Apache, the Quicuchabe likely originated somewhere in that general area.\n\nSee also\nHandbook of Texas entry\n\nNative American tribes in Texas",
"In light of the British Government policy of maintaining sporting links with apartheid South Africa (which was subject to a general sporting boycott at the time), Bermuda did not decide until very late whether to join what was a significant boycott of the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland. The team took part in the Opening Ceremony but withdrew from the Games the following day.\n\nReferences\n\nNations at the 1986 Commonwealth Games\nBermuda at the Commonwealth Games\n1986 in Bermuda"
] |
[
"Kevin Durant",
"National team career",
"What year did he join",
"2007,"
] |
C_f0baba80a9794299b0e55746c6b38b78_1
|
What did he get
| 2 |
What did Kevin Durant get?
|
Kevin Durant
|
In February 2007, Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp. Despite a strong performance, he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit. Coach Mike Krzyzewski cited the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor in making the cut. Durant was finally selected to the national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and became their leader as other All-Stars were unavailable, a role he downplayed. At the tournament, he led Team USA to its first FIBA World Championship since 1994, earning MVP honors in the process. His final averages for the competition were 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in nine games. At the 2012 Olympics, Durant set the record for total points scored in an Olympic basketball tournament. With averages of 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, he helped the national team go undefeated en route to a gold medal. In the tournament's final game, he led all scorers with 30 points. Less than a month before the start of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Durant announced that he would be dropping out of the competition, citing mental and physical exhaustion as reasons for his departure. He rejoined Team USA in 2016 for the Olympics, where he led them to a gold medal. In recognition of his performances, Durant was named the 2016 co-USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, along with Carmelo Anthony, for the second time in his career. CANNOTANSWER
|
Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp.
|
Kevin Wayne Durant (; born September 29, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for the Texas Longhorns, and was selected as the second overall pick by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2007 NBA draft. He played nine seasons with the franchise, which became the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008, before signing with the Golden State Warriors in 2016, winning consecutive NBA championships in 2017 and 2018. After sustaining an Achilles injury in the 2019 finals, he joined the Nets as a free agent that summer. Durant has often been called the best player in the NBA and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
Durant was a heavily recruited high school prospect who was widely regarded as the second-best player in his class. In college, he won numerous year-end awards and became the first freshman to be named Naismith College Player of the Year. As a professional, he has won two NBA championships, an NBA Most Valuable Player Award, two Finals MVP Awards, two NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Awards, four NBA scoring titles, the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, been named to nine All-NBA teams (including six First Teams), and selected 12 times as an NBA All-Star. In October 2021, Durant was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. In international play as a member of USA Basketball, Durant has won three Olympic gold medals (2012, 2016, and 2020) and the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
Off the court, Durant is one of the highest-earning basketball players in the world, due in part to endorsement deals with companies such as Foot Locker and Nike. He has developed a reputation for philanthropy and regularly leads the league in All-Star votes and jersey sales. In recent years, he has contributed to The Players' Tribune as both a photographer and writer. In 2012, he ventured into acting, appearing in the film Thunderstruck.
Early life
Durant was born on September 29, 1988, in Washington, D.C., to Wanda (née Durant) and Wayne Pratt. When Durant was an infant, his father deserted the family; Wanda and Wayne eventually divorced, and Durant's grandmother Barbara Davis helped raise him. By age 13, his father reentered his life and traveled the country with him to basketball tournaments. Durant has a sister, Brianna, and two brothers, Tony and Rayvonne.
Durant and his siblings grew up in Prince George's County, Maryland, on the eastern outskirts of Washington, D.C. He was unusually tall from a young age, and reached in height while still in middle school (age 10-12). Growing up, Durant wanted to play for his favorite team, the Toronto Raptors, which included his favorite player, Vince Carter. He played Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball for several teams in the Maryland area and was teammates with future NBA players Michael Beasley, Greivis Vásquez, and Ty Lawson, the first of whom Durant remains friends with to this day. During this time, he began wearing #35 as his jersey number in honor of his AAU coach, Charles Craig, who was murdered at the age of 35.
After playing two years of high school basketball at National Christian Academy and one year at Oak Hill Academy, Durant transferred to Montrose Christian School for his senior year, growing before the start of the season and beginning the year at .
Prior to the start of the season, he committed to the University of Texas at Austin. He had visited University of Connecticut and University of North Carolina, and said he considered Duke University, University of Kentucky and University of Louisville. When asked why he chose a college with a lesser-known program, he said, "Wanted to set my own path."
At the end of the year, he was named the Washington Post All-Met Basketball Player of the Year, as well as the Most Valuable Player of the 2006 McDonald's All-American Game. He was widely regarded as the second-best high school prospect of 2006, behind Greg Oden.
College career
For the 2006–07 college season, Durantwho had grown to averaged 25.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game for the Texas Longhorns. They finished the year with a 25–10 record overall and a 12–4 record in conference. Awarded a fourth seed in the NCAA Tournament, Texas won their first round match-up against New Mexico State but were upset in the second round by USC despite a 30-point and 9-rebound performance from Durant. For his outstanding play, Durant was recognized as the unanimous national player of the year, winning the John R. Wooden Award, the Naismith College Player of the Year Award, and all eight other widely recognized honors and awards. This made Durant the first freshman to win any of the national player of the year awards. Following the season, he declared for the NBA draft. His No. 35 jersey was later retired by the Longhorns.
Professional career
Seattle SuperSonics / Oklahoma City Thunder (2007–2016)
Rookie of the Year (2007–2008)
Durant was selected as the second overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, after Greg Oden was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the first pick of the draft. In his first regular season game, the 19-year-old Durant registered 18 points, five rebounds and three steals against the Denver Nuggets. On November 16, he made the first game-winning shot of his career in a game against the Atlanta Hawks. At the conclusion of the 2007–08 NBA season, he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year following averages of 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He joined Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James as the only teenagers in league history to average at least 20 points per game over an entire season.
Breakthrough (2008–2010)
Following Durant's debut season, the SuperSonics relocated from Seattle to Oklahoma City, becoming the Thunder and switching to new colors – blue, orange, and yellow. The team also drafted UCLA guard Russell Westbrook, who would form an All-Star combination with Durant in later years. At the 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend, Durant set a Rookie Challenge record with 46 points. By the conclusion of the 2008–09 NBA season, he had raised his scoring average by five points from the prior season to 25.3 points per game, and was considered a strong candidate for the Most Improved Player Award, eventually finishing third in the voting. Durant continued to grow during his first few years in the NBA, finally reaching a height of .
During the 2009–10 season, Durant was selected to his first NBA All-Star Game. Behind his play, the Thunder improved their record by 27 wins from the previous year and defied expectations to make the playoffs. With a scoring average of 30.1 points per game, Durant became the youngest NBA scoring champion and was selected to his first All-NBA team. In his playoff debut, he scored 24 points in a Game 1 loss against the Los Angeles Lakers. Oklahoma City would go on to lose the series in six games, but the team's performance led many analysts to label them as an upcoming title contender.
Deep playoff runs (2010–2013)
Prior to the start of the 2010–11 season, Durant announced via Twitter that he had signed a five-year contract extension with the Thunder worth approximately $86 million. For the second consecutive year, he led the NBA in scoring, averaging 27.7 points a game. Behind Durant's leadership, the Thunder won 55 games and earned the fourth seed in the Western Conference. In the 2011 NBA playoffs, Oklahoma City defeated the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies en route to a Conference Finals match-up versus the Dallas Mavericks, losing in five games.
On February 19 of the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season, Durant recorded his first career 50-point game, scoring 51 points against the Denver Nuggets. At the All-Star Game, he scored 36 points and was awarded the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award. Durant finished the year with a scoring average of 28 points per game, representing his third straight scoring title. Behind his play, the Thunder won 47 games and entered the 2012 NBA playoffs as the Western Conference's second seed. In Game 1 of the first round against the Dallas Mavericks, Durant hit a game-winner with 1.5 seconds remaining. Oklahoma City would go on to defeat Dallas, the Lakers, and the San Antonio Spurs before losing to the Miami Heat in the 2012 NBA Finals. For the NBA Finals, Durant led all players with 30.6 points per game, doing so on a 54.8 shooting rate.
With a scoring average of 28.1 points per game to finish the 2012–13 season, Durant failed to defend his scoring title; however, with a 51 percent shooting rate, a 41.6 percent three point shooting rate, and a 90.5 free throw shooting rate, he became the youngest player in NBA history to join the 50–40–90 club. Finishing the year with a 60–22 record, Oklahoma City earned the first seed in the Western Conference. In the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs against the Houston Rockets, Westbrook tore his meniscus, forcing him to miss the remainder of the postseason. Without Westbrook, Durant was given more responsibility, averaging a career-high 30.8 points per game throughout the playoffs, but Oklahoma City were eventually eliminated in the second round by the Memphis Grizzlies in five games.
MVP season (2013–14)
In January of the 2013–14 season, Durant averaged 35.9 points per game while scoring 30 or more points in 12 straight games, including a career-high 54 points against the Golden State Warriors. In April, he surpassed Michael Jordan's record for consecutive games scoring 25 points or more at 41. The Thunder finished the year with 59 wins and Durant was voted the NBA Most Valuable Player behind averages of 32 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. To begin the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs, he struggled against the physical play of the Grizzlies, converting on only 24 percent of his field goals in Game 4. Through five games, the Thunder trailed the series 3–2, prompting The Oklahoman to dub Durant "Mr. Unreliable". He responded by scoring 36 points in a Game 6 victory. Oklahoma City eventually eliminated Memphis and the Los Angeles Clippers before losing to the Spurs in the Conference Finals in six games.
Final seasons with the Thunder (2014–2016)
Prior to the start of the 2014–15 season, Durant was diagnosed with a Jones fracture in his right foot and was ruled out for six to eight weeks. He subsequently missed the first 17 games of the year, making his season debut for the Thunder on December 2 against the New Orleans Pelicans. On December 18, he injured his ankle against the Golden State Warriors, returning to action on December 31 against the Phoenix Suns to score a season-high 44 points. He then sprained his left big toe in late January. On February 22, he was sidelined again after undergoing a minor procedure to help reduce pain and discomfort in his surgically repaired right foot, and on March 27, he was officially ruled out for the rest of the season after deciding to undergo foot surgery. In just 27 games, he averaged 25.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game.
To begin the 2015–16 season, Durant and Westbrook reached several historical milestones together, including becoming the first pair of teammates to each score at least 40 points in a single game since 1996, doing so in a win over the Orlando Magic on October 30. For the year, Durant averaged 28.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game, leading the Thunder to 55 wins and the third seed in the West. In Game 2 of the first round of the 2016 NBA playoffs against the Mavericks, he scored 21 points but converted only 7 out of 33 shots in the worst postseason shooting performance, both by percentage and number of misses, of his career. After defeating Dallas, Oklahoma City moved on to face the Spurs in the second round, falling behind 2–1 to start the series. In Game 4, Durant tied his playoff career high with 41 points in a Thunder win. Oklahoma City eventually defeated the Spurs in six games, drawing a matchup with the record-setting 73-win Golden State Warriors in the Conference Finals. Despite going up 3–1, the Thunder were ousted in seven games, with Durant providing 27 points in Game 7.
Golden State Warriors (2016–2019)
2016 free agency
On July 4, Durant announced his intentions to sign with the Warriors in The Players' Tribune. The move was received negatively by fans and pundits, who felt that he took the easy route by leaving a team that had been up 3–1 and close to reaching the Finals to instead join their opponents, who had defeated them and were coming off a record-setting 73-win season; the Warriors had also won a championship the year before. On July 7, Durant officially signed with Golden State on a two-year, $54.3 million contract with a player option after the first year. Reflecting on the move for Sports Illustrated, Ben Golliver wrote, "He chose an ideal roster fit and a shot at playing for the highest-scoring offense the NBA has seen in decades. He chose life alongside Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the greatest shooting backcourt in history, and he chose to go against Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green, two elite defenders, in practices rather than in Western Conference finals games."
Back-to-back championships (2016–2018)
Durant made his debut for the Warriors on October 25 against the San Antonio Spurs, scoring a team-high 27 points in a blowout loss. On November 26, he recorded 28 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and a career-high six blocked shots in a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, becoming the first player in team history to finish with at least 25 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and five blocks in a single game. On February 11, in his first game back in Oklahoma City since leaving for Golden State, Durant scored 34 points while being booed throughout the night as he helped the Warriors defeat the Thunder for the third time that year. In March, Durant suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain and a tibial bone bruise, which forced him to miss the final 19 games of the season. Golden State finished the year with a 67–15 record and entered the playoffs as the first seed.
Durant returned from injury in time for the 2017 NBA playoffs and helped the Warriors advance to their third consecutive Finals, while also becoming the first team in league history to start the postseason 12–0. In Game 1 of the series, Durant had 38 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists to lead the Warriors past LeBron James and the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers. Durant then helped the Warriors go up 3–0 in the series with a 31-point effort in Game 3, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 45.3 seconds left in regulation. In Game 5, he scored 39 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists in a series-clinching win. For the Finals, Durant was the Golden State's top scorer in every game, averaging 35.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 5.4 assists while shooting 55.5 percent from the field, 47.4 percent from three-point range, and 92.7 percent from the free throw line. He was subsequently named the NBA Finals MVP.
After the Finals, Durant declined his $27.7 million player option and became an unrestricted free agent. On July 25, he re-signed with the Warriors for less money than the maximum, which helped the franchise create enough salary cap space to keep their core roster intact and add free agents. On January 10 of the 2017–18 season, Durant scored 40 points in a loss to the Clippers, becoming the second-youngest player in league history to reach the 20,000-point milestone. On January 23, he registered a career-high 14 assists in a win over the New York Knicks. On February 14, he scored a season-high 50 points in a loss to the Trail Blazers. In March, he missed games with a fractured rib, joining teammates Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson on the sidelines for the back-end of the season. Golden State eventually finished the year with 58 wins and Durant set a career high for blocks in season with 119.
In Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Durant scored 37 points in a win over the higher-seeded Houston Rockets. Through six games, the Warriors found themselves trailing 3–2, and Durant was criticized for contributing to Golden State's struggles by playing too much in isolation. The Warriors staved off elimination in Game 6, and in Game 7, Durant scored 34 points, helping Golden State return to the Finals with a series-clinching victory. In Game 3 of the 2018 NBA Finals, Durant recorded a playoff career-high 43 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists in a win over the Cavaliers, leading the Warriors to a 3–0 advantage. Golden State ultimately swept Cleveland and clinched a second straight championship; with averages of 28.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 7.5 assists, Durant also won his second Finals MVP Award.
Three-peat chase and injury (2018–2019)
On July 7, 2018, Durant re-signed with the Warriors, on a reported two-year, $61.5 million contract, which included a player option for the second year. During an overtime loss to the Clippers on November 12, 2018, Green cursed out Durant over his upcoming free agency status after the season, and he was suspended for the much-publicized blowup. On November 29, Durant scored a season-high 51 points in a 131–128 overtime loss to the Toronto Raptors, thus scoring 40 or more in his third straight game. With Curry and Green sidelined for most of November, the Warriors finished the month with a 15–8 record and five straight road losses, after starting the season at 10–1.
In Game 5 of the first round of the playoffs, he scored a playoff career-high 45 points in a 129–121 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. In Game 6, he set a new playoff career high with 50 points in a 129–110 win to close out the series. During Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets, Durant suffered a right calf strain, subsequently missing Game 6, in which the Warriors won the series, as well as the entire Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers, which the Warriors won in a four-game sweep.
After missing nine games with the strained right calf, Durant returned to action in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals against Toronto, and scored 11 points in the first quarter. However, he was lost for the game two minutes into the second quarter when he tried to drive by former teammate Serge Ibaka and suffered an Achilles tendon injury, falling and grabbing his lower right calf. He limped off the court and was helped to the locker room. The Warriors won the game to cut the Raptors' series lead to 3–2. The Warriors went on to lose the NBA Finals in Game 6, ending their quest for a three-peat.
Brooklyn Nets (2019–present)
Year absence (2019–2020)
On June 30, 2019, Durant announced that he planned to sign with the Brooklyn Nets after the July moratorium ended on July 6. On July 1, Golden State CEO Joe Lacob announced that Durant's No. 35 will no longer be issued by the Warriors. Durant signed with Brooklyn on July 7, in a sign-and-trade deal. Durant did not appear at all in the 2019–20 season and later revealed that he had decided shortly after his June 2019 injury that he would be sitting out the entire 2019–20 season. On March 17, 2020, Durant and three other Nets players tested positive for COVID-19. On April 1, it was announced that Durant was cleared and had recovered.
Return to the court (2020–2021)
On December 22, 2020, Durant made his Nets debut, putting up 22 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, in a 125–99 win over the Golden State Warriors. On January 14, 2021, James Harden was traded to the Nets in a blockbuster four-team deal, reuniting Durant with his former Thunder teammate. On January 16, 2021, Durant scored a season-high 42 points in a 122–115 win over the Orlando Magic. On February 5, due to health and safety protocols, Durant came off the bench for the first time in his career in a 117–123 loss to the Toronto Raptors. In February, Durant suffered a hamstring injury, which forced him to miss 23 games. On April 2, the NBA fined Durant $50,000 for private messages he sent through social media to actor Michael Rapaport in a feud. Durant made his return on April 7, 2021, scoring 17 points off the bench in a 139–119 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. The Nets finished the season with a 48–24 record, and the second seed in the East.
In Game 4 of the first round of the playoffs, Durant scored 42 points in a 141–126 win over the Boston Celtics to take a 3–1 lead in the series. In Game 5, he scored 24 points in a 123–109 win to close out the series. In Game 1 against the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference semifinals, Durant had 29 points and 10 rebounds in a 115–107 win. In Game 5, Durant put up 49 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists, leading the Nets to a 114–108 comeback win. In Game 7 against the Bucks, Durant dropped 48 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists, including a two-pointer to send the game into overtime, in the 115–111 loss; Durant's 48 points were the most in a Game 7 in NBA playoff history.
2021–22
On August 8, 2021, Durant signed a four-year, $198 million extension with the Brooklyn Nets. On October 22, Durant recorded his thirteenth career triple-double, and first as a Net with 29 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists in a 114–109 comeback win over the Philadelphia 76ers. On November 10, Durant scored 30 points on 11-for-12 shooting in a 123–90 win over the Orlando Magic. On December 12, Durant scored a season-high 51 points in a 116–104 win over the Detroit Pistons. On December 14, Durant recorded his fourteenth career triple-double with 34 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists in a 131–129 overtime win over the Toronto Raptors. On December 16, Durant scored 34 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, dished out 8 assists in a 114–105 win against the Philadelphia 76ers. On January 15, 2022, during a 120–105 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, Durant exited in the second quarter after suffering a left knee injury, later revealed to be a sprained MCL, and was subsequently ruled out for four to six weeks.
National team career
In February 2007, Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp. Despite a strong performance, he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit. Coach Mike Krzyzewski cited the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor in making the cut. Durant was finally selected to the national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and became their leader as other All-Stars were unavailable, a role he downplayed. At the tournament, he led Team USA to its first FIBA World Championship since 1994, earning tournament MVP honors in the process. His final averages for the competition were 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in nine games.
At the 2012 Olympics, Durant set the record for total points scored in an Olympic basketball tournament. With averages of 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, he helped the national team go undefeated en route to a gold medal. In the tournament's final game, he led all scorers with 30 points.
Less than a month before the start of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Durant announced that he would be dropping out of the competition, citing mental and physical exhaustion as reasons for his departure. He rejoined Team USA on the 2016 Olympic team, where he led them to a gold medal. In recognition of his performances, Durant was named the 2016 co-USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, along with Carmelo Anthony, for the second time in his career.
Durant committed to playing on the 2020 Olympic team, delayed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He entered the Games ranked second in U.S. men's Olympic basketball history with 311 career points, needing 25 to match Anthony's record of 336. Durant broke Anthony's record on July 31 against the Czech Republic. He led Team USA to a gold medal.
Player profile
Durant's height is officially and his primary position is small forward. In December 2016, Durant stated that his height in shoes was actually and that he understated his height in order to be listed as a small forward, rather than a power forward. His career averages are 27.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. Widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation, Durant has earned All-NBA honors nine times (2009–2014, 2016–2019) and was voted Rookie of the Year in his debut season. He has also won an MVP Award and finished second in the voting three times, a trend that he has expressed frustration over.
Durant is best known for his prodigious scoring ability. From 2010 to 2014, he won four scoring titles, becoming one of only two players to win four scoring titles in a five-year span. Early in his career, his playing style was isolation-driven, but he quickly developed into an excellent off-ball player who was capable of scoring from the outside as well. By 2013, he was shooting at a historically great clip, which helped him become one of only nine members of the 50–40–90 club. This ability to impact the offense in a variety of ways helped Durant remain effective and improve an already elite offense upon joining the Warriors in 2016. Throughout his career, his height and wingspan have created matchup problems for defenses as he is able to get off a clean shot regardless of the situation. Upon beating his man or gaining momentum, he also becomes a strong finisher at the rim; for example, he converted 72.2% of shots in the paint in 2012.
Early in Durant's career, he was criticized for his slim build, defense, and passing. Over time, he grew as a playmaker, increasing his assist numbers every year from 2010 to 2014, though his overall vision still lagged behind the league's best passers'. He also showed defensive improvement, with opponents averaging just .62 points per isolation play against him in 2014, the best success rate for defensive players who faced at least 100 isolations that season. Upon going to Golden State, he developed into a more reliable off-ball defender and rim protector, and in 2018 was considered for the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Personal life
Durant is very close with his mother, Wanda, a relationship that was detailed in the Lifetime movie The Real MVP: The Wanda Pratt Story. During his time with the Thunder, Durant described himself as a "high school kid" who enjoys playing video games in his spare time. A Christian, Durant has religious tattoos on his stomach, wrist, and back. He owns several properties in the Oklahoma City area and listed his primary residence, located in the affluent Club Villa neighborhood, for sale for $1.95 million in 2013. That same year, he opened a restaurant, KD's Southern Cuisine, in the Bricktown neighborhood and briefly became engaged to Monica Wright, a WNBA player. In 2016, he was a credentialed photographer for The Players' Tribune at Super Bowl 50.
Durant was formerly represented by agents Aaron Goodwin and Rob Pelinka. He left Pelinka in 2013 and signed with the Roc Nation group, headed by Jay-Z. Durant has endorsement deals with Nike, Sprint, Gatorade, Panini, General Electric, and 2K Sports. In 2012, he tried his hand at acting, appearing in the children's film Thunderstruck. In 2013, he earned $35 million, making him the fourth-highest-earning basketball player that year. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Durant claimed that, despite his high earnings potential, "global marketing and all that stuff" does not interest him.
One of the most popular players in the league, Durant's jersey regularly ranks as one of the NBA's best-selling and he is consistently one of the top All-Star vote-getters. Early in his career, he developed a reputation for his kind demeanor; in 2013, Foot Locker released a series of commercials calling him the "nicest guy in the NBA", and become a beloved figure in Oklahoma City, known for his "nice escapades" toward the Thunder's staff. In 2014, he partnered with KIND snacks and launched StrongAndKind.com to show "being kind is not a sign of weakness." Since joining the Warriors, he has become more outspoken and controversial; for example, he was involved in a Twitter back-and-forth with C. J. McCollum in July 2018. Durant has admitted to feeling more genuine in Golden State as opposed to Oklahoma City, where he was "just trying to please everybody".
Throughout his career, Durant has participated in philanthropic causes. In 2013, he pledged $1 million to the American Red Cross for the victims of the 2013 Moore tornado. His generosity inspired the Thunder and Nike to match his donation. He is also a spokesperson for the Washington, D. C. branch of P'Tones Records, a nationwide non-profit after-school music program.
In 2017, Durant became involved with YouTube. In February, he visited YouTube's headquarters for a speaking engagement. On April 7, 2017, he created a YouTube account and soon began to upload live stream vlogs onto it. In his first vlog, he detailed, "I'm so excited because I got off social media. I got off the Instagram, Twitter, all that stuff, just to distance myself a bit. But somebody talked me into getting on the YouTube." As of June 2020, Durant's YouTube channel has received over 790,000 subscribers and 38 million video views. On February 13, 2018, Deadline reported that Durant, in partnership with producer Brian Grazer's Imagine Television, will create a basketball-themed scripted drama for Apple.
In 2017, Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman founded Thirty Five Ventures. In 2020, Thirty Five Ventures produced Basketball County, a documentary about youth basketball in Durant's home county of Prince George's County, Maryland. Durant served as an executive producer and appeared in interviews. Thirty Five Ventures' work Two Distant Strangers won the 2021 Academy Award for Short Film (Live Action).
Durant was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018.
On June 15, 2020, Durant became a minority owner of MLS side Philadelphia Union, acquiring a 5% stake with the possibility to add another 5% in the near future.
In August 2021, Durant announced a partnership between his multimedia company Boardroom and the cannabis technology company Weedmaps through which an original content series would be developed and Weedmaps would become an official sponsor of Boardroom. Durant said of the partnership: "I think it's far past time to address the stigmas around cannabis that still exist in the sports world as well as globally. This partnership is going to help us continue to normalize those conversations, as well as create content, events, and a lot more through our Boardroom media network."
On December 22, 2021, he had signed a deal with Coinbase to serve himself as a brand ambassador.
Career statistics
Source:
NBA
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Seattle
| 80 || 80 || 34.6 || .430 || .288 || .873 || 4.4 || 2.4 || 1.0 || .9 || 20.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 74 || 74 || 39.0 || .476 || .422 || .863 || 6.5 || 2.8 || 1.3 || .7 || 25.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| style="background:#cfecec;"|82* || style="background:#cfecec;"|82* || 39.5 || .476 || .365 || .900 || 7.6 || 2.8 || 1.4 || 1.0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|30.1*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 78 || 78 || 38.9 || .462 || .350 || .880 || 6.8 || 2.7 || 1.1 || 1.0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|27.7*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| style="background:#cfecec;"|66* || style="background:#cfecec;"|66* || 38.6 || .496 || .387 || .860 || 8.0 || 3.5 || 1.3 || 1.2 || style="background:#cfecec;"|28.0*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 81 || 81 || 38.5 || .510 || .416 || style="background:#cfecec;"|.905* || 7.9 || 4.6 || 1.4 || 1.3 || 28.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 81 || 81 || 38.5 || .503 || .391 || .873 || 7.4 || 5.5 || 1.3 || .7 || style="background:#cfecec;"|32.0*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 27 || 27 || 33.8 || .510 || .403 || .854 || 6.6 || 4.1 || .9 || .9 || 25.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 72 || 72 || 35.8 || .505 || .388 || .898 || 8.2 || 5.0 || 1.0 || 1.2 || 28.2
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 62 || 62 || 33.4 || .537 || .375 || .875 || 8.3 || 4.9 || 1.1 || 1.6 || 25.1
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 68 || 68 || 34.2 || .516 || .419 || .889 || 6.8 || 5.4 || .7 || 1.8 || 26.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 78 || 78 || 34.6 || .521 || .353 || .885 || 6.4 || 5.9 || .7 || 1.1 || 26.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Brooklyn
| 35 || 32 || 33.1 || .537 || .450 || .882 || 7.1 || 5.6 || .7 || 1.3 || 26.9
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 884 || 881 || 36.7 || .494 || .384 || .883 || 7.1 || 4.2 || 1.1 || 1.1 || 27.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|All-Star
| 10 || 8 || 26.9 || .536 || .349 || .897 || 6.2 || 3.7 || 1.7 || .5 || 25.0
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2010
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 6 || 6 || 38.5 || .350 || .286 || .871 || 7.7 || 2.3 || .5 || 1.3 || 25.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2011
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 17 || 17 || 42.5 || .449 || .339 || .838 || 8.2 || 2.8 || .9 || 1.1 || 28.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2012
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 20 || 20 || 41.9 || .517 || .373 || .864 || 7.4 || 3.7 || 1.5 || 1.2 || 28.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2013
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 11 || 11 || 44.1 || .455 || .314 || .830 || 9.0 || 6.3 || 1.3 || 1.1 || 30.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2014
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 19 || 19 || 42.9 || .460 || .344 || .810 || 8.9 || 3.9 || 1.0 || 1.3 || 29.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2016
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 18 || 18 || 40.3 || .430 || .282 || .890 || 7.1 || 3.3 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 28.4
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;|2017†
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 15 || 15 || 35.5 || .556 || .442 || .893 || 8.0 || 4.3 || .8 || 1.3 || 28.5
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;|2018†
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 21 || 21 || 38.4 || .487 || .341 || .901 || 7.8 || 4.7 || .7 || 1.2 || 29.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2019
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 12 || 12 || 36.8 || .514 || .438 || .903 || 4.9 || 4.5 || 1.1 || 1.0 || 32.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2021
| style="text-align:left;"|Brooklyn
| 12 || 12 || 40.4 || .514 || .402 || .871 || 9.3 || 4.4 || 1.5 || 1.6 || 34.3
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 151 || 151 || 40.3 || .478 || .357 || .865 || 7.8 || 4.0 || 1.0 || 1.2 || 29.5
College
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2006–07
| style="text-align:left;"|Texas
| 35 || 35 || 35.9 || .473 || .404 || .816 || 11.1 || 1.3 || 1.9 || 1.9 || 25.8
Awards and honors
NBA
Cited from Basketball Reference's Kevin Durant page unless noted otherwise.
2× NBA champion: 2017, 2018
2× NBA Finals Most Valuable Player: 2017, 2018
NBA Most Valuable Player: 2014
12× NBA All-Star: 2010–2019, 2021, 2022
6× All-NBA First Team: 2010–2014, 2018
3× All-NBA Second Team: 2016, 2017, 2019
4× NBA scoring champion: 2010–2012, 2014
2× NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2012, 2019
NBA Rookie of the Year: 2008
NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2008
NBA Rookie Challenge MVP: 2009
USA Basketball
Cited from USA Basketball's Kevin Durant page unless noted otherwise.
3× Olympic gold medalist: 2012, 2016, 2020
Olympics Most Valuable Player: 2020
FIBA World Cup gold medalist: 2010
FIBA World Cup Most Valuable Player: 2010
NCAA
Naismith College Player of the Year: 2007
NABC Division I Player of the Year: 2007
Oscar Robertson Trophy: 2007
Adolph Rupp Trophy: 2007
John R. Wooden Award: 2007
Big 12 Player of the Year: 2007
USBWA National Freshman of the Year: 2007
Jersey number (35) retired at Texas
Media
AP Player of the Year: 2007
AP All-America 1st Team: 2007
Two-time ESPY Award winner:
2014 Best NBA Player
2017 Outstanding Team (as a member of the Golden State Warriors)
See also
List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career 3-point scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff turnovers leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff 3-point scoring leaders
References
External links
1988 births
Living people
2010 FIBA World Championship players
All-American college men's basketball players
American Christians
American men's basketball players
American YouTubers
Basketball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Basketball players from Maryland
Basketball players from Washington, D.C.
Brooklyn Nets players
Businesspeople in the cannabis industry
FIBA World Championship-winning players
Golden State Warriors players
Male bloggers
Male YouTubers
McDonald's High School All-Americans
Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
National Basketball Association All-Stars
Oklahoma City Thunder players
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball
Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
Seattle SuperSonics draft picks
Seattle SuperSonics players
Small forwards
Sportspeople from Rockville, Maryland
Texas Longhorns men's basketball players
United States men's national basketball team players
YouTube vloggers
| true |
[
"What You See Is What You Get or WYSIWYG is where computer editing software allows content to be edited in a form that resembles its final appearance.\n\nWhat You See Is What You Get may also refer to:\n\nMusic\n What You See Is What You Get (EP), a 1998 EP by Pitchshifter\n What You See Is What You Get (Glen Goldsmith album), 1988\n What You See Is What You Get (Luke Combs album), 2019\n Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get (album), a 1971 debut album by the band The Dramatics\n\"Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get\" (song), title song from the above The Dramatics album\n \"What You See Is What You Get\" (song), a 1971 song by Stoney & Meatloaf\n \"What U See Is What U Get\", a 1998 song by rapper Xzibit\n \"What U See (Is What U Get)\", a song by Britney Spears from the 2000 album Oops!... I Did It Again\n\nOthers\n What you see is what you get, a term popularized by Geraldine Jones, a character from the television show The Flip Wilson Show\n What You See Is What You Get (book), a 2010 book written by Alan Sugar\n\nSee also\nWYSIWYG (disambiguation)\nWhatcha See Is Whatcha Get (disambiguation)\n\"What You Get Is What You See\", a song by Tina Turner from her 1987 album Break Every Rule\n Stand by Me (Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get), 1971 album by Pretty Purdie and The Playboys",
"How Did This Get Made? is a comedy podcast on the Earwolf network hosted by Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas.\n\nGenerally, How Did This Get Made? is released every two weeks. During the show's off-week, a \".5\" episode is uploaded featuring Scheer announcing the next week's movie, as well as challenges for the fans. In addition to the shows and mini-shows, the How Did This Get Made? stream hosted the first three episodes of Bitch Sesh, the podcast of previous guests Casey Wilson and Danielle Schneider, in December 2015. It has also hosted episodes of its own spin-off podcast, the How Did This Get Made? Origin Stories, in which Blake Harris interviews people involved with the films covered by the main show. In December 2017, an episode was recorded for the Pee Cast Blast event, and released exclusively on Stitcher Premium.\n\nEvery episode has featured Paul Scheer as the host of the podcast. The only episode to date in which Scheer hosted remotely was The Smurfs, in which he Skyped in. Raphael has taken extended breaks from the podcast for both filming commitments and maternity leave. Mantzoukas has also missed episodes due to work, but has also Skyped in for various episodes. On the occasions that neither Raphael nor Mantzoukas are available for live appearances, Scheer calls in previous fan-favorite guests for what is known as a How Did This Get Made? All-Stars episode.\n\nList of episodes\n\nMini episodes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n List of How Did This Get Made? episodes\n\nHow Did This Get Made\nHow Did This Get Made"
] |
[
"Kevin Durant",
"National team career",
"What year did he join",
"2007,",
"What did he get",
"Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp."
] |
C_f0baba80a9794299b0e55746c6b38b78_1
|
What happened to him this year
| 3 |
What happened to Kevin Durant in 2007?
|
Kevin Durant
|
In February 2007, Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp. Despite a strong performance, he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit. Coach Mike Krzyzewski cited the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor in making the cut. Durant was finally selected to the national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and became their leader as other All-Stars were unavailable, a role he downplayed. At the tournament, he led Team USA to its first FIBA World Championship since 1994, earning MVP honors in the process. His final averages for the competition were 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in nine games. At the 2012 Olympics, Durant set the record for total points scored in an Olympic basketball tournament. With averages of 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, he helped the national team go undefeated en route to a gold medal. In the tournament's final game, he led all scorers with 30 points. Less than a month before the start of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Durant announced that he would be dropping out of the competition, citing mental and physical exhaustion as reasons for his departure. He rejoined Team USA in 2016 for the Olympics, where he led them to a gold medal. In recognition of his performances, Durant was named the 2016 co-USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, along with Carmelo Anthony, for the second time in his career. CANNOTANSWER
|
he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit.
|
Kevin Wayne Durant (; born September 29, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for the Texas Longhorns, and was selected as the second overall pick by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2007 NBA draft. He played nine seasons with the franchise, which became the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008, before signing with the Golden State Warriors in 2016, winning consecutive NBA championships in 2017 and 2018. After sustaining an Achilles injury in the 2019 finals, he joined the Nets as a free agent that summer. Durant has often been called the best player in the NBA and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
Durant was a heavily recruited high school prospect who was widely regarded as the second-best player in his class. In college, he won numerous year-end awards and became the first freshman to be named Naismith College Player of the Year. As a professional, he has won two NBA championships, an NBA Most Valuable Player Award, two Finals MVP Awards, two NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Awards, four NBA scoring titles, the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, been named to nine All-NBA teams (including six First Teams), and selected 12 times as an NBA All-Star. In October 2021, Durant was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. In international play as a member of USA Basketball, Durant has won three Olympic gold medals (2012, 2016, and 2020) and the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
Off the court, Durant is one of the highest-earning basketball players in the world, due in part to endorsement deals with companies such as Foot Locker and Nike. He has developed a reputation for philanthropy and regularly leads the league in All-Star votes and jersey sales. In recent years, he has contributed to The Players' Tribune as both a photographer and writer. In 2012, he ventured into acting, appearing in the film Thunderstruck.
Early life
Durant was born on September 29, 1988, in Washington, D.C., to Wanda (née Durant) and Wayne Pratt. When Durant was an infant, his father deserted the family; Wanda and Wayne eventually divorced, and Durant's grandmother Barbara Davis helped raise him. By age 13, his father reentered his life and traveled the country with him to basketball tournaments. Durant has a sister, Brianna, and two brothers, Tony and Rayvonne.
Durant and his siblings grew up in Prince George's County, Maryland, on the eastern outskirts of Washington, D.C. He was unusually tall from a young age, and reached in height while still in middle school (age 10-12). Growing up, Durant wanted to play for his favorite team, the Toronto Raptors, which included his favorite player, Vince Carter. He played Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball for several teams in the Maryland area and was teammates with future NBA players Michael Beasley, Greivis Vásquez, and Ty Lawson, the first of whom Durant remains friends with to this day. During this time, he began wearing #35 as his jersey number in honor of his AAU coach, Charles Craig, who was murdered at the age of 35.
After playing two years of high school basketball at National Christian Academy and one year at Oak Hill Academy, Durant transferred to Montrose Christian School for his senior year, growing before the start of the season and beginning the year at .
Prior to the start of the season, he committed to the University of Texas at Austin. He had visited University of Connecticut and University of North Carolina, and said he considered Duke University, University of Kentucky and University of Louisville. When asked why he chose a college with a lesser-known program, he said, "Wanted to set my own path."
At the end of the year, he was named the Washington Post All-Met Basketball Player of the Year, as well as the Most Valuable Player of the 2006 McDonald's All-American Game. He was widely regarded as the second-best high school prospect of 2006, behind Greg Oden.
College career
For the 2006–07 college season, Durantwho had grown to averaged 25.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game for the Texas Longhorns. They finished the year with a 25–10 record overall and a 12–4 record in conference. Awarded a fourth seed in the NCAA Tournament, Texas won their first round match-up against New Mexico State but were upset in the second round by USC despite a 30-point and 9-rebound performance from Durant. For his outstanding play, Durant was recognized as the unanimous national player of the year, winning the John R. Wooden Award, the Naismith College Player of the Year Award, and all eight other widely recognized honors and awards. This made Durant the first freshman to win any of the national player of the year awards. Following the season, he declared for the NBA draft. His No. 35 jersey was later retired by the Longhorns.
Professional career
Seattle SuperSonics / Oklahoma City Thunder (2007–2016)
Rookie of the Year (2007–2008)
Durant was selected as the second overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, after Greg Oden was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the first pick of the draft. In his first regular season game, the 19-year-old Durant registered 18 points, five rebounds and three steals against the Denver Nuggets. On November 16, he made the first game-winning shot of his career in a game against the Atlanta Hawks. At the conclusion of the 2007–08 NBA season, he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year following averages of 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He joined Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James as the only teenagers in league history to average at least 20 points per game over an entire season.
Breakthrough (2008–2010)
Following Durant's debut season, the SuperSonics relocated from Seattle to Oklahoma City, becoming the Thunder and switching to new colors – blue, orange, and yellow. The team also drafted UCLA guard Russell Westbrook, who would form an All-Star combination with Durant in later years. At the 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend, Durant set a Rookie Challenge record with 46 points. By the conclusion of the 2008–09 NBA season, he had raised his scoring average by five points from the prior season to 25.3 points per game, and was considered a strong candidate for the Most Improved Player Award, eventually finishing third in the voting. Durant continued to grow during his first few years in the NBA, finally reaching a height of .
During the 2009–10 season, Durant was selected to his first NBA All-Star Game. Behind his play, the Thunder improved their record by 27 wins from the previous year and defied expectations to make the playoffs. With a scoring average of 30.1 points per game, Durant became the youngest NBA scoring champion and was selected to his first All-NBA team. In his playoff debut, he scored 24 points in a Game 1 loss against the Los Angeles Lakers. Oklahoma City would go on to lose the series in six games, but the team's performance led many analysts to label them as an upcoming title contender.
Deep playoff runs (2010–2013)
Prior to the start of the 2010–11 season, Durant announced via Twitter that he had signed a five-year contract extension with the Thunder worth approximately $86 million. For the second consecutive year, he led the NBA in scoring, averaging 27.7 points a game. Behind Durant's leadership, the Thunder won 55 games and earned the fourth seed in the Western Conference. In the 2011 NBA playoffs, Oklahoma City defeated the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies en route to a Conference Finals match-up versus the Dallas Mavericks, losing in five games.
On February 19 of the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season, Durant recorded his first career 50-point game, scoring 51 points against the Denver Nuggets. At the All-Star Game, he scored 36 points and was awarded the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award. Durant finished the year with a scoring average of 28 points per game, representing his third straight scoring title. Behind his play, the Thunder won 47 games and entered the 2012 NBA playoffs as the Western Conference's second seed. In Game 1 of the first round against the Dallas Mavericks, Durant hit a game-winner with 1.5 seconds remaining. Oklahoma City would go on to defeat Dallas, the Lakers, and the San Antonio Spurs before losing to the Miami Heat in the 2012 NBA Finals. For the NBA Finals, Durant led all players with 30.6 points per game, doing so on a 54.8 shooting rate.
With a scoring average of 28.1 points per game to finish the 2012–13 season, Durant failed to defend his scoring title; however, with a 51 percent shooting rate, a 41.6 percent three point shooting rate, and a 90.5 free throw shooting rate, he became the youngest player in NBA history to join the 50–40–90 club. Finishing the year with a 60–22 record, Oklahoma City earned the first seed in the Western Conference. In the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs against the Houston Rockets, Westbrook tore his meniscus, forcing him to miss the remainder of the postseason. Without Westbrook, Durant was given more responsibility, averaging a career-high 30.8 points per game throughout the playoffs, but Oklahoma City were eventually eliminated in the second round by the Memphis Grizzlies in five games.
MVP season (2013–14)
In January of the 2013–14 season, Durant averaged 35.9 points per game while scoring 30 or more points in 12 straight games, including a career-high 54 points against the Golden State Warriors. In April, he surpassed Michael Jordan's record for consecutive games scoring 25 points or more at 41. The Thunder finished the year with 59 wins and Durant was voted the NBA Most Valuable Player behind averages of 32 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. To begin the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs, he struggled against the physical play of the Grizzlies, converting on only 24 percent of his field goals in Game 4. Through five games, the Thunder trailed the series 3–2, prompting The Oklahoman to dub Durant "Mr. Unreliable". He responded by scoring 36 points in a Game 6 victory. Oklahoma City eventually eliminated Memphis and the Los Angeles Clippers before losing to the Spurs in the Conference Finals in six games.
Final seasons with the Thunder (2014–2016)
Prior to the start of the 2014–15 season, Durant was diagnosed with a Jones fracture in his right foot and was ruled out for six to eight weeks. He subsequently missed the first 17 games of the year, making his season debut for the Thunder on December 2 against the New Orleans Pelicans. On December 18, he injured his ankle against the Golden State Warriors, returning to action on December 31 against the Phoenix Suns to score a season-high 44 points. He then sprained his left big toe in late January. On February 22, he was sidelined again after undergoing a minor procedure to help reduce pain and discomfort in his surgically repaired right foot, and on March 27, he was officially ruled out for the rest of the season after deciding to undergo foot surgery. In just 27 games, he averaged 25.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game.
To begin the 2015–16 season, Durant and Westbrook reached several historical milestones together, including becoming the first pair of teammates to each score at least 40 points in a single game since 1996, doing so in a win over the Orlando Magic on October 30. For the year, Durant averaged 28.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game, leading the Thunder to 55 wins and the third seed in the West. In Game 2 of the first round of the 2016 NBA playoffs against the Mavericks, he scored 21 points but converted only 7 out of 33 shots in the worst postseason shooting performance, both by percentage and number of misses, of his career. After defeating Dallas, Oklahoma City moved on to face the Spurs in the second round, falling behind 2–1 to start the series. In Game 4, Durant tied his playoff career high with 41 points in a Thunder win. Oklahoma City eventually defeated the Spurs in six games, drawing a matchup with the record-setting 73-win Golden State Warriors in the Conference Finals. Despite going up 3–1, the Thunder were ousted in seven games, with Durant providing 27 points in Game 7.
Golden State Warriors (2016–2019)
2016 free agency
On July 4, Durant announced his intentions to sign with the Warriors in The Players' Tribune. The move was received negatively by fans and pundits, who felt that he took the easy route by leaving a team that had been up 3–1 and close to reaching the Finals to instead join their opponents, who had defeated them and were coming off a record-setting 73-win season; the Warriors had also won a championship the year before. On July 7, Durant officially signed with Golden State on a two-year, $54.3 million contract with a player option after the first year. Reflecting on the move for Sports Illustrated, Ben Golliver wrote, "He chose an ideal roster fit and a shot at playing for the highest-scoring offense the NBA has seen in decades. He chose life alongside Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the greatest shooting backcourt in history, and he chose to go against Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green, two elite defenders, in practices rather than in Western Conference finals games."
Back-to-back championships (2016–2018)
Durant made his debut for the Warriors on October 25 against the San Antonio Spurs, scoring a team-high 27 points in a blowout loss. On November 26, he recorded 28 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and a career-high six blocked shots in a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, becoming the first player in team history to finish with at least 25 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and five blocks in a single game. On February 11, in his first game back in Oklahoma City since leaving for Golden State, Durant scored 34 points while being booed throughout the night as he helped the Warriors defeat the Thunder for the third time that year. In March, Durant suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain and a tibial bone bruise, which forced him to miss the final 19 games of the season. Golden State finished the year with a 67–15 record and entered the playoffs as the first seed.
Durant returned from injury in time for the 2017 NBA playoffs and helped the Warriors advance to their third consecutive Finals, while also becoming the first team in league history to start the postseason 12–0. In Game 1 of the series, Durant had 38 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists to lead the Warriors past LeBron James and the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers. Durant then helped the Warriors go up 3–0 in the series with a 31-point effort in Game 3, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 45.3 seconds left in regulation. In Game 5, he scored 39 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists in a series-clinching win. For the Finals, Durant was the Golden State's top scorer in every game, averaging 35.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 5.4 assists while shooting 55.5 percent from the field, 47.4 percent from three-point range, and 92.7 percent from the free throw line. He was subsequently named the NBA Finals MVP.
After the Finals, Durant declined his $27.7 million player option and became an unrestricted free agent. On July 25, he re-signed with the Warriors for less money than the maximum, which helped the franchise create enough salary cap space to keep their core roster intact and add free agents. On January 10 of the 2017–18 season, Durant scored 40 points in a loss to the Clippers, becoming the second-youngest player in league history to reach the 20,000-point milestone. On January 23, he registered a career-high 14 assists in a win over the New York Knicks. On February 14, he scored a season-high 50 points in a loss to the Trail Blazers. In March, he missed games with a fractured rib, joining teammates Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson on the sidelines for the back-end of the season. Golden State eventually finished the year with 58 wins and Durant set a career high for blocks in season with 119.
In Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Durant scored 37 points in a win over the higher-seeded Houston Rockets. Through six games, the Warriors found themselves trailing 3–2, and Durant was criticized for contributing to Golden State's struggles by playing too much in isolation. The Warriors staved off elimination in Game 6, and in Game 7, Durant scored 34 points, helping Golden State return to the Finals with a series-clinching victory. In Game 3 of the 2018 NBA Finals, Durant recorded a playoff career-high 43 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists in a win over the Cavaliers, leading the Warriors to a 3–0 advantage. Golden State ultimately swept Cleveland and clinched a second straight championship; with averages of 28.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 7.5 assists, Durant also won his second Finals MVP Award.
Three-peat chase and injury (2018–2019)
On July 7, 2018, Durant re-signed with the Warriors, on a reported two-year, $61.5 million contract, which included a player option for the second year. During an overtime loss to the Clippers on November 12, 2018, Green cursed out Durant over his upcoming free agency status after the season, and he was suspended for the much-publicized blowup. On November 29, Durant scored a season-high 51 points in a 131–128 overtime loss to the Toronto Raptors, thus scoring 40 or more in his third straight game. With Curry and Green sidelined for most of November, the Warriors finished the month with a 15–8 record and five straight road losses, after starting the season at 10–1.
In Game 5 of the first round of the playoffs, he scored a playoff career-high 45 points in a 129–121 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. In Game 6, he set a new playoff career high with 50 points in a 129–110 win to close out the series. During Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets, Durant suffered a right calf strain, subsequently missing Game 6, in which the Warriors won the series, as well as the entire Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers, which the Warriors won in a four-game sweep.
After missing nine games with the strained right calf, Durant returned to action in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals against Toronto, and scored 11 points in the first quarter. However, he was lost for the game two minutes into the second quarter when he tried to drive by former teammate Serge Ibaka and suffered an Achilles tendon injury, falling and grabbing his lower right calf. He limped off the court and was helped to the locker room. The Warriors won the game to cut the Raptors' series lead to 3–2. The Warriors went on to lose the NBA Finals in Game 6, ending their quest for a three-peat.
Brooklyn Nets (2019–present)
Year absence (2019–2020)
On June 30, 2019, Durant announced that he planned to sign with the Brooklyn Nets after the July moratorium ended on July 6. On July 1, Golden State CEO Joe Lacob announced that Durant's No. 35 will no longer be issued by the Warriors. Durant signed with Brooklyn on July 7, in a sign-and-trade deal. Durant did not appear at all in the 2019–20 season and later revealed that he had decided shortly after his June 2019 injury that he would be sitting out the entire 2019–20 season. On March 17, 2020, Durant and three other Nets players tested positive for COVID-19. On April 1, it was announced that Durant was cleared and had recovered.
Return to the court (2020–2021)
On December 22, 2020, Durant made his Nets debut, putting up 22 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, in a 125–99 win over the Golden State Warriors. On January 14, 2021, James Harden was traded to the Nets in a blockbuster four-team deal, reuniting Durant with his former Thunder teammate. On January 16, 2021, Durant scored a season-high 42 points in a 122–115 win over the Orlando Magic. On February 5, due to health and safety protocols, Durant came off the bench for the first time in his career in a 117–123 loss to the Toronto Raptors. In February, Durant suffered a hamstring injury, which forced him to miss 23 games. On April 2, the NBA fined Durant $50,000 for private messages he sent through social media to actor Michael Rapaport in a feud. Durant made his return on April 7, 2021, scoring 17 points off the bench in a 139–119 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. The Nets finished the season with a 48–24 record, and the second seed in the East.
In Game 4 of the first round of the playoffs, Durant scored 42 points in a 141–126 win over the Boston Celtics to take a 3–1 lead in the series. In Game 5, he scored 24 points in a 123–109 win to close out the series. In Game 1 against the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference semifinals, Durant had 29 points and 10 rebounds in a 115–107 win. In Game 5, Durant put up 49 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists, leading the Nets to a 114–108 comeback win. In Game 7 against the Bucks, Durant dropped 48 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists, including a two-pointer to send the game into overtime, in the 115–111 loss; Durant's 48 points were the most in a Game 7 in NBA playoff history.
2021–22
On August 8, 2021, Durant signed a four-year, $198 million extension with the Brooklyn Nets. On October 22, Durant recorded his thirteenth career triple-double, and first as a Net with 29 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists in a 114–109 comeback win over the Philadelphia 76ers. On November 10, Durant scored 30 points on 11-for-12 shooting in a 123–90 win over the Orlando Magic. On December 12, Durant scored a season-high 51 points in a 116–104 win over the Detroit Pistons. On December 14, Durant recorded his fourteenth career triple-double with 34 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists in a 131–129 overtime win over the Toronto Raptors. On December 16, Durant scored 34 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, dished out 8 assists in a 114–105 win against the Philadelphia 76ers. On January 15, 2022, during a 120–105 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, Durant exited in the second quarter after suffering a left knee injury, later revealed to be a sprained MCL, and was subsequently ruled out for four to six weeks.
National team career
In February 2007, Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp. Despite a strong performance, he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit. Coach Mike Krzyzewski cited the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor in making the cut. Durant was finally selected to the national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and became their leader as other All-Stars were unavailable, a role he downplayed. At the tournament, he led Team USA to its first FIBA World Championship since 1994, earning tournament MVP honors in the process. His final averages for the competition were 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in nine games.
At the 2012 Olympics, Durant set the record for total points scored in an Olympic basketball tournament. With averages of 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, he helped the national team go undefeated en route to a gold medal. In the tournament's final game, he led all scorers with 30 points.
Less than a month before the start of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Durant announced that he would be dropping out of the competition, citing mental and physical exhaustion as reasons for his departure. He rejoined Team USA on the 2016 Olympic team, where he led them to a gold medal. In recognition of his performances, Durant was named the 2016 co-USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, along with Carmelo Anthony, for the second time in his career.
Durant committed to playing on the 2020 Olympic team, delayed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He entered the Games ranked second in U.S. men's Olympic basketball history with 311 career points, needing 25 to match Anthony's record of 336. Durant broke Anthony's record on July 31 against the Czech Republic. He led Team USA to a gold medal.
Player profile
Durant's height is officially and his primary position is small forward. In December 2016, Durant stated that his height in shoes was actually and that he understated his height in order to be listed as a small forward, rather than a power forward. His career averages are 27.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. Widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation, Durant has earned All-NBA honors nine times (2009–2014, 2016–2019) and was voted Rookie of the Year in his debut season. He has also won an MVP Award and finished second in the voting three times, a trend that he has expressed frustration over.
Durant is best known for his prodigious scoring ability. From 2010 to 2014, he won four scoring titles, becoming one of only two players to win four scoring titles in a five-year span. Early in his career, his playing style was isolation-driven, but he quickly developed into an excellent off-ball player who was capable of scoring from the outside as well. By 2013, he was shooting at a historically great clip, which helped him become one of only nine members of the 50–40–90 club. This ability to impact the offense in a variety of ways helped Durant remain effective and improve an already elite offense upon joining the Warriors in 2016. Throughout his career, his height and wingspan have created matchup problems for defenses as he is able to get off a clean shot regardless of the situation. Upon beating his man or gaining momentum, he also becomes a strong finisher at the rim; for example, he converted 72.2% of shots in the paint in 2012.
Early in Durant's career, he was criticized for his slim build, defense, and passing. Over time, he grew as a playmaker, increasing his assist numbers every year from 2010 to 2014, though his overall vision still lagged behind the league's best passers'. He also showed defensive improvement, with opponents averaging just .62 points per isolation play against him in 2014, the best success rate for defensive players who faced at least 100 isolations that season. Upon going to Golden State, he developed into a more reliable off-ball defender and rim protector, and in 2018 was considered for the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Personal life
Durant is very close with his mother, Wanda, a relationship that was detailed in the Lifetime movie The Real MVP: The Wanda Pratt Story. During his time with the Thunder, Durant described himself as a "high school kid" who enjoys playing video games in his spare time. A Christian, Durant has religious tattoos on his stomach, wrist, and back. He owns several properties in the Oklahoma City area and listed his primary residence, located in the affluent Club Villa neighborhood, for sale for $1.95 million in 2013. That same year, he opened a restaurant, KD's Southern Cuisine, in the Bricktown neighborhood and briefly became engaged to Monica Wright, a WNBA player. In 2016, he was a credentialed photographer for The Players' Tribune at Super Bowl 50.
Durant was formerly represented by agents Aaron Goodwin and Rob Pelinka. He left Pelinka in 2013 and signed with the Roc Nation group, headed by Jay-Z. Durant has endorsement deals with Nike, Sprint, Gatorade, Panini, General Electric, and 2K Sports. In 2012, he tried his hand at acting, appearing in the children's film Thunderstruck. In 2013, he earned $35 million, making him the fourth-highest-earning basketball player that year. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Durant claimed that, despite his high earnings potential, "global marketing and all that stuff" does not interest him.
One of the most popular players in the league, Durant's jersey regularly ranks as one of the NBA's best-selling and he is consistently one of the top All-Star vote-getters. Early in his career, he developed a reputation for his kind demeanor; in 2013, Foot Locker released a series of commercials calling him the "nicest guy in the NBA", and become a beloved figure in Oklahoma City, known for his "nice escapades" toward the Thunder's staff. In 2014, he partnered with KIND snacks and launched StrongAndKind.com to show "being kind is not a sign of weakness." Since joining the Warriors, he has become more outspoken and controversial; for example, he was involved in a Twitter back-and-forth with C. J. McCollum in July 2018. Durant has admitted to feeling more genuine in Golden State as opposed to Oklahoma City, where he was "just trying to please everybody".
Throughout his career, Durant has participated in philanthropic causes. In 2013, he pledged $1 million to the American Red Cross for the victims of the 2013 Moore tornado. His generosity inspired the Thunder and Nike to match his donation. He is also a spokesperson for the Washington, D. C. branch of P'Tones Records, a nationwide non-profit after-school music program.
In 2017, Durant became involved with YouTube. In February, he visited YouTube's headquarters for a speaking engagement. On April 7, 2017, he created a YouTube account and soon began to upload live stream vlogs onto it. In his first vlog, he detailed, "I'm so excited because I got off social media. I got off the Instagram, Twitter, all that stuff, just to distance myself a bit. But somebody talked me into getting on the YouTube." As of June 2020, Durant's YouTube channel has received over 790,000 subscribers and 38 million video views. On February 13, 2018, Deadline reported that Durant, in partnership with producer Brian Grazer's Imagine Television, will create a basketball-themed scripted drama for Apple.
In 2017, Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman founded Thirty Five Ventures. In 2020, Thirty Five Ventures produced Basketball County, a documentary about youth basketball in Durant's home county of Prince George's County, Maryland. Durant served as an executive producer and appeared in interviews. Thirty Five Ventures' work Two Distant Strangers won the 2021 Academy Award for Short Film (Live Action).
Durant was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018.
On June 15, 2020, Durant became a minority owner of MLS side Philadelphia Union, acquiring a 5% stake with the possibility to add another 5% in the near future.
In August 2021, Durant announced a partnership between his multimedia company Boardroom and the cannabis technology company Weedmaps through which an original content series would be developed and Weedmaps would become an official sponsor of Boardroom. Durant said of the partnership: "I think it's far past time to address the stigmas around cannabis that still exist in the sports world as well as globally. This partnership is going to help us continue to normalize those conversations, as well as create content, events, and a lot more through our Boardroom media network."
On December 22, 2021, he had signed a deal with Coinbase to serve himself as a brand ambassador.
Career statistics
Source:
NBA
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Seattle
| 80 || 80 || 34.6 || .430 || .288 || .873 || 4.4 || 2.4 || 1.0 || .9 || 20.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 74 || 74 || 39.0 || .476 || .422 || .863 || 6.5 || 2.8 || 1.3 || .7 || 25.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| style="background:#cfecec;"|82* || style="background:#cfecec;"|82* || 39.5 || .476 || .365 || .900 || 7.6 || 2.8 || 1.4 || 1.0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|30.1*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 78 || 78 || 38.9 || .462 || .350 || .880 || 6.8 || 2.7 || 1.1 || 1.0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|27.7*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| style="background:#cfecec;"|66* || style="background:#cfecec;"|66* || 38.6 || .496 || .387 || .860 || 8.0 || 3.5 || 1.3 || 1.2 || style="background:#cfecec;"|28.0*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 81 || 81 || 38.5 || .510 || .416 || style="background:#cfecec;"|.905* || 7.9 || 4.6 || 1.4 || 1.3 || 28.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 81 || 81 || 38.5 || .503 || .391 || .873 || 7.4 || 5.5 || 1.3 || .7 || style="background:#cfecec;"|32.0*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 27 || 27 || 33.8 || .510 || .403 || .854 || 6.6 || 4.1 || .9 || .9 || 25.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 72 || 72 || 35.8 || .505 || .388 || .898 || 8.2 || 5.0 || 1.0 || 1.2 || 28.2
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 62 || 62 || 33.4 || .537 || .375 || .875 || 8.3 || 4.9 || 1.1 || 1.6 || 25.1
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 68 || 68 || 34.2 || .516 || .419 || .889 || 6.8 || 5.4 || .7 || 1.8 || 26.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 78 || 78 || 34.6 || .521 || .353 || .885 || 6.4 || 5.9 || .7 || 1.1 || 26.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Brooklyn
| 35 || 32 || 33.1 || .537 || .450 || .882 || 7.1 || 5.6 || .7 || 1.3 || 26.9
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 884 || 881 || 36.7 || .494 || .384 || .883 || 7.1 || 4.2 || 1.1 || 1.1 || 27.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|All-Star
| 10 || 8 || 26.9 || .536 || .349 || .897 || 6.2 || 3.7 || 1.7 || .5 || 25.0
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2010
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 6 || 6 || 38.5 || .350 || .286 || .871 || 7.7 || 2.3 || .5 || 1.3 || 25.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2011
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 17 || 17 || 42.5 || .449 || .339 || .838 || 8.2 || 2.8 || .9 || 1.1 || 28.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2012
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 20 || 20 || 41.9 || .517 || .373 || .864 || 7.4 || 3.7 || 1.5 || 1.2 || 28.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2013
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 11 || 11 || 44.1 || .455 || .314 || .830 || 9.0 || 6.3 || 1.3 || 1.1 || 30.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2014
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 19 || 19 || 42.9 || .460 || .344 || .810 || 8.9 || 3.9 || 1.0 || 1.3 || 29.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2016
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 18 || 18 || 40.3 || .430 || .282 || .890 || 7.1 || 3.3 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 28.4
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;|2017†
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 15 || 15 || 35.5 || .556 || .442 || .893 || 8.0 || 4.3 || .8 || 1.3 || 28.5
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;|2018†
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 21 || 21 || 38.4 || .487 || .341 || .901 || 7.8 || 4.7 || .7 || 1.2 || 29.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2019
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 12 || 12 || 36.8 || .514 || .438 || .903 || 4.9 || 4.5 || 1.1 || 1.0 || 32.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2021
| style="text-align:left;"|Brooklyn
| 12 || 12 || 40.4 || .514 || .402 || .871 || 9.3 || 4.4 || 1.5 || 1.6 || 34.3
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 151 || 151 || 40.3 || .478 || .357 || .865 || 7.8 || 4.0 || 1.0 || 1.2 || 29.5
College
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2006–07
| style="text-align:left;"|Texas
| 35 || 35 || 35.9 || .473 || .404 || .816 || 11.1 || 1.3 || 1.9 || 1.9 || 25.8
Awards and honors
NBA
Cited from Basketball Reference's Kevin Durant page unless noted otherwise.
2× NBA champion: 2017, 2018
2× NBA Finals Most Valuable Player: 2017, 2018
NBA Most Valuable Player: 2014
12× NBA All-Star: 2010–2019, 2021, 2022
6× All-NBA First Team: 2010–2014, 2018
3× All-NBA Second Team: 2016, 2017, 2019
4× NBA scoring champion: 2010–2012, 2014
2× NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2012, 2019
NBA Rookie of the Year: 2008
NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2008
NBA Rookie Challenge MVP: 2009
USA Basketball
Cited from USA Basketball's Kevin Durant page unless noted otherwise.
3× Olympic gold medalist: 2012, 2016, 2020
Olympics Most Valuable Player: 2020
FIBA World Cup gold medalist: 2010
FIBA World Cup Most Valuable Player: 2010
NCAA
Naismith College Player of the Year: 2007
NABC Division I Player of the Year: 2007
Oscar Robertson Trophy: 2007
Adolph Rupp Trophy: 2007
John R. Wooden Award: 2007
Big 12 Player of the Year: 2007
USBWA National Freshman of the Year: 2007
Jersey number (35) retired at Texas
Media
AP Player of the Year: 2007
AP All-America 1st Team: 2007
Two-time ESPY Award winner:
2014 Best NBA Player
2017 Outstanding Team (as a member of the Golden State Warriors)
See also
List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career 3-point scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff turnovers leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff 3-point scoring leaders
References
External links
1988 births
Living people
2010 FIBA World Championship players
All-American college men's basketball players
American Christians
American men's basketball players
American YouTubers
Basketball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Basketball players from Maryland
Basketball players from Washington, D.C.
Brooklyn Nets players
Businesspeople in the cannabis industry
FIBA World Championship-winning players
Golden State Warriors players
Male bloggers
Male YouTubers
McDonald's High School All-Americans
Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
National Basketball Association All-Stars
Oklahoma City Thunder players
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball
Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
Seattle SuperSonics draft picks
Seattle SuperSonics players
Small forwards
Sportspeople from Rockville, Maryland
Texas Longhorns men's basketball players
United States men's national basketball team players
YouTube vloggers
| true |
[
"Don Juan Manuel's Tales of Count Lucanor, in Spanish Libro de los ejemplos del conde Lucanor y de Patronio (Book of the Examples of Count Lucanor and of Patronio), also commonly known as El Conde Lucanor, Libro de Patronio, or Libro de los ejemplos (original Old Castilian: Libro de los enxiemplos del Conde Lucanor et de Patronio), is one of the earliest works of prose in Castilian Spanish. It was first written in 1335.\n\nThe book is divided into four parts. The first and most well-known part is a series of 51 short stories (some no more than a page or two) drawn from various sources, such as Aesop and other classical writers, and Arabic folktales.\n\nTales of Count Lucanor was first printed in 1575 when it was published at Seville under the auspices of Argote de Molina. It was again printed at Madrid in 1642, after which it lay forgotten for nearly two centuries.\n\nPurpose and structure\n\nA didactic, moralistic purpose, which would color so much of the Spanish literature to follow (see Novela picaresca), is the mark of this book. Count Lucanor engages in conversation with his advisor Patronio, putting to him a problem (\"Some man has made me a proposition...\" or \"I fear that such and such person intends to...\") and asking for advice. Patronio responds always with the greatest humility, claiming not to wish to offer advice to so illustrious a person as the Count, but offering to tell him a story of which the Count's problem reminds him. (Thus, the stories are \"examples\" [ejemplos] of wise action.) At the end he advises the Count to do as the protagonist of his story did.\n\nEach chapter ends in more or less the same way, with slight variations on: \"And this pleased the Count greatly and he did just so, and found it well. And Don Johán (Juan) saw that this example was very good, and had it written in this book, and composed the following verses.\" A rhymed couplet closes, giving the moral of the story.\n\nOrigin of stories and influence on later literature\nMany of the stories written in the book are the first examples written in a modern European language of various stories, which many other writers would use in the proceeding centuries. Many of the stories he included were themselves derived from other stories, coming from western and Arab sources.\n\nShakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew has the basic elements of Tale 35, \"What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\".\n\nTale 32, \"What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth\" tells the story that Hans Christian Andersen made popular as The Emperor's New Clothes.\n\nStory 7, \"What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana\", a version of Aesop's The Milkmaid and Her Pail, was claimed by Max Müller to originate in the Hindu cycle Panchatantra.\n\nTale 2, \"What happened to a good Man and his Son, leading a beast to market,\" is the familiar fable The miller, his son and the donkey.\n\nIn 2016, Baroque Decay released a game under the name \"The Count Lucanor\". As well as some protagonists' names, certain events from the books inspired past events in the game.\n\nThe stories\n\nThe book opens with a prologue which introduces the characters of the Count and Patronio. The titles in the following list are those given in Keller and Keating's 1977 translation into English. James York's 1868 translation into English gives a significantly different ordering of the stories and omits the fifty-first.\n\n What Happened to a King and His Favorite \n What Happened to a Good Man and His Son \n How King Richard of England Leapt into the Sea against the Moors\n What a Genoese Said to His Soul When He Was about to Die \n What Happened to a Fox and a Crow Who Had a Piece of Cheese in His Beak\n How the Swallow Warned the Other Birds When She Saw Flax Being Sown \n What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana \n What Happened to a Man Whose Liver Had to Be Washed \n What Happened to Two Horses Which Were Thrown to the Lion \n What Happened to a Man Who on Account of Poverty and Lack of Other Food Was Eating Bitter Lentils \n What Happened to a Dean of Santiago de Compostela and Don Yllán, the Grand Master of Toledo\n What Happened to the Fox and the Rooster \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Hunting Partridges \n The Miracle of Saint Dominick When He Preached against the Usurer \n What Happened to Lorenzo Suárez at the Siege of Seville \n The Reply that count Fernán González Gave to His Relative Núño Laynes \n What Happened to a Very Hungry Man Who Was Half-heartedly Invited to Dinner \n What Happened to Pero Meléndez de Valdés When He Broke His Leg \n What Happened to the Crows and the Owls \n What Happened to a King for Whom a Man Promised to Perform Alchemy \n What Happened to a Young King and a Philosopher to Whom his Father Commended Him \n What Happened to the Lion and the Bull \n How the Ants Provide for Themselves \n What Happened to the King Who Wanted to Test His Three Sons \n What Happened to the Count of Provence and How He Was Freed from Prison by the Advice of Saladin\n What Happened to the Tree of Lies \n What Happened to an Emperor and to Don Alvarfáñez Minaya and Their Wives \n What Happened in Granada to Don Lorenzo Suárez Gallinato When He Beheaded the Renegade Chaplain \n What Happened to a Fox Who Lay down in the Street to Play Dead \n What Happened to King Abenabet of Seville and Ramayquía His Wife \n How a Cardinal Judged between the Canons of Paris and the Friars Minor \n What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth \n What Happened to Don Juan Manuel's Saker Falcon and an Eagle and a Heron \n What Happened to a Blind Man Who Was Leading Another \n What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\n What Happened to a Merchant When He Found His Son and His Wife Sleeping Together \n What Happened to Count Fernán González with His Men after He Had Won the Battle of Hacinas \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Loaded down with Precious Stones and Drowned in the River \n What Happened to a Man and a Swallow and a Sparrow \n Why the Seneschal of Carcassonne Lost His Soul \n What Happened to a King of Córdova Named Al-Haquem \n What Happened to a Woman of Sham Piety \n What Happened to Good and Evil and the Wise Man and the Madman \n What Happened to Don Pero Núñez the Loyal, to Don Ruy González de Zavallos, and to Don Gutier Roiz de Blaguiello with Don Rodrigo the Generous \n What Happened to a Man Who Became the Devil's Friend and Vassal \n What Happened to a Philosopher who by Accident Went down a Street Where Prostitutes Lived \n What Befell a Moor and His Sister Who Pretended That She Was Timid \n What Happened to a Man Who Tested His Friends \n What Happened to the Man Whom They Cast out Naked on an Island When They Took away from Him the Kingdom He Ruled \n What Happened to Saladin and a Lady, the Wife of a Knight Who Was His Vassal \n What Happened to a Christian King Who Was Very Powerful and Haughty\n\nReferences\n\nNotes\n\nBibliography\n\n Sturm, Harlan\n\n Wacks, David\n\nExternal links\n\nThe Internet Archive provides free access to the 1868 translation by James York.\nJSTOR has the to the 1977 translation by Keller and Keating.\nSelections in English and Spanish (pedagogical edition) with introduction, notes, and bibliography in Open Iberia/América (open access teaching anthology)\n\n14th-century books\nSpanish literature\n1335 books",
"What Happened to Jones may refer to:\n What Happened to Jones (1897 play), a play by George Broadhurst\n What Happened to Jones (1915 film), a lost silent film\n What Happened to Jones (1920 film), a lost silent film\n What Happened to Jones (1926 film), a silent film comedy"
] |
[
"Kevin Durant",
"National team career",
"What year did he join",
"2007,",
"What did he get",
"Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp.",
"What happened to him this year",
"he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit."
] |
C_f0baba80a9794299b0e55746c6b38b78_1
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Who cut him
| 4 |
Who cut Kevin Durant?
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Kevin Durant
|
In February 2007, Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp. Despite a strong performance, he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit. Coach Mike Krzyzewski cited the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor in making the cut. Durant was finally selected to the national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and became their leader as other All-Stars were unavailable, a role he downplayed. At the tournament, he led Team USA to its first FIBA World Championship since 1994, earning MVP honors in the process. His final averages for the competition were 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in nine games. At the 2012 Olympics, Durant set the record for total points scored in an Olympic basketball tournament. With averages of 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, he helped the national team go undefeated en route to a gold medal. In the tournament's final game, he led all scorers with 30 points. Less than a month before the start of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Durant announced that he would be dropping out of the competition, citing mental and physical exhaustion as reasons for his departure. He rejoined Team USA in 2016 for the Olympics, where he led them to a gold medal. In recognition of his performances, Durant was named the 2016 co-USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, along with Carmelo Anthony, for the second time in his career. CANNOTANSWER
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Mike Krzyzewski
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Kevin Wayne Durant (; born September 29, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for the Texas Longhorns, and was selected as the second overall pick by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2007 NBA draft. He played nine seasons with the franchise, which became the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008, before signing with the Golden State Warriors in 2016, winning consecutive NBA championships in 2017 and 2018. After sustaining an Achilles injury in the 2019 finals, he joined the Nets as a free agent that summer. Durant has often been called the best player in the NBA and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
Durant was a heavily recruited high school prospect who was widely regarded as the second-best player in his class. In college, he won numerous year-end awards and became the first freshman to be named Naismith College Player of the Year. As a professional, he has won two NBA championships, an NBA Most Valuable Player Award, two Finals MVP Awards, two NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Awards, four NBA scoring titles, the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, been named to nine All-NBA teams (including six First Teams), and selected 12 times as an NBA All-Star. In October 2021, Durant was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. In international play as a member of USA Basketball, Durant has won three Olympic gold medals (2012, 2016, and 2020) and the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
Off the court, Durant is one of the highest-earning basketball players in the world, due in part to endorsement deals with companies such as Foot Locker and Nike. He has developed a reputation for philanthropy and regularly leads the league in All-Star votes and jersey sales. In recent years, he has contributed to The Players' Tribune as both a photographer and writer. In 2012, he ventured into acting, appearing in the film Thunderstruck.
Early life
Durant was born on September 29, 1988, in Washington, D.C., to Wanda (née Durant) and Wayne Pratt. When Durant was an infant, his father deserted the family; Wanda and Wayne eventually divorced, and Durant's grandmother Barbara Davis helped raise him. By age 13, his father reentered his life and traveled the country with him to basketball tournaments. Durant has a sister, Brianna, and two brothers, Tony and Rayvonne.
Durant and his siblings grew up in Prince George's County, Maryland, on the eastern outskirts of Washington, D.C. He was unusually tall from a young age, and reached in height while still in middle school (age 10-12). Growing up, Durant wanted to play for his favorite team, the Toronto Raptors, which included his favorite player, Vince Carter. He played Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball for several teams in the Maryland area and was teammates with future NBA players Michael Beasley, Greivis Vásquez, and Ty Lawson, the first of whom Durant remains friends with to this day. During this time, he began wearing #35 as his jersey number in honor of his AAU coach, Charles Craig, who was murdered at the age of 35.
After playing two years of high school basketball at National Christian Academy and one year at Oak Hill Academy, Durant transferred to Montrose Christian School for his senior year, growing before the start of the season and beginning the year at .
Prior to the start of the season, he committed to the University of Texas at Austin. He had visited University of Connecticut and University of North Carolina, and said he considered Duke University, University of Kentucky and University of Louisville. When asked why he chose a college with a lesser-known program, he said, "Wanted to set my own path."
At the end of the year, he was named the Washington Post All-Met Basketball Player of the Year, as well as the Most Valuable Player of the 2006 McDonald's All-American Game. He was widely regarded as the second-best high school prospect of 2006, behind Greg Oden.
College career
For the 2006–07 college season, Durantwho had grown to averaged 25.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game for the Texas Longhorns. They finished the year with a 25–10 record overall and a 12–4 record in conference. Awarded a fourth seed in the NCAA Tournament, Texas won their first round match-up against New Mexico State but were upset in the second round by USC despite a 30-point and 9-rebound performance from Durant. For his outstanding play, Durant was recognized as the unanimous national player of the year, winning the John R. Wooden Award, the Naismith College Player of the Year Award, and all eight other widely recognized honors and awards. This made Durant the first freshman to win any of the national player of the year awards. Following the season, he declared for the NBA draft. His No. 35 jersey was later retired by the Longhorns.
Professional career
Seattle SuperSonics / Oklahoma City Thunder (2007–2016)
Rookie of the Year (2007–2008)
Durant was selected as the second overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, after Greg Oden was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the first pick of the draft. In his first regular season game, the 19-year-old Durant registered 18 points, five rebounds and three steals against the Denver Nuggets. On November 16, he made the first game-winning shot of his career in a game against the Atlanta Hawks. At the conclusion of the 2007–08 NBA season, he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year following averages of 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He joined Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James as the only teenagers in league history to average at least 20 points per game over an entire season.
Breakthrough (2008–2010)
Following Durant's debut season, the SuperSonics relocated from Seattle to Oklahoma City, becoming the Thunder and switching to new colors – blue, orange, and yellow. The team also drafted UCLA guard Russell Westbrook, who would form an All-Star combination with Durant in later years. At the 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend, Durant set a Rookie Challenge record with 46 points. By the conclusion of the 2008–09 NBA season, he had raised his scoring average by five points from the prior season to 25.3 points per game, and was considered a strong candidate for the Most Improved Player Award, eventually finishing third in the voting. Durant continued to grow during his first few years in the NBA, finally reaching a height of .
During the 2009–10 season, Durant was selected to his first NBA All-Star Game. Behind his play, the Thunder improved their record by 27 wins from the previous year and defied expectations to make the playoffs. With a scoring average of 30.1 points per game, Durant became the youngest NBA scoring champion and was selected to his first All-NBA team. In his playoff debut, he scored 24 points in a Game 1 loss against the Los Angeles Lakers. Oklahoma City would go on to lose the series in six games, but the team's performance led many analysts to label them as an upcoming title contender.
Deep playoff runs (2010–2013)
Prior to the start of the 2010–11 season, Durant announced via Twitter that he had signed a five-year contract extension with the Thunder worth approximately $86 million. For the second consecutive year, he led the NBA in scoring, averaging 27.7 points a game. Behind Durant's leadership, the Thunder won 55 games and earned the fourth seed in the Western Conference. In the 2011 NBA playoffs, Oklahoma City defeated the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies en route to a Conference Finals match-up versus the Dallas Mavericks, losing in five games.
On February 19 of the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season, Durant recorded his first career 50-point game, scoring 51 points against the Denver Nuggets. At the All-Star Game, he scored 36 points and was awarded the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award. Durant finished the year with a scoring average of 28 points per game, representing his third straight scoring title. Behind his play, the Thunder won 47 games and entered the 2012 NBA playoffs as the Western Conference's second seed. In Game 1 of the first round against the Dallas Mavericks, Durant hit a game-winner with 1.5 seconds remaining. Oklahoma City would go on to defeat Dallas, the Lakers, and the San Antonio Spurs before losing to the Miami Heat in the 2012 NBA Finals. For the NBA Finals, Durant led all players with 30.6 points per game, doing so on a 54.8 shooting rate.
With a scoring average of 28.1 points per game to finish the 2012–13 season, Durant failed to defend his scoring title; however, with a 51 percent shooting rate, a 41.6 percent three point shooting rate, and a 90.5 free throw shooting rate, he became the youngest player in NBA history to join the 50–40–90 club. Finishing the year with a 60–22 record, Oklahoma City earned the first seed in the Western Conference. In the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs against the Houston Rockets, Westbrook tore his meniscus, forcing him to miss the remainder of the postseason. Without Westbrook, Durant was given more responsibility, averaging a career-high 30.8 points per game throughout the playoffs, but Oklahoma City were eventually eliminated in the second round by the Memphis Grizzlies in five games.
MVP season (2013–14)
In January of the 2013–14 season, Durant averaged 35.9 points per game while scoring 30 or more points in 12 straight games, including a career-high 54 points against the Golden State Warriors. In April, he surpassed Michael Jordan's record for consecutive games scoring 25 points or more at 41. The Thunder finished the year with 59 wins and Durant was voted the NBA Most Valuable Player behind averages of 32 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. To begin the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs, he struggled against the physical play of the Grizzlies, converting on only 24 percent of his field goals in Game 4. Through five games, the Thunder trailed the series 3–2, prompting The Oklahoman to dub Durant "Mr. Unreliable". He responded by scoring 36 points in a Game 6 victory. Oklahoma City eventually eliminated Memphis and the Los Angeles Clippers before losing to the Spurs in the Conference Finals in six games.
Final seasons with the Thunder (2014–2016)
Prior to the start of the 2014–15 season, Durant was diagnosed with a Jones fracture in his right foot and was ruled out for six to eight weeks. He subsequently missed the first 17 games of the year, making his season debut for the Thunder on December 2 against the New Orleans Pelicans. On December 18, he injured his ankle against the Golden State Warriors, returning to action on December 31 against the Phoenix Suns to score a season-high 44 points. He then sprained his left big toe in late January. On February 22, he was sidelined again after undergoing a minor procedure to help reduce pain and discomfort in his surgically repaired right foot, and on March 27, he was officially ruled out for the rest of the season after deciding to undergo foot surgery. In just 27 games, he averaged 25.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game.
To begin the 2015–16 season, Durant and Westbrook reached several historical milestones together, including becoming the first pair of teammates to each score at least 40 points in a single game since 1996, doing so in a win over the Orlando Magic on October 30. For the year, Durant averaged 28.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game, leading the Thunder to 55 wins and the third seed in the West. In Game 2 of the first round of the 2016 NBA playoffs against the Mavericks, he scored 21 points but converted only 7 out of 33 shots in the worst postseason shooting performance, both by percentage and number of misses, of his career. After defeating Dallas, Oklahoma City moved on to face the Spurs in the second round, falling behind 2–1 to start the series. In Game 4, Durant tied his playoff career high with 41 points in a Thunder win. Oklahoma City eventually defeated the Spurs in six games, drawing a matchup with the record-setting 73-win Golden State Warriors in the Conference Finals. Despite going up 3–1, the Thunder were ousted in seven games, with Durant providing 27 points in Game 7.
Golden State Warriors (2016–2019)
2016 free agency
On July 4, Durant announced his intentions to sign with the Warriors in The Players' Tribune. The move was received negatively by fans and pundits, who felt that he took the easy route by leaving a team that had been up 3–1 and close to reaching the Finals to instead join their opponents, who had defeated them and were coming off a record-setting 73-win season; the Warriors had also won a championship the year before. On July 7, Durant officially signed with Golden State on a two-year, $54.3 million contract with a player option after the first year. Reflecting on the move for Sports Illustrated, Ben Golliver wrote, "He chose an ideal roster fit and a shot at playing for the highest-scoring offense the NBA has seen in decades. He chose life alongside Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the greatest shooting backcourt in history, and he chose to go against Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green, two elite defenders, in practices rather than in Western Conference finals games."
Back-to-back championships (2016–2018)
Durant made his debut for the Warriors on October 25 against the San Antonio Spurs, scoring a team-high 27 points in a blowout loss. On November 26, he recorded 28 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and a career-high six blocked shots in a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, becoming the first player in team history to finish with at least 25 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and five blocks in a single game. On February 11, in his first game back in Oklahoma City since leaving for Golden State, Durant scored 34 points while being booed throughout the night as he helped the Warriors defeat the Thunder for the third time that year. In March, Durant suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain and a tibial bone bruise, which forced him to miss the final 19 games of the season. Golden State finished the year with a 67–15 record and entered the playoffs as the first seed.
Durant returned from injury in time for the 2017 NBA playoffs and helped the Warriors advance to their third consecutive Finals, while also becoming the first team in league history to start the postseason 12–0. In Game 1 of the series, Durant had 38 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists to lead the Warriors past LeBron James and the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers. Durant then helped the Warriors go up 3–0 in the series with a 31-point effort in Game 3, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 45.3 seconds left in regulation. In Game 5, he scored 39 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists in a series-clinching win. For the Finals, Durant was the Golden State's top scorer in every game, averaging 35.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 5.4 assists while shooting 55.5 percent from the field, 47.4 percent from three-point range, and 92.7 percent from the free throw line. He was subsequently named the NBA Finals MVP.
After the Finals, Durant declined his $27.7 million player option and became an unrestricted free agent. On July 25, he re-signed with the Warriors for less money than the maximum, which helped the franchise create enough salary cap space to keep their core roster intact and add free agents. On January 10 of the 2017–18 season, Durant scored 40 points in a loss to the Clippers, becoming the second-youngest player in league history to reach the 20,000-point milestone. On January 23, he registered a career-high 14 assists in a win over the New York Knicks. On February 14, he scored a season-high 50 points in a loss to the Trail Blazers. In March, he missed games with a fractured rib, joining teammates Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson on the sidelines for the back-end of the season. Golden State eventually finished the year with 58 wins and Durant set a career high for blocks in season with 119.
In Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Durant scored 37 points in a win over the higher-seeded Houston Rockets. Through six games, the Warriors found themselves trailing 3–2, and Durant was criticized for contributing to Golden State's struggles by playing too much in isolation. The Warriors staved off elimination in Game 6, and in Game 7, Durant scored 34 points, helping Golden State return to the Finals with a series-clinching victory. In Game 3 of the 2018 NBA Finals, Durant recorded a playoff career-high 43 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists in a win over the Cavaliers, leading the Warriors to a 3–0 advantage. Golden State ultimately swept Cleveland and clinched a second straight championship; with averages of 28.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 7.5 assists, Durant also won his second Finals MVP Award.
Three-peat chase and injury (2018–2019)
On July 7, 2018, Durant re-signed with the Warriors, on a reported two-year, $61.5 million contract, which included a player option for the second year. During an overtime loss to the Clippers on November 12, 2018, Green cursed out Durant over his upcoming free agency status after the season, and he was suspended for the much-publicized blowup. On November 29, Durant scored a season-high 51 points in a 131–128 overtime loss to the Toronto Raptors, thus scoring 40 or more in his third straight game. With Curry and Green sidelined for most of November, the Warriors finished the month with a 15–8 record and five straight road losses, after starting the season at 10–1.
In Game 5 of the first round of the playoffs, he scored a playoff career-high 45 points in a 129–121 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. In Game 6, he set a new playoff career high with 50 points in a 129–110 win to close out the series. During Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets, Durant suffered a right calf strain, subsequently missing Game 6, in which the Warriors won the series, as well as the entire Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers, which the Warriors won in a four-game sweep.
After missing nine games with the strained right calf, Durant returned to action in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals against Toronto, and scored 11 points in the first quarter. However, he was lost for the game two minutes into the second quarter when he tried to drive by former teammate Serge Ibaka and suffered an Achilles tendon injury, falling and grabbing his lower right calf. He limped off the court and was helped to the locker room. The Warriors won the game to cut the Raptors' series lead to 3–2. The Warriors went on to lose the NBA Finals in Game 6, ending their quest for a three-peat.
Brooklyn Nets (2019–present)
Year absence (2019–2020)
On June 30, 2019, Durant announced that he planned to sign with the Brooklyn Nets after the July moratorium ended on July 6. On July 1, Golden State CEO Joe Lacob announced that Durant's No. 35 will no longer be issued by the Warriors. Durant signed with Brooklyn on July 7, in a sign-and-trade deal. Durant did not appear at all in the 2019–20 season and later revealed that he had decided shortly after his June 2019 injury that he would be sitting out the entire 2019–20 season. On March 17, 2020, Durant and three other Nets players tested positive for COVID-19. On April 1, it was announced that Durant was cleared and had recovered.
Return to the court (2020–2021)
On December 22, 2020, Durant made his Nets debut, putting up 22 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, in a 125–99 win over the Golden State Warriors. On January 14, 2021, James Harden was traded to the Nets in a blockbuster four-team deal, reuniting Durant with his former Thunder teammate. On January 16, 2021, Durant scored a season-high 42 points in a 122–115 win over the Orlando Magic. On February 5, due to health and safety protocols, Durant came off the bench for the first time in his career in a 117–123 loss to the Toronto Raptors. In February, Durant suffered a hamstring injury, which forced him to miss 23 games. On April 2, the NBA fined Durant $50,000 for private messages he sent through social media to actor Michael Rapaport in a feud. Durant made his return on April 7, 2021, scoring 17 points off the bench in a 139–119 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. The Nets finished the season with a 48–24 record, and the second seed in the East.
In Game 4 of the first round of the playoffs, Durant scored 42 points in a 141–126 win over the Boston Celtics to take a 3–1 lead in the series. In Game 5, he scored 24 points in a 123–109 win to close out the series. In Game 1 against the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference semifinals, Durant had 29 points and 10 rebounds in a 115–107 win. In Game 5, Durant put up 49 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists, leading the Nets to a 114–108 comeback win. In Game 7 against the Bucks, Durant dropped 48 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists, including a two-pointer to send the game into overtime, in the 115–111 loss; Durant's 48 points were the most in a Game 7 in NBA playoff history.
2021–22
On August 8, 2021, Durant signed a four-year, $198 million extension with the Brooklyn Nets. On October 22, Durant recorded his thirteenth career triple-double, and first as a Net with 29 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists in a 114–109 comeback win over the Philadelphia 76ers. On November 10, Durant scored 30 points on 11-for-12 shooting in a 123–90 win over the Orlando Magic. On December 12, Durant scored a season-high 51 points in a 116–104 win over the Detroit Pistons. On December 14, Durant recorded his fourteenth career triple-double with 34 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists in a 131–129 overtime win over the Toronto Raptors. On December 16, Durant scored 34 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, dished out 8 assists in a 114–105 win against the Philadelphia 76ers. On January 15, 2022, during a 120–105 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, Durant exited in the second quarter after suffering a left knee injury, later revealed to be a sprained MCL, and was subsequently ruled out for four to six weeks.
National team career
In February 2007, Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp. Despite a strong performance, he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit. Coach Mike Krzyzewski cited the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor in making the cut. Durant was finally selected to the national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and became their leader as other All-Stars were unavailable, a role he downplayed. At the tournament, he led Team USA to its first FIBA World Championship since 1994, earning tournament MVP honors in the process. His final averages for the competition were 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in nine games.
At the 2012 Olympics, Durant set the record for total points scored in an Olympic basketball tournament. With averages of 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, he helped the national team go undefeated en route to a gold medal. In the tournament's final game, he led all scorers with 30 points.
Less than a month before the start of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Durant announced that he would be dropping out of the competition, citing mental and physical exhaustion as reasons for his departure. He rejoined Team USA on the 2016 Olympic team, where he led them to a gold medal. In recognition of his performances, Durant was named the 2016 co-USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, along with Carmelo Anthony, for the second time in his career.
Durant committed to playing on the 2020 Olympic team, delayed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He entered the Games ranked second in U.S. men's Olympic basketball history with 311 career points, needing 25 to match Anthony's record of 336. Durant broke Anthony's record on July 31 against the Czech Republic. He led Team USA to a gold medal.
Player profile
Durant's height is officially and his primary position is small forward. In December 2016, Durant stated that his height in shoes was actually and that he understated his height in order to be listed as a small forward, rather than a power forward. His career averages are 27.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. Widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation, Durant has earned All-NBA honors nine times (2009–2014, 2016–2019) and was voted Rookie of the Year in his debut season. He has also won an MVP Award and finished second in the voting three times, a trend that he has expressed frustration over.
Durant is best known for his prodigious scoring ability. From 2010 to 2014, he won four scoring titles, becoming one of only two players to win four scoring titles in a five-year span. Early in his career, his playing style was isolation-driven, but he quickly developed into an excellent off-ball player who was capable of scoring from the outside as well. By 2013, he was shooting at a historically great clip, which helped him become one of only nine members of the 50–40–90 club. This ability to impact the offense in a variety of ways helped Durant remain effective and improve an already elite offense upon joining the Warriors in 2016. Throughout his career, his height and wingspan have created matchup problems for defenses as he is able to get off a clean shot regardless of the situation. Upon beating his man or gaining momentum, he also becomes a strong finisher at the rim; for example, he converted 72.2% of shots in the paint in 2012.
Early in Durant's career, he was criticized for his slim build, defense, and passing. Over time, he grew as a playmaker, increasing his assist numbers every year from 2010 to 2014, though his overall vision still lagged behind the league's best passers'. He also showed defensive improvement, with opponents averaging just .62 points per isolation play against him in 2014, the best success rate for defensive players who faced at least 100 isolations that season. Upon going to Golden State, he developed into a more reliable off-ball defender and rim protector, and in 2018 was considered for the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Personal life
Durant is very close with his mother, Wanda, a relationship that was detailed in the Lifetime movie The Real MVP: The Wanda Pratt Story. During his time with the Thunder, Durant described himself as a "high school kid" who enjoys playing video games in his spare time. A Christian, Durant has religious tattoos on his stomach, wrist, and back. He owns several properties in the Oklahoma City area and listed his primary residence, located in the affluent Club Villa neighborhood, for sale for $1.95 million in 2013. That same year, he opened a restaurant, KD's Southern Cuisine, in the Bricktown neighborhood and briefly became engaged to Monica Wright, a WNBA player. In 2016, he was a credentialed photographer for The Players' Tribune at Super Bowl 50.
Durant was formerly represented by agents Aaron Goodwin and Rob Pelinka. He left Pelinka in 2013 and signed with the Roc Nation group, headed by Jay-Z. Durant has endorsement deals with Nike, Sprint, Gatorade, Panini, General Electric, and 2K Sports. In 2012, he tried his hand at acting, appearing in the children's film Thunderstruck. In 2013, he earned $35 million, making him the fourth-highest-earning basketball player that year. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Durant claimed that, despite his high earnings potential, "global marketing and all that stuff" does not interest him.
One of the most popular players in the league, Durant's jersey regularly ranks as one of the NBA's best-selling and he is consistently one of the top All-Star vote-getters. Early in his career, he developed a reputation for his kind demeanor; in 2013, Foot Locker released a series of commercials calling him the "nicest guy in the NBA", and become a beloved figure in Oklahoma City, known for his "nice escapades" toward the Thunder's staff. In 2014, he partnered with KIND snacks and launched StrongAndKind.com to show "being kind is not a sign of weakness." Since joining the Warriors, he has become more outspoken and controversial; for example, he was involved in a Twitter back-and-forth with C. J. McCollum in July 2018. Durant has admitted to feeling more genuine in Golden State as opposed to Oklahoma City, where he was "just trying to please everybody".
Throughout his career, Durant has participated in philanthropic causes. In 2013, he pledged $1 million to the American Red Cross for the victims of the 2013 Moore tornado. His generosity inspired the Thunder and Nike to match his donation. He is also a spokesperson for the Washington, D. C. branch of P'Tones Records, a nationwide non-profit after-school music program.
In 2017, Durant became involved with YouTube. In February, he visited YouTube's headquarters for a speaking engagement. On April 7, 2017, he created a YouTube account and soon began to upload live stream vlogs onto it. In his first vlog, he detailed, "I'm so excited because I got off social media. I got off the Instagram, Twitter, all that stuff, just to distance myself a bit. But somebody talked me into getting on the YouTube." As of June 2020, Durant's YouTube channel has received over 790,000 subscribers and 38 million video views. On February 13, 2018, Deadline reported that Durant, in partnership with producer Brian Grazer's Imagine Television, will create a basketball-themed scripted drama for Apple.
In 2017, Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman founded Thirty Five Ventures. In 2020, Thirty Five Ventures produced Basketball County, a documentary about youth basketball in Durant's home county of Prince George's County, Maryland. Durant served as an executive producer and appeared in interviews. Thirty Five Ventures' work Two Distant Strangers won the 2021 Academy Award for Short Film (Live Action).
Durant was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018.
On June 15, 2020, Durant became a minority owner of MLS side Philadelphia Union, acquiring a 5% stake with the possibility to add another 5% in the near future.
In August 2021, Durant announced a partnership between his multimedia company Boardroom and the cannabis technology company Weedmaps through which an original content series would be developed and Weedmaps would become an official sponsor of Boardroom. Durant said of the partnership: "I think it's far past time to address the stigmas around cannabis that still exist in the sports world as well as globally. This partnership is going to help us continue to normalize those conversations, as well as create content, events, and a lot more through our Boardroom media network."
On December 22, 2021, he had signed a deal with Coinbase to serve himself as a brand ambassador.
Career statistics
Source:
NBA
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Seattle
| 80 || 80 || 34.6 || .430 || .288 || .873 || 4.4 || 2.4 || 1.0 || .9 || 20.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 74 || 74 || 39.0 || .476 || .422 || .863 || 6.5 || 2.8 || 1.3 || .7 || 25.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| style="background:#cfecec;"|82* || style="background:#cfecec;"|82* || 39.5 || .476 || .365 || .900 || 7.6 || 2.8 || 1.4 || 1.0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|30.1*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 78 || 78 || 38.9 || .462 || .350 || .880 || 6.8 || 2.7 || 1.1 || 1.0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|27.7*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| style="background:#cfecec;"|66* || style="background:#cfecec;"|66* || 38.6 || .496 || .387 || .860 || 8.0 || 3.5 || 1.3 || 1.2 || style="background:#cfecec;"|28.0*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 81 || 81 || 38.5 || .510 || .416 || style="background:#cfecec;"|.905* || 7.9 || 4.6 || 1.4 || 1.3 || 28.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 81 || 81 || 38.5 || .503 || .391 || .873 || 7.4 || 5.5 || 1.3 || .7 || style="background:#cfecec;"|32.0*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 27 || 27 || 33.8 || .510 || .403 || .854 || 6.6 || 4.1 || .9 || .9 || 25.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 72 || 72 || 35.8 || .505 || .388 || .898 || 8.2 || 5.0 || 1.0 || 1.2 || 28.2
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 62 || 62 || 33.4 || .537 || .375 || .875 || 8.3 || 4.9 || 1.1 || 1.6 || 25.1
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 68 || 68 || 34.2 || .516 || .419 || .889 || 6.8 || 5.4 || .7 || 1.8 || 26.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 78 || 78 || 34.6 || .521 || .353 || .885 || 6.4 || 5.9 || .7 || 1.1 || 26.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Brooklyn
| 35 || 32 || 33.1 || .537 || .450 || .882 || 7.1 || 5.6 || .7 || 1.3 || 26.9
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 884 || 881 || 36.7 || .494 || .384 || .883 || 7.1 || 4.2 || 1.1 || 1.1 || 27.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|All-Star
| 10 || 8 || 26.9 || .536 || .349 || .897 || 6.2 || 3.7 || 1.7 || .5 || 25.0
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2010
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 6 || 6 || 38.5 || .350 || .286 || .871 || 7.7 || 2.3 || .5 || 1.3 || 25.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2011
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 17 || 17 || 42.5 || .449 || .339 || .838 || 8.2 || 2.8 || .9 || 1.1 || 28.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2012
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 20 || 20 || 41.9 || .517 || .373 || .864 || 7.4 || 3.7 || 1.5 || 1.2 || 28.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2013
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 11 || 11 || 44.1 || .455 || .314 || .830 || 9.0 || 6.3 || 1.3 || 1.1 || 30.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2014
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 19 || 19 || 42.9 || .460 || .344 || .810 || 8.9 || 3.9 || 1.0 || 1.3 || 29.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2016
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 18 || 18 || 40.3 || .430 || .282 || .890 || 7.1 || 3.3 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 28.4
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;|2017†
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 15 || 15 || 35.5 || .556 || .442 || .893 || 8.0 || 4.3 || .8 || 1.3 || 28.5
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;|2018†
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 21 || 21 || 38.4 || .487 || .341 || .901 || 7.8 || 4.7 || .7 || 1.2 || 29.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2019
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 12 || 12 || 36.8 || .514 || .438 || .903 || 4.9 || 4.5 || 1.1 || 1.0 || 32.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2021
| style="text-align:left;"|Brooklyn
| 12 || 12 || 40.4 || .514 || .402 || .871 || 9.3 || 4.4 || 1.5 || 1.6 || 34.3
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 151 || 151 || 40.3 || .478 || .357 || .865 || 7.8 || 4.0 || 1.0 || 1.2 || 29.5
College
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2006–07
| style="text-align:left;"|Texas
| 35 || 35 || 35.9 || .473 || .404 || .816 || 11.1 || 1.3 || 1.9 || 1.9 || 25.8
Awards and honors
NBA
Cited from Basketball Reference's Kevin Durant page unless noted otherwise.
2× NBA champion: 2017, 2018
2× NBA Finals Most Valuable Player: 2017, 2018
NBA Most Valuable Player: 2014
12× NBA All-Star: 2010–2019, 2021, 2022
6× All-NBA First Team: 2010–2014, 2018
3× All-NBA Second Team: 2016, 2017, 2019
4× NBA scoring champion: 2010–2012, 2014
2× NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2012, 2019
NBA Rookie of the Year: 2008
NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2008
NBA Rookie Challenge MVP: 2009
USA Basketball
Cited from USA Basketball's Kevin Durant page unless noted otherwise.
3× Olympic gold medalist: 2012, 2016, 2020
Olympics Most Valuable Player: 2020
FIBA World Cup gold medalist: 2010
FIBA World Cup Most Valuable Player: 2010
NCAA
Naismith College Player of the Year: 2007
NABC Division I Player of the Year: 2007
Oscar Robertson Trophy: 2007
Adolph Rupp Trophy: 2007
John R. Wooden Award: 2007
Big 12 Player of the Year: 2007
USBWA National Freshman of the Year: 2007
Jersey number (35) retired at Texas
Media
AP Player of the Year: 2007
AP All-America 1st Team: 2007
Two-time ESPY Award winner:
2014 Best NBA Player
2017 Outstanding Team (as a member of the Golden State Warriors)
See also
List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career 3-point scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff turnovers leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff 3-point scoring leaders
References
External links
1988 births
Living people
2010 FIBA World Championship players
All-American college men's basketball players
American Christians
American men's basketball players
American YouTubers
Basketball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Basketball players from Maryland
Basketball players from Washington, D.C.
Brooklyn Nets players
Businesspeople in the cannabis industry
FIBA World Championship-winning players
Golden State Warriors players
Male bloggers
Male YouTubers
McDonald's High School All-Americans
Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
National Basketball Association All-Stars
Oklahoma City Thunder players
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball
Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
Seattle SuperSonics draft picks
Seattle SuperSonics players
Small forwards
Sportspeople from Rockville, Maryland
Texas Longhorns men's basketball players
United States men's national basketball team players
YouTube vloggers
| true |
[
"is a Japanese professional golfer who plays on the Japan Golf Tour.\n\nIchihara had his first win on the tour in June 2018, the Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup Shishido Hills. Previously his best finish is T-2 at the 2016 Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open. He also has one win on the Japan Challenge Tour, the 2003 Kanitop Cup.\n\nIchihara qualified for the 2012 Open Championship through International Final Qualifying, but missed the cut. His runner-up finish at the 2016 Mizuno Open qualified him for the 2016 Open Championship. He made the cut and finished tied for 79th. Ichihara's win at the 2018 Japan Golf Tour Championship lifted him to second place in the 2018 Japan Golf Tour money list, earning him a place in the 2018 Open Championship.\n\nProfessional wins (3)\n\nJapan Golf Tour wins (2)\n\nJapan Challenge Tour wins (1)\n\nResults in major championships\n\nCUT = missed the half-way cut\n\"T\" = tied\n\nResults in World Golf Championships\n\n\"T\" = Tied\n\nTeam appearances\nProfessional\nAmata Friendship Cup (representing Japan): 2018\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nJapanese male golfers\nJapan Golf Tour golfers\n1982 births\nLiving people",
"Banishment or exile can be a form of punishment. It means to be away from one's home (i.e. city, state or country) while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened by prison or death upon return. It is a common theme within the Bible, beginning with Adam and Eve. Below is a partial list of these exiles as referenced in the Bible.\n\nGenesis\n\nGenesis Chapter 3\n\n Genesis 3:23\n\nTherefore, the God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.\n\n Genesis 3:24\n\nSo He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way to the tree of life.\n\n(Adam and Eve expelled from the Garden of Eden for eating the forbidden apple.)\n\nGenesis Chapter 6\n\n Genesis 6:7\n\nAnd the said: 'I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and creeping thing, and fowl of the air; for it repenteth Me that I have made them.'\n\n(The decides to flood the earth due to the evil of men—just before Noah's Flood.)\n\nGenesis Chapter 11\n\n Genesis 11:9\n\nTherefore, was the name of it called Babel; because the did there confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.\n\n(No longer able to communicate and resolve conflicts, people scatter themselves after the failed Tower of Babel project.)\n\nGenesis Chapter 13\n\n Genesis 13:9\n\nIs not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me; if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou take the right hand, then I will go to the left.'\n\n(Abraham and his brother Lot decide to separate their households to avoid conflicts over land and property.)\nThe story of Lot is told in the Book of Genesis. Lot is mentioned in chapters 11-14 and 19.\n\nGenesis Chapter 16\n\n Genesis 16:6\n\nBut Abram said unto Sarai: 'Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her that which is good in thine eyes.' And Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her face.\n\n(Sarah deals harshly with her Egyptian maid Hagar, forcing her to run away.)\n\nGenesis Chapter 17\n\n Genesis 17:14\n\nAnd the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken My covenant.'\n\n(The talks to Abraham just before telling him that Sarah will bear Isaac, proclaiming that uncircumcised males shall be \"cut off\".)\n\nGenesis Chapter 21\n\n Genesis 21:14\n\nAnd Abraham arose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away; and she departed, and strayed in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.\n\n(Abraham 'divorces' Hagar after being advised to do so by Sarah, sending her into the desert with only her son Ishmael. Afterwards, the water is depleted, and Hagar sits down to die. An Angel of the then appears and rescues Hagar and Ishmael, and promises to make Ishmael \"a great nation\".)\n\nGenesis Chapter 37\n\n Genesis 37:28\n\nAnd there passed by Midianites, merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt.\n\n(Joseph sold to slavery by his own brothers after their father Isaac sent him to check up on them.)\n\nExodus\n\nExodus Chapter 12\n\n Exodus 12:15\n\nSeven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; howbeit the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses; for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.\n\n Exodus 12:19\n\nSeven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses; for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a sojourner, or one that is born in the land.\n\n(The speaks to Moses and Aaron just before the Exodus from the land of Egypt, proclaiming that anyone who eats leavened bread during a certain period of time will be \"cut off\".)\n\nExodus Chapter 17\n\n Exodus 17:14\n\nAnd the said unto Moses: 'Write this for a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.'\n\n(After the Amalekites attacked the Israelites in the desert and the Israelites retaliated under the command of Joshua.)\n\nExodus Chapter 30\n\n Exodus 30:38\n\nWhosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereof, he shall be cut off from his people.'\n\n(Short time after the commands the Israelites to anoint Aaron and his sons as priests. Proclamation to \"cut off\" anyone who tries to make their own offering—anyone who does not recognize Aaron and his sons as priests.)\n\nExodus Chapter 31\n\n Exodus 31:14\n\nYe shall keep the sabbath therefore, for it is holy unto you; every one that profaneth it shall surely be put to death; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.\n\n(Proclamation to \"cut off\" anyone who does not observe the Sabbath.)\n\nExodus Chapter 32\n\n Exodus 32:32\n\nYet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written.'\n\n(Moses begs the to forgive the Israelites for the Sin of the Golden Calf, or to otherwise, \"blot out\" him as well.)\n\n Exodus 32:33\n\nAnd the said unto Moses: 'Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book.\n\n(Proclamation just before additional Israelites are smitten/blotted out by the for making the Golden Calf.)\n\nLeviticus\n\nLeviticus Chapter 7\n \n Leviticus 7:20\n\nBut the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offerings, that pertain unto the , having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from his people.\n\n Leviticus 7:21\n\nAnd when any one shall touch any unclean thing, whether it be the uncleanness of man, or an unclean beast, or any unclean detestable thing, and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offerings, which pertain unto the , that soul shall be cut off from his people.\n\n(Proclamation to \"cut off\" anyone who eats certain \"unclean\" flesh, or the flesh of certain sacrificial offerings.)\n\n Leviticus 7:27\n\nWhosoever it be that eateth any blood, that soul shall be cut off from his people.\n\n(Proclamation to \"cut off\" anyone for consuming blood.)\n\nLeviticus Chapter 13\n Leviticus 13:46\n\nAll the days wherein the plague is in him he shall be unclean; he is unclean; he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his dwelling be.\n\n(Proclamation to quarantine persons exhibiting illness.)\n\nLeviticus Chapter 16\n\n Leviticus 16:10\n\nBut the goat, on which the lot fell for Azazel, shall be set alive before the , to make atonement over him, to send him away for Azazel into the wilderness.\n\n(The goat is sent away to die alone in the desert in the place of a person, who according to the Leviticus ideology deserves the same punishment due to his sins, and would have had to bear this punishment, had the punishment not been \"transferred\" onto the goat.)\n\nLeviticus Chapter 17\n Leviticus 17:4\n\nand hath not brought it unto the door of the tent of meeting, to present it as an offering unto the before the tabernacle of the , blood shall be imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people.\n\n(Proclamation to \"cut off\" anyone who kills an animal for this own benefit.)\n\n Leviticus 17:9\n\nand bringeth it not unto the door of the tent of meeting, to sacrifice it unto the , even that man shall be cut off from his people.\n\n(Proclamation to \"cut off\" anyone who attempts to make a sacrifice by himself rather than have the recognized priests do it.)\n\n Leviticus 17:10\n\nAnd whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among them, that eateth any manner of blood, I will set My face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.\n\n Leviticus 17:14\n\nFor as to the life of all flesh, the blood thereof is all one with the life thereof; therefore I said unto the children of Israel: Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh; for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof; whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.\n\n(Proclamations to \"cut off\" anyone who consumes blood.)\n\nLeviticus Chapter 18\n\n Leviticus 18:29\n\nFor whosoever shall do any of these abominations, even the souls that do them shall be cut off from among their people.\n\n(This follows descriptions of various sexual offenses.)\n\nLeviticus Chapter 19\n Leviticus 19:8\n\nBut every one that eateth it shall bear his iniquity, because he hath profaned the holy thing of the ; and that soul shall be cut off from his people.\n\n(Proclamation to \"cut off\" anyone who eats a certain kind of peace offering on the 3rd day or later.)\n\nLeviticus Chapter 20\n\n Leviticus 20:3\n\nI also will set My face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people, because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile My sanctuary, and to profane My holy name.\n\n Leviticus 20:5\n\nthen I will set My face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go astray after him, to go astray after Molech, from among their people.\n\n Leviticus 20:6\n\nAnd the soul that turneth unto the ghosts, and unto the familiar spirits, to go astray after them, I will even set My face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.\n\n(Proclamations to \"cut off\" anyone who \"gives his seed to Molech\" -- sacrifices his children onto a foreign god.)\n\n Leviticus 20:17\n\nAnd if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness: it is a shameful thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people: he hath uncovered his sister's nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.\n\n Leviticus 20:18\n\nAnd if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness—he hath made naked her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood—both of them shall be cut off from among their people.\n\n(Proclamations to \"cut off\" anyone engaging in various sexual offenses.)\n\nLeviticus Chapter 22\n\n Leviticus 22:3\n\nSay unto them: Whosoever he be of all your seed throughout your generations, that approacheth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the , having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from before Me: I am the .\n\n(Proclamations to \"cut off\" anyone for incorrectly using objects used for worship.)\n\nLeviticus Chapter 23\n\n Leviticus 23:29For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from his people.\n\n(Proclamation to \"cut off\" anyone who does not atone on the Day of Atonement—Yom Kippur.)\n\nLeviticus Chapter 26\n Leviticus 26:33\n\nAnd you will I scatter among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you; and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.\n\n(Proclamation to expel the Israelites from the land if they fail to adhere to the ideology of the book of Leviticus. Follows descriptions of various related curses.)\n\nNumbers\n\nNumbers Chapter 5\n\n Numbers 5:2\n\n'Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is unclean by the dead;\n\n Numbers 5:3<\n\nboth male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camp, in the midst whereof I dwell.'\n\n Numbers 5:4\n\nAnd the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp; as the spoke unto Moses, so did the children of Israel.\n\n(Proclamation to \"put out\" anyone afflicted by leprosy, as this is considered to \"defile\" the camp. This is done according to 5:4.)\n\nNumbers Chapter 9\n Numbers 9:13\n\nBut the man that is clean, and is not on a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, that soul shall be cut off from his people; because he brought not the offering of the in its appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.\n\n(Proclamation to \"cut off\" anyone for not observing Passover.)\n\nNumbers Chapter 15\n Numbers 15:30\n\nBut the soul that doeth aught with a high hand, whether he be home-born or a stranger, the same blasphemeth the ; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.\n\n(Proclamation to \"cut off\" anyone who knowingly and deliberately violates the covenant.)\n\nNumbers Chapter 19\n Numbers 19:13\n\nWhosoever toucheth the dead, even the body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself—he hath defiled the tabernacle of the —that soul shall be cut off from Israel; because the water of sprinkling was not dashed against him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.\n\n(Proclamation to \"cut off\" anyone who does not \"purify\" himself after being around a dead body before attempting to worship.)\n\nDeuteronomy\n\nDeuteronomy Chapter 29\n\n Deuteronomy 29:19\n\nthe will not be willing to pardon him, but then the anger of the and His jealousy shall be kindled against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book shall lie upon him, and the shall blot out his name from under heaven;\n\n(Proclamation to \"blot out\" \"from under heaven\" anyone who \"turns away from the \".)\n\n Deuteronomy 29:27\n\nand the rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day'.--\n\nSee also\n Babylonian captivity\n Biblical Egypt\n Exile\n\nReferences\n\nExternal link \n \"Banishment\". Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved August 29, 2019.\n\nExile\nReligious law\nPunishments in religion\nHebrew Bible topics\nTorah"
] |
[
"Kevin Durant",
"National team career",
"What year did he join",
"2007,",
"What did he get",
"Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp.",
"What happened to him this year",
"he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit.",
"Who cut him",
"Mike Krzyzewski"
] |
C_f0baba80a9794299b0e55746c6b38b78_1
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What is his job title
| 5 |
What is Mike Krzyzewski job title?
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Kevin Durant
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In February 2007, Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp. Despite a strong performance, he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit. Coach Mike Krzyzewski cited the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor in making the cut. Durant was finally selected to the national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and became their leader as other All-Stars were unavailable, a role he downplayed. At the tournament, he led Team USA to its first FIBA World Championship since 1994, earning MVP honors in the process. His final averages for the competition were 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in nine games. At the 2012 Olympics, Durant set the record for total points scored in an Olympic basketball tournament. With averages of 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, he helped the national team go undefeated en route to a gold medal. In the tournament's final game, he led all scorers with 30 points. Less than a month before the start of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Durant announced that he would be dropping out of the competition, citing mental and physical exhaustion as reasons for his departure. He rejoined Team USA in 2016 for the Olympics, where he led them to a gold medal. In recognition of his performances, Durant was named the 2016 co-USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, along with Carmelo Anthony, for the second time in his career. CANNOTANSWER
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Coach
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Kevin Wayne Durant (; born September 29, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for the Texas Longhorns, and was selected as the second overall pick by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2007 NBA draft. He played nine seasons with the franchise, which became the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008, before signing with the Golden State Warriors in 2016, winning consecutive NBA championships in 2017 and 2018. After sustaining an Achilles injury in the 2019 finals, he joined the Nets as a free agent that summer. Durant has often been called the best player in the NBA and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
Durant was a heavily recruited high school prospect who was widely regarded as the second-best player in his class. In college, he won numerous year-end awards and became the first freshman to be named Naismith College Player of the Year. As a professional, he has won two NBA championships, an NBA Most Valuable Player Award, two Finals MVP Awards, two NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Awards, four NBA scoring titles, the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, been named to nine All-NBA teams (including six First Teams), and selected 12 times as an NBA All-Star. In October 2021, Durant was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. In international play as a member of USA Basketball, Durant has won three Olympic gold medals (2012, 2016, and 2020) and the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
Off the court, Durant is one of the highest-earning basketball players in the world, due in part to endorsement deals with companies such as Foot Locker and Nike. He has developed a reputation for philanthropy and regularly leads the league in All-Star votes and jersey sales. In recent years, he has contributed to The Players' Tribune as both a photographer and writer. In 2012, he ventured into acting, appearing in the film Thunderstruck.
Early life
Durant was born on September 29, 1988, in Washington, D.C., to Wanda (née Durant) and Wayne Pratt. When Durant was an infant, his father deserted the family; Wanda and Wayne eventually divorced, and Durant's grandmother Barbara Davis helped raise him. By age 13, his father reentered his life and traveled the country with him to basketball tournaments. Durant has a sister, Brianna, and two brothers, Tony and Rayvonne.
Durant and his siblings grew up in Prince George's County, Maryland, on the eastern outskirts of Washington, D.C. He was unusually tall from a young age, and reached in height while still in middle school (age 10-12). Growing up, Durant wanted to play for his favorite team, the Toronto Raptors, which included his favorite player, Vince Carter. He played Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball for several teams in the Maryland area and was teammates with future NBA players Michael Beasley, Greivis Vásquez, and Ty Lawson, the first of whom Durant remains friends with to this day. During this time, he began wearing #35 as his jersey number in honor of his AAU coach, Charles Craig, who was murdered at the age of 35.
After playing two years of high school basketball at National Christian Academy and one year at Oak Hill Academy, Durant transferred to Montrose Christian School for his senior year, growing before the start of the season and beginning the year at .
Prior to the start of the season, he committed to the University of Texas at Austin. He had visited University of Connecticut and University of North Carolina, and said he considered Duke University, University of Kentucky and University of Louisville. When asked why he chose a college with a lesser-known program, he said, "Wanted to set my own path."
At the end of the year, he was named the Washington Post All-Met Basketball Player of the Year, as well as the Most Valuable Player of the 2006 McDonald's All-American Game. He was widely regarded as the second-best high school prospect of 2006, behind Greg Oden.
College career
For the 2006–07 college season, Durantwho had grown to averaged 25.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game for the Texas Longhorns. They finished the year with a 25–10 record overall and a 12–4 record in conference. Awarded a fourth seed in the NCAA Tournament, Texas won their first round match-up against New Mexico State but were upset in the second round by USC despite a 30-point and 9-rebound performance from Durant. For his outstanding play, Durant was recognized as the unanimous national player of the year, winning the John R. Wooden Award, the Naismith College Player of the Year Award, and all eight other widely recognized honors and awards. This made Durant the first freshman to win any of the national player of the year awards. Following the season, he declared for the NBA draft. His No. 35 jersey was later retired by the Longhorns.
Professional career
Seattle SuperSonics / Oklahoma City Thunder (2007–2016)
Rookie of the Year (2007–2008)
Durant was selected as the second overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, after Greg Oden was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the first pick of the draft. In his first regular season game, the 19-year-old Durant registered 18 points, five rebounds and three steals against the Denver Nuggets. On November 16, he made the first game-winning shot of his career in a game against the Atlanta Hawks. At the conclusion of the 2007–08 NBA season, he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year following averages of 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He joined Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James as the only teenagers in league history to average at least 20 points per game over an entire season.
Breakthrough (2008–2010)
Following Durant's debut season, the SuperSonics relocated from Seattle to Oklahoma City, becoming the Thunder and switching to new colors – blue, orange, and yellow. The team also drafted UCLA guard Russell Westbrook, who would form an All-Star combination with Durant in later years. At the 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend, Durant set a Rookie Challenge record with 46 points. By the conclusion of the 2008–09 NBA season, he had raised his scoring average by five points from the prior season to 25.3 points per game, and was considered a strong candidate for the Most Improved Player Award, eventually finishing third in the voting. Durant continued to grow during his first few years in the NBA, finally reaching a height of .
During the 2009–10 season, Durant was selected to his first NBA All-Star Game. Behind his play, the Thunder improved their record by 27 wins from the previous year and defied expectations to make the playoffs. With a scoring average of 30.1 points per game, Durant became the youngest NBA scoring champion and was selected to his first All-NBA team. In his playoff debut, he scored 24 points in a Game 1 loss against the Los Angeles Lakers. Oklahoma City would go on to lose the series in six games, but the team's performance led many analysts to label them as an upcoming title contender.
Deep playoff runs (2010–2013)
Prior to the start of the 2010–11 season, Durant announced via Twitter that he had signed a five-year contract extension with the Thunder worth approximately $86 million. For the second consecutive year, he led the NBA in scoring, averaging 27.7 points a game. Behind Durant's leadership, the Thunder won 55 games and earned the fourth seed in the Western Conference. In the 2011 NBA playoffs, Oklahoma City defeated the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies en route to a Conference Finals match-up versus the Dallas Mavericks, losing in five games.
On February 19 of the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season, Durant recorded his first career 50-point game, scoring 51 points against the Denver Nuggets. At the All-Star Game, he scored 36 points and was awarded the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award. Durant finished the year with a scoring average of 28 points per game, representing his third straight scoring title. Behind his play, the Thunder won 47 games and entered the 2012 NBA playoffs as the Western Conference's second seed. In Game 1 of the first round against the Dallas Mavericks, Durant hit a game-winner with 1.5 seconds remaining. Oklahoma City would go on to defeat Dallas, the Lakers, and the San Antonio Spurs before losing to the Miami Heat in the 2012 NBA Finals. For the NBA Finals, Durant led all players with 30.6 points per game, doing so on a 54.8 shooting rate.
With a scoring average of 28.1 points per game to finish the 2012–13 season, Durant failed to defend his scoring title; however, with a 51 percent shooting rate, a 41.6 percent three point shooting rate, and a 90.5 free throw shooting rate, he became the youngest player in NBA history to join the 50–40–90 club. Finishing the year with a 60–22 record, Oklahoma City earned the first seed in the Western Conference. In the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs against the Houston Rockets, Westbrook tore his meniscus, forcing him to miss the remainder of the postseason. Without Westbrook, Durant was given more responsibility, averaging a career-high 30.8 points per game throughout the playoffs, but Oklahoma City were eventually eliminated in the second round by the Memphis Grizzlies in five games.
MVP season (2013–14)
In January of the 2013–14 season, Durant averaged 35.9 points per game while scoring 30 or more points in 12 straight games, including a career-high 54 points against the Golden State Warriors. In April, he surpassed Michael Jordan's record for consecutive games scoring 25 points or more at 41. The Thunder finished the year with 59 wins and Durant was voted the NBA Most Valuable Player behind averages of 32 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. To begin the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs, he struggled against the physical play of the Grizzlies, converting on only 24 percent of his field goals in Game 4. Through five games, the Thunder trailed the series 3–2, prompting The Oklahoman to dub Durant "Mr. Unreliable". He responded by scoring 36 points in a Game 6 victory. Oklahoma City eventually eliminated Memphis and the Los Angeles Clippers before losing to the Spurs in the Conference Finals in six games.
Final seasons with the Thunder (2014–2016)
Prior to the start of the 2014–15 season, Durant was diagnosed with a Jones fracture in his right foot and was ruled out for six to eight weeks. He subsequently missed the first 17 games of the year, making his season debut for the Thunder on December 2 against the New Orleans Pelicans. On December 18, he injured his ankle against the Golden State Warriors, returning to action on December 31 against the Phoenix Suns to score a season-high 44 points. He then sprained his left big toe in late January. On February 22, he was sidelined again after undergoing a minor procedure to help reduce pain and discomfort in his surgically repaired right foot, and on March 27, he was officially ruled out for the rest of the season after deciding to undergo foot surgery. In just 27 games, he averaged 25.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game.
To begin the 2015–16 season, Durant and Westbrook reached several historical milestones together, including becoming the first pair of teammates to each score at least 40 points in a single game since 1996, doing so in a win over the Orlando Magic on October 30. For the year, Durant averaged 28.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game, leading the Thunder to 55 wins and the third seed in the West. In Game 2 of the first round of the 2016 NBA playoffs against the Mavericks, he scored 21 points but converted only 7 out of 33 shots in the worst postseason shooting performance, both by percentage and number of misses, of his career. After defeating Dallas, Oklahoma City moved on to face the Spurs in the second round, falling behind 2–1 to start the series. In Game 4, Durant tied his playoff career high with 41 points in a Thunder win. Oklahoma City eventually defeated the Spurs in six games, drawing a matchup with the record-setting 73-win Golden State Warriors in the Conference Finals. Despite going up 3–1, the Thunder were ousted in seven games, with Durant providing 27 points in Game 7.
Golden State Warriors (2016–2019)
2016 free agency
On July 4, Durant announced his intentions to sign with the Warriors in The Players' Tribune. The move was received negatively by fans and pundits, who felt that he took the easy route by leaving a team that had been up 3–1 and close to reaching the Finals to instead join their opponents, who had defeated them and were coming off a record-setting 73-win season; the Warriors had also won a championship the year before. On July 7, Durant officially signed with Golden State on a two-year, $54.3 million contract with a player option after the first year. Reflecting on the move for Sports Illustrated, Ben Golliver wrote, "He chose an ideal roster fit and a shot at playing for the highest-scoring offense the NBA has seen in decades. He chose life alongside Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the greatest shooting backcourt in history, and he chose to go against Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green, two elite defenders, in practices rather than in Western Conference finals games."
Back-to-back championships (2016–2018)
Durant made his debut for the Warriors on October 25 against the San Antonio Spurs, scoring a team-high 27 points in a blowout loss. On November 26, he recorded 28 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and a career-high six blocked shots in a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, becoming the first player in team history to finish with at least 25 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and five blocks in a single game. On February 11, in his first game back in Oklahoma City since leaving for Golden State, Durant scored 34 points while being booed throughout the night as he helped the Warriors defeat the Thunder for the third time that year. In March, Durant suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain and a tibial bone bruise, which forced him to miss the final 19 games of the season. Golden State finished the year with a 67–15 record and entered the playoffs as the first seed.
Durant returned from injury in time for the 2017 NBA playoffs and helped the Warriors advance to their third consecutive Finals, while also becoming the first team in league history to start the postseason 12–0. In Game 1 of the series, Durant had 38 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists to lead the Warriors past LeBron James and the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers. Durant then helped the Warriors go up 3–0 in the series with a 31-point effort in Game 3, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 45.3 seconds left in regulation. In Game 5, he scored 39 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists in a series-clinching win. For the Finals, Durant was the Golden State's top scorer in every game, averaging 35.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 5.4 assists while shooting 55.5 percent from the field, 47.4 percent from three-point range, and 92.7 percent from the free throw line. He was subsequently named the NBA Finals MVP.
After the Finals, Durant declined his $27.7 million player option and became an unrestricted free agent. On July 25, he re-signed with the Warriors for less money than the maximum, which helped the franchise create enough salary cap space to keep their core roster intact and add free agents. On January 10 of the 2017–18 season, Durant scored 40 points in a loss to the Clippers, becoming the second-youngest player in league history to reach the 20,000-point milestone. On January 23, he registered a career-high 14 assists in a win over the New York Knicks. On February 14, he scored a season-high 50 points in a loss to the Trail Blazers. In March, he missed games with a fractured rib, joining teammates Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson on the sidelines for the back-end of the season. Golden State eventually finished the year with 58 wins and Durant set a career high for blocks in season with 119.
In Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Durant scored 37 points in a win over the higher-seeded Houston Rockets. Through six games, the Warriors found themselves trailing 3–2, and Durant was criticized for contributing to Golden State's struggles by playing too much in isolation. The Warriors staved off elimination in Game 6, and in Game 7, Durant scored 34 points, helping Golden State return to the Finals with a series-clinching victory. In Game 3 of the 2018 NBA Finals, Durant recorded a playoff career-high 43 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists in a win over the Cavaliers, leading the Warriors to a 3–0 advantage. Golden State ultimately swept Cleveland and clinched a second straight championship; with averages of 28.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 7.5 assists, Durant also won his second Finals MVP Award.
Three-peat chase and injury (2018–2019)
On July 7, 2018, Durant re-signed with the Warriors, on a reported two-year, $61.5 million contract, which included a player option for the second year. During an overtime loss to the Clippers on November 12, 2018, Green cursed out Durant over his upcoming free agency status after the season, and he was suspended for the much-publicized blowup. On November 29, Durant scored a season-high 51 points in a 131–128 overtime loss to the Toronto Raptors, thus scoring 40 or more in his third straight game. With Curry and Green sidelined for most of November, the Warriors finished the month with a 15–8 record and five straight road losses, after starting the season at 10–1.
In Game 5 of the first round of the playoffs, he scored a playoff career-high 45 points in a 129–121 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. In Game 6, he set a new playoff career high with 50 points in a 129–110 win to close out the series. During Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets, Durant suffered a right calf strain, subsequently missing Game 6, in which the Warriors won the series, as well as the entire Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers, which the Warriors won in a four-game sweep.
After missing nine games with the strained right calf, Durant returned to action in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals against Toronto, and scored 11 points in the first quarter. However, he was lost for the game two minutes into the second quarter when he tried to drive by former teammate Serge Ibaka and suffered an Achilles tendon injury, falling and grabbing his lower right calf. He limped off the court and was helped to the locker room. The Warriors won the game to cut the Raptors' series lead to 3–2. The Warriors went on to lose the NBA Finals in Game 6, ending their quest for a three-peat.
Brooklyn Nets (2019–present)
Year absence (2019–2020)
On June 30, 2019, Durant announced that he planned to sign with the Brooklyn Nets after the July moratorium ended on July 6. On July 1, Golden State CEO Joe Lacob announced that Durant's No. 35 will no longer be issued by the Warriors. Durant signed with Brooklyn on July 7, in a sign-and-trade deal. Durant did not appear at all in the 2019–20 season and later revealed that he had decided shortly after his June 2019 injury that he would be sitting out the entire 2019–20 season. On March 17, 2020, Durant and three other Nets players tested positive for COVID-19. On April 1, it was announced that Durant was cleared and had recovered.
Return to the court (2020–2021)
On December 22, 2020, Durant made his Nets debut, putting up 22 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, in a 125–99 win over the Golden State Warriors. On January 14, 2021, James Harden was traded to the Nets in a blockbuster four-team deal, reuniting Durant with his former Thunder teammate. On January 16, 2021, Durant scored a season-high 42 points in a 122–115 win over the Orlando Magic. On February 5, due to health and safety protocols, Durant came off the bench for the first time in his career in a 117–123 loss to the Toronto Raptors. In February, Durant suffered a hamstring injury, which forced him to miss 23 games. On April 2, the NBA fined Durant $50,000 for private messages he sent through social media to actor Michael Rapaport in a feud. Durant made his return on April 7, 2021, scoring 17 points off the bench in a 139–119 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. The Nets finished the season with a 48–24 record, and the second seed in the East.
In Game 4 of the first round of the playoffs, Durant scored 42 points in a 141–126 win over the Boston Celtics to take a 3–1 lead in the series. In Game 5, he scored 24 points in a 123–109 win to close out the series. In Game 1 against the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference semifinals, Durant had 29 points and 10 rebounds in a 115–107 win. In Game 5, Durant put up 49 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists, leading the Nets to a 114–108 comeback win. In Game 7 against the Bucks, Durant dropped 48 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists, including a two-pointer to send the game into overtime, in the 115–111 loss; Durant's 48 points were the most in a Game 7 in NBA playoff history.
2021–22
On August 8, 2021, Durant signed a four-year, $198 million extension with the Brooklyn Nets. On October 22, Durant recorded his thirteenth career triple-double, and first as a Net with 29 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists in a 114–109 comeback win over the Philadelphia 76ers. On November 10, Durant scored 30 points on 11-for-12 shooting in a 123–90 win over the Orlando Magic. On December 12, Durant scored a season-high 51 points in a 116–104 win over the Detroit Pistons. On December 14, Durant recorded his fourteenth career triple-double with 34 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists in a 131–129 overtime win over the Toronto Raptors. On December 16, Durant scored 34 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, dished out 8 assists in a 114–105 win against the Philadelphia 76ers. On January 15, 2022, during a 120–105 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, Durant exited in the second quarter after suffering a left knee injury, later revealed to be a sprained MCL, and was subsequently ruled out for four to six weeks.
National team career
In February 2007, Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp. Despite a strong performance, he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit. Coach Mike Krzyzewski cited the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor in making the cut. Durant was finally selected to the national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and became their leader as other All-Stars were unavailable, a role he downplayed. At the tournament, he led Team USA to its first FIBA World Championship since 1994, earning tournament MVP honors in the process. His final averages for the competition were 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in nine games.
At the 2012 Olympics, Durant set the record for total points scored in an Olympic basketball tournament. With averages of 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, he helped the national team go undefeated en route to a gold medal. In the tournament's final game, he led all scorers with 30 points.
Less than a month before the start of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Durant announced that he would be dropping out of the competition, citing mental and physical exhaustion as reasons for his departure. He rejoined Team USA on the 2016 Olympic team, where he led them to a gold medal. In recognition of his performances, Durant was named the 2016 co-USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, along with Carmelo Anthony, for the second time in his career.
Durant committed to playing on the 2020 Olympic team, delayed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He entered the Games ranked second in U.S. men's Olympic basketball history with 311 career points, needing 25 to match Anthony's record of 336. Durant broke Anthony's record on July 31 against the Czech Republic. He led Team USA to a gold medal.
Player profile
Durant's height is officially and his primary position is small forward. In December 2016, Durant stated that his height in shoes was actually and that he understated his height in order to be listed as a small forward, rather than a power forward. His career averages are 27.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. Widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation, Durant has earned All-NBA honors nine times (2009–2014, 2016–2019) and was voted Rookie of the Year in his debut season. He has also won an MVP Award and finished second in the voting three times, a trend that he has expressed frustration over.
Durant is best known for his prodigious scoring ability. From 2010 to 2014, he won four scoring titles, becoming one of only two players to win four scoring titles in a five-year span. Early in his career, his playing style was isolation-driven, but he quickly developed into an excellent off-ball player who was capable of scoring from the outside as well. By 2013, he was shooting at a historically great clip, which helped him become one of only nine members of the 50–40–90 club. This ability to impact the offense in a variety of ways helped Durant remain effective and improve an already elite offense upon joining the Warriors in 2016. Throughout his career, his height and wingspan have created matchup problems for defenses as he is able to get off a clean shot regardless of the situation. Upon beating his man or gaining momentum, he also becomes a strong finisher at the rim; for example, he converted 72.2% of shots in the paint in 2012.
Early in Durant's career, he was criticized for his slim build, defense, and passing. Over time, he grew as a playmaker, increasing his assist numbers every year from 2010 to 2014, though his overall vision still lagged behind the league's best passers'. He also showed defensive improvement, with opponents averaging just .62 points per isolation play against him in 2014, the best success rate for defensive players who faced at least 100 isolations that season. Upon going to Golden State, he developed into a more reliable off-ball defender and rim protector, and in 2018 was considered for the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Personal life
Durant is very close with his mother, Wanda, a relationship that was detailed in the Lifetime movie The Real MVP: The Wanda Pratt Story. During his time with the Thunder, Durant described himself as a "high school kid" who enjoys playing video games in his spare time. A Christian, Durant has religious tattoos on his stomach, wrist, and back. He owns several properties in the Oklahoma City area and listed his primary residence, located in the affluent Club Villa neighborhood, for sale for $1.95 million in 2013. That same year, he opened a restaurant, KD's Southern Cuisine, in the Bricktown neighborhood and briefly became engaged to Monica Wright, a WNBA player. In 2016, he was a credentialed photographer for The Players' Tribune at Super Bowl 50.
Durant was formerly represented by agents Aaron Goodwin and Rob Pelinka. He left Pelinka in 2013 and signed with the Roc Nation group, headed by Jay-Z. Durant has endorsement deals with Nike, Sprint, Gatorade, Panini, General Electric, and 2K Sports. In 2012, he tried his hand at acting, appearing in the children's film Thunderstruck. In 2013, he earned $35 million, making him the fourth-highest-earning basketball player that year. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Durant claimed that, despite his high earnings potential, "global marketing and all that stuff" does not interest him.
One of the most popular players in the league, Durant's jersey regularly ranks as one of the NBA's best-selling and he is consistently one of the top All-Star vote-getters. Early in his career, he developed a reputation for his kind demeanor; in 2013, Foot Locker released a series of commercials calling him the "nicest guy in the NBA", and become a beloved figure in Oklahoma City, known for his "nice escapades" toward the Thunder's staff. In 2014, he partnered with KIND snacks and launched StrongAndKind.com to show "being kind is not a sign of weakness." Since joining the Warriors, he has become more outspoken and controversial; for example, he was involved in a Twitter back-and-forth with C. J. McCollum in July 2018. Durant has admitted to feeling more genuine in Golden State as opposed to Oklahoma City, where he was "just trying to please everybody".
Throughout his career, Durant has participated in philanthropic causes. In 2013, he pledged $1 million to the American Red Cross for the victims of the 2013 Moore tornado. His generosity inspired the Thunder and Nike to match his donation. He is also a spokesperson for the Washington, D. C. branch of P'Tones Records, a nationwide non-profit after-school music program.
In 2017, Durant became involved with YouTube. In February, he visited YouTube's headquarters for a speaking engagement. On April 7, 2017, he created a YouTube account and soon began to upload live stream vlogs onto it. In his first vlog, he detailed, "I'm so excited because I got off social media. I got off the Instagram, Twitter, all that stuff, just to distance myself a bit. But somebody talked me into getting on the YouTube." As of June 2020, Durant's YouTube channel has received over 790,000 subscribers and 38 million video views. On February 13, 2018, Deadline reported that Durant, in partnership with producer Brian Grazer's Imagine Television, will create a basketball-themed scripted drama for Apple.
In 2017, Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman founded Thirty Five Ventures. In 2020, Thirty Five Ventures produced Basketball County, a documentary about youth basketball in Durant's home county of Prince George's County, Maryland. Durant served as an executive producer and appeared in interviews. Thirty Five Ventures' work Two Distant Strangers won the 2021 Academy Award for Short Film (Live Action).
Durant was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018.
On June 15, 2020, Durant became a minority owner of MLS side Philadelphia Union, acquiring a 5% stake with the possibility to add another 5% in the near future.
In August 2021, Durant announced a partnership between his multimedia company Boardroom and the cannabis technology company Weedmaps through which an original content series would be developed and Weedmaps would become an official sponsor of Boardroom. Durant said of the partnership: "I think it's far past time to address the stigmas around cannabis that still exist in the sports world as well as globally. This partnership is going to help us continue to normalize those conversations, as well as create content, events, and a lot more through our Boardroom media network."
On December 22, 2021, he had signed a deal with Coinbase to serve himself as a brand ambassador.
Career statistics
Source:
NBA
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Seattle
| 80 || 80 || 34.6 || .430 || .288 || .873 || 4.4 || 2.4 || 1.0 || .9 || 20.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 74 || 74 || 39.0 || .476 || .422 || .863 || 6.5 || 2.8 || 1.3 || .7 || 25.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| style="background:#cfecec;"|82* || style="background:#cfecec;"|82* || 39.5 || .476 || .365 || .900 || 7.6 || 2.8 || 1.4 || 1.0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|30.1*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 78 || 78 || 38.9 || .462 || .350 || .880 || 6.8 || 2.7 || 1.1 || 1.0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|27.7*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| style="background:#cfecec;"|66* || style="background:#cfecec;"|66* || 38.6 || .496 || .387 || .860 || 8.0 || 3.5 || 1.3 || 1.2 || style="background:#cfecec;"|28.0*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 81 || 81 || 38.5 || .510 || .416 || style="background:#cfecec;"|.905* || 7.9 || 4.6 || 1.4 || 1.3 || 28.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 81 || 81 || 38.5 || .503 || .391 || .873 || 7.4 || 5.5 || 1.3 || .7 || style="background:#cfecec;"|32.0*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 27 || 27 || 33.8 || .510 || .403 || .854 || 6.6 || 4.1 || .9 || .9 || 25.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 72 || 72 || 35.8 || .505 || .388 || .898 || 8.2 || 5.0 || 1.0 || 1.2 || 28.2
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 62 || 62 || 33.4 || .537 || .375 || .875 || 8.3 || 4.9 || 1.1 || 1.6 || 25.1
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 68 || 68 || 34.2 || .516 || .419 || .889 || 6.8 || 5.4 || .7 || 1.8 || 26.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 78 || 78 || 34.6 || .521 || .353 || .885 || 6.4 || 5.9 || .7 || 1.1 || 26.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Brooklyn
| 35 || 32 || 33.1 || .537 || .450 || .882 || 7.1 || 5.6 || .7 || 1.3 || 26.9
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 884 || 881 || 36.7 || .494 || .384 || .883 || 7.1 || 4.2 || 1.1 || 1.1 || 27.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|All-Star
| 10 || 8 || 26.9 || .536 || .349 || .897 || 6.2 || 3.7 || 1.7 || .5 || 25.0
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2010
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 6 || 6 || 38.5 || .350 || .286 || .871 || 7.7 || 2.3 || .5 || 1.3 || 25.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2011
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 17 || 17 || 42.5 || .449 || .339 || .838 || 8.2 || 2.8 || .9 || 1.1 || 28.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2012
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 20 || 20 || 41.9 || .517 || .373 || .864 || 7.4 || 3.7 || 1.5 || 1.2 || 28.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2013
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 11 || 11 || 44.1 || .455 || .314 || .830 || 9.0 || 6.3 || 1.3 || 1.1 || 30.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2014
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 19 || 19 || 42.9 || .460 || .344 || .810 || 8.9 || 3.9 || 1.0 || 1.3 || 29.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2016
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 18 || 18 || 40.3 || .430 || .282 || .890 || 7.1 || 3.3 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 28.4
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;|2017†
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 15 || 15 || 35.5 || .556 || .442 || .893 || 8.0 || 4.3 || .8 || 1.3 || 28.5
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;|2018†
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 21 || 21 || 38.4 || .487 || .341 || .901 || 7.8 || 4.7 || .7 || 1.2 || 29.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2019
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 12 || 12 || 36.8 || .514 || .438 || .903 || 4.9 || 4.5 || 1.1 || 1.0 || 32.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2021
| style="text-align:left;"|Brooklyn
| 12 || 12 || 40.4 || .514 || .402 || .871 || 9.3 || 4.4 || 1.5 || 1.6 || 34.3
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 151 || 151 || 40.3 || .478 || .357 || .865 || 7.8 || 4.0 || 1.0 || 1.2 || 29.5
College
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2006–07
| style="text-align:left;"|Texas
| 35 || 35 || 35.9 || .473 || .404 || .816 || 11.1 || 1.3 || 1.9 || 1.9 || 25.8
Awards and honors
NBA
Cited from Basketball Reference's Kevin Durant page unless noted otherwise.
2× NBA champion: 2017, 2018
2× NBA Finals Most Valuable Player: 2017, 2018
NBA Most Valuable Player: 2014
12× NBA All-Star: 2010–2019, 2021, 2022
6× All-NBA First Team: 2010–2014, 2018
3× All-NBA Second Team: 2016, 2017, 2019
4× NBA scoring champion: 2010–2012, 2014
2× NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2012, 2019
NBA Rookie of the Year: 2008
NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2008
NBA Rookie Challenge MVP: 2009
USA Basketball
Cited from USA Basketball's Kevin Durant page unless noted otherwise.
3× Olympic gold medalist: 2012, 2016, 2020
Olympics Most Valuable Player: 2020
FIBA World Cup gold medalist: 2010
FIBA World Cup Most Valuable Player: 2010
NCAA
Naismith College Player of the Year: 2007
NABC Division I Player of the Year: 2007
Oscar Robertson Trophy: 2007
Adolph Rupp Trophy: 2007
John R. Wooden Award: 2007
Big 12 Player of the Year: 2007
USBWA National Freshman of the Year: 2007
Jersey number (35) retired at Texas
Media
AP Player of the Year: 2007
AP All-America 1st Team: 2007
Two-time ESPY Award winner:
2014 Best NBA Player
2017 Outstanding Team (as a member of the Golden State Warriors)
See also
List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career 3-point scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff turnovers leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff 3-point scoring leaders
References
External links
1988 births
Living people
2010 FIBA World Championship players
All-American college men's basketball players
American Christians
American men's basketball players
American YouTubers
Basketball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Basketball players from Maryland
Basketball players from Washington, D.C.
Brooklyn Nets players
Businesspeople in the cannabis industry
FIBA World Championship-winning players
Golden State Warriors players
Male bloggers
Male YouTubers
McDonald's High School All-Americans
Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
National Basketball Association All-Stars
Oklahoma City Thunder players
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball
Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
Seattle SuperSonics draft picks
Seattle SuperSonics players
Small forwards
Sportspeople from Rockville, Maryland
Texas Longhorns men's basketball players
United States men's national basketball team players
YouTube vloggers
| true |
[
"What Color Is Your Parachute? is a self-help book by Richard Nelson Bolles intended for job-seekers. It has been in print since 1970 and has been revised annually since 1975, sometimes substantially. Bolles initially self-published the book on December 1, 1970, and it has been commercially published since November 1972 by Ten Speed Press in Berkeley, California. As of September 28, 2010, the book is available in 22 languages and used in 26 countries around the world. Over ten million copies have been sold worldwide. It is one of the most highly regarded career advice books in print. In the 2014 edition of the book, Bolles writes about how to adapt one's job search to the Internet age.\n\nThe book recommends networking to find \"the person with the authority to hire you\", rather than sending out resumes in bulk, shotgun fashion. It also recommends carefully figuring out what one is best at and what one enjoys most, which Bolles asserts tend to coincide. The Flower Exercise is a key element of the book, featuring seven ways that job seekers can define themselves with in order to inform their job search. \n\nYears later, Bolles explained the book's memorable title as his response at a business meeting in 1968 when someone told him that he and several co-workers were \"bailing out\" of a failing organization, prompting Bolles to joke, \"What color is your parachute?\". \"The question was just a joke,\" he said. \"I had no idea that it would take on all this additional meaning.\"\n\nRelated media\nRichard Nelson Bolles wrote numerous spinoffs of What Color Is Your Parachute?, targeted at specific audiences and career issues; he also collaborated with Mark Emery Bolles to write versions targeted at online job hunting. Additionally, in March 2013, Ten Speed Press released an app titled What Color Is Your Parachute? Job-Hunter’s Workbook Tablet Edition for the iPad and Nook.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n JobHuntersBible.com – Official site\n\nSelf-help books\n1970 non-fiction books\nSelf-published books\nTen Speed Press books",
"Shultz v. Wheaton Glass Co., 421 F.2d 259 (3rd Cir. 1970) was a case heard before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in 1970. It is an important case in studying the impact of the Bennett Amendment on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, helping to define the limitations of equal pay for men and women. In its rulings, the court determined that a job that is \"substantially equal\" in terms of what the job entails, although not necessarily in title or job description, is protected by the Equal Pay Act. An employer who hires a woman to do the same job as a man but gives the job a new title in order to offer it a lesser pay is discriminating under that act.\n\nBackground\nWheaton Glass employed men as \"selector-packer-stackers\" but employed women as \"\"selector-packers\". Both performed similar work in the company's warehouse in Millville, New Jersey but the longer title paid substantially higher wages.\n\nSee also\nGender equality\nList of gender equality lawsuits\n\nReferences\n\nUnited States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit cases\nUnited States labor case law\n1970 in United States case law\nMillville, New Jersey\nUnited States gender discrimination case law\nUnited States employment discrimination case law\nHistory of women in New Jersey"
] |
[
"Kevin Durant",
"National team career",
"What year did he join",
"2007,",
"What did he get",
"Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp.",
"What happened to him this year",
"he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit.",
"Who cut him",
"Mike Krzyzewski",
"What is his job title",
"Coach"
] |
C_f0baba80a9794299b0e55746c6b38b78_1
|
What did he say to this
| 6 |
What did Mike Krzyzewski say to cutting from the team?
|
Kevin Durant
|
In February 2007, Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp. Despite a strong performance, he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit. Coach Mike Krzyzewski cited the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor in making the cut. Durant was finally selected to the national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and became their leader as other All-Stars were unavailable, a role he downplayed. At the tournament, he led Team USA to its first FIBA World Championship since 1994, earning MVP honors in the process. His final averages for the competition were 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in nine games. At the 2012 Olympics, Durant set the record for total points scored in an Olympic basketball tournament. With averages of 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, he helped the national team go undefeated en route to a gold medal. In the tournament's final game, he led all scorers with 30 points. Less than a month before the start of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Durant announced that he would be dropping out of the competition, citing mental and physical exhaustion as reasons for his departure. He rejoined Team USA in 2016 for the Olympics, where he led them to a gold medal. In recognition of his performances, Durant was named the 2016 co-USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, along with Carmelo Anthony, for the second time in his career. CANNOTANSWER
|
the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor
|
Kevin Wayne Durant (; born September 29, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for the Texas Longhorns, and was selected as the second overall pick by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2007 NBA draft. He played nine seasons with the franchise, which became the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008, before signing with the Golden State Warriors in 2016, winning consecutive NBA championships in 2017 and 2018. After sustaining an Achilles injury in the 2019 finals, he joined the Nets as a free agent that summer. Durant has often been called the best player in the NBA and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
Durant was a heavily recruited high school prospect who was widely regarded as the second-best player in his class. In college, he won numerous year-end awards and became the first freshman to be named Naismith College Player of the Year. As a professional, he has won two NBA championships, an NBA Most Valuable Player Award, two Finals MVP Awards, two NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Awards, four NBA scoring titles, the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, been named to nine All-NBA teams (including six First Teams), and selected 12 times as an NBA All-Star. In October 2021, Durant was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. In international play as a member of USA Basketball, Durant has won three Olympic gold medals (2012, 2016, and 2020) and the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
Off the court, Durant is one of the highest-earning basketball players in the world, due in part to endorsement deals with companies such as Foot Locker and Nike. He has developed a reputation for philanthropy and regularly leads the league in All-Star votes and jersey sales. In recent years, he has contributed to The Players' Tribune as both a photographer and writer. In 2012, he ventured into acting, appearing in the film Thunderstruck.
Early life
Durant was born on September 29, 1988, in Washington, D.C., to Wanda (née Durant) and Wayne Pratt. When Durant was an infant, his father deserted the family; Wanda and Wayne eventually divorced, and Durant's grandmother Barbara Davis helped raise him. By age 13, his father reentered his life and traveled the country with him to basketball tournaments. Durant has a sister, Brianna, and two brothers, Tony and Rayvonne.
Durant and his siblings grew up in Prince George's County, Maryland, on the eastern outskirts of Washington, D.C. He was unusually tall from a young age, and reached in height while still in middle school (age 10-12). Growing up, Durant wanted to play for his favorite team, the Toronto Raptors, which included his favorite player, Vince Carter. He played Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball for several teams in the Maryland area and was teammates with future NBA players Michael Beasley, Greivis Vásquez, and Ty Lawson, the first of whom Durant remains friends with to this day. During this time, he began wearing #35 as his jersey number in honor of his AAU coach, Charles Craig, who was murdered at the age of 35.
After playing two years of high school basketball at National Christian Academy and one year at Oak Hill Academy, Durant transferred to Montrose Christian School for his senior year, growing before the start of the season and beginning the year at .
Prior to the start of the season, he committed to the University of Texas at Austin. He had visited University of Connecticut and University of North Carolina, and said he considered Duke University, University of Kentucky and University of Louisville. When asked why he chose a college with a lesser-known program, he said, "Wanted to set my own path."
At the end of the year, he was named the Washington Post All-Met Basketball Player of the Year, as well as the Most Valuable Player of the 2006 McDonald's All-American Game. He was widely regarded as the second-best high school prospect of 2006, behind Greg Oden.
College career
For the 2006–07 college season, Durantwho had grown to averaged 25.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game for the Texas Longhorns. They finished the year with a 25–10 record overall and a 12–4 record in conference. Awarded a fourth seed in the NCAA Tournament, Texas won their first round match-up against New Mexico State but were upset in the second round by USC despite a 30-point and 9-rebound performance from Durant. For his outstanding play, Durant was recognized as the unanimous national player of the year, winning the John R. Wooden Award, the Naismith College Player of the Year Award, and all eight other widely recognized honors and awards. This made Durant the first freshman to win any of the national player of the year awards. Following the season, he declared for the NBA draft. His No. 35 jersey was later retired by the Longhorns.
Professional career
Seattle SuperSonics / Oklahoma City Thunder (2007–2016)
Rookie of the Year (2007–2008)
Durant was selected as the second overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, after Greg Oden was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the first pick of the draft. In his first regular season game, the 19-year-old Durant registered 18 points, five rebounds and three steals against the Denver Nuggets. On November 16, he made the first game-winning shot of his career in a game against the Atlanta Hawks. At the conclusion of the 2007–08 NBA season, he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year following averages of 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He joined Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James as the only teenagers in league history to average at least 20 points per game over an entire season.
Breakthrough (2008–2010)
Following Durant's debut season, the SuperSonics relocated from Seattle to Oklahoma City, becoming the Thunder and switching to new colors – blue, orange, and yellow. The team also drafted UCLA guard Russell Westbrook, who would form an All-Star combination with Durant in later years. At the 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend, Durant set a Rookie Challenge record with 46 points. By the conclusion of the 2008–09 NBA season, he had raised his scoring average by five points from the prior season to 25.3 points per game, and was considered a strong candidate for the Most Improved Player Award, eventually finishing third in the voting. Durant continued to grow during his first few years in the NBA, finally reaching a height of .
During the 2009–10 season, Durant was selected to his first NBA All-Star Game. Behind his play, the Thunder improved their record by 27 wins from the previous year and defied expectations to make the playoffs. With a scoring average of 30.1 points per game, Durant became the youngest NBA scoring champion and was selected to his first All-NBA team. In his playoff debut, he scored 24 points in a Game 1 loss against the Los Angeles Lakers. Oklahoma City would go on to lose the series in six games, but the team's performance led many analysts to label them as an upcoming title contender.
Deep playoff runs (2010–2013)
Prior to the start of the 2010–11 season, Durant announced via Twitter that he had signed a five-year contract extension with the Thunder worth approximately $86 million. For the second consecutive year, he led the NBA in scoring, averaging 27.7 points a game. Behind Durant's leadership, the Thunder won 55 games and earned the fourth seed in the Western Conference. In the 2011 NBA playoffs, Oklahoma City defeated the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies en route to a Conference Finals match-up versus the Dallas Mavericks, losing in five games.
On February 19 of the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season, Durant recorded his first career 50-point game, scoring 51 points against the Denver Nuggets. At the All-Star Game, he scored 36 points and was awarded the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award. Durant finished the year with a scoring average of 28 points per game, representing his third straight scoring title. Behind his play, the Thunder won 47 games and entered the 2012 NBA playoffs as the Western Conference's second seed. In Game 1 of the first round against the Dallas Mavericks, Durant hit a game-winner with 1.5 seconds remaining. Oklahoma City would go on to defeat Dallas, the Lakers, and the San Antonio Spurs before losing to the Miami Heat in the 2012 NBA Finals. For the NBA Finals, Durant led all players with 30.6 points per game, doing so on a 54.8 shooting rate.
With a scoring average of 28.1 points per game to finish the 2012–13 season, Durant failed to defend his scoring title; however, with a 51 percent shooting rate, a 41.6 percent three point shooting rate, and a 90.5 free throw shooting rate, he became the youngest player in NBA history to join the 50–40–90 club. Finishing the year with a 60–22 record, Oklahoma City earned the first seed in the Western Conference. In the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs against the Houston Rockets, Westbrook tore his meniscus, forcing him to miss the remainder of the postseason. Without Westbrook, Durant was given more responsibility, averaging a career-high 30.8 points per game throughout the playoffs, but Oklahoma City were eventually eliminated in the second round by the Memphis Grizzlies in five games.
MVP season (2013–14)
In January of the 2013–14 season, Durant averaged 35.9 points per game while scoring 30 or more points in 12 straight games, including a career-high 54 points against the Golden State Warriors. In April, he surpassed Michael Jordan's record for consecutive games scoring 25 points or more at 41. The Thunder finished the year with 59 wins and Durant was voted the NBA Most Valuable Player behind averages of 32 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. To begin the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs, he struggled against the physical play of the Grizzlies, converting on only 24 percent of his field goals in Game 4. Through five games, the Thunder trailed the series 3–2, prompting The Oklahoman to dub Durant "Mr. Unreliable". He responded by scoring 36 points in a Game 6 victory. Oklahoma City eventually eliminated Memphis and the Los Angeles Clippers before losing to the Spurs in the Conference Finals in six games.
Final seasons with the Thunder (2014–2016)
Prior to the start of the 2014–15 season, Durant was diagnosed with a Jones fracture in his right foot and was ruled out for six to eight weeks. He subsequently missed the first 17 games of the year, making his season debut for the Thunder on December 2 against the New Orleans Pelicans. On December 18, he injured his ankle against the Golden State Warriors, returning to action on December 31 against the Phoenix Suns to score a season-high 44 points. He then sprained his left big toe in late January. On February 22, he was sidelined again after undergoing a minor procedure to help reduce pain and discomfort in his surgically repaired right foot, and on March 27, he was officially ruled out for the rest of the season after deciding to undergo foot surgery. In just 27 games, he averaged 25.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game.
To begin the 2015–16 season, Durant and Westbrook reached several historical milestones together, including becoming the first pair of teammates to each score at least 40 points in a single game since 1996, doing so in a win over the Orlando Magic on October 30. For the year, Durant averaged 28.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game, leading the Thunder to 55 wins and the third seed in the West. In Game 2 of the first round of the 2016 NBA playoffs against the Mavericks, he scored 21 points but converted only 7 out of 33 shots in the worst postseason shooting performance, both by percentage and number of misses, of his career. After defeating Dallas, Oklahoma City moved on to face the Spurs in the second round, falling behind 2–1 to start the series. In Game 4, Durant tied his playoff career high with 41 points in a Thunder win. Oklahoma City eventually defeated the Spurs in six games, drawing a matchup with the record-setting 73-win Golden State Warriors in the Conference Finals. Despite going up 3–1, the Thunder were ousted in seven games, with Durant providing 27 points in Game 7.
Golden State Warriors (2016–2019)
2016 free agency
On July 4, Durant announced his intentions to sign with the Warriors in The Players' Tribune. The move was received negatively by fans and pundits, who felt that he took the easy route by leaving a team that had been up 3–1 and close to reaching the Finals to instead join their opponents, who had defeated them and were coming off a record-setting 73-win season; the Warriors had also won a championship the year before. On July 7, Durant officially signed with Golden State on a two-year, $54.3 million contract with a player option after the first year. Reflecting on the move for Sports Illustrated, Ben Golliver wrote, "He chose an ideal roster fit and a shot at playing for the highest-scoring offense the NBA has seen in decades. He chose life alongside Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the greatest shooting backcourt in history, and he chose to go against Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green, two elite defenders, in practices rather than in Western Conference finals games."
Back-to-back championships (2016–2018)
Durant made his debut for the Warriors on October 25 against the San Antonio Spurs, scoring a team-high 27 points in a blowout loss. On November 26, he recorded 28 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and a career-high six blocked shots in a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, becoming the first player in team history to finish with at least 25 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and five blocks in a single game. On February 11, in his first game back in Oklahoma City since leaving for Golden State, Durant scored 34 points while being booed throughout the night as he helped the Warriors defeat the Thunder for the third time that year. In March, Durant suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain and a tibial bone bruise, which forced him to miss the final 19 games of the season. Golden State finished the year with a 67–15 record and entered the playoffs as the first seed.
Durant returned from injury in time for the 2017 NBA playoffs and helped the Warriors advance to their third consecutive Finals, while also becoming the first team in league history to start the postseason 12–0. In Game 1 of the series, Durant had 38 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists to lead the Warriors past LeBron James and the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers. Durant then helped the Warriors go up 3–0 in the series with a 31-point effort in Game 3, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 45.3 seconds left in regulation. In Game 5, he scored 39 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists in a series-clinching win. For the Finals, Durant was the Golden State's top scorer in every game, averaging 35.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 5.4 assists while shooting 55.5 percent from the field, 47.4 percent from three-point range, and 92.7 percent from the free throw line. He was subsequently named the NBA Finals MVP.
After the Finals, Durant declined his $27.7 million player option and became an unrestricted free agent. On July 25, he re-signed with the Warriors for less money than the maximum, which helped the franchise create enough salary cap space to keep their core roster intact and add free agents. On January 10 of the 2017–18 season, Durant scored 40 points in a loss to the Clippers, becoming the second-youngest player in league history to reach the 20,000-point milestone. On January 23, he registered a career-high 14 assists in a win over the New York Knicks. On February 14, he scored a season-high 50 points in a loss to the Trail Blazers. In March, he missed games with a fractured rib, joining teammates Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson on the sidelines for the back-end of the season. Golden State eventually finished the year with 58 wins and Durant set a career high for blocks in season with 119.
In Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Durant scored 37 points in a win over the higher-seeded Houston Rockets. Through six games, the Warriors found themselves trailing 3–2, and Durant was criticized for contributing to Golden State's struggles by playing too much in isolation. The Warriors staved off elimination in Game 6, and in Game 7, Durant scored 34 points, helping Golden State return to the Finals with a series-clinching victory. In Game 3 of the 2018 NBA Finals, Durant recorded a playoff career-high 43 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists in a win over the Cavaliers, leading the Warriors to a 3–0 advantage. Golden State ultimately swept Cleveland and clinched a second straight championship; with averages of 28.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 7.5 assists, Durant also won his second Finals MVP Award.
Three-peat chase and injury (2018–2019)
On July 7, 2018, Durant re-signed with the Warriors, on a reported two-year, $61.5 million contract, which included a player option for the second year. During an overtime loss to the Clippers on November 12, 2018, Green cursed out Durant over his upcoming free agency status after the season, and he was suspended for the much-publicized blowup. On November 29, Durant scored a season-high 51 points in a 131–128 overtime loss to the Toronto Raptors, thus scoring 40 or more in his third straight game. With Curry and Green sidelined for most of November, the Warriors finished the month with a 15–8 record and five straight road losses, after starting the season at 10–1.
In Game 5 of the first round of the playoffs, he scored a playoff career-high 45 points in a 129–121 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. In Game 6, he set a new playoff career high with 50 points in a 129–110 win to close out the series. During Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets, Durant suffered a right calf strain, subsequently missing Game 6, in which the Warriors won the series, as well as the entire Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers, which the Warriors won in a four-game sweep.
After missing nine games with the strained right calf, Durant returned to action in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals against Toronto, and scored 11 points in the first quarter. However, he was lost for the game two minutes into the second quarter when he tried to drive by former teammate Serge Ibaka and suffered an Achilles tendon injury, falling and grabbing his lower right calf. He limped off the court and was helped to the locker room. The Warriors won the game to cut the Raptors' series lead to 3–2. The Warriors went on to lose the NBA Finals in Game 6, ending their quest for a three-peat.
Brooklyn Nets (2019–present)
Year absence (2019–2020)
On June 30, 2019, Durant announced that he planned to sign with the Brooklyn Nets after the July moratorium ended on July 6. On July 1, Golden State CEO Joe Lacob announced that Durant's No. 35 will no longer be issued by the Warriors. Durant signed with Brooklyn on July 7, in a sign-and-trade deal. Durant did not appear at all in the 2019–20 season and later revealed that he had decided shortly after his June 2019 injury that he would be sitting out the entire 2019–20 season. On March 17, 2020, Durant and three other Nets players tested positive for COVID-19. On April 1, it was announced that Durant was cleared and had recovered.
Return to the court (2020–2021)
On December 22, 2020, Durant made his Nets debut, putting up 22 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, in a 125–99 win over the Golden State Warriors. On January 14, 2021, James Harden was traded to the Nets in a blockbuster four-team deal, reuniting Durant with his former Thunder teammate. On January 16, 2021, Durant scored a season-high 42 points in a 122–115 win over the Orlando Magic. On February 5, due to health and safety protocols, Durant came off the bench for the first time in his career in a 117–123 loss to the Toronto Raptors. In February, Durant suffered a hamstring injury, which forced him to miss 23 games. On April 2, the NBA fined Durant $50,000 for private messages he sent through social media to actor Michael Rapaport in a feud. Durant made his return on April 7, 2021, scoring 17 points off the bench in a 139–119 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. The Nets finished the season with a 48–24 record, and the second seed in the East.
In Game 4 of the first round of the playoffs, Durant scored 42 points in a 141–126 win over the Boston Celtics to take a 3–1 lead in the series. In Game 5, he scored 24 points in a 123–109 win to close out the series. In Game 1 against the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference semifinals, Durant had 29 points and 10 rebounds in a 115–107 win. In Game 5, Durant put up 49 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists, leading the Nets to a 114–108 comeback win. In Game 7 against the Bucks, Durant dropped 48 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists, including a two-pointer to send the game into overtime, in the 115–111 loss; Durant's 48 points were the most in a Game 7 in NBA playoff history.
2021–22
On August 8, 2021, Durant signed a four-year, $198 million extension with the Brooklyn Nets. On October 22, Durant recorded his thirteenth career triple-double, and first as a Net with 29 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists in a 114–109 comeback win over the Philadelphia 76ers. On November 10, Durant scored 30 points on 11-for-12 shooting in a 123–90 win over the Orlando Magic. On December 12, Durant scored a season-high 51 points in a 116–104 win over the Detroit Pistons. On December 14, Durant recorded his fourteenth career triple-double with 34 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists in a 131–129 overtime win over the Toronto Raptors. On December 16, Durant scored 34 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, dished out 8 assists in a 114–105 win against the Philadelphia 76ers. On January 15, 2022, during a 120–105 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, Durant exited in the second quarter after suffering a left knee injury, later revealed to be a sprained MCL, and was subsequently ruled out for four to six weeks.
National team career
In February 2007, Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp. Despite a strong performance, he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit. Coach Mike Krzyzewski cited the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor in making the cut. Durant was finally selected to the national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and became their leader as other All-Stars were unavailable, a role he downplayed. At the tournament, he led Team USA to its first FIBA World Championship since 1994, earning tournament MVP honors in the process. His final averages for the competition were 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in nine games.
At the 2012 Olympics, Durant set the record for total points scored in an Olympic basketball tournament. With averages of 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, he helped the national team go undefeated en route to a gold medal. In the tournament's final game, he led all scorers with 30 points.
Less than a month before the start of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Durant announced that he would be dropping out of the competition, citing mental and physical exhaustion as reasons for his departure. He rejoined Team USA on the 2016 Olympic team, where he led them to a gold medal. In recognition of his performances, Durant was named the 2016 co-USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, along with Carmelo Anthony, for the second time in his career.
Durant committed to playing on the 2020 Olympic team, delayed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He entered the Games ranked second in U.S. men's Olympic basketball history with 311 career points, needing 25 to match Anthony's record of 336. Durant broke Anthony's record on July 31 against the Czech Republic. He led Team USA to a gold medal.
Player profile
Durant's height is officially and his primary position is small forward. In December 2016, Durant stated that his height in shoes was actually and that he understated his height in order to be listed as a small forward, rather than a power forward. His career averages are 27.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. Widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation, Durant has earned All-NBA honors nine times (2009–2014, 2016–2019) and was voted Rookie of the Year in his debut season. He has also won an MVP Award and finished second in the voting three times, a trend that he has expressed frustration over.
Durant is best known for his prodigious scoring ability. From 2010 to 2014, he won four scoring titles, becoming one of only two players to win four scoring titles in a five-year span. Early in his career, his playing style was isolation-driven, but he quickly developed into an excellent off-ball player who was capable of scoring from the outside as well. By 2013, he was shooting at a historically great clip, which helped him become one of only nine members of the 50–40–90 club. This ability to impact the offense in a variety of ways helped Durant remain effective and improve an already elite offense upon joining the Warriors in 2016. Throughout his career, his height and wingspan have created matchup problems for defenses as he is able to get off a clean shot regardless of the situation. Upon beating his man or gaining momentum, he also becomes a strong finisher at the rim; for example, he converted 72.2% of shots in the paint in 2012.
Early in Durant's career, he was criticized for his slim build, defense, and passing. Over time, he grew as a playmaker, increasing his assist numbers every year from 2010 to 2014, though his overall vision still lagged behind the league's best passers'. He also showed defensive improvement, with opponents averaging just .62 points per isolation play against him in 2014, the best success rate for defensive players who faced at least 100 isolations that season. Upon going to Golden State, he developed into a more reliable off-ball defender and rim protector, and in 2018 was considered for the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Personal life
Durant is very close with his mother, Wanda, a relationship that was detailed in the Lifetime movie The Real MVP: The Wanda Pratt Story. During his time with the Thunder, Durant described himself as a "high school kid" who enjoys playing video games in his spare time. A Christian, Durant has religious tattoos on his stomach, wrist, and back. He owns several properties in the Oklahoma City area and listed his primary residence, located in the affluent Club Villa neighborhood, for sale for $1.95 million in 2013. That same year, he opened a restaurant, KD's Southern Cuisine, in the Bricktown neighborhood and briefly became engaged to Monica Wright, a WNBA player. In 2016, he was a credentialed photographer for The Players' Tribune at Super Bowl 50.
Durant was formerly represented by agents Aaron Goodwin and Rob Pelinka. He left Pelinka in 2013 and signed with the Roc Nation group, headed by Jay-Z. Durant has endorsement deals with Nike, Sprint, Gatorade, Panini, General Electric, and 2K Sports. In 2012, he tried his hand at acting, appearing in the children's film Thunderstruck. In 2013, he earned $35 million, making him the fourth-highest-earning basketball player that year. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Durant claimed that, despite his high earnings potential, "global marketing and all that stuff" does not interest him.
One of the most popular players in the league, Durant's jersey regularly ranks as one of the NBA's best-selling and he is consistently one of the top All-Star vote-getters. Early in his career, he developed a reputation for his kind demeanor; in 2013, Foot Locker released a series of commercials calling him the "nicest guy in the NBA", and become a beloved figure in Oklahoma City, known for his "nice escapades" toward the Thunder's staff. In 2014, he partnered with KIND snacks and launched StrongAndKind.com to show "being kind is not a sign of weakness." Since joining the Warriors, he has become more outspoken and controversial; for example, he was involved in a Twitter back-and-forth with C. J. McCollum in July 2018. Durant has admitted to feeling more genuine in Golden State as opposed to Oklahoma City, where he was "just trying to please everybody".
Throughout his career, Durant has participated in philanthropic causes. In 2013, he pledged $1 million to the American Red Cross for the victims of the 2013 Moore tornado. His generosity inspired the Thunder and Nike to match his donation. He is also a spokesperson for the Washington, D. C. branch of P'Tones Records, a nationwide non-profit after-school music program.
In 2017, Durant became involved with YouTube. In February, he visited YouTube's headquarters for a speaking engagement. On April 7, 2017, he created a YouTube account and soon began to upload live stream vlogs onto it. In his first vlog, he detailed, "I'm so excited because I got off social media. I got off the Instagram, Twitter, all that stuff, just to distance myself a bit. But somebody talked me into getting on the YouTube." As of June 2020, Durant's YouTube channel has received over 790,000 subscribers and 38 million video views. On February 13, 2018, Deadline reported that Durant, in partnership with producer Brian Grazer's Imagine Television, will create a basketball-themed scripted drama for Apple.
In 2017, Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman founded Thirty Five Ventures. In 2020, Thirty Five Ventures produced Basketball County, a documentary about youth basketball in Durant's home county of Prince George's County, Maryland. Durant served as an executive producer and appeared in interviews. Thirty Five Ventures' work Two Distant Strangers won the 2021 Academy Award for Short Film (Live Action).
Durant was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018.
On June 15, 2020, Durant became a minority owner of MLS side Philadelphia Union, acquiring a 5% stake with the possibility to add another 5% in the near future.
In August 2021, Durant announced a partnership between his multimedia company Boardroom and the cannabis technology company Weedmaps through which an original content series would be developed and Weedmaps would become an official sponsor of Boardroom. Durant said of the partnership: "I think it's far past time to address the stigmas around cannabis that still exist in the sports world as well as globally. This partnership is going to help us continue to normalize those conversations, as well as create content, events, and a lot more through our Boardroom media network."
On December 22, 2021, he had signed a deal with Coinbase to serve himself as a brand ambassador.
Career statistics
Source:
NBA
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Seattle
| 80 || 80 || 34.6 || .430 || .288 || .873 || 4.4 || 2.4 || 1.0 || .9 || 20.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 74 || 74 || 39.0 || .476 || .422 || .863 || 6.5 || 2.8 || 1.3 || .7 || 25.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| style="background:#cfecec;"|82* || style="background:#cfecec;"|82* || 39.5 || .476 || .365 || .900 || 7.6 || 2.8 || 1.4 || 1.0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|30.1*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 78 || 78 || 38.9 || .462 || .350 || .880 || 6.8 || 2.7 || 1.1 || 1.0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|27.7*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| style="background:#cfecec;"|66* || style="background:#cfecec;"|66* || 38.6 || .496 || .387 || .860 || 8.0 || 3.5 || 1.3 || 1.2 || style="background:#cfecec;"|28.0*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 81 || 81 || 38.5 || .510 || .416 || style="background:#cfecec;"|.905* || 7.9 || 4.6 || 1.4 || 1.3 || 28.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 81 || 81 || 38.5 || .503 || .391 || .873 || 7.4 || 5.5 || 1.3 || .7 || style="background:#cfecec;"|32.0*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 27 || 27 || 33.8 || .510 || .403 || .854 || 6.6 || 4.1 || .9 || .9 || 25.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 72 || 72 || 35.8 || .505 || .388 || .898 || 8.2 || 5.0 || 1.0 || 1.2 || 28.2
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 62 || 62 || 33.4 || .537 || .375 || .875 || 8.3 || 4.9 || 1.1 || 1.6 || 25.1
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 68 || 68 || 34.2 || .516 || .419 || .889 || 6.8 || 5.4 || .7 || 1.8 || 26.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 78 || 78 || 34.6 || .521 || .353 || .885 || 6.4 || 5.9 || .7 || 1.1 || 26.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Brooklyn
| 35 || 32 || 33.1 || .537 || .450 || .882 || 7.1 || 5.6 || .7 || 1.3 || 26.9
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 884 || 881 || 36.7 || .494 || .384 || .883 || 7.1 || 4.2 || 1.1 || 1.1 || 27.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|All-Star
| 10 || 8 || 26.9 || .536 || .349 || .897 || 6.2 || 3.7 || 1.7 || .5 || 25.0
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2010
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 6 || 6 || 38.5 || .350 || .286 || .871 || 7.7 || 2.3 || .5 || 1.3 || 25.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2011
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 17 || 17 || 42.5 || .449 || .339 || .838 || 8.2 || 2.8 || .9 || 1.1 || 28.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2012
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 20 || 20 || 41.9 || .517 || .373 || .864 || 7.4 || 3.7 || 1.5 || 1.2 || 28.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2013
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 11 || 11 || 44.1 || .455 || .314 || .830 || 9.0 || 6.3 || 1.3 || 1.1 || 30.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2014
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 19 || 19 || 42.9 || .460 || .344 || .810 || 8.9 || 3.9 || 1.0 || 1.3 || 29.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2016
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 18 || 18 || 40.3 || .430 || .282 || .890 || 7.1 || 3.3 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 28.4
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;|2017†
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 15 || 15 || 35.5 || .556 || .442 || .893 || 8.0 || 4.3 || .8 || 1.3 || 28.5
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;|2018†
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 21 || 21 || 38.4 || .487 || .341 || .901 || 7.8 || 4.7 || .7 || 1.2 || 29.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2019
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 12 || 12 || 36.8 || .514 || .438 || .903 || 4.9 || 4.5 || 1.1 || 1.0 || 32.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2021
| style="text-align:left;"|Brooklyn
| 12 || 12 || 40.4 || .514 || .402 || .871 || 9.3 || 4.4 || 1.5 || 1.6 || 34.3
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 151 || 151 || 40.3 || .478 || .357 || .865 || 7.8 || 4.0 || 1.0 || 1.2 || 29.5
College
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2006–07
| style="text-align:left;"|Texas
| 35 || 35 || 35.9 || .473 || .404 || .816 || 11.1 || 1.3 || 1.9 || 1.9 || 25.8
Awards and honors
NBA
Cited from Basketball Reference's Kevin Durant page unless noted otherwise.
2× NBA champion: 2017, 2018
2× NBA Finals Most Valuable Player: 2017, 2018
NBA Most Valuable Player: 2014
12× NBA All-Star: 2010–2019, 2021, 2022
6× All-NBA First Team: 2010–2014, 2018
3× All-NBA Second Team: 2016, 2017, 2019
4× NBA scoring champion: 2010–2012, 2014
2× NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2012, 2019
NBA Rookie of the Year: 2008
NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2008
NBA Rookie Challenge MVP: 2009
USA Basketball
Cited from USA Basketball's Kevin Durant page unless noted otherwise.
3× Olympic gold medalist: 2012, 2016, 2020
Olympics Most Valuable Player: 2020
FIBA World Cup gold medalist: 2010
FIBA World Cup Most Valuable Player: 2010
NCAA
Naismith College Player of the Year: 2007
NABC Division I Player of the Year: 2007
Oscar Robertson Trophy: 2007
Adolph Rupp Trophy: 2007
John R. Wooden Award: 2007
Big 12 Player of the Year: 2007
USBWA National Freshman of the Year: 2007
Jersey number (35) retired at Texas
Media
AP Player of the Year: 2007
AP All-America 1st Team: 2007
Two-time ESPY Award winner:
2014 Best NBA Player
2017 Outstanding Team (as a member of the Golden State Warriors)
See also
List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career 3-point scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff turnovers leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff 3-point scoring leaders
References
External links
1988 births
Living people
2010 FIBA World Championship players
All-American college men's basketball players
American Christians
American men's basketball players
American YouTubers
Basketball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Basketball players from Maryland
Basketball players from Washington, D.C.
Brooklyn Nets players
Businesspeople in the cannabis industry
FIBA World Championship-winning players
Golden State Warriors players
Male bloggers
Male YouTubers
McDonald's High School All-Americans
Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
National Basketball Association All-Stars
Oklahoma City Thunder players
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball
Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
Seattle SuperSonics draft picks
Seattle SuperSonics players
Small forwards
Sportspeople from Rockville, Maryland
Texas Longhorns men's basketball players
United States men's national basketball team players
YouTube vloggers
| true |
[
"\"Incredible (What I Meant to Say)\" is a song by Scottish singer-songwriter Darius, released as the third single from his debut album, Dive In (2002). It peaked at number nine on the UK Singles Chart, making it his third consecutive top-10 hit.\n\nMusic video\nThe video was shot over two days at the Estacion De Francia train station in Barcelona, Spain.\n\nAfter Darius has an argument with his girlfriend, played by model Kate Groombridge, he tries to find her to apologise, but the train he thinks she is on leaves before he can say sorry. He then exits the train station down-hearted, just missing his girlfriend, who returns to find him.\n\nTrack listings\nUK CD1\n \"Incredible (What I Meant to Say)\"\n \"Rushes\" (8 Jam remix)\n \"Pretty Flamingo\"\n \"Incredible (What I Meant to Say)\" (video)\n\nUK CD2\n \"Incredible (What I Meant to Say)\"\n \"Fragile\"\n \"Don't Forget to Breathe\"\n\nUK cassette single\n \"Incredible (What I Meant to Say)\"\n \"Rushes\" (8 Jam remix)\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n2003 singles\nDarius Campbell songs\nMercury Records singles\nSong recordings produced by Steve Lillywhite\nSongs written by Darius Campbell\nSongs written by Lauren Christy\nSongs written by Graham Edwards (musician)\nSongs written by Scott Spock",
"\"(What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me\" is a song written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and recorded by American recording artist Alexander O'Neal. It is the fifth single from the singer's second solo album, Hearsay (1987). The song's distinctive backing vocals were performed by Lisa Keith. Following the successful chart performances of the Hearsay singles \"Fake\", \"Criticize\", \"Never Knew Love Like This\", and \"The Lovers\", \"(What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me\" was released as the album's fifth single.\n\nRelease\nThe song O'Neal's eleventh top 40 single which reached #27 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1988, and #68 on the R&B chart in O'Neal's native United States.\n\nTrack listing\n 12\" Single (Tabu 652852 6)\n \"(What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me\" 4:25\n \"A Broken Heart Can Mend\" 3:40\n \" You Were Meant To Be My Lady (Not My Girl) (Extended Dance Remix)\" 9:50\n\n 12\" Single Promo (Tabu ZAS 1429)\n \"(What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me (Hateful Club Mix)\" 6:47\n \"(What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me (Dance Dub)\" 5:50\n \"(What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me (Bonus Beats)\" 3:21\n \"(What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me (Ben Liebrand Remix)\" 6:41\n \"(What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me (A Capella)\" 3:55\n\n 7\" Single (Tabu 652852 7)\n \"(What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me (Edit)\"\n \"A Broken Heart Can Mend\"\n\n CD Single (Tabu 652852 2)\n \"(What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me\" 4:25\n \"A Broken Heart Can Mend\" 3:40\n \"You Were Meant To Be My Lady (Not My Girl) (Extended Dance Remix)\" 9:50\n\nPersonnel\nCredits are adapted from the album's liner notes.\n Alexander O'Neal - lead vocals\n Jimmy Jam - drum and keyboard programming, keyboards, percussion\n Terry Lewis - percussion, backing vocals\n Lisa Keith - backing vocals\n\nSales chart performance\n\nPeak positions\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1988 singles\nAlexander O'Neal songs\nSongs written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis\n1987 songs\nTabu Records singles\nSong recordings produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis"
] |
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"Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp.",
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"he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit.",
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"Mike Krzyzewski",
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] |
C_f0baba80a9794299b0e55746c6b38b78_1
|
When did he actually make the team
| 7 |
When did Kevin Durant actually make the team?
|
Kevin Durant
|
In February 2007, Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp. Despite a strong performance, he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit. Coach Mike Krzyzewski cited the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor in making the cut. Durant was finally selected to the national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and became their leader as other All-Stars were unavailable, a role he downplayed. At the tournament, he led Team USA to its first FIBA World Championship since 1994, earning MVP honors in the process. His final averages for the competition were 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in nine games. At the 2012 Olympics, Durant set the record for total points scored in an Olympic basketball tournament. With averages of 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, he helped the national team go undefeated en route to a gold medal. In the tournament's final game, he led all scorers with 30 points. Less than a month before the start of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Durant announced that he would be dropping out of the competition, citing mental and physical exhaustion as reasons for his departure. He rejoined Team USA in 2016 for the Olympics, where he led them to a gold medal. In recognition of his performances, Durant was named the 2016 co-USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, along with Carmelo Anthony, for the second time in his career. CANNOTANSWER
|
Durant was finally selected to the national team at the 2010
|
Kevin Wayne Durant (; born September 29, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for the Texas Longhorns, and was selected as the second overall pick by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2007 NBA draft. He played nine seasons with the franchise, which became the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008, before signing with the Golden State Warriors in 2016, winning consecutive NBA championships in 2017 and 2018. After sustaining an Achilles injury in the 2019 finals, he joined the Nets as a free agent that summer. Durant has often been called the best player in the NBA and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
Durant was a heavily recruited high school prospect who was widely regarded as the second-best player in his class. In college, he won numerous year-end awards and became the first freshman to be named Naismith College Player of the Year. As a professional, he has won two NBA championships, an NBA Most Valuable Player Award, two Finals MVP Awards, two NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Awards, four NBA scoring titles, the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, been named to nine All-NBA teams (including six First Teams), and selected 12 times as an NBA All-Star. In October 2021, Durant was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. In international play as a member of USA Basketball, Durant has won three Olympic gold medals (2012, 2016, and 2020) and the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
Off the court, Durant is one of the highest-earning basketball players in the world, due in part to endorsement deals with companies such as Foot Locker and Nike. He has developed a reputation for philanthropy and regularly leads the league in All-Star votes and jersey sales. In recent years, he has contributed to The Players' Tribune as both a photographer and writer. In 2012, he ventured into acting, appearing in the film Thunderstruck.
Early life
Durant was born on September 29, 1988, in Washington, D.C., to Wanda (née Durant) and Wayne Pratt. When Durant was an infant, his father deserted the family; Wanda and Wayne eventually divorced, and Durant's grandmother Barbara Davis helped raise him. By age 13, his father reentered his life and traveled the country with him to basketball tournaments. Durant has a sister, Brianna, and two brothers, Tony and Rayvonne.
Durant and his siblings grew up in Prince George's County, Maryland, on the eastern outskirts of Washington, D.C. He was unusually tall from a young age, and reached in height while still in middle school (age 10-12). Growing up, Durant wanted to play for his favorite team, the Toronto Raptors, which included his favorite player, Vince Carter. He played Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball for several teams in the Maryland area and was teammates with future NBA players Michael Beasley, Greivis Vásquez, and Ty Lawson, the first of whom Durant remains friends with to this day. During this time, he began wearing #35 as his jersey number in honor of his AAU coach, Charles Craig, who was murdered at the age of 35.
After playing two years of high school basketball at National Christian Academy and one year at Oak Hill Academy, Durant transferred to Montrose Christian School for his senior year, growing before the start of the season and beginning the year at .
Prior to the start of the season, he committed to the University of Texas at Austin. He had visited University of Connecticut and University of North Carolina, and said he considered Duke University, University of Kentucky and University of Louisville. When asked why he chose a college with a lesser-known program, he said, "Wanted to set my own path."
At the end of the year, he was named the Washington Post All-Met Basketball Player of the Year, as well as the Most Valuable Player of the 2006 McDonald's All-American Game. He was widely regarded as the second-best high school prospect of 2006, behind Greg Oden.
College career
For the 2006–07 college season, Durantwho had grown to averaged 25.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game for the Texas Longhorns. They finished the year with a 25–10 record overall and a 12–4 record in conference. Awarded a fourth seed in the NCAA Tournament, Texas won their first round match-up against New Mexico State but were upset in the second round by USC despite a 30-point and 9-rebound performance from Durant. For his outstanding play, Durant was recognized as the unanimous national player of the year, winning the John R. Wooden Award, the Naismith College Player of the Year Award, and all eight other widely recognized honors and awards. This made Durant the first freshman to win any of the national player of the year awards. Following the season, he declared for the NBA draft. His No. 35 jersey was later retired by the Longhorns.
Professional career
Seattle SuperSonics / Oklahoma City Thunder (2007–2016)
Rookie of the Year (2007–2008)
Durant was selected as the second overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, after Greg Oden was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the first pick of the draft. In his first regular season game, the 19-year-old Durant registered 18 points, five rebounds and three steals against the Denver Nuggets. On November 16, he made the first game-winning shot of his career in a game against the Atlanta Hawks. At the conclusion of the 2007–08 NBA season, he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year following averages of 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He joined Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James as the only teenagers in league history to average at least 20 points per game over an entire season.
Breakthrough (2008–2010)
Following Durant's debut season, the SuperSonics relocated from Seattle to Oklahoma City, becoming the Thunder and switching to new colors – blue, orange, and yellow. The team also drafted UCLA guard Russell Westbrook, who would form an All-Star combination with Durant in later years. At the 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend, Durant set a Rookie Challenge record with 46 points. By the conclusion of the 2008–09 NBA season, he had raised his scoring average by five points from the prior season to 25.3 points per game, and was considered a strong candidate for the Most Improved Player Award, eventually finishing third in the voting. Durant continued to grow during his first few years in the NBA, finally reaching a height of .
During the 2009–10 season, Durant was selected to his first NBA All-Star Game. Behind his play, the Thunder improved their record by 27 wins from the previous year and defied expectations to make the playoffs. With a scoring average of 30.1 points per game, Durant became the youngest NBA scoring champion and was selected to his first All-NBA team. In his playoff debut, he scored 24 points in a Game 1 loss against the Los Angeles Lakers. Oklahoma City would go on to lose the series in six games, but the team's performance led many analysts to label them as an upcoming title contender.
Deep playoff runs (2010–2013)
Prior to the start of the 2010–11 season, Durant announced via Twitter that he had signed a five-year contract extension with the Thunder worth approximately $86 million. For the second consecutive year, he led the NBA in scoring, averaging 27.7 points a game. Behind Durant's leadership, the Thunder won 55 games and earned the fourth seed in the Western Conference. In the 2011 NBA playoffs, Oklahoma City defeated the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies en route to a Conference Finals match-up versus the Dallas Mavericks, losing in five games.
On February 19 of the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season, Durant recorded his first career 50-point game, scoring 51 points against the Denver Nuggets. At the All-Star Game, he scored 36 points and was awarded the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award. Durant finished the year with a scoring average of 28 points per game, representing his third straight scoring title. Behind his play, the Thunder won 47 games and entered the 2012 NBA playoffs as the Western Conference's second seed. In Game 1 of the first round against the Dallas Mavericks, Durant hit a game-winner with 1.5 seconds remaining. Oklahoma City would go on to defeat Dallas, the Lakers, and the San Antonio Spurs before losing to the Miami Heat in the 2012 NBA Finals. For the NBA Finals, Durant led all players with 30.6 points per game, doing so on a 54.8 shooting rate.
With a scoring average of 28.1 points per game to finish the 2012–13 season, Durant failed to defend his scoring title; however, with a 51 percent shooting rate, a 41.6 percent three point shooting rate, and a 90.5 free throw shooting rate, he became the youngest player in NBA history to join the 50–40–90 club. Finishing the year with a 60–22 record, Oklahoma City earned the first seed in the Western Conference. In the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs against the Houston Rockets, Westbrook tore his meniscus, forcing him to miss the remainder of the postseason. Without Westbrook, Durant was given more responsibility, averaging a career-high 30.8 points per game throughout the playoffs, but Oklahoma City were eventually eliminated in the second round by the Memphis Grizzlies in five games.
MVP season (2013–14)
In January of the 2013–14 season, Durant averaged 35.9 points per game while scoring 30 or more points in 12 straight games, including a career-high 54 points against the Golden State Warriors. In April, he surpassed Michael Jordan's record for consecutive games scoring 25 points or more at 41. The Thunder finished the year with 59 wins and Durant was voted the NBA Most Valuable Player behind averages of 32 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. To begin the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs, he struggled against the physical play of the Grizzlies, converting on only 24 percent of his field goals in Game 4. Through five games, the Thunder trailed the series 3–2, prompting The Oklahoman to dub Durant "Mr. Unreliable". He responded by scoring 36 points in a Game 6 victory. Oklahoma City eventually eliminated Memphis and the Los Angeles Clippers before losing to the Spurs in the Conference Finals in six games.
Final seasons with the Thunder (2014–2016)
Prior to the start of the 2014–15 season, Durant was diagnosed with a Jones fracture in his right foot and was ruled out for six to eight weeks. He subsequently missed the first 17 games of the year, making his season debut for the Thunder on December 2 against the New Orleans Pelicans. On December 18, he injured his ankle against the Golden State Warriors, returning to action on December 31 against the Phoenix Suns to score a season-high 44 points. He then sprained his left big toe in late January. On February 22, he was sidelined again after undergoing a minor procedure to help reduce pain and discomfort in his surgically repaired right foot, and on March 27, he was officially ruled out for the rest of the season after deciding to undergo foot surgery. In just 27 games, he averaged 25.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game.
To begin the 2015–16 season, Durant and Westbrook reached several historical milestones together, including becoming the first pair of teammates to each score at least 40 points in a single game since 1996, doing so in a win over the Orlando Magic on October 30. For the year, Durant averaged 28.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game, leading the Thunder to 55 wins and the third seed in the West. In Game 2 of the first round of the 2016 NBA playoffs against the Mavericks, he scored 21 points but converted only 7 out of 33 shots in the worst postseason shooting performance, both by percentage and number of misses, of his career. After defeating Dallas, Oklahoma City moved on to face the Spurs in the second round, falling behind 2–1 to start the series. In Game 4, Durant tied his playoff career high with 41 points in a Thunder win. Oklahoma City eventually defeated the Spurs in six games, drawing a matchup with the record-setting 73-win Golden State Warriors in the Conference Finals. Despite going up 3–1, the Thunder were ousted in seven games, with Durant providing 27 points in Game 7.
Golden State Warriors (2016–2019)
2016 free agency
On July 4, Durant announced his intentions to sign with the Warriors in The Players' Tribune. The move was received negatively by fans and pundits, who felt that he took the easy route by leaving a team that had been up 3–1 and close to reaching the Finals to instead join their opponents, who had defeated them and were coming off a record-setting 73-win season; the Warriors had also won a championship the year before. On July 7, Durant officially signed with Golden State on a two-year, $54.3 million contract with a player option after the first year. Reflecting on the move for Sports Illustrated, Ben Golliver wrote, "He chose an ideal roster fit and a shot at playing for the highest-scoring offense the NBA has seen in decades. He chose life alongside Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the greatest shooting backcourt in history, and he chose to go against Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green, two elite defenders, in practices rather than in Western Conference finals games."
Back-to-back championships (2016–2018)
Durant made his debut for the Warriors on October 25 against the San Antonio Spurs, scoring a team-high 27 points in a blowout loss. On November 26, he recorded 28 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and a career-high six blocked shots in a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, becoming the first player in team history to finish with at least 25 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and five blocks in a single game. On February 11, in his first game back in Oklahoma City since leaving for Golden State, Durant scored 34 points while being booed throughout the night as he helped the Warriors defeat the Thunder for the third time that year. In March, Durant suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain and a tibial bone bruise, which forced him to miss the final 19 games of the season. Golden State finished the year with a 67–15 record and entered the playoffs as the first seed.
Durant returned from injury in time for the 2017 NBA playoffs and helped the Warriors advance to their third consecutive Finals, while also becoming the first team in league history to start the postseason 12–0. In Game 1 of the series, Durant had 38 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists to lead the Warriors past LeBron James and the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers. Durant then helped the Warriors go up 3–0 in the series with a 31-point effort in Game 3, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 45.3 seconds left in regulation. In Game 5, he scored 39 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists in a series-clinching win. For the Finals, Durant was the Golden State's top scorer in every game, averaging 35.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 5.4 assists while shooting 55.5 percent from the field, 47.4 percent from three-point range, and 92.7 percent from the free throw line. He was subsequently named the NBA Finals MVP.
After the Finals, Durant declined his $27.7 million player option and became an unrestricted free agent. On July 25, he re-signed with the Warriors for less money than the maximum, which helped the franchise create enough salary cap space to keep their core roster intact and add free agents. On January 10 of the 2017–18 season, Durant scored 40 points in a loss to the Clippers, becoming the second-youngest player in league history to reach the 20,000-point milestone. On January 23, he registered a career-high 14 assists in a win over the New York Knicks. On February 14, he scored a season-high 50 points in a loss to the Trail Blazers. In March, he missed games with a fractured rib, joining teammates Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson on the sidelines for the back-end of the season. Golden State eventually finished the year with 58 wins and Durant set a career high for blocks in season with 119.
In Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Durant scored 37 points in a win over the higher-seeded Houston Rockets. Through six games, the Warriors found themselves trailing 3–2, and Durant was criticized for contributing to Golden State's struggles by playing too much in isolation. The Warriors staved off elimination in Game 6, and in Game 7, Durant scored 34 points, helping Golden State return to the Finals with a series-clinching victory. In Game 3 of the 2018 NBA Finals, Durant recorded a playoff career-high 43 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists in a win over the Cavaliers, leading the Warriors to a 3–0 advantage. Golden State ultimately swept Cleveland and clinched a second straight championship; with averages of 28.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 7.5 assists, Durant also won his second Finals MVP Award.
Three-peat chase and injury (2018–2019)
On July 7, 2018, Durant re-signed with the Warriors, on a reported two-year, $61.5 million contract, which included a player option for the second year. During an overtime loss to the Clippers on November 12, 2018, Green cursed out Durant over his upcoming free agency status after the season, and he was suspended for the much-publicized blowup. On November 29, Durant scored a season-high 51 points in a 131–128 overtime loss to the Toronto Raptors, thus scoring 40 or more in his third straight game. With Curry and Green sidelined for most of November, the Warriors finished the month with a 15–8 record and five straight road losses, after starting the season at 10–1.
In Game 5 of the first round of the playoffs, he scored a playoff career-high 45 points in a 129–121 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. In Game 6, he set a new playoff career high with 50 points in a 129–110 win to close out the series. During Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets, Durant suffered a right calf strain, subsequently missing Game 6, in which the Warriors won the series, as well as the entire Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers, which the Warriors won in a four-game sweep.
After missing nine games with the strained right calf, Durant returned to action in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals against Toronto, and scored 11 points in the first quarter. However, he was lost for the game two minutes into the second quarter when he tried to drive by former teammate Serge Ibaka and suffered an Achilles tendon injury, falling and grabbing his lower right calf. He limped off the court and was helped to the locker room. The Warriors won the game to cut the Raptors' series lead to 3–2. The Warriors went on to lose the NBA Finals in Game 6, ending their quest for a three-peat.
Brooklyn Nets (2019–present)
Year absence (2019–2020)
On June 30, 2019, Durant announced that he planned to sign with the Brooklyn Nets after the July moratorium ended on July 6. On July 1, Golden State CEO Joe Lacob announced that Durant's No. 35 will no longer be issued by the Warriors. Durant signed with Brooklyn on July 7, in a sign-and-trade deal. Durant did not appear at all in the 2019–20 season and later revealed that he had decided shortly after his June 2019 injury that he would be sitting out the entire 2019–20 season. On March 17, 2020, Durant and three other Nets players tested positive for COVID-19. On April 1, it was announced that Durant was cleared and had recovered.
Return to the court (2020–2021)
On December 22, 2020, Durant made his Nets debut, putting up 22 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, in a 125–99 win over the Golden State Warriors. On January 14, 2021, James Harden was traded to the Nets in a blockbuster four-team deal, reuniting Durant with his former Thunder teammate. On January 16, 2021, Durant scored a season-high 42 points in a 122–115 win over the Orlando Magic. On February 5, due to health and safety protocols, Durant came off the bench for the first time in his career in a 117–123 loss to the Toronto Raptors. In February, Durant suffered a hamstring injury, which forced him to miss 23 games. On April 2, the NBA fined Durant $50,000 for private messages he sent through social media to actor Michael Rapaport in a feud. Durant made his return on April 7, 2021, scoring 17 points off the bench in a 139–119 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. The Nets finished the season with a 48–24 record, and the second seed in the East.
In Game 4 of the first round of the playoffs, Durant scored 42 points in a 141–126 win over the Boston Celtics to take a 3–1 lead in the series. In Game 5, he scored 24 points in a 123–109 win to close out the series. In Game 1 against the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference semifinals, Durant had 29 points and 10 rebounds in a 115–107 win. In Game 5, Durant put up 49 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists, leading the Nets to a 114–108 comeback win. In Game 7 against the Bucks, Durant dropped 48 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists, including a two-pointer to send the game into overtime, in the 115–111 loss; Durant's 48 points were the most in a Game 7 in NBA playoff history.
2021–22
On August 8, 2021, Durant signed a four-year, $198 million extension with the Brooklyn Nets. On October 22, Durant recorded his thirteenth career triple-double, and first as a Net with 29 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists in a 114–109 comeback win over the Philadelphia 76ers. On November 10, Durant scored 30 points on 11-for-12 shooting in a 123–90 win over the Orlando Magic. On December 12, Durant scored a season-high 51 points in a 116–104 win over the Detroit Pistons. On December 14, Durant recorded his fourteenth career triple-double with 34 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists in a 131–129 overtime win over the Toronto Raptors. On December 16, Durant scored 34 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, dished out 8 assists in a 114–105 win against the Philadelphia 76ers. On January 15, 2022, during a 120–105 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, Durant exited in the second quarter after suffering a left knee injury, later revealed to be a sprained MCL, and was subsequently ruled out for four to six weeks.
National team career
In February 2007, Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp. Despite a strong performance, he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit. Coach Mike Krzyzewski cited the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor in making the cut. Durant was finally selected to the national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and became their leader as other All-Stars were unavailable, a role he downplayed. At the tournament, he led Team USA to its first FIBA World Championship since 1994, earning tournament MVP honors in the process. His final averages for the competition were 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in nine games.
At the 2012 Olympics, Durant set the record for total points scored in an Olympic basketball tournament. With averages of 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, he helped the national team go undefeated en route to a gold medal. In the tournament's final game, he led all scorers with 30 points.
Less than a month before the start of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Durant announced that he would be dropping out of the competition, citing mental and physical exhaustion as reasons for his departure. He rejoined Team USA on the 2016 Olympic team, where he led them to a gold medal. In recognition of his performances, Durant was named the 2016 co-USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, along with Carmelo Anthony, for the second time in his career.
Durant committed to playing on the 2020 Olympic team, delayed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He entered the Games ranked second in U.S. men's Olympic basketball history with 311 career points, needing 25 to match Anthony's record of 336. Durant broke Anthony's record on July 31 against the Czech Republic. He led Team USA to a gold medal.
Player profile
Durant's height is officially and his primary position is small forward. In December 2016, Durant stated that his height in shoes was actually and that he understated his height in order to be listed as a small forward, rather than a power forward. His career averages are 27.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. Widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation, Durant has earned All-NBA honors nine times (2009–2014, 2016–2019) and was voted Rookie of the Year in his debut season. He has also won an MVP Award and finished second in the voting three times, a trend that he has expressed frustration over.
Durant is best known for his prodigious scoring ability. From 2010 to 2014, he won four scoring titles, becoming one of only two players to win four scoring titles in a five-year span. Early in his career, his playing style was isolation-driven, but he quickly developed into an excellent off-ball player who was capable of scoring from the outside as well. By 2013, he was shooting at a historically great clip, which helped him become one of only nine members of the 50–40–90 club. This ability to impact the offense in a variety of ways helped Durant remain effective and improve an already elite offense upon joining the Warriors in 2016. Throughout his career, his height and wingspan have created matchup problems for defenses as he is able to get off a clean shot regardless of the situation. Upon beating his man or gaining momentum, he also becomes a strong finisher at the rim; for example, he converted 72.2% of shots in the paint in 2012.
Early in Durant's career, he was criticized for his slim build, defense, and passing. Over time, he grew as a playmaker, increasing his assist numbers every year from 2010 to 2014, though his overall vision still lagged behind the league's best passers'. He also showed defensive improvement, with opponents averaging just .62 points per isolation play against him in 2014, the best success rate for defensive players who faced at least 100 isolations that season. Upon going to Golden State, he developed into a more reliable off-ball defender and rim protector, and in 2018 was considered for the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Personal life
Durant is very close with his mother, Wanda, a relationship that was detailed in the Lifetime movie The Real MVP: The Wanda Pratt Story. During his time with the Thunder, Durant described himself as a "high school kid" who enjoys playing video games in his spare time. A Christian, Durant has religious tattoos on his stomach, wrist, and back. He owns several properties in the Oklahoma City area and listed his primary residence, located in the affluent Club Villa neighborhood, for sale for $1.95 million in 2013. That same year, he opened a restaurant, KD's Southern Cuisine, in the Bricktown neighborhood and briefly became engaged to Monica Wright, a WNBA player. In 2016, he was a credentialed photographer for The Players' Tribune at Super Bowl 50.
Durant was formerly represented by agents Aaron Goodwin and Rob Pelinka. He left Pelinka in 2013 and signed with the Roc Nation group, headed by Jay-Z. Durant has endorsement deals with Nike, Sprint, Gatorade, Panini, General Electric, and 2K Sports. In 2012, he tried his hand at acting, appearing in the children's film Thunderstruck. In 2013, he earned $35 million, making him the fourth-highest-earning basketball player that year. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Durant claimed that, despite his high earnings potential, "global marketing and all that stuff" does not interest him.
One of the most popular players in the league, Durant's jersey regularly ranks as one of the NBA's best-selling and he is consistently one of the top All-Star vote-getters. Early in his career, he developed a reputation for his kind demeanor; in 2013, Foot Locker released a series of commercials calling him the "nicest guy in the NBA", and become a beloved figure in Oklahoma City, known for his "nice escapades" toward the Thunder's staff. In 2014, he partnered with KIND snacks and launched StrongAndKind.com to show "being kind is not a sign of weakness." Since joining the Warriors, he has become more outspoken and controversial; for example, he was involved in a Twitter back-and-forth with C. J. McCollum in July 2018. Durant has admitted to feeling more genuine in Golden State as opposed to Oklahoma City, where he was "just trying to please everybody".
Throughout his career, Durant has participated in philanthropic causes. In 2013, he pledged $1 million to the American Red Cross for the victims of the 2013 Moore tornado. His generosity inspired the Thunder and Nike to match his donation. He is also a spokesperson for the Washington, D. C. branch of P'Tones Records, a nationwide non-profit after-school music program.
In 2017, Durant became involved with YouTube. In February, he visited YouTube's headquarters for a speaking engagement. On April 7, 2017, he created a YouTube account and soon began to upload live stream vlogs onto it. In his first vlog, he detailed, "I'm so excited because I got off social media. I got off the Instagram, Twitter, all that stuff, just to distance myself a bit. But somebody talked me into getting on the YouTube." As of June 2020, Durant's YouTube channel has received over 790,000 subscribers and 38 million video views. On February 13, 2018, Deadline reported that Durant, in partnership with producer Brian Grazer's Imagine Television, will create a basketball-themed scripted drama for Apple.
In 2017, Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman founded Thirty Five Ventures. In 2020, Thirty Five Ventures produced Basketball County, a documentary about youth basketball in Durant's home county of Prince George's County, Maryland. Durant served as an executive producer and appeared in interviews. Thirty Five Ventures' work Two Distant Strangers won the 2021 Academy Award for Short Film (Live Action).
Durant was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018.
On June 15, 2020, Durant became a minority owner of MLS side Philadelphia Union, acquiring a 5% stake with the possibility to add another 5% in the near future.
In August 2021, Durant announced a partnership between his multimedia company Boardroom and the cannabis technology company Weedmaps through which an original content series would be developed and Weedmaps would become an official sponsor of Boardroom. Durant said of the partnership: "I think it's far past time to address the stigmas around cannabis that still exist in the sports world as well as globally. This partnership is going to help us continue to normalize those conversations, as well as create content, events, and a lot more through our Boardroom media network."
On December 22, 2021, he had signed a deal with Coinbase to serve himself as a brand ambassador.
Career statistics
Source:
NBA
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Seattle
| 80 || 80 || 34.6 || .430 || .288 || .873 || 4.4 || 2.4 || 1.0 || .9 || 20.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 74 || 74 || 39.0 || .476 || .422 || .863 || 6.5 || 2.8 || 1.3 || .7 || 25.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| style="background:#cfecec;"|82* || style="background:#cfecec;"|82* || 39.5 || .476 || .365 || .900 || 7.6 || 2.8 || 1.4 || 1.0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|30.1*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 78 || 78 || 38.9 || .462 || .350 || .880 || 6.8 || 2.7 || 1.1 || 1.0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|27.7*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| style="background:#cfecec;"|66* || style="background:#cfecec;"|66* || 38.6 || .496 || .387 || .860 || 8.0 || 3.5 || 1.3 || 1.2 || style="background:#cfecec;"|28.0*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 81 || 81 || 38.5 || .510 || .416 || style="background:#cfecec;"|.905* || 7.9 || 4.6 || 1.4 || 1.3 || 28.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 81 || 81 || 38.5 || .503 || .391 || .873 || 7.4 || 5.5 || 1.3 || .7 || style="background:#cfecec;"|32.0*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 27 || 27 || 33.8 || .510 || .403 || .854 || 6.6 || 4.1 || .9 || .9 || 25.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 72 || 72 || 35.8 || .505 || .388 || .898 || 8.2 || 5.0 || 1.0 || 1.2 || 28.2
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 62 || 62 || 33.4 || .537 || .375 || .875 || 8.3 || 4.9 || 1.1 || 1.6 || 25.1
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 68 || 68 || 34.2 || .516 || .419 || .889 || 6.8 || 5.4 || .7 || 1.8 || 26.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 78 || 78 || 34.6 || .521 || .353 || .885 || 6.4 || 5.9 || .7 || 1.1 || 26.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Brooklyn
| 35 || 32 || 33.1 || .537 || .450 || .882 || 7.1 || 5.6 || .7 || 1.3 || 26.9
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 884 || 881 || 36.7 || .494 || .384 || .883 || 7.1 || 4.2 || 1.1 || 1.1 || 27.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|All-Star
| 10 || 8 || 26.9 || .536 || .349 || .897 || 6.2 || 3.7 || 1.7 || .5 || 25.0
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2010
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 6 || 6 || 38.5 || .350 || .286 || .871 || 7.7 || 2.3 || .5 || 1.3 || 25.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2011
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 17 || 17 || 42.5 || .449 || .339 || .838 || 8.2 || 2.8 || .9 || 1.1 || 28.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2012
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 20 || 20 || 41.9 || .517 || .373 || .864 || 7.4 || 3.7 || 1.5 || 1.2 || 28.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2013
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 11 || 11 || 44.1 || .455 || .314 || .830 || 9.0 || 6.3 || 1.3 || 1.1 || 30.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2014
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 19 || 19 || 42.9 || .460 || .344 || .810 || 8.9 || 3.9 || 1.0 || 1.3 || 29.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2016
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 18 || 18 || 40.3 || .430 || .282 || .890 || 7.1 || 3.3 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 28.4
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;|2017†
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 15 || 15 || 35.5 || .556 || .442 || .893 || 8.0 || 4.3 || .8 || 1.3 || 28.5
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;|2018†
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 21 || 21 || 38.4 || .487 || .341 || .901 || 7.8 || 4.7 || .7 || 1.2 || 29.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2019
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 12 || 12 || 36.8 || .514 || .438 || .903 || 4.9 || 4.5 || 1.1 || 1.0 || 32.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2021
| style="text-align:left;"|Brooklyn
| 12 || 12 || 40.4 || .514 || .402 || .871 || 9.3 || 4.4 || 1.5 || 1.6 || 34.3
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 151 || 151 || 40.3 || .478 || .357 || .865 || 7.8 || 4.0 || 1.0 || 1.2 || 29.5
College
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2006–07
| style="text-align:left;"|Texas
| 35 || 35 || 35.9 || .473 || .404 || .816 || 11.1 || 1.3 || 1.9 || 1.9 || 25.8
Awards and honors
NBA
Cited from Basketball Reference's Kevin Durant page unless noted otherwise.
2× NBA champion: 2017, 2018
2× NBA Finals Most Valuable Player: 2017, 2018
NBA Most Valuable Player: 2014
12× NBA All-Star: 2010–2019, 2021, 2022
6× All-NBA First Team: 2010–2014, 2018
3× All-NBA Second Team: 2016, 2017, 2019
4× NBA scoring champion: 2010–2012, 2014
2× NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2012, 2019
NBA Rookie of the Year: 2008
NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2008
NBA Rookie Challenge MVP: 2009
USA Basketball
Cited from USA Basketball's Kevin Durant page unless noted otherwise.
3× Olympic gold medalist: 2012, 2016, 2020
Olympics Most Valuable Player: 2020
FIBA World Cup gold medalist: 2010
FIBA World Cup Most Valuable Player: 2010
NCAA
Naismith College Player of the Year: 2007
NABC Division I Player of the Year: 2007
Oscar Robertson Trophy: 2007
Adolph Rupp Trophy: 2007
John R. Wooden Award: 2007
Big 12 Player of the Year: 2007
USBWA National Freshman of the Year: 2007
Jersey number (35) retired at Texas
Media
AP Player of the Year: 2007
AP All-America 1st Team: 2007
Two-time ESPY Award winner:
2014 Best NBA Player
2017 Outstanding Team (as a member of the Golden State Warriors)
See also
List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career 3-point scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff turnovers leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff 3-point scoring leaders
References
External links
1988 births
Living people
2010 FIBA World Championship players
All-American college men's basketball players
American Christians
American men's basketball players
American YouTubers
Basketball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Basketball players from Maryland
Basketball players from Washington, D.C.
Brooklyn Nets players
Businesspeople in the cannabis industry
FIBA World Championship-winning players
Golden State Warriors players
Male bloggers
Male YouTubers
McDonald's High School All-Americans
Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
National Basketball Association All-Stars
Oklahoma City Thunder players
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball
Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
Seattle SuperSonics draft picks
Seattle SuperSonics players
Small forwards
Sportspeople from Rockville, Maryland
Texas Longhorns men's basketball players
United States men's national basketball team players
YouTube vloggers
| true |
[
"Yu Yang (; born 6 August 1989) is a Chinese footballer who currently plays for Beijing Guoan in the Chinese Super League.\n\nClub career\nYu Yang started his football career playing for Beijing Guoan's youth academy before eventually being promoted up to the senior squad and would go on to make his debut on 29 June 2008 in a 2-0 loss against Shanghai Shenhua. Yu would make four appearances at the end of the season; however, the following campaign he did not play in the team that won the 2009 top-tier league title. He would instead be loaned out to third-tier club Dalian Aerbin during the 2010 season and would go on to actually win the division title with the club. When Yu returned to Beijing at the beginning of the 2011 season, Jaime Pacheco was introduced as the new manager and he included him back into the first team. This saw him repay him by scoring his first goal for the club on 30 May 2011 against Shenzhen Ruby in a 4-0 win. While Yu only played in two league games throughout the 2011 season, Pacheco would go on make him a first team regular the following season.\n\nOn 9 December 2014, Yu transferred to fellow Chinese Super League side Guangzhou R&F. On 30 December 2016, Yu returned to Beijing Guoan. He would make is return appearance for the club in the first league game of the 2017 Chinese Super League season on 5 March 2017 against Guangzhou Evergrande in a game that ended in a 2-1 defeat. Throughout the season he would establish himself as a vital member of the team and in the following season help the club go on the win the 2018 Chinese FA Cup against Shandong Luneng.\n\nInternational career\nYu made his debut for the Chinese national team on 8 June 2012 in a 3-0 win against Vietnam.\n\nCareer statistics\n\nClub statistics\nStatistics accurate as of match played 31 December 2020.\n\nInternational\n\nHonours\n\nClub\nBeijing Guoan\nChinese Super League: 2009\nChinese FA Cup: 2018\nDalian Aerbin\nChina League Two: 2010\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nPlayer profile at Sodasoccer.com\n \n\nPlayer stats at Sohu.com\n\n1989 births\nLiving people\nChinese footballers\nFootballers from Tianjin\nChina international footballers\nBeijing Guoan F.C. players\nDalian Professional F.C. players\nGuangzhou City F.C. players\nChina League Two players\nChinese Super League players\nAssociation football defenders\n2019 AFC Asian Cup players",
"The 1979 New York Giants season was the franchise's 55th season in the National Football League (NFL). The Giants had a 6–10 record in 1979 and finished in fourth place in the National Football Conference East Division.\n\nThe Giants were one of three franchises, not including the Seattle Seahawks (an expansion team that began play in 1976), which did not make the playoffs during any year of the 1970s. The others were the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints.\n\nOffseason \nBefore the 1979 NFL Draft, Bill Walsh, who was the new coach of the San Francisco 49ers, flew to Morehead State University with assistant coach Sam Wyche to work out quarterback Phil Simms. Walsh was so impressed with him that he planned to draft Simms, actually preferring him over another young quarterback they scouted and ultimately drafted, Joe Montana. The Giants, however, decided to make Simms their first-round pick to the surprise of many. As Simms acknowledged, \"most people have never heard of me.\" When Simms' name was announced by Commissioner Pete Rozelle, his selection was booed loudly by Giants fans. However, he became more popular with his teammates, who jokingly dubbed him \"Prince Valiant\" in his rookie training camp.\n\nDraft\n\nPersonnel\n\nStaff\n\nRoster\n\nRegular season \nSimms won his first four starts in his rookie year. He led the team to a 6–4 record as a starter, throwing for 1,743 yards and 13 touchdown passes, and was named to the NFL All Rookie Team. According to his 1981 Topps trading card, he was runner-up in 1979 for Rookie of the Year, losing out to future teammate Ottis Anderson.\n\nSchedule \n\nNote: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.\n\nGame summaries\n\nWeek 6\n\nStandings\n\nSee also \n 1979 NFL season\n\nReferences \n\nNew York Giants seasons\nNew York Giants\nNew York Giants\n20th century in East Rutherford, New Jersey\nMeadowlands Sports Complex"
] |
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"Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp.",
"What happened to him this year",
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"Who cut him",
"Mike Krzyzewski",
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"What did he say to this",
"the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor",
"When did he actually make the team",
"Durant was finally selected to the national team at the 2010"
] |
C_f0baba80a9794299b0e55746c6b38b78_1
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What was this for
| 8 |
What was the national team for?
|
Kevin Durant
|
In February 2007, Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp. Despite a strong performance, he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit. Coach Mike Krzyzewski cited the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor in making the cut. Durant was finally selected to the national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and became their leader as other All-Stars were unavailable, a role he downplayed. At the tournament, he led Team USA to its first FIBA World Championship since 1994, earning MVP honors in the process. His final averages for the competition were 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in nine games. At the 2012 Olympics, Durant set the record for total points scored in an Olympic basketball tournament. With averages of 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, he helped the national team go undefeated en route to a gold medal. In the tournament's final game, he led all scorers with 30 points. Less than a month before the start of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Durant announced that he would be dropping out of the competition, citing mental and physical exhaustion as reasons for his departure. He rejoined Team USA in 2016 for the Olympics, where he led them to a gold medal. In recognition of his performances, Durant was named the 2016 co-USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, along with Carmelo Anthony, for the second time in his career. CANNOTANSWER
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FIBA World Championship
|
Kevin Wayne Durant (; born September 29, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for the Texas Longhorns, and was selected as the second overall pick by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2007 NBA draft. He played nine seasons with the franchise, which became the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008, before signing with the Golden State Warriors in 2016, winning consecutive NBA championships in 2017 and 2018. After sustaining an Achilles injury in the 2019 finals, he joined the Nets as a free agent that summer. Durant has often been called the best player in the NBA and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
Durant was a heavily recruited high school prospect who was widely regarded as the second-best player in his class. In college, he won numerous year-end awards and became the first freshman to be named Naismith College Player of the Year. As a professional, he has won two NBA championships, an NBA Most Valuable Player Award, two Finals MVP Awards, two NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Awards, four NBA scoring titles, the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, been named to nine All-NBA teams (including six First Teams), and selected 12 times as an NBA All-Star. In October 2021, Durant was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. In international play as a member of USA Basketball, Durant has won three Olympic gold medals (2012, 2016, and 2020) and the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
Off the court, Durant is one of the highest-earning basketball players in the world, due in part to endorsement deals with companies such as Foot Locker and Nike. He has developed a reputation for philanthropy and regularly leads the league in All-Star votes and jersey sales. In recent years, he has contributed to The Players' Tribune as both a photographer and writer. In 2012, he ventured into acting, appearing in the film Thunderstruck.
Early life
Durant was born on September 29, 1988, in Washington, D.C., to Wanda (née Durant) and Wayne Pratt. When Durant was an infant, his father deserted the family; Wanda and Wayne eventually divorced, and Durant's grandmother Barbara Davis helped raise him. By age 13, his father reentered his life and traveled the country with him to basketball tournaments. Durant has a sister, Brianna, and two brothers, Tony and Rayvonne.
Durant and his siblings grew up in Prince George's County, Maryland, on the eastern outskirts of Washington, D.C. He was unusually tall from a young age, and reached in height while still in middle school (age 10-12). Growing up, Durant wanted to play for his favorite team, the Toronto Raptors, which included his favorite player, Vince Carter. He played Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball for several teams in the Maryland area and was teammates with future NBA players Michael Beasley, Greivis Vásquez, and Ty Lawson, the first of whom Durant remains friends with to this day. During this time, he began wearing #35 as his jersey number in honor of his AAU coach, Charles Craig, who was murdered at the age of 35.
After playing two years of high school basketball at National Christian Academy and one year at Oak Hill Academy, Durant transferred to Montrose Christian School for his senior year, growing before the start of the season and beginning the year at .
Prior to the start of the season, he committed to the University of Texas at Austin. He had visited University of Connecticut and University of North Carolina, and said he considered Duke University, University of Kentucky and University of Louisville. When asked why he chose a college with a lesser-known program, he said, "Wanted to set my own path."
At the end of the year, he was named the Washington Post All-Met Basketball Player of the Year, as well as the Most Valuable Player of the 2006 McDonald's All-American Game. He was widely regarded as the second-best high school prospect of 2006, behind Greg Oden.
College career
For the 2006–07 college season, Durantwho had grown to averaged 25.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game for the Texas Longhorns. They finished the year with a 25–10 record overall and a 12–4 record in conference. Awarded a fourth seed in the NCAA Tournament, Texas won their first round match-up against New Mexico State but were upset in the second round by USC despite a 30-point and 9-rebound performance from Durant. For his outstanding play, Durant was recognized as the unanimous national player of the year, winning the John R. Wooden Award, the Naismith College Player of the Year Award, and all eight other widely recognized honors and awards. This made Durant the first freshman to win any of the national player of the year awards. Following the season, he declared for the NBA draft. His No. 35 jersey was later retired by the Longhorns.
Professional career
Seattle SuperSonics / Oklahoma City Thunder (2007–2016)
Rookie of the Year (2007–2008)
Durant was selected as the second overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, after Greg Oden was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the first pick of the draft. In his first regular season game, the 19-year-old Durant registered 18 points, five rebounds and three steals against the Denver Nuggets. On November 16, he made the first game-winning shot of his career in a game against the Atlanta Hawks. At the conclusion of the 2007–08 NBA season, he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year following averages of 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He joined Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James as the only teenagers in league history to average at least 20 points per game over an entire season.
Breakthrough (2008–2010)
Following Durant's debut season, the SuperSonics relocated from Seattle to Oklahoma City, becoming the Thunder and switching to new colors – blue, orange, and yellow. The team also drafted UCLA guard Russell Westbrook, who would form an All-Star combination with Durant in later years. At the 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend, Durant set a Rookie Challenge record with 46 points. By the conclusion of the 2008–09 NBA season, he had raised his scoring average by five points from the prior season to 25.3 points per game, and was considered a strong candidate for the Most Improved Player Award, eventually finishing third in the voting. Durant continued to grow during his first few years in the NBA, finally reaching a height of .
During the 2009–10 season, Durant was selected to his first NBA All-Star Game. Behind his play, the Thunder improved their record by 27 wins from the previous year and defied expectations to make the playoffs. With a scoring average of 30.1 points per game, Durant became the youngest NBA scoring champion and was selected to his first All-NBA team. In his playoff debut, he scored 24 points in a Game 1 loss against the Los Angeles Lakers. Oklahoma City would go on to lose the series in six games, but the team's performance led many analysts to label them as an upcoming title contender.
Deep playoff runs (2010–2013)
Prior to the start of the 2010–11 season, Durant announced via Twitter that he had signed a five-year contract extension with the Thunder worth approximately $86 million. For the second consecutive year, he led the NBA in scoring, averaging 27.7 points a game. Behind Durant's leadership, the Thunder won 55 games and earned the fourth seed in the Western Conference. In the 2011 NBA playoffs, Oklahoma City defeated the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies en route to a Conference Finals match-up versus the Dallas Mavericks, losing in five games.
On February 19 of the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season, Durant recorded his first career 50-point game, scoring 51 points against the Denver Nuggets. At the All-Star Game, he scored 36 points and was awarded the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award. Durant finished the year with a scoring average of 28 points per game, representing his third straight scoring title. Behind his play, the Thunder won 47 games and entered the 2012 NBA playoffs as the Western Conference's second seed. In Game 1 of the first round against the Dallas Mavericks, Durant hit a game-winner with 1.5 seconds remaining. Oklahoma City would go on to defeat Dallas, the Lakers, and the San Antonio Spurs before losing to the Miami Heat in the 2012 NBA Finals. For the NBA Finals, Durant led all players with 30.6 points per game, doing so on a 54.8 shooting rate.
With a scoring average of 28.1 points per game to finish the 2012–13 season, Durant failed to defend his scoring title; however, with a 51 percent shooting rate, a 41.6 percent three point shooting rate, and a 90.5 free throw shooting rate, he became the youngest player in NBA history to join the 50–40–90 club. Finishing the year with a 60–22 record, Oklahoma City earned the first seed in the Western Conference. In the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs against the Houston Rockets, Westbrook tore his meniscus, forcing him to miss the remainder of the postseason. Without Westbrook, Durant was given more responsibility, averaging a career-high 30.8 points per game throughout the playoffs, but Oklahoma City were eventually eliminated in the second round by the Memphis Grizzlies in five games.
MVP season (2013–14)
In January of the 2013–14 season, Durant averaged 35.9 points per game while scoring 30 or more points in 12 straight games, including a career-high 54 points against the Golden State Warriors. In April, he surpassed Michael Jordan's record for consecutive games scoring 25 points or more at 41. The Thunder finished the year with 59 wins and Durant was voted the NBA Most Valuable Player behind averages of 32 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. To begin the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs, he struggled against the physical play of the Grizzlies, converting on only 24 percent of his field goals in Game 4. Through five games, the Thunder trailed the series 3–2, prompting The Oklahoman to dub Durant "Mr. Unreliable". He responded by scoring 36 points in a Game 6 victory. Oklahoma City eventually eliminated Memphis and the Los Angeles Clippers before losing to the Spurs in the Conference Finals in six games.
Final seasons with the Thunder (2014–2016)
Prior to the start of the 2014–15 season, Durant was diagnosed with a Jones fracture in his right foot and was ruled out for six to eight weeks. He subsequently missed the first 17 games of the year, making his season debut for the Thunder on December 2 against the New Orleans Pelicans. On December 18, he injured his ankle against the Golden State Warriors, returning to action on December 31 against the Phoenix Suns to score a season-high 44 points. He then sprained his left big toe in late January. On February 22, he was sidelined again after undergoing a minor procedure to help reduce pain and discomfort in his surgically repaired right foot, and on March 27, he was officially ruled out for the rest of the season after deciding to undergo foot surgery. In just 27 games, he averaged 25.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game.
To begin the 2015–16 season, Durant and Westbrook reached several historical milestones together, including becoming the first pair of teammates to each score at least 40 points in a single game since 1996, doing so in a win over the Orlando Magic on October 30. For the year, Durant averaged 28.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game, leading the Thunder to 55 wins and the third seed in the West. In Game 2 of the first round of the 2016 NBA playoffs against the Mavericks, he scored 21 points but converted only 7 out of 33 shots in the worst postseason shooting performance, both by percentage and number of misses, of his career. After defeating Dallas, Oklahoma City moved on to face the Spurs in the second round, falling behind 2–1 to start the series. In Game 4, Durant tied his playoff career high with 41 points in a Thunder win. Oklahoma City eventually defeated the Spurs in six games, drawing a matchup with the record-setting 73-win Golden State Warriors in the Conference Finals. Despite going up 3–1, the Thunder were ousted in seven games, with Durant providing 27 points in Game 7.
Golden State Warriors (2016–2019)
2016 free agency
On July 4, Durant announced his intentions to sign with the Warriors in The Players' Tribune. The move was received negatively by fans and pundits, who felt that he took the easy route by leaving a team that had been up 3–1 and close to reaching the Finals to instead join their opponents, who had defeated them and were coming off a record-setting 73-win season; the Warriors had also won a championship the year before. On July 7, Durant officially signed with Golden State on a two-year, $54.3 million contract with a player option after the first year. Reflecting on the move for Sports Illustrated, Ben Golliver wrote, "He chose an ideal roster fit and a shot at playing for the highest-scoring offense the NBA has seen in decades. He chose life alongside Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the greatest shooting backcourt in history, and he chose to go against Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green, two elite defenders, in practices rather than in Western Conference finals games."
Back-to-back championships (2016–2018)
Durant made his debut for the Warriors on October 25 against the San Antonio Spurs, scoring a team-high 27 points in a blowout loss. On November 26, he recorded 28 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and a career-high six blocked shots in a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, becoming the first player in team history to finish with at least 25 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and five blocks in a single game. On February 11, in his first game back in Oklahoma City since leaving for Golden State, Durant scored 34 points while being booed throughout the night as he helped the Warriors defeat the Thunder for the third time that year. In March, Durant suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain and a tibial bone bruise, which forced him to miss the final 19 games of the season. Golden State finished the year with a 67–15 record and entered the playoffs as the first seed.
Durant returned from injury in time for the 2017 NBA playoffs and helped the Warriors advance to their third consecutive Finals, while also becoming the first team in league history to start the postseason 12–0. In Game 1 of the series, Durant had 38 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists to lead the Warriors past LeBron James and the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers. Durant then helped the Warriors go up 3–0 in the series with a 31-point effort in Game 3, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 45.3 seconds left in regulation. In Game 5, he scored 39 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists in a series-clinching win. For the Finals, Durant was the Golden State's top scorer in every game, averaging 35.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 5.4 assists while shooting 55.5 percent from the field, 47.4 percent from three-point range, and 92.7 percent from the free throw line. He was subsequently named the NBA Finals MVP.
After the Finals, Durant declined his $27.7 million player option and became an unrestricted free agent. On July 25, he re-signed with the Warriors for less money than the maximum, which helped the franchise create enough salary cap space to keep their core roster intact and add free agents. On January 10 of the 2017–18 season, Durant scored 40 points in a loss to the Clippers, becoming the second-youngest player in league history to reach the 20,000-point milestone. On January 23, he registered a career-high 14 assists in a win over the New York Knicks. On February 14, he scored a season-high 50 points in a loss to the Trail Blazers. In March, he missed games with a fractured rib, joining teammates Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson on the sidelines for the back-end of the season. Golden State eventually finished the year with 58 wins and Durant set a career high for blocks in season with 119.
In Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Durant scored 37 points in a win over the higher-seeded Houston Rockets. Through six games, the Warriors found themselves trailing 3–2, and Durant was criticized for contributing to Golden State's struggles by playing too much in isolation. The Warriors staved off elimination in Game 6, and in Game 7, Durant scored 34 points, helping Golden State return to the Finals with a series-clinching victory. In Game 3 of the 2018 NBA Finals, Durant recorded a playoff career-high 43 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists in a win over the Cavaliers, leading the Warriors to a 3–0 advantage. Golden State ultimately swept Cleveland and clinched a second straight championship; with averages of 28.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 7.5 assists, Durant also won his second Finals MVP Award.
Three-peat chase and injury (2018–2019)
On July 7, 2018, Durant re-signed with the Warriors, on a reported two-year, $61.5 million contract, which included a player option for the second year. During an overtime loss to the Clippers on November 12, 2018, Green cursed out Durant over his upcoming free agency status after the season, and he was suspended for the much-publicized blowup. On November 29, Durant scored a season-high 51 points in a 131–128 overtime loss to the Toronto Raptors, thus scoring 40 or more in his third straight game. With Curry and Green sidelined for most of November, the Warriors finished the month with a 15–8 record and five straight road losses, after starting the season at 10–1.
In Game 5 of the first round of the playoffs, he scored a playoff career-high 45 points in a 129–121 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. In Game 6, he set a new playoff career high with 50 points in a 129–110 win to close out the series. During Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets, Durant suffered a right calf strain, subsequently missing Game 6, in which the Warriors won the series, as well as the entire Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers, which the Warriors won in a four-game sweep.
After missing nine games with the strained right calf, Durant returned to action in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals against Toronto, and scored 11 points in the first quarter. However, he was lost for the game two minutes into the second quarter when he tried to drive by former teammate Serge Ibaka and suffered an Achilles tendon injury, falling and grabbing his lower right calf. He limped off the court and was helped to the locker room. The Warriors won the game to cut the Raptors' series lead to 3–2. The Warriors went on to lose the NBA Finals in Game 6, ending their quest for a three-peat.
Brooklyn Nets (2019–present)
Year absence (2019–2020)
On June 30, 2019, Durant announced that he planned to sign with the Brooklyn Nets after the July moratorium ended on July 6. On July 1, Golden State CEO Joe Lacob announced that Durant's No. 35 will no longer be issued by the Warriors. Durant signed with Brooklyn on July 7, in a sign-and-trade deal. Durant did not appear at all in the 2019–20 season and later revealed that he had decided shortly after his June 2019 injury that he would be sitting out the entire 2019–20 season. On March 17, 2020, Durant and three other Nets players tested positive for COVID-19. On April 1, it was announced that Durant was cleared and had recovered.
Return to the court (2020–2021)
On December 22, 2020, Durant made his Nets debut, putting up 22 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, in a 125–99 win over the Golden State Warriors. On January 14, 2021, James Harden was traded to the Nets in a blockbuster four-team deal, reuniting Durant with his former Thunder teammate. On January 16, 2021, Durant scored a season-high 42 points in a 122–115 win over the Orlando Magic. On February 5, due to health and safety protocols, Durant came off the bench for the first time in his career in a 117–123 loss to the Toronto Raptors. In February, Durant suffered a hamstring injury, which forced him to miss 23 games. On April 2, the NBA fined Durant $50,000 for private messages he sent through social media to actor Michael Rapaport in a feud. Durant made his return on April 7, 2021, scoring 17 points off the bench in a 139–119 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. The Nets finished the season with a 48–24 record, and the second seed in the East.
In Game 4 of the first round of the playoffs, Durant scored 42 points in a 141–126 win over the Boston Celtics to take a 3–1 lead in the series. In Game 5, he scored 24 points in a 123–109 win to close out the series. In Game 1 against the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference semifinals, Durant had 29 points and 10 rebounds in a 115–107 win. In Game 5, Durant put up 49 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists, leading the Nets to a 114–108 comeback win. In Game 7 against the Bucks, Durant dropped 48 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists, including a two-pointer to send the game into overtime, in the 115–111 loss; Durant's 48 points were the most in a Game 7 in NBA playoff history.
2021–22
On August 8, 2021, Durant signed a four-year, $198 million extension with the Brooklyn Nets. On October 22, Durant recorded his thirteenth career triple-double, and first as a Net with 29 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists in a 114–109 comeback win over the Philadelphia 76ers. On November 10, Durant scored 30 points on 11-for-12 shooting in a 123–90 win over the Orlando Magic. On December 12, Durant scored a season-high 51 points in a 116–104 win over the Detroit Pistons. On December 14, Durant recorded his fourteenth career triple-double with 34 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists in a 131–129 overtime win over the Toronto Raptors. On December 16, Durant scored 34 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, dished out 8 assists in a 114–105 win against the Philadelphia 76ers. On January 15, 2022, during a 120–105 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, Durant exited in the second quarter after suffering a left knee injury, later revealed to be a sprained MCL, and was subsequently ruled out for four to six weeks.
National team career
In February 2007, Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp. Despite a strong performance, he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit. Coach Mike Krzyzewski cited the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor in making the cut. Durant was finally selected to the national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and became their leader as other All-Stars were unavailable, a role he downplayed. At the tournament, he led Team USA to its first FIBA World Championship since 1994, earning tournament MVP honors in the process. His final averages for the competition were 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in nine games.
At the 2012 Olympics, Durant set the record for total points scored in an Olympic basketball tournament. With averages of 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, he helped the national team go undefeated en route to a gold medal. In the tournament's final game, he led all scorers with 30 points.
Less than a month before the start of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Durant announced that he would be dropping out of the competition, citing mental and physical exhaustion as reasons for his departure. He rejoined Team USA on the 2016 Olympic team, where he led them to a gold medal. In recognition of his performances, Durant was named the 2016 co-USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, along with Carmelo Anthony, for the second time in his career.
Durant committed to playing on the 2020 Olympic team, delayed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He entered the Games ranked second in U.S. men's Olympic basketball history with 311 career points, needing 25 to match Anthony's record of 336. Durant broke Anthony's record on July 31 against the Czech Republic. He led Team USA to a gold medal.
Player profile
Durant's height is officially and his primary position is small forward. In December 2016, Durant stated that his height in shoes was actually and that he understated his height in order to be listed as a small forward, rather than a power forward. His career averages are 27.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. Widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation, Durant has earned All-NBA honors nine times (2009–2014, 2016–2019) and was voted Rookie of the Year in his debut season. He has also won an MVP Award and finished second in the voting three times, a trend that he has expressed frustration over.
Durant is best known for his prodigious scoring ability. From 2010 to 2014, he won four scoring titles, becoming one of only two players to win four scoring titles in a five-year span. Early in his career, his playing style was isolation-driven, but he quickly developed into an excellent off-ball player who was capable of scoring from the outside as well. By 2013, he was shooting at a historically great clip, which helped him become one of only nine members of the 50–40–90 club. This ability to impact the offense in a variety of ways helped Durant remain effective and improve an already elite offense upon joining the Warriors in 2016. Throughout his career, his height and wingspan have created matchup problems for defenses as he is able to get off a clean shot regardless of the situation. Upon beating his man or gaining momentum, he also becomes a strong finisher at the rim; for example, he converted 72.2% of shots in the paint in 2012.
Early in Durant's career, he was criticized for his slim build, defense, and passing. Over time, he grew as a playmaker, increasing his assist numbers every year from 2010 to 2014, though his overall vision still lagged behind the league's best passers'. He also showed defensive improvement, with opponents averaging just .62 points per isolation play against him in 2014, the best success rate for defensive players who faced at least 100 isolations that season. Upon going to Golden State, he developed into a more reliable off-ball defender and rim protector, and in 2018 was considered for the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Personal life
Durant is very close with his mother, Wanda, a relationship that was detailed in the Lifetime movie The Real MVP: The Wanda Pratt Story. During his time with the Thunder, Durant described himself as a "high school kid" who enjoys playing video games in his spare time. A Christian, Durant has religious tattoos on his stomach, wrist, and back. He owns several properties in the Oklahoma City area and listed his primary residence, located in the affluent Club Villa neighborhood, for sale for $1.95 million in 2013. That same year, he opened a restaurant, KD's Southern Cuisine, in the Bricktown neighborhood and briefly became engaged to Monica Wright, a WNBA player. In 2016, he was a credentialed photographer for The Players' Tribune at Super Bowl 50.
Durant was formerly represented by agents Aaron Goodwin and Rob Pelinka. He left Pelinka in 2013 and signed with the Roc Nation group, headed by Jay-Z. Durant has endorsement deals with Nike, Sprint, Gatorade, Panini, General Electric, and 2K Sports. In 2012, he tried his hand at acting, appearing in the children's film Thunderstruck. In 2013, he earned $35 million, making him the fourth-highest-earning basketball player that year. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Durant claimed that, despite his high earnings potential, "global marketing and all that stuff" does not interest him.
One of the most popular players in the league, Durant's jersey regularly ranks as one of the NBA's best-selling and he is consistently one of the top All-Star vote-getters. Early in his career, he developed a reputation for his kind demeanor; in 2013, Foot Locker released a series of commercials calling him the "nicest guy in the NBA", and become a beloved figure in Oklahoma City, known for his "nice escapades" toward the Thunder's staff. In 2014, he partnered with KIND snacks and launched StrongAndKind.com to show "being kind is not a sign of weakness." Since joining the Warriors, he has become more outspoken and controversial; for example, he was involved in a Twitter back-and-forth with C. J. McCollum in July 2018. Durant has admitted to feeling more genuine in Golden State as opposed to Oklahoma City, where he was "just trying to please everybody".
Throughout his career, Durant has participated in philanthropic causes. In 2013, he pledged $1 million to the American Red Cross for the victims of the 2013 Moore tornado. His generosity inspired the Thunder and Nike to match his donation. He is also a spokesperson for the Washington, D. C. branch of P'Tones Records, a nationwide non-profit after-school music program.
In 2017, Durant became involved with YouTube. In February, he visited YouTube's headquarters for a speaking engagement. On April 7, 2017, he created a YouTube account and soon began to upload live stream vlogs onto it. In his first vlog, he detailed, "I'm so excited because I got off social media. I got off the Instagram, Twitter, all that stuff, just to distance myself a bit. But somebody talked me into getting on the YouTube." As of June 2020, Durant's YouTube channel has received over 790,000 subscribers and 38 million video views. On February 13, 2018, Deadline reported that Durant, in partnership with producer Brian Grazer's Imagine Television, will create a basketball-themed scripted drama for Apple.
In 2017, Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman founded Thirty Five Ventures. In 2020, Thirty Five Ventures produced Basketball County, a documentary about youth basketball in Durant's home county of Prince George's County, Maryland. Durant served as an executive producer and appeared in interviews. Thirty Five Ventures' work Two Distant Strangers won the 2021 Academy Award for Short Film (Live Action).
Durant was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018.
On June 15, 2020, Durant became a minority owner of MLS side Philadelphia Union, acquiring a 5% stake with the possibility to add another 5% in the near future.
In August 2021, Durant announced a partnership between his multimedia company Boardroom and the cannabis technology company Weedmaps through which an original content series would be developed and Weedmaps would become an official sponsor of Boardroom. Durant said of the partnership: "I think it's far past time to address the stigmas around cannabis that still exist in the sports world as well as globally. This partnership is going to help us continue to normalize those conversations, as well as create content, events, and a lot more through our Boardroom media network."
On December 22, 2021, he had signed a deal with Coinbase to serve himself as a brand ambassador.
Career statistics
Source:
NBA
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Seattle
| 80 || 80 || 34.6 || .430 || .288 || .873 || 4.4 || 2.4 || 1.0 || .9 || 20.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 74 || 74 || 39.0 || .476 || .422 || .863 || 6.5 || 2.8 || 1.3 || .7 || 25.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| style="background:#cfecec;"|82* || style="background:#cfecec;"|82* || 39.5 || .476 || .365 || .900 || 7.6 || 2.8 || 1.4 || 1.0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|30.1*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 78 || 78 || 38.9 || .462 || .350 || .880 || 6.8 || 2.7 || 1.1 || 1.0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|27.7*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| style="background:#cfecec;"|66* || style="background:#cfecec;"|66* || 38.6 || .496 || .387 || .860 || 8.0 || 3.5 || 1.3 || 1.2 || style="background:#cfecec;"|28.0*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 81 || 81 || 38.5 || .510 || .416 || style="background:#cfecec;"|.905* || 7.9 || 4.6 || 1.4 || 1.3 || 28.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 81 || 81 || 38.5 || .503 || .391 || .873 || 7.4 || 5.5 || 1.3 || .7 || style="background:#cfecec;"|32.0*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 27 || 27 || 33.8 || .510 || .403 || .854 || 6.6 || 4.1 || .9 || .9 || 25.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 72 || 72 || 35.8 || .505 || .388 || .898 || 8.2 || 5.0 || 1.0 || 1.2 || 28.2
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 62 || 62 || 33.4 || .537 || .375 || .875 || 8.3 || 4.9 || 1.1 || 1.6 || 25.1
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 68 || 68 || 34.2 || .516 || .419 || .889 || 6.8 || 5.4 || .7 || 1.8 || 26.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 78 || 78 || 34.6 || .521 || .353 || .885 || 6.4 || 5.9 || .7 || 1.1 || 26.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Brooklyn
| 35 || 32 || 33.1 || .537 || .450 || .882 || 7.1 || 5.6 || .7 || 1.3 || 26.9
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 884 || 881 || 36.7 || .494 || .384 || .883 || 7.1 || 4.2 || 1.1 || 1.1 || 27.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|All-Star
| 10 || 8 || 26.9 || .536 || .349 || .897 || 6.2 || 3.7 || 1.7 || .5 || 25.0
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2010
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 6 || 6 || 38.5 || .350 || .286 || .871 || 7.7 || 2.3 || .5 || 1.3 || 25.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2011
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 17 || 17 || 42.5 || .449 || .339 || .838 || 8.2 || 2.8 || .9 || 1.1 || 28.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2012
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 20 || 20 || 41.9 || .517 || .373 || .864 || 7.4 || 3.7 || 1.5 || 1.2 || 28.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2013
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 11 || 11 || 44.1 || .455 || .314 || .830 || 9.0 || 6.3 || 1.3 || 1.1 || 30.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2014
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 19 || 19 || 42.9 || .460 || .344 || .810 || 8.9 || 3.9 || 1.0 || 1.3 || 29.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2016
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 18 || 18 || 40.3 || .430 || .282 || .890 || 7.1 || 3.3 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 28.4
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;|2017†
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 15 || 15 || 35.5 || .556 || .442 || .893 || 8.0 || 4.3 || .8 || 1.3 || 28.5
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;|2018†
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 21 || 21 || 38.4 || .487 || .341 || .901 || 7.8 || 4.7 || .7 || 1.2 || 29.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2019
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 12 || 12 || 36.8 || .514 || .438 || .903 || 4.9 || 4.5 || 1.1 || 1.0 || 32.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2021
| style="text-align:left;"|Brooklyn
| 12 || 12 || 40.4 || .514 || .402 || .871 || 9.3 || 4.4 || 1.5 || 1.6 || 34.3
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 151 || 151 || 40.3 || .478 || .357 || .865 || 7.8 || 4.0 || 1.0 || 1.2 || 29.5
College
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2006–07
| style="text-align:left;"|Texas
| 35 || 35 || 35.9 || .473 || .404 || .816 || 11.1 || 1.3 || 1.9 || 1.9 || 25.8
Awards and honors
NBA
Cited from Basketball Reference's Kevin Durant page unless noted otherwise.
2× NBA champion: 2017, 2018
2× NBA Finals Most Valuable Player: 2017, 2018
NBA Most Valuable Player: 2014
12× NBA All-Star: 2010–2019, 2021, 2022
6× All-NBA First Team: 2010–2014, 2018
3× All-NBA Second Team: 2016, 2017, 2019
4× NBA scoring champion: 2010–2012, 2014
2× NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2012, 2019
NBA Rookie of the Year: 2008
NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2008
NBA Rookie Challenge MVP: 2009
USA Basketball
Cited from USA Basketball's Kevin Durant page unless noted otherwise.
3× Olympic gold medalist: 2012, 2016, 2020
Olympics Most Valuable Player: 2020
FIBA World Cup gold medalist: 2010
FIBA World Cup Most Valuable Player: 2010
NCAA
Naismith College Player of the Year: 2007
NABC Division I Player of the Year: 2007
Oscar Robertson Trophy: 2007
Adolph Rupp Trophy: 2007
John R. Wooden Award: 2007
Big 12 Player of the Year: 2007
USBWA National Freshman of the Year: 2007
Jersey number (35) retired at Texas
Media
AP Player of the Year: 2007
AP All-America 1st Team: 2007
Two-time ESPY Award winner:
2014 Best NBA Player
2017 Outstanding Team (as a member of the Golden State Warriors)
See also
List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career 3-point scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff turnovers leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff 3-point scoring leaders
References
External links
1988 births
Living people
2010 FIBA World Championship players
All-American college men's basketball players
American Christians
American men's basketball players
American YouTubers
Basketball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Basketball players from Maryland
Basketball players from Washington, D.C.
Brooklyn Nets players
Businesspeople in the cannabis industry
FIBA World Championship-winning players
Golden State Warriors players
Male bloggers
Male YouTubers
McDonald's High School All-Americans
Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
National Basketball Association All-Stars
Oklahoma City Thunder players
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball
Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
Seattle SuperSonics draft picks
Seattle SuperSonics players
Small forwards
Sportspeople from Rockville, Maryland
Texas Longhorns men's basketball players
United States men's national basketball team players
YouTube vloggers
| true |
[
"\"What I Go to School For\" is the debut single of English pop punk band Busted. It was written by James Bourne, Charlie Simpson, Matt Willis, Steve Robson, and John McLaughlin and produced by Steve Robson. The song was inspired by a teacher that Matt Willis had a crush on at school.\n\nThe song was released on 16 September 2002 and reached number three on the UK Singles Chart. A young Jade Ewen (who would later join girl group Sugababes) appears in the music video.\n\nBackground\nMatt Willis told the Essex Chronicle that the song came about after a night out in TOTs 2000 (now known as Talk nightclub) in James Bourne's hometown of Southend-on-Sea. \"We were too young, we got drunk and went to TOTs,\" Willis said. \"Then we walked home and continued drinking on the way – it took us ages. When we got back to James' house, we went to his bedroom and just picked up the guitar and that’s when we started writing What I Go to School For.\"\n\nIn 2003, the real-life inspiration for the song was revealed to be Willis' former teacher Michelle Blair, who made a surprise appearance on The Frank Skinner Show on ITV during an interview with Willis. Blair, who was 28 and had been married for three years at the time of her appearance on The Frank Skinner Show, was Willis' dance teacher at the Sylvia Young Theatre School when Willis was 15. Speaking about the surprise appearance with Willis on the show, Blair said: \"It was hilarious – he looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him up. I only found out the song was about me after it came out – it's really flattering.\" Blair said that at the time she was not aware of her pupil's crush on her, but that she did remember him from the dance classes: \"He was quite cheeky and charming and always had something to say in class. He used to tell us he was in a band, but I never dreamed they were going to be this big and I certainly hadn't a clue I was going to feature in one of their songs!\"\n\nCommenting on the veracity of these events as portrayed in the song, Blair said: \"I think he's used a bit of artistic licence in the song. It was a dance class so we never used any pencils but I suppose he had ample opportunity to look at my bum. There was never any tree outside my bedroom window though – I think I might have noticed a Peeping Tom.\" Reflecting on his time under the tutelage of Miss Blair, Willis said, \"She was kind of nice and there was always something really sexy about her.\" Being identified as the object of adolescent lust, and the subject of a pop song, hasn't caused any friction with her husband, according to Blair: \"My husband thinks its (sic) hilarious and takes the mickey. I don't think he's really worried I'm going to run off with a pop star. I'm proud of them. Looking back it was obvious Matt had what it takes.\"\n\nOn 29 October 2012, Michelle Blair appeared as the correct answer in the \"line-up\" section of BBC Two panel Never Mind the Buzzcocks.\n\nMusical\nWhat I Go to School For became the title of a musical theatre production produced by Youth Music Theatre UK following the story of Busted from their origins in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, through to their break-up in 2005. The musical was written by Elliot Davis with songs from the Busted albums and new music by James Bourne. It was directed by Steven Dexter and played at the Theatre Royal, Brighton in 2016.\n\nMusic video\nThe video for the song features model Lorna Roberts as Miss McKenzie, the object of the band's desire. Then 14-year-old Jade Ewen, who later joined the Sugababes, appears in the video as a schoolgirl. The filming of the What I Go To School For video was later parodied in the video for the Busted song Nineties.\n\nTrack listings\n\nUK CD1 and Australian CD single\n \"What I Go to School For\" (single version) – 3:30\n \"What I Go to School For\" (acoustic version) – 3:26\n \"What I Go to School For\" (alternative version) – 3:31\n \"What I Go to School For\" (instrumental mix) – 3:28\n \"What I Go to School For\" (CD-ROM video)\n\nUK CD2\n \"What I Go to School For\" (single version)\n \"Brown Eyed Girl\"\n Interactvie interview (CD-ROM video)\n\nUK cassette single\n \"What I Go to School For\"\n \"Dawson's Geek\"\n \"What I Go to School For\" (acoustic version)\n\nUS enhanced CD single\n \"What I Go to School For\" (radio version)\n \"What I Go to School For\" (album version)\n \"What I Go to School For\" (CD-ROM video)\n\nCharts and certifications\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nRelease history\n\nCover versions\n \"What I Go to School For\" was parodied by the Amateur Transplants on their 2004 album Fitness to Practice.\n The Jonas Brothers covered the song for their 2006 album It's About Time.\n\nReferences\n\n2002 debut singles\n2002 songs\nBusted (band) songs\nIsland Records singles\nSongs about school\nSongs written by Charlie Simpson\nSongs written by James Bourne\nSongs written by Matt Willis\nSongs written by Steve Robson\nUniversal Records singles",
"\"Unconditional Love\" is a song by 2Pac featuring Nanci Fletcher. The song was released posthumously as promotional single for his 1998 Greatest Hits album. To date, the explicit version of the song has only been released on the promotional single. The song peaked at number 73 on the airplay chart.\n\nOverview\n\nThe song was written by 2Pac for fellow Death Row rapper M.C. Hammer. 2Pac recorded a demo of it himself before giving the song to Hammer, this demo is what was used for songs release. Hammer's version was first released on Family Affair in 1998. Hammer would later dance and read the lyrics to this song on the first VH1 Hip Hop Honors in 2004.\n\nAccording to the Family Affair album insert, \"Unconditional Love\" lyrics were written and arranged by 2Pac and the songs producer, Johnny \"J\". Johnny \"J\" was credited for producing both versions of the song. \n\nHammer wrote this about the song: \"This song was given to me as a gift from the late Tupac Shakur. He told me this was a song about how true love is unconditional. He wanted me to rap it because it reflected what I stand for. The secret is this is also what he stood for. We know that our Bible says that God's love is unconditional. Thank you Tupac for this beautiful, spiritual song.\" Hammer would later go on to mention his friendship with Tupac and the gift of this song to him in a TBN interview.\n\nMusic video\nA video for \"Unconditional Love\" was filmed between January 11–12, 1999. It features Tha Realest (looking and sounding like 2Pac) recording this song in the studio.\n\nTrack listing\n\n \"Unconditional Love\" featuring Nanci Fletcher (Clean Version)\n \"Unconditional Love\" featuring Nanci Fletcher (LP Version)\n\nReferences\n\nTupac Shakur songs\n1998 singles\nSongs released posthumously\n1998 songs\nSongs written by Tupac Shakur"
] |
[
"Kevin Durant",
"National team career",
"What year did he join",
"2007,",
"What did he get",
"Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp.",
"What happened to him this year",
"he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit.",
"Who cut him",
"Mike Krzyzewski",
"What is his job title",
"Coach",
"What did he say to this",
"the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor",
"When did he actually make the team",
"Durant was finally selected to the national team at the 2010",
"What was this for",
"FIBA World Championship"
] |
C_f0baba80a9794299b0e55746c6b38b78_1
|
What did he do
| 9 |
What did Kevin Durant do?
|
Kevin Durant
|
In February 2007, Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp. Despite a strong performance, he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit. Coach Mike Krzyzewski cited the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor in making the cut. Durant was finally selected to the national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and became their leader as other All-Stars were unavailable, a role he downplayed. At the tournament, he led Team USA to its first FIBA World Championship since 1994, earning MVP honors in the process. His final averages for the competition were 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in nine games. At the 2012 Olympics, Durant set the record for total points scored in an Olympic basketball tournament. With averages of 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, he helped the national team go undefeated en route to a gold medal. In the tournament's final game, he led all scorers with 30 points. Less than a month before the start of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Durant announced that he would be dropping out of the competition, citing mental and physical exhaustion as reasons for his departure. He rejoined Team USA in 2016 for the Olympics, where he led them to a gold medal. In recognition of his performances, Durant was named the 2016 co-USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, along with Carmelo Anthony, for the second time in his career. CANNOTANSWER
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their leader as other All-Stars were unavailable, a role he downplayed.
|
Kevin Wayne Durant (; born September 29, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for the Texas Longhorns, and was selected as the second overall pick by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2007 NBA draft. He played nine seasons with the franchise, which became the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008, before signing with the Golden State Warriors in 2016, winning consecutive NBA championships in 2017 and 2018. After sustaining an Achilles injury in the 2019 finals, he joined the Nets as a free agent that summer. Durant has often been called the best player in the NBA and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
Durant was a heavily recruited high school prospect who was widely regarded as the second-best player in his class. In college, he won numerous year-end awards and became the first freshman to be named Naismith College Player of the Year. As a professional, he has won two NBA championships, an NBA Most Valuable Player Award, two Finals MVP Awards, two NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Awards, four NBA scoring titles, the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, been named to nine All-NBA teams (including six First Teams), and selected 12 times as an NBA All-Star. In October 2021, Durant was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. In international play as a member of USA Basketball, Durant has won three Olympic gold medals (2012, 2016, and 2020) and the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
Off the court, Durant is one of the highest-earning basketball players in the world, due in part to endorsement deals with companies such as Foot Locker and Nike. He has developed a reputation for philanthropy and regularly leads the league in All-Star votes and jersey sales. In recent years, he has contributed to The Players' Tribune as both a photographer and writer. In 2012, he ventured into acting, appearing in the film Thunderstruck.
Early life
Durant was born on September 29, 1988, in Washington, D.C., to Wanda (née Durant) and Wayne Pratt. When Durant was an infant, his father deserted the family; Wanda and Wayne eventually divorced, and Durant's grandmother Barbara Davis helped raise him. By age 13, his father reentered his life and traveled the country with him to basketball tournaments. Durant has a sister, Brianna, and two brothers, Tony and Rayvonne.
Durant and his siblings grew up in Prince George's County, Maryland, on the eastern outskirts of Washington, D.C. He was unusually tall from a young age, and reached in height while still in middle school (age 10-12). Growing up, Durant wanted to play for his favorite team, the Toronto Raptors, which included his favorite player, Vince Carter. He played Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball for several teams in the Maryland area and was teammates with future NBA players Michael Beasley, Greivis Vásquez, and Ty Lawson, the first of whom Durant remains friends with to this day. During this time, he began wearing #35 as his jersey number in honor of his AAU coach, Charles Craig, who was murdered at the age of 35.
After playing two years of high school basketball at National Christian Academy and one year at Oak Hill Academy, Durant transferred to Montrose Christian School for his senior year, growing before the start of the season and beginning the year at .
Prior to the start of the season, he committed to the University of Texas at Austin. He had visited University of Connecticut and University of North Carolina, and said he considered Duke University, University of Kentucky and University of Louisville. When asked why he chose a college with a lesser-known program, he said, "Wanted to set my own path."
At the end of the year, he was named the Washington Post All-Met Basketball Player of the Year, as well as the Most Valuable Player of the 2006 McDonald's All-American Game. He was widely regarded as the second-best high school prospect of 2006, behind Greg Oden.
College career
For the 2006–07 college season, Durantwho had grown to averaged 25.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game for the Texas Longhorns. They finished the year with a 25–10 record overall and a 12–4 record in conference. Awarded a fourth seed in the NCAA Tournament, Texas won their first round match-up against New Mexico State but were upset in the second round by USC despite a 30-point and 9-rebound performance from Durant. For his outstanding play, Durant was recognized as the unanimous national player of the year, winning the John R. Wooden Award, the Naismith College Player of the Year Award, and all eight other widely recognized honors and awards. This made Durant the first freshman to win any of the national player of the year awards. Following the season, he declared for the NBA draft. His No. 35 jersey was later retired by the Longhorns.
Professional career
Seattle SuperSonics / Oklahoma City Thunder (2007–2016)
Rookie of the Year (2007–2008)
Durant was selected as the second overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, after Greg Oden was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the first pick of the draft. In his first regular season game, the 19-year-old Durant registered 18 points, five rebounds and three steals against the Denver Nuggets. On November 16, he made the first game-winning shot of his career in a game against the Atlanta Hawks. At the conclusion of the 2007–08 NBA season, he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year following averages of 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He joined Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James as the only teenagers in league history to average at least 20 points per game over an entire season.
Breakthrough (2008–2010)
Following Durant's debut season, the SuperSonics relocated from Seattle to Oklahoma City, becoming the Thunder and switching to new colors – blue, orange, and yellow. The team also drafted UCLA guard Russell Westbrook, who would form an All-Star combination with Durant in later years. At the 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend, Durant set a Rookie Challenge record with 46 points. By the conclusion of the 2008–09 NBA season, he had raised his scoring average by five points from the prior season to 25.3 points per game, and was considered a strong candidate for the Most Improved Player Award, eventually finishing third in the voting. Durant continued to grow during his first few years in the NBA, finally reaching a height of .
During the 2009–10 season, Durant was selected to his first NBA All-Star Game. Behind his play, the Thunder improved their record by 27 wins from the previous year and defied expectations to make the playoffs. With a scoring average of 30.1 points per game, Durant became the youngest NBA scoring champion and was selected to his first All-NBA team. In his playoff debut, he scored 24 points in a Game 1 loss against the Los Angeles Lakers. Oklahoma City would go on to lose the series in six games, but the team's performance led many analysts to label them as an upcoming title contender.
Deep playoff runs (2010–2013)
Prior to the start of the 2010–11 season, Durant announced via Twitter that he had signed a five-year contract extension with the Thunder worth approximately $86 million. For the second consecutive year, he led the NBA in scoring, averaging 27.7 points a game. Behind Durant's leadership, the Thunder won 55 games and earned the fourth seed in the Western Conference. In the 2011 NBA playoffs, Oklahoma City defeated the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies en route to a Conference Finals match-up versus the Dallas Mavericks, losing in five games.
On February 19 of the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season, Durant recorded his first career 50-point game, scoring 51 points against the Denver Nuggets. At the All-Star Game, he scored 36 points and was awarded the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award. Durant finished the year with a scoring average of 28 points per game, representing his third straight scoring title. Behind his play, the Thunder won 47 games and entered the 2012 NBA playoffs as the Western Conference's second seed. In Game 1 of the first round against the Dallas Mavericks, Durant hit a game-winner with 1.5 seconds remaining. Oklahoma City would go on to defeat Dallas, the Lakers, and the San Antonio Spurs before losing to the Miami Heat in the 2012 NBA Finals. For the NBA Finals, Durant led all players with 30.6 points per game, doing so on a 54.8 shooting rate.
With a scoring average of 28.1 points per game to finish the 2012–13 season, Durant failed to defend his scoring title; however, with a 51 percent shooting rate, a 41.6 percent three point shooting rate, and a 90.5 free throw shooting rate, he became the youngest player in NBA history to join the 50–40–90 club. Finishing the year with a 60–22 record, Oklahoma City earned the first seed in the Western Conference. In the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs against the Houston Rockets, Westbrook tore his meniscus, forcing him to miss the remainder of the postseason. Without Westbrook, Durant was given more responsibility, averaging a career-high 30.8 points per game throughout the playoffs, but Oklahoma City were eventually eliminated in the second round by the Memphis Grizzlies in five games.
MVP season (2013–14)
In January of the 2013–14 season, Durant averaged 35.9 points per game while scoring 30 or more points in 12 straight games, including a career-high 54 points against the Golden State Warriors. In April, he surpassed Michael Jordan's record for consecutive games scoring 25 points or more at 41. The Thunder finished the year with 59 wins and Durant was voted the NBA Most Valuable Player behind averages of 32 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. To begin the first round of the 2014 NBA playoffs, he struggled against the physical play of the Grizzlies, converting on only 24 percent of his field goals in Game 4. Through five games, the Thunder trailed the series 3–2, prompting The Oklahoman to dub Durant "Mr. Unreliable". He responded by scoring 36 points in a Game 6 victory. Oklahoma City eventually eliminated Memphis and the Los Angeles Clippers before losing to the Spurs in the Conference Finals in six games.
Final seasons with the Thunder (2014–2016)
Prior to the start of the 2014–15 season, Durant was diagnosed with a Jones fracture in his right foot and was ruled out for six to eight weeks. He subsequently missed the first 17 games of the year, making his season debut for the Thunder on December 2 against the New Orleans Pelicans. On December 18, he injured his ankle against the Golden State Warriors, returning to action on December 31 against the Phoenix Suns to score a season-high 44 points. He then sprained his left big toe in late January. On February 22, he was sidelined again after undergoing a minor procedure to help reduce pain and discomfort in his surgically repaired right foot, and on March 27, he was officially ruled out for the rest of the season after deciding to undergo foot surgery. In just 27 games, he averaged 25.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game.
To begin the 2015–16 season, Durant and Westbrook reached several historical milestones together, including becoming the first pair of teammates to each score at least 40 points in a single game since 1996, doing so in a win over the Orlando Magic on October 30. For the year, Durant averaged 28.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game, leading the Thunder to 55 wins and the third seed in the West. In Game 2 of the first round of the 2016 NBA playoffs against the Mavericks, he scored 21 points but converted only 7 out of 33 shots in the worst postseason shooting performance, both by percentage and number of misses, of his career. After defeating Dallas, Oklahoma City moved on to face the Spurs in the second round, falling behind 2–1 to start the series. In Game 4, Durant tied his playoff career high with 41 points in a Thunder win. Oklahoma City eventually defeated the Spurs in six games, drawing a matchup with the record-setting 73-win Golden State Warriors in the Conference Finals. Despite going up 3–1, the Thunder were ousted in seven games, with Durant providing 27 points in Game 7.
Golden State Warriors (2016–2019)
2016 free agency
On July 4, Durant announced his intentions to sign with the Warriors in The Players' Tribune. The move was received negatively by fans and pundits, who felt that he took the easy route by leaving a team that had been up 3–1 and close to reaching the Finals to instead join their opponents, who had defeated them and were coming off a record-setting 73-win season; the Warriors had also won a championship the year before. On July 7, Durant officially signed with Golden State on a two-year, $54.3 million contract with a player option after the first year. Reflecting on the move for Sports Illustrated, Ben Golliver wrote, "He chose an ideal roster fit and a shot at playing for the highest-scoring offense the NBA has seen in decades. He chose life alongside Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the greatest shooting backcourt in history, and he chose to go against Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green, two elite defenders, in practices rather than in Western Conference finals games."
Back-to-back championships (2016–2018)
Durant made his debut for the Warriors on October 25 against the San Antonio Spurs, scoring a team-high 27 points in a blowout loss. On November 26, he recorded 28 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and a career-high six blocked shots in a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, becoming the first player in team history to finish with at least 25 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and five blocks in a single game. On February 11, in his first game back in Oklahoma City since leaving for Golden State, Durant scored 34 points while being booed throughout the night as he helped the Warriors defeat the Thunder for the third time that year. In March, Durant suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain and a tibial bone bruise, which forced him to miss the final 19 games of the season. Golden State finished the year with a 67–15 record and entered the playoffs as the first seed.
Durant returned from injury in time for the 2017 NBA playoffs and helped the Warriors advance to their third consecutive Finals, while also becoming the first team in league history to start the postseason 12–0. In Game 1 of the series, Durant had 38 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists to lead the Warriors past LeBron James and the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers. Durant then helped the Warriors go up 3–0 in the series with a 31-point effort in Game 3, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 45.3 seconds left in regulation. In Game 5, he scored 39 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists in a series-clinching win. For the Finals, Durant was the Golden State's top scorer in every game, averaging 35.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 5.4 assists while shooting 55.5 percent from the field, 47.4 percent from three-point range, and 92.7 percent from the free throw line. He was subsequently named the NBA Finals MVP.
After the Finals, Durant declined his $27.7 million player option and became an unrestricted free agent. On July 25, he re-signed with the Warriors for less money than the maximum, which helped the franchise create enough salary cap space to keep their core roster intact and add free agents. On January 10 of the 2017–18 season, Durant scored 40 points in a loss to the Clippers, becoming the second-youngest player in league history to reach the 20,000-point milestone. On January 23, he registered a career-high 14 assists in a win over the New York Knicks. On February 14, he scored a season-high 50 points in a loss to the Trail Blazers. In March, he missed games with a fractured rib, joining teammates Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson on the sidelines for the back-end of the season. Golden State eventually finished the year with 58 wins and Durant set a career high for blocks in season with 119.
In Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Durant scored 37 points in a win over the higher-seeded Houston Rockets. Through six games, the Warriors found themselves trailing 3–2, and Durant was criticized for contributing to Golden State's struggles by playing too much in isolation. The Warriors staved off elimination in Game 6, and in Game 7, Durant scored 34 points, helping Golden State return to the Finals with a series-clinching victory. In Game 3 of the 2018 NBA Finals, Durant recorded a playoff career-high 43 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists in a win over the Cavaliers, leading the Warriors to a 3–0 advantage. Golden State ultimately swept Cleveland and clinched a second straight championship; with averages of 28.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 7.5 assists, Durant also won his second Finals MVP Award.
Three-peat chase and injury (2018–2019)
On July 7, 2018, Durant re-signed with the Warriors, on a reported two-year, $61.5 million contract, which included a player option for the second year. During an overtime loss to the Clippers on November 12, 2018, Green cursed out Durant over his upcoming free agency status after the season, and he was suspended for the much-publicized blowup. On November 29, Durant scored a season-high 51 points in a 131–128 overtime loss to the Toronto Raptors, thus scoring 40 or more in his third straight game. With Curry and Green sidelined for most of November, the Warriors finished the month with a 15–8 record and five straight road losses, after starting the season at 10–1.
In Game 5 of the first round of the playoffs, he scored a playoff career-high 45 points in a 129–121 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. In Game 6, he set a new playoff career high with 50 points in a 129–110 win to close out the series. During Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets, Durant suffered a right calf strain, subsequently missing Game 6, in which the Warriors won the series, as well as the entire Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers, which the Warriors won in a four-game sweep.
After missing nine games with the strained right calf, Durant returned to action in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals against Toronto, and scored 11 points in the first quarter. However, he was lost for the game two minutes into the second quarter when he tried to drive by former teammate Serge Ibaka and suffered an Achilles tendon injury, falling and grabbing his lower right calf. He limped off the court and was helped to the locker room. The Warriors won the game to cut the Raptors' series lead to 3–2. The Warriors went on to lose the NBA Finals in Game 6, ending their quest for a three-peat.
Brooklyn Nets (2019–present)
Year absence (2019–2020)
On June 30, 2019, Durant announced that he planned to sign with the Brooklyn Nets after the July moratorium ended on July 6. On July 1, Golden State CEO Joe Lacob announced that Durant's No. 35 will no longer be issued by the Warriors. Durant signed with Brooklyn on July 7, in a sign-and-trade deal. Durant did not appear at all in the 2019–20 season and later revealed that he had decided shortly after his June 2019 injury that he would be sitting out the entire 2019–20 season. On March 17, 2020, Durant and three other Nets players tested positive for COVID-19. On April 1, it was announced that Durant was cleared and had recovered.
Return to the court (2020–2021)
On December 22, 2020, Durant made his Nets debut, putting up 22 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, in a 125–99 win over the Golden State Warriors. On January 14, 2021, James Harden was traded to the Nets in a blockbuster four-team deal, reuniting Durant with his former Thunder teammate. On January 16, 2021, Durant scored a season-high 42 points in a 122–115 win over the Orlando Magic. On February 5, due to health and safety protocols, Durant came off the bench for the first time in his career in a 117–123 loss to the Toronto Raptors. In February, Durant suffered a hamstring injury, which forced him to miss 23 games. On April 2, the NBA fined Durant $50,000 for private messages he sent through social media to actor Michael Rapaport in a feud. Durant made his return on April 7, 2021, scoring 17 points off the bench in a 139–119 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. The Nets finished the season with a 48–24 record, and the second seed in the East.
In Game 4 of the first round of the playoffs, Durant scored 42 points in a 141–126 win over the Boston Celtics to take a 3–1 lead in the series. In Game 5, he scored 24 points in a 123–109 win to close out the series. In Game 1 against the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference semifinals, Durant had 29 points and 10 rebounds in a 115–107 win. In Game 5, Durant put up 49 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists, leading the Nets to a 114–108 comeback win. In Game 7 against the Bucks, Durant dropped 48 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists, including a two-pointer to send the game into overtime, in the 115–111 loss; Durant's 48 points were the most in a Game 7 in NBA playoff history.
2021–22
On August 8, 2021, Durant signed a four-year, $198 million extension with the Brooklyn Nets. On October 22, Durant recorded his thirteenth career triple-double, and first as a Net with 29 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists in a 114–109 comeback win over the Philadelphia 76ers. On November 10, Durant scored 30 points on 11-for-12 shooting in a 123–90 win over the Orlando Magic. On December 12, Durant scored a season-high 51 points in a 116–104 win over the Detroit Pistons. On December 14, Durant recorded his fourteenth career triple-double with 34 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists in a 131–129 overtime win over the Toronto Raptors. On December 16, Durant scored 34 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, dished out 8 assists in a 114–105 win against the Philadelphia 76ers. On January 15, 2022, during a 120–105 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, Durant exited in the second quarter after suffering a left knee injury, later revealed to be a sprained MCL, and was subsequently ruled out for four to six weeks.
National team career
In February 2007, Durant received an invitation to the United States national team training camp. Despite a strong performance, he was cut from the team when its roster was trimmed to its twelve-player limit. Coach Mike Krzyzewski cited the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor in making the cut. Durant was finally selected to the national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and became their leader as other All-Stars were unavailable, a role he downplayed. At the tournament, he led Team USA to its first FIBA World Championship since 1994, earning tournament MVP honors in the process. His final averages for the competition were 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in nine games.
At the 2012 Olympics, Durant set the record for total points scored in an Olympic basketball tournament. With averages of 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, he helped the national team go undefeated en route to a gold medal. In the tournament's final game, he led all scorers with 30 points.
Less than a month before the start of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Durant announced that he would be dropping out of the competition, citing mental and physical exhaustion as reasons for his departure. He rejoined Team USA on the 2016 Olympic team, where he led them to a gold medal. In recognition of his performances, Durant was named the 2016 co-USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, along with Carmelo Anthony, for the second time in his career.
Durant committed to playing on the 2020 Olympic team, delayed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He entered the Games ranked second in U.S. men's Olympic basketball history with 311 career points, needing 25 to match Anthony's record of 336. Durant broke Anthony's record on July 31 against the Czech Republic. He led Team USA to a gold medal.
Player profile
Durant's height is officially and his primary position is small forward. In December 2016, Durant stated that his height in shoes was actually and that he understated his height in order to be listed as a small forward, rather than a power forward. His career averages are 27.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. Widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation, Durant has earned All-NBA honors nine times (2009–2014, 2016–2019) and was voted Rookie of the Year in his debut season. He has also won an MVP Award and finished second in the voting three times, a trend that he has expressed frustration over.
Durant is best known for his prodigious scoring ability. From 2010 to 2014, he won four scoring titles, becoming one of only two players to win four scoring titles in a five-year span. Early in his career, his playing style was isolation-driven, but he quickly developed into an excellent off-ball player who was capable of scoring from the outside as well. By 2013, he was shooting at a historically great clip, which helped him become one of only nine members of the 50–40–90 club. This ability to impact the offense in a variety of ways helped Durant remain effective and improve an already elite offense upon joining the Warriors in 2016. Throughout his career, his height and wingspan have created matchup problems for defenses as he is able to get off a clean shot regardless of the situation. Upon beating his man or gaining momentum, he also becomes a strong finisher at the rim; for example, he converted 72.2% of shots in the paint in 2012.
Early in Durant's career, he was criticized for his slim build, defense, and passing. Over time, he grew as a playmaker, increasing his assist numbers every year from 2010 to 2014, though his overall vision still lagged behind the league's best passers'. He also showed defensive improvement, with opponents averaging just .62 points per isolation play against him in 2014, the best success rate for defensive players who faced at least 100 isolations that season. Upon going to Golden State, he developed into a more reliable off-ball defender and rim protector, and in 2018 was considered for the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Personal life
Durant is very close with his mother, Wanda, a relationship that was detailed in the Lifetime movie The Real MVP: The Wanda Pratt Story. During his time with the Thunder, Durant described himself as a "high school kid" who enjoys playing video games in his spare time. A Christian, Durant has religious tattoos on his stomach, wrist, and back. He owns several properties in the Oklahoma City area and listed his primary residence, located in the affluent Club Villa neighborhood, for sale for $1.95 million in 2013. That same year, he opened a restaurant, KD's Southern Cuisine, in the Bricktown neighborhood and briefly became engaged to Monica Wright, a WNBA player. In 2016, he was a credentialed photographer for The Players' Tribune at Super Bowl 50.
Durant was formerly represented by agents Aaron Goodwin and Rob Pelinka. He left Pelinka in 2013 and signed with the Roc Nation group, headed by Jay-Z. Durant has endorsement deals with Nike, Sprint, Gatorade, Panini, General Electric, and 2K Sports. In 2012, he tried his hand at acting, appearing in the children's film Thunderstruck. In 2013, he earned $35 million, making him the fourth-highest-earning basketball player that year. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Durant claimed that, despite his high earnings potential, "global marketing and all that stuff" does not interest him.
One of the most popular players in the league, Durant's jersey regularly ranks as one of the NBA's best-selling and he is consistently one of the top All-Star vote-getters. Early in his career, he developed a reputation for his kind demeanor; in 2013, Foot Locker released a series of commercials calling him the "nicest guy in the NBA", and become a beloved figure in Oklahoma City, known for his "nice escapades" toward the Thunder's staff. In 2014, he partnered with KIND snacks and launched StrongAndKind.com to show "being kind is not a sign of weakness." Since joining the Warriors, he has become more outspoken and controversial; for example, he was involved in a Twitter back-and-forth with C. J. McCollum in July 2018. Durant has admitted to feeling more genuine in Golden State as opposed to Oklahoma City, where he was "just trying to please everybody".
Throughout his career, Durant has participated in philanthropic causes. In 2013, he pledged $1 million to the American Red Cross for the victims of the 2013 Moore tornado. His generosity inspired the Thunder and Nike to match his donation. He is also a spokesperson for the Washington, D. C. branch of P'Tones Records, a nationwide non-profit after-school music program.
In 2017, Durant became involved with YouTube. In February, he visited YouTube's headquarters for a speaking engagement. On April 7, 2017, he created a YouTube account and soon began to upload live stream vlogs onto it. In his first vlog, he detailed, "I'm so excited because I got off social media. I got off the Instagram, Twitter, all that stuff, just to distance myself a bit. But somebody talked me into getting on the YouTube." As of June 2020, Durant's YouTube channel has received over 790,000 subscribers and 38 million video views. On February 13, 2018, Deadline reported that Durant, in partnership with producer Brian Grazer's Imagine Television, will create a basketball-themed scripted drama for Apple.
In 2017, Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman founded Thirty Five Ventures. In 2020, Thirty Five Ventures produced Basketball County, a documentary about youth basketball in Durant's home county of Prince George's County, Maryland. Durant served as an executive producer and appeared in interviews. Thirty Five Ventures' work Two Distant Strangers won the 2021 Academy Award for Short Film (Live Action).
Durant was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018.
On June 15, 2020, Durant became a minority owner of MLS side Philadelphia Union, acquiring a 5% stake with the possibility to add another 5% in the near future.
In August 2021, Durant announced a partnership between his multimedia company Boardroom and the cannabis technology company Weedmaps through which an original content series would be developed and Weedmaps would become an official sponsor of Boardroom. Durant said of the partnership: "I think it's far past time to address the stigmas around cannabis that still exist in the sports world as well as globally. This partnership is going to help us continue to normalize those conversations, as well as create content, events, and a lot more through our Boardroom media network."
On December 22, 2021, he had signed a deal with Coinbase to serve himself as a brand ambassador.
Career statistics
Source:
NBA
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Seattle
| 80 || 80 || 34.6 || .430 || .288 || .873 || 4.4 || 2.4 || 1.0 || .9 || 20.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 74 || 74 || 39.0 || .476 || .422 || .863 || 6.5 || 2.8 || 1.3 || .7 || 25.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| style="background:#cfecec;"|82* || style="background:#cfecec;"|82* || 39.5 || .476 || .365 || .900 || 7.6 || 2.8 || 1.4 || 1.0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|30.1*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 78 || 78 || 38.9 || .462 || .350 || .880 || 6.8 || 2.7 || 1.1 || 1.0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|27.7*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| style="background:#cfecec;"|66* || style="background:#cfecec;"|66* || 38.6 || .496 || .387 || .860 || 8.0 || 3.5 || 1.3 || 1.2 || style="background:#cfecec;"|28.0*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 81 || 81 || 38.5 || .510 || .416 || style="background:#cfecec;"|.905* || 7.9 || 4.6 || 1.4 || 1.3 || 28.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 81 || 81 || 38.5 || .503 || .391 || .873 || 7.4 || 5.5 || 1.3 || .7 || style="background:#cfecec;"|32.0*
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 27 || 27 || 33.8 || .510 || .403 || .854 || 6.6 || 4.1 || .9 || .9 || 25.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 72 || 72 || 35.8 || .505 || .388 || .898 || 8.2 || 5.0 || 1.0 || 1.2 || 28.2
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 62 || 62 || 33.4 || .537 || .375 || .875 || 8.3 || 4.9 || 1.1 || 1.6 || 25.1
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 68 || 68 || 34.2 || .516 || .419 || .889 || 6.8 || 5.4 || .7 || 1.8 || 26.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 78 || 78 || 34.6 || .521 || .353 || .885 || 6.4 || 5.9 || .7 || 1.1 || 26.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Brooklyn
| 35 || 32 || 33.1 || .537 || .450 || .882 || 7.1 || 5.6 || .7 || 1.3 || 26.9
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 884 || 881 || 36.7 || .494 || .384 || .883 || 7.1 || 4.2 || 1.1 || 1.1 || 27.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|All-Star
| 10 || 8 || 26.9 || .536 || .349 || .897 || 6.2 || 3.7 || 1.7 || .5 || 25.0
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2010
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 6 || 6 || 38.5 || .350 || .286 || .871 || 7.7 || 2.3 || .5 || 1.3 || 25.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2011
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 17 || 17 || 42.5 || .449 || .339 || .838 || 8.2 || 2.8 || .9 || 1.1 || 28.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2012
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 20 || 20 || 41.9 || .517 || .373 || .864 || 7.4 || 3.7 || 1.5 || 1.2 || 28.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2013
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 11 || 11 || 44.1 || .455 || .314 || .830 || 9.0 || 6.3 || 1.3 || 1.1 || 30.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2014
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 19 || 19 || 42.9 || .460 || .344 || .810 || 8.9 || 3.9 || 1.0 || 1.3 || 29.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2016
| style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma City
| 18 || 18 || 40.3 || .430 || .282 || .890 || 7.1 || 3.3 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 28.4
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;|2017†
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 15 || 15 || 35.5 || .556 || .442 || .893 || 8.0 || 4.3 || .8 || 1.3 || 28.5
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;|2018†
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 21 || 21 || 38.4 || .487 || .341 || .901 || 7.8 || 4.7 || .7 || 1.2 || 29.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2019
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 12 || 12 || 36.8 || .514 || .438 || .903 || 4.9 || 4.5 || 1.1 || 1.0 || 32.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2021
| style="text-align:left;"|Brooklyn
| 12 || 12 || 40.4 || .514 || .402 || .871 || 9.3 || 4.4 || 1.5 || 1.6 || 34.3
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 151 || 151 || 40.3 || .478 || .357 || .865 || 7.8 || 4.0 || 1.0 || 1.2 || 29.5
College
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2006–07
| style="text-align:left;"|Texas
| 35 || 35 || 35.9 || .473 || .404 || .816 || 11.1 || 1.3 || 1.9 || 1.9 || 25.8
Awards and honors
NBA
Cited from Basketball Reference's Kevin Durant page unless noted otherwise.
2× NBA champion: 2017, 2018
2× NBA Finals Most Valuable Player: 2017, 2018
NBA Most Valuable Player: 2014
12× NBA All-Star: 2010–2019, 2021, 2022
6× All-NBA First Team: 2010–2014, 2018
3× All-NBA Second Team: 2016, 2017, 2019
4× NBA scoring champion: 2010–2012, 2014
2× NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2012, 2019
NBA Rookie of the Year: 2008
NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2008
NBA Rookie Challenge MVP: 2009
USA Basketball
Cited from USA Basketball's Kevin Durant page unless noted otherwise.
3× Olympic gold medalist: 2012, 2016, 2020
Olympics Most Valuable Player: 2020
FIBA World Cup gold medalist: 2010
FIBA World Cup Most Valuable Player: 2010
NCAA
Naismith College Player of the Year: 2007
NABC Division I Player of the Year: 2007
Oscar Robertson Trophy: 2007
Adolph Rupp Trophy: 2007
John R. Wooden Award: 2007
Big 12 Player of the Year: 2007
USBWA National Freshman of the Year: 2007
Jersey number (35) retired at Texas
Media
AP Player of the Year: 2007
AP All-America 1st Team: 2007
Two-time ESPY Award winner:
2014 Best NBA Player
2017 Outstanding Team (as a member of the Golden State Warriors)
See also
List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career 3-point scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff turnovers leaders
List of National Basketball Association career playoff 3-point scoring leaders
References
External links
1988 births
Living people
2010 FIBA World Championship players
All-American college men's basketball players
American Christians
American men's basketball players
American YouTubers
Basketball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
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Businesspeople in the cannabis industry
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Seattle SuperSonics draft picks
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Sportspeople from Rockville, Maryland
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"\"What Did I Do to You?\" is a song recorded by British singer Lisa Stansfield for her 1989 album, Affection. It was written by Stansfield, Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, and produced by Devaney and Morris. The song was released as the fourth European single on 30 April 1990. It included three previously unreleased songs written by Stansfield, Devaney and Morris: \"My Apple Heart,\" \"Lay Me Down\" and \"Something's Happenin'.\" \"What Did I Do to You?\" was remixed by Mark Saunders and by the Grammy Award-winning American house music DJ and producer, David Morales. The single became a top forty hit in the European countries reaching number eighteen in Finland, number twenty in Ireland and number twenty-five in the United Kingdom. \"What Did I Do to You?\" was also released in Japan.\n\nIn 2014, the remixes of \"What Did I Do to You?\" were included on the deluxe 2CD + DVD re-release of Affection and on People Hold On ... The Remix Anthology. They were also featured on The Collection 1989–2003 box set (2014), including previously unreleased Red Zone Mix by David Morales.\n\nCritical reception\nThe song received positive reviews from music critics. Matthew Hocter from Albumism viewed it as a \"upbeat offering\". David Giles from Music Week said it is \"beautifully performed\" by Stansfield. A reviewer from Reading Eagle wrote that \"What Did I Do to You?\" \"would be right at home on the \"Saturday Night Fever\" soundtrack.\"\n\nMusic video\nA music video was produced to promote the single, directed by Philip Richardson, who had previously directed the videos for \"All Around the World\" and \"Live Together\". It features Stansfield with her kiss curls, dressed in a white outfit and performing with her band on a stage in front of a jumping audience. The video was later published on Stansfield's official YouTube channel in November 2009. It has amassed more than 1,6 million views as of October 2021.\n\nTrack listings\n\n European/UK 7\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix Edit) – 4:20\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n European/UK/Japanese CD single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix Edit) – 4:20\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 5:19\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 4:17\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n UK 10\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix) – 5:52\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 5:19\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 4:17\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n European/UK 12\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Morales Mix) – 7:59\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 4:22\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 3:19\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:15\n\n UK 12\" promotional single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Morales Mix) – 7:59\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Anti Poll Tax Dub) – 6:31\n\n Other remixes\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Red Zone Mix) – 7:45\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nLisa Stansfield songs\n1990 singles\nSongs written by Lisa Stansfield\n1989 songs\nArista Records singles\nSongs written by Ian Devaney\nSongs written by Andy Morris (musician)",
"\"What Would Steve Do?\" is the second single released by Mumm-Ra on Columbia Records, which was released on February 19, 2007. It is a re-recorded version of the self-release they did in April 2006. It reached #40 in the UK Singles Chart, making it their highest charting single.\n\nTrack listings\nAll songs written by Mumm-Ra.\n\nCD\n\"What Would Steve Do?\"\n\"Cute As\"\n\"Without You\"\n\n7\"\n\"What Would Steve Do?\"\n\"What Would Steve Do? (Floorboard Mix)\"\n\nGatefold 7\"\n\"What Would Steve Do?\"\n\"Cute As\"\n\nReferences\n\n2007 singles\nMumm-Ra (band) songs\n2006 songs\nColumbia Records singles"
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"Richard III of England",
"In culture"
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C_e1db0b22c6fe45a1a0da7ae2ceb65f84_1
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What was his culture like
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What was Richard III of England's culture like?
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Richard III of England
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Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature. Two other plays of the Elizabethan era predated Shakespeare's work. The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge is believed to be the first history play written in England. The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work, was probably an influence on Shakespeare. Neither of the two plays places any emphasis on Richard's physical appearance, though the True Tragedy briefly mentions that he is "A man ill shaped, crooked backed, lame armed" adding that he is "valiantly minded, but tyrannous in authority". Both portray him as a man motivated by personal ambition, who uses everyone around him to get his way. Ben Jonson is also known to have written a play Richard Crookback in 1602, but it was never published and nothing is known about its portrayal of the king. Marjorie Bowen's 1929 novel Dickon set the trend for pro-Ricardian literature. Particularly influential was The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey, in which a modern detective concludes that Richard III is innocent in the death of the Princes. Other novelists such as Valerie Anand in the novel Crown of Roses (1989) have also offered alternative versions to the theory that he murdered them. Sharon Kay Penman, in her historical novel The Sunne in Splendour, attributes the death of the Princes to the Duke of Buckingham. In the mystery novel The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters (1974) the central plot revolves around the debate as to whether Richard III was guilty of these and other crimes. A sympathetic portrayal of Richard III is given in The Founding, the first volume in The Morland Dynasty series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. One film adaptation of Shakespeare's play Richard III is the 1955 version directed and produced by Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. Also notable are the 1995 film version starring Ian McKellen, set in a fictional 1930s fascist England, and Looking for Richard, a 1996 documentary film directed by Al Pacino, who plays the title character as well as himself. The play has been adapted for television on several occasions. CANNOTANSWER
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Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. He is the protagonist of Richard III, one of William Shakespeare's history/tragedy plays.
Richard was created Duke of Gloucester in 1461 after the accession of his brother King Edward IV. In 1472, he married Anne Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. He governed northern England during Edward's reign, and played a role in the invasion of Scotland in 1482. When Edward IV died in April 1483, Richard was named Lord Protector of the realm for Edward's eldest son and successor, the 12-year-old Edward V. Arrangements were made for Edward V's coronation on 22 June 1483. Before the king could be crowned, the marriage of his parents was declared bigamous and therefore invalid. Now officially illegitimate, their children were barred from inheriting the throne. On 25 June, an assembly of lords and commoners endorsed a declaration to this effect, and proclaimed Richard as the rightful king. He was crowned on 6 July 1483. Edward and his younger brother Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, called the "Princes in the Tower", were not seen in public after August, and accusations circulated that they had been murdered on King Richard's orders, under the Tudor rule a few years later.
There were two major rebellions against Richard during his reign. In October 1483, an unsuccessful revolt was led by staunch allies of Edward IV and Richard's former ally, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. Then, in August 1485, Henry Tudor and his uncle, Jasper Tudor, landed in southern Wales with a contingent of French troops, and marched through Pembrokeshire, recruiting soldiers. Henry's forces defeated Richard's army near the Leicestershire town of Market Bosworth. Richard was slain, making him the last English king to die in battle. Henry Tudor then ascended the throne as Henry VII.
Richard's corpse was taken to the nearby town of Leicester and buried without ceremony. His original tomb monument is believed to have been removed during the English Reformation, and his remains were wrongly thought to have been thrown into the River Soar. In 2012, an archaeological excavation was commissioned by the Richard III Society on the site previously occupied by Grey Friars Priory. The University of Leicester identified the skeleton found in the excavation as that of Richard III as a result of radiocarbon dating, comparison with contemporary reports of his appearance, and comparison of his mitochondrial DNA with that of two matrilineal descendants of his sister Anne. He was reburied in Leicester Cathedral on 26 March 2015.
Early life
Richard was born on 2 October 1452, at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire, the eleventh of the twelve children of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the youngest to survive infancy. His childhood coincided with the beginning of what has traditionally been labelled the 'Wars of the Roses', a period of political instability and periodic open civil war in England during the second half of the fifteenth century, between the Yorkists, who supported Richard's father (a potential claimant to the throne of King Henry VI from birth), and opposed the regime of Henry VI and his wife, Margaret of Anjou, and the Lancastrians, who were loyal to the crown. In 1459, his father and the Yorkists were forced to flee England, whereupon Richard and his older brother George were placed in the custody of their aunt Anne Neville, Duchess of Buckingham, and possibly of Cardinal Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury.
When their father and elder brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland, were killed at the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December 1460, Richard and George were sent by their mother to the Low Countries. They returned to England following the defeat of the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton. They participated in the coronation of their eldest brother as King Edward IV on 28 June 1461, when Richard was named Duke of Gloucester and made both a Knight of the Garter and a Knight of the Bath. Edward appointed him the sole Commissioner of Array for the Western Counties in 1464 when he was 11. By the age of 17, he had an independent command.
Richard spent several years during his childhood at Middleham Castle in Wensleydale, Yorkshire, under the tutelage of his cousin Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, later known as 'the Kingmaker' because of his role in the Wars of the Roses. Warwick supervised Richard's training as a knight; in the autumn of 1465, Edward IV granted Warwick £1000 for the expenses of his younger brother's tutelage. With some interruptions, Richard stayed at Middleham either from late 1461 until early 1465, when he was 12 or from 1465 until his coming of age in 1468, when he turned 16. While at Warwick's estate, it is likely that he met both Francis Lovell, who would be his firm supporter later in his life, and Warwick's younger daughter, his future wife Anne Neville.
It is possible that even at this early stage Warwick was considering the king's brothers as strategic matches for his daughters, Isabel and Anne: young aristocrats were often sent to be raised in the households of their intended future partners, as had been the case for the young dukes' father, Richard of York. As the relationship between the king and Warwick became strained, Edward IV opposed the match. During Warwick's lifetime, George was the only royal brother to marry one of his daughters, the elder, Isabel, on 12 July 1469, without the king's permission. George joined his father-in-law's revolt against the king, while Richard remained loyal to Edward, even though he was rumoured to have been sleeping with Anne.
Richard and Edward were forced to flee to Burgundy in October 1470 after Warwick defected to the side of the former Lancastrian queen Margaret of Anjou. In 1468, Richard's sister Margaret had married Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy, and the brothers could expect a welcome there. Edward was restored to the throne in the spring of 1471, following the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, in both of which the 18-year-old Richard played a crucial role.
During his adolescence, and due to a cause that is unknown, Richard developed a sideways curvature of the spine (Scoliosis). In 2014, after the discovery of Richard's remains, the osteoarchaeologist Dr. Jo Appleby, of Leicester University's School of Archaeology and Ancient History, imaged the spinal column, and reconstructed a model using 3D printing, and concluded that though the spinal scoliosis looked dramatic, it probably did not cause any major physical deformity that could not be disguised by clothing.
Marriage and family relationships
Following a decisive Yorkist victory over the Lancastrians at the Battle of Tewkesbury, Richard married Anne Neville on 12 July 1472. By the end of 1470 Anne had previously been wedded to Edward of Westminster, only son of Henry VI, to seal her father's allegiance to the Lancastrian party. Edward died at the Battle of Tewkesbury on 4 May 1471, while Warwick had died at the Battle of Barnet on 14 April 1471. Richard's marriage plans brought him into conflict with his brother George. John Paston's letter of 17 February 1472 makes it clear that George was not happy about the marriage but grudgingly accepted it on the basis that "he may well have my Lady his sister-in-law, but they shall part no livelihood". The reason was the inheritance Anne shared with her elder sister Isabel, whom George had married in 1469. It was not only the earldom that was at stake; Richard Neville had inherited it as a result of his marriage to Anne Beauchamp, 16th Countess of Warwick. The Countess, who was still alive, was technically the owner of the substantial Beauchamp estates, her father having left no male heirs.
The Croyland Chronicle records that Richard agreed to a prenuptial contract in the following terms: "the marriage of the Duke of Gloucester with Anne before-named was to take place, and he was to have such and so much of the earl's lands as should be agreed upon between them through the mediation of arbitrators; while all the rest were to remain in the possession of the Duke of Clarence". The date of Paston's letter suggests the marriage was still being negotiated in February 1472. In order to win George's final consent to the marriage, Richard renounced most of the Earl of Warwick's land and property including the earldoms of Warwick (which the Kingmaker had held in his wife's right) and Salisbury and surrendered to George the office of Great Chamberlain of England. Richard retained Neville's forfeit estates he had already been granted in the summer of 1471: Penrith, Sheriff Hutton and Middleham, where he later established his marital household.
The requisite papal dispensation was obtained dated 22 April 1472. Michael Hicks has suggested that the terms of the dispensation deliberately understated the degrees of consanguinity between the couple, and the marriage was therefore illegal on the ground of first degree consanguinity following George's marriage to Anne's sister Isabel. There would have been first-degree consanguinity if Richard had sought to marry Isabel (in case of widowhood) after she had married his brother George, but no such consanguinity applied for Anne and Richard. Richard's marriage to Anne was never declared null, and it was public to everyone including secular and canon lawyers for 13 years.
In June 1473, Richard persuaded his mother-in-law to leave the sanctuary and come to live under his protection at Middleham. Later in the year, under the terms of the 1473 Act of Resumption, George lost some of the property he held under royal grant and made no secret of his displeasure. John Paston's letter of November 1473 says that King Edward planned to put both his younger brothers in their place by acting as "a stifler atween them". Early in 1474, Parliament assembled and Edward attempted to reconcile his brothers by stating that both men, and their wives, would enjoy the Warwick inheritance just as if the Countess of Warwick "was naturally dead". The doubts cast by George on the validity of Richard and Anne's marriage were addressed by a clause protecting their rights in the event they were divorced (i.e. of their marriage being declared null and void by the Church) and then legally remarried to each other, and also protected Richard's rights while waiting for such a valid second marriage with Anne. The following year, Richard was rewarded with all the Neville lands in the north of England, at the expense of Anne's cousin, George Neville, 1st Duke of Bedford. From this point, George seems to have fallen steadily out of King Edward's favour, his discontent coming to a head in 1477 when, following Isabel's death, he was denied the opportunity to marry Mary of Burgundy, the stepdaughter of his sister Margaret, even though Margaret approved the proposed match. There is no evidence of Richard's involvement in George's subsequent conviction and execution on a charge of treason.
Reign of Edward IV
Estates and titles
Richard was granted the Duchy of Gloucester on 1 November 1461, and on 12 August the next year was awarded large estates in northern England, including the lordships of Richmond in Yorkshire, and Pembroke in Wales. He gained the forfeited lands of the Lancastrian John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, in East Anglia. In 1462, on his birthday, he was made Constable of Gloucester and Corfe Castles and Admiral of England, Ireland and Aquitaine and appointed Governor of the North, becoming the richest and most powerful noble in England. On 17 October 1469, he was made Constable of England. In November, he replaced William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, as Chief Justice of North Wales. The following year, he was appointed Chief Steward and Chamberlain of Wales. On 18 May 1471, Richard was named Great Chamberlain and Lord High Admiral of England. Other positions followed: High Sheriff of Cumberland for life, Lieutenant of the North and Commander-in-Chief against the Scots and hereditary Warden of the West March. Two months later, on 14 July, he gained the Lordships of the strongholds Sheriff Hutton and Middleham in Yorkshire and Penrith in Cumberland, which had belonged to Warwick the Kingmaker. It is possible that the grant of Middleham seconded Richard's personal wishes.
Exile and return
During the latter part of Edward IV's reign, Richard demonstrated his loyalty to the king, in contrast to their brother George who had allied himself with the Earl of Warwick when the latter rebelled towards the end of the 1460s. Following Warwick's 1470 rebellion, before which he had made peace with Margaret of Anjou and promised the restoration of Henry VI to the English throne, Richard, the Baron Hastings and Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, escaped capture at Doncaster by Warwick's brother, John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu. On 2 October they sailed from King's Lynn in two ships; Edward landed at Marsdiep and Richard at Zeeland. It was said that, having left England in such haste as to possess almost nothing, Edward was forced to pay their passage with his fur cloak; certainly, Richard borrowed three pounds from Zeeland's town bailiff. They were attainted by Warwick's only Parliament on 26 November. They resided in Bruges with Louis de Gruthuse, who had been the Burgundian Ambassador to Edward's court, but it was not until Louis XI of France declared war on Burgundy that Charles, Duke of Burgundy, assisted their return, providing, along with the Hanseatic merchants, £20,000, 36 ships and 1200 men. They departed Flushing for England on 11 March 1471. Warwick's arrest of local sympathisers prevented them from landing in Yorkist East Anglia and on 14 March, after being separated in a storm, their ships ran ashore at Holderness. The town of Hull refused Edward entry. He gained entry to York by using the same claim as Henry of Bolingbroke had before deposing Richard II in 1399; that is, that he was merely reclaiming the Dukedom of York rather than the crown. It was in Edward's attempt to regain his throne that Richard began to demonstrate his skill as a military commander.
1471 military campaign
Once Edward had regained the support of his brother George, he mounted a swift and decisive campaign to regain the crown through combat; it is believed that Richard was his principal lieutenant as some of the king's earliest support came from members of Richard's affinity, including Sir James Harrington and Sir William Parr, who brought 600 men-at-arms to them at Doncaster. Richard may have led the vanguard at the Battle of Barnet, in his first command, on 14 April 1471, where he outflanked the wing of Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, although the degree to which his command was fundamental may have been exaggerated. That Richard's personal household sustained losses indicates he was in the thick of the fighting. A contemporary source is clear about his holding the vanguard for Edward at Tewkesbury, deployed against the Lancastrian vanguard under Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset, on 4 May 1471, and his role two days later, as Constable of England, sitting alongside John Howard as Earl Marshal, in the trial and sentencing of leading Lancastrians captured after the battle.
1475 invasion of France
At least in part resentful of King Louis XI's previous support of his Lancastrian opponents, and possibly in support of his brother-in-law Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, Edward went to parliament in October 1472 for funding a military campaign, and eventually landed in Calais on 4 July 1475. Richard's was the largest private contingent of his army. Although well known to have publicly been against the eventual treaty signed with Louis XI at Picquigny (and absent from the negotiations, in which one of his rank would have been expected to take a leading role), he acted as Edward's witness when the king instructed his delegates to the French court, and received 'some very fine presents' from Louis on a visit to the French king at Amiens. In refusing other gifts, which included 'pensions' in the guise of 'tribute', he was joined only by Cardinal Bourchier. He supposedly disapproved of Edward's policy of personally benefiting—politically and financially—from a campaign paid for out of a parliamentary grant, and hence out of public funds. Any military prowess was therefore not to be revealed further until the last years of Edward's reign.
The North, and the Council in the North
Richard was the dominant magnate in the north of England until Edward IV's death. There, and especially in the city of York, he was highly regarded; although it has been questioned whether this view was reciprocated by Richard. Edward IV delegated significant authority to Richard in the region. Kendall and later historians have suggested that this was with the intention of making Richard the Lord of the North; Peter Booth, however, has argued that "instead of allowing his brother Richard carte blanche, [Edward] restricted his influence by using his own agent, Sir William Parr." Following Richard's accession to the throne, he first established the Council of the North and made his nephew John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln, president and formally institutionalised this body as an offshoot of the royal Council; all its letters and judgements were issued on behalf of the king and in his name. The council had a budget of 2000 marks per annum and had issued "Regulations" by July of that year: councillors to act impartially and declare vested interests, and to meet at least every three months. Its main focus of operations was Yorkshire and the north-east, and its primary responsibilities were land disputes, keeping of the king's peace, and punishing lawbreakers.
War with Scotland
Richard's increasing role in the north from the mid-1470s to some extent explains his withdrawal from the royal court. He had been Warden of the West March on the Scottish border since 10 September 1470, and again from May 1471; he used Penrith as a base while 'taking effectual measures' against the Scots, and 'enjoyed the revenues of the estates' of the Forest of Cumberland while doing so. It was at the same time that the Duke of Gloucester was appointed sheriff of Cumberland five consecutive years, being described as 'of Penrith Castle' in 1478. By 1480, war with Scotland was looming; on 12 May that year he was appointed Lieutenant-General of the North (a position created for the occasion) as fears of a Scottish invasion grew. Louis XI of France had attempted to negotiate a military alliance with Scotland (in the tradition of the "Auld Alliance"), with the aim of attacking England, according to a contemporary French chronicler. Richard had the authority to summon the Border Levies and issue Commissions of Array to repel the Border raids. Together with the Earl of Northumberland, he launched counter-raids, and when the king and council formally declared war in November 1480, he was granted £10,000 for wages. The king failed to arrive to lead the English army and the result was intermittent skirmishing until early 1482. Richard witnessed the treaty with Alexander, Duke of Albany, brother of King James III of Scotland. Northumberland, Stanley, Dorset, Sir Edward Woodville, and Richard with approximately 20,000 men took the town of Berwick almost immediately. The castle held until 24 August 1482, when Richard recaptured Berwick-upon-Tweed from the Kingdom of Scotland. Although it is debatable whether the English victory was due more to internal Scottish divisions rather than any outstanding military prowess by Richard, it was the last time that the Royal Burgh of Berwick changed hands between the two realms.
Lord Protector
On the death of Edward IV on 9 April 1483, his 12-year-old son, Edward V, succeeded him. Richard was named Lord Protector of the Realm and at Baron Hastings' urging, Richard assumed his role and left his base in Yorkshire for London. On 29 April, as previously agreed, Richard and his cousin, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, met Queen Elizabeth's brother, Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, at Northampton. At the queen's request, Earl Rivers was escorting the young king to London with an armed escort of 2000 men, while Richard and Buckingham's joint escort was 600 men. Edward V himself had been sent further south to Stony Stratford. At first convivial, Richard had Earl Rivers, his nephew Richard Grey and his associate, Thomas Vaughan, arrested. They were taken to Pontefract Castle, where they were executed on 25 June on the charge of treason against the Lord Protector after appearing before a tribunal led by Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. Rivers had appointed Richard as executor of his will.
After having Rivers arrested, Richard and Buckingham moved to Stony Stratford, where Richard informed Edward V of a plot aimed at denying him his role as protector and whose perpetrators had been dealt with. He proceeded to escort the king to London. They entered the city on 4 May, displaying the carriages of weapons Rivers had taken with his 2000-man army. Richard first accommodated Edward in the Bishop's apartments; then, on Buckingham's suggestion, the king was moved to the royal apartments of the Tower of London, where kings customarily awaited their coronation. Within the year 1483, Richard had moved himself to the grandeur of Crosby Hall, London, then in Bishopsgate in the City of London. Robert Fabyan, in his 'The new chronicles of England and of France', writes that "the Duke caused the King (Edward V) to be removed unto the Tower and his broder with hym, and the Duke lodged himselfe in Crosbyes Place in Bisshoppesgate Strete." In Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, he accounts that "little by little all folke withdrew from the Tower, and drew unto Crosbies in Bishops gates Street, where the Protector kept his houshold. The Protector had the resort; the King in maner desolate."
On hearing the news of her brother's 30 April arrest, the dowager queen fled to sanctuary in Westminster Abbey. Joining her were her son by her first marriage, Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset; her five daughters; and her youngest son, Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. On 10/11 June, Richard wrote to Ralph, Lord Neville, the City of York and others asking for their support against "the Queen, her blood adherents and affinity," whom he suspected of plotting his murder. At a council meeting on Friday 13 June at the Tower of London, Richard accused Hastings and others of having conspired against him with the Woodvilles and accusing Jane Shore, lover to both Hastings and Thomas Grey, of acting as a go-between. According to Thomas More, Hastings was taken out of the council chambers and summarily executed in the courtyard, while others, like Lord Thomas Stanley and John Morton, Bishop of Ely, were arrested. Hastings was not attainted and Richard sealed an indenture that placed Hastings' widow, Katherine, directly under his own protection. Bishop Morton was released into the custody of Buckingham. On 16 June, the dowager queen agreed to hand over the Duke of York to the Archbishop of Canterbury so that he might attend his brother Edward's coronation, still planned for 22 June.
King of England
A clergyman (Bishop Robert Stillington) is said to have informed Richard that Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was invalid because of Edward's earlier union with Eleanor Butler, making Edward V and his siblings illegitimate. The identity of the informant, known only through the memoirs of French diplomat Philippe de Commines, was Robert Stillington, the Bishop of Bath and Wells. On Sunday 22 June, a sermon was preached outside Old St. Paul's Cathedral by Ralph Shaa, declaring Edward IV's children bastards and Richard the rightful king. Shortly after, the citizens of London, both nobles and commons, convened and drew up a petition asking Richard to assume the throne. He accepted on 26 June and was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 6 July. His title to the throne was confirmed by Parliament in January 1484 by the document Titulus Regius.
The princes, who were still lodged in the royal residence of the Tower of London at the time of Richard's coronation, disappeared from sight after the summer of 1483. Although after his death Richard III was accused of having Edward and his brother killed, notably by More and in Shakespeare's play, the facts surrounding their disappearance remain unknown. Other culprits have been suggested, including Buckingham and even Henry VII, although Richard remains a suspect.
After the coronation ceremony, Richard and Anne set out on a royal progress to meet their subjects. During this journey through the country, the king and queen endowed King's College and Queens' College at Cambridge University, and made grants to the church. Still feeling a strong bond with his northern estates, Richard later planned the establishment of a large chantry chapel in York Minster with over 100 priests. He also founded the College of Arms.
Buckingham's rebellion of 1483
In 1483, a conspiracy arose among a number of disaffected gentry, many of whom had been supporters of Edward IV and the "whole Yorkist establishment". The conspiracy was nominally led by Richard's former ally, the Duke of Buckingham, although it had begun as a Woodville-Beaufort conspiracy (being "well underway" by the time of the Duke's involvement). Indeed, Davies has suggested that it was "only the subsequent parliamentary attainder that placed Buckingham at the centre of events", in order to blame a single disaffected magnate motivated by greed, rather than "the embarrassing truth" that those opposing Richard were actually "overwhelmingly Edwardian loyalists". It is possible that they planned to depose Richard III and place Edward V back on the throne, and that when rumours arose that Edward and his brother were dead, Buckingham proposed that Henry Tudor should return from exile, take the throne and marry Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV. However, it has also been pointed out that as this narrative stems from Richard's own parliament of 1484, it should probably be treated "with caution". For his part, Buckingham raised a substantial force from his estates in Wales and the Marches. Henry, in exile in Brittany, enjoyed the support of the Breton treasurer Pierre Landais, who hoped Buckingham's victory would cement an alliance between Brittany and England.
Some of Henry Tudor's ships ran into a storm and were forced to return to Brittany or Normandy, while Henry himself anchored off Plymouth for a week before learning of Buckingham's failure. Buckingham's army was troubled by the same storm and deserted when Richard's forces came against them. Buckingham tried to escape in disguise, but was either turned in by a retainer for the bounty Richard had put on his head, or was discovered in hiding with him. He was convicted of treason and beheaded in Salisbury, near the Bull's Head Inn, on 2 November. His widow, Catherine Woodville, later married Jasper Tudor, the uncle of Henry Tudor. Richard made overtures to Landais, offering military support for Landais's weak regime under Francis II, Duke of Brittany, in exchange for Henry. Henry fled to Paris, where he secured support from the French regent Anne of Beaujeu, who supplied troops for an invasion in 1485.
Death at the Battle of Bosworth Field
On Monday 22 August 1485, Richard met the outnumbered forces of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Richard rode a white courser (an especially swift and strong horse). The size of Richard's army has been estimated at 8,000 and Henry's at 5,000, but exact numbers are not known, though the royal army is believed to have "substantially" outnumbered Henry's. The traditional view of the king's famous cries of "Treason!" before falling was that during the battle Richard was abandoned by Baron Stanley (made Earl of Derby in October), Sir William Stanley, and Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. However, the role of Northumberland is unclear; his position was with the reserve—behind the king's line—and he could not easily have moved forward without a general royal advance, which did not take place. Indeed, the physical confines behind the crest of Ambion Hill, combined with a difficulty of communications, probably physically hampered any attempt he made to join the fray. Despite appearing "a pillar of the Ricardian regime", and his previous loyalty to Edward IV, Baron Stanley was the stepfather of Henry Tudor, and Stanley's inaction combined with his brother's entering the battle on Tudor's behalf was fundamental to Richard's defeat. The death of Richard's close companion John Howard, Duke of Norfolk, may have had a demoralising effect on the king and his men. Either way, Richard led a cavalry charge deep into the enemy ranks in an attempt to end the battle quickly by striking at Henry Tudor himself.
Accounts note that King Richard fought bravely and ably during this manoeuvre, unhorsing Sir John Cheyne, a well-known jousting champion, killing Henry's standard bearer Sir William Brandon and coming within a sword's length of Henry Tudor before being surrounded by Sir William Stanley's men and killed. The Burgundian chronicler Jean Molinet says that a Welshman struck the death-blow with a halberd while Richard's horse was stuck in the marshy ground. It was said that the blows were so violent that the king's helmet was driven into his skull. The contemporary Welsh poet Guto'r Glyn implies a leading Welsh Lancastrian, Rhys ap Thomas, or one of his men killed the king, writing that he "killed the boar, shaved his head". The identification in 2013 of King Richard's body shows that the skeleton had 11 wounds, eight of them to the skull, clearly inflicted in battle and suggesting he had lost his helmet. Professor Guy Rutty, from the University of Leicester, said: "The most likely injuries to have caused the king's death are the two to the inferior aspect of the skull—a large sharp force trauma possibly from a sword or staff weapon, such as a halberd or bill, and a penetrating injury from the tip of an edged weapon." The skull showed that a blade had hacked away part of the rear of the skull. Richard III was the last English king to be killed in battle. Henry Tudor succeeded Richard as King Henry VII. He married the Yorkist heiress Elizabeth of York, Edward IV's daughter and Richard III's niece.
Polydore Vergil, Henry VII's official historian, recorded that "King Richard, alone, was killed fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies". Richard's naked body was then carried back to Leicester tied to a horse, and early sources strongly suggest that it was displayed in the collegiate Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke, prior to being buried at Greyfriars Church in Leicester. In 1495, Henry VII paid for a marble and alabaster monument. According to a discredited tradition, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, his body was thrown into the River Soar, although other evidence suggests that a memorial stone was visible in 1612, in a garden built on the site of Greyfriars. The exact location was then lost, owing to more than 400 years of subsequent development, until archaeological investigations in 2012 revealed the site of the garden and Greyfriars Church. There was a memorial ledger stone in the choir of the cathedral, since replaced by the tomb of the king, and a stone plaque on Bow Bridge where tradition had falsely suggested that his remains had been thrown into the river.
According to another tradition, Richard consulted a seer in Leicester before the battle who foretold that "where your spur should strike on the ride into battle, your head shall be broken on the return". On the ride into battle, his spur struck the bridge stone of Bow Bridge in the city; legend states that as his corpse was carried from the battle over the back of a horse, his head struck the same stone and was broken open.
Issue
Richard and Anne had one son, Edward of Middleham, who was born between 1474 and 1476. He was created Earl of Salisbury on 15 February 1478, and Prince of Wales on 24 August 1483, and died in March 1484, less than two months after he had been formally declared heir apparent. After the death of his son, Richard appointed his nephew John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, as Lieutenant of Ireland, an office previously held by his son Edward. Lincoln was the son of Richard's older sister, Elizabeth, Duchess of Suffolk. After his wife's death, Richard commenced negotiations with John II of Portugal to marry John's pious sister, Joanna, Princess of Portugal. She had already turned down several suitors because of her preference for the religious life.
Richard had two acknowledged illegitimate children, John of Gloucester and Katherine Plantagenet. Also known as 'John of Pontefract', John of Gloucester was appointed Captain of Calais in 1485. Katherine married William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, in 1484. Neither the birth dates nor the names of the mothers of either of the children is known. Katherine was old enough to be wedded in 1484, when the age of consent was twelve, and John was knighted in September 1483 in York Minster, and so most historians agree that they were both fathered when Richard was a teenager. There is no evidence of infidelity on Richard's part after his marriage to Anne Neville in 1472 when he was around 20. This has led to a suggestion by the historian A. L. Rowse that Richard "had no interest in sex".
Michael Hicks and Josephine Wilkinson have suggested that Katherine's mother may have been Katherine Haute, on the basis of the grant of an annual payment of 100 shillings made to her in 1477. The Haute family was related to the Woodvilles through the marriage of Elizabeth Woodville's aunt, Joan Woodville, to William Haute. One of their children was Richard Haute, Controller of the Prince's Household. Their daughter, Alice, married Sir John Fogge; they were ancestors to Catherine Parr, sixth wife of King Henry VIII. They also suggest that John's mother may have been Alice Burgh. Richard visited Pontefract from 1471, in April and October 1473, and in early March 1474, for a week. On 1 March 1474, he granted Alice Burgh £20 a year for life "for certain special causes and considerations". She later received another allowance, apparently for being engaged as a nurse for his brother George's son, Edward of Warwick. Richard continued her annuity when he became king. John Ashdown-Hill has suggested that John was conceived during Richard's first solo expedition to the eastern counties in the summer of 1467 at the invitation of John Howard and that the boy was born in 1468 and named after his friend and supporter. Richard himself noted John was still a minor (not being yet 21) when he issued the royal patent appointing him Captain of Calais on 11 March 1485, possibly on his seventeenth birthday.
Both of Richard's illegitimate children survived him, but they seem to have died without issue and their fate after Richard's demise at Bosworth is not certain. John received a £20 annuity from Henry VII, but there are no mentions of him in contemporary records after 1487 (the year of the Battle of Stoke Field). He may have been executed in 1499, though no record of this exists beyond an assertion by George Buck over a century later. Katherine apparently died before her cousin Elizabeth of York's coronation on 25 November 1487, since her husband Sir William Herbert is described as a widower by that time. Katherine's burial place was located in the London parish church of St James Garlickhithe, between Skinner's Lane and Upper Thames Street. The mysterious Richard Plantagenet, who was first mentioned in Francis Peck's Desiderata Curiosa (a two-volume miscellany published 1732–1735) was said to be a possible illegitimate child of Richard III and is sometimes referred to as "Richard the Master-Builder" or "Richard of Eastwell", but it has also been suggested he could have been Richard, Duke of York, one of the missing Princes in the Tower. He died in 1550.
Legacy
Richard's Council of the North, described as his "one major institutional innovation", derived from his ducal council following his own viceregal appointment by Edward IV; when Richard himself became king, he maintained the same conciliar structure in his absence. It officially became part of the royal council machinery under the presidency of John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln in April 1484, based at Sandal Castle in Wakefield. It is considered to have greatly improved conditions for northern England, as it was intended to keep the peace and punish lawbreakers, as well as resolve land disputes. Bringing regional governance directly under the control of central government, it has been described as the king's "most enduring monument", surviving unchanged until 1641.
In December 1483, Richard instituted what later became known as the Court of Requests, a court to which poor people who could not afford legal representation could apply for their grievances to be heard. He also improved bail in January 1484, to protect suspected felons from imprisonment before trial and to protect their property from seizure during that time. He founded the College of Arms in 1484, he banned restrictions on the printing and sale of books, and he ordered the translation of the written Laws and Statutes from the traditional French into English. During his reign, Parliament ended the arbitrary benevolence (a device by which Edward IV raised funds), made it punishable to conceal from a buyer of land that a part of the property had already been disposed of to somebody else, required that land sales be published, laid down property qualifications for jurors, restricted the abusive Courts of Piepowders, regulated cloth sales, instituted certain forms of trade protectionism, prohibited the sale of wine and oil in fraudulent measure, and prohibited fraudulent collection of clergy dues, among others. Churchill implies he improved the law of trusts.
Richard's death at Bosworth resulted in the end of the Plantagenet dynasty, which had ruled England since the succession of Henry II in 1154. The last legitimate male Plantagenet, Richard's nephew Edward, Earl of Warwick (son of his brother George, Duke of Clarence), was executed by Henry VII in 1499.
Reputation
There are numerous contemporary, or near-contemporary, sources of information about the reign of Richard III. These include the Croyland Chronicle, Commines' Mémoires, the report of Dominic Mancini, the Paston Letters, the Chronicles of Robert Fabyan and numerous court and official records, including a few letters by Richard himself. However, the debate about Richard's true character and motives continues, both because of the subjectivity of many of the written sources, reflecting the generally partisan nature of writers of this period, and because none was written by men with an intimate knowledge of Richard.
During Richard's reign, the historian John Rous praised him as a "good lord" who punished "oppressors of the commons", adding that he had "a great heart". In 1483 the Italian observer Mancini reported that Richard enjoyed a good reputation and that both "his private life and public activities powerfully attracted the esteem of strangers". His bond to the City of York, in particular, was such that on hearing of Richard's demise at the battle of Bosworth the City Council officially deplored the king's death, at the risk of facing the victor's wrath.
During his lifetime he was the subject of some attacks. Even in the North in 1482 a man was prosecuted for offences against the Duke of Gloucester, saying he did "nothing but grin at" the city of York. In 1484, attempts to discredit him took the form of hostile placards, the only surviving one being William Collingbourne's lampoon of July 1484 "The Cat, the Rat, and Lovell the Dog, all rule England under a Hog" which was pinned to the door of St. Paul's Cathedral and referred to Richard himself (the Hog) and his most trusted councillors William Catesby, Richard Ratcliffe and Francis, Viscount Lovell. On 30 March 1485 Richard felt forced to summon the Lords and London City Councillors to publicly deny the rumours that he had poisoned Queen Anne and that he had planned a marriage to his niece Elizabeth, at the same time ordering the Sheriff of London to imprison anyone spreading such slanders. The same orders were issued throughout the realm, including York where the royal pronouncement recorded in the City Records dates 5 April 1485 and carries specific instructions to suppress seditious talk and remove and destroy evidently hostile placards unread.
As for Richard's physical appearance, most contemporary descriptions bear out the evidence that aside from having one shoulder higher than the other (with chronicler Rous not able to correctly remember which one, as slight as the difference was), Richard had no other noticeable bodily deformity. John Stow talked to old men who, remembering him, said "that he was of bodily shape comely enough, only of low stature" and a German traveller, Nicolas von Poppelau, who spent ten days in Richard's household in May 1484, describes him as "three fingers taller than himself...much more lean, with delicate arms and legs and also a great heart." Six years after Richard's death, in 1491, a schoolmaster named William Burton, on hearing a defence of Richard, launched into a diatribe, accusing the dead king of being "a hypocrite and a crookback...who was deservedly buried in a ditch like a dog."
Richard's death encouraged the furtherance of this later negative image by his Tudor successors due to the fact that it helped to legitimise Henry VII's seizure of the throne. The Richard III Society contends that this means that "a lot of what people thought they knew about Richard III was pretty much propaganda and myth building." The Tudor characterisation culminated in the famous fictional portrayal of him in Shakespeare's play Richard III as a physically deformed, Machiavellian villain, ruthlessly committing numerous murders in order to claw his way to power; Shakespeare's intention perhaps being to use Richard III as a vehicle for creating his own Marlowesque protagonist. Rous himself in his History of the Kings of England, written during Henry VII's reign, initiated the process. He reversed his earlier position, and now portrayed Richard as a freakish individual who was born with teeth and shoulder-length hair after having been in his mother's womb for two years. His body was stunted and distorted, with one shoulder higher than the other, and he was "slight in body and weak in strength". Rous also attributes the murder of Henry VI to Richard, and claims that he poisoned his own wife. Jeremy Potter, a former Chair of the Richard III Society, claims that "At the bar of history Richard III continues to be guilty because it is impossible to prove him innocent. The Tudors ride high in popular esteem."
Polydore Vergil and Thomas More expanded on this portrayal, emphasising Richard's outward physical deformities as a sign of his inwardly twisted mind. More describes him as "little of stature, ill-featured of limbs, crook-backed ... hard-favoured of visage". Vergil also says he was "deformed of body ... one shoulder higher than the right". Both emphasise that Richard was devious and flattering, while planning the downfall of both his enemies and supposed friends. Richard's good qualities were his cleverness and bravery. All these characteristics are repeated by Shakespeare, who portrays him as having a hunch, a limp and a withered arm. With regard to the "hunch", the second quarto edition of Richard III (1598) used the term "hunched-backed" but in the First Folio edition (1623) it became "bunch-backed".
Richard's reputation as a promoter of legal fairness persisted, however. William Camden in his Remains Concerning Britain (1605) states that Richard, "albeit he lived wickedly, yet made good laws". Francis Bacon also states that he was "a good lawmaker for the ease and solace of the common people". In 1525, Cardinal Wolsey upbraided the aldermen and Mayor of London for relying on a statute of Richard to avoid paying an extorted tax (benevolence) but received the reply "although he did evil, yet in his time were many good acts made."
Richard was a practising Catholic, as shown by his personal Book of Hours, surviving in the Lambeth Palace library. As well as conventional aristocratic devotional texts, the book contains a Collect of Saint Ninian, referencing a saint popular in the Anglo-Scottish Borders.
Despite this, the image of Richard as a ruthless tyrant remained dominant in the 18th and 19th centuries. The 18th-century philosopher and historian David Hume described him as a man who used dissimulation to conceal "his fierce and savage nature" and who had "abandoned all principles of honour and humanity". Hume acknowledged that some historians have argued "that he was well qualified for government, had he legally obtained it; and that he committed no crimes but such as were necessary to procure him possession of the crown", but he dismissed this view on the grounds that Richard's exercise of arbitrary power encouraged instability. The most important late 19th century biographer of the king was James Gairdner, who also wrote the entry on Richard in the Dictionary of National Biography. Gairdner stated that he had begun to study Richard with a neutral viewpoint, but became convinced that Shakespeare and More were essentially correct in their view of the king, despite some exaggerations.
Richard was not without his defenders, the first of whom was Sir George Buck, a descendant of one of the king's supporters, who completed The history of King Richard the Third in 1619. The authoritative Buck text was published only in 1979, though a corrupted version was published by Buck's great-nephew in 1646. Buck attacked the "improbable imputations and strange and spiteful scandals" related by Tudor writers, including Richard's alleged deformities and murders. He located lost archival material, including the Titulus Regius, but also claimed to have seen a letter written by Elizabeth of York, according to which Elizabeth sought to marry the king. Elizabeth's supposed letter was never produced. Documents which later emerged from the Portuguese royal archives show that after Queen Anne's death, Richard's ambassadors were sent on a formal errand to negotiate a double marriage between Richard and the Portuguese king's sister Joanna, of Lancastrian descent, and between Elizabeth of York and Joanna's cousin Manuel, Duke of Viseu (later King of Portugal).
Significant among Richard's defenders was Horace Walpole. In Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third (1768), Walpole disputed all the alleged murders and argued that Richard may have acted in good faith. He also argued that any physical abnormality was probably no more than a minor distortion of the shoulders. However, he retracted his views in 1793 after the Terror, stating he now believed that Richard could have committed the crimes he was charged with, although Pollard observes that this retraction is frequently overlooked by later admirers of Richard. Other defenders of Richard include the noted explorer Clements Markham, whose Richard III: His Life and Character (1906) replied to the work of Gairdner. He argued that Henry VII killed the princes and that the bulk of evidence against Richard was nothing more than Tudor propaganda. An intermediate view was provided by Alfred Legge in The Unpopular King (1885). Legge argued that Richard's "greatness of soul" was eventually "warped and dwarfed" by the ingratitude of others.
Some twentieth-century historians have been less inclined to moral judgement, seeing Richard's actions as a product of the unstable times. In the words of Charles Ross, "the later fifteenth century in England is now seen as a ruthless and violent age as concerns the upper ranks of society, full of private feuds, intimidation, land-hunger, and litigiousness, and consideration of Richard's life and career against this background has tended to remove him from the lonely pinnacle of Villainy Incarnate on which Shakespeare had placed him. Like most men, he was conditioned by the standards of his age." The Richard III Society, founded in 1924 as "The Fellowship of the White Boar", is the oldest of several groups dedicated to improving his reputation. Other contemporary historians still describe him as a "power-hungry and ruthless politician" who was still most probably "ultimately responsible for the murder of his nephews."
In culture
Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature. Two other plays of the Elizabethan era predated Shakespeare's work. The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge is believed to be the first history play written in England. The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work, was probably an influence on Shakespeare. Neither of the two plays places any emphasis on Richard's physical appearance, though the True Tragedy briefly mentions that he is "A man ill shaped, crooked backed, lame armed" and "valiantly minded, but tyrannous in authority". Both portray him as a man motivated by personal ambition, who uses everyone around him to get his way. Ben Jonson is also known to have written a play Richard Crookback in 1602, but it was never published and nothing is known about its portrayal of the king.
Marjorie Bowen's 1929 novel Dickon set the trend for pro-Ricardian literature. Particularly influential was The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey, in which a modern detective concludes that Richard III is innocent in the death of the Princes. Other novelists such as Valerie Anand in the novel Crown of Roses (1989) have also offered alternative versions to the theory that he murdered them. Sharon Kay Penman, in her historical novel The Sunne in Splendour, attributes the death of the Princes to the Duke of Buckingham. In the mystery novel The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters (1974) the central plot revolves around the debate as to whether Richard III was guilty of these and other crimes. A sympathetic portrayal is given in The Founding (1980), the first volume in The Morland Dynasty series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.
One film adaptation of Shakespeare's play Richard III is the 1955 version directed and produced by Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. Also notable are the 1995 film version starring Ian McKellen, set in a fictional 1930s fascist England, and Looking for Richard, a 1996 documentary film directed by Al Pacino, who plays the title character as well as himself. The play has been adapted for television on several occasions.
Discovery of remains
On 24 August 2012, the University of Leicester and Leicester City Council, in association with the Richard III Society, announced that they had joined forces to begin a search for the remains of King Richard. The search for Richard III was led by Philippa Langley of the Society's Looking For Richard Project with the archaeological work led by University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS). Experts set out to locate the lost site of the former Greyfriars Church (demolished during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries), and to discover whether his remains were still interred there. By comparing fixed points between maps in a historical sequence, the search located the church, where Richard's body had been hastily buried without pomp in 1485, its foundations identifiable beneath a modern-day city centre car park.
The excavators announced on 5 September 2012 that they had identified Greyfriars Church and two days later that they had identified the location of Robert Herrick's garden, where the memorial to Richard III stood in the early 17th century. A human skeleton was found beneath the Church's choir.
Improbably, the excavators found the remains in the first location in which they dug at the car park. Coincidentally, they lay almost directly under a roughly painted R on the tarmac. This had existed since the early 2000s to signify a reserved parking space.
On 12 September, it was announced that the skeleton discovered during the search might be that of Richard III. Several reasons were given: the body was of an adult male; it was buried beneath the choir of the church; and there was severe scoliosis of the spine, possibly making one shoulder higher than the other (to what extent depended on the severity of the condition). Additionally, there was an object that appeared to be an arrowhead embedded in the spine; and there were perimortem injuries to the skull. These included a relatively shallow orifice, which is most likely to have been caused by a rondel dagger, and a scooping depression to the skull, inflicted by a bladed weapon, most probably a sword.
Further, the bottom of the skull presented a gaping hole, where a halberd had cut away and entered it. Forensic pathologist Stuart Hamilton stated that this injury would have left the individual's brain visible, and most certainly would have been the cause of death. Jo Appleby, the osteo-archaeologist who excavated the skeleton, concurred and described the latter as "a mortal battlefield wound in the back of the skull". The base of the skull also presented another fatal wound in which a bladed weapon had been thrust into it, leaving behind a jagged hole. Closer examination of the interior of the skull revealed a mark opposite this wound, showing that the blade penetrated to a depth of .
In total, the skeleton presented ten wounds: four minor injuries on the top of the skull, one dagger blow on the cheekbone, one cut on the lower jaw, two fatal injuries on the base of the skull, one cut on a rib bone, and one final wound on the pelvis, most probably inflicted after death. It is generally accepted that postmortem, Richard's naked body was tied to the back of a horse, with his arms slung over one side and his legs and buttocks over the other. This presented a tempting target for onlookers, and the angle of the blow on the pelvis suggests that one of them stabbed Richard's right buttock with substantial force, as the cut extends from the back all the way to the front of the pelvic bone and was most probably an act of humiliation. It is also possible that Richard and his corpse suffered other injuries which left no trace on the skeleton.
British historian John Ashdown-Hill had used genealogical research in 2004 to trace matrilineal descendants of Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter, Richard's elder sister. A British-born woman who emigrated to Canada after the Second World War, Joy Ibsen (), was found to be a 16th-generation great-niece of the king in the same direct maternal line. Her mitochondrial DNA was tested and belongs to mitochondrial DNA haplogroup J, which by deduction, should also be the mitochondrial DNA haplogroup of Richard III. Joy Ibsen died in 2008. Her son Michael Ibsen gave a mouth-swab sample to the research team on 24 August 2012. His mitochondrial DNA passed down the direct maternal line was compared to samples from the human remains found at the excavation site and used to identify King Richard.
On 4 February 2013, the University of Leicester confirmed that the skeleton was beyond reasonable doubt that of King Richard III. This conclusion was based on mitochondrial DNA evidence, soil analysis, and dental tests (there were some molars missing as a result of caries), as well as physical characteristics of the skeleton which are highly consistent with contemporary accounts of Richard's appearance. The team announced that the "arrowhead" discovered with the body was a Roman-era nail, probably disturbed when the body was first interred. However, there were numerous perimortem wounds on the body, and part of the skull had been sliced off with a bladed weapon; this would have caused rapid death. The team concluded that it is unlikely that the king was wearing a helmet in his last moments. Soil taken from the remains was found to contain microscopic roundworm eggs. Several eggs were found in samples taken from the pelvis, where the king's intestines were, but not from the skull and only very small numbers were identified in soil surrounding the grave. The findings suggest that the higher concentration of eggs in the pelvic area probably arose from a roundworm infection the king suffered in his life, rather than from human waste dumped in the area at a later date, researchers said. The mayor of Leicester announced that the king's skeleton would be re-interred at Leicester Cathedral in early 2014, but a judicial review of that decision delayed the reinterment for a year. A museum to Richard III was opened in July 2014 in the Victorian school buildings next to the Greyfriars grave site.
The proposal to have King Richard buried in Leicester attracted some controversy. Those who challenged the decision included fifteen "collateral [non-direct] descendants of Richard III", represented by the Plantagenet Alliance, who believed that the body should be reburied in York, as they claim the king wished. In August 2013, they filed a court case in order to contest Leicester's claim to re-inter the body within its cathedral, and propose the body be buried in York instead. However, Michael Ibsen, who gave the DNA sample that identified the king, gave his support to Leicester's claim to re-inter the body in their cathedral. On 20 August, a judge ruled that the opponents had the legal standing to contest his burial in Leicester Cathedral, despite a clause in the contract which had authorized the excavations requiring his burial there. He urged the parties, though, to settle out of court in order to "avoid embarking on the Wars of the Roses, Part Two". The Plantagenet Alliance, and the supporting fifteen collateral descendants, also faced the challenge that "Basic maths shows Richard, who had no surviving children but five siblings, could have millions of 'collateral' descendants" undermining the group's claim to represent "the only people who can speak on behalf of him". A ruling in May 2014 decreed that there are "no public law grounds for the Court interfering with the decisions in question". The remains were taken to Leicester Cathedral on 22 March 2015 and reinterred on 26 March.
On 5 February 2013 Professor Caroline Wilkinson of the University of Dundee conducted a facial reconstruction of Richard III, commissioned by the Richard III Society, based on 3D mappings of his skull. The face is described as "warm, young, earnest and rather serious". On 11 February 2014 the University of Leicester announced the project to sequence the entire genome of Richard III and one of his living relatives, Michael Ibsen, whose mitochondrial DNA confirmed the identification of the excavated remains. Richard III thus became the first ancient person of known historical identity whose genome has been sequenced. In 2016 contemporary British artist Alexander de Cadenet presented a skull portrait of Richard III in conjunction with Leicester University. The portraits have been produced using University of Leicester forensic X-ray scans of the king.
In November 2014, the results of the testing were announced, confirming that the maternal side was as previously thought. The paternal side, however, demonstrated some variance from what had been expected, with the DNA showing no links to the purported descendants of Richard's great-great-grandfather Edward III of England through Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort. This could be the result of covert illegitimacy that does not reflect the accepted genealogies between Richard and Edward III or between Edward III and the 5th Duke of Beaufort.
Reburial and tomb
After his death in battle in 1485, Richard III's body was buried in Greyfriars Church in Leicester. Following the discoveries of Richard's remains in 2012, it was decided that they should be reburied at Leicester Cathedral, despite feelings in some quarters that he should have been reburied in York Minster. His remains were carried in procession to the cathedral on 22 March 2015, and reburied on 26 March 2015 at a religious re-burial service at which both Tim Stevens, the Bishop of Leicester, and Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, officiated. The British royal family was represented by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Countess of Wessex. The actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who later portrayed him in The Hollow Crown television series, read a poem by poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy.
Richard's cathedral tomb was designed by the architects van Heyningen and Haward. The tombstone is deeply incised with a cross, and consists of a rectangular block of white Swaledale fossil stone, quarried in North Yorkshire. It sits on a low plinth made of dark Kilkenny marble, incised with Richard's name, dates and motto (Loyaulte me lie – loyalty binds me). The plinth also carries his coat of arms in pietra dura. The remains of Richard III are in a lead-lined inner casket, inside an outer English oak coffin crafted by Michael Ibsen, a direct descendant of Richard's sister Anne, and laid in a brick-lined vault below the floor, and below the plinth and tombstone. The original 2010 raised tomb design had been proposed by Langley's "Looking For Richard Project" and fully funded by members of the Richard III Society. The proposal was publicly launched by the Society on 13 February 2013 but rejected by Leicester Cathedral in favour of a memorial slab. However, following a public outcry, the Cathedral changed its position and on 18 July 2013 announced its agreement to give King Richard III a raised tomb monument.
Titles, styles, honours and arms
On 1 November 1461, Richard gained the title of Duke of Gloucester; in late 1461, he was invested as a Knight of the Garter. Following the death of King Edward IV, he was made Lord Protector of England. Richard held this office from 30 April to 26 June 1483, when he made himself king. During his reign, Richard was styled Dei Gratia Rex Angliae et Franciae et Dominus Hiberniae (by the Grace of God, King of England and France and Lord of Ireland).
Informally, he may have been known as "Dickon", according to a sixteenth-century legend of a note, warning of treachery, that was sent to the Duke of Norfolk on the eve of Bosworth:
Arms
As Duke of Gloucester, Richard used the Royal Arms of England quartered with the Royal Arms of France, differenced by a label argent of three points ermine, on each point a canton gules, supported by a blue boar. As sovereign, he used the arms of the kingdom undifferenced, supported by a white boar and a lion. His motto was Loyaulte me lie, "Loyalty binds me"; and his personal device was a white boar.
Family trees
See also
King Richard III Visitor Centre, Leicester
Ricardian (Richard III)
Richard III Museum, York
Notes
References
Sources
Further reading
External links
King Richard III Visitor Centre, Leicester
The Richard III Society website
The Richard III Society, American Branch website
Information about the discovery of Richard III from the University of Leicester
, with commentary by Pamela Tudor-Craig
1452 births
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"Lahore - A sentimental Journey is a novel by Indian author Pran Nevile in which he recollects his pre-partition days in Lahore. Published in 1993 by Penguin Book India. The author takes us back in the 1930s and 40s right into the heart of Lahore. The story is set against the time before the partition, between India and Pakistan, from the fall of brotherhood between the two nations through the invasion of British Empire.\n\nSummary\nThe book, sentimental Journey of Lahore reminds people of what Lahore was really like before the partition, the way Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims lived ensemble. He gives the reader a taste of what Lahore is really like. His book reminisces his childhood memories and gives an opportunity to the reader to see Lahore through the author’s eyes. Pran Nevile further explains how things became inevitable due to the conflict that was created by the British Empire. The book covers all aspects of Lahore from its rich culture, Mughal architecture, to warm welcoming people. His whole purpose was to remind people about the city of Lahore and revive the love he has in others' hearts. Nevile being a diplomat apprised in different countries the rich and exotic culture of Lahore. As the author says “I have travelled around the world but there is not a city like Lahore, the adage \"Lahore Lahore hay\" perfectly describes it ‘’ Pran Nevile.\n\nThe Author\nPran Nevile (born October 22, 1922) is an Indian author of Art, Culture & History renowned for the 1992 book, Lahore - A Sentimental Journey. Nevile‘s birthplace was Lahore and he completed his degree from the Government College of Lahore. He worked for the Indian Foreign Service and the United Nations. Due to his work, he got the privilege to work in Japan, Poland and Yugoslavia, former USSR and USA. He has also worked as the Director of the State Trading Corporation, Program Co-coordinator with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Geneva looking after East Europe and in-charge of 7 countries in East Europe He retired as a Consul General of India in Chicago. After retirement, he turned into a writer and is an expert in the study of Indian art and culture. The first academic piece of writing the author published. Prem Nevile had mainly written on Indian art, culture and he was an advisor for two BBC film son the Raj. He has also written books like Raj, Nautch Girls of India, Beyond the Veil, Rare Glimpses of the Raj, Stories from the Raj: Sahibs, Memsahibs and Others, and K.L. Saigal: Immortal Singer. He visited Lahore after such a long time was because “There was a reason for that. I didn’t want to disturb my images and memories of this city before my book was completed.’’ \"My friend (the late) Khalid Hasan used to call me 'Chalta Phirta Lahore', like people used to call 'Manto Chalta Phirta Bombay',\" he said. [6]\n\nSee also \n Lahore\n Punjab\n Indian literature\n\nExternal links\nPran Nevile's website\n\nReferences\n\n1992 books\nIndian autobiographies\nHistory of Lahore",
"\"You Are What You Is\" is a single which Frank Zappa released from his 1981 album of the same title. The song is known for going out of its way to use improper English, basically mocking the rest of its context. It was the B-side for 1982 single \"Valley Girl\". This song was also remixed for the 1984 album Thing-Fish.\n\nMeaning\nThe lyrics, which essentially tell the listener to be themselves and embrace their culture, tell the stories of two young men, both of whom Zappa describes as \"foolish\". The first man is from a middle class family who has a great life, but he pretends to come from a culture of hardship and sings the blues to be manly. Then the song refers to him as even trying to eat like someone going through hardship. He begins to talk like the character Kingfish, from the radio show Amos and Andy, who was known for being a heavily stereotypical black character. These themes overall relate to Zappa's dislike of poseurs. The second young man \"of the negro persuasion, devoted his life to become a caucasian\". Like the first man, he changes his diet to fit in with the culture he is looking to join. It goes over the stereotype of African-Americans eating pork and collard greens. His story is a commentary on African-Americans who are not proud of their heritage and feel following the Caucasian culture would bring them more acceptance. Eventually the song goes into a frenzy of racial stereotyped one-liners including involving a loose story about working at the post office and referencing lyrics in the next song that serves as a segue until it transitions into the next song, \"Mudd Club\".\n\nMusic video\nIn 1984, Zappa released a music video. Although the film clip used advanced color graphics on normal dance and singing type footage, its circulation was restricted due to parts of it where an actor, who was made to look like Ronald Reagan, was sitting in what looked like an electric chair whilst applying hair pomade. It is also notable for being the only conventional music video that Zappa ever made. The lyrics also contain the sentence \"I ain't no nigger no more\", which likely also had an effect on its broadcast. The video was banned from ever being aired on MTV. This didn't prevent it from being featured on \"Canoe\", a 1993 episode of the American television show Beavis and Butt-Head, also aired on MTV (though the show abruptly switches to \"The Animal Song\" by The Europeans early on, then returns to Zappa for the tail end of \"You Are What You Is\", to which Butt-Head replies, \"This is still on? That pisses me off!\").\n\nReferences to other songs\n\"You Are What You Is\" contains references to other songs throughout his career and on the album itself, commonly referred as Zappa's \"Conceptual Continuity\". References include \"Gimme a five dollar bill and an overcoat too\" from \"Wonderful Wino\" on Zoot Allures, \"Lonesome Cowboy Burt\" from \"200 Motels\", with the lyric \"Where's my waitress?\", and the song \"Harder Than Your Husband\", which is the 2nd song on the album. Another reference is \"Robbie, take me to Greek Town\", more prominent in \"Jumbo Go Away\", and \"I'm goin' down 'n' work the wall 'n' work the floor\" from \"Mudd Club.\"\n\nCovers\nThe a cappella group The Persuasions covered \"You Are What You Is\" on their album Frankly a Cappella.\n\nTrack list7\"A. \"You Are What You Is\" – 4:22\nB. \"Pink Napkins\" – 4:3212\"'\nA1. \"You Are What You Is\" – 4:22\nA2. \"Pink Napkins\" – 4:32\nB1. \"Harder Than Your Husband\" – 2:29\nB2. \"Soup 'N Old Clothes\" – 7:50\n\nReferences\n\n1981 songs\nFrank Zappa songs\nSongs written by Frank Zappa\nSong recordings produced by Frank Zappa\nSongs against racism and xenophobia\nCultural depictions of Ronald Reagan"
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"Richard III of England",
"In culture",
"What was his culture like",
"I don't know."
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What can you tell me about the section in culture
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What can you tell me about the section in culture for Richard III of England?
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Richard III of England
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Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature. Two other plays of the Elizabethan era predated Shakespeare's work. The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge is believed to be the first history play written in England. The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work, was probably an influence on Shakespeare. Neither of the two plays places any emphasis on Richard's physical appearance, though the True Tragedy briefly mentions that he is "A man ill shaped, crooked backed, lame armed" adding that he is "valiantly minded, but tyrannous in authority". Both portray him as a man motivated by personal ambition, who uses everyone around him to get his way. Ben Jonson is also known to have written a play Richard Crookback in 1602, but it was never published and nothing is known about its portrayal of the king. Marjorie Bowen's 1929 novel Dickon set the trend for pro-Ricardian literature. Particularly influential was The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey, in which a modern detective concludes that Richard III is innocent in the death of the Princes. Other novelists such as Valerie Anand in the novel Crown of Roses (1989) have also offered alternative versions to the theory that he murdered them. Sharon Kay Penman, in her historical novel The Sunne in Splendour, attributes the death of the Princes to the Duke of Buckingham. In the mystery novel The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters (1974) the central plot revolves around the debate as to whether Richard III was guilty of these and other crimes. A sympathetic portrayal of Richard III is given in The Founding, the first volume in The Morland Dynasty series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. One film adaptation of Shakespeare's play Richard III is the 1955 version directed and produced by Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. Also notable are the 1995 film version starring Ian McKellen, set in a fictional 1930s fascist England, and Looking for Richard, a 1996 documentary film directed by Al Pacino, who plays the title character as well as himself. The play has been adapted for television on several occasions. CANNOTANSWER
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Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature.
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Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. He is the protagonist of Richard III, one of William Shakespeare's history/tragedy plays.
Richard was created Duke of Gloucester in 1461 after the accession of his brother King Edward IV. In 1472, he married Anne Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. He governed northern England during Edward's reign, and played a role in the invasion of Scotland in 1482. When Edward IV died in April 1483, Richard was named Lord Protector of the realm for Edward's eldest son and successor, the 12-year-old Edward V. Arrangements were made for Edward V's coronation on 22 June 1483. Before the king could be crowned, the marriage of his parents was declared bigamous and therefore invalid. Now officially illegitimate, their children were barred from inheriting the throne. On 25 June, an assembly of lords and commoners endorsed a declaration to this effect, and proclaimed Richard as the rightful king. He was crowned on 6 July 1483. Edward and his younger brother Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, called the "Princes in the Tower", were not seen in public after August, and accusations circulated that they had been murdered on King Richard's orders, under the Tudor rule a few years later.
There were two major rebellions against Richard during his reign. In October 1483, an unsuccessful revolt was led by staunch allies of Edward IV and Richard's former ally, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. Then, in August 1485, Henry Tudor and his uncle, Jasper Tudor, landed in southern Wales with a contingent of French troops, and marched through Pembrokeshire, recruiting soldiers. Henry's forces defeated Richard's army near the Leicestershire town of Market Bosworth. Richard was slain, making him the last English king to die in battle. Henry Tudor then ascended the throne as Henry VII.
Richard's corpse was taken to the nearby town of Leicester and buried without ceremony. His original tomb monument is believed to have been removed during the English Reformation, and his remains were wrongly thought to have been thrown into the River Soar. In 2012, an archaeological excavation was commissioned by the Richard III Society on the site previously occupied by Grey Friars Priory. The University of Leicester identified the skeleton found in the excavation as that of Richard III as a result of radiocarbon dating, comparison with contemporary reports of his appearance, and comparison of his mitochondrial DNA with that of two matrilineal descendants of his sister Anne. He was reburied in Leicester Cathedral on 26 March 2015.
Early life
Richard was born on 2 October 1452, at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire, the eleventh of the twelve children of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the youngest to survive infancy. His childhood coincided with the beginning of what has traditionally been labelled the 'Wars of the Roses', a period of political instability and periodic open civil war in England during the second half of the fifteenth century, between the Yorkists, who supported Richard's father (a potential claimant to the throne of King Henry VI from birth), and opposed the regime of Henry VI and his wife, Margaret of Anjou, and the Lancastrians, who were loyal to the crown. In 1459, his father and the Yorkists were forced to flee England, whereupon Richard and his older brother George were placed in the custody of their aunt Anne Neville, Duchess of Buckingham, and possibly of Cardinal Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury.
When their father and elder brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland, were killed at the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December 1460, Richard and George were sent by their mother to the Low Countries. They returned to England following the defeat of the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton. They participated in the coronation of their eldest brother as King Edward IV on 28 June 1461, when Richard was named Duke of Gloucester and made both a Knight of the Garter and a Knight of the Bath. Edward appointed him the sole Commissioner of Array for the Western Counties in 1464 when he was 11. By the age of 17, he had an independent command.
Richard spent several years during his childhood at Middleham Castle in Wensleydale, Yorkshire, under the tutelage of his cousin Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, later known as 'the Kingmaker' because of his role in the Wars of the Roses. Warwick supervised Richard's training as a knight; in the autumn of 1465, Edward IV granted Warwick £1000 for the expenses of his younger brother's tutelage. With some interruptions, Richard stayed at Middleham either from late 1461 until early 1465, when he was 12 or from 1465 until his coming of age in 1468, when he turned 16. While at Warwick's estate, it is likely that he met both Francis Lovell, who would be his firm supporter later in his life, and Warwick's younger daughter, his future wife Anne Neville.
It is possible that even at this early stage Warwick was considering the king's brothers as strategic matches for his daughters, Isabel and Anne: young aristocrats were often sent to be raised in the households of their intended future partners, as had been the case for the young dukes' father, Richard of York. As the relationship between the king and Warwick became strained, Edward IV opposed the match. During Warwick's lifetime, George was the only royal brother to marry one of his daughters, the elder, Isabel, on 12 July 1469, without the king's permission. George joined his father-in-law's revolt against the king, while Richard remained loyal to Edward, even though he was rumoured to have been sleeping with Anne.
Richard and Edward were forced to flee to Burgundy in October 1470 after Warwick defected to the side of the former Lancastrian queen Margaret of Anjou. In 1468, Richard's sister Margaret had married Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy, and the brothers could expect a welcome there. Edward was restored to the throne in the spring of 1471, following the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, in both of which the 18-year-old Richard played a crucial role.
During his adolescence, and due to a cause that is unknown, Richard developed a sideways curvature of the spine (Scoliosis). In 2014, after the discovery of Richard's remains, the osteoarchaeologist Dr. Jo Appleby, of Leicester University's School of Archaeology and Ancient History, imaged the spinal column, and reconstructed a model using 3D printing, and concluded that though the spinal scoliosis looked dramatic, it probably did not cause any major physical deformity that could not be disguised by clothing.
Marriage and family relationships
Following a decisive Yorkist victory over the Lancastrians at the Battle of Tewkesbury, Richard married Anne Neville on 12 July 1472. By the end of 1470 Anne had previously been wedded to Edward of Westminster, only son of Henry VI, to seal her father's allegiance to the Lancastrian party. Edward died at the Battle of Tewkesbury on 4 May 1471, while Warwick had died at the Battle of Barnet on 14 April 1471. Richard's marriage plans brought him into conflict with his brother George. John Paston's letter of 17 February 1472 makes it clear that George was not happy about the marriage but grudgingly accepted it on the basis that "he may well have my Lady his sister-in-law, but they shall part no livelihood". The reason was the inheritance Anne shared with her elder sister Isabel, whom George had married in 1469. It was not only the earldom that was at stake; Richard Neville had inherited it as a result of his marriage to Anne Beauchamp, 16th Countess of Warwick. The Countess, who was still alive, was technically the owner of the substantial Beauchamp estates, her father having left no male heirs.
The Croyland Chronicle records that Richard agreed to a prenuptial contract in the following terms: "the marriage of the Duke of Gloucester with Anne before-named was to take place, and he was to have such and so much of the earl's lands as should be agreed upon between them through the mediation of arbitrators; while all the rest were to remain in the possession of the Duke of Clarence". The date of Paston's letter suggests the marriage was still being negotiated in February 1472. In order to win George's final consent to the marriage, Richard renounced most of the Earl of Warwick's land and property including the earldoms of Warwick (which the Kingmaker had held in his wife's right) and Salisbury and surrendered to George the office of Great Chamberlain of England. Richard retained Neville's forfeit estates he had already been granted in the summer of 1471: Penrith, Sheriff Hutton and Middleham, where he later established his marital household.
The requisite papal dispensation was obtained dated 22 April 1472. Michael Hicks has suggested that the terms of the dispensation deliberately understated the degrees of consanguinity between the couple, and the marriage was therefore illegal on the ground of first degree consanguinity following George's marriage to Anne's sister Isabel. There would have been first-degree consanguinity if Richard had sought to marry Isabel (in case of widowhood) after she had married his brother George, but no such consanguinity applied for Anne and Richard. Richard's marriage to Anne was never declared null, and it was public to everyone including secular and canon lawyers for 13 years.
In June 1473, Richard persuaded his mother-in-law to leave the sanctuary and come to live under his protection at Middleham. Later in the year, under the terms of the 1473 Act of Resumption, George lost some of the property he held under royal grant and made no secret of his displeasure. John Paston's letter of November 1473 says that King Edward planned to put both his younger brothers in their place by acting as "a stifler atween them". Early in 1474, Parliament assembled and Edward attempted to reconcile his brothers by stating that both men, and their wives, would enjoy the Warwick inheritance just as if the Countess of Warwick "was naturally dead". The doubts cast by George on the validity of Richard and Anne's marriage were addressed by a clause protecting their rights in the event they were divorced (i.e. of their marriage being declared null and void by the Church) and then legally remarried to each other, and also protected Richard's rights while waiting for such a valid second marriage with Anne. The following year, Richard was rewarded with all the Neville lands in the north of England, at the expense of Anne's cousin, George Neville, 1st Duke of Bedford. From this point, George seems to have fallen steadily out of King Edward's favour, his discontent coming to a head in 1477 when, following Isabel's death, he was denied the opportunity to marry Mary of Burgundy, the stepdaughter of his sister Margaret, even though Margaret approved the proposed match. There is no evidence of Richard's involvement in George's subsequent conviction and execution on a charge of treason.
Reign of Edward IV
Estates and titles
Richard was granted the Duchy of Gloucester on 1 November 1461, and on 12 August the next year was awarded large estates in northern England, including the lordships of Richmond in Yorkshire, and Pembroke in Wales. He gained the forfeited lands of the Lancastrian John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, in East Anglia. In 1462, on his birthday, he was made Constable of Gloucester and Corfe Castles and Admiral of England, Ireland and Aquitaine and appointed Governor of the North, becoming the richest and most powerful noble in England. On 17 October 1469, he was made Constable of England. In November, he replaced William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, as Chief Justice of North Wales. The following year, he was appointed Chief Steward and Chamberlain of Wales. On 18 May 1471, Richard was named Great Chamberlain and Lord High Admiral of England. Other positions followed: High Sheriff of Cumberland for life, Lieutenant of the North and Commander-in-Chief against the Scots and hereditary Warden of the West March. Two months later, on 14 July, he gained the Lordships of the strongholds Sheriff Hutton and Middleham in Yorkshire and Penrith in Cumberland, which had belonged to Warwick the Kingmaker. It is possible that the grant of Middleham seconded Richard's personal wishes.
Exile and return
During the latter part of Edward IV's reign, Richard demonstrated his loyalty to the king, in contrast to their brother George who had allied himself with the Earl of Warwick when the latter rebelled towards the end of the 1460s. Following Warwick's 1470 rebellion, before which he had made peace with Margaret of Anjou and promised the restoration of Henry VI to the English throne, Richard, the Baron Hastings and Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, escaped capture at Doncaster by Warwick's brother, John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu. On 2 October they sailed from King's Lynn in two ships; Edward landed at Marsdiep and Richard at Zeeland. It was said that, having left England in such haste as to possess almost nothing, Edward was forced to pay their passage with his fur cloak; certainly, Richard borrowed three pounds from Zeeland's town bailiff. They were attainted by Warwick's only Parliament on 26 November. They resided in Bruges with Louis de Gruthuse, who had been the Burgundian Ambassador to Edward's court, but it was not until Louis XI of France declared war on Burgundy that Charles, Duke of Burgundy, assisted their return, providing, along with the Hanseatic merchants, £20,000, 36 ships and 1200 men. They departed Flushing for England on 11 March 1471. Warwick's arrest of local sympathisers prevented them from landing in Yorkist East Anglia and on 14 March, after being separated in a storm, their ships ran ashore at Holderness. The town of Hull refused Edward entry. He gained entry to York by using the same claim as Henry of Bolingbroke had before deposing Richard II in 1399; that is, that he was merely reclaiming the Dukedom of York rather than the crown. It was in Edward's attempt to regain his throne that Richard began to demonstrate his skill as a military commander.
1471 military campaign
Once Edward had regained the support of his brother George, he mounted a swift and decisive campaign to regain the crown through combat; it is believed that Richard was his principal lieutenant as some of the king's earliest support came from members of Richard's affinity, including Sir James Harrington and Sir William Parr, who brought 600 men-at-arms to them at Doncaster. Richard may have led the vanguard at the Battle of Barnet, in his first command, on 14 April 1471, where he outflanked the wing of Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, although the degree to which his command was fundamental may have been exaggerated. That Richard's personal household sustained losses indicates he was in the thick of the fighting. A contemporary source is clear about his holding the vanguard for Edward at Tewkesbury, deployed against the Lancastrian vanguard under Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset, on 4 May 1471, and his role two days later, as Constable of England, sitting alongside John Howard as Earl Marshal, in the trial and sentencing of leading Lancastrians captured after the battle.
1475 invasion of France
At least in part resentful of King Louis XI's previous support of his Lancastrian opponents, and possibly in support of his brother-in-law Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, Edward went to parliament in October 1472 for funding a military campaign, and eventually landed in Calais on 4 July 1475. Richard's was the largest private contingent of his army. Although well known to have publicly been against the eventual treaty signed with Louis XI at Picquigny (and absent from the negotiations, in which one of his rank would have been expected to take a leading role), he acted as Edward's witness when the king instructed his delegates to the French court, and received 'some very fine presents' from Louis on a visit to the French king at Amiens. In refusing other gifts, which included 'pensions' in the guise of 'tribute', he was joined only by Cardinal Bourchier. He supposedly disapproved of Edward's policy of personally benefiting—politically and financially—from a campaign paid for out of a parliamentary grant, and hence out of public funds. Any military prowess was therefore not to be revealed further until the last years of Edward's reign.
The North, and the Council in the North
Richard was the dominant magnate in the north of England until Edward IV's death. There, and especially in the city of York, he was highly regarded; although it has been questioned whether this view was reciprocated by Richard. Edward IV delegated significant authority to Richard in the region. Kendall and later historians have suggested that this was with the intention of making Richard the Lord of the North; Peter Booth, however, has argued that "instead of allowing his brother Richard carte blanche, [Edward] restricted his influence by using his own agent, Sir William Parr." Following Richard's accession to the throne, he first established the Council of the North and made his nephew John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln, president and formally institutionalised this body as an offshoot of the royal Council; all its letters and judgements were issued on behalf of the king and in his name. The council had a budget of 2000 marks per annum and had issued "Regulations" by July of that year: councillors to act impartially and declare vested interests, and to meet at least every three months. Its main focus of operations was Yorkshire and the north-east, and its primary responsibilities were land disputes, keeping of the king's peace, and punishing lawbreakers.
War with Scotland
Richard's increasing role in the north from the mid-1470s to some extent explains his withdrawal from the royal court. He had been Warden of the West March on the Scottish border since 10 September 1470, and again from May 1471; he used Penrith as a base while 'taking effectual measures' against the Scots, and 'enjoyed the revenues of the estates' of the Forest of Cumberland while doing so. It was at the same time that the Duke of Gloucester was appointed sheriff of Cumberland five consecutive years, being described as 'of Penrith Castle' in 1478. By 1480, war with Scotland was looming; on 12 May that year he was appointed Lieutenant-General of the North (a position created for the occasion) as fears of a Scottish invasion grew. Louis XI of France had attempted to negotiate a military alliance with Scotland (in the tradition of the "Auld Alliance"), with the aim of attacking England, according to a contemporary French chronicler. Richard had the authority to summon the Border Levies and issue Commissions of Array to repel the Border raids. Together with the Earl of Northumberland, he launched counter-raids, and when the king and council formally declared war in November 1480, he was granted £10,000 for wages. The king failed to arrive to lead the English army and the result was intermittent skirmishing until early 1482. Richard witnessed the treaty with Alexander, Duke of Albany, brother of King James III of Scotland. Northumberland, Stanley, Dorset, Sir Edward Woodville, and Richard with approximately 20,000 men took the town of Berwick almost immediately. The castle held until 24 August 1482, when Richard recaptured Berwick-upon-Tweed from the Kingdom of Scotland. Although it is debatable whether the English victory was due more to internal Scottish divisions rather than any outstanding military prowess by Richard, it was the last time that the Royal Burgh of Berwick changed hands between the two realms.
Lord Protector
On the death of Edward IV on 9 April 1483, his 12-year-old son, Edward V, succeeded him. Richard was named Lord Protector of the Realm and at Baron Hastings' urging, Richard assumed his role and left his base in Yorkshire for London. On 29 April, as previously agreed, Richard and his cousin, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, met Queen Elizabeth's brother, Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, at Northampton. At the queen's request, Earl Rivers was escorting the young king to London with an armed escort of 2000 men, while Richard and Buckingham's joint escort was 600 men. Edward V himself had been sent further south to Stony Stratford. At first convivial, Richard had Earl Rivers, his nephew Richard Grey and his associate, Thomas Vaughan, arrested. They were taken to Pontefract Castle, where they were executed on 25 June on the charge of treason against the Lord Protector after appearing before a tribunal led by Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. Rivers had appointed Richard as executor of his will.
After having Rivers arrested, Richard and Buckingham moved to Stony Stratford, where Richard informed Edward V of a plot aimed at denying him his role as protector and whose perpetrators had been dealt with. He proceeded to escort the king to London. They entered the city on 4 May, displaying the carriages of weapons Rivers had taken with his 2000-man army. Richard first accommodated Edward in the Bishop's apartments; then, on Buckingham's suggestion, the king was moved to the royal apartments of the Tower of London, where kings customarily awaited their coronation. Within the year 1483, Richard had moved himself to the grandeur of Crosby Hall, London, then in Bishopsgate in the City of London. Robert Fabyan, in his 'The new chronicles of England and of France', writes that "the Duke caused the King (Edward V) to be removed unto the Tower and his broder with hym, and the Duke lodged himselfe in Crosbyes Place in Bisshoppesgate Strete." In Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, he accounts that "little by little all folke withdrew from the Tower, and drew unto Crosbies in Bishops gates Street, where the Protector kept his houshold. The Protector had the resort; the King in maner desolate."
On hearing the news of her brother's 30 April arrest, the dowager queen fled to sanctuary in Westminster Abbey. Joining her were her son by her first marriage, Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset; her five daughters; and her youngest son, Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. On 10/11 June, Richard wrote to Ralph, Lord Neville, the City of York and others asking for their support against "the Queen, her blood adherents and affinity," whom he suspected of plotting his murder. At a council meeting on Friday 13 June at the Tower of London, Richard accused Hastings and others of having conspired against him with the Woodvilles and accusing Jane Shore, lover to both Hastings and Thomas Grey, of acting as a go-between. According to Thomas More, Hastings was taken out of the council chambers and summarily executed in the courtyard, while others, like Lord Thomas Stanley and John Morton, Bishop of Ely, were arrested. Hastings was not attainted and Richard sealed an indenture that placed Hastings' widow, Katherine, directly under his own protection. Bishop Morton was released into the custody of Buckingham. On 16 June, the dowager queen agreed to hand over the Duke of York to the Archbishop of Canterbury so that he might attend his brother Edward's coronation, still planned for 22 June.
King of England
A clergyman (Bishop Robert Stillington) is said to have informed Richard that Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was invalid because of Edward's earlier union with Eleanor Butler, making Edward V and his siblings illegitimate. The identity of the informant, known only through the memoirs of French diplomat Philippe de Commines, was Robert Stillington, the Bishop of Bath and Wells. On Sunday 22 June, a sermon was preached outside Old St. Paul's Cathedral by Ralph Shaa, declaring Edward IV's children bastards and Richard the rightful king. Shortly after, the citizens of London, both nobles and commons, convened and drew up a petition asking Richard to assume the throne. He accepted on 26 June and was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 6 July. His title to the throne was confirmed by Parliament in January 1484 by the document Titulus Regius.
The princes, who were still lodged in the royal residence of the Tower of London at the time of Richard's coronation, disappeared from sight after the summer of 1483. Although after his death Richard III was accused of having Edward and his brother killed, notably by More and in Shakespeare's play, the facts surrounding their disappearance remain unknown. Other culprits have been suggested, including Buckingham and even Henry VII, although Richard remains a suspect.
After the coronation ceremony, Richard and Anne set out on a royal progress to meet their subjects. During this journey through the country, the king and queen endowed King's College and Queens' College at Cambridge University, and made grants to the church. Still feeling a strong bond with his northern estates, Richard later planned the establishment of a large chantry chapel in York Minster with over 100 priests. He also founded the College of Arms.
Buckingham's rebellion of 1483
In 1483, a conspiracy arose among a number of disaffected gentry, many of whom had been supporters of Edward IV and the "whole Yorkist establishment". The conspiracy was nominally led by Richard's former ally, the Duke of Buckingham, although it had begun as a Woodville-Beaufort conspiracy (being "well underway" by the time of the Duke's involvement). Indeed, Davies has suggested that it was "only the subsequent parliamentary attainder that placed Buckingham at the centre of events", in order to blame a single disaffected magnate motivated by greed, rather than "the embarrassing truth" that those opposing Richard were actually "overwhelmingly Edwardian loyalists". It is possible that they planned to depose Richard III and place Edward V back on the throne, and that when rumours arose that Edward and his brother were dead, Buckingham proposed that Henry Tudor should return from exile, take the throne and marry Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV. However, it has also been pointed out that as this narrative stems from Richard's own parliament of 1484, it should probably be treated "with caution". For his part, Buckingham raised a substantial force from his estates in Wales and the Marches. Henry, in exile in Brittany, enjoyed the support of the Breton treasurer Pierre Landais, who hoped Buckingham's victory would cement an alliance between Brittany and England.
Some of Henry Tudor's ships ran into a storm and were forced to return to Brittany or Normandy, while Henry himself anchored off Plymouth for a week before learning of Buckingham's failure. Buckingham's army was troubled by the same storm and deserted when Richard's forces came against them. Buckingham tried to escape in disguise, but was either turned in by a retainer for the bounty Richard had put on his head, or was discovered in hiding with him. He was convicted of treason and beheaded in Salisbury, near the Bull's Head Inn, on 2 November. His widow, Catherine Woodville, later married Jasper Tudor, the uncle of Henry Tudor. Richard made overtures to Landais, offering military support for Landais's weak regime under Francis II, Duke of Brittany, in exchange for Henry. Henry fled to Paris, where he secured support from the French regent Anne of Beaujeu, who supplied troops for an invasion in 1485.
Death at the Battle of Bosworth Field
On Monday 22 August 1485, Richard met the outnumbered forces of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Richard rode a white courser (an especially swift and strong horse). The size of Richard's army has been estimated at 8,000 and Henry's at 5,000, but exact numbers are not known, though the royal army is believed to have "substantially" outnumbered Henry's. The traditional view of the king's famous cries of "Treason!" before falling was that during the battle Richard was abandoned by Baron Stanley (made Earl of Derby in October), Sir William Stanley, and Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. However, the role of Northumberland is unclear; his position was with the reserve—behind the king's line—and he could not easily have moved forward without a general royal advance, which did not take place. Indeed, the physical confines behind the crest of Ambion Hill, combined with a difficulty of communications, probably physically hampered any attempt he made to join the fray. Despite appearing "a pillar of the Ricardian regime", and his previous loyalty to Edward IV, Baron Stanley was the stepfather of Henry Tudor, and Stanley's inaction combined with his brother's entering the battle on Tudor's behalf was fundamental to Richard's defeat. The death of Richard's close companion John Howard, Duke of Norfolk, may have had a demoralising effect on the king and his men. Either way, Richard led a cavalry charge deep into the enemy ranks in an attempt to end the battle quickly by striking at Henry Tudor himself.
Accounts note that King Richard fought bravely and ably during this manoeuvre, unhorsing Sir John Cheyne, a well-known jousting champion, killing Henry's standard bearer Sir William Brandon and coming within a sword's length of Henry Tudor before being surrounded by Sir William Stanley's men and killed. The Burgundian chronicler Jean Molinet says that a Welshman struck the death-blow with a halberd while Richard's horse was stuck in the marshy ground. It was said that the blows were so violent that the king's helmet was driven into his skull. The contemporary Welsh poet Guto'r Glyn implies a leading Welsh Lancastrian, Rhys ap Thomas, or one of his men killed the king, writing that he "killed the boar, shaved his head". The identification in 2013 of King Richard's body shows that the skeleton had 11 wounds, eight of them to the skull, clearly inflicted in battle and suggesting he had lost his helmet. Professor Guy Rutty, from the University of Leicester, said: "The most likely injuries to have caused the king's death are the two to the inferior aspect of the skull—a large sharp force trauma possibly from a sword or staff weapon, such as a halberd or bill, and a penetrating injury from the tip of an edged weapon." The skull showed that a blade had hacked away part of the rear of the skull. Richard III was the last English king to be killed in battle. Henry Tudor succeeded Richard as King Henry VII. He married the Yorkist heiress Elizabeth of York, Edward IV's daughter and Richard III's niece.
Polydore Vergil, Henry VII's official historian, recorded that "King Richard, alone, was killed fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies". Richard's naked body was then carried back to Leicester tied to a horse, and early sources strongly suggest that it was displayed in the collegiate Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke, prior to being buried at Greyfriars Church in Leicester. In 1495, Henry VII paid for a marble and alabaster monument. According to a discredited tradition, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, his body was thrown into the River Soar, although other evidence suggests that a memorial stone was visible in 1612, in a garden built on the site of Greyfriars. The exact location was then lost, owing to more than 400 years of subsequent development, until archaeological investigations in 2012 revealed the site of the garden and Greyfriars Church. There was a memorial ledger stone in the choir of the cathedral, since replaced by the tomb of the king, and a stone plaque on Bow Bridge where tradition had falsely suggested that his remains had been thrown into the river.
According to another tradition, Richard consulted a seer in Leicester before the battle who foretold that "where your spur should strike on the ride into battle, your head shall be broken on the return". On the ride into battle, his spur struck the bridge stone of Bow Bridge in the city; legend states that as his corpse was carried from the battle over the back of a horse, his head struck the same stone and was broken open.
Issue
Richard and Anne had one son, Edward of Middleham, who was born between 1474 and 1476. He was created Earl of Salisbury on 15 February 1478, and Prince of Wales on 24 August 1483, and died in March 1484, less than two months after he had been formally declared heir apparent. After the death of his son, Richard appointed his nephew John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, as Lieutenant of Ireland, an office previously held by his son Edward. Lincoln was the son of Richard's older sister, Elizabeth, Duchess of Suffolk. After his wife's death, Richard commenced negotiations with John II of Portugal to marry John's pious sister, Joanna, Princess of Portugal. She had already turned down several suitors because of her preference for the religious life.
Richard had two acknowledged illegitimate children, John of Gloucester and Katherine Plantagenet. Also known as 'John of Pontefract', John of Gloucester was appointed Captain of Calais in 1485. Katherine married William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, in 1484. Neither the birth dates nor the names of the mothers of either of the children is known. Katherine was old enough to be wedded in 1484, when the age of consent was twelve, and John was knighted in September 1483 in York Minster, and so most historians agree that they were both fathered when Richard was a teenager. There is no evidence of infidelity on Richard's part after his marriage to Anne Neville in 1472 when he was around 20. This has led to a suggestion by the historian A. L. Rowse that Richard "had no interest in sex".
Michael Hicks and Josephine Wilkinson have suggested that Katherine's mother may have been Katherine Haute, on the basis of the grant of an annual payment of 100 shillings made to her in 1477. The Haute family was related to the Woodvilles through the marriage of Elizabeth Woodville's aunt, Joan Woodville, to William Haute. One of their children was Richard Haute, Controller of the Prince's Household. Their daughter, Alice, married Sir John Fogge; they were ancestors to Catherine Parr, sixth wife of King Henry VIII. They also suggest that John's mother may have been Alice Burgh. Richard visited Pontefract from 1471, in April and October 1473, and in early March 1474, for a week. On 1 March 1474, he granted Alice Burgh £20 a year for life "for certain special causes and considerations". She later received another allowance, apparently for being engaged as a nurse for his brother George's son, Edward of Warwick. Richard continued her annuity when he became king. John Ashdown-Hill has suggested that John was conceived during Richard's first solo expedition to the eastern counties in the summer of 1467 at the invitation of John Howard and that the boy was born in 1468 and named after his friend and supporter. Richard himself noted John was still a minor (not being yet 21) when he issued the royal patent appointing him Captain of Calais on 11 March 1485, possibly on his seventeenth birthday.
Both of Richard's illegitimate children survived him, but they seem to have died without issue and their fate after Richard's demise at Bosworth is not certain. John received a £20 annuity from Henry VII, but there are no mentions of him in contemporary records after 1487 (the year of the Battle of Stoke Field). He may have been executed in 1499, though no record of this exists beyond an assertion by George Buck over a century later. Katherine apparently died before her cousin Elizabeth of York's coronation on 25 November 1487, since her husband Sir William Herbert is described as a widower by that time. Katherine's burial place was located in the London parish church of St James Garlickhithe, between Skinner's Lane and Upper Thames Street. The mysterious Richard Plantagenet, who was first mentioned in Francis Peck's Desiderata Curiosa (a two-volume miscellany published 1732–1735) was said to be a possible illegitimate child of Richard III and is sometimes referred to as "Richard the Master-Builder" or "Richard of Eastwell", but it has also been suggested he could have been Richard, Duke of York, one of the missing Princes in the Tower. He died in 1550.
Legacy
Richard's Council of the North, described as his "one major institutional innovation", derived from his ducal council following his own viceregal appointment by Edward IV; when Richard himself became king, he maintained the same conciliar structure in his absence. It officially became part of the royal council machinery under the presidency of John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln in April 1484, based at Sandal Castle in Wakefield. It is considered to have greatly improved conditions for northern England, as it was intended to keep the peace and punish lawbreakers, as well as resolve land disputes. Bringing regional governance directly under the control of central government, it has been described as the king's "most enduring monument", surviving unchanged until 1641.
In December 1483, Richard instituted what later became known as the Court of Requests, a court to which poor people who could not afford legal representation could apply for their grievances to be heard. He also improved bail in January 1484, to protect suspected felons from imprisonment before trial and to protect their property from seizure during that time. He founded the College of Arms in 1484, he banned restrictions on the printing and sale of books, and he ordered the translation of the written Laws and Statutes from the traditional French into English. During his reign, Parliament ended the arbitrary benevolence (a device by which Edward IV raised funds), made it punishable to conceal from a buyer of land that a part of the property had already been disposed of to somebody else, required that land sales be published, laid down property qualifications for jurors, restricted the abusive Courts of Piepowders, regulated cloth sales, instituted certain forms of trade protectionism, prohibited the sale of wine and oil in fraudulent measure, and prohibited fraudulent collection of clergy dues, among others. Churchill implies he improved the law of trusts.
Richard's death at Bosworth resulted in the end of the Plantagenet dynasty, which had ruled England since the succession of Henry II in 1154. The last legitimate male Plantagenet, Richard's nephew Edward, Earl of Warwick (son of his brother George, Duke of Clarence), was executed by Henry VII in 1499.
Reputation
There are numerous contemporary, or near-contemporary, sources of information about the reign of Richard III. These include the Croyland Chronicle, Commines' Mémoires, the report of Dominic Mancini, the Paston Letters, the Chronicles of Robert Fabyan and numerous court and official records, including a few letters by Richard himself. However, the debate about Richard's true character and motives continues, both because of the subjectivity of many of the written sources, reflecting the generally partisan nature of writers of this period, and because none was written by men with an intimate knowledge of Richard.
During Richard's reign, the historian John Rous praised him as a "good lord" who punished "oppressors of the commons", adding that he had "a great heart". In 1483 the Italian observer Mancini reported that Richard enjoyed a good reputation and that both "his private life and public activities powerfully attracted the esteem of strangers". His bond to the City of York, in particular, was such that on hearing of Richard's demise at the battle of Bosworth the City Council officially deplored the king's death, at the risk of facing the victor's wrath.
During his lifetime he was the subject of some attacks. Even in the North in 1482 a man was prosecuted for offences against the Duke of Gloucester, saying he did "nothing but grin at" the city of York. In 1484, attempts to discredit him took the form of hostile placards, the only surviving one being William Collingbourne's lampoon of July 1484 "The Cat, the Rat, and Lovell the Dog, all rule England under a Hog" which was pinned to the door of St. Paul's Cathedral and referred to Richard himself (the Hog) and his most trusted councillors William Catesby, Richard Ratcliffe and Francis, Viscount Lovell. On 30 March 1485 Richard felt forced to summon the Lords and London City Councillors to publicly deny the rumours that he had poisoned Queen Anne and that he had planned a marriage to his niece Elizabeth, at the same time ordering the Sheriff of London to imprison anyone spreading such slanders. The same orders were issued throughout the realm, including York where the royal pronouncement recorded in the City Records dates 5 April 1485 and carries specific instructions to suppress seditious talk and remove and destroy evidently hostile placards unread.
As for Richard's physical appearance, most contemporary descriptions bear out the evidence that aside from having one shoulder higher than the other (with chronicler Rous not able to correctly remember which one, as slight as the difference was), Richard had no other noticeable bodily deformity. John Stow talked to old men who, remembering him, said "that he was of bodily shape comely enough, only of low stature" and a German traveller, Nicolas von Poppelau, who spent ten days in Richard's household in May 1484, describes him as "three fingers taller than himself...much more lean, with delicate arms and legs and also a great heart." Six years after Richard's death, in 1491, a schoolmaster named William Burton, on hearing a defence of Richard, launched into a diatribe, accusing the dead king of being "a hypocrite and a crookback...who was deservedly buried in a ditch like a dog."
Richard's death encouraged the furtherance of this later negative image by his Tudor successors due to the fact that it helped to legitimise Henry VII's seizure of the throne. The Richard III Society contends that this means that "a lot of what people thought they knew about Richard III was pretty much propaganda and myth building." The Tudor characterisation culminated in the famous fictional portrayal of him in Shakespeare's play Richard III as a physically deformed, Machiavellian villain, ruthlessly committing numerous murders in order to claw his way to power; Shakespeare's intention perhaps being to use Richard III as a vehicle for creating his own Marlowesque protagonist. Rous himself in his History of the Kings of England, written during Henry VII's reign, initiated the process. He reversed his earlier position, and now portrayed Richard as a freakish individual who was born with teeth and shoulder-length hair after having been in his mother's womb for two years. His body was stunted and distorted, with one shoulder higher than the other, and he was "slight in body and weak in strength". Rous also attributes the murder of Henry VI to Richard, and claims that he poisoned his own wife. Jeremy Potter, a former Chair of the Richard III Society, claims that "At the bar of history Richard III continues to be guilty because it is impossible to prove him innocent. The Tudors ride high in popular esteem."
Polydore Vergil and Thomas More expanded on this portrayal, emphasising Richard's outward physical deformities as a sign of his inwardly twisted mind. More describes him as "little of stature, ill-featured of limbs, crook-backed ... hard-favoured of visage". Vergil also says he was "deformed of body ... one shoulder higher than the right". Both emphasise that Richard was devious and flattering, while planning the downfall of both his enemies and supposed friends. Richard's good qualities were his cleverness and bravery. All these characteristics are repeated by Shakespeare, who portrays him as having a hunch, a limp and a withered arm. With regard to the "hunch", the second quarto edition of Richard III (1598) used the term "hunched-backed" but in the First Folio edition (1623) it became "bunch-backed".
Richard's reputation as a promoter of legal fairness persisted, however. William Camden in his Remains Concerning Britain (1605) states that Richard, "albeit he lived wickedly, yet made good laws". Francis Bacon also states that he was "a good lawmaker for the ease and solace of the common people". In 1525, Cardinal Wolsey upbraided the aldermen and Mayor of London for relying on a statute of Richard to avoid paying an extorted tax (benevolence) but received the reply "although he did evil, yet in his time were many good acts made."
Richard was a practising Catholic, as shown by his personal Book of Hours, surviving in the Lambeth Palace library. As well as conventional aristocratic devotional texts, the book contains a Collect of Saint Ninian, referencing a saint popular in the Anglo-Scottish Borders.
Despite this, the image of Richard as a ruthless tyrant remained dominant in the 18th and 19th centuries. The 18th-century philosopher and historian David Hume described him as a man who used dissimulation to conceal "his fierce and savage nature" and who had "abandoned all principles of honour and humanity". Hume acknowledged that some historians have argued "that he was well qualified for government, had he legally obtained it; and that he committed no crimes but such as were necessary to procure him possession of the crown", but he dismissed this view on the grounds that Richard's exercise of arbitrary power encouraged instability. The most important late 19th century biographer of the king was James Gairdner, who also wrote the entry on Richard in the Dictionary of National Biography. Gairdner stated that he had begun to study Richard with a neutral viewpoint, but became convinced that Shakespeare and More were essentially correct in their view of the king, despite some exaggerations.
Richard was not without his defenders, the first of whom was Sir George Buck, a descendant of one of the king's supporters, who completed The history of King Richard the Third in 1619. The authoritative Buck text was published only in 1979, though a corrupted version was published by Buck's great-nephew in 1646. Buck attacked the "improbable imputations and strange and spiteful scandals" related by Tudor writers, including Richard's alleged deformities and murders. He located lost archival material, including the Titulus Regius, but also claimed to have seen a letter written by Elizabeth of York, according to which Elizabeth sought to marry the king. Elizabeth's supposed letter was never produced. Documents which later emerged from the Portuguese royal archives show that after Queen Anne's death, Richard's ambassadors were sent on a formal errand to negotiate a double marriage between Richard and the Portuguese king's sister Joanna, of Lancastrian descent, and between Elizabeth of York and Joanna's cousin Manuel, Duke of Viseu (later King of Portugal).
Significant among Richard's defenders was Horace Walpole. In Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third (1768), Walpole disputed all the alleged murders and argued that Richard may have acted in good faith. He also argued that any physical abnormality was probably no more than a minor distortion of the shoulders. However, he retracted his views in 1793 after the Terror, stating he now believed that Richard could have committed the crimes he was charged with, although Pollard observes that this retraction is frequently overlooked by later admirers of Richard. Other defenders of Richard include the noted explorer Clements Markham, whose Richard III: His Life and Character (1906) replied to the work of Gairdner. He argued that Henry VII killed the princes and that the bulk of evidence against Richard was nothing more than Tudor propaganda. An intermediate view was provided by Alfred Legge in The Unpopular King (1885). Legge argued that Richard's "greatness of soul" was eventually "warped and dwarfed" by the ingratitude of others.
Some twentieth-century historians have been less inclined to moral judgement, seeing Richard's actions as a product of the unstable times. In the words of Charles Ross, "the later fifteenth century in England is now seen as a ruthless and violent age as concerns the upper ranks of society, full of private feuds, intimidation, land-hunger, and litigiousness, and consideration of Richard's life and career against this background has tended to remove him from the lonely pinnacle of Villainy Incarnate on which Shakespeare had placed him. Like most men, he was conditioned by the standards of his age." The Richard III Society, founded in 1924 as "The Fellowship of the White Boar", is the oldest of several groups dedicated to improving his reputation. Other contemporary historians still describe him as a "power-hungry and ruthless politician" who was still most probably "ultimately responsible for the murder of his nephews."
In culture
Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature. Two other plays of the Elizabethan era predated Shakespeare's work. The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge is believed to be the first history play written in England. The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work, was probably an influence on Shakespeare. Neither of the two plays places any emphasis on Richard's physical appearance, though the True Tragedy briefly mentions that he is "A man ill shaped, crooked backed, lame armed" and "valiantly minded, but tyrannous in authority". Both portray him as a man motivated by personal ambition, who uses everyone around him to get his way. Ben Jonson is also known to have written a play Richard Crookback in 1602, but it was never published and nothing is known about its portrayal of the king.
Marjorie Bowen's 1929 novel Dickon set the trend for pro-Ricardian literature. Particularly influential was The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey, in which a modern detective concludes that Richard III is innocent in the death of the Princes. Other novelists such as Valerie Anand in the novel Crown of Roses (1989) have also offered alternative versions to the theory that he murdered them. Sharon Kay Penman, in her historical novel The Sunne in Splendour, attributes the death of the Princes to the Duke of Buckingham. In the mystery novel The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters (1974) the central plot revolves around the debate as to whether Richard III was guilty of these and other crimes. A sympathetic portrayal is given in The Founding (1980), the first volume in The Morland Dynasty series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.
One film adaptation of Shakespeare's play Richard III is the 1955 version directed and produced by Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. Also notable are the 1995 film version starring Ian McKellen, set in a fictional 1930s fascist England, and Looking for Richard, a 1996 documentary film directed by Al Pacino, who plays the title character as well as himself. The play has been adapted for television on several occasions.
Discovery of remains
On 24 August 2012, the University of Leicester and Leicester City Council, in association with the Richard III Society, announced that they had joined forces to begin a search for the remains of King Richard. The search for Richard III was led by Philippa Langley of the Society's Looking For Richard Project with the archaeological work led by University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS). Experts set out to locate the lost site of the former Greyfriars Church (demolished during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries), and to discover whether his remains were still interred there. By comparing fixed points between maps in a historical sequence, the search located the church, where Richard's body had been hastily buried without pomp in 1485, its foundations identifiable beneath a modern-day city centre car park.
The excavators announced on 5 September 2012 that they had identified Greyfriars Church and two days later that they had identified the location of Robert Herrick's garden, where the memorial to Richard III stood in the early 17th century. A human skeleton was found beneath the Church's choir.
Improbably, the excavators found the remains in the first location in which they dug at the car park. Coincidentally, they lay almost directly under a roughly painted R on the tarmac. This had existed since the early 2000s to signify a reserved parking space.
On 12 September, it was announced that the skeleton discovered during the search might be that of Richard III. Several reasons were given: the body was of an adult male; it was buried beneath the choir of the church; and there was severe scoliosis of the spine, possibly making one shoulder higher than the other (to what extent depended on the severity of the condition). Additionally, there was an object that appeared to be an arrowhead embedded in the spine; and there were perimortem injuries to the skull. These included a relatively shallow orifice, which is most likely to have been caused by a rondel dagger, and a scooping depression to the skull, inflicted by a bladed weapon, most probably a sword.
Further, the bottom of the skull presented a gaping hole, where a halberd had cut away and entered it. Forensic pathologist Stuart Hamilton stated that this injury would have left the individual's brain visible, and most certainly would have been the cause of death. Jo Appleby, the osteo-archaeologist who excavated the skeleton, concurred and described the latter as "a mortal battlefield wound in the back of the skull". The base of the skull also presented another fatal wound in which a bladed weapon had been thrust into it, leaving behind a jagged hole. Closer examination of the interior of the skull revealed a mark opposite this wound, showing that the blade penetrated to a depth of .
In total, the skeleton presented ten wounds: four minor injuries on the top of the skull, one dagger blow on the cheekbone, one cut on the lower jaw, two fatal injuries on the base of the skull, one cut on a rib bone, and one final wound on the pelvis, most probably inflicted after death. It is generally accepted that postmortem, Richard's naked body was tied to the back of a horse, with his arms slung over one side and his legs and buttocks over the other. This presented a tempting target for onlookers, and the angle of the blow on the pelvis suggests that one of them stabbed Richard's right buttock with substantial force, as the cut extends from the back all the way to the front of the pelvic bone and was most probably an act of humiliation. It is also possible that Richard and his corpse suffered other injuries which left no trace on the skeleton.
British historian John Ashdown-Hill had used genealogical research in 2004 to trace matrilineal descendants of Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter, Richard's elder sister. A British-born woman who emigrated to Canada after the Second World War, Joy Ibsen (), was found to be a 16th-generation great-niece of the king in the same direct maternal line. Her mitochondrial DNA was tested and belongs to mitochondrial DNA haplogroup J, which by deduction, should also be the mitochondrial DNA haplogroup of Richard III. Joy Ibsen died in 2008. Her son Michael Ibsen gave a mouth-swab sample to the research team on 24 August 2012. His mitochondrial DNA passed down the direct maternal line was compared to samples from the human remains found at the excavation site and used to identify King Richard.
On 4 February 2013, the University of Leicester confirmed that the skeleton was beyond reasonable doubt that of King Richard III. This conclusion was based on mitochondrial DNA evidence, soil analysis, and dental tests (there were some molars missing as a result of caries), as well as physical characteristics of the skeleton which are highly consistent with contemporary accounts of Richard's appearance. The team announced that the "arrowhead" discovered with the body was a Roman-era nail, probably disturbed when the body was first interred. However, there were numerous perimortem wounds on the body, and part of the skull had been sliced off with a bladed weapon; this would have caused rapid death. The team concluded that it is unlikely that the king was wearing a helmet in his last moments. Soil taken from the remains was found to contain microscopic roundworm eggs. Several eggs were found in samples taken from the pelvis, where the king's intestines were, but not from the skull and only very small numbers were identified in soil surrounding the grave. The findings suggest that the higher concentration of eggs in the pelvic area probably arose from a roundworm infection the king suffered in his life, rather than from human waste dumped in the area at a later date, researchers said. The mayor of Leicester announced that the king's skeleton would be re-interred at Leicester Cathedral in early 2014, but a judicial review of that decision delayed the reinterment for a year. A museum to Richard III was opened in July 2014 in the Victorian school buildings next to the Greyfriars grave site.
The proposal to have King Richard buried in Leicester attracted some controversy. Those who challenged the decision included fifteen "collateral [non-direct] descendants of Richard III", represented by the Plantagenet Alliance, who believed that the body should be reburied in York, as they claim the king wished. In August 2013, they filed a court case in order to contest Leicester's claim to re-inter the body within its cathedral, and propose the body be buried in York instead. However, Michael Ibsen, who gave the DNA sample that identified the king, gave his support to Leicester's claim to re-inter the body in their cathedral. On 20 August, a judge ruled that the opponents had the legal standing to contest his burial in Leicester Cathedral, despite a clause in the contract which had authorized the excavations requiring his burial there. He urged the parties, though, to settle out of court in order to "avoid embarking on the Wars of the Roses, Part Two". The Plantagenet Alliance, and the supporting fifteen collateral descendants, also faced the challenge that "Basic maths shows Richard, who had no surviving children but five siblings, could have millions of 'collateral' descendants" undermining the group's claim to represent "the only people who can speak on behalf of him". A ruling in May 2014 decreed that there are "no public law grounds for the Court interfering with the decisions in question". The remains were taken to Leicester Cathedral on 22 March 2015 and reinterred on 26 March.
On 5 February 2013 Professor Caroline Wilkinson of the University of Dundee conducted a facial reconstruction of Richard III, commissioned by the Richard III Society, based on 3D mappings of his skull. The face is described as "warm, young, earnest and rather serious". On 11 February 2014 the University of Leicester announced the project to sequence the entire genome of Richard III and one of his living relatives, Michael Ibsen, whose mitochondrial DNA confirmed the identification of the excavated remains. Richard III thus became the first ancient person of known historical identity whose genome has been sequenced. In 2016 contemporary British artist Alexander de Cadenet presented a skull portrait of Richard III in conjunction with Leicester University. The portraits have been produced using University of Leicester forensic X-ray scans of the king.
In November 2014, the results of the testing were announced, confirming that the maternal side was as previously thought. The paternal side, however, demonstrated some variance from what had been expected, with the DNA showing no links to the purported descendants of Richard's great-great-grandfather Edward III of England through Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort. This could be the result of covert illegitimacy that does not reflect the accepted genealogies between Richard and Edward III or between Edward III and the 5th Duke of Beaufort.
Reburial and tomb
After his death in battle in 1485, Richard III's body was buried in Greyfriars Church in Leicester. Following the discoveries of Richard's remains in 2012, it was decided that they should be reburied at Leicester Cathedral, despite feelings in some quarters that he should have been reburied in York Minster. His remains were carried in procession to the cathedral on 22 March 2015, and reburied on 26 March 2015 at a religious re-burial service at which both Tim Stevens, the Bishop of Leicester, and Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, officiated. The British royal family was represented by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Countess of Wessex. The actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who later portrayed him in The Hollow Crown television series, read a poem by poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy.
Richard's cathedral tomb was designed by the architects van Heyningen and Haward. The tombstone is deeply incised with a cross, and consists of a rectangular block of white Swaledale fossil stone, quarried in North Yorkshire. It sits on a low plinth made of dark Kilkenny marble, incised with Richard's name, dates and motto (Loyaulte me lie – loyalty binds me). The plinth also carries his coat of arms in pietra dura. The remains of Richard III are in a lead-lined inner casket, inside an outer English oak coffin crafted by Michael Ibsen, a direct descendant of Richard's sister Anne, and laid in a brick-lined vault below the floor, and below the plinth and tombstone. The original 2010 raised tomb design had been proposed by Langley's "Looking For Richard Project" and fully funded by members of the Richard III Society. The proposal was publicly launched by the Society on 13 February 2013 but rejected by Leicester Cathedral in favour of a memorial slab. However, following a public outcry, the Cathedral changed its position and on 18 July 2013 announced its agreement to give King Richard III a raised tomb monument.
Titles, styles, honours and arms
On 1 November 1461, Richard gained the title of Duke of Gloucester; in late 1461, he was invested as a Knight of the Garter. Following the death of King Edward IV, he was made Lord Protector of England. Richard held this office from 30 April to 26 June 1483, when he made himself king. During his reign, Richard was styled Dei Gratia Rex Angliae et Franciae et Dominus Hiberniae (by the Grace of God, King of England and France and Lord of Ireland).
Informally, he may have been known as "Dickon", according to a sixteenth-century legend of a note, warning of treachery, that was sent to the Duke of Norfolk on the eve of Bosworth:
Arms
As Duke of Gloucester, Richard used the Royal Arms of England quartered with the Royal Arms of France, differenced by a label argent of three points ermine, on each point a canton gules, supported by a blue boar. As sovereign, he used the arms of the kingdom undifferenced, supported by a white boar and a lion. His motto was Loyaulte me lie, "Loyalty binds me"; and his personal device was a white boar.
Family trees
See also
King Richard III Visitor Centre, Leicester
Ricardian (Richard III)
Richard III Museum, York
Notes
References
Sources
Further reading
External links
King Richard III Visitor Centre, Leicester
The Richard III Society website
The Richard III Society, American Branch website
Information about the discovery of Richard III from the University of Leicester
, with commentary by Pamela Tudor-Craig
1452 births
1485 deaths
15th-century English monarchs
15th-century English Navy personnel
Dukes of Gloucester
English military personnel killed in action
English people of French descent
English people with disabilities
English pretenders to the French throne
English Roman Catholics
High Sheriffs of Cornwall
High Sheriffs of Cumberland
House of York
Knights of the Bath
Knights of the Garter
Lord High Admirals of England
Lords Protector of England
Lords Warden of the Marches
Monarchs killed in action
People from Fotheringhay
People of the Wars of the Roses
Retrospective diagnosis
Younger sons of dukes
Lords of Glamorgan
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"\"Tell Me What You Want\" is the fourth single by English R&B band Loose Ends from their first studio album, A Little Spice, and was released in February 1984 by Virgin Records. The single reached number 74 in the UK Singles Chart.\n\nTrack listing\n7” Single: VS658\n \"Tell Me What You Want) 3.35\n \"Tell Me What You Want (Dub Mix)\" 3.34\n\n12” Single: VS658-12\n \"Tell Me What You Want (Extended Version)\" 6.11\n \"Tell Me What You Want (Extended Dub Mix)\" 5.41\n\nU.S. only release - 12” Single: MCA23596 (released 1985)\n \"Tell Me What You Want (U.S. Extended Remix)\" 6.08 *\n \"Tell Me What You Want (U.S. Dub Version)\" 5.18\n\n* The U.S. Extended Remix version was released on CD on the U.S. Version of the 'A Little Spice' album (MCAD27141).\n\nThe Extended Version also featured on Side D of the limited gatefold sleeve version of 'Magic Touch'\n\nChart performance\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Tell Me What You Want at Discogs.\n\n1984 singles\nLoose Ends (band) songs\nSong recordings produced by Nick Martinelli\nSongs written by Carl McIntosh (musician)\nSongs written by Steve Nichol\n1984 songs\nVirgin Records singles",
"Zone is the third and final studio album by Australian music group Southern Sons. The album was released in Australia in 1996. The album was re-released in late 1996 with an alternate track listing and three live tracks. All the tracks were written by guitarist Phil Buckle with various contributions. The album was also released in the Australian iTunes Store as a digital download in 2010. Colin Hay appears as guest on track \"Don't Tell Me What's Right\"\n\nTrack listing\n \"Zone\" (J. Jones, P. Buckle, T. Deluca) – 4:23\n \"Living Without You\" (J. Jones, P. Buckle) – 3:38\n \"Don't Tell Me What's Right\" (P. Buckle) – 3:57\n \"Seeds\" (P. Buckle, J. Jones, T. Deluca) – 3:21\n \"Trust In Me\" (P. Buckle) – 5:01\n \"We Are One\" (P. Buckle) – 4:00\n \"You Don't Know Me\" (J. Jones, P. Buckle, T. Deluca) – 3:46\n \"Fare Thee Well\" (P. Buckle) – 4:39\n \"Let It Go\" (P. Buckle) – 3:27\n \"Can't Help Wanting To\" (J. Jones, P. Buckle, T. Deluca) – 4:06\n \"Don't Ask Me Why\" (J. Jones, P. Buckle, T. Deluca) – 4:11\n\n1996 Re-Release track listing\n \"Zone\" (J. Jones, P. Buckle, T. Deluca) – 4:23\n \"Living Without You\" J. Jones, P. Buckle) – 3:38\n \"Don't Tell Me What's Right\" (P. Buckle) – 3:57\n \"Seeds\" (P. Buckle, J. Jones, T. Deluca) – 3:21\n \"Trust In Me\" (P. Buckle) – 5:01\n \"We Are One\" (P. Buckle) – 4:00\n \"You Don't Know Me\" (J. Jones, P. Buckle, T. Deluca) – 3:46\n \"Fare Thee Well\" (P. Buckle) – 4:39\n \"Let It Go\" (P. Buckle) – 3:27\n \"Can't Help Wanting To\" (J. Jones, P. Buckle, T. Deluca) – 4:06\n \"Pretend\" (P. Buckle) – 3:54\n \"Feels Right\" (P. Buckle) – 4:11\n \"Try\" (P. Buckle) – 2:32\n \"You Were There (Live)\" (P. Buckle) – 3:40\n \"Silent Witnesses (Live)\" (P. Buckle) – 4:08\n \"Hold Me In Your Arms (Live)\" (P. Buckle) – 4:29\n\nPersonnel\nJack Jones – lead vocals, guitars\nPhil Buckle – guitars, backing vocals\nVirgil Donati – drums, keyboards\nGeoff Cain – bass\nColin Hay – vocals on \"Don't Tell Me What's Right\"\n\nReferences\n\nSouthern Sons albums\n1996 albums"
] |
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"Richard III of England",
"In culture",
"What was his culture like",
"I don't know.",
"What can you tell me about the section in culture",
"Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature."
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C_e1db0b22c6fe45a1a0da7ae2ceb65f84_1
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What was he in of Shakespeares
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What was Richard III of England in of Shakespears?
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Richard III of England
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Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature. Two other plays of the Elizabethan era predated Shakespeare's work. The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge is believed to be the first history play written in England. The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work, was probably an influence on Shakespeare. Neither of the two plays places any emphasis on Richard's physical appearance, though the True Tragedy briefly mentions that he is "A man ill shaped, crooked backed, lame armed" adding that he is "valiantly minded, but tyrannous in authority". Both portray him as a man motivated by personal ambition, who uses everyone around him to get his way. Ben Jonson is also known to have written a play Richard Crookback in 1602, but it was never published and nothing is known about its portrayal of the king. Marjorie Bowen's 1929 novel Dickon set the trend for pro-Ricardian literature. Particularly influential was The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey, in which a modern detective concludes that Richard III is innocent in the death of the Princes. Other novelists such as Valerie Anand in the novel Crown of Roses (1989) have also offered alternative versions to the theory that he murdered them. Sharon Kay Penman, in her historical novel The Sunne in Splendour, attributes the death of the Princes to the Duke of Buckingham. In the mystery novel The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters (1974) the central plot revolves around the debate as to whether Richard III was guilty of these and other crimes. A sympathetic portrayal of Richard III is given in The Founding, the first volume in The Morland Dynasty series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. One film adaptation of Shakespeare's play Richard III is the 1955 version directed and produced by Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. Also notable are the 1995 film version starring Ian McKellen, set in a fictional 1930s fascist England, and Looking for Richard, a 1996 documentary film directed by Al Pacino, who plays the title character as well as himself. The play has been adapted for television on several occasions. CANNOTANSWER
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Shakespeare's play Richard III
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Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. He is the protagonist of Richard III, one of William Shakespeare's history/tragedy plays.
Richard was created Duke of Gloucester in 1461 after the accession of his brother King Edward IV. In 1472, he married Anne Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. He governed northern England during Edward's reign, and played a role in the invasion of Scotland in 1482. When Edward IV died in April 1483, Richard was named Lord Protector of the realm for Edward's eldest son and successor, the 12-year-old Edward V. Arrangements were made for Edward V's coronation on 22 June 1483. Before the king could be crowned, the marriage of his parents was declared bigamous and therefore invalid. Now officially illegitimate, their children were barred from inheriting the throne. On 25 June, an assembly of lords and commoners endorsed a declaration to this effect, and proclaimed Richard as the rightful king. He was crowned on 6 July 1483. Edward and his younger brother Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, called the "Princes in the Tower", were not seen in public after August, and accusations circulated that they had been murdered on King Richard's orders, under the Tudor rule a few years later.
There were two major rebellions against Richard during his reign. In October 1483, an unsuccessful revolt was led by staunch allies of Edward IV and Richard's former ally, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. Then, in August 1485, Henry Tudor and his uncle, Jasper Tudor, landed in southern Wales with a contingent of French troops, and marched through Pembrokeshire, recruiting soldiers. Henry's forces defeated Richard's army near the Leicestershire town of Market Bosworth. Richard was slain, making him the last English king to die in battle. Henry Tudor then ascended the throne as Henry VII.
Richard's corpse was taken to the nearby town of Leicester and buried without ceremony. His original tomb monument is believed to have been removed during the English Reformation, and his remains were wrongly thought to have been thrown into the River Soar. In 2012, an archaeological excavation was commissioned by the Richard III Society on the site previously occupied by Grey Friars Priory. The University of Leicester identified the skeleton found in the excavation as that of Richard III as a result of radiocarbon dating, comparison with contemporary reports of his appearance, and comparison of his mitochondrial DNA with that of two matrilineal descendants of his sister Anne. He was reburied in Leicester Cathedral on 26 March 2015.
Early life
Richard was born on 2 October 1452, at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire, the eleventh of the twelve children of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the youngest to survive infancy. His childhood coincided with the beginning of what has traditionally been labelled the 'Wars of the Roses', a period of political instability and periodic open civil war in England during the second half of the fifteenth century, between the Yorkists, who supported Richard's father (a potential claimant to the throne of King Henry VI from birth), and opposed the regime of Henry VI and his wife, Margaret of Anjou, and the Lancastrians, who were loyal to the crown. In 1459, his father and the Yorkists were forced to flee England, whereupon Richard and his older brother George were placed in the custody of their aunt Anne Neville, Duchess of Buckingham, and possibly of Cardinal Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury.
When their father and elder brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland, were killed at the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December 1460, Richard and George were sent by their mother to the Low Countries. They returned to England following the defeat of the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton. They participated in the coronation of their eldest brother as King Edward IV on 28 June 1461, when Richard was named Duke of Gloucester and made both a Knight of the Garter and a Knight of the Bath. Edward appointed him the sole Commissioner of Array for the Western Counties in 1464 when he was 11. By the age of 17, he had an independent command.
Richard spent several years during his childhood at Middleham Castle in Wensleydale, Yorkshire, under the tutelage of his cousin Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, later known as 'the Kingmaker' because of his role in the Wars of the Roses. Warwick supervised Richard's training as a knight; in the autumn of 1465, Edward IV granted Warwick £1000 for the expenses of his younger brother's tutelage. With some interruptions, Richard stayed at Middleham either from late 1461 until early 1465, when he was 12 or from 1465 until his coming of age in 1468, when he turned 16. While at Warwick's estate, it is likely that he met both Francis Lovell, who would be his firm supporter later in his life, and Warwick's younger daughter, his future wife Anne Neville.
It is possible that even at this early stage Warwick was considering the king's brothers as strategic matches for his daughters, Isabel and Anne: young aristocrats were often sent to be raised in the households of their intended future partners, as had been the case for the young dukes' father, Richard of York. As the relationship between the king and Warwick became strained, Edward IV opposed the match. During Warwick's lifetime, George was the only royal brother to marry one of his daughters, the elder, Isabel, on 12 July 1469, without the king's permission. George joined his father-in-law's revolt against the king, while Richard remained loyal to Edward, even though he was rumoured to have been sleeping with Anne.
Richard and Edward were forced to flee to Burgundy in October 1470 after Warwick defected to the side of the former Lancastrian queen Margaret of Anjou. In 1468, Richard's sister Margaret had married Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy, and the brothers could expect a welcome there. Edward was restored to the throne in the spring of 1471, following the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, in both of which the 18-year-old Richard played a crucial role.
During his adolescence, and due to a cause that is unknown, Richard developed a sideways curvature of the spine (Scoliosis). In 2014, after the discovery of Richard's remains, the osteoarchaeologist Dr. Jo Appleby, of Leicester University's School of Archaeology and Ancient History, imaged the spinal column, and reconstructed a model using 3D printing, and concluded that though the spinal scoliosis looked dramatic, it probably did not cause any major physical deformity that could not be disguised by clothing.
Marriage and family relationships
Following a decisive Yorkist victory over the Lancastrians at the Battle of Tewkesbury, Richard married Anne Neville on 12 July 1472. By the end of 1470 Anne had previously been wedded to Edward of Westminster, only son of Henry VI, to seal her father's allegiance to the Lancastrian party. Edward died at the Battle of Tewkesbury on 4 May 1471, while Warwick had died at the Battle of Barnet on 14 April 1471. Richard's marriage plans brought him into conflict with his brother George. John Paston's letter of 17 February 1472 makes it clear that George was not happy about the marriage but grudgingly accepted it on the basis that "he may well have my Lady his sister-in-law, but they shall part no livelihood". The reason was the inheritance Anne shared with her elder sister Isabel, whom George had married in 1469. It was not only the earldom that was at stake; Richard Neville had inherited it as a result of his marriage to Anne Beauchamp, 16th Countess of Warwick. The Countess, who was still alive, was technically the owner of the substantial Beauchamp estates, her father having left no male heirs.
The Croyland Chronicle records that Richard agreed to a prenuptial contract in the following terms: "the marriage of the Duke of Gloucester with Anne before-named was to take place, and he was to have such and so much of the earl's lands as should be agreed upon between them through the mediation of arbitrators; while all the rest were to remain in the possession of the Duke of Clarence". The date of Paston's letter suggests the marriage was still being negotiated in February 1472. In order to win George's final consent to the marriage, Richard renounced most of the Earl of Warwick's land and property including the earldoms of Warwick (which the Kingmaker had held in his wife's right) and Salisbury and surrendered to George the office of Great Chamberlain of England. Richard retained Neville's forfeit estates he had already been granted in the summer of 1471: Penrith, Sheriff Hutton and Middleham, where he later established his marital household.
The requisite papal dispensation was obtained dated 22 April 1472. Michael Hicks has suggested that the terms of the dispensation deliberately understated the degrees of consanguinity between the couple, and the marriage was therefore illegal on the ground of first degree consanguinity following George's marriage to Anne's sister Isabel. There would have been first-degree consanguinity if Richard had sought to marry Isabel (in case of widowhood) after she had married his brother George, but no such consanguinity applied for Anne and Richard. Richard's marriage to Anne was never declared null, and it was public to everyone including secular and canon lawyers for 13 years.
In June 1473, Richard persuaded his mother-in-law to leave the sanctuary and come to live under his protection at Middleham. Later in the year, under the terms of the 1473 Act of Resumption, George lost some of the property he held under royal grant and made no secret of his displeasure. John Paston's letter of November 1473 says that King Edward planned to put both his younger brothers in their place by acting as "a stifler atween them". Early in 1474, Parliament assembled and Edward attempted to reconcile his brothers by stating that both men, and their wives, would enjoy the Warwick inheritance just as if the Countess of Warwick "was naturally dead". The doubts cast by George on the validity of Richard and Anne's marriage were addressed by a clause protecting their rights in the event they were divorced (i.e. of their marriage being declared null and void by the Church) and then legally remarried to each other, and also protected Richard's rights while waiting for such a valid second marriage with Anne. The following year, Richard was rewarded with all the Neville lands in the north of England, at the expense of Anne's cousin, George Neville, 1st Duke of Bedford. From this point, George seems to have fallen steadily out of King Edward's favour, his discontent coming to a head in 1477 when, following Isabel's death, he was denied the opportunity to marry Mary of Burgundy, the stepdaughter of his sister Margaret, even though Margaret approved the proposed match. There is no evidence of Richard's involvement in George's subsequent conviction and execution on a charge of treason.
Reign of Edward IV
Estates and titles
Richard was granted the Duchy of Gloucester on 1 November 1461, and on 12 August the next year was awarded large estates in northern England, including the lordships of Richmond in Yorkshire, and Pembroke in Wales. He gained the forfeited lands of the Lancastrian John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, in East Anglia. In 1462, on his birthday, he was made Constable of Gloucester and Corfe Castles and Admiral of England, Ireland and Aquitaine and appointed Governor of the North, becoming the richest and most powerful noble in England. On 17 October 1469, he was made Constable of England. In November, he replaced William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, as Chief Justice of North Wales. The following year, he was appointed Chief Steward and Chamberlain of Wales. On 18 May 1471, Richard was named Great Chamberlain and Lord High Admiral of England. Other positions followed: High Sheriff of Cumberland for life, Lieutenant of the North and Commander-in-Chief against the Scots and hereditary Warden of the West March. Two months later, on 14 July, he gained the Lordships of the strongholds Sheriff Hutton and Middleham in Yorkshire and Penrith in Cumberland, which had belonged to Warwick the Kingmaker. It is possible that the grant of Middleham seconded Richard's personal wishes.
Exile and return
During the latter part of Edward IV's reign, Richard demonstrated his loyalty to the king, in contrast to their brother George who had allied himself with the Earl of Warwick when the latter rebelled towards the end of the 1460s. Following Warwick's 1470 rebellion, before which he had made peace with Margaret of Anjou and promised the restoration of Henry VI to the English throne, Richard, the Baron Hastings and Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, escaped capture at Doncaster by Warwick's brother, John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu. On 2 October they sailed from King's Lynn in two ships; Edward landed at Marsdiep and Richard at Zeeland. It was said that, having left England in such haste as to possess almost nothing, Edward was forced to pay their passage with his fur cloak; certainly, Richard borrowed three pounds from Zeeland's town bailiff. They were attainted by Warwick's only Parliament on 26 November. They resided in Bruges with Louis de Gruthuse, who had been the Burgundian Ambassador to Edward's court, but it was not until Louis XI of France declared war on Burgundy that Charles, Duke of Burgundy, assisted their return, providing, along with the Hanseatic merchants, £20,000, 36 ships and 1200 men. They departed Flushing for England on 11 March 1471. Warwick's arrest of local sympathisers prevented them from landing in Yorkist East Anglia and on 14 March, after being separated in a storm, their ships ran ashore at Holderness. The town of Hull refused Edward entry. He gained entry to York by using the same claim as Henry of Bolingbroke had before deposing Richard II in 1399; that is, that he was merely reclaiming the Dukedom of York rather than the crown. It was in Edward's attempt to regain his throne that Richard began to demonstrate his skill as a military commander.
1471 military campaign
Once Edward had regained the support of his brother George, he mounted a swift and decisive campaign to regain the crown through combat; it is believed that Richard was his principal lieutenant as some of the king's earliest support came from members of Richard's affinity, including Sir James Harrington and Sir William Parr, who brought 600 men-at-arms to them at Doncaster. Richard may have led the vanguard at the Battle of Barnet, in his first command, on 14 April 1471, where he outflanked the wing of Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, although the degree to which his command was fundamental may have been exaggerated. That Richard's personal household sustained losses indicates he was in the thick of the fighting. A contemporary source is clear about his holding the vanguard for Edward at Tewkesbury, deployed against the Lancastrian vanguard under Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset, on 4 May 1471, and his role two days later, as Constable of England, sitting alongside John Howard as Earl Marshal, in the trial and sentencing of leading Lancastrians captured after the battle.
1475 invasion of France
At least in part resentful of King Louis XI's previous support of his Lancastrian opponents, and possibly in support of his brother-in-law Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, Edward went to parliament in October 1472 for funding a military campaign, and eventually landed in Calais on 4 July 1475. Richard's was the largest private contingent of his army. Although well known to have publicly been against the eventual treaty signed with Louis XI at Picquigny (and absent from the negotiations, in which one of his rank would have been expected to take a leading role), he acted as Edward's witness when the king instructed his delegates to the French court, and received 'some very fine presents' from Louis on a visit to the French king at Amiens. In refusing other gifts, which included 'pensions' in the guise of 'tribute', he was joined only by Cardinal Bourchier. He supposedly disapproved of Edward's policy of personally benefiting—politically and financially—from a campaign paid for out of a parliamentary grant, and hence out of public funds. Any military prowess was therefore not to be revealed further until the last years of Edward's reign.
The North, and the Council in the North
Richard was the dominant magnate in the north of England until Edward IV's death. There, and especially in the city of York, he was highly regarded; although it has been questioned whether this view was reciprocated by Richard. Edward IV delegated significant authority to Richard in the region. Kendall and later historians have suggested that this was with the intention of making Richard the Lord of the North; Peter Booth, however, has argued that "instead of allowing his brother Richard carte blanche, [Edward] restricted his influence by using his own agent, Sir William Parr." Following Richard's accession to the throne, he first established the Council of the North and made his nephew John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln, president and formally institutionalised this body as an offshoot of the royal Council; all its letters and judgements were issued on behalf of the king and in his name. The council had a budget of 2000 marks per annum and had issued "Regulations" by July of that year: councillors to act impartially and declare vested interests, and to meet at least every three months. Its main focus of operations was Yorkshire and the north-east, and its primary responsibilities were land disputes, keeping of the king's peace, and punishing lawbreakers.
War with Scotland
Richard's increasing role in the north from the mid-1470s to some extent explains his withdrawal from the royal court. He had been Warden of the West March on the Scottish border since 10 September 1470, and again from May 1471; he used Penrith as a base while 'taking effectual measures' against the Scots, and 'enjoyed the revenues of the estates' of the Forest of Cumberland while doing so. It was at the same time that the Duke of Gloucester was appointed sheriff of Cumberland five consecutive years, being described as 'of Penrith Castle' in 1478. By 1480, war with Scotland was looming; on 12 May that year he was appointed Lieutenant-General of the North (a position created for the occasion) as fears of a Scottish invasion grew. Louis XI of France had attempted to negotiate a military alliance with Scotland (in the tradition of the "Auld Alliance"), with the aim of attacking England, according to a contemporary French chronicler. Richard had the authority to summon the Border Levies and issue Commissions of Array to repel the Border raids. Together with the Earl of Northumberland, he launched counter-raids, and when the king and council formally declared war in November 1480, he was granted £10,000 for wages. The king failed to arrive to lead the English army and the result was intermittent skirmishing until early 1482. Richard witnessed the treaty with Alexander, Duke of Albany, brother of King James III of Scotland. Northumberland, Stanley, Dorset, Sir Edward Woodville, and Richard with approximately 20,000 men took the town of Berwick almost immediately. The castle held until 24 August 1482, when Richard recaptured Berwick-upon-Tweed from the Kingdom of Scotland. Although it is debatable whether the English victory was due more to internal Scottish divisions rather than any outstanding military prowess by Richard, it was the last time that the Royal Burgh of Berwick changed hands between the two realms.
Lord Protector
On the death of Edward IV on 9 April 1483, his 12-year-old son, Edward V, succeeded him. Richard was named Lord Protector of the Realm and at Baron Hastings' urging, Richard assumed his role and left his base in Yorkshire for London. On 29 April, as previously agreed, Richard and his cousin, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, met Queen Elizabeth's brother, Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, at Northampton. At the queen's request, Earl Rivers was escorting the young king to London with an armed escort of 2000 men, while Richard and Buckingham's joint escort was 600 men. Edward V himself had been sent further south to Stony Stratford. At first convivial, Richard had Earl Rivers, his nephew Richard Grey and his associate, Thomas Vaughan, arrested. They were taken to Pontefract Castle, where they were executed on 25 June on the charge of treason against the Lord Protector after appearing before a tribunal led by Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. Rivers had appointed Richard as executor of his will.
After having Rivers arrested, Richard and Buckingham moved to Stony Stratford, where Richard informed Edward V of a plot aimed at denying him his role as protector and whose perpetrators had been dealt with. He proceeded to escort the king to London. They entered the city on 4 May, displaying the carriages of weapons Rivers had taken with his 2000-man army. Richard first accommodated Edward in the Bishop's apartments; then, on Buckingham's suggestion, the king was moved to the royal apartments of the Tower of London, where kings customarily awaited their coronation. Within the year 1483, Richard had moved himself to the grandeur of Crosby Hall, London, then in Bishopsgate in the City of London. Robert Fabyan, in his 'The new chronicles of England and of France', writes that "the Duke caused the King (Edward V) to be removed unto the Tower and his broder with hym, and the Duke lodged himselfe in Crosbyes Place in Bisshoppesgate Strete." In Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, he accounts that "little by little all folke withdrew from the Tower, and drew unto Crosbies in Bishops gates Street, where the Protector kept his houshold. The Protector had the resort; the King in maner desolate."
On hearing the news of her brother's 30 April arrest, the dowager queen fled to sanctuary in Westminster Abbey. Joining her were her son by her first marriage, Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset; her five daughters; and her youngest son, Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. On 10/11 June, Richard wrote to Ralph, Lord Neville, the City of York and others asking for their support against "the Queen, her blood adherents and affinity," whom he suspected of plotting his murder. At a council meeting on Friday 13 June at the Tower of London, Richard accused Hastings and others of having conspired against him with the Woodvilles and accusing Jane Shore, lover to both Hastings and Thomas Grey, of acting as a go-between. According to Thomas More, Hastings was taken out of the council chambers and summarily executed in the courtyard, while others, like Lord Thomas Stanley and John Morton, Bishop of Ely, were arrested. Hastings was not attainted and Richard sealed an indenture that placed Hastings' widow, Katherine, directly under his own protection. Bishop Morton was released into the custody of Buckingham. On 16 June, the dowager queen agreed to hand over the Duke of York to the Archbishop of Canterbury so that he might attend his brother Edward's coronation, still planned for 22 June.
King of England
A clergyman (Bishop Robert Stillington) is said to have informed Richard that Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was invalid because of Edward's earlier union with Eleanor Butler, making Edward V and his siblings illegitimate. The identity of the informant, known only through the memoirs of French diplomat Philippe de Commines, was Robert Stillington, the Bishop of Bath and Wells. On Sunday 22 June, a sermon was preached outside Old St. Paul's Cathedral by Ralph Shaa, declaring Edward IV's children bastards and Richard the rightful king. Shortly after, the citizens of London, both nobles and commons, convened and drew up a petition asking Richard to assume the throne. He accepted on 26 June and was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 6 July. His title to the throne was confirmed by Parliament in January 1484 by the document Titulus Regius.
The princes, who were still lodged in the royal residence of the Tower of London at the time of Richard's coronation, disappeared from sight after the summer of 1483. Although after his death Richard III was accused of having Edward and his brother killed, notably by More and in Shakespeare's play, the facts surrounding their disappearance remain unknown. Other culprits have been suggested, including Buckingham and even Henry VII, although Richard remains a suspect.
After the coronation ceremony, Richard and Anne set out on a royal progress to meet their subjects. During this journey through the country, the king and queen endowed King's College and Queens' College at Cambridge University, and made grants to the church. Still feeling a strong bond with his northern estates, Richard later planned the establishment of a large chantry chapel in York Minster with over 100 priests. He also founded the College of Arms.
Buckingham's rebellion of 1483
In 1483, a conspiracy arose among a number of disaffected gentry, many of whom had been supporters of Edward IV and the "whole Yorkist establishment". The conspiracy was nominally led by Richard's former ally, the Duke of Buckingham, although it had begun as a Woodville-Beaufort conspiracy (being "well underway" by the time of the Duke's involvement). Indeed, Davies has suggested that it was "only the subsequent parliamentary attainder that placed Buckingham at the centre of events", in order to blame a single disaffected magnate motivated by greed, rather than "the embarrassing truth" that those opposing Richard were actually "overwhelmingly Edwardian loyalists". It is possible that they planned to depose Richard III and place Edward V back on the throne, and that when rumours arose that Edward and his brother were dead, Buckingham proposed that Henry Tudor should return from exile, take the throne and marry Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV. However, it has also been pointed out that as this narrative stems from Richard's own parliament of 1484, it should probably be treated "with caution". For his part, Buckingham raised a substantial force from his estates in Wales and the Marches. Henry, in exile in Brittany, enjoyed the support of the Breton treasurer Pierre Landais, who hoped Buckingham's victory would cement an alliance between Brittany and England.
Some of Henry Tudor's ships ran into a storm and were forced to return to Brittany or Normandy, while Henry himself anchored off Plymouth for a week before learning of Buckingham's failure. Buckingham's army was troubled by the same storm and deserted when Richard's forces came against them. Buckingham tried to escape in disguise, but was either turned in by a retainer for the bounty Richard had put on his head, or was discovered in hiding with him. He was convicted of treason and beheaded in Salisbury, near the Bull's Head Inn, on 2 November. His widow, Catherine Woodville, later married Jasper Tudor, the uncle of Henry Tudor. Richard made overtures to Landais, offering military support for Landais's weak regime under Francis II, Duke of Brittany, in exchange for Henry. Henry fled to Paris, where he secured support from the French regent Anne of Beaujeu, who supplied troops for an invasion in 1485.
Death at the Battle of Bosworth Field
On Monday 22 August 1485, Richard met the outnumbered forces of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Richard rode a white courser (an especially swift and strong horse). The size of Richard's army has been estimated at 8,000 and Henry's at 5,000, but exact numbers are not known, though the royal army is believed to have "substantially" outnumbered Henry's. The traditional view of the king's famous cries of "Treason!" before falling was that during the battle Richard was abandoned by Baron Stanley (made Earl of Derby in October), Sir William Stanley, and Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. However, the role of Northumberland is unclear; his position was with the reserve—behind the king's line—and he could not easily have moved forward without a general royal advance, which did not take place. Indeed, the physical confines behind the crest of Ambion Hill, combined with a difficulty of communications, probably physically hampered any attempt he made to join the fray. Despite appearing "a pillar of the Ricardian regime", and his previous loyalty to Edward IV, Baron Stanley was the stepfather of Henry Tudor, and Stanley's inaction combined with his brother's entering the battle on Tudor's behalf was fundamental to Richard's defeat. The death of Richard's close companion John Howard, Duke of Norfolk, may have had a demoralising effect on the king and his men. Either way, Richard led a cavalry charge deep into the enemy ranks in an attempt to end the battle quickly by striking at Henry Tudor himself.
Accounts note that King Richard fought bravely and ably during this manoeuvre, unhorsing Sir John Cheyne, a well-known jousting champion, killing Henry's standard bearer Sir William Brandon and coming within a sword's length of Henry Tudor before being surrounded by Sir William Stanley's men and killed. The Burgundian chronicler Jean Molinet says that a Welshman struck the death-blow with a halberd while Richard's horse was stuck in the marshy ground. It was said that the blows were so violent that the king's helmet was driven into his skull. The contemporary Welsh poet Guto'r Glyn implies a leading Welsh Lancastrian, Rhys ap Thomas, or one of his men killed the king, writing that he "killed the boar, shaved his head". The identification in 2013 of King Richard's body shows that the skeleton had 11 wounds, eight of them to the skull, clearly inflicted in battle and suggesting he had lost his helmet. Professor Guy Rutty, from the University of Leicester, said: "The most likely injuries to have caused the king's death are the two to the inferior aspect of the skull—a large sharp force trauma possibly from a sword or staff weapon, such as a halberd or bill, and a penetrating injury from the tip of an edged weapon." The skull showed that a blade had hacked away part of the rear of the skull. Richard III was the last English king to be killed in battle. Henry Tudor succeeded Richard as King Henry VII. He married the Yorkist heiress Elizabeth of York, Edward IV's daughter and Richard III's niece.
Polydore Vergil, Henry VII's official historian, recorded that "King Richard, alone, was killed fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies". Richard's naked body was then carried back to Leicester tied to a horse, and early sources strongly suggest that it was displayed in the collegiate Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke, prior to being buried at Greyfriars Church in Leicester. In 1495, Henry VII paid for a marble and alabaster monument. According to a discredited tradition, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, his body was thrown into the River Soar, although other evidence suggests that a memorial stone was visible in 1612, in a garden built on the site of Greyfriars. The exact location was then lost, owing to more than 400 years of subsequent development, until archaeological investigations in 2012 revealed the site of the garden and Greyfriars Church. There was a memorial ledger stone in the choir of the cathedral, since replaced by the tomb of the king, and a stone plaque on Bow Bridge where tradition had falsely suggested that his remains had been thrown into the river.
According to another tradition, Richard consulted a seer in Leicester before the battle who foretold that "where your spur should strike on the ride into battle, your head shall be broken on the return". On the ride into battle, his spur struck the bridge stone of Bow Bridge in the city; legend states that as his corpse was carried from the battle over the back of a horse, his head struck the same stone and was broken open.
Issue
Richard and Anne had one son, Edward of Middleham, who was born between 1474 and 1476. He was created Earl of Salisbury on 15 February 1478, and Prince of Wales on 24 August 1483, and died in March 1484, less than two months after he had been formally declared heir apparent. After the death of his son, Richard appointed his nephew John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, as Lieutenant of Ireland, an office previously held by his son Edward. Lincoln was the son of Richard's older sister, Elizabeth, Duchess of Suffolk. After his wife's death, Richard commenced negotiations with John II of Portugal to marry John's pious sister, Joanna, Princess of Portugal. She had already turned down several suitors because of her preference for the religious life.
Richard had two acknowledged illegitimate children, John of Gloucester and Katherine Plantagenet. Also known as 'John of Pontefract', John of Gloucester was appointed Captain of Calais in 1485. Katherine married William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, in 1484. Neither the birth dates nor the names of the mothers of either of the children is known. Katherine was old enough to be wedded in 1484, when the age of consent was twelve, and John was knighted in September 1483 in York Minster, and so most historians agree that they were both fathered when Richard was a teenager. There is no evidence of infidelity on Richard's part after his marriage to Anne Neville in 1472 when he was around 20. This has led to a suggestion by the historian A. L. Rowse that Richard "had no interest in sex".
Michael Hicks and Josephine Wilkinson have suggested that Katherine's mother may have been Katherine Haute, on the basis of the grant of an annual payment of 100 shillings made to her in 1477. The Haute family was related to the Woodvilles through the marriage of Elizabeth Woodville's aunt, Joan Woodville, to William Haute. One of their children was Richard Haute, Controller of the Prince's Household. Their daughter, Alice, married Sir John Fogge; they were ancestors to Catherine Parr, sixth wife of King Henry VIII. They also suggest that John's mother may have been Alice Burgh. Richard visited Pontefract from 1471, in April and October 1473, and in early March 1474, for a week. On 1 March 1474, he granted Alice Burgh £20 a year for life "for certain special causes and considerations". She later received another allowance, apparently for being engaged as a nurse for his brother George's son, Edward of Warwick. Richard continued her annuity when he became king. John Ashdown-Hill has suggested that John was conceived during Richard's first solo expedition to the eastern counties in the summer of 1467 at the invitation of John Howard and that the boy was born in 1468 and named after his friend and supporter. Richard himself noted John was still a minor (not being yet 21) when he issued the royal patent appointing him Captain of Calais on 11 March 1485, possibly on his seventeenth birthday.
Both of Richard's illegitimate children survived him, but they seem to have died without issue and their fate after Richard's demise at Bosworth is not certain. John received a £20 annuity from Henry VII, but there are no mentions of him in contemporary records after 1487 (the year of the Battle of Stoke Field). He may have been executed in 1499, though no record of this exists beyond an assertion by George Buck over a century later. Katherine apparently died before her cousin Elizabeth of York's coronation on 25 November 1487, since her husband Sir William Herbert is described as a widower by that time. Katherine's burial place was located in the London parish church of St James Garlickhithe, between Skinner's Lane and Upper Thames Street. The mysterious Richard Plantagenet, who was first mentioned in Francis Peck's Desiderata Curiosa (a two-volume miscellany published 1732–1735) was said to be a possible illegitimate child of Richard III and is sometimes referred to as "Richard the Master-Builder" or "Richard of Eastwell", but it has also been suggested he could have been Richard, Duke of York, one of the missing Princes in the Tower. He died in 1550.
Legacy
Richard's Council of the North, described as his "one major institutional innovation", derived from his ducal council following his own viceregal appointment by Edward IV; when Richard himself became king, he maintained the same conciliar structure in his absence. It officially became part of the royal council machinery under the presidency of John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln in April 1484, based at Sandal Castle in Wakefield. It is considered to have greatly improved conditions for northern England, as it was intended to keep the peace and punish lawbreakers, as well as resolve land disputes. Bringing regional governance directly under the control of central government, it has been described as the king's "most enduring monument", surviving unchanged until 1641.
In December 1483, Richard instituted what later became known as the Court of Requests, a court to which poor people who could not afford legal representation could apply for their grievances to be heard. He also improved bail in January 1484, to protect suspected felons from imprisonment before trial and to protect their property from seizure during that time. He founded the College of Arms in 1484, he banned restrictions on the printing and sale of books, and he ordered the translation of the written Laws and Statutes from the traditional French into English. During his reign, Parliament ended the arbitrary benevolence (a device by which Edward IV raised funds), made it punishable to conceal from a buyer of land that a part of the property had already been disposed of to somebody else, required that land sales be published, laid down property qualifications for jurors, restricted the abusive Courts of Piepowders, regulated cloth sales, instituted certain forms of trade protectionism, prohibited the sale of wine and oil in fraudulent measure, and prohibited fraudulent collection of clergy dues, among others. Churchill implies he improved the law of trusts.
Richard's death at Bosworth resulted in the end of the Plantagenet dynasty, which had ruled England since the succession of Henry II in 1154. The last legitimate male Plantagenet, Richard's nephew Edward, Earl of Warwick (son of his brother George, Duke of Clarence), was executed by Henry VII in 1499.
Reputation
There are numerous contemporary, or near-contemporary, sources of information about the reign of Richard III. These include the Croyland Chronicle, Commines' Mémoires, the report of Dominic Mancini, the Paston Letters, the Chronicles of Robert Fabyan and numerous court and official records, including a few letters by Richard himself. However, the debate about Richard's true character and motives continues, both because of the subjectivity of many of the written sources, reflecting the generally partisan nature of writers of this period, and because none was written by men with an intimate knowledge of Richard.
During Richard's reign, the historian John Rous praised him as a "good lord" who punished "oppressors of the commons", adding that he had "a great heart". In 1483 the Italian observer Mancini reported that Richard enjoyed a good reputation and that both "his private life and public activities powerfully attracted the esteem of strangers". His bond to the City of York, in particular, was such that on hearing of Richard's demise at the battle of Bosworth the City Council officially deplored the king's death, at the risk of facing the victor's wrath.
During his lifetime he was the subject of some attacks. Even in the North in 1482 a man was prosecuted for offences against the Duke of Gloucester, saying he did "nothing but grin at" the city of York. In 1484, attempts to discredit him took the form of hostile placards, the only surviving one being William Collingbourne's lampoon of July 1484 "The Cat, the Rat, and Lovell the Dog, all rule England under a Hog" which was pinned to the door of St. Paul's Cathedral and referred to Richard himself (the Hog) and his most trusted councillors William Catesby, Richard Ratcliffe and Francis, Viscount Lovell. On 30 March 1485 Richard felt forced to summon the Lords and London City Councillors to publicly deny the rumours that he had poisoned Queen Anne and that he had planned a marriage to his niece Elizabeth, at the same time ordering the Sheriff of London to imprison anyone spreading such slanders. The same orders were issued throughout the realm, including York where the royal pronouncement recorded in the City Records dates 5 April 1485 and carries specific instructions to suppress seditious talk and remove and destroy evidently hostile placards unread.
As for Richard's physical appearance, most contemporary descriptions bear out the evidence that aside from having one shoulder higher than the other (with chronicler Rous not able to correctly remember which one, as slight as the difference was), Richard had no other noticeable bodily deformity. John Stow talked to old men who, remembering him, said "that he was of bodily shape comely enough, only of low stature" and a German traveller, Nicolas von Poppelau, who spent ten days in Richard's household in May 1484, describes him as "three fingers taller than himself...much more lean, with delicate arms and legs and also a great heart." Six years after Richard's death, in 1491, a schoolmaster named William Burton, on hearing a defence of Richard, launched into a diatribe, accusing the dead king of being "a hypocrite and a crookback...who was deservedly buried in a ditch like a dog."
Richard's death encouraged the furtherance of this later negative image by his Tudor successors due to the fact that it helped to legitimise Henry VII's seizure of the throne. The Richard III Society contends that this means that "a lot of what people thought they knew about Richard III was pretty much propaganda and myth building." The Tudor characterisation culminated in the famous fictional portrayal of him in Shakespeare's play Richard III as a physically deformed, Machiavellian villain, ruthlessly committing numerous murders in order to claw his way to power; Shakespeare's intention perhaps being to use Richard III as a vehicle for creating his own Marlowesque protagonist. Rous himself in his History of the Kings of England, written during Henry VII's reign, initiated the process. He reversed his earlier position, and now portrayed Richard as a freakish individual who was born with teeth and shoulder-length hair after having been in his mother's womb for two years. His body was stunted and distorted, with one shoulder higher than the other, and he was "slight in body and weak in strength". Rous also attributes the murder of Henry VI to Richard, and claims that he poisoned his own wife. Jeremy Potter, a former Chair of the Richard III Society, claims that "At the bar of history Richard III continues to be guilty because it is impossible to prove him innocent. The Tudors ride high in popular esteem."
Polydore Vergil and Thomas More expanded on this portrayal, emphasising Richard's outward physical deformities as a sign of his inwardly twisted mind. More describes him as "little of stature, ill-featured of limbs, crook-backed ... hard-favoured of visage". Vergil also says he was "deformed of body ... one shoulder higher than the right". Both emphasise that Richard was devious and flattering, while planning the downfall of both his enemies and supposed friends. Richard's good qualities were his cleverness and bravery. All these characteristics are repeated by Shakespeare, who portrays him as having a hunch, a limp and a withered arm. With regard to the "hunch", the second quarto edition of Richard III (1598) used the term "hunched-backed" but in the First Folio edition (1623) it became "bunch-backed".
Richard's reputation as a promoter of legal fairness persisted, however. William Camden in his Remains Concerning Britain (1605) states that Richard, "albeit he lived wickedly, yet made good laws". Francis Bacon also states that he was "a good lawmaker for the ease and solace of the common people". In 1525, Cardinal Wolsey upbraided the aldermen and Mayor of London for relying on a statute of Richard to avoid paying an extorted tax (benevolence) but received the reply "although he did evil, yet in his time were many good acts made."
Richard was a practising Catholic, as shown by his personal Book of Hours, surviving in the Lambeth Palace library. As well as conventional aristocratic devotional texts, the book contains a Collect of Saint Ninian, referencing a saint popular in the Anglo-Scottish Borders.
Despite this, the image of Richard as a ruthless tyrant remained dominant in the 18th and 19th centuries. The 18th-century philosopher and historian David Hume described him as a man who used dissimulation to conceal "his fierce and savage nature" and who had "abandoned all principles of honour and humanity". Hume acknowledged that some historians have argued "that he was well qualified for government, had he legally obtained it; and that he committed no crimes but such as were necessary to procure him possession of the crown", but he dismissed this view on the grounds that Richard's exercise of arbitrary power encouraged instability. The most important late 19th century biographer of the king was James Gairdner, who also wrote the entry on Richard in the Dictionary of National Biography. Gairdner stated that he had begun to study Richard with a neutral viewpoint, but became convinced that Shakespeare and More were essentially correct in their view of the king, despite some exaggerations.
Richard was not without his defenders, the first of whom was Sir George Buck, a descendant of one of the king's supporters, who completed The history of King Richard the Third in 1619. The authoritative Buck text was published only in 1979, though a corrupted version was published by Buck's great-nephew in 1646. Buck attacked the "improbable imputations and strange and spiteful scandals" related by Tudor writers, including Richard's alleged deformities and murders. He located lost archival material, including the Titulus Regius, but also claimed to have seen a letter written by Elizabeth of York, according to which Elizabeth sought to marry the king. Elizabeth's supposed letter was never produced. Documents which later emerged from the Portuguese royal archives show that after Queen Anne's death, Richard's ambassadors were sent on a formal errand to negotiate a double marriage between Richard and the Portuguese king's sister Joanna, of Lancastrian descent, and between Elizabeth of York and Joanna's cousin Manuel, Duke of Viseu (later King of Portugal).
Significant among Richard's defenders was Horace Walpole. In Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third (1768), Walpole disputed all the alleged murders and argued that Richard may have acted in good faith. He also argued that any physical abnormality was probably no more than a minor distortion of the shoulders. However, he retracted his views in 1793 after the Terror, stating he now believed that Richard could have committed the crimes he was charged with, although Pollard observes that this retraction is frequently overlooked by later admirers of Richard. Other defenders of Richard include the noted explorer Clements Markham, whose Richard III: His Life and Character (1906) replied to the work of Gairdner. He argued that Henry VII killed the princes and that the bulk of evidence against Richard was nothing more than Tudor propaganda. An intermediate view was provided by Alfred Legge in The Unpopular King (1885). Legge argued that Richard's "greatness of soul" was eventually "warped and dwarfed" by the ingratitude of others.
Some twentieth-century historians have been less inclined to moral judgement, seeing Richard's actions as a product of the unstable times. In the words of Charles Ross, "the later fifteenth century in England is now seen as a ruthless and violent age as concerns the upper ranks of society, full of private feuds, intimidation, land-hunger, and litigiousness, and consideration of Richard's life and career against this background has tended to remove him from the lonely pinnacle of Villainy Incarnate on which Shakespeare had placed him. Like most men, he was conditioned by the standards of his age." The Richard III Society, founded in 1924 as "The Fellowship of the White Boar", is the oldest of several groups dedicated to improving his reputation. Other contemporary historians still describe him as a "power-hungry and ruthless politician" who was still most probably "ultimately responsible for the murder of his nephews."
In culture
Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature. Two other plays of the Elizabethan era predated Shakespeare's work. The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge is believed to be the first history play written in England. The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work, was probably an influence on Shakespeare. Neither of the two plays places any emphasis on Richard's physical appearance, though the True Tragedy briefly mentions that he is "A man ill shaped, crooked backed, lame armed" and "valiantly minded, but tyrannous in authority". Both portray him as a man motivated by personal ambition, who uses everyone around him to get his way. Ben Jonson is also known to have written a play Richard Crookback in 1602, but it was never published and nothing is known about its portrayal of the king.
Marjorie Bowen's 1929 novel Dickon set the trend for pro-Ricardian literature. Particularly influential was The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey, in which a modern detective concludes that Richard III is innocent in the death of the Princes. Other novelists such as Valerie Anand in the novel Crown of Roses (1989) have also offered alternative versions to the theory that he murdered them. Sharon Kay Penman, in her historical novel The Sunne in Splendour, attributes the death of the Princes to the Duke of Buckingham. In the mystery novel The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters (1974) the central plot revolves around the debate as to whether Richard III was guilty of these and other crimes. A sympathetic portrayal is given in The Founding (1980), the first volume in The Morland Dynasty series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.
One film adaptation of Shakespeare's play Richard III is the 1955 version directed and produced by Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. Also notable are the 1995 film version starring Ian McKellen, set in a fictional 1930s fascist England, and Looking for Richard, a 1996 documentary film directed by Al Pacino, who plays the title character as well as himself. The play has been adapted for television on several occasions.
Discovery of remains
On 24 August 2012, the University of Leicester and Leicester City Council, in association with the Richard III Society, announced that they had joined forces to begin a search for the remains of King Richard. The search for Richard III was led by Philippa Langley of the Society's Looking For Richard Project with the archaeological work led by University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS). Experts set out to locate the lost site of the former Greyfriars Church (demolished during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries), and to discover whether his remains were still interred there. By comparing fixed points between maps in a historical sequence, the search located the church, where Richard's body had been hastily buried without pomp in 1485, its foundations identifiable beneath a modern-day city centre car park.
The excavators announced on 5 September 2012 that they had identified Greyfriars Church and two days later that they had identified the location of Robert Herrick's garden, where the memorial to Richard III stood in the early 17th century. A human skeleton was found beneath the Church's choir.
Improbably, the excavators found the remains in the first location in which they dug at the car park. Coincidentally, they lay almost directly under a roughly painted R on the tarmac. This had existed since the early 2000s to signify a reserved parking space.
On 12 September, it was announced that the skeleton discovered during the search might be that of Richard III. Several reasons were given: the body was of an adult male; it was buried beneath the choir of the church; and there was severe scoliosis of the spine, possibly making one shoulder higher than the other (to what extent depended on the severity of the condition). Additionally, there was an object that appeared to be an arrowhead embedded in the spine; and there were perimortem injuries to the skull. These included a relatively shallow orifice, which is most likely to have been caused by a rondel dagger, and a scooping depression to the skull, inflicted by a bladed weapon, most probably a sword.
Further, the bottom of the skull presented a gaping hole, where a halberd had cut away and entered it. Forensic pathologist Stuart Hamilton stated that this injury would have left the individual's brain visible, and most certainly would have been the cause of death. Jo Appleby, the osteo-archaeologist who excavated the skeleton, concurred and described the latter as "a mortal battlefield wound in the back of the skull". The base of the skull also presented another fatal wound in which a bladed weapon had been thrust into it, leaving behind a jagged hole. Closer examination of the interior of the skull revealed a mark opposite this wound, showing that the blade penetrated to a depth of .
In total, the skeleton presented ten wounds: four minor injuries on the top of the skull, one dagger blow on the cheekbone, one cut on the lower jaw, two fatal injuries on the base of the skull, one cut on a rib bone, and one final wound on the pelvis, most probably inflicted after death. It is generally accepted that postmortem, Richard's naked body was tied to the back of a horse, with his arms slung over one side and his legs and buttocks over the other. This presented a tempting target for onlookers, and the angle of the blow on the pelvis suggests that one of them stabbed Richard's right buttock with substantial force, as the cut extends from the back all the way to the front of the pelvic bone and was most probably an act of humiliation. It is also possible that Richard and his corpse suffered other injuries which left no trace on the skeleton.
British historian John Ashdown-Hill had used genealogical research in 2004 to trace matrilineal descendants of Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter, Richard's elder sister. A British-born woman who emigrated to Canada after the Second World War, Joy Ibsen (), was found to be a 16th-generation great-niece of the king in the same direct maternal line. Her mitochondrial DNA was tested and belongs to mitochondrial DNA haplogroup J, which by deduction, should also be the mitochondrial DNA haplogroup of Richard III. Joy Ibsen died in 2008. Her son Michael Ibsen gave a mouth-swab sample to the research team on 24 August 2012. His mitochondrial DNA passed down the direct maternal line was compared to samples from the human remains found at the excavation site and used to identify King Richard.
On 4 February 2013, the University of Leicester confirmed that the skeleton was beyond reasonable doubt that of King Richard III. This conclusion was based on mitochondrial DNA evidence, soil analysis, and dental tests (there were some molars missing as a result of caries), as well as physical characteristics of the skeleton which are highly consistent with contemporary accounts of Richard's appearance. The team announced that the "arrowhead" discovered with the body was a Roman-era nail, probably disturbed when the body was first interred. However, there were numerous perimortem wounds on the body, and part of the skull had been sliced off with a bladed weapon; this would have caused rapid death. The team concluded that it is unlikely that the king was wearing a helmet in his last moments. Soil taken from the remains was found to contain microscopic roundworm eggs. Several eggs were found in samples taken from the pelvis, where the king's intestines were, but not from the skull and only very small numbers were identified in soil surrounding the grave. The findings suggest that the higher concentration of eggs in the pelvic area probably arose from a roundworm infection the king suffered in his life, rather than from human waste dumped in the area at a later date, researchers said. The mayor of Leicester announced that the king's skeleton would be re-interred at Leicester Cathedral in early 2014, but a judicial review of that decision delayed the reinterment for a year. A museum to Richard III was opened in July 2014 in the Victorian school buildings next to the Greyfriars grave site.
The proposal to have King Richard buried in Leicester attracted some controversy. Those who challenged the decision included fifteen "collateral [non-direct] descendants of Richard III", represented by the Plantagenet Alliance, who believed that the body should be reburied in York, as they claim the king wished. In August 2013, they filed a court case in order to contest Leicester's claim to re-inter the body within its cathedral, and propose the body be buried in York instead. However, Michael Ibsen, who gave the DNA sample that identified the king, gave his support to Leicester's claim to re-inter the body in their cathedral. On 20 August, a judge ruled that the opponents had the legal standing to contest his burial in Leicester Cathedral, despite a clause in the contract which had authorized the excavations requiring his burial there. He urged the parties, though, to settle out of court in order to "avoid embarking on the Wars of the Roses, Part Two". The Plantagenet Alliance, and the supporting fifteen collateral descendants, also faced the challenge that "Basic maths shows Richard, who had no surviving children but five siblings, could have millions of 'collateral' descendants" undermining the group's claim to represent "the only people who can speak on behalf of him". A ruling in May 2014 decreed that there are "no public law grounds for the Court interfering with the decisions in question". The remains were taken to Leicester Cathedral on 22 March 2015 and reinterred on 26 March.
On 5 February 2013 Professor Caroline Wilkinson of the University of Dundee conducted a facial reconstruction of Richard III, commissioned by the Richard III Society, based on 3D mappings of his skull. The face is described as "warm, young, earnest and rather serious". On 11 February 2014 the University of Leicester announced the project to sequence the entire genome of Richard III and one of his living relatives, Michael Ibsen, whose mitochondrial DNA confirmed the identification of the excavated remains. Richard III thus became the first ancient person of known historical identity whose genome has been sequenced. In 2016 contemporary British artist Alexander de Cadenet presented a skull portrait of Richard III in conjunction with Leicester University. The portraits have been produced using University of Leicester forensic X-ray scans of the king.
In November 2014, the results of the testing were announced, confirming that the maternal side was as previously thought. The paternal side, however, demonstrated some variance from what had been expected, with the DNA showing no links to the purported descendants of Richard's great-great-grandfather Edward III of England through Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort. This could be the result of covert illegitimacy that does not reflect the accepted genealogies between Richard and Edward III or between Edward III and the 5th Duke of Beaufort.
Reburial and tomb
After his death in battle in 1485, Richard III's body was buried in Greyfriars Church in Leicester. Following the discoveries of Richard's remains in 2012, it was decided that they should be reburied at Leicester Cathedral, despite feelings in some quarters that he should have been reburied in York Minster. His remains were carried in procession to the cathedral on 22 March 2015, and reburied on 26 March 2015 at a religious re-burial service at which both Tim Stevens, the Bishop of Leicester, and Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, officiated. The British royal family was represented by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Countess of Wessex. The actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who later portrayed him in The Hollow Crown television series, read a poem by poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy.
Richard's cathedral tomb was designed by the architects van Heyningen and Haward. The tombstone is deeply incised with a cross, and consists of a rectangular block of white Swaledale fossil stone, quarried in North Yorkshire. It sits on a low plinth made of dark Kilkenny marble, incised with Richard's name, dates and motto (Loyaulte me lie – loyalty binds me). The plinth also carries his coat of arms in pietra dura. The remains of Richard III are in a lead-lined inner casket, inside an outer English oak coffin crafted by Michael Ibsen, a direct descendant of Richard's sister Anne, and laid in a brick-lined vault below the floor, and below the plinth and tombstone. The original 2010 raised tomb design had been proposed by Langley's "Looking For Richard Project" and fully funded by members of the Richard III Society. The proposal was publicly launched by the Society on 13 February 2013 but rejected by Leicester Cathedral in favour of a memorial slab. However, following a public outcry, the Cathedral changed its position and on 18 July 2013 announced its agreement to give King Richard III a raised tomb monument.
Titles, styles, honours and arms
On 1 November 1461, Richard gained the title of Duke of Gloucester; in late 1461, he was invested as a Knight of the Garter. Following the death of King Edward IV, he was made Lord Protector of England. Richard held this office from 30 April to 26 June 1483, when he made himself king. During his reign, Richard was styled Dei Gratia Rex Angliae et Franciae et Dominus Hiberniae (by the Grace of God, King of England and France and Lord of Ireland).
Informally, he may have been known as "Dickon", according to a sixteenth-century legend of a note, warning of treachery, that was sent to the Duke of Norfolk on the eve of Bosworth:
Arms
As Duke of Gloucester, Richard used the Royal Arms of England quartered with the Royal Arms of France, differenced by a label argent of three points ermine, on each point a canton gules, supported by a blue boar. As sovereign, he used the arms of the kingdom undifferenced, supported by a white boar and a lion. His motto was Loyaulte me lie, "Loyalty binds me"; and his personal device was a white boar.
Family trees
See also
King Richard III Visitor Centre, Leicester
Ricardian (Richard III)
Richard III Museum, York
Notes
References
Sources
Further reading
External links
King Richard III Visitor Centre, Leicester
The Richard III Society website
The Richard III Society, American Branch website
Information about the discovery of Richard III from the University of Leicester
, with commentary by Pamela Tudor-Craig
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"is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Harold Sakuishi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's seinen manga magazine Weekly Big Comic Spirits from December 2009 to November 2011, with its chapters collected in six tankōbon volumes. A sequel, titled Seven Shakespeares: Non Sanz Droict, started in Kodansha's Weekly Young Magazine in December 2016.\n\nPlot \nThis is a historical manga centered around William Shakespeare's \"lost years\" before becoming a playwright and poet.\n\nPublication\nSeven Shakespeares is written and illustrated by Harold Sakuishi. The manga was serialized in Shogakukan's Weekly Big Comic Spirits from December 21, 2009 to November 14, 2011.<ref></p></ref><ref></p></ref> Shogakukan collected its chapters in six tankōbon volumes, released from May 28, 2010 to December 28, 2011. Kodansha republished the series in three volumes, released from July 6 to September 6, 2017.<ref></p></ref>\n\nA sequel, titeld , started in Kodansha's Weekly Young Magazine on December 12, 2016. In April 2020, Sakuishi announced that the series would enter on an indefinite hiatus. Kodansha has collected its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was released on April 6, 2017. As of August 5, 2020, thirteen volumes have been released.\n\nIn North America, the series is published digitally in English by Comixology and Kodansha USA since July 2018.\n\nVolume list\n\nSeven Shakespeares\n\nSeven Shakespeares: Non Sanz Droict\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nCultural depictions of William Shakespeare\nHistorical anime and manga\nKodansha manga\nSeinen manga\nShogakukan manga\nTheatre in anime and manga",
"\"Anne Hathaway\" is a poem by Carol Ann Duffy about Anne Hathaway, the wife of William Shakespeare.\n\nOverview\nThis poem, a sonnet, appears in The World's Wife, published in 1999, a collection of poems. The poem is based on the famous passage from Shakespeare's will regarding his \"second-best bed\". Duffy chooses the view that this would be their marriage bed, and so a memento of their love, not a slight. Anne remembers their lovemaking as a form of \"romance and drama\", unlike the \"prose\" written on the best bed used by guests, \"I hold him in the casket of my widow's head/ as he held me upon that next best bed\".\n\nIn The Second Best Bed and the Legacy of Anne Hathaway, Katherine Scheil describes it as \"… [centering] on an intimate relationship between the Shakespeares and the second best bed: 'The bed we loved in was a spinning world / of forests, castles, torchlight, clifftops, seas / where he would dive for pearls' while 'In the other bed, the best, our guests dozed on, / dribbling their prose'\". She sees Duffy's poem as belonging to a category of recent takes on Anne Hathaway that \"… have used the 'second- best bed' as an inspiration for imagining some sort of connection (emotional, sexual, or both) between the Shakespeares.\"\n\nNotes and references\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n \n\n1999 poems\nPoetry by Carol Ann Duffy\nCultural depictions of William Shakespeare"
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"Richard III of England",
"In culture",
"What was his culture like",
"I don't know.",
"What can you tell me about the section in culture",
"Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature.",
"What was he in of Shakespeares",
"Shakespeare's play Richard III"
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What other plays was he in
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In addition to Shakespeare's play Richard III, what other plays was Richard III of England in?
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Richard III of England
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Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature. Two other plays of the Elizabethan era predated Shakespeare's work. The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge is believed to be the first history play written in England. The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work, was probably an influence on Shakespeare. Neither of the two plays places any emphasis on Richard's physical appearance, though the True Tragedy briefly mentions that he is "A man ill shaped, crooked backed, lame armed" adding that he is "valiantly minded, but tyrannous in authority". Both portray him as a man motivated by personal ambition, who uses everyone around him to get his way. Ben Jonson is also known to have written a play Richard Crookback in 1602, but it was never published and nothing is known about its portrayal of the king. Marjorie Bowen's 1929 novel Dickon set the trend for pro-Ricardian literature. Particularly influential was The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey, in which a modern detective concludes that Richard III is innocent in the death of the Princes. Other novelists such as Valerie Anand in the novel Crown of Roses (1989) have also offered alternative versions to the theory that he murdered them. Sharon Kay Penman, in her historical novel The Sunne in Splendour, attributes the death of the Princes to the Duke of Buckingham. In the mystery novel The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters (1974) the central plot revolves around the debate as to whether Richard III was guilty of these and other crimes. A sympathetic portrayal of Richard III is given in The Founding, the first volume in The Morland Dynasty series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. One film adaptation of Shakespeare's play Richard III is the 1955 version directed and produced by Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. Also notable are the 1995 film version starring Ian McKellen, set in a fictional 1930s fascist England, and Looking for Richard, a 1996 documentary film directed by Al Pacino, who plays the title character as well as himself. The play has been adapted for television on several occasions. CANNOTANSWER
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The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge
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Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. He is the protagonist of Richard III, one of William Shakespeare's history/tragedy plays.
Richard was created Duke of Gloucester in 1461 after the accession of his brother King Edward IV. In 1472, he married Anne Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. He governed northern England during Edward's reign, and played a role in the invasion of Scotland in 1482. When Edward IV died in April 1483, Richard was named Lord Protector of the realm for Edward's eldest son and successor, the 12-year-old Edward V. Arrangements were made for Edward V's coronation on 22 June 1483. Before the king could be crowned, the marriage of his parents was declared bigamous and therefore invalid. Now officially illegitimate, their children were barred from inheriting the throne. On 25 June, an assembly of lords and commoners endorsed a declaration to this effect, and proclaimed Richard as the rightful king. He was crowned on 6 July 1483. Edward and his younger brother Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, called the "Princes in the Tower", were not seen in public after August, and accusations circulated that they had been murdered on King Richard's orders, under the Tudor rule a few years later.
There were two major rebellions against Richard during his reign. In October 1483, an unsuccessful revolt was led by staunch allies of Edward IV and Richard's former ally, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. Then, in August 1485, Henry Tudor and his uncle, Jasper Tudor, landed in southern Wales with a contingent of French troops, and marched through Pembrokeshire, recruiting soldiers. Henry's forces defeated Richard's army near the Leicestershire town of Market Bosworth. Richard was slain, making him the last English king to die in battle. Henry Tudor then ascended the throne as Henry VII.
Richard's corpse was taken to the nearby town of Leicester and buried without ceremony. His original tomb monument is believed to have been removed during the English Reformation, and his remains were wrongly thought to have been thrown into the River Soar. In 2012, an archaeological excavation was commissioned by the Richard III Society on the site previously occupied by Grey Friars Priory. The University of Leicester identified the skeleton found in the excavation as that of Richard III as a result of radiocarbon dating, comparison with contemporary reports of his appearance, and comparison of his mitochondrial DNA with that of two matrilineal descendants of his sister Anne. He was reburied in Leicester Cathedral on 26 March 2015.
Early life
Richard was born on 2 October 1452, at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire, the eleventh of the twelve children of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the youngest to survive infancy. His childhood coincided with the beginning of what has traditionally been labelled the 'Wars of the Roses', a period of political instability and periodic open civil war in England during the second half of the fifteenth century, between the Yorkists, who supported Richard's father (a potential claimant to the throne of King Henry VI from birth), and opposed the regime of Henry VI and his wife, Margaret of Anjou, and the Lancastrians, who were loyal to the crown. In 1459, his father and the Yorkists were forced to flee England, whereupon Richard and his older brother George were placed in the custody of their aunt Anne Neville, Duchess of Buckingham, and possibly of Cardinal Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury.
When their father and elder brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland, were killed at the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December 1460, Richard and George were sent by their mother to the Low Countries. They returned to England following the defeat of the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton. They participated in the coronation of their eldest brother as King Edward IV on 28 June 1461, when Richard was named Duke of Gloucester and made both a Knight of the Garter and a Knight of the Bath. Edward appointed him the sole Commissioner of Array for the Western Counties in 1464 when he was 11. By the age of 17, he had an independent command.
Richard spent several years during his childhood at Middleham Castle in Wensleydale, Yorkshire, under the tutelage of his cousin Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, later known as 'the Kingmaker' because of his role in the Wars of the Roses. Warwick supervised Richard's training as a knight; in the autumn of 1465, Edward IV granted Warwick £1000 for the expenses of his younger brother's tutelage. With some interruptions, Richard stayed at Middleham either from late 1461 until early 1465, when he was 12 or from 1465 until his coming of age in 1468, when he turned 16. While at Warwick's estate, it is likely that he met both Francis Lovell, who would be his firm supporter later in his life, and Warwick's younger daughter, his future wife Anne Neville.
It is possible that even at this early stage Warwick was considering the king's brothers as strategic matches for his daughters, Isabel and Anne: young aristocrats were often sent to be raised in the households of their intended future partners, as had been the case for the young dukes' father, Richard of York. As the relationship between the king and Warwick became strained, Edward IV opposed the match. During Warwick's lifetime, George was the only royal brother to marry one of his daughters, the elder, Isabel, on 12 July 1469, without the king's permission. George joined his father-in-law's revolt against the king, while Richard remained loyal to Edward, even though he was rumoured to have been sleeping with Anne.
Richard and Edward were forced to flee to Burgundy in October 1470 after Warwick defected to the side of the former Lancastrian queen Margaret of Anjou. In 1468, Richard's sister Margaret had married Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy, and the brothers could expect a welcome there. Edward was restored to the throne in the spring of 1471, following the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, in both of which the 18-year-old Richard played a crucial role.
During his adolescence, and due to a cause that is unknown, Richard developed a sideways curvature of the spine (Scoliosis). In 2014, after the discovery of Richard's remains, the osteoarchaeologist Dr. Jo Appleby, of Leicester University's School of Archaeology and Ancient History, imaged the spinal column, and reconstructed a model using 3D printing, and concluded that though the spinal scoliosis looked dramatic, it probably did not cause any major physical deformity that could not be disguised by clothing.
Marriage and family relationships
Following a decisive Yorkist victory over the Lancastrians at the Battle of Tewkesbury, Richard married Anne Neville on 12 July 1472. By the end of 1470 Anne had previously been wedded to Edward of Westminster, only son of Henry VI, to seal her father's allegiance to the Lancastrian party. Edward died at the Battle of Tewkesbury on 4 May 1471, while Warwick had died at the Battle of Barnet on 14 April 1471. Richard's marriage plans brought him into conflict with his brother George. John Paston's letter of 17 February 1472 makes it clear that George was not happy about the marriage but grudgingly accepted it on the basis that "he may well have my Lady his sister-in-law, but they shall part no livelihood". The reason was the inheritance Anne shared with her elder sister Isabel, whom George had married in 1469. It was not only the earldom that was at stake; Richard Neville had inherited it as a result of his marriage to Anne Beauchamp, 16th Countess of Warwick. The Countess, who was still alive, was technically the owner of the substantial Beauchamp estates, her father having left no male heirs.
The Croyland Chronicle records that Richard agreed to a prenuptial contract in the following terms: "the marriage of the Duke of Gloucester with Anne before-named was to take place, and he was to have such and so much of the earl's lands as should be agreed upon between them through the mediation of arbitrators; while all the rest were to remain in the possession of the Duke of Clarence". The date of Paston's letter suggests the marriage was still being negotiated in February 1472. In order to win George's final consent to the marriage, Richard renounced most of the Earl of Warwick's land and property including the earldoms of Warwick (which the Kingmaker had held in his wife's right) and Salisbury and surrendered to George the office of Great Chamberlain of England. Richard retained Neville's forfeit estates he had already been granted in the summer of 1471: Penrith, Sheriff Hutton and Middleham, where he later established his marital household.
The requisite papal dispensation was obtained dated 22 April 1472. Michael Hicks has suggested that the terms of the dispensation deliberately understated the degrees of consanguinity between the couple, and the marriage was therefore illegal on the ground of first degree consanguinity following George's marriage to Anne's sister Isabel. There would have been first-degree consanguinity if Richard had sought to marry Isabel (in case of widowhood) after she had married his brother George, but no such consanguinity applied for Anne and Richard. Richard's marriage to Anne was never declared null, and it was public to everyone including secular and canon lawyers for 13 years.
In June 1473, Richard persuaded his mother-in-law to leave the sanctuary and come to live under his protection at Middleham. Later in the year, under the terms of the 1473 Act of Resumption, George lost some of the property he held under royal grant and made no secret of his displeasure. John Paston's letter of November 1473 says that King Edward planned to put both his younger brothers in their place by acting as "a stifler atween them". Early in 1474, Parliament assembled and Edward attempted to reconcile his brothers by stating that both men, and their wives, would enjoy the Warwick inheritance just as if the Countess of Warwick "was naturally dead". The doubts cast by George on the validity of Richard and Anne's marriage were addressed by a clause protecting their rights in the event they were divorced (i.e. of their marriage being declared null and void by the Church) and then legally remarried to each other, and also protected Richard's rights while waiting for such a valid second marriage with Anne. The following year, Richard was rewarded with all the Neville lands in the north of England, at the expense of Anne's cousin, George Neville, 1st Duke of Bedford. From this point, George seems to have fallen steadily out of King Edward's favour, his discontent coming to a head in 1477 when, following Isabel's death, he was denied the opportunity to marry Mary of Burgundy, the stepdaughter of his sister Margaret, even though Margaret approved the proposed match. There is no evidence of Richard's involvement in George's subsequent conviction and execution on a charge of treason.
Reign of Edward IV
Estates and titles
Richard was granted the Duchy of Gloucester on 1 November 1461, and on 12 August the next year was awarded large estates in northern England, including the lordships of Richmond in Yorkshire, and Pembroke in Wales. He gained the forfeited lands of the Lancastrian John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, in East Anglia. In 1462, on his birthday, he was made Constable of Gloucester and Corfe Castles and Admiral of England, Ireland and Aquitaine and appointed Governor of the North, becoming the richest and most powerful noble in England. On 17 October 1469, he was made Constable of England. In November, he replaced William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, as Chief Justice of North Wales. The following year, he was appointed Chief Steward and Chamberlain of Wales. On 18 May 1471, Richard was named Great Chamberlain and Lord High Admiral of England. Other positions followed: High Sheriff of Cumberland for life, Lieutenant of the North and Commander-in-Chief against the Scots and hereditary Warden of the West March. Two months later, on 14 July, he gained the Lordships of the strongholds Sheriff Hutton and Middleham in Yorkshire and Penrith in Cumberland, which had belonged to Warwick the Kingmaker. It is possible that the grant of Middleham seconded Richard's personal wishes.
Exile and return
During the latter part of Edward IV's reign, Richard demonstrated his loyalty to the king, in contrast to their brother George who had allied himself with the Earl of Warwick when the latter rebelled towards the end of the 1460s. Following Warwick's 1470 rebellion, before which he had made peace with Margaret of Anjou and promised the restoration of Henry VI to the English throne, Richard, the Baron Hastings and Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, escaped capture at Doncaster by Warwick's brother, John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu. On 2 October they sailed from King's Lynn in two ships; Edward landed at Marsdiep and Richard at Zeeland. It was said that, having left England in such haste as to possess almost nothing, Edward was forced to pay their passage with his fur cloak; certainly, Richard borrowed three pounds from Zeeland's town bailiff. They were attainted by Warwick's only Parliament on 26 November. They resided in Bruges with Louis de Gruthuse, who had been the Burgundian Ambassador to Edward's court, but it was not until Louis XI of France declared war on Burgundy that Charles, Duke of Burgundy, assisted their return, providing, along with the Hanseatic merchants, £20,000, 36 ships and 1200 men. They departed Flushing for England on 11 March 1471. Warwick's arrest of local sympathisers prevented them from landing in Yorkist East Anglia and on 14 March, after being separated in a storm, their ships ran ashore at Holderness. The town of Hull refused Edward entry. He gained entry to York by using the same claim as Henry of Bolingbroke had before deposing Richard II in 1399; that is, that he was merely reclaiming the Dukedom of York rather than the crown. It was in Edward's attempt to regain his throne that Richard began to demonstrate his skill as a military commander.
1471 military campaign
Once Edward had regained the support of his brother George, he mounted a swift and decisive campaign to regain the crown through combat; it is believed that Richard was his principal lieutenant as some of the king's earliest support came from members of Richard's affinity, including Sir James Harrington and Sir William Parr, who brought 600 men-at-arms to them at Doncaster. Richard may have led the vanguard at the Battle of Barnet, in his first command, on 14 April 1471, where he outflanked the wing of Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, although the degree to which his command was fundamental may have been exaggerated. That Richard's personal household sustained losses indicates he was in the thick of the fighting. A contemporary source is clear about his holding the vanguard for Edward at Tewkesbury, deployed against the Lancastrian vanguard under Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset, on 4 May 1471, and his role two days later, as Constable of England, sitting alongside John Howard as Earl Marshal, in the trial and sentencing of leading Lancastrians captured after the battle.
1475 invasion of France
At least in part resentful of King Louis XI's previous support of his Lancastrian opponents, and possibly in support of his brother-in-law Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, Edward went to parliament in October 1472 for funding a military campaign, and eventually landed in Calais on 4 July 1475. Richard's was the largest private contingent of his army. Although well known to have publicly been against the eventual treaty signed with Louis XI at Picquigny (and absent from the negotiations, in which one of his rank would have been expected to take a leading role), he acted as Edward's witness when the king instructed his delegates to the French court, and received 'some very fine presents' from Louis on a visit to the French king at Amiens. In refusing other gifts, which included 'pensions' in the guise of 'tribute', he was joined only by Cardinal Bourchier. He supposedly disapproved of Edward's policy of personally benefiting—politically and financially—from a campaign paid for out of a parliamentary grant, and hence out of public funds. Any military prowess was therefore not to be revealed further until the last years of Edward's reign.
The North, and the Council in the North
Richard was the dominant magnate in the north of England until Edward IV's death. There, and especially in the city of York, he was highly regarded; although it has been questioned whether this view was reciprocated by Richard. Edward IV delegated significant authority to Richard in the region. Kendall and later historians have suggested that this was with the intention of making Richard the Lord of the North; Peter Booth, however, has argued that "instead of allowing his brother Richard carte blanche, [Edward] restricted his influence by using his own agent, Sir William Parr." Following Richard's accession to the throne, he first established the Council of the North and made his nephew John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln, president and formally institutionalised this body as an offshoot of the royal Council; all its letters and judgements were issued on behalf of the king and in his name. The council had a budget of 2000 marks per annum and had issued "Regulations" by July of that year: councillors to act impartially and declare vested interests, and to meet at least every three months. Its main focus of operations was Yorkshire and the north-east, and its primary responsibilities were land disputes, keeping of the king's peace, and punishing lawbreakers.
War with Scotland
Richard's increasing role in the north from the mid-1470s to some extent explains his withdrawal from the royal court. He had been Warden of the West March on the Scottish border since 10 September 1470, and again from May 1471; he used Penrith as a base while 'taking effectual measures' against the Scots, and 'enjoyed the revenues of the estates' of the Forest of Cumberland while doing so. It was at the same time that the Duke of Gloucester was appointed sheriff of Cumberland five consecutive years, being described as 'of Penrith Castle' in 1478. By 1480, war with Scotland was looming; on 12 May that year he was appointed Lieutenant-General of the North (a position created for the occasion) as fears of a Scottish invasion grew. Louis XI of France had attempted to negotiate a military alliance with Scotland (in the tradition of the "Auld Alliance"), with the aim of attacking England, according to a contemporary French chronicler. Richard had the authority to summon the Border Levies and issue Commissions of Array to repel the Border raids. Together with the Earl of Northumberland, he launched counter-raids, and when the king and council formally declared war in November 1480, he was granted £10,000 for wages. The king failed to arrive to lead the English army and the result was intermittent skirmishing until early 1482. Richard witnessed the treaty with Alexander, Duke of Albany, brother of King James III of Scotland. Northumberland, Stanley, Dorset, Sir Edward Woodville, and Richard with approximately 20,000 men took the town of Berwick almost immediately. The castle held until 24 August 1482, when Richard recaptured Berwick-upon-Tweed from the Kingdom of Scotland. Although it is debatable whether the English victory was due more to internal Scottish divisions rather than any outstanding military prowess by Richard, it was the last time that the Royal Burgh of Berwick changed hands between the two realms.
Lord Protector
On the death of Edward IV on 9 April 1483, his 12-year-old son, Edward V, succeeded him. Richard was named Lord Protector of the Realm and at Baron Hastings' urging, Richard assumed his role and left his base in Yorkshire for London. On 29 April, as previously agreed, Richard and his cousin, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, met Queen Elizabeth's brother, Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, at Northampton. At the queen's request, Earl Rivers was escorting the young king to London with an armed escort of 2000 men, while Richard and Buckingham's joint escort was 600 men. Edward V himself had been sent further south to Stony Stratford. At first convivial, Richard had Earl Rivers, his nephew Richard Grey and his associate, Thomas Vaughan, arrested. They were taken to Pontefract Castle, where they were executed on 25 June on the charge of treason against the Lord Protector after appearing before a tribunal led by Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. Rivers had appointed Richard as executor of his will.
After having Rivers arrested, Richard and Buckingham moved to Stony Stratford, where Richard informed Edward V of a plot aimed at denying him his role as protector and whose perpetrators had been dealt with. He proceeded to escort the king to London. They entered the city on 4 May, displaying the carriages of weapons Rivers had taken with his 2000-man army. Richard first accommodated Edward in the Bishop's apartments; then, on Buckingham's suggestion, the king was moved to the royal apartments of the Tower of London, where kings customarily awaited their coronation. Within the year 1483, Richard had moved himself to the grandeur of Crosby Hall, London, then in Bishopsgate in the City of London. Robert Fabyan, in his 'The new chronicles of England and of France', writes that "the Duke caused the King (Edward V) to be removed unto the Tower and his broder with hym, and the Duke lodged himselfe in Crosbyes Place in Bisshoppesgate Strete." In Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, he accounts that "little by little all folke withdrew from the Tower, and drew unto Crosbies in Bishops gates Street, where the Protector kept his houshold. The Protector had the resort; the King in maner desolate."
On hearing the news of her brother's 30 April arrest, the dowager queen fled to sanctuary in Westminster Abbey. Joining her were her son by her first marriage, Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset; her five daughters; and her youngest son, Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. On 10/11 June, Richard wrote to Ralph, Lord Neville, the City of York and others asking for their support against "the Queen, her blood adherents and affinity," whom he suspected of plotting his murder. At a council meeting on Friday 13 June at the Tower of London, Richard accused Hastings and others of having conspired against him with the Woodvilles and accusing Jane Shore, lover to both Hastings and Thomas Grey, of acting as a go-between. According to Thomas More, Hastings was taken out of the council chambers and summarily executed in the courtyard, while others, like Lord Thomas Stanley and John Morton, Bishop of Ely, were arrested. Hastings was not attainted and Richard sealed an indenture that placed Hastings' widow, Katherine, directly under his own protection. Bishop Morton was released into the custody of Buckingham. On 16 June, the dowager queen agreed to hand over the Duke of York to the Archbishop of Canterbury so that he might attend his brother Edward's coronation, still planned for 22 June.
King of England
A clergyman (Bishop Robert Stillington) is said to have informed Richard that Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was invalid because of Edward's earlier union with Eleanor Butler, making Edward V and his siblings illegitimate. The identity of the informant, known only through the memoirs of French diplomat Philippe de Commines, was Robert Stillington, the Bishop of Bath and Wells. On Sunday 22 June, a sermon was preached outside Old St. Paul's Cathedral by Ralph Shaa, declaring Edward IV's children bastards and Richard the rightful king. Shortly after, the citizens of London, both nobles and commons, convened and drew up a petition asking Richard to assume the throne. He accepted on 26 June and was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 6 July. His title to the throne was confirmed by Parliament in January 1484 by the document Titulus Regius.
The princes, who were still lodged in the royal residence of the Tower of London at the time of Richard's coronation, disappeared from sight after the summer of 1483. Although after his death Richard III was accused of having Edward and his brother killed, notably by More and in Shakespeare's play, the facts surrounding their disappearance remain unknown. Other culprits have been suggested, including Buckingham and even Henry VII, although Richard remains a suspect.
After the coronation ceremony, Richard and Anne set out on a royal progress to meet their subjects. During this journey through the country, the king and queen endowed King's College and Queens' College at Cambridge University, and made grants to the church. Still feeling a strong bond with his northern estates, Richard later planned the establishment of a large chantry chapel in York Minster with over 100 priests. He also founded the College of Arms.
Buckingham's rebellion of 1483
In 1483, a conspiracy arose among a number of disaffected gentry, many of whom had been supporters of Edward IV and the "whole Yorkist establishment". The conspiracy was nominally led by Richard's former ally, the Duke of Buckingham, although it had begun as a Woodville-Beaufort conspiracy (being "well underway" by the time of the Duke's involvement). Indeed, Davies has suggested that it was "only the subsequent parliamentary attainder that placed Buckingham at the centre of events", in order to blame a single disaffected magnate motivated by greed, rather than "the embarrassing truth" that those opposing Richard were actually "overwhelmingly Edwardian loyalists". It is possible that they planned to depose Richard III and place Edward V back on the throne, and that when rumours arose that Edward and his brother were dead, Buckingham proposed that Henry Tudor should return from exile, take the throne and marry Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV. However, it has also been pointed out that as this narrative stems from Richard's own parliament of 1484, it should probably be treated "with caution". For his part, Buckingham raised a substantial force from his estates in Wales and the Marches. Henry, in exile in Brittany, enjoyed the support of the Breton treasurer Pierre Landais, who hoped Buckingham's victory would cement an alliance between Brittany and England.
Some of Henry Tudor's ships ran into a storm and were forced to return to Brittany or Normandy, while Henry himself anchored off Plymouth for a week before learning of Buckingham's failure. Buckingham's army was troubled by the same storm and deserted when Richard's forces came against them. Buckingham tried to escape in disguise, but was either turned in by a retainer for the bounty Richard had put on his head, or was discovered in hiding with him. He was convicted of treason and beheaded in Salisbury, near the Bull's Head Inn, on 2 November. His widow, Catherine Woodville, later married Jasper Tudor, the uncle of Henry Tudor. Richard made overtures to Landais, offering military support for Landais's weak regime under Francis II, Duke of Brittany, in exchange for Henry. Henry fled to Paris, where he secured support from the French regent Anne of Beaujeu, who supplied troops for an invasion in 1485.
Death at the Battle of Bosworth Field
On Monday 22 August 1485, Richard met the outnumbered forces of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Richard rode a white courser (an especially swift and strong horse). The size of Richard's army has been estimated at 8,000 and Henry's at 5,000, but exact numbers are not known, though the royal army is believed to have "substantially" outnumbered Henry's. The traditional view of the king's famous cries of "Treason!" before falling was that during the battle Richard was abandoned by Baron Stanley (made Earl of Derby in October), Sir William Stanley, and Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. However, the role of Northumberland is unclear; his position was with the reserve—behind the king's line—and he could not easily have moved forward without a general royal advance, which did not take place. Indeed, the physical confines behind the crest of Ambion Hill, combined with a difficulty of communications, probably physically hampered any attempt he made to join the fray. Despite appearing "a pillar of the Ricardian regime", and his previous loyalty to Edward IV, Baron Stanley was the stepfather of Henry Tudor, and Stanley's inaction combined with his brother's entering the battle on Tudor's behalf was fundamental to Richard's defeat. The death of Richard's close companion John Howard, Duke of Norfolk, may have had a demoralising effect on the king and his men. Either way, Richard led a cavalry charge deep into the enemy ranks in an attempt to end the battle quickly by striking at Henry Tudor himself.
Accounts note that King Richard fought bravely and ably during this manoeuvre, unhorsing Sir John Cheyne, a well-known jousting champion, killing Henry's standard bearer Sir William Brandon and coming within a sword's length of Henry Tudor before being surrounded by Sir William Stanley's men and killed. The Burgundian chronicler Jean Molinet says that a Welshman struck the death-blow with a halberd while Richard's horse was stuck in the marshy ground. It was said that the blows were so violent that the king's helmet was driven into his skull. The contemporary Welsh poet Guto'r Glyn implies a leading Welsh Lancastrian, Rhys ap Thomas, or one of his men killed the king, writing that he "killed the boar, shaved his head". The identification in 2013 of King Richard's body shows that the skeleton had 11 wounds, eight of them to the skull, clearly inflicted in battle and suggesting he had lost his helmet. Professor Guy Rutty, from the University of Leicester, said: "The most likely injuries to have caused the king's death are the two to the inferior aspect of the skull—a large sharp force trauma possibly from a sword or staff weapon, such as a halberd or bill, and a penetrating injury from the tip of an edged weapon." The skull showed that a blade had hacked away part of the rear of the skull. Richard III was the last English king to be killed in battle. Henry Tudor succeeded Richard as King Henry VII. He married the Yorkist heiress Elizabeth of York, Edward IV's daughter and Richard III's niece.
Polydore Vergil, Henry VII's official historian, recorded that "King Richard, alone, was killed fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies". Richard's naked body was then carried back to Leicester tied to a horse, and early sources strongly suggest that it was displayed in the collegiate Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke, prior to being buried at Greyfriars Church in Leicester. In 1495, Henry VII paid for a marble and alabaster monument. According to a discredited tradition, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, his body was thrown into the River Soar, although other evidence suggests that a memorial stone was visible in 1612, in a garden built on the site of Greyfriars. The exact location was then lost, owing to more than 400 years of subsequent development, until archaeological investigations in 2012 revealed the site of the garden and Greyfriars Church. There was a memorial ledger stone in the choir of the cathedral, since replaced by the tomb of the king, and a stone plaque on Bow Bridge where tradition had falsely suggested that his remains had been thrown into the river.
According to another tradition, Richard consulted a seer in Leicester before the battle who foretold that "where your spur should strike on the ride into battle, your head shall be broken on the return". On the ride into battle, his spur struck the bridge stone of Bow Bridge in the city; legend states that as his corpse was carried from the battle over the back of a horse, his head struck the same stone and was broken open.
Issue
Richard and Anne had one son, Edward of Middleham, who was born between 1474 and 1476. He was created Earl of Salisbury on 15 February 1478, and Prince of Wales on 24 August 1483, and died in March 1484, less than two months after he had been formally declared heir apparent. After the death of his son, Richard appointed his nephew John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, as Lieutenant of Ireland, an office previously held by his son Edward. Lincoln was the son of Richard's older sister, Elizabeth, Duchess of Suffolk. After his wife's death, Richard commenced negotiations with John II of Portugal to marry John's pious sister, Joanna, Princess of Portugal. She had already turned down several suitors because of her preference for the religious life.
Richard had two acknowledged illegitimate children, John of Gloucester and Katherine Plantagenet. Also known as 'John of Pontefract', John of Gloucester was appointed Captain of Calais in 1485. Katherine married William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, in 1484. Neither the birth dates nor the names of the mothers of either of the children is known. Katherine was old enough to be wedded in 1484, when the age of consent was twelve, and John was knighted in September 1483 in York Minster, and so most historians agree that they were both fathered when Richard was a teenager. There is no evidence of infidelity on Richard's part after his marriage to Anne Neville in 1472 when he was around 20. This has led to a suggestion by the historian A. L. Rowse that Richard "had no interest in sex".
Michael Hicks and Josephine Wilkinson have suggested that Katherine's mother may have been Katherine Haute, on the basis of the grant of an annual payment of 100 shillings made to her in 1477. The Haute family was related to the Woodvilles through the marriage of Elizabeth Woodville's aunt, Joan Woodville, to William Haute. One of their children was Richard Haute, Controller of the Prince's Household. Their daughter, Alice, married Sir John Fogge; they were ancestors to Catherine Parr, sixth wife of King Henry VIII. They also suggest that John's mother may have been Alice Burgh. Richard visited Pontefract from 1471, in April and October 1473, and in early March 1474, for a week. On 1 March 1474, he granted Alice Burgh £20 a year for life "for certain special causes and considerations". She later received another allowance, apparently for being engaged as a nurse for his brother George's son, Edward of Warwick. Richard continued her annuity when he became king. John Ashdown-Hill has suggested that John was conceived during Richard's first solo expedition to the eastern counties in the summer of 1467 at the invitation of John Howard and that the boy was born in 1468 and named after his friend and supporter. Richard himself noted John was still a minor (not being yet 21) when he issued the royal patent appointing him Captain of Calais on 11 March 1485, possibly on his seventeenth birthday.
Both of Richard's illegitimate children survived him, but they seem to have died without issue and their fate after Richard's demise at Bosworth is not certain. John received a £20 annuity from Henry VII, but there are no mentions of him in contemporary records after 1487 (the year of the Battle of Stoke Field). He may have been executed in 1499, though no record of this exists beyond an assertion by George Buck over a century later. Katherine apparently died before her cousin Elizabeth of York's coronation on 25 November 1487, since her husband Sir William Herbert is described as a widower by that time. Katherine's burial place was located in the London parish church of St James Garlickhithe, between Skinner's Lane and Upper Thames Street. The mysterious Richard Plantagenet, who was first mentioned in Francis Peck's Desiderata Curiosa (a two-volume miscellany published 1732–1735) was said to be a possible illegitimate child of Richard III and is sometimes referred to as "Richard the Master-Builder" or "Richard of Eastwell", but it has also been suggested he could have been Richard, Duke of York, one of the missing Princes in the Tower. He died in 1550.
Legacy
Richard's Council of the North, described as his "one major institutional innovation", derived from his ducal council following his own viceregal appointment by Edward IV; when Richard himself became king, he maintained the same conciliar structure in his absence. It officially became part of the royal council machinery under the presidency of John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln in April 1484, based at Sandal Castle in Wakefield. It is considered to have greatly improved conditions for northern England, as it was intended to keep the peace and punish lawbreakers, as well as resolve land disputes. Bringing regional governance directly under the control of central government, it has been described as the king's "most enduring monument", surviving unchanged until 1641.
In December 1483, Richard instituted what later became known as the Court of Requests, a court to which poor people who could not afford legal representation could apply for their grievances to be heard. He also improved bail in January 1484, to protect suspected felons from imprisonment before trial and to protect their property from seizure during that time. He founded the College of Arms in 1484, he banned restrictions on the printing and sale of books, and he ordered the translation of the written Laws and Statutes from the traditional French into English. During his reign, Parliament ended the arbitrary benevolence (a device by which Edward IV raised funds), made it punishable to conceal from a buyer of land that a part of the property had already been disposed of to somebody else, required that land sales be published, laid down property qualifications for jurors, restricted the abusive Courts of Piepowders, regulated cloth sales, instituted certain forms of trade protectionism, prohibited the sale of wine and oil in fraudulent measure, and prohibited fraudulent collection of clergy dues, among others. Churchill implies he improved the law of trusts.
Richard's death at Bosworth resulted in the end of the Plantagenet dynasty, which had ruled England since the succession of Henry II in 1154. The last legitimate male Plantagenet, Richard's nephew Edward, Earl of Warwick (son of his brother George, Duke of Clarence), was executed by Henry VII in 1499.
Reputation
There are numerous contemporary, or near-contemporary, sources of information about the reign of Richard III. These include the Croyland Chronicle, Commines' Mémoires, the report of Dominic Mancini, the Paston Letters, the Chronicles of Robert Fabyan and numerous court and official records, including a few letters by Richard himself. However, the debate about Richard's true character and motives continues, both because of the subjectivity of many of the written sources, reflecting the generally partisan nature of writers of this period, and because none was written by men with an intimate knowledge of Richard.
During Richard's reign, the historian John Rous praised him as a "good lord" who punished "oppressors of the commons", adding that he had "a great heart". In 1483 the Italian observer Mancini reported that Richard enjoyed a good reputation and that both "his private life and public activities powerfully attracted the esteem of strangers". His bond to the City of York, in particular, was such that on hearing of Richard's demise at the battle of Bosworth the City Council officially deplored the king's death, at the risk of facing the victor's wrath.
During his lifetime he was the subject of some attacks. Even in the North in 1482 a man was prosecuted for offences against the Duke of Gloucester, saying he did "nothing but grin at" the city of York. In 1484, attempts to discredit him took the form of hostile placards, the only surviving one being William Collingbourne's lampoon of July 1484 "The Cat, the Rat, and Lovell the Dog, all rule England under a Hog" which was pinned to the door of St. Paul's Cathedral and referred to Richard himself (the Hog) and his most trusted councillors William Catesby, Richard Ratcliffe and Francis, Viscount Lovell. On 30 March 1485 Richard felt forced to summon the Lords and London City Councillors to publicly deny the rumours that he had poisoned Queen Anne and that he had planned a marriage to his niece Elizabeth, at the same time ordering the Sheriff of London to imprison anyone spreading such slanders. The same orders were issued throughout the realm, including York where the royal pronouncement recorded in the City Records dates 5 April 1485 and carries specific instructions to suppress seditious talk and remove and destroy evidently hostile placards unread.
As for Richard's physical appearance, most contemporary descriptions bear out the evidence that aside from having one shoulder higher than the other (with chronicler Rous not able to correctly remember which one, as slight as the difference was), Richard had no other noticeable bodily deformity. John Stow talked to old men who, remembering him, said "that he was of bodily shape comely enough, only of low stature" and a German traveller, Nicolas von Poppelau, who spent ten days in Richard's household in May 1484, describes him as "three fingers taller than himself...much more lean, with delicate arms and legs and also a great heart." Six years after Richard's death, in 1491, a schoolmaster named William Burton, on hearing a defence of Richard, launched into a diatribe, accusing the dead king of being "a hypocrite and a crookback...who was deservedly buried in a ditch like a dog."
Richard's death encouraged the furtherance of this later negative image by his Tudor successors due to the fact that it helped to legitimise Henry VII's seizure of the throne. The Richard III Society contends that this means that "a lot of what people thought they knew about Richard III was pretty much propaganda and myth building." The Tudor characterisation culminated in the famous fictional portrayal of him in Shakespeare's play Richard III as a physically deformed, Machiavellian villain, ruthlessly committing numerous murders in order to claw his way to power; Shakespeare's intention perhaps being to use Richard III as a vehicle for creating his own Marlowesque protagonist. Rous himself in his History of the Kings of England, written during Henry VII's reign, initiated the process. He reversed his earlier position, and now portrayed Richard as a freakish individual who was born with teeth and shoulder-length hair after having been in his mother's womb for two years. His body was stunted and distorted, with one shoulder higher than the other, and he was "slight in body and weak in strength". Rous also attributes the murder of Henry VI to Richard, and claims that he poisoned his own wife. Jeremy Potter, a former Chair of the Richard III Society, claims that "At the bar of history Richard III continues to be guilty because it is impossible to prove him innocent. The Tudors ride high in popular esteem."
Polydore Vergil and Thomas More expanded on this portrayal, emphasising Richard's outward physical deformities as a sign of his inwardly twisted mind. More describes him as "little of stature, ill-featured of limbs, crook-backed ... hard-favoured of visage". Vergil also says he was "deformed of body ... one shoulder higher than the right". Both emphasise that Richard was devious and flattering, while planning the downfall of both his enemies and supposed friends. Richard's good qualities were his cleverness and bravery. All these characteristics are repeated by Shakespeare, who portrays him as having a hunch, a limp and a withered arm. With regard to the "hunch", the second quarto edition of Richard III (1598) used the term "hunched-backed" but in the First Folio edition (1623) it became "bunch-backed".
Richard's reputation as a promoter of legal fairness persisted, however. William Camden in his Remains Concerning Britain (1605) states that Richard, "albeit he lived wickedly, yet made good laws". Francis Bacon also states that he was "a good lawmaker for the ease and solace of the common people". In 1525, Cardinal Wolsey upbraided the aldermen and Mayor of London for relying on a statute of Richard to avoid paying an extorted tax (benevolence) but received the reply "although he did evil, yet in his time were many good acts made."
Richard was a practising Catholic, as shown by his personal Book of Hours, surviving in the Lambeth Palace library. As well as conventional aristocratic devotional texts, the book contains a Collect of Saint Ninian, referencing a saint popular in the Anglo-Scottish Borders.
Despite this, the image of Richard as a ruthless tyrant remained dominant in the 18th and 19th centuries. The 18th-century philosopher and historian David Hume described him as a man who used dissimulation to conceal "his fierce and savage nature" and who had "abandoned all principles of honour and humanity". Hume acknowledged that some historians have argued "that he was well qualified for government, had he legally obtained it; and that he committed no crimes but such as were necessary to procure him possession of the crown", but he dismissed this view on the grounds that Richard's exercise of arbitrary power encouraged instability. The most important late 19th century biographer of the king was James Gairdner, who also wrote the entry on Richard in the Dictionary of National Biography. Gairdner stated that he had begun to study Richard with a neutral viewpoint, but became convinced that Shakespeare and More were essentially correct in their view of the king, despite some exaggerations.
Richard was not without his defenders, the first of whom was Sir George Buck, a descendant of one of the king's supporters, who completed The history of King Richard the Third in 1619. The authoritative Buck text was published only in 1979, though a corrupted version was published by Buck's great-nephew in 1646. Buck attacked the "improbable imputations and strange and spiteful scandals" related by Tudor writers, including Richard's alleged deformities and murders. He located lost archival material, including the Titulus Regius, but also claimed to have seen a letter written by Elizabeth of York, according to which Elizabeth sought to marry the king. Elizabeth's supposed letter was never produced. Documents which later emerged from the Portuguese royal archives show that after Queen Anne's death, Richard's ambassadors were sent on a formal errand to negotiate a double marriage between Richard and the Portuguese king's sister Joanna, of Lancastrian descent, and between Elizabeth of York and Joanna's cousin Manuel, Duke of Viseu (later King of Portugal).
Significant among Richard's defenders was Horace Walpole. In Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third (1768), Walpole disputed all the alleged murders and argued that Richard may have acted in good faith. He also argued that any physical abnormality was probably no more than a minor distortion of the shoulders. However, he retracted his views in 1793 after the Terror, stating he now believed that Richard could have committed the crimes he was charged with, although Pollard observes that this retraction is frequently overlooked by later admirers of Richard. Other defenders of Richard include the noted explorer Clements Markham, whose Richard III: His Life and Character (1906) replied to the work of Gairdner. He argued that Henry VII killed the princes and that the bulk of evidence against Richard was nothing more than Tudor propaganda. An intermediate view was provided by Alfred Legge in The Unpopular King (1885). Legge argued that Richard's "greatness of soul" was eventually "warped and dwarfed" by the ingratitude of others.
Some twentieth-century historians have been less inclined to moral judgement, seeing Richard's actions as a product of the unstable times. In the words of Charles Ross, "the later fifteenth century in England is now seen as a ruthless and violent age as concerns the upper ranks of society, full of private feuds, intimidation, land-hunger, and litigiousness, and consideration of Richard's life and career against this background has tended to remove him from the lonely pinnacle of Villainy Incarnate on which Shakespeare had placed him. Like most men, he was conditioned by the standards of his age." The Richard III Society, founded in 1924 as "The Fellowship of the White Boar", is the oldest of several groups dedicated to improving his reputation. Other contemporary historians still describe him as a "power-hungry and ruthless politician" who was still most probably "ultimately responsible for the murder of his nephews."
In culture
Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature. Two other plays of the Elizabethan era predated Shakespeare's work. The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge is believed to be the first history play written in England. The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work, was probably an influence on Shakespeare. Neither of the two plays places any emphasis on Richard's physical appearance, though the True Tragedy briefly mentions that he is "A man ill shaped, crooked backed, lame armed" and "valiantly minded, but tyrannous in authority". Both portray him as a man motivated by personal ambition, who uses everyone around him to get his way. Ben Jonson is also known to have written a play Richard Crookback in 1602, but it was never published and nothing is known about its portrayal of the king.
Marjorie Bowen's 1929 novel Dickon set the trend for pro-Ricardian literature. Particularly influential was The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey, in which a modern detective concludes that Richard III is innocent in the death of the Princes. Other novelists such as Valerie Anand in the novel Crown of Roses (1989) have also offered alternative versions to the theory that he murdered them. Sharon Kay Penman, in her historical novel The Sunne in Splendour, attributes the death of the Princes to the Duke of Buckingham. In the mystery novel The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters (1974) the central plot revolves around the debate as to whether Richard III was guilty of these and other crimes. A sympathetic portrayal is given in The Founding (1980), the first volume in The Morland Dynasty series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.
One film adaptation of Shakespeare's play Richard III is the 1955 version directed and produced by Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. Also notable are the 1995 film version starring Ian McKellen, set in a fictional 1930s fascist England, and Looking for Richard, a 1996 documentary film directed by Al Pacino, who plays the title character as well as himself. The play has been adapted for television on several occasions.
Discovery of remains
On 24 August 2012, the University of Leicester and Leicester City Council, in association with the Richard III Society, announced that they had joined forces to begin a search for the remains of King Richard. The search for Richard III was led by Philippa Langley of the Society's Looking For Richard Project with the archaeological work led by University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS). Experts set out to locate the lost site of the former Greyfriars Church (demolished during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries), and to discover whether his remains were still interred there. By comparing fixed points between maps in a historical sequence, the search located the church, where Richard's body had been hastily buried without pomp in 1485, its foundations identifiable beneath a modern-day city centre car park.
The excavators announced on 5 September 2012 that they had identified Greyfriars Church and two days later that they had identified the location of Robert Herrick's garden, where the memorial to Richard III stood in the early 17th century. A human skeleton was found beneath the Church's choir.
Improbably, the excavators found the remains in the first location in which they dug at the car park. Coincidentally, they lay almost directly under a roughly painted R on the tarmac. This had existed since the early 2000s to signify a reserved parking space.
On 12 September, it was announced that the skeleton discovered during the search might be that of Richard III. Several reasons were given: the body was of an adult male; it was buried beneath the choir of the church; and there was severe scoliosis of the spine, possibly making one shoulder higher than the other (to what extent depended on the severity of the condition). Additionally, there was an object that appeared to be an arrowhead embedded in the spine; and there were perimortem injuries to the skull. These included a relatively shallow orifice, which is most likely to have been caused by a rondel dagger, and a scooping depression to the skull, inflicted by a bladed weapon, most probably a sword.
Further, the bottom of the skull presented a gaping hole, where a halberd had cut away and entered it. Forensic pathologist Stuart Hamilton stated that this injury would have left the individual's brain visible, and most certainly would have been the cause of death. Jo Appleby, the osteo-archaeologist who excavated the skeleton, concurred and described the latter as "a mortal battlefield wound in the back of the skull". The base of the skull also presented another fatal wound in which a bladed weapon had been thrust into it, leaving behind a jagged hole. Closer examination of the interior of the skull revealed a mark opposite this wound, showing that the blade penetrated to a depth of .
In total, the skeleton presented ten wounds: four minor injuries on the top of the skull, one dagger blow on the cheekbone, one cut on the lower jaw, two fatal injuries on the base of the skull, one cut on a rib bone, and one final wound on the pelvis, most probably inflicted after death. It is generally accepted that postmortem, Richard's naked body was tied to the back of a horse, with his arms slung over one side and his legs and buttocks over the other. This presented a tempting target for onlookers, and the angle of the blow on the pelvis suggests that one of them stabbed Richard's right buttock with substantial force, as the cut extends from the back all the way to the front of the pelvic bone and was most probably an act of humiliation. It is also possible that Richard and his corpse suffered other injuries which left no trace on the skeleton.
British historian John Ashdown-Hill had used genealogical research in 2004 to trace matrilineal descendants of Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter, Richard's elder sister. A British-born woman who emigrated to Canada after the Second World War, Joy Ibsen (), was found to be a 16th-generation great-niece of the king in the same direct maternal line. Her mitochondrial DNA was tested and belongs to mitochondrial DNA haplogroup J, which by deduction, should also be the mitochondrial DNA haplogroup of Richard III. Joy Ibsen died in 2008. Her son Michael Ibsen gave a mouth-swab sample to the research team on 24 August 2012. His mitochondrial DNA passed down the direct maternal line was compared to samples from the human remains found at the excavation site and used to identify King Richard.
On 4 February 2013, the University of Leicester confirmed that the skeleton was beyond reasonable doubt that of King Richard III. This conclusion was based on mitochondrial DNA evidence, soil analysis, and dental tests (there were some molars missing as a result of caries), as well as physical characteristics of the skeleton which are highly consistent with contemporary accounts of Richard's appearance. The team announced that the "arrowhead" discovered with the body was a Roman-era nail, probably disturbed when the body was first interred. However, there were numerous perimortem wounds on the body, and part of the skull had been sliced off with a bladed weapon; this would have caused rapid death. The team concluded that it is unlikely that the king was wearing a helmet in his last moments. Soil taken from the remains was found to contain microscopic roundworm eggs. Several eggs were found in samples taken from the pelvis, where the king's intestines were, but not from the skull and only very small numbers were identified in soil surrounding the grave. The findings suggest that the higher concentration of eggs in the pelvic area probably arose from a roundworm infection the king suffered in his life, rather than from human waste dumped in the area at a later date, researchers said. The mayor of Leicester announced that the king's skeleton would be re-interred at Leicester Cathedral in early 2014, but a judicial review of that decision delayed the reinterment for a year. A museum to Richard III was opened in July 2014 in the Victorian school buildings next to the Greyfriars grave site.
The proposal to have King Richard buried in Leicester attracted some controversy. Those who challenged the decision included fifteen "collateral [non-direct] descendants of Richard III", represented by the Plantagenet Alliance, who believed that the body should be reburied in York, as they claim the king wished. In August 2013, they filed a court case in order to contest Leicester's claim to re-inter the body within its cathedral, and propose the body be buried in York instead. However, Michael Ibsen, who gave the DNA sample that identified the king, gave his support to Leicester's claim to re-inter the body in their cathedral. On 20 August, a judge ruled that the opponents had the legal standing to contest his burial in Leicester Cathedral, despite a clause in the contract which had authorized the excavations requiring his burial there. He urged the parties, though, to settle out of court in order to "avoid embarking on the Wars of the Roses, Part Two". The Plantagenet Alliance, and the supporting fifteen collateral descendants, also faced the challenge that "Basic maths shows Richard, who had no surviving children but five siblings, could have millions of 'collateral' descendants" undermining the group's claim to represent "the only people who can speak on behalf of him". A ruling in May 2014 decreed that there are "no public law grounds for the Court interfering with the decisions in question". The remains were taken to Leicester Cathedral on 22 March 2015 and reinterred on 26 March.
On 5 February 2013 Professor Caroline Wilkinson of the University of Dundee conducted a facial reconstruction of Richard III, commissioned by the Richard III Society, based on 3D mappings of his skull. The face is described as "warm, young, earnest and rather serious". On 11 February 2014 the University of Leicester announced the project to sequence the entire genome of Richard III and one of his living relatives, Michael Ibsen, whose mitochondrial DNA confirmed the identification of the excavated remains. Richard III thus became the first ancient person of known historical identity whose genome has been sequenced. In 2016 contemporary British artist Alexander de Cadenet presented a skull portrait of Richard III in conjunction with Leicester University. The portraits have been produced using University of Leicester forensic X-ray scans of the king.
In November 2014, the results of the testing were announced, confirming that the maternal side was as previously thought. The paternal side, however, demonstrated some variance from what had been expected, with the DNA showing no links to the purported descendants of Richard's great-great-grandfather Edward III of England through Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort. This could be the result of covert illegitimacy that does not reflect the accepted genealogies between Richard and Edward III or between Edward III and the 5th Duke of Beaufort.
Reburial and tomb
After his death in battle in 1485, Richard III's body was buried in Greyfriars Church in Leicester. Following the discoveries of Richard's remains in 2012, it was decided that they should be reburied at Leicester Cathedral, despite feelings in some quarters that he should have been reburied in York Minster. His remains were carried in procession to the cathedral on 22 March 2015, and reburied on 26 March 2015 at a religious re-burial service at which both Tim Stevens, the Bishop of Leicester, and Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, officiated. The British royal family was represented by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Countess of Wessex. The actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who later portrayed him in The Hollow Crown television series, read a poem by poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy.
Richard's cathedral tomb was designed by the architects van Heyningen and Haward. The tombstone is deeply incised with a cross, and consists of a rectangular block of white Swaledale fossil stone, quarried in North Yorkshire. It sits on a low plinth made of dark Kilkenny marble, incised with Richard's name, dates and motto (Loyaulte me lie – loyalty binds me). The plinth also carries his coat of arms in pietra dura. The remains of Richard III are in a lead-lined inner casket, inside an outer English oak coffin crafted by Michael Ibsen, a direct descendant of Richard's sister Anne, and laid in a brick-lined vault below the floor, and below the plinth and tombstone. The original 2010 raised tomb design had been proposed by Langley's "Looking For Richard Project" and fully funded by members of the Richard III Society. The proposal was publicly launched by the Society on 13 February 2013 but rejected by Leicester Cathedral in favour of a memorial slab. However, following a public outcry, the Cathedral changed its position and on 18 July 2013 announced its agreement to give King Richard III a raised tomb monument.
Titles, styles, honours and arms
On 1 November 1461, Richard gained the title of Duke of Gloucester; in late 1461, he was invested as a Knight of the Garter. Following the death of King Edward IV, he was made Lord Protector of England. Richard held this office from 30 April to 26 June 1483, when he made himself king. During his reign, Richard was styled Dei Gratia Rex Angliae et Franciae et Dominus Hiberniae (by the Grace of God, King of England and France and Lord of Ireland).
Informally, he may have been known as "Dickon", according to a sixteenth-century legend of a note, warning of treachery, that was sent to the Duke of Norfolk on the eve of Bosworth:
Arms
As Duke of Gloucester, Richard used the Royal Arms of England quartered with the Royal Arms of France, differenced by a label argent of three points ermine, on each point a canton gules, supported by a blue boar. As sovereign, he used the arms of the kingdom undifferenced, supported by a white boar and a lion. His motto was Loyaulte me lie, "Loyalty binds me"; and his personal device was a white boar.
Family trees
See also
King Richard III Visitor Centre, Leicester
Ricardian (Richard III)
Richard III Museum, York
Notes
References
Sources
Further reading
External links
King Richard III Visitor Centre, Leicester
The Richard III Society website
The Richard III Society, American Branch website
Information about the discovery of Richard III from the University of Leicester
, with commentary by Pamela Tudor-Craig
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"Harold Brighouse (26 July 1882 – 25 July 1958) was an English playwright and author whose best known play is Hobson's Choice. He was a prominent member, together with Allan Monkhouse and Stanley Houghton, of a group known as the Manchester School of dramatists.\n\nEarly life\n\nHarold Brighouse was born in Eccles, Lancashire, the eldest child of John Southworth Brighouse, a manager in a cotton-spinning firm, and Charlotte Amelia née Harrison, a headmistress. Harold went to a local school, then won a scholarship to Manchester Grammar School. He left school aged 17 and started work as a textile buyer in a shipping merchant's office. In 1902 he went to London to set up an office for his firm. There he met Emily Lynes and married her in Lillington, Leamington Spa in 1907. He was promoted at work and returned to Manchester, but in 1908 he became a full-time writer.\n\nWriting career\n\nThe first play written by Brighouse was Lonesome Like, but the first to be produced was The Doorway. This was performed in 1909 at Annie Horniman's Gaiety Theatre in Manchester and produced by Ben Iden Payne. Horniman and Payne gave strong support to Brighouse in the early stages of his career. Many of his plays were one-act pieces; three of the best of these (The Northerners, Zack and The Game) were published together as Three Lancashire Plays in 1920. All of these plays were set in Lancashire but Brighouse also wrote plays of a different type, such as The Oak Settle and Maid of France. His most successful play was Hobson's Choice, first produced in 1915 in New York where Payne was working. It was first produced in England in 1916 at the Apollo Theatre, London, where it ran for 246 performances. The play was made into a film, directed by David Lean, in 1953, and it was produced at the National Theatre at the Old Vic, London, in 1964. The Crucible Theatre Sheffield staged a revival in June 2011 directed by Christopher Luscombe and starring Barrie Rutter, Zoe Waites and Philip McGinley.\n\nBrighouse also wrote novels, including Hepplestalls, concerning a Lancashire mill-owning family in the 19th century. In addition he wrote many reviews and other pieces for the Manchester Guardian. He was a member of the Dramatists' Club and in 1930–31 was chairman of the Society of Authors' dramatic committee. After 1931 he wrote no more full-length plays. His autobiography What I Have Had was published in 1953.\n\nOther activities and later life\n\nIn the First World War, Brighouse was declared unfit for combat, but joined what later became the Royal Air Force, and was seconded to the Air Ministry Intelligence Staff, where in his spare time he wrote Hobson's Choice. In 1919 he moved to Hampstead, London. In 1958 he collapsed in the Strand and died the following day in Charing Cross Hospital. His estate amounted to just under £14,500.\n\nBibliography\n\nSelected plays\nThe Doorway (1909)\nLonesome-Like (1911), later a 1954 television film.\nThe Scaring Off of Teddy Dawson (1911)\nThe Oak Settle (1911)\nThe Polygon (1911)\nThe Price of Coal (1911)\nThe Odd Man Out (1912)\nSpring in Bloomsbury (1912)\nGraft (1913)\nDealing in Futures (1913)\nThe Game (1914)\nThe Northerners (1914)\nGarside's Career (1915)\nThe Followers (1915), later a 1939 television film of the play with Austin Trevor, Marjorie Mars, Marjorie Lane.\nHobson's Choice (1916)\nMaid of France (1917)\nZack (1920)\nConverts (1920)\nPlays for the Meadow and Plays for the Lawn (1921)\nOnce a Hero (1922)\nLittle Red Shoes (1925)\nThe Prince Who Was a Piper (1926)\nSix Fantasies (1931)\nThe Dye-Hard (1934)\nThe Inner Man (1945)\n\nNovels\nFossie For Short (1917)\nThe Silver Lining (1918)\nThe Marbeck Inn (1920)\nHepplestall's (1922)\nThe Wrong Shadow (1923)\n\nOther works\nWhat I Have Had (1953), autobiography\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n \nPlays by Harold Brighouse on Great War Theatre\n\n1882 births\n1958 deaths\nWriters from Manchester\nPeople from Eccles, Greater Manchester\nEnglish male dramatists and playwrights\n20th-century English dramatists and playwrights\n20th-century English male writers",
"Leo Ditrichstein (January 6, 1865 – June 28, 1928) was an Austrian-American actor and playwright.\n\nBiography\nHe was born on January 6, 1865, in Temesvár, Austria-Hungary. He was educated in Vienna and was naturalized as an American citizen in 1897. His grandfather was Hungarian novelist József Eötvös who is sometimes listed as Joseph von Etooes.\n\nHe made his New York début in Die Ehre (1890). This was followed by Mr. Wilkinson's Widows, Trilby, Are You a Mason? and other plays. He was the author of numerous plays, among which are: Gossip (with Clyde Fitch, 1895); A Southern Romance (1897); The Last Appeal (1901); What's the Matter with Susan? (1904); The Ambitious Mrs. Susan (1907); The Million (from the French, 1911); The Concert (1910); Temperamental Journey (1912); The Great Lover (1915); The Judge of Zalmea (1917). Ditrichstein appeared in one motion picture, in a cameo as himself, in How Molly Made Good (1915). \n\nSome of the plays Ditrichstein either wrote or acted in have been made into motion pictures. The Divorce Game (1917) was based on his play Mlle. Fifi.\n\nHe died on June 28, 1928, from heart disease at the Auersperg sanitarium in Vienna.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nIBDB\nPortraits of Leo Ditrichstein; NY Public Library, Billy Rose collection\nIn The Phantom Rival 1915 with Laura Hope Crews\n\nAustro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States\nAmerican dramatists and playwrights\nAmerican male stage actors\n1865 births\n1928 deaths"
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"Richard III of England",
"In culture",
"What was his culture like",
"I don't know.",
"What can you tell me about the section in culture",
"Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature.",
"What was he in of Shakespeares",
"Shakespeare's play Richard III",
"What other plays was he in",
"The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge"
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What year was the play Richard the 3rd
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What year was the play Richard the 3rd by Shakespear?
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Richard III of England
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Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature. Two other plays of the Elizabethan era predated Shakespeare's work. The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge is believed to be the first history play written in England. The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work, was probably an influence on Shakespeare. Neither of the two plays places any emphasis on Richard's physical appearance, though the True Tragedy briefly mentions that he is "A man ill shaped, crooked backed, lame armed" adding that he is "valiantly minded, but tyrannous in authority". Both portray him as a man motivated by personal ambition, who uses everyone around him to get his way. Ben Jonson is also known to have written a play Richard Crookback in 1602, but it was never published and nothing is known about its portrayal of the king. Marjorie Bowen's 1929 novel Dickon set the trend for pro-Ricardian literature. Particularly influential was The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey, in which a modern detective concludes that Richard III is innocent in the death of the Princes. Other novelists such as Valerie Anand in the novel Crown of Roses (1989) have also offered alternative versions to the theory that he murdered them. Sharon Kay Penman, in her historical novel The Sunne in Splendour, attributes the death of the Princes to the Duke of Buckingham. In the mystery novel The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters (1974) the central plot revolves around the debate as to whether Richard III was guilty of these and other crimes. A sympathetic portrayal of Richard III is given in The Founding, the first volume in The Morland Dynasty series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. One film adaptation of Shakespeare's play Richard III is the 1955 version directed and produced by Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. Also notable are the 1995 film version starring Ian McKellen, set in a fictional 1930s fascist England, and Looking for Richard, a 1996 documentary film directed by Al Pacino, who plays the title character as well as himself. The play has been adapted for television on several occasions. CANNOTANSWER
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The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work,
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Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. He is the protagonist of Richard III, one of William Shakespeare's history/tragedy plays.
Richard was created Duke of Gloucester in 1461 after the accession of his brother King Edward IV. In 1472, he married Anne Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. He governed northern England during Edward's reign, and played a role in the invasion of Scotland in 1482. When Edward IV died in April 1483, Richard was named Lord Protector of the realm for Edward's eldest son and successor, the 12-year-old Edward V. Arrangements were made for Edward V's coronation on 22 June 1483. Before the king could be crowned, the marriage of his parents was declared bigamous and therefore invalid. Now officially illegitimate, their children were barred from inheriting the throne. On 25 June, an assembly of lords and commoners endorsed a declaration to this effect, and proclaimed Richard as the rightful king. He was crowned on 6 July 1483. Edward and his younger brother Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, called the "Princes in the Tower", were not seen in public after August, and accusations circulated that they had been murdered on King Richard's orders, under the Tudor rule a few years later.
There were two major rebellions against Richard during his reign. In October 1483, an unsuccessful revolt was led by staunch allies of Edward IV and Richard's former ally, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. Then, in August 1485, Henry Tudor and his uncle, Jasper Tudor, landed in southern Wales with a contingent of French troops, and marched through Pembrokeshire, recruiting soldiers. Henry's forces defeated Richard's army near the Leicestershire town of Market Bosworth. Richard was slain, making him the last English king to die in battle. Henry Tudor then ascended the throne as Henry VII.
Richard's corpse was taken to the nearby town of Leicester and buried without ceremony. His original tomb monument is believed to have been removed during the English Reformation, and his remains were wrongly thought to have been thrown into the River Soar. In 2012, an archaeological excavation was commissioned by the Richard III Society on the site previously occupied by Grey Friars Priory. The University of Leicester identified the skeleton found in the excavation as that of Richard III as a result of radiocarbon dating, comparison with contemporary reports of his appearance, and comparison of his mitochondrial DNA with that of two matrilineal descendants of his sister Anne. He was reburied in Leicester Cathedral on 26 March 2015.
Early life
Richard was born on 2 October 1452, at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire, the eleventh of the twelve children of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the youngest to survive infancy. His childhood coincided with the beginning of what has traditionally been labelled the 'Wars of the Roses', a period of political instability and periodic open civil war in England during the second half of the fifteenth century, between the Yorkists, who supported Richard's father (a potential claimant to the throne of King Henry VI from birth), and opposed the regime of Henry VI and his wife, Margaret of Anjou, and the Lancastrians, who were loyal to the crown. In 1459, his father and the Yorkists were forced to flee England, whereupon Richard and his older brother George were placed in the custody of their aunt Anne Neville, Duchess of Buckingham, and possibly of Cardinal Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury.
When their father and elder brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland, were killed at the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December 1460, Richard and George were sent by their mother to the Low Countries. They returned to England following the defeat of the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton. They participated in the coronation of their eldest brother as King Edward IV on 28 June 1461, when Richard was named Duke of Gloucester and made both a Knight of the Garter and a Knight of the Bath. Edward appointed him the sole Commissioner of Array for the Western Counties in 1464 when he was 11. By the age of 17, he had an independent command.
Richard spent several years during his childhood at Middleham Castle in Wensleydale, Yorkshire, under the tutelage of his cousin Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, later known as 'the Kingmaker' because of his role in the Wars of the Roses. Warwick supervised Richard's training as a knight; in the autumn of 1465, Edward IV granted Warwick £1000 for the expenses of his younger brother's tutelage. With some interruptions, Richard stayed at Middleham either from late 1461 until early 1465, when he was 12 or from 1465 until his coming of age in 1468, when he turned 16. While at Warwick's estate, it is likely that he met both Francis Lovell, who would be his firm supporter later in his life, and Warwick's younger daughter, his future wife Anne Neville.
It is possible that even at this early stage Warwick was considering the king's brothers as strategic matches for his daughters, Isabel and Anne: young aristocrats were often sent to be raised in the households of their intended future partners, as had been the case for the young dukes' father, Richard of York. As the relationship between the king and Warwick became strained, Edward IV opposed the match. During Warwick's lifetime, George was the only royal brother to marry one of his daughters, the elder, Isabel, on 12 July 1469, without the king's permission. George joined his father-in-law's revolt against the king, while Richard remained loyal to Edward, even though he was rumoured to have been sleeping with Anne.
Richard and Edward were forced to flee to Burgundy in October 1470 after Warwick defected to the side of the former Lancastrian queen Margaret of Anjou. In 1468, Richard's sister Margaret had married Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy, and the brothers could expect a welcome there. Edward was restored to the throne in the spring of 1471, following the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, in both of which the 18-year-old Richard played a crucial role.
During his adolescence, and due to a cause that is unknown, Richard developed a sideways curvature of the spine (Scoliosis). In 2014, after the discovery of Richard's remains, the osteoarchaeologist Dr. Jo Appleby, of Leicester University's School of Archaeology and Ancient History, imaged the spinal column, and reconstructed a model using 3D printing, and concluded that though the spinal scoliosis looked dramatic, it probably did not cause any major physical deformity that could not be disguised by clothing.
Marriage and family relationships
Following a decisive Yorkist victory over the Lancastrians at the Battle of Tewkesbury, Richard married Anne Neville on 12 July 1472. By the end of 1470 Anne had previously been wedded to Edward of Westminster, only son of Henry VI, to seal her father's allegiance to the Lancastrian party. Edward died at the Battle of Tewkesbury on 4 May 1471, while Warwick had died at the Battle of Barnet on 14 April 1471. Richard's marriage plans brought him into conflict with his brother George. John Paston's letter of 17 February 1472 makes it clear that George was not happy about the marriage but grudgingly accepted it on the basis that "he may well have my Lady his sister-in-law, but they shall part no livelihood". The reason was the inheritance Anne shared with her elder sister Isabel, whom George had married in 1469. It was not only the earldom that was at stake; Richard Neville had inherited it as a result of his marriage to Anne Beauchamp, 16th Countess of Warwick. The Countess, who was still alive, was technically the owner of the substantial Beauchamp estates, her father having left no male heirs.
The Croyland Chronicle records that Richard agreed to a prenuptial contract in the following terms: "the marriage of the Duke of Gloucester with Anne before-named was to take place, and he was to have such and so much of the earl's lands as should be agreed upon between them through the mediation of arbitrators; while all the rest were to remain in the possession of the Duke of Clarence". The date of Paston's letter suggests the marriage was still being negotiated in February 1472. In order to win George's final consent to the marriage, Richard renounced most of the Earl of Warwick's land and property including the earldoms of Warwick (which the Kingmaker had held in his wife's right) and Salisbury and surrendered to George the office of Great Chamberlain of England. Richard retained Neville's forfeit estates he had already been granted in the summer of 1471: Penrith, Sheriff Hutton and Middleham, where he later established his marital household.
The requisite papal dispensation was obtained dated 22 April 1472. Michael Hicks has suggested that the terms of the dispensation deliberately understated the degrees of consanguinity between the couple, and the marriage was therefore illegal on the ground of first degree consanguinity following George's marriage to Anne's sister Isabel. There would have been first-degree consanguinity if Richard had sought to marry Isabel (in case of widowhood) after she had married his brother George, but no such consanguinity applied for Anne and Richard. Richard's marriage to Anne was never declared null, and it was public to everyone including secular and canon lawyers for 13 years.
In June 1473, Richard persuaded his mother-in-law to leave the sanctuary and come to live under his protection at Middleham. Later in the year, under the terms of the 1473 Act of Resumption, George lost some of the property he held under royal grant and made no secret of his displeasure. John Paston's letter of November 1473 says that King Edward planned to put both his younger brothers in their place by acting as "a stifler atween them". Early in 1474, Parliament assembled and Edward attempted to reconcile his brothers by stating that both men, and their wives, would enjoy the Warwick inheritance just as if the Countess of Warwick "was naturally dead". The doubts cast by George on the validity of Richard and Anne's marriage were addressed by a clause protecting their rights in the event they were divorced (i.e. of their marriage being declared null and void by the Church) and then legally remarried to each other, and also protected Richard's rights while waiting for such a valid second marriage with Anne. The following year, Richard was rewarded with all the Neville lands in the north of England, at the expense of Anne's cousin, George Neville, 1st Duke of Bedford. From this point, George seems to have fallen steadily out of King Edward's favour, his discontent coming to a head in 1477 when, following Isabel's death, he was denied the opportunity to marry Mary of Burgundy, the stepdaughter of his sister Margaret, even though Margaret approved the proposed match. There is no evidence of Richard's involvement in George's subsequent conviction and execution on a charge of treason.
Reign of Edward IV
Estates and titles
Richard was granted the Duchy of Gloucester on 1 November 1461, and on 12 August the next year was awarded large estates in northern England, including the lordships of Richmond in Yorkshire, and Pembroke in Wales. He gained the forfeited lands of the Lancastrian John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, in East Anglia. In 1462, on his birthday, he was made Constable of Gloucester and Corfe Castles and Admiral of England, Ireland and Aquitaine and appointed Governor of the North, becoming the richest and most powerful noble in England. On 17 October 1469, he was made Constable of England. In November, he replaced William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, as Chief Justice of North Wales. The following year, he was appointed Chief Steward and Chamberlain of Wales. On 18 May 1471, Richard was named Great Chamberlain and Lord High Admiral of England. Other positions followed: High Sheriff of Cumberland for life, Lieutenant of the North and Commander-in-Chief against the Scots and hereditary Warden of the West March. Two months later, on 14 July, he gained the Lordships of the strongholds Sheriff Hutton and Middleham in Yorkshire and Penrith in Cumberland, which had belonged to Warwick the Kingmaker. It is possible that the grant of Middleham seconded Richard's personal wishes.
Exile and return
During the latter part of Edward IV's reign, Richard demonstrated his loyalty to the king, in contrast to their brother George who had allied himself with the Earl of Warwick when the latter rebelled towards the end of the 1460s. Following Warwick's 1470 rebellion, before which he had made peace with Margaret of Anjou and promised the restoration of Henry VI to the English throne, Richard, the Baron Hastings and Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, escaped capture at Doncaster by Warwick's brother, John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu. On 2 October they sailed from King's Lynn in two ships; Edward landed at Marsdiep and Richard at Zeeland. It was said that, having left England in such haste as to possess almost nothing, Edward was forced to pay their passage with his fur cloak; certainly, Richard borrowed three pounds from Zeeland's town bailiff. They were attainted by Warwick's only Parliament on 26 November. They resided in Bruges with Louis de Gruthuse, who had been the Burgundian Ambassador to Edward's court, but it was not until Louis XI of France declared war on Burgundy that Charles, Duke of Burgundy, assisted their return, providing, along with the Hanseatic merchants, £20,000, 36 ships and 1200 men. They departed Flushing for England on 11 March 1471. Warwick's arrest of local sympathisers prevented them from landing in Yorkist East Anglia and on 14 March, after being separated in a storm, their ships ran ashore at Holderness. The town of Hull refused Edward entry. He gained entry to York by using the same claim as Henry of Bolingbroke had before deposing Richard II in 1399; that is, that he was merely reclaiming the Dukedom of York rather than the crown. It was in Edward's attempt to regain his throne that Richard began to demonstrate his skill as a military commander.
1471 military campaign
Once Edward had regained the support of his brother George, he mounted a swift and decisive campaign to regain the crown through combat; it is believed that Richard was his principal lieutenant as some of the king's earliest support came from members of Richard's affinity, including Sir James Harrington and Sir William Parr, who brought 600 men-at-arms to them at Doncaster. Richard may have led the vanguard at the Battle of Barnet, in his first command, on 14 April 1471, where he outflanked the wing of Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, although the degree to which his command was fundamental may have been exaggerated. That Richard's personal household sustained losses indicates he was in the thick of the fighting. A contemporary source is clear about his holding the vanguard for Edward at Tewkesbury, deployed against the Lancastrian vanguard under Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset, on 4 May 1471, and his role two days later, as Constable of England, sitting alongside John Howard as Earl Marshal, in the trial and sentencing of leading Lancastrians captured after the battle.
1475 invasion of France
At least in part resentful of King Louis XI's previous support of his Lancastrian opponents, and possibly in support of his brother-in-law Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, Edward went to parliament in October 1472 for funding a military campaign, and eventually landed in Calais on 4 July 1475. Richard's was the largest private contingent of his army. Although well known to have publicly been against the eventual treaty signed with Louis XI at Picquigny (and absent from the negotiations, in which one of his rank would have been expected to take a leading role), he acted as Edward's witness when the king instructed his delegates to the French court, and received 'some very fine presents' from Louis on a visit to the French king at Amiens. In refusing other gifts, which included 'pensions' in the guise of 'tribute', he was joined only by Cardinal Bourchier. He supposedly disapproved of Edward's policy of personally benefiting—politically and financially—from a campaign paid for out of a parliamentary grant, and hence out of public funds. Any military prowess was therefore not to be revealed further until the last years of Edward's reign.
The North, and the Council in the North
Richard was the dominant magnate in the north of England until Edward IV's death. There, and especially in the city of York, he was highly regarded; although it has been questioned whether this view was reciprocated by Richard. Edward IV delegated significant authority to Richard in the region. Kendall and later historians have suggested that this was with the intention of making Richard the Lord of the North; Peter Booth, however, has argued that "instead of allowing his brother Richard carte blanche, [Edward] restricted his influence by using his own agent, Sir William Parr." Following Richard's accession to the throne, he first established the Council of the North and made his nephew John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln, president and formally institutionalised this body as an offshoot of the royal Council; all its letters and judgements were issued on behalf of the king and in his name. The council had a budget of 2000 marks per annum and had issued "Regulations" by July of that year: councillors to act impartially and declare vested interests, and to meet at least every three months. Its main focus of operations was Yorkshire and the north-east, and its primary responsibilities were land disputes, keeping of the king's peace, and punishing lawbreakers.
War with Scotland
Richard's increasing role in the north from the mid-1470s to some extent explains his withdrawal from the royal court. He had been Warden of the West March on the Scottish border since 10 September 1470, and again from May 1471; he used Penrith as a base while 'taking effectual measures' against the Scots, and 'enjoyed the revenues of the estates' of the Forest of Cumberland while doing so. It was at the same time that the Duke of Gloucester was appointed sheriff of Cumberland five consecutive years, being described as 'of Penrith Castle' in 1478. By 1480, war with Scotland was looming; on 12 May that year he was appointed Lieutenant-General of the North (a position created for the occasion) as fears of a Scottish invasion grew. Louis XI of France had attempted to negotiate a military alliance with Scotland (in the tradition of the "Auld Alliance"), with the aim of attacking England, according to a contemporary French chronicler. Richard had the authority to summon the Border Levies and issue Commissions of Array to repel the Border raids. Together with the Earl of Northumberland, he launched counter-raids, and when the king and council formally declared war in November 1480, he was granted £10,000 for wages. The king failed to arrive to lead the English army and the result was intermittent skirmishing until early 1482. Richard witnessed the treaty with Alexander, Duke of Albany, brother of King James III of Scotland. Northumberland, Stanley, Dorset, Sir Edward Woodville, and Richard with approximately 20,000 men took the town of Berwick almost immediately. The castle held until 24 August 1482, when Richard recaptured Berwick-upon-Tweed from the Kingdom of Scotland. Although it is debatable whether the English victory was due more to internal Scottish divisions rather than any outstanding military prowess by Richard, it was the last time that the Royal Burgh of Berwick changed hands between the two realms.
Lord Protector
On the death of Edward IV on 9 April 1483, his 12-year-old son, Edward V, succeeded him. Richard was named Lord Protector of the Realm and at Baron Hastings' urging, Richard assumed his role and left his base in Yorkshire for London. On 29 April, as previously agreed, Richard and his cousin, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, met Queen Elizabeth's brother, Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, at Northampton. At the queen's request, Earl Rivers was escorting the young king to London with an armed escort of 2000 men, while Richard and Buckingham's joint escort was 600 men. Edward V himself had been sent further south to Stony Stratford. At first convivial, Richard had Earl Rivers, his nephew Richard Grey and his associate, Thomas Vaughan, arrested. They were taken to Pontefract Castle, where they were executed on 25 June on the charge of treason against the Lord Protector after appearing before a tribunal led by Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. Rivers had appointed Richard as executor of his will.
After having Rivers arrested, Richard and Buckingham moved to Stony Stratford, where Richard informed Edward V of a plot aimed at denying him his role as protector and whose perpetrators had been dealt with. He proceeded to escort the king to London. They entered the city on 4 May, displaying the carriages of weapons Rivers had taken with his 2000-man army. Richard first accommodated Edward in the Bishop's apartments; then, on Buckingham's suggestion, the king was moved to the royal apartments of the Tower of London, where kings customarily awaited their coronation. Within the year 1483, Richard had moved himself to the grandeur of Crosby Hall, London, then in Bishopsgate in the City of London. Robert Fabyan, in his 'The new chronicles of England and of France', writes that "the Duke caused the King (Edward V) to be removed unto the Tower and his broder with hym, and the Duke lodged himselfe in Crosbyes Place in Bisshoppesgate Strete." In Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, he accounts that "little by little all folke withdrew from the Tower, and drew unto Crosbies in Bishops gates Street, where the Protector kept his houshold. The Protector had the resort; the King in maner desolate."
On hearing the news of her brother's 30 April arrest, the dowager queen fled to sanctuary in Westminster Abbey. Joining her were her son by her first marriage, Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset; her five daughters; and her youngest son, Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. On 10/11 June, Richard wrote to Ralph, Lord Neville, the City of York and others asking for their support against "the Queen, her blood adherents and affinity," whom he suspected of plotting his murder. At a council meeting on Friday 13 June at the Tower of London, Richard accused Hastings and others of having conspired against him with the Woodvilles and accusing Jane Shore, lover to both Hastings and Thomas Grey, of acting as a go-between. According to Thomas More, Hastings was taken out of the council chambers and summarily executed in the courtyard, while others, like Lord Thomas Stanley and John Morton, Bishop of Ely, were arrested. Hastings was not attainted and Richard sealed an indenture that placed Hastings' widow, Katherine, directly under his own protection. Bishop Morton was released into the custody of Buckingham. On 16 June, the dowager queen agreed to hand over the Duke of York to the Archbishop of Canterbury so that he might attend his brother Edward's coronation, still planned for 22 June.
King of England
A clergyman (Bishop Robert Stillington) is said to have informed Richard that Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was invalid because of Edward's earlier union with Eleanor Butler, making Edward V and his siblings illegitimate. The identity of the informant, known only through the memoirs of French diplomat Philippe de Commines, was Robert Stillington, the Bishop of Bath and Wells. On Sunday 22 June, a sermon was preached outside Old St. Paul's Cathedral by Ralph Shaa, declaring Edward IV's children bastards and Richard the rightful king. Shortly after, the citizens of London, both nobles and commons, convened and drew up a petition asking Richard to assume the throne. He accepted on 26 June and was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 6 July. His title to the throne was confirmed by Parliament in January 1484 by the document Titulus Regius.
The princes, who were still lodged in the royal residence of the Tower of London at the time of Richard's coronation, disappeared from sight after the summer of 1483. Although after his death Richard III was accused of having Edward and his brother killed, notably by More and in Shakespeare's play, the facts surrounding their disappearance remain unknown. Other culprits have been suggested, including Buckingham and even Henry VII, although Richard remains a suspect.
After the coronation ceremony, Richard and Anne set out on a royal progress to meet their subjects. During this journey through the country, the king and queen endowed King's College and Queens' College at Cambridge University, and made grants to the church. Still feeling a strong bond with his northern estates, Richard later planned the establishment of a large chantry chapel in York Minster with over 100 priests. He also founded the College of Arms.
Buckingham's rebellion of 1483
In 1483, a conspiracy arose among a number of disaffected gentry, many of whom had been supporters of Edward IV and the "whole Yorkist establishment". The conspiracy was nominally led by Richard's former ally, the Duke of Buckingham, although it had begun as a Woodville-Beaufort conspiracy (being "well underway" by the time of the Duke's involvement). Indeed, Davies has suggested that it was "only the subsequent parliamentary attainder that placed Buckingham at the centre of events", in order to blame a single disaffected magnate motivated by greed, rather than "the embarrassing truth" that those opposing Richard were actually "overwhelmingly Edwardian loyalists". It is possible that they planned to depose Richard III and place Edward V back on the throne, and that when rumours arose that Edward and his brother were dead, Buckingham proposed that Henry Tudor should return from exile, take the throne and marry Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV. However, it has also been pointed out that as this narrative stems from Richard's own parliament of 1484, it should probably be treated "with caution". For his part, Buckingham raised a substantial force from his estates in Wales and the Marches. Henry, in exile in Brittany, enjoyed the support of the Breton treasurer Pierre Landais, who hoped Buckingham's victory would cement an alliance between Brittany and England.
Some of Henry Tudor's ships ran into a storm and were forced to return to Brittany or Normandy, while Henry himself anchored off Plymouth for a week before learning of Buckingham's failure. Buckingham's army was troubled by the same storm and deserted when Richard's forces came against them. Buckingham tried to escape in disguise, but was either turned in by a retainer for the bounty Richard had put on his head, or was discovered in hiding with him. He was convicted of treason and beheaded in Salisbury, near the Bull's Head Inn, on 2 November. His widow, Catherine Woodville, later married Jasper Tudor, the uncle of Henry Tudor. Richard made overtures to Landais, offering military support for Landais's weak regime under Francis II, Duke of Brittany, in exchange for Henry. Henry fled to Paris, where he secured support from the French regent Anne of Beaujeu, who supplied troops for an invasion in 1485.
Death at the Battle of Bosworth Field
On Monday 22 August 1485, Richard met the outnumbered forces of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Richard rode a white courser (an especially swift and strong horse). The size of Richard's army has been estimated at 8,000 and Henry's at 5,000, but exact numbers are not known, though the royal army is believed to have "substantially" outnumbered Henry's. The traditional view of the king's famous cries of "Treason!" before falling was that during the battle Richard was abandoned by Baron Stanley (made Earl of Derby in October), Sir William Stanley, and Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. However, the role of Northumberland is unclear; his position was with the reserve—behind the king's line—and he could not easily have moved forward without a general royal advance, which did not take place. Indeed, the physical confines behind the crest of Ambion Hill, combined with a difficulty of communications, probably physically hampered any attempt he made to join the fray. Despite appearing "a pillar of the Ricardian regime", and his previous loyalty to Edward IV, Baron Stanley was the stepfather of Henry Tudor, and Stanley's inaction combined with his brother's entering the battle on Tudor's behalf was fundamental to Richard's defeat. The death of Richard's close companion John Howard, Duke of Norfolk, may have had a demoralising effect on the king and his men. Either way, Richard led a cavalry charge deep into the enemy ranks in an attempt to end the battle quickly by striking at Henry Tudor himself.
Accounts note that King Richard fought bravely and ably during this manoeuvre, unhorsing Sir John Cheyne, a well-known jousting champion, killing Henry's standard bearer Sir William Brandon and coming within a sword's length of Henry Tudor before being surrounded by Sir William Stanley's men and killed. The Burgundian chronicler Jean Molinet says that a Welshman struck the death-blow with a halberd while Richard's horse was stuck in the marshy ground. It was said that the blows were so violent that the king's helmet was driven into his skull. The contemporary Welsh poet Guto'r Glyn implies a leading Welsh Lancastrian, Rhys ap Thomas, or one of his men killed the king, writing that he "killed the boar, shaved his head". The identification in 2013 of King Richard's body shows that the skeleton had 11 wounds, eight of them to the skull, clearly inflicted in battle and suggesting he had lost his helmet. Professor Guy Rutty, from the University of Leicester, said: "The most likely injuries to have caused the king's death are the two to the inferior aspect of the skull—a large sharp force trauma possibly from a sword or staff weapon, such as a halberd or bill, and a penetrating injury from the tip of an edged weapon." The skull showed that a blade had hacked away part of the rear of the skull. Richard III was the last English king to be killed in battle. Henry Tudor succeeded Richard as King Henry VII. He married the Yorkist heiress Elizabeth of York, Edward IV's daughter and Richard III's niece.
Polydore Vergil, Henry VII's official historian, recorded that "King Richard, alone, was killed fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies". Richard's naked body was then carried back to Leicester tied to a horse, and early sources strongly suggest that it was displayed in the collegiate Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke, prior to being buried at Greyfriars Church in Leicester. In 1495, Henry VII paid for a marble and alabaster monument. According to a discredited tradition, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, his body was thrown into the River Soar, although other evidence suggests that a memorial stone was visible in 1612, in a garden built on the site of Greyfriars. The exact location was then lost, owing to more than 400 years of subsequent development, until archaeological investigations in 2012 revealed the site of the garden and Greyfriars Church. There was a memorial ledger stone in the choir of the cathedral, since replaced by the tomb of the king, and a stone plaque on Bow Bridge where tradition had falsely suggested that his remains had been thrown into the river.
According to another tradition, Richard consulted a seer in Leicester before the battle who foretold that "where your spur should strike on the ride into battle, your head shall be broken on the return". On the ride into battle, his spur struck the bridge stone of Bow Bridge in the city; legend states that as his corpse was carried from the battle over the back of a horse, his head struck the same stone and was broken open.
Issue
Richard and Anne had one son, Edward of Middleham, who was born between 1474 and 1476. He was created Earl of Salisbury on 15 February 1478, and Prince of Wales on 24 August 1483, and died in March 1484, less than two months after he had been formally declared heir apparent. After the death of his son, Richard appointed his nephew John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, as Lieutenant of Ireland, an office previously held by his son Edward. Lincoln was the son of Richard's older sister, Elizabeth, Duchess of Suffolk. After his wife's death, Richard commenced negotiations with John II of Portugal to marry John's pious sister, Joanna, Princess of Portugal. She had already turned down several suitors because of her preference for the religious life.
Richard had two acknowledged illegitimate children, John of Gloucester and Katherine Plantagenet. Also known as 'John of Pontefract', John of Gloucester was appointed Captain of Calais in 1485. Katherine married William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, in 1484. Neither the birth dates nor the names of the mothers of either of the children is known. Katherine was old enough to be wedded in 1484, when the age of consent was twelve, and John was knighted in September 1483 in York Minster, and so most historians agree that they were both fathered when Richard was a teenager. There is no evidence of infidelity on Richard's part after his marriage to Anne Neville in 1472 when he was around 20. This has led to a suggestion by the historian A. L. Rowse that Richard "had no interest in sex".
Michael Hicks and Josephine Wilkinson have suggested that Katherine's mother may have been Katherine Haute, on the basis of the grant of an annual payment of 100 shillings made to her in 1477. The Haute family was related to the Woodvilles through the marriage of Elizabeth Woodville's aunt, Joan Woodville, to William Haute. One of their children was Richard Haute, Controller of the Prince's Household. Their daughter, Alice, married Sir John Fogge; they were ancestors to Catherine Parr, sixth wife of King Henry VIII. They also suggest that John's mother may have been Alice Burgh. Richard visited Pontefract from 1471, in April and October 1473, and in early March 1474, for a week. On 1 March 1474, he granted Alice Burgh £20 a year for life "for certain special causes and considerations". She later received another allowance, apparently for being engaged as a nurse for his brother George's son, Edward of Warwick. Richard continued her annuity when he became king. John Ashdown-Hill has suggested that John was conceived during Richard's first solo expedition to the eastern counties in the summer of 1467 at the invitation of John Howard and that the boy was born in 1468 and named after his friend and supporter. Richard himself noted John was still a minor (not being yet 21) when he issued the royal patent appointing him Captain of Calais on 11 March 1485, possibly on his seventeenth birthday.
Both of Richard's illegitimate children survived him, but they seem to have died without issue and their fate after Richard's demise at Bosworth is not certain. John received a £20 annuity from Henry VII, but there are no mentions of him in contemporary records after 1487 (the year of the Battle of Stoke Field). He may have been executed in 1499, though no record of this exists beyond an assertion by George Buck over a century later. Katherine apparently died before her cousin Elizabeth of York's coronation on 25 November 1487, since her husband Sir William Herbert is described as a widower by that time. Katherine's burial place was located in the London parish church of St James Garlickhithe, between Skinner's Lane and Upper Thames Street. The mysterious Richard Plantagenet, who was first mentioned in Francis Peck's Desiderata Curiosa (a two-volume miscellany published 1732–1735) was said to be a possible illegitimate child of Richard III and is sometimes referred to as "Richard the Master-Builder" or "Richard of Eastwell", but it has also been suggested he could have been Richard, Duke of York, one of the missing Princes in the Tower. He died in 1550.
Legacy
Richard's Council of the North, described as his "one major institutional innovation", derived from his ducal council following his own viceregal appointment by Edward IV; when Richard himself became king, he maintained the same conciliar structure in his absence. It officially became part of the royal council machinery under the presidency of John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln in April 1484, based at Sandal Castle in Wakefield. It is considered to have greatly improved conditions for northern England, as it was intended to keep the peace and punish lawbreakers, as well as resolve land disputes. Bringing regional governance directly under the control of central government, it has been described as the king's "most enduring monument", surviving unchanged until 1641.
In December 1483, Richard instituted what later became known as the Court of Requests, a court to which poor people who could not afford legal representation could apply for their grievances to be heard. He also improved bail in January 1484, to protect suspected felons from imprisonment before trial and to protect their property from seizure during that time. He founded the College of Arms in 1484, he banned restrictions on the printing and sale of books, and he ordered the translation of the written Laws and Statutes from the traditional French into English. During his reign, Parliament ended the arbitrary benevolence (a device by which Edward IV raised funds), made it punishable to conceal from a buyer of land that a part of the property had already been disposed of to somebody else, required that land sales be published, laid down property qualifications for jurors, restricted the abusive Courts of Piepowders, regulated cloth sales, instituted certain forms of trade protectionism, prohibited the sale of wine and oil in fraudulent measure, and prohibited fraudulent collection of clergy dues, among others. Churchill implies he improved the law of trusts.
Richard's death at Bosworth resulted in the end of the Plantagenet dynasty, which had ruled England since the succession of Henry II in 1154. The last legitimate male Plantagenet, Richard's nephew Edward, Earl of Warwick (son of his brother George, Duke of Clarence), was executed by Henry VII in 1499.
Reputation
There are numerous contemporary, or near-contemporary, sources of information about the reign of Richard III. These include the Croyland Chronicle, Commines' Mémoires, the report of Dominic Mancini, the Paston Letters, the Chronicles of Robert Fabyan and numerous court and official records, including a few letters by Richard himself. However, the debate about Richard's true character and motives continues, both because of the subjectivity of many of the written sources, reflecting the generally partisan nature of writers of this period, and because none was written by men with an intimate knowledge of Richard.
During Richard's reign, the historian John Rous praised him as a "good lord" who punished "oppressors of the commons", adding that he had "a great heart". In 1483 the Italian observer Mancini reported that Richard enjoyed a good reputation and that both "his private life and public activities powerfully attracted the esteem of strangers". His bond to the City of York, in particular, was such that on hearing of Richard's demise at the battle of Bosworth the City Council officially deplored the king's death, at the risk of facing the victor's wrath.
During his lifetime he was the subject of some attacks. Even in the North in 1482 a man was prosecuted for offences against the Duke of Gloucester, saying he did "nothing but grin at" the city of York. In 1484, attempts to discredit him took the form of hostile placards, the only surviving one being William Collingbourne's lampoon of July 1484 "The Cat, the Rat, and Lovell the Dog, all rule England under a Hog" which was pinned to the door of St. Paul's Cathedral and referred to Richard himself (the Hog) and his most trusted councillors William Catesby, Richard Ratcliffe and Francis, Viscount Lovell. On 30 March 1485 Richard felt forced to summon the Lords and London City Councillors to publicly deny the rumours that he had poisoned Queen Anne and that he had planned a marriage to his niece Elizabeth, at the same time ordering the Sheriff of London to imprison anyone spreading such slanders. The same orders were issued throughout the realm, including York where the royal pronouncement recorded in the City Records dates 5 April 1485 and carries specific instructions to suppress seditious talk and remove and destroy evidently hostile placards unread.
As for Richard's physical appearance, most contemporary descriptions bear out the evidence that aside from having one shoulder higher than the other (with chronicler Rous not able to correctly remember which one, as slight as the difference was), Richard had no other noticeable bodily deformity. John Stow talked to old men who, remembering him, said "that he was of bodily shape comely enough, only of low stature" and a German traveller, Nicolas von Poppelau, who spent ten days in Richard's household in May 1484, describes him as "three fingers taller than himself...much more lean, with delicate arms and legs and also a great heart." Six years after Richard's death, in 1491, a schoolmaster named William Burton, on hearing a defence of Richard, launched into a diatribe, accusing the dead king of being "a hypocrite and a crookback...who was deservedly buried in a ditch like a dog."
Richard's death encouraged the furtherance of this later negative image by his Tudor successors due to the fact that it helped to legitimise Henry VII's seizure of the throne. The Richard III Society contends that this means that "a lot of what people thought they knew about Richard III was pretty much propaganda and myth building." The Tudor characterisation culminated in the famous fictional portrayal of him in Shakespeare's play Richard III as a physically deformed, Machiavellian villain, ruthlessly committing numerous murders in order to claw his way to power; Shakespeare's intention perhaps being to use Richard III as a vehicle for creating his own Marlowesque protagonist. Rous himself in his History of the Kings of England, written during Henry VII's reign, initiated the process. He reversed his earlier position, and now portrayed Richard as a freakish individual who was born with teeth and shoulder-length hair after having been in his mother's womb for two years. His body was stunted and distorted, with one shoulder higher than the other, and he was "slight in body and weak in strength". Rous also attributes the murder of Henry VI to Richard, and claims that he poisoned his own wife. Jeremy Potter, a former Chair of the Richard III Society, claims that "At the bar of history Richard III continues to be guilty because it is impossible to prove him innocent. The Tudors ride high in popular esteem."
Polydore Vergil and Thomas More expanded on this portrayal, emphasising Richard's outward physical deformities as a sign of his inwardly twisted mind. More describes him as "little of stature, ill-featured of limbs, crook-backed ... hard-favoured of visage". Vergil also says he was "deformed of body ... one shoulder higher than the right". Both emphasise that Richard was devious and flattering, while planning the downfall of both his enemies and supposed friends. Richard's good qualities were his cleverness and bravery. All these characteristics are repeated by Shakespeare, who portrays him as having a hunch, a limp and a withered arm. With regard to the "hunch", the second quarto edition of Richard III (1598) used the term "hunched-backed" but in the First Folio edition (1623) it became "bunch-backed".
Richard's reputation as a promoter of legal fairness persisted, however. William Camden in his Remains Concerning Britain (1605) states that Richard, "albeit he lived wickedly, yet made good laws". Francis Bacon also states that he was "a good lawmaker for the ease and solace of the common people". In 1525, Cardinal Wolsey upbraided the aldermen and Mayor of London for relying on a statute of Richard to avoid paying an extorted tax (benevolence) but received the reply "although he did evil, yet in his time were many good acts made."
Richard was a practising Catholic, as shown by his personal Book of Hours, surviving in the Lambeth Palace library. As well as conventional aristocratic devotional texts, the book contains a Collect of Saint Ninian, referencing a saint popular in the Anglo-Scottish Borders.
Despite this, the image of Richard as a ruthless tyrant remained dominant in the 18th and 19th centuries. The 18th-century philosopher and historian David Hume described him as a man who used dissimulation to conceal "his fierce and savage nature" and who had "abandoned all principles of honour and humanity". Hume acknowledged that some historians have argued "that he was well qualified for government, had he legally obtained it; and that he committed no crimes but such as were necessary to procure him possession of the crown", but he dismissed this view on the grounds that Richard's exercise of arbitrary power encouraged instability. The most important late 19th century biographer of the king was James Gairdner, who also wrote the entry on Richard in the Dictionary of National Biography. Gairdner stated that he had begun to study Richard with a neutral viewpoint, but became convinced that Shakespeare and More were essentially correct in their view of the king, despite some exaggerations.
Richard was not without his defenders, the first of whom was Sir George Buck, a descendant of one of the king's supporters, who completed The history of King Richard the Third in 1619. The authoritative Buck text was published only in 1979, though a corrupted version was published by Buck's great-nephew in 1646. Buck attacked the "improbable imputations and strange and spiteful scandals" related by Tudor writers, including Richard's alleged deformities and murders. He located lost archival material, including the Titulus Regius, but also claimed to have seen a letter written by Elizabeth of York, according to which Elizabeth sought to marry the king. Elizabeth's supposed letter was never produced. Documents which later emerged from the Portuguese royal archives show that after Queen Anne's death, Richard's ambassadors were sent on a formal errand to negotiate a double marriage between Richard and the Portuguese king's sister Joanna, of Lancastrian descent, and between Elizabeth of York and Joanna's cousin Manuel, Duke of Viseu (later King of Portugal).
Significant among Richard's defenders was Horace Walpole. In Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third (1768), Walpole disputed all the alleged murders and argued that Richard may have acted in good faith. He also argued that any physical abnormality was probably no more than a minor distortion of the shoulders. However, he retracted his views in 1793 after the Terror, stating he now believed that Richard could have committed the crimes he was charged with, although Pollard observes that this retraction is frequently overlooked by later admirers of Richard. Other defenders of Richard include the noted explorer Clements Markham, whose Richard III: His Life and Character (1906) replied to the work of Gairdner. He argued that Henry VII killed the princes and that the bulk of evidence against Richard was nothing more than Tudor propaganda. An intermediate view was provided by Alfred Legge in The Unpopular King (1885). Legge argued that Richard's "greatness of soul" was eventually "warped and dwarfed" by the ingratitude of others.
Some twentieth-century historians have been less inclined to moral judgement, seeing Richard's actions as a product of the unstable times. In the words of Charles Ross, "the later fifteenth century in England is now seen as a ruthless and violent age as concerns the upper ranks of society, full of private feuds, intimidation, land-hunger, and litigiousness, and consideration of Richard's life and career against this background has tended to remove him from the lonely pinnacle of Villainy Incarnate on which Shakespeare had placed him. Like most men, he was conditioned by the standards of his age." The Richard III Society, founded in 1924 as "The Fellowship of the White Boar", is the oldest of several groups dedicated to improving his reputation. Other contemporary historians still describe him as a "power-hungry and ruthless politician" who was still most probably "ultimately responsible for the murder of his nephews."
In culture
Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature. Two other plays of the Elizabethan era predated Shakespeare's work. The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge is believed to be the first history play written in England. The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work, was probably an influence on Shakespeare. Neither of the two plays places any emphasis on Richard's physical appearance, though the True Tragedy briefly mentions that he is "A man ill shaped, crooked backed, lame armed" and "valiantly minded, but tyrannous in authority". Both portray him as a man motivated by personal ambition, who uses everyone around him to get his way. Ben Jonson is also known to have written a play Richard Crookback in 1602, but it was never published and nothing is known about its portrayal of the king.
Marjorie Bowen's 1929 novel Dickon set the trend for pro-Ricardian literature. Particularly influential was The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey, in which a modern detective concludes that Richard III is innocent in the death of the Princes. Other novelists such as Valerie Anand in the novel Crown of Roses (1989) have also offered alternative versions to the theory that he murdered them. Sharon Kay Penman, in her historical novel The Sunne in Splendour, attributes the death of the Princes to the Duke of Buckingham. In the mystery novel The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters (1974) the central plot revolves around the debate as to whether Richard III was guilty of these and other crimes. A sympathetic portrayal is given in The Founding (1980), the first volume in The Morland Dynasty series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.
One film adaptation of Shakespeare's play Richard III is the 1955 version directed and produced by Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. Also notable are the 1995 film version starring Ian McKellen, set in a fictional 1930s fascist England, and Looking for Richard, a 1996 documentary film directed by Al Pacino, who plays the title character as well as himself. The play has been adapted for television on several occasions.
Discovery of remains
On 24 August 2012, the University of Leicester and Leicester City Council, in association with the Richard III Society, announced that they had joined forces to begin a search for the remains of King Richard. The search for Richard III was led by Philippa Langley of the Society's Looking For Richard Project with the archaeological work led by University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS). Experts set out to locate the lost site of the former Greyfriars Church (demolished during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries), and to discover whether his remains were still interred there. By comparing fixed points between maps in a historical sequence, the search located the church, where Richard's body had been hastily buried without pomp in 1485, its foundations identifiable beneath a modern-day city centre car park.
The excavators announced on 5 September 2012 that they had identified Greyfriars Church and two days later that they had identified the location of Robert Herrick's garden, where the memorial to Richard III stood in the early 17th century. A human skeleton was found beneath the Church's choir.
Improbably, the excavators found the remains in the first location in which they dug at the car park. Coincidentally, they lay almost directly under a roughly painted R on the tarmac. This had existed since the early 2000s to signify a reserved parking space.
On 12 September, it was announced that the skeleton discovered during the search might be that of Richard III. Several reasons were given: the body was of an adult male; it was buried beneath the choir of the church; and there was severe scoliosis of the spine, possibly making one shoulder higher than the other (to what extent depended on the severity of the condition). Additionally, there was an object that appeared to be an arrowhead embedded in the spine; and there were perimortem injuries to the skull. These included a relatively shallow orifice, which is most likely to have been caused by a rondel dagger, and a scooping depression to the skull, inflicted by a bladed weapon, most probably a sword.
Further, the bottom of the skull presented a gaping hole, where a halberd had cut away and entered it. Forensic pathologist Stuart Hamilton stated that this injury would have left the individual's brain visible, and most certainly would have been the cause of death. Jo Appleby, the osteo-archaeologist who excavated the skeleton, concurred and described the latter as "a mortal battlefield wound in the back of the skull". The base of the skull also presented another fatal wound in which a bladed weapon had been thrust into it, leaving behind a jagged hole. Closer examination of the interior of the skull revealed a mark opposite this wound, showing that the blade penetrated to a depth of .
In total, the skeleton presented ten wounds: four minor injuries on the top of the skull, one dagger blow on the cheekbone, one cut on the lower jaw, two fatal injuries on the base of the skull, one cut on a rib bone, and one final wound on the pelvis, most probably inflicted after death. It is generally accepted that postmortem, Richard's naked body was tied to the back of a horse, with his arms slung over one side and his legs and buttocks over the other. This presented a tempting target for onlookers, and the angle of the blow on the pelvis suggests that one of them stabbed Richard's right buttock with substantial force, as the cut extends from the back all the way to the front of the pelvic bone and was most probably an act of humiliation. It is also possible that Richard and his corpse suffered other injuries which left no trace on the skeleton.
British historian John Ashdown-Hill had used genealogical research in 2004 to trace matrilineal descendants of Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter, Richard's elder sister. A British-born woman who emigrated to Canada after the Second World War, Joy Ibsen (), was found to be a 16th-generation great-niece of the king in the same direct maternal line. Her mitochondrial DNA was tested and belongs to mitochondrial DNA haplogroup J, which by deduction, should also be the mitochondrial DNA haplogroup of Richard III. Joy Ibsen died in 2008. Her son Michael Ibsen gave a mouth-swab sample to the research team on 24 August 2012. His mitochondrial DNA passed down the direct maternal line was compared to samples from the human remains found at the excavation site and used to identify King Richard.
On 4 February 2013, the University of Leicester confirmed that the skeleton was beyond reasonable doubt that of King Richard III. This conclusion was based on mitochondrial DNA evidence, soil analysis, and dental tests (there were some molars missing as a result of caries), as well as physical characteristics of the skeleton which are highly consistent with contemporary accounts of Richard's appearance. The team announced that the "arrowhead" discovered with the body was a Roman-era nail, probably disturbed when the body was first interred. However, there were numerous perimortem wounds on the body, and part of the skull had been sliced off with a bladed weapon; this would have caused rapid death. The team concluded that it is unlikely that the king was wearing a helmet in his last moments. Soil taken from the remains was found to contain microscopic roundworm eggs. Several eggs were found in samples taken from the pelvis, where the king's intestines were, but not from the skull and only very small numbers were identified in soil surrounding the grave. The findings suggest that the higher concentration of eggs in the pelvic area probably arose from a roundworm infection the king suffered in his life, rather than from human waste dumped in the area at a later date, researchers said. The mayor of Leicester announced that the king's skeleton would be re-interred at Leicester Cathedral in early 2014, but a judicial review of that decision delayed the reinterment for a year. A museum to Richard III was opened in July 2014 in the Victorian school buildings next to the Greyfriars grave site.
The proposal to have King Richard buried in Leicester attracted some controversy. Those who challenged the decision included fifteen "collateral [non-direct] descendants of Richard III", represented by the Plantagenet Alliance, who believed that the body should be reburied in York, as they claim the king wished. In August 2013, they filed a court case in order to contest Leicester's claim to re-inter the body within its cathedral, and propose the body be buried in York instead. However, Michael Ibsen, who gave the DNA sample that identified the king, gave his support to Leicester's claim to re-inter the body in their cathedral. On 20 August, a judge ruled that the opponents had the legal standing to contest his burial in Leicester Cathedral, despite a clause in the contract which had authorized the excavations requiring his burial there. He urged the parties, though, to settle out of court in order to "avoid embarking on the Wars of the Roses, Part Two". The Plantagenet Alliance, and the supporting fifteen collateral descendants, also faced the challenge that "Basic maths shows Richard, who had no surviving children but five siblings, could have millions of 'collateral' descendants" undermining the group's claim to represent "the only people who can speak on behalf of him". A ruling in May 2014 decreed that there are "no public law grounds for the Court interfering with the decisions in question". The remains were taken to Leicester Cathedral on 22 March 2015 and reinterred on 26 March.
On 5 February 2013 Professor Caroline Wilkinson of the University of Dundee conducted a facial reconstruction of Richard III, commissioned by the Richard III Society, based on 3D mappings of his skull. The face is described as "warm, young, earnest and rather serious". On 11 February 2014 the University of Leicester announced the project to sequence the entire genome of Richard III and one of his living relatives, Michael Ibsen, whose mitochondrial DNA confirmed the identification of the excavated remains. Richard III thus became the first ancient person of known historical identity whose genome has been sequenced. In 2016 contemporary British artist Alexander de Cadenet presented a skull portrait of Richard III in conjunction with Leicester University. The portraits have been produced using University of Leicester forensic X-ray scans of the king.
In November 2014, the results of the testing were announced, confirming that the maternal side was as previously thought. The paternal side, however, demonstrated some variance from what had been expected, with the DNA showing no links to the purported descendants of Richard's great-great-grandfather Edward III of England through Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort. This could be the result of covert illegitimacy that does not reflect the accepted genealogies between Richard and Edward III or between Edward III and the 5th Duke of Beaufort.
Reburial and tomb
After his death in battle in 1485, Richard III's body was buried in Greyfriars Church in Leicester. Following the discoveries of Richard's remains in 2012, it was decided that they should be reburied at Leicester Cathedral, despite feelings in some quarters that he should have been reburied in York Minster. His remains were carried in procession to the cathedral on 22 March 2015, and reburied on 26 March 2015 at a religious re-burial service at which both Tim Stevens, the Bishop of Leicester, and Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, officiated. The British royal family was represented by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Countess of Wessex. The actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who later portrayed him in The Hollow Crown television series, read a poem by poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy.
Richard's cathedral tomb was designed by the architects van Heyningen and Haward. The tombstone is deeply incised with a cross, and consists of a rectangular block of white Swaledale fossil stone, quarried in North Yorkshire. It sits on a low plinth made of dark Kilkenny marble, incised with Richard's name, dates and motto (Loyaulte me lie – loyalty binds me). The plinth also carries his coat of arms in pietra dura. The remains of Richard III are in a lead-lined inner casket, inside an outer English oak coffin crafted by Michael Ibsen, a direct descendant of Richard's sister Anne, and laid in a brick-lined vault below the floor, and below the plinth and tombstone. The original 2010 raised tomb design had been proposed by Langley's "Looking For Richard Project" and fully funded by members of the Richard III Society. The proposal was publicly launched by the Society on 13 February 2013 but rejected by Leicester Cathedral in favour of a memorial slab. However, following a public outcry, the Cathedral changed its position and on 18 July 2013 announced its agreement to give King Richard III a raised tomb monument.
Titles, styles, honours and arms
On 1 November 1461, Richard gained the title of Duke of Gloucester; in late 1461, he was invested as a Knight of the Garter. Following the death of King Edward IV, he was made Lord Protector of England. Richard held this office from 30 April to 26 June 1483, when he made himself king. During his reign, Richard was styled Dei Gratia Rex Angliae et Franciae et Dominus Hiberniae (by the Grace of God, King of England and France and Lord of Ireland).
Informally, he may have been known as "Dickon", according to a sixteenth-century legend of a note, warning of treachery, that was sent to the Duke of Norfolk on the eve of Bosworth:
Arms
As Duke of Gloucester, Richard used the Royal Arms of England quartered with the Royal Arms of France, differenced by a label argent of three points ermine, on each point a canton gules, supported by a blue boar. As sovereign, he used the arms of the kingdom undifferenced, supported by a white boar and a lion. His motto was Loyaulte me lie, "Loyalty binds me"; and his personal device was a white boar.
Family trees
See also
King Richard III Visitor Centre, Leicester
Ricardian (Richard III)
Richard III Museum, York
Notes
References
Sources
Further reading
External links
King Richard III Visitor Centre, Leicester
The Richard III Society website
The Richard III Society, American Branch website
Information about the discovery of Richard III from the University of Leicester
, with commentary by Pamela Tudor-Craig
1452 births
1485 deaths
15th-century English monarchs
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Dukes of Gloucester
English military personnel killed in action
English people of French descent
English people with disabilities
English pretenders to the French throne
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House of York
Knights of the Bath
Knights of the Garter
Lord High Admirals of England
Lords Protector of England
Lords Warden of the Marches
Monarchs killed in action
People from Fotheringhay
People of the Wars of the Roses
Retrospective diagnosis
Younger sons of dukes
Lords of Glamorgan
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"The 1997 Heineken Trophy was a tennis tournament played on grass courts in Rosmalen, 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands that was part of the World Series of the 1996 ATP Tour and of Tier III of the 1997 WTA Tour. The tournament was held from 16 June 16 until 22 June 1997. Richard Krajicek and Ruxandra Dragomir won the singles titles.\n\nFinals\n\nMen's singles\n\n Richard Krajicek defeated Guillaume Raoux 6–4, 7–6(9–7)\n It was Krajicek's 3rd title of the year and the 16th of his career.\n\nWomen's singles\n\n Ruxandra Dragomir defeated Miriam Oremans 5–7, 6–2, 6–4\n It was Dragomir's 1st title of the year and the 6th of her career.\n\nMen's doubles\n Jacco Eltingh / Paul Haarhuis defeated Trevor Kronemann / David Macpherson 6–4, 7–5\n It was Eltingh's 3rd title of the year and the 35th of his career. It was Haarhuis' 3rd title of the year and the 34th of his career.\n\nWomen's doubles\n\n Eva Melicharová / Helena Vildová defeated Karina Habšudová / Florencia Labat 6–3, 7–6\n It was Melicharova's 1st title of the year and the 1st of her career. It was Vildova's 1st title of the year and the 1st of her career.\n\nExternal links\n \n ATP tournament profile\n WTA tournament profile\n\nHeineken Trophy\nHeineken Trophy\nRosmalen Grass Court Championships\n1997 in Dutch tennis",
"The 2006 Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was played at the Palais des Sports de Gerland in Lyon, France, and was part of the International Series tournaments of the 2006 ATP Tour.It was the 20th edition of the tournament and took place from 23 October through 30 October 2006. Fourth-seeded Richard Gasquet won the singles title.\n\nFinals\n\nSingles\n\n Richard Gasquet defeated Marc Gicquel 6–3, 6–1\n It was Gasquet's 3rd singles title of the year and the 4th of his career.\n\nDoubles\n\n Julien Benneteau / Arnaud Clément defeated František Čermák / Jaroslav Levinský 6–2, 6–7(3–7), [10–7] \n It was Benneteau's only title of the year and the 2nd of his career. It was Clément's 3rd title of the year and the 10th of his career.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n ITF tournament edition details\n\n \nGrand Prix de Tennis de Lyon\nOpen Sud de France"
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"Richard III of England",
"In culture",
"What was his culture like",
"I don't know.",
"What can you tell me about the section in culture",
"Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature.",
"What was he in of Shakespeares",
"Shakespeare's play Richard III",
"What other plays was he in",
"The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge",
"What year was the play Richard the 3rd",
"The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work,"
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C_e1db0b22c6fe45a1a0da7ae2ceb65f84_1
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What did he do besides plays
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What did Richard III of England do besides plays?
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Richard III of England
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Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature. Two other plays of the Elizabethan era predated Shakespeare's work. The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge is believed to be the first history play written in England. The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work, was probably an influence on Shakespeare. Neither of the two plays places any emphasis on Richard's physical appearance, though the True Tragedy briefly mentions that he is "A man ill shaped, crooked backed, lame armed" adding that he is "valiantly minded, but tyrannous in authority". Both portray him as a man motivated by personal ambition, who uses everyone around him to get his way. Ben Jonson is also known to have written a play Richard Crookback in 1602, but it was never published and nothing is known about its portrayal of the king. Marjorie Bowen's 1929 novel Dickon set the trend for pro-Ricardian literature. Particularly influential was The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey, in which a modern detective concludes that Richard III is innocent in the death of the Princes. Other novelists such as Valerie Anand in the novel Crown of Roses (1989) have also offered alternative versions to the theory that he murdered them. Sharon Kay Penman, in her historical novel The Sunne in Splendour, attributes the death of the Princes to the Duke of Buckingham. In the mystery novel The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters (1974) the central plot revolves around the debate as to whether Richard III was guilty of these and other crimes. A sympathetic portrayal of Richard III is given in The Founding, the first volume in The Morland Dynasty series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. One film adaptation of Shakespeare's play Richard III is the 1955 version directed and produced by Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. Also notable are the 1995 film version starring Ian McKellen, set in a fictional 1930s fascist England, and Looking for Richard, a 1996 documentary film directed by Al Pacino, who plays the title character as well as himself. The play has been adapted for television on several occasions. CANNOTANSWER
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Marjorie Bowen's 1929 novel Dickon set the trend for pro-Ricardian literature.
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Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. He is the protagonist of Richard III, one of William Shakespeare's history/tragedy plays.
Richard was created Duke of Gloucester in 1461 after the accession of his brother King Edward IV. In 1472, he married Anne Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. He governed northern England during Edward's reign, and played a role in the invasion of Scotland in 1482. When Edward IV died in April 1483, Richard was named Lord Protector of the realm for Edward's eldest son and successor, the 12-year-old Edward V. Arrangements were made for Edward V's coronation on 22 June 1483. Before the king could be crowned, the marriage of his parents was declared bigamous and therefore invalid. Now officially illegitimate, their children were barred from inheriting the throne. On 25 June, an assembly of lords and commoners endorsed a declaration to this effect, and proclaimed Richard as the rightful king. He was crowned on 6 July 1483. Edward and his younger brother Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, called the "Princes in the Tower", were not seen in public after August, and accusations circulated that they had been murdered on King Richard's orders, under the Tudor rule a few years later.
There were two major rebellions against Richard during his reign. In October 1483, an unsuccessful revolt was led by staunch allies of Edward IV and Richard's former ally, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. Then, in August 1485, Henry Tudor and his uncle, Jasper Tudor, landed in southern Wales with a contingent of French troops, and marched through Pembrokeshire, recruiting soldiers. Henry's forces defeated Richard's army near the Leicestershire town of Market Bosworth. Richard was slain, making him the last English king to die in battle. Henry Tudor then ascended the throne as Henry VII.
Richard's corpse was taken to the nearby town of Leicester and buried without ceremony. His original tomb monument is believed to have been removed during the English Reformation, and his remains were wrongly thought to have been thrown into the River Soar. In 2012, an archaeological excavation was commissioned by the Richard III Society on the site previously occupied by Grey Friars Priory. The University of Leicester identified the skeleton found in the excavation as that of Richard III as a result of radiocarbon dating, comparison with contemporary reports of his appearance, and comparison of his mitochondrial DNA with that of two matrilineal descendants of his sister Anne. He was reburied in Leicester Cathedral on 26 March 2015.
Early life
Richard was born on 2 October 1452, at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire, the eleventh of the twelve children of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the youngest to survive infancy. His childhood coincided with the beginning of what has traditionally been labelled the 'Wars of the Roses', a period of political instability and periodic open civil war in England during the second half of the fifteenth century, between the Yorkists, who supported Richard's father (a potential claimant to the throne of King Henry VI from birth), and opposed the regime of Henry VI and his wife, Margaret of Anjou, and the Lancastrians, who were loyal to the crown. In 1459, his father and the Yorkists were forced to flee England, whereupon Richard and his older brother George were placed in the custody of their aunt Anne Neville, Duchess of Buckingham, and possibly of Cardinal Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury.
When their father and elder brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland, were killed at the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December 1460, Richard and George were sent by their mother to the Low Countries. They returned to England following the defeat of the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton. They participated in the coronation of their eldest brother as King Edward IV on 28 June 1461, when Richard was named Duke of Gloucester and made both a Knight of the Garter and a Knight of the Bath. Edward appointed him the sole Commissioner of Array for the Western Counties in 1464 when he was 11. By the age of 17, he had an independent command.
Richard spent several years during his childhood at Middleham Castle in Wensleydale, Yorkshire, under the tutelage of his cousin Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, later known as 'the Kingmaker' because of his role in the Wars of the Roses. Warwick supervised Richard's training as a knight; in the autumn of 1465, Edward IV granted Warwick £1000 for the expenses of his younger brother's tutelage. With some interruptions, Richard stayed at Middleham either from late 1461 until early 1465, when he was 12 or from 1465 until his coming of age in 1468, when he turned 16. While at Warwick's estate, it is likely that he met both Francis Lovell, who would be his firm supporter later in his life, and Warwick's younger daughter, his future wife Anne Neville.
It is possible that even at this early stage Warwick was considering the king's brothers as strategic matches for his daughters, Isabel and Anne: young aristocrats were often sent to be raised in the households of their intended future partners, as had been the case for the young dukes' father, Richard of York. As the relationship between the king and Warwick became strained, Edward IV opposed the match. During Warwick's lifetime, George was the only royal brother to marry one of his daughters, the elder, Isabel, on 12 July 1469, without the king's permission. George joined his father-in-law's revolt against the king, while Richard remained loyal to Edward, even though he was rumoured to have been sleeping with Anne.
Richard and Edward were forced to flee to Burgundy in October 1470 after Warwick defected to the side of the former Lancastrian queen Margaret of Anjou. In 1468, Richard's sister Margaret had married Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy, and the brothers could expect a welcome there. Edward was restored to the throne in the spring of 1471, following the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, in both of which the 18-year-old Richard played a crucial role.
During his adolescence, and due to a cause that is unknown, Richard developed a sideways curvature of the spine (Scoliosis). In 2014, after the discovery of Richard's remains, the osteoarchaeologist Dr. Jo Appleby, of Leicester University's School of Archaeology and Ancient History, imaged the spinal column, and reconstructed a model using 3D printing, and concluded that though the spinal scoliosis looked dramatic, it probably did not cause any major physical deformity that could not be disguised by clothing.
Marriage and family relationships
Following a decisive Yorkist victory over the Lancastrians at the Battle of Tewkesbury, Richard married Anne Neville on 12 July 1472. By the end of 1470 Anne had previously been wedded to Edward of Westminster, only son of Henry VI, to seal her father's allegiance to the Lancastrian party. Edward died at the Battle of Tewkesbury on 4 May 1471, while Warwick had died at the Battle of Barnet on 14 April 1471. Richard's marriage plans brought him into conflict with his brother George. John Paston's letter of 17 February 1472 makes it clear that George was not happy about the marriage but grudgingly accepted it on the basis that "he may well have my Lady his sister-in-law, but they shall part no livelihood". The reason was the inheritance Anne shared with her elder sister Isabel, whom George had married in 1469. It was not only the earldom that was at stake; Richard Neville had inherited it as a result of his marriage to Anne Beauchamp, 16th Countess of Warwick. The Countess, who was still alive, was technically the owner of the substantial Beauchamp estates, her father having left no male heirs.
The Croyland Chronicle records that Richard agreed to a prenuptial contract in the following terms: "the marriage of the Duke of Gloucester with Anne before-named was to take place, and he was to have such and so much of the earl's lands as should be agreed upon between them through the mediation of arbitrators; while all the rest were to remain in the possession of the Duke of Clarence". The date of Paston's letter suggests the marriage was still being negotiated in February 1472. In order to win George's final consent to the marriage, Richard renounced most of the Earl of Warwick's land and property including the earldoms of Warwick (which the Kingmaker had held in his wife's right) and Salisbury and surrendered to George the office of Great Chamberlain of England. Richard retained Neville's forfeit estates he had already been granted in the summer of 1471: Penrith, Sheriff Hutton and Middleham, where he later established his marital household.
The requisite papal dispensation was obtained dated 22 April 1472. Michael Hicks has suggested that the terms of the dispensation deliberately understated the degrees of consanguinity between the couple, and the marriage was therefore illegal on the ground of first degree consanguinity following George's marriage to Anne's sister Isabel. There would have been first-degree consanguinity if Richard had sought to marry Isabel (in case of widowhood) after she had married his brother George, but no such consanguinity applied for Anne and Richard. Richard's marriage to Anne was never declared null, and it was public to everyone including secular and canon lawyers for 13 years.
In June 1473, Richard persuaded his mother-in-law to leave the sanctuary and come to live under his protection at Middleham. Later in the year, under the terms of the 1473 Act of Resumption, George lost some of the property he held under royal grant and made no secret of his displeasure. John Paston's letter of November 1473 says that King Edward planned to put both his younger brothers in their place by acting as "a stifler atween them". Early in 1474, Parliament assembled and Edward attempted to reconcile his brothers by stating that both men, and their wives, would enjoy the Warwick inheritance just as if the Countess of Warwick "was naturally dead". The doubts cast by George on the validity of Richard and Anne's marriage were addressed by a clause protecting their rights in the event they were divorced (i.e. of their marriage being declared null and void by the Church) and then legally remarried to each other, and also protected Richard's rights while waiting for such a valid second marriage with Anne. The following year, Richard was rewarded with all the Neville lands in the north of England, at the expense of Anne's cousin, George Neville, 1st Duke of Bedford. From this point, George seems to have fallen steadily out of King Edward's favour, his discontent coming to a head in 1477 when, following Isabel's death, he was denied the opportunity to marry Mary of Burgundy, the stepdaughter of his sister Margaret, even though Margaret approved the proposed match. There is no evidence of Richard's involvement in George's subsequent conviction and execution on a charge of treason.
Reign of Edward IV
Estates and titles
Richard was granted the Duchy of Gloucester on 1 November 1461, and on 12 August the next year was awarded large estates in northern England, including the lordships of Richmond in Yorkshire, and Pembroke in Wales. He gained the forfeited lands of the Lancastrian John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, in East Anglia. In 1462, on his birthday, he was made Constable of Gloucester and Corfe Castles and Admiral of England, Ireland and Aquitaine and appointed Governor of the North, becoming the richest and most powerful noble in England. On 17 October 1469, he was made Constable of England. In November, he replaced William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, as Chief Justice of North Wales. The following year, he was appointed Chief Steward and Chamberlain of Wales. On 18 May 1471, Richard was named Great Chamberlain and Lord High Admiral of England. Other positions followed: High Sheriff of Cumberland for life, Lieutenant of the North and Commander-in-Chief against the Scots and hereditary Warden of the West March. Two months later, on 14 July, he gained the Lordships of the strongholds Sheriff Hutton and Middleham in Yorkshire and Penrith in Cumberland, which had belonged to Warwick the Kingmaker. It is possible that the grant of Middleham seconded Richard's personal wishes.
Exile and return
During the latter part of Edward IV's reign, Richard demonstrated his loyalty to the king, in contrast to their brother George who had allied himself with the Earl of Warwick when the latter rebelled towards the end of the 1460s. Following Warwick's 1470 rebellion, before which he had made peace with Margaret of Anjou and promised the restoration of Henry VI to the English throne, Richard, the Baron Hastings and Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, escaped capture at Doncaster by Warwick's brother, John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu. On 2 October they sailed from King's Lynn in two ships; Edward landed at Marsdiep and Richard at Zeeland. It was said that, having left England in such haste as to possess almost nothing, Edward was forced to pay their passage with his fur cloak; certainly, Richard borrowed three pounds from Zeeland's town bailiff. They were attainted by Warwick's only Parliament on 26 November. They resided in Bruges with Louis de Gruthuse, who had been the Burgundian Ambassador to Edward's court, but it was not until Louis XI of France declared war on Burgundy that Charles, Duke of Burgundy, assisted their return, providing, along with the Hanseatic merchants, £20,000, 36 ships and 1200 men. They departed Flushing for England on 11 March 1471. Warwick's arrest of local sympathisers prevented them from landing in Yorkist East Anglia and on 14 March, after being separated in a storm, their ships ran ashore at Holderness. The town of Hull refused Edward entry. He gained entry to York by using the same claim as Henry of Bolingbroke had before deposing Richard II in 1399; that is, that he was merely reclaiming the Dukedom of York rather than the crown. It was in Edward's attempt to regain his throne that Richard began to demonstrate his skill as a military commander.
1471 military campaign
Once Edward had regained the support of his brother George, he mounted a swift and decisive campaign to regain the crown through combat; it is believed that Richard was his principal lieutenant as some of the king's earliest support came from members of Richard's affinity, including Sir James Harrington and Sir William Parr, who brought 600 men-at-arms to them at Doncaster. Richard may have led the vanguard at the Battle of Barnet, in his first command, on 14 April 1471, where he outflanked the wing of Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, although the degree to which his command was fundamental may have been exaggerated. That Richard's personal household sustained losses indicates he was in the thick of the fighting. A contemporary source is clear about his holding the vanguard for Edward at Tewkesbury, deployed against the Lancastrian vanguard under Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset, on 4 May 1471, and his role two days later, as Constable of England, sitting alongside John Howard as Earl Marshal, in the trial and sentencing of leading Lancastrians captured after the battle.
1475 invasion of France
At least in part resentful of King Louis XI's previous support of his Lancastrian opponents, and possibly in support of his brother-in-law Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, Edward went to parliament in October 1472 for funding a military campaign, and eventually landed in Calais on 4 July 1475. Richard's was the largest private contingent of his army. Although well known to have publicly been against the eventual treaty signed with Louis XI at Picquigny (and absent from the negotiations, in which one of his rank would have been expected to take a leading role), he acted as Edward's witness when the king instructed his delegates to the French court, and received 'some very fine presents' from Louis on a visit to the French king at Amiens. In refusing other gifts, which included 'pensions' in the guise of 'tribute', he was joined only by Cardinal Bourchier. He supposedly disapproved of Edward's policy of personally benefiting—politically and financially—from a campaign paid for out of a parliamentary grant, and hence out of public funds. Any military prowess was therefore not to be revealed further until the last years of Edward's reign.
The North, and the Council in the North
Richard was the dominant magnate in the north of England until Edward IV's death. There, and especially in the city of York, he was highly regarded; although it has been questioned whether this view was reciprocated by Richard. Edward IV delegated significant authority to Richard in the region. Kendall and later historians have suggested that this was with the intention of making Richard the Lord of the North; Peter Booth, however, has argued that "instead of allowing his brother Richard carte blanche, [Edward] restricted his influence by using his own agent, Sir William Parr." Following Richard's accession to the throne, he first established the Council of the North and made his nephew John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln, president and formally institutionalised this body as an offshoot of the royal Council; all its letters and judgements were issued on behalf of the king and in his name. The council had a budget of 2000 marks per annum and had issued "Regulations" by July of that year: councillors to act impartially and declare vested interests, and to meet at least every three months. Its main focus of operations was Yorkshire and the north-east, and its primary responsibilities were land disputes, keeping of the king's peace, and punishing lawbreakers.
War with Scotland
Richard's increasing role in the north from the mid-1470s to some extent explains his withdrawal from the royal court. He had been Warden of the West March on the Scottish border since 10 September 1470, and again from May 1471; he used Penrith as a base while 'taking effectual measures' against the Scots, and 'enjoyed the revenues of the estates' of the Forest of Cumberland while doing so. It was at the same time that the Duke of Gloucester was appointed sheriff of Cumberland five consecutive years, being described as 'of Penrith Castle' in 1478. By 1480, war with Scotland was looming; on 12 May that year he was appointed Lieutenant-General of the North (a position created for the occasion) as fears of a Scottish invasion grew. Louis XI of France had attempted to negotiate a military alliance with Scotland (in the tradition of the "Auld Alliance"), with the aim of attacking England, according to a contemporary French chronicler. Richard had the authority to summon the Border Levies and issue Commissions of Array to repel the Border raids. Together with the Earl of Northumberland, he launched counter-raids, and when the king and council formally declared war in November 1480, he was granted £10,000 for wages. The king failed to arrive to lead the English army and the result was intermittent skirmishing until early 1482. Richard witnessed the treaty with Alexander, Duke of Albany, brother of King James III of Scotland. Northumberland, Stanley, Dorset, Sir Edward Woodville, and Richard with approximately 20,000 men took the town of Berwick almost immediately. The castle held until 24 August 1482, when Richard recaptured Berwick-upon-Tweed from the Kingdom of Scotland. Although it is debatable whether the English victory was due more to internal Scottish divisions rather than any outstanding military prowess by Richard, it was the last time that the Royal Burgh of Berwick changed hands between the two realms.
Lord Protector
On the death of Edward IV on 9 April 1483, his 12-year-old son, Edward V, succeeded him. Richard was named Lord Protector of the Realm and at Baron Hastings' urging, Richard assumed his role and left his base in Yorkshire for London. On 29 April, as previously agreed, Richard and his cousin, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, met Queen Elizabeth's brother, Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, at Northampton. At the queen's request, Earl Rivers was escorting the young king to London with an armed escort of 2000 men, while Richard and Buckingham's joint escort was 600 men. Edward V himself had been sent further south to Stony Stratford. At first convivial, Richard had Earl Rivers, his nephew Richard Grey and his associate, Thomas Vaughan, arrested. They were taken to Pontefract Castle, where they were executed on 25 June on the charge of treason against the Lord Protector after appearing before a tribunal led by Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. Rivers had appointed Richard as executor of his will.
After having Rivers arrested, Richard and Buckingham moved to Stony Stratford, where Richard informed Edward V of a plot aimed at denying him his role as protector and whose perpetrators had been dealt with. He proceeded to escort the king to London. They entered the city on 4 May, displaying the carriages of weapons Rivers had taken with his 2000-man army. Richard first accommodated Edward in the Bishop's apartments; then, on Buckingham's suggestion, the king was moved to the royal apartments of the Tower of London, where kings customarily awaited their coronation. Within the year 1483, Richard had moved himself to the grandeur of Crosby Hall, London, then in Bishopsgate in the City of London. Robert Fabyan, in his 'The new chronicles of England and of France', writes that "the Duke caused the King (Edward V) to be removed unto the Tower and his broder with hym, and the Duke lodged himselfe in Crosbyes Place in Bisshoppesgate Strete." In Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, he accounts that "little by little all folke withdrew from the Tower, and drew unto Crosbies in Bishops gates Street, where the Protector kept his houshold. The Protector had the resort; the King in maner desolate."
On hearing the news of her brother's 30 April arrest, the dowager queen fled to sanctuary in Westminster Abbey. Joining her were her son by her first marriage, Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset; her five daughters; and her youngest son, Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. On 10/11 June, Richard wrote to Ralph, Lord Neville, the City of York and others asking for their support against "the Queen, her blood adherents and affinity," whom he suspected of plotting his murder. At a council meeting on Friday 13 June at the Tower of London, Richard accused Hastings and others of having conspired against him with the Woodvilles and accusing Jane Shore, lover to both Hastings and Thomas Grey, of acting as a go-between. According to Thomas More, Hastings was taken out of the council chambers and summarily executed in the courtyard, while others, like Lord Thomas Stanley and John Morton, Bishop of Ely, were arrested. Hastings was not attainted and Richard sealed an indenture that placed Hastings' widow, Katherine, directly under his own protection. Bishop Morton was released into the custody of Buckingham. On 16 June, the dowager queen agreed to hand over the Duke of York to the Archbishop of Canterbury so that he might attend his brother Edward's coronation, still planned for 22 June.
King of England
A clergyman (Bishop Robert Stillington) is said to have informed Richard that Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was invalid because of Edward's earlier union with Eleanor Butler, making Edward V and his siblings illegitimate. The identity of the informant, known only through the memoirs of French diplomat Philippe de Commines, was Robert Stillington, the Bishop of Bath and Wells. On Sunday 22 June, a sermon was preached outside Old St. Paul's Cathedral by Ralph Shaa, declaring Edward IV's children bastards and Richard the rightful king. Shortly after, the citizens of London, both nobles and commons, convened and drew up a petition asking Richard to assume the throne. He accepted on 26 June and was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 6 July. His title to the throne was confirmed by Parliament in January 1484 by the document Titulus Regius.
The princes, who were still lodged in the royal residence of the Tower of London at the time of Richard's coronation, disappeared from sight after the summer of 1483. Although after his death Richard III was accused of having Edward and his brother killed, notably by More and in Shakespeare's play, the facts surrounding their disappearance remain unknown. Other culprits have been suggested, including Buckingham and even Henry VII, although Richard remains a suspect.
After the coronation ceremony, Richard and Anne set out on a royal progress to meet their subjects. During this journey through the country, the king and queen endowed King's College and Queens' College at Cambridge University, and made grants to the church. Still feeling a strong bond with his northern estates, Richard later planned the establishment of a large chantry chapel in York Minster with over 100 priests. He also founded the College of Arms.
Buckingham's rebellion of 1483
In 1483, a conspiracy arose among a number of disaffected gentry, many of whom had been supporters of Edward IV and the "whole Yorkist establishment". The conspiracy was nominally led by Richard's former ally, the Duke of Buckingham, although it had begun as a Woodville-Beaufort conspiracy (being "well underway" by the time of the Duke's involvement). Indeed, Davies has suggested that it was "only the subsequent parliamentary attainder that placed Buckingham at the centre of events", in order to blame a single disaffected magnate motivated by greed, rather than "the embarrassing truth" that those opposing Richard were actually "overwhelmingly Edwardian loyalists". It is possible that they planned to depose Richard III and place Edward V back on the throne, and that when rumours arose that Edward and his brother were dead, Buckingham proposed that Henry Tudor should return from exile, take the throne and marry Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV. However, it has also been pointed out that as this narrative stems from Richard's own parliament of 1484, it should probably be treated "with caution". For his part, Buckingham raised a substantial force from his estates in Wales and the Marches. Henry, in exile in Brittany, enjoyed the support of the Breton treasurer Pierre Landais, who hoped Buckingham's victory would cement an alliance between Brittany and England.
Some of Henry Tudor's ships ran into a storm and were forced to return to Brittany or Normandy, while Henry himself anchored off Plymouth for a week before learning of Buckingham's failure. Buckingham's army was troubled by the same storm and deserted when Richard's forces came against them. Buckingham tried to escape in disguise, but was either turned in by a retainer for the bounty Richard had put on his head, or was discovered in hiding with him. He was convicted of treason and beheaded in Salisbury, near the Bull's Head Inn, on 2 November. His widow, Catherine Woodville, later married Jasper Tudor, the uncle of Henry Tudor. Richard made overtures to Landais, offering military support for Landais's weak regime under Francis II, Duke of Brittany, in exchange for Henry. Henry fled to Paris, where he secured support from the French regent Anne of Beaujeu, who supplied troops for an invasion in 1485.
Death at the Battle of Bosworth Field
On Monday 22 August 1485, Richard met the outnumbered forces of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Richard rode a white courser (an especially swift and strong horse). The size of Richard's army has been estimated at 8,000 and Henry's at 5,000, but exact numbers are not known, though the royal army is believed to have "substantially" outnumbered Henry's. The traditional view of the king's famous cries of "Treason!" before falling was that during the battle Richard was abandoned by Baron Stanley (made Earl of Derby in October), Sir William Stanley, and Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. However, the role of Northumberland is unclear; his position was with the reserve—behind the king's line—and he could not easily have moved forward without a general royal advance, which did not take place. Indeed, the physical confines behind the crest of Ambion Hill, combined with a difficulty of communications, probably physically hampered any attempt he made to join the fray. Despite appearing "a pillar of the Ricardian regime", and his previous loyalty to Edward IV, Baron Stanley was the stepfather of Henry Tudor, and Stanley's inaction combined with his brother's entering the battle on Tudor's behalf was fundamental to Richard's defeat. The death of Richard's close companion John Howard, Duke of Norfolk, may have had a demoralising effect on the king and his men. Either way, Richard led a cavalry charge deep into the enemy ranks in an attempt to end the battle quickly by striking at Henry Tudor himself.
Accounts note that King Richard fought bravely and ably during this manoeuvre, unhorsing Sir John Cheyne, a well-known jousting champion, killing Henry's standard bearer Sir William Brandon and coming within a sword's length of Henry Tudor before being surrounded by Sir William Stanley's men and killed. The Burgundian chronicler Jean Molinet says that a Welshman struck the death-blow with a halberd while Richard's horse was stuck in the marshy ground. It was said that the blows were so violent that the king's helmet was driven into his skull. The contemporary Welsh poet Guto'r Glyn implies a leading Welsh Lancastrian, Rhys ap Thomas, or one of his men killed the king, writing that he "killed the boar, shaved his head". The identification in 2013 of King Richard's body shows that the skeleton had 11 wounds, eight of them to the skull, clearly inflicted in battle and suggesting he had lost his helmet. Professor Guy Rutty, from the University of Leicester, said: "The most likely injuries to have caused the king's death are the two to the inferior aspect of the skull—a large sharp force trauma possibly from a sword or staff weapon, such as a halberd or bill, and a penetrating injury from the tip of an edged weapon." The skull showed that a blade had hacked away part of the rear of the skull. Richard III was the last English king to be killed in battle. Henry Tudor succeeded Richard as King Henry VII. He married the Yorkist heiress Elizabeth of York, Edward IV's daughter and Richard III's niece.
Polydore Vergil, Henry VII's official historian, recorded that "King Richard, alone, was killed fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies". Richard's naked body was then carried back to Leicester tied to a horse, and early sources strongly suggest that it was displayed in the collegiate Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke, prior to being buried at Greyfriars Church in Leicester. In 1495, Henry VII paid for a marble and alabaster monument. According to a discredited tradition, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, his body was thrown into the River Soar, although other evidence suggests that a memorial stone was visible in 1612, in a garden built on the site of Greyfriars. The exact location was then lost, owing to more than 400 years of subsequent development, until archaeological investigations in 2012 revealed the site of the garden and Greyfriars Church. There was a memorial ledger stone in the choir of the cathedral, since replaced by the tomb of the king, and a stone plaque on Bow Bridge where tradition had falsely suggested that his remains had been thrown into the river.
According to another tradition, Richard consulted a seer in Leicester before the battle who foretold that "where your spur should strike on the ride into battle, your head shall be broken on the return". On the ride into battle, his spur struck the bridge stone of Bow Bridge in the city; legend states that as his corpse was carried from the battle over the back of a horse, his head struck the same stone and was broken open.
Issue
Richard and Anne had one son, Edward of Middleham, who was born between 1474 and 1476. He was created Earl of Salisbury on 15 February 1478, and Prince of Wales on 24 August 1483, and died in March 1484, less than two months after he had been formally declared heir apparent. After the death of his son, Richard appointed his nephew John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, as Lieutenant of Ireland, an office previously held by his son Edward. Lincoln was the son of Richard's older sister, Elizabeth, Duchess of Suffolk. After his wife's death, Richard commenced negotiations with John II of Portugal to marry John's pious sister, Joanna, Princess of Portugal. She had already turned down several suitors because of her preference for the religious life.
Richard had two acknowledged illegitimate children, John of Gloucester and Katherine Plantagenet. Also known as 'John of Pontefract', John of Gloucester was appointed Captain of Calais in 1485. Katherine married William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, in 1484. Neither the birth dates nor the names of the mothers of either of the children is known. Katherine was old enough to be wedded in 1484, when the age of consent was twelve, and John was knighted in September 1483 in York Minster, and so most historians agree that they were both fathered when Richard was a teenager. There is no evidence of infidelity on Richard's part after his marriage to Anne Neville in 1472 when he was around 20. This has led to a suggestion by the historian A. L. Rowse that Richard "had no interest in sex".
Michael Hicks and Josephine Wilkinson have suggested that Katherine's mother may have been Katherine Haute, on the basis of the grant of an annual payment of 100 shillings made to her in 1477. The Haute family was related to the Woodvilles through the marriage of Elizabeth Woodville's aunt, Joan Woodville, to William Haute. One of their children was Richard Haute, Controller of the Prince's Household. Their daughter, Alice, married Sir John Fogge; they were ancestors to Catherine Parr, sixth wife of King Henry VIII. They also suggest that John's mother may have been Alice Burgh. Richard visited Pontefract from 1471, in April and October 1473, and in early March 1474, for a week. On 1 March 1474, he granted Alice Burgh £20 a year for life "for certain special causes and considerations". She later received another allowance, apparently for being engaged as a nurse for his brother George's son, Edward of Warwick. Richard continued her annuity when he became king. John Ashdown-Hill has suggested that John was conceived during Richard's first solo expedition to the eastern counties in the summer of 1467 at the invitation of John Howard and that the boy was born in 1468 and named after his friend and supporter. Richard himself noted John was still a minor (not being yet 21) when he issued the royal patent appointing him Captain of Calais on 11 March 1485, possibly on his seventeenth birthday.
Both of Richard's illegitimate children survived him, but they seem to have died without issue and their fate after Richard's demise at Bosworth is not certain. John received a £20 annuity from Henry VII, but there are no mentions of him in contemporary records after 1487 (the year of the Battle of Stoke Field). He may have been executed in 1499, though no record of this exists beyond an assertion by George Buck over a century later. Katherine apparently died before her cousin Elizabeth of York's coronation on 25 November 1487, since her husband Sir William Herbert is described as a widower by that time. Katherine's burial place was located in the London parish church of St James Garlickhithe, between Skinner's Lane and Upper Thames Street. The mysterious Richard Plantagenet, who was first mentioned in Francis Peck's Desiderata Curiosa (a two-volume miscellany published 1732–1735) was said to be a possible illegitimate child of Richard III and is sometimes referred to as "Richard the Master-Builder" or "Richard of Eastwell", but it has also been suggested he could have been Richard, Duke of York, one of the missing Princes in the Tower. He died in 1550.
Legacy
Richard's Council of the North, described as his "one major institutional innovation", derived from his ducal council following his own viceregal appointment by Edward IV; when Richard himself became king, he maintained the same conciliar structure in his absence. It officially became part of the royal council machinery under the presidency of John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln in April 1484, based at Sandal Castle in Wakefield. It is considered to have greatly improved conditions for northern England, as it was intended to keep the peace and punish lawbreakers, as well as resolve land disputes. Bringing regional governance directly under the control of central government, it has been described as the king's "most enduring monument", surviving unchanged until 1641.
In December 1483, Richard instituted what later became known as the Court of Requests, a court to which poor people who could not afford legal representation could apply for their grievances to be heard. He also improved bail in January 1484, to protect suspected felons from imprisonment before trial and to protect their property from seizure during that time. He founded the College of Arms in 1484, he banned restrictions on the printing and sale of books, and he ordered the translation of the written Laws and Statutes from the traditional French into English. During his reign, Parliament ended the arbitrary benevolence (a device by which Edward IV raised funds), made it punishable to conceal from a buyer of land that a part of the property had already been disposed of to somebody else, required that land sales be published, laid down property qualifications for jurors, restricted the abusive Courts of Piepowders, regulated cloth sales, instituted certain forms of trade protectionism, prohibited the sale of wine and oil in fraudulent measure, and prohibited fraudulent collection of clergy dues, among others. Churchill implies he improved the law of trusts.
Richard's death at Bosworth resulted in the end of the Plantagenet dynasty, which had ruled England since the succession of Henry II in 1154. The last legitimate male Plantagenet, Richard's nephew Edward, Earl of Warwick (son of his brother George, Duke of Clarence), was executed by Henry VII in 1499.
Reputation
There are numerous contemporary, or near-contemporary, sources of information about the reign of Richard III. These include the Croyland Chronicle, Commines' Mémoires, the report of Dominic Mancini, the Paston Letters, the Chronicles of Robert Fabyan and numerous court and official records, including a few letters by Richard himself. However, the debate about Richard's true character and motives continues, both because of the subjectivity of many of the written sources, reflecting the generally partisan nature of writers of this period, and because none was written by men with an intimate knowledge of Richard.
During Richard's reign, the historian John Rous praised him as a "good lord" who punished "oppressors of the commons", adding that he had "a great heart". In 1483 the Italian observer Mancini reported that Richard enjoyed a good reputation and that both "his private life and public activities powerfully attracted the esteem of strangers". His bond to the City of York, in particular, was such that on hearing of Richard's demise at the battle of Bosworth the City Council officially deplored the king's death, at the risk of facing the victor's wrath.
During his lifetime he was the subject of some attacks. Even in the North in 1482 a man was prosecuted for offences against the Duke of Gloucester, saying he did "nothing but grin at" the city of York. In 1484, attempts to discredit him took the form of hostile placards, the only surviving one being William Collingbourne's lampoon of July 1484 "The Cat, the Rat, and Lovell the Dog, all rule England under a Hog" which was pinned to the door of St. Paul's Cathedral and referred to Richard himself (the Hog) and his most trusted councillors William Catesby, Richard Ratcliffe and Francis, Viscount Lovell. On 30 March 1485 Richard felt forced to summon the Lords and London City Councillors to publicly deny the rumours that he had poisoned Queen Anne and that he had planned a marriage to his niece Elizabeth, at the same time ordering the Sheriff of London to imprison anyone spreading such slanders. The same orders were issued throughout the realm, including York where the royal pronouncement recorded in the City Records dates 5 April 1485 and carries specific instructions to suppress seditious talk and remove and destroy evidently hostile placards unread.
As for Richard's physical appearance, most contemporary descriptions bear out the evidence that aside from having one shoulder higher than the other (with chronicler Rous not able to correctly remember which one, as slight as the difference was), Richard had no other noticeable bodily deformity. John Stow talked to old men who, remembering him, said "that he was of bodily shape comely enough, only of low stature" and a German traveller, Nicolas von Poppelau, who spent ten days in Richard's household in May 1484, describes him as "three fingers taller than himself...much more lean, with delicate arms and legs and also a great heart." Six years after Richard's death, in 1491, a schoolmaster named William Burton, on hearing a defence of Richard, launched into a diatribe, accusing the dead king of being "a hypocrite and a crookback...who was deservedly buried in a ditch like a dog."
Richard's death encouraged the furtherance of this later negative image by his Tudor successors due to the fact that it helped to legitimise Henry VII's seizure of the throne. The Richard III Society contends that this means that "a lot of what people thought they knew about Richard III was pretty much propaganda and myth building." The Tudor characterisation culminated in the famous fictional portrayal of him in Shakespeare's play Richard III as a physically deformed, Machiavellian villain, ruthlessly committing numerous murders in order to claw his way to power; Shakespeare's intention perhaps being to use Richard III as a vehicle for creating his own Marlowesque protagonist. Rous himself in his History of the Kings of England, written during Henry VII's reign, initiated the process. He reversed his earlier position, and now portrayed Richard as a freakish individual who was born with teeth and shoulder-length hair after having been in his mother's womb for two years. His body was stunted and distorted, with one shoulder higher than the other, and he was "slight in body and weak in strength". Rous also attributes the murder of Henry VI to Richard, and claims that he poisoned his own wife. Jeremy Potter, a former Chair of the Richard III Society, claims that "At the bar of history Richard III continues to be guilty because it is impossible to prove him innocent. The Tudors ride high in popular esteem."
Polydore Vergil and Thomas More expanded on this portrayal, emphasising Richard's outward physical deformities as a sign of his inwardly twisted mind. More describes him as "little of stature, ill-featured of limbs, crook-backed ... hard-favoured of visage". Vergil also says he was "deformed of body ... one shoulder higher than the right". Both emphasise that Richard was devious and flattering, while planning the downfall of both his enemies and supposed friends. Richard's good qualities were his cleverness and bravery. All these characteristics are repeated by Shakespeare, who portrays him as having a hunch, a limp and a withered arm. With regard to the "hunch", the second quarto edition of Richard III (1598) used the term "hunched-backed" but in the First Folio edition (1623) it became "bunch-backed".
Richard's reputation as a promoter of legal fairness persisted, however. William Camden in his Remains Concerning Britain (1605) states that Richard, "albeit he lived wickedly, yet made good laws". Francis Bacon also states that he was "a good lawmaker for the ease and solace of the common people". In 1525, Cardinal Wolsey upbraided the aldermen and Mayor of London for relying on a statute of Richard to avoid paying an extorted tax (benevolence) but received the reply "although he did evil, yet in his time were many good acts made."
Richard was a practising Catholic, as shown by his personal Book of Hours, surviving in the Lambeth Palace library. As well as conventional aristocratic devotional texts, the book contains a Collect of Saint Ninian, referencing a saint popular in the Anglo-Scottish Borders.
Despite this, the image of Richard as a ruthless tyrant remained dominant in the 18th and 19th centuries. The 18th-century philosopher and historian David Hume described him as a man who used dissimulation to conceal "his fierce and savage nature" and who had "abandoned all principles of honour and humanity". Hume acknowledged that some historians have argued "that he was well qualified for government, had he legally obtained it; and that he committed no crimes but such as were necessary to procure him possession of the crown", but he dismissed this view on the grounds that Richard's exercise of arbitrary power encouraged instability. The most important late 19th century biographer of the king was James Gairdner, who also wrote the entry on Richard in the Dictionary of National Biography. Gairdner stated that he had begun to study Richard with a neutral viewpoint, but became convinced that Shakespeare and More were essentially correct in their view of the king, despite some exaggerations.
Richard was not without his defenders, the first of whom was Sir George Buck, a descendant of one of the king's supporters, who completed The history of King Richard the Third in 1619. The authoritative Buck text was published only in 1979, though a corrupted version was published by Buck's great-nephew in 1646. Buck attacked the "improbable imputations and strange and spiteful scandals" related by Tudor writers, including Richard's alleged deformities and murders. He located lost archival material, including the Titulus Regius, but also claimed to have seen a letter written by Elizabeth of York, according to which Elizabeth sought to marry the king. Elizabeth's supposed letter was never produced. Documents which later emerged from the Portuguese royal archives show that after Queen Anne's death, Richard's ambassadors were sent on a formal errand to negotiate a double marriage between Richard and the Portuguese king's sister Joanna, of Lancastrian descent, and between Elizabeth of York and Joanna's cousin Manuel, Duke of Viseu (later King of Portugal).
Significant among Richard's defenders was Horace Walpole. In Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third (1768), Walpole disputed all the alleged murders and argued that Richard may have acted in good faith. He also argued that any physical abnormality was probably no more than a minor distortion of the shoulders. However, he retracted his views in 1793 after the Terror, stating he now believed that Richard could have committed the crimes he was charged with, although Pollard observes that this retraction is frequently overlooked by later admirers of Richard. Other defenders of Richard include the noted explorer Clements Markham, whose Richard III: His Life and Character (1906) replied to the work of Gairdner. He argued that Henry VII killed the princes and that the bulk of evidence against Richard was nothing more than Tudor propaganda. An intermediate view was provided by Alfred Legge in The Unpopular King (1885). Legge argued that Richard's "greatness of soul" was eventually "warped and dwarfed" by the ingratitude of others.
Some twentieth-century historians have been less inclined to moral judgement, seeing Richard's actions as a product of the unstable times. In the words of Charles Ross, "the later fifteenth century in England is now seen as a ruthless and violent age as concerns the upper ranks of society, full of private feuds, intimidation, land-hunger, and litigiousness, and consideration of Richard's life and career against this background has tended to remove him from the lonely pinnacle of Villainy Incarnate on which Shakespeare had placed him. Like most men, he was conditioned by the standards of his age." The Richard III Society, founded in 1924 as "The Fellowship of the White Boar", is the oldest of several groups dedicated to improving his reputation. Other contemporary historians still describe him as a "power-hungry and ruthless politician" who was still most probably "ultimately responsible for the murder of his nephews."
In culture
Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature. Two other plays of the Elizabethan era predated Shakespeare's work. The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge is believed to be the first history play written in England. The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work, was probably an influence on Shakespeare. Neither of the two plays places any emphasis on Richard's physical appearance, though the True Tragedy briefly mentions that he is "A man ill shaped, crooked backed, lame armed" and "valiantly minded, but tyrannous in authority". Both portray him as a man motivated by personal ambition, who uses everyone around him to get his way. Ben Jonson is also known to have written a play Richard Crookback in 1602, but it was never published and nothing is known about its portrayal of the king.
Marjorie Bowen's 1929 novel Dickon set the trend for pro-Ricardian literature. Particularly influential was The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey, in which a modern detective concludes that Richard III is innocent in the death of the Princes. Other novelists such as Valerie Anand in the novel Crown of Roses (1989) have also offered alternative versions to the theory that he murdered them. Sharon Kay Penman, in her historical novel The Sunne in Splendour, attributes the death of the Princes to the Duke of Buckingham. In the mystery novel The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters (1974) the central plot revolves around the debate as to whether Richard III was guilty of these and other crimes. A sympathetic portrayal is given in The Founding (1980), the first volume in The Morland Dynasty series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.
One film adaptation of Shakespeare's play Richard III is the 1955 version directed and produced by Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. Also notable are the 1995 film version starring Ian McKellen, set in a fictional 1930s fascist England, and Looking for Richard, a 1996 documentary film directed by Al Pacino, who plays the title character as well as himself. The play has been adapted for television on several occasions.
Discovery of remains
On 24 August 2012, the University of Leicester and Leicester City Council, in association with the Richard III Society, announced that they had joined forces to begin a search for the remains of King Richard. The search for Richard III was led by Philippa Langley of the Society's Looking For Richard Project with the archaeological work led by University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS). Experts set out to locate the lost site of the former Greyfriars Church (demolished during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries), and to discover whether his remains were still interred there. By comparing fixed points between maps in a historical sequence, the search located the church, where Richard's body had been hastily buried without pomp in 1485, its foundations identifiable beneath a modern-day city centre car park.
The excavators announced on 5 September 2012 that they had identified Greyfriars Church and two days later that they had identified the location of Robert Herrick's garden, where the memorial to Richard III stood in the early 17th century. A human skeleton was found beneath the Church's choir.
Improbably, the excavators found the remains in the first location in which they dug at the car park. Coincidentally, they lay almost directly under a roughly painted R on the tarmac. This had existed since the early 2000s to signify a reserved parking space.
On 12 September, it was announced that the skeleton discovered during the search might be that of Richard III. Several reasons were given: the body was of an adult male; it was buried beneath the choir of the church; and there was severe scoliosis of the spine, possibly making one shoulder higher than the other (to what extent depended on the severity of the condition). Additionally, there was an object that appeared to be an arrowhead embedded in the spine; and there were perimortem injuries to the skull. These included a relatively shallow orifice, which is most likely to have been caused by a rondel dagger, and a scooping depression to the skull, inflicted by a bladed weapon, most probably a sword.
Further, the bottom of the skull presented a gaping hole, where a halberd had cut away and entered it. Forensic pathologist Stuart Hamilton stated that this injury would have left the individual's brain visible, and most certainly would have been the cause of death. Jo Appleby, the osteo-archaeologist who excavated the skeleton, concurred and described the latter as "a mortal battlefield wound in the back of the skull". The base of the skull also presented another fatal wound in which a bladed weapon had been thrust into it, leaving behind a jagged hole. Closer examination of the interior of the skull revealed a mark opposite this wound, showing that the blade penetrated to a depth of .
In total, the skeleton presented ten wounds: four minor injuries on the top of the skull, one dagger blow on the cheekbone, one cut on the lower jaw, two fatal injuries on the base of the skull, one cut on a rib bone, and one final wound on the pelvis, most probably inflicted after death. It is generally accepted that postmortem, Richard's naked body was tied to the back of a horse, with his arms slung over one side and his legs and buttocks over the other. This presented a tempting target for onlookers, and the angle of the blow on the pelvis suggests that one of them stabbed Richard's right buttock with substantial force, as the cut extends from the back all the way to the front of the pelvic bone and was most probably an act of humiliation. It is also possible that Richard and his corpse suffered other injuries which left no trace on the skeleton.
British historian John Ashdown-Hill had used genealogical research in 2004 to trace matrilineal descendants of Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter, Richard's elder sister. A British-born woman who emigrated to Canada after the Second World War, Joy Ibsen (), was found to be a 16th-generation great-niece of the king in the same direct maternal line. Her mitochondrial DNA was tested and belongs to mitochondrial DNA haplogroup J, which by deduction, should also be the mitochondrial DNA haplogroup of Richard III. Joy Ibsen died in 2008. Her son Michael Ibsen gave a mouth-swab sample to the research team on 24 August 2012. His mitochondrial DNA passed down the direct maternal line was compared to samples from the human remains found at the excavation site and used to identify King Richard.
On 4 February 2013, the University of Leicester confirmed that the skeleton was beyond reasonable doubt that of King Richard III. This conclusion was based on mitochondrial DNA evidence, soil analysis, and dental tests (there were some molars missing as a result of caries), as well as physical characteristics of the skeleton which are highly consistent with contemporary accounts of Richard's appearance. The team announced that the "arrowhead" discovered with the body was a Roman-era nail, probably disturbed when the body was first interred. However, there were numerous perimortem wounds on the body, and part of the skull had been sliced off with a bladed weapon; this would have caused rapid death. The team concluded that it is unlikely that the king was wearing a helmet in his last moments. Soil taken from the remains was found to contain microscopic roundworm eggs. Several eggs were found in samples taken from the pelvis, where the king's intestines were, but not from the skull and only very small numbers were identified in soil surrounding the grave. The findings suggest that the higher concentration of eggs in the pelvic area probably arose from a roundworm infection the king suffered in his life, rather than from human waste dumped in the area at a later date, researchers said. The mayor of Leicester announced that the king's skeleton would be re-interred at Leicester Cathedral in early 2014, but a judicial review of that decision delayed the reinterment for a year. A museum to Richard III was opened in July 2014 in the Victorian school buildings next to the Greyfriars grave site.
The proposal to have King Richard buried in Leicester attracted some controversy. Those who challenged the decision included fifteen "collateral [non-direct] descendants of Richard III", represented by the Plantagenet Alliance, who believed that the body should be reburied in York, as they claim the king wished. In August 2013, they filed a court case in order to contest Leicester's claim to re-inter the body within its cathedral, and propose the body be buried in York instead. However, Michael Ibsen, who gave the DNA sample that identified the king, gave his support to Leicester's claim to re-inter the body in their cathedral. On 20 August, a judge ruled that the opponents had the legal standing to contest his burial in Leicester Cathedral, despite a clause in the contract which had authorized the excavations requiring his burial there. He urged the parties, though, to settle out of court in order to "avoid embarking on the Wars of the Roses, Part Two". The Plantagenet Alliance, and the supporting fifteen collateral descendants, also faced the challenge that "Basic maths shows Richard, who had no surviving children but five siblings, could have millions of 'collateral' descendants" undermining the group's claim to represent "the only people who can speak on behalf of him". A ruling in May 2014 decreed that there are "no public law grounds for the Court interfering with the decisions in question". The remains were taken to Leicester Cathedral on 22 March 2015 and reinterred on 26 March.
On 5 February 2013 Professor Caroline Wilkinson of the University of Dundee conducted a facial reconstruction of Richard III, commissioned by the Richard III Society, based on 3D mappings of his skull. The face is described as "warm, young, earnest and rather serious". On 11 February 2014 the University of Leicester announced the project to sequence the entire genome of Richard III and one of his living relatives, Michael Ibsen, whose mitochondrial DNA confirmed the identification of the excavated remains. Richard III thus became the first ancient person of known historical identity whose genome has been sequenced. In 2016 contemporary British artist Alexander de Cadenet presented a skull portrait of Richard III in conjunction with Leicester University. The portraits have been produced using University of Leicester forensic X-ray scans of the king.
In November 2014, the results of the testing were announced, confirming that the maternal side was as previously thought. The paternal side, however, demonstrated some variance from what had been expected, with the DNA showing no links to the purported descendants of Richard's great-great-grandfather Edward III of England through Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort. This could be the result of covert illegitimacy that does not reflect the accepted genealogies between Richard and Edward III or between Edward III and the 5th Duke of Beaufort.
Reburial and tomb
After his death in battle in 1485, Richard III's body was buried in Greyfriars Church in Leicester. Following the discoveries of Richard's remains in 2012, it was decided that they should be reburied at Leicester Cathedral, despite feelings in some quarters that he should have been reburied in York Minster. His remains were carried in procession to the cathedral on 22 March 2015, and reburied on 26 March 2015 at a religious re-burial service at which both Tim Stevens, the Bishop of Leicester, and Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, officiated. The British royal family was represented by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Countess of Wessex. The actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who later portrayed him in The Hollow Crown television series, read a poem by poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy.
Richard's cathedral tomb was designed by the architects van Heyningen and Haward. The tombstone is deeply incised with a cross, and consists of a rectangular block of white Swaledale fossil stone, quarried in North Yorkshire. It sits on a low plinth made of dark Kilkenny marble, incised with Richard's name, dates and motto (Loyaulte me lie – loyalty binds me). The plinth also carries his coat of arms in pietra dura. The remains of Richard III are in a lead-lined inner casket, inside an outer English oak coffin crafted by Michael Ibsen, a direct descendant of Richard's sister Anne, and laid in a brick-lined vault below the floor, and below the plinth and tombstone. The original 2010 raised tomb design had been proposed by Langley's "Looking For Richard Project" and fully funded by members of the Richard III Society. The proposal was publicly launched by the Society on 13 February 2013 but rejected by Leicester Cathedral in favour of a memorial slab. However, following a public outcry, the Cathedral changed its position and on 18 July 2013 announced its agreement to give King Richard III a raised tomb monument.
Titles, styles, honours and arms
On 1 November 1461, Richard gained the title of Duke of Gloucester; in late 1461, he was invested as a Knight of the Garter. Following the death of King Edward IV, he was made Lord Protector of England. Richard held this office from 30 April to 26 June 1483, when he made himself king. During his reign, Richard was styled Dei Gratia Rex Angliae et Franciae et Dominus Hiberniae (by the Grace of God, King of England and France and Lord of Ireland).
Informally, he may have been known as "Dickon", according to a sixteenth-century legend of a note, warning of treachery, that was sent to the Duke of Norfolk on the eve of Bosworth:
Arms
As Duke of Gloucester, Richard used the Royal Arms of England quartered with the Royal Arms of France, differenced by a label argent of three points ermine, on each point a canton gules, supported by a blue boar. As sovereign, he used the arms of the kingdom undifferenced, supported by a white boar and a lion. His motto was Loyaulte me lie, "Loyalty binds me"; and his personal device was a white boar.
Family trees
See also
King Richard III Visitor Centre, Leicester
Ricardian (Richard III)
Richard III Museum, York
Notes
References
Sources
Further reading
External links
King Richard III Visitor Centre, Leicester
The Richard III Society website
The Richard III Society, American Branch website
Information about the discovery of Richard III from the University of Leicester
, with commentary by Pamela Tudor-Craig
1452 births
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"What Did We Do Wrong? is a comedy play about a businessman who turns hippie. The original Broadway production starred Paul Ford and cost $75,000. It only had a short run.\n\nThe play was profiled in the William Goldman book The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1967 plays\nComedy plays",
"Stone'd Records is a British independent record label founded by Grammy winning soul singer Joss Stone after her split from longtime label EMI. Stone has stated that the label is to be \"a safe haven where great artists are free to do what they do best, create real music without compromise.\" At the time the label was set up, it was announced that longtime music executive Brian Nelson had been appointed General Manager of Stone'd Records and that the first signing besides Stone herself were Bristol based ska punk band Yes Sir Boss!.\n\nCurrent artists\n Joss Stone\n\nFormer artists\n Yes Sir Boss\n\nDiscography\n\nStudio albums\n\nExtended plays\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nBritish independent record labels\nCompanies based in Bristol\nRecord labels established in 2011"
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"Richard III of England",
"In culture",
"What was his culture like",
"I don't know.",
"What can you tell me about the section in culture",
"Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature.",
"What was he in of Shakespeares",
"Shakespeare's play Richard III",
"What other plays was he in",
"The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge",
"What year was the play Richard the 3rd",
"The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work,",
"What did he do besides plays",
"Marjorie Bowen's 1929 novel Dickon set the trend for pro-Ricardian literature."
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Was he an authour
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Was Richard III of England an author?
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Richard III of England
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Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature. Two other plays of the Elizabethan era predated Shakespeare's work. The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge is believed to be the first history play written in England. The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work, was probably an influence on Shakespeare. Neither of the two plays places any emphasis on Richard's physical appearance, though the True Tragedy briefly mentions that he is "A man ill shaped, crooked backed, lame armed" adding that he is "valiantly minded, but tyrannous in authority". Both portray him as a man motivated by personal ambition, who uses everyone around him to get his way. Ben Jonson is also known to have written a play Richard Crookback in 1602, but it was never published and nothing is known about its portrayal of the king. Marjorie Bowen's 1929 novel Dickon set the trend for pro-Ricardian literature. Particularly influential was The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey, in which a modern detective concludes that Richard III is innocent in the death of the Princes. Other novelists such as Valerie Anand in the novel Crown of Roses (1989) have also offered alternative versions to the theory that he murdered them. Sharon Kay Penman, in her historical novel The Sunne in Splendour, attributes the death of the Princes to the Duke of Buckingham. In the mystery novel The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters (1974) the central plot revolves around the debate as to whether Richard III was guilty of these and other crimes. A sympathetic portrayal of Richard III is given in The Founding, the first volume in The Morland Dynasty series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. One film adaptation of Shakespeare's play Richard III is the 1955 version directed and produced by Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. Also notable are the 1995 film version starring Ian McKellen, set in a fictional 1930s fascist England, and Looking for Richard, a 1996 documentary film directed by Al Pacino, who plays the title character as well as himself. The play has been adapted for television on several occasions. CANNOTANSWER
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Richard appears in many other works of literature.
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Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. He is the protagonist of Richard III, one of William Shakespeare's history/tragedy plays.
Richard was created Duke of Gloucester in 1461 after the accession of his brother King Edward IV. In 1472, he married Anne Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. He governed northern England during Edward's reign, and played a role in the invasion of Scotland in 1482. When Edward IV died in April 1483, Richard was named Lord Protector of the realm for Edward's eldest son and successor, the 12-year-old Edward V. Arrangements were made for Edward V's coronation on 22 June 1483. Before the king could be crowned, the marriage of his parents was declared bigamous and therefore invalid. Now officially illegitimate, their children were barred from inheriting the throne. On 25 June, an assembly of lords and commoners endorsed a declaration to this effect, and proclaimed Richard as the rightful king. He was crowned on 6 July 1483. Edward and his younger brother Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, called the "Princes in the Tower", were not seen in public after August, and accusations circulated that they had been murdered on King Richard's orders, under the Tudor rule a few years later.
There were two major rebellions against Richard during his reign. In October 1483, an unsuccessful revolt was led by staunch allies of Edward IV and Richard's former ally, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. Then, in August 1485, Henry Tudor and his uncle, Jasper Tudor, landed in southern Wales with a contingent of French troops, and marched through Pembrokeshire, recruiting soldiers. Henry's forces defeated Richard's army near the Leicestershire town of Market Bosworth. Richard was slain, making him the last English king to die in battle. Henry Tudor then ascended the throne as Henry VII.
Richard's corpse was taken to the nearby town of Leicester and buried without ceremony. His original tomb monument is believed to have been removed during the English Reformation, and his remains were wrongly thought to have been thrown into the River Soar. In 2012, an archaeological excavation was commissioned by the Richard III Society on the site previously occupied by Grey Friars Priory. The University of Leicester identified the skeleton found in the excavation as that of Richard III as a result of radiocarbon dating, comparison with contemporary reports of his appearance, and comparison of his mitochondrial DNA with that of two matrilineal descendants of his sister Anne. He was reburied in Leicester Cathedral on 26 March 2015.
Early life
Richard was born on 2 October 1452, at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire, the eleventh of the twelve children of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the youngest to survive infancy. His childhood coincided with the beginning of what has traditionally been labelled the 'Wars of the Roses', a period of political instability and periodic open civil war in England during the second half of the fifteenth century, between the Yorkists, who supported Richard's father (a potential claimant to the throne of King Henry VI from birth), and opposed the regime of Henry VI and his wife, Margaret of Anjou, and the Lancastrians, who were loyal to the crown. In 1459, his father and the Yorkists were forced to flee England, whereupon Richard and his older brother George were placed in the custody of their aunt Anne Neville, Duchess of Buckingham, and possibly of Cardinal Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury.
When their father and elder brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland, were killed at the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December 1460, Richard and George were sent by their mother to the Low Countries. They returned to England following the defeat of the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton. They participated in the coronation of their eldest brother as King Edward IV on 28 June 1461, when Richard was named Duke of Gloucester and made both a Knight of the Garter and a Knight of the Bath. Edward appointed him the sole Commissioner of Array for the Western Counties in 1464 when he was 11. By the age of 17, he had an independent command.
Richard spent several years during his childhood at Middleham Castle in Wensleydale, Yorkshire, under the tutelage of his cousin Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, later known as 'the Kingmaker' because of his role in the Wars of the Roses. Warwick supervised Richard's training as a knight; in the autumn of 1465, Edward IV granted Warwick £1000 for the expenses of his younger brother's tutelage. With some interruptions, Richard stayed at Middleham either from late 1461 until early 1465, when he was 12 or from 1465 until his coming of age in 1468, when he turned 16. While at Warwick's estate, it is likely that he met both Francis Lovell, who would be his firm supporter later in his life, and Warwick's younger daughter, his future wife Anne Neville.
It is possible that even at this early stage Warwick was considering the king's brothers as strategic matches for his daughters, Isabel and Anne: young aristocrats were often sent to be raised in the households of their intended future partners, as had been the case for the young dukes' father, Richard of York. As the relationship between the king and Warwick became strained, Edward IV opposed the match. During Warwick's lifetime, George was the only royal brother to marry one of his daughters, the elder, Isabel, on 12 July 1469, without the king's permission. George joined his father-in-law's revolt against the king, while Richard remained loyal to Edward, even though he was rumoured to have been sleeping with Anne.
Richard and Edward were forced to flee to Burgundy in October 1470 after Warwick defected to the side of the former Lancastrian queen Margaret of Anjou. In 1468, Richard's sister Margaret had married Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy, and the brothers could expect a welcome there. Edward was restored to the throne in the spring of 1471, following the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, in both of which the 18-year-old Richard played a crucial role.
During his adolescence, and due to a cause that is unknown, Richard developed a sideways curvature of the spine (Scoliosis). In 2014, after the discovery of Richard's remains, the osteoarchaeologist Dr. Jo Appleby, of Leicester University's School of Archaeology and Ancient History, imaged the spinal column, and reconstructed a model using 3D printing, and concluded that though the spinal scoliosis looked dramatic, it probably did not cause any major physical deformity that could not be disguised by clothing.
Marriage and family relationships
Following a decisive Yorkist victory over the Lancastrians at the Battle of Tewkesbury, Richard married Anne Neville on 12 July 1472. By the end of 1470 Anne had previously been wedded to Edward of Westminster, only son of Henry VI, to seal her father's allegiance to the Lancastrian party. Edward died at the Battle of Tewkesbury on 4 May 1471, while Warwick had died at the Battle of Barnet on 14 April 1471. Richard's marriage plans brought him into conflict with his brother George. John Paston's letter of 17 February 1472 makes it clear that George was not happy about the marriage but grudgingly accepted it on the basis that "he may well have my Lady his sister-in-law, but they shall part no livelihood". The reason was the inheritance Anne shared with her elder sister Isabel, whom George had married in 1469. It was not only the earldom that was at stake; Richard Neville had inherited it as a result of his marriage to Anne Beauchamp, 16th Countess of Warwick. The Countess, who was still alive, was technically the owner of the substantial Beauchamp estates, her father having left no male heirs.
The Croyland Chronicle records that Richard agreed to a prenuptial contract in the following terms: "the marriage of the Duke of Gloucester with Anne before-named was to take place, and he was to have such and so much of the earl's lands as should be agreed upon between them through the mediation of arbitrators; while all the rest were to remain in the possession of the Duke of Clarence". The date of Paston's letter suggests the marriage was still being negotiated in February 1472. In order to win George's final consent to the marriage, Richard renounced most of the Earl of Warwick's land and property including the earldoms of Warwick (which the Kingmaker had held in his wife's right) and Salisbury and surrendered to George the office of Great Chamberlain of England. Richard retained Neville's forfeit estates he had already been granted in the summer of 1471: Penrith, Sheriff Hutton and Middleham, where he later established his marital household.
The requisite papal dispensation was obtained dated 22 April 1472. Michael Hicks has suggested that the terms of the dispensation deliberately understated the degrees of consanguinity between the couple, and the marriage was therefore illegal on the ground of first degree consanguinity following George's marriage to Anne's sister Isabel. There would have been first-degree consanguinity if Richard had sought to marry Isabel (in case of widowhood) after she had married his brother George, but no such consanguinity applied for Anne and Richard. Richard's marriage to Anne was never declared null, and it was public to everyone including secular and canon lawyers for 13 years.
In June 1473, Richard persuaded his mother-in-law to leave the sanctuary and come to live under his protection at Middleham. Later in the year, under the terms of the 1473 Act of Resumption, George lost some of the property he held under royal grant and made no secret of his displeasure. John Paston's letter of November 1473 says that King Edward planned to put both his younger brothers in their place by acting as "a stifler atween them". Early in 1474, Parliament assembled and Edward attempted to reconcile his brothers by stating that both men, and their wives, would enjoy the Warwick inheritance just as if the Countess of Warwick "was naturally dead". The doubts cast by George on the validity of Richard and Anne's marriage were addressed by a clause protecting their rights in the event they were divorced (i.e. of their marriage being declared null and void by the Church) and then legally remarried to each other, and also protected Richard's rights while waiting for such a valid second marriage with Anne. The following year, Richard was rewarded with all the Neville lands in the north of England, at the expense of Anne's cousin, George Neville, 1st Duke of Bedford. From this point, George seems to have fallen steadily out of King Edward's favour, his discontent coming to a head in 1477 when, following Isabel's death, he was denied the opportunity to marry Mary of Burgundy, the stepdaughter of his sister Margaret, even though Margaret approved the proposed match. There is no evidence of Richard's involvement in George's subsequent conviction and execution on a charge of treason.
Reign of Edward IV
Estates and titles
Richard was granted the Duchy of Gloucester on 1 November 1461, and on 12 August the next year was awarded large estates in northern England, including the lordships of Richmond in Yorkshire, and Pembroke in Wales. He gained the forfeited lands of the Lancastrian John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, in East Anglia. In 1462, on his birthday, he was made Constable of Gloucester and Corfe Castles and Admiral of England, Ireland and Aquitaine and appointed Governor of the North, becoming the richest and most powerful noble in England. On 17 October 1469, he was made Constable of England. In November, he replaced William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, as Chief Justice of North Wales. The following year, he was appointed Chief Steward and Chamberlain of Wales. On 18 May 1471, Richard was named Great Chamberlain and Lord High Admiral of England. Other positions followed: High Sheriff of Cumberland for life, Lieutenant of the North and Commander-in-Chief against the Scots and hereditary Warden of the West March. Two months later, on 14 July, he gained the Lordships of the strongholds Sheriff Hutton and Middleham in Yorkshire and Penrith in Cumberland, which had belonged to Warwick the Kingmaker. It is possible that the grant of Middleham seconded Richard's personal wishes.
Exile and return
During the latter part of Edward IV's reign, Richard demonstrated his loyalty to the king, in contrast to their brother George who had allied himself with the Earl of Warwick when the latter rebelled towards the end of the 1460s. Following Warwick's 1470 rebellion, before which he had made peace with Margaret of Anjou and promised the restoration of Henry VI to the English throne, Richard, the Baron Hastings and Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, escaped capture at Doncaster by Warwick's brother, John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu. On 2 October they sailed from King's Lynn in two ships; Edward landed at Marsdiep and Richard at Zeeland. It was said that, having left England in such haste as to possess almost nothing, Edward was forced to pay their passage with his fur cloak; certainly, Richard borrowed three pounds from Zeeland's town bailiff. They were attainted by Warwick's only Parliament on 26 November. They resided in Bruges with Louis de Gruthuse, who had been the Burgundian Ambassador to Edward's court, but it was not until Louis XI of France declared war on Burgundy that Charles, Duke of Burgundy, assisted their return, providing, along with the Hanseatic merchants, £20,000, 36 ships and 1200 men. They departed Flushing for England on 11 March 1471. Warwick's arrest of local sympathisers prevented them from landing in Yorkist East Anglia and on 14 March, after being separated in a storm, their ships ran ashore at Holderness. The town of Hull refused Edward entry. He gained entry to York by using the same claim as Henry of Bolingbroke had before deposing Richard II in 1399; that is, that he was merely reclaiming the Dukedom of York rather than the crown. It was in Edward's attempt to regain his throne that Richard began to demonstrate his skill as a military commander.
1471 military campaign
Once Edward had regained the support of his brother George, he mounted a swift and decisive campaign to regain the crown through combat; it is believed that Richard was his principal lieutenant as some of the king's earliest support came from members of Richard's affinity, including Sir James Harrington and Sir William Parr, who brought 600 men-at-arms to them at Doncaster. Richard may have led the vanguard at the Battle of Barnet, in his first command, on 14 April 1471, where he outflanked the wing of Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, although the degree to which his command was fundamental may have been exaggerated. That Richard's personal household sustained losses indicates he was in the thick of the fighting. A contemporary source is clear about his holding the vanguard for Edward at Tewkesbury, deployed against the Lancastrian vanguard under Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset, on 4 May 1471, and his role two days later, as Constable of England, sitting alongside John Howard as Earl Marshal, in the trial and sentencing of leading Lancastrians captured after the battle.
1475 invasion of France
At least in part resentful of King Louis XI's previous support of his Lancastrian opponents, and possibly in support of his brother-in-law Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, Edward went to parliament in October 1472 for funding a military campaign, and eventually landed in Calais on 4 July 1475. Richard's was the largest private contingent of his army. Although well known to have publicly been against the eventual treaty signed with Louis XI at Picquigny (and absent from the negotiations, in which one of his rank would have been expected to take a leading role), he acted as Edward's witness when the king instructed his delegates to the French court, and received 'some very fine presents' from Louis on a visit to the French king at Amiens. In refusing other gifts, which included 'pensions' in the guise of 'tribute', he was joined only by Cardinal Bourchier. He supposedly disapproved of Edward's policy of personally benefiting—politically and financially—from a campaign paid for out of a parliamentary grant, and hence out of public funds. Any military prowess was therefore not to be revealed further until the last years of Edward's reign.
The North, and the Council in the North
Richard was the dominant magnate in the north of England until Edward IV's death. There, and especially in the city of York, he was highly regarded; although it has been questioned whether this view was reciprocated by Richard. Edward IV delegated significant authority to Richard in the region. Kendall and later historians have suggested that this was with the intention of making Richard the Lord of the North; Peter Booth, however, has argued that "instead of allowing his brother Richard carte blanche, [Edward] restricted his influence by using his own agent, Sir William Parr." Following Richard's accession to the throne, he first established the Council of the North and made his nephew John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln, president and formally institutionalised this body as an offshoot of the royal Council; all its letters and judgements were issued on behalf of the king and in his name. The council had a budget of 2000 marks per annum and had issued "Regulations" by July of that year: councillors to act impartially and declare vested interests, and to meet at least every three months. Its main focus of operations was Yorkshire and the north-east, and its primary responsibilities were land disputes, keeping of the king's peace, and punishing lawbreakers.
War with Scotland
Richard's increasing role in the north from the mid-1470s to some extent explains his withdrawal from the royal court. He had been Warden of the West March on the Scottish border since 10 September 1470, and again from May 1471; he used Penrith as a base while 'taking effectual measures' against the Scots, and 'enjoyed the revenues of the estates' of the Forest of Cumberland while doing so. It was at the same time that the Duke of Gloucester was appointed sheriff of Cumberland five consecutive years, being described as 'of Penrith Castle' in 1478. By 1480, war with Scotland was looming; on 12 May that year he was appointed Lieutenant-General of the North (a position created for the occasion) as fears of a Scottish invasion grew. Louis XI of France had attempted to negotiate a military alliance with Scotland (in the tradition of the "Auld Alliance"), with the aim of attacking England, according to a contemporary French chronicler. Richard had the authority to summon the Border Levies and issue Commissions of Array to repel the Border raids. Together with the Earl of Northumberland, he launched counter-raids, and when the king and council formally declared war in November 1480, he was granted £10,000 for wages. The king failed to arrive to lead the English army and the result was intermittent skirmishing until early 1482. Richard witnessed the treaty with Alexander, Duke of Albany, brother of King James III of Scotland. Northumberland, Stanley, Dorset, Sir Edward Woodville, and Richard with approximately 20,000 men took the town of Berwick almost immediately. The castle held until 24 August 1482, when Richard recaptured Berwick-upon-Tweed from the Kingdom of Scotland. Although it is debatable whether the English victory was due more to internal Scottish divisions rather than any outstanding military prowess by Richard, it was the last time that the Royal Burgh of Berwick changed hands between the two realms.
Lord Protector
On the death of Edward IV on 9 April 1483, his 12-year-old son, Edward V, succeeded him. Richard was named Lord Protector of the Realm and at Baron Hastings' urging, Richard assumed his role and left his base in Yorkshire for London. On 29 April, as previously agreed, Richard and his cousin, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, met Queen Elizabeth's brother, Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, at Northampton. At the queen's request, Earl Rivers was escorting the young king to London with an armed escort of 2000 men, while Richard and Buckingham's joint escort was 600 men. Edward V himself had been sent further south to Stony Stratford. At first convivial, Richard had Earl Rivers, his nephew Richard Grey and his associate, Thomas Vaughan, arrested. They were taken to Pontefract Castle, where they were executed on 25 June on the charge of treason against the Lord Protector after appearing before a tribunal led by Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. Rivers had appointed Richard as executor of his will.
After having Rivers arrested, Richard and Buckingham moved to Stony Stratford, where Richard informed Edward V of a plot aimed at denying him his role as protector and whose perpetrators had been dealt with. He proceeded to escort the king to London. They entered the city on 4 May, displaying the carriages of weapons Rivers had taken with his 2000-man army. Richard first accommodated Edward in the Bishop's apartments; then, on Buckingham's suggestion, the king was moved to the royal apartments of the Tower of London, where kings customarily awaited their coronation. Within the year 1483, Richard had moved himself to the grandeur of Crosby Hall, London, then in Bishopsgate in the City of London. Robert Fabyan, in his 'The new chronicles of England and of France', writes that "the Duke caused the King (Edward V) to be removed unto the Tower and his broder with hym, and the Duke lodged himselfe in Crosbyes Place in Bisshoppesgate Strete." In Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, he accounts that "little by little all folke withdrew from the Tower, and drew unto Crosbies in Bishops gates Street, where the Protector kept his houshold. The Protector had the resort; the King in maner desolate."
On hearing the news of her brother's 30 April arrest, the dowager queen fled to sanctuary in Westminster Abbey. Joining her were her son by her first marriage, Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset; her five daughters; and her youngest son, Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. On 10/11 June, Richard wrote to Ralph, Lord Neville, the City of York and others asking for their support against "the Queen, her blood adherents and affinity," whom he suspected of plotting his murder. At a council meeting on Friday 13 June at the Tower of London, Richard accused Hastings and others of having conspired against him with the Woodvilles and accusing Jane Shore, lover to both Hastings and Thomas Grey, of acting as a go-between. According to Thomas More, Hastings was taken out of the council chambers and summarily executed in the courtyard, while others, like Lord Thomas Stanley and John Morton, Bishop of Ely, were arrested. Hastings was not attainted and Richard sealed an indenture that placed Hastings' widow, Katherine, directly under his own protection. Bishop Morton was released into the custody of Buckingham. On 16 June, the dowager queen agreed to hand over the Duke of York to the Archbishop of Canterbury so that he might attend his brother Edward's coronation, still planned for 22 June.
King of England
A clergyman (Bishop Robert Stillington) is said to have informed Richard that Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was invalid because of Edward's earlier union with Eleanor Butler, making Edward V and his siblings illegitimate. The identity of the informant, known only through the memoirs of French diplomat Philippe de Commines, was Robert Stillington, the Bishop of Bath and Wells. On Sunday 22 June, a sermon was preached outside Old St. Paul's Cathedral by Ralph Shaa, declaring Edward IV's children bastards and Richard the rightful king. Shortly after, the citizens of London, both nobles and commons, convened and drew up a petition asking Richard to assume the throne. He accepted on 26 June and was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 6 July. His title to the throne was confirmed by Parliament in January 1484 by the document Titulus Regius.
The princes, who were still lodged in the royal residence of the Tower of London at the time of Richard's coronation, disappeared from sight after the summer of 1483. Although after his death Richard III was accused of having Edward and his brother killed, notably by More and in Shakespeare's play, the facts surrounding their disappearance remain unknown. Other culprits have been suggested, including Buckingham and even Henry VII, although Richard remains a suspect.
After the coronation ceremony, Richard and Anne set out on a royal progress to meet their subjects. During this journey through the country, the king and queen endowed King's College and Queens' College at Cambridge University, and made grants to the church. Still feeling a strong bond with his northern estates, Richard later planned the establishment of a large chantry chapel in York Minster with over 100 priests. He also founded the College of Arms.
Buckingham's rebellion of 1483
In 1483, a conspiracy arose among a number of disaffected gentry, many of whom had been supporters of Edward IV and the "whole Yorkist establishment". The conspiracy was nominally led by Richard's former ally, the Duke of Buckingham, although it had begun as a Woodville-Beaufort conspiracy (being "well underway" by the time of the Duke's involvement). Indeed, Davies has suggested that it was "only the subsequent parliamentary attainder that placed Buckingham at the centre of events", in order to blame a single disaffected magnate motivated by greed, rather than "the embarrassing truth" that those opposing Richard were actually "overwhelmingly Edwardian loyalists". It is possible that they planned to depose Richard III and place Edward V back on the throne, and that when rumours arose that Edward and his brother were dead, Buckingham proposed that Henry Tudor should return from exile, take the throne and marry Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV. However, it has also been pointed out that as this narrative stems from Richard's own parliament of 1484, it should probably be treated "with caution". For his part, Buckingham raised a substantial force from his estates in Wales and the Marches. Henry, in exile in Brittany, enjoyed the support of the Breton treasurer Pierre Landais, who hoped Buckingham's victory would cement an alliance between Brittany and England.
Some of Henry Tudor's ships ran into a storm and were forced to return to Brittany or Normandy, while Henry himself anchored off Plymouth for a week before learning of Buckingham's failure. Buckingham's army was troubled by the same storm and deserted when Richard's forces came against them. Buckingham tried to escape in disguise, but was either turned in by a retainer for the bounty Richard had put on his head, or was discovered in hiding with him. He was convicted of treason and beheaded in Salisbury, near the Bull's Head Inn, on 2 November. His widow, Catherine Woodville, later married Jasper Tudor, the uncle of Henry Tudor. Richard made overtures to Landais, offering military support for Landais's weak regime under Francis II, Duke of Brittany, in exchange for Henry. Henry fled to Paris, where he secured support from the French regent Anne of Beaujeu, who supplied troops for an invasion in 1485.
Death at the Battle of Bosworth Field
On Monday 22 August 1485, Richard met the outnumbered forces of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Richard rode a white courser (an especially swift and strong horse). The size of Richard's army has been estimated at 8,000 and Henry's at 5,000, but exact numbers are not known, though the royal army is believed to have "substantially" outnumbered Henry's. The traditional view of the king's famous cries of "Treason!" before falling was that during the battle Richard was abandoned by Baron Stanley (made Earl of Derby in October), Sir William Stanley, and Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. However, the role of Northumberland is unclear; his position was with the reserve—behind the king's line—and he could not easily have moved forward without a general royal advance, which did not take place. Indeed, the physical confines behind the crest of Ambion Hill, combined with a difficulty of communications, probably physically hampered any attempt he made to join the fray. Despite appearing "a pillar of the Ricardian regime", and his previous loyalty to Edward IV, Baron Stanley was the stepfather of Henry Tudor, and Stanley's inaction combined with his brother's entering the battle on Tudor's behalf was fundamental to Richard's defeat. The death of Richard's close companion John Howard, Duke of Norfolk, may have had a demoralising effect on the king and his men. Either way, Richard led a cavalry charge deep into the enemy ranks in an attempt to end the battle quickly by striking at Henry Tudor himself.
Accounts note that King Richard fought bravely and ably during this manoeuvre, unhorsing Sir John Cheyne, a well-known jousting champion, killing Henry's standard bearer Sir William Brandon and coming within a sword's length of Henry Tudor before being surrounded by Sir William Stanley's men and killed. The Burgundian chronicler Jean Molinet says that a Welshman struck the death-blow with a halberd while Richard's horse was stuck in the marshy ground. It was said that the blows were so violent that the king's helmet was driven into his skull. The contemporary Welsh poet Guto'r Glyn implies a leading Welsh Lancastrian, Rhys ap Thomas, or one of his men killed the king, writing that he "killed the boar, shaved his head". The identification in 2013 of King Richard's body shows that the skeleton had 11 wounds, eight of them to the skull, clearly inflicted in battle and suggesting he had lost his helmet. Professor Guy Rutty, from the University of Leicester, said: "The most likely injuries to have caused the king's death are the two to the inferior aspect of the skull—a large sharp force trauma possibly from a sword or staff weapon, such as a halberd or bill, and a penetrating injury from the tip of an edged weapon." The skull showed that a blade had hacked away part of the rear of the skull. Richard III was the last English king to be killed in battle. Henry Tudor succeeded Richard as King Henry VII. He married the Yorkist heiress Elizabeth of York, Edward IV's daughter and Richard III's niece.
Polydore Vergil, Henry VII's official historian, recorded that "King Richard, alone, was killed fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies". Richard's naked body was then carried back to Leicester tied to a horse, and early sources strongly suggest that it was displayed in the collegiate Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke, prior to being buried at Greyfriars Church in Leicester. In 1495, Henry VII paid for a marble and alabaster monument. According to a discredited tradition, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, his body was thrown into the River Soar, although other evidence suggests that a memorial stone was visible in 1612, in a garden built on the site of Greyfriars. The exact location was then lost, owing to more than 400 years of subsequent development, until archaeological investigations in 2012 revealed the site of the garden and Greyfriars Church. There was a memorial ledger stone in the choir of the cathedral, since replaced by the tomb of the king, and a stone plaque on Bow Bridge where tradition had falsely suggested that his remains had been thrown into the river.
According to another tradition, Richard consulted a seer in Leicester before the battle who foretold that "where your spur should strike on the ride into battle, your head shall be broken on the return". On the ride into battle, his spur struck the bridge stone of Bow Bridge in the city; legend states that as his corpse was carried from the battle over the back of a horse, his head struck the same stone and was broken open.
Issue
Richard and Anne had one son, Edward of Middleham, who was born between 1474 and 1476. He was created Earl of Salisbury on 15 February 1478, and Prince of Wales on 24 August 1483, and died in March 1484, less than two months after he had been formally declared heir apparent. After the death of his son, Richard appointed his nephew John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, as Lieutenant of Ireland, an office previously held by his son Edward. Lincoln was the son of Richard's older sister, Elizabeth, Duchess of Suffolk. After his wife's death, Richard commenced negotiations with John II of Portugal to marry John's pious sister, Joanna, Princess of Portugal. She had already turned down several suitors because of her preference for the religious life.
Richard had two acknowledged illegitimate children, John of Gloucester and Katherine Plantagenet. Also known as 'John of Pontefract', John of Gloucester was appointed Captain of Calais in 1485. Katherine married William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, in 1484. Neither the birth dates nor the names of the mothers of either of the children is known. Katherine was old enough to be wedded in 1484, when the age of consent was twelve, and John was knighted in September 1483 in York Minster, and so most historians agree that they were both fathered when Richard was a teenager. There is no evidence of infidelity on Richard's part after his marriage to Anne Neville in 1472 when he was around 20. This has led to a suggestion by the historian A. L. Rowse that Richard "had no interest in sex".
Michael Hicks and Josephine Wilkinson have suggested that Katherine's mother may have been Katherine Haute, on the basis of the grant of an annual payment of 100 shillings made to her in 1477. The Haute family was related to the Woodvilles through the marriage of Elizabeth Woodville's aunt, Joan Woodville, to William Haute. One of their children was Richard Haute, Controller of the Prince's Household. Their daughter, Alice, married Sir John Fogge; they were ancestors to Catherine Parr, sixth wife of King Henry VIII. They also suggest that John's mother may have been Alice Burgh. Richard visited Pontefract from 1471, in April and October 1473, and in early March 1474, for a week. On 1 March 1474, he granted Alice Burgh £20 a year for life "for certain special causes and considerations". She later received another allowance, apparently for being engaged as a nurse for his brother George's son, Edward of Warwick. Richard continued her annuity when he became king. John Ashdown-Hill has suggested that John was conceived during Richard's first solo expedition to the eastern counties in the summer of 1467 at the invitation of John Howard and that the boy was born in 1468 and named after his friend and supporter. Richard himself noted John was still a minor (not being yet 21) when he issued the royal patent appointing him Captain of Calais on 11 March 1485, possibly on his seventeenth birthday.
Both of Richard's illegitimate children survived him, but they seem to have died without issue and their fate after Richard's demise at Bosworth is not certain. John received a £20 annuity from Henry VII, but there are no mentions of him in contemporary records after 1487 (the year of the Battle of Stoke Field). He may have been executed in 1499, though no record of this exists beyond an assertion by George Buck over a century later. Katherine apparently died before her cousin Elizabeth of York's coronation on 25 November 1487, since her husband Sir William Herbert is described as a widower by that time. Katherine's burial place was located in the London parish church of St James Garlickhithe, between Skinner's Lane and Upper Thames Street. The mysterious Richard Plantagenet, who was first mentioned in Francis Peck's Desiderata Curiosa (a two-volume miscellany published 1732–1735) was said to be a possible illegitimate child of Richard III and is sometimes referred to as "Richard the Master-Builder" or "Richard of Eastwell", but it has also been suggested he could have been Richard, Duke of York, one of the missing Princes in the Tower. He died in 1550.
Legacy
Richard's Council of the North, described as his "one major institutional innovation", derived from his ducal council following his own viceregal appointment by Edward IV; when Richard himself became king, he maintained the same conciliar structure in his absence. It officially became part of the royal council machinery under the presidency of John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln in April 1484, based at Sandal Castle in Wakefield. It is considered to have greatly improved conditions for northern England, as it was intended to keep the peace and punish lawbreakers, as well as resolve land disputes. Bringing regional governance directly under the control of central government, it has been described as the king's "most enduring monument", surviving unchanged until 1641.
In December 1483, Richard instituted what later became known as the Court of Requests, a court to which poor people who could not afford legal representation could apply for their grievances to be heard. He also improved bail in January 1484, to protect suspected felons from imprisonment before trial and to protect their property from seizure during that time. He founded the College of Arms in 1484, he banned restrictions on the printing and sale of books, and he ordered the translation of the written Laws and Statutes from the traditional French into English. During his reign, Parliament ended the arbitrary benevolence (a device by which Edward IV raised funds), made it punishable to conceal from a buyer of land that a part of the property had already been disposed of to somebody else, required that land sales be published, laid down property qualifications for jurors, restricted the abusive Courts of Piepowders, regulated cloth sales, instituted certain forms of trade protectionism, prohibited the sale of wine and oil in fraudulent measure, and prohibited fraudulent collection of clergy dues, among others. Churchill implies he improved the law of trusts.
Richard's death at Bosworth resulted in the end of the Plantagenet dynasty, which had ruled England since the succession of Henry II in 1154. The last legitimate male Plantagenet, Richard's nephew Edward, Earl of Warwick (son of his brother George, Duke of Clarence), was executed by Henry VII in 1499.
Reputation
There are numerous contemporary, or near-contemporary, sources of information about the reign of Richard III. These include the Croyland Chronicle, Commines' Mémoires, the report of Dominic Mancini, the Paston Letters, the Chronicles of Robert Fabyan and numerous court and official records, including a few letters by Richard himself. However, the debate about Richard's true character and motives continues, both because of the subjectivity of many of the written sources, reflecting the generally partisan nature of writers of this period, and because none was written by men with an intimate knowledge of Richard.
During Richard's reign, the historian John Rous praised him as a "good lord" who punished "oppressors of the commons", adding that he had "a great heart". In 1483 the Italian observer Mancini reported that Richard enjoyed a good reputation and that both "his private life and public activities powerfully attracted the esteem of strangers". His bond to the City of York, in particular, was such that on hearing of Richard's demise at the battle of Bosworth the City Council officially deplored the king's death, at the risk of facing the victor's wrath.
During his lifetime he was the subject of some attacks. Even in the North in 1482 a man was prosecuted for offences against the Duke of Gloucester, saying he did "nothing but grin at" the city of York. In 1484, attempts to discredit him took the form of hostile placards, the only surviving one being William Collingbourne's lampoon of July 1484 "The Cat, the Rat, and Lovell the Dog, all rule England under a Hog" which was pinned to the door of St. Paul's Cathedral and referred to Richard himself (the Hog) and his most trusted councillors William Catesby, Richard Ratcliffe and Francis, Viscount Lovell. On 30 March 1485 Richard felt forced to summon the Lords and London City Councillors to publicly deny the rumours that he had poisoned Queen Anne and that he had planned a marriage to his niece Elizabeth, at the same time ordering the Sheriff of London to imprison anyone spreading such slanders. The same orders were issued throughout the realm, including York where the royal pronouncement recorded in the City Records dates 5 April 1485 and carries specific instructions to suppress seditious talk and remove and destroy evidently hostile placards unread.
As for Richard's physical appearance, most contemporary descriptions bear out the evidence that aside from having one shoulder higher than the other (with chronicler Rous not able to correctly remember which one, as slight as the difference was), Richard had no other noticeable bodily deformity. John Stow talked to old men who, remembering him, said "that he was of bodily shape comely enough, only of low stature" and a German traveller, Nicolas von Poppelau, who spent ten days in Richard's household in May 1484, describes him as "three fingers taller than himself...much more lean, with delicate arms and legs and also a great heart." Six years after Richard's death, in 1491, a schoolmaster named William Burton, on hearing a defence of Richard, launched into a diatribe, accusing the dead king of being "a hypocrite and a crookback...who was deservedly buried in a ditch like a dog."
Richard's death encouraged the furtherance of this later negative image by his Tudor successors due to the fact that it helped to legitimise Henry VII's seizure of the throne. The Richard III Society contends that this means that "a lot of what people thought they knew about Richard III was pretty much propaganda and myth building." The Tudor characterisation culminated in the famous fictional portrayal of him in Shakespeare's play Richard III as a physically deformed, Machiavellian villain, ruthlessly committing numerous murders in order to claw his way to power; Shakespeare's intention perhaps being to use Richard III as a vehicle for creating his own Marlowesque protagonist. Rous himself in his History of the Kings of England, written during Henry VII's reign, initiated the process. He reversed his earlier position, and now portrayed Richard as a freakish individual who was born with teeth and shoulder-length hair after having been in his mother's womb for two years. His body was stunted and distorted, with one shoulder higher than the other, and he was "slight in body and weak in strength". Rous also attributes the murder of Henry VI to Richard, and claims that he poisoned his own wife. Jeremy Potter, a former Chair of the Richard III Society, claims that "At the bar of history Richard III continues to be guilty because it is impossible to prove him innocent. The Tudors ride high in popular esteem."
Polydore Vergil and Thomas More expanded on this portrayal, emphasising Richard's outward physical deformities as a sign of his inwardly twisted mind. More describes him as "little of stature, ill-featured of limbs, crook-backed ... hard-favoured of visage". Vergil also says he was "deformed of body ... one shoulder higher than the right". Both emphasise that Richard was devious and flattering, while planning the downfall of both his enemies and supposed friends. Richard's good qualities were his cleverness and bravery. All these characteristics are repeated by Shakespeare, who portrays him as having a hunch, a limp and a withered arm. With regard to the "hunch", the second quarto edition of Richard III (1598) used the term "hunched-backed" but in the First Folio edition (1623) it became "bunch-backed".
Richard's reputation as a promoter of legal fairness persisted, however. William Camden in his Remains Concerning Britain (1605) states that Richard, "albeit he lived wickedly, yet made good laws". Francis Bacon also states that he was "a good lawmaker for the ease and solace of the common people". In 1525, Cardinal Wolsey upbraided the aldermen and Mayor of London for relying on a statute of Richard to avoid paying an extorted tax (benevolence) but received the reply "although he did evil, yet in his time were many good acts made."
Richard was a practising Catholic, as shown by his personal Book of Hours, surviving in the Lambeth Palace library. As well as conventional aristocratic devotional texts, the book contains a Collect of Saint Ninian, referencing a saint popular in the Anglo-Scottish Borders.
Despite this, the image of Richard as a ruthless tyrant remained dominant in the 18th and 19th centuries. The 18th-century philosopher and historian David Hume described him as a man who used dissimulation to conceal "his fierce and savage nature" and who had "abandoned all principles of honour and humanity". Hume acknowledged that some historians have argued "that he was well qualified for government, had he legally obtained it; and that he committed no crimes but such as were necessary to procure him possession of the crown", but he dismissed this view on the grounds that Richard's exercise of arbitrary power encouraged instability. The most important late 19th century biographer of the king was James Gairdner, who also wrote the entry on Richard in the Dictionary of National Biography. Gairdner stated that he had begun to study Richard with a neutral viewpoint, but became convinced that Shakespeare and More were essentially correct in their view of the king, despite some exaggerations.
Richard was not without his defenders, the first of whom was Sir George Buck, a descendant of one of the king's supporters, who completed The history of King Richard the Third in 1619. The authoritative Buck text was published only in 1979, though a corrupted version was published by Buck's great-nephew in 1646. Buck attacked the "improbable imputations and strange and spiteful scandals" related by Tudor writers, including Richard's alleged deformities and murders. He located lost archival material, including the Titulus Regius, but also claimed to have seen a letter written by Elizabeth of York, according to which Elizabeth sought to marry the king. Elizabeth's supposed letter was never produced. Documents which later emerged from the Portuguese royal archives show that after Queen Anne's death, Richard's ambassadors were sent on a formal errand to negotiate a double marriage between Richard and the Portuguese king's sister Joanna, of Lancastrian descent, and between Elizabeth of York and Joanna's cousin Manuel, Duke of Viseu (later King of Portugal).
Significant among Richard's defenders was Horace Walpole. In Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third (1768), Walpole disputed all the alleged murders and argued that Richard may have acted in good faith. He also argued that any physical abnormality was probably no more than a minor distortion of the shoulders. However, he retracted his views in 1793 after the Terror, stating he now believed that Richard could have committed the crimes he was charged with, although Pollard observes that this retraction is frequently overlooked by later admirers of Richard. Other defenders of Richard include the noted explorer Clements Markham, whose Richard III: His Life and Character (1906) replied to the work of Gairdner. He argued that Henry VII killed the princes and that the bulk of evidence against Richard was nothing more than Tudor propaganda. An intermediate view was provided by Alfred Legge in The Unpopular King (1885). Legge argued that Richard's "greatness of soul" was eventually "warped and dwarfed" by the ingratitude of others.
Some twentieth-century historians have been less inclined to moral judgement, seeing Richard's actions as a product of the unstable times. In the words of Charles Ross, "the later fifteenth century in England is now seen as a ruthless and violent age as concerns the upper ranks of society, full of private feuds, intimidation, land-hunger, and litigiousness, and consideration of Richard's life and career against this background has tended to remove him from the lonely pinnacle of Villainy Incarnate on which Shakespeare had placed him. Like most men, he was conditioned by the standards of his age." The Richard III Society, founded in 1924 as "The Fellowship of the White Boar", is the oldest of several groups dedicated to improving his reputation. Other contemporary historians still describe him as a "power-hungry and ruthless politician" who was still most probably "ultimately responsible for the murder of his nephews."
In culture
Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature. Two other plays of the Elizabethan era predated Shakespeare's work. The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge is believed to be the first history play written in England. The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work, was probably an influence on Shakespeare. Neither of the two plays places any emphasis on Richard's physical appearance, though the True Tragedy briefly mentions that he is "A man ill shaped, crooked backed, lame armed" and "valiantly minded, but tyrannous in authority". Both portray him as a man motivated by personal ambition, who uses everyone around him to get his way. Ben Jonson is also known to have written a play Richard Crookback in 1602, but it was never published and nothing is known about its portrayal of the king.
Marjorie Bowen's 1929 novel Dickon set the trend for pro-Ricardian literature. Particularly influential was The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey, in which a modern detective concludes that Richard III is innocent in the death of the Princes. Other novelists such as Valerie Anand in the novel Crown of Roses (1989) have also offered alternative versions to the theory that he murdered them. Sharon Kay Penman, in her historical novel The Sunne in Splendour, attributes the death of the Princes to the Duke of Buckingham. In the mystery novel The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters (1974) the central plot revolves around the debate as to whether Richard III was guilty of these and other crimes. A sympathetic portrayal is given in The Founding (1980), the first volume in The Morland Dynasty series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.
One film adaptation of Shakespeare's play Richard III is the 1955 version directed and produced by Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. Also notable are the 1995 film version starring Ian McKellen, set in a fictional 1930s fascist England, and Looking for Richard, a 1996 documentary film directed by Al Pacino, who plays the title character as well as himself. The play has been adapted for television on several occasions.
Discovery of remains
On 24 August 2012, the University of Leicester and Leicester City Council, in association with the Richard III Society, announced that they had joined forces to begin a search for the remains of King Richard. The search for Richard III was led by Philippa Langley of the Society's Looking For Richard Project with the archaeological work led by University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS). Experts set out to locate the lost site of the former Greyfriars Church (demolished during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries), and to discover whether his remains were still interred there. By comparing fixed points between maps in a historical sequence, the search located the church, where Richard's body had been hastily buried without pomp in 1485, its foundations identifiable beneath a modern-day city centre car park.
The excavators announced on 5 September 2012 that they had identified Greyfriars Church and two days later that they had identified the location of Robert Herrick's garden, where the memorial to Richard III stood in the early 17th century. A human skeleton was found beneath the Church's choir.
Improbably, the excavators found the remains in the first location in which they dug at the car park. Coincidentally, they lay almost directly under a roughly painted R on the tarmac. This had existed since the early 2000s to signify a reserved parking space.
On 12 September, it was announced that the skeleton discovered during the search might be that of Richard III. Several reasons were given: the body was of an adult male; it was buried beneath the choir of the church; and there was severe scoliosis of the spine, possibly making one shoulder higher than the other (to what extent depended on the severity of the condition). Additionally, there was an object that appeared to be an arrowhead embedded in the spine; and there were perimortem injuries to the skull. These included a relatively shallow orifice, which is most likely to have been caused by a rondel dagger, and a scooping depression to the skull, inflicted by a bladed weapon, most probably a sword.
Further, the bottom of the skull presented a gaping hole, where a halberd had cut away and entered it. Forensic pathologist Stuart Hamilton stated that this injury would have left the individual's brain visible, and most certainly would have been the cause of death. Jo Appleby, the osteo-archaeologist who excavated the skeleton, concurred and described the latter as "a mortal battlefield wound in the back of the skull". The base of the skull also presented another fatal wound in which a bladed weapon had been thrust into it, leaving behind a jagged hole. Closer examination of the interior of the skull revealed a mark opposite this wound, showing that the blade penetrated to a depth of .
In total, the skeleton presented ten wounds: four minor injuries on the top of the skull, one dagger blow on the cheekbone, one cut on the lower jaw, two fatal injuries on the base of the skull, one cut on a rib bone, and one final wound on the pelvis, most probably inflicted after death. It is generally accepted that postmortem, Richard's naked body was tied to the back of a horse, with his arms slung over one side and his legs and buttocks over the other. This presented a tempting target for onlookers, and the angle of the blow on the pelvis suggests that one of them stabbed Richard's right buttock with substantial force, as the cut extends from the back all the way to the front of the pelvic bone and was most probably an act of humiliation. It is also possible that Richard and his corpse suffered other injuries which left no trace on the skeleton.
British historian John Ashdown-Hill had used genealogical research in 2004 to trace matrilineal descendants of Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter, Richard's elder sister. A British-born woman who emigrated to Canada after the Second World War, Joy Ibsen (), was found to be a 16th-generation great-niece of the king in the same direct maternal line. Her mitochondrial DNA was tested and belongs to mitochondrial DNA haplogroup J, which by deduction, should also be the mitochondrial DNA haplogroup of Richard III. Joy Ibsen died in 2008. Her son Michael Ibsen gave a mouth-swab sample to the research team on 24 August 2012. His mitochondrial DNA passed down the direct maternal line was compared to samples from the human remains found at the excavation site and used to identify King Richard.
On 4 February 2013, the University of Leicester confirmed that the skeleton was beyond reasonable doubt that of King Richard III. This conclusion was based on mitochondrial DNA evidence, soil analysis, and dental tests (there were some molars missing as a result of caries), as well as physical characteristics of the skeleton which are highly consistent with contemporary accounts of Richard's appearance. The team announced that the "arrowhead" discovered with the body was a Roman-era nail, probably disturbed when the body was first interred. However, there were numerous perimortem wounds on the body, and part of the skull had been sliced off with a bladed weapon; this would have caused rapid death. The team concluded that it is unlikely that the king was wearing a helmet in his last moments. Soil taken from the remains was found to contain microscopic roundworm eggs. Several eggs were found in samples taken from the pelvis, where the king's intestines were, but not from the skull and only very small numbers were identified in soil surrounding the grave. The findings suggest that the higher concentration of eggs in the pelvic area probably arose from a roundworm infection the king suffered in his life, rather than from human waste dumped in the area at a later date, researchers said. The mayor of Leicester announced that the king's skeleton would be re-interred at Leicester Cathedral in early 2014, but a judicial review of that decision delayed the reinterment for a year. A museum to Richard III was opened in July 2014 in the Victorian school buildings next to the Greyfriars grave site.
The proposal to have King Richard buried in Leicester attracted some controversy. Those who challenged the decision included fifteen "collateral [non-direct] descendants of Richard III", represented by the Plantagenet Alliance, who believed that the body should be reburied in York, as they claim the king wished. In August 2013, they filed a court case in order to contest Leicester's claim to re-inter the body within its cathedral, and propose the body be buried in York instead. However, Michael Ibsen, who gave the DNA sample that identified the king, gave his support to Leicester's claim to re-inter the body in their cathedral. On 20 August, a judge ruled that the opponents had the legal standing to contest his burial in Leicester Cathedral, despite a clause in the contract which had authorized the excavations requiring his burial there. He urged the parties, though, to settle out of court in order to "avoid embarking on the Wars of the Roses, Part Two". The Plantagenet Alliance, and the supporting fifteen collateral descendants, also faced the challenge that "Basic maths shows Richard, who had no surviving children but five siblings, could have millions of 'collateral' descendants" undermining the group's claim to represent "the only people who can speak on behalf of him". A ruling in May 2014 decreed that there are "no public law grounds for the Court interfering with the decisions in question". The remains were taken to Leicester Cathedral on 22 March 2015 and reinterred on 26 March.
On 5 February 2013 Professor Caroline Wilkinson of the University of Dundee conducted a facial reconstruction of Richard III, commissioned by the Richard III Society, based on 3D mappings of his skull. The face is described as "warm, young, earnest and rather serious". On 11 February 2014 the University of Leicester announced the project to sequence the entire genome of Richard III and one of his living relatives, Michael Ibsen, whose mitochondrial DNA confirmed the identification of the excavated remains. Richard III thus became the first ancient person of known historical identity whose genome has been sequenced. In 2016 contemporary British artist Alexander de Cadenet presented a skull portrait of Richard III in conjunction with Leicester University. The portraits have been produced using University of Leicester forensic X-ray scans of the king.
In November 2014, the results of the testing were announced, confirming that the maternal side was as previously thought. The paternal side, however, demonstrated some variance from what had been expected, with the DNA showing no links to the purported descendants of Richard's great-great-grandfather Edward III of England through Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort. This could be the result of covert illegitimacy that does not reflect the accepted genealogies between Richard and Edward III or between Edward III and the 5th Duke of Beaufort.
Reburial and tomb
After his death in battle in 1485, Richard III's body was buried in Greyfriars Church in Leicester. Following the discoveries of Richard's remains in 2012, it was decided that they should be reburied at Leicester Cathedral, despite feelings in some quarters that he should have been reburied in York Minster. His remains were carried in procession to the cathedral on 22 March 2015, and reburied on 26 March 2015 at a religious re-burial service at which both Tim Stevens, the Bishop of Leicester, and Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, officiated. The British royal family was represented by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Countess of Wessex. The actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who later portrayed him in The Hollow Crown television series, read a poem by poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy.
Richard's cathedral tomb was designed by the architects van Heyningen and Haward. The tombstone is deeply incised with a cross, and consists of a rectangular block of white Swaledale fossil stone, quarried in North Yorkshire. It sits on a low plinth made of dark Kilkenny marble, incised with Richard's name, dates and motto (Loyaulte me lie – loyalty binds me). The plinth also carries his coat of arms in pietra dura. The remains of Richard III are in a lead-lined inner casket, inside an outer English oak coffin crafted by Michael Ibsen, a direct descendant of Richard's sister Anne, and laid in a brick-lined vault below the floor, and below the plinth and tombstone. The original 2010 raised tomb design had been proposed by Langley's "Looking For Richard Project" and fully funded by members of the Richard III Society. The proposal was publicly launched by the Society on 13 February 2013 but rejected by Leicester Cathedral in favour of a memorial slab. However, following a public outcry, the Cathedral changed its position and on 18 July 2013 announced its agreement to give King Richard III a raised tomb monument.
Titles, styles, honours and arms
On 1 November 1461, Richard gained the title of Duke of Gloucester; in late 1461, he was invested as a Knight of the Garter. Following the death of King Edward IV, he was made Lord Protector of England. Richard held this office from 30 April to 26 June 1483, when he made himself king. During his reign, Richard was styled Dei Gratia Rex Angliae et Franciae et Dominus Hiberniae (by the Grace of God, King of England and France and Lord of Ireland).
Informally, he may have been known as "Dickon", according to a sixteenth-century legend of a note, warning of treachery, that was sent to the Duke of Norfolk on the eve of Bosworth:
Arms
As Duke of Gloucester, Richard used the Royal Arms of England quartered with the Royal Arms of France, differenced by a label argent of three points ermine, on each point a canton gules, supported by a blue boar. As sovereign, he used the arms of the kingdom undifferenced, supported by a white boar and a lion. His motto was Loyaulte me lie, "Loyalty binds me"; and his personal device was a white boar.
Family trees
See also
King Richard III Visitor Centre, Leicester
Ricardian (Richard III)
Richard III Museum, York
Notes
References
Sources
Further reading
External links
King Richard III Visitor Centre, Leicester
The Richard III Society website
The Richard III Society, American Branch website
Information about the discovery of Richard III from the University of Leicester
, with commentary by Pamela Tudor-Craig
1452 births
1485 deaths
15th-century English monarchs
15th-century English Navy personnel
Dukes of Gloucester
English military personnel killed in action
English people of French descent
English people with disabilities
English pretenders to the French throne
English Roman Catholics
High Sheriffs of Cornwall
High Sheriffs of Cumberland
House of York
Knights of the Bath
Knights of the Garter
Lord High Admirals of England
Lords Protector of England
Lords Warden of the Marches
Monarchs killed in action
People from Fotheringhay
People of the Wars of the Roses
Retrospective diagnosis
Younger sons of dukes
Lords of Glamorgan
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[
"John Andrew Frank \"Jack\" Garrick (1928 – August 30, 2018) was a New Zealand ichthyologist. He specialized in elasmobranchs and published many books and articles about shark and ray biology. In 1982, he published a thorough taxonomy on sharks of the genus Carcharhinus, where he identified the smoothtooth blacktip shark as a new species. He is the species authority for several types of sharks, including the New Zealand lanternshark. Garrick was a zoology professor at Victoria University of Wellington, appointed to a personal chair in 1971.\n\nHe had a primary interest in the taxonomy of sharks and rays, and carried out the first exploratory deep-sea sampling using specially adapted cone nets, baited traps, and longlines, regularly to depths greater than 2000 m. Many new and rare species were obtained by use of these innovative techniques. He was responsible for the notable discovery of the first New Zealand specimens of orange roughy in 1957 (which subsequently formed the basis of a multimillion-dollar fishery). Jack collected some 721 specimens in 988 lots and deposited them at Te Papa.\n\nHonoria\nHe discovered the first known specimens of the northern river shark, a species that was eventually named after him, and which featured on an episode of the show River Monsters. Garrick's catshark Apristurus garricki was also named in his honour.\n\nSee also\n:Category:Taxa named by Jack Garrick\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNew Zealand Electronic Text Centre authour details\n\n1928 births\n2018 deaths\nNew Zealand ichthyologists\nNew Zealand taxonomists\n20th-century New Zealand zoologists\nVictoria University of Wellington faculty",
"Shaun Proulx (born August 1, 1968) is a Canadian media entrepreneur, speaker, authour, publisher, interviewer and radio personality, who currently hosts the weekly The Shaun Proulx Show on SiriusXM's Canada Talks. In late September 2013, during a live interview with the CBC Radio's Matt Galloway, Proulx publicly disclosed that he was diagnosed HIV+ in 2005. He has contributed to The Globe and Mail and to Toronto's LGBT newspaper Xtra!, and was the afternoon radio host on 103.9 PROUD FM (CIRR-FM).\n\nDecAIDS – Anything Is Possible, a documentary he produced, won \"Best Social Documentary\" at WorldFest in 2007, won \"Best Full Length Feature\" at the New York AIDS Film Festival in 2007, and was an official selection of the Hollywood Festival the same year.\n\nProulx also works as a keynote speaker and coach.\n\nCareer\nShaun Proulx Media produces the TheGayGuideNetwork.com, Canada's first gay web portal, established in 2002. It also produces The Shaun Proulx Show and Gold Access App, focusing on gay men and the women in their lives.\n\nProulx formerly had his own one-hour television talk show, The Shaun Proulx Show on OUTtv, a Canadian gay television station.\n\nPersonal life\nProulx is openly gay, and recently divorced from former porn actor Eddie Stone.\n\nFilmography\n2001: Die Mutter - actor\n2001: Three Shades of Black - actor\n2007: DecAIDS – Anything Is Possible - creative producer and story editor\n\nTheater\n2000: The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told - lead actor - Buddies in Bad Times\n2001: Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love - actor - Workman Theatre\n\nBibliography\n2003: Quickies 3 – Short Stories on Gay Male Desire. Vancouver, Arsenal Pulp Press\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Shaun Proulx's official website\n The Shaun Proulx Show page on OUTtv website\n Gay Guide Toronto - gay web portal published by Shaun Proulx\n\n1968 births\nCanadian newspaper journalists\nCanadian male journalists\nCanadian radio personalities\nCanadian gay writers\nLiving people\nLGBT broadcasters from Canada\nLGBT journalists from Canada\nWriters from Toronto"
] |
[
"Richard III of England",
"In culture",
"What was his culture like",
"I don't know.",
"What can you tell me about the section in culture",
"Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature.",
"What was he in of Shakespeares",
"Shakespeare's play Richard III",
"What other plays was he in",
"The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge",
"What year was the play Richard the 3rd",
"The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work,",
"What did he do besides plays",
"Marjorie Bowen's 1929 novel Dickon set the trend for pro-Ricardian literature.",
"Was he an authour",
"Richard appears in many other works of literature."
] |
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What year did he die
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What year did Richard III of England die?
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Richard III of England
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Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature. Two other plays of the Elizabethan era predated Shakespeare's work. The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge is believed to be the first history play written in England. The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work, was probably an influence on Shakespeare. Neither of the two plays places any emphasis on Richard's physical appearance, though the True Tragedy briefly mentions that he is "A man ill shaped, crooked backed, lame armed" adding that he is "valiantly minded, but tyrannous in authority". Both portray him as a man motivated by personal ambition, who uses everyone around him to get his way. Ben Jonson is also known to have written a play Richard Crookback in 1602, but it was never published and nothing is known about its portrayal of the king. Marjorie Bowen's 1929 novel Dickon set the trend for pro-Ricardian literature. Particularly influential was The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey, in which a modern detective concludes that Richard III is innocent in the death of the Princes. Other novelists such as Valerie Anand in the novel Crown of Roses (1989) have also offered alternative versions to the theory that he murdered them. Sharon Kay Penman, in her historical novel The Sunne in Splendour, attributes the death of the Princes to the Duke of Buckingham. In the mystery novel The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters (1974) the central plot revolves around the debate as to whether Richard III was guilty of these and other crimes. A sympathetic portrayal of Richard III is given in The Founding, the first volume in The Morland Dynasty series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. One film adaptation of Shakespeare's play Richard III is the 1955 version directed and produced by Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. Also notable are the 1995 film version starring Ian McKellen, set in a fictional 1930s fascist England, and Looking for Richard, a 1996 documentary film directed by Al Pacino, who plays the title character as well as himself. The play has been adapted for television on several occasions. CANNOTANSWER
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Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. He is the protagonist of Richard III, one of William Shakespeare's history/tragedy plays.
Richard was created Duke of Gloucester in 1461 after the accession of his brother King Edward IV. In 1472, he married Anne Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. He governed northern England during Edward's reign, and played a role in the invasion of Scotland in 1482. When Edward IV died in April 1483, Richard was named Lord Protector of the realm for Edward's eldest son and successor, the 12-year-old Edward V. Arrangements were made for Edward V's coronation on 22 June 1483. Before the king could be crowned, the marriage of his parents was declared bigamous and therefore invalid. Now officially illegitimate, their children were barred from inheriting the throne. On 25 June, an assembly of lords and commoners endorsed a declaration to this effect, and proclaimed Richard as the rightful king. He was crowned on 6 July 1483. Edward and his younger brother Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, called the "Princes in the Tower", were not seen in public after August, and accusations circulated that they had been murdered on King Richard's orders, under the Tudor rule a few years later.
There were two major rebellions against Richard during his reign. In October 1483, an unsuccessful revolt was led by staunch allies of Edward IV and Richard's former ally, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. Then, in August 1485, Henry Tudor and his uncle, Jasper Tudor, landed in southern Wales with a contingent of French troops, and marched through Pembrokeshire, recruiting soldiers. Henry's forces defeated Richard's army near the Leicestershire town of Market Bosworth. Richard was slain, making him the last English king to die in battle. Henry Tudor then ascended the throne as Henry VII.
Richard's corpse was taken to the nearby town of Leicester and buried without ceremony. His original tomb monument is believed to have been removed during the English Reformation, and his remains were wrongly thought to have been thrown into the River Soar. In 2012, an archaeological excavation was commissioned by the Richard III Society on the site previously occupied by Grey Friars Priory. The University of Leicester identified the skeleton found in the excavation as that of Richard III as a result of radiocarbon dating, comparison with contemporary reports of his appearance, and comparison of his mitochondrial DNA with that of two matrilineal descendants of his sister Anne. He was reburied in Leicester Cathedral on 26 March 2015.
Early life
Richard was born on 2 October 1452, at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire, the eleventh of the twelve children of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the youngest to survive infancy. His childhood coincided with the beginning of what has traditionally been labelled the 'Wars of the Roses', a period of political instability and periodic open civil war in England during the second half of the fifteenth century, between the Yorkists, who supported Richard's father (a potential claimant to the throne of King Henry VI from birth), and opposed the regime of Henry VI and his wife, Margaret of Anjou, and the Lancastrians, who were loyal to the crown. In 1459, his father and the Yorkists were forced to flee England, whereupon Richard and his older brother George were placed in the custody of their aunt Anne Neville, Duchess of Buckingham, and possibly of Cardinal Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury.
When their father and elder brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland, were killed at the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December 1460, Richard and George were sent by their mother to the Low Countries. They returned to England following the defeat of the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton. They participated in the coronation of their eldest brother as King Edward IV on 28 June 1461, when Richard was named Duke of Gloucester and made both a Knight of the Garter and a Knight of the Bath. Edward appointed him the sole Commissioner of Array for the Western Counties in 1464 when he was 11. By the age of 17, he had an independent command.
Richard spent several years during his childhood at Middleham Castle in Wensleydale, Yorkshire, under the tutelage of his cousin Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, later known as 'the Kingmaker' because of his role in the Wars of the Roses. Warwick supervised Richard's training as a knight; in the autumn of 1465, Edward IV granted Warwick £1000 for the expenses of his younger brother's tutelage. With some interruptions, Richard stayed at Middleham either from late 1461 until early 1465, when he was 12 or from 1465 until his coming of age in 1468, when he turned 16. While at Warwick's estate, it is likely that he met both Francis Lovell, who would be his firm supporter later in his life, and Warwick's younger daughter, his future wife Anne Neville.
It is possible that even at this early stage Warwick was considering the king's brothers as strategic matches for his daughters, Isabel and Anne: young aristocrats were often sent to be raised in the households of their intended future partners, as had been the case for the young dukes' father, Richard of York. As the relationship between the king and Warwick became strained, Edward IV opposed the match. During Warwick's lifetime, George was the only royal brother to marry one of his daughters, the elder, Isabel, on 12 July 1469, without the king's permission. George joined his father-in-law's revolt against the king, while Richard remained loyal to Edward, even though he was rumoured to have been sleeping with Anne.
Richard and Edward were forced to flee to Burgundy in October 1470 after Warwick defected to the side of the former Lancastrian queen Margaret of Anjou. In 1468, Richard's sister Margaret had married Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy, and the brothers could expect a welcome there. Edward was restored to the throne in the spring of 1471, following the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, in both of which the 18-year-old Richard played a crucial role.
During his adolescence, and due to a cause that is unknown, Richard developed a sideways curvature of the spine (Scoliosis). In 2014, after the discovery of Richard's remains, the osteoarchaeologist Dr. Jo Appleby, of Leicester University's School of Archaeology and Ancient History, imaged the spinal column, and reconstructed a model using 3D printing, and concluded that though the spinal scoliosis looked dramatic, it probably did not cause any major physical deformity that could not be disguised by clothing.
Marriage and family relationships
Following a decisive Yorkist victory over the Lancastrians at the Battle of Tewkesbury, Richard married Anne Neville on 12 July 1472. By the end of 1470 Anne had previously been wedded to Edward of Westminster, only son of Henry VI, to seal her father's allegiance to the Lancastrian party. Edward died at the Battle of Tewkesbury on 4 May 1471, while Warwick had died at the Battle of Barnet on 14 April 1471. Richard's marriage plans brought him into conflict with his brother George. John Paston's letter of 17 February 1472 makes it clear that George was not happy about the marriage but grudgingly accepted it on the basis that "he may well have my Lady his sister-in-law, but they shall part no livelihood". The reason was the inheritance Anne shared with her elder sister Isabel, whom George had married in 1469. It was not only the earldom that was at stake; Richard Neville had inherited it as a result of his marriage to Anne Beauchamp, 16th Countess of Warwick. The Countess, who was still alive, was technically the owner of the substantial Beauchamp estates, her father having left no male heirs.
The Croyland Chronicle records that Richard agreed to a prenuptial contract in the following terms: "the marriage of the Duke of Gloucester with Anne before-named was to take place, and he was to have such and so much of the earl's lands as should be agreed upon between them through the mediation of arbitrators; while all the rest were to remain in the possession of the Duke of Clarence". The date of Paston's letter suggests the marriage was still being negotiated in February 1472. In order to win George's final consent to the marriage, Richard renounced most of the Earl of Warwick's land and property including the earldoms of Warwick (which the Kingmaker had held in his wife's right) and Salisbury and surrendered to George the office of Great Chamberlain of England. Richard retained Neville's forfeit estates he had already been granted in the summer of 1471: Penrith, Sheriff Hutton and Middleham, where he later established his marital household.
The requisite papal dispensation was obtained dated 22 April 1472. Michael Hicks has suggested that the terms of the dispensation deliberately understated the degrees of consanguinity between the couple, and the marriage was therefore illegal on the ground of first degree consanguinity following George's marriage to Anne's sister Isabel. There would have been first-degree consanguinity if Richard had sought to marry Isabel (in case of widowhood) after she had married his brother George, but no such consanguinity applied for Anne and Richard. Richard's marriage to Anne was never declared null, and it was public to everyone including secular and canon lawyers for 13 years.
In June 1473, Richard persuaded his mother-in-law to leave the sanctuary and come to live under his protection at Middleham. Later in the year, under the terms of the 1473 Act of Resumption, George lost some of the property he held under royal grant and made no secret of his displeasure. John Paston's letter of November 1473 says that King Edward planned to put both his younger brothers in their place by acting as "a stifler atween them". Early in 1474, Parliament assembled and Edward attempted to reconcile his brothers by stating that both men, and their wives, would enjoy the Warwick inheritance just as if the Countess of Warwick "was naturally dead". The doubts cast by George on the validity of Richard and Anne's marriage were addressed by a clause protecting their rights in the event they were divorced (i.e. of their marriage being declared null and void by the Church) and then legally remarried to each other, and also protected Richard's rights while waiting for such a valid second marriage with Anne. The following year, Richard was rewarded with all the Neville lands in the north of England, at the expense of Anne's cousin, George Neville, 1st Duke of Bedford. From this point, George seems to have fallen steadily out of King Edward's favour, his discontent coming to a head in 1477 when, following Isabel's death, he was denied the opportunity to marry Mary of Burgundy, the stepdaughter of his sister Margaret, even though Margaret approved the proposed match. There is no evidence of Richard's involvement in George's subsequent conviction and execution on a charge of treason.
Reign of Edward IV
Estates and titles
Richard was granted the Duchy of Gloucester on 1 November 1461, and on 12 August the next year was awarded large estates in northern England, including the lordships of Richmond in Yorkshire, and Pembroke in Wales. He gained the forfeited lands of the Lancastrian John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, in East Anglia. In 1462, on his birthday, he was made Constable of Gloucester and Corfe Castles and Admiral of England, Ireland and Aquitaine and appointed Governor of the North, becoming the richest and most powerful noble in England. On 17 October 1469, he was made Constable of England. In November, he replaced William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, as Chief Justice of North Wales. The following year, he was appointed Chief Steward and Chamberlain of Wales. On 18 May 1471, Richard was named Great Chamberlain and Lord High Admiral of England. Other positions followed: High Sheriff of Cumberland for life, Lieutenant of the North and Commander-in-Chief against the Scots and hereditary Warden of the West March. Two months later, on 14 July, he gained the Lordships of the strongholds Sheriff Hutton and Middleham in Yorkshire and Penrith in Cumberland, which had belonged to Warwick the Kingmaker. It is possible that the grant of Middleham seconded Richard's personal wishes.
Exile and return
During the latter part of Edward IV's reign, Richard demonstrated his loyalty to the king, in contrast to their brother George who had allied himself with the Earl of Warwick when the latter rebelled towards the end of the 1460s. Following Warwick's 1470 rebellion, before which he had made peace with Margaret of Anjou and promised the restoration of Henry VI to the English throne, Richard, the Baron Hastings and Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, escaped capture at Doncaster by Warwick's brother, John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu. On 2 October they sailed from King's Lynn in two ships; Edward landed at Marsdiep and Richard at Zeeland. It was said that, having left England in such haste as to possess almost nothing, Edward was forced to pay their passage with his fur cloak; certainly, Richard borrowed three pounds from Zeeland's town bailiff. They were attainted by Warwick's only Parliament on 26 November. They resided in Bruges with Louis de Gruthuse, who had been the Burgundian Ambassador to Edward's court, but it was not until Louis XI of France declared war on Burgundy that Charles, Duke of Burgundy, assisted their return, providing, along with the Hanseatic merchants, £20,000, 36 ships and 1200 men. They departed Flushing for England on 11 March 1471. Warwick's arrest of local sympathisers prevented them from landing in Yorkist East Anglia and on 14 March, after being separated in a storm, their ships ran ashore at Holderness. The town of Hull refused Edward entry. He gained entry to York by using the same claim as Henry of Bolingbroke had before deposing Richard II in 1399; that is, that he was merely reclaiming the Dukedom of York rather than the crown. It was in Edward's attempt to regain his throne that Richard began to demonstrate his skill as a military commander.
1471 military campaign
Once Edward had regained the support of his brother George, he mounted a swift and decisive campaign to regain the crown through combat; it is believed that Richard was his principal lieutenant as some of the king's earliest support came from members of Richard's affinity, including Sir James Harrington and Sir William Parr, who brought 600 men-at-arms to them at Doncaster. Richard may have led the vanguard at the Battle of Barnet, in his first command, on 14 April 1471, where he outflanked the wing of Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, although the degree to which his command was fundamental may have been exaggerated. That Richard's personal household sustained losses indicates he was in the thick of the fighting. A contemporary source is clear about his holding the vanguard for Edward at Tewkesbury, deployed against the Lancastrian vanguard under Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset, on 4 May 1471, and his role two days later, as Constable of England, sitting alongside John Howard as Earl Marshal, in the trial and sentencing of leading Lancastrians captured after the battle.
1475 invasion of France
At least in part resentful of King Louis XI's previous support of his Lancastrian opponents, and possibly in support of his brother-in-law Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, Edward went to parliament in October 1472 for funding a military campaign, and eventually landed in Calais on 4 July 1475. Richard's was the largest private contingent of his army. Although well known to have publicly been against the eventual treaty signed with Louis XI at Picquigny (and absent from the negotiations, in which one of his rank would have been expected to take a leading role), he acted as Edward's witness when the king instructed his delegates to the French court, and received 'some very fine presents' from Louis on a visit to the French king at Amiens. In refusing other gifts, which included 'pensions' in the guise of 'tribute', he was joined only by Cardinal Bourchier. He supposedly disapproved of Edward's policy of personally benefiting—politically and financially—from a campaign paid for out of a parliamentary grant, and hence out of public funds. Any military prowess was therefore not to be revealed further until the last years of Edward's reign.
The North, and the Council in the North
Richard was the dominant magnate in the north of England until Edward IV's death. There, and especially in the city of York, he was highly regarded; although it has been questioned whether this view was reciprocated by Richard. Edward IV delegated significant authority to Richard in the region. Kendall and later historians have suggested that this was with the intention of making Richard the Lord of the North; Peter Booth, however, has argued that "instead of allowing his brother Richard carte blanche, [Edward] restricted his influence by using his own agent, Sir William Parr." Following Richard's accession to the throne, he first established the Council of the North and made his nephew John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln, president and formally institutionalised this body as an offshoot of the royal Council; all its letters and judgements were issued on behalf of the king and in his name. The council had a budget of 2000 marks per annum and had issued "Regulations" by July of that year: councillors to act impartially and declare vested interests, and to meet at least every three months. Its main focus of operations was Yorkshire and the north-east, and its primary responsibilities were land disputes, keeping of the king's peace, and punishing lawbreakers.
War with Scotland
Richard's increasing role in the north from the mid-1470s to some extent explains his withdrawal from the royal court. He had been Warden of the West March on the Scottish border since 10 September 1470, and again from May 1471; he used Penrith as a base while 'taking effectual measures' against the Scots, and 'enjoyed the revenues of the estates' of the Forest of Cumberland while doing so. It was at the same time that the Duke of Gloucester was appointed sheriff of Cumberland five consecutive years, being described as 'of Penrith Castle' in 1478. By 1480, war with Scotland was looming; on 12 May that year he was appointed Lieutenant-General of the North (a position created for the occasion) as fears of a Scottish invasion grew. Louis XI of France had attempted to negotiate a military alliance with Scotland (in the tradition of the "Auld Alliance"), with the aim of attacking England, according to a contemporary French chronicler. Richard had the authority to summon the Border Levies and issue Commissions of Array to repel the Border raids. Together with the Earl of Northumberland, he launched counter-raids, and when the king and council formally declared war in November 1480, he was granted £10,000 for wages. The king failed to arrive to lead the English army and the result was intermittent skirmishing until early 1482. Richard witnessed the treaty with Alexander, Duke of Albany, brother of King James III of Scotland. Northumberland, Stanley, Dorset, Sir Edward Woodville, and Richard with approximately 20,000 men took the town of Berwick almost immediately. The castle held until 24 August 1482, when Richard recaptured Berwick-upon-Tweed from the Kingdom of Scotland. Although it is debatable whether the English victory was due more to internal Scottish divisions rather than any outstanding military prowess by Richard, it was the last time that the Royal Burgh of Berwick changed hands between the two realms.
Lord Protector
On the death of Edward IV on 9 April 1483, his 12-year-old son, Edward V, succeeded him. Richard was named Lord Protector of the Realm and at Baron Hastings' urging, Richard assumed his role and left his base in Yorkshire for London. On 29 April, as previously agreed, Richard and his cousin, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, met Queen Elizabeth's brother, Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, at Northampton. At the queen's request, Earl Rivers was escorting the young king to London with an armed escort of 2000 men, while Richard and Buckingham's joint escort was 600 men. Edward V himself had been sent further south to Stony Stratford. At first convivial, Richard had Earl Rivers, his nephew Richard Grey and his associate, Thomas Vaughan, arrested. They were taken to Pontefract Castle, where they were executed on 25 June on the charge of treason against the Lord Protector after appearing before a tribunal led by Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. Rivers had appointed Richard as executor of his will.
After having Rivers arrested, Richard and Buckingham moved to Stony Stratford, where Richard informed Edward V of a plot aimed at denying him his role as protector and whose perpetrators had been dealt with. He proceeded to escort the king to London. They entered the city on 4 May, displaying the carriages of weapons Rivers had taken with his 2000-man army. Richard first accommodated Edward in the Bishop's apartments; then, on Buckingham's suggestion, the king was moved to the royal apartments of the Tower of London, where kings customarily awaited their coronation. Within the year 1483, Richard had moved himself to the grandeur of Crosby Hall, London, then in Bishopsgate in the City of London. Robert Fabyan, in his 'The new chronicles of England and of France', writes that "the Duke caused the King (Edward V) to be removed unto the Tower and his broder with hym, and the Duke lodged himselfe in Crosbyes Place in Bisshoppesgate Strete." In Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, he accounts that "little by little all folke withdrew from the Tower, and drew unto Crosbies in Bishops gates Street, where the Protector kept his houshold. The Protector had the resort; the King in maner desolate."
On hearing the news of her brother's 30 April arrest, the dowager queen fled to sanctuary in Westminster Abbey. Joining her were her son by her first marriage, Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset; her five daughters; and her youngest son, Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. On 10/11 June, Richard wrote to Ralph, Lord Neville, the City of York and others asking for their support against "the Queen, her blood adherents and affinity," whom he suspected of plotting his murder. At a council meeting on Friday 13 June at the Tower of London, Richard accused Hastings and others of having conspired against him with the Woodvilles and accusing Jane Shore, lover to both Hastings and Thomas Grey, of acting as a go-between. According to Thomas More, Hastings was taken out of the council chambers and summarily executed in the courtyard, while others, like Lord Thomas Stanley and John Morton, Bishop of Ely, were arrested. Hastings was not attainted and Richard sealed an indenture that placed Hastings' widow, Katherine, directly under his own protection. Bishop Morton was released into the custody of Buckingham. On 16 June, the dowager queen agreed to hand over the Duke of York to the Archbishop of Canterbury so that he might attend his brother Edward's coronation, still planned for 22 June.
King of England
A clergyman (Bishop Robert Stillington) is said to have informed Richard that Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was invalid because of Edward's earlier union with Eleanor Butler, making Edward V and his siblings illegitimate. The identity of the informant, known only through the memoirs of French diplomat Philippe de Commines, was Robert Stillington, the Bishop of Bath and Wells. On Sunday 22 June, a sermon was preached outside Old St. Paul's Cathedral by Ralph Shaa, declaring Edward IV's children bastards and Richard the rightful king. Shortly after, the citizens of London, both nobles and commons, convened and drew up a petition asking Richard to assume the throne. He accepted on 26 June and was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 6 July. His title to the throne was confirmed by Parliament in January 1484 by the document Titulus Regius.
The princes, who were still lodged in the royal residence of the Tower of London at the time of Richard's coronation, disappeared from sight after the summer of 1483. Although after his death Richard III was accused of having Edward and his brother killed, notably by More and in Shakespeare's play, the facts surrounding their disappearance remain unknown. Other culprits have been suggested, including Buckingham and even Henry VII, although Richard remains a suspect.
After the coronation ceremony, Richard and Anne set out on a royal progress to meet their subjects. During this journey through the country, the king and queen endowed King's College and Queens' College at Cambridge University, and made grants to the church. Still feeling a strong bond with his northern estates, Richard later planned the establishment of a large chantry chapel in York Minster with over 100 priests. He also founded the College of Arms.
Buckingham's rebellion of 1483
In 1483, a conspiracy arose among a number of disaffected gentry, many of whom had been supporters of Edward IV and the "whole Yorkist establishment". The conspiracy was nominally led by Richard's former ally, the Duke of Buckingham, although it had begun as a Woodville-Beaufort conspiracy (being "well underway" by the time of the Duke's involvement). Indeed, Davies has suggested that it was "only the subsequent parliamentary attainder that placed Buckingham at the centre of events", in order to blame a single disaffected magnate motivated by greed, rather than "the embarrassing truth" that those opposing Richard were actually "overwhelmingly Edwardian loyalists". It is possible that they planned to depose Richard III and place Edward V back on the throne, and that when rumours arose that Edward and his brother were dead, Buckingham proposed that Henry Tudor should return from exile, take the throne and marry Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV. However, it has also been pointed out that as this narrative stems from Richard's own parliament of 1484, it should probably be treated "with caution". For his part, Buckingham raised a substantial force from his estates in Wales and the Marches. Henry, in exile in Brittany, enjoyed the support of the Breton treasurer Pierre Landais, who hoped Buckingham's victory would cement an alliance between Brittany and England.
Some of Henry Tudor's ships ran into a storm and were forced to return to Brittany or Normandy, while Henry himself anchored off Plymouth for a week before learning of Buckingham's failure. Buckingham's army was troubled by the same storm and deserted when Richard's forces came against them. Buckingham tried to escape in disguise, but was either turned in by a retainer for the bounty Richard had put on his head, or was discovered in hiding with him. He was convicted of treason and beheaded in Salisbury, near the Bull's Head Inn, on 2 November. His widow, Catherine Woodville, later married Jasper Tudor, the uncle of Henry Tudor. Richard made overtures to Landais, offering military support for Landais's weak regime under Francis II, Duke of Brittany, in exchange for Henry. Henry fled to Paris, where he secured support from the French regent Anne of Beaujeu, who supplied troops for an invasion in 1485.
Death at the Battle of Bosworth Field
On Monday 22 August 1485, Richard met the outnumbered forces of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Richard rode a white courser (an especially swift and strong horse). The size of Richard's army has been estimated at 8,000 and Henry's at 5,000, but exact numbers are not known, though the royal army is believed to have "substantially" outnumbered Henry's. The traditional view of the king's famous cries of "Treason!" before falling was that during the battle Richard was abandoned by Baron Stanley (made Earl of Derby in October), Sir William Stanley, and Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. However, the role of Northumberland is unclear; his position was with the reserve—behind the king's line—and he could not easily have moved forward without a general royal advance, which did not take place. Indeed, the physical confines behind the crest of Ambion Hill, combined with a difficulty of communications, probably physically hampered any attempt he made to join the fray. Despite appearing "a pillar of the Ricardian regime", and his previous loyalty to Edward IV, Baron Stanley was the stepfather of Henry Tudor, and Stanley's inaction combined with his brother's entering the battle on Tudor's behalf was fundamental to Richard's defeat. The death of Richard's close companion John Howard, Duke of Norfolk, may have had a demoralising effect on the king and his men. Either way, Richard led a cavalry charge deep into the enemy ranks in an attempt to end the battle quickly by striking at Henry Tudor himself.
Accounts note that King Richard fought bravely and ably during this manoeuvre, unhorsing Sir John Cheyne, a well-known jousting champion, killing Henry's standard bearer Sir William Brandon and coming within a sword's length of Henry Tudor before being surrounded by Sir William Stanley's men and killed. The Burgundian chronicler Jean Molinet says that a Welshman struck the death-blow with a halberd while Richard's horse was stuck in the marshy ground. It was said that the blows were so violent that the king's helmet was driven into his skull. The contemporary Welsh poet Guto'r Glyn implies a leading Welsh Lancastrian, Rhys ap Thomas, or one of his men killed the king, writing that he "killed the boar, shaved his head". The identification in 2013 of King Richard's body shows that the skeleton had 11 wounds, eight of them to the skull, clearly inflicted in battle and suggesting he had lost his helmet. Professor Guy Rutty, from the University of Leicester, said: "The most likely injuries to have caused the king's death are the two to the inferior aspect of the skull—a large sharp force trauma possibly from a sword or staff weapon, such as a halberd or bill, and a penetrating injury from the tip of an edged weapon." The skull showed that a blade had hacked away part of the rear of the skull. Richard III was the last English king to be killed in battle. Henry Tudor succeeded Richard as King Henry VII. He married the Yorkist heiress Elizabeth of York, Edward IV's daughter and Richard III's niece.
Polydore Vergil, Henry VII's official historian, recorded that "King Richard, alone, was killed fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies". Richard's naked body was then carried back to Leicester tied to a horse, and early sources strongly suggest that it was displayed in the collegiate Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke, prior to being buried at Greyfriars Church in Leicester. In 1495, Henry VII paid for a marble and alabaster monument. According to a discredited tradition, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, his body was thrown into the River Soar, although other evidence suggests that a memorial stone was visible in 1612, in a garden built on the site of Greyfriars. The exact location was then lost, owing to more than 400 years of subsequent development, until archaeological investigations in 2012 revealed the site of the garden and Greyfriars Church. There was a memorial ledger stone in the choir of the cathedral, since replaced by the tomb of the king, and a stone plaque on Bow Bridge where tradition had falsely suggested that his remains had been thrown into the river.
According to another tradition, Richard consulted a seer in Leicester before the battle who foretold that "where your spur should strike on the ride into battle, your head shall be broken on the return". On the ride into battle, his spur struck the bridge stone of Bow Bridge in the city; legend states that as his corpse was carried from the battle over the back of a horse, his head struck the same stone and was broken open.
Issue
Richard and Anne had one son, Edward of Middleham, who was born between 1474 and 1476. He was created Earl of Salisbury on 15 February 1478, and Prince of Wales on 24 August 1483, and died in March 1484, less than two months after he had been formally declared heir apparent. After the death of his son, Richard appointed his nephew John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, as Lieutenant of Ireland, an office previously held by his son Edward. Lincoln was the son of Richard's older sister, Elizabeth, Duchess of Suffolk. After his wife's death, Richard commenced negotiations with John II of Portugal to marry John's pious sister, Joanna, Princess of Portugal. She had already turned down several suitors because of her preference for the religious life.
Richard had two acknowledged illegitimate children, John of Gloucester and Katherine Plantagenet. Also known as 'John of Pontefract', John of Gloucester was appointed Captain of Calais in 1485. Katherine married William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, in 1484. Neither the birth dates nor the names of the mothers of either of the children is known. Katherine was old enough to be wedded in 1484, when the age of consent was twelve, and John was knighted in September 1483 in York Minster, and so most historians agree that they were both fathered when Richard was a teenager. There is no evidence of infidelity on Richard's part after his marriage to Anne Neville in 1472 when he was around 20. This has led to a suggestion by the historian A. L. Rowse that Richard "had no interest in sex".
Michael Hicks and Josephine Wilkinson have suggested that Katherine's mother may have been Katherine Haute, on the basis of the grant of an annual payment of 100 shillings made to her in 1477. The Haute family was related to the Woodvilles through the marriage of Elizabeth Woodville's aunt, Joan Woodville, to William Haute. One of their children was Richard Haute, Controller of the Prince's Household. Their daughter, Alice, married Sir John Fogge; they were ancestors to Catherine Parr, sixth wife of King Henry VIII. They also suggest that John's mother may have been Alice Burgh. Richard visited Pontefract from 1471, in April and October 1473, and in early March 1474, for a week. On 1 March 1474, he granted Alice Burgh £20 a year for life "for certain special causes and considerations". She later received another allowance, apparently for being engaged as a nurse for his brother George's son, Edward of Warwick. Richard continued her annuity when he became king. John Ashdown-Hill has suggested that John was conceived during Richard's first solo expedition to the eastern counties in the summer of 1467 at the invitation of John Howard and that the boy was born in 1468 and named after his friend and supporter. Richard himself noted John was still a minor (not being yet 21) when he issued the royal patent appointing him Captain of Calais on 11 March 1485, possibly on his seventeenth birthday.
Both of Richard's illegitimate children survived him, but they seem to have died without issue and their fate after Richard's demise at Bosworth is not certain. John received a £20 annuity from Henry VII, but there are no mentions of him in contemporary records after 1487 (the year of the Battle of Stoke Field). He may have been executed in 1499, though no record of this exists beyond an assertion by George Buck over a century later. Katherine apparently died before her cousin Elizabeth of York's coronation on 25 November 1487, since her husband Sir William Herbert is described as a widower by that time. Katherine's burial place was located in the London parish church of St James Garlickhithe, between Skinner's Lane and Upper Thames Street. The mysterious Richard Plantagenet, who was first mentioned in Francis Peck's Desiderata Curiosa (a two-volume miscellany published 1732–1735) was said to be a possible illegitimate child of Richard III and is sometimes referred to as "Richard the Master-Builder" or "Richard of Eastwell", but it has also been suggested he could have been Richard, Duke of York, one of the missing Princes in the Tower. He died in 1550.
Legacy
Richard's Council of the North, described as his "one major institutional innovation", derived from his ducal council following his own viceregal appointment by Edward IV; when Richard himself became king, he maintained the same conciliar structure in his absence. It officially became part of the royal council machinery under the presidency of John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln in April 1484, based at Sandal Castle in Wakefield. It is considered to have greatly improved conditions for northern England, as it was intended to keep the peace and punish lawbreakers, as well as resolve land disputes. Bringing regional governance directly under the control of central government, it has been described as the king's "most enduring monument", surviving unchanged until 1641.
In December 1483, Richard instituted what later became known as the Court of Requests, a court to which poor people who could not afford legal representation could apply for their grievances to be heard. He also improved bail in January 1484, to protect suspected felons from imprisonment before trial and to protect their property from seizure during that time. He founded the College of Arms in 1484, he banned restrictions on the printing and sale of books, and he ordered the translation of the written Laws and Statutes from the traditional French into English. During his reign, Parliament ended the arbitrary benevolence (a device by which Edward IV raised funds), made it punishable to conceal from a buyer of land that a part of the property had already been disposed of to somebody else, required that land sales be published, laid down property qualifications for jurors, restricted the abusive Courts of Piepowders, regulated cloth sales, instituted certain forms of trade protectionism, prohibited the sale of wine and oil in fraudulent measure, and prohibited fraudulent collection of clergy dues, among others. Churchill implies he improved the law of trusts.
Richard's death at Bosworth resulted in the end of the Plantagenet dynasty, which had ruled England since the succession of Henry II in 1154. The last legitimate male Plantagenet, Richard's nephew Edward, Earl of Warwick (son of his brother George, Duke of Clarence), was executed by Henry VII in 1499.
Reputation
There are numerous contemporary, or near-contemporary, sources of information about the reign of Richard III. These include the Croyland Chronicle, Commines' Mémoires, the report of Dominic Mancini, the Paston Letters, the Chronicles of Robert Fabyan and numerous court and official records, including a few letters by Richard himself. However, the debate about Richard's true character and motives continues, both because of the subjectivity of many of the written sources, reflecting the generally partisan nature of writers of this period, and because none was written by men with an intimate knowledge of Richard.
During Richard's reign, the historian John Rous praised him as a "good lord" who punished "oppressors of the commons", adding that he had "a great heart". In 1483 the Italian observer Mancini reported that Richard enjoyed a good reputation and that both "his private life and public activities powerfully attracted the esteem of strangers". His bond to the City of York, in particular, was such that on hearing of Richard's demise at the battle of Bosworth the City Council officially deplored the king's death, at the risk of facing the victor's wrath.
During his lifetime he was the subject of some attacks. Even in the North in 1482 a man was prosecuted for offences against the Duke of Gloucester, saying he did "nothing but grin at" the city of York. In 1484, attempts to discredit him took the form of hostile placards, the only surviving one being William Collingbourne's lampoon of July 1484 "The Cat, the Rat, and Lovell the Dog, all rule England under a Hog" which was pinned to the door of St. Paul's Cathedral and referred to Richard himself (the Hog) and his most trusted councillors William Catesby, Richard Ratcliffe and Francis, Viscount Lovell. On 30 March 1485 Richard felt forced to summon the Lords and London City Councillors to publicly deny the rumours that he had poisoned Queen Anne and that he had planned a marriage to his niece Elizabeth, at the same time ordering the Sheriff of London to imprison anyone spreading such slanders. The same orders were issued throughout the realm, including York where the royal pronouncement recorded in the City Records dates 5 April 1485 and carries specific instructions to suppress seditious talk and remove and destroy evidently hostile placards unread.
As for Richard's physical appearance, most contemporary descriptions bear out the evidence that aside from having one shoulder higher than the other (with chronicler Rous not able to correctly remember which one, as slight as the difference was), Richard had no other noticeable bodily deformity. John Stow talked to old men who, remembering him, said "that he was of bodily shape comely enough, only of low stature" and a German traveller, Nicolas von Poppelau, who spent ten days in Richard's household in May 1484, describes him as "three fingers taller than himself...much more lean, with delicate arms and legs and also a great heart." Six years after Richard's death, in 1491, a schoolmaster named William Burton, on hearing a defence of Richard, launched into a diatribe, accusing the dead king of being "a hypocrite and a crookback...who was deservedly buried in a ditch like a dog."
Richard's death encouraged the furtherance of this later negative image by his Tudor successors due to the fact that it helped to legitimise Henry VII's seizure of the throne. The Richard III Society contends that this means that "a lot of what people thought they knew about Richard III was pretty much propaganda and myth building." The Tudor characterisation culminated in the famous fictional portrayal of him in Shakespeare's play Richard III as a physically deformed, Machiavellian villain, ruthlessly committing numerous murders in order to claw his way to power; Shakespeare's intention perhaps being to use Richard III as a vehicle for creating his own Marlowesque protagonist. Rous himself in his History of the Kings of England, written during Henry VII's reign, initiated the process. He reversed his earlier position, and now portrayed Richard as a freakish individual who was born with teeth and shoulder-length hair after having been in his mother's womb for two years. His body was stunted and distorted, with one shoulder higher than the other, and he was "slight in body and weak in strength". Rous also attributes the murder of Henry VI to Richard, and claims that he poisoned his own wife. Jeremy Potter, a former Chair of the Richard III Society, claims that "At the bar of history Richard III continues to be guilty because it is impossible to prove him innocent. The Tudors ride high in popular esteem."
Polydore Vergil and Thomas More expanded on this portrayal, emphasising Richard's outward physical deformities as a sign of his inwardly twisted mind. More describes him as "little of stature, ill-featured of limbs, crook-backed ... hard-favoured of visage". Vergil also says he was "deformed of body ... one shoulder higher than the right". Both emphasise that Richard was devious and flattering, while planning the downfall of both his enemies and supposed friends. Richard's good qualities were his cleverness and bravery. All these characteristics are repeated by Shakespeare, who portrays him as having a hunch, a limp and a withered arm. With regard to the "hunch", the second quarto edition of Richard III (1598) used the term "hunched-backed" but in the First Folio edition (1623) it became "bunch-backed".
Richard's reputation as a promoter of legal fairness persisted, however. William Camden in his Remains Concerning Britain (1605) states that Richard, "albeit he lived wickedly, yet made good laws". Francis Bacon also states that he was "a good lawmaker for the ease and solace of the common people". In 1525, Cardinal Wolsey upbraided the aldermen and Mayor of London for relying on a statute of Richard to avoid paying an extorted tax (benevolence) but received the reply "although he did evil, yet in his time were many good acts made."
Richard was a practising Catholic, as shown by his personal Book of Hours, surviving in the Lambeth Palace library. As well as conventional aristocratic devotional texts, the book contains a Collect of Saint Ninian, referencing a saint popular in the Anglo-Scottish Borders.
Despite this, the image of Richard as a ruthless tyrant remained dominant in the 18th and 19th centuries. The 18th-century philosopher and historian David Hume described him as a man who used dissimulation to conceal "his fierce and savage nature" and who had "abandoned all principles of honour and humanity". Hume acknowledged that some historians have argued "that he was well qualified for government, had he legally obtained it; and that he committed no crimes but such as were necessary to procure him possession of the crown", but he dismissed this view on the grounds that Richard's exercise of arbitrary power encouraged instability. The most important late 19th century biographer of the king was James Gairdner, who also wrote the entry on Richard in the Dictionary of National Biography. Gairdner stated that he had begun to study Richard with a neutral viewpoint, but became convinced that Shakespeare and More were essentially correct in their view of the king, despite some exaggerations.
Richard was not without his defenders, the first of whom was Sir George Buck, a descendant of one of the king's supporters, who completed The history of King Richard the Third in 1619. The authoritative Buck text was published only in 1979, though a corrupted version was published by Buck's great-nephew in 1646. Buck attacked the "improbable imputations and strange and spiteful scandals" related by Tudor writers, including Richard's alleged deformities and murders. He located lost archival material, including the Titulus Regius, but also claimed to have seen a letter written by Elizabeth of York, according to which Elizabeth sought to marry the king. Elizabeth's supposed letter was never produced. Documents which later emerged from the Portuguese royal archives show that after Queen Anne's death, Richard's ambassadors were sent on a formal errand to negotiate a double marriage between Richard and the Portuguese king's sister Joanna, of Lancastrian descent, and between Elizabeth of York and Joanna's cousin Manuel, Duke of Viseu (later King of Portugal).
Significant among Richard's defenders was Horace Walpole. In Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third (1768), Walpole disputed all the alleged murders and argued that Richard may have acted in good faith. He also argued that any physical abnormality was probably no more than a minor distortion of the shoulders. However, he retracted his views in 1793 after the Terror, stating he now believed that Richard could have committed the crimes he was charged with, although Pollard observes that this retraction is frequently overlooked by later admirers of Richard. Other defenders of Richard include the noted explorer Clements Markham, whose Richard III: His Life and Character (1906) replied to the work of Gairdner. He argued that Henry VII killed the princes and that the bulk of evidence against Richard was nothing more than Tudor propaganda. An intermediate view was provided by Alfred Legge in The Unpopular King (1885). Legge argued that Richard's "greatness of soul" was eventually "warped and dwarfed" by the ingratitude of others.
Some twentieth-century historians have been less inclined to moral judgement, seeing Richard's actions as a product of the unstable times. In the words of Charles Ross, "the later fifteenth century in England is now seen as a ruthless and violent age as concerns the upper ranks of society, full of private feuds, intimidation, land-hunger, and litigiousness, and consideration of Richard's life and career against this background has tended to remove him from the lonely pinnacle of Villainy Incarnate on which Shakespeare had placed him. Like most men, he was conditioned by the standards of his age." The Richard III Society, founded in 1924 as "The Fellowship of the White Boar", is the oldest of several groups dedicated to improving his reputation. Other contemporary historians still describe him as a "power-hungry and ruthless politician" who was still most probably "ultimately responsible for the murder of his nephews."
In culture
Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature. Two other plays of the Elizabethan era predated Shakespeare's work. The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge is believed to be the first history play written in England. The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work, was probably an influence on Shakespeare. Neither of the two plays places any emphasis on Richard's physical appearance, though the True Tragedy briefly mentions that he is "A man ill shaped, crooked backed, lame armed" and "valiantly minded, but tyrannous in authority". Both portray him as a man motivated by personal ambition, who uses everyone around him to get his way. Ben Jonson is also known to have written a play Richard Crookback in 1602, but it was never published and nothing is known about its portrayal of the king.
Marjorie Bowen's 1929 novel Dickon set the trend for pro-Ricardian literature. Particularly influential was The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey, in which a modern detective concludes that Richard III is innocent in the death of the Princes. Other novelists such as Valerie Anand in the novel Crown of Roses (1989) have also offered alternative versions to the theory that he murdered them. Sharon Kay Penman, in her historical novel The Sunne in Splendour, attributes the death of the Princes to the Duke of Buckingham. In the mystery novel The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters (1974) the central plot revolves around the debate as to whether Richard III was guilty of these and other crimes. A sympathetic portrayal is given in The Founding (1980), the first volume in The Morland Dynasty series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.
One film adaptation of Shakespeare's play Richard III is the 1955 version directed and produced by Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. Also notable are the 1995 film version starring Ian McKellen, set in a fictional 1930s fascist England, and Looking for Richard, a 1996 documentary film directed by Al Pacino, who plays the title character as well as himself. The play has been adapted for television on several occasions.
Discovery of remains
On 24 August 2012, the University of Leicester and Leicester City Council, in association with the Richard III Society, announced that they had joined forces to begin a search for the remains of King Richard. The search for Richard III was led by Philippa Langley of the Society's Looking For Richard Project with the archaeological work led by University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS). Experts set out to locate the lost site of the former Greyfriars Church (demolished during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries), and to discover whether his remains were still interred there. By comparing fixed points between maps in a historical sequence, the search located the church, where Richard's body had been hastily buried without pomp in 1485, its foundations identifiable beneath a modern-day city centre car park.
The excavators announced on 5 September 2012 that they had identified Greyfriars Church and two days later that they had identified the location of Robert Herrick's garden, where the memorial to Richard III stood in the early 17th century. A human skeleton was found beneath the Church's choir.
Improbably, the excavators found the remains in the first location in which they dug at the car park. Coincidentally, they lay almost directly under a roughly painted R on the tarmac. This had existed since the early 2000s to signify a reserved parking space.
On 12 September, it was announced that the skeleton discovered during the search might be that of Richard III. Several reasons were given: the body was of an adult male; it was buried beneath the choir of the church; and there was severe scoliosis of the spine, possibly making one shoulder higher than the other (to what extent depended on the severity of the condition). Additionally, there was an object that appeared to be an arrowhead embedded in the spine; and there were perimortem injuries to the skull. These included a relatively shallow orifice, which is most likely to have been caused by a rondel dagger, and a scooping depression to the skull, inflicted by a bladed weapon, most probably a sword.
Further, the bottom of the skull presented a gaping hole, where a halberd had cut away and entered it. Forensic pathologist Stuart Hamilton stated that this injury would have left the individual's brain visible, and most certainly would have been the cause of death. Jo Appleby, the osteo-archaeologist who excavated the skeleton, concurred and described the latter as "a mortal battlefield wound in the back of the skull". The base of the skull also presented another fatal wound in which a bladed weapon had been thrust into it, leaving behind a jagged hole. Closer examination of the interior of the skull revealed a mark opposite this wound, showing that the blade penetrated to a depth of .
In total, the skeleton presented ten wounds: four minor injuries on the top of the skull, one dagger blow on the cheekbone, one cut on the lower jaw, two fatal injuries on the base of the skull, one cut on a rib bone, and one final wound on the pelvis, most probably inflicted after death. It is generally accepted that postmortem, Richard's naked body was tied to the back of a horse, with his arms slung over one side and his legs and buttocks over the other. This presented a tempting target for onlookers, and the angle of the blow on the pelvis suggests that one of them stabbed Richard's right buttock with substantial force, as the cut extends from the back all the way to the front of the pelvic bone and was most probably an act of humiliation. It is also possible that Richard and his corpse suffered other injuries which left no trace on the skeleton.
British historian John Ashdown-Hill had used genealogical research in 2004 to trace matrilineal descendants of Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter, Richard's elder sister. A British-born woman who emigrated to Canada after the Second World War, Joy Ibsen (), was found to be a 16th-generation great-niece of the king in the same direct maternal line. Her mitochondrial DNA was tested and belongs to mitochondrial DNA haplogroup J, which by deduction, should also be the mitochondrial DNA haplogroup of Richard III. Joy Ibsen died in 2008. Her son Michael Ibsen gave a mouth-swab sample to the research team on 24 August 2012. His mitochondrial DNA passed down the direct maternal line was compared to samples from the human remains found at the excavation site and used to identify King Richard.
On 4 February 2013, the University of Leicester confirmed that the skeleton was beyond reasonable doubt that of King Richard III. This conclusion was based on mitochondrial DNA evidence, soil analysis, and dental tests (there were some molars missing as a result of caries), as well as physical characteristics of the skeleton which are highly consistent with contemporary accounts of Richard's appearance. The team announced that the "arrowhead" discovered with the body was a Roman-era nail, probably disturbed when the body was first interred. However, there were numerous perimortem wounds on the body, and part of the skull had been sliced off with a bladed weapon; this would have caused rapid death. The team concluded that it is unlikely that the king was wearing a helmet in his last moments. Soil taken from the remains was found to contain microscopic roundworm eggs. Several eggs were found in samples taken from the pelvis, where the king's intestines were, but not from the skull and only very small numbers were identified in soil surrounding the grave. The findings suggest that the higher concentration of eggs in the pelvic area probably arose from a roundworm infection the king suffered in his life, rather than from human waste dumped in the area at a later date, researchers said. The mayor of Leicester announced that the king's skeleton would be re-interred at Leicester Cathedral in early 2014, but a judicial review of that decision delayed the reinterment for a year. A museum to Richard III was opened in July 2014 in the Victorian school buildings next to the Greyfriars grave site.
The proposal to have King Richard buried in Leicester attracted some controversy. Those who challenged the decision included fifteen "collateral [non-direct] descendants of Richard III", represented by the Plantagenet Alliance, who believed that the body should be reburied in York, as they claim the king wished. In August 2013, they filed a court case in order to contest Leicester's claim to re-inter the body within its cathedral, and propose the body be buried in York instead. However, Michael Ibsen, who gave the DNA sample that identified the king, gave his support to Leicester's claim to re-inter the body in their cathedral. On 20 August, a judge ruled that the opponents had the legal standing to contest his burial in Leicester Cathedral, despite a clause in the contract which had authorized the excavations requiring his burial there. He urged the parties, though, to settle out of court in order to "avoid embarking on the Wars of the Roses, Part Two". The Plantagenet Alliance, and the supporting fifteen collateral descendants, also faced the challenge that "Basic maths shows Richard, who had no surviving children but five siblings, could have millions of 'collateral' descendants" undermining the group's claim to represent "the only people who can speak on behalf of him". A ruling in May 2014 decreed that there are "no public law grounds for the Court interfering with the decisions in question". The remains were taken to Leicester Cathedral on 22 March 2015 and reinterred on 26 March.
On 5 February 2013 Professor Caroline Wilkinson of the University of Dundee conducted a facial reconstruction of Richard III, commissioned by the Richard III Society, based on 3D mappings of his skull. The face is described as "warm, young, earnest and rather serious". On 11 February 2014 the University of Leicester announced the project to sequence the entire genome of Richard III and one of his living relatives, Michael Ibsen, whose mitochondrial DNA confirmed the identification of the excavated remains. Richard III thus became the first ancient person of known historical identity whose genome has been sequenced. In 2016 contemporary British artist Alexander de Cadenet presented a skull portrait of Richard III in conjunction with Leicester University. The portraits have been produced using University of Leicester forensic X-ray scans of the king.
In November 2014, the results of the testing were announced, confirming that the maternal side was as previously thought. The paternal side, however, demonstrated some variance from what had been expected, with the DNA showing no links to the purported descendants of Richard's great-great-grandfather Edward III of England through Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort. This could be the result of covert illegitimacy that does not reflect the accepted genealogies between Richard and Edward III or between Edward III and the 5th Duke of Beaufort.
Reburial and tomb
After his death in battle in 1485, Richard III's body was buried in Greyfriars Church in Leicester. Following the discoveries of Richard's remains in 2012, it was decided that they should be reburied at Leicester Cathedral, despite feelings in some quarters that he should have been reburied in York Minster. His remains were carried in procession to the cathedral on 22 March 2015, and reburied on 26 March 2015 at a religious re-burial service at which both Tim Stevens, the Bishop of Leicester, and Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, officiated. The British royal family was represented by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Countess of Wessex. The actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who later portrayed him in The Hollow Crown television series, read a poem by poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy.
Richard's cathedral tomb was designed by the architects van Heyningen and Haward. The tombstone is deeply incised with a cross, and consists of a rectangular block of white Swaledale fossil stone, quarried in North Yorkshire. It sits on a low plinth made of dark Kilkenny marble, incised with Richard's name, dates and motto (Loyaulte me lie – loyalty binds me). The plinth also carries his coat of arms in pietra dura. The remains of Richard III are in a lead-lined inner casket, inside an outer English oak coffin crafted by Michael Ibsen, a direct descendant of Richard's sister Anne, and laid in a brick-lined vault below the floor, and below the plinth and tombstone. The original 2010 raised tomb design had been proposed by Langley's "Looking For Richard Project" and fully funded by members of the Richard III Society. The proposal was publicly launched by the Society on 13 February 2013 but rejected by Leicester Cathedral in favour of a memorial slab. However, following a public outcry, the Cathedral changed its position and on 18 July 2013 announced its agreement to give King Richard III a raised tomb monument.
Titles, styles, honours and arms
On 1 November 1461, Richard gained the title of Duke of Gloucester; in late 1461, he was invested as a Knight of the Garter. Following the death of King Edward IV, he was made Lord Protector of England. Richard held this office from 30 April to 26 June 1483, when he made himself king. During his reign, Richard was styled Dei Gratia Rex Angliae et Franciae et Dominus Hiberniae (by the Grace of God, King of England and France and Lord of Ireland).
Informally, he may have been known as "Dickon", according to a sixteenth-century legend of a note, warning of treachery, that was sent to the Duke of Norfolk on the eve of Bosworth:
Arms
As Duke of Gloucester, Richard used the Royal Arms of England quartered with the Royal Arms of France, differenced by a label argent of three points ermine, on each point a canton gules, supported by a blue boar. As sovereign, he used the arms of the kingdom undifferenced, supported by a white boar and a lion. His motto was Loyaulte me lie, "Loyalty binds me"; and his personal device was a white boar.
Family trees
See also
King Richard III Visitor Centre, Leicester
Ricardian (Richard III)
Richard III Museum, York
Notes
References
Sources
Further reading
External links
King Richard III Visitor Centre, Leicester
The Richard III Society website
The Richard III Society, American Branch website
Information about the discovery of Richard III from the University of Leicester
, with commentary by Pamela Tudor-Craig
1452 births
1485 deaths
15th-century English monarchs
15th-century English Navy personnel
Dukes of Gloucester
English military personnel killed in action
English people of French descent
English people with disabilities
English pretenders to the French throne
English Roman Catholics
High Sheriffs of Cornwall
High Sheriffs of Cumberland
House of York
Knights of the Bath
Knights of the Garter
Lord High Admirals of England
Lords Protector of England
Lords Warden of the Marches
Monarchs killed in action
People from Fotheringhay
People of the Wars of the Roses
Retrospective diagnosis
Younger sons of dukes
Lords of Glamorgan
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"Master of the Die (fl. 1525–1560) was an Italian engraver and printmaker. His year of birth and death are unknown.\n\nThe identity of the Master of the Die is uncertain. He was given this name because he signed his prints with a small die. Some theories to the identity of the artist include Benedetto Verino, Marcantonio Raimondi's son Daddi or Dado, Giovanni Francesco Zabello, or Tommaso Vincidor. What is known is the Master of the Die studied under Marcantonio Raimondi. He worked in the style of Raphael.\n\nReferences\n\nItalian printmakers\nItalian engravers\n16th-century engravers\nDie",
"\"Good Die Young\" is a song by Australian rock band Divinyls, released in July 1984. The single was lifted from the band's second studio album What a Life! and proved to be a moderate success in Australia.\n\nThe music video was shot in various Sydney locations - outside Railway Square next to a famous golf retailer's neon lights, outside George Street cinema complex, and on a building next to Central Station's clocktower.\n\nBackground\n\nDivinyls began recording material for their second album over a two-year span, with Christina Amphlett and Mark McEntee writing several songs and working with three different producers along the way. Mark Opitz was the first, having already produced the band's debut album Desperate. However Amphlett and McEntee were not satisfied with his efforts and eventually settled on musician/producer Gary Langan to work on the rest of the album. \"Good Die Young\" was one of the tracks recorded during Langan's run as producer, however a full album did not materialize at that stage and eventually Mike Chapman stepped in to produce the rest of What a Life! as well as the entirety of the band's next album Temperamental.\n\nIn Australia, \"Good Die Young\" was released as the lead single from the album What a Life!, as their previous song \"Casual Encounter\" appeared on their debut album Desperate. However, the American release of What a Life! also included \"Casual Encounter\", therefore making \"Good Die Young\" the second single release in the US.\n\n\"Good Die Young\" charted within the top forty on the Australian singles chart, peaking at number thirty-two. Although the single narrowly missed the top thirty, it was considered a moderate success after the band's previous single \"Casual Encounter\" had only peaked at number ninety-one.\n\nTrack listing\nAustralian 7\" Single\n \"Good Die Young\" - 3:36\n \"9:50\" - 3:10 (considered a rare track as it does not appear on an official Divinyls studio album)\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n1984 singles\nDivinyls songs\nSongs written by Chrissy Amphlett\nSongs written by Mark McEntee\n1984 songs\nChrysalis Records singles"
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[
"Richard III of England",
"In culture",
"What was his culture like",
"I don't know.",
"What can you tell me about the section in culture",
"Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature.",
"What was he in of Shakespeares",
"Shakespeare's play Richard III",
"What other plays was he in",
"The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge",
"What year was the play Richard the 3rd",
"The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work,",
"What did he do besides plays",
"Marjorie Bowen's 1929 novel Dickon set the trend for pro-Ricardian literature.",
"Was he an authour",
"Richard appears in many other works of literature.",
"What year did he die",
"I don't know."
] |
C_e1db0b22c6fe45a1a0da7ae2ceb65f84_1
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Did he play in any plays for anyone else
| 9 |
In addition to Richardus Tertius, did Richard III of England play in any plays for anyone else?
|
Richard III of England
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Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature. Two other plays of the Elizabethan era predated Shakespeare's work. The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge is believed to be the first history play written in England. The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work, was probably an influence on Shakespeare. Neither of the two plays places any emphasis on Richard's physical appearance, though the True Tragedy briefly mentions that he is "A man ill shaped, crooked backed, lame armed" adding that he is "valiantly minded, but tyrannous in authority". Both portray him as a man motivated by personal ambition, who uses everyone around him to get his way. Ben Jonson is also known to have written a play Richard Crookback in 1602, but it was never published and nothing is known about its portrayal of the king. Marjorie Bowen's 1929 novel Dickon set the trend for pro-Ricardian literature. Particularly influential was The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey, in which a modern detective concludes that Richard III is innocent in the death of the Princes. Other novelists such as Valerie Anand in the novel Crown of Roses (1989) have also offered alternative versions to the theory that he murdered them. Sharon Kay Penman, in her historical novel The Sunne in Splendour, attributes the death of the Princes to the Duke of Buckingham. In the mystery novel The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters (1974) the central plot revolves around the debate as to whether Richard III was guilty of these and other crimes. A sympathetic portrayal of Richard III is given in The Founding, the first volume in The Morland Dynasty series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. One film adaptation of Shakespeare's play Richard III is the 1955 version directed and produced by Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. Also notable are the 1995 film version starring Ian McKellen, set in a fictional 1930s fascist England, and Looking for Richard, a 1996 documentary film directed by Al Pacino, who plays the title character as well as himself. The play has been adapted for television on several occasions. CANNOTANSWER
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Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. He is the protagonist of Richard III, one of William Shakespeare's history/tragedy plays.
Richard was created Duke of Gloucester in 1461 after the accession of his brother King Edward IV. In 1472, he married Anne Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. He governed northern England during Edward's reign, and played a role in the invasion of Scotland in 1482. When Edward IV died in April 1483, Richard was named Lord Protector of the realm for Edward's eldest son and successor, the 12-year-old Edward V. Arrangements were made for Edward V's coronation on 22 June 1483. Before the king could be crowned, the marriage of his parents was declared bigamous and therefore invalid. Now officially illegitimate, their children were barred from inheriting the throne. On 25 June, an assembly of lords and commoners endorsed a declaration to this effect, and proclaimed Richard as the rightful king. He was crowned on 6 July 1483. Edward and his younger brother Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, called the "Princes in the Tower", were not seen in public after August, and accusations circulated that they had been murdered on King Richard's orders, under the Tudor rule a few years later.
There were two major rebellions against Richard during his reign. In October 1483, an unsuccessful revolt was led by staunch allies of Edward IV and Richard's former ally, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. Then, in August 1485, Henry Tudor and his uncle, Jasper Tudor, landed in southern Wales with a contingent of French troops, and marched through Pembrokeshire, recruiting soldiers. Henry's forces defeated Richard's army near the Leicestershire town of Market Bosworth. Richard was slain, making him the last English king to die in battle. Henry Tudor then ascended the throne as Henry VII.
Richard's corpse was taken to the nearby town of Leicester and buried without ceremony. His original tomb monument is believed to have been removed during the English Reformation, and his remains were wrongly thought to have been thrown into the River Soar. In 2012, an archaeological excavation was commissioned by the Richard III Society on the site previously occupied by Grey Friars Priory. The University of Leicester identified the skeleton found in the excavation as that of Richard III as a result of radiocarbon dating, comparison with contemporary reports of his appearance, and comparison of his mitochondrial DNA with that of two matrilineal descendants of his sister Anne. He was reburied in Leicester Cathedral on 26 March 2015.
Early life
Richard was born on 2 October 1452, at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire, the eleventh of the twelve children of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the youngest to survive infancy. His childhood coincided with the beginning of what has traditionally been labelled the 'Wars of the Roses', a period of political instability and periodic open civil war in England during the second half of the fifteenth century, between the Yorkists, who supported Richard's father (a potential claimant to the throne of King Henry VI from birth), and opposed the regime of Henry VI and his wife, Margaret of Anjou, and the Lancastrians, who were loyal to the crown. In 1459, his father and the Yorkists were forced to flee England, whereupon Richard and his older brother George were placed in the custody of their aunt Anne Neville, Duchess of Buckingham, and possibly of Cardinal Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury.
When their father and elder brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland, were killed at the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December 1460, Richard and George were sent by their mother to the Low Countries. They returned to England following the defeat of the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton. They participated in the coronation of their eldest brother as King Edward IV on 28 June 1461, when Richard was named Duke of Gloucester and made both a Knight of the Garter and a Knight of the Bath. Edward appointed him the sole Commissioner of Array for the Western Counties in 1464 when he was 11. By the age of 17, he had an independent command.
Richard spent several years during his childhood at Middleham Castle in Wensleydale, Yorkshire, under the tutelage of his cousin Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, later known as 'the Kingmaker' because of his role in the Wars of the Roses. Warwick supervised Richard's training as a knight; in the autumn of 1465, Edward IV granted Warwick £1000 for the expenses of his younger brother's tutelage. With some interruptions, Richard stayed at Middleham either from late 1461 until early 1465, when he was 12 or from 1465 until his coming of age in 1468, when he turned 16. While at Warwick's estate, it is likely that he met both Francis Lovell, who would be his firm supporter later in his life, and Warwick's younger daughter, his future wife Anne Neville.
It is possible that even at this early stage Warwick was considering the king's brothers as strategic matches for his daughters, Isabel and Anne: young aristocrats were often sent to be raised in the households of their intended future partners, as had been the case for the young dukes' father, Richard of York. As the relationship between the king and Warwick became strained, Edward IV opposed the match. During Warwick's lifetime, George was the only royal brother to marry one of his daughters, the elder, Isabel, on 12 July 1469, without the king's permission. George joined his father-in-law's revolt against the king, while Richard remained loyal to Edward, even though he was rumoured to have been sleeping with Anne.
Richard and Edward were forced to flee to Burgundy in October 1470 after Warwick defected to the side of the former Lancastrian queen Margaret of Anjou. In 1468, Richard's sister Margaret had married Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy, and the brothers could expect a welcome there. Edward was restored to the throne in the spring of 1471, following the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, in both of which the 18-year-old Richard played a crucial role.
During his adolescence, and due to a cause that is unknown, Richard developed a sideways curvature of the spine (Scoliosis). In 2014, after the discovery of Richard's remains, the osteoarchaeologist Dr. Jo Appleby, of Leicester University's School of Archaeology and Ancient History, imaged the spinal column, and reconstructed a model using 3D printing, and concluded that though the spinal scoliosis looked dramatic, it probably did not cause any major physical deformity that could not be disguised by clothing.
Marriage and family relationships
Following a decisive Yorkist victory over the Lancastrians at the Battle of Tewkesbury, Richard married Anne Neville on 12 July 1472. By the end of 1470 Anne had previously been wedded to Edward of Westminster, only son of Henry VI, to seal her father's allegiance to the Lancastrian party. Edward died at the Battle of Tewkesbury on 4 May 1471, while Warwick had died at the Battle of Barnet on 14 April 1471. Richard's marriage plans brought him into conflict with his brother George. John Paston's letter of 17 February 1472 makes it clear that George was not happy about the marriage but grudgingly accepted it on the basis that "he may well have my Lady his sister-in-law, but they shall part no livelihood". The reason was the inheritance Anne shared with her elder sister Isabel, whom George had married in 1469. It was not only the earldom that was at stake; Richard Neville had inherited it as a result of his marriage to Anne Beauchamp, 16th Countess of Warwick. The Countess, who was still alive, was technically the owner of the substantial Beauchamp estates, her father having left no male heirs.
The Croyland Chronicle records that Richard agreed to a prenuptial contract in the following terms: "the marriage of the Duke of Gloucester with Anne before-named was to take place, and he was to have such and so much of the earl's lands as should be agreed upon between them through the mediation of arbitrators; while all the rest were to remain in the possession of the Duke of Clarence". The date of Paston's letter suggests the marriage was still being negotiated in February 1472. In order to win George's final consent to the marriage, Richard renounced most of the Earl of Warwick's land and property including the earldoms of Warwick (which the Kingmaker had held in his wife's right) and Salisbury and surrendered to George the office of Great Chamberlain of England. Richard retained Neville's forfeit estates he had already been granted in the summer of 1471: Penrith, Sheriff Hutton and Middleham, where he later established his marital household.
The requisite papal dispensation was obtained dated 22 April 1472. Michael Hicks has suggested that the terms of the dispensation deliberately understated the degrees of consanguinity between the couple, and the marriage was therefore illegal on the ground of first degree consanguinity following George's marriage to Anne's sister Isabel. There would have been first-degree consanguinity if Richard had sought to marry Isabel (in case of widowhood) after she had married his brother George, but no such consanguinity applied for Anne and Richard. Richard's marriage to Anne was never declared null, and it was public to everyone including secular and canon lawyers for 13 years.
In June 1473, Richard persuaded his mother-in-law to leave the sanctuary and come to live under his protection at Middleham. Later in the year, under the terms of the 1473 Act of Resumption, George lost some of the property he held under royal grant and made no secret of his displeasure. John Paston's letter of November 1473 says that King Edward planned to put both his younger brothers in their place by acting as "a stifler atween them". Early in 1474, Parliament assembled and Edward attempted to reconcile his brothers by stating that both men, and their wives, would enjoy the Warwick inheritance just as if the Countess of Warwick "was naturally dead". The doubts cast by George on the validity of Richard and Anne's marriage were addressed by a clause protecting their rights in the event they were divorced (i.e. of their marriage being declared null and void by the Church) and then legally remarried to each other, and also protected Richard's rights while waiting for such a valid second marriage with Anne. The following year, Richard was rewarded with all the Neville lands in the north of England, at the expense of Anne's cousin, George Neville, 1st Duke of Bedford. From this point, George seems to have fallen steadily out of King Edward's favour, his discontent coming to a head in 1477 when, following Isabel's death, he was denied the opportunity to marry Mary of Burgundy, the stepdaughter of his sister Margaret, even though Margaret approved the proposed match. There is no evidence of Richard's involvement in George's subsequent conviction and execution on a charge of treason.
Reign of Edward IV
Estates and titles
Richard was granted the Duchy of Gloucester on 1 November 1461, and on 12 August the next year was awarded large estates in northern England, including the lordships of Richmond in Yorkshire, and Pembroke in Wales. He gained the forfeited lands of the Lancastrian John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, in East Anglia. In 1462, on his birthday, he was made Constable of Gloucester and Corfe Castles and Admiral of England, Ireland and Aquitaine and appointed Governor of the North, becoming the richest and most powerful noble in England. On 17 October 1469, he was made Constable of England. In November, he replaced William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, as Chief Justice of North Wales. The following year, he was appointed Chief Steward and Chamberlain of Wales. On 18 May 1471, Richard was named Great Chamberlain and Lord High Admiral of England. Other positions followed: High Sheriff of Cumberland for life, Lieutenant of the North and Commander-in-Chief against the Scots and hereditary Warden of the West March. Two months later, on 14 July, he gained the Lordships of the strongholds Sheriff Hutton and Middleham in Yorkshire and Penrith in Cumberland, which had belonged to Warwick the Kingmaker. It is possible that the grant of Middleham seconded Richard's personal wishes.
Exile and return
During the latter part of Edward IV's reign, Richard demonstrated his loyalty to the king, in contrast to their brother George who had allied himself with the Earl of Warwick when the latter rebelled towards the end of the 1460s. Following Warwick's 1470 rebellion, before which he had made peace with Margaret of Anjou and promised the restoration of Henry VI to the English throne, Richard, the Baron Hastings and Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, escaped capture at Doncaster by Warwick's brother, John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu. On 2 October they sailed from King's Lynn in two ships; Edward landed at Marsdiep and Richard at Zeeland. It was said that, having left England in such haste as to possess almost nothing, Edward was forced to pay their passage with his fur cloak; certainly, Richard borrowed three pounds from Zeeland's town bailiff. They were attainted by Warwick's only Parliament on 26 November. They resided in Bruges with Louis de Gruthuse, who had been the Burgundian Ambassador to Edward's court, but it was not until Louis XI of France declared war on Burgundy that Charles, Duke of Burgundy, assisted their return, providing, along with the Hanseatic merchants, £20,000, 36 ships and 1200 men. They departed Flushing for England on 11 March 1471. Warwick's arrest of local sympathisers prevented them from landing in Yorkist East Anglia and on 14 March, after being separated in a storm, their ships ran ashore at Holderness. The town of Hull refused Edward entry. He gained entry to York by using the same claim as Henry of Bolingbroke had before deposing Richard II in 1399; that is, that he was merely reclaiming the Dukedom of York rather than the crown. It was in Edward's attempt to regain his throne that Richard began to demonstrate his skill as a military commander.
1471 military campaign
Once Edward had regained the support of his brother George, he mounted a swift and decisive campaign to regain the crown through combat; it is believed that Richard was his principal lieutenant as some of the king's earliest support came from members of Richard's affinity, including Sir James Harrington and Sir William Parr, who brought 600 men-at-arms to them at Doncaster. Richard may have led the vanguard at the Battle of Barnet, in his first command, on 14 April 1471, where he outflanked the wing of Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, although the degree to which his command was fundamental may have been exaggerated. That Richard's personal household sustained losses indicates he was in the thick of the fighting. A contemporary source is clear about his holding the vanguard for Edward at Tewkesbury, deployed against the Lancastrian vanguard under Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset, on 4 May 1471, and his role two days later, as Constable of England, sitting alongside John Howard as Earl Marshal, in the trial and sentencing of leading Lancastrians captured after the battle.
1475 invasion of France
At least in part resentful of King Louis XI's previous support of his Lancastrian opponents, and possibly in support of his brother-in-law Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, Edward went to parliament in October 1472 for funding a military campaign, and eventually landed in Calais on 4 July 1475. Richard's was the largest private contingent of his army. Although well known to have publicly been against the eventual treaty signed with Louis XI at Picquigny (and absent from the negotiations, in which one of his rank would have been expected to take a leading role), he acted as Edward's witness when the king instructed his delegates to the French court, and received 'some very fine presents' from Louis on a visit to the French king at Amiens. In refusing other gifts, which included 'pensions' in the guise of 'tribute', he was joined only by Cardinal Bourchier. He supposedly disapproved of Edward's policy of personally benefiting—politically and financially—from a campaign paid for out of a parliamentary grant, and hence out of public funds. Any military prowess was therefore not to be revealed further until the last years of Edward's reign.
The North, and the Council in the North
Richard was the dominant magnate in the north of England until Edward IV's death. There, and especially in the city of York, he was highly regarded; although it has been questioned whether this view was reciprocated by Richard. Edward IV delegated significant authority to Richard in the region. Kendall and later historians have suggested that this was with the intention of making Richard the Lord of the North; Peter Booth, however, has argued that "instead of allowing his brother Richard carte blanche, [Edward] restricted his influence by using his own agent, Sir William Parr." Following Richard's accession to the throne, he first established the Council of the North and made his nephew John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln, president and formally institutionalised this body as an offshoot of the royal Council; all its letters and judgements were issued on behalf of the king and in his name. The council had a budget of 2000 marks per annum and had issued "Regulations" by July of that year: councillors to act impartially and declare vested interests, and to meet at least every three months. Its main focus of operations was Yorkshire and the north-east, and its primary responsibilities were land disputes, keeping of the king's peace, and punishing lawbreakers.
War with Scotland
Richard's increasing role in the north from the mid-1470s to some extent explains his withdrawal from the royal court. He had been Warden of the West March on the Scottish border since 10 September 1470, and again from May 1471; he used Penrith as a base while 'taking effectual measures' against the Scots, and 'enjoyed the revenues of the estates' of the Forest of Cumberland while doing so. It was at the same time that the Duke of Gloucester was appointed sheriff of Cumberland five consecutive years, being described as 'of Penrith Castle' in 1478. By 1480, war with Scotland was looming; on 12 May that year he was appointed Lieutenant-General of the North (a position created for the occasion) as fears of a Scottish invasion grew. Louis XI of France had attempted to negotiate a military alliance with Scotland (in the tradition of the "Auld Alliance"), with the aim of attacking England, according to a contemporary French chronicler. Richard had the authority to summon the Border Levies and issue Commissions of Array to repel the Border raids. Together with the Earl of Northumberland, he launched counter-raids, and when the king and council formally declared war in November 1480, he was granted £10,000 for wages. The king failed to arrive to lead the English army and the result was intermittent skirmishing until early 1482. Richard witnessed the treaty with Alexander, Duke of Albany, brother of King James III of Scotland. Northumberland, Stanley, Dorset, Sir Edward Woodville, and Richard with approximately 20,000 men took the town of Berwick almost immediately. The castle held until 24 August 1482, when Richard recaptured Berwick-upon-Tweed from the Kingdom of Scotland. Although it is debatable whether the English victory was due more to internal Scottish divisions rather than any outstanding military prowess by Richard, it was the last time that the Royal Burgh of Berwick changed hands between the two realms.
Lord Protector
On the death of Edward IV on 9 April 1483, his 12-year-old son, Edward V, succeeded him. Richard was named Lord Protector of the Realm and at Baron Hastings' urging, Richard assumed his role and left his base in Yorkshire for London. On 29 April, as previously agreed, Richard and his cousin, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, met Queen Elizabeth's brother, Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, at Northampton. At the queen's request, Earl Rivers was escorting the young king to London with an armed escort of 2000 men, while Richard and Buckingham's joint escort was 600 men. Edward V himself had been sent further south to Stony Stratford. At first convivial, Richard had Earl Rivers, his nephew Richard Grey and his associate, Thomas Vaughan, arrested. They were taken to Pontefract Castle, where they were executed on 25 June on the charge of treason against the Lord Protector after appearing before a tribunal led by Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. Rivers had appointed Richard as executor of his will.
After having Rivers arrested, Richard and Buckingham moved to Stony Stratford, where Richard informed Edward V of a plot aimed at denying him his role as protector and whose perpetrators had been dealt with. He proceeded to escort the king to London. They entered the city on 4 May, displaying the carriages of weapons Rivers had taken with his 2000-man army. Richard first accommodated Edward in the Bishop's apartments; then, on Buckingham's suggestion, the king was moved to the royal apartments of the Tower of London, where kings customarily awaited their coronation. Within the year 1483, Richard had moved himself to the grandeur of Crosby Hall, London, then in Bishopsgate in the City of London. Robert Fabyan, in his 'The new chronicles of England and of France', writes that "the Duke caused the King (Edward V) to be removed unto the Tower and his broder with hym, and the Duke lodged himselfe in Crosbyes Place in Bisshoppesgate Strete." In Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, he accounts that "little by little all folke withdrew from the Tower, and drew unto Crosbies in Bishops gates Street, where the Protector kept his houshold. The Protector had the resort; the King in maner desolate."
On hearing the news of her brother's 30 April arrest, the dowager queen fled to sanctuary in Westminster Abbey. Joining her were her son by her first marriage, Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset; her five daughters; and her youngest son, Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. On 10/11 June, Richard wrote to Ralph, Lord Neville, the City of York and others asking for their support against "the Queen, her blood adherents and affinity," whom he suspected of plotting his murder. At a council meeting on Friday 13 June at the Tower of London, Richard accused Hastings and others of having conspired against him with the Woodvilles and accusing Jane Shore, lover to both Hastings and Thomas Grey, of acting as a go-between. According to Thomas More, Hastings was taken out of the council chambers and summarily executed in the courtyard, while others, like Lord Thomas Stanley and John Morton, Bishop of Ely, were arrested. Hastings was not attainted and Richard sealed an indenture that placed Hastings' widow, Katherine, directly under his own protection. Bishop Morton was released into the custody of Buckingham. On 16 June, the dowager queen agreed to hand over the Duke of York to the Archbishop of Canterbury so that he might attend his brother Edward's coronation, still planned for 22 June.
King of England
A clergyman (Bishop Robert Stillington) is said to have informed Richard that Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was invalid because of Edward's earlier union with Eleanor Butler, making Edward V and his siblings illegitimate. The identity of the informant, known only through the memoirs of French diplomat Philippe de Commines, was Robert Stillington, the Bishop of Bath and Wells. On Sunday 22 June, a sermon was preached outside Old St. Paul's Cathedral by Ralph Shaa, declaring Edward IV's children bastards and Richard the rightful king. Shortly after, the citizens of London, both nobles and commons, convened and drew up a petition asking Richard to assume the throne. He accepted on 26 June and was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 6 July. His title to the throne was confirmed by Parliament in January 1484 by the document Titulus Regius.
The princes, who were still lodged in the royal residence of the Tower of London at the time of Richard's coronation, disappeared from sight after the summer of 1483. Although after his death Richard III was accused of having Edward and his brother killed, notably by More and in Shakespeare's play, the facts surrounding their disappearance remain unknown. Other culprits have been suggested, including Buckingham and even Henry VII, although Richard remains a suspect.
After the coronation ceremony, Richard and Anne set out on a royal progress to meet their subjects. During this journey through the country, the king and queen endowed King's College and Queens' College at Cambridge University, and made grants to the church. Still feeling a strong bond with his northern estates, Richard later planned the establishment of a large chantry chapel in York Minster with over 100 priests. He also founded the College of Arms.
Buckingham's rebellion of 1483
In 1483, a conspiracy arose among a number of disaffected gentry, many of whom had been supporters of Edward IV and the "whole Yorkist establishment". The conspiracy was nominally led by Richard's former ally, the Duke of Buckingham, although it had begun as a Woodville-Beaufort conspiracy (being "well underway" by the time of the Duke's involvement). Indeed, Davies has suggested that it was "only the subsequent parliamentary attainder that placed Buckingham at the centre of events", in order to blame a single disaffected magnate motivated by greed, rather than "the embarrassing truth" that those opposing Richard were actually "overwhelmingly Edwardian loyalists". It is possible that they planned to depose Richard III and place Edward V back on the throne, and that when rumours arose that Edward and his brother were dead, Buckingham proposed that Henry Tudor should return from exile, take the throne and marry Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV. However, it has also been pointed out that as this narrative stems from Richard's own parliament of 1484, it should probably be treated "with caution". For his part, Buckingham raised a substantial force from his estates in Wales and the Marches. Henry, in exile in Brittany, enjoyed the support of the Breton treasurer Pierre Landais, who hoped Buckingham's victory would cement an alliance between Brittany and England.
Some of Henry Tudor's ships ran into a storm and were forced to return to Brittany or Normandy, while Henry himself anchored off Plymouth for a week before learning of Buckingham's failure. Buckingham's army was troubled by the same storm and deserted when Richard's forces came against them. Buckingham tried to escape in disguise, but was either turned in by a retainer for the bounty Richard had put on his head, or was discovered in hiding with him. He was convicted of treason and beheaded in Salisbury, near the Bull's Head Inn, on 2 November. His widow, Catherine Woodville, later married Jasper Tudor, the uncle of Henry Tudor. Richard made overtures to Landais, offering military support for Landais's weak regime under Francis II, Duke of Brittany, in exchange for Henry. Henry fled to Paris, where he secured support from the French regent Anne of Beaujeu, who supplied troops for an invasion in 1485.
Death at the Battle of Bosworth Field
On Monday 22 August 1485, Richard met the outnumbered forces of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Richard rode a white courser (an especially swift and strong horse). The size of Richard's army has been estimated at 8,000 and Henry's at 5,000, but exact numbers are not known, though the royal army is believed to have "substantially" outnumbered Henry's. The traditional view of the king's famous cries of "Treason!" before falling was that during the battle Richard was abandoned by Baron Stanley (made Earl of Derby in October), Sir William Stanley, and Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. However, the role of Northumberland is unclear; his position was with the reserve—behind the king's line—and he could not easily have moved forward without a general royal advance, which did not take place. Indeed, the physical confines behind the crest of Ambion Hill, combined with a difficulty of communications, probably physically hampered any attempt he made to join the fray. Despite appearing "a pillar of the Ricardian regime", and his previous loyalty to Edward IV, Baron Stanley was the stepfather of Henry Tudor, and Stanley's inaction combined with his brother's entering the battle on Tudor's behalf was fundamental to Richard's defeat. The death of Richard's close companion John Howard, Duke of Norfolk, may have had a demoralising effect on the king and his men. Either way, Richard led a cavalry charge deep into the enemy ranks in an attempt to end the battle quickly by striking at Henry Tudor himself.
Accounts note that King Richard fought bravely and ably during this manoeuvre, unhorsing Sir John Cheyne, a well-known jousting champion, killing Henry's standard bearer Sir William Brandon and coming within a sword's length of Henry Tudor before being surrounded by Sir William Stanley's men and killed. The Burgundian chronicler Jean Molinet says that a Welshman struck the death-blow with a halberd while Richard's horse was stuck in the marshy ground. It was said that the blows were so violent that the king's helmet was driven into his skull. The contemporary Welsh poet Guto'r Glyn implies a leading Welsh Lancastrian, Rhys ap Thomas, or one of his men killed the king, writing that he "killed the boar, shaved his head". The identification in 2013 of King Richard's body shows that the skeleton had 11 wounds, eight of them to the skull, clearly inflicted in battle and suggesting he had lost his helmet. Professor Guy Rutty, from the University of Leicester, said: "The most likely injuries to have caused the king's death are the two to the inferior aspect of the skull—a large sharp force trauma possibly from a sword or staff weapon, such as a halberd or bill, and a penetrating injury from the tip of an edged weapon." The skull showed that a blade had hacked away part of the rear of the skull. Richard III was the last English king to be killed in battle. Henry Tudor succeeded Richard as King Henry VII. He married the Yorkist heiress Elizabeth of York, Edward IV's daughter and Richard III's niece.
Polydore Vergil, Henry VII's official historian, recorded that "King Richard, alone, was killed fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies". Richard's naked body was then carried back to Leicester tied to a horse, and early sources strongly suggest that it was displayed in the collegiate Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke, prior to being buried at Greyfriars Church in Leicester. In 1495, Henry VII paid for a marble and alabaster monument. According to a discredited tradition, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, his body was thrown into the River Soar, although other evidence suggests that a memorial stone was visible in 1612, in a garden built on the site of Greyfriars. The exact location was then lost, owing to more than 400 years of subsequent development, until archaeological investigations in 2012 revealed the site of the garden and Greyfriars Church. There was a memorial ledger stone in the choir of the cathedral, since replaced by the tomb of the king, and a stone plaque on Bow Bridge where tradition had falsely suggested that his remains had been thrown into the river.
According to another tradition, Richard consulted a seer in Leicester before the battle who foretold that "where your spur should strike on the ride into battle, your head shall be broken on the return". On the ride into battle, his spur struck the bridge stone of Bow Bridge in the city; legend states that as his corpse was carried from the battle over the back of a horse, his head struck the same stone and was broken open.
Issue
Richard and Anne had one son, Edward of Middleham, who was born between 1474 and 1476. He was created Earl of Salisbury on 15 February 1478, and Prince of Wales on 24 August 1483, and died in March 1484, less than two months after he had been formally declared heir apparent. After the death of his son, Richard appointed his nephew John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, as Lieutenant of Ireland, an office previously held by his son Edward. Lincoln was the son of Richard's older sister, Elizabeth, Duchess of Suffolk. After his wife's death, Richard commenced negotiations with John II of Portugal to marry John's pious sister, Joanna, Princess of Portugal. She had already turned down several suitors because of her preference for the religious life.
Richard had two acknowledged illegitimate children, John of Gloucester and Katherine Plantagenet. Also known as 'John of Pontefract', John of Gloucester was appointed Captain of Calais in 1485. Katherine married William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, in 1484. Neither the birth dates nor the names of the mothers of either of the children is known. Katherine was old enough to be wedded in 1484, when the age of consent was twelve, and John was knighted in September 1483 in York Minster, and so most historians agree that they were both fathered when Richard was a teenager. There is no evidence of infidelity on Richard's part after his marriage to Anne Neville in 1472 when he was around 20. This has led to a suggestion by the historian A. L. Rowse that Richard "had no interest in sex".
Michael Hicks and Josephine Wilkinson have suggested that Katherine's mother may have been Katherine Haute, on the basis of the grant of an annual payment of 100 shillings made to her in 1477. The Haute family was related to the Woodvilles through the marriage of Elizabeth Woodville's aunt, Joan Woodville, to William Haute. One of their children was Richard Haute, Controller of the Prince's Household. Their daughter, Alice, married Sir John Fogge; they were ancestors to Catherine Parr, sixth wife of King Henry VIII. They also suggest that John's mother may have been Alice Burgh. Richard visited Pontefract from 1471, in April and October 1473, and in early March 1474, for a week. On 1 March 1474, he granted Alice Burgh £20 a year for life "for certain special causes and considerations". She later received another allowance, apparently for being engaged as a nurse for his brother George's son, Edward of Warwick. Richard continued her annuity when he became king. John Ashdown-Hill has suggested that John was conceived during Richard's first solo expedition to the eastern counties in the summer of 1467 at the invitation of John Howard and that the boy was born in 1468 and named after his friend and supporter. Richard himself noted John was still a minor (not being yet 21) when he issued the royal patent appointing him Captain of Calais on 11 March 1485, possibly on his seventeenth birthday.
Both of Richard's illegitimate children survived him, but they seem to have died without issue and their fate after Richard's demise at Bosworth is not certain. John received a £20 annuity from Henry VII, but there are no mentions of him in contemporary records after 1487 (the year of the Battle of Stoke Field). He may have been executed in 1499, though no record of this exists beyond an assertion by George Buck over a century later. Katherine apparently died before her cousin Elizabeth of York's coronation on 25 November 1487, since her husband Sir William Herbert is described as a widower by that time. Katherine's burial place was located in the London parish church of St James Garlickhithe, between Skinner's Lane and Upper Thames Street. The mysterious Richard Plantagenet, who was first mentioned in Francis Peck's Desiderata Curiosa (a two-volume miscellany published 1732–1735) was said to be a possible illegitimate child of Richard III and is sometimes referred to as "Richard the Master-Builder" or "Richard of Eastwell", but it has also been suggested he could have been Richard, Duke of York, one of the missing Princes in the Tower. He died in 1550.
Legacy
Richard's Council of the North, described as his "one major institutional innovation", derived from his ducal council following his own viceregal appointment by Edward IV; when Richard himself became king, he maintained the same conciliar structure in his absence. It officially became part of the royal council machinery under the presidency of John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln in April 1484, based at Sandal Castle in Wakefield. It is considered to have greatly improved conditions for northern England, as it was intended to keep the peace and punish lawbreakers, as well as resolve land disputes. Bringing regional governance directly under the control of central government, it has been described as the king's "most enduring monument", surviving unchanged until 1641.
In December 1483, Richard instituted what later became known as the Court of Requests, a court to which poor people who could not afford legal representation could apply for their grievances to be heard. He also improved bail in January 1484, to protect suspected felons from imprisonment before trial and to protect their property from seizure during that time. He founded the College of Arms in 1484, he banned restrictions on the printing and sale of books, and he ordered the translation of the written Laws and Statutes from the traditional French into English. During his reign, Parliament ended the arbitrary benevolence (a device by which Edward IV raised funds), made it punishable to conceal from a buyer of land that a part of the property had already been disposed of to somebody else, required that land sales be published, laid down property qualifications for jurors, restricted the abusive Courts of Piepowders, regulated cloth sales, instituted certain forms of trade protectionism, prohibited the sale of wine and oil in fraudulent measure, and prohibited fraudulent collection of clergy dues, among others. Churchill implies he improved the law of trusts.
Richard's death at Bosworth resulted in the end of the Plantagenet dynasty, which had ruled England since the succession of Henry II in 1154. The last legitimate male Plantagenet, Richard's nephew Edward, Earl of Warwick (son of his brother George, Duke of Clarence), was executed by Henry VII in 1499.
Reputation
There are numerous contemporary, or near-contemporary, sources of information about the reign of Richard III. These include the Croyland Chronicle, Commines' Mémoires, the report of Dominic Mancini, the Paston Letters, the Chronicles of Robert Fabyan and numerous court and official records, including a few letters by Richard himself. However, the debate about Richard's true character and motives continues, both because of the subjectivity of many of the written sources, reflecting the generally partisan nature of writers of this period, and because none was written by men with an intimate knowledge of Richard.
During Richard's reign, the historian John Rous praised him as a "good lord" who punished "oppressors of the commons", adding that he had "a great heart". In 1483 the Italian observer Mancini reported that Richard enjoyed a good reputation and that both "his private life and public activities powerfully attracted the esteem of strangers". His bond to the City of York, in particular, was such that on hearing of Richard's demise at the battle of Bosworth the City Council officially deplored the king's death, at the risk of facing the victor's wrath.
During his lifetime he was the subject of some attacks. Even in the North in 1482 a man was prosecuted for offences against the Duke of Gloucester, saying he did "nothing but grin at" the city of York. In 1484, attempts to discredit him took the form of hostile placards, the only surviving one being William Collingbourne's lampoon of July 1484 "The Cat, the Rat, and Lovell the Dog, all rule England under a Hog" which was pinned to the door of St. Paul's Cathedral and referred to Richard himself (the Hog) and his most trusted councillors William Catesby, Richard Ratcliffe and Francis, Viscount Lovell. On 30 March 1485 Richard felt forced to summon the Lords and London City Councillors to publicly deny the rumours that he had poisoned Queen Anne and that he had planned a marriage to his niece Elizabeth, at the same time ordering the Sheriff of London to imprison anyone spreading such slanders. The same orders were issued throughout the realm, including York where the royal pronouncement recorded in the City Records dates 5 April 1485 and carries specific instructions to suppress seditious talk and remove and destroy evidently hostile placards unread.
As for Richard's physical appearance, most contemporary descriptions bear out the evidence that aside from having one shoulder higher than the other (with chronicler Rous not able to correctly remember which one, as slight as the difference was), Richard had no other noticeable bodily deformity. John Stow talked to old men who, remembering him, said "that he was of bodily shape comely enough, only of low stature" and a German traveller, Nicolas von Poppelau, who spent ten days in Richard's household in May 1484, describes him as "three fingers taller than himself...much more lean, with delicate arms and legs and also a great heart." Six years after Richard's death, in 1491, a schoolmaster named William Burton, on hearing a defence of Richard, launched into a diatribe, accusing the dead king of being "a hypocrite and a crookback...who was deservedly buried in a ditch like a dog."
Richard's death encouraged the furtherance of this later negative image by his Tudor successors due to the fact that it helped to legitimise Henry VII's seizure of the throne. The Richard III Society contends that this means that "a lot of what people thought they knew about Richard III was pretty much propaganda and myth building." The Tudor characterisation culminated in the famous fictional portrayal of him in Shakespeare's play Richard III as a physically deformed, Machiavellian villain, ruthlessly committing numerous murders in order to claw his way to power; Shakespeare's intention perhaps being to use Richard III as a vehicle for creating his own Marlowesque protagonist. Rous himself in his History of the Kings of England, written during Henry VII's reign, initiated the process. He reversed his earlier position, and now portrayed Richard as a freakish individual who was born with teeth and shoulder-length hair after having been in his mother's womb for two years. His body was stunted and distorted, with one shoulder higher than the other, and he was "slight in body and weak in strength". Rous also attributes the murder of Henry VI to Richard, and claims that he poisoned his own wife. Jeremy Potter, a former Chair of the Richard III Society, claims that "At the bar of history Richard III continues to be guilty because it is impossible to prove him innocent. The Tudors ride high in popular esteem."
Polydore Vergil and Thomas More expanded on this portrayal, emphasising Richard's outward physical deformities as a sign of his inwardly twisted mind. More describes him as "little of stature, ill-featured of limbs, crook-backed ... hard-favoured of visage". Vergil also says he was "deformed of body ... one shoulder higher than the right". Both emphasise that Richard was devious and flattering, while planning the downfall of both his enemies and supposed friends. Richard's good qualities were his cleverness and bravery. All these characteristics are repeated by Shakespeare, who portrays him as having a hunch, a limp and a withered arm. With regard to the "hunch", the second quarto edition of Richard III (1598) used the term "hunched-backed" but in the First Folio edition (1623) it became "bunch-backed".
Richard's reputation as a promoter of legal fairness persisted, however. William Camden in his Remains Concerning Britain (1605) states that Richard, "albeit he lived wickedly, yet made good laws". Francis Bacon also states that he was "a good lawmaker for the ease and solace of the common people". In 1525, Cardinal Wolsey upbraided the aldermen and Mayor of London for relying on a statute of Richard to avoid paying an extorted tax (benevolence) but received the reply "although he did evil, yet in his time were many good acts made."
Richard was a practising Catholic, as shown by his personal Book of Hours, surviving in the Lambeth Palace library. As well as conventional aristocratic devotional texts, the book contains a Collect of Saint Ninian, referencing a saint popular in the Anglo-Scottish Borders.
Despite this, the image of Richard as a ruthless tyrant remained dominant in the 18th and 19th centuries. The 18th-century philosopher and historian David Hume described him as a man who used dissimulation to conceal "his fierce and savage nature" and who had "abandoned all principles of honour and humanity". Hume acknowledged that some historians have argued "that he was well qualified for government, had he legally obtained it; and that he committed no crimes but such as were necessary to procure him possession of the crown", but he dismissed this view on the grounds that Richard's exercise of arbitrary power encouraged instability. The most important late 19th century biographer of the king was James Gairdner, who also wrote the entry on Richard in the Dictionary of National Biography. Gairdner stated that he had begun to study Richard with a neutral viewpoint, but became convinced that Shakespeare and More were essentially correct in their view of the king, despite some exaggerations.
Richard was not without his defenders, the first of whom was Sir George Buck, a descendant of one of the king's supporters, who completed The history of King Richard the Third in 1619. The authoritative Buck text was published only in 1979, though a corrupted version was published by Buck's great-nephew in 1646. Buck attacked the "improbable imputations and strange and spiteful scandals" related by Tudor writers, including Richard's alleged deformities and murders. He located lost archival material, including the Titulus Regius, but also claimed to have seen a letter written by Elizabeth of York, according to which Elizabeth sought to marry the king. Elizabeth's supposed letter was never produced. Documents which later emerged from the Portuguese royal archives show that after Queen Anne's death, Richard's ambassadors were sent on a formal errand to negotiate a double marriage between Richard and the Portuguese king's sister Joanna, of Lancastrian descent, and between Elizabeth of York and Joanna's cousin Manuel, Duke of Viseu (later King of Portugal).
Significant among Richard's defenders was Horace Walpole. In Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third (1768), Walpole disputed all the alleged murders and argued that Richard may have acted in good faith. He also argued that any physical abnormality was probably no more than a minor distortion of the shoulders. However, he retracted his views in 1793 after the Terror, stating he now believed that Richard could have committed the crimes he was charged with, although Pollard observes that this retraction is frequently overlooked by later admirers of Richard. Other defenders of Richard include the noted explorer Clements Markham, whose Richard III: His Life and Character (1906) replied to the work of Gairdner. He argued that Henry VII killed the princes and that the bulk of evidence against Richard was nothing more than Tudor propaganda. An intermediate view was provided by Alfred Legge in The Unpopular King (1885). Legge argued that Richard's "greatness of soul" was eventually "warped and dwarfed" by the ingratitude of others.
Some twentieth-century historians have been less inclined to moral judgement, seeing Richard's actions as a product of the unstable times. In the words of Charles Ross, "the later fifteenth century in England is now seen as a ruthless and violent age as concerns the upper ranks of society, full of private feuds, intimidation, land-hunger, and litigiousness, and consideration of Richard's life and career against this background has tended to remove him from the lonely pinnacle of Villainy Incarnate on which Shakespeare had placed him. Like most men, he was conditioned by the standards of his age." The Richard III Society, founded in 1924 as "The Fellowship of the White Boar", is the oldest of several groups dedicated to improving his reputation. Other contemporary historians still describe him as a "power-hungry and ruthless politician" who was still most probably "ultimately responsible for the murder of his nephews."
In culture
Apart from Shakespeare, Richard appears in many other works of literature. Two other plays of the Elizabethan era predated Shakespeare's work. The Latin-language drama Richardus Tertius (first known performance in 1580) by Thomas Legge is believed to be the first history play written in England. The anonymous play The True Tragedy of Richard III (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work, was probably an influence on Shakespeare. Neither of the two plays places any emphasis on Richard's physical appearance, though the True Tragedy briefly mentions that he is "A man ill shaped, crooked backed, lame armed" and "valiantly minded, but tyrannous in authority". Both portray him as a man motivated by personal ambition, who uses everyone around him to get his way. Ben Jonson is also known to have written a play Richard Crookback in 1602, but it was never published and nothing is known about its portrayal of the king.
Marjorie Bowen's 1929 novel Dickon set the trend for pro-Ricardian literature. Particularly influential was The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey, in which a modern detective concludes that Richard III is innocent in the death of the Princes. Other novelists such as Valerie Anand in the novel Crown of Roses (1989) have also offered alternative versions to the theory that he murdered them. Sharon Kay Penman, in her historical novel The Sunne in Splendour, attributes the death of the Princes to the Duke of Buckingham. In the mystery novel The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters (1974) the central plot revolves around the debate as to whether Richard III was guilty of these and other crimes. A sympathetic portrayal is given in The Founding (1980), the first volume in The Morland Dynasty series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.
One film adaptation of Shakespeare's play Richard III is the 1955 version directed and produced by Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. Also notable are the 1995 film version starring Ian McKellen, set in a fictional 1930s fascist England, and Looking for Richard, a 1996 documentary film directed by Al Pacino, who plays the title character as well as himself. The play has been adapted for television on several occasions.
Discovery of remains
On 24 August 2012, the University of Leicester and Leicester City Council, in association with the Richard III Society, announced that they had joined forces to begin a search for the remains of King Richard. The search for Richard III was led by Philippa Langley of the Society's Looking For Richard Project with the archaeological work led by University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS). Experts set out to locate the lost site of the former Greyfriars Church (demolished during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries), and to discover whether his remains were still interred there. By comparing fixed points between maps in a historical sequence, the search located the church, where Richard's body had been hastily buried without pomp in 1485, its foundations identifiable beneath a modern-day city centre car park.
The excavators announced on 5 September 2012 that they had identified Greyfriars Church and two days later that they had identified the location of Robert Herrick's garden, where the memorial to Richard III stood in the early 17th century. A human skeleton was found beneath the Church's choir.
Improbably, the excavators found the remains in the first location in which they dug at the car park. Coincidentally, they lay almost directly under a roughly painted R on the tarmac. This had existed since the early 2000s to signify a reserved parking space.
On 12 September, it was announced that the skeleton discovered during the search might be that of Richard III. Several reasons were given: the body was of an adult male; it was buried beneath the choir of the church; and there was severe scoliosis of the spine, possibly making one shoulder higher than the other (to what extent depended on the severity of the condition). Additionally, there was an object that appeared to be an arrowhead embedded in the spine; and there were perimortem injuries to the skull. These included a relatively shallow orifice, which is most likely to have been caused by a rondel dagger, and a scooping depression to the skull, inflicted by a bladed weapon, most probably a sword.
Further, the bottom of the skull presented a gaping hole, where a halberd had cut away and entered it. Forensic pathologist Stuart Hamilton stated that this injury would have left the individual's brain visible, and most certainly would have been the cause of death. Jo Appleby, the osteo-archaeologist who excavated the skeleton, concurred and described the latter as "a mortal battlefield wound in the back of the skull". The base of the skull also presented another fatal wound in which a bladed weapon had been thrust into it, leaving behind a jagged hole. Closer examination of the interior of the skull revealed a mark opposite this wound, showing that the blade penetrated to a depth of .
In total, the skeleton presented ten wounds: four minor injuries on the top of the skull, one dagger blow on the cheekbone, one cut on the lower jaw, two fatal injuries on the base of the skull, one cut on a rib bone, and one final wound on the pelvis, most probably inflicted after death. It is generally accepted that postmortem, Richard's naked body was tied to the back of a horse, with his arms slung over one side and his legs and buttocks over the other. This presented a tempting target for onlookers, and the angle of the blow on the pelvis suggests that one of them stabbed Richard's right buttock with substantial force, as the cut extends from the back all the way to the front of the pelvic bone and was most probably an act of humiliation. It is also possible that Richard and his corpse suffered other injuries which left no trace on the skeleton.
British historian John Ashdown-Hill had used genealogical research in 2004 to trace matrilineal descendants of Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter, Richard's elder sister. A British-born woman who emigrated to Canada after the Second World War, Joy Ibsen (), was found to be a 16th-generation great-niece of the king in the same direct maternal line. Her mitochondrial DNA was tested and belongs to mitochondrial DNA haplogroup J, which by deduction, should also be the mitochondrial DNA haplogroup of Richard III. Joy Ibsen died in 2008. Her son Michael Ibsen gave a mouth-swab sample to the research team on 24 August 2012. His mitochondrial DNA passed down the direct maternal line was compared to samples from the human remains found at the excavation site and used to identify King Richard.
On 4 February 2013, the University of Leicester confirmed that the skeleton was beyond reasonable doubt that of King Richard III. This conclusion was based on mitochondrial DNA evidence, soil analysis, and dental tests (there were some molars missing as a result of caries), as well as physical characteristics of the skeleton which are highly consistent with contemporary accounts of Richard's appearance. The team announced that the "arrowhead" discovered with the body was a Roman-era nail, probably disturbed when the body was first interred. However, there were numerous perimortem wounds on the body, and part of the skull had been sliced off with a bladed weapon; this would have caused rapid death. The team concluded that it is unlikely that the king was wearing a helmet in his last moments. Soil taken from the remains was found to contain microscopic roundworm eggs. Several eggs were found in samples taken from the pelvis, where the king's intestines were, but not from the skull and only very small numbers were identified in soil surrounding the grave. The findings suggest that the higher concentration of eggs in the pelvic area probably arose from a roundworm infection the king suffered in his life, rather than from human waste dumped in the area at a later date, researchers said. The mayor of Leicester announced that the king's skeleton would be re-interred at Leicester Cathedral in early 2014, but a judicial review of that decision delayed the reinterment for a year. A museum to Richard III was opened in July 2014 in the Victorian school buildings next to the Greyfriars grave site.
The proposal to have King Richard buried in Leicester attracted some controversy. Those who challenged the decision included fifteen "collateral [non-direct] descendants of Richard III", represented by the Plantagenet Alliance, who believed that the body should be reburied in York, as they claim the king wished. In August 2013, they filed a court case in order to contest Leicester's claim to re-inter the body within its cathedral, and propose the body be buried in York instead. However, Michael Ibsen, who gave the DNA sample that identified the king, gave his support to Leicester's claim to re-inter the body in their cathedral. On 20 August, a judge ruled that the opponents had the legal standing to contest his burial in Leicester Cathedral, despite a clause in the contract which had authorized the excavations requiring his burial there. He urged the parties, though, to settle out of court in order to "avoid embarking on the Wars of the Roses, Part Two". The Plantagenet Alliance, and the supporting fifteen collateral descendants, also faced the challenge that "Basic maths shows Richard, who had no surviving children but five siblings, could have millions of 'collateral' descendants" undermining the group's claim to represent "the only people who can speak on behalf of him". A ruling in May 2014 decreed that there are "no public law grounds for the Court interfering with the decisions in question". The remains were taken to Leicester Cathedral on 22 March 2015 and reinterred on 26 March.
On 5 February 2013 Professor Caroline Wilkinson of the University of Dundee conducted a facial reconstruction of Richard III, commissioned by the Richard III Society, based on 3D mappings of his skull. The face is described as "warm, young, earnest and rather serious". On 11 February 2014 the University of Leicester announced the project to sequence the entire genome of Richard III and one of his living relatives, Michael Ibsen, whose mitochondrial DNA confirmed the identification of the excavated remains. Richard III thus became the first ancient person of known historical identity whose genome has been sequenced. In 2016 contemporary British artist Alexander de Cadenet presented a skull portrait of Richard III in conjunction with Leicester University. The portraits have been produced using University of Leicester forensic X-ray scans of the king.
In November 2014, the results of the testing were announced, confirming that the maternal side was as previously thought. The paternal side, however, demonstrated some variance from what had been expected, with the DNA showing no links to the purported descendants of Richard's great-great-grandfather Edward III of England through Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort. This could be the result of covert illegitimacy that does not reflect the accepted genealogies between Richard and Edward III or between Edward III and the 5th Duke of Beaufort.
Reburial and tomb
After his death in battle in 1485, Richard III's body was buried in Greyfriars Church in Leicester. Following the discoveries of Richard's remains in 2012, it was decided that they should be reburied at Leicester Cathedral, despite feelings in some quarters that he should have been reburied in York Minster. His remains were carried in procession to the cathedral on 22 March 2015, and reburied on 26 March 2015 at a religious re-burial service at which both Tim Stevens, the Bishop of Leicester, and Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, officiated. The British royal family was represented by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Countess of Wessex. The actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who later portrayed him in The Hollow Crown television series, read a poem by poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy.
Richard's cathedral tomb was designed by the architects van Heyningen and Haward. The tombstone is deeply incised with a cross, and consists of a rectangular block of white Swaledale fossil stone, quarried in North Yorkshire. It sits on a low plinth made of dark Kilkenny marble, incised with Richard's name, dates and motto (Loyaulte me lie – loyalty binds me). The plinth also carries his coat of arms in pietra dura. The remains of Richard III are in a lead-lined inner casket, inside an outer English oak coffin crafted by Michael Ibsen, a direct descendant of Richard's sister Anne, and laid in a brick-lined vault below the floor, and below the plinth and tombstone. The original 2010 raised tomb design had been proposed by Langley's "Looking For Richard Project" and fully funded by members of the Richard III Society. The proposal was publicly launched by the Society on 13 February 2013 but rejected by Leicester Cathedral in favour of a memorial slab. However, following a public outcry, the Cathedral changed its position and on 18 July 2013 announced its agreement to give King Richard III a raised tomb monument.
Titles, styles, honours and arms
On 1 November 1461, Richard gained the title of Duke of Gloucester; in late 1461, he was invested as a Knight of the Garter. Following the death of King Edward IV, he was made Lord Protector of England. Richard held this office from 30 April to 26 June 1483, when he made himself king. During his reign, Richard was styled Dei Gratia Rex Angliae et Franciae et Dominus Hiberniae (by the Grace of God, King of England and France and Lord of Ireland).
Informally, he may have been known as "Dickon", according to a sixteenth-century legend of a note, warning of treachery, that was sent to the Duke of Norfolk on the eve of Bosworth:
Arms
As Duke of Gloucester, Richard used the Royal Arms of England quartered with the Royal Arms of France, differenced by a label argent of three points ermine, on each point a canton gules, supported by a blue boar. As sovereign, he used the arms of the kingdom undifferenced, supported by a white boar and a lion. His motto was Loyaulte me lie, "Loyalty binds me"; and his personal device was a white boar.
Family trees
See also
King Richard III Visitor Centre, Leicester
Ricardian (Richard III)
Richard III Museum, York
Notes
References
Sources
Further reading
External links
King Richard III Visitor Centre, Leicester
The Richard III Society website
The Richard III Society, American Branch website
Information about the discovery of Richard III from the University of Leicester
, with commentary by Pamela Tudor-Craig
1452 births
1485 deaths
15th-century English monarchs
15th-century English Navy personnel
Dukes of Gloucester
English military personnel killed in action
English people of French descent
English people with disabilities
English pretenders to the French throne
English Roman Catholics
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High Sheriffs of Cumberland
House of York
Knights of the Bath
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Lords Protector of England
Lords Warden of the Marches
Monarchs killed in action
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"The phrase \"Anyone for tennis?\" (also given as \"Tennis, anyone?\") is an English language idiom primarily of the 20th century. The phrase is used to invoke a stereotype of shallow, leisured, upper-class toffs (tennis was, particularly before the widespread advent of public courts in the later 20th century, seen as a posh game for the rich, with courts popular at country clubs and private estates). It's a stereotypical entrance or exit line given to a young man of this class in a superficial drawing-room comedy.\n\nA close paraphase of the saying, was used in George Bernard Shaw's 1914 drawing-room comedy Misalliance, in which Johnny Tarleton asks \"Anybody on for a game of tennis?\" (An 1891 story in the satirical magazine Punch put a generally similar notion in the mouth of a similar type of character: \"I’m going to see if there’s anyone on the tennis-court, and get a game if I can. Ta-ta!\".)\n\n\"Anyone for tennis?\" is particularly associated with the early career of Hollywood star Humphrey Bogart, and he is cited as the first person to use the phrase on stage. At the start of his career, in the 1920s and early 1930s, Bogart appeared in many Broadway plays in what Jeffrey Meyers characterized as \"charming and fatuous roles – in [one of] which he is supposed to have said 'Tennis, anyone?'\".\n\nIf Bogart ever did speak the line, it would have presumably been in the 1925 play Hell's Bells, set at the Tanglewood Lodge in New Dauville, Connecticut. Bogart claimed that his line in the play was \"It's forty-love outside. Anyone care to watch?\", and that indeed is what is printed in the script. However, according to Darwin Porter, director John Hayden crossed out that line and replaced it with \"Tennis anyone?\" before opening night. And several observers have asserted that he did say it, reportedly including Louella Parsons and Richard Watts Jr. Erskine Johnson, in a 1948 interview, reports Bogart as saying \"I used to play juveniles on Broadway and came bouncing into drawing rooms with a tennis racket under my arm and the line: 'Tennis anybody?' It was a stage trick to get some of the characters off the set so the plot could continue.\" But Bogart's usual stance was denial of using that precise phrase (\"The lines I had were corny enough, but I swear to you, never once did I have to say 'Tennis, anyone?'\"), although averring that it did characterize generally some of his early roles.\n\nThe phrase continued to drift through media in the 20th century and, to a diminished extent, into the 21st, often at random or just because tennis generally is the subject, rather than specifically to invoke or mock vapid toffs. It appears in the lyric of the \"Beautiful Girl Montage\" in the classic 1952 musical movie Singin' in the Rain,, in the Daffy Duck cartoons Rabbit Fire, Drip-Along Daffy and The Ducksters (1950-1951),, and in the lyric and title of the 1968 song \"Anyone for Tennis\" by the British rock band Cream, which was the theme song of the film The Savage Seven. William Holden's shallow rich playboy character jokes \"tennis, anyone?\" when flirting with Joan Vohs's in the 1954 film Sabrina (in which Bogart plays another character). The television series Anyone for Tennyson? (1976–1978) riffs on the name, as does the 1981 stage play Anyone for Denis? \"Anyone for Tennis\" is the title of the B-side instrumental for Men at Work's 1981 single Who Can It Be Now?. And so forth.\n\nThe phrase also occurs in Monty Python's spoof sketch Sam Peckinpah's \"Salad Days\".\n\nReferences \n\nEnglish phrases\nTennis culture\nQuotations from literature\nMetaphors referring to sport",
"Joseph Hayes (August 2, 1918 – September 11, 2006) was an American playwright, novelist and screenwriter born in Indianapolis, Indiana, the son of Harold Joseph, a furniture dealer, and Pearl M. Arnold Hayes. Hayes entered a Benedictine monastery at the age of thirteen, attending St. Meinrad Seminary High School in southern Indiana for two years, but graduated from Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis in 1936. He married Marrijane Johnston in 1938 and they had three children: Gregory, Jason, and Daniel. Hayes studied at Indiana University with his wife from 1938–1941.\n\nIn 1949, he brought \"Leaf and Bough\" to Broadway. In 1954, he wrote the novel The Desperate Hours, his most successful work. In an interview in 1987, Hayes said of the novel that his main influence was \"desperation\": \"I wrote it in six weeks, working 16 to 17 hours a day.\" Regarding the home invasion depicted in the novel, he said it \"was the most dramatic thing I could think of that would relate to the most people.”\n\nHayes wrote the Broadway play The Desperate Hours, which won the 1955 Tony Award for Best Play, was awarded an Edgar for Best Screenplay by the Mystery Writers of America for the 1955 film version, and received the Indiana Authors Day Award for the novel version. He was the first individual to write a novel, play, and screenplay of the same story. Hayes later wrote the screenplay for a 1990 re-make, about which he said “Since I’m the only writer who has ever done novel, play and screenplay solo from a single work of his own I can’t let anyone else at it.\"\n\nHayes co-wrote with his wife both the original novel (1956) and screenplay for the Walt Disney movie Bon Voyage! in 1962. Hayes also wrote his final Broadway play, Calculated Risk in 1962.\n\nAmong his other novels are The Hours After Midnight, Don't Go Away Mad, The Third Day, The Deep End, Like Any Other Fugitive, The Long Dark Night, Missing and Presumed Dead, Island on Fire, Winner's Circle, No Escape, and The Ways of Darkness.\n\nAmong his other plays are The Happiest Millionaire, The Midnight Sun, The Deep End, Is Anyone Listening?, Summer in Copenhagen, Impolite Comedy, and Come into my Parlor.\n\nHayes was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Service Award from Indiana University in 1970, and received the Honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Indiana University in 1972. Hayes died of Alzheimer's disease in 2006. Survivors included three sons, ten grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren.\n\nReferences\n Obituary, New York Times, September 20, 2006, by Campbell Robertson\n 10 Classic Mystery and Suspense Plays of the Modern Theatre, edited by Stanley Richards (1973)\n University Archives, Indiana University Libraries, Bloomington Indiana\n \"The Undesperate Hayes,\" The Indianapolis Star, September 11, 1983, by Alice Dailey\n\nSpecific\n\n20th-century American novelists\nAmerican male novelists\nEdgar Award winners\n1918 births\n2006 deaths\nWriters from Indianapolis\n20th-century American dramatists and playwrights\nAmerican male dramatists and playwrights\n20th-century American male writers\nNovelists from Indiana"
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"Criss Angel",
"Early career"
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how did he get started?
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how did Criss Angel get started?
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Criss Angel
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Angel has said that, "I stayed away from magicians when I was younger because I didn't want to think like them and wanted to create my own style." His first television appearance was in 1994, where he performed as a part of a one-hour ABC primetime special entitled Secrets. One of the early supporters of Angel was horror director Clive Barker. In 1995, Barker asked Angel to work with him on his film Lord of Illusions. He also later recorded the intro to Angel's album World of Illusion: System One. Barker said of Angel in the mid-1990s that, "Criss Angel is extraordinary, a spectacular mix of visionary magic. This is the future, and it can't come quickly enough." During that year, he collaborated with musician Klayton to form Angeldust, a show that combined magic with music. They released their first album Musical Conjurings from the World of Conjuring in 1998. Also that year, Angel performed a ten-minute show over the course of the "World of Illusion" conference in Madison Square Garden, performing sixty shows per day. However, by 2000, Klayton's name was removed from Angel's website. Angel also starred in the 1997 television movie The Science of Magic and its 2003 sequel The Science of Magic II. Criss Angel Mindfreak, which would later become Angel's first television series, was originally an off-Broadway show by Angel, which in 2001 was picked up by the World Underground Theatre. When not performing the show, Angel worked the streets promoting the show to pedestrians. Criss Angel Mindfreak ran for more than 600 performances between 2001 and 2003 at the World Underground Theater in Times Square. His twenty-four hours in a tank of water set a world record for the longest amount of time for a human to be completely submerged under water. This performance would also become a part of his first television special. Angel has also been known to actively discourage a belief in mediumship, stating that there is no way for mediums to speak with people beyond the dead. He has said, "If somebody's doing that for entertainment purposes, that's one thing. But if they claim to be communicating with the dead, I don't care if they're from my hometown, I don't care if they're my family members: I'll expose them and tell them what they really are." CANNOTANSWER
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His first television appearance was in 1994, where he performed as a part of a one-hour ABC primetime special
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Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos (; born December 19, 1967), known professionally as Criss Angel, is an American magician, illusionist and musician. Angel began his career in New York City, before moving his base of operations to the Las Vegas Valley. He is known for starring in the television and stage show Criss Angel Mindfreak and his previous live performance illusion show Criss Angel Believe in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil at the Luxor casino in Las Vegas. The show generated $150 million in tourist revenue to Las Vegas in 2010, but has since been replaced by Mindfreak LIVE! in 2016 (the show is partly produced by Cirque du Soleil; however, the directive rights are entirely with Criss Angel). He also starred in the television series Criss Angel BeLIEve on Spike TV, the reality-competition television show Phenomenon on NBC, and the 2014 stage show Criss Angel Magicjam.
He also holds multiple world records made during his magic performances, and was named Magician of the Decade in 2009 and Magician of the Century in 2010 by the International Magicians Society. In addition to his career as an illusionist, Angel was the lead singer for his industrial band Angeldust, which released five albums. He also authored the book Mindfreak: Secret Revelations.
Early life
Criss Angel was born on December 19, 1967, at Hempstead General Hospital in Hempstead, on Long Island, New York. He is of Greek descent. Angel was raised in Elmont until fourth grade, when his family moved to East Meadow, New York. His father, John Sarantakos, owned a restaurant and doughnut shop. He developed an interest in magic at age seven and performed his first show at age 12, for which he was paid $10. His main early influence was Harry Houdini. By age 14, Angel was performing throughout high school at restaurants in East Meadow, including the Wine Gallery. Angel's first major illusion was making his mother float in their family den. Early in his career he was helped by animal breeder and reality-television host Marc Morrone, who helped Angel find and train a set of doves for his act.
By the time he graduated from East Meadow High School, he had decided to pursue a career as a professional magician instead of attending college as his parents wanted. According to the Biography Channel, "Angel hit the road and began touring with other traveling performance acts. Between traveling and performing, he attempted to further his education in his own by studying the history of magic in public libraries. He also studied the art of mysticism, music, martial arts and even dance."
Early career
Angel has said that, "I stayed away from magicians when I was younger because I didn't want to think like them and wanted to create my own style." His first television appearance was in 1994, where he performed as a part of a one-hour ABC primetime special entitled Secrets. One of the early supporters of Angel was horror director Clive Barker. In 1995, Barker asked Angel to work with him on his film Lord of Illusions. He also later recorded the intro to Angel's album World of Illusion: System One. Barker said of Angel in the mid-1990s that, "Criss Angel is extraordinary, a spectacular mix of visionary magic. This is the future, and it can't come quickly enough." During that year, he collaborated with musician Klayton to form Angeldust, a show that combined magic with music. They released their first album Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusions in 1998. Also that year, Angel performed a 10-minute show over the course of the "World of Illusion" conference in Madison Square Garden, performing 60 shows per day. However, by 2000, Klayton's name was removed from Angel's website.
Angel also starred in the 1997 television movie The Science of Magic and its 2003 sequel The Science of Magic II. Criss Angel Mindfreak, which would later become Angel's first television series, was originally an off-Broadway show by Angel, which in 2001 was picked up by the World Underground Theatre. When not performing the show, Angel worked the streets promoting the show to pedestrians. Criss Angel Mindfreak ran for more than 600 performances between 2001 and 2003 at the World Underground Theater in Times Square. His 24 hours in a tank of water set a world record for the longest amount of time for a human to be completely submerged under water. This performance would also become a part of his first television special.
Angel has also been known to actively discourage a belief in mediumship, stating that there is no way for mediums to speak with people beyond the dead. He has said, "If somebody's doing that for entertainment purposes, that's one thing. But if they claim to be communicating with the dead, I don't care if they're from my hometown, I don't care if they're my family members: I'll expose them and tell them what they really are."
Water torture cell in Times Square, 2002
In August 2002, Angel spent 24 hours shackled underwater in a phone booth-sized water torture cell near the WWE entertainment store in New York's Times Square, WWE corporation being the owners of the World Underground Theatre where Angel had been performing his stage show. To prepare for the trick, he practiced in a neighbor's backyard swimming pool next to his mother's house in East Meadow, New York. Prior to the performance he had only managed to spend 12 consecutive hours in the water. He fasted for 24 hours before the performance to make it through the period without need to exit and use the bathroom. During the trick, he went through 16 oxygen tanks. After the trick, he was required to remove his own shackles and chains before exiting the water. Within an hour, his skin began to react substantially to the water.
At the end of the performance, according to Ted Shaffrey, "Before he emerged from the phone-booth sized contraption of clear plastic and steel, Angel yanked out the air hose that allowed him to breathe. Then assistants pulled a black curtain over the 220-gallon (832-liter) chamber to block the view of television cameras and about 100 people gathered outside the window in which he was displayed. Under cover, Angel apparently escaped from the shackles that bound his arms, legs and neck, before pulling himself from the watery chamber with a celebratory scream." Upon successfully completing the trick, he was described as having "skin crinkled and his eyes bloodshot", and upon emerging from the tank he was taken to St. Clare's Hospital and treated for severe dehydration. He reported afterwards that he had suffered from overheating, jaw fatigue, and semi-consciousness while in the tank.
Television specials and promotional appearances (2002–2005)
On October 20, 2002, Angel performed in the ABC Family television special named Criss Angel Mindfreak: Postmodern illusionist, an hour-long performance and tribute to Harry Houdini. The special aired again on December 24, 2002 on Channel 4 in the U.K. The Birmingham Evening Mail reviewed the show, writing, "Criss Angel is currently making a name for himself as a more provocative, darker alternative to [other illusionists]. He walks the streets of New York, hypnotising passers-by, turning cups of take-away coffee into cockroaches and suspending himself from the ceiling by inserting hooks into his back. The piece de resistance of all these mind games is an update of the Houdini underwater trick - an attempt to stay in a (cell) tank of water for 24 hours, padlocked and restrained. All seems to be going well, until the filter system breaks down and the water begins to heat up."
On October 31, 2003, the SciFi Channel aired the one-hour special Supernatural starring Angel. Kate O'Hare said of the special that, "Filmed in part at Universal Theme Park in Orlando, Fla., "Supernatural" finds Angel crawling up buildings, passing a quarter through his skin, spontaneously combusting and having otherworldly creatures burst from his chest." When asked about his process in creating television specials, Angel said that, "I like to have my hand in everything on my TV specials. I'm the executive producer; I direct it; I create it. I write all the music for my TV specials and my live performances. It's on my label. I write it; I produce it." During the special Angel performed stunts, including lighting himself on fire and making a tarantula emerge from a pedestrian's soda can. In 2003, Angel was also featured in the two-hour TBS special Made in Japan.
In early 2003, Angel performed at the release of the new branding for Miller Lite beer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the 80th anniversary of Houdini's last performance in that city. For the performance, he was suspended ten stories in the air and bound in a straitjacket, from which he escaped. He also performed an illusion at Ozzfest in 2005. During this period Angel also earned money selling signed merchandise, making up to $50,000 a day.
Criss Angel Mindfreak television series
In 2005, Angel became the creator, director, and executive producer of the A&E Network show Criss Angel Mindfreak, and had entered production in January. Seasons 1 and 2 were filmed at The Aladdin in Las Vegas, with Season 3 at the Luxor Las Vegas. Premiering on July 20, 2005, the show's illusions included walking on water, levitating, walking up the side of Luxor Hotel (in the light of 39 focused lamps that can be seen from space), floating between two buildings, causing a Lamborghini to disappear, surviving in an exploding C4 Crate, cutting himself in half in full view of an audience and getting run over by a steamroller while lying on a bed of broken glass.
The first season of the show was released on DVD after it completed its on-screen run. The show also released its Halloween special, along with two special episodes, on an additional one-disc DVD offering. The show returned for a second season in May 2006, and was named one of the best shows of the summer by the Tulsa World newspaper. The show was renewed for a third season in July 2006; as of that third season the show was A&E's number one rated show, with more than 1.5 million viewers. That year he promoted the show with a performance where he was suspended within a cube encased in concrete above Times Square, escaping from the block before it was set to crash to the ground. Magic effects creator Sean Field stated of Angel this year that, "Criss Angel is the biggest name in magic since Houdini ... No other magician has invaded pop culture to the degree that Criss Angel has. He has changed the image of magic and made it cool." The show became one of the most popular foreign television shows in parts of Asia, including China.
The television show was noted as a part of the mid-2000s films, television, and books that drove a resurgence of the public popularity of magic. Criss Angel Mindfreak was the first weekly magic television show to air in 40 years. Daily Variety reviewed the premiere writing, "The stunts alone are impressive. But what makes the show fascinating are the down-home touches in which we see the kid from New York, who first honed his magic skills at the age of 6. Keenly aware of the camera at all times, Angel manages to offer some personality, especially where family is involved. Viewers follow the illusionist as he contemplates new and more dangerous stunts, while his crew, including his often-fretful brothers, offer insight as to what, other than ego, drives someone in this profession."
The show ran from 2005 until 2010, at which point he had been featured for more hours on prime time television than any other magician in history. Other tricks performed in the show included the performance of séances, as well as other tricks in order to teach his audience about con men and how to avoid scams intended to manipulate money out of people.
In July 2008, Angel escaped from a beachside hotel before its demolition in front of a crowd of about 50,000 people, an illusion that also aired on the television program. After the illusion, Angel showed the audience step by step how he achieved the escape. He first picked open a set of handcuffs that had him shackled to a balcony railing. He then smashed the window of the room in order to enter the hotel, and picked padlocks on both the room's internal door and the door to the stairwell. The escape was initially supposed to occur via a ladder that dangled above the hotel's roof 30 seconds before collapse, after picking through five locks on the roof's door. Instead, Angel emerged from the rubble after the collapse, claiming that the initial plan was always to escape via the helicopter. The total time allotted for the entire illusion was four minutes, with dynamite located on the first, second, and fourth floors of the building.
Criss Angel Believe
Stage show
In 2006, Angel partnered with Cirque du Soleil to produce the stage show Criss Angel Believe (stylized as "Criss Angel BeLIEve"), premiering the show at the Luxor Las Vegas on September 26, 2008. It became the bestselling live magic show in the world. The name of the show was taken from Harry Houdini, for the mythology of Houdini choosing the word "believe" as the codeword for communicating with Houdini after his death. Luxor's parent company, MGM Mirage, financed the show with $100 million.
After several delays, the show was set for a gala opening on October 31, 2008, with preview shows in late September on the 82nd anniversary of Harry Houdini's death. The initial preview received mixed reactions and reviews. Reporters for the Las Vegas Sun, Los Angeles Times, and Las Vegas Review-Journal cited a lack of the magic Angel is known for, as well as a confusing and uninteresting theme. They also opined that neither Angel nor Cirque du Soleil were able to perform to their capabilities during these initial performances. On the positive side, the Las Vegas Sun later quoted Star Pulse, stating, "He has created a live show that is everything a perfect magic performance should be — and then some. It's not just remarkable magic — it's transcendent art that won't just blow your mind; it will quite possibly change your life."
In April 2009, Angel ended a performance of Believe by "hurling obscene insults" at blogger Perez Hilton, an audience member. Hilton reportedly had texted to his fans during the performance that the show was "unbelievably BAD" and that he'd "rather be getting a root canal", and word had gotten back to Angel by the end of the performance. Cirque du Soleil later apologized to Hilton for Angel's remarks.
In 2010, the Las Vegas Sun critic John Katsilometes, after being unimpressed by the initial show, said Believe had improved by reducing the narrative elements and focusing on the magic. In 2011, the Toronto Star wrote: "The show is easily the most exciting thing now on stage in Vegas!" That year the show attracted an estimated $150 million in ticket sales. The show currently has a 10-year performance contract that runs through 2019, and was the best selling magic show in Las Vegas as of 2013.
Television series
The stage show celebrated its fifth anniversary of appearing on stage in October 2013. That month a cable television series based upon the show entitled Criss Angel BeLIEve was broadcast on Spike TV. The first season included 11 one-hour episodes, including 118 different illusions. Guests on the show include Ludacris, Ice-T, Randy Couture and Shaquille O'Neal. When asked about the three years between the last episode of Mindfreak and his return to television, Angel stated that, "I didn't take long at all to go back to television. It was my choice to work on the live Cirque show and to get that where I wanted it to be.
"Now that that show is just humming and doing amazing business — it's the #1 bestselling magic show in the world as far as ticket sales and the perception that people are experiencing and coming back to see it multiple times — I felt it was in a great place and I could think about television again. Obviously, "Believe" will continue to evolve until its last performance because I always want to add new magic, I'm always tweaking and transforming it. I missed being on television, I had something new creatively to say, and Spike became the perfect home to do it." Endemol purchased the foreign distribution rights for the show, and was the "most-watched new original series [on Spike TV] in more than 18 months" according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In the episode "Lord of Illusions — Death Premonition", Angel paid homage to Clive Barker, the director of the horror movie of the same name. In the episode, Angel performed the closing stunt from the film, in which he laid beneath a circle of suspended swords, and predicted the correct order of six falling swords to avoid becoming stabbed through his body after their release. The swords were selected by the audience with the help of a randomly bouncing ball. According to the Las Vegas Sun, "Criss is the only, and first, magician in the world granted permission from the inventor and filmmaker to re-create the film's death-defying stunt."
For another episode for the series filmed in New York City he was asked by the NYPD not to pre-announce the performance, as crowd control for some Angel performances had become a concern for the police. This trick saw Angel hanging his feet, while bound with two straitjackets and a noose around his neck which were attached to metal weights. While he was successful in the trick, Angel tore his shoulder muscles and this required surgery in January 2014. This resulted in the temporary closing of the Believe stage show between January and April 2014, while he was recovering from the surgery and returning to performance shape. He did however host a new stage show featuring other magicians between February and March 2014 in lieu of performing in his own show. Clips from the show also became the most watched YouTube magic clips in the history of the site, with more than 15 million views.
In the show, Angel revealed the secrets behind some of his illusions to the audience. This included the "Lord of Illusions" trick, where he revealed that he had the swords in a preset order so that he could avoid them. The episode featuring this illusion also includes a meeting between Angel and his team discussing a problem with the trick and how to ensure it does not happen again.
Phenomenon
Starting in October 2007, he appeared as a judge on Phenomenon with Uri Geller. In a CNN interview about the show, he told Larry King "no one has the ability, that I'm aware of, to do anything supernatural, psychic, talk to the dead. And that was what I said I was going to do with Phenomenon. If somebody goes on that show and claims to have supernatural psychic ability, I'm going to bust [him] live and on television."
On the October 31, 2007 episode of the reality show Phenomenon, paranormalist Jim Callahan performed a summoning, purportedly of deceased author Raymond Hill, to help discover the contents of a locked box. Although fellow judge Uri Geller praised the performance, Angel called it "comical" and subsequently challenged both Callahan and Geller to guess the contents of two envelopes he pulled out of his pocket, offering a million dollars of his own money to whoever could do so. This led to an argument between Callahan and Angel, during which Callahan walked toward Angel and called him an "ideological bigot", with the two pulled apart as the show promptly went to a commercial break. Angel has since revealed the contents of one envelope and at the unveiling he challenged Geller one more time. Geller responded, "Although we were born one day apart - I was born on the 20th of December and you on the 19th - a lot of years between us - 40 years, you were one year old when I came out with my spoon bending..." Criss Angel cut him off at this point, saying, "I guess this is a 'no,'" and proceeded to open the envelope. The envelope contained an index card with the numbers "911" printed on it for September 11, 2001. Angel's explanation was this: "If on 9-10 somebody could have predicted that 9-11 was going to happen, they could have saved thousands of lives". The other envelope's contents were scheduled to be revealed on the first episode of Season 4 of Criss Angel: Mindfreak.
Stage shows
Criss Angel Magicjam
The temporary replacement show for Believe was entitled Criss Angel Magicjam, which was performed in the same Luxor theatre. According to the Las Vegas Sun, the show included, "Longtime Las Vegas comedy-illusionist Nathan Burton; Banachek, the world's premiere mentalist; and new female magician Krystyn Lambert, who has been prominently featured in the Spike series ... joined by grandmaster manipulators Jason Byrne and Tony Clarke, supreme close-up artist Armando Vera and the magic comedy of Russ Merlin." The production was written and directed by Criss Angel. In January 2014, Angel announced that he planned on taking Criss Angel Magicjam on a North American tour during the summer of 2014. The show also featured Angel's own illusions, which he performed for about 40 minutes of the show. Robin Leach said of the show that, "Magicjam is great fun and a high-energy show packed with mind-blowing magic."
Mindfreak LIVE!
In 2014, Angel premiered the stage show Mindfreak LIVE! The touring show features illusions from Angel himself, which received positive reviews. The demonstrations used in the show were developed in Angel's illusion laboratory in Las Vegas, located in a 60,000 square foot warehouse. His international touring with the show marked the first time that Angel had traveled with his show in about six years. The premiere show of the performance occurred at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut during November 2014.
The Supernaturalists
The Supernaturalists premiered in June 2015 at the Foxwoods Resort Casino's The Fox Theater, with Angel serving as creator, director and executive producer. Performers for the show include illusionist Landon Swank, magician Krystyn Lambert, escape artist Spencer Horsman, mentalist Banachek, dog conjuror Johnny Dominguez, magician Stefan, and close up magician Adrian Vega. Robin Leach reviewed the show as having "overwhelming positive reactions" and wrote that it contained "the most mind-blowing magic spectacle that's playing anywhere". Angel has stated that the show is a culmination of ten years of development, which he began in 2005, and is intended as a global touring show and as a premiering venue for several new illusions from each magician.
Variety show appearances and guest spots
Angel has made numerous special television guest appearances on WWE Raw, including acting as guest star on March 8, 2010. He also appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, including the premiere episode of its 24th season. During a 2007 episode of the show, he successfully guessed the number between 1 and 100 he asked Winfrey to think of without telling him. Angel has appeared on other talk shows including The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Megan Mullally Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, AVN Awards Show 2007 and Larry King Live on CNN. He was also a guest on The Tonight Show, Late Show with David Letterman, America's Got Talent, and The Rosie O'Donnell Show. He also made a guest acting appearance on the hit television shows CSI: NY, Las Vegas and Rules of Engagement. In 2011, Angel also appeared in an Orville Redenbacher Pop-Up Bowl popcorn commercial.
In May 2005, Angel introduced honoree Ozzy Osbourne at the VH1 Rock Honors awards, biting the head off a bat as a part of the introduction in homage to Osbourne's early career onstage antics. At the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, Angel performed an illusion as a part of the musical performance by Britney Spears and helped to plan her stage show, which opened the television broadcast. He was also hired as the illusionist for the planned 2009 Michael Jackson O2 arena concerts before Jackson's death. In 2013, Angel had a cameo in the feature film The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, and Jim Carrey's character in the movie "Steve Gray" has been said to be modeled after Angel. There is a wax statue of Angel in the Madame Tussauds wax museum in Las Vegas.
Other projects
Music
Angel has a passion for music and claims to have been a musician longer than a magician. In 1989 he fronted the short-lived heavy metal band Angel and produced a promotional music video for the song "Don't You Want My Love", incorporating several magic tricks. Angel later went on to collaborate with industrial rock musician Klay Scott for a new band titled Angeldust in 1995. Angeldust released its debut album Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusion in 1998. He later released the albums System 1, System 2, and System 3. In 2003, he released the album Supernatural. His musical style continues to be in the heavy metal style, though when describing his musical style he has said, "There are elements where it's more electronic, and there are orchestrated sections. I decided to take it in different places because I'm inspired by emotion and by giving people a connection, a sense of a feeling — whether it's excitement or crying or being happy." He also produced soundtracks for his television series Mindfreak, including collaborations with members of Korn and Godsmack.
Books
Angel is the author of the book Mindfreak: Secret Revelations, published by HarperEntertainment in 2007. Mindfreak: Secret Revelations appeared on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list that year. According to the Las Vegas Sun, "The 295-page book details the early beginnings of his career, memorable demonstrations from his TV show and personal reflections. "Secret Revelations" also contains several pictures and provides step-by-step instructions for 40 of his basic Mindfreaks. Laura Morton helped the magician write the book." California Bookwatch wrote that it "tells of Criss Angel's evolution as a performance artist, magician and musician, charting his rise to fame beginning at age 6 and adding details of his life and his artistic philosophy and influences ... His survey covers the 'Mindfreaks' which allow him to push for excellence in very different worlds".
Internet
Criss Angel is the most watched magician in Internet history since the late 2000s. His clip, "Walk on Water", had received more than 39 million views by 2010, and more than 46 million by 2013. By early 2013, his videos had achieved more than 200 million views. Another highly watched clip is "Rip Bodies Apart" taken from the premiere episode of BeLIEve, which had more than twelve million views within a month.
Merchandise
In 2010, Angel partnered with IdeaVillage to release the Criss Angel Magic Collection, which contained six Mindfreak Magic Tricks instructions, 250 tricks, and a magic kit for children. The product was backed by $50 million in marketing.
Recognition
Awards
Angel won the International Magician Society's Magician of the Year award in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008, in addition to its "Magician of the Decade" title in 2009 and "Magician of the Century" title in 2010. He was the 22nd recipient of the Louie Award for outstanding achievement in the art of magic. He has also appeared on the covers of Magic and Genii magazines. In 2008, Angel was one of the inaugural nominees for the Harry Houdini Award, awarded by the Harry Houdini Museum. Angel is the youngest magician to ever be inducted into the International Magician Society's Magic Hall of Fame. He is also the only man to have won the Merlin Magician of the Year award on two occasions, in 2001 and 2004. In 2011, he was awarded the World Magic Legacy Awards' Living Legend award. On July 20, 2017, Angel received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which is located next to The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
World records
Angel is the holder of several world records, including the longest time submerged under water and the fastest time to escape from a straitjacket at two minutes and 30 seconds, the longest body suspension at five hours 42 minutes, and the fastest time to perform the "Metamorphosis" illusion at less than one second. He is also the holder of the Guinness world record for "The most people to disappear in an illusion", for making 100 people disappear on May 26, 2010 during a performance of Believe at the Luxor.
Personal life
In 2002, Angel married his longtime girlfriend JoAnn Winkhart. The couple filed for divorce four years later. Although Angel was seen with his wife in the buried alive illusion (season 1, episode 6, 2005) and the body suspension illusion (season 1, episode 5, 2005), she was not credited as his wife; rather, she was listed as "Criss's Girl". In November 2008, Angel began dating Holly Madison, former girlfriend of Hugh Hefner. The relationship ended in February 2009. He proposed to Sandra Gonzalez on September 7, 2011 in Cabo San Lucas during a sunset dinner. They broke up shortly after. Since 2012, Angel has been dating Australian singer Shaunyl Benson. The couple have two sons together, born in 2014 and 2019, and a daughter born in 2021.
As of 2010, Big Bear Choppers had produced seven custom-made motorcycles for Angel, who featured the motorcycle designers on his show Criss Angel Mindfreak. He also had a Harley Davidson motorcycle built by Orange County Choppers, which he rode in the intro filmed for Criss Angel Mindfreak. As a philanthropist, Angel created the Believe Foundation 'Believe Anything is Possible', and was awarded the Make-A-Wish Foundation award for most supportive celebrity on May 19, 2010. He was also awarded the foundation's Chris Greicius Celebrity Award in 2007. As of 2016, Angel's business interests made about $70 million in revenues annually.
References
External links
1967 births
Living people
American magicians
American people of Greek descent
MNRK Music Group artists
Mentalists
Prizes for proof of paranormal phenomena
People from Hempstead (village), New York
Male actors from New York (state)
Participants in American reality television series
American YouTubers
People from East Meadow, New York
Male YouTubers
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"How Did This Get Made? is a comedy podcast on the Earwolf network hosted by Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas.\n\nGenerally, How Did This Get Made? is released every two weeks. During the show's off-week, a \".5\" episode is uploaded featuring Scheer announcing the next week's movie, as well as challenges for the fans. In addition to the shows and mini-shows, the How Did This Get Made? stream hosted the first three episodes of Bitch Sesh, the podcast of previous guests Casey Wilson and Danielle Schneider, in December 2015. It has also hosted episodes of its own spin-off podcast, the How Did This Get Made? Origin Stories, in which Blake Harris interviews people involved with the films covered by the main show. In December 2017, an episode was recorded for the Pee Cast Blast event, and released exclusively on Stitcher Premium.\n\nEvery episode has featured Paul Scheer as the host of the podcast. The only episode to date in which Scheer hosted remotely was The Smurfs, in which he Skyped in. Raphael has taken extended breaks from the podcast for both filming commitments and maternity leave. Mantzoukas has also missed episodes due to work, but has also Skyped in for various episodes. On the occasions that neither Raphael nor Mantzoukas are available for live appearances, Scheer calls in previous fan-favorite guests for what is known as a How Did This Get Made? All-Stars episode.\n\nList of episodes\n\nMini episodes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n List of How Did This Get Made? episodes\n\nHow Did This Get Made\nHow Did This Get Made",
"How Did This Get Made? (HDTGM) is a podcast on the Earwolf network. It is hosted by Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael and Jason Mantzoukas. Each episode, which typically has a different guest, features the deconstruction and mockery of outlandish and bad films.\n\nFormat\nThe hosts and guest make jokes about the films as well as attempt to unscramble plots. After discussing the film, Scheer reads \"second opinions\" in the form of five-star reviews posted online by Amazon.com users. The hosts also often make recommendations on if the film is worth watching. The show is released every two weeks.\n\nDuring the show's off week a \".5\" episode (also known as a \"minisode\") is uploaded. These episodes feature Scheer's \"explanation hopeline\" where he answers questions from fans who call in, the movie for the next week is announced, Scheer reads corrections and omissions from the message board regarding last week's episode, and he opens fan mail and provides his recommendations on books, movies, TV shows etc. that he is enjoying.\n\nSome full episodes are recorded in front of a live audience and include a question and answer session and original \"second opinion\" theme songs sung by fans. Not all content from the live shows is included in the final released episode - about 30 minutes of each live show is edited out.\n\nHistory\nHow Did This Get Made? began after Scheer and Raphael saw the movie Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Later, the pair talked to Mantzoukas about the movie and joked about the idea for starting a bad movie podcast. , Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps has never been covered on the podcast.\n\nAwards\nIn 2019, How Did This Get Made? won a Webby Award in the category of Podcasts – Television & Film.\n\nIn 2020, How Did This Get Made? won an iHeartRadio award in the category of Best TV & Film Podcast.\n\nIn 2022, How Did This Get Made? won an iHeartRadio award in the category of Best TV & Film Podcast.\n\nSpinoffs\n\nHow Did This Get Made?: Origin Stories\nBetween February and September 2017, a 17-episode spin-off series of the podcast was released. Entitled How Did This Get Made?: Origin Stories, author Blake J. Harris would interview people involved with the movies discussed on the podcast. Guests on the show included director Mel Brooks, who served as executive producer on Solarbabies, and screenwriter Dan Gordon, who wrote Surf Ninjas.\n\nUnspooled\nIn May 2018, Scheer began a new podcast with Amy Nicholson titled Unspooled that is also devoted to movies. Unlike HDTGM?, however, Unspooled looks at films deemed good enough for the updated 2007 edition of the AFI Top 100. This is often referenced in How Did This Get Made? by Mantzoukas and Raphael, who are comically annoyed at how they were not invited to host the podcast, instead being subjected to the bad films that HDTGM covers.\n\nHow Did This Get Played?\nIn June 2019, the Earwolf network launched the podcast How Did This Get Played?, hosted by Doughboys host Nick Wiger and former Saturday Night Live writer Heather Anne Campbell. The podcast is positioned as the video game equivalent of HDTGM?, where Wiger and Campbell review widely panned video games.\n\nEpisodes\n\nAdaptation\nThe program was adapted in France in 2014 under the title 2 heures de perdues (http://www.2hdp.fr/ and available on Spotify and iTunes), a podcast in which several friends meet to analyze bad films in the same style (mainly American, French, and British films). The show then ends with a reading of comments found on AlloCiné (biggest French-speaking cinema website) or Amazon.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n How Did This Get Made on Earwolf\n\nAudio podcasts\nEarwolf\nFilm and television podcasts\nComedy and humor podcasts\n2010 podcast debuts"
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what did he do in his performance?
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what did Criss Angel do in his performance?
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Criss Angel
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Angel has said that, "I stayed away from magicians when I was younger because I didn't want to think like them and wanted to create my own style." His first television appearance was in 1994, where he performed as a part of a one-hour ABC primetime special entitled Secrets. One of the early supporters of Angel was horror director Clive Barker. In 1995, Barker asked Angel to work with him on his film Lord of Illusions. He also later recorded the intro to Angel's album World of Illusion: System One. Barker said of Angel in the mid-1990s that, "Criss Angel is extraordinary, a spectacular mix of visionary magic. This is the future, and it can't come quickly enough." During that year, he collaborated with musician Klayton to form Angeldust, a show that combined magic with music. They released their first album Musical Conjurings from the World of Conjuring in 1998. Also that year, Angel performed a ten-minute show over the course of the "World of Illusion" conference in Madison Square Garden, performing sixty shows per day. However, by 2000, Klayton's name was removed from Angel's website. Angel also starred in the 1997 television movie The Science of Magic and its 2003 sequel The Science of Magic II. Criss Angel Mindfreak, which would later become Angel's first television series, was originally an off-Broadway show by Angel, which in 2001 was picked up by the World Underground Theatre. When not performing the show, Angel worked the streets promoting the show to pedestrians. Criss Angel Mindfreak ran for more than 600 performances between 2001 and 2003 at the World Underground Theater in Times Square. His twenty-four hours in a tank of water set a world record for the longest amount of time for a human to be completely submerged under water. This performance would also become a part of his first television special. Angel has also been known to actively discourage a belief in mediumship, stating that there is no way for mediums to speak with people beyond the dead. He has said, "If somebody's doing that for entertainment purposes, that's one thing. But if they claim to be communicating with the dead, I don't care if they're from my hometown, I don't care if they're my family members: I'll expose them and tell them what they really are." CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos (; born December 19, 1967), known professionally as Criss Angel, is an American magician, illusionist and musician. Angel began his career in New York City, before moving his base of operations to the Las Vegas Valley. He is known for starring in the television and stage show Criss Angel Mindfreak and his previous live performance illusion show Criss Angel Believe in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil at the Luxor casino in Las Vegas. The show generated $150 million in tourist revenue to Las Vegas in 2010, but has since been replaced by Mindfreak LIVE! in 2016 (the show is partly produced by Cirque du Soleil; however, the directive rights are entirely with Criss Angel). He also starred in the television series Criss Angel BeLIEve on Spike TV, the reality-competition television show Phenomenon on NBC, and the 2014 stage show Criss Angel Magicjam.
He also holds multiple world records made during his magic performances, and was named Magician of the Decade in 2009 and Magician of the Century in 2010 by the International Magicians Society. In addition to his career as an illusionist, Angel was the lead singer for his industrial band Angeldust, which released five albums. He also authored the book Mindfreak: Secret Revelations.
Early life
Criss Angel was born on December 19, 1967, at Hempstead General Hospital in Hempstead, on Long Island, New York. He is of Greek descent. Angel was raised in Elmont until fourth grade, when his family moved to East Meadow, New York. His father, John Sarantakos, owned a restaurant and doughnut shop. He developed an interest in magic at age seven and performed his first show at age 12, for which he was paid $10. His main early influence was Harry Houdini. By age 14, Angel was performing throughout high school at restaurants in East Meadow, including the Wine Gallery. Angel's first major illusion was making his mother float in their family den. Early in his career he was helped by animal breeder and reality-television host Marc Morrone, who helped Angel find and train a set of doves for his act.
By the time he graduated from East Meadow High School, he had decided to pursue a career as a professional magician instead of attending college as his parents wanted. According to the Biography Channel, "Angel hit the road and began touring with other traveling performance acts. Between traveling and performing, he attempted to further his education in his own by studying the history of magic in public libraries. He also studied the art of mysticism, music, martial arts and even dance."
Early career
Angel has said that, "I stayed away from magicians when I was younger because I didn't want to think like them and wanted to create my own style." His first television appearance was in 1994, where he performed as a part of a one-hour ABC primetime special entitled Secrets. One of the early supporters of Angel was horror director Clive Barker. In 1995, Barker asked Angel to work with him on his film Lord of Illusions. He also later recorded the intro to Angel's album World of Illusion: System One. Barker said of Angel in the mid-1990s that, "Criss Angel is extraordinary, a spectacular mix of visionary magic. This is the future, and it can't come quickly enough." During that year, he collaborated with musician Klayton to form Angeldust, a show that combined magic with music. They released their first album Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusions in 1998. Also that year, Angel performed a 10-minute show over the course of the "World of Illusion" conference in Madison Square Garden, performing 60 shows per day. However, by 2000, Klayton's name was removed from Angel's website.
Angel also starred in the 1997 television movie The Science of Magic and its 2003 sequel The Science of Magic II. Criss Angel Mindfreak, which would later become Angel's first television series, was originally an off-Broadway show by Angel, which in 2001 was picked up by the World Underground Theatre. When not performing the show, Angel worked the streets promoting the show to pedestrians. Criss Angel Mindfreak ran for more than 600 performances between 2001 and 2003 at the World Underground Theater in Times Square. His 24 hours in a tank of water set a world record for the longest amount of time for a human to be completely submerged under water. This performance would also become a part of his first television special.
Angel has also been known to actively discourage a belief in mediumship, stating that there is no way for mediums to speak with people beyond the dead. He has said, "If somebody's doing that for entertainment purposes, that's one thing. But if they claim to be communicating with the dead, I don't care if they're from my hometown, I don't care if they're my family members: I'll expose them and tell them what they really are."
Water torture cell in Times Square, 2002
In August 2002, Angel spent 24 hours shackled underwater in a phone booth-sized water torture cell near the WWE entertainment store in New York's Times Square, WWE corporation being the owners of the World Underground Theatre where Angel had been performing his stage show. To prepare for the trick, he practiced in a neighbor's backyard swimming pool next to his mother's house in East Meadow, New York. Prior to the performance he had only managed to spend 12 consecutive hours in the water. He fasted for 24 hours before the performance to make it through the period without need to exit and use the bathroom. During the trick, he went through 16 oxygen tanks. After the trick, he was required to remove his own shackles and chains before exiting the water. Within an hour, his skin began to react substantially to the water.
At the end of the performance, according to Ted Shaffrey, "Before he emerged from the phone-booth sized contraption of clear plastic and steel, Angel yanked out the air hose that allowed him to breathe. Then assistants pulled a black curtain over the 220-gallon (832-liter) chamber to block the view of television cameras and about 100 people gathered outside the window in which he was displayed. Under cover, Angel apparently escaped from the shackles that bound his arms, legs and neck, before pulling himself from the watery chamber with a celebratory scream." Upon successfully completing the trick, he was described as having "skin crinkled and his eyes bloodshot", and upon emerging from the tank he was taken to St. Clare's Hospital and treated for severe dehydration. He reported afterwards that he had suffered from overheating, jaw fatigue, and semi-consciousness while in the tank.
Television specials and promotional appearances (2002–2005)
On October 20, 2002, Angel performed in the ABC Family television special named Criss Angel Mindfreak: Postmodern illusionist, an hour-long performance and tribute to Harry Houdini. The special aired again on December 24, 2002 on Channel 4 in the U.K. The Birmingham Evening Mail reviewed the show, writing, "Criss Angel is currently making a name for himself as a more provocative, darker alternative to [other illusionists]. He walks the streets of New York, hypnotising passers-by, turning cups of take-away coffee into cockroaches and suspending himself from the ceiling by inserting hooks into his back. The piece de resistance of all these mind games is an update of the Houdini underwater trick - an attempt to stay in a (cell) tank of water for 24 hours, padlocked and restrained. All seems to be going well, until the filter system breaks down and the water begins to heat up."
On October 31, 2003, the SciFi Channel aired the one-hour special Supernatural starring Angel. Kate O'Hare said of the special that, "Filmed in part at Universal Theme Park in Orlando, Fla., "Supernatural" finds Angel crawling up buildings, passing a quarter through his skin, spontaneously combusting and having otherworldly creatures burst from his chest." When asked about his process in creating television specials, Angel said that, "I like to have my hand in everything on my TV specials. I'm the executive producer; I direct it; I create it. I write all the music for my TV specials and my live performances. It's on my label. I write it; I produce it." During the special Angel performed stunts, including lighting himself on fire and making a tarantula emerge from a pedestrian's soda can. In 2003, Angel was also featured in the two-hour TBS special Made in Japan.
In early 2003, Angel performed at the release of the new branding for Miller Lite beer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the 80th anniversary of Houdini's last performance in that city. For the performance, he was suspended ten stories in the air and bound in a straitjacket, from which he escaped. He also performed an illusion at Ozzfest in 2005. During this period Angel also earned money selling signed merchandise, making up to $50,000 a day.
Criss Angel Mindfreak television series
In 2005, Angel became the creator, director, and executive producer of the A&E Network show Criss Angel Mindfreak, and had entered production in January. Seasons 1 and 2 were filmed at The Aladdin in Las Vegas, with Season 3 at the Luxor Las Vegas. Premiering on July 20, 2005, the show's illusions included walking on water, levitating, walking up the side of Luxor Hotel (in the light of 39 focused lamps that can be seen from space), floating between two buildings, causing a Lamborghini to disappear, surviving in an exploding C4 Crate, cutting himself in half in full view of an audience and getting run over by a steamroller while lying on a bed of broken glass.
The first season of the show was released on DVD after it completed its on-screen run. The show also released its Halloween special, along with two special episodes, on an additional one-disc DVD offering. The show returned for a second season in May 2006, and was named one of the best shows of the summer by the Tulsa World newspaper. The show was renewed for a third season in July 2006; as of that third season the show was A&E's number one rated show, with more than 1.5 million viewers. That year he promoted the show with a performance where he was suspended within a cube encased in concrete above Times Square, escaping from the block before it was set to crash to the ground. Magic effects creator Sean Field stated of Angel this year that, "Criss Angel is the biggest name in magic since Houdini ... No other magician has invaded pop culture to the degree that Criss Angel has. He has changed the image of magic and made it cool." The show became one of the most popular foreign television shows in parts of Asia, including China.
The television show was noted as a part of the mid-2000s films, television, and books that drove a resurgence of the public popularity of magic. Criss Angel Mindfreak was the first weekly magic television show to air in 40 years. Daily Variety reviewed the premiere writing, "The stunts alone are impressive. But what makes the show fascinating are the down-home touches in which we see the kid from New York, who first honed his magic skills at the age of 6. Keenly aware of the camera at all times, Angel manages to offer some personality, especially where family is involved. Viewers follow the illusionist as he contemplates new and more dangerous stunts, while his crew, including his often-fretful brothers, offer insight as to what, other than ego, drives someone in this profession."
The show ran from 2005 until 2010, at which point he had been featured for more hours on prime time television than any other magician in history. Other tricks performed in the show included the performance of séances, as well as other tricks in order to teach his audience about con men and how to avoid scams intended to manipulate money out of people.
In July 2008, Angel escaped from a beachside hotel before its demolition in front of a crowd of about 50,000 people, an illusion that also aired on the television program. After the illusion, Angel showed the audience step by step how he achieved the escape. He first picked open a set of handcuffs that had him shackled to a balcony railing. He then smashed the window of the room in order to enter the hotel, and picked padlocks on both the room's internal door and the door to the stairwell. The escape was initially supposed to occur via a ladder that dangled above the hotel's roof 30 seconds before collapse, after picking through five locks on the roof's door. Instead, Angel emerged from the rubble after the collapse, claiming that the initial plan was always to escape via the helicopter. The total time allotted for the entire illusion was four minutes, with dynamite located on the first, second, and fourth floors of the building.
Criss Angel Believe
Stage show
In 2006, Angel partnered with Cirque du Soleil to produce the stage show Criss Angel Believe (stylized as "Criss Angel BeLIEve"), premiering the show at the Luxor Las Vegas on September 26, 2008. It became the bestselling live magic show in the world. The name of the show was taken from Harry Houdini, for the mythology of Houdini choosing the word "believe" as the codeword for communicating with Houdini after his death. Luxor's parent company, MGM Mirage, financed the show with $100 million.
After several delays, the show was set for a gala opening on October 31, 2008, with preview shows in late September on the 82nd anniversary of Harry Houdini's death. The initial preview received mixed reactions and reviews. Reporters for the Las Vegas Sun, Los Angeles Times, and Las Vegas Review-Journal cited a lack of the magic Angel is known for, as well as a confusing and uninteresting theme. They also opined that neither Angel nor Cirque du Soleil were able to perform to their capabilities during these initial performances. On the positive side, the Las Vegas Sun later quoted Star Pulse, stating, "He has created a live show that is everything a perfect magic performance should be — and then some. It's not just remarkable magic — it's transcendent art that won't just blow your mind; it will quite possibly change your life."
In April 2009, Angel ended a performance of Believe by "hurling obscene insults" at blogger Perez Hilton, an audience member. Hilton reportedly had texted to his fans during the performance that the show was "unbelievably BAD" and that he'd "rather be getting a root canal", and word had gotten back to Angel by the end of the performance. Cirque du Soleil later apologized to Hilton for Angel's remarks.
In 2010, the Las Vegas Sun critic John Katsilometes, after being unimpressed by the initial show, said Believe had improved by reducing the narrative elements and focusing on the magic. In 2011, the Toronto Star wrote: "The show is easily the most exciting thing now on stage in Vegas!" That year the show attracted an estimated $150 million in ticket sales. The show currently has a 10-year performance contract that runs through 2019, and was the best selling magic show in Las Vegas as of 2013.
Television series
The stage show celebrated its fifth anniversary of appearing on stage in October 2013. That month a cable television series based upon the show entitled Criss Angel BeLIEve was broadcast on Spike TV. The first season included 11 one-hour episodes, including 118 different illusions. Guests on the show include Ludacris, Ice-T, Randy Couture and Shaquille O'Neal. When asked about the three years between the last episode of Mindfreak and his return to television, Angel stated that, "I didn't take long at all to go back to television. It was my choice to work on the live Cirque show and to get that where I wanted it to be.
"Now that that show is just humming and doing amazing business — it's the #1 bestselling magic show in the world as far as ticket sales and the perception that people are experiencing and coming back to see it multiple times — I felt it was in a great place and I could think about television again. Obviously, "Believe" will continue to evolve until its last performance because I always want to add new magic, I'm always tweaking and transforming it. I missed being on television, I had something new creatively to say, and Spike became the perfect home to do it." Endemol purchased the foreign distribution rights for the show, and was the "most-watched new original series [on Spike TV] in more than 18 months" according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In the episode "Lord of Illusions — Death Premonition", Angel paid homage to Clive Barker, the director of the horror movie of the same name. In the episode, Angel performed the closing stunt from the film, in which he laid beneath a circle of suspended swords, and predicted the correct order of six falling swords to avoid becoming stabbed through his body after their release. The swords were selected by the audience with the help of a randomly bouncing ball. According to the Las Vegas Sun, "Criss is the only, and first, magician in the world granted permission from the inventor and filmmaker to re-create the film's death-defying stunt."
For another episode for the series filmed in New York City he was asked by the NYPD not to pre-announce the performance, as crowd control for some Angel performances had become a concern for the police. This trick saw Angel hanging his feet, while bound with two straitjackets and a noose around his neck which were attached to metal weights. While he was successful in the trick, Angel tore his shoulder muscles and this required surgery in January 2014. This resulted in the temporary closing of the Believe stage show between January and April 2014, while he was recovering from the surgery and returning to performance shape. He did however host a new stage show featuring other magicians between February and March 2014 in lieu of performing in his own show. Clips from the show also became the most watched YouTube magic clips in the history of the site, with more than 15 million views.
In the show, Angel revealed the secrets behind some of his illusions to the audience. This included the "Lord of Illusions" trick, where he revealed that he had the swords in a preset order so that he could avoid them. The episode featuring this illusion also includes a meeting between Angel and his team discussing a problem with the trick and how to ensure it does not happen again.
Phenomenon
Starting in October 2007, he appeared as a judge on Phenomenon with Uri Geller. In a CNN interview about the show, he told Larry King "no one has the ability, that I'm aware of, to do anything supernatural, psychic, talk to the dead. And that was what I said I was going to do with Phenomenon. If somebody goes on that show and claims to have supernatural psychic ability, I'm going to bust [him] live and on television."
On the October 31, 2007 episode of the reality show Phenomenon, paranormalist Jim Callahan performed a summoning, purportedly of deceased author Raymond Hill, to help discover the contents of a locked box. Although fellow judge Uri Geller praised the performance, Angel called it "comical" and subsequently challenged both Callahan and Geller to guess the contents of two envelopes he pulled out of his pocket, offering a million dollars of his own money to whoever could do so. This led to an argument between Callahan and Angel, during which Callahan walked toward Angel and called him an "ideological bigot", with the two pulled apart as the show promptly went to a commercial break. Angel has since revealed the contents of one envelope and at the unveiling he challenged Geller one more time. Geller responded, "Although we were born one day apart - I was born on the 20th of December and you on the 19th - a lot of years between us - 40 years, you were one year old when I came out with my spoon bending..." Criss Angel cut him off at this point, saying, "I guess this is a 'no,'" and proceeded to open the envelope. The envelope contained an index card with the numbers "911" printed on it for September 11, 2001. Angel's explanation was this: "If on 9-10 somebody could have predicted that 9-11 was going to happen, they could have saved thousands of lives". The other envelope's contents were scheduled to be revealed on the first episode of Season 4 of Criss Angel: Mindfreak.
Stage shows
Criss Angel Magicjam
The temporary replacement show for Believe was entitled Criss Angel Magicjam, which was performed in the same Luxor theatre. According to the Las Vegas Sun, the show included, "Longtime Las Vegas comedy-illusionist Nathan Burton; Banachek, the world's premiere mentalist; and new female magician Krystyn Lambert, who has been prominently featured in the Spike series ... joined by grandmaster manipulators Jason Byrne and Tony Clarke, supreme close-up artist Armando Vera and the magic comedy of Russ Merlin." The production was written and directed by Criss Angel. In January 2014, Angel announced that he planned on taking Criss Angel Magicjam on a North American tour during the summer of 2014. The show also featured Angel's own illusions, which he performed for about 40 minutes of the show. Robin Leach said of the show that, "Magicjam is great fun and a high-energy show packed with mind-blowing magic."
Mindfreak LIVE!
In 2014, Angel premiered the stage show Mindfreak LIVE! The touring show features illusions from Angel himself, which received positive reviews. The demonstrations used in the show were developed in Angel's illusion laboratory in Las Vegas, located in a 60,000 square foot warehouse. His international touring with the show marked the first time that Angel had traveled with his show in about six years. The premiere show of the performance occurred at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut during November 2014.
The Supernaturalists
The Supernaturalists premiered in June 2015 at the Foxwoods Resort Casino's The Fox Theater, with Angel serving as creator, director and executive producer. Performers for the show include illusionist Landon Swank, magician Krystyn Lambert, escape artist Spencer Horsman, mentalist Banachek, dog conjuror Johnny Dominguez, magician Stefan, and close up magician Adrian Vega. Robin Leach reviewed the show as having "overwhelming positive reactions" and wrote that it contained "the most mind-blowing magic spectacle that's playing anywhere". Angel has stated that the show is a culmination of ten years of development, which he began in 2005, and is intended as a global touring show and as a premiering venue for several new illusions from each magician.
Variety show appearances and guest spots
Angel has made numerous special television guest appearances on WWE Raw, including acting as guest star on March 8, 2010. He also appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, including the premiere episode of its 24th season. During a 2007 episode of the show, he successfully guessed the number between 1 and 100 he asked Winfrey to think of without telling him. Angel has appeared on other talk shows including The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Megan Mullally Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, AVN Awards Show 2007 and Larry King Live on CNN. He was also a guest on The Tonight Show, Late Show with David Letterman, America's Got Talent, and The Rosie O'Donnell Show. He also made a guest acting appearance on the hit television shows CSI: NY, Las Vegas and Rules of Engagement. In 2011, Angel also appeared in an Orville Redenbacher Pop-Up Bowl popcorn commercial.
In May 2005, Angel introduced honoree Ozzy Osbourne at the VH1 Rock Honors awards, biting the head off a bat as a part of the introduction in homage to Osbourne's early career onstage antics. At the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, Angel performed an illusion as a part of the musical performance by Britney Spears and helped to plan her stage show, which opened the television broadcast. He was also hired as the illusionist for the planned 2009 Michael Jackson O2 arena concerts before Jackson's death. In 2013, Angel had a cameo in the feature film The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, and Jim Carrey's character in the movie "Steve Gray" has been said to be modeled after Angel. There is a wax statue of Angel in the Madame Tussauds wax museum in Las Vegas.
Other projects
Music
Angel has a passion for music and claims to have been a musician longer than a magician. In 1989 he fronted the short-lived heavy metal band Angel and produced a promotional music video for the song "Don't You Want My Love", incorporating several magic tricks. Angel later went on to collaborate with industrial rock musician Klay Scott for a new band titled Angeldust in 1995. Angeldust released its debut album Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusion in 1998. He later released the albums System 1, System 2, and System 3. In 2003, he released the album Supernatural. His musical style continues to be in the heavy metal style, though when describing his musical style he has said, "There are elements where it's more electronic, and there are orchestrated sections. I decided to take it in different places because I'm inspired by emotion and by giving people a connection, a sense of a feeling — whether it's excitement or crying or being happy." He also produced soundtracks for his television series Mindfreak, including collaborations with members of Korn and Godsmack.
Books
Angel is the author of the book Mindfreak: Secret Revelations, published by HarperEntertainment in 2007. Mindfreak: Secret Revelations appeared on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list that year. According to the Las Vegas Sun, "The 295-page book details the early beginnings of his career, memorable demonstrations from his TV show and personal reflections. "Secret Revelations" also contains several pictures and provides step-by-step instructions for 40 of his basic Mindfreaks. Laura Morton helped the magician write the book." California Bookwatch wrote that it "tells of Criss Angel's evolution as a performance artist, magician and musician, charting his rise to fame beginning at age 6 and adding details of his life and his artistic philosophy and influences ... His survey covers the 'Mindfreaks' which allow him to push for excellence in very different worlds".
Internet
Criss Angel is the most watched magician in Internet history since the late 2000s. His clip, "Walk on Water", had received more than 39 million views by 2010, and more than 46 million by 2013. By early 2013, his videos had achieved more than 200 million views. Another highly watched clip is "Rip Bodies Apart" taken from the premiere episode of BeLIEve, which had more than twelve million views within a month.
Merchandise
In 2010, Angel partnered with IdeaVillage to release the Criss Angel Magic Collection, which contained six Mindfreak Magic Tricks instructions, 250 tricks, and a magic kit for children. The product was backed by $50 million in marketing.
Recognition
Awards
Angel won the International Magician Society's Magician of the Year award in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008, in addition to its "Magician of the Decade" title in 2009 and "Magician of the Century" title in 2010. He was the 22nd recipient of the Louie Award for outstanding achievement in the art of magic. He has also appeared on the covers of Magic and Genii magazines. In 2008, Angel was one of the inaugural nominees for the Harry Houdini Award, awarded by the Harry Houdini Museum. Angel is the youngest magician to ever be inducted into the International Magician Society's Magic Hall of Fame. He is also the only man to have won the Merlin Magician of the Year award on two occasions, in 2001 and 2004. In 2011, he was awarded the World Magic Legacy Awards' Living Legend award. On July 20, 2017, Angel received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which is located next to The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
World records
Angel is the holder of several world records, including the longest time submerged under water and the fastest time to escape from a straitjacket at two minutes and 30 seconds, the longest body suspension at five hours 42 minutes, and the fastest time to perform the "Metamorphosis" illusion at less than one second. He is also the holder of the Guinness world record for "The most people to disappear in an illusion", for making 100 people disappear on May 26, 2010 during a performance of Believe at the Luxor.
Personal life
In 2002, Angel married his longtime girlfriend JoAnn Winkhart. The couple filed for divorce four years later. Although Angel was seen with his wife in the buried alive illusion (season 1, episode 6, 2005) and the body suspension illusion (season 1, episode 5, 2005), she was not credited as his wife; rather, she was listed as "Criss's Girl". In November 2008, Angel began dating Holly Madison, former girlfriend of Hugh Hefner. The relationship ended in February 2009. He proposed to Sandra Gonzalez on September 7, 2011 in Cabo San Lucas during a sunset dinner. They broke up shortly after. Since 2012, Angel has been dating Australian singer Shaunyl Benson. The couple have two sons together, born in 2014 and 2019, and a daughter born in 2021.
As of 2010, Big Bear Choppers had produced seven custom-made motorcycles for Angel, who featured the motorcycle designers on his show Criss Angel Mindfreak. He also had a Harley Davidson motorcycle built by Orange County Choppers, which he rode in the intro filmed for Criss Angel Mindfreak. As a philanthropist, Angel created the Believe Foundation 'Believe Anything is Possible', and was awarded the Make-A-Wish Foundation award for most supportive celebrity on May 19, 2010. He was also awarded the foundation's Chris Greicius Celebrity Award in 2007. As of 2016, Angel's business interests made about $70 million in revenues annually.
References
External links
1967 births
Living people
American magicians
American people of Greek descent
MNRK Music Group artists
Mentalists
Prizes for proof of paranormal phenomena
People from Hempstead (village), New York
Male actors from New York (state)
Participants in American reality television series
American YouTubers
People from East Meadow, New York
Male YouTubers
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"Ben Fransham is a New Zealand actor known for his role as Petyr in the 2014 comedy What We Do in the Shadows.\n\nEarly life and education\nFransham graduated from the New Zealand School of Dance in Wellington with a third-year scholarship diploma in 1991, and then won entry to The London Contemporary Dance School, but did not attend.\n\nCareer\n\nIn 1992, Fransham began freelance work, performing in Paul Jenden's Dance South, and touring the country with Footnote Dance Company.\n\nHe made his dramatic role debut as Rudy in Jacqueline Coats' stage production of Bent, which won a 1997 Chapmann Tripp Theatre Award for Most Original Production of the Year. Since then, he has performed in musical theatre, dramatic plays, vaudeville, puppetry, and sketch comedy shows, with increasing work in film and television.\n\nFransham performed in several episodes of Legend of the Seeker (2008–2010), in various featured roles of horrifying creatures. The actor has worked across multiple disciplines, including stunt performance, (e.g., with Terry Notary, in The Hobbit film trilogy, as a goblin, and with the stunt team as various orcs, goblins, humans, and elves).\n\nIn 2014, Fransham played the role of a vampire in the film What We Do in the Shadows and in 2015, he appeared in three episodes of Ash vs Evil Dead.\n\nSelected filmography\n\nFilm\n\nTelevision\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nNew Zealand male film actors",
"Robert Paul Smith (April 16, 1915 – January 30, 1977) was an American author, most famous for his classic evocation of childhood, Where Did You Go? Out. What Did You Do? Nothing.\n\nBiography\nRobert Paul Smith was born in Brooklyn, grew up in Mount Vernon, NY, and graduated from Columbia College in 1936. He worked as a writer for CBS Radio and wrote four novels: So It Doesn't Whistle (1946) (1941, according to Avon Publishing Co., Inc., reprint edition ... Plus Blood in Their Veins copyright 1952); The Journey, (1943); Because of My Love (1946); The Time and the Place (1951).\n\nThe Tender Trap, a play by Smith and Dobie Gillis creator Max Shulman, opened in 1954 with Robert Preston in the leading role. It was later made into a movie starring Frank Sinatra and Debbie Reynolds. A classic example of the \"battle-of-the-sexes\" comedy, it revolves around the mutual envy of a bachelor living in New York City and a settled family man living in the New York suburbs.\n\nWhere Did You Go? Out. What Did You Do? Nothing is a nostalgic evocation of the inner life of childhood. It advocates the value of privacy to children; the importance of unstructured time; the joys of boredom; and the virtues of freedom from adult supervision. He opens by saying \"The thing is, I don't understand what kids do with themselves any more.\" He contrasts the overstructured, overscheduled, oversupervised suburban life of the child in the suburban 1950's with reminiscences of his own childhood. He concludes \"I guess what I am saying is that people who don't have nightmares don't have dreams. If you will excuse me, I have an appointment with myself to sit on the front steps and watch some grass growing.\"\n\nTranslations from the English (1958) collects a series of articles originally published in Good Housekeeping magazine. The first, \"Translations from the Children,\" may be the earliest known example of the genre of humor that consists of a series of translations from what is said (e.g. \"I don't know why. He just hit me\") into what is meant (e.g. \"He hit his brother.\")\n\nHow to Do Nothing With Nobody All Alone By Yourself (1958) is a how-to book, illustrated by Robert Paul Smith's wife Elinor Goulding Smith. It gives step-by-step directions on how to: play mumbly-peg; build a spool tank; make polly-noses; construct an indoor boomerang, etc. It was republished in 2010 by Tin House Books.\n\nList of works\n\nEssays and humor\nWhere Did You Go? Out. What Did You Do? Nothing (1957)\nTranslations from the English (1958) \nCrank: A Book of Lamentations, Exhortations, Mixed Memories and Desires, All Hard Or Chewy Centers, No Creams(1962)\nHow to Grow Up in One Piece (1963)\nGot to Stop Draggin’ that Little Red Wagon Around (1969)\nRobert Paul Smith’s Lost & Found (1973)\n\nFor children\nJack Mack, illus. Erik Blegvad (1960)\nWhen I Am Big, illus. Lillian Hoban (1965)\nNothingatall, Nothingatall, Nothingatall, illus. Allan E. Cober (1965)\nHow To Do Nothing With No One All Alone By Yourself, illus Elinor Goulding Smith (1958) Republished by Tin House Books (2010)\n\nNovels\nSo It Doesn't Whistle (1941) \nThe Journey (1943) \nBecause of My Love (1946) \nThe Time and the Place (1952)\nWhere He Went: Three Novels (1958)\n\nTheatre\nThe Tender Trap, by Max Shulman and Robert Paul Smith (first Broadway performance, 1954; Random House edition, 1955)\n\nVerse\nThe Man with the Gold-headed Cane (1943)\n…and Another Thing (1959)\n\nExternal links\n\n1915 births\n1977 deaths\n20th-century American novelists\nAmerican children's writers\nAmerican humorists\nAmerican instructional writers\nAmerican male novelists\n20th-century American dramatists and playwrights\nAmerican male dramatists and playwrights\n20th-century American male writers\n20th-century American non-fiction writers\nAmerican male non-fiction writers\nColumbia College (New York) alumni"
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"His first television appearance was in 1994, where he performed as a part of a one-hour ABC primetime special",
"what did he do in his performance?",
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C_0dbc7e6a91394d278a7e6b64d29eb7ad_1
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how old was he when he first started his career?
| 3 |
how old was Criss Angel when he first started his career?
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Criss Angel
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Angel has said that, "I stayed away from magicians when I was younger because I didn't want to think like them and wanted to create my own style." His first television appearance was in 1994, where he performed as a part of a one-hour ABC primetime special entitled Secrets. One of the early supporters of Angel was horror director Clive Barker. In 1995, Barker asked Angel to work with him on his film Lord of Illusions. He also later recorded the intro to Angel's album World of Illusion: System One. Barker said of Angel in the mid-1990s that, "Criss Angel is extraordinary, a spectacular mix of visionary magic. This is the future, and it can't come quickly enough." During that year, he collaborated with musician Klayton to form Angeldust, a show that combined magic with music. They released their first album Musical Conjurings from the World of Conjuring in 1998. Also that year, Angel performed a ten-minute show over the course of the "World of Illusion" conference in Madison Square Garden, performing sixty shows per day. However, by 2000, Klayton's name was removed from Angel's website. Angel also starred in the 1997 television movie The Science of Magic and its 2003 sequel The Science of Magic II. Criss Angel Mindfreak, which would later become Angel's first television series, was originally an off-Broadway show by Angel, which in 2001 was picked up by the World Underground Theatre. When not performing the show, Angel worked the streets promoting the show to pedestrians. Criss Angel Mindfreak ran for more than 600 performances between 2001 and 2003 at the World Underground Theater in Times Square. His twenty-four hours in a tank of water set a world record for the longest amount of time for a human to be completely submerged under water. This performance would also become a part of his first television special. Angel has also been known to actively discourage a belief in mediumship, stating that there is no way for mediums to speak with people beyond the dead. He has said, "If somebody's doing that for entertainment purposes, that's one thing. But if they claim to be communicating with the dead, I don't care if they're from my hometown, I don't care if they're my family members: I'll expose them and tell them what they really are." CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos (; born December 19, 1967), known professionally as Criss Angel, is an American magician, illusionist and musician. Angel began his career in New York City, before moving his base of operations to the Las Vegas Valley. He is known for starring in the television and stage show Criss Angel Mindfreak and his previous live performance illusion show Criss Angel Believe in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil at the Luxor casino in Las Vegas. The show generated $150 million in tourist revenue to Las Vegas in 2010, but has since been replaced by Mindfreak LIVE! in 2016 (the show is partly produced by Cirque du Soleil; however, the directive rights are entirely with Criss Angel). He also starred in the television series Criss Angel BeLIEve on Spike TV, the reality-competition television show Phenomenon on NBC, and the 2014 stage show Criss Angel Magicjam.
He also holds multiple world records made during his magic performances, and was named Magician of the Decade in 2009 and Magician of the Century in 2010 by the International Magicians Society. In addition to his career as an illusionist, Angel was the lead singer for his industrial band Angeldust, which released five albums. He also authored the book Mindfreak: Secret Revelations.
Early life
Criss Angel was born on December 19, 1967, at Hempstead General Hospital in Hempstead, on Long Island, New York. He is of Greek descent. Angel was raised in Elmont until fourth grade, when his family moved to East Meadow, New York. His father, John Sarantakos, owned a restaurant and doughnut shop. He developed an interest in magic at age seven and performed his first show at age 12, for which he was paid $10. His main early influence was Harry Houdini. By age 14, Angel was performing throughout high school at restaurants in East Meadow, including the Wine Gallery. Angel's first major illusion was making his mother float in their family den. Early in his career he was helped by animal breeder and reality-television host Marc Morrone, who helped Angel find and train a set of doves for his act.
By the time he graduated from East Meadow High School, he had decided to pursue a career as a professional magician instead of attending college as his parents wanted. According to the Biography Channel, "Angel hit the road and began touring with other traveling performance acts. Between traveling and performing, he attempted to further his education in his own by studying the history of magic in public libraries. He also studied the art of mysticism, music, martial arts and even dance."
Early career
Angel has said that, "I stayed away from magicians when I was younger because I didn't want to think like them and wanted to create my own style." His first television appearance was in 1994, where he performed as a part of a one-hour ABC primetime special entitled Secrets. One of the early supporters of Angel was horror director Clive Barker. In 1995, Barker asked Angel to work with him on his film Lord of Illusions. He also later recorded the intro to Angel's album World of Illusion: System One. Barker said of Angel in the mid-1990s that, "Criss Angel is extraordinary, a spectacular mix of visionary magic. This is the future, and it can't come quickly enough." During that year, he collaborated with musician Klayton to form Angeldust, a show that combined magic with music. They released their first album Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusions in 1998. Also that year, Angel performed a 10-minute show over the course of the "World of Illusion" conference in Madison Square Garden, performing 60 shows per day. However, by 2000, Klayton's name was removed from Angel's website.
Angel also starred in the 1997 television movie The Science of Magic and its 2003 sequel The Science of Magic II. Criss Angel Mindfreak, which would later become Angel's first television series, was originally an off-Broadway show by Angel, which in 2001 was picked up by the World Underground Theatre. When not performing the show, Angel worked the streets promoting the show to pedestrians. Criss Angel Mindfreak ran for more than 600 performances between 2001 and 2003 at the World Underground Theater in Times Square. His 24 hours in a tank of water set a world record for the longest amount of time for a human to be completely submerged under water. This performance would also become a part of his first television special.
Angel has also been known to actively discourage a belief in mediumship, stating that there is no way for mediums to speak with people beyond the dead. He has said, "If somebody's doing that for entertainment purposes, that's one thing. But if they claim to be communicating with the dead, I don't care if they're from my hometown, I don't care if they're my family members: I'll expose them and tell them what they really are."
Water torture cell in Times Square, 2002
In August 2002, Angel spent 24 hours shackled underwater in a phone booth-sized water torture cell near the WWE entertainment store in New York's Times Square, WWE corporation being the owners of the World Underground Theatre where Angel had been performing his stage show. To prepare for the trick, he practiced in a neighbor's backyard swimming pool next to his mother's house in East Meadow, New York. Prior to the performance he had only managed to spend 12 consecutive hours in the water. He fasted for 24 hours before the performance to make it through the period without need to exit and use the bathroom. During the trick, he went through 16 oxygen tanks. After the trick, he was required to remove his own shackles and chains before exiting the water. Within an hour, his skin began to react substantially to the water.
At the end of the performance, according to Ted Shaffrey, "Before he emerged from the phone-booth sized contraption of clear plastic and steel, Angel yanked out the air hose that allowed him to breathe. Then assistants pulled a black curtain over the 220-gallon (832-liter) chamber to block the view of television cameras and about 100 people gathered outside the window in which he was displayed. Under cover, Angel apparently escaped from the shackles that bound his arms, legs and neck, before pulling himself from the watery chamber with a celebratory scream." Upon successfully completing the trick, he was described as having "skin crinkled and his eyes bloodshot", and upon emerging from the tank he was taken to St. Clare's Hospital and treated for severe dehydration. He reported afterwards that he had suffered from overheating, jaw fatigue, and semi-consciousness while in the tank.
Television specials and promotional appearances (2002–2005)
On October 20, 2002, Angel performed in the ABC Family television special named Criss Angel Mindfreak: Postmodern illusionist, an hour-long performance and tribute to Harry Houdini. The special aired again on December 24, 2002 on Channel 4 in the U.K. The Birmingham Evening Mail reviewed the show, writing, "Criss Angel is currently making a name for himself as a more provocative, darker alternative to [other illusionists]. He walks the streets of New York, hypnotising passers-by, turning cups of take-away coffee into cockroaches and suspending himself from the ceiling by inserting hooks into his back. The piece de resistance of all these mind games is an update of the Houdini underwater trick - an attempt to stay in a (cell) tank of water for 24 hours, padlocked and restrained. All seems to be going well, until the filter system breaks down and the water begins to heat up."
On October 31, 2003, the SciFi Channel aired the one-hour special Supernatural starring Angel. Kate O'Hare said of the special that, "Filmed in part at Universal Theme Park in Orlando, Fla., "Supernatural" finds Angel crawling up buildings, passing a quarter through his skin, spontaneously combusting and having otherworldly creatures burst from his chest." When asked about his process in creating television specials, Angel said that, "I like to have my hand in everything on my TV specials. I'm the executive producer; I direct it; I create it. I write all the music for my TV specials and my live performances. It's on my label. I write it; I produce it." During the special Angel performed stunts, including lighting himself on fire and making a tarantula emerge from a pedestrian's soda can. In 2003, Angel was also featured in the two-hour TBS special Made in Japan.
In early 2003, Angel performed at the release of the new branding for Miller Lite beer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the 80th anniversary of Houdini's last performance in that city. For the performance, he was suspended ten stories in the air and bound in a straitjacket, from which he escaped. He also performed an illusion at Ozzfest in 2005. During this period Angel also earned money selling signed merchandise, making up to $50,000 a day.
Criss Angel Mindfreak television series
In 2005, Angel became the creator, director, and executive producer of the A&E Network show Criss Angel Mindfreak, and had entered production in January. Seasons 1 and 2 were filmed at The Aladdin in Las Vegas, with Season 3 at the Luxor Las Vegas. Premiering on July 20, 2005, the show's illusions included walking on water, levitating, walking up the side of Luxor Hotel (in the light of 39 focused lamps that can be seen from space), floating between two buildings, causing a Lamborghini to disappear, surviving in an exploding C4 Crate, cutting himself in half in full view of an audience and getting run over by a steamroller while lying on a bed of broken glass.
The first season of the show was released on DVD after it completed its on-screen run. The show also released its Halloween special, along with two special episodes, on an additional one-disc DVD offering. The show returned for a second season in May 2006, and was named one of the best shows of the summer by the Tulsa World newspaper. The show was renewed for a third season in July 2006; as of that third season the show was A&E's number one rated show, with more than 1.5 million viewers. That year he promoted the show with a performance where he was suspended within a cube encased in concrete above Times Square, escaping from the block before it was set to crash to the ground. Magic effects creator Sean Field stated of Angel this year that, "Criss Angel is the biggest name in magic since Houdini ... No other magician has invaded pop culture to the degree that Criss Angel has. He has changed the image of magic and made it cool." The show became one of the most popular foreign television shows in parts of Asia, including China.
The television show was noted as a part of the mid-2000s films, television, and books that drove a resurgence of the public popularity of magic. Criss Angel Mindfreak was the first weekly magic television show to air in 40 years. Daily Variety reviewed the premiere writing, "The stunts alone are impressive. But what makes the show fascinating are the down-home touches in which we see the kid from New York, who first honed his magic skills at the age of 6. Keenly aware of the camera at all times, Angel manages to offer some personality, especially where family is involved. Viewers follow the illusionist as he contemplates new and more dangerous stunts, while his crew, including his often-fretful brothers, offer insight as to what, other than ego, drives someone in this profession."
The show ran from 2005 until 2010, at which point he had been featured for more hours on prime time television than any other magician in history. Other tricks performed in the show included the performance of séances, as well as other tricks in order to teach his audience about con men and how to avoid scams intended to manipulate money out of people.
In July 2008, Angel escaped from a beachside hotel before its demolition in front of a crowd of about 50,000 people, an illusion that also aired on the television program. After the illusion, Angel showed the audience step by step how he achieved the escape. He first picked open a set of handcuffs that had him shackled to a balcony railing. He then smashed the window of the room in order to enter the hotel, and picked padlocks on both the room's internal door and the door to the stairwell. The escape was initially supposed to occur via a ladder that dangled above the hotel's roof 30 seconds before collapse, after picking through five locks on the roof's door. Instead, Angel emerged from the rubble after the collapse, claiming that the initial plan was always to escape via the helicopter. The total time allotted for the entire illusion was four minutes, with dynamite located on the first, second, and fourth floors of the building.
Criss Angel Believe
Stage show
In 2006, Angel partnered with Cirque du Soleil to produce the stage show Criss Angel Believe (stylized as "Criss Angel BeLIEve"), premiering the show at the Luxor Las Vegas on September 26, 2008. It became the bestselling live magic show in the world. The name of the show was taken from Harry Houdini, for the mythology of Houdini choosing the word "believe" as the codeword for communicating with Houdini after his death. Luxor's parent company, MGM Mirage, financed the show with $100 million.
After several delays, the show was set for a gala opening on October 31, 2008, with preview shows in late September on the 82nd anniversary of Harry Houdini's death. The initial preview received mixed reactions and reviews. Reporters for the Las Vegas Sun, Los Angeles Times, and Las Vegas Review-Journal cited a lack of the magic Angel is known for, as well as a confusing and uninteresting theme. They also opined that neither Angel nor Cirque du Soleil were able to perform to their capabilities during these initial performances. On the positive side, the Las Vegas Sun later quoted Star Pulse, stating, "He has created a live show that is everything a perfect magic performance should be — and then some. It's not just remarkable magic — it's transcendent art that won't just blow your mind; it will quite possibly change your life."
In April 2009, Angel ended a performance of Believe by "hurling obscene insults" at blogger Perez Hilton, an audience member. Hilton reportedly had texted to his fans during the performance that the show was "unbelievably BAD" and that he'd "rather be getting a root canal", and word had gotten back to Angel by the end of the performance. Cirque du Soleil later apologized to Hilton for Angel's remarks.
In 2010, the Las Vegas Sun critic John Katsilometes, after being unimpressed by the initial show, said Believe had improved by reducing the narrative elements and focusing on the magic. In 2011, the Toronto Star wrote: "The show is easily the most exciting thing now on stage in Vegas!" That year the show attracted an estimated $150 million in ticket sales. The show currently has a 10-year performance contract that runs through 2019, and was the best selling magic show in Las Vegas as of 2013.
Television series
The stage show celebrated its fifth anniversary of appearing on stage in October 2013. That month a cable television series based upon the show entitled Criss Angel BeLIEve was broadcast on Spike TV. The first season included 11 one-hour episodes, including 118 different illusions. Guests on the show include Ludacris, Ice-T, Randy Couture and Shaquille O'Neal. When asked about the three years between the last episode of Mindfreak and his return to television, Angel stated that, "I didn't take long at all to go back to television. It was my choice to work on the live Cirque show and to get that where I wanted it to be.
"Now that that show is just humming and doing amazing business — it's the #1 bestselling magic show in the world as far as ticket sales and the perception that people are experiencing and coming back to see it multiple times — I felt it was in a great place and I could think about television again. Obviously, "Believe" will continue to evolve until its last performance because I always want to add new magic, I'm always tweaking and transforming it. I missed being on television, I had something new creatively to say, and Spike became the perfect home to do it." Endemol purchased the foreign distribution rights for the show, and was the "most-watched new original series [on Spike TV] in more than 18 months" according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In the episode "Lord of Illusions — Death Premonition", Angel paid homage to Clive Barker, the director of the horror movie of the same name. In the episode, Angel performed the closing stunt from the film, in which he laid beneath a circle of suspended swords, and predicted the correct order of six falling swords to avoid becoming stabbed through his body after their release. The swords were selected by the audience with the help of a randomly bouncing ball. According to the Las Vegas Sun, "Criss is the only, and first, magician in the world granted permission from the inventor and filmmaker to re-create the film's death-defying stunt."
For another episode for the series filmed in New York City he was asked by the NYPD not to pre-announce the performance, as crowd control for some Angel performances had become a concern for the police. This trick saw Angel hanging his feet, while bound with two straitjackets and a noose around his neck which were attached to metal weights. While he was successful in the trick, Angel tore his shoulder muscles and this required surgery in January 2014. This resulted in the temporary closing of the Believe stage show between January and April 2014, while he was recovering from the surgery and returning to performance shape. He did however host a new stage show featuring other magicians between February and March 2014 in lieu of performing in his own show. Clips from the show also became the most watched YouTube magic clips in the history of the site, with more than 15 million views.
In the show, Angel revealed the secrets behind some of his illusions to the audience. This included the "Lord of Illusions" trick, where he revealed that he had the swords in a preset order so that he could avoid them. The episode featuring this illusion also includes a meeting between Angel and his team discussing a problem with the trick and how to ensure it does not happen again.
Phenomenon
Starting in October 2007, he appeared as a judge on Phenomenon with Uri Geller. In a CNN interview about the show, he told Larry King "no one has the ability, that I'm aware of, to do anything supernatural, psychic, talk to the dead. And that was what I said I was going to do with Phenomenon. If somebody goes on that show and claims to have supernatural psychic ability, I'm going to bust [him] live and on television."
On the October 31, 2007 episode of the reality show Phenomenon, paranormalist Jim Callahan performed a summoning, purportedly of deceased author Raymond Hill, to help discover the contents of a locked box. Although fellow judge Uri Geller praised the performance, Angel called it "comical" and subsequently challenged both Callahan and Geller to guess the contents of two envelopes he pulled out of his pocket, offering a million dollars of his own money to whoever could do so. This led to an argument between Callahan and Angel, during which Callahan walked toward Angel and called him an "ideological bigot", with the two pulled apart as the show promptly went to a commercial break. Angel has since revealed the contents of one envelope and at the unveiling he challenged Geller one more time. Geller responded, "Although we were born one day apart - I was born on the 20th of December and you on the 19th - a lot of years between us - 40 years, you were one year old when I came out with my spoon bending..." Criss Angel cut him off at this point, saying, "I guess this is a 'no,'" and proceeded to open the envelope. The envelope contained an index card with the numbers "911" printed on it for September 11, 2001. Angel's explanation was this: "If on 9-10 somebody could have predicted that 9-11 was going to happen, they could have saved thousands of lives". The other envelope's contents were scheduled to be revealed on the first episode of Season 4 of Criss Angel: Mindfreak.
Stage shows
Criss Angel Magicjam
The temporary replacement show for Believe was entitled Criss Angel Magicjam, which was performed in the same Luxor theatre. According to the Las Vegas Sun, the show included, "Longtime Las Vegas comedy-illusionist Nathan Burton; Banachek, the world's premiere mentalist; and new female magician Krystyn Lambert, who has been prominently featured in the Spike series ... joined by grandmaster manipulators Jason Byrne and Tony Clarke, supreme close-up artist Armando Vera and the magic comedy of Russ Merlin." The production was written and directed by Criss Angel. In January 2014, Angel announced that he planned on taking Criss Angel Magicjam on a North American tour during the summer of 2014. The show also featured Angel's own illusions, which he performed for about 40 minutes of the show. Robin Leach said of the show that, "Magicjam is great fun and a high-energy show packed with mind-blowing magic."
Mindfreak LIVE!
In 2014, Angel premiered the stage show Mindfreak LIVE! The touring show features illusions from Angel himself, which received positive reviews. The demonstrations used in the show were developed in Angel's illusion laboratory in Las Vegas, located in a 60,000 square foot warehouse. His international touring with the show marked the first time that Angel had traveled with his show in about six years. The premiere show of the performance occurred at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut during November 2014.
The Supernaturalists
The Supernaturalists premiered in June 2015 at the Foxwoods Resort Casino's The Fox Theater, with Angel serving as creator, director and executive producer. Performers for the show include illusionist Landon Swank, magician Krystyn Lambert, escape artist Spencer Horsman, mentalist Banachek, dog conjuror Johnny Dominguez, magician Stefan, and close up magician Adrian Vega. Robin Leach reviewed the show as having "overwhelming positive reactions" and wrote that it contained "the most mind-blowing magic spectacle that's playing anywhere". Angel has stated that the show is a culmination of ten years of development, which he began in 2005, and is intended as a global touring show and as a premiering venue for several new illusions from each magician.
Variety show appearances and guest spots
Angel has made numerous special television guest appearances on WWE Raw, including acting as guest star on March 8, 2010. He also appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, including the premiere episode of its 24th season. During a 2007 episode of the show, he successfully guessed the number between 1 and 100 he asked Winfrey to think of without telling him. Angel has appeared on other talk shows including The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Megan Mullally Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, AVN Awards Show 2007 and Larry King Live on CNN. He was also a guest on The Tonight Show, Late Show with David Letterman, America's Got Talent, and The Rosie O'Donnell Show. He also made a guest acting appearance on the hit television shows CSI: NY, Las Vegas and Rules of Engagement. In 2011, Angel also appeared in an Orville Redenbacher Pop-Up Bowl popcorn commercial.
In May 2005, Angel introduced honoree Ozzy Osbourne at the VH1 Rock Honors awards, biting the head off a bat as a part of the introduction in homage to Osbourne's early career onstage antics. At the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, Angel performed an illusion as a part of the musical performance by Britney Spears and helped to plan her stage show, which opened the television broadcast. He was also hired as the illusionist for the planned 2009 Michael Jackson O2 arena concerts before Jackson's death. In 2013, Angel had a cameo in the feature film The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, and Jim Carrey's character in the movie "Steve Gray" has been said to be modeled after Angel. There is a wax statue of Angel in the Madame Tussauds wax museum in Las Vegas.
Other projects
Music
Angel has a passion for music and claims to have been a musician longer than a magician. In 1989 he fronted the short-lived heavy metal band Angel and produced a promotional music video for the song "Don't You Want My Love", incorporating several magic tricks. Angel later went on to collaborate with industrial rock musician Klay Scott for a new band titled Angeldust in 1995. Angeldust released its debut album Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusion in 1998. He later released the albums System 1, System 2, and System 3. In 2003, he released the album Supernatural. His musical style continues to be in the heavy metal style, though when describing his musical style he has said, "There are elements where it's more electronic, and there are orchestrated sections. I decided to take it in different places because I'm inspired by emotion and by giving people a connection, a sense of a feeling — whether it's excitement or crying or being happy." He also produced soundtracks for his television series Mindfreak, including collaborations with members of Korn and Godsmack.
Books
Angel is the author of the book Mindfreak: Secret Revelations, published by HarperEntertainment in 2007. Mindfreak: Secret Revelations appeared on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list that year. According to the Las Vegas Sun, "The 295-page book details the early beginnings of his career, memorable demonstrations from his TV show and personal reflections. "Secret Revelations" also contains several pictures and provides step-by-step instructions for 40 of his basic Mindfreaks. Laura Morton helped the magician write the book." California Bookwatch wrote that it "tells of Criss Angel's evolution as a performance artist, magician and musician, charting his rise to fame beginning at age 6 and adding details of his life and his artistic philosophy and influences ... His survey covers the 'Mindfreaks' which allow him to push for excellence in very different worlds".
Internet
Criss Angel is the most watched magician in Internet history since the late 2000s. His clip, "Walk on Water", had received more than 39 million views by 2010, and more than 46 million by 2013. By early 2013, his videos had achieved more than 200 million views. Another highly watched clip is "Rip Bodies Apart" taken from the premiere episode of BeLIEve, which had more than twelve million views within a month.
Merchandise
In 2010, Angel partnered with IdeaVillage to release the Criss Angel Magic Collection, which contained six Mindfreak Magic Tricks instructions, 250 tricks, and a magic kit for children. The product was backed by $50 million in marketing.
Recognition
Awards
Angel won the International Magician Society's Magician of the Year award in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008, in addition to its "Magician of the Decade" title in 2009 and "Magician of the Century" title in 2010. He was the 22nd recipient of the Louie Award for outstanding achievement in the art of magic. He has also appeared on the covers of Magic and Genii magazines. In 2008, Angel was one of the inaugural nominees for the Harry Houdini Award, awarded by the Harry Houdini Museum. Angel is the youngest magician to ever be inducted into the International Magician Society's Magic Hall of Fame. He is also the only man to have won the Merlin Magician of the Year award on two occasions, in 2001 and 2004. In 2011, he was awarded the World Magic Legacy Awards' Living Legend award. On July 20, 2017, Angel received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which is located next to The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
World records
Angel is the holder of several world records, including the longest time submerged under water and the fastest time to escape from a straitjacket at two minutes and 30 seconds, the longest body suspension at five hours 42 minutes, and the fastest time to perform the "Metamorphosis" illusion at less than one second. He is also the holder of the Guinness world record for "The most people to disappear in an illusion", for making 100 people disappear on May 26, 2010 during a performance of Believe at the Luxor.
Personal life
In 2002, Angel married his longtime girlfriend JoAnn Winkhart. The couple filed for divorce four years later. Although Angel was seen with his wife in the buried alive illusion (season 1, episode 6, 2005) and the body suspension illusion (season 1, episode 5, 2005), she was not credited as his wife; rather, she was listed as "Criss's Girl". In November 2008, Angel began dating Holly Madison, former girlfriend of Hugh Hefner. The relationship ended in February 2009. He proposed to Sandra Gonzalez on September 7, 2011 in Cabo San Lucas during a sunset dinner. They broke up shortly after. Since 2012, Angel has been dating Australian singer Shaunyl Benson. The couple have two sons together, born in 2014 and 2019, and a daughter born in 2021.
As of 2010, Big Bear Choppers had produced seven custom-made motorcycles for Angel, who featured the motorcycle designers on his show Criss Angel Mindfreak. He also had a Harley Davidson motorcycle built by Orange County Choppers, which he rode in the intro filmed for Criss Angel Mindfreak. As a philanthropist, Angel created the Believe Foundation 'Believe Anything is Possible', and was awarded the Make-A-Wish Foundation award for most supportive celebrity on May 19, 2010. He was also awarded the foundation's Chris Greicius Celebrity Award in 2007. As of 2016, Angel's business interests made about $70 million in revenues annually.
References
External links
1967 births
Living people
American magicians
American people of Greek descent
MNRK Music Group artists
Mentalists
Prizes for proof of paranormal phenomena
People from Hempstead (village), New York
Male actors from New York (state)
Participants in American reality television series
American YouTubers
People from East Meadow, New York
Male YouTubers
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[
"Grenada was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He won the 1880 Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes, and Travers Stakes. He is one of only seven horses to have won these three races.\n\nBackground\n\nGrenada was bred in Kentucky at Woodburn Stud by Alexander John Alexander. He was sired by King Alfonso, a successful sire of several stakes winners. His dam was Mattie Gross, a daughter of the famous Lexington. When he was a yearling, Grenada was sold at the 1878 Woodburn yearling sale for $1,300 to George L. Lorillard.\n\nRacing Career\n\nTwo-year-old season\n\nGrenada started 11 times as a two-year-old. He won the Club Purse at Long Branch, as well as the Windsor Hotel Stakes. He came second six times, and placed third once. He was unplaced in his remaining two races.\n\nThree-year-old season\n\nGrenada started 19 times as a three-year-old, winning ten. He started the season by winning the Potomac Stakes on May 19th.\n\nReferences\n\n1877 racehorse births\nRacehorses bred in Kentucky\nRacehorses trained in the United States\nPreakness Stakes winners\nBelmont Stakes winners\nThoroughbred family A20",
"Bror Östen Tommy Eriksson (born 1 March 1958 in Enånger, Hälsingland, Sweden) is a Swedish musician. He is member of the song group Östen med Resten and he works in the organization Hälsinge Akademi.\n\nEriksson started with entertainments when he was 3 years old. When he was 6 years old, he sang at Enångers bygdegård together with Jokkmokks-Jokke. He educated at Bromangymnasiet 1974–76. He released his first debut in 1976 when he played in the band Hälsingband. He worked at Iggesunds Bruk until 1980, when he wanted a new career as musician. During 5 years he was member of the group Iggesundsgänget and one of his performances was in the TV program Nygammalt together with Bosse Larsson. He told funny stories in the TV program Har du hört den förut?.\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\nPeople from Hudiksvall Municipality\n1958 births\nSwedish male musicians"
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what was his next performance after 1994?
| 4 |
what was Criss Angel's next performance after 1994?
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Criss Angel
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Angel has said that, "I stayed away from magicians when I was younger because I didn't want to think like them and wanted to create my own style." His first television appearance was in 1994, where he performed as a part of a one-hour ABC primetime special entitled Secrets. One of the early supporters of Angel was horror director Clive Barker. In 1995, Barker asked Angel to work with him on his film Lord of Illusions. He also later recorded the intro to Angel's album World of Illusion: System One. Barker said of Angel in the mid-1990s that, "Criss Angel is extraordinary, a spectacular mix of visionary magic. This is the future, and it can't come quickly enough." During that year, he collaborated with musician Klayton to form Angeldust, a show that combined magic with music. They released their first album Musical Conjurings from the World of Conjuring in 1998. Also that year, Angel performed a ten-minute show over the course of the "World of Illusion" conference in Madison Square Garden, performing sixty shows per day. However, by 2000, Klayton's name was removed from Angel's website. Angel also starred in the 1997 television movie The Science of Magic and its 2003 sequel The Science of Magic II. Criss Angel Mindfreak, which would later become Angel's first television series, was originally an off-Broadway show by Angel, which in 2001 was picked up by the World Underground Theatre. When not performing the show, Angel worked the streets promoting the show to pedestrians. Criss Angel Mindfreak ran for more than 600 performances between 2001 and 2003 at the World Underground Theater in Times Square. His twenty-four hours in a tank of water set a world record for the longest amount of time for a human to be completely submerged under water. This performance would also become a part of his first television special. Angel has also been known to actively discourage a belief in mediumship, stating that there is no way for mediums to speak with people beyond the dead. He has said, "If somebody's doing that for entertainment purposes, that's one thing. But if they claim to be communicating with the dead, I don't care if they're from my hometown, I don't care if they're my family members: I'll expose them and tell them what they really are." CANNOTANSWER
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Angel also starred in the 1997 television movie The Science of Magic and its 2003 sequel The Science of Magic II.
|
Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos (; born December 19, 1967), known professionally as Criss Angel, is an American magician, illusionist and musician. Angel began his career in New York City, before moving his base of operations to the Las Vegas Valley. He is known for starring in the television and stage show Criss Angel Mindfreak and his previous live performance illusion show Criss Angel Believe in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil at the Luxor casino in Las Vegas. The show generated $150 million in tourist revenue to Las Vegas in 2010, but has since been replaced by Mindfreak LIVE! in 2016 (the show is partly produced by Cirque du Soleil; however, the directive rights are entirely with Criss Angel). He also starred in the television series Criss Angel BeLIEve on Spike TV, the reality-competition television show Phenomenon on NBC, and the 2014 stage show Criss Angel Magicjam.
He also holds multiple world records made during his magic performances, and was named Magician of the Decade in 2009 and Magician of the Century in 2010 by the International Magicians Society. In addition to his career as an illusionist, Angel was the lead singer for his industrial band Angeldust, which released five albums. He also authored the book Mindfreak: Secret Revelations.
Early life
Criss Angel was born on December 19, 1967, at Hempstead General Hospital in Hempstead, on Long Island, New York. He is of Greek descent. Angel was raised in Elmont until fourth grade, when his family moved to East Meadow, New York. His father, John Sarantakos, owned a restaurant and doughnut shop. He developed an interest in magic at age seven and performed his first show at age 12, for which he was paid $10. His main early influence was Harry Houdini. By age 14, Angel was performing throughout high school at restaurants in East Meadow, including the Wine Gallery. Angel's first major illusion was making his mother float in their family den. Early in his career he was helped by animal breeder and reality-television host Marc Morrone, who helped Angel find and train a set of doves for his act.
By the time he graduated from East Meadow High School, he had decided to pursue a career as a professional magician instead of attending college as his parents wanted. According to the Biography Channel, "Angel hit the road and began touring with other traveling performance acts. Between traveling and performing, he attempted to further his education in his own by studying the history of magic in public libraries. He also studied the art of mysticism, music, martial arts and even dance."
Early career
Angel has said that, "I stayed away from magicians when I was younger because I didn't want to think like them and wanted to create my own style." His first television appearance was in 1994, where he performed as a part of a one-hour ABC primetime special entitled Secrets. One of the early supporters of Angel was horror director Clive Barker. In 1995, Barker asked Angel to work with him on his film Lord of Illusions. He also later recorded the intro to Angel's album World of Illusion: System One. Barker said of Angel in the mid-1990s that, "Criss Angel is extraordinary, a spectacular mix of visionary magic. This is the future, and it can't come quickly enough." During that year, he collaborated with musician Klayton to form Angeldust, a show that combined magic with music. They released their first album Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusions in 1998. Also that year, Angel performed a 10-minute show over the course of the "World of Illusion" conference in Madison Square Garden, performing 60 shows per day. However, by 2000, Klayton's name was removed from Angel's website.
Angel also starred in the 1997 television movie The Science of Magic and its 2003 sequel The Science of Magic II. Criss Angel Mindfreak, which would later become Angel's first television series, was originally an off-Broadway show by Angel, which in 2001 was picked up by the World Underground Theatre. When not performing the show, Angel worked the streets promoting the show to pedestrians. Criss Angel Mindfreak ran for more than 600 performances between 2001 and 2003 at the World Underground Theater in Times Square. His 24 hours in a tank of water set a world record for the longest amount of time for a human to be completely submerged under water. This performance would also become a part of his first television special.
Angel has also been known to actively discourage a belief in mediumship, stating that there is no way for mediums to speak with people beyond the dead. He has said, "If somebody's doing that for entertainment purposes, that's one thing. But if they claim to be communicating with the dead, I don't care if they're from my hometown, I don't care if they're my family members: I'll expose them and tell them what they really are."
Water torture cell in Times Square, 2002
In August 2002, Angel spent 24 hours shackled underwater in a phone booth-sized water torture cell near the WWE entertainment store in New York's Times Square, WWE corporation being the owners of the World Underground Theatre where Angel had been performing his stage show. To prepare for the trick, he practiced in a neighbor's backyard swimming pool next to his mother's house in East Meadow, New York. Prior to the performance he had only managed to spend 12 consecutive hours in the water. He fasted for 24 hours before the performance to make it through the period without need to exit and use the bathroom. During the trick, he went through 16 oxygen tanks. After the trick, he was required to remove his own shackles and chains before exiting the water. Within an hour, his skin began to react substantially to the water.
At the end of the performance, according to Ted Shaffrey, "Before he emerged from the phone-booth sized contraption of clear plastic and steel, Angel yanked out the air hose that allowed him to breathe. Then assistants pulled a black curtain over the 220-gallon (832-liter) chamber to block the view of television cameras and about 100 people gathered outside the window in which he was displayed. Under cover, Angel apparently escaped from the shackles that bound his arms, legs and neck, before pulling himself from the watery chamber with a celebratory scream." Upon successfully completing the trick, he was described as having "skin crinkled and his eyes bloodshot", and upon emerging from the tank he was taken to St. Clare's Hospital and treated for severe dehydration. He reported afterwards that he had suffered from overheating, jaw fatigue, and semi-consciousness while in the tank.
Television specials and promotional appearances (2002–2005)
On October 20, 2002, Angel performed in the ABC Family television special named Criss Angel Mindfreak: Postmodern illusionist, an hour-long performance and tribute to Harry Houdini. The special aired again on December 24, 2002 on Channel 4 in the U.K. The Birmingham Evening Mail reviewed the show, writing, "Criss Angel is currently making a name for himself as a more provocative, darker alternative to [other illusionists]. He walks the streets of New York, hypnotising passers-by, turning cups of take-away coffee into cockroaches and suspending himself from the ceiling by inserting hooks into his back. The piece de resistance of all these mind games is an update of the Houdini underwater trick - an attempt to stay in a (cell) tank of water for 24 hours, padlocked and restrained. All seems to be going well, until the filter system breaks down and the water begins to heat up."
On October 31, 2003, the SciFi Channel aired the one-hour special Supernatural starring Angel. Kate O'Hare said of the special that, "Filmed in part at Universal Theme Park in Orlando, Fla., "Supernatural" finds Angel crawling up buildings, passing a quarter through his skin, spontaneously combusting and having otherworldly creatures burst from his chest." When asked about his process in creating television specials, Angel said that, "I like to have my hand in everything on my TV specials. I'm the executive producer; I direct it; I create it. I write all the music for my TV specials and my live performances. It's on my label. I write it; I produce it." During the special Angel performed stunts, including lighting himself on fire and making a tarantula emerge from a pedestrian's soda can. In 2003, Angel was also featured in the two-hour TBS special Made in Japan.
In early 2003, Angel performed at the release of the new branding for Miller Lite beer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the 80th anniversary of Houdini's last performance in that city. For the performance, he was suspended ten stories in the air and bound in a straitjacket, from which he escaped. He also performed an illusion at Ozzfest in 2005. During this period Angel also earned money selling signed merchandise, making up to $50,000 a day.
Criss Angel Mindfreak television series
In 2005, Angel became the creator, director, and executive producer of the A&E Network show Criss Angel Mindfreak, and had entered production in January. Seasons 1 and 2 were filmed at The Aladdin in Las Vegas, with Season 3 at the Luxor Las Vegas. Premiering on July 20, 2005, the show's illusions included walking on water, levitating, walking up the side of Luxor Hotel (in the light of 39 focused lamps that can be seen from space), floating between two buildings, causing a Lamborghini to disappear, surviving in an exploding C4 Crate, cutting himself in half in full view of an audience and getting run over by a steamroller while lying on a bed of broken glass.
The first season of the show was released on DVD after it completed its on-screen run. The show also released its Halloween special, along with two special episodes, on an additional one-disc DVD offering. The show returned for a second season in May 2006, and was named one of the best shows of the summer by the Tulsa World newspaper. The show was renewed for a third season in July 2006; as of that third season the show was A&E's number one rated show, with more than 1.5 million viewers. That year he promoted the show with a performance where he was suspended within a cube encased in concrete above Times Square, escaping from the block before it was set to crash to the ground. Magic effects creator Sean Field stated of Angel this year that, "Criss Angel is the biggest name in magic since Houdini ... No other magician has invaded pop culture to the degree that Criss Angel has. He has changed the image of magic and made it cool." The show became one of the most popular foreign television shows in parts of Asia, including China.
The television show was noted as a part of the mid-2000s films, television, and books that drove a resurgence of the public popularity of magic. Criss Angel Mindfreak was the first weekly magic television show to air in 40 years. Daily Variety reviewed the premiere writing, "The stunts alone are impressive. But what makes the show fascinating are the down-home touches in which we see the kid from New York, who first honed his magic skills at the age of 6. Keenly aware of the camera at all times, Angel manages to offer some personality, especially where family is involved. Viewers follow the illusionist as he contemplates new and more dangerous stunts, while his crew, including his often-fretful brothers, offer insight as to what, other than ego, drives someone in this profession."
The show ran from 2005 until 2010, at which point he had been featured for more hours on prime time television than any other magician in history. Other tricks performed in the show included the performance of séances, as well as other tricks in order to teach his audience about con men and how to avoid scams intended to manipulate money out of people.
In July 2008, Angel escaped from a beachside hotel before its demolition in front of a crowd of about 50,000 people, an illusion that also aired on the television program. After the illusion, Angel showed the audience step by step how he achieved the escape. He first picked open a set of handcuffs that had him shackled to a balcony railing. He then smashed the window of the room in order to enter the hotel, and picked padlocks on both the room's internal door and the door to the stairwell. The escape was initially supposed to occur via a ladder that dangled above the hotel's roof 30 seconds before collapse, after picking through five locks on the roof's door. Instead, Angel emerged from the rubble after the collapse, claiming that the initial plan was always to escape via the helicopter. The total time allotted for the entire illusion was four minutes, with dynamite located on the first, second, and fourth floors of the building.
Criss Angel Believe
Stage show
In 2006, Angel partnered with Cirque du Soleil to produce the stage show Criss Angel Believe (stylized as "Criss Angel BeLIEve"), premiering the show at the Luxor Las Vegas on September 26, 2008. It became the bestselling live magic show in the world. The name of the show was taken from Harry Houdini, for the mythology of Houdini choosing the word "believe" as the codeword for communicating with Houdini after his death. Luxor's parent company, MGM Mirage, financed the show with $100 million.
After several delays, the show was set for a gala opening on October 31, 2008, with preview shows in late September on the 82nd anniversary of Harry Houdini's death. The initial preview received mixed reactions and reviews. Reporters for the Las Vegas Sun, Los Angeles Times, and Las Vegas Review-Journal cited a lack of the magic Angel is known for, as well as a confusing and uninteresting theme. They also opined that neither Angel nor Cirque du Soleil were able to perform to their capabilities during these initial performances. On the positive side, the Las Vegas Sun later quoted Star Pulse, stating, "He has created a live show that is everything a perfect magic performance should be — and then some. It's not just remarkable magic — it's transcendent art that won't just blow your mind; it will quite possibly change your life."
In April 2009, Angel ended a performance of Believe by "hurling obscene insults" at blogger Perez Hilton, an audience member. Hilton reportedly had texted to his fans during the performance that the show was "unbelievably BAD" and that he'd "rather be getting a root canal", and word had gotten back to Angel by the end of the performance. Cirque du Soleil later apologized to Hilton for Angel's remarks.
In 2010, the Las Vegas Sun critic John Katsilometes, after being unimpressed by the initial show, said Believe had improved by reducing the narrative elements and focusing on the magic. In 2011, the Toronto Star wrote: "The show is easily the most exciting thing now on stage in Vegas!" That year the show attracted an estimated $150 million in ticket sales. The show currently has a 10-year performance contract that runs through 2019, and was the best selling magic show in Las Vegas as of 2013.
Television series
The stage show celebrated its fifth anniversary of appearing on stage in October 2013. That month a cable television series based upon the show entitled Criss Angel BeLIEve was broadcast on Spike TV. The first season included 11 one-hour episodes, including 118 different illusions. Guests on the show include Ludacris, Ice-T, Randy Couture and Shaquille O'Neal. When asked about the three years between the last episode of Mindfreak and his return to television, Angel stated that, "I didn't take long at all to go back to television. It was my choice to work on the live Cirque show and to get that where I wanted it to be.
"Now that that show is just humming and doing amazing business — it's the #1 bestselling magic show in the world as far as ticket sales and the perception that people are experiencing and coming back to see it multiple times — I felt it was in a great place and I could think about television again. Obviously, "Believe" will continue to evolve until its last performance because I always want to add new magic, I'm always tweaking and transforming it. I missed being on television, I had something new creatively to say, and Spike became the perfect home to do it." Endemol purchased the foreign distribution rights for the show, and was the "most-watched new original series [on Spike TV] in more than 18 months" according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In the episode "Lord of Illusions — Death Premonition", Angel paid homage to Clive Barker, the director of the horror movie of the same name. In the episode, Angel performed the closing stunt from the film, in which he laid beneath a circle of suspended swords, and predicted the correct order of six falling swords to avoid becoming stabbed through his body after their release. The swords were selected by the audience with the help of a randomly bouncing ball. According to the Las Vegas Sun, "Criss is the only, and first, magician in the world granted permission from the inventor and filmmaker to re-create the film's death-defying stunt."
For another episode for the series filmed in New York City he was asked by the NYPD not to pre-announce the performance, as crowd control for some Angel performances had become a concern for the police. This trick saw Angel hanging his feet, while bound with two straitjackets and a noose around his neck which were attached to metal weights. While he was successful in the trick, Angel tore his shoulder muscles and this required surgery in January 2014. This resulted in the temporary closing of the Believe stage show between January and April 2014, while he was recovering from the surgery and returning to performance shape. He did however host a new stage show featuring other magicians between February and March 2014 in lieu of performing in his own show. Clips from the show also became the most watched YouTube magic clips in the history of the site, with more than 15 million views.
In the show, Angel revealed the secrets behind some of his illusions to the audience. This included the "Lord of Illusions" trick, where he revealed that he had the swords in a preset order so that he could avoid them. The episode featuring this illusion also includes a meeting between Angel and his team discussing a problem with the trick and how to ensure it does not happen again.
Phenomenon
Starting in October 2007, he appeared as a judge on Phenomenon with Uri Geller. In a CNN interview about the show, he told Larry King "no one has the ability, that I'm aware of, to do anything supernatural, psychic, talk to the dead. And that was what I said I was going to do with Phenomenon. If somebody goes on that show and claims to have supernatural psychic ability, I'm going to bust [him] live and on television."
On the October 31, 2007 episode of the reality show Phenomenon, paranormalist Jim Callahan performed a summoning, purportedly of deceased author Raymond Hill, to help discover the contents of a locked box. Although fellow judge Uri Geller praised the performance, Angel called it "comical" and subsequently challenged both Callahan and Geller to guess the contents of two envelopes he pulled out of his pocket, offering a million dollars of his own money to whoever could do so. This led to an argument between Callahan and Angel, during which Callahan walked toward Angel and called him an "ideological bigot", with the two pulled apart as the show promptly went to a commercial break. Angel has since revealed the contents of one envelope and at the unveiling he challenged Geller one more time. Geller responded, "Although we were born one day apart - I was born on the 20th of December and you on the 19th - a lot of years between us - 40 years, you were one year old when I came out with my spoon bending..." Criss Angel cut him off at this point, saying, "I guess this is a 'no,'" and proceeded to open the envelope. The envelope contained an index card with the numbers "911" printed on it for September 11, 2001. Angel's explanation was this: "If on 9-10 somebody could have predicted that 9-11 was going to happen, they could have saved thousands of lives". The other envelope's contents were scheduled to be revealed on the first episode of Season 4 of Criss Angel: Mindfreak.
Stage shows
Criss Angel Magicjam
The temporary replacement show for Believe was entitled Criss Angel Magicjam, which was performed in the same Luxor theatre. According to the Las Vegas Sun, the show included, "Longtime Las Vegas comedy-illusionist Nathan Burton; Banachek, the world's premiere mentalist; and new female magician Krystyn Lambert, who has been prominently featured in the Spike series ... joined by grandmaster manipulators Jason Byrne and Tony Clarke, supreme close-up artist Armando Vera and the magic comedy of Russ Merlin." The production was written and directed by Criss Angel. In January 2014, Angel announced that he planned on taking Criss Angel Magicjam on a North American tour during the summer of 2014. The show also featured Angel's own illusions, which he performed for about 40 minutes of the show. Robin Leach said of the show that, "Magicjam is great fun and a high-energy show packed with mind-blowing magic."
Mindfreak LIVE!
In 2014, Angel premiered the stage show Mindfreak LIVE! The touring show features illusions from Angel himself, which received positive reviews. The demonstrations used in the show were developed in Angel's illusion laboratory in Las Vegas, located in a 60,000 square foot warehouse. His international touring with the show marked the first time that Angel had traveled with his show in about six years. The premiere show of the performance occurred at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut during November 2014.
The Supernaturalists
The Supernaturalists premiered in June 2015 at the Foxwoods Resort Casino's The Fox Theater, with Angel serving as creator, director and executive producer. Performers for the show include illusionist Landon Swank, magician Krystyn Lambert, escape artist Spencer Horsman, mentalist Banachek, dog conjuror Johnny Dominguez, magician Stefan, and close up magician Adrian Vega. Robin Leach reviewed the show as having "overwhelming positive reactions" and wrote that it contained "the most mind-blowing magic spectacle that's playing anywhere". Angel has stated that the show is a culmination of ten years of development, which he began in 2005, and is intended as a global touring show and as a premiering venue for several new illusions from each magician.
Variety show appearances and guest spots
Angel has made numerous special television guest appearances on WWE Raw, including acting as guest star on March 8, 2010. He also appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, including the premiere episode of its 24th season. During a 2007 episode of the show, he successfully guessed the number between 1 and 100 he asked Winfrey to think of without telling him. Angel has appeared on other talk shows including The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Megan Mullally Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, AVN Awards Show 2007 and Larry King Live on CNN. He was also a guest on The Tonight Show, Late Show with David Letterman, America's Got Talent, and The Rosie O'Donnell Show. He also made a guest acting appearance on the hit television shows CSI: NY, Las Vegas and Rules of Engagement. In 2011, Angel also appeared in an Orville Redenbacher Pop-Up Bowl popcorn commercial.
In May 2005, Angel introduced honoree Ozzy Osbourne at the VH1 Rock Honors awards, biting the head off a bat as a part of the introduction in homage to Osbourne's early career onstage antics. At the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, Angel performed an illusion as a part of the musical performance by Britney Spears and helped to plan her stage show, which opened the television broadcast. He was also hired as the illusionist for the planned 2009 Michael Jackson O2 arena concerts before Jackson's death. In 2013, Angel had a cameo in the feature film The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, and Jim Carrey's character in the movie "Steve Gray" has been said to be modeled after Angel. There is a wax statue of Angel in the Madame Tussauds wax museum in Las Vegas.
Other projects
Music
Angel has a passion for music and claims to have been a musician longer than a magician. In 1989 he fronted the short-lived heavy metal band Angel and produced a promotional music video for the song "Don't You Want My Love", incorporating several magic tricks. Angel later went on to collaborate with industrial rock musician Klay Scott for a new band titled Angeldust in 1995. Angeldust released its debut album Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusion in 1998. He later released the albums System 1, System 2, and System 3. In 2003, he released the album Supernatural. His musical style continues to be in the heavy metal style, though when describing his musical style he has said, "There are elements where it's more electronic, and there are orchestrated sections. I decided to take it in different places because I'm inspired by emotion and by giving people a connection, a sense of a feeling — whether it's excitement or crying or being happy." He also produced soundtracks for his television series Mindfreak, including collaborations with members of Korn and Godsmack.
Books
Angel is the author of the book Mindfreak: Secret Revelations, published by HarperEntertainment in 2007. Mindfreak: Secret Revelations appeared on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list that year. According to the Las Vegas Sun, "The 295-page book details the early beginnings of his career, memorable demonstrations from his TV show and personal reflections. "Secret Revelations" also contains several pictures and provides step-by-step instructions for 40 of his basic Mindfreaks. Laura Morton helped the magician write the book." California Bookwatch wrote that it "tells of Criss Angel's evolution as a performance artist, magician and musician, charting his rise to fame beginning at age 6 and adding details of his life and his artistic philosophy and influences ... His survey covers the 'Mindfreaks' which allow him to push for excellence in very different worlds".
Internet
Criss Angel is the most watched magician in Internet history since the late 2000s. His clip, "Walk on Water", had received more than 39 million views by 2010, and more than 46 million by 2013. By early 2013, his videos had achieved more than 200 million views. Another highly watched clip is "Rip Bodies Apart" taken from the premiere episode of BeLIEve, which had more than twelve million views within a month.
Merchandise
In 2010, Angel partnered with IdeaVillage to release the Criss Angel Magic Collection, which contained six Mindfreak Magic Tricks instructions, 250 tricks, and a magic kit for children. The product was backed by $50 million in marketing.
Recognition
Awards
Angel won the International Magician Society's Magician of the Year award in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008, in addition to its "Magician of the Decade" title in 2009 and "Magician of the Century" title in 2010. He was the 22nd recipient of the Louie Award for outstanding achievement in the art of magic. He has also appeared on the covers of Magic and Genii magazines. In 2008, Angel was one of the inaugural nominees for the Harry Houdini Award, awarded by the Harry Houdini Museum. Angel is the youngest magician to ever be inducted into the International Magician Society's Magic Hall of Fame. He is also the only man to have won the Merlin Magician of the Year award on two occasions, in 2001 and 2004. In 2011, he was awarded the World Magic Legacy Awards' Living Legend award. On July 20, 2017, Angel received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which is located next to The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
World records
Angel is the holder of several world records, including the longest time submerged under water and the fastest time to escape from a straitjacket at two minutes and 30 seconds, the longest body suspension at five hours 42 minutes, and the fastest time to perform the "Metamorphosis" illusion at less than one second. He is also the holder of the Guinness world record for "The most people to disappear in an illusion", for making 100 people disappear on May 26, 2010 during a performance of Believe at the Luxor.
Personal life
In 2002, Angel married his longtime girlfriend JoAnn Winkhart. The couple filed for divorce four years later. Although Angel was seen with his wife in the buried alive illusion (season 1, episode 6, 2005) and the body suspension illusion (season 1, episode 5, 2005), she was not credited as his wife; rather, she was listed as "Criss's Girl". In November 2008, Angel began dating Holly Madison, former girlfriend of Hugh Hefner. The relationship ended in February 2009. He proposed to Sandra Gonzalez on September 7, 2011 in Cabo San Lucas during a sunset dinner. They broke up shortly after. Since 2012, Angel has been dating Australian singer Shaunyl Benson. The couple have two sons together, born in 2014 and 2019, and a daughter born in 2021.
As of 2010, Big Bear Choppers had produced seven custom-made motorcycles for Angel, who featured the motorcycle designers on his show Criss Angel Mindfreak. He also had a Harley Davidson motorcycle built by Orange County Choppers, which he rode in the intro filmed for Criss Angel Mindfreak. As a philanthropist, Angel created the Believe Foundation 'Believe Anything is Possible', and was awarded the Make-A-Wish Foundation award for most supportive celebrity on May 19, 2010. He was also awarded the foundation's Chris Greicius Celebrity Award in 2007. As of 2016, Angel's business interests made about $70 million in revenues annually.
References
External links
1967 births
Living people
American magicians
American people of Greek descent
MNRK Music Group artists
Mentalists
Prizes for proof of paranormal phenomena
People from Hempstead (village), New York
Male actors from New York (state)
Participants in American reality television series
American YouTubers
People from East Meadow, New York
Male YouTubers
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[
"\"What I Learned from Loving You\" is a song written by Russell Smith and James Hooker. It was recorded by American country music artist Lynn Anderson and released as a single in July 1983 via Permian Records.\n\nBackground and release\n\"What I Learned from Loving You\" was recorded at the Quadrophonic Studio, located in Nashville, Tennessee. The sessions was produced by Michael Clark. It was among Anderson's first sessions recording with Clark.\n\n\"What I Learned from Loving You\" reached number 18 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in 1983. It became Anderson's comeback single due to it being her first major hit since 1979. Her next single release would become even more successful after it reached the country top ten. The song was issued on Anderson's 1983 studio album, Back. The song would later be recorded by Chely Wright for her 1996 studio release, Right in the Middle of It.\n\nTrack listings \n7\" vinyl single\n \"What I Learned from Loving You\" – 3:37\n \"Mr. Sundown\" – 2:45\n\nChart performance\n\nReferences\n\n1983 singles\n1983 songs\nChely Wright songs\nLynn Anderson songs\nSongs written by Russell Smith (singer)",
"what. (also called Bo Burnham: what.) is a 2013 stand-up comedy routine and album by American comedian Bo Burnham. It is his first show following his 2010 comedy special Words Words Words. Like the majority of Burnham's live work, the show consists of musical comedy, prop comedy, miming, observational jokes, and the inversion of established comedy clichés. It received positive reviews.\n\nThe live performance debuted at the Regency Ball Room in San Francisco on December 17, 2013, while the album is derived from a live performance of the same set at the Barrymore Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin. In addition to the live performance, the album has five studio tracks: \"Repeat Stuff\", \"Eff\", \"Nerds\", \"Channel 5: The Musical\", and \"Hell of a Ride\". Unlike the other tracks, \"Repeat Stuff\" was performed during the live show (as a piano-only version) and was later released as a single with a music video. what. was released on YouTube and Netflix on December 17, 2013, and the album was released via iTunes the next day.\n\nBackground \nBurnham rose to fame for posting songs on his YouTube page with satirical, funny, and offensive slants. He signed to Comedy Central Records and released his debut EP, Bo fo Sho, in 2008. He released his debut album, Bo Burnham, in 2009. He toured extensively during this time, gathering material for his first official Comedy Central stand-up hour. Words Words Words was recorded in 2010 at the House of Blues in Boston and received acclaim. Burnham later published a New York Times Best Selling book of poetry titled Egghead: Or, You Can't Survive on Ideas Alone and wrote and starred in the mockumentary series Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous on MTV.\n\nBurnham spent three years writing what., which was released on YouTube and Netflix for free on December 17, 2013, with money Burnham made from touring used to finance the special. The YouTube video has over 23 million views as of October 2021. Burnham experienced 12 panic attacks while touring for what. but had never had panic attacks prior to this. This influenced the writing of his next stand-up performance, Make Happy (2016), after which he quit live comedy until returning with Inside (2021).\n\nAlbum \nwhat. was released by Comedy Central Records as a download on both Amazon and the iTunes Store on December 17, 2013. The album features five new studio songs: \"Repeat Stuff\", \"Eff\", \"Nerds\", \"Channel 5: The Musical\", and \"Hell of a Ride\". Unlike the other tracks, \"Repeat Stuff\" was performed during the live show (as a piano-only version) and was later released as a single with a music video which has gained over 16 million YouTube views as of October 2021.\n\nTrack listing\n\nReception \nReception to what. has been positive. Mark Monahan of The Telegraph writes, \"If his Edinburgh debut was more impressive than it was laugh-out-loud funny, this lightning-fast, constantly wrong-footing, even more ambitious follow-up is supremely both\", and gave the show 5 out of 5 stars. Brian Logan of The Guardian gave the show 4 out of 5 stars, describing it as a \"full-frontal assault of music and meta-comedy that leaves you gasping for air\", with \"not a line out of place, nor one that isn't in there for destabilising comic effect\", though Logan noted that \"Burnham's comedy has a depressive streak, and his material is often base\". Another writer in The Guardian summarised the show by writing, \"Burnham mixes the utterly base with the sophisticated, meshing hip-hop-influenced songs that reference Shakespeare, and feature plenty of dick jokes.\" Jason Zinoman of the New York Times writes that the show has a \"manic satirical style\", which is \"ambitious, and sometimes inspired\" but contains \"a tension at the core of this show that remains unresolved\".\n\nChart positions \n\nwhat. debuted on the Billboard Comedy Albums chart at position #2, on January 4, 2014, peaking at #1 on January 18, 2014, and remaining on the chart for 77 weeks. It was on the Independent Albums chart for 4 weeks, peaking at position #31. what. had first week sales of 10,000 copies.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n what. at Netflix\n \n\n2013 albums\nComedy albums by American artists\nStand-up comedy albums\n2010s comedy albums\nBo Burnham albums\nFilms directed by Bo Burnham"
] |
[
"Criss Angel",
"Early career",
"how did he get started?",
"His first television appearance was in 1994, where he performed as a part of a one-hour ABC primetime special",
"what did he do in his performance?",
"I don't know.",
"how old was he when he first started his career?",
"I don't know.",
"what was his next performance after 1994?",
"Angel also starred in the 1997 television movie The Science of Magic and its 2003 sequel The Science of Magic II."
] |
C_0dbc7e6a91394d278a7e6b64d29eb7ad_1
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Did he ever star with other people?
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Did Criss Angel ever star with other people besides the Science of Magic ?
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Criss Angel
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Angel has said that, "I stayed away from magicians when I was younger because I didn't want to think like them and wanted to create my own style." His first television appearance was in 1994, where he performed as a part of a one-hour ABC primetime special entitled Secrets. One of the early supporters of Angel was horror director Clive Barker. In 1995, Barker asked Angel to work with him on his film Lord of Illusions. He also later recorded the intro to Angel's album World of Illusion: System One. Barker said of Angel in the mid-1990s that, "Criss Angel is extraordinary, a spectacular mix of visionary magic. This is the future, and it can't come quickly enough." During that year, he collaborated with musician Klayton to form Angeldust, a show that combined magic with music. They released their first album Musical Conjurings from the World of Conjuring in 1998. Also that year, Angel performed a ten-minute show over the course of the "World of Illusion" conference in Madison Square Garden, performing sixty shows per day. However, by 2000, Klayton's name was removed from Angel's website. Angel also starred in the 1997 television movie The Science of Magic and its 2003 sequel The Science of Magic II. Criss Angel Mindfreak, which would later become Angel's first television series, was originally an off-Broadway show by Angel, which in 2001 was picked up by the World Underground Theatre. When not performing the show, Angel worked the streets promoting the show to pedestrians. Criss Angel Mindfreak ran for more than 600 performances between 2001 and 2003 at the World Underground Theater in Times Square. His twenty-four hours in a tank of water set a world record for the longest amount of time for a human to be completely submerged under water. This performance would also become a part of his first television special. Angel has also been known to actively discourage a belief in mediumship, stating that there is no way for mediums to speak with people beyond the dead. He has said, "If somebody's doing that for entertainment purposes, that's one thing. But if they claim to be communicating with the dead, I don't care if they're from my hometown, I don't care if they're my family members: I'll expose them and tell them what they really are." CANNOTANSWER
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year, he collaborated with musician Klayton to form Angeldust, a show that combined magic with music.
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Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos (; born December 19, 1967), known professionally as Criss Angel, is an American magician, illusionist and musician. Angel began his career in New York City, before moving his base of operations to the Las Vegas Valley. He is known for starring in the television and stage show Criss Angel Mindfreak and his previous live performance illusion show Criss Angel Believe in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil at the Luxor casino in Las Vegas. The show generated $150 million in tourist revenue to Las Vegas in 2010, but has since been replaced by Mindfreak LIVE! in 2016 (the show is partly produced by Cirque du Soleil; however, the directive rights are entirely with Criss Angel). He also starred in the television series Criss Angel BeLIEve on Spike TV, the reality-competition television show Phenomenon on NBC, and the 2014 stage show Criss Angel Magicjam.
He also holds multiple world records made during his magic performances, and was named Magician of the Decade in 2009 and Magician of the Century in 2010 by the International Magicians Society. In addition to his career as an illusionist, Angel was the lead singer for his industrial band Angeldust, which released five albums. He also authored the book Mindfreak: Secret Revelations.
Early life
Criss Angel was born on December 19, 1967, at Hempstead General Hospital in Hempstead, on Long Island, New York. He is of Greek descent. Angel was raised in Elmont until fourth grade, when his family moved to East Meadow, New York. His father, John Sarantakos, owned a restaurant and doughnut shop. He developed an interest in magic at age seven and performed his first show at age 12, for which he was paid $10. His main early influence was Harry Houdini. By age 14, Angel was performing throughout high school at restaurants in East Meadow, including the Wine Gallery. Angel's first major illusion was making his mother float in their family den. Early in his career he was helped by animal breeder and reality-television host Marc Morrone, who helped Angel find and train a set of doves for his act.
By the time he graduated from East Meadow High School, he had decided to pursue a career as a professional magician instead of attending college as his parents wanted. According to the Biography Channel, "Angel hit the road and began touring with other traveling performance acts. Between traveling and performing, he attempted to further his education in his own by studying the history of magic in public libraries. He also studied the art of mysticism, music, martial arts and even dance."
Early career
Angel has said that, "I stayed away from magicians when I was younger because I didn't want to think like them and wanted to create my own style." His first television appearance was in 1994, where he performed as a part of a one-hour ABC primetime special entitled Secrets. One of the early supporters of Angel was horror director Clive Barker. In 1995, Barker asked Angel to work with him on his film Lord of Illusions. He also later recorded the intro to Angel's album World of Illusion: System One. Barker said of Angel in the mid-1990s that, "Criss Angel is extraordinary, a spectacular mix of visionary magic. This is the future, and it can't come quickly enough." During that year, he collaborated with musician Klayton to form Angeldust, a show that combined magic with music. They released their first album Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusions in 1998. Also that year, Angel performed a 10-minute show over the course of the "World of Illusion" conference in Madison Square Garden, performing 60 shows per day. However, by 2000, Klayton's name was removed from Angel's website.
Angel also starred in the 1997 television movie The Science of Magic and its 2003 sequel The Science of Magic II. Criss Angel Mindfreak, which would later become Angel's first television series, was originally an off-Broadway show by Angel, which in 2001 was picked up by the World Underground Theatre. When not performing the show, Angel worked the streets promoting the show to pedestrians. Criss Angel Mindfreak ran for more than 600 performances between 2001 and 2003 at the World Underground Theater in Times Square. His 24 hours in a tank of water set a world record for the longest amount of time for a human to be completely submerged under water. This performance would also become a part of his first television special.
Angel has also been known to actively discourage a belief in mediumship, stating that there is no way for mediums to speak with people beyond the dead. He has said, "If somebody's doing that for entertainment purposes, that's one thing. But if they claim to be communicating with the dead, I don't care if they're from my hometown, I don't care if they're my family members: I'll expose them and tell them what they really are."
Water torture cell in Times Square, 2002
In August 2002, Angel spent 24 hours shackled underwater in a phone booth-sized water torture cell near the WWE entertainment store in New York's Times Square, WWE corporation being the owners of the World Underground Theatre where Angel had been performing his stage show. To prepare for the trick, he practiced in a neighbor's backyard swimming pool next to his mother's house in East Meadow, New York. Prior to the performance he had only managed to spend 12 consecutive hours in the water. He fasted for 24 hours before the performance to make it through the period without need to exit and use the bathroom. During the trick, he went through 16 oxygen tanks. After the trick, he was required to remove his own shackles and chains before exiting the water. Within an hour, his skin began to react substantially to the water.
At the end of the performance, according to Ted Shaffrey, "Before he emerged from the phone-booth sized contraption of clear plastic and steel, Angel yanked out the air hose that allowed him to breathe. Then assistants pulled a black curtain over the 220-gallon (832-liter) chamber to block the view of television cameras and about 100 people gathered outside the window in which he was displayed. Under cover, Angel apparently escaped from the shackles that bound his arms, legs and neck, before pulling himself from the watery chamber with a celebratory scream." Upon successfully completing the trick, he was described as having "skin crinkled and his eyes bloodshot", and upon emerging from the tank he was taken to St. Clare's Hospital and treated for severe dehydration. He reported afterwards that he had suffered from overheating, jaw fatigue, and semi-consciousness while in the tank.
Television specials and promotional appearances (2002–2005)
On October 20, 2002, Angel performed in the ABC Family television special named Criss Angel Mindfreak: Postmodern illusionist, an hour-long performance and tribute to Harry Houdini. The special aired again on December 24, 2002 on Channel 4 in the U.K. The Birmingham Evening Mail reviewed the show, writing, "Criss Angel is currently making a name for himself as a more provocative, darker alternative to [other illusionists]. He walks the streets of New York, hypnotising passers-by, turning cups of take-away coffee into cockroaches and suspending himself from the ceiling by inserting hooks into his back. The piece de resistance of all these mind games is an update of the Houdini underwater trick - an attempt to stay in a (cell) tank of water for 24 hours, padlocked and restrained. All seems to be going well, until the filter system breaks down and the water begins to heat up."
On October 31, 2003, the SciFi Channel aired the one-hour special Supernatural starring Angel. Kate O'Hare said of the special that, "Filmed in part at Universal Theme Park in Orlando, Fla., "Supernatural" finds Angel crawling up buildings, passing a quarter through his skin, spontaneously combusting and having otherworldly creatures burst from his chest." When asked about his process in creating television specials, Angel said that, "I like to have my hand in everything on my TV specials. I'm the executive producer; I direct it; I create it. I write all the music for my TV specials and my live performances. It's on my label. I write it; I produce it." During the special Angel performed stunts, including lighting himself on fire and making a tarantula emerge from a pedestrian's soda can. In 2003, Angel was also featured in the two-hour TBS special Made in Japan.
In early 2003, Angel performed at the release of the new branding for Miller Lite beer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the 80th anniversary of Houdini's last performance in that city. For the performance, he was suspended ten stories in the air and bound in a straitjacket, from which he escaped. He also performed an illusion at Ozzfest in 2005. During this period Angel also earned money selling signed merchandise, making up to $50,000 a day.
Criss Angel Mindfreak television series
In 2005, Angel became the creator, director, and executive producer of the A&E Network show Criss Angel Mindfreak, and had entered production in January. Seasons 1 and 2 were filmed at The Aladdin in Las Vegas, with Season 3 at the Luxor Las Vegas. Premiering on July 20, 2005, the show's illusions included walking on water, levitating, walking up the side of Luxor Hotel (in the light of 39 focused lamps that can be seen from space), floating between two buildings, causing a Lamborghini to disappear, surviving in an exploding C4 Crate, cutting himself in half in full view of an audience and getting run over by a steamroller while lying on a bed of broken glass.
The first season of the show was released on DVD after it completed its on-screen run. The show also released its Halloween special, along with two special episodes, on an additional one-disc DVD offering. The show returned for a second season in May 2006, and was named one of the best shows of the summer by the Tulsa World newspaper. The show was renewed for a third season in July 2006; as of that third season the show was A&E's number one rated show, with more than 1.5 million viewers. That year he promoted the show with a performance where he was suspended within a cube encased in concrete above Times Square, escaping from the block before it was set to crash to the ground. Magic effects creator Sean Field stated of Angel this year that, "Criss Angel is the biggest name in magic since Houdini ... No other magician has invaded pop culture to the degree that Criss Angel has. He has changed the image of magic and made it cool." The show became one of the most popular foreign television shows in parts of Asia, including China.
The television show was noted as a part of the mid-2000s films, television, and books that drove a resurgence of the public popularity of magic. Criss Angel Mindfreak was the first weekly magic television show to air in 40 years. Daily Variety reviewed the premiere writing, "The stunts alone are impressive. But what makes the show fascinating are the down-home touches in which we see the kid from New York, who first honed his magic skills at the age of 6. Keenly aware of the camera at all times, Angel manages to offer some personality, especially where family is involved. Viewers follow the illusionist as he contemplates new and more dangerous stunts, while his crew, including his often-fretful brothers, offer insight as to what, other than ego, drives someone in this profession."
The show ran from 2005 until 2010, at which point he had been featured for more hours on prime time television than any other magician in history. Other tricks performed in the show included the performance of séances, as well as other tricks in order to teach his audience about con men and how to avoid scams intended to manipulate money out of people.
In July 2008, Angel escaped from a beachside hotel before its demolition in front of a crowd of about 50,000 people, an illusion that also aired on the television program. After the illusion, Angel showed the audience step by step how he achieved the escape. He first picked open a set of handcuffs that had him shackled to a balcony railing. He then smashed the window of the room in order to enter the hotel, and picked padlocks on both the room's internal door and the door to the stairwell. The escape was initially supposed to occur via a ladder that dangled above the hotel's roof 30 seconds before collapse, after picking through five locks on the roof's door. Instead, Angel emerged from the rubble after the collapse, claiming that the initial plan was always to escape via the helicopter. The total time allotted for the entire illusion was four minutes, with dynamite located on the first, second, and fourth floors of the building.
Criss Angel Believe
Stage show
In 2006, Angel partnered with Cirque du Soleil to produce the stage show Criss Angel Believe (stylized as "Criss Angel BeLIEve"), premiering the show at the Luxor Las Vegas on September 26, 2008. It became the bestselling live magic show in the world. The name of the show was taken from Harry Houdini, for the mythology of Houdini choosing the word "believe" as the codeword for communicating with Houdini after his death. Luxor's parent company, MGM Mirage, financed the show with $100 million.
After several delays, the show was set for a gala opening on October 31, 2008, with preview shows in late September on the 82nd anniversary of Harry Houdini's death. The initial preview received mixed reactions and reviews. Reporters for the Las Vegas Sun, Los Angeles Times, and Las Vegas Review-Journal cited a lack of the magic Angel is known for, as well as a confusing and uninteresting theme. They also opined that neither Angel nor Cirque du Soleil were able to perform to their capabilities during these initial performances. On the positive side, the Las Vegas Sun later quoted Star Pulse, stating, "He has created a live show that is everything a perfect magic performance should be — and then some. It's not just remarkable magic — it's transcendent art that won't just blow your mind; it will quite possibly change your life."
In April 2009, Angel ended a performance of Believe by "hurling obscene insults" at blogger Perez Hilton, an audience member. Hilton reportedly had texted to his fans during the performance that the show was "unbelievably BAD" and that he'd "rather be getting a root canal", and word had gotten back to Angel by the end of the performance. Cirque du Soleil later apologized to Hilton for Angel's remarks.
In 2010, the Las Vegas Sun critic John Katsilometes, after being unimpressed by the initial show, said Believe had improved by reducing the narrative elements and focusing on the magic. In 2011, the Toronto Star wrote: "The show is easily the most exciting thing now on stage in Vegas!" That year the show attracted an estimated $150 million in ticket sales. The show currently has a 10-year performance contract that runs through 2019, and was the best selling magic show in Las Vegas as of 2013.
Television series
The stage show celebrated its fifth anniversary of appearing on stage in October 2013. That month a cable television series based upon the show entitled Criss Angel BeLIEve was broadcast on Spike TV. The first season included 11 one-hour episodes, including 118 different illusions. Guests on the show include Ludacris, Ice-T, Randy Couture and Shaquille O'Neal. When asked about the three years between the last episode of Mindfreak and his return to television, Angel stated that, "I didn't take long at all to go back to television. It was my choice to work on the live Cirque show and to get that where I wanted it to be.
"Now that that show is just humming and doing amazing business — it's the #1 bestselling magic show in the world as far as ticket sales and the perception that people are experiencing and coming back to see it multiple times — I felt it was in a great place and I could think about television again. Obviously, "Believe" will continue to evolve until its last performance because I always want to add new magic, I'm always tweaking and transforming it. I missed being on television, I had something new creatively to say, and Spike became the perfect home to do it." Endemol purchased the foreign distribution rights for the show, and was the "most-watched new original series [on Spike TV] in more than 18 months" according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In the episode "Lord of Illusions — Death Premonition", Angel paid homage to Clive Barker, the director of the horror movie of the same name. In the episode, Angel performed the closing stunt from the film, in which he laid beneath a circle of suspended swords, and predicted the correct order of six falling swords to avoid becoming stabbed through his body after their release. The swords were selected by the audience with the help of a randomly bouncing ball. According to the Las Vegas Sun, "Criss is the only, and first, magician in the world granted permission from the inventor and filmmaker to re-create the film's death-defying stunt."
For another episode for the series filmed in New York City he was asked by the NYPD not to pre-announce the performance, as crowd control for some Angel performances had become a concern for the police. This trick saw Angel hanging his feet, while bound with two straitjackets and a noose around his neck which were attached to metal weights. While he was successful in the trick, Angel tore his shoulder muscles and this required surgery in January 2014. This resulted in the temporary closing of the Believe stage show between January and April 2014, while he was recovering from the surgery and returning to performance shape. He did however host a new stage show featuring other magicians between February and March 2014 in lieu of performing in his own show. Clips from the show also became the most watched YouTube magic clips in the history of the site, with more than 15 million views.
In the show, Angel revealed the secrets behind some of his illusions to the audience. This included the "Lord of Illusions" trick, where he revealed that he had the swords in a preset order so that he could avoid them. The episode featuring this illusion also includes a meeting between Angel and his team discussing a problem with the trick and how to ensure it does not happen again.
Phenomenon
Starting in October 2007, he appeared as a judge on Phenomenon with Uri Geller. In a CNN interview about the show, he told Larry King "no one has the ability, that I'm aware of, to do anything supernatural, psychic, talk to the dead. And that was what I said I was going to do with Phenomenon. If somebody goes on that show and claims to have supernatural psychic ability, I'm going to bust [him] live and on television."
On the October 31, 2007 episode of the reality show Phenomenon, paranormalist Jim Callahan performed a summoning, purportedly of deceased author Raymond Hill, to help discover the contents of a locked box. Although fellow judge Uri Geller praised the performance, Angel called it "comical" and subsequently challenged both Callahan and Geller to guess the contents of two envelopes he pulled out of his pocket, offering a million dollars of his own money to whoever could do so. This led to an argument between Callahan and Angel, during which Callahan walked toward Angel and called him an "ideological bigot", with the two pulled apart as the show promptly went to a commercial break. Angel has since revealed the contents of one envelope and at the unveiling he challenged Geller one more time. Geller responded, "Although we were born one day apart - I was born on the 20th of December and you on the 19th - a lot of years between us - 40 years, you were one year old when I came out with my spoon bending..." Criss Angel cut him off at this point, saying, "I guess this is a 'no,'" and proceeded to open the envelope. The envelope contained an index card with the numbers "911" printed on it for September 11, 2001. Angel's explanation was this: "If on 9-10 somebody could have predicted that 9-11 was going to happen, they could have saved thousands of lives". The other envelope's contents were scheduled to be revealed on the first episode of Season 4 of Criss Angel: Mindfreak.
Stage shows
Criss Angel Magicjam
The temporary replacement show for Believe was entitled Criss Angel Magicjam, which was performed in the same Luxor theatre. According to the Las Vegas Sun, the show included, "Longtime Las Vegas comedy-illusionist Nathan Burton; Banachek, the world's premiere mentalist; and new female magician Krystyn Lambert, who has been prominently featured in the Spike series ... joined by grandmaster manipulators Jason Byrne and Tony Clarke, supreme close-up artist Armando Vera and the magic comedy of Russ Merlin." The production was written and directed by Criss Angel. In January 2014, Angel announced that he planned on taking Criss Angel Magicjam on a North American tour during the summer of 2014. The show also featured Angel's own illusions, which he performed for about 40 minutes of the show. Robin Leach said of the show that, "Magicjam is great fun and a high-energy show packed with mind-blowing magic."
Mindfreak LIVE!
In 2014, Angel premiered the stage show Mindfreak LIVE! The touring show features illusions from Angel himself, which received positive reviews. The demonstrations used in the show were developed in Angel's illusion laboratory in Las Vegas, located in a 60,000 square foot warehouse. His international touring with the show marked the first time that Angel had traveled with his show in about six years. The premiere show of the performance occurred at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut during November 2014.
The Supernaturalists
The Supernaturalists premiered in June 2015 at the Foxwoods Resort Casino's The Fox Theater, with Angel serving as creator, director and executive producer. Performers for the show include illusionist Landon Swank, magician Krystyn Lambert, escape artist Spencer Horsman, mentalist Banachek, dog conjuror Johnny Dominguez, magician Stefan, and close up magician Adrian Vega. Robin Leach reviewed the show as having "overwhelming positive reactions" and wrote that it contained "the most mind-blowing magic spectacle that's playing anywhere". Angel has stated that the show is a culmination of ten years of development, which he began in 2005, and is intended as a global touring show and as a premiering venue for several new illusions from each magician.
Variety show appearances and guest spots
Angel has made numerous special television guest appearances on WWE Raw, including acting as guest star on March 8, 2010. He also appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, including the premiere episode of its 24th season. During a 2007 episode of the show, he successfully guessed the number between 1 and 100 he asked Winfrey to think of without telling him. Angel has appeared on other talk shows including The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Megan Mullally Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, AVN Awards Show 2007 and Larry King Live on CNN. He was also a guest on The Tonight Show, Late Show with David Letterman, America's Got Talent, and The Rosie O'Donnell Show. He also made a guest acting appearance on the hit television shows CSI: NY, Las Vegas and Rules of Engagement. In 2011, Angel also appeared in an Orville Redenbacher Pop-Up Bowl popcorn commercial.
In May 2005, Angel introduced honoree Ozzy Osbourne at the VH1 Rock Honors awards, biting the head off a bat as a part of the introduction in homage to Osbourne's early career onstage antics. At the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, Angel performed an illusion as a part of the musical performance by Britney Spears and helped to plan her stage show, which opened the television broadcast. He was also hired as the illusionist for the planned 2009 Michael Jackson O2 arena concerts before Jackson's death. In 2013, Angel had a cameo in the feature film The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, and Jim Carrey's character in the movie "Steve Gray" has been said to be modeled after Angel. There is a wax statue of Angel in the Madame Tussauds wax museum in Las Vegas.
Other projects
Music
Angel has a passion for music and claims to have been a musician longer than a magician. In 1989 he fronted the short-lived heavy metal band Angel and produced a promotional music video for the song "Don't You Want My Love", incorporating several magic tricks. Angel later went on to collaborate with industrial rock musician Klay Scott for a new band titled Angeldust in 1995. Angeldust released its debut album Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusion in 1998. He later released the albums System 1, System 2, and System 3. In 2003, he released the album Supernatural. His musical style continues to be in the heavy metal style, though when describing his musical style he has said, "There are elements where it's more electronic, and there are orchestrated sections. I decided to take it in different places because I'm inspired by emotion and by giving people a connection, a sense of a feeling — whether it's excitement or crying or being happy." He also produced soundtracks for his television series Mindfreak, including collaborations with members of Korn and Godsmack.
Books
Angel is the author of the book Mindfreak: Secret Revelations, published by HarperEntertainment in 2007. Mindfreak: Secret Revelations appeared on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list that year. According to the Las Vegas Sun, "The 295-page book details the early beginnings of his career, memorable demonstrations from his TV show and personal reflections. "Secret Revelations" also contains several pictures and provides step-by-step instructions for 40 of his basic Mindfreaks. Laura Morton helped the magician write the book." California Bookwatch wrote that it "tells of Criss Angel's evolution as a performance artist, magician and musician, charting his rise to fame beginning at age 6 and adding details of his life and his artistic philosophy and influences ... His survey covers the 'Mindfreaks' which allow him to push for excellence in very different worlds".
Internet
Criss Angel is the most watched magician in Internet history since the late 2000s. His clip, "Walk on Water", had received more than 39 million views by 2010, and more than 46 million by 2013. By early 2013, his videos had achieved more than 200 million views. Another highly watched clip is "Rip Bodies Apart" taken from the premiere episode of BeLIEve, which had more than twelve million views within a month.
Merchandise
In 2010, Angel partnered with IdeaVillage to release the Criss Angel Magic Collection, which contained six Mindfreak Magic Tricks instructions, 250 tricks, and a magic kit for children. The product was backed by $50 million in marketing.
Recognition
Awards
Angel won the International Magician Society's Magician of the Year award in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008, in addition to its "Magician of the Decade" title in 2009 and "Magician of the Century" title in 2010. He was the 22nd recipient of the Louie Award for outstanding achievement in the art of magic. He has also appeared on the covers of Magic and Genii magazines. In 2008, Angel was one of the inaugural nominees for the Harry Houdini Award, awarded by the Harry Houdini Museum. Angel is the youngest magician to ever be inducted into the International Magician Society's Magic Hall of Fame. He is also the only man to have won the Merlin Magician of the Year award on two occasions, in 2001 and 2004. In 2011, he was awarded the World Magic Legacy Awards' Living Legend award. On July 20, 2017, Angel received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which is located next to The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
World records
Angel is the holder of several world records, including the longest time submerged under water and the fastest time to escape from a straitjacket at two minutes and 30 seconds, the longest body suspension at five hours 42 minutes, and the fastest time to perform the "Metamorphosis" illusion at less than one second. He is also the holder of the Guinness world record for "The most people to disappear in an illusion", for making 100 people disappear on May 26, 2010 during a performance of Believe at the Luxor.
Personal life
In 2002, Angel married his longtime girlfriend JoAnn Winkhart. The couple filed for divorce four years later. Although Angel was seen with his wife in the buried alive illusion (season 1, episode 6, 2005) and the body suspension illusion (season 1, episode 5, 2005), she was not credited as his wife; rather, she was listed as "Criss's Girl". In November 2008, Angel began dating Holly Madison, former girlfriend of Hugh Hefner. The relationship ended in February 2009. He proposed to Sandra Gonzalez on September 7, 2011 in Cabo San Lucas during a sunset dinner. They broke up shortly after. Since 2012, Angel has been dating Australian singer Shaunyl Benson. The couple have two sons together, born in 2014 and 2019, and a daughter born in 2021.
As of 2010, Big Bear Choppers had produced seven custom-made motorcycles for Angel, who featured the motorcycle designers on his show Criss Angel Mindfreak. He also had a Harley Davidson motorcycle built by Orange County Choppers, which he rode in the intro filmed for Criss Angel Mindfreak. As a philanthropist, Angel created the Believe Foundation 'Believe Anything is Possible', and was awarded the Make-A-Wish Foundation award for most supportive celebrity on May 19, 2010. He was also awarded the foundation's Chris Greicius Celebrity Award in 2007. As of 2016, Angel's business interests made about $70 million in revenues annually.
References
External links
1967 births
Living people
American magicians
American people of Greek descent
MNRK Music Group artists
Mentalists
Prizes for proof of paranormal phenomena
People from Hempstead (village), New York
Male actors from New York (state)
Participants in American reality television series
American YouTubers
People from East Meadow, New York
Male YouTubers
| true |
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"Rocky Star is an Indian fashion designer.\n\nFashion\nRocky Star draws inspiration from the Baroque and Gothic time periods, with influences and traces seen across all his collections. He has also designed for Beyoncé Knowles, Paris Hilton and Pussycat Dolls.\n\nHis design sensibility blends India heritage crafts and textures with opulent embroideries, focusing on occasion wear along with bridal, pret and accessories for women and men.\n\nRocky showcased his Autumn Winter collection, Nomadic Love at London Fashion Week in 2016. Ever since Rocky has showcased 6 seasons at London Fashion Week with the latest showcase being in February 2019.\n\nMovies\nRocky landed his first styling project with Akshay Kumar in 1992. Ever since, he has designed for over 350 films including Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000) and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001) and Goal! (2005).\nRocky Star has also designed costumes for a Bollywood Film called Robot 2. He has designed costumes for several films in the past including Gaddar for actress Amisha Patel and Krrish for actor Hrithik Roshan.\n\nAwards\n\nOther \nRocky also owns a restaurant in Mumbai, named Rocky Star Cocktail Bar. He has a furniture brand called Rocky Star Home by Bent Chair and a high street wear brand called RS by Rocky Star in partnership with Shoppers Stop.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n In Conversation with Rocky Star\n\nIndian male fashion designers\nIndian costume designers\nFashion industry\nLiving people\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nArtists from Mumbai",
"Mickey Quinn is a former Gaelic footballer from County Leitrim, Ireland. Along with Seamus Quinn he is the only other Leitrim man to win an All Star award, he is also one of the finest Gaelic footballers Leitrim ever produced, Quinn won an All Star at Midfield in 1990 and at the time was only the second player to have never played in Croke Park to win one. In 1994 he was part of the county's memorable Connacht Senior Football Championship victory. He also won an All Ireland B Titles in 1990. He won Leitrim Senior Football Championship titles in 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994 with Aughawillan. In 2010 he managed Aughawillan to the Leitrim Intermediate Football Championship.\n\nHonours\n 1 Connacht Senior Football Championship (1994)\n 1 All Ireland B Football Championship (1990)\n 1 All Star Award (1990)\n 8 Leitrim Senior Football Championships (1976, 1978, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994)\n\nReferences\n\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nAughawillian Gaelic footballers\nLeitrim inter-county Gaelic footballers\nSportspeople from County Leitrim"
] |
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"Criss Angel",
"Early career",
"how did he get started?",
"His first television appearance was in 1994, where he performed as a part of a one-hour ABC primetime special",
"what did he do in his performance?",
"I don't know.",
"how old was he when he first started his career?",
"I don't know.",
"what was his next performance after 1994?",
"Angel also starred in the 1997 television movie The Science of Magic and its 2003 sequel The Science of Magic II.",
"Did he ever star with other people?",
"year, he collaborated with musician Klayton to form Angeldust, a show that combined magic with music."
] |
C_0dbc7e6a91394d278a7e6b64d29eb7ad_1
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What stunts did he do early in his career?
| 6 |
What stunts did Criss Angel do early in his career?
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Criss Angel
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Angel has said that, "I stayed away from magicians when I was younger because I didn't want to think like them and wanted to create my own style." His first television appearance was in 1994, where he performed as a part of a one-hour ABC primetime special entitled Secrets. One of the early supporters of Angel was horror director Clive Barker. In 1995, Barker asked Angel to work with him on his film Lord of Illusions. He also later recorded the intro to Angel's album World of Illusion: System One. Barker said of Angel in the mid-1990s that, "Criss Angel is extraordinary, a spectacular mix of visionary magic. This is the future, and it can't come quickly enough." During that year, he collaborated with musician Klayton to form Angeldust, a show that combined magic with music. They released their first album Musical Conjurings from the World of Conjuring in 1998. Also that year, Angel performed a ten-minute show over the course of the "World of Illusion" conference in Madison Square Garden, performing sixty shows per day. However, by 2000, Klayton's name was removed from Angel's website. Angel also starred in the 1997 television movie The Science of Magic and its 2003 sequel The Science of Magic II. Criss Angel Mindfreak, which would later become Angel's first television series, was originally an off-Broadway show by Angel, which in 2001 was picked up by the World Underground Theatre. When not performing the show, Angel worked the streets promoting the show to pedestrians. Criss Angel Mindfreak ran for more than 600 performances between 2001 and 2003 at the World Underground Theater in Times Square. His twenty-four hours in a tank of water set a world record for the longest amount of time for a human to be completely submerged under water. This performance would also become a part of his first television special. Angel has also been known to actively discourage a belief in mediumship, stating that there is no way for mediums to speak with people beyond the dead. He has said, "If somebody's doing that for entertainment purposes, that's one thing. But if they claim to be communicating with the dead, I don't care if they're from my hometown, I don't care if they're my family members: I'll expose them and tell them what they really are." CANNOTANSWER
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twenty-four hours in a tank of water
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Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos (; born December 19, 1967), known professionally as Criss Angel, is an American magician, illusionist and musician. Angel began his career in New York City, before moving his base of operations to the Las Vegas Valley. He is known for starring in the television and stage show Criss Angel Mindfreak and his previous live performance illusion show Criss Angel Believe in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil at the Luxor casino in Las Vegas. The show generated $150 million in tourist revenue to Las Vegas in 2010, but has since been replaced by Mindfreak LIVE! in 2016 (the show is partly produced by Cirque du Soleil; however, the directive rights are entirely with Criss Angel). He also starred in the television series Criss Angel BeLIEve on Spike TV, the reality-competition television show Phenomenon on NBC, and the 2014 stage show Criss Angel Magicjam.
He also holds multiple world records made during his magic performances, and was named Magician of the Decade in 2009 and Magician of the Century in 2010 by the International Magicians Society. In addition to his career as an illusionist, Angel was the lead singer for his industrial band Angeldust, which released five albums. He also authored the book Mindfreak: Secret Revelations.
Early life
Criss Angel was born on December 19, 1967, at Hempstead General Hospital in Hempstead, on Long Island, New York. He is of Greek descent. Angel was raised in Elmont until fourth grade, when his family moved to East Meadow, New York. His father, John Sarantakos, owned a restaurant and doughnut shop. He developed an interest in magic at age seven and performed his first show at age 12, for which he was paid $10. His main early influence was Harry Houdini. By age 14, Angel was performing throughout high school at restaurants in East Meadow, including the Wine Gallery. Angel's first major illusion was making his mother float in their family den. Early in his career he was helped by animal breeder and reality-television host Marc Morrone, who helped Angel find and train a set of doves for his act.
By the time he graduated from East Meadow High School, he had decided to pursue a career as a professional magician instead of attending college as his parents wanted. According to the Biography Channel, "Angel hit the road and began touring with other traveling performance acts. Between traveling and performing, he attempted to further his education in his own by studying the history of magic in public libraries. He also studied the art of mysticism, music, martial arts and even dance."
Early career
Angel has said that, "I stayed away from magicians when I was younger because I didn't want to think like them and wanted to create my own style." His first television appearance was in 1994, where he performed as a part of a one-hour ABC primetime special entitled Secrets. One of the early supporters of Angel was horror director Clive Barker. In 1995, Barker asked Angel to work with him on his film Lord of Illusions. He also later recorded the intro to Angel's album World of Illusion: System One. Barker said of Angel in the mid-1990s that, "Criss Angel is extraordinary, a spectacular mix of visionary magic. This is the future, and it can't come quickly enough." During that year, he collaborated with musician Klayton to form Angeldust, a show that combined magic with music. They released their first album Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusions in 1998. Also that year, Angel performed a 10-minute show over the course of the "World of Illusion" conference in Madison Square Garden, performing 60 shows per day. However, by 2000, Klayton's name was removed from Angel's website.
Angel also starred in the 1997 television movie The Science of Magic and its 2003 sequel The Science of Magic II. Criss Angel Mindfreak, which would later become Angel's first television series, was originally an off-Broadway show by Angel, which in 2001 was picked up by the World Underground Theatre. When not performing the show, Angel worked the streets promoting the show to pedestrians. Criss Angel Mindfreak ran for more than 600 performances between 2001 and 2003 at the World Underground Theater in Times Square. His 24 hours in a tank of water set a world record for the longest amount of time for a human to be completely submerged under water. This performance would also become a part of his first television special.
Angel has also been known to actively discourage a belief in mediumship, stating that there is no way for mediums to speak with people beyond the dead. He has said, "If somebody's doing that for entertainment purposes, that's one thing. But if they claim to be communicating with the dead, I don't care if they're from my hometown, I don't care if they're my family members: I'll expose them and tell them what they really are."
Water torture cell in Times Square, 2002
In August 2002, Angel spent 24 hours shackled underwater in a phone booth-sized water torture cell near the WWE entertainment store in New York's Times Square, WWE corporation being the owners of the World Underground Theatre where Angel had been performing his stage show. To prepare for the trick, he practiced in a neighbor's backyard swimming pool next to his mother's house in East Meadow, New York. Prior to the performance he had only managed to spend 12 consecutive hours in the water. He fasted for 24 hours before the performance to make it through the period without need to exit and use the bathroom. During the trick, he went through 16 oxygen tanks. After the trick, he was required to remove his own shackles and chains before exiting the water. Within an hour, his skin began to react substantially to the water.
At the end of the performance, according to Ted Shaffrey, "Before he emerged from the phone-booth sized contraption of clear plastic and steel, Angel yanked out the air hose that allowed him to breathe. Then assistants pulled a black curtain over the 220-gallon (832-liter) chamber to block the view of television cameras and about 100 people gathered outside the window in which he was displayed. Under cover, Angel apparently escaped from the shackles that bound his arms, legs and neck, before pulling himself from the watery chamber with a celebratory scream." Upon successfully completing the trick, he was described as having "skin crinkled and his eyes bloodshot", and upon emerging from the tank he was taken to St. Clare's Hospital and treated for severe dehydration. He reported afterwards that he had suffered from overheating, jaw fatigue, and semi-consciousness while in the tank.
Television specials and promotional appearances (2002–2005)
On October 20, 2002, Angel performed in the ABC Family television special named Criss Angel Mindfreak: Postmodern illusionist, an hour-long performance and tribute to Harry Houdini. The special aired again on December 24, 2002 on Channel 4 in the U.K. The Birmingham Evening Mail reviewed the show, writing, "Criss Angel is currently making a name for himself as a more provocative, darker alternative to [other illusionists]. He walks the streets of New York, hypnotising passers-by, turning cups of take-away coffee into cockroaches and suspending himself from the ceiling by inserting hooks into his back. The piece de resistance of all these mind games is an update of the Houdini underwater trick - an attempt to stay in a (cell) tank of water for 24 hours, padlocked and restrained. All seems to be going well, until the filter system breaks down and the water begins to heat up."
On October 31, 2003, the SciFi Channel aired the one-hour special Supernatural starring Angel. Kate O'Hare said of the special that, "Filmed in part at Universal Theme Park in Orlando, Fla., "Supernatural" finds Angel crawling up buildings, passing a quarter through his skin, spontaneously combusting and having otherworldly creatures burst from his chest." When asked about his process in creating television specials, Angel said that, "I like to have my hand in everything on my TV specials. I'm the executive producer; I direct it; I create it. I write all the music for my TV specials and my live performances. It's on my label. I write it; I produce it." During the special Angel performed stunts, including lighting himself on fire and making a tarantula emerge from a pedestrian's soda can. In 2003, Angel was also featured in the two-hour TBS special Made in Japan.
In early 2003, Angel performed at the release of the new branding for Miller Lite beer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the 80th anniversary of Houdini's last performance in that city. For the performance, he was suspended ten stories in the air and bound in a straitjacket, from which he escaped. He also performed an illusion at Ozzfest in 2005. During this period Angel also earned money selling signed merchandise, making up to $50,000 a day.
Criss Angel Mindfreak television series
In 2005, Angel became the creator, director, and executive producer of the A&E Network show Criss Angel Mindfreak, and had entered production in January. Seasons 1 and 2 were filmed at The Aladdin in Las Vegas, with Season 3 at the Luxor Las Vegas. Premiering on July 20, 2005, the show's illusions included walking on water, levitating, walking up the side of Luxor Hotel (in the light of 39 focused lamps that can be seen from space), floating between two buildings, causing a Lamborghini to disappear, surviving in an exploding C4 Crate, cutting himself in half in full view of an audience and getting run over by a steamroller while lying on a bed of broken glass.
The first season of the show was released on DVD after it completed its on-screen run. The show also released its Halloween special, along with two special episodes, on an additional one-disc DVD offering. The show returned for a second season in May 2006, and was named one of the best shows of the summer by the Tulsa World newspaper. The show was renewed for a third season in July 2006; as of that third season the show was A&E's number one rated show, with more than 1.5 million viewers. That year he promoted the show with a performance where he was suspended within a cube encased in concrete above Times Square, escaping from the block before it was set to crash to the ground. Magic effects creator Sean Field stated of Angel this year that, "Criss Angel is the biggest name in magic since Houdini ... No other magician has invaded pop culture to the degree that Criss Angel has. He has changed the image of magic and made it cool." The show became one of the most popular foreign television shows in parts of Asia, including China.
The television show was noted as a part of the mid-2000s films, television, and books that drove a resurgence of the public popularity of magic. Criss Angel Mindfreak was the first weekly magic television show to air in 40 years. Daily Variety reviewed the premiere writing, "The stunts alone are impressive. But what makes the show fascinating are the down-home touches in which we see the kid from New York, who first honed his magic skills at the age of 6. Keenly aware of the camera at all times, Angel manages to offer some personality, especially where family is involved. Viewers follow the illusionist as he contemplates new and more dangerous stunts, while his crew, including his often-fretful brothers, offer insight as to what, other than ego, drives someone in this profession."
The show ran from 2005 until 2010, at which point he had been featured for more hours on prime time television than any other magician in history. Other tricks performed in the show included the performance of séances, as well as other tricks in order to teach his audience about con men and how to avoid scams intended to manipulate money out of people.
In July 2008, Angel escaped from a beachside hotel before its demolition in front of a crowd of about 50,000 people, an illusion that also aired on the television program. After the illusion, Angel showed the audience step by step how he achieved the escape. He first picked open a set of handcuffs that had him shackled to a balcony railing. He then smashed the window of the room in order to enter the hotel, and picked padlocks on both the room's internal door and the door to the stairwell. The escape was initially supposed to occur via a ladder that dangled above the hotel's roof 30 seconds before collapse, after picking through five locks on the roof's door. Instead, Angel emerged from the rubble after the collapse, claiming that the initial plan was always to escape via the helicopter. The total time allotted for the entire illusion was four minutes, with dynamite located on the first, second, and fourth floors of the building.
Criss Angel Believe
Stage show
In 2006, Angel partnered with Cirque du Soleil to produce the stage show Criss Angel Believe (stylized as "Criss Angel BeLIEve"), premiering the show at the Luxor Las Vegas on September 26, 2008. It became the bestselling live magic show in the world. The name of the show was taken from Harry Houdini, for the mythology of Houdini choosing the word "believe" as the codeword for communicating with Houdini after his death. Luxor's parent company, MGM Mirage, financed the show with $100 million.
After several delays, the show was set for a gala opening on October 31, 2008, with preview shows in late September on the 82nd anniversary of Harry Houdini's death. The initial preview received mixed reactions and reviews. Reporters for the Las Vegas Sun, Los Angeles Times, and Las Vegas Review-Journal cited a lack of the magic Angel is known for, as well as a confusing and uninteresting theme. They also opined that neither Angel nor Cirque du Soleil were able to perform to their capabilities during these initial performances. On the positive side, the Las Vegas Sun later quoted Star Pulse, stating, "He has created a live show that is everything a perfect magic performance should be — and then some. It's not just remarkable magic — it's transcendent art that won't just blow your mind; it will quite possibly change your life."
In April 2009, Angel ended a performance of Believe by "hurling obscene insults" at blogger Perez Hilton, an audience member. Hilton reportedly had texted to his fans during the performance that the show was "unbelievably BAD" and that he'd "rather be getting a root canal", and word had gotten back to Angel by the end of the performance. Cirque du Soleil later apologized to Hilton for Angel's remarks.
In 2010, the Las Vegas Sun critic John Katsilometes, after being unimpressed by the initial show, said Believe had improved by reducing the narrative elements and focusing on the magic. In 2011, the Toronto Star wrote: "The show is easily the most exciting thing now on stage in Vegas!" That year the show attracted an estimated $150 million in ticket sales. The show currently has a 10-year performance contract that runs through 2019, and was the best selling magic show in Las Vegas as of 2013.
Television series
The stage show celebrated its fifth anniversary of appearing on stage in October 2013. That month a cable television series based upon the show entitled Criss Angel BeLIEve was broadcast on Spike TV. The first season included 11 one-hour episodes, including 118 different illusions. Guests on the show include Ludacris, Ice-T, Randy Couture and Shaquille O'Neal. When asked about the three years between the last episode of Mindfreak and his return to television, Angel stated that, "I didn't take long at all to go back to television. It was my choice to work on the live Cirque show and to get that where I wanted it to be.
"Now that that show is just humming and doing amazing business — it's the #1 bestselling magic show in the world as far as ticket sales and the perception that people are experiencing and coming back to see it multiple times — I felt it was in a great place and I could think about television again. Obviously, "Believe" will continue to evolve until its last performance because I always want to add new magic, I'm always tweaking and transforming it. I missed being on television, I had something new creatively to say, and Spike became the perfect home to do it." Endemol purchased the foreign distribution rights for the show, and was the "most-watched new original series [on Spike TV] in more than 18 months" according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In the episode "Lord of Illusions — Death Premonition", Angel paid homage to Clive Barker, the director of the horror movie of the same name. In the episode, Angel performed the closing stunt from the film, in which he laid beneath a circle of suspended swords, and predicted the correct order of six falling swords to avoid becoming stabbed through his body after their release. The swords were selected by the audience with the help of a randomly bouncing ball. According to the Las Vegas Sun, "Criss is the only, and first, magician in the world granted permission from the inventor and filmmaker to re-create the film's death-defying stunt."
For another episode for the series filmed in New York City he was asked by the NYPD not to pre-announce the performance, as crowd control for some Angel performances had become a concern for the police. This trick saw Angel hanging his feet, while bound with two straitjackets and a noose around his neck which were attached to metal weights. While he was successful in the trick, Angel tore his shoulder muscles and this required surgery in January 2014. This resulted in the temporary closing of the Believe stage show between January and April 2014, while he was recovering from the surgery and returning to performance shape. He did however host a new stage show featuring other magicians between February and March 2014 in lieu of performing in his own show. Clips from the show also became the most watched YouTube magic clips in the history of the site, with more than 15 million views.
In the show, Angel revealed the secrets behind some of his illusions to the audience. This included the "Lord of Illusions" trick, where he revealed that he had the swords in a preset order so that he could avoid them. The episode featuring this illusion also includes a meeting between Angel and his team discussing a problem with the trick and how to ensure it does not happen again.
Phenomenon
Starting in October 2007, he appeared as a judge on Phenomenon with Uri Geller. In a CNN interview about the show, he told Larry King "no one has the ability, that I'm aware of, to do anything supernatural, psychic, talk to the dead. And that was what I said I was going to do with Phenomenon. If somebody goes on that show and claims to have supernatural psychic ability, I'm going to bust [him] live and on television."
On the October 31, 2007 episode of the reality show Phenomenon, paranormalist Jim Callahan performed a summoning, purportedly of deceased author Raymond Hill, to help discover the contents of a locked box. Although fellow judge Uri Geller praised the performance, Angel called it "comical" and subsequently challenged both Callahan and Geller to guess the contents of two envelopes he pulled out of his pocket, offering a million dollars of his own money to whoever could do so. This led to an argument between Callahan and Angel, during which Callahan walked toward Angel and called him an "ideological bigot", with the two pulled apart as the show promptly went to a commercial break. Angel has since revealed the contents of one envelope and at the unveiling he challenged Geller one more time. Geller responded, "Although we were born one day apart - I was born on the 20th of December and you on the 19th - a lot of years between us - 40 years, you were one year old when I came out with my spoon bending..." Criss Angel cut him off at this point, saying, "I guess this is a 'no,'" and proceeded to open the envelope. The envelope contained an index card with the numbers "911" printed on it for September 11, 2001. Angel's explanation was this: "If on 9-10 somebody could have predicted that 9-11 was going to happen, they could have saved thousands of lives". The other envelope's contents were scheduled to be revealed on the first episode of Season 4 of Criss Angel: Mindfreak.
Stage shows
Criss Angel Magicjam
The temporary replacement show for Believe was entitled Criss Angel Magicjam, which was performed in the same Luxor theatre. According to the Las Vegas Sun, the show included, "Longtime Las Vegas comedy-illusionist Nathan Burton; Banachek, the world's premiere mentalist; and new female magician Krystyn Lambert, who has been prominently featured in the Spike series ... joined by grandmaster manipulators Jason Byrne and Tony Clarke, supreme close-up artist Armando Vera and the magic comedy of Russ Merlin." The production was written and directed by Criss Angel. In January 2014, Angel announced that he planned on taking Criss Angel Magicjam on a North American tour during the summer of 2014. The show also featured Angel's own illusions, which he performed for about 40 minutes of the show. Robin Leach said of the show that, "Magicjam is great fun and a high-energy show packed with mind-blowing magic."
Mindfreak LIVE!
In 2014, Angel premiered the stage show Mindfreak LIVE! The touring show features illusions from Angel himself, which received positive reviews. The demonstrations used in the show were developed in Angel's illusion laboratory in Las Vegas, located in a 60,000 square foot warehouse. His international touring with the show marked the first time that Angel had traveled with his show in about six years. The premiere show of the performance occurred at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut during November 2014.
The Supernaturalists
The Supernaturalists premiered in June 2015 at the Foxwoods Resort Casino's The Fox Theater, with Angel serving as creator, director and executive producer. Performers for the show include illusionist Landon Swank, magician Krystyn Lambert, escape artist Spencer Horsman, mentalist Banachek, dog conjuror Johnny Dominguez, magician Stefan, and close up magician Adrian Vega. Robin Leach reviewed the show as having "overwhelming positive reactions" and wrote that it contained "the most mind-blowing magic spectacle that's playing anywhere". Angel has stated that the show is a culmination of ten years of development, which he began in 2005, and is intended as a global touring show and as a premiering venue for several new illusions from each magician.
Variety show appearances and guest spots
Angel has made numerous special television guest appearances on WWE Raw, including acting as guest star on March 8, 2010. He also appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, including the premiere episode of its 24th season. During a 2007 episode of the show, he successfully guessed the number between 1 and 100 he asked Winfrey to think of without telling him. Angel has appeared on other talk shows including The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Megan Mullally Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, AVN Awards Show 2007 and Larry King Live on CNN. He was also a guest on The Tonight Show, Late Show with David Letterman, America's Got Talent, and The Rosie O'Donnell Show. He also made a guest acting appearance on the hit television shows CSI: NY, Las Vegas and Rules of Engagement. In 2011, Angel also appeared in an Orville Redenbacher Pop-Up Bowl popcorn commercial.
In May 2005, Angel introduced honoree Ozzy Osbourne at the VH1 Rock Honors awards, biting the head off a bat as a part of the introduction in homage to Osbourne's early career onstage antics. At the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, Angel performed an illusion as a part of the musical performance by Britney Spears and helped to plan her stage show, which opened the television broadcast. He was also hired as the illusionist for the planned 2009 Michael Jackson O2 arena concerts before Jackson's death. In 2013, Angel had a cameo in the feature film The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, and Jim Carrey's character in the movie "Steve Gray" has been said to be modeled after Angel. There is a wax statue of Angel in the Madame Tussauds wax museum in Las Vegas.
Other projects
Music
Angel has a passion for music and claims to have been a musician longer than a magician. In 1989 he fronted the short-lived heavy metal band Angel and produced a promotional music video for the song "Don't You Want My Love", incorporating several magic tricks. Angel later went on to collaborate with industrial rock musician Klay Scott for a new band titled Angeldust in 1995. Angeldust released its debut album Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusion in 1998. He later released the albums System 1, System 2, and System 3. In 2003, he released the album Supernatural. His musical style continues to be in the heavy metal style, though when describing his musical style he has said, "There are elements where it's more electronic, and there are orchestrated sections. I decided to take it in different places because I'm inspired by emotion and by giving people a connection, a sense of a feeling — whether it's excitement or crying or being happy." He also produced soundtracks for his television series Mindfreak, including collaborations with members of Korn and Godsmack.
Books
Angel is the author of the book Mindfreak: Secret Revelations, published by HarperEntertainment in 2007. Mindfreak: Secret Revelations appeared on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list that year. According to the Las Vegas Sun, "The 295-page book details the early beginnings of his career, memorable demonstrations from his TV show and personal reflections. "Secret Revelations" also contains several pictures and provides step-by-step instructions for 40 of his basic Mindfreaks. Laura Morton helped the magician write the book." California Bookwatch wrote that it "tells of Criss Angel's evolution as a performance artist, magician and musician, charting his rise to fame beginning at age 6 and adding details of his life and his artistic philosophy and influences ... His survey covers the 'Mindfreaks' which allow him to push for excellence in very different worlds".
Internet
Criss Angel is the most watched magician in Internet history since the late 2000s. His clip, "Walk on Water", had received more than 39 million views by 2010, and more than 46 million by 2013. By early 2013, his videos had achieved more than 200 million views. Another highly watched clip is "Rip Bodies Apart" taken from the premiere episode of BeLIEve, which had more than twelve million views within a month.
Merchandise
In 2010, Angel partnered with IdeaVillage to release the Criss Angel Magic Collection, which contained six Mindfreak Magic Tricks instructions, 250 tricks, and a magic kit for children. The product was backed by $50 million in marketing.
Recognition
Awards
Angel won the International Magician Society's Magician of the Year award in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008, in addition to its "Magician of the Decade" title in 2009 and "Magician of the Century" title in 2010. He was the 22nd recipient of the Louie Award for outstanding achievement in the art of magic. He has also appeared on the covers of Magic and Genii magazines. In 2008, Angel was one of the inaugural nominees for the Harry Houdini Award, awarded by the Harry Houdini Museum. Angel is the youngest magician to ever be inducted into the International Magician Society's Magic Hall of Fame. He is also the only man to have won the Merlin Magician of the Year award on two occasions, in 2001 and 2004. In 2011, he was awarded the World Magic Legacy Awards' Living Legend award. On July 20, 2017, Angel received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which is located next to The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
World records
Angel is the holder of several world records, including the longest time submerged under water and the fastest time to escape from a straitjacket at two minutes and 30 seconds, the longest body suspension at five hours 42 minutes, and the fastest time to perform the "Metamorphosis" illusion at less than one second. He is also the holder of the Guinness world record for "The most people to disappear in an illusion", for making 100 people disappear on May 26, 2010 during a performance of Believe at the Luxor.
Personal life
In 2002, Angel married his longtime girlfriend JoAnn Winkhart. The couple filed for divorce four years later. Although Angel was seen with his wife in the buried alive illusion (season 1, episode 6, 2005) and the body suspension illusion (season 1, episode 5, 2005), she was not credited as his wife; rather, she was listed as "Criss's Girl". In November 2008, Angel began dating Holly Madison, former girlfriend of Hugh Hefner. The relationship ended in February 2009. He proposed to Sandra Gonzalez on September 7, 2011 in Cabo San Lucas during a sunset dinner. They broke up shortly after. Since 2012, Angel has been dating Australian singer Shaunyl Benson. The couple have two sons together, born in 2014 and 2019, and a daughter born in 2021.
As of 2010, Big Bear Choppers had produced seven custom-made motorcycles for Angel, who featured the motorcycle designers on his show Criss Angel Mindfreak. He also had a Harley Davidson motorcycle built by Orange County Choppers, which he rode in the intro filmed for Criss Angel Mindfreak. As a philanthropist, Angel created the Believe Foundation 'Believe Anything is Possible', and was awarded the Make-A-Wish Foundation award for most supportive celebrity on May 19, 2010. He was also awarded the foundation's Chris Greicius Celebrity Award in 2007. As of 2016, Angel's business interests made about $70 million in revenues annually.
References
External links
1967 births
Living people
American magicians
American people of Greek descent
MNRK Music Group artists
Mentalists
Prizes for proof of paranormal phenomena
People from Hempstead (village), New York
Male actors from New York (state)
Participants in American reality television series
American YouTubers
People from East Meadow, New York
Male YouTubers
| false |
[
"Jeff Imada (born June 17, 1955) is an American martial artist, stuntman, and actor. He has performed stunts in over 100 films and television programs and authored one of the first books published in the US about the balisong. Jeff Imada is trained in Jeet Kune Do, Eskrima, Tae Kwon Do, Tang Soo Do, Karate, Shaolin Kung Fu, Kendo and Boxing.\n\nLife and career\nImada was born in Inglewood, California, US, where he began studying martial arts at the age of fifteen. At El Camino College and UCLA, he majored in pre-med and minored in music as a classically trained pianist. While in college, he started working as a film \"extra\", which led to his becoming a member of the Screen Actors Guild, Stunts Unlimited and the Directors Guild of America. Jeff Imada has been the technical advisor on numerous films, including Dutch (1991), Tango & Cash (1989), Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986), Dreamscape (1984) and Streets of Fire (1984), and such television series as Magnum, P.I. (1980), Remington Steele (1982), Dynasty (1981), Matt Houston (1982), Airwolf (1984), Stingray (1986), Hart to Hart (1979) and Tales of the Gold Monkey (1982).\n\nHe was a close friend to Brandon Lee with whom he studied Jeet Kune Do under the tutelage of Dan Inosanto. He was the primary fight choreographer on Lee's final film, The Crow.\n\nImada has authored two books on the history and use of the balisong and designed a particular grind known as the \"Imada High Hollow\" for Pacific Cutlery that was ground by knifemaker Jody Samson. The Balisong Manual was one of the first books published in the US about this unusual knife.\n\nJeff Imada has recently come to further attention by being the chief fight coordinator in the Matt Damon action films The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, as well as participating as the motion capture artist for the Xbox and PlayStation game The Bourne Conspiracy.\n\nIn 2015, Imada was recognized by East West Players (EWP) with the Visionary Award for raising \"the visibility of the Asian Pacific American (APA) community through [his] craft.\" He had been involved with EWP \"off and on\" for many years due to his personal connection to Mako, one of the founders of the theatre company.\n\nFilmography\n Furious 7 (2015) (fight choreographer)\n Breaking Dawn Part 2 (2012) (fight/stunt coordinator)\n The Green Hornet (2011) (fight/stunt coordinator)\n Hanna (2011) (fight/stunt coordinator)\n Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011) (fight/stunt coordinator)\n Repo Men (2010) (fight choreographer)\n The Book of Eli (2010) (stunt coordinator)\n Eclipse (2010) (fight/stunt coordinator)\n New Moon (2009) (fight/stunt coordinator)\n Twilight (2008) (fight/stunt coordinator)\n Mask of the Ninja (2008) (stunts)\n Role Models (2008) (stunt coordinator)\n Balls of Fury (2007) (stunts)\n The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) (fight stunt coordinator)\n Planet Terror (2007) (stunts)\n The Gene Generation (2007) (stunt action director)\n Park (2006) (stunt coordinator)\n When a Stranger Calls (2006) (stunt coordinator)\n In Her Shoes (2005) (stunt coordinator)\n Serenity (2005) (stunts)\n Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) (utility stunts)\n The Hard Easy (2005) (stunts)\n Collateral (2004) (stunts) (uncredited)\n The Bourne Supremacy (2004) (fight stunt coordinator)\n The Ladykillers (2004) (stunts)\n Spartan (2004) (stunt coordinator)\n Stuck on You (2003) (stunts)\n Daredevil (2003) (stunt coordinator) (wire choreographer)\n 8 Mile (2002) (stunt coordinator)\n Serving Sara (2002) (stunt coordinator)\n The Time Machine (2002) (stunt coordinator)\n Rock Star (2001) (stunts)\n Ghosts of Mars (2001) (stunt coordinator)\n Ticker (2001) (stunts)\n Little Nicky (2000) (stunt coordinator)\n Forever Lulu (2000) (stunt coordinator)\n Disney's The Kid (2000) (utility stunts)\n Gone in 60 Seconds (2000) (stunts)\n Wonder Boys (2000) (stunt coordinator)\n Hanging Up (2000) (stunts)\n The Green Mile (1999) (stunt coordinator)\n Fight Club (1999) (stunt coordinator)\n Crazy in Alabama (1999) (stunt coordinator)\n Enemy of the State (1998) (stunt player)\n Rush Hour (1998) (stunts)\n Blade (1998) (stunt coordinator: additional photography) (stunts)\n The Negotiator (1998) (stunts)\n Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) (stunts)\n Armageddon (1998/I) (stunts)\n Vampires (1998) (stunt coordinator)\n U.S. Marshals (1998) (stunts)\n The Replacement Killers (1998) (stunts)\n Most Wanted (1997) (stunts)\n Nothing to Lose (1997) (stunts)\n L.A. Confidential (1997) (stunt coordinator)\n Volcano (1997) (stunts)\n Spy Game (1997) (stunt coordinator)\n Dante's Peak (1997) (stunt coordinator: second unit)\n Beverly Hills Ninja (1997) (stunts)\n Marshal Law (1996) (stunts)\n The Glimmer Man (1996) (stunts)\n Escape from L.A. (1996) as 'Mojo' Dellasandro (stunt coordinator)\n Spy Hard (1996) (stunts)\n From Dusk till Dawn (1996) (stunts) (as Jeffrey Imada)\n Heat (1995) (stunts)\n Money Train (1995) (stunts)\n Jade (1995) (stunts)\n To the Limit (1995) (stunts: Los Angeles)\n The Last Word (1995) (stunts)\n Waterworld (1995) (stunts)\n Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home (1995) (stunt coordinator)\n Mortal Kombat (1995) (fire stunt double: Scorpion)\n Village of the Damned (1995) (stunt coordinator) (stunts)\n In the Mouth of Madness (1995) (stunt coordinator) (stunts)\n One Tough Bastard (1995) (stunts)\n Double Dragon (1994) (stunt coordinator)\n Vanashing Son (1994) (stunts)\n The Crow (1994) (stunt coordinator)\n Naked Gun 33: The Final Insult (1994) (stunts)\n Vanishing Son (1994) (TV) (stunts)\n On Deadly Ground (1994) (stunts)\n The Criminal Mind (1993) (stunts)\n Showdown (1993/I) (stunt coordinator)\n Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993) (stunts) (as Jeffrey Imada)\n Undercover Blues (1993) (stunts) (as Jeffrey Imada)\n Body Bags (1993) (TV) (stunt coordinator)\n Rising Sun (1993) (stunt coordinator)\n Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993) (stunts)\n Excessive Force (1993) (stunts)\n Robot Wars (1993) (stunts)\n Falling Down (1993) (stunts)\n Rapid Fire (1992) (stunt coordinator)\n Raven (1992) TV series (stunt coordinator)\n Patriot Games (1992) (stunts)\n Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992) (stunt coordinator)\n Kuffs (1992) (stunts)\n Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) (stunts)\n Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991) (stunts)\n V.I. Warshawski (1991) (stunts)\n Point Break (1991) (stunts)\n Fever (1991) (TV) (stunt coordinator)\n The Perfect Weapon (1991) (stunts)\n Highlander II: The Quickening (1991) (stunts)\n Kindergarten Cop (1990) (stunts)\n Captain America (1990) (stunts)\n The Rookie (1990) (stunts)\n The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake (1990) (TV) (stunt coordinator)\n Marked for Death (1990) (stunts)\n Come See the Paradise (1990) (stunts)\n Ghost Dad (1990) (stunts)\n The Last of the Finest (1990) (stunts)\n Angel Town (1990) (stunt coordinator)\n Tremors (1990) (stunts)\n Why Me? (1990) (stunts)\n Vietnam, Texas (1990) (stunts)\n Tango & Cash (1989) (stunts)\n Road House (1989) (stunts) (as Jeffrey Imada)\n Hyper Space (1989) (stunt coordinator)\n Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) (stunts) (as Jeffrey Imada)\n Who's Harry Crumb? (1989) (stunts)\n Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects (1989) (stunts)\n Gleaming the Cube (1989) (stunts)\n One Man Force (1989) (stunts)\n They Live (1988) (stunt coordinator)\n The Dead Pool (1988) (stunts)\n The Presidio (1988) (stunts)\n Prince of Darkness (1987) (stunt coordinator)\n Beauty and the Beast (1987) TV series (stunts)\n Steele Justice (1987) (stunts)\n Lethal Weapon (1987) (stunts)\n The Golden Child (1986) (stunts)\n Big Trouble in Little China (1986) (as \"Needles\") (stunts) \n Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986) (stunts)\n Gung Ho (1986) (stunts)\n Hollywood Vice Squad (1986) (stunts)\n House (1986) (stunts)\n Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985) (stunts)\n Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) (stunts) (as Jeffrey Imada)\n Missing in Action 2: The Beginning (1985) (stunts)\n Dreamscape (1984)\n Uncommon Valor (1983) (stunts)\n Breathless (1983) (stunts)\n Fire and Ice (1983) (stunts)\n Blue Thunder (1983) (stunts)\n The A-Team (1983) TV series (stunts)\n Matt Houston (1982) TV series (stunts)\n Blade Runner (1982) (stunts)\n Cheech and Chong's Nice Dreams (1981) (Wine steward)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n MSN Movies\n Interview At FarEastFilms.com\n\nAmerican Jeet Kune Do practitioners\nAmerican male taekwondo practitioners\nAmerican wushu practitioners\nAmerican kendoka\nAmerican male karateka\nAmerican male film actors\nLiving people\nAmerican stunt performers\nMale actors from Inglewood, California\n1955 births\nUniversity of California, Los Angeles alumni\nAmerican male actors of Filipino descent\nAmerican male actors of Japanese descent\nAction choreographers",
"Jeff Langton (born December 11, 1956) is an American actor and martial arts performer and practitioner. He is also a professional boxing trainer, cornerman, and cutman.\n\nEarly life \nJeff was born in Pasadena, California and raised between San Jose, California and Brooklyn, New York. His father was a member of the Marine Corps Boxing Team and later trained young Langton in the \"sweet science.\" When Langton was 13, he joined the Police Athletic League and trained as an amateur boxer with Gus Spencer. He also trained at Garden City Boxing Club and Bath Beach Health Club in Brooklyn New York. As a young man he also trained in martial arts as well as boxing. He trained in Tae Kwon Do with Dan Kyu Choi. He became the captain of Choi's Institute of Tae Kwon Do Championship Team and then went on to be California State Tae Kwon Do Champion. He also received a black belt in Tae Kwon Do from Master Byung Yu. He was also the first and original member of the world-famous Ernie Reyes West Coast Demo Team and introduced gymnastics and acrobatics to martial arts demonstration. This legacy continues on, as the format Langton introduced is still used today by West Coast Demo Team in shows all around the world.\n\nAfter making his way through the competitive world of martial arts, he moved on to film and television. He moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting. In L.A. he training extensively with six-time World Champion Kickboxer Benny Urquidez. He was also a trainer at Benny's school, The Jet Center. During this time he also did live action stunts for Universal Studios.\n\nCareer\nHe began doing stunts for Sylvester Stallone and then acting in movies such as Lionheart, fighting on screen with stars like Jean-Claude Van Damme.\nAfter this he starred in films such as Final Impact and Maximum Force, and continued to work on films and television shows like Price of Glory, Matlock, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Las Vegas. His background in boxing came in handy as he was asked to train and coach Tommy Morrison in Rocky V. Langton also appears in the movie itself as one of the fighters Tommy Gunn knocks out. In fact, his name appears in the marquee in a montage depicting Tommy Gunn rising through the ranks. Although in the video game, Rocky Legends his character looks nothing like him and his name is changed to Kofi Langton. His most recent role is in the movie Mind Polish: Master Hubbard's Special Reserve, where he plays a scientology spiritual counselor who suffers from tourette's syndrome.\n\nFilmography\n\n 1986 Cobra (Stunts)\n 1988 Rambo III (Stunts)\n 1989 Road House (Stunts)\n 1989 Tango & Cash (Stunts)\n 1990 Lionheart as Cynthia's Fighter\n 1990 Die Hard 2 as Blue Light Team #2\n 1990 Matlock (1 episode\"The Narc) as Narc #2\n 1990 Rocky V as Boxer\n 1990 Lethal Games as Huey\n 1991 Future Kick as Andrews\n 1991 College Kickboxers as Gary Carlisle (uncredited)\n 1992 Final Impact as Jake Gerrard\n 1992 Batman Returns as Clown (uncredited)\n 1992 Maximum Force as Ivan\n 1994 Street Fighter (Stunts)\n 1997 Hollywood Safari as Neal\n 1997 Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1 episode, \"Ted\") aa Vampire\n 1998 Almost Heroes (Stunts)\n 1998 Jane Austen's Mafia! as Bodyguard (uncredited)\n 2000 Price of Glory as Referee\n 2000 Intrepid (Stunts)\n 2002 Deuces Wild as Gangster (uncredited)\n 2003 Las Vegas ( 1 episode, \"Blood and Sand\") as Boxing Referee\n 2004 El Padrino as Secret Service Agent (uncredited)\n 2006 Mini's First Time as The Auditor\n 2008 Mind Polish: Master Hubbard's Special Reserve as Frankie Carbo, Mobster #2\n 2010 Taken by Force as Cop\n 2011 Brando Unauthorized as Al Silvani\n\nBoxing\nJeff has worked the corner in over 40 world championship title bouts including Ricardo Mayorga (WBC, IBF), Freddie Pendleton (IBF, WBA), Tony Tucker (NABF, WBC, WBA, WBO), Byron Mitchell (IBF, WBA), Uriah Grant (IBF), Kingsley Ikeke (NABA, WBC), William Abelyan (NABO), and Will Grigsby (IBF).\n\nJeff Langton has trained world champions of his own such as Terry Davis (NBA, IBA Champ) and Young Dick Tiger (Nigerian Commonwealth Champ). Langton has also trained Hector Pena (6 time world kickboxing champion) and Danny \"Hard As\" Steel (6 time world kickboxing champion). He learned how to be a cutman from his uncle Al Bonanni who has trained many world champions for Don King. He is a licensed trainer by the State of California and by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. He also owns a private gym for professional boxers and celebrities.\n\nMartial Arts \nJeff Langton is a practitioner of several martial art disciplines.\n\nKajukenbo\nShotokan\nKickBoxing\nShaolin Kung Fu\nTae Kwon Do\nHung Gar\nEscrima\n\nReferences\n\n1956 births\nAmerican male film actors\nAmerican boxing trainers\nAmerican martial artists\nLiving people\nMale actors from California\nPeople from Brooklyn"
] |
[
"Criss Angel",
"Early career",
"how did he get started?",
"His first television appearance was in 1994, where he performed as a part of a one-hour ABC primetime special",
"what did he do in his performance?",
"I don't know.",
"how old was he when he first started his career?",
"I don't know.",
"what was his next performance after 1994?",
"Angel also starred in the 1997 television movie The Science of Magic and its 2003 sequel The Science of Magic II.",
"Did he ever star with other people?",
"year, he collaborated with musician Klayton to form Angeldust, a show that combined magic with music.",
"What stunts did he do early in his career?",
"twenty-four hours in a tank of water"
] |
C_0dbc7e6a91394d278a7e6b64d29eb7ad_1
|
how old was he when he started out?
| 7 |
how old was Criss Angel when he started out?
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Criss Angel
|
Angel has said that, "I stayed away from magicians when I was younger because I didn't want to think like them and wanted to create my own style." His first television appearance was in 1994, where he performed as a part of a one-hour ABC primetime special entitled Secrets. One of the early supporters of Angel was horror director Clive Barker. In 1995, Barker asked Angel to work with him on his film Lord of Illusions. He also later recorded the intro to Angel's album World of Illusion: System One. Barker said of Angel in the mid-1990s that, "Criss Angel is extraordinary, a spectacular mix of visionary magic. This is the future, and it can't come quickly enough." During that year, he collaborated with musician Klayton to form Angeldust, a show that combined magic with music. They released their first album Musical Conjurings from the World of Conjuring in 1998. Also that year, Angel performed a ten-minute show over the course of the "World of Illusion" conference in Madison Square Garden, performing sixty shows per day. However, by 2000, Klayton's name was removed from Angel's website. Angel also starred in the 1997 television movie The Science of Magic and its 2003 sequel The Science of Magic II. Criss Angel Mindfreak, which would later become Angel's first television series, was originally an off-Broadway show by Angel, which in 2001 was picked up by the World Underground Theatre. When not performing the show, Angel worked the streets promoting the show to pedestrians. Criss Angel Mindfreak ran for more than 600 performances between 2001 and 2003 at the World Underground Theater in Times Square. His twenty-four hours in a tank of water set a world record for the longest amount of time for a human to be completely submerged under water. This performance would also become a part of his first television special. Angel has also been known to actively discourage a belief in mediumship, stating that there is no way for mediums to speak with people beyond the dead. He has said, "If somebody's doing that for entertainment purposes, that's one thing. But if they claim to be communicating with the dead, I don't care if they're from my hometown, I don't care if they're my family members: I'll expose them and tell them what they really are." CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos (; born December 19, 1967), known professionally as Criss Angel, is an American magician, illusionist and musician. Angel began his career in New York City, before moving his base of operations to the Las Vegas Valley. He is known for starring in the television and stage show Criss Angel Mindfreak and his previous live performance illusion show Criss Angel Believe in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil at the Luxor casino in Las Vegas. The show generated $150 million in tourist revenue to Las Vegas in 2010, but has since been replaced by Mindfreak LIVE! in 2016 (the show is partly produced by Cirque du Soleil; however, the directive rights are entirely with Criss Angel). He also starred in the television series Criss Angel BeLIEve on Spike TV, the reality-competition television show Phenomenon on NBC, and the 2014 stage show Criss Angel Magicjam.
He also holds multiple world records made during his magic performances, and was named Magician of the Decade in 2009 and Magician of the Century in 2010 by the International Magicians Society. In addition to his career as an illusionist, Angel was the lead singer for his industrial band Angeldust, which released five albums. He also authored the book Mindfreak: Secret Revelations.
Early life
Criss Angel was born on December 19, 1967, at Hempstead General Hospital in Hempstead, on Long Island, New York. He is of Greek descent. Angel was raised in Elmont until fourth grade, when his family moved to East Meadow, New York. His father, John Sarantakos, owned a restaurant and doughnut shop. He developed an interest in magic at age seven and performed his first show at age 12, for which he was paid $10. His main early influence was Harry Houdini. By age 14, Angel was performing throughout high school at restaurants in East Meadow, including the Wine Gallery. Angel's first major illusion was making his mother float in their family den. Early in his career he was helped by animal breeder and reality-television host Marc Morrone, who helped Angel find and train a set of doves for his act.
By the time he graduated from East Meadow High School, he had decided to pursue a career as a professional magician instead of attending college as his parents wanted. According to the Biography Channel, "Angel hit the road and began touring with other traveling performance acts. Between traveling and performing, he attempted to further his education in his own by studying the history of magic in public libraries. He also studied the art of mysticism, music, martial arts and even dance."
Early career
Angel has said that, "I stayed away from magicians when I was younger because I didn't want to think like them and wanted to create my own style." His first television appearance was in 1994, where he performed as a part of a one-hour ABC primetime special entitled Secrets. One of the early supporters of Angel was horror director Clive Barker. In 1995, Barker asked Angel to work with him on his film Lord of Illusions. He also later recorded the intro to Angel's album World of Illusion: System One. Barker said of Angel in the mid-1990s that, "Criss Angel is extraordinary, a spectacular mix of visionary magic. This is the future, and it can't come quickly enough." During that year, he collaborated with musician Klayton to form Angeldust, a show that combined magic with music. They released their first album Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusions in 1998. Also that year, Angel performed a 10-minute show over the course of the "World of Illusion" conference in Madison Square Garden, performing 60 shows per day. However, by 2000, Klayton's name was removed from Angel's website.
Angel also starred in the 1997 television movie The Science of Magic and its 2003 sequel The Science of Magic II. Criss Angel Mindfreak, which would later become Angel's first television series, was originally an off-Broadway show by Angel, which in 2001 was picked up by the World Underground Theatre. When not performing the show, Angel worked the streets promoting the show to pedestrians. Criss Angel Mindfreak ran for more than 600 performances between 2001 and 2003 at the World Underground Theater in Times Square. His 24 hours in a tank of water set a world record for the longest amount of time for a human to be completely submerged under water. This performance would also become a part of his first television special.
Angel has also been known to actively discourage a belief in mediumship, stating that there is no way for mediums to speak with people beyond the dead. He has said, "If somebody's doing that for entertainment purposes, that's one thing. But if they claim to be communicating with the dead, I don't care if they're from my hometown, I don't care if they're my family members: I'll expose them and tell them what they really are."
Water torture cell in Times Square, 2002
In August 2002, Angel spent 24 hours shackled underwater in a phone booth-sized water torture cell near the WWE entertainment store in New York's Times Square, WWE corporation being the owners of the World Underground Theatre where Angel had been performing his stage show. To prepare for the trick, he practiced in a neighbor's backyard swimming pool next to his mother's house in East Meadow, New York. Prior to the performance he had only managed to spend 12 consecutive hours in the water. He fasted for 24 hours before the performance to make it through the period without need to exit and use the bathroom. During the trick, he went through 16 oxygen tanks. After the trick, he was required to remove his own shackles and chains before exiting the water. Within an hour, his skin began to react substantially to the water.
At the end of the performance, according to Ted Shaffrey, "Before he emerged from the phone-booth sized contraption of clear plastic and steel, Angel yanked out the air hose that allowed him to breathe. Then assistants pulled a black curtain over the 220-gallon (832-liter) chamber to block the view of television cameras and about 100 people gathered outside the window in which he was displayed. Under cover, Angel apparently escaped from the shackles that bound his arms, legs and neck, before pulling himself from the watery chamber with a celebratory scream." Upon successfully completing the trick, he was described as having "skin crinkled and his eyes bloodshot", and upon emerging from the tank he was taken to St. Clare's Hospital and treated for severe dehydration. He reported afterwards that he had suffered from overheating, jaw fatigue, and semi-consciousness while in the tank.
Television specials and promotional appearances (2002–2005)
On October 20, 2002, Angel performed in the ABC Family television special named Criss Angel Mindfreak: Postmodern illusionist, an hour-long performance and tribute to Harry Houdini. The special aired again on December 24, 2002 on Channel 4 in the U.K. The Birmingham Evening Mail reviewed the show, writing, "Criss Angel is currently making a name for himself as a more provocative, darker alternative to [other illusionists]. He walks the streets of New York, hypnotising passers-by, turning cups of take-away coffee into cockroaches and suspending himself from the ceiling by inserting hooks into his back. The piece de resistance of all these mind games is an update of the Houdini underwater trick - an attempt to stay in a (cell) tank of water for 24 hours, padlocked and restrained. All seems to be going well, until the filter system breaks down and the water begins to heat up."
On October 31, 2003, the SciFi Channel aired the one-hour special Supernatural starring Angel. Kate O'Hare said of the special that, "Filmed in part at Universal Theme Park in Orlando, Fla., "Supernatural" finds Angel crawling up buildings, passing a quarter through his skin, spontaneously combusting and having otherworldly creatures burst from his chest." When asked about his process in creating television specials, Angel said that, "I like to have my hand in everything on my TV specials. I'm the executive producer; I direct it; I create it. I write all the music for my TV specials and my live performances. It's on my label. I write it; I produce it." During the special Angel performed stunts, including lighting himself on fire and making a tarantula emerge from a pedestrian's soda can. In 2003, Angel was also featured in the two-hour TBS special Made in Japan.
In early 2003, Angel performed at the release of the new branding for Miller Lite beer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the 80th anniversary of Houdini's last performance in that city. For the performance, he was suspended ten stories in the air and bound in a straitjacket, from which he escaped. He also performed an illusion at Ozzfest in 2005. During this period Angel also earned money selling signed merchandise, making up to $50,000 a day.
Criss Angel Mindfreak television series
In 2005, Angel became the creator, director, and executive producer of the A&E Network show Criss Angel Mindfreak, and had entered production in January. Seasons 1 and 2 were filmed at The Aladdin in Las Vegas, with Season 3 at the Luxor Las Vegas. Premiering on July 20, 2005, the show's illusions included walking on water, levitating, walking up the side of Luxor Hotel (in the light of 39 focused lamps that can be seen from space), floating between two buildings, causing a Lamborghini to disappear, surviving in an exploding C4 Crate, cutting himself in half in full view of an audience and getting run over by a steamroller while lying on a bed of broken glass.
The first season of the show was released on DVD after it completed its on-screen run. The show also released its Halloween special, along with two special episodes, on an additional one-disc DVD offering. The show returned for a second season in May 2006, and was named one of the best shows of the summer by the Tulsa World newspaper. The show was renewed for a third season in July 2006; as of that third season the show was A&E's number one rated show, with more than 1.5 million viewers. That year he promoted the show with a performance where he was suspended within a cube encased in concrete above Times Square, escaping from the block before it was set to crash to the ground. Magic effects creator Sean Field stated of Angel this year that, "Criss Angel is the biggest name in magic since Houdini ... No other magician has invaded pop culture to the degree that Criss Angel has. He has changed the image of magic and made it cool." The show became one of the most popular foreign television shows in parts of Asia, including China.
The television show was noted as a part of the mid-2000s films, television, and books that drove a resurgence of the public popularity of magic. Criss Angel Mindfreak was the first weekly magic television show to air in 40 years. Daily Variety reviewed the premiere writing, "The stunts alone are impressive. But what makes the show fascinating are the down-home touches in which we see the kid from New York, who first honed his magic skills at the age of 6. Keenly aware of the camera at all times, Angel manages to offer some personality, especially where family is involved. Viewers follow the illusionist as he contemplates new and more dangerous stunts, while his crew, including his often-fretful brothers, offer insight as to what, other than ego, drives someone in this profession."
The show ran from 2005 until 2010, at which point he had been featured for more hours on prime time television than any other magician in history. Other tricks performed in the show included the performance of séances, as well as other tricks in order to teach his audience about con men and how to avoid scams intended to manipulate money out of people.
In July 2008, Angel escaped from a beachside hotel before its demolition in front of a crowd of about 50,000 people, an illusion that also aired on the television program. After the illusion, Angel showed the audience step by step how he achieved the escape. He first picked open a set of handcuffs that had him shackled to a balcony railing. He then smashed the window of the room in order to enter the hotel, and picked padlocks on both the room's internal door and the door to the stairwell. The escape was initially supposed to occur via a ladder that dangled above the hotel's roof 30 seconds before collapse, after picking through five locks on the roof's door. Instead, Angel emerged from the rubble after the collapse, claiming that the initial plan was always to escape via the helicopter. The total time allotted for the entire illusion was four minutes, with dynamite located on the first, second, and fourth floors of the building.
Criss Angel Believe
Stage show
In 2006, Angel partnered with Cirque du Soleil to produce the stage show Criss Angel Believe (stylized as "Criss Angel BeLIEve"), premiering the show at the Luxor Las Vegas on September 26, 2008. It became the bestselling live magic show in the world. The name of the show was taken from Harry Houdini, for the mythology of Houdini choosing the word "believe" as the codeword for communicating with Houdini after his death. Luxor's parent company, MGM Mirage, financed the show with $100 million.
After several delays, the show was set for a gala opening on October 31, 2008, with preview shows in late September on the 82nd anniversary of Harry Houdini's death. The initial preview received mixed reactions and reviews. Reporters for the Las Vegas Sun, Los Angeles Times, and Las Vegas Review-Journal cited a lack of the magic Angel is known for, as well as a confusing and uninteresting theme. They also opined that neither Angel nor Cirque du Soleil were able to perform to their capabilities during these initial performances. On the positive side, the Las Vegas Sun later quoted Star Pulse, stating, "He has created a live show that is everything a perfect magic performance should be — and then some. It's not just remarkable magic — it's transcendent art that won't just blow your mind; it will quite possibly change your life."
In April 2009, Angel ended a performance of Believe by "hurling obscene insults" at blogger Perez Hilton, an audience member. Hilton reportedly had texted to his fans during the performance that the show was "unbelievably BAD" and that he'd "rather be getting a root canal", and word had gotten back to Angel by the end of the performance. Cirque du Soleil later apologized to Hilton for Angel's remarks.
In 2010, the Las Vegas Sun critic John Katsilometes, after being unimpressed by the initial show, said Believe had improved by reducing the narrative elements and focusing on the magic. In 2011, the Toronto Star wrote: "The show is easily the most exciting thing now on stage in Vegas!" That year the show attracted an estimated $150 million in ticket sales. The show currently has a 10-year performance contract that runs through 2019, and was the best selling magic show in Las Vegas as of 2013.
Television series
The stage show celebrated its fifth anniversary of appearing on stage in October 2013. That month a cable television series based upon the show entitled Criss Angel BeLIEve was broadcast on Spike TV. The first season included 11 one-hour episodes, including 118 different illusions. Guests on the show include Ludacris, Ice-T, Randy Couture and Shaquille O'Neal. When asked about the three years between the last episode of Mindfreak and his return to television, Angel stated that, "I didn't take long at all to go back to television. It was my choice to work on the live Cirque show and to get that where I wanted it to be.
"Now that that show is just humming and doing amazing business — it's the #1 bestselling magic show in the world as far as ticket sales and the perception that people are experiencing and coming back to see it multiple times — I felt it was in a great place and I could think about television again. Obviously, "Believe" will continue to evolve until its last performance because I always want to add new magic, I'm always tweaking and transforming it. I missed being on television, I had something new creatively to say, and Spike became the perfect home to do it." Endemol purchased the foreign distribution rights for the show, and was the "most-watched new original series [on Spike TV] in more than 18 months" according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In the episode "Lord of Illusions — Death Premonition", Angel paid homage to Clive Barker, the director of the horror movie of the same name. In the episode, Angel performed the closing stunt from the film, in which he laid beneath a circle of suspended swords, and predicted the correct order of six falling swords to avoid becoming stabbed through his body after their release. The swords were selected by the audience with the help of a randomly bouncing ball. According to the Las Vegas Sun, "Criss is the only, and first, magician in the world granted permission from the inventor and filmmaker to re-create the film's death-defying stunt."
For another episode for the series filmed in New York City he was asked by the NYPD not to pre-announce the performance, as crowd control for some Angel performances had become a concern for the police. This trick saw Angel hanging his feet, while bound with two straitjackets and a noose around his neck which were attached to metal weights. While he was successful in the trick, Angel tore his shoulder muscles and this required surgery in January 2014. This resulted in the temporary closing of the Believe stage show between January and April 2014, while he was recovering from the surgery and returning to performance shape. He did however host a new stage show featuring other magicians between February and March 2014 in lieu of performing in his own show. Clips from the show also became the most watched YouTube magic clips in the history of the site, with more than 15 million views.
In the show, Angel revealed the secrets behind some of his illusions to the audience. This included the "Lord of Illusions" trick, where he revealed that he had the swords in a preset order so that he could avoid them. The episode featuring this illusion also includes a meeting between Angel and his team discussing a problem with the trick and how to ensure it does not happen again.
Phenomenon
Starting in October 2007, he appeared as a judge on Phenomenon with Uri Geller. In a CNN interview about the show, he told Larry King "no one has the ability, that I'm aware of, to do anything supernatural, psychic, talk to the dead. And that was what I said I was going to do with Phenomenon. If somebody goes on that show and claims to have supernatural psychic ability, I'm going to bust [him] live and on television."
On the October 31, 2007 episode of the reality show Phenomenon, paranormalist Jim Callahan performed a summoning, purportedly of deceased author Raymond Hill, to help discover the contents of a locked box. Although fellow judge Uri Geller praised the performance, Angel called it "comical" and subsequently challenged both Callahan and Geller to guess the contents of two envelopes he pulled out of his pocket, offering a million dollars of his own money to whoever could do so. This led to an argument between Callahan and Angel, during which Callahan walked toward Angel and called him an "ideological bigot", with the two pulled apart as the show promptly went to a commercial break. Angel has since revealed the contents of one envelope and at the unveiling he challenged Geller one more time. Geller responded, "Although we were born one day apart - I was born on the 20th of December and you on the 19th - a lot of years between us - 40 years, you were one year old when I came out with my spoon bending..." Criss Angel cut him off at this point, saying, "I guess this is a 'no,'" and proceeded to open the envelope. The envelope contained an index card with the numbers "911" printed on it for September 11, 2001. Angel's explanation was this: "If on 9-10 somebody could have predicted that 9-11 was going to happen, they could have saved thousands of lives". The other envelope's contents were scheduled to be revealed on the first episode of Season 4 of Criss Angel: Mindfreak.
Stage shows
Criss Angel Magicjam
The temporary replacement show for Believe was entitled Criss Angel Magicjam, which was performed in the same Luxor theatre. According to the Las Vegas Sun, the show included, "Longtime Las Vegas comedy-illusionist Nathan Burton; Banachek, the world's premiere mentalist; and new female magician Krystyn Lambert, who has been prominently featured in the Spike series ... joined by grandmaster manipulators Jason Byrne and Tony Clarke, supreme close-up artist Armando Vera and the magic comedy of Russ Merlin." The production was written and directed by Criss Angel. In January 2014, Angel announced that he planned on taking Criss Angel Magicjam on a North American tour during the summer of 2014. The show also featured Angel's own illusions, which he performed for about 40 minutes of the show. Robin Leach said of the show that, "Magicjam is great fun and a high-energy show packed with mind-blowing magic."
Mindfreak LIVE!
In 2014, Angel premiered the stage show Mindfreak LIVE! The touring show features illusions from Angel himself, which received positive reviews. The demonstrations used in the show were developed in Angel's illusion laboratory in Las Vegas, located in a 60,000 square foot warehouse. His international touring with the show marked the first time that Angel had traveled with his show in about six years. The premiere show of the performance occurred at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut during November 2014.
The Supernaturalists
The Supernaturalists premiered in June 2015 at the Foxwoods Resort Casino's The Fox Theater, with Angel serving as creator, director and executive producer. Performers for the show include illusionist Landon Swank, magician Krystyn Lambert, escape artist Spencer Horsman, mentalist Banachek, dog conjuror Johnny Dominguez, magician Stefan, and close up magician Adrian Vega. Robin Leach reviewed the show as having "overwhelming positive reactions" and wrote that it contained "the most mind-blowing magic spectacle that's playing anywhere". Angel has stated that the show is a culmination of ten years of development, which he began in 2005, and is intended as a global touring show and as a premiering venue for several new illusions from each magician.
Variety show appearances and guest spots
Angel has made numerous special television guest appearances on WWE Raw, including acting as guest star on March 8, 2010. He also appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, including the premiere episode of its 24th season. During a 2007 episode of the show, he successfully guessed the number between 1 and 100 he asked Winfrey to think of without telling him. Angel has appeared on other talk shows including The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Megan Mullally Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, AVN Awards Show 2007 and Larry King Live on CNN. He was also a guest on The Tonight Show, Late Show with David Letterman, America's Got Talent, and The Rosie O'Donnell Show. He also made a guest acting appearance on the hit television shows CSI: NY, Las Vegas and Rules of Engagement. In 2011, Angel also appeared in an Orville Redenbacher Pop-Up Bowl popcorn commercial.
In May 2005, Angel introduced honoree Ozzy Osbourne at the VH1 Rock Honors awards, biting the head off a bat as a part of the introduction in homage to Osbourne's early career onstage antics. At the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, Angel performed an illusion as a part of the musical performance by Britney Spears and helped to plan her stage show, which opened the television broadcast. He was also hired as the illusionist for the planned 2009 Michael Jackson O2 arena concerts before Jackson's death. In 2013, Angel had a cameo in the feature film The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, and Jim Carrey's character in the movie "Steve Gray" has been said to be modeled after Angel. There is a wax statue of Angel in the Madame Tussauds wax museum in Las Vegas.
Other projects
Music
Angel has a passion for music and claims to have been a musician longer than a magician. In 1989 he fronted the short-lived heavy metal band Angel and produced a promotional music video for the song "Don't You Want My Love", incorporating several magic tricks. Angel later went on to collaborate with industrial rock musician Klay Scott for a new band titled Angeldust in 1995. Angeldust released its debut album Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusion in 1998. He later released the albums System 1, System 2, and System 3. In 2003, he released the album Supernatural. His musical style continues to be in the heavy metal style, though when describing his musical style he has said, "There are elements where it's more electronic, and there are orchestrated sections. I decided to take it in different places because I'm inspired by emotion and by giving people a connection, a sense of a feeling — whether it's excitement or crying or being happy." He also produced soundtracks for his television series Mindfreak, including collaborations with members of Korn and Godsmack.
Books
Angel is the author of the book Mindfreak: Secret Revelations, published by HarperEntertainment in 2007. Mindfreak: Secret Revelations appeared on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list that year. According to the Las Vegas Sun, "The 295-page book details the early beginnings of his career, memorable demonstrations from his TV show and personal reflections. "Secret Revelations" also contains several pictures and provides step-by-step instructions for 40 of his basic Mindfreaks. Laura Morton helped the magician write the book." California Bookwatch wrote that it "tells of Criss Angel's evolution as a performance artist, magician and musician, charting his rise to fame beginning at age 6 and adding details of his life and his artistic philosophy and influences ... His survey covers the 'Mindfreaks' which allow him to push for excellence in very different worlds".
Internet
Criss Angel is the most watched magician in Internet history since the late 2000s. His clip, "Walk on Water", had received more than 39 million views by 2010, and more than 46 million by 2013. By early 2013, his videos had achieved more than 200 million views. Another highly watched clip is "Rip Bodies Apart" taken from the premiere episode of BeLIEve, which had more than twelve million views within a month.
Merchandise
In 2010, Angel partnered with IdeaVillage to release the Criss Angel Magic Collection, which contained six Mindfreak Magic Tricks instructions, 250 tricks, and a magic kit for children. The product was backed by $50 million in marketing.
Recognition
Awards
Angel won the International Magician Society's Magician of the Year award in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008, in addition to its "Magician of the Decade" title in 2009 and "Magician of the Century" title in 2010. He was the 22nd recipient of the Louie Award for outstanding achievement in the art of magic. He has also appeared on the covers of Magic and Genii magazines. In 2008, Angel was one of the inaugural nominees for the Harry Houdini Award, awarded by the Harry Houdini Museum. Angel is the youngest magician to ever be inducted into the International Magician Society's Magic Hall of Fame. He is also the only man to have won the Merlin Magician of the Year award on two occasions, in 2001 and 2004. In 2011, he was awarded the World Magic Legacy Awards' Living Legend award. On July 20, 2017, Angel received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which is located next to The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
World records
Angel is the holder of several world records, including the longest time submerged under water and the fastest time to escape from a straitjacket at two minutes and 30 seconds, the longest body suspension at five hours 42 minutes, and the fastest time to perform the "Metamorphosis" illusion at less than one second. He is also the holder of the Guinness world record for "The most people to disappear in an illusion", for making 100 people disappear on May 26, 2010 during a performance of Believe at the Luxor.
Personal life
In 2002, Angel married his longtime girlfriend JoAnn Winkhart. The couple filed for divorce four years later. Although Angel was seen with his wife in the buried alive illusion (season 1, episode 6, 2005) and the body suspension illusion (season 1, episode 5, 2005), she was not credited as his wife; rather, she was listed as "Criss's Girl". In November 2008, Angel began dating Holly Madison, former girlfriend of Hugh Hefner. The relationship ended in February 2009. He proposed to Sandra Gonzalez on September 7, 2011 in Cabo San Lucas during a sunset dinner. They broke up shortly after. Since 2012, Angel has been dating Australian singer Shaunyl Benson. The couple have two sons together, born in 2014 and 2019, and a daughter born in 2021.
As of 2010, Big Bear Choppers had produced seven custom-made motorcycles for Angel, who featured the motorcycle designers on his show Criss Angel Mindfreak. He also had a Harley Davidson motorcycle built by Orange County Choppers, which he rode in the intro filmed for Criss Angel Mindfreak. As a philanthropist, Angel created the Believe Foundation 'Believe Anything is Possible', and was awarded the Make-A-Wish Foundation award for most supportive celebrity on May 19, 2010. He was also awarded the foundation's Chris Greicius Celebrity Award in 2007. As of 2016, Angel's business interests made about $70 million in revenues annually.
References
External links
1967 births
Living people
American magicians
American people of Greek descent
MNRK Music Group artists
Mentalists
Prizes for proof of paranormal phenomena
People from Hempstead (village), New York
Male actors from New York (state)
Participants in American reality television series
American YouTubers
People from East Meadow, New York
Male YouTubers
| false |
[
"George Dashnau (October 12, 1923 – February 9, 2001) was an advertising executive in Philadelphia who started the first mail order delivery service that supplied human skulls. He was 55 years old when he started the business.\n\nBusiness\nDashnau sold human skulls for $100 each in the 1970s, which he claimed to be from a medical supply firm that wanted to be nameless. The business was based out of his post office box under the trade name The Skull Man. He started the business because he wanted to become rich, a dream that he had had for many years, and he credited that being a science fiction fan may have helped him think of the idea. Dashnau said that he tried to think of the skulls as old bones and not as people. He did not sell the skulls for medical purposes, but rather as novelty items. Roger Simmons, of the Chicago Sun-Times, asked Dashnau why he would not reveal where the skulls were from. Dashnau said that he would not reveal where they came from because he did not want imitators using the same supplies.\n\nHuman skulls\nEach skull was treated to prevent decalcification. The cranium was made so that people could view the lower brain cavity and the lower jaw was fastened with springs which allowed someone to open and close the mouth. Dashnau had no idea how old the skulls were or where they came from, but that people bought them as pieces for conversation. Two of Dashnau's hopes were that business executives would buy a skull as an unusual desk ornament and to be able to expand his offered merchandise, including full human skeletons for $500 each.\n\nDeath\nDashnau died on February 9, 2001, due to a stroke in Willingboro Township, New Jersey. He was buried at Monument Cemetery in Beverly, New Jersey, on February 14, 2001.\n\nBibliography\nIn 1979 and again in a 1981 edition, Dashnau had an entry in the book Famous Americans You Never Knew Existed. In 1990, Dashnau had an entry in the book Best Of Gravestone Humor.\n\nReferences\n\n1923 births\n2001 deaths\nBusinesspeople from Philadelphia\nMail-order retailers\nCompanies established in the 1970s\n20th-century American businesspeople",
"The racehorse Dick Turpin won the 1933 Chester Cup, ridden by Gordon Richards, trained by Martin Hartigan. Dick Turpin won by a head, 2nd Guiscard, 3rd Mandritsara. He was owned by Hon Robert Fraser Watson, 2nd son of 1st Baron Manton. The starting price was 9 to 1. Gordon Richards wrote about the horse in his autobiography published in 1955 as follows:\n\"Dick Turpin was a big horse, and he took a long time to come to hand. We had won a few races with him at the end of his three year old career, and now we thought he had a great chance for the Chester Cup. Of course he was on the big side for the sharp bends of Chester, and we wanted it as soft as possible. When I went out to the paddock, Mr Watson asked me how I was going to ride the horse. I told Mr Watson and Mr Hartigan that they were not to worry if I was last for the whole of the first twice round the course. Off we went. I should think I was a furlong behind the leader for the first twice round, but I had great confidence in Dick Turpin. Then when we started the 3rd circuit, some of them began to tire, and I began winding my way through them. The real thrill started at the last bend, where Freddy Fox moved his mount into the lead, and Weston and Beary went after him. I was then lying 4th, some lengths behind the others, but I had been coming up so fast that it almost looked as if those I passed were standing still. I was still more than a length behind in the last furlong, and I am sure that the vast majority of those watching the race never noticed me, so engrossed must they have been in the tremendous struggle going on in front between Freddy, Tommy and Michael. But a length behind and with less than a hundred yards to go, I asked the long-striding Dick Turpin for his final effort, and the gallant horse got up to beat all 3 of them by a short head, and win the cup. When I got to the winner's enclosure, Mr Watson looked pale and Mr Hartigan was laughing. \"Gordon, you frightened the life out of us!\" he said. \"I told you how it would go\", I said\".\n\nFootnotes\n\n1929 racehorse births\nThoroughbred family 4-n"
] |
[
"Doug Stone",
"2000-present: The Long Way, In a Different Light, and My Turn"
] |
C_3c5505f3fe1d4d51ba3368ec0d397aab_0
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What was going on with Doug in 2000?
| 1 |
What was going on with Doug Stone in 2000?
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Doug Stone
|
In December 1999, Stone was aboard an airplane which skidded off a snowy runway at O'Hare Airport in Chicago; there were no injuries. Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000. In March 2000, he suffered a broken left ankle, cracked rib, concussion, and bruised kidney after crashing his plane in Robertson County, Tennessee, and was briefly hospitalized before he resumed touring. Stone later said that the accident made him decide to quit flying planes. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, rumors circulated that Stone had been on one of the hijacked planes; a spokeswoman for the singer confirmed that he was at home with his family that day. Stone signed to Audium Entertainment in 2002 and recorded The Long Way. This album included seven new songs and acoustic re-recordings of "More Love", "Born in the Dark", and "I'd Be Better Off". One of the original songs on it was "POW 369", which was later recorded by Darryl Worley. Stewart Mason thought that it was "not nearly as suffocatingly slick" as Stone's previous albums, but questioned its commercial success. His next album did not come out until 2005, when he signed to the independent label Lofton Creek Records, recording the album In a Different Light. The album included a cover of "Georgia on My Mind", which was the first single, and re-recordings of "In a Different Light" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". A second album for Lofton Creek, My Turn, followed in 2007. It was led off by the single "Nice Problem". William Ruhlmann praised this album for having "a timeless country feel", also saying that "Stone sings with as much fervor and sincerity as ever." Ken Tucker of Billboard wrote that "He sounds as good as ever and his music is still relevant". In 2013, Stone toured with Bryan White and Shenandoah as part of the "Reliving the 90s Tour". He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde. CANNOTANSWER
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Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000.
|
Doug Stone (born Douglas Jackson Brooks; June 19, 1956) is an American country music singer and actor. He debuted in 1990 with the single "I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)", the first release from his 1990 self-titled debut album for Epic Records. Both this album and its successor, 1991's I Thought It Was You, earned a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. Two more albums for Epic, 1992's From the Heart and 1994's More Love, are each certified gold. Stone moved to Columbia Records to record Faith in Me, Faith in You, which did not produce a Top Ten among its three singles. After suffering a heart attack and stroke in the late 1990s, he exited the label and did not release another album until Make Up in Love in 1999 on Atlantic Records. The Long Way was released in 2002 on the Audium label (now part of E1 Music), followed by two albums on the independent Lofton Creek Records.
Stone has charted twenty-six singles on Hot Country Songs, with his greatest chart success coming between 1990 and 1995. In this timespan, he had eight No. 1 singles on the Hot Country Songs charts including: "In a Different Light", "A Jukebox with a Country Song", "Too Busy Being in Love", and "Why Didn't I Think of That". He is known for his neotraditionalist country sound and his frequent recording of ballads.
Early life
Stone was born as Douglas Jackson Brooks on June 19, 1956, in Marietta, Georgia. His mother, who was also a country music singer, taught him how to play guitar when he was five. At age seven, his mother placed him onstage to open for Loretta Lynn. His mother and father later divorced, and he moved to live with his father. He found additional work singing as a teenager: first at local skating rinks, and then at local bars, and later as one member of a short-lived trio; in addition, he and his father worked as mechanics to make ends meet. He also built a recording studio in his house, while performing in local clubs. By 1982, Stone was suffering from depression brought on by his musical career, when a friend introduced him to Carie Cohen, who would later become his second wife. He played various local venues, and was discovered by a record label manager while singing at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall. The manager asked him for demos, which she then sent to Epic Records. He chose to record under the name Doug Stone, so as to avoid confusion with Garth Brooks. Record producer Doug Johnson played three tunes for Epic Records producer Bob Montgomery, who disliked the first two that he heard but enjoyed the third one. Through Montgomery's assistance, Stone signed with Epic in 1989, thus becoming the only artist that Montgomery ever signed without seeing perform live.
Musical career
1990–1991: Doug Stone
Stone's self-titled debut album was released in 1990 with Johnson as producer. Mac McAnally, Mark O'Connor, Paul Franklin, Brent Rowan, and Willie Weeks were among the session musicians on it. Contributing songwriters included David Lee Murphy, Larry Boone, Randy Boudreaux, A.L. "Doodle" Owens, and Keith Palmer, who would later chart two singles for Epic in 1991. Its first single, "I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)", spent twenty-five weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and peaked at No. 4. In addition, the single was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Song, and the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for U.S. shipments of one million copies. The album's next two singles were both Top Ten singles as well: "Fourteen Minutes Old" at No. 6 and "These Lips Don't Know How to Say Goodbye" at No. 5. Following these songs was "In a Different Light", co-written by Dickey Lee, which became Stone's first number 1 on Billboard. Stone received three music award nominations in 1991: the Horizon Award (now New Artist Award) from the Country Music Association, Star of Tomorrow from Music City News, and Top New Male Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music.
Brian Mansfield gave Doug Stone a four-and-a-half star rating out of five in his review for Allmusic. His review praised "I'd Be Better Off" in particular, calling the song a "towering expression of self-pity that most singers could spend a career trying to top," also saying that Stone "came close" to matching that song's quality in the album's ballads.
1991-1992: I Thought It Was You, From the Heart, and The First Christmas
I Thought It Was You, his second album, was released in August 1991. Also certified platinum, it produced three more chart singles: the No. 4 title track, followed by the number 1 "A Jukebox with a Country Song" and "Come In Out of the Pain" at No. 3. "A Jukebox with a Country Song" spent two weeks at number 1, thus becoming his only multi-week number 1 single. Stone co-wrote the track "The Feeling Never Goes Away" with Kim Williams and Phyllis Bennett, and then-labelmate Joe Diffie co-wrote "Burning Down the Town". Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly gave the album an "A", saying that it contained "sex-and-smolder ballads" comparable to Conway Twitty. Mansfield was less favorable, saying that Stone "seems to wallow in sorrow".
In early 1992, Stone began experiencing dizziness and pain in one of his arms. He also began feeling chest pains which he initially thought were heartburn. After feeling disoriented at a concert in Oregon, he canceled an appearance at the Academy of Country Music telecast. He then underwent quadruple bypass surgery at Centennial Medical Center to alleviate four severe arterial blockages near his heart which had initially gone undiscovered by doctors. Following the surgery, Stone changed his diet and began exercising, in addition to touring in support of his third album, From the Heart, released that August. The album's title was seen by many music writers, including Irwin Stambler and Grelun Landon of Country Music: The Encyclopedia, as ironic in the wake of Stone's heart surgery.
With a gold certification for shipments of 500,000 copies, From the Heart produced two more number 1 singles in "Too Busy Being in Love" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". The other two singles were "Warning Labels" and "Made for Lovin' You", at No. 4 and No. 6 respectively. The latter had previously been recorded by both Dan Seals and Clinton Gregory. Mansfield thought that From the Heart was more consistent than Stone's previous two albums, saying that his "voice is at its pain-wracked best" on "Warning Labels" and that "The heart references take on a special meaning given the open-heart surgery that preceded this album". Nash criticized the album as "sappy, lightweight tales of infatuation and starry-eyed courtship". One month after From the Heart, Stone released a Christmas album titled The First Christmas. Although this album produced no singles, "Sailing Home for Christmas" was made into a music video. Stone was nominated in both 1992 and 1993 for Star of Tomorrow by Music City News, and Top Male Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music, winning the former award in 1993. He toured in 1992 with Patty Loveless, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Hank Williams, Jr.
1993-1995: More Love and Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
His fourth album, More Love, was released in November 1993. Unlike his previous albums, Stone co-produced with James Stroud, except on the track "Dream High", which Stroud produced with Tom Bahler and Bruce Swedien. It also included different session musicians than his previous albums, such as guitarist Dann Huff and backing vocalist Curtis Wright. Its lead-off single was "I Never Knew Love", which spent two weeks at No. 2 on the country singles charts and accounted for his only entry on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 81. The album's next two singles were the No. 4 "Addicted to a Dollar" and the title track, which Stone wrote with Gary Burr, at No. 6. Tom Roland of New Country magazine criticized the album for "continu[ing] to mine the drippy side of Stone" through "manipulative" ballads, but cited "Addicted to a Dollar" and "Love, You Took Me by Surprise" as being "tougher" than Stone's previous works.
Starting in June 1994, Stone discovered that he was having breathing problems which were affecting his singing. He consulted throat doctors at Vanderbilt University's medical center, who failed to find any problems in his throat, while a second consultation revealed a lump in his left nostril. Upon its discovery, Stone feared that it might be cancer, and that it would put an end to his career. As a result, Stone quit smoking, although the lump was later discovered not to be cancerous and was successfully removed. While Stone was undergoing treatment, his Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 compilation was released in late 1994. Also receiving a gold certification, the album comprised nine of his previous hits and the new song "Little Houses", which debuted on the charts in October 1994 and peaked at No. 7 in early 1995. After its release, Stone made his acting debut in the 1995 film Gordy, in which he starred as Luke McAllister, a struggling musician. The movie's soundtrack featured four songs from More Love: "More Love", "That's a Lie", "Wishbone", and "Dream High", as well as two other songs that Stone performed: "The Heart I Broke" and "I Could Always Count on You".
1995-1999: Faith in Me, Faith in You and Make Up in Love
Also in 1995, parent company Sony Music Entertainment chose to move Stone from the Nashville division of Epic Records to that of Columbia Records. This decision was made to give Stone a new promotional team. His only Columbia album, Faith in Me, Faith in You, was released in March of that year, with Stroud again serving as co-producer. This album's three singles were comparatively less successful than his previous singles, with none reaching Top 10: the title track peaked at No. 13, followed by "Sometimes I Forget" at No. 41 (his first single to miss the Top 40) and "Born in the Dark" at No. 12. Stone suffered a nearly-fatal heart attack in December 1995 and a mild stroke in 1996, reducing his ability to record and tour. Stone would later remark that he was "lucky" to have survived his health issues in this timespan. One of his few performances in this timespan was at a show in Dollywood, a theme park owned by Dolly Parton, in mid-1996. His last charting single for Columbia was "Gone Out of My Mind", which he recorded for the multi-artist compilation album A Tribute to Tradition in 1998.
Stone signed with Atlantic Records and released Make Up in Love in 1999 under the production of Wally Wilson. A more pop-oriented album than his previous ones, the album produced a minor Top 20 hit in its title track. Its next singles were a cover of R.B. Greaves's 1969 single "Take a Letter Maria", which Stone took to number 45, and "Surprise", which spent only one week on the country charts, at number 64. Also included on the album were a duet with Leslie Satcher titled "The Heart Holds On", and the Bobby Braddock-penned "The Difference Between a Woman and a Man", which was later recorded by Josh Turner on his 2003 debut album Long Black Train. Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album a mixed review, saying that "Since Stone's voice is pleasant, the music is often pleasant, but it's hardly memorable." Andy Turner of Country Standard Time was more favorable, saying that it "does not come off 'too country for country' yet is still engaging largely because of Stone's voice — soft with built-in teardrops." Also in 1999, Stone and Skip Ewing co-wrote "In the Name of Love" on the only album released by female country duo Redmon & Vale.
2000-present: The Long Way, In a Different Light, and My Turn
In December 1999, Stone was aboard an airplane which skidded off a snowy runway at O'Hare Airport in Chicago; there were no injuries. Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000. In March 2000, he suffered a broken left ankle, cracked rib, concussion, and bruised kidney after crashing his plane in Robertson County, Tennessee, and was briefly hospitalized before he resumed touring. Stone later said that the accident made him decide to quit flying planes. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, rumors circulated that Stone had been on one of the hijacked planes; a spokeswoman for the singer confirmed that he was at home with his family that day.
Stone signed to Audium Entertainment in 2002 and recorded The Long Way. This album included seven new songs and acoustic re-recordings of "More Love", "Born in the Dark", and "I'd Be Better Off". One of the original songs on it was "POW 369", which was later recorded by Darryl Worley. Stewart Mason thought that it was "not nearly as suffocatingly slick" as Stone's previous albums, but questioned its commercial success. His next album did not come out until 2005, when he signed to the independent label Lofton Creek Records, recording the album In a Different Light. The album included a cover of "Georgia on My Mind", which was the first single, and re-recordings of "In a Different Light" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". A second album for Lofton Creek, My Turn, followed in 2007. It was led off by the single "Nice Problem". William Ruhlmann praised this album for having "a timeless country feel", also saying that "Stone sings with as much fervor and sincerity as ever." Ken Tucker of Billboard wrote that "He sounds as good as ever and his music is still relevant".
In 2013, Stone toured with Bryan White and Shenandoah as part of the "Reliving the 90s Tour". He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde.
Personal life
Stone married his second wife, Carie Cohen, in 1982. The couple separated in July 1994, and Cohen filed for divorce two months later, accusing Stone of excessive drinking and infidelity. He married Beth Snyder in December 1996 after being engaged to her for a year. As of 2005, he had one daughter, Baili, with Beth, and four children from his previous marriages: daughter Michelle and son Daniel from his first marriage, son Chanse and daughter Kala from his marriage to Cohen, Stone split from Snyder in late 2006 and returned to his Georgia home.
On March 29, 2015, Stone married fiddler Jade Jack in Greenville Texas. Doug and Jade have a daughter, Bristol Gail Brooks, born April 14, 2016.
Musical styles
Stone is known primarily for his neotraditionalist country sound, his baritone singing voice, and emphasis on ballads. In Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary, Richard Carlin describes him as "a solid country crooner whose style is reminiscent of Merle Haggard." Steve Huey of Allmusic wrote that Stone "made his name as a lonesome baritone balladeer, though he's also adept at hard uptempo country." Zell Miller, author of They Heard Georgia Singing, wrote that Stone has "established himself as a mellow country crooner who is known as 'Mr. Sensitive'" and "the Dean Martin of country music because of his unique flair for communicating the fragility of a broken heart with his delicate baritone voice and laid-back style."
Kurt Wolff of Country Music: The Rough Guide described Stone's musical style less favorably. He wrote that Stone seemed "schizophrenic. Half his reputation was established with self-deprecating downers like 'I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)', but then he'd just as easily turn around with a schmaltzy love song like 'Too Busy Being in Love'." He compared "I'd Be Better Off" and "Warning Labels" favorably to Haggard as well, and thought that the change of producers on More Love gave him a "much beefier sound".
Discography
Albums
Doug Stone (1990)
I Thought It Was You (1991)
From the Heart (1992)
The First Christmas (1992)
More Love (1993)
Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (1994)
Faith in Me, Faith in You (1995)
Make Up in Love (1999)
The Long Way (2002)
In a Different Light (2005)
My Turn (2007)
Filmography
Film
References
External links
Doug Stone official website
1956 births
Living people
American male singer-songwriters
American country singer-songwriters
Atlantic Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Epic Records artists
Lofton Creek Records artists
Musicians from Marietta, Georgia
Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state)
Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)
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[
"\"Going Down to the River\" is a song written, composed and performed by American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist Doug Seegers.\n\nHistory\nSeegers, a struggling street artist in Nashville, Tennessee lived as a homeless musician.\n\nOn 17 December 2012, Aaron Espe an American singer-songwriter and record producer based in Nashville uploaded a live 1 minute 11 second rendition of Seegers singing \"Going Down to the River\" to his own YouTube account. Espe entitled his upload \"Who Is Doug Seegers?\". The video did not pick up much reaction though.\n\nDoug Seegers became known to the Swedish public with the song when he appeared during the Swedish TV show presented by Jill Johnson titled Jills veranda on 5 March 2014. Jills veranda was a 6-episode SVT TV series recorded in Nashville, where Johnson and six Swedish artists explore the city. At the time the program was recording, its presenters Jill Johnson and Magnus Carlson and the production team from Eyeworks met Seegers who was sitting on a park bench in Nashville. Just minutes earlier, Johnson, was buying food from a street vendor, and the latter upon hearing she was filming a documentary about music in Nashville, recommended that they give a listen to a street musician just across the street telling her \"You have to hear him, he has the most unique voice in country music\". Johnson took the advice and headed towards Seegers. Doug Seegers performed his own song \"Going Down to the River\".\n\nJohnson and Carlson loved his performance of the song so much that they returned some time later and offered to record the song with him. Doug Seegers gained instant popularity after the episode was broadcast with Seegers' live performance. His Facebook account was inundated by new Swedish fans and the song \"Going Down to the River\" was number 1 on Swedish iTunes Charts for 12 consecutive days.\n\nA studio-recorded version in Johnny Cash's old studio in Nashville first appeared on the album Livemusiken från Jills veranda Nashville with two versions, one with vocals of Doug Seegers alone, and another a vocal collaboration with Seegers, Jill Johnson and Magnus Carlson singing various verses. The album included another track from Seegers titled \"Gotta Catch That Train\" as a bonus track. The album reached number one on Sverigetopplistan, the official Swedish Albums Chart and was certified gold.\n\nDoug Seegers was soon offered a recording contract with Lionheart Music Group resulting in the release of his debut album that included the song in a new recording with only his vocals. The album appropriately also titled Going Down to the River on Lionheart Music Group, was released on 28 May 2014 reaching number one in the Sverigetopplistan chart on 5 June 2014, its first week of release and again on the August 14, 2014 chart. It was certified gold.\n\nCollaborations\nThe album had collaborations from Emmylou Harris in a cover of Gram Parsons' hit \"She\" and Buddy Miller a friend of Seegers' from his Austin days in \"There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight\". The album was produced by Will Kimbrough. Seeger's album also Seegers was engaged on a 60-gig tour in Sweden and appeared at Sverige sommaren 2014, a major music festival in Sweden.\n\nReferences\n\nDoug Seegers songs\n2012 songs\nJill Johnson songs",
"Going Down to the River is a debut album by American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist Doug Seegers.\n\nSeegers, a struggling street artist in Nashville, Tennessee, basically lived as a homeless musician, when he became known to the Swedish public. He sang the album's title song when appearing on a Swedish TV show hosted by Jill Johnson and called Jills veranda March 5, 2014. Jills veranda was a 6-episode SVT TV series recorded in Nashville, where Johnson and six altering Swedish artists were exploring the city. Johnson and one of her guest musicians Magnus Carlson loved Doug Seegers singing performance so much that they returned some time later and offered to record the song with him.\n\nDoug Seegers was soon offered a recording contract with Lionheart Music Group resulting in the release of his debut album that included the song in a new recording with only his vocals. The album appropriately also titled Going Down to the River on Lionheart Music Group, was released on 28 May 2014 reaching number one in the Sverigetopplistan chart on 5 June 2014, its first week of release. It was certified gold.\n\nThe album had collaborations from Emmylou Harris in a cover of Gram Parsons' hit \"She\" and Buddy Miller a friend of Seegers' from his Austin days. The album was produced by Will Kimbrough. Seeger's album also Seegers was engaged on a 60-gig tour in Sweden and appeared at Sverige sommaren 2014, a major music festival in Sweden.\n\nCommercial performance\nIn the US, the album was released on October 7, 2014, and debuted at No. 25 on the Top Country Albums chart with 1,900 copies sold for the week.\n\nThe album was released in Sweden in May 2014, and reached No. 1 on Sverigetopplistan album chart. It returned to the top of Sverigetopplistan for an additional week on the chart dated 14 August 2014 and a third time on 2 October 2014.\n\nTrack listing\n\"Angie's Song\" (3:29)\n\"Going Down to the River\" (4:14)\n\"She\" (feat. Emmylou Harris) (4:36)\n\"Lonely Drifter's Cry\" (3:37)\n\"Hard Working Man\" (3:28)\n\"Pour Me\" (3:42)\n\"There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight\" (feat. Buddy Miller) (2:34)\n\"Memory Lane\" (3:15)\n\"Gotta Catch That Train\" (2:36)\n\"Burning a Hole in My Pocket\" (4:00)\n\"She's in a Rock 'n' Roll Band\" (3:29)\n\"Baby Lost Her Way Home Again\" (2:38)\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nReferences\n\n2014 debut albums\nDoug Seegers albums\nLionheart Music Group albums"
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[
"Doug Stone",
"2000-present: The Long Way, In a Different Light, and My Turn",
"What was going on with Doug in 2000?",
"Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000."
] |
C_3c5505f3fe1d4d51ba3368ec0d397aab_0
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Did he have any other hobbies?
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Did Doug Stone have any other hobbies besides piloting ultra light planes?
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Doug Stone
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In December 1999, Stone was aboard an airplane which skidded off a snowy runway at O'Hare Airport in Chicago; there were no injuries. Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000. In March 2000, he suffered a broken left ankle, cracked rib, concussion, and bruised kidney after crashing his plane in Robertson County, Tennessee, and was briefly hospitalized before he resumed touring. Stone later said that the accident made him decide to quit flying planes. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, rumors circulated that Stone had been on one of the hijacked planes; a spokeswoman for the singer confirmed that he was at home with his family that day. Stone signed to Audium Entertainment in 2002 and recorded The Long Way. This album included seven new songs and acoustic re-recordings of "More Love", "Born in the Dark", and "I'd Be Better Off". One of the original songs on it was "POW 369", which was later recorded by Darryl Worley. Stewart Mason thought that it was "not nearly as suffocatingly slick" as Stone's previous albums, but questioned its commercial success. His next album did not come out until 2005, when he signed to the independent label Lofton Creek Records, recording the album In a Different Light. The album included a cover of "Georgia on My Mind", which was the first single, and re-recordings of "In a Different Light" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". A second album for Lofton Creek, My Turn, followed in 2007. It was led off by the single "Nice Problem". William Ruhlmann praised this album for having "a timeless country feel", also saying that "Stone sings with as much fervor and sincerity as ever." Ken Tucker of Billboard wrote that "He sounds as good as ever and his music is still relevant". In 2013, Stone toured with Bryan White and Shenandoah as part of the "Reliving the 90s Tour". He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde. CANNOTANSWER
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He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde.
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Doug Stone (born Douglas Jackson Brooks; June 19, 1956) is an American country music singer and actor. He debuted in 1990 with the single "I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)", the first release from his 1990 self-titled debut album for Epic Records. Both this album and its successor, 1991's I Thought It Was You, earned a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. Two more albums for Epic, 1992's From the Heart and 1994's More Love, are each certified gold. Stone moved to Columbia Records to record Faith in Me, Faith in You, which did not produce a Top Ten among its three singles. After suffering a heart attack and stroke in the late 1990s, he exited the label and did not release another album until Make Up in Love in 1999 on Atlantic Records. The Long Way was released in 2002 on the Audium label (now part of E1 Music), followed by two albums on the independent Lofton Creek Records.
Stone has charted twenty-six singles on Hot Country Songs, with his greatest chart success coming between 1990 and 1995. In this timespan, he had eight No. 1 singles on the Hot Country Songs charts including: "In a Different Light", "A Jukebox with a Country Song", "Too Busy Being in Love", and "Why Didn't I Think of That". He is known for his neotraditionalist country sound and his frequent recording of ballads.
Early life
Stone was born as Douglas Jackson Brooks on June 19, 1956, in Marietta, Georgia. His mother, who was also a country music singer, taught him how to play guitar when he was five. At age seven, his mother placed him onstage to open for Loretta Lynn. His mother and father later divorced, and he moved to live with his father. He found additional work singing as a teenager: first at local skating rinks, and then at local bars, and later as one member of a short-lived trio; in addition, he and his father worked as mechanics to make ends meet. He also built a recording studio in his house, while performing in local clubs. By 1982, Stone was suffering from depression brought on by his musical career, when a friend introduced him to Carie Cohen, who would later become his second wife. He played various local venues, and was discovered by a record label manager while singing at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall. The manager asked him for demos, which she then sent to Epic Records. He chose to record under the name Doug Stone, so as to avoid confusion with Garth Brooks. Record producer Doug Johnson played three tunes for Epic Records producer Bob Montgomery, who disliked the first two that he heard but enjoyed the third one. Through Montgomery's assistance, Stone signed with Epic in 1989, thus becoming the only artist that Montgomery ever signed without seeing perform live.
Musical career
1990–1991: Doug Stone
Stone's self-titled debut album was released in 1990 with Johnson as producer. Mac McAnally, Mark O'Connor, Paul Franklin, Brent Rowan, and Willie Weeks were among the session musicians on it. Contributing songwriters included David Lee Murphy, Larry Boone, Randy Boudreaux, A.L. "Doodle" Owens, and Keith Palmer, who would later chart two singles for Epic in 1991. Its first single, "I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)", spent twenty-five weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and peaked at No. 4. In addition, the single was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Song, and the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for U.S. shipments of one million copies. The album's next two singles were both Top Ten singles as well: "Fourteen Minutes Old" at No. 6 and "These Lips Don't Know How to Say Goodbye" at No. 5. Following these songs was "In a Different Light", co-written by Dickey Lee, which became Stone's first number 1 on Billboard. Stone received three music award nominations in 1991: the Horizon Award (now New Artist Award) from the Country Music Association, Star of Tomorrow from Music City News, and Top New Male Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music.
Brian Mansfield gave Doug Stone a four-and-a-half star rating out of five in his review for Allmusic. His review praised "I'd Be Better Off" in particular, calling the song a "towering expression of self-pity that most singers could spend a career trying to top," also saying that Stone "came close" to matching that song's quality in the album's ballads.
1991-1992: I Thought It Was You, From the Heart, and The First Christmas
I Thought It Was You, his second album, was released in August 1991. Also certified platinum, it produced three more chart singles: the No. 4 title track, followed by the number 1 "A Jukebox with a Country Song" and "Come In Out of the Pain" at No. 3. "A Jukebox with a Country Song" spent two weeks at number 1, thus becoming his only multi-week number 1 single. Stone co-wrote the track "The Feeling Never Goes Away" with Kim Williams and Phyllis Bennett, and then-labelmate Joe Diffie co-wrote "Burning Down the Town". Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly gave the album an "A", saying that it contained "sex-and-smolder ballads" comparable to Conway Twitty. Mansfield was less favorable, saying that Stone "seems to wallow in sorrow".
In early 1992, Stone began experiencing dizziness and pain in one of his arms. He also began feeling chest pains which he initially thought were heartburn. After feeling disoriented at a concert in Oregon, he canceled an appearance at the Academy of Country Music telecast. He then underwent quadruple bypass surgery at Centennial Medical Center to alleviate four severe arterial blockages near his heart which had initially gone undiscovered by doctors. Following the surgery, Stone changed his diet and began exercising, in addition to touring in support of his third album, From the Heart, released that August. The album's title was seen by many music writers, including Irwin Stambler and Grelun Landon of Country Music: The Encyclopedia, as ironic in the wake of Stone's heart surgery.
With a gold certification for shipments of 500,000 copies, From the Heart produced two more number 1 singles in "Too Busy Being in Love" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". The other two singles were "Warning Labels" and "Made for Lovin' You", at No. 4 and No. 6 respectively. The latter had previously been recorded by both Dan Seals and Clinton Gregory. Mansfield thought that From the Heart was more consistent than Stone's previous two albums, saying that his "voice is at its pain-wracked best" on "Warning Labels" and that "The heart references take on a special meaning given the open-heart surgery that preceded this album". Nash criticized the album as "sappy, lightweight tales of infatuation and starry-eyed courtship". One month after From the Heart, Stone released a Christmas album titled The First Christmas. Although this album produced no singles, "Sailing Home for Christmas" was made into a music video. Stone was nominated in both 1992 and 1993 for Star of Tomorrow by Music City News, and Top Male Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music, winning the former award in 1993. He toured in 1992 with Patty Loveless, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Hank Williams, Jr.
1993-1995: More Love and Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
His fourth album, More Love, was released in November 1993. Unlike his previous albums, Stone co-produced with James Stroud, except on the track "Dream High", which Stroud produced with Tom Bahler and Bruce Swedien. It also included different session musicians than his previous albums, such as guitarist Dann Huff and backing vocalist Curtis Wright. Its lead-off single was "I Never Knew Love", which spent two weeks at No. 2 on the country singles charts and accounted for his only entry on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 81. The album's next two singles were the No. 4 "Addicted to a Dollar" and the title track, which Stone wrote with Gary Burr, at No. 6. Tom Roland of New Country magazine criticized the album for "continu[ing] to mine the drippy side of Stone" through "manipulative" ballads, but cited "Addicted to a Dollar" and "Love, You Took Me by Surprise" as being "tougher" than Stone's previous works.
Starting in June 1994, Stone discovered that he was having breathing problems which were affecting his singing. He consulted throat doctors at Vanderbilt University's medical center, who failed to find any problems in his throat, while a second consultation revealed a lump in his left nostril. Upon its discovery, Stone feared that it might be cancer, and that it would put an end to his career. As a result, Stone quit smoking, although the lump was later discovered not to be cancerous and was successfully removed. While Stone was undergoing treatment, his Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 compilation was released in late 1994. Also receiving a gold certification, the album comprised nine of his previous hits and the new song "Little Houses", which debuted on the charts in October 1994 and peaked at No. 7 in early 1995. After its release, Stone made his acting debut in the 1995 film Gordy, in which he starred as Luke McAllister, a struggling musician. The movie's soundtrack featured four songs from More Love: "More Love", "That's a Lie", "Wishbone", and "Dream High", as well as two other songs that Stone performed: "The Heart I Broke" and "I Could Always Count on You".
1995-1999: Faith in Me, Faith in You and Make Up in Love
Also in 1995, parent company Sony Music Entertainment chose to move Stone from the Nashville division of Epic Records to that of Columbia Records. This decision was made to give Stone a new promotional team. His only Columbia album, Faith in Me, Faith in You, was released in March of that year, with Stroud again serving as co-producer. This album's three singles were comparatively less successful than his previous singles, with none reaching Top 10: the title track peaked at No. 13, followed by "Sometimes I Forget" at No. 41 (his first single to miss the Top 40) and "Born in the Dark" at No. 12. Stone suffered a nearly-fatal heart attack in December 1995 and a mild stroke in 1996, reducing his ability to record and tour. Stone would later remark that he was "lucky" to have survived his health issues in this timespan. One of his few performances in this timespan was at a show in Dollywood, a theme park owned by Dolly Parton, in mid-1996. His last charting single for Columbia was "Gone Out of My Mind", which he recorded for the multi-artist compilation album A Tribute to Tradition in 1998.
Stone signed with Atlantic Records and released Make Up in Love in 1999 under the production of Wally Wilson. A more pop-oriented album than his previous ones, the album produced a minor Top 20 hit in its title track. Its next singles were a cover of R.B. Greaves's 1969 single "Take a Letter Maria", which Stone took to number 45, and "Surprise", which spent only one week on the country charts, at number 64. Also included on the album were a duet with Leslie Satcher titled "The Heart Holds On", and the Bobby Braddock-penned "The Difference Between a Woman and a Man", which was later recorded by Josh Turner on his 2003 debut album Long Black Train. Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album a mixed review, saying that "Since Stone's voice is pleasant, the music is often pleasant, but it's hardly memorable." Andy Turner of Country Standard Time was more favorable, saying that it "does not come off 'too country for country' yet is still engaging largely because of Stone's voice — soft with built-in teardrops." Also in 1999, Stone and Skip Ewing co-wrote "In the Name of Love" on the only album released by female country duo Redmon & Vale.
2000-present: The Long Way, In a Different Light, and My Turn
In December 1999, Stone was aboard an airplane which skidded off a snowy runway at O'Hare Airport in Chicago; there were no injuries. Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000. In March 2000, he suffered a broken left ankle, cracked rib, concussion, and bruised kidney after crashing his plane in Robertson County, Tennessee, and was briefly hospitalized before he resumed touring. Stone later said that the accident made him decide to quit flying planes. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, rumors circulated that Stone had been on one of the hijacked planes; a spokeswoman for the singer confirmed that he was at home with his family that day.
Stone signed to Audium Entertainment in 2002 and recorded The Long Way. This album included seven new songs and acoustic re-recordings of "More Love", "Born in the Dark", and "I'd Be Better Off". One of the original songs on it was "POW 369", which was later recorded by Darryl Worley. Stewart Mason thought that it was "not nearly as suffocatingly slick" as Stone's previous albums, but questioned its commercial success. His next album did not come out until 2005, when he signed to the independent label Lofton Creek Records, recording the album In a Different Light. The album included a cover of "Georgia on My Mind", which was the first single, and re-recordings of "In a Different Light" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". A second album for Lofton Creek, My Turn, followed in 2007. It was led off by the single "Nice Problem". William Ruhlmann praised this album for having "a timeless country feel", also saying that "Stone sings with as much fervor and sincerity as ever." Ken Tucker of Billboard wrote that "He sounds as good as ever and his music is still relevant".
In 2013, Stone toured with Bryan White and Shenandoah as part of the "Reliving the 90s Tour". He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde.
Personal life
Stone married his second wife, Carie Cohen, in 1982. The couple separated in July 1994, and Cohen filed for divorce two months later, accusing Stone of excessive drinking and infidelity. He married Beth Snyder in December 1996 after being engaged to her for a year. As of 2005, he had one daughter, Baili, with Beth, and four children from his previous marriages: daughter Michelle and son Daniel from his first marriage, son Chanse and daughter Kala from his marriage to Cohen, Stone split from Snyder in late 2006 and returned to his Georgia home.
On March 29, 2015, Stone married fiddler Jade Jack in Greenville Texas. Doug and Jade have a daughter, Bristol Gail Brooks, born April 14, 2016.
Musical styles
Stone is known primarily for his neotraditionalist country sound, his baritone singing voice, and emphasis on ballads. In Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary, Richard Carlin describes him as "a solid country crooner whose style is reminiscent of Merle Haggard." Steve Huey of Allmusic wrote that Stone "made his name as a lonesome baritone balladeer, though he's also adept at hard uptempo country." Zell Miller, author of They Heard Georgia Singing, wrote that Stone has "established himself as a mellow country crooner who is known as 'Mr. Sensitive'" and "the Dean Martin of country music because of his unique flair for communicating the fragility of a broken heart with his delicate baritone voice and laid-back style."
Kurt Wolff of Country Music: The Rough Guide described Stone's musical style less favorably. He wrote that Stone seemed "schizophrenic. Half his reputation was established with self-deprecating downers like 'I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)', but then he'd just as easily turn around with a schmaltzy love song like 'Too Busy Being in Love'." He compared "I'd Be Better Off" and "Warning Labels" favorably to Haggard as well, and thought that the change of producers on More Love gave him a "much beefier sound".
Discography
Albums
Doug Stone (1990)
I Thought It Was You (1991)
From the Heart (1992)
The First Christmas (1992)
More Love (1993)
Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (1994)
Faith in Me, Faith in You (1995)
Make Up in Love (1999)
The Long Way (2002)
In a Different Light (2005)
My Turn (2007)
Filmography
Film
References
External links
Doug Stone official website
1956 births
Living people
American male singer-songwriters
American country singer-songwriters
Atlantic Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Epic Records artists
Lofton Creek Records artists
Musicians from Marietta, Georgia
Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state)
Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)
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[
"A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing other amusements. Participation in hobbies encourages acquiring substantial skills and knowledge in that area. A list of hobbies changes with renewed interests and developing fashions, making it diverse and lengthy. Hobbies tend to follow trends in society, for example stamp collecting was popular during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as postal systems were the main means of communication, while video games are more popular nowadays following technological advances. The advancing production and technology of the nineteenth century provided workers with more leisure time to engage in hobbies. Because of this, the efforts of people investing in hobbies has increased with time. \n\nHobbyists may be identified under three sub-categories: casual leisure which is intrinsically rewarding, short-lived, pleasurable activity requiring little or no preparation, serious leisure which is the systematic pursuit of an amateur, hobbyist, or volunteer that is substantial, rewarding and results in a sense of accomplishment, and finally project-based leisure which is a short-term, often one-off, project that is rewarding.\n\nEtymology \n\nIn the 16th century, the term \"hobyn\" had the meaning of \"small horse and pony\". The term \"hobby horse\" was documented in a 1557 payment confirmation for a \"Hobbyhorse\" from Reading, England. The item, originally called a \"Tourney Horse\", was made of a wooden or basketwork frame with an artificial tail and head. It was designed for a child to mimic riding a real horse. By 1816 the derivative, \"hobby\", was introduced into the vocabulary of a number of English people. Over the course of subsequent centuries, the term came to be associated with recreation and leisure. In the 17th century, the term was used in a pejorative sense by suggesting that a hobby was a childish pursuit, however, in the 18th century with more industrial society and more leisure time, hobbies took on greater respectability. A hobby is also called a pastime, derived from the use of hobbies to pass the time. A hobby became an activity that is practised regularly and usually with some worthwhile purpose. Hobbies are usually, but not always, practised primarily for interest and enjoyment, rather than financial reward.\n\nHistory \nHobbies were originally described as pursuits that others thought somewhat childish or trivial. However, as early as 1676 Sir Matthew Hale, in Contemplations Moral and Divine, wrote \"Almost every person hath some hobby horse or other wherein he prides himself.\" He was acknowledging that a \"hobby horse\" produces a legitimate sense of pride. By the mid 18th century there was a flourishing of hobbies as working people had more regular hours of work and greater leisure time. They spent more time to pursue interests that brought them satisfaction. However, there was concern that these working people might not use their leisure time in worthwhile pursuits. \"The hope of weaning people away from bad habits by the provision of counter-attractions came to the fore in the 1830s, and has rarely waned since. Initially, the bad habits were perceived to be of a sensual and physical nature, and the counter attractions, or perhaps more accurately alternatives, deliberately cultivated rationality and the intellect.\" The flourishing book and magazine trade of the day encouraged worthwhile hobbies and pursuits. The burgeoning manufacturing trade made materials used in hobbies cheap and was responsive to the changing interests of hobbyists.\n\nThe English have been identified as enthusiastic hobbyists, as George Orwell observed. \"[A]nother English characteristic which is so much a part of us that we barely notice it … is the addiction to hobbies and spare-time occupations, the privateness of English life. We are a nation of flower-lovers, but also a nation of stamp-collectors, pigeon-fanciers, amateur carpenters, coupon-snippers, darts-players, crossword-puzzle fans. All the culture that is most truly native centres round things which even when they are communal are not official—the pub, the football match, the back garden, the fireside and the 'nice cup of tea'.\"\n\nDeciding what to include in a list of hobbies provokes debate because it is difficult to decide which pleasurable pass-times can also be described as hobbies. During the 20th century the term hobby suggested activities, such as stamp collecting, embroidery, knitting, painting, woodwork, and photography. Typically the description did not include activities like listening to music, watching television, or reading. These latter activities bring pleasure, but lack the sense of achievement usually associated with a hobby. They are usually not structured, organised pursuits, as most hobbies are. The pleasure of a hobby is usually associated with making something of value or achieving something of value. \"Such leisure is socially valorised precisely because it produces feelings of satisfaction with something that looks very much like work but that is done of its own sake.\" \"Hobbies are a contradiction: they take work and turn it into leisure, and take leisure and turn it into work.\"\n\nHobbies change with time. In the 21st century, the video game industry is a very large hobby involving millions of kids and adults in various forms of 'play'. Stamp collecting declined along with the importance of the postal system. Woodwork and knitting declined as hobbies, because manufactured goods provide cheap alternatives for handmade goods. Through the internet, an online community has become a hobby for many people; sharing advice, information and support, and in some cases, allowing a traditional hobby, such as collecting, to flourish and support trading in a new environment.\n\nHobbyists \nHobbyists are a part of a wider group of people engaged in leisure pursuits where the boundaries of each group overlap to some extent. The Serious Leisure Perspective groups hobbyists with amateurs and volunteers and identifies three broad groups of leisure activity with hobbies being found mainly in the Serious leisure category. Casual leisure is intrinsically rewarding, short-lived, pleasurable activity requiring little or no preparation. Serious leisure is the systematic pursuit of an amateur, hobbyist, or volunteer that is substantial, rewarding and results in a sense of accomplishment. Finally, project-based leisure is a short-term often a one-off project that is rewarding.\n\nThe terms amateur and hobbyist are often used interchangeably. Stebbins has a framework which distinguishes the terms in a useful categorisation of leisure in which casual leisure is separated from serious Leisure. He describes serious leisure as undertaken by amateurs, hobbyists and volunteers. Amateurs engage in pursuits that have a professional counterpart, such as playing an instrument or astronomy. Hobbyists engage in five broad types of activity: collecting, making and tinkering (like embroidery and car restoration), activity participation (like fishing and singing), sports and games, and liberal-arts hobbies (like languages, cuisine, literature). Volunteers commit to organisations where they work as guides, counsellors, gardeners and so on. The separation of the amateur from the hobbyist is because the amateur has the ethos of the professional practitioner as a guide to practice. An amateur clarinetist is conscious of the role and procedures of a professional clarinetist.\n\nA large proportion of hobbies are mainly solitary in nature. However, individual pursuit of a hobby often includes club memberships, organised sharing of products and regular communication between participants. For many hobbies there is an important role in being in touch with fellow hobbyists. Some hobbies are of communal nature, like choral singing and volunteering.\n\nPeople who engage in hobbies have an interest in and time to pursue them. Children have been an important group of hobbyists because they are enthusiastic for collecting, making and exploring, in addition to this they have the leisure time that allows them to pursue those hobbies. The growth in hobbies occurred during industrialisation which gave workers set time for leisure. During the Depression there was an increase in the participation in hobbies because the unemployed had the time and a desire to be purposefully occupied. Hobbies are often pursued with an increased interest by retired people because they have the time and seek the intellectual and physical stimulation a hobby provides.\n\nTypes of hobbies\n Hobbies are a diverse set of activities and it is difficult to categorize them in a logical manner. The following categorization of hobbies was developed by Stebbins.\n\nCollecting \n\nCollecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying and storing. Collecting is appealing to many people due to their interest in a particular subject and a desire to categorise and make order out of complexity. Some collectors are generalists, accumulating items from countries of the world. Others focus on a subtopic within their area of interest, perhaps 19th century postage stamps, milk bottle labels from Sussex, or Mongolian harnesses and tack, Firearms (both modern and vintage).\n\nCollecting is an ancient hobby, with the list of coin collectors showing Caesar Augustus as one. Sometimes collectors have turned their hobby into a business, becoming commercial dealers that trade in the items being collected.\n\nAn alternative to collecting physical objects is collecting records of events of a particular kind. Examples include train spotting, bird-watching, aircraft spotting, railfans, and any other form of systematic recording a particular phenomenon. The recording form can be written, photographic, online, etc.\n\nMaking and tinkering \n\nMaking and tinkering includes working on self-motivated projects for fulfillment. These projects may be progressive, irregular tasks performed over a long period of time. Making and Tinkering hobbies include higher-end projects, such as building or restoring a car or building a computer from individual parts, like CPUs and SSDs. For computer savvy do-it-yourself hobbyists, CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machining may also popular. A CNC machine can be assembled and programmed to make different parts from wood or metal. \n\nTinkering is 'dabbling' with the making process, often applied to the hobby of tinkering with car repairs, and various kinds of restoration: of furniture, antique cars, etc. It also applies to household tinkering: repairing a wall, laying a pathway, etc. Examples of Making and Tinkering hobbies include Scale modeling, model engineering, 3D printing, dressmaking, and cooking. \n\nScale modeling is making a replica of a real-life object in a smaller scale and dates back to prehistoric times with small clay \"dolls\" and other children's toys that have been found near known populated areas. Some of the earliest scale models of residences were found in Cucuteni–Trypillia culture in Eastern Europe. These artifacts were dated to be around 3000-6000 BC. Similar models dating back to the same period were found in ancient Egypt, India, China and Mesopotamia archaeological sites.\n\nAt the turn of the Industrial Age and through the 1920s, some families could afford things such as electric trains, wind-up toys (typically boats or cars) and the increasingly valuable tin toy soldiers. Scale modeling as we know it today became popular shortly after World War II. Before 1946, children as well as adults were content in carving and shaping wooden replicas from block wood kits, often depicting enemy aircraft to help with identification in case of an invasion. \n\nWith the advent of modern plastics, the amount of skill required to get the basic shape accurately shown for any given subject was lessened, making it easier for people of all ages to begin assembling replicas in varying scales. Superheroes, aeroplanes, boats, cars, tanks, artillery, and even figures of soldiers became quite popular subjects to build, paint and display. Although almost any subject can be found in almost any scale, there are common scales for such miniatures which remain constant today.\n\nModel engineering refers to building functioning machinery in metal, such as internal combustion motors and live steam models or locomotives. This is a demanding hobby that requires a multitude of large and expensive tools, such as lathes and mills. This hobby originated in the United Kingdom in the late 19th century, later spreading and flourishing in the mid-20th century. Due to the expense and space required, it is becoming rare.\n\n3D Printing is a relatively new technology and already a major hobby as the cost of printers has fallen sharply. It is a good example of how hobbyists quickly engage with new technologies, communicate with one another and become producers related to their former hobby. 3D modeling is the process of making mathematical representations of three dimensional items and is an aspect of 3D printing.\n\nDressmaking has been a major hobby up until the late 20th century, in order to make cheap clothes, but also as a creative design and craft challenge. It has been reduced by the low cost of manufactured clothes.\n\nCooking is for some people an interest, a hobby, a challenge and a source of significant satisfaction. For many other people it is a job, a chore, a duty, like cleaning. In the early 21st century the importance of cooking as a hobby was demonstrated by the high popularity of competitive television cooking programs.\n\nActivity participation \n\nActivity participation includes partaking in \"non-competitive, rule-based pursuits.\"\n\nOutdoor pursuits are the group of activities which occur outdoors. These hobbies include gardening, hill walking, hiking, backpacking, cycling, canoeing, climbing, caving, fishing, hunting, target shooting (informal or formal), wildlife viewing (as birdwatching) and engaging in watersports and snowsports.\n\nOne large subset of outdoor pursuits is gardening. Residential gardening most often takes place in or about one's own residence, in a space referred to as the garden. Although a garden typically is located on the land near a residence, it may also be located on a roof, in an atrium, on a balcony, in a windowbox, or on a patio or vivarium.\n\nGardening also takes place in non-residential green areas, such as parks, public or semi-public gardens (botanical gardens or zoological gardens), amusement and theme parks, along transportation corridors, and around tourist attractions and hotels. In these situations, a staff of gardeners or groundskeepers maintains the gardens.\n\nIndoor gardening is concerned with growing houseplants within a residence or building, in a conservatory, or in a greenhouse. Indoor gardens are sometimes incorporated into air conditioning or heating systems.\n\nWater gardening is concerned with growing plants that have adapted to pools and ponds, along with aquascaping in planted aquariums. Bog gardens are also considered a type of water garden. A simple water garden may consist solely of a tub containing the water and plants.\n\nContainer gardening is concerned with growing plants in containers that are placed above the ground.\n\nLiberal arts pursuits \n\nMany hobbies involve performances by the hobbyist, such as singing, acting, juggling, magic, dancing, playing a musical instrument, martial arts, and other performing arts.\n\nSome hobbies may result in an end product. Examples of this would be woodworking, photography, moviemaking, jewelry making, software projects such as Photoshopping and home music or video production, making bracelets, artistic projects such as drawing, painting, Cosplay (design, creation, and wearing a costume based on an already existing creative property), creating models out of card stock or paper – called papercraft. Many of these fall under the category visual arts.\n\nWriting is often taken up as a hobby by aspiring writers and usually appears in the form of personal blog, guest posting or fan fiction (literary art resulting in creation of written content based on already existing, licensed creative property under specified terms). \n\nReading, books, ebooks, magazines, comics, or newspapers, along with browsing the internet is a common hobby, and one that can trace its origins back hundreds of years. A love of literature, later in life, may be sparked by an interest in reading children's literature as a child. Many of these fall under the category literary arts.\n\nSports and games \n\nStebbins distinguishes an amateur sports person and a hobbyist by suggesting a hobbyist plays in less formal sports, or games that are rule bound and have no professional equivalent. While an amateur sports individual plays a sport with a professional equivalent, such as football or tennis. Amateur sport may range from informal play to highly competitive practice, such as deck tennis or long distance trekking.\n\nThe Department for Culture, Media, and Support in England suggests that playing sports benefits physical and mental health. A positive relationship appeared between engaging in sports and improving overall health.\n\nPsychological role \nDuring the 20th century there was extensive research into the important role that play has in human development. While most evident in childhood, play continues throughout life for many adults in the form of games, hobbies, and sport. Moreover, studies of aging and society support the value of hobbies in healthy aging.\n\nSignificant achievements \nThere have been many instances where hobbyists and amateurs have achieved significant discoveries and developments. These are a small sample.\n\n Amateur astronomers have explored the skies for centuries and there is a long list of Notable amateur astronomers who have made major discoveries. Amateur astronomers Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp discovered the Comet Hale–Bopp.\n A substantial amount of early scientific research came from the amateur activities of the wealthy, such as Antoine Lavoisier's contributions to the science of chemistry. At that time there were few professional scientists and little formal study in the area. Another example is the experimentation in electricity that Benjamin Franklin undertook that resulted in his invention of the lightning rod.\n Open source is a development model using the internet to cooperate on projects. It is most notable in the development of software and widely used software, which has been developed and maintained by large numbers of people, including many home-based amateurs with high level expertise.\n While the general public was not aware of nature observation which was formally conducted as field research, during the 1930s, practitioners of the hobby went on to become the pioneers of the conservation movement that flourished in the UK from 1965 onwards.\n\nSee also \n Avocation\n Entertainment\n Community of interest\n List of hobbies\n Personal life\n Play (activity)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Learn Hobbies Online\n\n \nRecreation\nPersonal life",
"This is a partial list of hobbies. A hobby is an activity, interest, or pastime that is undertaken for pleasure or relaxation, done during one's own leisure time.\n\nGeneral hobbies\n\nOutdoors and sports\n\nEducational hobbies\n\nCollection hobbies\n\nIndoors\n\nOutdoors\n\nCompetitive hobbies\n\nIndoors\n\nOutdoors\n\nObservation hobbies\n\nIndoors\n\nOutdoors\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nEntertainment lists"
] |
[
"Doug Stone",
"2000-present: The Long Way, In a Different Light, and My Turn",
"What was going on with Doug in 2000?",
"Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000.",
"Did he have any other hobbies?",
"He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde."
] |
C_3c5505f3fe1d4d51ba3368ec0d397aab_0
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What is in a different light?
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What is in a different light by Doug Stone?
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Doug Stone
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In December 1999, Stone was aboard an airplane which skidded off a snowy runway at O'Hare Airport in Chicago; there were no injuries. Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000. In March 2000, he suffered a broken left ankle, cracked rib, concussion, and bruised kidney after crashing his plane in Robertson County, Tennessee, and was briefly hospitalized before he resumed touring. Stone later said that the accident made him decide to quit flying planes. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, rumors circulated that Stone had been on one of the hijacked planes; a spokeswoman for the singer confirmed that he was at home with his family that day. Stone signed to Audium Entertainment in 2002 and recorded The Long Way. This album included seven new songs and acoustic re-recordings of "More Love", "Born in the Dark", and "I'd Be Better Off". One of the original songs on it was "POW 369", which was later recorded by Darryl Worley. Stewart Mason thought that it was "not nearly as suffocatingly slick" as Stone's previous albums, but questioned its commercial success. His next album did not come out until 2005, when he signed to the independent label Lofton Creek Records, recording the album In a Different Light. The album included a cover of "Georgia on My Mind", which was the first single, and re-recordings of "In a Different Light" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". A second album for Lofton Creek, My Turn, followed in 2007. It was led off by the single "Nice Problem". William Ruhlmann praised this album for having "a timeless country feel", also saying that "Stone sings with as much fervor and sincerity as ever." Ken Tucker of Billboard wrote that "He sounds as good as ever and his music is still relevant". In 2013, Stone toured with Bryan White and Shenandoah as part of the "Reliving the 90s Tour". He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde. CANNOTANSWER
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His next album did not come out until 2005, when he signed to the independent label Lofton Creek Records, recording the album In a Different Light.
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Doug Stone (born Douglas Jackson Brooks; June 19, 1956) is an American country music singer and actor. He debuted in 1990 with the single "I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)", the first release from his 1990 self-titled debut album for Epic Records. Both this album and its successor, 1991's I Thought It Was You, earned a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. Two more albums for Epic, 1992's From the Heart and 1994's More Love, are each certified gold. Stone moved to Columbia Records to record Faith in Me, Faith in You, which did not produce a Top Ten among its three singles. After suffering a heart attack and stroke in the late 1990s, he exited the label and did not release another album until Make Up in Love in 1999 on Atlantic Records. The Long Way was released in 2002 on the Audium label (now part of E1 Music), followed by two albums on the independent Lofton Creek Records.
Stone has charted twenty-six singles on Hot Country Songs, with his greatest chart success coming between 1990 and 1995. In this timespan, he had eight No. 1 singles on the Hot Country Songs charts including: "In a Different Light", "A Jukebox with a Country Song", "Too Busy Being in Love", and "Why Didn't I Think of That". He is known for his neotraditionalist country sound and his frequent recording of ballads.
Early life
Stone was born as Douglas Jackson Brooks on June 19, 1956, in Marietta, Georgia. His mother, who was also a country music singer, taught him how to play guitar when he was five. At age seven, his mother placed him onstage to open for Loretta Lynn. His mother and father later divorced, and he moved to live with his father. He found additional work singing as a teenager: first at local skating rinks, and then at local bars, and later as one member of a short-lived trio; in addition, he and his father worked as mechanics to make ends meet. He also built a recording studio in his house, while performing in local clubs. By 1982, Stone was suffering from depression brought on by his musical career, when a friend introduced him to Carie Cohen, who would later become his second wife. He played various local venues, and was discovered by a record label manager while singing at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall. The manager asked him for demos, which she then sent to Epic Records. He chose to record under the name Doug Stone, so as to avoid confusion with Garth Brooks. Record producer Doug Johnson played three tunes for Epic Records producer Bob Montgomery, who disliked the first two that he heard but enjoyed the third one. Through Montgomery's assistance, Stone signed with Epic in 1989, thus becoming the only artist that Montgomery ever signed without seeing perform live.
Musical career
1990–1991: Doug Stone
Stone's self-titled debut album was released in 1990 with Johnson as producer. Mac McAnally, Mark O'Connor, Paul Franklin, Brent Rowan, and Willie Weeks were among the session musicians on it. Contributing songwriters included David Lee Murphy, Larry Boone, Randy Boudreaux, A.L. "Doodle" Owens, and Keith Palmer, who would later chart two singles for Epic in 1991. Its first single, "I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)", spent twenty-five weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and peaked at No. 4. In addition, the single was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Song, and the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for U.S. shipments of one million copies. The album's next two singles were both Top Ten singles as well: "Fourteen Minutes Old" at No. 6 and "These Lips Don't Know How to Say Goodbye" at No. 5. Following these songs was "In a Different Light", co-written by Dickey Lee, which became Stone's first number 1 on Billboard. Stone received three music award nominations in 1991: the Horizon Award (now New Artist Award) from the Country Music Association, Star of Tomorrow from Music City News, and Top New Male Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music.
Brian Mansfield gave Doug Stone a four-and-a-half star rating out of five in his review for Allmusic. His review praised "I'd Be Better Off" in particular, calling the song a "towering expression of self-pity that most singers could spend a career trying to top," also saying that Stone "came close" to matching that song's quality in the album's ballads.
1991-1992: I Thought It Was You, From the Heart, and The First Christmas
I Thought It Was You, his second album, was released in August 1991. Also certified platinum, it produced three more chart singles: the No. 4 title track, followed by the number 1 "A Jukebox with a Country Song" and "Come In Out of the Pain" at No. 3. "A Jukebox with a Country Song" spent two weeks at number 1, thus becoming his only multi-week number 1 single. Stone co-wrote the track "The Feeling Never Goes Away" with Kim Williams and Phyllis Bennett, and then-labelmate Joe Diffie co-wrote "Burning Down the Town". Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly gave the album an "A", saying that it contained "sex-and-smolder ballads" comparable to Conway Twitty. Mansfield was less favorable, saying that Stone "seems to wallow in sorrow".
In early 1992, Stone began experiencing dizziness and pain in one of his arms. He also began feeling chest pains which he initially thought were heartburn. After feeling disoriented at a concert in Oregon, he canceled an appearance at the Academy of Country Music telecast. He then underwent quadruple bypass surgery at Centennial Medical Center to alleviate four severe arterial blockages near his heart which had initially gone undiscovered by doctors. Following the surgery, Stone changed his diet and began exercising, in addition to touring in support of his third album, From the Heart, released that August. The album's title was seen by many music writers, including Irwin Stambler and Grelun Landon of Country Music: The Encyclopedia, as ironic in the wake of Stone's heart surgery.
With a gold certification for shipments of 500,000 copies, From the Heart produced two more number 1 singles in "Too Busy Being in Love" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". The other two singles were "Warning Labels" and "Made for Lovin' You", at No. 4 and No. 6 respectively. The latter had previously been recorded by both Dan Seals and Clinton Gregory. Mansfield thought that From the Heart was more consistent than Stone's previous two albums, saying that his "voice is at its pain-wracked best" on "Warning Labels" and that "The heart references take on a special meaning given the open-heart surgery that preceded this album". Nash criticized the album as "sappy, lightweight tales of infatuation and starry-eyed courtship". One month after From the Heart, Stone released a Christmas album titled The First Christmas. Although this album produced no singles, "Sailing Home for Christmas" was made into a music video. Stone was nominated in both 1992 and 1993 for Star of Tomorrow by Music City News, and Top Male Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music, winning the former award in 1993. He toured in 1992 with Patty Loveless, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Hank Williams, Jr.
1993-1995: More Love and Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
His fourth album, More Love, was released in November 1993. Unlike his previous albums, Stone co-produced with James Stroud, except on the track "Dream High", which Stroud produced with Tom Bahler and Bruce Swedien. It also included different session musicians than his previous albums, such as guitarist Dann Huff and backing vocalist Curtis Wright. Its lead-off single was "I Never Knew Love", which spent two weeks at No. 2 on the country singles charts and accounted for his only entry on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 81. The album's next two singles were the No. 4 "Addicted to a Dollar" and the title track, which Stone wrote with Gary Burr, at No. 6. Tom Roland of New Country magazine criticized the album for "continu[ing] to mine the drippy side of Stone" through "manipulative" ballads, but cited "Addicted to a Dollar" and "Love, You Took Me by Surprise" as being "tougher" than Stone's previous works.
Starting in June 1994, Stone discovered that he was having breathing problems which were affecting his singing. He consulted throat doctors at Vanderbilt University's medical center, who failed to find any problems in his throat, while a second consultation revealed a lump in his left nostril. Upon its discovery, Stone feared that it might be cancer, and that it would put an end to his career. As a result, Stone quit smoking, although the lump was later discovered not to be cancerous and was successfully removed. While Stone was undergoing treatment, his Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 compilation was released in late 1994. Also receiving a gold certification, the album comprised nine of his previous hits and the new song "Little Houses", which debuted on the charts in October 1994 and peaked at No. 7 in early 1995. After its release, Stone made his acting debut in the 1995 film Gordy, in which he starred as Luke McAllister, a struggling musician. The movie's soundtrack featured four songs from More Love: "More Love", "That's a Lie", "Wishbone", and "Dream High", as well as two other songs that Stone performed: "The Heart I Broke" and "I Could Always Count on You".
1995-1999: Faith in Me, Faith in You and Make Up in Love
Also in 1995, parent company Sony Music Entertainment chose to move Stone from the Nashville division of Epic Records to that of Columbia Records. This decision was made to give Stone a new promotional team. His only Columbia album, Faith in Me, Faith in You, was released in March of that year, with Stroud again serving as co-producer. This album's three singles were comparatively less successful than his previous singles, with none reaching Top 10: the title track peaked at No. 13, followed by "Sometimes I Forget" at No. 41 (his first single to miss the Top 40) and "Born in the Dark" at No. 12. Stone suffered a nearly-fatal heart attack in December 1995 and a mild stroke in 1996, reducing his ability to record and tour. Stone would later remark that he was "lucky" to have survived his health issues in this timespan. One of his few performances in this timespan was at a show in Dollywood, a theme park owned by Dolly Parton, in mid-1996. His last charting single for Columbia was "Gone Out of My Mind", which he recorded for the multi-artist compilation album A Tribute to Tradition in 1998.
Stone signed with Atlantic Records and released Make Up in Love in 1999 under the production of Wally Wilson. A more pop-oriented album than his previous ones, the album produced a minor Top 20 hit in its title track. Its next singles were a cover of R.B. Greaves's 1969 single "Take a Letter Maria", which Stone took to number 45, and "Surprise", which spent only one week on the country charts, at number 64. Also included on the album were a duet with Leslie Satcher titled "The Heart Holds On", and the Bobby Braddock-penned "The Difference Between a Woman and a Man", which was later recorded by Josh Turner on his 2003 debut album Long Black Train. Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album a mixed review, saying that "Since Stone's voice is pleasant, the music is often pleasant, but it's hardly memorable." Andy Turner of Country Standard Time was more favorable, saying that it "does not come off 'too country for country' yet is still engaging largely because of Stone's voice — soft with built-in teardrops." Also in 1999, Stone and Skip Ewing co-wrote "In the Name of Love" on the only album released by female country duo Redmon & Vale.
2000-present: The Long Way, In a Different Light, and My Turn
In December 1999, Stone was aboard an airplane which skidded off a snowy runway at O'Hare Airport in Chicago; there were no injuries. Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000. In March 2000, he suffered a broken left ankle, cracked rib, concussion, and bruised kidney after crashing his plane in Robertson County, Tennessee, and was briefly hospitalized before he resumed touring. Stone later said that the accident made him decide to quit flying planes. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, rumors circulated that Stone had been on one of the hijacked planes; a spokeswoman for the singer confirmed that he was at home with his family that day.
Stone signed to Audium Entertainment in 2002 and recorded The Long Way. This album included seven new songs and acoustic re-recordings of "More Love", "Born in the Dark", and "I'd Be Better Off". One of the original songs on it was "POW 369", which was later recorded by Darryl Worley. Stewart Mason thought that it was "not nearly as suffocatingly slick" as Stone's previous albums, but questioned its commercial success. His next album did not come out until 2005, when he signed to the independent label Lofton Creek Records, recording the album In a Different Light. The album included a cover of "Georgia on My Mind", which was the first single, and re-recordings of "In a Different Light" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". A second album for Lofton Creek, My Turn, followed in 2007. It was led off by the single "Nice Problem". William Ruhlmann praised this album for having "a timeless country feel", also saying that "Stone sings with as much fervor and sincerity as ever." Ken Tucker of Billboard wrote that "He sounds as good as ever and his music is still relevant".
In 2013, Stone toured with Bryan White and Shenandoah as part of the "Reliving the 90s Tour". He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde.
Personal life
Stone married his second wife, Carie Cohen, in 1982. The couple separated in July 1994, and Cohen filed for divorce two months later, accusing Stone of excessive drinking and infidelity. He married Beth Snyder in December 1996 after being engaged to her for a year. As of 2005, he had one daughter, Baili, with Beth, and four children from his previous marriages: daughter Michelle and son Daniel from his first marriage, son Chanse and daughter Kala from his marriage to Cohen, Stone split from Snyder in late 2006 and returned to his Georgia home.
On March 29, 2015, Stone married fiddler Jade Jack in Greenville Texas. Doug and Jade have a daughter, Bristol Gail Brooks, born April 14, 2016.
Musical styles
Stone is known primarily for his neotraditionalist country sound, his baritone singing voice, and emphasis on ballads. In Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary, Richard Carlin describes him as "a solid country crooner whose style is reminiscent of Merle Haggard." Steve Huey of Allmusic wrote that Stone "made his name as a lonesome baritone balladeer, though he's also adept at hard uptempo country." Zell Miller, author of They Heard Georgia Singing, wrote that Stone has "established himself as a mellow country crooner who is known as 'Mr. Sensitive'" and "the Dean Martin of country music because of his unique flair for communicating the fragility of a broken heart with his delicate baritone voice and laid-back style."
Kurt Wolff of Country Music: The Rough Guide described Stone's musical style less favorably. He wrote that Stone seemed "schizophrenic. Half his reputation was established with self-deprecating downers like 'I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)', but then he'd just as easily turn around with a schmaltzy love song like 'Too Busy Being in Love'." He compared "I'd Be Better Off" and "Warning Labels" favorably to Haggard as well, and thought that the change of producers on More Love gave him a "much beefier sound".
Discography
Albums
Doug Stone (1990)
I Thought It Was You (1991)
From the Heart (1992)
The First Christmas (1992)
More Love (1993)
Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (1994)
Faith in Me, Faith in You (1995)
Make Up in Love (1999)
The Long Way (2002)
In a Different Light (2005)
My Turn (2007)
Filmography
Film
References
External links
Doug Stone official website
1956 births
Living people
American male singer-songwriters
American country singer-songwriters
Atlantic Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Epic Records artists
Lofton Creek Records artists
Musicians from Marietta, Georgia
Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state)
Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)
| true |
[
"Experiment with Light is a Quaker spiritual practice. It refers back to seventeenth century Quakers' experience, rediscovered as a systematic discipline in 1996.\n\nExperiment with Light is often practised in Quaker meetings in Light groups, but it can also be undertaken as a solo discipline and it is not necessary to be a Quaker to practise it. Recordings of the different versions of the meditation are available on CD and as downloads from the Experiment with Light website. The website Experiment with Light also provides details of resources and events as well as the guided meditations. It also holds the latest online editions of the Experiment with Light Journal. There are Android or Apple apps that can be downloaded to play recordings of the meditations on a mobile phone.\n\nDevelopment\nLight to Live by describes how British Quaker Rex Ambler first became aware of seventeenth century Quaker insight and how, as a result, he devised the Experiment. Seeing Hearing Knowing: reflections on Experiment with Light is a collection of articles describing different writers' experience of it. In 2011 the Quaker weekly Journal The Friend (Quaker Magazine) ran a series of articles about it. Mind the Light: the story of a Quaker discipline details the origins and history of its development from 1996 to 2017.\n\nIn Britain there is an Experiment with Light Network, which is a Quaker Recognised Body of Britain Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. There is a North America Experiment with Light Network and it is also practised in Quaker Meetings in Australia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Norway, Denmark and Sweden. It can be, and is, undertaken by people who are not Quakers as well.\n\nProcess\nAt the heart of the practice is a meditation which guides Experimenters through four core steps (although the words suggesting each step differ in the various versions):\n\n Mind the Light (pay attention to what your inward Light shows in the meditation);\n Open your heart to the Truth (look at the reality shown by the Light, in an attitude of receptivity);\n Wait in the Light (exercise patience, let the Light show you what is really going on, in a detached manner);\n Submit (welcome the insights and accept them).\n\nExternal links\n\nReferences \n\nQuaker practices\nMeditation",
"The displacement–length ratio (DLR or D/L ratio) is a calculation used to express how heavy a boat is relative to its waterline length.\n\nDLR was first published in \n\nIt is calculated by dividing a boat's displacement in long tons (2,240 pounds) by the cube of one one-hundredth of the waterline length (in feet):\n\nDLR can be used to compare the relative mass of various boats no matter what their length. A DLR less than 200 is indicative of a racing boat, while a DLR greater than 300 or so is indicative of a heavy cruising boat.\n\nAs shown in the 2 graphs in the kindle-sample of the 6th edition ( but not anywhere in the full-book of the 7th ) of Adlard Coles' \"Heavy Weather Sailing\", whether a given DLR is considered \"heavy\" or \"light\" *is entirely dependent on how big the boat is*.\n\nThose numbers in the table, above, match a boat of exactly 30.5' LWL. A boat of any other size will be \"light\" or \"heavy\" at a different DLR:\n\na 10' LWL boat that is Ultralight is under DLR 412; Light is between 412 & 823; Moderate is between 823 & 1235; Heavy is between 1235 & 1647, & Ultraheavy is above that.\n\nA 40' LWL boat that is Ultralight is under DLR 70; Light is between 70 & 140 ; Moderate is between 140 & 209; Heavy is between 209 & 279; & Ultraheavy is above that.\n\nThe different scaling-factors for different aspects of a boat ( length, beam, displacement, sail-area carrying capability, etc ) are not identical multipliers, as explained in \"Principles of Yacht Design\" 3rd edition, which is why DLR is only meaningful when one knows the DLR, and the LWL and the intended kind of boat.\n\nSee also \n Sail Area-Displacement ratio\n\nReferences\n\nShip measurements\nNautical terminology\nEngineering ratios\nNaval architecture"
] |
[
"Doug Stone",
"2000-present: The Long Way, In a Different Light, and My Turn",
"What was going on with Doug in 2000?",
"Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000.",
"Did he have any other hobbies?",
"He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde.",
"What is in a different light?",
"His next album did not come out until 2005, when he signed to the independent label Lofton Creek Records, recording the album In a Different Light."
] |
C_3c5505f3fe1d4d51ba3368ec0d397aab_0
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How did this album do?
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How did Doug Stone album do?
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Doug Stone
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In December 1999, Stone was aboard an airplane which skidded off a snowy runway at O'Hare Airport in Chicago; there were no injuries. Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000. In March 2000, he suffered a broken left ankle, cracked rib, concussion, and bruised kidney after crashing his plane in Robertson County, Tennessee, and was briefly hospitalized before he resumed touring. Stone later said that the accident made him decide to quit flying planes. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, rumors circulated that Stone had been on one of the hijacked planes; a spokeswoman for the singer confirmed that he was at home with his family that day. Stone signed to Audium Entertainment in 2002 and recorded The Long Way. This album included seven new songs and acoustic re-recordings of "More Love", "Born in the Dark", and "I'd Be Better Off". One of the original songs on it was "POW 369", which was later recorded by Darryl Worley. Stewart Mason thought that it was "not nearly as suffocatingly slick" as Stone's previous albums, but questioned its commercial success. His next album did not come out until 2005, when he signed to the independent label Lofton Creek Records, recording the album In a Different Light. The album included a cover of "Georgia on My Mind", which was the first single, and re-recordings of "In a Different Light" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". A second album for Lofton Creek, My Turn, followed in 2007. It was led off by the single "Nice Problem". William Ruhlmann praised this album for having "a timeless country feel", also saying that "Stone sings with as much fervor and sincerity as ever." Ken Tucker of Billboard wrote that "He sounds as good as ever and his music is still relevant". In 2013, Stone toured with Bryan White and Shenandoah as part of the "Reliving the 90s Tour". He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde. CANNOTANSWER
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Ken Tucker of Billboard wrote that "He sounds as good as ever and his music is still relevant
|
Doug Stone (born Douglas Jackson Brooks; June 19, 1956) is an American country music singer and actor. He debuted in 1990 with the single "I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)", the first release from his 1990 self-titled debut album for Epic Records. Both this album and its successor, 1991's I Thought It Was You, earned a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. Two more albums for Epic, 1992's From the Heart and 1994's More Love, are each certified gold. Stone moved to Columbia Records to record Faith in Me, Faith in You, which did not produce a Top Ten among its three singles. After suffering a heart attack and stroke in the late 1990s, he exited the label and did not release another album until Make Up in Love in 1999 on Atlantic Records. The Long Way was released in 2002 on the Audium label (now part of E1 Music), followed by two albums on the independent Lofton Creek Records.
Stone has charted twenty-six singles on Hot Country Songs, with his greatest chart success coming between 1990 and 1995. In this timespan, he had eight No. 1 singles on the Hot Country Songs charts including: "In a Different Light", "A Jukebox with a Country Song", "Too Busy Being in Love", and "Why Didn't I Think of That". He is known for his neotraditionalist country sound and his frequent recording of ballads.
Early life
Stone was born as Douglas Jackson Brooks on June 19, 1956, in Marietta, Georgia. His mother, who was also a country music singer, taught him how to play guitar when he was five. At age seven, his mother placed him onstage to open for Loretta Lynn. His mother and father later divorced, and he moved to live with his father. He found additional work singing as a teenager: first at local skating rinks, and then at local bars, and later as one member of a short-lived trio; in addition, he and his father worked as mechanics to make ends meet. He also built a recording studio in his house, while performing in local clubs. By 1982, Stone was suffering from depression brought on by his musical career, when a friend introduced him to Carie Cohen, who would later become his second wife. He played various local venues, and was discovered by a record label manager while singing at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall. The manager asked him for demos, which she then sent to Epic Records. He chose to record under the name Doug Stone, so as to avoid confusion with Garth Brooks. Record producer Doug Johnson played three tunes for Epic Records producer Bob Montgomery, who disliked the first two that he heard but enjoyed the third one. Through Montgomery's assistance, Stone signed with Epic in 1989, thus becoming the only artist that Montgomery ever signed without seeing perform live.
Musical career
1990–1991: Doug Stone
Stone's self-titled debut album was released in 1990 with Johnson as producer. Mac McAnally, Mark O'Connor, Paul Franklin, Brent Rowan, and Willie Weeks were among the session musicians on it. Contributing songwriters included David Lee Murphy, Larry Boone, Randy Boudreaux, A.L. "Doodle" Owens, and Keith Palmer, who would later chart two singles for Epic in 1991. Its first single, "I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)", spent twenty-five weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and peaked at No. 4. In addition, the single was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Song, and the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for U.S. shipments of one million copies. The album's next two singles were both Top Ten singles as well: "Fourteen Minutes Old" at No. 6 and "These Lips Don't Know How to Say Goodbye" at No. 5. Following these songs was "In a Different Light", co-written by Dickey Lee, which became Stone's first number 1 on Billboard. Stone received three music award nominations in 1991: the Horizon Award (now New Artist Award) from the Country Music Association, Star of Tomorrow from Music City News, and Top New Male Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music.
Brian Mansfield gave Doug Stone a four-and-a-half star rating out of five in his review for Allmusic. His review praised "I'd Be Better Off" in particular, calling the song a "towering expression of self-pity that most singers could spend a career trying to top," also saying that Stone "came close" to matching that song's quality in the album's ballads.
1991-1992: I Thought It Was You, From the Heart, and The First Christmas
I Thought It Was You, his second album, was released in August 1991. Also certified platinum, it produced three more chart singles: the No. 4 title track, followed by the number 1 "A Jukebox with a Country Song" and "Come In Out of the Pain" at No. 3. "A Jukebox with a Country Song" spent two weeks at number 1, thus becoming his only multi-week number 1 single. Stone co-wrote the track "The Feeling Never Goes Away" with Kim Williams and Phyllis Bennett, and then-labelmate Joe Diffie co-wrote "Burning Down the Town". Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly gave the album an "A", saying that it contained "sex-and-smolder ballads" comparable to Conway Twitty. Mansfield was less favorable, saying that Stone "seems to wallow in sorrow".
In early 1992, Stone began experiencing dizziness and pain in one of his arms. He also began feeling chest pains which he initially thought were heartburn. After feeling disoriented at a concert in Oregon, he canceled an appearance at the Academy of Country Music telecast. He then underwent quadruple bypass surgery at Centennial Medical Center to alleviate four severe arterial blockages near his heart which had initially gone undiscovered by doctors. Following the surgery, Stone changed his diet and began exercising, in addition to touring in support of his third album, From the Heart, released that August. The album's title was seen by many music writers, including Irwin Stambler and Grelun Landon of Country Music: The Encyclopedia, as ironic in the wake of Stone's heart surgery.
With a gold certification for shipments of 500,000 copies, From the Heart produced two more number 1 singles in "Too Busy Being in Love" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". The other two singles were "Warning Labels" and "Made for Lovin' You", at No. 4 and No. 6 respectively. The latter had previously been recorded by both Dan Seals and Clinton Gregory. Mansfield thought that From the Heart was more consistent than Stone's previous two albums, saying that his "voice is at its pain-wracked best" on "Warning Labels" and that "The heart references take on a special meaning given the open-heart surgery that preceded this album". Nash criticized the album as "sappy, lightweight tales of infatuation and starry-eyed courtship". One month after From the Heart, Stone released a Christmas album titled The First Christmas. Although this album produced no singles, "Sailing Home for Christmas" was made into a music video. Stone was nominated in both 1992 and 1993 for Star of Tomorrow by Music City News, and Top Male Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music, winning the former award in 1993. He toured in 1992 with Patty Loveless, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Hank Williams, Jr.
1993-1995: More Love and Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
His fourth album, More Love, was released in November 1993. Unlike his previous albums, Stone co-produced with James Stroud, except on the track "Dream High", which Stroud produced with Tom Bahler and Bruce Swedien. It also included different session musicians than his previous albums, such as guitarist Dann Huff and backing vocalist Curtis Wright. Its lead-off single was "I Never Knew Love", which spent two weeks at No. 2 on the country singles charts and accounted for his only entry on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 81. The album's next two singles were the No. 4 "Addicted to a Dollar" and the title track, which Stone wrote with Gary Burr, at No. 6. Tom Roland of New Country magazine criticized the album for "continu[ing] to mine the drippy side of Stone" through "manipulative" ballads, but cited "Addicted to a Dollar" and "Love, You Took Me by Surprise" as being "tougher" than Stone's previous works.
Starting in June 1994, Stone discovered that he was having breathing problems which were affecting his singing. He consulted throat doctors at Vanderbilt University's medical center, who failed to find any problems in his throat, while a second consultation revealed a lump in his left nostril. Upon its discovery, Stone feared that it might be cancer, and that it would put an end to his career. As a result, Stone quit smoking, although the lump was later discovered not to be cancerous and was successfully removed. While Stone was undergoing treatment, his Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 compilation was released in late 1994. Also receiving a gold certification, the album comprised nine of his previous hits and the new song "Little Houses", which debuted on the charts in October 1994 and peaked at No. 7 in early 1995. After its release, Stone made his acting debut in the 1995 film Gordy, in which he starred as Luke McAllister, a struggling musician. The movie's soundtrack featured four songs from More Love: "More Love", "That's a Lie", "Wishbone", and "Dream High", as well as two other songs that Stone performed: "The Heart I Broke" and "I Could Always Count on You".
1995-1999: Faith in Me, Faith in You and Make Up in Love
Also in 1995, parent company Sony Music Entertainment chose to move Stone from the Nashville division of Epic Records to that of Columbia Records. This decision was made to give Stone a new promotional team. His only Columbia album, Faith in Me, Faith in You, was released in March of that year, with Stroud again serving as co-producer. This album's three singles were comparatively less successful than his previous singles, with none reaching Top 10: the title track peaked at No. 13, followed by "Sometimes I Forget" at No. 41 (his first single to miss the Top 40) and "Born in the Dark" at No. 12. Stone suffered a nearly-fatal heart attack in December 1995 and a mild stroke in 1996, reducing his ability to record and tour. Stone would later remark that he was "lucky" to have survived his health issues in this timespan. One of his few performances in this timespan was at a show in Dollywood, a theme park owned by Dolly Parton, in mid-1996. His last charting single for Columbia was "Gone Out of My Mind", which he recorded for the multi-artist compilation album A Tribute to Tradition in 1998.
Stone signed with Atlantic Records and released Make Up in Love in 1999 under the production of Wally Wilson. A more pop-oriented album than his previous ones, the album produced a minor Top 20 hit in its title track. Its next singles were a cover of R.B. Greaves's 1969 single "Take a Letter Maria", which Stone took to number 45, and "Surprise", which spent only one week on the country charts, at number 64. Also included on the album were a duet with Leslie Satcher titled "The Heart Holds On", and the Bobby Braddock-penned "The Difference Between a Woman and a Man", which was later recorded by Josh Turner on his 2003 debut album Long Black Train. Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album a mixed review, saying that "Since Stone's voice is pleasant, the music is often pleasant, but it's hardly memorable." Andy Turner of Country Standard Time was more favorable, saying that it "does not come off 'too country for country' yet is still engaging largely because of Stone's voice — soft with built-in teardrops." Also in 1999, Stone and Skip Ewing co-wrote "In the Name of Love" on the only album released by female country duo Redmon & Vale.
2000-present: The Long Way, In a Different Light, and My Turn
In December 1999, Stone was aboard an airplane which skidded off a snowy runway at O'Hare Airport in Chicago; there were no injuries. Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000. In March 2000, he suffered a broken left ankle, cracked rib, concussion, and bruised kidney after crashing his plane in Robertson County, Tennessee, and was briefly hospitalized before he resumed touring. Stone later said that the accident made him decide to quit flying planes. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, rumors circulated that Stone had been on one of the hijacked planes; a spokeswoman for the singer confirmed that he was at home with his family that day.
Stone signed to Audium Entertainment in 2002 and recorded The Long Way. This album included seven new songs and acoustic re-recordings of "More Love", "Born in the Dark", and "I'd Be Better Off". One of the original songs on it was "POW 369", which was later recorded by Darryl Worley. Stewart Mason thought that it was "not nearly as suffocatingly slick" as Stone's previous albums, but questioned its commercial success. His next album did not come out until 2005, when he signed to the independent label Lofton Creek Records, recording the album In a Different Light. The album included a cover of "Georgia on My Mind", which was the first single, and re-recordings of "In a Different Light" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". A second album for Lofton Creek, My Turn, followed in 2007. It was led off by the single "Nice Problem". William Ruhlmann praised this album for having "a timeless country feel", also saying that "Stone sings with as much fervor and sincerity as ever." Ken Tucker of Billboard wrote that "He sounds as good as ever and his music is still relevant".
In 2013, Stone toured with Bryan White and Shenandoah as part of the "Reliving the 90s Tour". He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde.
Personal life
Stone married his second wife, Carie Cohen, in 1982. The couple separated in July 1994, and Cohen filed for divorce two months later, accusing Stone of excessive drinking and infidelity. He married Beth Snyder in December 1996 after being engaged to her for a year. As of 2005, he had one daughter, Baili, with Beth, and four children from his previous marriages: daughter Michelle and son Daniel from his first marriage, son Chanse and daughter Kala from his marriage to Cohen, Stone split from Snyder in late 2006 and returned to his Georgia home.
On March 29, 2015, Stone married fiddler Jade Jack in Greenville Texas. Doug and Jade have a daughter, Bristol Gail Brooks, born April 14, 2016.
Musical styles
Stone is known primarily for his neotraditionalist country sound, his baritone singing voice, and emphasis on ballads. In Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary, Richard Carlin describes him as "a solid country crooner whose style is reminiscent of Merle Haggard." Steve Huey of Allmusic wrote that Stone "made his name as a lonesome baritone balladeer, though he's also adept at hard uptempo country." Zell Miller, author of They Heard Georgia Singing, wrote that Stone has "established himself as a mellow country crooner who is known as 'Mr. Sensitive'" and "the Dean Martin of country music because of his unique flair for communicating the fragility of a broken heart with his delicate baritone voice and laid-back style."
Kurt Wolff of Country Music: The Rough Guide described Stone's musical style less favorably. He wrote that Stone seemed "schizophrenic. Half his reputation was established with self-deprecating downers like 'I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)', but then he'd just as easily turn around with a schmaltzy love song like 'Too Busy Being in Love'." He compared "I'd Be Better Off" and "Warning Labels" favorably to Haggard as well, and thought that the change of producers on More Love gave him a "much beefier sound".
Discography
Albums
Doug Stone (1990)
I Thought It Was You (1991)
From the Heart (1992)
The First Christmas (1992)
More Love (1993)
Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (1994)
Faith in Me, Faith in You (1995)
Make Up in Love (1999)
The Long Way (2002)
In a Different Light (2005)
My Turn (2007)
Filmography
Film
References
External links
Doug Stone official website
1956 births
Living people
American male singer-songwriters
American country singer-songwriters
Atlantic Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Epic Records artists
Lofton Creek Records artists
Musicians from Marietta, Georgia
Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state)
Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)
| true |
[
"\"This Is How We Do It\" is a 1995 song by Montell Jordan.\n\nThis Is How We Do It may also refer to:\n\n This Is How We Do It (album), by Montell Jordan\n \"This Is How We Do It\" (Grey's Anatomy), a 2011 episode\n\nSee also\n \"This Is How We Do\", a 2014 song by Katy Perry",
"\"How Do I Get Close\" is a song released by the British rock group, the Kinks. Released on the band's critically panned LP, UK Jive, the song was written by the band's main songwriter, Ray Davies.\n\nRelease and reception\n\"How Do I Get Close\" was first released on the Kinks' album UK Jive. UK Jive failed to make an impression on fans and critics alike, as the album failed to chart in the UK and only reached No. 122 in America. However, despite the failure of the album and the lead UK single, \"Down All the Days (Till 1992)\", \"How Do I Get Close\" was released as the second British single from the album, backed with \"Down All the Days (Till 1992)\". The single failed to chart. The single was also released in America (backed with \"War is Over\"), where, although it did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100, it hit No. 21 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, the highest on that chart since \"Working At The Factory\" in 1986. \"How Do I Get Close\" also appeared on the compilation album Lost & Found (1986-1989).\n\nStephen Thomas Erlewine cited \"How Do I Get Close\" as a highlight from both UK Jive and Lost & Found (1986-1989).\n\nReferences\n\nThe Kinks songs\n1990 singles\nSongs written by Ray Davies\nSong recordings produced by Ray Davies\n1989 songs\nMCA Records singles"
] |
[
"Doug Stone",
"2000-present: The Long Way, In a Different Light, and My Turn",
"What was going on with Doug in 2000?",
"Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000.",
"Did he have any other hobbies?",
"He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde.",
"What is in a different light?",
"His next album did not come out until 2005, when he signed to the independent label Lofton Creek Records, recording the album In a Different Light.",
"How did this album do?",
"Ken Tucker of Billboard wrote that \"He sounds as good as ever and his music is still relevant"
] |
C_3c5505f3fe1d4d51ba3368ec0d397aab_0
|
Did he release other albums?
| 5 |
Did Doug Stone release other albums in addition to Different Light?
|
Doug Stone
|
In December 1999, Stone was aboard an airplane which skidded off a snowy runway at O'Hare Airport in Chicago; there were no injuries. Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000. In March 2000, he suffered a broken left ankle, cracked rib, concussion, and bruised kidney after crashing his plane in Robertson County, Tennessee, and was briefly hospitalized before he resumed touring. Stone later said that the accident made him decide to quit flying planes. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, rumors circulated that Stone had been on one of the hijacked planes; a spokeswoman for the singer confirmed that he was at home with his family that day. Stone signed to Audium Entertainment in 2002 and recorded The Long Way. This album included seven new songs and acoustic re-recordings of "More Love", "Born in the Dark", and "I'd Be Better Off". One of the original songs on it was "POW 369", which was later recorded by Darryl Worley. Stewart Mason thought that it was "not nearly as suffocatingly slick" as Stone's previous albums, but questioned its commercial success. His next album did not come out until 2005, when he signed to the independent label Lofton Creek Records, recording the album In a Different Light. The album included a cover of "Georgia on My Mind", which was the first single, and re-recordings of "In a Different Light" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". A second album for Lofton Creek, My Turn, followed in 2007. It was led off by the single "Nice Problem". William Ruhlmann praised this album for having "a timeless country feel", also saying that "Stone sings with as much fervor and sincerity as ever." Ken Tucker of Billboard wrote that "He sounds as good as ever and his music is still relevant". In 2013, Stone toured with Bryan White and Shenandoah as part of the "Reliving the 90s Tour". He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde. CANNOTANSWER
|
CANNOTANSWER
|
Doug Stone (born Douglas Jackson Brooks; June 19, 1956) is an American country music singer and actor. He debuted in 1990 with the single "I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)", the first release from his 1990 self-titled debut album for Epic Records. Both this album and its successor, 1991's I Thought It Was You, earned a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. Two more albums for Epic, 1992's From the Heart and 1994's More Love, are each certified gold. Stone moved to Columbia Records to record Faith in Me, Faith in You, which did not produce a Top Ten among its three singles. After suffering a heart attack and stroke in the late 1990s, he exited the label and did not release another album until Make Up in Love in 1999 on Atlantic Records. The Long Way was released in 2002 on the Audium label (now part of E1 Music), followed by two albums on the independent Lofton Creek Records.
Stone has charted twenty-six singles on Hot Country Songs, with his greatest chart success coming between 1990 and 1995. In this timespan, he had eight No. 1 singles on the Hot Country Songs charts including: "In a Different Light", "A Jukebox with a Country Song", "Too Busy Being in Love", and "Why Didn't I Think of That". He is known for his neotraditionalist country sound and his frequent recording of ballads.
Early life
Stone was born as Douglas Jackson Brooks on June 19, 1956, in Marietta, Georgia. His mother, who was also a country music singer, taught him how to play guitar when he was five. At age seven, his mother placed him onstage to open for Loretta Lynn. His mother and father later divorced, and he moved to live with his father. He found additional work singing as a teenager: first at local skating rinks, and then at local bars, and later as one member of a short-lived trio; in addition, he and his father worked as mechanics to make ends meet. He also built a recording studio in his house, while performing in local clubs. By 1982, Stone was suffering from depression brought on by his musical career, when a friend introduced him to Carie Cohen, who would later become his second wife. He played various local venues, and was discovered by a record label manager while singing at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall. The manager asked him for demos, which she then sent to Epic Records. He chose to record under the name Doug Stone, so as to avoid confusion with Garth Brooks. Record producer Doug Johnson played three tunes for Epic Records producer Bob Montgomery, who disliked the first two that he heard but enjoyed the third one. Through Montgomery's assistance, Stone signed with Epic in 1989, thus becoming the only artist that Montgomery ever signed without seeing perform live.
Musical career
1990–1991: Doug Stone
Stone's self-titled debut album was released in 1990 with Johnson as producer. Mac McAnally, Mark O'Connor, Paul Franklin, Brent Rowan, and Willie Weeks were among the session musicians on it. Contributing songwriters included David Lee Murphy, Larry Boone, Randy Boudreaux, A.L. "Doodle" Owens, and Keith Palmer, who would later chart two singles for Epic in 1991. Its first single, "I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)", spent twenty-five weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and peaked at No. 4. In addition, the single was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Song, and the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for U.S. shipments of one million copies. The album's next two singles were both Top Ten singles as well: "Fourteen Minutes Old" at No. 6 and "These Lips Don't Know How to Say Goodbye" at No. 5. Following these songs was "In a Different Light", co-written by Dickey Lee, which became Stone's first number 1 on Billboard. Stone received three music award nominations in 1991: the Horizon Award (now New Artist Award) from the Country Music Association, Star of Tomorrow from Music City News, and Top New Male Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music.
Brian Mansfield gave Doug Stone a four-and-a-half star rating out of five in his review for Allmusic. His review praised "I'd Be Better Off" in particular, calling the song a "towering expression of self-pity that most singers could spend a career trying to top," also saying that Stone "came close" to matching that song's quality in the album's ballads.
1991-1992: I Thought It Was You, From the Heart, and The First Christmas
I Thought It Was You, his second album, was released in August 1991. Also certified platinum, it produced three more chart singles: the No. 4 title track, followed by the number 1 "A Jukebox with a Country Song" and "Come In Out of the Pain" at No. 3. "A Jukebox with a Country Song" spent two weeks at number 1, thus becoming his only multi-week number 1 single. Stone co-wrote the track "The Feeling Never Goes Away" with Kim Williams and Phyllis Bennett, and then-labelmate Joe Diffie co-wrote "Burning Down the Town". Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly gave the album an "A", saying that it contained "sex-and-smolder ballads" comparable to Conway Twitty. Mansfield was less favorable, saying that Stone "seems to wallow in sorrow".
In early 1992, Stone began experiencing dizziness and pain in one of his arms. He also began feeling chest pains which he initially thought were heartburn. After feeling disoriented at a concert in Oregon, he canceled an appearance at the Academy of Country Music telecast. He then underwent quadruple bypass surgery at Centennial Medical Center to alleviate four severe arterial blockages near his heart which had initially gone undiscovered by doctors. Following the surgery, Stone changed his diet and began exercising, in addition to touring in support of his third album, From the Heart, released that August. The album's title was seen by many music writers, including Irwin Stambler and Grelun Landon of Country Music: The Encyclopedia, as ironic in the wake of Stone's heart surgery.
With a gold certification for shipments of 500,000 copies, From the Heart produced two more number 1 singles in "Too Busy Being in Love" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". The other two singles were "Warning Labels" and "Made for Lovin' You", at No. 4 and No. 6 respectively. The latter had previously been recorded by both Dan Seals and Clinton Gregory. Mansfield thought that From the Heart was more consistent than Stone's previous two albums, saying that his "voice is at its pain-wracked best" on "Warning Labels" and that "The heart references take on a special meaning given the open-heart surgery that preceded this album". Nash criticized the album as "sappy, lightweight tales of infatuation and starry-eyed courtship". One month after From the Heart, Stone released a Christmas album titled The First Christmas. Although this album produced no singles, "Sailing Home for Christmas" was made into a music video. Stone was nominated in both 1992 and 1993 for Star of Tomorrow by Music City News, and Top Male Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music, winning the former award in 1993. He toured in 1992 with Patty Loveless, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Hank Williams, Jr.
1993-1995: More Love and Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
His fourth album, More Love, was released in November 1993. Unlike his previous albums, Stone co-produced with James Stroud, except on the track "Dream High", which Stroud produced with Tom Bahler and Bruce Swedien. It also included different session musicians than his previous albums, such as guitarist Dann Huff and backing vocalist Curtis Wright. Its lead-off single was "I Never Knew Love", which spent two weeks at No. 2 on the country singles charts and accounted for his only entry on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 81. The album's next two singles were the No. 4 "Addicted to a Dollar" and the title track, which Stone wrote with Gary Burr, at No. 6. Tom Roland of New Country magazine criticized the album for "continu[ing] to mine the drippy side of Stone" through "manipulative" ballads, but cited "Addicted to a Dollar" and "Love, You Took Me by Surprise" as being "tougher" than Stone's previous works.
Starting in June 1994, Stone discovered that he was having breathing problems which were affecting his singing. He consulted throat doctors at Vanderbilt University's medical center, who failed to find any problems in his throat, while a second consultation revealed a lump in his left nostril. Upon its discovery, Stone feared that it might be cancer, and that it would put an end to his career. As a result, Stone quit smoking, although the lump was later discovered not to be cancerous and was successfully removed. While Stone was undergoing treatment, his Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 compilation was released in late 1994. Also receiving a gold certification, the album comprised nine of his previous hits and the new song "Little Houses", which debuted on the charts in October 1994 and peaked at No. 7 in early 1995. After its release, Stone made his acting debut in the 1995 film Gordy, in which he starred as Luke McAllister, a struggling musician. The movie's soundtrack featured four songs from More Love: "More Love", "That's a Lie", "Wishbone", and "Dream High", as well as two other songs that Stone performed: "The Heart I Broke" and "I Could Always Count on You".
1995-1999: Faith in Me, Faith in You and Make Up in Love
Also in 1995, parent company Sony Music Entertainment chose to move Stone from the Nashville division of Epic Records to that of Columbia Records. This decision was made to give Stone a new promotional team. His only Columbia album, Faith in Me, Faith in You, was released in March of that year, with Stroud again serving as co-producer. This album's three singles were comparatively less successful than his previous singles, with none reaching Top 10: the title track peaked at No. 13, followed by "Sometimes I Forget" at No. 41 (his first single to miss the Top 40) and "Born in the Dark" at No. 12. Stone suffered a nearly-fatal heart attack in December 1995 and a mild stroke in 1996, reducing his ability to record and tour. Stone would later remark that he was "lucky" to have survived his health issues in this timespan. One of his few performances in this timespan was at a show in Dollywood, a theme park owned by Dolly Parton, in mid-1996. His last charting single for Columbia was "Gone Out of My Mind", which he recorded for the multi-artist compilation album A Tribute to Tradition in 1998.
Stone signed with Atlantic Records and released Make Up in Love in 1999 under the production of Wally Wilson. A more pop-oriented album than his previous ones, the album produced a minor Top 20 hit in its title track. Its next singles were a cover of R.B. Greaves's 1969 single "Take a Letter Maria", which Stone took to number 45, and "Surprise", which spent only one week on the country charts, at number 64. Also included on the album were a duet with Leslie Satcher titled "The Heart Holds On", and the Bobby Braddock-penned "The Difference Between a Woman and a Man", which was later recorded by Josh Turner on his 2003 debut album Long Black Train. Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album a mixed review, saying that "Since Stone's voice is pleasant, the music is often pleasant, but it's hardly memorable." Andy Turner of Country Standard Time was more favorable, saying that it "does not come off 'too country for country' yet is still engaging largely because of Stone's voice — soft with built-in teardrops." Also in 1999, Stone and Skip Ewing co-wrote "In the Name of Love" on the only album released by female country duo Redmon & Vale.
2000-present: The Long Way, In a Different Light, and My Turn
In December 1999, Stone was aboard an airplane which skidded off a snowy runway at O'Hare Airport in Chicago; there were no injuries. Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000. In March 2000, he suffered a broken left ankle, cracked rib, concussion, and bruised kidney after crashing his plane in Robertson County, Tennessee, and was briefly hospitalized before he resumed touring. Stone later said that the accident made him decide to quit flying planes. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, rumors circulated that Stone had been on one of the hijacked planes; a spokeswoman for the singer confirmed that he was at home with his family that day.
Stone signed to Audium Entertainment in 2002 and recorded The Long Way. This album included seven new songs and acoustic re-recordings of "More Love", "Born in the Dark", and "I'd Be Better Off". One of the original songs on it was "POW 369", which was later recorded by Darryl Worley. Stewart Mason thought that it was "not nearly as suffocatingly slick" as Stone's previous albums, but questioned its commercial success. His next album did not come out until 2005, when he signed to the independent label Lofton Creek Records, recording the album In a Different Light. The album included a cover of "Georgia on My Mind", which was the first single, and re-recordings of "In a Different Light" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". A second album for Lofton Creek, My Turn, followed in 2007. It was led off by the single "Nice Problem". William Ruhlmann praised this album for having "a timeless country feel", also saying that "Stone sings with as much fervor and sincerity as ever." Ken Tucker of Billboard wrote that "He sounds as good as ever and his music is still relevant".
In 2013, Stone toured with Bryan White and Shenandoah as part of the "Reliving the 90s Tour". He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde.
Personal life
Stone married his second wife, Carie Cohen, in 1982. The couple separated in July 1994, and Cohen filed for divorce two months later, accusing Stone of excessive drinking and infidelity. He married Beth Snyder in December 1996 after being engaged to her for a year. As of 2005, he had one daughter, Baili, with Beth, and four children from his previous marriages: daughter Michelle and son Daniel from his first marriage, son Chanse and daughter Kala from his marriage to Cohen, Stone split from Snyder in late 2006 and returned to his Georgia home.
On March 29, 2015, Stone married fiddler Jade Jack in Greenville Texas. Doug and Jade have a daughter, Bristol Gail Brooks, born April 14, 2016.
Musical styles
Stone is known primarily for his neotraditionalist country sound, his baritone singing voice, and emphasis on ballads. In Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary, Richard Carlin describes him as "a solid country crooner whose style is reminiscent of Merle Haggard." Steve Huey of Allmusic wrote that Stone "made his name as a lonesome baritone balladeer, though he's also adept at hard uptempo country." Zell Miller, author of They Heard Georgia Singing, wrote that Stone has "established himself as a mellow country crooner who is known as 'Mr. Sensitive'" and "the Dean Martin of country music because of his unique flair for communicating the fragility of a broken heart with his delicate baritone voice and laid-back style."
Kurt Wolff of Country Music: The Rough Guide described Stone's musical style less favorably. He wrote that Stone seemed "schizophrenic. Half his reputation was established with self-deprecating downers like 'I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)', but then he'd just as easily turn around with a schmaltzy love song like 'Too Busy Being in Love'." He compared "I'd Be Better Off" and "Warning Labels" favorably to Haggard as well, and thought that the change of producers on More Love gave him a "much beefier sound".
Discography
Albums
Doug Stone (1990)
I Thought It Was You (1991)
From the Heart (1992)
The First Christmas (1992)
More Love (1993)
Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (1994)
Faith in Me, Faith in You (1995)
Make Up in Love (1999)
The Long Way (2002)
In a Different Light (2005)
My Turn (2007)
Filmography
Film
References
External links
Doug Stone official website
1956 births
Living people
American male singer-songwriters
American country singer-songwriters
Atlantic Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Epic Records artists
Lofton Creek Records artists
Musicians from Marietta, Georgia
Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state)
Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)
| false |
[
"The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California in 1961. Their discography from 1961 to 1984 was originally released on the vinyl format, with the 1985 album The Beach Boys being the group's first CD release. The Beach Boys' catalogue has been released on reel-to-reel, 8-track, cassette, CD, MiniDisc, digital downloads, and various streaming services.\n\nThe group has released 29 studio albums, eight live albums, 55 compilation albums, 1 remix album, and 71 singles. The release dates and sequence of the Beach Boys' albums in the UK up to Pet Sounds differ significantly from the original US releases.\n\nStudio albums\n\nLive albums\n\nCompilation albums\n\nRemix albums\n\nSingles\nListed below are Beach Boys A and B sides issued in the US. For Beach Boys singles not issued under the group name, EP tracks, featured tracks, and non-American A-sides, see other songs.\n\n1960s\n\n1970s\n\n1980–present\n\nBillboard Year-End performances\n\nOther songs associated with members of the group\n\nExtended plays\n Surfin' Safari (1963, SWE)\n Surfin' U.S.A. (1963, UK, FR, NZ)\n Shut Down Volume 2 (1963, US)\n Louie Louie (1964, FR)\n Beach Boys Concert (1964, UK)\n Fun, Fun, Fun (1964, UK, AUS) — #19 UK EPs\n Dance, Dance, Dance (1964, FR, ESP)\n 4-By The Beach Boys (1964, US, UK, POR) — #11 UK EPs\n Help Me, Rhonda (1965, POR, FR, ESP)\n Barbara Ann (1965, POR)\n Hits (1966, UK) — #1 UK EPs\n Then I Kissed Her (1966, POR)\n Sloop John B (1966, FR, ESP, POR)\n California Girls (1966, ESP)\n Wouldn't It Be Nice (1966, FR)\n God Only Knows (1966, UK) — #3 UK EPs\n Good Vibrations (1966, POR, SWE)\n Mountain Of Love (1967, ESP)\n White Christmas (1967, ESP)\n Wild Honey (1967, AUS) \n I Can Hear Music (1967, NZ)\n Cotton Fields (1970, BR)\n Sail On Sailor (1977, UK)\n 1969: I'm Going Your Way (2019)\n\nOther album appearances\n\nMusic videos\n\nSee also\nList of songs recorded by the Beach Boys\n\nNotes\n\nA Chart positions sourced from the 1972 re-release backed with Carl and the Passions — So Tough.\nB Chart positions are for the 1974 re-release of Wild Honey paired with 20/20.\nC Initially paired with a Pet Sounds re-release.\nD Chart position for the 1976 US release.\nE Canada's \"Surfin' U.S.A.\" peak position is taken from the 1974 re-release.\nF \"Marcella\" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at No. 110 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.\nG American and Canadian chart positions are for the 1975 re-release.\n\nH \"Little Saint Nick\" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Christmas Singles chart.\nI \"Why Do Fools Fall in Love\" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at No. 120 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.\nJ \"She Knows Me too Well\" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at No. 101 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.\nK \"The Man With All the Toys\" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Christmas Singles chart.\nL \"Little Deuce Coupe\" (with James House) chart position No. 31 refers to the CAN Country chart.. The song did not chart on the main singles chart.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nExtended Beach Boys Discography\nThe Ones That Got Away – a guide to the Beach Boys' lost albums\nComprehensive American discography\nComprehensive British discography\n\nDiscography\nDiscographies of American artists\nPop music group discographies\nRock music group discographies",
"\"If It Ain't Love\" and Other Great Dallas Frazier Songs is the nineteenth studio album by American country music artist, Connie Smith. The album was released in July 1972 by RCA Records and was produced by Bob Ferguson. The album spawned the album's title track, \"If It Ain't Love (Let's Leave It Alone)\".\n\nBackground \n\"If It Ain't Love\" and Other Great Dallas Frazier Songs consisted of ten tracks written by American country songwriter, Dallas Frazier, who had written many of Smith's past hits, including, \"Just for What I Am\" and \"Ain't Had No Lovin'.\" In addition, he had also written many tracks for Smith's previous albums, including her last 1972 release, Ain't We Havin' Us a Good Time (he had written half of the album's songs). It included a Gospel song written by Frazier, \"Laying on the Hands\"; by 1972, Smith was beginning to incorporate more Gospel music into many of her albums. The release was issued on a 12-inch LP record, with five songs on each side of the record. The album has not been released on a compact disc since its original issue by RCA in July 1972.\n\nOn three of the album's cuts, Frazier joined Smith as a duet partner.\n\nRelease \n\"If It Ain't Love\" and Other Great Dallas Frazier Songs spawned one single. The title track, \"If It Ain't Love (Let's Leave It Alone)\" was released as its only single in July 1972. The song became a Top 10 hit in the United States, as did two other singles released in 1972, \"Just for What I Am\" and \"Love Is the Look You're Looking for.\" As a single, \"If It Ain't Love\" reached a peak of #7 on the Billboard Magazine Hot Country Songs chart and #15 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart. The album itself also did extremely well. Released in July 1972, \"If It Ain't Love\" and Other Great Dallas Frazier Songs peaked at #14 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart upon its official release.\n\nTrack listing\n\nSales chart positions \nAlbum\n\nSingles\n\nReferences \n\n1972 albums\nConnie Smith albums\nRCA Records albums\nAlbums produced by Bob Ferguson (music)"
] |
[
"Doug Stone",
"2000-present: The Long Way, In a Different Light, and My Turn",
"What was going on with Doug in 2000?",
"Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000.",
"Did he have any other hobbies?",
"He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde.",
"What is in a different light?",
"His next album did not come out until 2005, when he signed to the independent label Lofton Creek Records, recording the album In a Different Light.",
"How did this album do?",
"Ken Tucker of Billboard wrote that \"He sounds as good as ever and his music is still relevant",
"Did he release other albums?",
"I don't know."
] |
C_3c5505f3fe1d4d51ba3368ec0d397aab_0
|
Did he go on tour?
| 6 |
Did Doug Stone go on tour?
|
Doug Stone
|
In December 1999, Stone was aboard an airplane which skidded off a snowy runway at O'Hare Airport in Chicago; there were no injuries. Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000. In March 2000, he suffered a broken left ankle, cracked rib, concussion, and bruised kidney after crashing his plane in Robertson County, Tennessee, and was briefly hospitalized before he resumed touring. Stone later said that the accident made him decide to quit flying planes. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, rumors circulated that Stone had been on one of the hijacked planes; a spokeswoman for the singer confirmed that he was at home with his family that day. Stone signed to Audium Entertainment in 2002 and recorded The Long Way. This album included seven new songs and acoustic re-recordings of "More Love", "Born in the Dark", and "I'd Be Better Off". One of the original songs on it was "POW 369", which was later recorded by Darryl Worley. Stewart Mason thought that it was "not nearly as suffocatingly slick" as Stone's previous albums, but questioned its commercial success. His next album did not come out until 2005, when he signed to the independent label Lofton Creek Records, recording the album In a Different Light. The album included a cover of "Georgia on My Mind", which was the first single, and re-recordings of "In a Different Light" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". A second album for Lofton Creek, My Turn, followed in 2007. It was led off by the single "Nice Problem". William Ruhlmann praised this album for having "a timeless country feel", also saying that "Stone sings with as much fervor and sincerity as ever." Ken Tucker of Billboard wrote that "He sounds as good as ever and his music is still relevant". In 2013, Stone toured with Bryan White and Shenandoah as part of the "Reliving the 90s Tour". He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde. CANNOTANSWER
|
In 2013, Stone toured with Bryan White and Shenandoah as part of the "Reliving the 90s Tour".
|
Doug Stone (born Douglas Jackson Brooks; June 19, 1956) is an American country music singer and actor. He debuted in 1990 with the single "I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)", the first release from his 1990 self-titled debut album for Epic Records. Both this album and its successor, 1991's I Thought It Was You, earned a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. Two more albums for Epic, 1992's From the Heart and 1994's More Love, are each certified gold. Stone moved to Columbia Records to record Faith in Me, Faith in You, which did not produce a Top Ten among its three singles. After suffering a heart attack and stroke in the late 1990s, he exited the label and did not release another album until Make Up in Love in 1999 on Atlantic Records. The Long Way was released in 2002 on the Audium label (now part of E1 Music), followed by two albums on the independent Lofton Creek Records.
Stone has charted twenty-six singles on Hot Country Songs, with his greatest chart success coming between 1990 and 1995. In this timespan, he had eight No. 1 singles on the Hot Country Songs charts including: "In a Different Light", "A Jukebox with a Country Song", "Too Busy Being in Love", and "Why Didn't I Think of That". He is known for his neotraditionalist country sound and his frequent recording of ballads.
Early life
Stone was born as Douglas Jackson Brooks on June 19, 1956, in Marietta, Georgia. His mother, who was also a country music singer, taught him how to play guitar when he was five. At age seven, his mother placed him onstage to open for Loretta Lynn. His mother and father later divorced, and he moved to live with his father. He found additional work singing as a teenager: first at local skating rinks, and then at local bars, and later as one member of a short-lived trio; in addition, he and his father worked as mechanics to make ends meet. He also built a recording studio in his house, while performing in local clubs. By 1982, Stone was suffering from depression brought on by his musical career, when a friend introduced him to Carie Cohen, who would later become his second wife. He played various local venues, and was discovered by a record label manager while singing at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall. The manager asked him for demos, which she then sent to Epic Records. He chose to record under the name Doug Stone, so as to avoid confusion with Garth Brooks. Record producer Doug Johnson played three tunes for Epic Records producer Bob Montgomery, who disliked the first two that he heard but enjoyed the third one. Through Montgomery's assistance, Stone signed with Epic in 1989, thus becoming the only artist that Montgomery ever signed without seeing perform live.
Musical career
1990–1991: Doug Stone
Stone's self-titled debut album was released in 1990 with Johnson as producer. Mac McAnally, Mark O'Connor, Paul Franklin, Brent Rowan, and Willie Weeks were among the session musicians on it. Contributing songwriters included David Lee Murphy, Larry Boone, Randy Boudreaux, A.L. "Doodle" Owens, and Keith Palmer, who would later chart two singles for Epic in 1991. Its first single, "I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)", spent twenty-five weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and peaked at No. 4. In addition, the single was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Song, and the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for U.S. shipments of one million copies. The album's next two singles were both Top Ten singles as well: "Fourteen Minutes Old" at No. 6 and "These Lips Don't Know How to Say Goodbye" at No. 5. Following these songs was "In a Different Light", co-written by Dickey Lee, which became Stone's first number 1 on Billboard. Stone received three music award nominations in 1991: the Horizon Award (now New Artist Award) from the Country Music Association, Star of Tomorrow from Music City News, and Top New Male Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music.
Brian Mansfield gave Doug Stone a four-and-a-half star rating out of five in his review for Allmusic. His review praised "I'd Be Better Off" in particular, calling the song a "towering expression of self-pity that most singers could spend a career trying to top," also saying that Stone "came close" to matching that song's quality in the album's ballads.
1991-1992: I Thought It Was You, From the Heart, and The First Christmas
I Thought It Was You, his second album, was released in August 1991. Also certified platinum, it produced three more chart singles: the No. 4 title track, followed by the number 1 "A Jukebox with a Country Song" and "Come In Out of the Pain" at No. 3. "A Jukebox with a Country Song" spent two weeks at number 1, thus becoming his only multi-week number 1 single. Stone co-wrote the track "The Feeling Never Goes Away" with Kim Williams and Phyllis Bennett, and then-labelmate Joe Diffie co-wrote "Burning Down the Town". Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly gave the album an "A", saying that it contained "sex-and-smolder ballads" comparable to Conway Twitty. Mansfield was less favorable, saying that Stone "seems to wallow in sorrow".
In early 1992, Stone began experiencing dizziness and pain in one of his arms. He also began feeling chest pains which he initially thought were heartburn. After feeling disoriented at a concert in Oregon, he canceled an appearance at the Academy of Country Music telecast. He then underwent quadruple bypass surgery at Centennial Medical Center to alleviate four severe arterial blockages near his heart which had initially gone undiscovered by doctors. Following the surgery, Stone changed his diet and began exercising, in addition to touring in support of his third album, From the Heart, released that August. The album's title was seen by many music writers, including Irwin Stambler and Grelun Landon of Country Music: The Encyclopedia, as ironic in the wake of Stone's heart surgery.
With a gold certification for shipments of 500,000 copies, From the Heart produced two more number 1 singles in "Too Busy Being in Love" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". The other two singles were "Warning Labels" and "Made for Lovin' You", at No. 4 and No. 6 respectively. The latter had previously been recorded by both Dan Seals and Clinton Gregory. Mansfield thought that From the Heart was more consistent than Stone's previous two albums, saying that his "voice is at its pain-wracked best" on "Warning Labels" and that "The heart references take on a special meaning given the open-heart surgery that preceded this album". Nash criticized the album as "sappy, lightweight tales of infatuation and starry-eyed courtship". One month after From the Heart, Stone released a Christmas album titled The First Christmas. Although this album produced no singles, "Sailing Home for Christmas" was made into a music video. Stone was nominated in both 1992 and 1993 for Star of Tomorrow by Music City News, and Top Male Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music, winning the former award in 1993. He toured in 1992 with Patty Loveless, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Hank Williams, Jr.
1993-1995: More Love and Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
His fourth album, More Love, was released in November 1993. Unlike his previous albums, Stone co-produced with James Stroud, except on the track "Dream High", which Stroud produced with Tom Bahler and Bruce Swedien. It also included different session musicians than his previous albums, such as guitarist Dann Huff and backing vocalist Curtis Wright. Its lead-off single was "I Never Knew Love", which spent two weeks at No. 2 on the country singles charts and accounted for his only entry on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 81. The album's next two singles were the No. 4 "Addicted to a Dollar" and the title track, which Stone wrote with Gary Burr, at No. 6. Tom Roland of New Country magazine criticized the album for "continu[ing] to mine the drippy side of Stone" through "manipulative" ballads, but cited "Addicted to a Dollar" and "Love, You Took Me by Surprise" as being "tougher" than Stone's previous works.
Starting in June 1994, Stone discovered that he was having breathing problems which were affecting his singing. He consulted throat doctors at Vanderbilt University's medical center, who failed to find any problems in his throat, while a second consultation revealed a lump in his left nostril. Upon its discovery, Stone feared that it might be cancer, and that it would put an end to his career. As a result, Stone quit smoking, although the lump was later discovered not to be cancerous and was successfully removed. While Stone was undergoing treatment, his Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 compilation was released in late 1994. Also receiving a gold certification, the album comprised nine of his previous hits and the new song "Little Houses", which debuted on the charts in October 1994 and peaked at No. 7 in early 1995. After its release, Stone made his acting debut in the 1995 film Gordy, in which he starred as Luke McAllister, a struggling musician. The movie's soundtrack featured four songs from More Love: "More Love", "That's a Lie", "Wishbone", and "Dream High", as well as two other songs that Stone performed: "The Heart I Broke" and "I Could Always Count on You".
1995-1999: Faith in Me, Faith in You and Make Up in Love
Also in 1995, parent company Sony Music Entertainment chose to move Stone from the Nashville division of Epic Records to that of Columbia Records. This decision was made to give Stone a new promotional team. His only Columbia album, Faith in Me, Faith in You, was released in March of that year, with Stroud again serving as co-producer. This album's three singles were comparatively less successful than his previous singles, with none reaching Top 10: the title track peaked at No. 13, followed by "Sometimes I Forget" at No. 41 (his first single to miss the Top 40) and "Born in the Dark" at No. 12. Stone suffered a nearly-fatal heart attack in December 1995 and a mild stroke in 1996, reducing his ability to record and tour. Stone would later remark that he was "lucky" to have survived his health issues in this timespan. One of his few performances in this timespan was at a show in Dollywood, a theme park owned by Dolly Parton, in mid-1996. His last charting single for Columbia was "Gone Out of My Mind", which he recorded for the multi-artist compilation album A Tribute to Tradition in 1998.
Stone signed with Atlantic Records and released Make Up in Love in 1999 under the production of Wally Wilson. A more pop-oriented album than his previous ones, the album produced a minor Top 20 hit in its title track. Its next singles were a cover of R.B. Greaves's 1969 single "Take a Letter Maria", which Stone took to number 45, and "Surprise", which spent only one week on the country charts, at number 64. Also included on the album were a duet with Leslie Satcher titled "The Heart Holds On", and the Bobby Braddock-penned "The Difference Between a Woman and a Man", which was later recorded by Josh Turner on his 2003 debut album Long Black Train. Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album a mixed review, saying that "Since Stone's voice is pleasant, the music is often pleasant, but it's hardly memorable." Andy Turner of Country Standard Time was more favorable, saying that it "does not come off 'too country for country' yet is still engaging largely because of Stone's voice — soft with built-in teardrops." Also in 1999, Stone and Skip Ewing co-wrote "In the Name of Love" on the only album released by female country duo Redmon & Vale.
2000-present: The Long Way, In a Different Light, and My Turn
In December 1999, Stone was aboard an airplane which skidded off a snowy runway at O'Hare Airport in Chicago; there were no injuries. Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000. In March 2000, he suffered a broken left ankle, cracked rib, concussion, and bruised kidney after crashing his plane in Robertson County, Tennessee, and was briefly hospitalized before he resumed touring. Stone later said that the accident made him decide to quit flying planes. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, rumors circulated that Stone had been on one of the hijacked planes; a spokeswoman for the singer confirmed that he was at home with his family that day.
Stone signed to Audium Entertainment in 2002 and recorded The Long Way. This album included seven new songs and acoustic re-recordings of "More Love", "Born in the Dark", and "I'd Be Better Off". One of the original songs on it was "POW 369", which was later recorded by Darryl Worley. Stewart Mason thought that it was "not nearly as suffocatingly slick" as Stone's previous albums, but questioned its commercial success. His next album did not come out until 2005, when he signed to the independent label Lofton Creek Records, recording the album In a Different Light. The album included a cover of "Georgia on My Mind", which was the first single, and re-recordings of "In a Different Light" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". A second album for Lofton Creek, My Turn, followed in 2007. It was led off by the single "Nice Problem". William Ruhlmann praised this album for having "a timeless country feel", also saying that "Stone sings with as much fervor and sincerity as ever." Ken Tucker of Billboard wrote that "He sounds as good as ever and his music is still relevant".
In 2013, Stone toured with Bryan White and Shenandoah as part of the "Reliving the 90s Tour". He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde.
Personal life
Stone married his second wife, Carie Cohen, in 1982. The couple separated in July 1994, and Cohen filed for divorce two months later, accusing Stone of excessive drinking and infidelity. He married Beth Snyder in December 1996 after being engaged to her for a year. As of 2005, he had one daughter, Baili, with Beth, and four children from his previous marriages: daughter Michelle and son Daniel from his first marriage, son Chanse and daughter Kala from his marriage to Cohen, Stone split from Snyder in late 2006 and returned to his Georgia home.
On March 29, 2015, Stone married fiddler Jade Jack in Greenville Texas. Doug and Jade have a daughter, Bristol Gail Brooks, born April 14, 2016.
Musical styles
Stone is known primarily for his neotraditionalist country sound, his baritone singing voice, and emphasis on ballads. In Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary, Richard Carlin describes him as "a solid country crooner whose style is reminiscent of Merle Haggard." Steve Huey of Allmusic wrote that Stone "made his name as a lonesome baritone balladeer, though he's also adept at hard uptempo country." Zell Miller, author of They Heard Georgia Singing, wrote that Stone has "established himself as a mellow country crooner who is known as 'Mr. Sensitive'" and "the Dean Martin of country music because of his unique flair for communicating the fragility of a broken heart with his delicate baritone voice and laid-back style."
Kurt Wolff of Country Music: The Rough Guide described Stone's musical style less favorably. He wrote that Stone seemed "schizophrenic. Half his reputation was established with self-deprecating downers like 'I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)', but then he'd just as easily turn around with a schmaltzy love song like 'Too Busy Being in Love'." He compared "I'd Be Better Off" and "Warning Labels" favorably to Haggard as well, and thought that the change of producers on More Love gave him a "much beefier sound".
Discography
Albums
Doug Stone (1990)
I Thought It Was You (1991)
From the Heart (1992)
The First Christmas (1992)
More Love (1993)
Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (1994)
Faith in Me, Faith in You (1995)
Make Up in Love (1999)
The Long Way (2002)
In a Different Light (2005)
My Turn (2007)
Filmography
Film
References
External links
Doug Stone official website
1956 births
Living people
American male singer-songwriters
American country singer-songwriters
Atlantic Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Epic Records artists
Lofton Creek Records artists
Musicians from Marietta, Georgia
Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state)
Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)
| true |
[
"Andrew Butterfield (born 7 January 1972) is an English professional golfer who plays on the Challenge Tour.\n\nCareer\nButterfield was born in London, England. He turned professional in 1993 and joined the Challenge Tour in 1996. He played on the Challenge Tour until qualifying for the European Tour through Q-School in 1999. Butterfield did not perform well enough on tour in 2000 to retain his card and had to go back to the Challenge Tour in 2001. He got his European Tour card back through Q-School again in 2001 and played on the European Tour in 2002 but did not find any success on tour. He returned to the Challenge Tour and played there until 2005 when he finished 4th on the Challenge Tour's Order of Merit which earned him his European Tour card for 2006. He did not play well enough in 2006 to retain his tour card but was able to get temporary status on tour for 2007 by finishing 129th on the Order of Merit. He played on the European Tour and the Challenge Tour in 2007 and has played only on the Challenge Tour since 2008. He picked up his first win on the Challenge Tour in Sweden at The Princess in June 2009. He also won an event on the PGA EuroPro Tour in 2004.\n\nProfessional wins (2)\n\nChallenge Tour wins (1)\n\nChallenge Tour playoff record (0–1)\n\nPGA EuroPro Tour wins (1)\n2004 Matchroom Golf Management International at Owston Hall\n\nPlayoff record\nEuropean Tour playoff record (0–1)\n\nResults in major championships\n\nNote: Butterfield only played in The Open Championship.\nCUT = missed the half-way cut\n\nSee also\n2005 Challenge Tour graduates\n2009 Challenge Tour graduates\n\nExternal links\n\nEnglish male golfers\nEuropean Tour golfers\nSportspeople from London\nPeople from the London Borough of Bromley\n1972 births\nLiving people",
"Doug Dunakey (born July 7, 1963) is an American former professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour. He is known for shooting a 59 in the 1998 Nike Miami Valley Open, becoming only the fourth player to shoot a 59 on a major tour. After his professional career, Dunakey became the golf coach at Lemon Bay High School.\n\nProfessional career\nDunakey joined the Nationwide Tour (then known as the Nike Tour) in 1998. Dunakey shot a 59 in the second round of the Nike Miami Valley Open. Dunakey could have shot a 58 but he three putted the 18th hole. Despite shooting a 59, he did not win the tournament, finishing in a tie for second behind Craig Bowden. He won his first title on tour at the Nike Cleveland Open the following week. This win helped him finish 15th on the tour's money list with $128,052. His 15th-place finish earned him his PGA Tour card for 1999. In his rookie year on the PGA Tour, Dunakey made 12 of 32 cuts while earning $298,069, good enough for a finish of 133rd on the money list. His best finish of the year came at the Honda Classic where he finished tied for third. Dunakey did not finish high enough on the money list to earn his PGA Tour card for 2000 so he earned it through qualifying school. In his second year on tour, Dunakey recorded two top ten finishes and earned $393,059. He finished 124th on the money list and in doing so, retained his tour card for 2001. 2001 did not go well for Dunakey and it would be his last year on the PGA Tour. He played on the Nationwide Tour in 2002 and 2003 before retiring.\n\nProfessional wins (2)\n\nNike Tour wins (1)\n\nOther wins (1)\n1997 Colorado Open\n\nResults in major championships\n\nCUT = missed the half-way cut\nNote: Dunakey only played in the U.S. Open.\n\nSee also\n1998 Nike Tour graduates\n1999 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates\nLowest rounds of golf\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nAmerican male golfers\nPGA Tour golfers\nKorn Ferry Tour graduates\nGolfers from Iowa\nGolfers from Florida\nCalifornia State University, Stanislaus alumni\nSportspeople from Waterloo, Iowa\nPeople from Port Charlotte, Florida\n1963 births\nLiving people"
] |
[
"Doug Stone",
"2000-present: The Long Way, In a Different Light, and My Turn",
"What was going on with Doug in 2000?",
"Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000.",
"Did he have any other hobbies?",
"He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde.",
"What is in a different light?",
"His next album did not come out until 2005, when he signed to the independent label Lofton Creek Records, recording the album In a Different Light.",
"How did this album do?",
"Ken Tucker of Billboard wrote that \"He sounds as good as ever and his music is still relevant",
"Did he release other albums?",
"I don't know.",
"Did he go on tour?",
"In 2013, Stone toured with Bryan White and Shenandoah as part of the \"Reliving the 90s Tour\"."
] |
C_3c5505f3fe1d4d51ba3368ec0d397aab_0
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Did anything else interesting happen?
| 7 |
Did anything else interesting happen to Doug Stone besides the tours?
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Doug Stone
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In December 1999, Stone was aboard an airplane which skidded off a snowy runway at O'Hare Airport in Chicago; there were no injuries. Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000. In March 2000, he suffered a broken left ankle, cracked rib, concussion, and bruised kidney after crashing his plane in Robertson County, Tennessee, and was briefly hospitalized before he resumed touring. Stone later said that the accident made him decide to quit flying planes. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, rumors circulated that Stone had been on one of the hijacked planes; a spokeswoman for the singer confirmed that he was at home with his family that day. Stone signed to Audium Entertainment in 2002 and recorded The Long Way. This album included seven new songs and acoustic re-recordings of "More Love", "Born in the Dark", and "I'd Be Better Off". One of the original songs on it was "POW 369", which was later recorded by Darryl Worley. Stewart Mason thought that it was "not nearly as suffocatingly slick" as Stone's previous albums, but questioned its commercial success. His next album did not come out until 2005, when he signed to the independent label Lofton Creek Records, recording the album In a Different Light. The album included a cover of "Georgia on My Mind", which was the first single, and re-recordings of "In a Different Light" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". A second album for Lofton Creek, My Turn, followed in 2007. It was led off by the single "Nice Problem". William Ruhlmann praised this album for having "a timeless country feel", also saying that "Stone sings with as much fervor and sincerity as ever." Ken Tucker of Billboard wrote that "He sounds as good as ever and his music is still relevant". In 2013, Stone toured with Bryan White and Shenandoah as part of the "Reliving the 90s Tour". He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde. CANNOTANSWER
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After the September 11, 2001 attacks, rumors circulated that Stone had been on one of the hijacked planes;
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Doug Stone (born Douglas Jackson Brooks; June 19, 1956) is an American country music singer and actor. He debuted in 1990 with the single "I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)", the first release from his 1990 self-titled debut album for Epic Records. Both this album and its successor, 1991's I Thought It Was You, earned a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. Two more albums for Epic, 1992's From the Heart and 1994's More Love, are each certified gold. Stone moved to Columbia Records to record Faith in Me, Faith in You, which did not produce a Top Ten among its three singles. After suffering a heart attack and stroke in the late 1990s, he exited the label and did not release another album until Make Up in Love in 1999 on Atlantic Records. The Long Way was released in 2002 on the Audium label (now part of E1 Music), followed by two albums on the independent Lofton Creek Records.
Stone has charted twenty-six singles on Hot Country Songs, with his greatest chart success coming between 1990 and 1995. In this timespan, he had eight No. 1 singles on the Hot Country Songs charts including: "In a Different Light", "A Jukebox with a Country Song", "Too Busy Being in Love", and "Why Didn't I Think of That". He is known for his neotraditionalist country sound and his frequent recording of ballads.
Early life
Stone was born as Douglas Jackson Brooks on June 19, 1956, in Marietta, Georgia. His mother, who was also a country music singer, taught him how to play guitar when he was five. At age seven, his mother placed him onstage to open for Loretta Lynn. His mother and father later divorced, and he moved to live with his father. He found additional work singing as a teenager: first at local skating rinks, and then at local bars, and later as one member of a short-lived trio; in addition, he and his father worked as mechanics to make ends meet. He also built a recording studio in his house, while performing in local clubs. By 1982, Stone was suffering from depression brought on by his musical career, when a friend introduced him to Carie Cohen, who would later become his second wife. He played various local venues, and was discovered by a record label manager while singing at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall. The manager asked him for demos, which she then sent to Epic Records. He chose to record under the name Doug Stone, so as to avoid confusion with Garth Brooks. Record producer Doug Johnson played three tunes for Epic Records producer Bob Montgomery, who disliked the first two that he heard but enjoyed the third one. Through Montgomery's assistance, Stone signed with Epic in 1989, thus becoming the only artist that Montgomery ever signed without seeing perform live.
Musical career
1990–1991: Doug Stone
Stone's self-titled debut album was released in 1990 with Johnson as producer. Mac McAnally, Mark O'Connor, Paul Franklin, Brent Rowan, and Willie Weeks were among the session musicians on it. Contributing songwriters included David Lee Murphy, Larry Boone, Randy Boudreaux, A.L. "Doodle" Owens, and Keith Palmer, who would later chart two singles for Epic in 1991. Its first single, "I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)", spent twenty-five weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and peaked at No. 4. In addition, the single was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Song, and the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for U.S. shipments of one million copies. The album's next two singles were both Top Ten singles as well: "Fourteen Minutes Old" at No. 6 and "These Lips Don't Know How to Say Goodbye" at No. 5. Following these songs was "In a Different Light", co-written by Dickey Lee, which became Stone's first number 1 on Billboard. Stone received three music award nominations in 1991: the Horizon Award (now New Artist Award) from the Country Music Association, Star of Tomorrow from Music City News, and Top New Male Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music.
Brian Mansfield gave Doug Stone a four-and-a-half star rating out of five in his review for Allmusic. His review praised "I'd Be Better Off" in particular, calling the song a "towering expression of self-pity that most singers could spend a career trying to top," also saying that Stone "came close" to matching that song's quality in the album's ballads.
1991-1992: I Thought It Was You, From the Heart, and The First Christmas
I Thought It Was You, his second album, was released in August 1991. Also certified platinum, it produced three more chart singles: the No. 4 title track, followed by the number 1 "A Jukebox with a Country Song" and "Come In Out of the Pain" at No. 3. "A Jukebox with a Country Song" spent two weeks at number 1, thus becoming his only multi-week number 1 single. Stone co-wrote the track "The Feeling Never Goes Away" with Kim Williams and Phyllis Bennett, and then-labelmate Joe Diffie co-wrote "Burning Down the Town". Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly gave the album an "A", saying that it contained "sex-and-smolder ballads" comparable to Conway Twitty. Mansfield was less favorable, saying that Stone "seems to wallow in sorrow".
In early 1992, Stone began experiencing dizziness and pain in one of his arms. He also began feeling chest pains which he initially thought were heartburn. After feeling disoriented at a concert in Oregon, he canceled an appearance at the Academy of Country Music telecast. He then underwent quadruple bypass surgery at Centennial Medical Center to alleviate four severe arterial blockages near his heart which had initially gone undiscovered by doctors. Following the surgery, Stone changed his diet and began exercising, in addition to touring in support of his third album, From the Heart, released that August. The album's title was seen by many music writers, including Irwin Stambler and Grelun Landon of Country Music: The Encyclopedia, as ironic in the wake of Stone's heart surgery.
With a gold certification for shipments of 500,000 copies, From the Heart produced two more number 1 singles in "Too Busy Being in Love" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". The other two singles were "Warning Labels" and "Made for Lovin' You", at No. 4 and No. 6 respectively. The latter had previously been recorded by both Dan Seals and Clinton Gregory. Mansfield thought that From the Heart was more consistent than Stone's previous two albums, saying that his "voice is at its pain-wracked best" on "Warning Labels" and that "The heart references take on a special meaning given the open-heart surgery that preceded this album". Nash criticized the album as "sappy, lightweight tales of infatuation and starry-eyed courtship". One month after From the Heart, Stone released a Christmas album titled The First Christmas. Although this album produced no singles, "Sailing Home for Christmas" was made into a music video. Stone was nominated in both 1992 and 1993 for Star of Tomorrow by Music City News, and Top Male Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music, winning the former award in 1993. He toured in 1992 with Patty Loveless, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Hank Williams, Jr.
1993-1995: More Love and Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
His fourth album, More Love, was released in November 1993. Unlike his previous albums, Stone co-produced with James Stroud, except on the track "Dream High", which Stroud produced with Tom Bahler and Bruce Swedien. It also included different session musicians than his previous albums, such as guitarist Dann Huff and backing vocalist Curtis Wright. Its lead-off single was "I Never Knew Love", which spent two weeks at No. 2 on the country singles charts and accounted for his only entry on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 81. The album's next two singles were the No. 4 "Addicted to a Dollar" and the title track, which Stone wrote with Gary Burr, at No. 6. Tom Roland of New Country magazine criticized the album for "continu[ing] to mine the drippy side of Stone" through "manipulative" ballads, but cited "Addicted to a Dollar" and "Love, You Took Me by Surprise" as being "tougher" than Stone's previous works.
Starting in June 1994, Stone discovered that he was having breathing problems which were affecting his singing. He consulted throat doctors at Vanderbilt University's medical center, who failed to find any problems in his throat, while a second consultation revealed a lump in his left nostril. Upon its discovery, Stone feared that it might be cancer, and that it would put an end to his career. As a result, Stone quit smoking, although the lump was later discovered not to be cancerous and was successfully removed. While Stone was undergoing treatment, his Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 compilation was released in late 1994. Also receiving a gold certification, the album comprised nine of his previous hits and the new song "Little Houses", which debuted on the charts in October 1994 and peaked at No. 7 in early 1995. After its release, Stone made his acting debut in the 1995 film Gordy, in which he starred as Luke McAllister, a struggling musician. The movie's soundtrack featured four songs from More Love: "More Love", "That's a Lie", "Wishbone", and "Dream High", as well as two other songs that Stone performed: "The Heart I Broke" and "I Could Always Count on You".
1995-1999: Faith in Me, Faith in You and Make Up in Love
Also in 1995, parent company Sony Music Entertainment chose to move Stone from the Nashville division of Epic Records to that of Columbia Records. This decision was made to give Stone a new promotional team. His only Columbia album, Faith in Me, Faith in You, was released in March of that year, with Stroud again serving as co-producer. This album's three singles were comparatively less successful than his previous singles, with none reaching Top 10: the title track peaked at No. 13, followed by "Sometimes I Forget" at No. 41 (his first single to miss the Top 40) and "Born in the Dark" at No. 12. Stone suffered a nearly-fatal heart attack in December 1995 and a mild stroke in 1996, reducing his ability to record and tour. Stone would later remark that he was "lucky" to have survived his health issues in this timespan. One of his few performances in this timespan was at a show in Dollywood, a theme park owned by Dolly Parton, in mid-1996. His last charting single for Columbia was "Gone Out of My Mind", which he recorded for the multi-artist compilation album A Tribute to Tradition in 1998.
Stone signed with Atlantic Records and released Make Up in Love in 1999 under the production of Wally Wilson. A more pop-oriented album than his previous ones, the album produced a minor Top 20 hit in its title track. Its next singles were a cover of R.B. Greaves's 1969 single "Take a Letter Maria", which Stone took to number 45, and "Surprise", which spent only one week on the country charts, at number 64. Also included on the album were a duet with Leslie Satcher titled "The Heart Holds On", and the Bobby Braddock-penned "The Difference Between a Woman and a Man", which was later recorded by Josh Turner on his 2003 debut album Long Black Train. Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album a mixed review, saying that "Since Stone's voice is pleasant, the music is often pleasant, but it's hardly memorable." Andy Turner of Country Standard Time was more favorable, saying that it "does not come off 'too country for country' yet is still engaging largely because of Stone's voice — soft with built-in teardrops." Also in 1999, Stone and Skip Ewing co-wrote "In the Name of Love" on the only album released by female country duo Redmon & Vale.
2000-present: The Long Way, In a Different Light, and My Turn
In December 1999, Stone was aboard an airplane which skidded off a snowy runway at O'Hare Airport in Chicago; there were no injuries. Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000. In March 2000, he suffered a broken left ankle, cracked rib, concussion, and bruised kidney after crashing his plane in Robertson County, Tennessee, and was briefly hospitalized before he resumed touring. Stone later said that the accident made him decide to quit flying planes. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, rumors circulated that Stone had been on one of the hijacked planes; a spokeswoman for the singer confirmed that he was at home with his family that day.
Stone signed to Audium Entertainment in 2002 and recorded The Long Way. This album included seven new songs and acoustic re-recordings of "More Love", "Born in the Dark", and "I'd Be Better Off". One of the original songs on it was "POW 369", which was later recorded by Darryl Worley. Stewart Mason thought that it was "not nearly as suffocatingly slick" as Stone's previous albums, but questioned its commercial success. His next album did not come out until 2005, when he signed to the independent label Lofton Creek Records, recording the album In a Different Light. The album included a cover of "Georgia on My Mind", which was the first single, and re-recordings of "In a Different Light" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". A second album for Lofton Creek, My Turn, followed in 2007. It was led off by the single "Nice Problem". William Ruhlmann praised this album for having "a timeless country feel", also saying that "Stone sings with as much fervor and sincerity as ever." Ken Tucker of Billboard wrote that "He sounds as good as ever and his music is still relevant".
In 2013, Stone toured with Bryan White and Shenandoah as part of the "Reliving the 90s Tour". He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde.
Personal life
Stone married his second wife, Carie Cohen, in 1982. The couple separated in July 1994, and Cohen filed for divorce two months later, accusing Stone of excessive drinking and infidelity. He married Beth Snyder in December 1996 after being engaged to her for a year. As of 2005, he had one daughter, Baili, with Beth, and four children from his previous marriages: daughter Michelle and son Daniel from his first marriage, son Chanse and daughter Kala from his marriage to Cohen, Stone split from Snyder in late 2006 and returned to his Georgia home.
On March 29, 2015, Stone married fiddler Jade Jack in Greenville Texas. Doug and Jade have a daughter, Bristol Gail Brooks, born April 14, 2016.
Musical styles
Stone is known primarily for his neotraditionalist country sound, his baritone singing voice, and emphasis on ballads. In Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary, Richard Carlin describes him as "a solid country crooner whose style is reminiscent of Merle Haggard." Steve Huey of Allmusic wrote that Stone "made his name as a lonesome baritone balladeer, though he's also adept at hard uptempo country." Zell Miller, author of They Heard Georgia Singing, wrote that Stone has "established himself as a mellow country crooner who is known as 'Mr. Sensitive'" and "the Dean Martin of country music because of his unique flair for communicating the fragility of a broken heart with his delicate baritone voice and laid-back style."
Kurt Wolff of Country Music: The Rough Guide described Stone's musical style less favorably. He wrote that Stone seemed "schizophrenic. Half his reputation was established with self-deprecating downers like 'I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)', but then he'd just as easily turn around with a schmaltzy love song like 'Too Busy Being in Love'." He compared "I'd Be Better Off" and "Warning Labels" favorably to Haggard as well, and thought that the change of producers on More Love gave him a "much beefier sound".
Discography
Albums
Doug Stone (1990)
I Thought It Was You (1991)
From the Heart (1992)
The First Christmas (1992)
More Love (1993)
Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (1994)
Faith in Me, Faith in You (1995)
Make Up in Love (1999)
The Long Way (2002)
In a Different Light (2005)
My Turn (2007)
Filmography
Film
References
External links
Doug Stone official website
1956 births
Living people
American male singer-songwriters
American country singer-songwriters
Atlantic Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Epic Records artists
Lofton Creek Records artists
Musicians from Marietta, Georgia
Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state)
Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)
| true |
[
"Anything Can Happen is a 1952 comedy-drama film.\n\nAnything Can Happen may also refer to:\n\n Anything Can Happen (album), by Leon Russell, 1994\n \"Anything Can Happen\", a 2019 song by Saint Jhn \n Edhuvum Nadakkum ('Anything Can Happen'), a season of the Tamil TV series Marmadesam\n \"Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour\", or \"Anything Can Happen\", a 2007 song by Enter Shikari\n Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour (EP), 2004\n\nSee also\n \"Anything Could Happen\", a 2012 song by Ellie Goulding \n Anything Might Happen, 1934 British crime film\n Special Effects: Anything Can Happen, a 1996 American documentary film\n \"Anything Can Happen on Halloween\", a song from the 1986 film The Worst Witch \n Anything Can Happen in the Theatre, a musical revue of works by Maury Yeston\n \"The Anything Can Happen Recurrence\", an episode of The Big Bang Theory (season 7)\n The Anupam Kher Show - Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai ('The Anupam Kher Show — Anything Can Happen') an Indian TV show",
"Tunnel vision is a term used when a shooter is focused on a target, and thus misses what goes on around that target. Therefore an innocent bystander may pass in front or behind of the target and be shot accidentally. This is easily understandable if the bystander is not visible in the telescopic sight (see Tunnel vision#Optical instruments), but can also happen without one. In this case, the mental concentration of the shooter is so focused on the target, that they fail to notice anything else.\n\nMarksmanship\nShooting sports"
] |
[
"Doug Stone",
"2000-present: The Long Way, In a Different Light, and My Turn",
"What was going on with Doug in 2000?",
"Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000.",
"Did he have any other hobbies?",
"He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde.",
"What is in a different light?",
"His next album did not come out until 2005, when he signed to the independent label Lofton Creek Records, recording the album In a Different Light.",
"How did this album do?",
"Ken Tucker of Billboard wrote that \"He sounds as good as ever and his music is still relevant",
"Did he release other albums?",
"I don't know.",
"Did he go on tour?",
"In 2013, Stone toured with Bryan White and Shenandoah as part of the \"Reliving the 90s Tour\".",
"Did anything else interesting happen?",
"After the September 11, 2001 attacks, rumors circulated that Stone had been on one of the hijacked planes;"
] |
C_3c5505f3fe1d4d51ba3368ec0d397aab_0
|
Were there any other rumors?
| 8 |
Were there any other rumors about Stones other than the hijacked planes?
|
Doug Stone
|
In December 1999, Stone was aboard an airplane which skidded off a snowy runway at O'Hare Airport in Chicago; there were no injuries. Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000. In March 2000, he suffered a broken left ankle, cracked rib, concussion, and bruised kidney after crashing his plane in Robertson County, Tennessee, and was briefly hospitalized before he resumed touring. Stone later said that the accident made him decide to quit flying planes. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, rumors circulated that Stone had been on one of the hijacked planes; a spokeswoman for the singer confirmed that he was at home with his family that day. Stone signed to Audium Entertainment in 2002 and recorded The Long Way. This album included seven new songs and acoustic re-recordings of "More Love", "Born in the Dark", and "I'd Be Better Off". One of the original songs on it was "POW 369", which was later recorded by Darryl Worley. Stewart Mason thought that it was "not nearly as suffocatingly slick" as Stone's previous albums, but questioned its commercial success. His next album did not come out until 2005, when he signed to the independent label Lofton Creek Records, recording the album In a Different Light. The album included a cover of "Georgia on My Mind", which was the first single, and re-recordings of "In a Different Light" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". A second album for Lofton Creek, My Turn, followed in 2007. It was led off by the single "Nice Problem". William Ruhlmann praised this album for having "a timeless country feel", also saying that "Stone sings with as much fervor and sincerity as ever." Ken Tucker of Billboard wrote that "He sounds as good as ever and his music is still relevant". In 2013, Stone toured with Bryan White and Shenandoah as part of the "Reliving the 90s Tour". He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde. CANNOTANSWER
|
CANNOTANSWER
|
Doug Stone (born Douglas Jackson Brooks; June 19, 1956) is an American country music singer and actor. He debuted in 1990 with the single "I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)", the first release from his 1990 self-titled debut album for Epic Records. Both this album and its successor, 1991's I Thought It Was You, earned a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. Two more albums for Epic, 1992's From the Heart and 1994's More Love, are each certified gold. Stone moved to Columbia Records to record Faith in Me, Faith in You, which did not produce a Top Ten among its three singles. After suffering a heart attack and stroke in the late 1990s, he exited the label and did not release another album until Make Up in Love in 1999 on Atlantic Records. The Long Way was released in 2002 on the Audium label (now part of E1 Music), followed by two albums on the independent Lofton Creek Records.
Stone has charted twenty-six singles on Hot Country Songs, with his greatest chart success coming between 1990 and 1995. In this timespan, he had eight No. 1 singles on the Hot Country Songs charts including: "In a Different Light", "A Jukebox with a Country Song", "Too Busy Being in Love", and "Why Didn't I Think of That". He is known for his neotraditionalist country sound and his frequent recording of ballads.
Early life
Stone was born as Douglas Jackson Brooks on June 19, 1956, in Marietta, Georgia. His mother, who was also a country music singer, taught him how to play guitar when he was five. At age seven, his mother placed him onstage to open for Loretta Lynn. His mother and father later divorced, and he moved to live with his father. He found additional work singing as a teenager: first at local skating rinks, and then at local bars, and later as one member of a short-lived trio; in addition, he and his father worked as mechanics to make ends meet. He also built a recording studio in his house, while performing in local clubs. By 1982, Stone was suffering from depression brought on by his musical career, when a friend introduced him to Carie Cohen, who would later become his second wife. He played various local venues, and was discovered by a record label manager while singing at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall. The manager asked him for demos, which she then sent to Epic Records. He chose to record under the name Doug Stone, so as to avoid confusion with Garth Brooks. Record producer Doug Johnson played three tunes for Epic Records producer Bob Montgomery, who disliked the first two that he heard but enjoyed the third one. Through Montgomery's assistance, Stone signed with Epic in 1989, thus becoming the only artist that Montgomery ever signed without seeing perform live.
Musical career
1990–1991: Doug Stone
Stone's self-titled debut album was released in 1990 with Johnson as producer. Mac McAnally, Mark O'Connor, Paul Franklin, Brent Rowan, and Willie Weeks were among the session musicians on it. Contributing songwriters included David Lee Murphy, Larry Boone, Randy Boudreaux, A.L. "Doodle" Owens, and Keith Palmer, who would later chart two singles for Epic in 1991. Its first single, "I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)", spent twenty-five weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and peaked at No. 4. In addition, the single was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Song, and the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for U.S. shipments of one million copies. The album's next two singles were both Top Ten singles as well: "Fourteen Minutes Old" at No. 6 and "These Lips Don't Know How to Say Goodbye" at No. 5. Following these songs was "In a Different Light", co-written by Dickey Lee, which became Stone's first number 1 on Billboard. Stone received three music award nominations in 1991: the Horizon Award (now New Artist Award) from the Country Music Association, Star of Tomorrow from Music City News, and Top New Male Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music.
Brian Mansfield gave Doug Stone a four-and-a-half star rating out of five in his review for Allmusic. His review praised "I'd Be Better Off" in particular, calling the song a "towering expression of self-pity that most singers could spend a career trying to top," also saying that Stone "came close" to matching that song's quality in the album's ballads.
1991-1992: I Thought It Was You, From the Heart, and The First Christmas
I Thought It Was You, his second album, was released in August 1991. Also certified platinum, it produced three more chart singles: the No. 4 title track, followed by the number 1 "A Jukebox with a Country Song" and "Come In Out of the Pain" at No. 3. "A Jukebox with a Country Song" spent two weeks at number 1, thus becoming his only multi-week number 1 single. Stone co-wrote the track "The Feeling Never Goes Away" with Kim Williams and Phyllis Bennett, and then-labelmate Joe Diffie co-wrote "Burning Down the Town". Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly gave the album an "A", saying that it contained "sex-and-smolder ballads" comparable to Conway Twitty. Mansfield was less favorable, saying that Stone "seems to wallow in sorrow".
In early 1992, Stone began experiencing dizziness and pain in one of his arms. He also began feeling chest pains which he initially thought were heartburn. After feeling disoriented at a concert in Oregon, he canceled an appearance at the Academy of Country Music telecast. He then underwent quadruple bypass surgery at Centennial Medical Center to alleviate four severe arterial blockages near his heart which had initially gone undiscovered by doctors. Following the surgery, Stone changed his diet and began exercising, in addition to touring in support of his third album, From the Heart, released that August. The album's title was seen by many music writers, including Irwin Stambler and Grelun Landon of Country Music: The Encyclopedia, as ironic in the wake of Stone's heart surgery.
With a gold certification for shipments of 500,000 copies, From the Heart produced two more number 1 singles in "Too Busy Being in Love" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". The other two singles were "Warning Labels" and "Made for Lovin' You", at No. 4 and No. 6 respectively. The latter had previously been recorded by both Dan Seals and Clinton Gregory. Mansfield thought that From the Heart was more consistent than Stone's previous two albums, saying that his "voice is at its pain-wracked best" on "Warning Labels" and that "The heart references take on a special meaning given the open-heart surgery that preceded this album". Nash criticized the album as "sappy, lightweight tales of infatuation and starry-eyed courtship". One month after From the Heart, Stone released a Christmas album titled The First Christmas. Although this album produced no singles, "Sailing Home for Christmas" was made into a music video. Stone was nominated in both 1992 and 1993 for Star of Tomorrow by Music City News, and Top Male Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music, winning the former award in 1993. He toured in 1992 with Patty Loveless, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Hank Williams, Jr.
1993-1995: More Love and Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
His fourth album, More Love, was released in November 1993. Unlike his previous albums, Stone co-produced with James Stroud, except on the track "Dream High", which Stroud produced with Tom Bahler and Bruce Swedien. It also included different session musicians than his previous albums, such as guitarist Dann Huff and backing vocalist Curtis Wright. Its lead-off single was "I Never Knew Love", which spent two weeks at No. 2 on the country singles charts and accounted for his only entry on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 81. The album's next two singles were the No. 4 "Addicted to a Dollar" and the title track, which Stone wrote with Gary Burr, at No. 6. Tom Roland of New Country magazine criticized the album for "continu[ing] to mine the drippy side of Stone" through "manipulative" ballads, but cited "Addicted to a Dollar" and "Love, You Took Me by Surprise" as being "tougher" than Stone's previous works.
Starting in June 1994, Stone discovered that he was having breathing problems which were affecting his singing. He consulted throat doctors at Vanderbilt University's medical center, who failed to find any problems in his throat, while a second consultation revealed a lump in his left nostril. Upon its discovery, Stone feared that it might be cancer, and that it would put an end to his career. As a result, Stone quit smoking, although the lump was later discovered not to be cancerous and was successfully removed. While Stone was undergoing treatment, his Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 compilation was released in late 1994. Also receiving a gold certification, the album comprised nine of his previous hits and the new song "Little Houses", which debuted on the charts in October 1994 and peaked at No. 7 in early 1995. After its release, Stone made his acting debut in the 1995 film Gordy, in which he starred as Luke McAllister, a struggling musician. The movie's soundtrack featured four songs from More Love: "More Love", "That's a Lie", "Wishbone", and "Dream High", as well as two other songs that Stone performed: "The Heart I Broke" and "I Could Always Count on You".
1995-1999: Faith in Me, Faith in You and Make Up in Love
Also in 1995, parent company Sony Music Entertainment chose to move Stone from the Nashville division of Epic Records to that of Columbia Records. This decision was made to give Stone a new promotional team. His only Columbia album, Faith in Me, Faith in You, was released in March of that year, with Stroud again serving as co-producer. This album's three singles were comparatively less successful than his previous singles, with none reaching Top 10: the title track peaked at No. 13, followed by "Sometimes I Forget" at No. 41 (his first single to miss the Top 40) and "Born in the Dark" at No. 12. Stone suffered a nearly-fatal heart attack in December 1995 and a mild stroke in 1996, reducing his ability to record and tour. Stone would later remark that he was "lucky" to have survived his health issues in this timespan. One of his few performances in this timespan was at a show in Dollywood, a theme park owned by Dolly Parton, in mid-1996. His last charting single for Columbia was "Gone Out of My Mind", which he recorded for the multi-artist compilation album A Tribute to Tradition in 1998.
Stone signed with Atlantic Records and released Make Up in Love in 1999 under the production of Wally Wilson. A more pop-oriented album than his previous ones, the album produced a minor Top 20 hit in its title track. Its next singles were a cover of R.B. Greaves's 1969 single "Take a Letter Maria", which Stone took to number 45, and "Surprise", which spent only one week on the country charts, at number 64. Also included on the album were a duet with Leslie Satcher titled "The Heart Holds On", and the Bobby Braddock-penned "The Difference Between a Woman and a Man", which was later recorded by Josh Turner on his 2003 debut album Long Black Train. Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album a mixed review, saying that "Since Stone's voice is pleasant, the music is often pleasant, but it's hardly memorable." Andy Turner of Country Standard Time was more favorable, saying that it "does not come off 'too country for country' yet is still engaging largely because of Stone's voice — soft with built-in teardrops." Also in 1999, Stone and Skip Ewing co-wrote "In the Name of Love" on the only album released by female country duo Redmon & Vale.
2000-present: The Long Way, In a Different Light, and My Turn
In December 1999, Stone was aboard an airplane which skidded off a snowy runway at O'Hare Airport in Chicago; there were no injuries. Stone began piloting ultra-light airplanes as a hobby in 1999 and 2000. In March 2000, he suffered a broken left ankle, cracked rib, concussion, and bruised kidney after crashing his plane in Robertson County, Tennessee, and was briefly hospitalized before he resumed touring. Stone later said that the accident made him decide to quit flying planes. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, rumors circulated that Stone had been on one of the hijacked planes; a spokeswoman for the singer confirmed that he was at home with his family that day.
Stone signed to Audium Entertainment in 2002 and recorded The Long Way. This album included seven new songs and acoustic re-recordings of "More Love", "Born in the Dark", and "I'd Be Better Off". One of the original songs on it was "POW 369", which was later recorded by Darryl Worley. Stewart Mason thought that it was "not nearly as suffocatingly slick" as Stone's previous albums, but questioned its commercial success. His next album did not come out until 2005, when he signed to the independent label Lofton Creek Records, recording the album In a Different Light. The album included a cover of "Georgia on My Mind", which was the first single, and re-recordings of "In a Different Light" and "Why Didn't I Think of That". A second album for Lofton Creek, My Turn, followed in 2007. It was led off by the single "Nice Problem". William Ruhlmann praised this album for having "a timeless country feel", also saying that "Stone sings with as much fervor and sincerity as ever." Ken Tucker of Billboard wrote that "He sounds as good as ever and his music is still relevant".
In 2013, Stone toured with Bryan White and Shenandoah as part of the "Reliving the 90s Tour". He also returned to acting, with roles in the films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde.
Personal life
Stone married his second wife, Carie Cohen, in 1982. The couple separated in July 1994, and Cohen filed for divorce two months later, accusing Stone of excessive drinking and infidelity. He married Beth Snyder in December 1996 after being engaged to her for a year. As of 2005, he had one daughter, Baili, with Beth, and four children from his previous marriages: daughter Michelle and son Daniel from his first marriage, son Chanse and daughter Kala from his marriage to Cohen, Stone split from Snyder in late 2006 and returned to his Georgia home.
On March 29, 2015, Stone married fiddler Jade Jack in Greenville Texas. Doug and Jade have a daughter, Bristol Gail Brooks, born April 14, 2016.
Musical styles
Stone is known primarily for his neotraditionalist country sound, his baritone singing voice, and emphasis on ballads. In Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary, Richard Carlin describes him as "a solid country crooner whose style is reminiscent of Merle Haggard." Steve Huey of Allmusic wrote that Stone "made his name as a lonesome baritone balladeer, though he's also adept at hard uptempo country." Zell Miller, author of They Heard Georgia Singing, wrote that Stone has "established himself as a mellow country crooner who is known as 'Mr. Sensitive'" and "the Dean Martin of country music because of his unique flair for communicating the fragility of a broken heart with his delicate baritone voice and laid-back style."
Kurt Wolff of Country Music: The Rough Guide described Stone's musical style less favorably. He wrote that Stone seemed "schizophrenic. Half his reputation was established with self-deprecating downers like 'I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)', but then he'd just as easily turn around with a schmaltzy love song like 'Too Busy Being in Love'." He compared "I'd Be Better Off" and "Warning Labels" favorably to Haggard as well, and thought that the change of producers on More Love gave him a "much beefier sound".
Discography
Albums
Doug Stone (1990)
I Thought It Was You (1991)
From the Heart (1992)
The First Christmas (1992)
More Love (1993)
Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (1994)
Faith in Me, Faith in You (1995)
Make Up in Love (1999)
The Long Way (2002)
In a Different Light (2005)
My Turn (2007)
Filmography
Film
References
External links
Doug Stone official website
1956 births
Living people
American male singer-songwriters
American country singer-songwriters
Atlantic Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Epic Records artists
Lofton Creek Records artists
Musicians from Marietta, Georgia
Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state)
Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)
| false |
[
"Vicious Rumors is the sole studio album from the R&B band Timex Social Club, released in 1986. It contains the group's Billboard Hot 100 top 10 and R&B #1 hit \"Rumors,\" as well as the follow-up R&B hits \"Thinkin' About Ya\" and \"Mixed Up World.\"\n\nMusic videos were made for \"Rumors\" and \"Mixed Up World.\"\n\nTrack listings\nAll songs written by Michael Marshall, except where noted.\n\nU.S. version\nThe version released in the United States features a different track order from the editions released abroad.\n\"Rumors\"\n\"Thinkin' About Ya'\"\n\"Mixed Up World\"\n\"Only You\"\n\"Vicious Rumors (Euromix)\n\"Just Kickin' It\"\n\"Go Away Little Girl\"\n\"Cokelife\"\n\"360° (Natty Prep)\"\n\n(all track lengths are the same as on other versions)\n\nPersonnel\nMichael Marshall: Vocals\nJay Logan: Vocals, Keyboards, Drum Programming\nSteve McCraw: Guitars\nBob Spencer: Tenor Sax\nBryan \"Beat Creator\" Franklin: Beatbox\nIsaiah Mosely, Chris Jordan: Drum Programming\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n [ Vicious Rumors @ AllMusic.com]\n Vicious Rumors @ Discogs.com\n U.S. version of Vicious Rumors @ Discogs.com\n\n1986 debut albums\nTimex Social Club albums\nFantasy Records albums\nA&M Records albums\nMercury Records albums",
"Nguyễn Thị Hương (阮氏香), also known as Học phi (學妃; lit. Concubine of Learnedness) was a wife of Emperor Tự Đức of the Nguyễn Dynasty of Vietnam and adoptive mother of Emperor Kiến Phúc. Following Kiến Phúc's accession to the throne, Hương was elevated to the position of one of the Tam Cung (三宮), three most powerful palace women who played a significant role in the enthronement and dethronement of Nguyễn Emperors Kiến Phúc, and Hàm Nghi.\n\nAfter Emperor Kiến Phúc's unexpected death in 1884, there were spreading rumors of her involvement in the incident. According to A. Delvaux, Hương had an affair with Nguyễn Văn Tường - a regent that Tự Đức had appointed to guide his successors. She and Tường were caught together by Emperor Kiến Phúc, who vowed to kill them. On that same night, Học Phi slipped poison into Kiến Phúc's medicine, resulting in the emperor's death. These rumors however, have never been validated by any official document.\n\nReferences\n\nYear of birth missing\nYear of death missing\nConcubines\n \nVietnamese empresses\n19th-century Vietnamese women"
] |
[
"Mark Taylor (cricketer)",
"Record-breaking start"
] |
C_c02566c846f942b497e2979d437e313b_0
|
When was his record breaking start?
| 1 |
When did cricketer Mark Taylor's record breaking start?
|
Mark Taylor (cricketer)
|
Beginning with a century at Headingley in his First Test against England, Taylor amassed 839 runs at 83.90 in the six Tests: the second best aggregate in an Ashes series in England, behind Don Bradman's 974 runs in 1930. He occupied the crease for a total of 38 hours, more than six full days of play. The highlight of his tour was the Fifth Test at Trent Bridge when he and Geoff Marsh became the first pair to bat throughout a day's play of Test cricket in England, amassing 301 runs. Taylor made 219 in a partnership of 329, an Ashes record. He finished with 71 and 48 in the Sixth Test to overtake Neil Harvey for the third-highest series aggregate in Test history and totalled 1,669 first-class runs for the tour. Australia won the series 4-0 to regain the Ashes. However, Taylor was overlooked for selection in the ODIs. Returning to Australia, Taylor made 1,403 first-class runs at 70.15 during the 1989-90 season, and ended 1989 with 1,219 Test runs, thus becoming the first player to better one thousand Test runs in his debut calendar year, something only matched twice since by England opener Alastair Cook and Australian Adam Voges. In Taylor's first nine Tests, Australia passed 400 in the first innings. He scored centuries in successive Tests against Sri Lanka, and against Pakistan his scores were 52 and 101 at the MCG, 77 and 59 at the Adelaide Oval and an unbeaten 101 at Sydney. Australia won both series 1-0. In just over twelve months, he had amassed 1,618 runs at 70.35. This outstanding start to his career earned Taylor nomination as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1990. At the season's end, he demonstrated his leadership abilities for the first time. Standing in as NSW captain in place of the injured Geoff Lawson for the 1989-90 Sheffield Shield final in Sydney, Taylor scored 127 and 100. NSW won by 345 runs to secure its 40th title. A year after his Test debut, Taylor was selected to make his ODI debut, which came on Boxing Day of 1989 against Sri Lanka. He made 11 as Australia won by 30 runs. He was selected for nine of Australia's ten ODIs for the season's triangular tournament, scoring 294 runs at 32.66 with two half-centuries. His highest score of 76 came as Australia defeated Pakistan by 69 runs to clinch the finals series in Sydney. The season ended with ODI tournaments in New Zealand and Sharjah. He played six of the eight matches, scoring 222 runs at 37.00 with two half-centuries, but was dropped for the final in New Zealand. CANNOTANSWER
|
Beginning with a century at Headingley in his First Test against England, Taylor amassed 839 runs at 83.90 in the six Tests:
|
Mark Anthony Taylor (born 27 October 1964) is a former Australian cricketer and currently a Cricket Australia director and Nine Network commentator.
He was Test opening batsman from 1988 to 1999, as well as captain from 1994 to 1999, succeeding Allan Border. His predominant fielding position was first slip. He was widely regarded as an instrumental component in Australia's rise to Test cricket dominance, and his captaincy was regarded as adventurous and highly effective. However, he was considered less than ideal for One-Day International cricket and was eventually dropped as one-day captain after a 0–3 drubbing at the hands of England in 1997.
He moved to Wagga Wagga in 1972 and played for Lake Albert Cricket Club. His debut was for New South Wales in 1985.
He retired from Test cricket on 2 February 1999. In 104 Test matches, he scored 7,525 runs with a batting average of 43.49, including 19 centuries and 40 fifties. He was also an excellent first slip – his 157 catches, at the time, a Test record (now held by Rahul Dravid). In contrast to his predecessor Allan Border, who acquired the nickname 'Captain Grumpy', Taylor won plaudits for his always cheerful and positive demeanour. His successor, Steve Waugh, further honed the Australian team built by Border and Taylor and went on to set numerous records for victories as captain. Having been named Australian of the Year in 1999, he is now a cricket commentator for the Nine Network, and former Director of Cricket Australia.
Early years
The second of three children born to bank manager Tony Taylor, and his wife Judy, Mark Taylor's early years were spent at Wagga Wagga, where his family relocated when he was eight. His father had a sporting background, playing first grade rugby in Newcastle. The young Taylor preferred Australian rules football and cricket. He learned to bat in the family garage, with his father throwing cork balls to him. Taylor idolised Arthur Morris, the left-handed opening batsmen from New South Wales who led the aggregates on the 1948 "Invincibles" tour of England.
Taylor played for his primary school as an opening batsman, and made his first century at the age of thirteen for the Lake Albert club at Bolton Park in Wagga. His family then moved to the north shore of Sydney, where he joined Northern District in Sydney Grade Cricket. Completing his secondary education at Chatswood High School, he later obtained a degree in surveying at the University of New South Wales in 1987. Along with the Waugh twins, Steve and Mark, Taylor played in under-19 youth internationals for Australia against Sri Lanka in 1982–83.
Taylor made his Sheffield Shield debut in 1985–86 when NSW was depleted by the defection of regular openers Steve Smith and John Dyson to a rebel tour of South Africa. Opening with fellow debutant Mark Waugh, he scored 12 and 56 not out against Tasmania. His first season was highlighted by home and away centuries against South Australia in a total of 937 runs at 49.31 average. He had a lean season in 1987–88, after which he spent the English summer with Greenmount, helping them to win their first Bolton League title by scoring more than 1,300 runs at an average of 70.
International career
Test career
Solid form for NSW in 1988–89 resulted in Taylor's selection for his Test debut in the Fourth Test against the West Indies at the SCG, replacing middle-order batsman Graeme Wood. For three years, the opening combination of Geoff Marsh and David Boon had been successful for Australia. However, team coach Bob Simpson wanted a left and right-handed opening combination, and stability added to the middle order. Therefore, the left-handed Taylor partnered the right-handed Marsh, while Boon batted at number three. Taylor's safe catching at slip was also a factor in his selection. He made 25 and 3 in a winning team, then was run out twice in the Fifth Test. A first-class aggregate of 1,241 runs (at 49.64 average) for the season earned him a place on the 1989 Ashes tour.
Record-breaking start
Beginning with a century at Headingley in his First Test against England, Taylor amassed 839 runs at 83.90 in the six Tests: the second best aggregate in an Ashes series in England, behind Don Bradman's 974 runs in 1930. He occupied the crease for a total of 38 hours, more than six full days of play. The highlight of his tour was the Fifth Test at Trent Bridge when he and Geoff Marsh became the first pair to bat throughout a day's play of Test cricket in England, amassing 301 runs. Taylor made 219 in a partnership of 329, an Ashes record. He finished with 71 and 48 in the Sixth Test to overtake Neil Harvey for the third-highest series aggregate in Test history and totalled 1,669 first-class runs for the tour. Australia won the series 4–0 to regain the Ashes. However, Taylor was overlooked for selection in the ODIs.
Returning to Australia, Taylor made 1,403 first-class runs at 70.15 during the 1989–90 season, and ended 1989 with 1,219 Test runs, thus becoming the first player to better one thousand Test runs in his debut calendar year, something only matched twice since by England opener Alastair Cook and Australian Adam Voges. In Taylor's first nine Tests, Australia passed 400 in the first innings. He scored centuries in successive Tests against Sri Lanka, and against Pakistan his scores were 52 and 101 at the MCG, 77 and 59 at the Adelaide Oval and an unbeaten 101 at Sydney. Australia won both series 1–0. In just over twelve months, he had amassed 1,618 runs at 70.35. This outstanding start to his career earned Taylor nomination as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1990. At the season's end, he demonstrated his leadership abilities for the first time. Standing in as NSW captain in place of the injured Geoff Lawson for the 1989–90 Sheffield Shield final in Sydney, Taylor scored 127 and 100. NSW won by 345 runs to secure its 40th title.
A year after his Test debut, Taylor was selected to make his ODI debut, which came on Boxing Day of 1989 against Sri Lanka. He made 11 as Australia won by 30 runs. He was selected for nine of Australia's ten ODIs for the season's triangular tournament, scoring 294 runs at 32.66 with two half-centuries. His highest score of 76 came as Australia defeated Pakistan by 69 runs to clinch the finals series in Sydney. The season ended with ODI tournaments in New Zealand and Sharjah. He played six of the eight matches, scoring 222 runs at 37.00 with two half-centuries, but was dropped for the final in New Zealand.
Inconsistent form
Taylor experienced a slump during the 1990–91 Ashes series. After making two-half centuries in the first two Tests, he failed to pass 20 in the last three and finished with 213 runs at 23.66 in a team that won 3–0. He found himself on the outer for the ODI triangular tournament, missing all eight of the preliminary matches before returning to score 41 and 71 as Australia won the finals 2–0.
His moderate form continued during the 1991 tour of the West Indies, where he was selected in only two of the five ODIs, scoring three and five. He ended the run with a rear-guard innings of 76 in the second innings of the Fourth Test at Barbados. Despite his effort, Australia lost and the West Indies took an unassailable lead of 2–0. In the Fifth Test St. Johns, Antigua, Australia gained a consolation victory due mainly to Taylor's scores of 59 and 144 (out of a total of 265). This late rush of form boosted his average for the series to 49. In late 1991, before the Australian season started, Taylor was appointed to lead an Australia A side to tour Zimbabwe. The team was composed of younger Test players and other young players who were seeking to break into international cricket. The selectors were attempting to groom Taylor as a potential replacement for Border.
During the 1991–92 Australian season, Taylor batted consistently in a 4–0 series victory over India. He scored 94 and 35* in a ten-wicket win at Brisbane. He scored half-centuries in each of the next two Tests before striking 100 in the second innings of the Fourth Test at Adelaide. It helped Australia to wipe out a first innings deficit of 80 and set up a winning target. His opening partner Marsh was dropped for the Fifth Test, so the selectors elevated Taylor to the vice-captaincy of the team. Over the next twelve months, a number of players were tried as Taylor's opening partner. Taylor struggled in his first match with new partner Wayne N. Phillips, scoring two and 16. Nevertheless, he had scored 422 runs at 46.89. Taylor continued to be overlooked by the selectors in the shorter version of the game, missing selection for all of the season's triangular tournament. He was selected for the squad for the 1992 Cricket World Cup held on home soil, and after Australia lost its first two matches, Taylor was recalled for his first ODI in 12 months. He made 13 as Australia beat India by one run, but scored his first ODI duck in the next match as England won by eight wickets. He was dropped for the remainder of the tournament.
On the 1992 tour of Sri Lanka, Taylor struggled in scoring 148 runs at 24.67. After scoring 42 and 43 in Australia's win in the First Test, Taylor failed to again pass 30. With new opening partner Tom Moody also struggling with 71 runs at 11.83, Australia frequently struggled at the top of their innings. He played in all three ODIs, scoring 138 runs at 46.00. His 94 in the first match was his highest score in ODIs to that point.
Against the West Indies in 1992–93, Taylor was now opening alongside David Boon with Moody having been dropped. Taylor was ineffective and failed to pass fifty in the first four Tests. After Australia failed by one run to win the Fourth Test and thus the series, Taylor was dropped for the deciding Test at Perth, having failed to make double figures in either innings. In his absence, Australia lost by an innings in three days and conceded the series 1–2. He had scored 170 runs at 24.29 for the series. However, he played all of Australia's ten ODIs, scoring 286 runs at 28.60 with two half-centuries.
Taylor and Slater
As a result of the innings defeat in Perth, Taylor was immediately recalled for the tour of New Zealand, where he scored 82 in the First Test at Christchurch to help Australia to an innings victory. He then scored 50 in the drawn Second Test and bowled for the first time at Test level, taking 0/15. He failed to pass 20 in the Third Test and ended the series with 148 runs at 37.00 as the home side squared the series. Australia then played five ODIs in New Zealand before starting the England tour with three more. Taylor played in all eight, scoring 307 runs at 38.38 with four half-centuries.
The problem of finding him a long-term partner was solved on the tour of England that followed. NSW batsman Michael Slater, who also grew up in Wagga Wagga, made his debut in the First Test of the 1993 Ashes series. In the First Test at Old Trafford, Taylor made 124 after an opening partnership of 128, as Australia managed only 289 after being sent in. Australia managed to scrape out a lead of 79, before going on to a 179-run win.
This was followed by a stand of 260 at Lord's in the Second Test, with Taylor making 111. In the process, he passed 1000 Test runs against England and the partnership broke the Ashes partnership record at Lord's, which had been set by Bill Woodfull and Don Bradman in 1930. The partnership laid the platform for Australia's total of 4/632, as the tourists proceeded to an innings victory.
His scoring was more sedate in the remaining Tests as Australia won 4–1, and he finished with 428 runs at 42.80. He passed 30 only once more, with 70 in the first innings of the Sixth Test at The Oval.
Against New Zealand in 1993–94, Taylor made 64 and 142 not out in the First Test at Perth, which ended in a draw. He then scored 27 and 53 as Australia won the next two Tests by an innings, totalling 286 runs at 95.33 in three Tests as Australia won 2–0. In the rain-affected Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Taylor played his 50th Test and celebrated with 170 against South Africa, the first Test between the two countries since 1970. This made him the first batsman to score centuries on Test debut against four countries. In addition, he passed 4,000 Test runs during the innings. Taylor had scored more than 1,000 Test runs for the calendar year, ending with 1106 runs Taylor scored 62 in the Third Test, his only other half-century for the series, which he ended with 304 runs at 60.80.
On the reciprocal tour of South Africa at the end of the season, Taylor missed a Test because of injury for the only time in his career. Matthew Hayden filled in for the First Test in Johannesburg, which Australia lost. On his return for the Second Test at Cape Town, he scored 70 and ended the series with 97 runs at 24.25. Both series were drawn 1–1.
Captaincy
After the retirement of Allan Border, Taylor was appointed captain.
Frequently omitted from the ODI team due to slow scoring, Taylor missed the finals of the ODI series in Australia against South Africa. On the tour of South Africa, he missed three consecutive ODIs when tour selectors and fellow players Ian Healy and Steve Waugh voted him off the team. In all, Taylor had only played in 11 of Australia's 19 ODIs for the season, scoring 281 runs at 25.55. Taylor requested an extended trial as opener for the ODI side to help consolidate his captaincy of both teams.
Taylor started his ODI captaincy with two tournaments in Sharjah and Sri Lanka. Australia missed the finals in both tournaments, winning three of their six matches. After scoring 68* to guide his team to a nine-wicket win in the first match against Sri Lanka in Sharjah, Taylor's form tapered off, scoring only 64 more runs to end the two tournaments with a total of 132 runs at 33.00.
His first task was a tour of Pakistan in 1994, where Australia had not won a Test since the 1959 tour. To make matters worse, Australia's first-choice pace pairing of Craig McDermott and Merv Hughes missed the tour due to injury. The First Test at Karachi was a personal disaster for Taylor as he scored a pair, the first player in Test history to do so on his captaincy debut. Paceman Glenn McGrath then broke down in the middle of the match. Australia was in the box seat with Pakistan needing 56 runs with one wicket in hand, but lost by one wicket after Ian Healy missed a stumping opportunity and the ball went for the winning runs. Recovering to score 69 in the Second Test at Rawalpindi, Taylor forced Pakistan to follow on after taking a 261-run lead. However, he dropped Pakistan captain Salim Malik when he was on 20. Malik went on to make 237 as Pakistan made 537 and saved the Test. Australia again took a first innings lead in the Third Test, but could not force a result, as Malik scored another second innings century to ensure safety and a 1–0 series win. Taylor ended the series with 106 runs at 26.50. Australia fared better in the ODI triangular tournament, winning five of their six matches. Taylor scored 56 in the final as Australia beat Pakistan by 64 runs to end the tournament with 193 runs at 32.16.
Beginning the 1994–95 season with 150 for NSW in a tour match against England, Taylor followed up with 59 in an opening stand of 97 as Australia made 426 in the first innings to take the initiative in the First Test in Brisbane. Australia amassed a 259-run first innings lead, but Taylor, mindful of the Test match at Rawalpindi, became the first Australian captain since 1977–78 to not enforce the follow-on. Although heavily criticised as a conservative decision, Australia still won the match by 184 runs, with Taylor adding 58 in the second innings. Having scored the first win of his Test captaincy, Taylor led his team to a 295-run win in the Second Test.
Taylor played his best cricket of the summer in the Third Test at Sydney. Last man out for 49 in a total of 116 in the first innings, he defied a pitch that had begun to seam and swing after a shower and cloud cover as Australia narrowly avoided the follow on. In the second innings, he made a bold attempt at chasing a world record target of 449 by scoring 113, but Australia played for a draw after Slater and Taylor fell following a double-century stand. Australia collapsed to 7/292 before hanging on in near-darkness. In the final two Tests, he scored half-centuries as Australia won 3–1. Australia dramatically lost the Fourth Test when England led by only 154 on the final day with four wickets in hand. Aggressive lower order batting saw Australia set 263 in just over two sessions, but a heavy collapse saw Australia eight wickets down with more than 2 hours to play. Almost two hours of resistance later, England took a 106-run win late in the day. However, Australia bounced back to win the Fifth Test by 329 runs, the largest margin of the series. Taylor's partnership with Slater yielded three century opening stands at an average of 76.60 for the series and Taylor's individual return was 471 runs at 47.10.
The southern hemisphere summer ended with a quadrangular tournament in New Zealand, where Australia won two of their three group matches to proceed to the final. Taylor scored 44 in a six-wicket triumph over New Zealand and totalled 165 runs at 41.25. His best score was 97 against the hosts in the preliminary round meant that he was still yet to post his first ODI century, five years after his debut.
Caribbean tour 1995
This victory was followed by the 1995 tour of the West Indies, where Australia had not won a Test series for 22 years. Australia lost the ODI series which preceded the Tests 1–4, with Taylor making 152 runs at 30.40. The difficulty of Australia's task was increased when fast bowlers Craig McDermott and Damien Fleming went home injured at the start of the tour. Australia fielded a pace attack of Glenn McGrath, Brendon Julian and Paul Reiffel who had played only 23 Tests between them. Despite this, Australia won by ten wickets in the first Test at Barbados, with Taylor contributing a half-century. After the Second Test was a rained-out draw, the West Indies beat Australia inside three days on a "green" Trinidad pitch in the Third Test. Australia regained the Frank Worrell Trophy with an innings victory in the Fourth Test at Jamaica, with Taylor taking the winning catch from the bowling of Shane Warne. Although he only managed 153 runs (at 25.50 average) for the series, Taylor held nine catches and his leadership was cited as a key factor in the result.
Controversy with Sri Lanka
This was followed by two and three-Test series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka respectively in the 1995–96 Australian season. The Pakistan series began among a media circus when Salim Malik arrived with publicity focused on the bribery allegations which had surfaced a year earlier. Australia won the First Test in Brisbane by an innings in three and a half days, with Taylor contributing 69. In the Second Test at Bellerive Oval, Taylor scored 123 in the second innings to set up a winning total. In the Third Test in Sydney, he made 59 as Australia collapsed for 172 in the second innings and conceded the match. He ended the series with a healthy 338 runs at 67.60.
The subsequent Test and ODI series involving Sri Lanka were overshadowed by a series of spiteful clashes. The Tests were won 3–0 by the Australians with heavy margins of an innings, ten wickets and 148 runs respectively. Taylor's highlight being a 96 in the First Test at Perth as he compiled 159 runs at 39.75. He also made his 100th Test catch during the series. After accusations of ball tampering were levelled against the tourists in the First Test, leading spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was no-balled seven times in the Second Test, and during the ODI series, the Sri Lankans accused Taylor's men of cheating. The season hit a low point with the Sri Lankans which saw the teams refuse to shake hands at the end of the second final of the triangular series which Australia won 2–0. The match had included physical jostling between McGrath and Sanath Jayasuriya mid pitch, with the latter accusing McGrath of making racist attacks. Later in the match, stump microphones showed Australian wicketkeeper Ian Healy alleging that portly Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga was feigning injury and calling for a runner because of his lack of physical fitness.
On the field, the ODI tournament saw Mark Waugh elevated to be Taylor's ODI opening partner after the axing of Slater midway through the season. In their first match together in Perth, the pair put on 190, with Taylor scoring 85. They put on another century stand in the second final, with Taylor scoring 82. Taylor scored heavily in the ODI tournament, with 423 runs at 42.30 with four half-centuries. Australia warmed up for the 1996 Cricket World Cup by winning five of their eight round-robin matches, and taking the finals 2–0, but many of the matches were closely contested. The finals were won by 18 and nine runs respectively, while three of the group matches were decided in the last over.
After the spiteful summer, a Tamil Tiger bombing in Colombo coupled with death threats to some members of the team forced Taylor to forfeit his team's scheduled World Cup match against Sri Lanka in Colombo. Taylor made six as Australia started their campaign with a 97-run win over Kenya. He then made 59 in a century stand with Waugh as Australia defeated co-hosts India in Mumbai. Taylor scored 34 in a nine-wicket win over Zimbabwe, before scoring nine in a defeat to the West Indies in the last group match. Australia finished second in their group and faced New Zealand in the quarter-finals. Taylor made only 10 as Australia chased 289 for victory, but made a surprise tactic by sending in Shane Warne as a pinch hitter. Warne made 24 from 15 balls in a partnership with Waugh, to allow Australia to take the momentum and take victory by six wickets. Taylor managed only one in the semi-final as Australia staggered to 8/207 against the West Indies. Australia appeared to be heading out of the tournament when the Caribbean team reached 2/165, but a sudden collapse saw Australia win by six runs in the last over.
Australia managed to reach the final, where they met Sri Lanka. Taylor scored 74, a record score by an Australian captain in the World Cup, but Sri Lanka comfortably triumphed on this occasion by seven wickets to claim the trophy.
Almost retired
After the World Cup, Bob Simpson was replaced as Australia's coach by Geoff Marsh, Taylor's former opening partner. Australia's first tournament after the World Cup was the Singer World Series in Sri Lanka. Taylor opted out of the tournament, and in his absence, Australia reached the final but lost by 50 runs to the hosts.
On a short tour to India, Taylor made his first ODI century at Bangalore, with 105 against India in his 98th match, having been out in the 90s on three previous occasions. Taylor performed strongly in the ODIs, with a total of 302 runs at 60.40. However, it was a disappointing tour for the team; the solitary Test in Delhi was lost, as were all five ODIs played during the Titan Cup.
In 1996–97, Australia confirmed its ascendancy over the West Indies with a 3–2 series win, but Taylor endured a poor season with the bat and failed to pass 50 in nine innings. His partnership with Slater was terminated when the latter was dropped, replaced by Matthew Elliott. Following an injury to Elliott, Matthew Hayden became Taylor's partner for three Tests.
Unable to recover form in the ODI series, Taylor's scratchy batting led to many poor starts for Australia. The team suffered five consecutive defeats, and missed the finals of the tournament for the first time in 17 years. Taylor managed only 143 runs at 17.88 with a highest score of 29.
The early 1997 tour to South Africa brought no upturn in Taylor's batting despite Australia's 2–1 victory in the series: he scored 80 runs at 16.00. His form was such that it influenced the selection of the team. For the Second Test at Port Elizabeth, played on a green pitch, Australia played Michael Bevan as a second spinner batting at number seven to reinforce the batting, instead of a third seamer to exploit the conditions. After scoring seven and 17 in the first two ODIs, Taylor dropped himself from the team for the remaining five matches.
The 1997 Ashes tour started poorly amid rumours that Taylor was on the verge of losing his place in the side. He batted ineffectively as Australia lost the one day series 0–3, scoring seven and 11, before dropping himself for the final match. In the First Test, Australia were dismissed for 118 in the first innings, with Taylor contributing seven: he had not managed to pass 50 in his last 21 Test innings. England amassed a big lead of 360 runs. With Australia facing a heavy defeat, media criticism of his position intensified. The Melbourne Age ran a competition for its readers to forecast how many runs he would make. Most respondents guessed less than 10 runs. The team's erstwhile coach, Bob Simpson, said that Taylor's retention in the team in spite of his poor form was fostering resentment among the players and destabilising the team.
Taylor started nervously in the second innings, but went on to score of 129, which saved his career, but not the match. His performance prompted personal congratulations from Prime Minister John Howard and the team's management allowed the media a rare opportunity to enter the dressing room and interview Taylor. During the period he refused offers by the manager to handle the media on his behalf. Australia went on to win the Third, Fourth and Fifth Tests and retain the Ashes 3–2. Although Taylor made single figures in the three Tests following his century, he contributed 76 and 45 in the series-clinching Test at Nottingham. Taylor ended the series with 317 runs at 31.7.
Dual teams
However, Taylor's ODI form was not to the satisfaction of the selectors. At the start of the 1997–98 season, a new selection policy was announced: the Test and ODI teams became separate entities, with specialists in each form of the game selected accordingly. Taylor was dropped from the ODI team, in favour of the aggressive Michael di Venuto. Tactically, ODI cricket was transformed by Sri Lanka's World Cup success, when it employed the highly aggressive opening pair of Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana.
At this time, Taylor was a central figure in a pay dispute between the players and the ACB, with a strike action threatened by the players. Taylor continued as Test captain and led the team to a 2–0 win over New Zealand. The first two matches were won by 186 runs and an innings, while the Third Test ended with Australia one wicket from victory after almost two days' play was washed out.
Taylor scored a century (112 on the first day of the First Test, and an unbeaten 66 in the Third Test, compiling 214 runs at 53.50 for the series. This was followed by three Tests against South Africa. After South Africa withheld the Australian bowling on the final day to secure a draw in the Boxing Day Test, Australia took a 1–0 lead in the New Year's Test at Sydney with an innings victory. Taylor carried his bat for 169 in the first innings of the Third Test at Adelaide which helped Australia to draw the match and clinch the series.
On the 1998 tour of India, Elliott was dropped and Taylor reunited with Slater as the opening pair. Australia started well by taking a 71-run first-innings lead in the First Test at Chennai, but Sachin Tendulkar's unbeaten 155 put Australia under pressure to save the match on the final day. They were unable to resist and lost by 179 runs. Australia was crushed by an innings and 219 runs in the Second Test at Calcutta, Australia first series loss in four years and the first time that Australia had lost by an innings for five years. Thus, a series victory in India, which Australia had not achieved since 1969–70, remained elusive. Australia won the Third Test in Bangalore by eight wickets, with Taylor scoring an unbeaten 102 in a second innings run chase.
Record equalled
Later in 1998, Taylor led his team to Pakistan, where a convincing win in the First Test at Rawalpindi by an innings and 99 runs was Australia's first Test victory in the country for 39 years. Taylor then attended a court hearing investigating the claims of match-fixing made during the 1994 tour. In the Second Test at Peshawar, Taylor played the longest innings of his career. He batted two days to amass 334 not out, equalling Sir Donald Bradman's Australian record set in 1930. In temperatures above 32 °C, Taylor survived two dropped catches before he had reached 25 and scored slowly on the first day. He shared a 206-run partnership with Justin Langer. The next day, he added 103 runs in a morning session extended from two to three hours. After the tea interval, he discarded his helmet in favour of a white sun hat, to deal with the extreme heat. He passed 311, eclipsing Bob Simpson's record score by an Australian captain. In the final over, Taylor equalled Bradman's Australian Test record when a shot to midwicket was barely stopped by Ijaz Ahmed, which reduced the scoring opportunity to a single run.
At the end of the day's play, Taylor was encouraged by the media, the public and his teammates to attempt to break Brian Lara's world record score of 375. An unusually large crowd turned out the following day in anticipation. However, Taylor declared the innings closed, opting to share the record with Bradman, and making the team's chances of winning the game paramount. He was widely praised for this decision. He made 92 in the second innings, giving him the second highest Test match aggregate after English batsmen Graham Gooch, who scored 333 and 123 for a total of 456 against India at Lord's on 26 July 1990. His fifteen hours batting in one Test was second only to Hanif Mohammad. The match ended in a draw, as did the Third Test, so Australia won the series and Taylor ended with 513 runs at 128.25 average.
Final season
Taylor's swansong was the 1998–99 Ashes series against England, which began with his 100th Test in the First Test in Brisbane. He scored 46 and a duck—his first in Australia—as England were saved when thunderstorms forced the abandonment of play on the final afternoon. Two half centuries in the next two Tests in Perth and Adelaide saw Australia win by seven wickets and 205 runs respectively, thereby retaining the series 2–0. After losing the Fourth Test by 12 runs after a dramatic final day collapse, Taylor headed to his home ground, the Sydney Cricket Ground, for what would be his final Test. Australia went on to win the Test by 98 runs and take the series 3–1. Taylor only scored two in both innings, but he broke Border's world record for the most Test catches. His catch in the first innings equalled Border's 156 and another in the second made him the sole owner of the record.
He also jointly holds the record in Test cricket (along with Ian Healy) of being the only cricketers to have been run out in both innings of a Test on two occasions.
Legacy
The improvement of the Australian team, begun during Border's tenure, continued under the captaincy of Taylor. After the defeat of the West Indies in 1995, Taylor's teams won home and away series against every Test team they played, with the exception of winning a series in India. Wisden wrote:
Taylor talked so well that he raised the standard of debate in Australia—and perhaps of cricket itself—in a way which was an example to all professional cricketers ... Border stopped Australia losing. Taylor made them into winners, the acknowledged if not official world champions of Test cricket.
Taylor made a concerted effort to decrease the amount of sledging committed by his team, a trait that brought criticism of Australian teams during other eras. In total, he captained the side in 50 Tests, winning 26 and losing 13, a success rate unmatched in the previous fifty years except for Don Bradman and Viv Richards.
Career best performances
Retirement
Taylor retired from professional cricket in early 1999 after the Ashes series. On Australia Day, he was named the Australian of the Year. He was awarded an Australian Sports Medal in 2000 and a Centenary Medal in 2001. He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2002 and made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2003. In 2011, he was inducted into the Cricket Hall of Fame by the CA.
He is now a commentator for Channel Nine for 21 years. Despite the network losing the TV rights in April 2018, Taylor re-signed for another three years to give his expert analysis on the Ashes 2019, 2019 Cricket World Cup & 2020 World Twenty20 and as a digital contributor.
He mainly commentates on One Day International and Test matches in Australia until the network's final year of cricket telecasts, so he can now spend more time with his family. He used to also appear on The Cricket Show with Simon O'Donnell, and is a spokesman for Fujitsu air-conditioners. He also commentates for radio.
Taylor is patron of the Mark Taylor Shield Cricket competition run for NSW Catholic Primary schools in and around the Sydney region. On 6 November 2011, Waitara Oval, the home of the Northern District Cricket Club, had its name formally changed to Mark Taylor Oval, to honour its former First Grade captain and life member.
In October 2015, The Primary Club of Australia announced that Mark Taylor had accepted the role of Twelfth Man and Patron following the passing of their former Patron, Richie Benaud OBE. He also became Director of Cricket Australia, who commissioned a replacement cap for Benaud, only for his ill health and subsequent passing to have the cap presented to his wife.
References
Further reading
External links
1964 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Wagga Wagga
Australia Test cricketers
Australia One Day International cricketers
Australia Test cricket captains
New South Wales cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Australian cricket commentators
People educated at Chatswood High School
Australian of the Year Award winners
Officers of the Order of Australia
Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal
Recipients of the Centenary Medal
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
University of New South Wales alumni
Australian Cricket Hall of Fame inductees
People from the Riverina
Chatswood, New South Wales
Australian republicans
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"Bruce Bursford (29 April 1958 – 9 February 2000) was a British sportsman who broke the record for the fastest speed on a bicycle on a treadmill at 334.6 km/h in 1995. He designed the bicycles Ultimate and Millennium.\n\nHistory \nBruce Bursford was a schoolboy cycling champion and claimed nine speed records.\n\nThe idea for a bicycle to be made using the advanced materials and techniques usually found in aerospace and Formula 1 came from Bursford himself. In 1995 he achieved 334.6 km/h breaking the record by 88 km/h on a rolling road in the Malcolm Campbell building at Brooklands Museum in Surrey, England. To achieve the speed, conditions were simulated whereby Burford was \"towed\" until he reached . The towline was then \"released\", and he was left to pedal. \n\nBursford's speed was attained during a half-minute interval with him reaching in two seconds at the start of the attempt. This feat was achieved on his specially-built bike called the Millennium Cycle. The record-breaking machine used silica tyres filled with helium and ceramic bearings designed to revolve with minimum friction.\n\nBursford's 'Ultimate' bike won him a Millennium Product Award.\n\nUri Geller helped him train his mind during record bids.\n\nBursford died in a collision with a truck while training on the A47 at Easton near Dereham, Norfolk.\n\nSee also \nFastest speed on a bicycle\n\nReferences\n\nBritish male cyclists\n1958 births\n2000 deaths\nPlace of birth missing",
"Leopoldo Alfonso \"Leo\" Villa (30 November 1899 – 18 January 1979) was the long-serving mechanic of Sir Malcolm Campbell and Donald Campbell. He was born in London, of Italian and Scottish parents.\n\nBirth and early career\nVilla was born in London to an Italian father and a Scottish mother. A gifted artist, Villa drew many pictures of an automotive nature, and through his uncle he found employment as a riding mechanic with the Italian racing driver Giulio Foresti who held the British franchise for the Itala automobile. Between 1915 and 1922 Villa and Foresti were lucky to escape serious injury after a number of serious incidents when motor racing, but Villa's luck ran out and he was seriously burnt when a generator exploded during preparations for the French Grand Prix at Strasbourg in which Foresti was to drive a French Ballot. After a period of convalescence in England, Villa found himself on the shelf since Foresti had taken on another mechanic in Villa's absence.\n\nRecord breaking\nNot so long after Villa had an offer that would set the path of his career for the rest of his life. The then Captain Malcolm Campbell owned the franchise for Ballot in England and raced one of its models at Brooklands and was considering buying a new model for a Grand Prix campaign so Foresti and Villa were despatched with the car that French star Jules Goux had driven in the Grand Prix Villa had missed. Campbell was so impressed with Villa's manner and ability he offered him a job and though he was very much so Campbell's employee Villa was to be a key part in Malcolm Campbell's nine land and four water world speed record attempts. Not long after Sir Malcolm's death on New Year's Eve 1948, Villa was approached by Sir Malcolm's son Donald Campbell with a proposition: the junior Campbell had heard that the Americans were planning an attempt on his father's world water speed record, and the fiercely patriotic Campbell wanted to push it out of their reach before they even got started. The older and wiser Villa wasn't against such an idea; he did, however, advise that record breaking was not as easy as Campbell thought it was, and once Campbell got started he would be addicted for life. The headstrong young Campbell was not to be dissuaded, and so Villa found himself again playing chief mechanic to a Campbell's many record attempts. However, this time round, far from being just an employee, Villa's relationship with the young Campbell was on a much more even keel; having watched Campbell grow up and having covered for him on numerous occasions so as he did not suffer the wrath of Sir Malcolm, he was held in great affection by Donald, who regularly referred to him as Unc. After a somewhat rocky start to record breaking with Sir Malcolm's old boat Blue Bird K4 and a considerable investment by Campbell and others, they managed to get their first world water speed record as a team on Ullswater in 1955 with a jet-engined hydroplane called Bluebird K7. Campbell proved to be as adept at record breaking as his father and he went on to set no fewer than 7 world water speed records and 1 world land speed record, with Villa being instrumental in every one. It was a successful partnership that was only broken upon Campbell's death in 1967 whilst attempting his eighth world water speed record.\n\nLater life and death\nAfter Campbell's death Villa spent his time at home in Reigate in Surrey with his wife Joan, where he took up gardening. He received an OBE in June 1976 for services to land and water speed records. Villa was also granted the Freedom of the City of London and he went on to write three books about his record-breaking career, two of them written with Kevin Desmond. Villa died in January 1979 from lung cancer eight months after the death of his wife Joan.\n\nPublications \n \n \n \n Period 3D photographs taken by Leo Villa on a Stereo Realist camera given to him by Donald Campbell.\n\nReferences \n\n1899 births\n1979 deaths\nLand speed record people\nWater speed records\nBritish automotive engineers\nItalian British racing drivers\nEnglish people of Italian descent\nItalian British sportspeople\nBritish people of Italian descent"
] |
[
"Mark Taylor (cricketer)",
"Record-breaking start",
"When was his record breaking start?",
"Beginning with a century at Headingley in his First Test against England, Taylor amassed 839 runs at 83.90 in the six Tests:"
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What else did he achieve?
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What else did Mark Taylor achieve other than amassing 839 runs at 83.90 in the six Tests at Headingley?
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Mark Taylor (cricketer)
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Beginning with a century at Headingley in his First Test against England, Taylor amassed 839 runs at 83.90 in the six Tests: the second best aggregate in an Ashes series in England, behind Don Bradman's 974 runs in 1930. He occupied the crease for a total of 38 hours, more than six full days of play. The highlight of his tour was the Fifth Test at Trent Bridge when he and Geoff Marsh became the first pair to bat throughout a day's play of Test cricket in England, amassing 301 runs. Taylor made 219 in a partnership of 329, an Ashes record. He finished with 71 and 48 in the Sixth Test to overtake Neil Harvey for the third-highest series aggregate in Test history and totalled 1,669 first-class runs for the tour. Australia won the series 4-0 to regain the Ashes. However, Taylor was overlooked for selection in the ODIs. Returning to Australia, Taylor made 1,403 first-class runs at 70.15 during the 1989-90 season, and ended 1989 with 1,219 Test runs, thus becoming the first player to better one thousand Test runs in his debut calendar year, something only matched twice since by England opener Alastair Cook and Australian Adam Voges. In Taylor's first nine Tests, Australia passed 400 in the first innings. He scored centuries in successive Tests against Sri Lanka, and against Pakistan his scores were 52 and 101 at the MCG, 77 and 59 at the Adelaide Oval and an unbeaten 101 at Sydney. Australia won both series 1-0. In just over twelve months, he had amassed 1,618 runs at 70.35. This outstanding start to his career earned Taylor nomination as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1990. At the season's end, he demonstrated his leadership abilities for the first time. Standing in as NSW captain in place of the injured Geoff Lawson for the 1989-90 Sheffield Shield final in Sydney, Taylor scored 127 and 100. NSW won by 345 runs to secure its 40th title. A year after his Test debut, Taylor was selected to make his ODI debut, which came on Boxing Day of 1989 against Sri Lanka. He made 11 as Australia won by 30 runs. He was selected for nine of Australia's ten ODIs for the season's triangular tournament, scoring 294 runs at 32.66 with two half-centuries. His highest score of 76 came as Australia defeated Pakistan by 69 runs to clinch the finals series in Sydney. The season ended with ODI tournaments in New Zealand and Sharjah. He played six of the eight matches, scoring 222 runs at 37.00 with two half-centuries, but was dropped for the final in New Zealand. CANNOTANSWER
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he and Geoff Marsh became the first pair to bat throughout a day's play of Test cricket in England, amassing 301 runs.
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Mark Anthony Taylor (born 27 October 1964) is a former Australian cricketer and currently a Cricket Australia director and Nine Network commentator.
He was Test opening batsman from 1988 to 1999, as well as captain from 1994 to 1999, succeeding Allan Border. His predominant fielding position was first slip. He was widely regarded as an instrumental component in Australia's rise to Test cricket dominance, and his captaincy was regarded as adventurous and highly effective. However, he was considered less than ideal for One-Day International cricket and was eventually dropped as one-day captain after a 0–3 drubbing at the hands of England in 1997.
He moved to Wagga Wagga in 1972 and played for Lake Albert Cricket Club. His debut was for New South Wales in 1985.
He retired from Test cricket on 2 February 1999. In 104 Test matches, he scored 7,525 runs with a batting average of 43.49, including 19 centuries and 40 fifties. He was also an excellent first slip – his 157 catches, at the time, a Test record (now held by Rahul Dravid). In contrast to his predecessor Allan Border, who acquired the nickname 'Captain Grumpy', Taylor won plaudits for his always cheerful and positive demeanour. His successor, Steve Waugh, further honed the Australian team built by Border and Taylor and went on to set numerous records for victories as captain. Having been named Australian of the Year in 1999, he is now a cricket commentator for the Nine Network, and former Director of Cricket Australia.
Early years
The second of three children born to bank manager Tony Taylor, and his wife Judy, Mark Taylor's early years were spent at Wagga Wagga, where his family relocated when he was eight. His father had a sporting background, playing first grade rugby in Newcastle. The young Taylor preferred Australian rules football and cricket. He learned to bat in the family garage, with his father throwing cork balls to him. Taylor idolised Arthur Morris, the left-handed opening batsmen from New South Wales who led the aggregates on the 1948 "Invincibles" tour of England.
Taylor played for his primary school as an opening batsman, and made his first century at the age of thirteen for the Lake Albert club at Bolton Park in Wagga. His family then moved to the north shore of Sydney, where he joined Northern District in Sydney Grade Cricket. Completing his secondary education at Chatswood High School, he later obtained a degree in surveying at the University of New South Wales in 1987. Along with the Waugh twins, Steve and Mark, Taylor played in under-19 youth internationals for Australia against Sri Lanka in 1982–83.
Taylor made his Sheffield Shield debut in 1985–86 when NSW was depleted by the defection of regular openers Steve Smith and John Dyson to a rebel tour of South Africa. Opening with fellow debutant Mark Waugh, he scored 12 and 56 not out against Tasmania. His first season was highlighted by home and away centuries against South Australia in a total of 937 runs at 49.31 average. He had a lean season in 1987–88, after which he spent the English summer with Greenmount, helping them to win their first Bolton League title by scoring more than 1,300 runs at an average of 70.
International career
Test career
Solid form for NSW in 1988–89 resulted in Taylor's selection for his Test debut in the Fourth Test against the West Indies at the SCG, replacing middle-order batsman Graeme Wood. For three years, the opening combination of Geoff Marsh and David Boon had been successful for Australia. However, team coach Bob Simpson wanted a left and right-handed opening combination, and stability added to the middle order. Therefore, the left-handed Taylor partnered the right-handed Marsh, while Boon batted at number three. Taylor's safe catching at slip was also a factor in his selection. He made 25 and 3 in a winning team, then was run out twice in the Fifth Test. A first-class aggregate of 1,241 runs (at 49.64 average) for the season earned him a place on the 1989 Ashes tour.
Record-breaking start
Beginning with a century at Headingley in his First Test against England, Taylor amassed 839 runs at 83.90 in the six Tests: the second best aggregate in an Ashes series in England, behind Don Bradman's 974 runs in 1930. He occupied the crease for a total of 38 hours, more than six full days of play. The highlight of his tour was the Fifth Test at Trent Bridge when he and Geoff Marsh became the first pair to bat throughout a day's play of Test cricket in England, amassing 301 runs. Taylor made 219 in a partnership of 329, an Ashes record. He finished with 71 and 48 in the Sixth Test to overtake Neil Harvey for the third-highest series aggregate in Test history and totalled 1,669 first-class runs for the tour. Australia won the series 4–0 to regain the Ashes. However, Taylor was overlooked for selection in the ODIs.
Returning to Australia, Taylor made 1,403 first-class runs at 70.15 during the 1989–90 season, and ended 1989 with 1,219 Test runs, thus becoming the first player to better one thousand Test runs in his debut calendar year, something only matched twice since by England opener Alastair Cook and Australian Adam Voges. In Taylor's first nine Tests, Australia passed 400 in the first innings. He scored centuries in successive Tests against Sri Lanka, and against Pakistan his scores were 52 and 101 at the MCG, 77 and 59 at the Adelaide Oval and an unbeaten 101 at Sydney. Australia won both series 1–0. In just over twelve months, he had amassed 1,618 runs at 70.35. This outstanding start to his career earned Taylor nomination as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1990. At the season's end, he demonstrated his leadership abilities for the first time. Standing in as NSW captain in place of the injured Geoff Lawson for the 1989–90 Sheffield Shield final in Sydney, Taylor scored 127 and 100. NSW won by 345 runs to secure its 40th title.
A year after his Test debut, Taylor was selected to make his ODI debut, which came on Boxing Day of 1989 against Sri Lanka. He made 11 as Australia won by 30 runs. He was selected for nine of Australia's ten ODIs for the season's triangular tournament, scoring 294 runs at 32.66 with two half-centuries. His highest score of 76 came as Australia defeated Pakistan by 69 runs to clinch the finals series in Sydney. The season ended with ODI tournaments in New Zealand and Sharjah. He played six of the eight matches, scoring 222 runs at 37.00 with two half-centuries, but was dropped for the final in New Zealand.
Inconsistent form
Taylor experienced a slump during the 1990–91 Ashes series. After making two-half centuries in the first two Tests, he failed to pass 20 in the last three and finished with 213 runs at 23.66 in a team that won 3–0. He found himself on the outer for the ODI triangular tournament, missing all eight of the preliminary matches before returning to score 41 and 71 as Australia won the finals 2–0.
His moderate form continued during the 1991 tour of the West Indies, where he was selected in only two of the five ODIs, scoring three and five. He ended the run with a rear-guard innings of 76 in the second innings of the Fourth Test at Barbados. Despite his effort, Australia lost and the West Indies took an unassailable lead of 2–0. In the Fifth Test St. Johns, Antigua, Australia gained a consolation victory due mainly to Taylor's scores of 59 and 144 (out of a total of 265). This late rush of form boosted his average for the series to 49. In late 1991, before the Australian season started, Taylor was appointed to lead an Australia A side to tour Zimbabwe. The team was composed of younger Test players and other young players who were seeking to break into international cricket. The selectors were attempting to groom Taylor as a potential replacement for Border.
During the 1991–92 Australian season, Taylor batted consistently in a 4–0 series victory over India. He scored 94 and 35* in a ten-wicket win at Brisbane. He scored half-centuries in each of the next two Tests before striking 100 in the second innings of the Fourth Test at Adelaide. It helped Australia to wipe out a first innings deficit of 80 and set up a winning target. His opening partner Marsh was dropped for the Fifth Test, so the selectors elevated Taylor to the vice-captaincy of the team. Over the next twelve months, a number of players were tried as Taylor's opening partner. Taylor struggled in his first match with new partner Wayne N. Phillips, scoring two and 16. Nevertheless, he had scored 422 runs at 46.89. Taylor continued to be overlooked by the selectors in the shorter version of the game, missing selection for all of the season's triangular tournament. He was selected for the squad for the 1992 Cricket World Cup held on home soil, and after Australia lost its first two matches, Taylor was recalled for his first ODI in 12 months. He made 13 as Australia beat India by one run, but scored his first ODI duck in the next match as England won by eight wickets. He was dropped for the remainder of the tournament.
On the 1992 tour of Sri Lanka, Taylor struggled in scoring 148 runs at 24.67. After scoring 42 and 43 in Australia's win in the First Test, Taylor failed to again pass 30. With new opening partner Tom Moody also struggling with 71 runs at 11.83, Australia frequently struggled at the top of their innings. He played in all three ODIs, scoring 138 runs at 46.00. His 94 in the first match was his highest score in ODIs to that point.
Against the West Indies in 1992–93, Taylor was now opening alongside David Boon with Moody having been dropped. Taylor was ineffective and failed to pass fifty in the first four Tests. After Australia failed by one run to win the Fourth Test and thus the series, Taylor was dropped for the deciding Test at Perth, having failed to make double figures in either innings. In his absence, Australia lost by an innings in three days and conceded the series 1–2. He had scored 170 runs at 24.29 for the series. However, he played all of Australia's ten ODIs, scoring 286 runs at 28.60 with two half-centuries.
Taylor and Slater
As a result of the innings defeat in Perth, Taylor was immediately recalled for the tour of New Zealand, where he scored 82 in the First Test at Christchurch to help Australia to an innings victory. He then scored 50 in the drawn Second Test and bowled for the first time at Test level, taking 0/15. He failed to pass 20 in the Third Test and ended the series with 148 runs at 37.00 as the home side squared the series. Australia then played five ODIs in New Zealand before starting the England tour with three more. Taylor played in all eight, scoring 307 runs at 38.38 with four half-centuries.
The problem of finding him a long-term partner was solved on the tour of England that followed. NSW batsman Michael Slater, who also grew up in Wagga Wagga, made his debut in the First Test of the 1993 Ashes series. In the First Test at Old Trafford, Taylor made 124 after an opening partnership of 128, as Australia managed only 289 after being sent in. Australia managed to scrape out a lead of 79, before going on to a 179-run win.
This was followed by a stand of 260 at Lord's in the Second Test, with Taylor making 111. In the process, he passed 1000 Test runs against England and the partnership broke the Ashes partnership record at Lord's, which had been set by Bill Woodfull and Don Bradman in 1930. The partnership laid the platform for Australia's total of 4/632, as the tourists proceeded to an innings victory.
His scoring was more sedate in the remaining Tests as Australia won 4–1, and he finished with 428 runs at 42.80. He passed 30 only once more, with 70 in the first innings of the Sixth Test at The Oval.
Against New Zealand in 1993–94, Taylor made 64 and 142 not out in the First Test at Perth, which ended in a draw. He then scored 27 and 53 as Australia won the next two Tests by an innings, totalling 286 runs at 95.33 in three Tests as Australia won 2–0. In the rain-affected Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Taylor played his 50th Test and celebrated with 170 against South Africa, the first Test between the two countries since 1970. This made him the first batsman to score centuries on Test debut against four countries. In addition, he passed 4,000 Test runs during the innings. Taylor had scored more than 1,000 Test runs for the calendar year, ending with 1106 runs Taylor scored 62 in the Third Test, his only other half-century for the series, which he ended with 304 runs at 60.80.
On the reciprocal tour of South Africa at the end of the season, Taylor missed a Test because of injury for the only time in his career. Matthew Hayden filled in for the First Test in Johannesburg, which Australia lost. On his return for the Second Test at Cape Town, he scored 70 and ended the series with 97 runs at 24.25. Both series were drawn 1–1.
Captaincy
After the retirement of Allan Border, Taylor was appointed captain.
Frequently omitted from the ODI team due to slow scoring, Taylor missed the finals of the ODI series in Australia against South Africa. On the tour of South Africa, he missed three consecutive ODIs when tour selectors and fellow players Ian Healy and Steve Waugh voted him off the team. In all, Taylor had only played in 11 of Australia's 19 ODIs for the season, scoring 281 runs at 25.55. Taylor requested an extended trial as opener for the ODI side to help consolidate his captaincy of both teams.
Taylor started his ODI captaincy with two tournaments in Sharjah and Sri Lanka. Australia missed the finals in both tournaments, winning three of their six matches. After scoring 68* to guide his team to a nine-wicket win in the first match against Sri Lanka in Sharjah, Taylor's form tapered off, scoring only 64 more runs to end the two tournaments with a total of 132 runs at 33.00.
His first task was a tour of Pakistan in 1994, where Australia had not won a Test since the 1959 tour. To make matters worse, Australia's first-choice pace pairing of Craig McDermott and Merv Hughes missed the tour due to injury. The First Test at Karachi was a personal disaster for Taylor as he scored a pair, the first player in Test history to do so on his captaincy debut. Paceman Glenn McGrath then broke down in the middle of the match. Australia was in the box seat with Pakistan needing 56 runs with one wicket in hand, but lost by one wicket after Ian Healy missed a stumping opportunity and the ball went for the winning runs. Recovering to score 69 in the Second Test at Rawalpindi, Taylor forced Pakistan to follow on after taking a 261-run lead. However, he dropped Pakistan captain Salim Malik when he was on 20. Malik went on to make 237 as Pakistan made 537 and saved the Test. Australia again took a first innings lead in the Third Test, but could not force a result, as Malik scored another second innings century to ensure safety and a 1–0 series win. Taylor ended the series with 106 runs at 26.50. Australia fared better in the ODI triangular tournament, winning five of their six matches. Taylor scored 56 in the final as Australia beat Pakistan by 64 runs to end the tournament with 193 runs at 32.16.
Beginning the 1994–95 season with 150 for NSW in a tour match against England, Taylor followed up with 59 in an opening stand of 97 as Australia made 426 in the first innings to take the initiative in the First Test in Brisbane. Australia amassed a 259-run first innings lead, but Taylor, mindful of the Test match at Rawalpindi, became the first Australian captain since 1977–78 to not enforce the follow-on. Although heavily criticised as a conservative decision, Australia still won the match by 184 runs, with Taylor adding 58 in the second innings. Having scored the first win of his Test captaincy, Taylor led his team to a 295-run win in the Second Test.
Taylor played his best cricket of the summer in the Third Test at Sydney. Last man out for 49 in a total of 116 in the first innings, he defied a pitch that had begun to seam and swing after a shower and cloud cover as Australia narrowly avoided the follow on. In the second innings, he made a bold attempt at chasing a world record target of 449 by scoring 113, but Australia played for a draw after Slater and Taylor fell following a double-century stand. Australia collapsed to 7/292 before hanging on in near-darkness. In the final two Tests, he scored half-centuries as Australia won 3–1. Australia dramatically lost the Fourth Test when England led by only 154 on the final day with four wickets in hand. Aggressive lower order batting saw Australia set 263 in just over two sessions, but a heavy collapse saw Australia eight wickets down with more than 2 hours to play. Almost two hours of resistance later, England took a 106-run win late in the day. However, Australia bounced back to win the Fifth Test by 329 runs, the largest margin of the series. Taylor's partnership with Slater yielded three century opening stands at an average of 76.60 for the series and Taylor's individual return was 471 runs at 47.10.
The southern hemisphere summer ended with a quadrangular tournament in New Zealand, where Australia won two of their three group matches to proceed to the final. Taylor scored 44 in a six-wicket triumph over New Zealand and totalled 165 runs at 41.25. His best score was 97 against the hosts in the preliminary round meant that he was still yet to post his first ODI century, five years after his debut.
Caribbean tour 1995
This victory was followed by the 1995 tour of the West Indies, where Australia had not won a Test series for 22 years. Australia lost the ODI series which preceded the Tests 1–4, with Taylor making 152 runs at 30.40. The difficulty of Australia's task was increased when fast bowlers Craig McDermott and Damien Fleming went home injured at the start of the tour. Australia fielded a pace attack of Glenn McGrath, Brendon Julian and Paul Reiffel who had played only 23 Tests between them. Despite this, Australia won by ten wickets in the first Test at Barbados, with Taylor contributing a half-century. After the Second Test was a rained-out draw, the West Indies beat Australia inside three days on a "green" Trinidad pitch in the Third Test. Australia regained the Frank Worrell Trophy with an innings victory in the Fourth Test at Jamaica, with Taylor taking the winning catch from the bowling of Shane Warne. Although he only managed 153 runs (at 25.50 average) for the series, Taylor held nine catches and his leadership was cited as a key factor in the result.
Controversy with Sri Lanka
This was followed by two and three-Test series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka respectively in the 1995–96 Australian season. The Pakistan series began among a media circus when Salim Malik arrived with publicity focused on the bribery allegations which had surfaced a year earlier. Australia won the First Test in Brisbane by an innings in three and a half days, with Taylor contributing 69. In the Second Test at Bellerive Oval, Taylor scored 123 in the second innings to set up a winning total. In the Third Test in Sydney, he made 59 as Australia collapsed for 172 in the second innings and conceded the match. He ended the series with a healthy 338 runs at 67.60.
The subsequent Test and ODI series involving Sri Lanka were overshadowed by a series of spiteful clashes. The Tests were won 3–0 by the Australians with heavy margins of an innings, ten wickets and 148 runs respectively. Taylor's highlight being a 96 in the First Test at Perth as he compiled 159 runs at 39.75. He also made his 100th Test catch during the series. After accusations of ball tampering were levelled against the tourists in the First Test, leading spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was no-balled seven times in the Second Test, and during the ODI series, the Sri Lankans accused Taylor's men of cheating. The season hit a low point with the Sri Lankans which saw the teams refuse to shake hands at the end of the second final of the triangular series which Australia won 2–0. The match had included physical jostling between McGrath and Sanath Jayasuriya mid pitch, with the latter accusing McGrath of making racist attacks. Later in the match, stump microphones showed Australian wicketkeeper Ian Healy alleging that portly Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga was feigning injury and calling for a runner because of his lack of physical fitness.
On the field, the ODI tournament saw Mark Waugh elevated to be Taylor's ODI opening partner after the axing of Slater midway through the season. In their first match together in Perth, the pair put on 190, with Taylor scoring 85. They put on another century stand in the second final, with Taylor scoring 82. Taylor scored heavily in the ODI tournament, with 423 runs at 42.30 with four half-centuries. Australia warmed up for the 1996 Cricket World Cup by winning five of their eight round-robin matches, and taking the finals 2–0, but many of the matches were closely contested. The finals were won by 18 and nine runs respectively, while three of the group matches were decided in the last over.
After the spiteful summer, a Tamil Tiger bombing in Colombo coupled with death threats to some members of the team forced Taylor to forfeit his team's scheduled World Cup match against Sri Lanka in Colombo. Taylor made six as Australia started their campaign with a 97-run win over Kenya. He then made 59 in a century stand with Waugh as Australia defeated co-hosts India in Mumbai. Taylor scored 34 in a nine-wicket win over Zimbabwe, before scoring nine in a defeat to the West Indies in the last group match. Australia finished second in their group and faced New Zealand in the quarter-finals. Taylor made only 10 as Australia chased 289 for victory, but made a surprise tactic by sending in Shane Warne as a pinch hitter. Warne made 24 from 15 balls in a partnership with Waugh, to allow Australia to take the momentum and take victory by six wickets. Taylor managed only one in the semi-final as Australia staggered to 8/207 against the West Indies. Australia appeared to be heading out of the tournament when the Caribbean team reached 2/165, but a sudden collapse saw Australia win by six runs in the last over.
Australia managed to reach the final, where they met Sri Lanka. Taylor scored 74, a record score by an Australian captain in the World Cup, but Sri Lanka comfortably triumphed on this occasion by seven wickets to claim the trophy.
Almost retired
After the World Cup, Bob Simpson was replaced as Australia's coach by Geoff Marsh, Taylor's former opening partner. Australia's first tournament after the World Cup was the Singer World Series in Sri Lanka. Taylor opted out of the tournament, and in his absence, Australia reached the final but lost by 50 runs to the hosts.
On a short tour to India, Taylor made his first ODI century at Bangalore, with 105 against India in his 98th match, having been out in the 90s on three previous occasions. Taylor performed strongly in the ODIs, with a total of 302 runs at 60.40. However, it was a disappointing tour for the team; the solitary Test in Delhi was lost, as were all five ODIs played during the Titan Cup.
In 1996–97, Australia confirmed its ascendancy over the West Indies with a 3–2 series win, but Taylor endured a poor season with the bat and failed to pass 50 in nine innings. His partnership with Slater was terminated when the latter was dropped, replaced by Matthew Elliott. Following an injury to Elliott, Matthew Hayden became Taylor's partner for three Tests.
Unable to recover form in the ODI series, Taylor's scratchy batting led to many poor starts for Australia. The team suffered five consecutive defeats, and missed the finals of the tournament for the first time in 17 years. Taylor managed only 143 runs at 17.88 with a highest score of 29.
The early 1997 tour to South Africa brought no upturn in Taylor's batting despite Australia's 2–1 victory in the series: he scored 80 runs at 16.00. His form was such that it influenced the selection of the team. For the Second Test at Port Elizabeth, played on a green pitch, Australia played Michael Bevan as a second spinner batting at number seven to reinforce the batting, instead of a third seamer to exploit the conditions. After scoring seven and 17 in the first two ODIs, Taylor dropped himself from the team for the remaining five matches.
The 1997 Ashes tour started poorly amid rumours that Taylor was on the verge of losing his place in the side. He batted ineffectively as Australia lost the one day series 0–3, scoring seven and 11, before dropping himself for the final match. In the First Test, Australia were dismissed for 118 in the first innings, with Taylor contributing seven: he had not managed to pass 50 in his last 21 Test innings. England amassed a big lead of 360 runs. With Australia facing a heavy defeat, media criticism of his position intensified. The Melbourne Age ran a competition for its readers to forecast how many runs he would make. Most respondents guessed less than 10 runs. The team's erstwhile coach, Bob Simpson, said that Taylor's retention in the team in spite of his poor form was fostering resentment among the players and destabilising the team.
Taylor started nervously in the second innings, but went on to score of 129, which saved his career, but not the match. His performance prompted personal congratulations from Prime Minister John Howard and the team's management allowed the media a rare opportunity to enter the dressing room and interview Taylor. During the period he refused offers by the manager to handle the media on his behalf. Australia went on to win the Third, Fourth and Fifth Tests and retain the Ashes 3–2. Although Taylor made single figures in the three Tests following his century, he contributed 76 and 45 in the series-clinching Test at Nottingham. Taylor ended the series with 317 runs at 31.7.
Dual teams
However, Taylor's ODI form was not to the satisfaction of the selectors. At the start of the 1997–98 season, a new selection policy was announced: the Test and ODI teams became separate entities, with specialists in each form of the game selected accordingly. Taylor was dropped from the ODI team, in favour of the aggressive Michael di Venuto. Tactically, ODI cricket was transformed by Sri Lanka's World Cup success, when it employed the highly aggressive opening pair of Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana.
At this time, Taylor was a central figure in a pay dispute between the players and the ACB, with a strike action threatened by the players. Taylor continued as Test captain and led the team to a 2–0 win over New Zealand. The first two matches were won by 186 runs and an innings, while the Third Test ended with Australia one wicket from victory after almost two days' play was washed out.
Taylor scored a century (112 on the first day of the First Test, and an unbeaten 66 in the Third Test, compiling 214 runs at 53.50 for the series. This was followed by three Tests against South Africa. After South Africa withheld the Australian bowling on the final day to secure a draw in the Boxing Day Test, Australia took a 1–0 lead in the New Year's Test at Sydney with an innings victory. Taylor carried his bat for 169 in the first innings of the Third Test at Adelaide which helped Australia to draw the match and clinch the series.
On the 1998 tour of India, Elliott was dropped and Taylor reunited with Slater as the opening pair. Australia started well by taking a 71-run first-innings lead in the First Test at Chennai, but Sachin Tendulkar's unbeaten 155 put Australia under pressure to save the match on the final day. They were unable to resist and lost by 179 runs. Australia was crushed by an innings and 219 runs in the Second Test at Calcutta, Australia first series loss in four years and the first time that Australia had lost by an innings for five years. Thus, a series victory in India, which Australia had not achieved since 1969–70, remained elusive. Australia won the Third Test in Bangalore by eight wickets, with Taylor scoring an unbeaten 102 in a second innings run chase.
Record equalled
Later in 1998, Taylor led his team to Pakistan, where a convincing win in the First Test at Rawalpindi by an innings and 99 runs was Australia's first Test victory in the country for 39 years. Taylor then attended a court hearing investigating the claims of match-fixing made during the 1994 tour. In the Second Test at Peshawar, Taylor played the longest innings of his career. He batted two days to amass 334 not out, equalling Sir Donald Bradman's Australian record set in 1930. In temperatures above 32 °C, Taylor survived two dropped catches before he had reached 25 and scored slowly on the first day. He shared a 206-run partnership with Justin Langer. The next day, he added 103 runs in a morning session extended from two to three hours. After the tea interval, he discarded his helmet in favour of a white sun hat, to deal with the extreme heat. He passed 311, eclipsing Bob Simpson's record score by an Australian captain. In the final over, Taylor equalled Bradman's Australian Test record when a shot to midwicket was barely stopped by Ijaz Ahmed, which reduced the scoring opportunity to a single run.
At the end of the day's play, Taylor was encouraged by the media, the public and his teammates to attempt to break Brian Lara's world record score of 375. An unusually large crowd turned out the following day in anticipation. However, Taylor declared the innings closed, opting to share the record with Bradman, and making the team's chances of winning the game paramount. He was widely praised for this decision. He made 92 in the second innings, giving him the second highest Test match aggregate after English batsmen Graham Gooch, who scored 333 and 123 for a total of 456 against India at Lord's on 26 July 1990. His fifteen hours batting in one Test was second only to Hanif Mohammad. The match ended in a draw, as did the Third Test, so Australia won the series and Taylor ended with 513 runs at 128.25 average.
Final season
Taylor's swansong was the 1998–99 Ashes series against England, which began with his 100th Test in the First Test in Brisbane. He scored 46 and a duck—his first in Australia—as England were saved when thunderstorms forced the abandonment of play on the final afternoon. Two half centuries in the next two Tests in Perth and Adelaide saw Australia win by seven wickets and 205 runs respectively, thereby retaining the series 2–0. After losing the Fourth Test by 12 runs after a dramatic final day collapse, Taylor headed to his home ground, the Sydney Cricket Ground, for what would be his final Test. Australia went on to win the Test by 98 runs and take the series 3–1. Taylor only scored two in both innings, but he broke Border's world record for the most Test catches. His catch in the first innings equalled Border's 156 and another in the second made him the sole owner of the record.
He also jointly holds the record in Test cricket (along with Ian Healy) of being the only cricketers to have been run out in both innings of a Test on two occasions.
Legacy
The improvement of the Australian team, begun during Border's tenure, continued under the captaincy of Taylor. After the defeat of the West Indies in 1995, Taylor's teams won home and away series against every Test team they played, with the exception of winning a series in India. Wisden wrote:
Taylor talked so well that he raised the standard of debate in Australia—and perhaps of cricket itself—in a way which was an example to all professional cricketers ... Border stopped Australia losing. Taylor made them into winners, the acknowledged if not official world champions of Test cricket.
Taylor made a concerted effort to decrease the amount of sledging committed by his team, a trait that brought criticism of Australian teams during other eras. In total, he captained the side in 50 Tests, winning 26 and losing 13, a success rate unmatched in the previous fifty years except for Don Bradman and Viv Richards.
Career best performances
Retirement
Taylor retired from professional cricket in early 1999 after the Ashes series. On Australia Day, he was named the Australian of the Year. He was awarded an Australian Sports Medal in 2000 and a Centenary Medal in 2001. He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2002 and made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2003. In 2011, he was inducted into the Cricket Hall of Fame by the CA.
He is now a commentator for Channel Nine for 21 years. Despite the network losing the TV rights in April 2018, Taylor re-signed for another three years to give his expert analysis on the Ashes 2019, 2019 Cricket World Cup & 2020 World Twenty20 and as a digital contributor.
He mainly commentates on One Day International and Test matches in Australia until the network's final year of cricket telecasts, so he can now spend more time with his family. He used to also appear on The Cricket Show with Simon O'Donnell, and is a spokesman for Fujitsu air-conditioners. He also commentates for radio.
Taylor is patron of the Mark Taylor Shield Cricket competition run for NSW Catholic Primary schools in and around the Sydney region. On 6 November 2011, Waitara Oval, the home of the Northern District Cricket Club, had its name formally changed to Mark Taylor Oval, to honour its former First Grade captain and life member.
In October 2015, The Primary Club of Australia announced that Mark Taylor had accepted the role of Twelfth Man and Patron following the passing of their former Patron, Richie Benaud OBE. He also became Director of Cricket Australia, who commissioned a replacement cap for Benaud, only for his ill health and subsequent passing to have the cap presented to his wife.
References
Further reading
External links
1964 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Wagga Wagga
Australia Test cricketers
Australia One Day International cricketers
Australia Test cricket captains
New South Wales cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Australian cricket commentators
People educated at Chatswood High School
Australian of the Year Award winners
Officers of the Order of Australia
Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal
Recipients of the Centenary Medal
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
University of New South Wales alumni
Australian Cricket Hall of Fame inductees
People from the Riverina
Chatswood, New South Wales
Australian republicans
| true |
[
"SOARA (Situation, Objective, Action, Results, Aftermath) is a job interview technique developed by Hagymas Laszlo, Professor of Language at the University of Munich, and Alexander Botos, Chief Curator at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. It is similar to the Situation, Task, Action, Result technique. In many interviews, SOARA is used as a structure for clarifying information relating to a recent challenge.\n\nDetails\n\n Situation: The interviewer wants you to present a recent challenge and situation you found yourself in.\n Objective: What did you have to achieve? The interviewer will be looking to see what you were trying to achieve from the situation.\n Action: What did you do? The interviewer will be looking for information on what you did, why you did it and what were the alternatives.\n Results: What was the outcome of your actions? What did you achieve through your actions and did you meet your objectives.\n Aftermath: What did you learn from this experience and have you used this learning since?\n\nJob interview",
"The situation, task, action, result (STAR) format is a technique used by interviewers to gather all the relevant information about a specific capability that the job requires. \n\n Situation: The interviewer wants you to present a recent challenging situation in which you found yourself.\n Task: What were you required to achieve? The interviewer will be looking to see what you were trying to achieve from the situation. Some performance development methods use “Target” rather than “Task”. Job interview candidates who describe a “Target” they set themselves instead of an externally imposed “Task” emphasize their own intrinsic motivation to perform and to develop their performance.\n Action: What did you do? The interviewer will be looking for information on what you did, why you did it and what the alternatives were.\n Results: What was the outcome of your actions? What did you achieve through your actions? Did you meet your objectives? What did you learn from this experience? Have you used this learning since?\n\nThe STAR technique is similar to the SOARA technique.\n\nThe STAR technique is also often complemented with an additional R on the end STARR or STAR(R) with the last R resembling reflection. This R aims to gather insight and interviewee's ability to learn and iterate. Whereas the STAR reveals how and what kind of result on an objective was achieved, the STARR with the additional R helps the interviewer to understand what the interviewee learned from the experience and how they would assimilate experiences. The interviewee can define what they would do (differently, the same, or better) next time being posed with a situation.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nThe ‘STAR’ technique to answer behavioral interview questions\nThe STAR method explained\n\nJob interview"
] |
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