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[
"My Happiness (Powderfinger song)",
"Touring and promotion"
] |
C_6bde9a8512df400487d7fb30f8e66f07_0
|
How successful were they in promoting the song?
| 1 |
How successful were Powderfinger in promoting My Happiness?
|
My Happiness (Powderfinger song)
|
"My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release, and Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's early success. Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay. Although "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority. "My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart. According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards "My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"--a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States. Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"--Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market. Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay. They were the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show. The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single. In Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out for three nights in a row in London, partly due to the success of the single. CANNOTANSWER
|
My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release,
|
"My Happiness" is a song by Australian rock band Powderfinger. It was released via record label Universal Music Australia on 21 August 2000 as the first single from the band's fourth album, Odyssey Number Five. Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning wrote the lyrics for "My Happiness" as a reflection on the time the band spent touring to promote their work, and the loneliness that came as a result. It was inspired by his love of gospel and soul music. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. Despite its melancholy mood, "My Happiness" is considered by many to be a love song, a suggestion Fanning regards as mystifying.
The single is Powderfinger's most successful; it peaked at number four on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, number seven on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and number 23 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart—the first Powderfinger song to do so. In June 2020, the song was certified 5x Platinum in Australia. It won an ARIA Award and an APRA Award and topped the Triple J Hottest 100 in 2000 as well as coming 27th in the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time in 2009. "My Happiness" was highly praised by critics, with even negative reviews of Odyssey Number Five noting it as a highlight, especially for its catchy chorus. One of the highlights of Powderfinger's United States tour with Coldplay was a performance of "My Happiness" on the Late Show with David Letterman; they were only the fourth Australian act to appear on the show.
In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "My Happiness" was ranked number 31.
Production and content
The lyrics for "My Happiness" were written by Bernard Fanning, Powderfinger's lead singer and songwriter. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. The song describes feelings of love and separation; Sains Pennie Dennison said it described "the pining feeling you experience when you spend time away from the one you love". Fanning called it "a sad story of touring and the absence loneliness that comes with it". The extensive time spent touring took its toll on the band, and it was on the back of this that Fanning wrote "My Happiness". Thus, he expressed confusion at its being considered a romantic song.
"My Happiness" was attacked by some fans as being "like Lauryn Hill, bland and boring Top 40 bullshit"; guitarist Ian Haug rebutted by pointing out that the song was an example of the new emotional level on which Powderfinger made music, while Fanning was more aggressive in his defence of the song. In response to being dubbed "Mr Miserable" by The Sun-Heralds Peter Holmes for the lyrics of "My Happiness" and "These Days", Fanning pointed out that the songs could be construed either as melancholy, or as part of "the most hopeful record ... in a long time".
Much of Fanning's writing is inspired by non-rock music, and "My Happiness" is no exception. Gospel and soul music that is "unashamedly about love and how good it makes you feel" was common during the Odyssey Number Five recording sessions. Powderfinger worked hard in those sessions to ensure a more polished work than Internationalist; guitarist Darren Middleton concluded that "My Happiness", "The Metre", and "Up & Down & Back Again" were more "complete" because of the band's efforts. The lighter elements of "My Happiness" in comparison to some of the band's earlier work saw Fanning reveal his passion for several other musicians, such as James Taylor—something that "five years ago ... would have been an embarrassing thing to say".
Touring and promotion
"My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release, and Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's early success. Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay. Although "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority.
"My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart. According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards "My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"—a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States. Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"—Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market.
Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay. They were the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show. The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single. In Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out for three nights in a row in London, partly due to the success of the single.
Release and commercial success
"My Happiness" was released as a single in Australia on 21 August 2000. When asked how they chose the release date, Fanning jokingly said "the release date is timed to coincide with the Olympics, when all the visitors are here ... they can go into HMV and pick it up." At the time of the single's release, the band's previous album, Internationalist, was still in the top 50 on the ARIA Albums Chart, 95 weeks after entering. The single featured B-side "My Kind of Scene", which had already received strong airplay due to its appearance on the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack. "My Happiness" appeared on a Triple M compilation entitled Triple M's New Stuff, and on a Kerrang! compilation, Kerrang!2 The Album.
"My Happiness" entered the ARIA singles chart at number four—making it Powderfinger's highest-charting single in Australia—and spent 24 weeks on the chart. It reached number two on the Queensland singles chart, and peaked at number seven on the New Zealand singles chart, on which it spent 23 weeks. In the US, "My Happiness" was serviced to alternative radio on 13 February 2001; it was Powderfinger's first single to chart in the US, reaching number 23 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.
The song won the "Single of the Year" award at the ARIA Awards of 2001, and the 2001 "Song of the Year" APRA Award. Furthermore, "My Happiness" topped the Triple J Hottest 100 chart in 2000, and appeared on that year's CD release. Rolling Stone Australia named "My Happiness" "Song of the Year" in a reader poll. "My Happiness" was the eighth most-played song on Australian radio in 2001.
Critical reception
"My Happiness" was critically acclaimed. Cameron Adams of the Herald Sun wrote that "My Happiness" did not disappoint in the trend of excellent first singles from Powderfinger, citing "Pick You Up" and "The Day You Come" as examples. He praised the song's structure, stating that "the verses almost crash into the chorus". Adams also expressed surprise that "My Kind of Scene" was only released as a B-side. The Newcastle Heralds Chad Watson described a mixture of acoustic and electric guitar and "a restrained yet warmly infectious chorus". Despite praising it as a "Big Rock Anthem™", Richard Jinman of The Sydney Morning Herald complained that "My Happiness" was not as "hummable" as past singles "Passenger" or "These Days". Devon Powers of PopMatters described it, and "Waiting for the Sun", as sounding bored. The Evening Mail agreed; it argued the "rock-lite" song, while sounding lush, failed to "make you really sit up and take notice".
Despite being highly critical of Odyssey Number Five, Allmusic's Dean Carlson labelled it, alongside "Odyssey #5", as one of the album's best songs, for the riff Powderfinger executed "better than most bands of their stature". Adams also enjoyed the song's "wobbly guitar", and Sains Christie Eliszer approved of the "acoustic strumalong", but The Advertisers Michael Duffy said the song was "a familiar piece of yearning guitar indie that is polished but pedestrian"; he reserved his praise for "My Kind of Scene", which he described as akin to the best of Internationalist. Darren Bunting wrote in the Hull Daily Mail that "My Happiness" was the best song on Odyssey Number Five, praising "soaring vocals, heartfelt lyrics and chiming guitar". Entertainment Weeklys Marc Weingarten said that on "My Happiness", "Fanning's heavy heart is tattered by scratching and clawing guitars".
Music video
The music video for "My Happiness" starts at a railway station (Roma Street in Brisbane) with a boy and girl stepping off a train. As the pair leave the train, the boy turns and tries to reach for something, but the girl pulls him back. It is shown that he was reaching for a sentient slinky. The slinky leaves the train, and passes Middleton busking in the train station. The slinky ventures to find the boy, facing a range of challenges along the way; these include avoiding fruit falling on it and riding a skateboard. In the middle of the music clip, the slinky is shown making its way through a music room in which Powderfinger are performing "My Happiness". It rests on the bar and the band finishes playing, while the background music continues. As Powderfinger leaves, the slinky is picked up by Haug. He gets into a car and places the slinky on the car's dashboard, but it falls out the window as the car turns a tight corner. It lands outside the gate of a house and is picked up and brought inside to the boy.
The video was created by Fifty Fifty Films, who created numerous other Powderfinger music videos. It was directed by Chris Applebaum and produced by Keeley Gould of A Band Apart, with editing by Jeff Selis. Cameron Adams of The Courier Mail reported that following the music video's release, slinky sales increased dramatically.
Awards and accolades
Track listings
Australian CD single
"My Happiness" – 4:36
"My Kind of Scene" – 4:37
"Nature Boy" – 3:12
"Odyssey #1" (demo) – 4:09
European CD single
"My Happiness" (edit) – 4:11
"Nature Boy" – 3:38
Personnel
Powderfinger
Bernard Fanning – vocals and tambourine
Darren Middleton – guitars and backing vocals
Ian Haug – guitars
John Collins – bass guitars
Jon Coghill – drums and percussion
Production
Nick DiDia – Producer, engineer and mixer
Matt Voigt – Assistant engineer
Anton Hagop – Assistant engineer
Alex Pertout – Percussion
Stewart Whitmore – Digital editing
Stephen Marcussen – Mastering
Anton Hagop – Assistant producer
Kevin Wilkins – Art direction and photography
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
Powderfinger songs
2000 singles
2000 songs
APRA Award winners
ARIA Award-winning songs
Polydor Records singles
Songs written by Bernard Fanning
Songs written by Jon Coghill
Songs written by John Collins (Australian musician)
Songs written by Ian Haug
Songs written by Darren Middleton
Universal Music Australia singles
| true |
[
"\"We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful\" is a single by English alternative rock singer Morrissey released in April 1992 by HMV. It was released as the first single from his Your Arsenal album, preceding the album by three months, and was the first Morrissey single to be co-written with guitarist Alain Whyte and produced by glam rock guitarist Mick Ronson, known for his work with David Bowie as one of the Spiders from Mars.\n\nPeaking at No. 17 in the UK Singles Chart, the song shows a harder edge to Morrissey's sound and moves away from the lighter pop of his 1991 album Kill Uncle.\n\nThe Swedish synth-pop band Universal Poplab covered the song on their 2004 debut eponymous album, in a duet with the Swedish pop singer Håkan Hellström.\n\nReel Big Fish covered the song on their 2005 album We're Not Happy 'til You're Not Happy, replacing the lyric \"And if they are Northern\" with \"And if they are No Doubt\".\n\nMorrissey claimed that the lyrics were about the music scene in Manchester, with bands contesting for success. James lead singer Tim Booth has claimed the song is about the success James had as a fellow Manchester band, once performing it at a festival in place of Morrissey. Morrissey however states that the song is not about James.\n\nOn hating it when his friends became successful, he said: \"When my old friend Simon Topping [the frontman of Manchester band A Certain Ratio] appeared on the cover of the NME, I died a thousand deaths of sorrow and lay down in the woods to die.\"\n\nCritical reception\nAndrew Collins in NME gave a very negative review of the single, writing that \"this is by far and away the ex-Smith's WORST single\" and described the music as \"the sound of five men bashing around in the darkness in search of a tune\" before finishing the review by announcing \"Moz is history, and we'd all do well to learn it.\" In a retrospective review, Ned Raggett of AllMusic wrote, \"It may be a mouthful, but as delivered it becomes a wonderfully funny, intentionally bitchy sentiment for this EP's lead track.\"\n\nTrack listings\n\n7\" vinyl and cassette\n \"We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful\"\n \"Suedehead\" (live London 4/10/91)\n\n12\" vinyl (UK)\n \"We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful\"\n \"Suedehead\" (live London 4/10/91)\n \"I've Changed My Plea to Guilty\" (live London 4/10/91)\n \"Pregnant for the Last Time\" (live London 4/10/91)\n\nCD (UK)\n \"We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful\"\n \"Suedehead\" (live London 4/10/91)\n \"I've Changed My Plea to Guilty\" (live London 4/10/91)\n \"Alsatian Cousin\" (live London 4/10/91)\n\n12\" vinyl and CD (USA)\n \"We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful\"\n \"Suedehead\" (live London 4/10/91)\n \"I've Changed My Plea to Guilty\" (live London 4/10/91)\n \"Pregnant for the Last Time\" (live London 4/10/91)\n \"Alsatian Cousin\" (live London 4/10/91)\n\nEtchings on vinyl\n\nBritish 7\" and 12\": I DO NOT KNOW ANYONE THAT IS HAPPY DO YOU/none\n\nMusicians\nMorrissey — voice\nAlain Whyte — guitar\nBoz Boorer — guitar\nGary Day — bass guitar\nSpencer Cobrin — drums\n\nLive performances\nThe song was debuted on the second US leg of his tour promoting the Kill Uncle album. The first half of the song was performed during the aborted gig at Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, in 1991, in which 48 people were injured as the crowd rushed the stage. It was then performed in concert for the duration of his tour in 1992 promoting Your Arsenal.\nFellow Manchester band James performed it as a set opener when standing in for Morrissey at Glastonbury, with frontman Tim Booth stating beforehand that \"this is our Morrissey impression\".\n\nSee also\n Morrissey discography\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \"We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful\" at Passions Just Like Mine\n \"[ We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful\"] Review at AllMusic\n\n1992 singles\nMorrissey songs\nSongs written by Morrissey\nSongs written by Alain Whyte\n1992 songs",
"\"Green Christmas\" is a Christmas song by the Barenaked Ladies from the soundtrack for the 2000 film How The Grinch Stole Christmas!. It was later re-recorded as a studio acoustic version for the Christmas compilation Maybe This Christmas Too? in 2003, and re-recorded again for the band's own holiday album, Barenaked for the Holidays, released in 2004. The song was performed on several television appearances promoting the album.\n\nReferences\n\n2000 songs\nAmerican Christmas songs\nBarenaked Ladies songs\nSongs written for films"
] |
[
"My Happiness (Powderfinger song)",
"Touring and promotion",
"How successful were they in promoting the song?",
"My Happiness\" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release,"
] |
C_6bde9a8512df400487d7fb30f8e66f07_0
|
Did the song top the charts?
| 2 |
Did My Happiness top the charts?
|
My Happiness (Powderfinger song)
|
"My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release, and Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's early success. Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay. Although "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority. "My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart. According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards "My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"--a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States. Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"--Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market. Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay. They were the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show. The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single. In Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out for three nights in a row in London, partly due to the success of the single. CANNOTANSWER
|
My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard
|
"My Happiness" is a song by Australian rock band Powderfinger. It was released via record label Universal Music Australia on 21 August 2000 as the first single from the band's fourth album, Odyssey Number Five. Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning wrote the lyrics for "My Happiness" as a reflection on the time the band spent touring to promote their work, and the loneliness that came as a result. It was inspired by his love of gospel and soul music. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. Despite its melancholy mood, "My Happiness" is considered by many to be a love song, a suggestion Fanning regards as mystifying.
The single is Powderfinger's most successful; it peaked at number four on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, number seven on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and number 23 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart—the first Powderfinger song to do so. In June 2020, the song was certified 5x Platinum in Australia. It won an ARIA Award and an APRA Award and topped the Triple J Hottest 100 in 2000 as well as coming 27th in the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time in 2009. "My Happiness" was highly praised by critics, with even negative reviews of Odyssey Number Five noting it as a highlight, especially for its catchy chorus. One of the highlights of Powderfinger's United States tour with Coldplay was a performance of "My Happiness" on the Late Show with David Letterman; they were only the fourth Australian act to appear on the show.
In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "My Happiness" was ranked number 31.
Production and content
The lyrics for "My Happiness" were written by Bernard Fanning, Powderfinger's lead singer and songwriter. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. The song describes feelings of love and separation; Sains Pennie Dennison said it described "the pining feeling you experience when you spend time away from the one you love". Fanning called it "a sad story of touring and the absence loneliness that comes with it". The extensive time spent touring took its toll on the band, and it was on the back of this that Fanning wrote "My Happiness". Thus, he expressed confusion at its being considered a romantic song.
"My Happiness" was attacked by some fans as being "like Lauryn Hill, bland and boring Top 40 bullshit"; guitarist Ian Haug rebutted by pointing out that the song was an example of the new emotional level on which Powderfinger made music, while Fanning was more aggressive in his defence of the song. In response to being dubbed "Mr Miserable" by The Sun-Heralds Peter Holmes for the lyrics of "My Happiness" and "These Days", Fanning pointed out that the songs could be construed either as melancholy, or as part of "the most hopeful record ... in a long time".
Much of Fanning's writing is inspired by non-rock music, and "My Happiness" is no exception. Gospel and soul music that is "unashamedly about love and how good it makes you feel" was common during the Odyssey Number Five recording sessions. Powderfinger worked hard in those sessions to ensure a more polished work than Internationalist; guitarist Darren Middleton concluded that "My Happiness", "The Metre", and "Up & Down & Back Again" were more "complete" because of the band's efforts. The lighter elements of "My Happiness" in comparison to some of the band's earlier work saw Fanning reveal his passion for several other musicians, such as James Taylor—something that "five years ago ... would have been an embarrassing thing to say".
Touring and promotion
"My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release, and Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's early success. Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay. Although "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority.
"My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart. According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards "My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"—a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States. Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"—Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market.
Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay. They were the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show. The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single. In Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out for three nights in a row in London, partly due to the success of the single.
Release and commercial success
"My Happiness" was released as a single in Australia on 21 August 2000. When asked how they chose the release date, Fanning jokingly said "the release date is timed to coincide with the Olympics, when all the visitors are here ... they can go into HMV and pick it up." At the time of the single's release, the band's previous album, Internationalist, was still in the top 50 on the ARIA Albums Chart, 95 weeks after entering. The single featured B-side "My Kind of Scene", which had already received strong airplay due to its appearance on the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack. "My Happiness" appeared on a Triple M compilation entitled Triple M's New Stuff, and on a Kerrang! compilation, Kerrang!2 The Album.
"My Happiness" entered the ARIA singles chart at number four—making it Powderfinger's highest-charting single in Australia—and spent 24 weeks on the chart. It reached number two on the Queensland singles chart, and peaked at number seven on the New Zealand singles chart, on which it spent 23 weeks. In the US, "My Happiness" was serviced to alternative radio on 13 February 2001; it was Powderfinger's first single to chart in the US, reaching number 23 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.
The song won the "Single of the Year" award at the ARIA Awards of 2001, and the 2001 "Song of the Year" APRA Award. Furthermore, "My Happiness" topped the Triple J Hottest 100 chart in 2000, and appeared on that year's CD release. Rolling Stone Australia named "My Happiness" "Song of the Year" in a reader poll. "My Happiness" was the eighth most-played song on Australian radio in 2001.
Critical reception
"My Happiness" was critically acclaimed. Cameron Adams of the Herald Sun wrote that "My Happiness" did not disappoint in the trend of excellent first singles from Powderfinger, citing "Pick You Up" and "The Day You Come" as examples. He praised the song's structure, stating that "the verses almost crash into the chorus". Adams also expressed surprise that "My Kind of Scene" was only released as a B-side. The Newcastle Heralds Chad Watson described a mixture of acoustic and electric guitar and "a restrained yet warmly infectious chorus". Despite praising it as a "Big Rock Anthem™", Richard Jinman of The Sydney Morning Herald complained that "My Happiness" was not as "hummable" as past singles "Passenger" or "These Days". Devon Powers of PopMatters described it, and "Waiting for the Sun", as sounding bored. The Evening Mail agreed; it argued the "rock-lite" song, while sounding lush, failed to "make you really sit up and take notice".
Despite being highly critical of Odyssey Number Five, Allmusic's Dean Carlson labelled it, alongside "Odyssey #5", as one of the album's best songs, for the riff Powderfinger executed "better than most bands of their stature". Adams also enjoyed the song's "wobbly guitar", and Sains Christie Eliszer approved of the "acoustic strumalong", but The Advertisers Michael Duffy said the song was "a familiar piece of yearning guitar indie that is polished but pedestrian"; he reserved his praise for "My Kind of Scene", which he described as akin to the best of Internationalist. Darren Bunting wrote in the Hull Daily Mail that "My Happiness" was the best song on Odyssey Number Five, praising "soaring vocals, heartfelt lyrics and chiming guitar". Entertainment Weeklys Marc Weingarten said that on "My Happiness", "Fanning's heavy heart is tattered by scratching and clawing guitars".
Music video
The music video for "My Happiness" starts at a railway station (Roma Street in Brisbane) with a boy and girl stepping off a train. As the pair leave the train, the boy turns and tries to reach for something, but the girl pulls him back. It is shown that he was reaching for a sentient slinky. The slinky leaves the train, and passes Middleton busking in the train station. The slinky ventures to find the boy, facing a range of challenges along the way; these include avoiding fruit falling on it and riding a skateboard. In the middle of the music clip, the slinky is shown making its way through a music room in which Powderfinger are performing "My Happiness". It rests on the bar and the band finishes playing, while the background music continues. As Powderfinger leaves, the slinky is picked up by Haug. He gets into a car and places the slinky on the car's dashboard, but it falls out the window as the car turns a tight corner. It lands outside the gate of a house and is picked up and brought inside to the boy.
The video was created by Fifty Fifty Films, who created numerous other Powderfinger music videos. It was directed by Chris Applebaum and produced by Keeley Gould of A Band Apart, with editing by Jeff Selis. Cameron Adams of The Courier Mail reported that following the music video's release, slinky sales increased dramatically.
Awards and accolades
Track listings
Australian CD single
"My Happiness" – 4:36
"My Kind of Scene" – 4:37
"Nature Boy" – 3:12
"Odyssey #1" (demo) – 4:09
European CD single
"My Happiness" (edit) – 4:11
"Nature Boy" – 3:38
Personnel
Powderfinger
Bernard Fanning – vocals and tambourine
Darren Middleton – guitars and backing vocals
Ian Haug – guitars
John Collins – bass guitars
Jon Coghill – drums and percussion
Production
Nick DiDia – Producer, engineer and mixer
Matt Voigt – Assistant engineer
Anton Hagop – Assistant engineer
Alex Pertout – Percussion
Stewart Whitmore – Digital editing
Stephen Marcussen – Mastering
Anton Hagop – Assistant producer
Kevin Wilkins – Art direction and photography
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
Powderfinger songs
2000 singles
2000 songs
APRA Award winners
ARIA Award-winning songs
Polydor Records singles
Songs written by Bernard Fanning
Songs written by Jon Coghill
Songs written by John Collins (Australian musician)
Songs written by Ian Haug
Songs written by Darren Middleton
Universal Music Australia singles
| true |
[
"\"One Hell of a Woman\" is a 1974 song (see 1974 in music) by the American singer-songwriter Mac Davis. The song was written by Davis and Mark James. \n\nReleased as a single from his album Stop and Smell the Roses, the song became Davis' second Top 20 hit on the U.S. pop chart, where it peaked at No. 11 in the fall of 1974. The song remained in the Top 40 for ten weeks. It spent a total of 28 weeks on the national charts, 10 weeks longer than did his number-one hit, \"Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me.\" Unusually for Davis, the song did not chart on the American country charts.\n\nChart performance\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1974 singles\nMac Davis songs\nSongs written by Mac Davis\nSongs written by Mark James (songwriter)\n1974 songs\nColumbia Records singles",
"\"He Did with Me\" is a song by Vicki Lawrence, an American pop music singer, actress, and comedienne. It was the second of two releases from her 1973 Bell Records debut album.\n\nThe song was a number-one hit on the Australian Kent Music Report after its release. It was also a hit in the United States and Canada, falling short of the Pop Top 40 but reaching the Top 20 on the Adult Contemporary charts of both nations.\n\nThe song did well in Minneapolis, where it reached #18 on WDGY-AM.\n\nChart performance\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1973 singles\nVicki Lawrence songs\nBell Records singles\nSong recordings produced by Snuff Garrett\n1973 songs\nNumber-one singles in Australia\nTorch songs"
] |
[
"My Happiness (Powderfinger song)",
"Touring and promotion",
"How successful were they in promoting the song?",
"My Happiness\" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release,",
"Did the song top the charts?",
"My Happiness\" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard"
] |
C_6bde9a8512df400487d7fb30f8e66f07_0
|
Did the song win any awards?
| 3 |
Did My Happiness win any awards?
|
My Happiness (Powderfinger song)
|
"My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release, and Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's early success. Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay. Although "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority. "My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart. According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards "My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"--a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States. Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"--Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market. Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay. They were the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show. The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single. In Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out for three nights in a row in London, partly due to the success of the single. CANNOTANSWER
|
CANNOTANSWER
|
"My Happiness" is a song by Australian rock band Powderfinger. It was released via record label Universal Music Australia on 21 August 2000 as the first single from the band's fourth album, Odyssey Number Five. Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning wrote the lyrics for "My Happiness" as a reflection on the time the band spent touring to promote their work, and the loneliness that came as a result. It was inspired by his love of gospel and soul music. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. Despite its melancholy mood, "My Happiness" is considered by many to be a love song, a suggestion Fanning regards as mystifying.
The single is Powderfinger's most successful; it peaked at number four on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, number seven on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and number 23 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart—the first Powderfinger song to do so. In June 2020, the song was certified 5x Platinum in Australia. It won an ARIA Award and an APRA Award and topped the Triple J Hottest 100 in 2000 as well as coming 27th in the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time in 2009. "My Happiness" was highly praised by critics, with even negative reviews of Odyssey Number Five noting it as a highlight, especially for its catchy chorus. One of the highlights of Powderfinger's United States tour with Coldplay was a performance of "My Happiness" on the Late Show with David Letterman; they were only the fourth Australian act to appear on the show.
In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "My Happiness" was ranked number 31.
Production and content
The lyrics for "My Happiness" were written by Bernard Fanning, Powderfinger's lead singer and songwriter. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. The song describes feelings of love and separation; Sains Pennie Dennison said it described "the pining feeling you experience when you spend time away from the one you love". Fanning called it "a sad story of touring and the absence loneliness that comes with it". The extensive time spent touring took its toll on the band, and it was on the back of this that Fanning wrote "My Happiness". Thus, he expressed confusion at its being considered a romantic song.
"My Happiness" was attacked by some fans as being "like Lauryn Hill, bland and boring Top 40 bullshit"; guitarist Ian Haug rebutted by pointing out that the song was an example of the new emotional level on which Powderfinger made music, while Fanning was more aggressive in his defence of the song. In response to being dubbed "Mr Miserable" by The Sun-Heralds Peter Holmes for the lyrics of "My Happiness" and "These Days", Fanning pointed out that the songs could be construed either as melancholy, or as part of "the most hopeful record ... in a long time".
Much of Fanning's writing is inspired by non-rock music, and "My Happiness" is no exception. Gospel and soul music that is "unashamedly about love and how good it makes you feel" was common during the Odyssey Number Five recording sessions. Powderfinger worked hard in those sessions to ensure a more polished work than Internationalist; guitarist Darren Middleton concluded that "My Happiness", "The Metre", and "Up & Down & Back Again" were more "complete" because of the band's efforts. The lighter elements of "My Happiness" in comparison to some of the band's earlier work saw Fanning reveal his passion for several other musicians, such as James Taylor—something that "five years ago ... would have been an embarrassing thing to say".
Touring and promotion
"My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release, and Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's early success. Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay. Although "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority.
"My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart. According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards "My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"—a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States. Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"—Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market.
Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay. They were the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show. The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single. In Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out for three nights in a row in London, partly due to the success of the single.
Release and commercial success
"My Happiness" was released as a single in Australia on 21 August 2000. When asked how they chose the release date, Fanning jokingly said "the release date is timed to coincide with the Olympics, when all the visitors are here ... they can go into HMV and pick it up." At the time of the single's release, the band's previous album, Internationalist, was still in the top 50 on the ARIA Albums Chart, 95 weeks after entering. The single featured B-side "My Kind of Scene", which had already received strong airplay due to its appearance on the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack. "My Happiness" appeared on a Triple M compilation entitled Triple M's New Stuff, and on a Kerrang! compilation, Kerrang!2 The Album.
"My Happiness" entered the ARIA singles chart at number four—making it Powderfinger's highest-charting single in Australia—and spent 24 weeks on the chart. It reached number two on the Queensland singles chart, and peaked at number seven on the New Zealand singles chart, on which it spent 23 weeks. In the US, "My Happiness" was serviced to alternative radio on 13 February 2001; it was Powderfinger's first single to chart in the US, reaching number 23 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.
The song won the "Single of the Year" award at the ARIA Awards of 2001, and the 2001 "Song of the Year" APRA Award. Furthermore, "My Happiness" topped the Triple J Hottest 100 chart in 2000, and appeared on that year's CD release. Rolling Stone Australia named "My Happiness" "Song of the Year" in a reader poll. "My Happiness" was the eighth most-played song on Australian radio in 2001.
Critical reception
"My Happiness" was critically acclaimed. Cameron Adams of the Herald Sun wrote that "My Happiness" did not disappoint in the trend of excellent first singles from Powderfinger, citing "Pick You Up" and "The Day You Come" as examples. He praised the song's structure, stating that "the verses almost crash into the chorus". Adams also expressed surprise that "My Kind of Scene" was only released as a B-side. The Newcastle Heralds Chad Watson described a mixture of acoustic and electric guitar and "a restrained yet warmly infectious chorus". Despite praising it as a "Big Rock Anthem™", Richard Jinman of The Sydney Morning Herald complained that "My Happiness" was not as "hummable" as past singles "Passenger" or "These Days". Devon Powers of PopMatters described it, and "Waiting for the Sun", as sounding bored. The Evening Mail agreed; it argued the "rock-lite" song, while sounding lush, failed to "make you really sit up and take notice".
Despite being highly critical of Odyssey Number Five, Allmusic's Dean Carlson labelled it, alongside "Odyssey #5", as one of the album's best songs, for the riff Powderfinger executed "better than most bands of their stature". Adams also enjoyed the song's "wobbly guitar", and Sains Christie Eliszer approved of the "acoustic strumalong", but The Advertisers Michael Duffy said the song was "a familiar piece of yearning guitar indie that is polished but pedestrian"; he reserved his praise for "My Kind of Scene", which he described as akin to the best of Internationalist. Darren Bunting wrote in the Hull Daily Mail that "My Happiness" was the best song on Odyssey Number Five, praising "soaring vocals, heartfelt lyrics and chiming guitar". Entertainment Weeklys Marc Weingarten said that on "My Happiness", "Fanning's heavy heart is tattered by scratching and clawing guitars".
Music video
The music video for "My Happiness" starts at a railway station (Roma Street in Brisbane) with a boy and girl stepping off a train. As the pair leave the train, the boy turns and tries to reach for something, but the girl pulls him back. It is shown that he was reaching for a sentient slinky. The slinky leaves the train, and passes Middleton busking in the train station. The slinky ventures to find the boy, facing a range of challenges along the way; these include avoiding fruit falling on it and riding a skateboard. In the middle of the music clip, the slinky is shown making its way through a music room in which Powderfinger are performing "My Happiness". It rests on the bar and the band finishes playing, while the background music continues. As Powderfinger leaves, the slinky is picked up by Haug. He gets into a car and places the slinky on the car's dashboard, but it falls out the window as the car turns a tight corner. It lands outside the gate of a house and is picked up and brought inside to the boy.
The video was created by Fifty Fifty Films, who created numerous other Powderfinger music videos. It was directed by Chris Applebaum and produced by Keeley Gould of A Band Apart, with editing by Jeff Selis. Cameron Adams of The Courier Mail reported that following the music video's release, slinky sales increased dramatically.
Awards and accolades
Track listings
Australian CD single
"My Happiness" – 4:36
"My Kind of Scene" – 4:37
"Nature Boy" – 3:12
"Odyssey #1" (demo) – 4:09
European CD single
"My Happiness" (edit) – 4:11
"Nature Boy" – 3:38
Personnel
Powderfinger
Bernard Fanning – vocals and tambourine
Darren Middleton – guitars and backing vocals
Ian Haug – guitars
John Collins – bass guitars
Jon Coghill – drums and percussion
Production
Nick DiDia – Producer, engineer and mixer
Matt Voigt – Assistant engineer
Anton Hagop – Assistant engineer
Alex Pertout – Percussion
Stewart Whitmore – Digital editing
Stephen Marcussen – Mastering
Anton Hagop – Assistant producer
Kevin Wilkins – Art direction and photography
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
Powderfinger songs
2000 singles
2000 songs
APRA Award winners
ARIA Award-winning songs
Polydor Records singles
Songs written by Bernard Fanning
Songs written by Jon Coghill
Songs written by John Collins (Australian musician)
Songs written by Ian Haug
Songs written by Darren Middleton
Universal Music Australia singles
| false |
[
"\"Wasn't It Good\" is a song by Tina Arena from her 1994 album Don't Ask. Arena co-wrote the song along with Heather Field and Robert Parde, and it was produced by David Tyson. The song peaked at number 11 in Australia and received four nominations at the prestigious ARIA Awards in 1996. Upon release as a single, the title was rendered with an ellipsis (\"Wasn't It Good...\").\n\nArena has performed the song on most tours, including her 2004 Greatest Hits tour and 2012 Australian tour. It is track four on her 2004 Greatest Hits compilation.\n\nMusical and lyrical content\n\"Wasn't It Good\" was composed in the key of G, while the lyrics lament a past friendship that did not turn into a romantic relationship.\n\nTrack listing\nA five-track single was released through Columbia Records; it contained both the single edit and original album version of \"Wasn't It Good\", as well as live versions of three other tracks from Don't Ask.\n\n \"Wasn't It Good\" (single version)\n \"Greatest Gift\" (live)\n \"Love Is the Answer\" (live)\n \"Message\" (live)\n \"Wasn't It Good\" (album version)\n\nChart\n\"Wasn't It Good\" was released on 18 September and debuted at #42 on the ARIA singles chart, eventually peaking at #11 on 19 November 1995.\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertification\n\nAward nominations\n\nARIA Awards\nThe ARIA Awards are presented annually from 1987 by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). \"Wasn't It Good\" was nominated in four categories, including Single of the Year. It did not win any awards.\n\n|-\n| rowspan=\"4\"| 1996 || \"Wasn't It Good\" || Best Female Artist || \n|-\n| \"Wasn't It Good\" || Best Pop Release || \n|-\n| \"Wasn't It Good\" || Single of the Year || \n|-\n| \"Wasn't It Good\" || Song of the Year || \n|-\n\nAPRA Awards\nThe Australasian Performing Right Association have presented the APRA Awards annually from 1982; \"Wasn't It Good\" was nominated in 1996 and won the Song of the Year.\n\n|-\n| 1996 || \"Wasn't It Good\" || Song of the Year || \n|-\n\nReferences\n\n1995 singles\nAPRA Award winners\nTina Arena songs\nColumbia Records singles\nSongs written by Tina Arena\n1994 songs\nPop ballads",
"The Outlander () is a Canadian drama film from Quebec, directed by Érik Canuel and released in 2005. An adaptation of Germaine Guèvremont's novel Le Survenant, the film stars Jean-Nicolas Verreault as the title character, a mysterious stranger whose arrival in the small town of Chénal-du-Moine significantly shakes up the community.\n\nAwards\nThe film received five Genie Award nominations at the 26th Genie Awards:\nBest Adapted Screenplay: Diane Cailhier\nBest Cinematography: Bernard Couture\nBest Costume Design: Francesca Chamberland\nBest Sound Editing: Alice Wright, Valéry Dufort-Boucher, Alexis Farand, Jacques Plante and Christian Rivest\nBest Original Song: Sylvain Cossette, Michel Corriveau and Robert Marchand, \"Comme une plume au vent\"\nIt did not win any of the awards.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n2005 films\nCanadian drama films\nFilms directed by Érik Canuel\nCanadian films"
] |
[
"My Happiness (Powderfinger song)",
"Touring and promotion",
"How successful were they in promoting the song?",
"My Happiness\" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release,",
"Did the song top the charts?",
"My Happiness\" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard",
"Did the song win any awards?",
"I don't know."
] |
C_6bde9a8512df400487d7fb30f8e66f07_0
|
How long were they on tour?
| 4 |
How long were Powderfinger on tour for My Happiness?
|
My Happiness (Powderfinger song)
|
"My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release, and Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's early success. Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay. Although "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority. "My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart. According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards "My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"--a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States. Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"--Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market. Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay. They were the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show. The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single. In Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out for three nights in a row in London, partly due to the success of the single. CANNOTANSWER
|
band sold out for three nights in a row in London,
|
"My Happiness" is a song by Australian rock band Powderfinger. It was released via record label Universal Music Australia on 21 August 2000 as the first single from the band's fourth album, Odyssey Number Five. Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning wrote the lyrics for "My Happiness" as a reflection on the time the band spent touring to promote their work, and the loneliness that came as a result. It was inspired by his love of gospel and soul music. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. Despite its melancholy mood, "My Happiness" is considered by many to be a love song, a suggestion Fanning regards as mystifying.
The single is Powderfinger's most successful; it peaked at number four on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, number seven on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and number 23 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart—the first Powderfinger song to do so. In June 2020, the song was certified 5x Platinum in Australia. It won an ARIA Award and an APRA Award and topped the Triple J Hottest 100 in 2000 as well as coming 27th in the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time in 2009. "My Happiness" was highly praised by critics, with even negative reviews of Odyssey Number Five noting it as a highlight, especially for its catchy chorus. One of the highlights of Powderfinger's United States tour with Coldplay was a performance of "My Happiness" on the Late Show with David Letterman; they were only the fourth Australian act to appear on the show.
In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "My Happiness" was ranked number 31.
Production and content
The lyrics for "My Happiness" were written by Bernard Fanning, Powderfinger's lead singer and songwriter. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. The song describes feelings of love and separation; Sains Pennie Dennison said it described "the pining feeling you experience when you spend time away from the one you love". Fanning called it "a sad story of touring and the absence loneliness that comes with it". The extensive time spent touring took its toll on the band, and it was on the back of this that Fanning wrote "My Happiness". Thus, he expressed confusion at its being considered a romantic song.
"My Happiness" was attacked by some fans as being "like Lauryn Hill, bland and boring Top 40 bullshit"; guitarist Ian Haug rebutted by pointing out that the song was an example of the new emotional level on which Powderfinger made music, while Fanning was more aggressive in his defence of the song. In response to being dubbed "Mr Miserable" by The Sun-Heralds Peter Holmes for the lyrics of "My Happiness" and "These Days", Fanning pointed out that the songs could be construed either as melancholy, or as part of "the most hopeful record ... in a long time".
Much of Fanning's writing is inspired by non-rock music, and "My Happiness" is no exception. Gospel and soul music that is "unashamedly about love and how good it makes you feel" was common during the Odyssey Number Five recording sessions. Powderfinger worked hard in those sessions to ensure a more polished work than Internationalist; guitarist Darren Middleton concluded that "My Happiness", "The Metre", and "Up & Down & Back Again" were more "complete" because of the band's efforts. The lighter elements of "My Happiness" in comparison to some of the band's earlier work saw Fanning reveal his passion for several other musicians, such as James Taylor—something that "five years ago ... would have been an embarrassing thing to say".
Touring and promotion
"My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release, and Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's early success. Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay. Although "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority.
"My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart. According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards "My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"—a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States. Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"—Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market.
Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay. They were the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show. The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single. In Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out for three nights in a row in London, partly due to the success of the single.
Release and commercial success
"My Happiness" was released as a single in Australia on 21 August 2000. When asked how they chose the release date, Fanning jokingly said "the release date is timed to coincide with the Olympics, when all the visitors are here ... they can go into HMV and pick it up." At the time of the single's release, the band's previous album, Internationalist, was still in the top 50 on the ARIA Albums Chart, 95 weeks after entering. The single featured B-side "My Kind of Scene", which had already received strong airplay due to its appearance on the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack. "My Happiness" appeared on a Triple M compilation entitled Triple M's New Stuff, and on a Kerrang! compilation, Kerrang!2 The Album.
"My Happiness" entered the ARIA singles chart at number four—making it Powderfinger's highest-charting single in Australia—and spent 24 weeks on the chart. It reached number two on the Queensland singles chart, and peaked at number seven on the New Zealand singles chart, on which it spent 23 weeks. In the US, "My Happiness" was serviced to alternative radio on 13 February 2001; it was Powderfinger's first single to chart in the US, reaching number 23 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.
The song won the "Single of the Year" award at the ARIA Awards of 2001, and the 2001 "Song of the Year" APRA Award. Furthermore, "My Happiness" topped the Triple J Hottest 100 chart in 2000, and appeared on that year's CD release. Rolling Stone Australia named "My Happiness" "Song of the Year" in a reader poll. "My Happiness" was the eighth most-played song on Australian radio in 2001.
Critical reception
"My Happiness" was critically acclaimed. Cameron Adams of the Herald Sun wrote that "My Happiness" did not disappoint in the trend of excellent first singles from Powderfinger, citing "Pick You Up" and "The Day You Come" as examples. He praised the song's structure, stating that "the verses almost crash into the chorus". Adams also expressed surprise that "My Kind of Scene" was only released as a B-side. The Newcastle Heralds Chad Watson described a mixture of acoustic and electric guitar and "a restrained yet warmly infectious chorus". Despite praising it as a "Big Rock Anthem™", Richard Jinman of The Sydney Morning Herald complained that "My Happiness" was not as "hummable" as past singles "Passenger" or "These Days". Devon Powers of PopMatters described it, and "Waiting for the Sun", as sounding bored. The Evening Mail agreed; it argued the "rock-lite" song, while sounding lush, failed to "make you really sit up and take notice".
Despite being highly critical of Odyssey Number Five, Allmusic's Dean Carlson labelled it, alongside "Odyssey #5", as one of the album's best songs, for the riff Powderfinger executed "better than most bands of their stature". Adams also enjoyed the song's "wobbly guitar", and Sains Christie Eliszer approved of the "acoustic strumalong", but The Advertisers Michael Duffy said the song was "a familiar piece of yearning guitar indie that is polished but pedestrian"; he reserved his praise for "My Kind of Scene", which he described as akin to the best of Internationalist. Darren Bunting wrote in the Hull Daily Mail that "My Happiness" was the best song on Odyssey Number Five, praising "soaring vocals, heartfelt lyrics and chiming guitar". Entertainment Weeklys Marc Weingarten said that on "My Happiness", "Fanning's heavy heart is tattered by scratching and clawing guitars".
Music video
The music video for "My Happiness" starts at a railway station (Roma Street in Brisbane) with a boy and girl stepping off a train. As the pair leave the train, the boy turns and tries to reach for something, but the girl pulls him back. It is shown that he was reaching for a sentient slinky. The slinky leaves the train, and passes Middleton busking in the train station. The slinky ventures to find the boy, facing a range of challenges along the way; these include avoiding fruit falling on it and riding a skateboard. In the middle of the music clip, the slinky is shown making its way through a music room in which Powderfinger are performing "My Happiness". It rests on the bar and the band finishes playing, while the background music continues. As Powderfinger leaves, the slinky is picked up by Haug. He gets into a car and places the slinky on the car's dashboard, but it falls out the window as the car turns a tight corner. It lands outside the gate of a house and is picked up and brought inside to the boy.
The video was created by Fifty Fifty Films, who created numerous other Powderfinger music videos. It was directed by Chris Applebaum and produced by Keeley Gould of A Band Apart, with editing by Jeff Selis. Cameron Adams of The Courier Mail reported that following the music video's release, slinky sales increased dramatically.
Awards and accolades
Track listings
Australian CD single
"My Happiness" – 4:36
"My Kind of Scene" – 4:37
"Nature Boy" – 3:12
"Odyssey #1" (demo) – 4:09
European CD single
"My Happiness" (edit) – 4:11
"Nature Boy" – 3:38
Personnel
Powderfinger
Bernard Fanning – vocals and tambourine
Darren Middleton – guitars and backing vocals
Ian Haug – guitars
John Collins – bass guitars
Jon Coghill – drums and percussion
Production
Nick DiDia – Producer, engineer and mixer
Matt Voigt – Assistant engineer
Anton Hagop – Assistant engineer
Alex Pertout – Percussion
Stewart Whitmore – Digital editing
Stephen Marcussen – Mastering
Anton Hagop – Assistant producer
Kevin Wilkins – Art direction and photography
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
Powderfinger songs
2000 singles
2000 songs
APRA Award winners
ARIA Award-winning songs
Polydor Records singles
Songs written by Bernard Fanning
Songs written by Jon Coghill
Songs written by John Collins (Australian musician)
Songs written by Ian Haug
Songs written by Darren Middleton
Universal Music Australia singles
| true |
[
"\"40\", also known as \"40 (How Long)\", is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the tenth and final track on their 1983 album, War. The song is noted for its live performances; guitarist the Edge and bassist Adam Clayton trade instruments during performances of it, and as it was commonly played to end their concerts, the band would leave the stage one-by-one as the audience continued to sing the refrain \"How long to sing this song?\". The lyrics are a modification of the Bible's Psalm 40.\n\nThe song was released as a commercial single only in Germany, simply to promote U2's appearance at the Loreley Festival in 1983. The single was released on a 7-inch gramophone record with a B-side of the album version of \"Two Hearts Beat as One\". Since its live debut on 26 February 1983, in Dundee, \"40\" has been a staple of U2's live concerts, having been performed almost 400 times.\n\nRecording\n\nThe song was completed within the last few hours of the recording sessions for War. After working all night on the album in Windmill Lane Studios, the band found themselves at 6 a.m. feeling that they were still one song short. Another band, Minor Detail, were scheduled to start their recording session at 8 a.m. and had arrived early, and U2 bassist Adam Clayton had already gone home. In a moment of inspiration, the remaining members—Bono, the Edge, and Larry Mullen Jr.—decided to revive an abandoned song that the Edge described as having \"a great bass hook but a slightly unwieldy arrangement with lots of strange sections and time changes\" that they had been unable to translate into a \"coherent song\". Producer Steve Lillywhite quickly did a multi-track edit of the song, removing any parts that seemed disconnected from the main musical idea. With Clayton absent, the Edge switched between guitar and bass guitar. In search of lyrical inspiration, Bono opened the Bible and found Psalm 40, on which he based his words. As soon as his vocals were recorded and the song mixed, the band immediately exited the studio, completing the sessions for War.\n\nLive performances\n\n\"40\" debuted live on 26 February 1983 in Dundee as the final song of the show, and closed every single concert on 1983's War Tour. It became very popular as a concert closer, and between its debut and 10 January 1990, there were roughly only 24 concerts that did not feature \"40\" as the closing song. During live performances, Clayton and the Edge would swap instruments so that Clayton played guitar and Edge played bass, and the band members would progressively leave stage, with Bono the first to depart, then Clayton, then Edge, and finally Mullen. The crowd would often continue to chant the refrain of \"How long...to sing this song?\" even after the band had left the stage. Live performances of the song are included on the live album Under a Blood Red Sky and the concert film Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky.\n\nBetween January 1990 and March 2005, full performances of \"40\" were extremely rare, though on 2001's Elevation Tour, it was regularly snippeted at the end of \"Bad\" before the song segued into \"Where the Streets Have No Name\". \"40\" made a return to the regular set list in March 2005 on the Vertigo Tour and subsequently closed many of the tour's shows: it closed most on the first leg, three on the second, rotated with other songs (mainly \"Bad\") for closing duties on the third leg, made only a few appearances on the fourth leg, and was snippeted a few times rather than being played in full on the fifth leg. During the U2 360° Tour, it was snippeted in Pittsburgh (the final American tour date) and was revived on the last night of that tour in Moncton, New Brunswick as the tour's final song. It is U2's 15th-most performed live song, or 12-most performed if snippets are included in its total. The song made its Innocence + Experience Tour debut on 27 May 2015 in Inglewood, and was dedicated to the memory of their recently deceased tour manager Dennis Sheehan, before going on to close many of the subsequent shows on that tour.\n\nTrack listing\n \"40 (How Long)\" (Album Version) – 2:35\n \"Two Hearts Beat as One\" (Album Version) – 4:02\n\nThis is the only known single release, distributed only in Germany. The song was titled \"40 (How Long)\" for this release.\n\nSee also\n List of covers of U2 songs - \"40\"\n\nReferences\nFootnotes\n\nBibliography\n\nExternal links\n \"40\" Lyrics – Lyrics to the song\n\n1983 singles\nU2 songs\nRock ballads\nSongs written by Bono\nSongs written by the Edge\nSongs written by Adam Clayton\nSongs written by Larry Mullen Jr.\nSong recordings produced by Steve Lillywhite\nSongs based on the Bible\n1983 songs",
"The Tonight Belongs to You Tour was the first headlining concert tour by American boy band In Real Life. The tour began on September 9, 2018, in Silver Spring, and concluded November 11, 2018, in Cebu City.\n\nBackground and development \nOn June 4, 2018, In Real Life announced they would be embarking on a 15-date North American tour. JAGMAC and Spencer Sutherland were announced as opening acts. In August, more North American dates were added. That same month, six dates in the Philippines were announced.\n\nSetlist \nThis setlist is representative of the show on September 12, 2018, in Boston. It does not represent all the shows from the tour.\n\n \"Eyes Closed\"\n \"How Badly\"\n \"Motownphilly\" / \"I Want It That Way\" / \"Bye Bye Bye\" / \"Glad You Came\" / \"Burnin' Up / \"What Makes You Beautiful\"\n \"Amnesia\"\n \"Mirrors\"\n \"Viva la Vida\"\n \"Someone Like You\"\n \"Got Me Good\"\n Freestyle rap\n \"Familiar\"\n \"Sweet Creature\"\n \"Stay\"\n \"Beautiful\"\n \"Tattoo (How 'Bout You)\"\n \"Drag Me Down\"\n \"Tonight Belongs to You\"\n \"The Show Goes On\"\n\nTour dates\n\nReferences \n\n2018 concert tours"
] |
[
"My Happiness (Powderfinger song)",
"Touring and promotion",
"How successful were they in promoting the song?",
"My Happiness\" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release,",
"Did the song top the charts?",
"My Happiness\" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard",
"Did the song win any awards?",
"I don't know.",
"How long were they on tour?",
"band sold out for three nights in a row in London,"
] |
C_6bde9a8512df400487d7fb30f8e66f07_0
|
Did the crowd enjoy My Happiness when they played it on tour?
| 5 |
Did the crowd enjoy My Happiness when Powderfinger played the song on tour?
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My Happiness (Powderfinger song)
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"My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release, and Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's early success. Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay. Although "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority. "My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart. According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards "My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"--a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States. Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"--Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market. Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay. They were the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show. The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single. In Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out for three nights in a row in London, partly due to the success of the single. CANNOTANSWER
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Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market.
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"My Happiness" is a song by Australian rock band Powderfinger. It was released via record label Universal Music Australia on 21 August 2000 as the first single from the band's fourth album, Odyssey Number Five. Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning wrote the lyrics for "My Happiness" as a reflection on the time the band spent touring to promote their work, and the loneliness that came as a result. It was inspired by his love of gospel and soul music. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. Despite its melancholy mood, "My Happiness" is considered by many to be a love song, a suggestion Fanning regards as mystifying.
The single is Powderfinger's most successful; it peaked at number four on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, number seven on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and number 23 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart—the first Powderfinger song to do so. In June 2020, the song was certified 5x Platinum in Australia. It won an ARIA Award and an APRA Award and topped the Triple J Hottest 100 in 2000 as well as coming 27th in the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time in 2009. "My Happiness" was highly praised by critics, with even negative reviews of Odyssey Number Five noting it as a highlight, especially for its catchy chorus. One of the highlights of Powderfinger's United States tour with Coldplay was a performance of "My Happiness" on the Late Show with David Letterman; they were only the fourth Australian act to appear on the show.
In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "My Happiness" was ranked number 31.
Production and content
The lyrics for "My Happiness" were written by Bernard Fanning, Powderfinger's lead singer and songwriter. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. The song describes feelings of love and separation; Sains Pennie Dennison said it described "the pining feeling you experience when you spend time away from the one you love". Fanning called it "a sad story of touring and the absence loneliness that comes with it". The extensive time spent touring took its toll on the band, and it was on the back of this that Fanning wrote "My Happiness". Thus, he expressed confusion at its being considered a romantic song.
"My Happiness" was attacked by some fans as being "like Lauryn Hill, bland and boring Top 40 bullshit"; guitarist Ian Haug rebutted by pointing out that the song was an example of the new emotional level on which Powderfinger made music, while Fanning was more aggressive in his defence of the song. In response to being dubbed "Mr Miserable" by The Sun-Heralds Peter Holmes for the lyrics of "My Happiness" and "These Days", Fanning pointed out that the songs could be construed either as melancholy, or as part of "the most hopeful record ... in a long time".
Much of Fanning's writing is inspired by non-rock music, and "My Happiness" is no exception. Gospel and soul music that is "unashamedly about love and how good it makes you feel" was common during the Odyssey Number Five recording sessions. Powderfinger worked hard in those sessions to ensure a more polished work than Internationalist; guitarist Darren Middleton concluded that "My Happiness", "The Metre", and "Up & Down & Back Again" were more "complete" because of the band's efforts. The lighter elements of "My Happiness" in comparison to some of the band's earlier work saw Fanning reveal his passion for several other musicians, such as James Taylor—something that "five years ago ... would have been an embarrassing thing to say".
Touring and promotion
"My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release, and Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's early success. Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay. Although "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority.
"My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart. According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards "My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"—a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States. Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"—Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market.
Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay. They were the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show. The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single. In Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out for three nights in a row in London, partly due to the success of the single.
Release and commercial success
"My Happiness" was released as a single in Australia on 21 August 2000. When asked how they chose the release date, Fanning jokingly said "the release date is timed to coincide with the Olympics, when all the visitors are here ... they can go into HMV and pick it up." At the time of the single's release, the band's previous album, Internationalist, was still in the top 50 on the ARIA Albums Chart, 95 weeks after entering. The single featured B-side "My Kind of Scene", which had already received strong airplay due to its appearance on the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack. "My Happiness" appeared on a Triple M compilation entitled Triple M's New Stuff, and on a Kerrang! compilation, Kerrang!2 The Album.
"My Happiness" entered the ARIA singles chart at number four—making it Powderfinger's highest-charting single in Australia—and spent 24 weeks on the chart. It reached number two on the Queensland singles chart, and peaked at number seven on the New Zealand singles chart, on which it spent 23 weeks. In the US, "My Happiness" was serviced to alternative radio on 13 February 2001; it was Powderfinger's first single to chart in the US, reaching number 23 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.
The song won the "Single of the Year" award at the ARIA Awards of 2001, and the 2001 "Song of the Year" APRA Award. Furthermore, "My Happiness" topped the Triple J Hottest 100 chart in 2000, and appeared on that year's CD release. Rolling Stone Australia named "My Happiness" "Song of the Year" in a reader poll. "My Happiness" was the eighth most-played song on Australian radio in 2001.
Critical reception
"My Happiness" was critically acclaimed. Cameron Adams of the Herald Sun wrote that "My Happiness" did not disappoint in the trend of excellent first singles from Powderfinger, citing "Pick You Up" and "The Day You Come" as examples. He praised the song's structure, stating that "the verses almost crash into the chorus". Adams also expressed surprise that "My Kind of Scene" was only released as a B-side. The Newcastle Heralds Chad Watson described a mixture of acoustic and electric guitar and "a restrained yet warmly infectious chorus". Despite praising it as a "Big Rock Anthem™", Richard Jinman of The Sydney Morning Herald complained that "My Happiness" was not as "hummable" as past singles "Passenger" or "These Days". Devon Powers of PopMatters described it, and "Waiting for the Sun", as sounding bored. The Evening Mail agreed; it argued the "rock-lite" song, while sounding lush, failed to "make you really sit up and take notice".
Despite being highly critical of Odyssey Number Five, Allmusic's Dean Carlson labelled it, alongside "Odyssey #5", as one of the album's best songs, for the riff Powderfinger executed "better than most bands of their stature". Adams also enjoyed the song's "wobbly guitar", and Sains Christie Eliszer approved of the "acoustic strumalong", but The Advertisers Michael Duffy said the song was "a familiar piece of yearning guitar indie that is polished but pedestrian"; he reserved his praise for "My Kind of Scene", which he described as akin to the best of Internationalist. Darren Bunting wrote in the Hull Daily Mail that "My Happiness" was the best song on Odyssey Number Five, praising "soaring vocals, heartfelt lyrics and chiming guitar". Entertainment Weeklys Marc Weingarten said that on "My Happiness", "Fanning's heavy heart is tattered by scratching and clawing guitars".
Music video
The music video for "My Happiness" starts at a railway station (Roma Street in Brisbane) with a boy and girl stepping off a train. As the pair leave the train, the boy turns and tries to reach for something, but the girl pulls him back. It is shown that he was reaching for a sentient slinky. The slinky leaves the train, and passes Middleton busking in the train station. The slinky ventures to find the boy, facing a range of challenges along the way; these include avoiding fruit falling on it and riding a skateboard. In the middle of the music clip, the slinky is shown making its way through a music room in which Powderfinger are performing "My Happiness". It rests on the bar and the band finishes playing, while the background music continues. As Powderfinger leaves, the slinky is picked up by Haug. He gets into a car and places the slinky on the car's dashboard, but it falls out the window as the car turns a tight corner. It lands outside the gate of a house and is picked up and brought inside to the boy.
The video was created by Fifty Fifty Films, who created numerous other Powderfinger music videos. It was directed by Chris Applebaum and produced by Keeley Gould of A Band Apart, with editing by Jeff Selis. Cameron Adams of The Courier Mail reported that following the music video's release, slinky sales increased dramatically.
Awards and accolades
Track listings
Australian CD single
"My Happiness" – 4:36
"My Kind of Scene" – 4:37
"Nature Boy" – 3:12
"Odyssey #1" (demo) – 4:09
European CD single
"My Happiness" (edit) – 4:11
"Nature Boy" – 3:38
Personnel
Powderfinger
Bernard Fanning – vocals and tambourine
Darren Middleton – guitars and backing vocals
Ian Haug – guitars
John Collins – bass guitars
Jon Coghill – drums and percussion
Production
Nick DiDia – Producer, engineer and mixer
Matt Voigt – Assistant engineer
Anton Hagop – Assistant engineer
Alex Pertout – Percussion
Stewart Whitmore – Digital editing
Stephen Marcussen – Mastering
Anton Hagop – Assistant producer
Kevin Wilkins – Art direction and photography
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
Powderfinger songs
2000 singles
2000 songs
APRA Award winners
ARIA Award-winning songs
Polydor Records singles
Songs written by Bernard Fanning
Songs written by Jon Coghill
Songs written by John Collins (Australian musician)
Songs written by Ian Haug
Songs written by Darren Middleton
Universal Music Australia singles
| true |
[
"Club Fantastic Tour (also advertised as Club Fantastic ‘83 Tour) was the debut concert tour by English musical duo Wham!, launched in support of their first studio album Fantastic (1983). It was sponsored by Fila sportswear and spanned two months from October to late November, comprising 30 sold out shows across England, Scotland and Wales.\n\nBackground\nWham! announced a tour in August. Their co-manager Simon Napier-Bell had a plan to raise some revenue; if little money was to be made from records, then it was time for the duo to begin performing with a 30-date tour of the UK. Napier-Bell secured a £50,000 sponsorship deal with the sportswear manufacturer Fila, with George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley wearing the company's clothing on stage throughout the tour.\n\nHalfway through the tour Michael lost his voice and had to cancel ten consecutive shows with concerts pushed back and rescheduled.\n\nConcert synopsis\nThe show started with Michael entering the stage right-side in yellow Fila sports gear, and Ridgeley entering the stage left-side in red Fila sports gear while the band played \"Bad Boys\". Pepsi and Shirlie, backing singers and dancers, ran on stage for \"Club Tropicana\".\n\nRidgeley then announced the next song, \"Blue\", a slow love ballad. He held a plectrum in his mouth and shook hands. They then sang \"Wham Rap!\", dancing as a foursome. They continued with \"A Ray Of Sunshine\", which ended the first part of the set.\n\nDuring the break a screen appeared and the crowd were shown family photos such as Ridgeley in pyjamas, and a young Michael in glasses. A mixed compilation of the group's music videos was played.\n\nThen Michael sang \"Careless Whisper\" to a backing track on his own. He and Ridgeley changed into white Wham! singlet T-shirts and sang \"Bad Boys\". \"Love Machine\" followed, then \"Nothing Looks The Same In The Light\". \"Come On\" ended the set, with the two playing a mock game of badminton, occasionally whacking a shuttlecock out to the crowd.\n\nThe encore was \"Young Guns\" with the duo wearing camp cowboy outfits, \"Wham Rap!\" with them wearing white, and finally Chic's 1979 disco hit \"Good Times\".\n\nOpening acts\nThe group decided to go back to their clubbing roots and had Gary Crowley (of Capital Radio) as the opening DJ act. Also included were some body poppers called Eklypse who did dance routines for over an hour before the show.\n\nSet list\n\nThe first set saw the band play most of the hits from the Fantastic album before George Michael was on stage alone singing tracks like \"Careless Whisper\", an unreleased track.\n\nThe average set list was as follows:\n\"Young Guns (Go for It)\"\n\"Club Tropicana\"\n\"Blue\"\n\"Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)\"\n\"A Ray of Sunshine\"\nBreak\n\"Careless Whisper\"\n\"Bad Boys\"\n\"Love Machine\" (The Miracles cover)\n\"Nothing Looks the Same in the Light\"\n\"Come On!\"\n\"Young Guns (Go for It!)\"\n\"Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)\"\n\"Good Times\"\n\nTour dates\nTour dates as printed in the official Club Fantastic 1983 tour programme.\n\nPersonnel\n\nAndrew Ridgeley\nGeorge Michael\nShirlie Holliman \nPepsi DeMacque \n\nMusicians\nTommy Eyre — keyboards\nDeon Estus — bass guitar\nTrevor Morrell — drums\nRobert Ahwaii — guitar\nDavid \"Babs\" Baptiste — saxophone\nPaul Spong — trumpet\nColin Graham — trumpet\nJaney Hallet — backing vocals\nGee — backing vocals\nJenny — backing vocals\n\nDanny Cummings — percussion\nMike Brady — recorder \nBarry Mead — tour manager\nKen — production manager\nGlenn — Guitar Tech\nWendy — Assistant Tour Manager\nLesley Morrall — wardrobe \nMel — hair & makeup\nPromoter — Harvey Goldsmith Entertainments\nManagement — 'Simon Napier Bell & Jazz Summers\nPersonal security — Dave Moulder \n Concert Publishing Co. — programme & merchandising\nSponsor\nFILA — sportswear\n\nComments\nGary Crowley – \"Some of my bestest bestest memories will always include my stint as Wham!'s warm-up man on their debut Club Fantastic UK tour, 1983. The nearest I’ll ever get to being in the Beatles’ A Hard Day's Night.\" – December 26, 2016\n\nSee also\nThe Faith Tour\n\nReferences \n\nGeorge Michael concert tours\n1983 concert tours",
"{{Infobox concert\n| concert_tour_name = Ten Times Crazier Tour\n| image = Ten Times Crazier Tour poster.jpg\n| image_size = 200px\n| landscape = yes\n| image_caption = 2013 tour poster\n| artist = Blake Shelton\n| location = North America\n| album = Based on a True Story…\n| start_date = July 19, 2013\n| end_date = June 26, 2015\n| number_of_legs = 2\n| number_of_shows = 62\n| gross = $17,999,504\n| last_tour = Well Lit & Amplified Tour(2012)\n| this_tour = Ten Times Crazier Tour(2013–14)\n| next_tour =\n| Misc = \n}}\n\nThe Ten Times Crazier Tour ' is a concert tour by American Country music singer, Blake Shelton. The tour is in support of his eighth studio album, Based on a True Story…''. The tour began on July 19, 2013, in Virginia Beach, Virginia and ended on June 26, 2015, in Dover, Delaware.\n\nBackground\nThe tour was first announced on January 17, 2013. Shelton response for the tour, \"My fans, country radio, friends, family, you name it -- they know I love to perform, \"With 'The Voice' schedule, I was not able to go out and perform as much as I wanted last year but I plan to make up for it this year. This summer is going to be a blast.\"\n\nOpening acts for the 2013 leg were Easton Corbin and Jana Kramer. The 2014 leg of the tour was first announced in January 2014 and will be sponsored by Pepsi. The Band Perry, Neal McCoy, and Dan + Shay will serve as opening acts for the second leg.\n\nIt was announced on April 10, 2014 that Shelton would perform a free show on the beach in Atlantic City, New Jersey on July 31, 2014\n\nOpening acts\n2013 \nEaston Corbin \nJana Kramer \n2014\nThe Band Perry \nNeal McCoy \nDan + Shay \nMacKenzie Porter (select dates)\n\nSetlist\n{{hidden\n| headercss = background: #ccccff; font-size: 100%; width: 59%;\n| contentcss = text-align: left; font-size: 100%; width: 75%;\n| header = 2013\n| content = \n \"All About Tonight\"\n \"The More I Drink\"\n \"Over\"\n \"Kiss My Country Ass\"\n \"She Wouldn't Be Gone\"\n \"Mine Would Be You\"\n \"Playboys of the Southwestern World\"\n \"Some Beach\"\n \"Ol' Red\"\n \"Who Are You When I'm Not Looking\"\n \"Sure Be Cool If You Did\"\n \"Hillbilly Bone\"\n \"Over You\"\n \"Austin\"\n \"Drink on It\"\n \"Home\" (Michael Bublé cover)\n \"Honey Bee\"\n \"Boys 'Round Here\"\nEncore \n \"Footloose\" (Kenny Loggins cover)\n \"God Gave Me You\" (Dave Barnes cover)\n}}\n{{hidden\n| headercss = background: #ccccff; font-size: 100%; width: 59%;\n| contentcss = text-align: left; font-size: 100%; width: 75%;\n| header = 2014\n| content = \n \"All About Tonight\"\n \"The More I Drink\"\n \"Doin' What She Likes\"\n \"She Wouldn't Be Gone\"\n \"Kiss My Country Ass\"\n \"Mine Would Be You\"\n \"Nobody But Me\"\n \"Some Beach\"\n \"Ol' Red\"\n \"Who Are You When I'm Not Looking\"\n \"Hillbilly Bone\"\n \"Sure Be Cool If You Did\"\n \"Neon Light\" (select shows)\n \"My Eyes\"\n \"Over You\"\n \"Austin\"\n \"Drink on It\"\n \"Home\"\n \"Honey Bee\"\n \"Boys 'Round Here\"\nEncore\n \"Footloose\" (Kenny Loggins cover)\n \"God Gave Me You\"\n}}\n\nNotes\nOn July 27, 2013, Cassadee Pope surprised the crowd and performed her song, \"Wasting All These Tears\".\nOn July 31, 2014, Danielle Bradbery surprised the crowd and performed her song, \"The Heart of Dixie\".\n\nTour dates\n\n \nList of festivals and fairs\n This concert is a part of the Chippewa Valley Country Festival\n This concert is a part of the Dauphin Countryfest\n This concert is a part of the RBC Royal Bank Bluesfest\n This concert is a part of the Cavendish Beach Music Festival\n\nBox office score data\n\nCritical reception\nSt. Louis Todays Amanda St. Amand says that, \"He put that charisma on display before a rollicking and sold-out horde on Friday night at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater with a \"Ten Times Crazier\" tour that proved he's a headliner well-worth his top billing... (There's a reason he's country music's reigning male vocalist and entertainer of the year.)\" \"Blake has such a stage presence and entertains and interacts with the crowd so well... He could follow behind the greats like George Strait, Johnny Cash, & Merle Haggard\", says Melissa Gibson of All Access Magazine.\nMelissa Ruggieri of Access Atlanta says that Shelton's \"voice is strong enough – a supple instrument that contains more range than most of his CMA-winning peers – but what makes Shelton such a delight is his interaction with the crowd and tremendous sense of humor.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\n2013 concert tours\n2014 concert tours\n2015 concert tours\nBlake Shelton concert tours"
] |
[
"My Happiness (Powderfinger song)",
"Touring and promotion",
"How successful were they in promoting the song?",
"My Happiness\" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release,",
"Did the song top the charts?",
"My Happiness\" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard",
"Did the song win any awards?",
"I don't know.",
"How long were they on tour?",
"band sold out for three nights in a row in London,",
"Did the crowd enjoy My Happiness when they played it on tour?",
"Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market."
] |
C_6bde9a8512df400487d7fb30f8e66f07_0
|
When touring, were their international shows more successful?
| 6 |
When touring for My Happiness, were Powderfinger's international shows more successful?
|
My Happiness (Powderfinger song)
|
"My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release, and Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's early success. Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay. Although "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority. "My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart. According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards "My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"--a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States. Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"--Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market. Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay. They were the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show. The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single. In Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out for three nights in a row in London, partly due to the success of the single. CANNOTANSWER
|
The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single.
|
"My Happiness" is a song by Australian rock band Powderfinger. It was released via record label Universal Music Australia on 21 August 2000 as the first single from the band's fourth album, Odyssey Number Five. Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning wrote the lyrics for "My Happiness" as a reflection on the time the band spent touring to promote their work, and the loneliness that came as a result. It was inspired by his love of gospel and soul music. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. Despite its melancholy mood, "My Happiness" is considered by many to be a love song, a suggestion Fanning regards as mystifying.
The single is Powderfinger's most successful; it peaked at number four on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, number seven on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and number 23 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart—the first Powderfinger song to do so. In June 2020, the song was certified 5x Platinum in Australia. It won an ARIA Award and an APRA Award and topped the Triple J Hottest 100 in 2000 as well as coming 27th in the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time in 2009. "My Happiness" was highly praised by critics, with even negative reviews of Odyssey Number Five noting it as a highlight, especially for its catchy chorus. One of the highlights of Powderfinger's United States tour with Coldplay was a performance of "My Happiness" on the Late Show with David Letterman; they were only the fourth Australian act to appear on the show.
In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "My Happiness" was ranked number 31.
Production and content
The lyrics for "My Happiness" were written by Bernard Fanning, Powderfinger's lead singer and songwriter. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. The song describes feelings of love and separation; Sains Pennie Dennison said it described "the pining feeling you experience when you spend time away from the one you love". Fanning called it "a sad story of touring and the absence loneliness that comes with it". The extensive time spent touring took its toll on the band, and it was on the back of this that Fanning wrote "My Happiness". Thus, he expressed confusion at its being considered a romantic song.
"My Happiness" was attacked by some fans as being "like Lauryn Hill, bland and boring Top 40 bullshit"; guitarist Ian Haug rebutted by pointing out that the song was an example of the new emotional level on which Powderfinger made music, while Fanning was more aggressive in his defence of the song. In response to being dubbed "Mr Miserable" by The Sun-Heralds Peter Holmes for the lyrics of "My Happiness" and "These Days", Fanning pointed out that the songs could be construed either as melancholy, or as part of "the most hopeful record ... in a long time".
Much of Fanning's writing is inspired by non-rock music, and "My Happiness" is no exception. Gospel and soul music that is "unashamedly about love and how good it makes you feel" was common during the Odyssey Number Five recording sessions. Powderfinger worked hard in those sessions to ensure a more polished work than Internationalist; guitarist Darren Middleton concluded that "My Happiness", "The Metre", and "Up & Down & Back Again" were more "complete" because of the band's efforts. The lighter elements of "My Happiness" in comparison to some of the band's earlier work saw Fanning reveal his passion for several other musicians, such as James Taylor—something that "five years ago ... would have been an embarrassing thing to say".
Touring and promotion
"My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release, and Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's early success. Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay. Although "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority.
"My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart. According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards "My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"—a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States. Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"—Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market.
Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay. They were the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show. The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single. In Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out for three nights in a row in London, partly due to the success of the single.
Release and commercial success
"My Happiness" was released as a single in Australia on 21 August 2000. When asked how they chose the release date, Fanning jokingly said "the release date is timed to coincide with the Olympics, when all the visitors are here ... they can go into HMV and pick it up." At the time of the single's release, the band's previous album, Internationalist, was still in the top 50 on the ARIA Albums Chart, 95 weeks after entering. The single featured B-side "My Kind of Scene", which had already received strong airplay due to its appearance on the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack. "My Happiness" appeared on a Triple M compilation entitled Triple M's New Stuff, and on a Kerrang! compilation, Kerrang!2 The Album.
"My Happiness" entered the ARIA singles chart at number four—making it Powderfinger's highest-charting single in Australia—and spent 24 weeks on the chart. It reached number two on the Queensland singles chart, and peaked at number seven on the New Zealand singles chart, on which it spent 23 weeks. In the US, "My Happiness" was serviced to alternative radio on 13 February 2001; it was Powderfinger's first single to chart in the US, reaching number 23 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.
The song won the "Single of the Year" award at the ARIA Awards of 2001, and the 2001 "Song of the Year" APRA Award. Furthermore, "My Happiness" topped the Triple J Hottest 100 chart in 2000, and appeared on that year's CD release. Rolling Stone Australia named "My Happiness" "Song of the Year" in a reader poll. "My Happiness" was the eighth most-played song on Australian radio in 2001.
Critical reception
"My Happiness" was critically acclaimed. Cameron Adams of the Herald Sun wrote that "My Happiness" did not disappoint in the trend of excellent first singles from Powderfinger, citing "Pick You Up" and "The Day You Come" as examples. He praised the song's structure, stating that "the verses almost crash into the chorus". Adams also expressed surprise that "My Kind of Scene" was only released as a B-side. The Newcastle Heralds Chad Watson described a mixture of acoustic and electric guitar and "a restrained yet warmly infectious chorus". Despite praising it as a "Big Rock Anthem™", Richard Jinman of The Sydney Morning Herald complained that "My Happiness" was not as "hummable" as past singles "Passenger" or "These Days". Devon Powers of PopMatters described it, and "Waiting for the Sun", as sounding bored. The Evening Mail agreed; it argued the "rock-lite" song, while sounding lush, failed to "make you really sit up and take notice".
Despite being highly critical of Odyssey Number Five, Allmusic's Dean Carlson labelled it, alongside "Odyssey #5", as one of the album's best songs, for the riff Powderfinger executed "better than most bands of their stature". Adams also enjoyed the song's "wobbly guitar", and Sains Christie Eliszer approved of the "acoustic strumalong", but The Advertisers Michael Duffy said the song was "a familiar piece of yearning guitar indie that is polished but pedestrian"; he reserved his praise for "My Kind of Scene", which he described as akin to the best of Internationalist. Darren Bunting wrote in the Hull Daily Mail that "My Happiness" was the best song on Odyssey Number Five, praising "soaring vocals, heartfelt lyrics and chiming guitar". Entertainment Weeklys Marc Weingarten said that on "My Happiness", "Fanning's heavy heart is tattered by scratching and clawing guitars".
Music video
The music video for "My Happiness" starts at a railway station (Roma Street in Brisbane) with a boy and girl stepping off a train. As the pair leave the train, the boy turns and tries to reach for something, but the girl pulls him back. It is shown that he was reaching for a sentient slinky. The slinky leaves the train, and passes Middleton busking in the train station. The slinky ventures to find the boy, facing a range of challenges along the way; these include avoiding fruit falling on it and riding a skateboard. In the middle of the music clip, the slinky is shown making its way through a music room in which Powderfinger are performing "My Happiness". It rests on the bar and the band finishes playing, while the background music continues. As Powderfinger leaves, the slinky is picked up by Haug. He gets into a car and places the slinky on the car's dashboard, but it falls out the window as the car turns a tight corner. It lands outside the gate of a house and is picked up and brought inside to the boy.
The video was created by Fifty Fifty Films, who created numerous other Powderfinger music videos. It was directed by Chris Applebaum and produced by Keeley Gould of A Band Apart, with editing by Jeff Selis. Cameron Adams of The Courier Mail reported that following the music video's release, slinky sales increased dramatically.
Awards and accolades
Track listings
Australian CD single
"My Happiness" – 4:36
"My Kind of Scene" – 4:37
"Nature Boy" – 3:12
"Odyssey #1" (demo) – 4:09
European CD single
"My Happiness" (edit) – 4:11
"Nature Boy" – 3:38
Personnel
Powderfinger
Bernard Fanning – vocals and tambourine
Darren Middleton – guitars and backing vocals
Ian Haug – guitars
John Collins – bass guitars
Jon Coghill – drums and percussion
Production
Nick DiDia – Producer, engineer and mixer
Matt Voigt – Assistant engineer
Anton Hagop – Assistant engineer
Alex Pertout – Percussion
Stewart Whitmore – Digital editing
Stephen Marcussen – Mastering
Anton Hagop – Assistant producer
Kevin Wilkins – Art direction and photography
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
Powderfinger songs
2000 singles
2000 songs
APRA Award winners
ARIA Award-winning songs
Polydor Records singles
Songs written by Bernard Fanning
Songs written by Jon Coghill
Songs written by John Collins (Australian musician)
Songs written by Ian Haug
Songs written by Darren Middleton
Universal Music Australia singles
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[
"The BTC-T Peugeot 406 Coupé is a BTC-Touring class racing car that was built for the 2001 British Touring Car Championship season by Vic Lee Racing, who were selected to run Peugeot's official works program for that season.\n\n2001 season\nAfter a successful 2000 BTCC season, having won the driver's championship for Class B, Vic Lee Racing signed a deal with Peugeot to run in the BTC Touring-class for the 2001 BTCC season. VLR built 3 406 Coupes, and hired Dan Eaves, Steve Soper and Matt Neal as their drivers, but sponsorship issues led to releasing Neal after the first round, being replaced by ex-motorcycle racer Aaron Slight in several rounds. Neal would go on to be critical of the Peugeot effort. The campaign was unsuccessful, with the best results being a pair of 3rd places from Eaves, at Oulton Park and the last round of the season, held at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit. The car's large size limited its agility and made it less competitive than its rivals.\n\n2002 season\nAfter the poor performances in 2001, Peugeot withdraw their works support, choosing instead to focus on their more successful World Rally Championship campaign. The team, in 2002, now renamed Team Halfords after gaining sponsorship from Halfords, continued racing with the 406. Eaves stayed with the team, while 1992 champion Tim Harvey and Carl Breeze joined the team. A second unsuccessful season followed; with the only podium finish being a second place from Eaves in the second race of the season. Despite the lack of overall competitiveness, Dan Eaves and Tim Harvey finished the season 1st and 3rd respectively in the Independents Cup. For 2003, the team switched to the Sergio Rinland designed Peugeot 307, with the hope of gaining more competitiveness.\n\n2004 season\nThe 406 Coupes remained unused in 2003, but halfway through the 2004 season, Mardi Gras Motorsport took the decision to replace their LPG-powered, Super 2000-specification Honda Civic with a 406 Coupe. The car proved barely more successful than its predecessor - finishing no higher than a 12th place at Knockhill in the 4 rounds it entered. The car did not reappear for the 2005 season.\n\nReferences\n\nBritish Touring Car Championship\nTouring cars\n406 Coupe BTC-T\nCars introduced in 2001\nFront-wheel-drive vehicles",
"The Los Angeles Civic Light Opera (LACLO) was an American theatre/opera company in Los Angeles, California. Founded under the motto \"Light Opera in the Grand Opera manner\" in 1938 by impresario Edwin Lester, the organization presented fifty seasons of theatre before closing due to financial reasons in 1987. Typically the LACLO presented four to six productions during an annual season. The company produced or co-produced several of their own shows in addition to bringing in shows from Broadway to California, often with their original casts. Productions that originated at the LACLO and then went on to wider success, included Song of Norway (1944), Magdalena (1948), Kismet (1953), Peter Pan (1954) and Gigi (1973). Initially the organization mainly presented American operettas, but by the 1960s the company was presenting mostly musical theatre; although the company never completely left its roots.\n\nHistory\n\nThe Los Angeles Civic Light Opera opened its first season in 1938 with the operetta Blossom Time, based on works by Franz Schubert, presented in English with stars John Charles Thomas and Francia White. The production was both a critical and financial success, and the company went on to have three more sold out productions that season with Sigmund Romberg's The Student Prince, Romberg's The New Moon, and Jerome Kern's Roberta.\n\nAt the time the LACLO opened, Broadway touring productions out of New York City did not travel further west than the Rocky Mountains. However, the success of the LACLO's first season drew the attention of the theatre community in New York City; seeing for the first time the financial potential of theatre in Los Angeles. Lester further encouraged this interest by partnering with San Francisco theatre impresario Homer Curran who founded the San Francisco Light Opera Company (SFLOC) in 1939. The LACLO and SFLOC joined forces and were able to offer New York producers the ability to book their shows in both L.A. and San Francisco. The Broadway producers took advantage of this opportunity and began extending their touring productions into California.\n\nWhile including touring productions from NYC in their annual season, the LACLO still continued to mount their own locally produced productions under the artistic leadership of Lester. One major triumph for the company was the 1944 operetta Song of Norway which Lester commissioned Milton Lazarus, Robert Wright, and George Forrest to create using the music of Edvard Grieg. The production later went on to have a successful Broadway run. Wright and Forrest created several more original works for the LACLO, most notably the 1953 musical Kismet, which had an even greater success in New York. Perhaps the most successful original work to be produced at the LACLO was the 1954 musical version of Peter Pan which Lester orchestrated as a star vehicle for Mary Martin. After opening in Los Angeles, the production moved to Broadway, winning Martin a Tony Award. The LACLO also exported a number of revivals to Broadway during its history, including a 1945 revival of Victor Herbert's The Red Mill which ran for more than a year in New York.\n\nDuring the 1950s and 1960s the LACLO was the most financially successful musical theatre subscription organization of its kind. However, in the 1970s the organization's audience size began to decrease and by the 1980s the company was experiencing serious financial difficulties. The company's last production was of John Kander's Cabaret in 1987. The production starred Joel Grey, Alyson Reed, Regina Resnik, Werner Klemperer, Gregg Edelman, and David Staller. Composer, conductor, and pianist Harper MacKay was the LACLO's music director from 1962 theough 1980.\n\nPerformance history\n\nReferences\n\nMusical theatre companies\nOpera companies in Los Angeles\nMusical groups established in 1938\n1938 establishments in California"
] |
[
"My Happiness (Powderfinger song)",
"Touring and promotion",
"How successful were they in promoting the song?",
"My Happiness\" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release,",
"Did the song top the charts?",
"My Happiness\" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard",
"Did the song win any awards?",
"I don't know.",
"How long were they on tour?",
"band sold out for three nights in a row in London,",
"Did the crowd enjoy My Happiness when they played it on tour?",
"Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market.",
"When touring, were their international shows more successful?",
"The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single."
] |
C_6bde9a8512df400487d7fb30f8e66f07_0
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Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
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Besides Powderfinger's free promotional shows leading up to My Happiness's release, are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
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My Happiness (Powderfinger song)
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"My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release, and Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's early success. Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay. Although "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority. "My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart. According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards "My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"--a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States. Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"--Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market. Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay. They were the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show. The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single. In Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out for three nights in a row in London, partly due to the success of the single. CANNOTANSWER
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According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards
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"My Happiness" is a song by Australian rock band Powderfinger. It was released via record label Universal Music Australia on 21 August 2000 as the first single from the band's fourth album, Odyssey Number Five. Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning wrote the lyrics for "My Happiness" as a reflection on the time the band spent touring to promote their work, and the loneliness that came as a result. It was inspired by his love of gospel and soul music. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. Despite its melancholy mood, "My Happiness" is considered by many to be a love song, a suggestion Fanning regards as mystifying.
The single is Powderfinger's most successful; it peaked at number four on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, number seven on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and number 23 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart—the first Powderfinger song to do so. In June 2020, the song was certified 5x Platinum in Australia. It won an ARIA Award and an APRA Award and topped the Triple J Hottest 100 in 2000 as well as coming 27th in the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time in 2009. "My Happiness" was highly praised by critics, with even negative reviews of Odyssey Number Five noting it as a highlight, especially for its catchy chorus. One of the highlights of Powderfinger's United States tour with Coldplay was a performance of "My Happiness" on the Late Show with David Letterman; they were only the fourth Australian act to appear on the show.
In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "My Happiness" was ranked number 31.
Production and content
The lyrics for "My Happiness" were written by Bernard Fanning, Powderfinger's lead singer and songwriter. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. The song describes feelings of love and separation; Sains Pennie Dennison said it described "the pining feeling you experience when you spend time away from the one you love". Fanning called it "a sad story of touring and the absence loneliness that comes with it". The extensive time spent touring took its toll on the band, and it was on the back of this that Fanning wrote "My Happiness". Thus, he expressed confusion at its being considered a romantic song.
"My Happiness" was attacked by some fans as being "like Lauryn Hill, bland and boring Top 40 bullshit"; guitarist Ian Haug rebutted by pointing out that the song was an example of the new emotional level on which Powderfinger made music, while Fanning was more aggressive in his defence of the song. In response to being dubbed "Mr Miserable" by The Sun-Heralds Peter Holmes for the lyrics of "My Happiness" and "These Days", Fanning pointed out that the songs could be construed either as melancholy, or as part of "the most hopeful record ... in a long time".
Much of Fanning's writing is inspired by non-rock music, and "My Happiness" is no exception. Gospel and soul music that is "unashamedly about love and how good it makes you feel" was common during the Odyssey Number Five recording sessions. Powderfinger worked hard in those sessions to ensure a more polished work than Internationalist; guitarist Darren Middleton concluded that "My Happiness", "The Metre", and "Up & Down & Back Again" were more "complete" because of the band's efforts. The lighter elements of "My Happiness" in comparison to some of the band's earlier work saw Fanning reveal his passion for several other musicians, such as James Taylor—something that "five years ago ... would have been an embarrassing thing to say".
Touring and promotion
"My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release, and Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's early success. Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay. Although "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority.
"My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart. According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards "My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"—a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States. Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"—Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market.
Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay. They were the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show. The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single. In Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out for three nights in a row in London, partly due to the success of the single.
Release and commercial success
"My Happiness" was released as a single in Australia on 21 August 2000. When asked how they chose the release date, Fanning jokingly said "the release date is timed to coincide with the Olympics, when all the visitors are here ... they can go into HMV and pick it up." At the time of the single's release, the band's previous album, Internationalist, was still in the top 50 on the ARIA Albums Chart, 95 weeks after entering. The single featured B-side "My Kind of Scene", which had already received strong airplay due to its appearance on the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack. "My Happiness" appeared on a Triple M compilation entitled Triple M's New Stuff, and on a Kerrang! compilation, Kerrang!2 The Album.
"My Happiness" entered the ARIA singles chart at number four—making it Powderfinger's highest-charting single in Australia—and spent 24 weeks on the chart. It reached number two on the Queensland singles chart, and peaked at number seven on the New Zealand singles chart, on which it spent 23 weeks. In the US, "My Happiness" was serviced to alternative radio on 13 February 2001; it was Powderfinger's first single to chart in the US, reaching number 23 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.
The song won the "Single of the Year" award at the ARIA Awards of 2001, and the 2001 "Song of the Year" APRA Award. Furthermore, "My Happiness" topped the Triple J Hottest 100 chart in 2000, and appeared on that year's CD release. Rolling Stone Australia named "My Happiness" "Song of the Year" in a reader poll. "My Happiness" was the eighth most-played song on Australian radio in 2001.
Critical reception
"My Happiness" was critically acclaimed. Cameron Adams of the Herald Sun wrote that "My Happiness" did not disappoint in the trend of excellent first singles from Powderfinger, citing "Pick You Up" and "The Day You Come" as examples. He praised the song's structure, stating that "the verses almost crash into the chorus". Adams also expressed surprise that "My Kind of Scene" was only released as a B-side. The Newcastle Heralds Chad Watson described a mixture of acoustic and electric guitar and "a restrained yet warmly infectious chorus". Despite praising it as a "Big Rock Anthem™", Richard Jinman of The Sydney Morning Herald complained that "My Happiness" was not as "hummable" as past singles "Passenger" or "These Days". Devon Powers of PopMatters described it, and "Waiting for the Sun", as sounding bored. The Evening Mail agreed; it argued the "rock-lite" song, while sounding lush, failed to "make you really sit up and take notice".
Despite being highly critical of Odyssey Number Five, Allmusic's Dean Carlson labelled it, alongside "Odyssey #5", as one of the album's best songs, for the riff Powderfinger executed "better than most bands of their stature". Adams also enjoyed the song's "wobbly guitar", and Sains Christie Eliszer approved of the "acoustic strumalong", but The Advertisers Michael Duffy said the song was "a familiar piece of yearning guitar indie that is polished but pedestrian"; he reserved his praise for "My Kind of Scene", which he described as akin to the best of Internationalist. Darren Bunting wrote in the Hull Daily Mail that "My Happiness" was the best song on Odyssey Number Five, praising "soaring vocals, heartfelt lyrics and chiming guitar". Entertainment Weeklys Marc Weingarten said that on "My Happiness", "Fanning's heavy heart is tattered by scratching and clawing guitars".
Music video
The music video for "My Happiness" starts at a railway station (Roma Street in Brisbane) with a boy and girl stepping off a train. As the pair leave the train, the boy turns and tries to reach for something, but the girl pulls him back. It is shown that he was reaching for a sentient slinky. The slinky leaves the train, and passes Middleton busking in the train station. The slinky ventures to find the boy, facing a range of challenges along the way; these include avoiding fruit falling on it and riding a skateboard. In the middle of the music clip, the slinky is shown making its way through a music room in which Powderfinger are performing "My Happiness". It rests on the bar and the band finishes playing, while the background music continues. As Powderfinger leaves, the slinky is picked up by Haug. He gets into a car and places the slinky on the car's dashboard, but it falls out the window as the car turns a tight corner. It lands outside the gate of a house and is picked up and brought inside to the boy.
The video was created by Fifty Fifty Films, who created numerous other Powderfinger music videos. It was directed by Chris Applebaum and produced by Keeley Gould of A Band Apart, with editing by Jeff Selis. Cameron Adams of The Courier Mail reported that following the music video's release, slinky sales increased dramatically.
Awards and accolades
Track listings
Australian CD single
"My Happiness" – 4:36
"My Kind of Scene" – 4:37
"Nature Boy" – 3:12
"Odyssey #1" (demo) – 4:09
European CD single
"My Happiness" (edit) – 4:11
"Nature Boy" – 3:38
Personnel
Powderfinger
Bernard Fanning – vocals and tambourine
Darren Middleton – guitars and backing vocals
Ian Haug – guitars
John Collins – bass guitars
Jon Coghill – drums and percussion
Production
Nick DiDia – Producer, engineer and mixer
Matt Voigt – Assistant engineer
Anton Hagop – Assistant engineer
Alex Pertout – Percussion
Stewart Whitmore – Digital editing
Stephen Marcussen – Mastering
Anton Hagop – Assistant producer
Kevin Wilkins – Art direction and photography
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
Powderfinger songs
2000 singles
2000 songs
APRA Award winners
ARIA Award-winning songs
Polydor Records singles
Songs written by Bernard Fanning
Songs written by Jon Coghill
Songs written by John Collins (Australian musician)
Songs written by Ian Haug
Songs written by Darren Middleton
Universal Music Australia singles
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[
"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"
] |
[
"My Happiness (Powderfinger song)",
"Touring and promotion",
"How successful were they in promoting the song?",
"My Happiness\" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release,",
"Did the song top the charts?",
"My Happiness\" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard",
"Did the song win any awards?",
"I don't know.",
"How long were they on tour?",
"band sold out for three nights in a row in London,",
"Did the crowd enjoy My Happiness when they played it on tour?",
"Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market.",
"When touring, were their international shows more successful?",
"The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards"
] |
C_6bde9a8512df400487d7fb30f8e66f07_0
|
What drew people towards the band's music?
| 8 |
What drew people towards Powderfinger's music?
|
My Happiness (Powderfinger song)
|
"My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release, and Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's early success. Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay. Although "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority. "My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart. According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards "My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"--a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States. Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"--Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market. Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay. They were the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show. The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single. In Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out for three nights in a row in London, partly due to the success of the single. CANNOTANSWER
|
"My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"--a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States.
|
"My Happiness" is a song by Australian rock band Powderfinger. It was released via record label Universal Music Australia on 21 August 2000 as the first single from the band's fourth album, Odyssey Number Five. Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning wrote the lyrics for "My Happiness" as a reflection on the time the band spent touring to promote their work, and the loneliness that came as a result. It was inspired by his love of gospel and soul music. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. Despite its melancholy mood, "My Happiness" is considered by many to be a love song, a suggestion Fanning regards as mystifying.
The single is Powderfinger's most successful; it peaked at number four on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, number seven on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and number 23 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart—the first Powderfinger song to do so. In June 2020, the song was certified 5x Platinum in Australia. It won an ARIA Award and an APRA Award and topped the Triple J Hottest 100 in 2000 as well as coming 27th in the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time in 2009. "My Happiness" was highly praised by critics, with even negative reviews of Odyssey Number Five noting it as a highlight, especially for its catchy chorus. One of the highlights of Powderfinger's United States tour with Coldplay was a performance of "My Happiness" on the Late Show with David Letterman; they were only the fourth Australian act to appear on the show.
In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "My Happiness" was ranked number 31.
Production and content
The lyrics for "My Happiness" were written by Bernard Fanning, Powderfinger's lead singer and songwriter. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. The song describes feelings of love and separation; Sains Pennie Dennison said it described "the pining feeling you experience when you spend time away from the one you love". Fanning called it "a sad story of touring and the absence loneliness that comes with it". The extensive time spent touring took its toll on the band, and it was on the back of this that Fanning wrote "My Happiness". Thus, he expressed confusion at its being considered a romantic song.
"My Happiness" was attacked by some fans as being "like Lauryn Hill, bland and boring Top 40 bullshit"; guitarist Ian Haug rebutted by pointing out that the song was an example of the new emotional level on which Powderfinger made music, while Fanning was more aggressive in his defence of the song. In response to being dubbed "Mr Miserable" by The Sun-Heralds Peter Holmes for the lyrics of "My Happiness" and "These Days", Fanning pointed out that the songs could be construed either as melancholy, or as part of "the most hopeful record ... in a long time".
Much of Fanning's writing is inspired by non-rock music, and "My Happiness" is no exception. Gospel and soul music that is "unashamedly about love and how good it makes you feel" was common during the Odyssey Number Five recording sessions. Powderfinger worked hard in those sessions to ensure a more polished work than Internationalist; guitarist Darren Middleton concluded that "My Happiness", "The Metre", and "Up & Down & Back Again" were more "complete" because of the band's efforts. The lighter elements of "My Happiness" in comparison to some of the band's earlier work saw Fanning reveal his passion for several other musicians, such as James Taylor—something that "five years ago ... would have been an embarrassing thing to say".
Touring and promotion
"My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release, and Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's early success. Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay. Although "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority.
"My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart. According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards "My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"—a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States. Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"—Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market.
Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay. They were the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show. The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single. In Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out for three nights in a row in London, partly due to the success of the single.
Release and commercial success
"My Happiness" was released as a single in Australia on 21 August 2000. When asked how they chose the release date, Fanning jokingly said "the release date is timed to coincide with the Olympics, when all the visitors are here ... they can go into HMV and pick it up." At the time of the single's release, the band's previous album, Internationalist, was still in the top 50 on the ARIA Albums Chart, 95 weeks after entering. The single featured B-side "My Kind of Scene", which had already received strong airplay due to its appearance on the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack. "My Happiness" appeared on a Triple M compilation entitled Triple M's New Stuff, and on a Kerrang! compilation, Kerrang!2 The Album.
"My Happiness" entered the ARIA singles chart at number four—making it Powderfinger's highest-charting single in Australia—and spent 24 weeks on the chart. It reached number two on the Queensland singles chart, and peaked at number seven on the New Zealand singles chart, on which it spent 23 weeks. In the US, "My Happiness" was serviced to alternative radio on 13 February 2001; it was Powderfinger's first single to chart in the US, reaching number 23 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.
The song won the "Single of the Year" award at the ARIA Awards of 2001, and the 2001 "Song of the Year" APRA Award. Furthermore, "My Happiness" topped the Triple J Hottest 100 chart in 2000, and appeared on that year's CD release. Rolling Stone Australia named "My Happiness" "Song of the Year" in a reader poll. "My Happiness" was the eighth most-played song on Australian radio in 2001.
Critical reception
"My Happiness" was critically acclaimed. Cameron Adams of the Herald Sun wrote that "My Happiness" did not disappoint in the trend of excellent first singles from Powderfinger, citing "Pick You Up" and "The Day You Come" as examples. He praised the song's structure, stating that "the verses almost crash into the chorus". Adams also expressed surprise that "My Kind of Scene" was only released as a B-side. The Newcastle Heralds Chad Watson described a mixture of acoustic and electric guitar and "a restrained yet warmly infectious chorus". Despite praising it as a "Big Rock Anthem™", Richard Jinman of The Sydney Morning Herald complained that "My Happiness" was not as "hummable" as past singles "Passenger" or "These Days". Devon Powers of PopMatters described it, and "Waiting for the Sun", as sounding bored. The Evening Mail agreed; it argued the "rock-lite" song, while sounding lush, failed to "make you really sit up and take notice".
Despite being highly critical of Odyssey Number Five, Allmusic's Dean Carlson labelled it, alongside "Odyssey #5", as one of the album's best songs, for the riff Powderfinger executed "better than most bands of their stature". Adams also enjoyed the song's "wobbly guitar", and Sains Christie Eliszer approved of the "acoustic strumalong", but The Advertisers Michael Duffy said the song was "a familiar piece of yearning guitar indie that is polished but pedestrian"; he reserved his praise for "My Kind of Scene", which he described as akin to the best of Internationalist. Darren Bunting wrote in the Hull Daily Mail that "My Happiness" was the best song on Odyssey Number Five, praising "soaring vocals, heartfelt lyrics and chiming guitar". Entertainment Weeklys Marc Weingarten said that on "My Happiness", "Fanning's heavy heart is tattered by scratching and clawing guitars".
Music video
The music video for "My Happiness" starts at a railway station (Roma Street in Brisbane) with a boy and girl stepping off a train. As the pair leave the train, the boy turns and tries to reach for something, but the girl pulls him back. It is shown that he was reaching for a sentient slinky. The slinky leaves the train, and passes Middleton busking in the train station. The slinky ventures to find the boy, facing a range of challenges along the way; these include avoiding fruit falling on it and riding a skateboard. In the middle of the music clip, the slinky is shown making its way through a music room in which Powderfinger are performing "My Happiness". It rests on the bar and the band finishes playing, while the background music continues. As Powderfinger leaves, the slinky is picked up by Haug. He gets into a car and places the slinky on the car's dashboard, but it falls out the window as the car turns a tight corner. It lands outside the gate of a house and is picked up and brought inside to the boy.
The video was created by Fifty Fifty Films, who created numerous other Powderfinger music videos. It was directed by Chris Applebaum and produced by Keeley Gould of A Band Apart, with editing by Jeff Selis. Cameron Adams of The Courier Mail reported that following the music video's release, slinky sales increased dramatically.
Awards and accolades
Track listings
Australian CD single
"My Happiness" – 4:36
"My Kind of Scene" – 4:37
"Nature Boy" – 3:12
"Odyssey #1" (demo) – 4:09
European CD single
"My Happiness" (edit) – 4:11
"Nature Boy" – 3:38
Personnel
Powderfinger
Bernard Fanning – vocals and tambourine
Darren Middleton – guitars and backing vocals
Ian Haug – guitars
John Collins – bass guitars
Jon Coghill – drums and percussion
Production
Nick DiDia – Producer, engineer and mixer
Matt Voigt – Assistant engineer
Anton Hagop – Assistant engineer
Alex Pertout – Percussion
Stewart Whitmore – Digital editing
Stephen Marcussen – Mastering
Anton Hagop – Assistant producer
Kevin Wilkins – Art direction and photography
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
Powderfinger songs
2000 singles
2000 songs
APRA Award winners
ARIA Award-winning songs
Polydor Records singles
Songs written by Bernard Fanning
Songs written by Jon Coghill
Songs written by John Collins (Australian musician)
Songs written by Ian Haug
Songs written by Darren Middleton
Universal Music Australia singles
| false |
[
"Drew Emmitt is an American mandolinist, guitarist, fiddle player, occasional flutist, and singer, best known for being one of the founding members of Leftover Salmon, as well as being the frontman of the Left Hand String Band, Drew Emmitt Band, and the Emmitt-Nershi Band.\n\nHistory\n\n1989–present: Leftover Salmon\n\n2005–present: Side projects\nAt the start of the band's deformation, Emmitt formed the Drew Emmitt Band.\n\nIn 2007, Emmitt and Bill Nershi of The String Cheese Incident and Honkytonk Homeslice started a project dubbed the Emmitt-Nershi Band. The band toured a small amount in the fall of 2007, and had a wide-scale tour planned for the duration of that year, including stops at festivals such as the High Sierra Music Festival.\n\nDiscography\n\nSolo\n\nLeftover Salmon\n\nLeft Hand String Band\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Drew Emmitt Official Website\n\nAmerican bluegrass musicians\nMusicians from Colorado\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nPlace of birth missing (living people)\nLeftover Salmon members",
"Change is the second and final album released by American country music band Sons of the Desert. It was released in 2000 on MCA Nashville, and contains the singles \"Change\", \"Everybody's Gotta Grow up Sometime\" and \"What I Did Right\". \"Albuquerque\" was originally recorded by the band in the late 1990s for an unreleased second album for Epic Records, their former label.\n\nProduction\nThe album was mostly produced by Johnny Slate.\n\nCritical reception\nCountry Standard Time wrote that the album \"borders far more towards a generic, pop-sounding brand of country.\" Exclaim! thought that \"the harmonies are their stock in trade and each track is expertly produced - riding that fine line between overly slick and heartfelt.\"\n\nTrack listing\n\"Goodbye to Hello\" (Doug Virden, Drew Womack, Tim Womack) – 4:09\n\"Albuquerque\" (Stephonie Seekel, Chris Lindsey) – 3:19\n\"What I Did Right\" (Sonny LeMaire, D. Womack) – 4:48\n\"Everybody's Gotta Grow Up Sometime\" (Seekel, Lindsey) – 3:28\n\"Too Far to Where You Are\" (Danny Orton, Don Pfrimmer) – 3:36\n\"I Need to Be Wrong Again\" (Monty Powell, D. Womack) – 3:56\n\"That's the Kind of Love You're In\" (D. Womack, Randy Albright) – 4:33\n\"Real Fine Love\" (John Hiatt) – 4:20\n\"Blue Money\" (Greg Barnhill, Jim Daddario) – 4:56\n\"Change\" (Craig Wiseman, Mark Selby) – 3:23\n\"Ride\" (Troy Verges, D. Womack) – 5:36\n\nPersonnel\n\nSons of the Desert\nScott Saunders – piano, Hammond B-3 organ, synthesizer\nDoug Virden – bass guitar, electric autoharp, background vocals\nDrew Womack – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, kazoo\nTim Womack – background vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar\n\nAdditional musicians\nSteve Brewster – drums, percussion\nPaul Franklin – steel guitar\nJohn Willis – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, banjo on \"Goodbye to Hello\"\nKeith Urban – banjo on \"Ride\"\nDavid Campbell – string arranger\n\nChart performance\n\nReferences\n\n2000 albums\nMCA Records albums\nSons of the Desert (band) albums\nAlbums produced by Mark Wright (record producer)"
] |
[
"My Happiness (Powderfinger song)",
"Touring and promotion",
"How successful were they in promoting the song?",
"My Happiness\" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release,",
"Did the song top the charts?",
"My Happiness\" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard",
"Did the song win any awards?",
"I don't know.",
"How long were they on tour?",
"band sold out for three nights in a row in London,",
"Did the crowd enjoy My Happiness when they played it on tour?",
"Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market.",
"When touring, were their international shows more successful?",
"The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards",
"What drew people towards the band's music?",
"\"My Happiness\" because it was \"melodic, [and] pretty\"--a change from what she described as \"middle of the road rock\" popular in the United States."
] |
C_6bde9a8512df400487d7fb30f8e66f07_0
|
Did they focus their promotion efforts on the United States after that?
| 9 |
Did Powderfinger focus promotion efforts on the United States after My Happiness's release?
|
My Happiness (Powderfinger song)
|
"My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release, and Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's early success. Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay. Although "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority. "My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart. According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards "My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"--a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States. Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"--Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market. Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay. They were the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show. The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single. In Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out for three nights in a row in London, partly due to the success of the single. CANNOTANSWER
|
Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay.
|
"My Happiness" is a song by Australian rock band Powderfinger. It was released via record label Universal Music Australia on 21 August 2000 as the first single from the band's fourth album, Odyssey Number Five. Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning wrote the lyrics for "My Happiness" as a reflection on the time the band spent touring to promote their work, and the loneliness that came as a result. It was inspired by his love of gospel and soul music. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. Despite its melancholy mood, "My Happiness" is considered by many to be a love song, a suggestion Fanning regards as mystifying.
The single is Powderfinger's most successful; it peaked at number four on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, number seven on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and number 23 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart—the first Powderfinger song to do so. In June 2020, the song was certified 5x Platinum in Australia. It won an ARIA Award and an APRA Award and topped the Triple J Hottest 100 in 2000 as well as coming 27th in the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time in 2009. "My Happiness" was highly praised by critics, with even negative reviews of Odyssey Number Five noting it as a highlight, especially for its catchy chorus. One of the highlights of Powderfinger's United States tour with Coldplay was a performance of "My Happiness" on the Late Show with David Letterman; they were only the fourth Australian act to appear on the show.
In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "My Happiness" was ranked number 31.
Production and content
The lyrics for "My Happiness" were written by Bernard Fanning, Powderfinger's lead singer and songwriter. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. The song describes feelings of love and separation; Sains Pennie Dennison said it described "the pining feeling you experience when you spend time away from the one you love". Fanning called it "a sad story of touring and the absence loneliness that comes with it". The extensive time spent touring took its toll on the band, and it was on the back of this that Fanning wrote "My Happiness". Thus, he expressed confusion at its being considered a romantic song.
"My Happiness" was attacked by some fans as being "like Lauryn Hill, bland and boring Top 40 bullshit"; guitarist Ian Haug rebutted by pointing out that the song was an example of the new emotional level on which Powderfinger made music, while Fanning was more aggressive in his defence of the song. In response to being dubbed "Mr Miserable" by The Sun-Heralds Peter Holmes for the lyrics of "My Happiness" and "These Days", Fanning pointed out that the songs could be construed either as melancholy, or as part of "the most hopeful record ... in a long time".
Much of Fanning's writing is inspired by non-rock music, and "My Happiness" is no exception. Gospel and soul music that is "unashamedly about love and how good it makes you feel" was common during the Odyssey Number Five recording sessions. Powderfinger worked hard in those sessions to ensure a more polished work than Internationalist; guitarist Darren Middleton concluded that "My Happiness", "The Metre", and "Up & Down & Back Again" were more "complete" because of the band's efforts. The lighter elements of "My Happiness" in comparison to some of the band's earlier work saw Fanning reveal his passion for several other musicians, such as James Taylor—something that "five years ago ... would have been an embarrassing thing to say".
Touring and promotion
"My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release, and Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's early success. Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay. Although "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority.
"My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart. According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards "My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"—a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States. Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"—Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market.
Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay. They were the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show. The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single. In Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out for three nights in a row in London, partly due to the success of the single.
Release and commercial success
"My Happiness" was released as a single in Australia on 21 August 2000. When asked how they chose the release date, Fanning jokingly said "the release date is timed to coincide with the Olympics, when all the visitors are here ... they can go into HMV and pick it up." At the time of the single's release, the band's previous album, Internationalist, was still in the top 50 on the ARIA Albums Chart, 95 weeks after entering. The single featured B-side "My Kind of Scene", which had already received strong airplay due to its appearance on the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack. "My Happiness" appeared on a Triple M compilation entitled Triple M's New Stuff, and on a Kerrang! compilation, Kerrang!2 The Album.
"My Happiness" entered the ARIA singles chart at number four—making it Powderfinger's highest-charting single in Australia—and spent 24 weeks on the chart. It reached number two on the Queensland singles chart, and peaked at number seven on the New Zealand singles chart, on which it spent 23 weeks. In the US, "My Happiness" was serviced to alternative radio on 13 February 2001; it was Powderfinger's first single to chart in the US, reaching number 23 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.
The song won the "Single of the Year" award at the ARIA Awards of 2001, and the 2001 "Song of the Year" APRA Award. Furthermore, "My Happiness" topped the Triple J Hottest 100 chart in 2000, and appeared on that year's CD release. Rolling Stone Australia named "My Happiness" "Song of the Year" in a reader poll. "My Happiness" was the eighth most-played song on Australian radio in 2001.
Critical reception
"My Happiness" was critically acclaimed. Cameron Adams of the Herald Sun wrote that "My Happiness" did not disappoint in the trend of excellent first singles from Powderfinger, citing "Pick You Up" and "The Day You Come" as examples. He praised the song's structure, stating that "the verses almost crash into the chorus". Adams also expressed surprise that "My Kind of Scene" was only released as a B-side. The Newcastle Heralds Chad Watson described a mixture of acoustic and electric guitar and "a restrained yet warmly infectious chorus". Despite praising it as a "Big Rock Anthem™", Richard Jinman of The Sydney Morning Herald complained that "My Happiness" was not as "hummable" as past singles "Passenger" or "These Days". Devon Powers of PopMatters described it, and "Waiting for the Sun", as sounding bored. The Evening Mail agreed; it argued the "rock-lite" song, while sounding lush, failed to "make you really sit up and take notice".
Despite being highly critical of Odyssey Number Five, Allmusic's Dean Carlson labelled it, alongside "Odyssey #5", as one of the album's best songs, for the riff Powderfinger executed "better than most bands of their stature". Adams also enjoyed the song's "wobbly guitar", and Sains Christie Eliszer approved of the "acoustic strumalong", but The Advertisers Michael Duffy said the song was "a familiar piece of yearning guitar indie that is polished but pedestrian"; he reserved his praise for "My Kind of Scene", which he described as akin to the best of Internationalist. Darren Bunting wrote in the Hull Daily Mail that "My Happiness" was the best song on Odyssey Number Five, praising "soaring vocals, heartfelt lyrics and chiming guitar". Entertainment Weeklys Marc Weingarten said that on "My Happiness", "Fanning's heavy heart is tattered by scratching and clawing guitars".
Music video
The music video for "My Happiness" starts at a railway station (Roma Street in Brisbane) with a boy and girl stepping off a train. As the pair leave the train, the boy turns and tries to reach for something, but the girl pulls him back. It is shown that he was reaching for a sentient slinky. The slinky leaves the train, and passes Middleton busking in the train station. The slinky ventures to find the boy, facing a range of challenges along the way; these include avoiding fruit falling on it and riding a skateboard. In the middle of the music clip, the slinky is shown making its way through a music room in which Powderfinger are performing "My Happiness". It rests on the bar and the band finishes playing, while the background music continues. As Powderfinger leaves, the slinky is picked up by Haug. He gets into a car and places the slinky on the car's dashboard, but it falls out the window as the car turns a tight corner. It lands outside the gate of a house and is picked up and brought inside to the boy.
The video was created by Fifty Fifty Films, who created numerous other Powderfinger music videos. It was directed by Chris Applebaum and produced by Keeley Gould of A Band Apart, with editing by Jeff Selis. Cameron Adams of The Courier Mail reported that following the music video's release, slinky sales increased dramatically.
Awards and accolades
Track listings
Australian CD single
"My Happiness" – 4:36
"My Kind of Scene" – 4:37
"Nature Boy" – 3:12
"Odyssey #1" (demo) – 4:09
European CD single
"My Happiness" (edit) – 4:11
"Nature Boy" – 3:38
Personnel
Powderfinger
Bernard Fanning – vocals and tambourine
Darren Middleton – guitars and backing vocals
Ian Haug – guitars
John Collins – bass guitars
Jon Coghill – drums and percussion
Production
Nick DiDia – Producer, engineer and mixer
Matt Voigt – Assistant engineer
Anton Hagop – Assistant engineer
Alex Pertout – Percussion
Stewart Whitmore – Digital editing
Stephen Marcussen – Mastering
Anton Hagop – Assistant producer
Kevin Wilkins – Art direction and photography
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
Powderfinger songs
2000 singles
2000 songs
APRA Award winners
ARIA Award-winning songs
Polydor Records singles
Songs written by Bernard Fanning
Songs written by Jon Coghill
Songs written by John Collins (Australian musician)
Songs written by Ian Haug
Songs written by Darren Middleton
Universal Music Australia singles
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"Gibraltar Scorpions F.C. were a football team from Gibraltar. They played in the Gibraltar Second Division and the Rock Cup. On 1 April 2015 Joaquin J. Echevarría was appointed as the manager for seven years starting in the 2015/2016 season. After losing a number of players towards the end of their first season in the Second Division, the side's promotion challenge failed and the football side folded in order for the club to focus its efforts on its successful futsal side.\n\nReferences\n\nDefunct football clubs in Gibraltar",
"Bourgogne Live is a website devoted to wine and gastronomy with a particular focus on the Burgundy region of France and Burgundy wine. In 2010, the website was listed by Wikio as the most read wine website in France.\n\nWeb content\nThe website is run by François Desperriers and Aurélien Ibanez. They are noted for their niche focus on a single wine region as well as their efforts to modernize the region's image through online tastings, wine video, and communicating on social networking sites.\n\nRole in the region\nBourgogne Live frequently participates in local Burgundy events and reports on them. Notable examples include their video footage of Les Hospices de Beaune and their promotion of Les Climats de Bourgogne as a candidate for UNESCO's World Heritage status.\n\nReferences\n\nBurgundy wine\nCooking web series\nWine websites"
] |
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"Honus Wagner",
"Life after baseball"
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C_3ec1772242c54fc09c141708739d650d_0
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How was wagners life after baseball
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How was wagners life after baseball
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Honus Wagner
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Wagner was not finished playing baseball after his retirement from major league baseball. He managed and played for a semi-pro team. After retirement, Wagner served the Pirates as a coach for 39 years, most notably as a hitting instructor from 1933 to 1952. Arky Vaughan, Ralph Kiner, Pie Traynor (player-manager from 1934-1939), and Hank Greenberg (although, Greenberg was in his final major league season in 1947, his only season with the Pirates, and very well established) all future Hall of Famers, were notable "pupils" of Wagner. During this time, he wore uniform number 14, but later changed it to his more famous 33, which was later the number retired for him. (His entire playing career was in the days before uniform numbers were worn.) His appearances at National League stadiums during his coaching years were always well received and Wagner remained a beloved ambassador of baseball. Wagner also coached baseball and basketball at what is now Carnegie Mellon University. In 1928, Wagner ran for sheriff of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania but lost. He was made deputy county sheriff in 1942. He also ran a well-known sporting goods company. A sporting goods store bearing the name "Honus Wagner" operated in downtown Pittsburgh for 93 years before closing permanently in 2011. The Pirates hosted the 1944 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Forbes Field. Wagner was invited to be an honorary coach for the National League squad, the first time this honor was bestowed in Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. Wagner lived the remainder of his life in Pittsburgh, where he was well known as a friendly figure around town. He died on December 6, 1955 at the age of 81, and he is buried at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh. CANNOTANSWER
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Wagner lived the remainder of his life in Pittsburgh, where he was well known as a friendly figure around town.
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Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955), sometimes referred to as "Hans" Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Wagner won his eighth (and final) batting title in 1911, a National League record that remains unbroken to this day, and matched only once, in 1997, by Tony Gwynn. He also led the league in slugging six times and stolen bases five times. Wagner was nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman" due to his superb speed and German heritage. This nickname was a nod to the popular folk-tale made into a famous opera by the German composer Richard Wagner.
In , the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Wagner as one of the first five members. He received the second-highest vote total, behind Ty Cobb's 222 and tied with Babe Ruth at 215.
Most baseball historians consider Wagner to be the greatest shortstop ever and one of the greatest players ever. Ty Cobb himself called Wagner "maybe the greatest star ever to take the diamond". Honus Wagner is also the featured player of one of the rarest and the most valuable baseball cards in existence.
Early life
Wagner was born to German immigrants Peter and Katheryn Wagner in the borough of Chartiers, in what is now Carnegie, Pennsylvania.
Wagner was one of nine children. As a child, he was called Hans by his mother, which later evolved into Honus. "Hans" was also an alternate nickname during his major league career. Wagner dropped out of school at age 12 to help his father and brothers in the coal mines. In their free time, he and his brothers played sandlot baseball and developed their skills to such an extent that three of his brothers went on to become professionals as well.
Wagner's older brother, Albert "Butts" Wagner, who had a brief major league career himself, is often credited with getting Honus his first tryout. Butts persuaded his manager to take a look at his younger brother. Following his brother, Wagner trained to be a barber before becoming successful in baseball.
In 1916, Wagner married Bessie Baine Smith, and the couple had three daughters: Elva Katrina (b. 1918, stillborn), Betty Baine (1919–1992), and Virginia Mae (1922–1985).
Professional career
Career before Major League Baseball
Honus' brother Albert "Butts" Wagner was considered the ballplayer of the family. Albert suggested Honus in 1895 when his Inter-State League team was in need of help. Wagner played for five teams in that first year, in three different leagues over the course of 80 games.
In 1896, Edward Barrow, from the Wheeling, West Virginia, team that Wagner was playing on, decided to take Honus with him to his next team, the Paterson Silk Sox (Atlantic League). Barrow proved to be a good talent scout, as Wagner could play wherever he was needed, including all three bases and the outfield. Wagner hit .313 for Paterson in 1896 and .375 in 74 games in 1897.
Louisville Colonels
Recognizing that Wagner should be playing at the highest level, Barrow contacted the Louisville Colonels, who had finished last in the National League in 1896 with a record of 38–93. They were doing better in 1897 when Barrow persuaded club president Barney Dreyfuss, club secretary Harry Pulliam, and outfielder-manager Fred Clarke to go to Paterson to see Wagner play. Dreyfuss and Clarke were not impressed with the awkward-looking man, not surprising, as Wagner was oddly built: he was tall, weighed , and had a barrel chest, massive shoulders, heavily muscled arms, huge hands, and incredibly bowed legs that deprived him of any grace and several inches of height. Pulliam, though, persuaded Dreyfuss and Clarke to take a chance on him. Wagner debuted with Louisville on July 19 and hit .338 in 61 games.
By his second season, Wagner was already one of the best hitters in the National League although he came up short a percentage point from finishing the season at .300. Following the season, the NL contracted from twelve to eight teams, with the Colonels one of four teams eliminated. Owner Barney Dreyfuss, who had purchased half ownership in the Pirates, took Wagner and many of his other top players with him to the Pittsburgh team.
Tommy Leach recounted his impressions of joining the Louisville club in 1898 with hopes of winning the starting job at third base:
Pittsburgh Pirates
The move to the Pittsburgh Pirates signified Wagner's emergence as a premier hitter. In 1900, Wagner won his first batting championship with a .381 mark and also led the league in doubles (45), triples (22), and slugging percentage (.573), all of which were career highs. For the next nine seasons, Wagner's average did not fall below .330.
In , the American League began to sign National League players, creating a bidding war, which depleted the league of many talented players. Wagner was offered a $20,000 contract by the Chicago White Sox, but turned it down and continued to play with the Pirates.
Prior to 1904, Wagner had played several positions but settled into the shortstop role full-time that season, where he became a skilled fielder. His biography on BaseballLibrary.com describes his gritty style:
Bowlegged, barrel-chested, long-limbed ... he was often likened to an octopus. When he fielded grounders, his huge hands also collected large scoops of infield dirt, which accompanied his throws to first like the tail of a comet.
In 1898, Wagner won a distance contest in Louisville by throwing a baseball more than . In August 1899, he became the first player credited with stealing second base, third, and home in succession under the new rule differentiating between advanced bases and stolen bases. He repeated the feat in 1902, 1907, and 1909. Wagner retired with the National League record for most steals of home (27), which was broken by Greasy Neale in 1922.
In September 1905, Wagner signed a contract to produce the first bat with a player's signature, the Louisville Slugger, becoming the first sportsperson to endorse a commercial product; the Honus Wagner was to become a best-seller for years. One month later, with one point separating him from Reds center fielder Cy Seymour for the batting title, Wagner fell short in a head-to-head matchup on the final day of the season, with Seymour collecting four hits to Wagner's two, as contemporary press reports stated that the fans were far more interested in the Seymour-Wagner battle than in the outcome of the games.
Shortly before the season, Wagner retired. In desperation, owner Barney Dreyfuss offered him $10,000 per year, making him the highest-paid Pirate for many years. He returned to the Pirates early in the 1908 season, and finished two home runs short of the league's Triple Crown, leading the league in hitting (for the sixth time)‚ hits‚ total bases‚ doubles‚ triples‚ RBI‚ and stolen bases. Wagner took over the batting lead from the New York Giants' flamboyant outfielder Mike Donlin during a July 25 game against the Giants and their star pitcher Christy Mathewson. Wagner was 5-for-5 in the game; after each hit, he reportedly held up another finger to Donlin, who went hitless, and who had just beaten runner-up Wagner by a wide margin in a "most popular player" poll.
Bill James cites Wagner's 1908 season as the greatest single-season for any player in baseball history. He notes that the league ERA of 2.35 was the lowest of the dead-ball era and about half of the ERAs of modern baseball. Since Wagner hit .354 with 109 RBI in an environment when half as many runs were scored as today, he asks, "if you had a Gold Glove shortstop, like Wagner, who drove in 218 runs, what would he be worth?"
He was the first winner of 'The World's Championship Batsman' 's Cup, in 1908, made by Welshman George "Honey Boy" Evans.
1903 and 1909 World Series
In , the Pirates played the Boston Americans in Major League Baseball's inaugural World Series. Wagner, by this point, was an established star and much was expected of him, especially since the Pirates' starting rotation was decimated by injury. Wagner himself was not at full strength and hit only .222 for the series. The Americans, meanwhile, had some fans, called the "Royal Rooters" who, whenever Wagner came to bat, sang "Honus, Honus, why do you hit so badly?" to the tune of "Tessie", a popular song of the day. The Rooters, led by Boston bartender Michael "Nuf Ced" McGreevy, even traveled to Pittsburgh to continue their heckling. Pittsburgh lost in the best-of-nine series, five games to three, to a team led by pitchers Cy Young and Bill Dinneen and third baseman–manager Jimmy Collins. Christy Mathewson, in his book "Pitching in a Pinch" wrote: "For some time after "Hans" Wagner's poor showing in the world's series of 1903 ... it was reported that he was "yellow" (poor in the clutch). This grieved the Dutchman deeply, for I don't know a ballplayer in either league who would assay less quit to the ton than Wagner ... This was the real tragedy in Wagner's career. Notwithstanding his stolid appearance, he is a sensitive player, and this has hurt him more than anything else in his life ever has."
Wagner was distraught by his performance. The following spring, he refused to send his portrait to a "Hall of Fame" for batting champions, citing his play in the World Series. "I was too bum last year", he wrote. "I was a joke in that Boston-Pittsburgh Series. What does it profit a man to hammer along and make a few hits when they are not needed only to fall down when it comes to a pinch? I would be ashamed to have my picture up now."
Wagner and the Pirates were given a chance to prove that they were not "yellow" in . The Pirates faced Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers. The series was the only meeting of the two superior batsmen of the day, and the first time that the batting champions of each league faced one another (this later occurred thrice more, in 1931, 1954, and 2012 World Series). Wagner was by this time 35 years old, Cobb just 22.
This time, Wagner could not be stifled as he outhit Cobb, .333 to .231, and stole six bases, establishing the new Series record. The speed demon Cobb only managed two steals, one of which Cobb himself admitted was a botched call. Wagner recounted: "We had him out at second. We put up a squawk, but Silk O'Loughlin, the umpire, overruled it. We kept the squawk going for a minute or so, making no headway of course, and then Cobb spoke up. He turned to O'Loughlin, an American League umpire, by the way, and said, 'Of course I was out. They had me by a foot. You just booted the play, so come on, let's play ball.'"
There was also a story that was widely circulated over the years and famously recounted in Lawrence Ritter's The Glory of Their Times, that at one point Cobb was on first; he bragged to Wagner that he was going to steal second and threatened to assault him physically doing it; Wagner defiantly dared him to try it and placed an especially rough tag to Cobb's mouth; and the two exchanged choice words. Cobb denied it in his autobiography, and the play-by-play of the 1909 World Series confirms that the event could not have happened as stated: Cobb was never tagged out by Wagner in a caught-stealing.
The Pirates won the series in seven games behind the pitching of rookie Babe Adams.
Later career
In 1910, Wagner's average fell to .320, his lowest average since . Nevertheless, he aged exceptionally well; the three highest OPS+ seasons by any shortstop aged 35 or older belong to Wagner, and even his age-41 season ranks 8th on the list.
Wagner won the 1911 batting title by the narrowest of margins. He went hitless in a 1–0 win against the Cubs on May 30, but a successful league protest by the Cubs wiped out the result (and Wagner's at-bats). Wagner ended up edging the Boston Rustlers' Doc Miller, .334 to .333. The Pirates were in contention into August, but an ankle injury sidelined Wagner for 25 games and the team slid from the race.
On June 9, , at age 40, Wagner recorded his 3,000th hit, a double off Philadelphia's Erskine Mayer, the second player in baseball history to reach the figure, after Cap Anson, and Nap Lajoie joined them three months later. This accomplishment, however, came during a down period for Wagner and Pirates. Wagner hit only .252 in 1914, the lowest average of his career. In July 1915, he became the oldest player to hit a grand slam, a record which stood for 70 years until topped by 43-year-old Tony Pérez. In 1916, Wagner became the oldest player to hit an inside-the-park home run.
In , following another retirement, Wagner returned for his final, abbreviated season. Returning in June, he was spiked in July and played only sparingly for the remainder of the year, batting .265. He briefly held the role of interim manager, but after going 1–4, Wagner told owner Dreyfuss the job was not for him. He retired as the NL's all-time hit leader, with 3,430. (Subsequent research has since revised this total to 3,418.) It took 45 years for St. Louis' Stan Musial to surpass Wagner's hit total.
Wagner has been considered one of the very best all-around players to ever play baseball since the day he retired in 1917. Baseball historian and statistician Bill James named Honus Wagner as the second-best player of all time after Babe Ruth, rating him as the best major league player in 1900 and each year from 1902 to 1908. Statisticians John Thorn and Pete Palmer rate Wagner as ninth all-time in their "Total Player Ranking". Many of the greats who played or managed against Wagner, including Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, and Walter Johnson, list him at shortstop on their All-Time teams.
Life after baseball
Wagner was not finished playing baseball after his retirement from major league baseball. He managed and played for a semi-pro team.
After retirement, Wagner served the Pirates as a coach for 39 years, most notably as a hitting instructor from to . Arky Vaughan, Ralph Kiner, Pie Traynor (player-manager from –), and Hank Greenberg (although Greenberg was in his final major league season in 1947, his only season with the Pirates, and very well established) all future Hall of Famers, were notable "pupils" of Wagner. During this time, he wore uniform number 14 but later changed it to his more famous 33, which was later the number retired for him. (His entire playing career was in the days before uniform numbers were worn.) His appearances at National League stadiums during his coaching years were always well received and Wagner remained a beloved ambassador of baseball. Wagner also coached baseball and basketball at Carnegie Institute of Technology, which is now part of Carnegie Mellon University.
In 1928, Wagner ran for the office of Sheriff of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania but lost. He was appointed as a deputy of the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office in 1942. He also ran a well-known sporting goods company. A sporting goods store bearing the name "Honus Wagner" operated in downtown Pittsburgh for 93 years before closing permanently in 2011.
The Pirates hosted the 1944 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Forbes Field. Wagner was invited to be an honorary coach for the National League squad, the first time this honor was bestowed in Major League Baseball's All-Star Game.
Wagner lived the remainder of his life in Pittsburgh, where he was well known as a friendly figure around town. He died on December 6, 1955, at the age of 81, and he is buried at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh.
Film legacy
Wagner, along with his famous baseball card, was one of the earliest athletes to make the crossover into pop culture film. He starred as a sports hero in 1919's Spring Fever with Moe Howard and Shemp Howard of the Three Stooges, and has been depicted as the subject of The Winning Season (2004) and in a brief scene in Cobb (1994).
Baseball legacy
When the Baseball Hall of Fame held its first election in 1936, Wagner tied for second in the voting with Babe Ruth, trailing Cobb. A 1942 Sporting News poll of 100 former players and managers confirmed this opinion, with Wagner finishing 43 votes behind Cobb and six ahead of Ruth. In 1969, on the 100th anniversary of professional baseball, a vote was taken to honor the greatest players ever, and Wagner was selected as the all-time shortstop. In 1999, 82 years after his last game and 44 years since his death, Wagner was voted Number 13 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Players, where he was again the highest-ranking shortstop. That same year, he was selected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team by the oversight committee, after losing out in the popular vote to Cal Ripken, Jr. and Ernie Banks.
Christy Mathewson asserted that Wagner was the only player he faced that did not have a weakness. Mathewson felt that the only way to keep Wagner from hitting was not to pitch to him.
"A stirring march and two-step", titled "Husky Hans", and "respectfully dedicated to Hans Wagner, Three-time Champion Batsman of The National League" was written by William J. Hartz in 1904.
Bill James says that Wagner is easily the greatest shortstop of all time, noting that the difference between Wagner and the second greatest shortstop, in James' estimation Arky Vaughan, is roughly the same as the gulf between Vaughan and the 20th greatest shortstop.
Wagner is mentioned in the poem Line-Up for Yesterday by Ogden Nash.
A life-size statue of Wagner swinging a bat, atop a marble pedestal featuring admiring children, was forged by a local sculptor named Frank Vittor, and placed outside the left-field corner gate at Forbes Field. It was dedicated on April 30, 1955, and the then-frail Wagner was well enough to attend and wave to his many fans. The Pirates have relocated twice since then, and the statue has come along with them. It now stands outside the main gate of PNC Park. The statue roughly faces the site of the Pirates' original home, Exposition Park, so in a sense, Wagner has come full circle.
Wagner is honored in the form of a small stadium residing behind Carnegie Elementary School on Washington Avenue in Carnegie, Pennsylvania. The stadium serves as the home field for Carlynton High School varsity sports. The Historical Society of Carnegie History Center houses the Honus Wagner Sports Museum which includes many Wagner collectibles and memorabilia. Visitors receive replicas of the famous card.
In the 1992 episode Homer at the Bat, the popular TV show The Simpsons made a reference to Wagner. The character Mr. Burns lists three ringers he wants for his company's baseball team, but they are Honus Wagner, Cap Anson, and "Mordecai 'Three Fingers' Brown". His assistant has to point out that they are not only retired but long-dead ... Anson having played in the late 19th century.
In 2000, Wagner was honored with a U.S. postage stamp. The stamp was issued as part of a "Legends of Baseball" series that honored 20 all-time greats in conjunction with MLB's All-Century team.
T206 Baseball card
The T206 Honus Wagner baseball card''' is one of the rarest and most expensive baseball cards in the world, as only 57 copies are known to exist. The card was designed and issued by the American Tobacco Company (ATC) from 1909 to 1911 as part of its T206 series. While sources allege that Wagner, a nonsmoker, refused to allow the production of his baseball card to continue, the more likely reason was the sum ATC was willing to pay Wagner. The ATC ended production of the Wagner card and a total of only 57 to 200 cards were ever distributed to the public, as compared to the "tens or hundreds of thousands" of T206 cards, over three years in 16 brands of cigarettes, for any other player. In 1933, the card was first listed at a price value of US $50 in Jefferson Burdick's The American Card Catalog, making it the most expensive baseball card at the time.
The typical card in the T206 series had a width of and a height of . Some cards were awkwardly shaped or irregularly sized, which prompted a belief that many of the cards in the series had been altered at one point or another. In his work Inside T206: A Collector Guide to the Classic Baseball Card Set, Scot A. Reader wrote that, "It is not at all uncommon to find T206 examples that have been altered at some point during their near-century of existence." These discrepancies were taken advantage of by "card doctors" who trimmed corners and dirty edges to improve the appearance of the card. The front of all T206 series cards, including the Wagner card, displayed a lithograph of the player created by a multi-stage printing process in which a number of colors were printed on top of each other to create a lithograph with the appropriate design. The backs of the cards featured the monochromatic colors of the 16 tobacco brands for which the cards were printed. The Wagner cards in particular advertised the Piedmont and Sweet Caporal brands of cigarettes and were produced at Factory 25 in Virginia, as indicated by the factory stamp imprinted on the back of the cards.
Starting from January 1909, the ATC sought authorization from baseball players for inclusion in the T206 series, which featured 524 major league players, 76 of whom were later inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Wagner had been at the top of his game throughout the decade and was even considered the game's greatest player at the time. He had appeared on advertisements for a number of other products such as chewing gum, gunpowder, and soft drinks. Unsurprisingly, the ATC asked for Wagner's permission to have his picture on a baseball card. According to an October 12, 1912 issue of The Sporting News, Wagner did not give his consent to appear on the baseball card. In response to the authorization request letter sent by John Gruber, a Pittsburgh sportswriter hired by the ATC to seek Wagner's permission, Wagner wrote that he "did not care to have his picture in a package of cigarettes". He threatened to seek legal action against ATC if they went ahead and created his baseball card.
A near mint-mint condition T206 Wagner card sold in 2007 for $2.8 million, the highest price ever for a baseball card. In 2010, a previously unknown copy of the card was donated to the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Baltimore. The card, which was in poor condition, sold in November 2010 to a collector for $262,000, well over the $150,000 that was expected at auction. The card came with Sister Virginia Muller's brother's handwritten note: "Although damaged, the value of this baseball card should increase exponentially throughout the 21st century!"
On April 20, 2012, a New Jersey resident purchased a VG-3 graded T206 Wagner card for more than $1.2 million.
On April 6, 2013, a 1909–11 T206 baseball card featuring Honus Wagner sold at auction for $2.1 million.
On October 1, 2016, a T206 Wagner card graded PSA-5 sold for $3.12 million, setting yet again the record for the highest price paid for any baseball card.
On May 29, 2019, a Honus Wagner T-206 sold for $1.2 million by SCP Auctions in Southern California. The same card had been previously auctioned for $657,250 in 2014 and $776,750 in 2016. The encapsulated card was rated as only a 2 on a scale to 10.
In May 2021, one example sold for a new record $3.75 million. In doing so it became the second most expensive baseball card sold at auction.
In August 2021, another example sold for $6.6 million dollars making it the most valuable sportscard.
The card featured in the plot of the Nickelodeon film Swindle.
Statistics
The numbers shown below are the figures officially recognized on MLB.com.
The figures on Baseball-Reference.com are as follows. Other private research sites may have different figures. Caught Stealing is not shown comprehensively for Wagner's MLB.com totals because the stat was not regularly captured until 1920. Strikeouts is not shown comprehensively for Wagner's MLB.com totals, because the stat was not regularly captured until 1910. Note that mlb.com's Total Bases do not correspond to the number of hits, 2B, 3B, and HR listed.
See also
3,000 hit club
List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball career triples leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball doubles records
List of Major League Baseball triples records
List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball batting champions
List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual stolen base leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders
List of Major League Baseball player-managers
Major League Baseball titles leaders
References
Bibliography
Hall of Fame Network: "Honus Wagner as Mona Lisa", HOFMAG.com. Honus Wagner: A Biography, by Dennis DeValeria and Jeanne Burke DeValeria, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1995.
Hittner, Arthur D. Honus Wagner: The Life of Baseball's "Flying Dutchman." Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1996 and 2003 (softcover). . Winner of the 1996 Seymour Medal, awarded by the Society for American Baseball Research.Honus and Me'' by Dan Gutman (novel), Perfection Learning Corporation, 1999.
External links
The T206 Collection – The Players & Their Stories
Honus Wagner's Obit – The New York Times, Tuesday, December 6, 1955
Honus-Wagner.org
19th-century baseball players
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Louisville Colonels players
Baseball players from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball shortstops
National League batting champions
National League RBI champions
National League stolen base champions
Pittsburgh Pirates managers
Pittsburgh Pirates players
Pittsburgh Pirates coaches
Sportspeople from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Carnegie Mellon University faculty
People from Washington County, Pennsylvania
1874 births
1955 deaths
American people of German descent
Minor league baseball managers
Adrian Reformers players
Adrian Demons players
Steubenville Stubs players
Akron Akrons players
Lima Kids players
Mansfield Kids players
Paterson Silk Weavers players
Major League Baseball player-managers
American sportsmen
People from Carnegie, Pennsylvania
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[
"Ingolf Huhn (born in 1955) is a German opera manager and theatre director.\n\nLife \nBorn in Magdeburg, after the Abitur Huhn studied opera direction in Berlin, musicology in Leipzig and theology. Afterwards he was a master student at the Academy of Arts with Ruth Berghaus. He then worked for ten years as an opera director at the Meiningen Court Theatre. During this period he was also a frequent guest director at the Graz Opera in Styria/Austria. From 1998 to 2003 Huhn worked as the artistic director of the in Freiberg and Döbeln. From 2003 to 2008 he held the position of General Director of the .\n\nOn 1 January 2010 Huhn succeeded Hans-Hermann Krug as managing director of the in Annaberg-Buchholz.\n\nPublications \n Wagners Öffentlichkeitssyndrom.\n Richard Wagners soziales Theaterkonzept : Untersuchungen zu Wagners Entwurf eines gesellschaftlich relevanten Theaters.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n Ingolf Huhn on Operabase\n NMZ – Ingolf Huhn\n Kreativität und beneidenswerte Phantasie. Ingolf Huhn: Opern-Archäologe und Realist anlässlich Mangolds „Tanhäuser“ in Annaberg-Buchholz – Interview with Huhn and portrait of the manager by Geerd Heinsen\n Interview with Ingolf Huhn at \"Age of Artists\"\n\nGerman opera directors\nGerman theatre directors\n1955 births\nLiving people\nPeople from Magdeburg",
"Franz Xaver Wagner (May 1, 1939 – August 8, 2011) was a German comedian and author.\n\nLife \nWagner worked as a comedian and author in Germany. He wrote several books.\n\nWorks \n Alpines Panoptikum. Rother, München 1978, .\n Alpines Alphabet. Rother, München 1980, .\n Franz Xaver Wagners Bergtagebuch. Rother, München 1985, .\n Tiefengrabers Erzählungen. wt-BuchTeam, Garching/Alz 2002, .\n\nExternal links\n\nReferences \n\nGerman male comedians\n1939 births\n2011 deaths\nGerman male writers"
] |
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"Honus Wagner",
"Life after baseball",
"How was wagners life after baseball",
"Wagner lived the remainder of his life in Pittsburgh, where he was well known as a friendly figure around town."
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C_3ec1772242c54fc09c141708739d650d_0
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Did he have any hobbies
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Did Wagner have any hobbies?
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Honus Wagner
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Wagner was not finished playing baseball after his retirement from major league baseball. He managed and played for a semi-pro team. After retirement, Wagner served the Pirates as a coach for 39 years, most notably as a hitting instructor from 1933 to 1952. Arky Vaughan, Ralph Kiner, Pie Traynor (player-manager from 1934-1939), and Hank Greenberg (although, Greenberg was in his final major league season in 1947, his only season with the Pirates, and very well established) all future Hall of Famers, were notable "pupils" of Wagner. During this time, he wore uniform number 14, but later changed it to his more famous 33, which was later the number retired for him. (His entire playing career was in the days before uniform numbers were worn.) His appearances at National League stadiums during his coaching years were always well received and Wagner remained a beloved ambassador of baseball. Wagner also coached baseball and basketball at what is now Carnegie Mellon University. In 1928, Wagner ran for sheriff of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania but lost. He was made deputy county sheriff in 1942. He also ran a well-known sporting goods company. A sporting goods store bearing the name "Honus Wagner" operated in downtown Pittsburgh for 93 years before closing permanently in 2011. The Pirates hosted the 1944 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Forbes Field. Wagner was invited to be an honorary coach for the National League squad, the first time this honor was bestowed in Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. Wagner lived the remainder of his life in Pittsburgh, where he was well known as a friendly figure around town. He died on December 6, 1955 at the age of 81, and he is buried at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh. CANNOTANSWER
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Baseball
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Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955), sometimes referred to as "Hans" Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Wagner won his eighth (and final) batting title in 1911, a National League record that remains unbroken to this day, and matched only once, in 1997, by Tony Gwynn. He also led the league in slugging six times and stolen bases five times. Wagner was nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman" due to his superb speed and German heritage. This nickname was a nod to the popular folk-tale made into a famous opera by the German composer Richard Wagner.
In , the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Wagner as one of the first five members. He received the second-highest vote total, behind Ty Cobb's 222 and tied with Babe Ruth at 215.
Most baseball historians consider Wagner to be the greatest shortstop ever and one of the greatest players ever. Ty Cobb himself called Wagner "maybe the greatest star ever to take the diamond". Honus Wagner is also the featured player of one of the rarest and the most valuable baseball cards in existence.
Early life
Wagner was born to German immigrants Peter and Katheryn Wagner in the borough of Chartiers, in what is now Carnegie, Pennsylvania.
Wagner was one of nine children. As a child, he was called Hans by his mother, which later evolved into Honus. "Hans" was also an alternate nickname during his major league career. Wagner dropped out of school at age 12 to help his father and brothers in the coal mines. In their free time, he and his brothers played sandlot baseball and developed their skills to such an extent that three of his brothers went on to become professionals as well.
Wagner's older brother, Albert "Butts" Wagner, who had a brief major league career himself, is often credited with getting Honus his first tryout. Butts persuaded his manager to take a look at his younger brother. Following his brother, Wagner trained to be a barber before becoming successful in baseball.
In 1916, Wagner married Bessie Baine Smith, and the couple had three daughters: Elva Katrina (b. 1918, stillborn), Betty Baine (1919–1992), and Virginia Mae (1922–1985).
Professional career
Career before Major League Baseball
Honus' brother Albert "Butts" Wagner was considered the ballplayer of the family. Albert suggested Honus in 1895 when his Inter-State League team was in need of help. Wagner played for five teams in that first year, in three different leagues over the course of 80 games.
In 1896, Edward Barrow, from the Wheeling, West Virginia, team that Wagner was playing on, decided to take Honus with him to his next team, the Paterson Silk Sox (Atlantic League). Barrow proved to be a good talent scout, as Wagner could play wherever he was needed, including all three bases and the outfield. Wagner hit .313 for Paterson in 1896 and .375 in 74 games in 1897.
Louisville Colonels
Recognizing that Wagner should be playing at the highest level, Barrow contacted the Louisville Colonels, who had finished last in the National League in 1896 with a record of 38–93. They were doing better in 1897 when Barrow persuaded club president Barney Dreyfuss, club secretary Harry Pulliam, and outfielder-manager Fred Clarke to go to Paterson to see Wagner play. Dreyfuss and Clarke were not impressed with the awkward-looking man, not surprising, as Wagner was oddly built: he was tall, weighed , and had a barrel chest, massive shoulders, heavily muscled arms, huge hands, and incredibly bowed legs that deprived him of any grace and several inches of height. Pulliam, though, persuaded Dreyfuss and Clarke to take a chance on him. Wagner debuted with Louisville on July 19 and hit .338 in 61 games.
By his second season, Wagner was already one of the best hitters in the National League although he came up short a percentage point from finishing the season at .300. Following the season, the NL contracted from twelve to eight teams, with the Colonels one of four teams eliminated. Owner Barney Dreyfuss, who had purchased half ownership in the Pirates, took Wagner and many of his other top players with him to the Pittsburgh team.
Tommy Leach recounted his impressions of joining the Louisville club in 1898 with hopes of winning the starting job at third base:
Pittsburgh Pirates
The move to the Pittsburgh Pirates signified Wagner's emergence as a premier hitter. In 1900, Wagner won his first batting championship with a .381 mark and also led the league in doubles (45), triples (22), and slugging percentage (.573), all of which were career highs. For the next nine seasons, Wagner's average did not fall below .330.
In , the American League began to sign National League players, creating a bidding war, which depleted the league of many talented players. Wagner was offered a $20,000 contract by the Chicago White Sox, but turned it down and continued to play with the Pirates.
Prior to 1904, Wagner had played several positions but settled into the shortstop role full-time that season, where he became a skilled fielder. His biography on BaseballLibrary.com describes his gritty style:
Bowlegged, barrel-chested, long-limbed ... he was often likened to an octopus. When he fielded grounders, his huge hands also collected large scoops of infield dirt, which accompanied his throws to first like the tail of a comet.
In 1898, Wagner won a distance contest in Louisville by throwing a baseball more than . In August 1899, he became the first player credited with stealing second base, third, and home in succession under the new rule differentiating between advanced bases and stolen bases. He repeated the feat in 1902, 1907, and 1909. Wagner retired with the National League record for most steals of home (27), which was broken by Greasy Neale in 1922.
In September 1905, Wagner signed a contract to produce the first bat with a player's signature, the Louisville Slugger, becoming the first sportsperson to endorse a commercial product; the Honus Wagner was to become a best-seller for years. One month later, with one point separating him from Reds center fielder Cy Seymour for the batting title, Wagner fell short in a head-to-head matchup on the final day of the season, with Seymour collecting four hits to Wagner's two, as contemporary press reports stated that the fans were far more interested in the Seymour-Wagner battle than in the outcome of the games.
Shortly before the season, Wagner retired. In desperation, owner Barney Dreyfuss offered him $10,000 per year, making him the highest-paid Pirate for many years. He returned to the Pirates early in the 1908 season, and finished two home runs short of the league's Triple Crown, leading the league in hitting (for the sixth time)‚ hits‚ total bases‚ doubles‚ triples‚ RBI‚ and stolen bases. Wagner took over the batting lead from the New York Giants' flamboyant outfielder Mike Donlin during a July 25 game against the Giants and their star pitcher Christy Mathewson. Wagner was 5-for-5 in the game; after each hit, he reportedly held up another finger to Donlin, who went hitless, and who had just beaten runner-up Wagner by a wide margin in a "most popular player" poll.
Bill James cites Wagner's 1908 season as the greatest single-season for any player in baseball history. He notes that the league ERA of 2.35 was the lowest of the dead-ball era and about half of the ERAs of modern baseball. Since Wagner hit .354 with 109 RBI in an environment when half as many runs were scored as today, he asks, "if you had a Gold Glove shortstop, like Wagner, who drove in 218 runs, what would he be worth?"
He was the first winner of 'The World's Championship Batsman' 's Cup, in 1908, made by Welshman George "Honey Boy" Evans.
1903 and 1909 World Series
In , the Pirates played the Boston Americans in Major League Baseball's inaugural World Series. Wagner, by this point, was an established star and much was expected of him, especially since the Pirates' starting rotation was decimated by injury. Wagner himself was not at full strength and hit only .222 for the series. The Americans, meanwhile, had some fans, called the "Royal Rooters" who, whenever Wagner came to bat, sang "Honus, Honus, why do you hit so badly?" to the tune of "Tessie", a popular song of the day. The Rooters, led by Boston bartender Michael "Nuf Ced" McGreevy, even traveled to Pittsburgh to continue their heckling. Pittsburgh lost in the best-of-nine series, five games to three, to a team led by pitchers Cy Young and Bill Dinneen and third baseman–manager Jimmy Collins. Christy Mathewson, in his book "Pitching in a Pinch" wrote: "For some time after "Hans" Wagner's poor showing in the world's series of 1903 ... it was reported that he was "yellow" (poor in the clutch). This grieved the Dutchman deeply, for I don't know a ballplayer in either league who would assay less quit to the ton than Wagner ... This was the real tragedy in Wagner's career. Notwithstanding his stolid appearance, he is a sensitive player, and this has hurt him more than anything else in his life ever has."
Wagner was distraught by his performance. The following spring, he refused to send his portrait to a "Hall of Fame" for batting champions, citing his play in the World Series. "I was too bum last year", he wrote. "I was a joke in that Boston-Pittsburgh Series. What does it profit a man to hammer along and make a few hits when they are not needed only to fall down when it comes to a pinch? I would be ashamed to have my picture up now."
Wagner and the Pirates were given a chance to prove that they were not "yellow" in . The Pirates faced Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers. The series was the only meeting of the two superior batsmen of the day, and the first time that the batting champions of each league faced one another (this later occurred thrice more, in 1931, 1954, and 2012 World Series). Wagner was by this time 35 years old, Cobb just 22.
This time, Wagner could not be stifled as he outhit Cobb, .333 to .231, and stole six bases, establishing the new Series record. The speed demon Cobb only managed two steals, one of which Cobb himself admitted was a botched call. Wagner recounted: "We had him out at second. We put up a squawk, but Silk O'Loughlin, the umpire, overruled it. We kept the squawk going for a minute or so, making no headway of course, and then Cobb spoke up. He turned to O'Loughlin, an American League umpire, by the way, and said, 'Of course I was out. They had me by a foot. You just booted the play, so come on, let's play ball.'"
There was also a story that was widely circulated over the years and famously recounted in Lawrence Ritter's The Glory of Their Times, that at one point Cobb was on first; he bragged to Wagner that he was going to steal second and threatened to assault him physically doing it; Wagner defiantly dared him to try it and placed an especially rough tag to Cobb's mouth; and the two exchanged choice words. Cobb denied it in his autobiography, and the play-by-play of the 1909 World Series confirms that the event could not have happened as stated: Cobb was never tagged out by Wagner in a caught-stealing.
The Pirates won the series in seven games behind the pitching of rookie Babe Adams.
Later career
In 1910, Wagner's average fell to .320, his lowest average since . Nevertheless, he aged exceptionally well; the three highest OPS+ seasons by any shortstop aged 35 or older belong to Wagner, and even his age-41 season ranks 8th on the list.
Wagner won the 1911 batting title by the narrowest of margins. He went hitless in a 1–0 win against the Cubs on May 30, but a successful league protest by the Cubs wiped out the result (and Wagner's at-bats). Wagner ended up edging the Boston Rustlers' Doc Miller, .334 to .333. The Pirates were in contention into August, but an ankle injury sidelined Wagner for 25 games and the team slid from the race.
On June 9, , at age 40, Wagner recorded his 3,000th hit, a double off Philadelphia's Erskine Mayer, the second player in baseball history to reach the figure, after Cap Anson, and Nap Lajoie joined them three months later. This accomplishment, however, came during a down period for Wagner and Pirates. Wagner hit only .252 in 1914, the lowest average of his career. In July 1915, he became the oldest player to hit a grand slam, a record which stood for 70 years until topped by 43-year-old Tony Pérez. In 1916, Wagner became the oldest player to hit an inside-the-park home run.
In , following another retirement, Wagner returned for his final, abbreviated season. Returning in June, he was spiked in July and played only sparingly for the remainder of the year, batting .265. He briefly held the role of interim manager, but after going 1–4, Wagner told owner Dreyfuss the job was not for him. He retired as the NL's all-time hit leader, with 3,430. (Subsequent research has since revised this total to 3,418.) It took 45 years for St. Louis' Stan Musial to surpass Wagner's hit total.
Wagner has been considered one of the very best all-around players to ever play baseball since the day he retired in 1917. Baseball historian and statistician Bill James named Honus Wagner as the second-best player of all time after Babe Ruth, rating him as the best major league player in 1900 and each year from 1902 to 1908. Statisticians John Thorn and Pete Palmer rate Wagner as ninth all-time in their "Total Player Ranking". Many of the greats who played or managed against Wagner, including Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, and Walter Johnson, list him at shortstop on their All-Time teams.
Life after baseball
Wagner was not finished playing baseball after his retirement from major league baseball. He managed and played for a semi-pro team.
After retirement, Wagner served the Pirates as a coach for 39 years, most notably as a hitting instructor from to . Arky Vaughan, Ralph Kiner, Pie Traynor (player-manager from –), and Hank Greenberg (although Greenberg was in his final major league season in 1947, his only season with the Pirates, and very well established) all future Hall of Famers, were notable "pupils" of Wagner. During this time, he wore uniform number 14 but later changed it to his more famous 33, which was later the number retired for him. (His entire playing career was in the days before uniform numbers were worn.) His appearances at National League stadiums during his coaching years were always well received and Wagner remained a beloved ambassador of baseball. Wagner also coached baseball and basketball at Carnegie Institute of Technology, which is now part of Carnegie Mellon University.
In 1928, Wagner ran for the office of Sheriff of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania but lost. He was appointed as a deputy of the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office in 1942. He also ran a well-known sporting goods company. A sporting goods store bearing the name "Honus Wagner" operated in downtown Pittsburgh for 93 years before closing permanently in 2011.
The Pirates hosted the 1944 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Forbes Field. Wagner was invited to be an honorary coach for the National League squad, the first time this honor was bestowed in Major League Baseball's All-Star Game.
Wagner lived the remainder of his life in Pittsburgh, where he was well known as a friendly figure around town. He died on December 6, 1955, at the age of 81, and he is buried at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh.
Film legacy
Wagner, along with his famous baseball card, was one of the earliest athletes to make the crossover into pop culture film. He starred as a sports hero in 1919's Spring Fever with Moe Howard and Shemp Howard of the Three Stooges, and has been depicted as the subject of The Winning Season (2004) and in a brief scene in Cobb (1994).
Baseball legacy
When the Baseball Hall of Fame held its first election in 1936, Wagner tied for second in the voting with Babe Ruth, trailing Cobb. A 1942 Sporting News poll of 100 former players and managers confirmed this opinion, with Wagner finishing 43 votes behind Cobb and six ahead of Ruth. In 1969, on the 100th anniversary of professional baseball, a vote was taken to honor the greatest players ever, and Wagner was selected as the all-time shortstop. In 1999, 82 years after his last game and 44 years since his death, Wagner was voted Number 13 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Players, where he was again the highest-ranking shortstop. That same year, he was selected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team by the oversight committee, after losing out in the popular vote to Cal Ripken, Jr. and Ernie Banks.
Christy Mathewson asserted that Wagner was the only player he faced that did not have a weakness. Mathewson felt that the only way to keep Wagner from hitting was not to pitch to him.
"A stirring march and two-step", titled "Husky Hans", and "respectfully dedicated to Hans Wagner, Three-time Champion Batsman of The National League" was written by William J. Hartz in 1904.
Bill James says that Wagner is easily the greatest shortstop of all time, noting that the difference between Wagner and the second greatest shortstop, in James' estimation Arky Vaughan, is roughly the same as the gulf between Vaughan and the 20th greatest shortstop.
Wagner is mentioned in the poem Line-Up for Yesterday by Ogden Nash.
A life-size statue of Wagner swinging a bat, atop a marble pedestal featuring admiring children, was forged by a local sculptor named Frank Vittor, and placed outside the left-field corner gate at Forbes Field. It was dedicated on April 30, 1955, and the then-frail Wagner was well enough to attend and wave to his many fans. The Pirates have relocated twice since then, and the statue has come along with them. It now stands outside the main gate of PNC Park. The statue roughly faces the site of the Pirates' original home, Exposition Park, so in a sense, Wagner has come full circle.
Wagner is honored in the form of a small stadium residing behind Carnegie Elementary School on Washington Avenue in Carnegie, Pennsylvania. The stadium serves as the home field for Carlynton High School varsity sports. The Historical Society of Carnegie History Center houses the Honus Wagner Sports Museum which includes many Wagner collectibles and memorabilia. Visitors receive replicas of the famous card.
In the 1992 episode Homer at the Bat, the popular TV show The Simpsons made a reference to Wagner. The character Mr. Burns lists three ringers he wants for his company's baseball team, but they are Honus Wagner, Cap Anson, and "Mordecai 'Three Fingers' Brown". His assistant has to point out that they are not only retired but long-dead ... Anson having played in the late 19th century.
In 2000, Wagner was honored with a U.S. postage stamp. The stamp was issued as part of a "Legends of Baseball" series that honored 20 all-time greats in conjunction with MLB's All-Century team.
T206 Baseball card
The T206 Honus Wagner baseball card''' is one of the rarest and most expensive baseball cards in the world, as only 57 copies are known to exist. The card was designed and issued by the American Tobacco Company (ATC) from 1909 to 1911 as part of its T206 series. While sources allege that Wagner, a nonsmoker, refused to allow the production of his baseball card to continue, the more likely reason was the sum ATC was willing to pay Wagner. The ATC ended production of the Wagner card and a total of only 57 to 200 cards were ever distributed to the public, as compared to the "tens or hundreds of thousands" of T206 cards, over three years in 16 brands of cigarettes, for any other player. In 1933, the card was first listed at a price value of US $50 in Jefferson Burdick's The American Card Catalog, making it the most expensive baseball card at the time.
The typical card in the T206 series had a width of and a height of . Some cards were awkwardly shaped or irregularly sized, which prompted a belief that many of the cards in the series had been altered at one point or another. In his work Inside T206: A Collector Guide to the Classic Baseball Card Set, Scot A. Reader wrote that, "It is not at all uncommon to find T206 examples that have been altered at some point during their near-century of existence." These discrepancies were taken advantage of by "card doctors" who trimmed corners and dirty edges to improve the appearance of the card. The front of all T206 series cards, including the Wagner card, displayed a lithograph of the player created by a multi-stage printing process in which a number of colors were printed on top of each other to create a lithograph with the appropriate design. The backs of the cards featured the monochromatic colors of the 16 tobacco brands for which the cards were printed. The Wagner cards in particular advertised the Piedmont and Sweet Caporal brands of cigarettes and were produced at Factory 25 in Virginia, as indicated by the factory stamp imprinted on the back of the cards.
Starting from January 1909, the ATC sought authorization from baseball players for inclusion in the T206 series, which featured 524 major league players, 76 of whom were later inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Wagner had been at the top of his game throughout the decade and was even considered the game's greatest player at the time. He had appeared on advertisements for a number of other products such as chewing gum, gunpowder, and soft drinks. Unsurprisingly, the ATC asked for Wagner's permission to have his picture on a baseball card. According to an October 12, 1912 issue of The Sporting News, Wagner did not give his consent to appear on the baseball card. In response to the authorization request letter sent by John Gruber, a Pittsburgh sportswriter hired by the ATC to seek Wagner's permission, Wagner wrote that he "did not care to have his picture in a package of cigarettes". He threatened to seek legal action against ATC if they went ahead and created his baseball card.
A near mint-mint condition T206 Wagner card sold in 2007 for $2.8 million, the highest price ever for a baseball card. In 2010, a previously unknown copy of the card was donated to the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Baltimore. The card, which was in poor condition, sold in November 2010 to a collector for $262,000, well over the $150,000 that was expected at auction. The card came with Sister Virginia Muller's brother's handwritten note: "Although damaged, the value of this baseball card should increase exponentially throughout the 21st century!"
On April 20, 2012, a New Jersey resident purchased a VG-3 graded T206 Wagner card for more than $1.2 million.
On April 6, 2013, a 1909–11 T206 baseball card featuring Honus Wagner sold at auction for $2.1 million.
On October 1, 2016, a T206 Wagner card graded PSA-5 sold for $3.12 million, setting yet again the record for the highest price paid for any baseball card.
On May 29, 2019, a Honus Wagner T-206 sold for $1.2 million by SCP Auctions in Southern California. The same card had been previously auctioned for $657,250 in 2014 and $776,750 in 2016. The encapsulated card was rated as only a 2 on a scale to 10.
In May 2021, one example sold for a new record $3.75 million. In doing so it became the second most expensive baseball card sold at auction.
In August 2021, another example sold for $6.6 million dollars making it the most valuable sportscard.
The card featured in the plot of the Nickelodeon film Swindle.
Statistics
The numbers shown below are the figures officially recognized on MLB.com.
The figures on Baseball-Reference.com are as follows. Other private research sites may have different figures. Caught Stealing is not shown comprehensively for Wagner's MLB.com totals because the stat was not regularly captured until 1920. Strikeouts is not shown comprehensively for Wagner's MLB.com totals, because the stat was not regularly captured until 1910. Note that mlb.com's Total Bases do not correspond to the number of hits, 2B, 3B, and HR listed.
See also
3,000 hit club
List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball career triples leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball doubles records
List of Major League Baseball triples records
List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball batting champions
List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual stolen base leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders
List of Major League Baseball player-managers
Major League Baseball titles leaders
References
Bibliography
Hall of Fame Network: "Honus Wagner as Mona Lisa", HOFMAG.com. Honus Wagner: A Biography, by Dennis DeValeria and Jeanne Burke DeValeria, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1995.
Hittner, Arthur D. Honus Wagner: The Life of Baseball's "Flying Dutchman." Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1996 and 2003 (softcover). . Winner of the 1996 Seymour Medal, awarded by the Society for American Baseball Research.Honus and Me'' by Dan Gutman (novel), Perfection Learning Corporation, 1999.
External links
The T206 Collection – The Players & Their Stories
Honus Wagner's Obit – The New York Times, Tuesday, December 6, 1955
Honus-Wagner.org
19th-century baseball players
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Louisville Colonels players
Baseball players from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball shortstops
National League batting champions
National League RBI champions
National League stolen base champions
Pittsburgh Pirates managers
Pittsburgh Pirates players
Pittsburgh Pirates coaches
Sportspeople from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Carnegie Mellon University faculty
People from Washington County, Pennsylvania
1874 births
1955 deaths
American people of German descent
Minor league baseball managers
Adrian Reformers players
Adrian Demons players
Steubenville Stubs players
Akron Akrons players
Lima Kids players
Mansfield Kids players
Paterson Silk Weavers players
Major League Baseball player-managers
American sportsmen
People from Carnegie, Pennsylvania
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[
"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",
"Silicon Chip is an Australian electronics magazine. It was started in November, 1987 by Leo Simpson. Following the demise of Electronics Australia, for many years it was the only hobbyist-related electronics magazine remaining in Australia. A new competitor, called Diyode launched in July 2017.\n\nMagazine\nThe magazine has features such as\nProjects to build\nServiceman's Log\nComputer Features\nVintage Radio\nProduct Showcase\nMailbag/Ask Silicon Chip\nCircuit Notebook (reader contributions)\n\nThe print version of Silicon Chip is produced and printed in Australia by Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd. The magazine is published monthly on the last Thursday of the month prior to the cover date.\n\nSome time after Electronics Australia closed its doors, Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd purchased the titles Electronics Australia, Electronics Today (International), Radio, TV & Hobbies, Radio & Hobbies and Wireless Weekly, along with the copyright to original (non-submitted) material published in those magazines. The copyright of some submitted projects and articles for those old magazines technically still remains with the original authors. This is why Silicon Chip have not released Electronics Australia back-issues on CD, as they did with the older Radio TV & Hobbies. However they can provide an electronic copy of any Electronics Australia article for a price, which invalidates the previous reasoning. Except that copies are not provided in cases of articles where there is a question over the ownership of copyright.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOfficial website\n\n1987 establishments in Australia\nHobby magazines\nHobby electronics magazines\nMagazines established in 1987\nMagazines published in Sydney\nMonthly magazines published in Australia\nScience and technology magazines"
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C_3ec1772242c54fc09c141708739d650d_0
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Did he teach others?
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Did Wagner teach others baseball?
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Honus Wagner
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Wagner was not finished playing baseball after his retirement from major league baseball. He managed and played for a semi-pro team. After retirement, Wagner served the Pirates as a coach for 39 years, most notably as a hitting instructor from 1933 to 1952. Arky Vaughan, Ralph Kiner, Pie Traynor (player-manager from 1934-1939), and Hank Greenberg (although, Greenberg was in his final major league season in 1947, his only season with the Pirates, and very well established) all future Hall of Famers, were notable "pupils" of Wagner. During this time, he wore uniform number 14, but later changed it to his more famous 33, which was later the number retired for him. (His entire playing career was in the days before uniform numbers were worn.) His appearances at National League stadiums during his coaching years were always well received and Wagner remained a beloved ambassador of baseball. Wagner also coached baseball and basketball at what is now Carnegie Mellon University. In 1928, Wagner ran for sheriff of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania but lost. He was made deputy county sheriff in 1942. He also ran a well-known sporting goods company. A sporting goods store bearing the name "Honus Wagner" operated in downtown Pittsburgh for 93 years before closing permanently in 2011. The Pirates hosted the 1944 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Forbes Field. Wagner was invited to be an honorary coach for the National League squad, the first time this honor was bestowed in Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. Wagner lived the remainder of his life in Pittsburgh, where he was well known as a friendly figure around town. He died on December 6, 1955 at the age of 81, and he is buried at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh. CANNOTANSWER
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Wagner also coached baseball
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Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955), sometimes referred to as "Hans" Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Wagner won his eighth (and final) batting title in 1911, a National League record that remains unbroken to this day, and matched only once, in 1997, by Tony Gwynn. He also led the league in slugging six times and stolen bases five times. Wagner was nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman" due to his superb speed and German heritage. This nickname was a nod to the popular folk-tale made into a famous opera by the German composer Richard Wagner.
In , the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Wagner as one of the first five members. He received the second-highest vote total, behind Ty Cobb's 222 and tied with Babe Ruth at 215.
Most baseball historians consider Wagner to be the greatest shortstop ever and one of the greatest players ever. Ty Cobb himself called Wagner "maybe the greatest star ever to take the diamond". Honus Wagner is also the featured player of one of the rarest and the most valuable baseball cards in existence.
Early life
Wagner was born to German immigrants Peter and Katheryn Wagner in the borough of Chartiers, in what is now Carnegie, Pennsylvania.
Wagner was one of nine children. As a child, he was called Hans by his mother, which later evolved into Honus. "Hans" was also an alternate nickname during his major league career. Wagner dropped out of school at age 12 to help his father and brothers in the coal mines. In their free time, he and his brothers played sandlot baseball and developed their skills to such an extent that three of his brothers went on to become professionals as well.
Wagner's older brother, Albert "Butts" Wagner, who had a brief major league career himself, is often credited with getting Honus his first tryout. Butts persuaded his manager to take a look at his younger brother. Following his brother, Wagner trained to be a barber before becoming successful in baseball.
In 1916, Wagner married Bessie Baine Smith, and the couple had three daughters: Elva Katrina (b. 1918, stillborn), Betty Baine (1919–1992), and Virginia Mae (1922–1985).
Professional career
Career before Major League Baseball
Honus' brother Albert "Butts" Wagner was considered the ballplayer of the family. Albert suggested Honus in 1895 when his Inter-State League team was in need of help. Wagner played for five teams in that first year, in three different leagues over the course of 80 games.
In 1896, Edward Barrow, from the Wheeling, West Virginia, team that Wagner was playing on, decided to take Honus with him to his next team, the Paterson Silk Sox (Atlantic League). Barrow proved to be a good talent scout, as Wagner could play wherever he was needed, including all three bases and the outfield. Wagner hit .313 for Paterson in 1896 and .375 in 74 games in 1897.
Louisville Colonels
Recognizing that Wagner should be playing at the highest level, Barrow contacted the Louisville Colonels, who had finished last in the National League in 1896 with a record of 38–93. They were doing better in 1897 when Barrow persuaded club president Barney Dreyfuss, club secretary Harry Pulliam, and outfielder-manager Fred Clarke to go to Paterson to see Wagner play. Dreyfuss and Clarke were not impressed with the awkward-looking man, not surprising, as Wagner was oddly built: he was tall, weighed , and had a barrel chest, massive shoulders, heavily muscled arms, huge hands, and incredibly bowed legs that deprived him of any grace and several inches of height. Pulliam, though, persuaded Dreyfuss and Clarke to take a chance on him. Wagner debuted with Louisville on July 19 and hit .338 in 61 games.
By his second season, Wagner was already one of the best hitters in the National League although he came up short a percentage point from finishing the season at .300. Following the season, the NL contracted from twelve to eight teams, with the Colonels one of four teams eliminated. Owner Barney Dreyfuss, who had purchased half ownership in the Pirates, took Wagner and many of his other top players with him to the Pittsburgh team.
Tommy Leach recounted his impressions of joining the Louisville club in 1898 with hopes of winning the starting job at third base:
Pittsburgh Pirates
The move to the Pittsburgh Pirates signified Wagner's emergence as a premier hitter. In 1900, Wagner won his first batting championship with a .381 mark and also led the league in doubles (45), triples (22), and slugging percentage (.573), all of which were career highs. For the next nine seasons, Wagner's average did not fall below .330.
In , the American League began to sign National League players, creating a bidding war, which depleted the league of many talented players. Wagner was offered a $20,000 contract by the Chicago White Sox, but turned it down and continued to play with the Pirates.
Prior to 1904, Wagner had played several positions but settled into the shortstop role full-time that season, where he became a skilled fielder. His biography on BaseballLibrary.com describes his gritty style:
Bowlegged, barrel-chested, long-limbed ... he was often likened to an octopus. When he fielded grounders, his huge hands also collected large scoops of infield dirt, which accompanied his throws to first like the tail of a comet.
In 1898, Wagner won a distance contest in Louisville by throwing a baseball more than . In August 1899, he became the first player credited with stealing second base, third, and home in succession under the new rule differentiating between advanced bases and stolen bases. He repeated the feat in 1902, 1907, and 1909. Wagner retired with the National League record for most steals of home (27), which was broken by Greasy Neale in 1922.
In September 1905, Wagner signed a contract to produce the first bat with a player's signature, the Louisville Slugger, becoming the first sportsperson to endorse a commercial product; the Honus Wagner was to become a best-seller for years. One month later, with one point separating him from Reds center fielder Cy Seymour for the batting title, Wagner fell short in a head-to-head matchup on the final day of the season, with Seymour collecting four hits to Wagner's two, as contemporary press reports stated that the fans were far more interested in the Seymour-Wagner battle than in the outcome of the games.
Shortly before the season, Wagner retired. In desperation, owner Barney Dreyfuss offered him $10,000 per year, making him the highest-paid Pirate for many years. He returned to the Pirates early in the 1908 season, and finished two home runs short of the league's Triple Crown, leading the league in hitting (for the sixth time)‚ hits‚ total bases‚ doubles‚ triples‚ RBI‚ and stolen bases. Wagner took over the batting lead from the New York Giants' flamboyant outfielder Mike Donlin during a July 25 game against the Giants and their star pitcher Christy Mathewson. Wagner was 5-for-5 in the game; after each hit, he reportedly held up another finger to Donlin, who went hitless, and who had just beaten runner-up Wagner by a wide margin in a "most popular player" poll.
Bill James cites Wagner's 1908 season as the greatest single-season for any player in baseball history. He notes that the league ERA of 2.35 was the lowest of the dead-ball era and about half of the ERAs of modern baseball. Since Wagner hit .354 with 109 RBI in an environment when half as many runs were scored as today, he asks, "if you had a Gold Glove shortstop, like Wagner, who drove in 218 runs, what would he be worth?"
He was the first winner of 'The World's Championship Batsman' 's Cup, in 1908, made by Welshman George "Honey Boy" Evans.
1903 and 1909 World Series
In , the Pirates played the Boston Americans in Major League Baseball's inaugural World Series. Wagner, by this point, was an established star and much was expected of him, especially since the Pirates' starting rotation was decimated by injury. Wagner himself was not at full strength and hit only .222 for the series. The Americans, meanwhile, had some fans, called the "Royal Rooters" who, whenever Wagner came to bat, sang "Honus, Honus, why do you hit so badly?" to the tune of "Tessie", a popular song of the day. The Rooters, led by Boston bartender Michael "Nuf Ced" McGreevy, even traveled to Pittsburgh to continue their heckling. Pittsburgh lost in the best-of-nine series, five games to three, to a team led by pitchers Cy Young and Bill Dinneen and third baseman–manager Jimmy Collins. Christy Mathewson, in his book "Pitching in a Pinch" wrote: "For some time after "Hans" Wagner's poor showing in the world's series of 1903 ... it was reported that he was "yellow" (poor in the clutch). This grieved the Dutchman deeply, for I don't know a ballplayer in either league who would assay less quit to the ton than Wagner ... This was the real tragedy in Wagner's career. Notwithstanding his stolid appearance, he is a sensitive player, and this has hurt him more than anything else in his life ever has."
Wagner was distraught by his performance. The following spring, he refused to send his portrait to a "Hall of Fame" for batting champions, citing his play in the World Series. "I was too bum last year", he wrote. "I was a joke in that Boston-Pittsburgh Series. What does it profit a man to hammer along and make a few hits when they are not needed only to fall down when it comes to a pinch? I would be ashamed to have my picture up now."
Wagner and the Pirates were given a chance to prove that they were not "yellow" in . The Pirates faced Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers. The series was the only meeting of the two superior batsmen of the day, and the first time that the batting champions of each league faced one another (this later occurred thrice more, in 1931, 1954, and 2012 World Series). Wagner was by this time 35 years old, Cobb just 22.
This time, Wagner could not be stifled as he outhit Cobb, .333 to .231, and stole six bases, establishing the new Series record. The speed demon Cobb only managed two steals, one of which Cobb himself admitted was a botched call. Wagner recounted: "We had him out at second. We put up a squawk, but Silk O'Loughlin, the umpire, overruled it. We kept the squawk going for a minute or so, making no headway of course, and then Cobb spoke up. He turned to O'Loughlin, an American League umpire, by the way, and said, 'Of course I was out. They had me by a foot. You just booted the play, so come on, let's play ball.'"
There was also a story that was widely circulated over the years and famously recounted in Lawrence Ritter's The Glory of Their Times, that at one point Cobb was on first; he bragged to Wagner that he was going to steal second and threatened to assault him physically doing it; Wagner defiantly dared him to try it and placed an especially rough tag to Cobb's mouth; and the two exchanged choice words. Cobb denied it in his autobiography, and the play-by-play of the 1909 World Series confirms that the event could not have happened as stated: Cobb was never tagged out by Wagner in a caught-stealing.
The Pirates won the series in seven games behind the pitching of rookie Babe Adams.
Later career
In 1910, Wagner's average fell to .320, his lowest average since . Nevertheless, he aged exceptionally well; the three highest OPS+ seasons by any shortstop aged 35 or older belong to Wagner, and even his age-41 season ranks 8th on the list.
Wagner won the 1911 batting title by the narrowest of margins. He went hitless in a 1–0 win against the Cubs on May 30, but a successful league protest by the Cubs wiped out the result (and Wagner's at-bats). Wagner ended up edging the Boston Rustlers' Doc Miller, .334 to .333. The Pirates were in contention into August, but an ankle injury sidelined Wagner for 25 games and the team slid from the race.
On June 9, , at age 40, Wagner recorded his 3,000th hit, a double off Philadelphia's Erskine Mayer, the second player in baseball history to reach the figure, after Cap Anson, and Nap Lajoie joined them three months later. This accomplishment, however, came during a down period for Wagner and Pirates. Wagner hit only .252 in 1914, the lowest average of his career. In July 1915, he became the oldest player to hit a grand slam, a record which stood for 70 years until topped by 43-year-old Tony Pérez. In 1916, Wagner became the oldest player to hit an inside-the-park home run.
In , following another retirement, Wagner returned for his final, abbreviated season. Returning in June, he was spiked in July and played only sparingly for the remainder of the year, batting .265. He briefly held the role of interim manager, but after going 1–4, Wagner told owner Dreyfuss the job was not for him. He retired as the NL's all-time hit leader, with 3,430. (Subsequent research has since revised this total to 3,418.) It took 45 years for St. Louis' Stan Musial to surpass Wagner's hit total.
Wagner has been considered one of the very best all-around players to ever play baseball since the day he retired in 1917. Baseball historian and statistician Bill James named Honus Wagner as the second-best player of all time after Babe Ruth, rating him as the best major league player in 1900 and each year from 1902 to 1908. Statisticians John Thorn and Pete Palmer rate Wagner as ninth all-time in their "Total Player Ranking". Many of the greats who played or managed against Wagner, including Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, and Walter Johnson, list him at shortstop on their All-Time teams.
Life after baseball
Wagner was not finished playing baseball after his retirement from major league baseball. He managed and played for a semi-pro team.
After retirement, Wagner served the Pirates as a coach for 39 years, most notably as a hitting instructor from to . Arky Vaughan, Ralph Kiner, Pie Traynor (player-manager from –), and Hank Greenberg (although Greenberg was in his final major league season in 1947, his only season with the Pirates, and very well established) all future Hall of Famers, were notable "pupils" of Wagner. During this time, he wore uniform number 14 but later changed it to his more famous 33, which was later the number retired for him. (His entire playing career was in the days before uniform numbers were worn.) His appearances at National League stadiums during his coaching years were always well received and Wagner remained a beloved ambassador of baseball. Wagner also coached baseball and basketball at Carnegie Institute of Technology, which is now part of Carnegie Mellon University.
In 1928, Wagner ran for the office of Sheriff of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania but lost. He was appointed as a deputy of the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office in 1942. He also ran a well-known sporting goods company. A sporting goods store bearing the name "Honus Wagner" operated in downtown Pittsburgh for 93 years before closing permanently in 2011.
The Pirates hosted the 1944 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Forbes Field. Wagner was invited to be an honorary coach for the National League squad, the first time this honor was bestowed in Major League Baseball's All-Star Game.
Wagner lived the remainder of his life in Pittsburgh, where he was well known as a friendly figure around town. He died on December 6, 1955, at the age of 81, and he is buried at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh.
Film legacy
Wagner, along with his famous baseball card, was one of the earliest athletes to make the crossover into pop culture film. He starred as a sports hero in 1919's Spring Fever with Moe Howard and Shemp Howard of the Three Stooges, and has been depicted as the subject of The Winning Season (2004) and in a brief scene in Cobb (1994).
Baseball legacy
When the Baseball Hall of Fame held its first election in 1936, Wagner tied for second in the voting with Babe Ruth, trailing Cobb. A 1942 Sporting News poll of 100 former players and managers confirmed this opinion, with Wagner finishing 43 votes behind Cobb and six ahead of Ruth. In 1969, on the 100th anniversary of professional baseball, a vote was taken to honor the greatest players ever, and Wagner was selected as the all-time shortstop. In 1999, 82 years after his last game and 44 years since his death, Wagner was voted Number 13 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Players, where he was again the highest-ranking shortstop. That same year, he was selected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team by the oversight committee, after losing out in the popular vote to Cal Ripken, Jr. and Ernie Banks.
Christy Mathewson asserted that Wagner was the only player he faced that did not have a weakness. Mathewson felt that the only way to keep Wagner from hitting was not to pitch to him.
"A stirring march and two-step", titled "Husky Hans", and "respectfully dedicated to Hans Wagner, Three-time Champion Batsman of The National League" was written by William J. Hartz in 1904.
Bill James says that Wagner is easily the greatest shortstop of all time, noting that the difference between Wagner and the second greatest shortstop, in James' estimation Arky Vaughan, is roughly the same as the gulf between Vaughan and the 20th greatest shortstop.
Wagner is mentioned in the poem Line-Up for Yesterday by Ogden Nash.
A life-size statue of Wagner swinging a bat, atop a marble pedestal featuring admiring children, was forged by a local sculptor named Frank Vittor, and placed outside the left-field corner gate at Forbes Field. It was dedicated on April 30, 1955, and the then-frail Wagner was well enough to attend and wave to his many fans. The Pirates have relocated twice since then, and the statue has come along with them. It now stands outside the main gate of PNC Park. The statue roughly faces the site of the Pirates' original home, Exposition Park, so in a sense, Wagner has come full circle.
Wagner is honored in the form of a small stadium residing behind Carnegie Elementary School on Washington Avenue in Carnegie, Pennsylvania. The stadium serves as the home field for Carlynton High School varsity sports. The Historical Society of Carnegie History Center houses the Honus Wagner Sports Museum which includes many Wagner collectibles and memorabilia. Visitors receive replicas of the famous card.
In the 1992 episode Homer at the Bat, the popular TV show The Simpsons made a reference to Wagner. The character Mr. Burns lists three ringers he wants for his company's baseball team, but they are Honus Wagner, Cap Anson, and "Mordecai 'Three Fingers' Brown". His assistant has to point out that they are not only retired but long-dead ... Anson having played in the late 19th century.
In 2000, Wagner was honored with a U.S. postage stamp. The stamp was issued as part of a "Legends of Baseball" series that honored 20 all-time greats in conjunction with MLB's All-Century team.
T206 Baseball card
The T206 Honus Wagner baseball card''' is one of the rarest and most expensive baseball cards in the world, as only 57 copies are known to exist. The card was designed and issued by the American Tobacco Company (ATC) from 1909 to 1911 as part of its T206 series. While sources allege that Wagner, a nonsmoker, refused to allow the production of his baseball card to continue, the more likely reason was the sum ATC was willing to pay Wagner. The ATC ended production of the Wagner card and a total of only 57 to 200 cards were ever distributed to the public, as compared to the "tens or hundreds of thousands" of T206 cards, over three years in 16 brands of cigarettes, for any other player. In 1933, the card was first listed at a price value of US $50 in Jefferson Burdick's The American Card Catalog, making it the most expensive baseball card at the time.
The typical card in the T206 series had a width of and a height of . Some cards were awkwardly shaped or irregularly sized, which prompted a belief that many of the cards in the series had been altered at one point or another. In his work Inside T206: A Collector Guide to the Classic Baseball Card Set, Scot A. Reader wrote that, "It is not at all uncommon to find T206 examples that have been altered at some point during their near-century of existence." These discrepancies were taken advantage of by "card doctors" who trimmed corners and dirty edges to improve the appearance of the card. The front of all T206 series cards, including the Wagner card, displayed a lithograph of the player created by a multi-stage printing process in which a number of colors were printed on top of each other to create a lithograph with the appropriate design. The backs of the cards featured the monochromatic colors of the 16 tobacco brands for which the cards were printed. The Wagner cards in particular advertised the Piedmont and Sweet Caporal brands of cigarettes and were produced at Factory 25 in Virginia, as indicated by the factory stamp imprinted on the back of the cards.
Starting from January 1909, the ATC sought authorization from baseball players for inclusion in the T206 series, which featured 524 major league players, 76 of whom were later inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Wagner had been at the top of his game throughout the decade and was even considered the game's greatest player at the time. He had appeared on advertisements for a number of other products such as chewing gum, gunpowder, and soft drinks. Unsurprisingly, the ATC asked for Wagner's permission to have his picture on a baseball card. According to an October 12, 1912 issue of The Sporting News, Wagner did not give his consent to appear on the baseball card. In response to the authorization request letter sent by John Gruber, a Pittsburgh sportswriter hired by the ATC to seek Wagner's permission, Wagner wrote that he "did not care to have his picture in a package of cigarettes". He threatened to seek legal action against ATC if they went ahead and created his baseball card.
A near mint-mint condition T206 Wagner card sold in 2007 for $2.8 million, the highest price ever for a baseball card. In 2010, a previously unknown copy of the card was donated to the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Baltimore. The card, which was in poor condition, sold in November 2010 to a collector for $262,000, well over the $150,000 that was expected at auction. The card came with Sister Virginia Muller's brother's handwritten note: "Although damaged, the value of this baseball card should increase exponentially throughout the 21st century!"
On April 20, 2012, a New Jersey resident purchased a VG-3 graded T206 Wagner card for more than $1.2 million.
On April 6, 2013, a 1909–11 T206 baseball card featuring Honus Wagner sold at auction for $2.1 million.
On October 1, 2016, a T206 Wagner card graded PSA-5 sold for $3.12 million, setting yet again the record for the highest price paid for any baseball card.
On May 29, 2019, a Honus Wagner T-206 sold for $1.2 million by SCP Auctions in Southern California. The same card had been previously auctioned for $657,250 in 2014 and $776,750 in 2016. The encapsulated card was rated as only a 2 on a scale to 10.
In May 2021, one example sold for a new record $3.75 million. In doing so it became the second most expensive baseball card sold at auction.
In August 2021, another example sold for $6.6 million dollars making it the most valuable sportscard.
The card featured in the plot of the Nickelodeon film Swindle.
Statistics
The numbers shown below are the figures officially recognized on MLB.com.
The figures on Baseball-Reference.com are as follows. Other private research sites may have different figures. Caught Stealing is not shown comprehensively for Wagner's MLB.com totals because the stat was not regularly captured until 1920. Strikeouts is not shown comprehensively for Wagner's MLB.com totals, because the stat was not regularly captured until 1910. Note that mlb.com's Total Bases do not correspond to the number of hits, 2B, 3B, and HR listed.
See also
3,000 hit club
List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball career triples leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball doubles records
List of Major League Baseball triples records
List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball batting champions
List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual stolen base leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders
List of Major League Baseball player-managers
Major League Baseball titles leaders
References
Bibliography
Hall of Fame Network: "Honus Wagner as Mona Lisa", HOFMAG.com. Honus Wagner: A Biography, by Dennis DeValeria and Jeanne Burke DeValeria, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1995.
Hittner, Arthur D. Honus Wagner: The Life of Baseball's "Flying Dutchman." Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1996 and 2003 (softcover). . Winner of the 1996 Seymour Medal, awarded by the Society for American Baseball Research.Honus and Me'' by Dan Gutman (novel), Perfection Learning Corporation, 1999.
External links
The T206 Collection – The Players & Their Stories
Honus Wagner's Obit – The New York Times, Tuesday, December 6, 1955
Honus-Wagner.org
19th-century baseball players
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Louisville Colonels players
Baseball players from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball shortstops
National League batting champions
National League RBI champions
National League stolen base champions
Pittsburgh Pirates managers
Pittsburgh Pirates players
Pittsburgh Pirates coaches
Sportspeople from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Carnegie Mellon University faculty
People from Washington County, Pennsylvania
1874 births
1955 deaths
American people of German descent
Minor league baseball managers
Adrian Reformers players
Adrian Demons players
Steubenville Stubs players
Akron Akrons players
Lima Kids players
Mansfield Kids players
Paterson Silk Weavers players
Major League Baseball player-managers
American sportsmen
People from Carnegie, Pennsylvania
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[
"Lieutenant Richards (fl. 1718, first name unknown, possibly Thomas) was a pirate active in the Caribbean and off the Carolinas. He is best known for sailing alongside Blackbeard (Edward Teach / Thatch).\n\nHistory\n\nRichards was part of Edward Teach's crew while they sailed with Benjamin Hornigold and later aboard the Queen Anne%27s Revenge. Near the Carolinas in early 1717 Teach met up with pirate Stede Bonnet in his 10-gun 60-ton sloop Revenge. Bonnet was a wealthy landowner from Barbados who knew little of seafaring or piracy; at Teach's suggestion (and the request of Bonnet's disgruntled crew) Bonnet came aboard Teach's ship while Teach captained the Revenge. After capturing the 200-ton Concorde and renaming it Queen Anne's Revenge, Teach placed Richards in command of Bonnet's Revenge.\n\nAround Turneffe Teach's fleet was resupplying when they encountered the 8-gun, 80-ton Jamaican logwood hauler Adventure under captain David Herriot. Richards hoisted a black flag and sailed to meet the Adventure, capturing it. Herriott and his crew joined the pirates and Teach placed Israel Hands aboard the Adventure as captain.\n\nNear the Bay of Honduras they captured several sloops and a large ship called Protestant Caesar. Richards and the Revenge secured the sloops, keeping one as a tender. Teach ordered one sloop and the Protestant Caesar burned because they were from Boston, which Teach had a grudge against after several pirates had been tried and hung there. Afterwards they pirated in the Grand Caymans, off Havana, and near the Bahamas, before finally heading to Charles Town.\n\nThere in May 1718 they took several more ships, keeping the crews and ships prisoner. Teach sent Richards and a few others into town with an ultimatum: deliver a chest of medicine or the prisoners would be killed and all the ships burned. Richards and the pirates spend their time drinking and carousing while a prisoner delivered their demands. The town council agreed and sent the medicines to Teach, who looted the ships but released them and the prisoners. Leaving Charles Town, Richards was berated by Teach for failing to burn a ship from Boston.\n\nTeach took his fleet north, where the Queen Anne’s Revenge and another sloop were beached and wrecked at Topsail Inlet. Teach took the fleet's treasure and a small crew and fled in Herriot's Adventure, leaving his former crew and the others stranded. Bonnet soon returned after having sought a pardon; retaking his sloop Revenge, he rescued the others and attempted to chase down Teach but settled for looting other ships instead.\n\nLieutenant Richards’ fate is not recorded. Charles Town merchants, weary of pirate attacks by Teach, Charles Vane, and others, equipped two ships under William Rhett as pirate hunters. Rhett missed Vane but fought and captured Bonnet. Records of Stede Bonnet's trial list all the pirates captured alive by Rhett, and Richards was not among them. Teach was caught and killed near Ocracoke by naval officer Robert Maynard, who apprehended many of his crew. Richards was not among the pirates captured by Maynard either.\n\nRichards’ first name is not known. In depositions given at Stede Bonnet's trial, two different ship captains testified that they had been approached by boats, and hailing them to ask their names, were told “Thomas Richards” before the boat crews announced that they were pirates. “Thomas” may have been Lieutenant Richards’ real name, or an alias, or may have been another of Teach's crew entirely; in official documents he is referred to only as “Richards.”\n\nSee also\nAdmiralty court, in which Bonnet's and Teach's captured crews were tried.\n\nReferences\n\nYear of birth missing\nYear of death missing\n18th-century pirates\nCaribbean pirates\nPirates",
"was a Japanese Rinzai master, poet, flute player, and first abbot of Eigen-ji (constructed solely for him to teach Zen). His poetry is considered to be among the finest of Zen poetry. He traveled to China and studied Ch'an with masters of the Linji school from 1320 to 1326, then returned to Japan and lived for many years as a hermit. It was only toward the end of his life that he decided to teach Zen to others.\n\nSee also\nBuddhism in Japan\nList of Rinzai Buddhists\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\n1290 births\n1367 deaths\n13th-century Japanese people\n14th-century Japanese poets\nRinzai Buddhists\nZen Buddhism writers\nZen Buddhist monks\nJapanese Zen Buddhists\nKamakura period Buddhist clergy"
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Was he married>
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Was Wagner married?
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Honus Wagner
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Wagner was not finished playing baseball after his retirement from major league baseball. He managed and played for a semi-pro team. After retirement, Wagner served the Pirates as a coach for 39 years, most notably as a hitting instructor from 1933 to 1952. Arky Vaughan, Ralph Kiner, Pie Traynor (player-manager from 1934-1939), and Hank Greenberg (although, Greenberg was in his final major league season in 1947, his only season with the Pirates, and very well established) all future Hall of Famers, were notable "pupils" of Wagner. During this time, he wore uniform number 14, but later changed it to his more famous 33, which was later the number retired for him. (His entire playing career was in the days before uniform numbers were worn.) His appearances at National League stadiums during his coaching years were always well received and Wagner remained a beloved ambassador of baseball. Wagner also coached baseball and basketball at what is now Carnegie Mellon University. In 1928, Wagner ran for sheriff of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania but lost. He was made deputy county sheriff in 1942. He also ran a well-known sporting goods company. A sporting goods store bearing the name "Honus Wagner" operated in downtown Pittsburgh for 93 years before closing permanently in 2011. The Pirates hosted the 1944 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Forbes Field. Wagner was invited to be an honorary coach for the National League squad, the first time this honor was bestowed in Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. Wagner lived the remainder of his life in Pittsburgh, where he was well known as a friendly figure around town. He died on December 6, 1955 at the age of 81, and he is buried at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh. CANNOTANSWER
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Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955), sometimes referred to as "Hans" Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Wagner won his eighth (and final) batting title in 1911, a National League record that remains unbroken to this day, and matched only once, in 1997, by Tony Gwynn. He also led the league in slugging six times and stolen bases five times. Wagner was nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman" due to his superb speed and German heritage. This nickname was a nod to the popular folk-tale made into a famous opera by the German composer Richard Wagner.
In , the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Wagner as one of the first five members. He received the second-highest vote total, behind Ty Cobb's 222 and tied with Babe Ruth at 215.
Most baseball historians consider Wagner to be the greatest shortstop ever and one of the greatest players ever. Ty Cobb himself called Wagner "maybe the greatest star ever to take the diamond". Honus Wagner is also the featured player of one of the rarest and the most valuable baseball cards in existence.
Early life
Wagner was born to German immigrants Peter and Katheryn Wagner in the borough of Chartiers, in what is now Carnegie, Pennsylvania.
Wagner was one of nine children. As a child, he was called Hans by his mother, which later evolved into Honus. "Hans" was also an alternate nickname during his major league career. Wagner dropped out of school at age 12 to help his father and brothers in the coal mines. In their free time, he and his brothers played sandlot baseball and developed their skills to such an extent that three of his brothers went on to become professionals as well.
Wagner's older brother, Albert "Butts" Wagner, who had a brief major league career himself, is often credited with getting Honus his first tryout. Butts persuaded his manager to take a look at his younger brother. Following his brother, Wagner trained to be a barber before becoming successful in baseball.
In 1916, Wagner married Bessie Baine Smith, and the couple had three daughters: Elva Katrina (b. 1918, stillborn), Betty Baine (1919–1992), and Virginia Mae (1922–1985).
Professional career
Career before Major League Baseball
Honus' brother Albert "Butts" Wagner was considered the ballplayer of the family. Albert suggested Honus in 1895 when his Inter-State League team was in need of help. Wagner played for five teams in that first year, in three different leagues over the course of 80 games.
In 1896, Edward Barrow, from the Wheeling, West Virginia, team that Wagner was playing on, decided to take Honus with him to his next team, the Paterson Silk Sox (Atlantic League). Barrow proved to be a good talent scout, as Wagner could play wherever he was needed, including all three bases and the outfield. Wagner hit .313 for Paterson in 1896 and .375 in 74 games in 1897.
Louisville Colonels
Recognizing that Wagner should be playing at the highest level, Barrow contacted the Louisville Colonels, who had finished last in the National League in 1896 with a record of 38–93. They were doing better in 1897 when Barrow persuaded club president Barney Dreyfuss, club secretary Harry Pulliam, and outfielder-manager Fred Clarke to go to Paterson to see Wagner play. Dreyfuss and Clarke were not impressed with the awkward-looking man, not surprising, as Wagner was oddly built: he was tall, weighed , and had a barrel chest, massive shoulders, heavily muscled arms, huge hands, and incredibly bowed legs that deprived him of any grace and several inches of height. Pulliam, though, persuaded Dreyfuss and Clarke to take a chance on him. Wagner debuted with Louisville on July 19 and hit .338 in 61 games.
By his second season, Wagner was already one of the best hitters in the National League although he came up short a percentage point from finishing the season at .300. Following the season, the NL contracted from twelve to eight teams, with the Colonels one of four teams eliminated. Owner Barney Dreyfuss, who had purchased half ownership in the Pirates, took Wagner and many of his other top players with him to the Pittsburgh team.
Tommy Leach recounted his impressions of joining the Louisville club in 1898 with hopes of winning the starting job at third base:
Pittsburgh Pirates
The move to the Pittsburgh Pirates signified Wagner's emergence as a premier hitter. In 1900, Wagner won his first batting championship with a .381 mark and also led the league in doubles (45), triples (22), and slugging percentage (.573), all of which were career highs. For the next nine seasons, Wagner's average did not fall below .330.
In , the American League began to sign National League players, creating a bidding war, which depleted the league of many talented players. Wagner was offered a $20,000 contract by the Chicago White Sox, but turned it down and continued to play with the Pirates.
Prior to 1904, Wagner had played several positions but settled into the shortstop role full-time that season, where he became a skilled fielder. His biography on BaseballLibrary.com describes his gritty style:
Bowlegged, barrel-chested, long-limbed ... he was often likened to an octopus. When he fielded grounders, his huge hands also collected large scoops of infield dirt, which accompanied his throws to first like the tail of a comet.
In 1898, Wagner won a distance contest in Louisville by throwing a baseball more than . In August 1899, he became the first player credited with stealing second base, third, and home in succession under the new rule differentiating between advanced bases and stolen bases. He repeated the feat in 1902, 1907, and 1909. Wagner retired with the National League record for most steals of home (27), which was broken by Greasy Neale in 1922.
In September 1905, Wagner signed a contract to produce the first bat with a player's signature, the Louisville Slugger, becoming the first sportsperson to endorse a commercial product; the Honus Wagner was to become a best-seller for years. One month later, with one point separating him from Reds center fielder Cy Seymour for the batting title, Wagner fell short in a head-to-head matchup on the final day of the season, with Seymour collecting four hits to Wagner's two, as contemporary press reports stated that the fans were far more interested in the Seymour-Wagner battle than in the outcome of the games.
Shortly before the season, Wagner retired. In desperation, owner Barney Dreyfuss offered him $10,000 per year, making him the highest-paid Pirate for many years. He returned to the Pirates early in the 1908 season, and finished two home runs short of the league's Triple Crown, leading the league in hitting (for the sixth time)‚ hits‚ total bases‚ doubles‚ triples‚ RBI‚ and stolen bases. Wagner took over the batting lead from the New York Giants' flamboyant outfielder Mike Donlin during a July 25 game against the Giants and their star pitcher Christy Mathewson. Wagner was 5-for-5 in the game; after each hit, he reportedly held up another finger to Donlin, who went hitless, and who had just beaten runner-up Wagner by a wide margin in a "most popular player" poll.
Bill James cites Wagner's 1908 season as the greatest single-season for any player in baseball history. He notes that the league ERA of 2.35 was the lowest of the dead-ball era and about half of the ERAs of modern baseball. Since Wagner hit .354 with 109 RBI in an environment when half as many runs were scored as today, he asks, "if you had a Gold Glove shortstop, like Wagner, who drove in 218 runs, what would he be worth?"
He was the first winner of 'The World's Championship Batsman' 's Cup, in 1908, made by Welshman George "Honey Boy" Evans.
1903 and 1909 World Series
In , the Pirates played the Boston Americans in Major League Baseball's inaugural World Series. Wagner, by this point, was an established star and much was expected of him, especially since the Pirates' starting rotation was decimated by injury. Wagner himself was not at full strength and hit only .222 for the series. The Americans, meanwhile, had some fans, called the "Royal Rooters" who, whenever Wagner came to bat, sang "Honus, Honus, why do you hit so badly?" to the tune of "Tessie", a popular song of the day. The Rooters, led by Boston bartender Michael "Nuf Ced" McGreevy, even traveled to Pittsburgh to continue their heckling. Pittsburgh lost in the best-of-nine series, five games to three, to a team led by pitchers Cy Young and Bill Dinneen and third baseman–manager Jimmy Collins. Christy Mathewson, in his book "Pitching in a Pinch" wrote: "For some time after "Hans" Wagner's poor showing in the world's series of 1903 ... it was reported that he was "yellow" (poor in the clutch). This grieved the Dutchman deeply, for I don't know a ballplayer in either league who would assay less quit to the ton than Wagner ... This was the real tragedy in Wagner's career. Notwithstanding his stolid appearance, he is a sensitive player, and this has hurt him more than anything else in his life ever has."
Wagner was distraught by his performance. The following spring, he refused to send his portrait to a "Hall of Fame" for batting champions, citing his play in the World Series. "I was too bum last year", he wrote. "I was a joke in that Boston-Pittsburgh Series. What does it profit a man to hammer along and make a few hits when they are not needed only to fall down when it comes to a pinch? I would be ashamed to have my picture up now."
Wagner and the Pirates were given a chance to prove that they were not "yellow" in . The Pirates faced Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers. The series was the only meeting of the two superior batsmen of the day, and the first time that the batting champions of each league faced one another (this later occurred thrice more, in 1931, 1954, and 2012 World Series). Wagner was by this time 35 years old, Cobb just 22.
This time, Wagner could not be stifled as he outhit Cobb, .333 to .231, and stole six bases, establishing the new Series record. The speed demon Cobb only managed two steals, one of which Cobb himself admitted was a botched call. Wagner recounted: "We had him out at second. We put up a squawk, but Silk O'Loughlin, the umpire, overruled it. We kept the squawk going for a minute or so, making no headway of course, and then Cobb spoke up. He turned to O'Loughlin, an American League umpire, by the way, and said, 'Of course I was out. They had me by a foot. You just booted the play, so come on, let's play ball.'"
There was also a story that was widely circulated over the years and famously recounted in Lawrence Ritter's The Glory of Their Times, that at one point Cobb was on first; he bragged to Wagner that he was going to steal second and threatened to assault him physically doing it; Wagner defiantly dared him to try it and placed an especially rough tag to Cobb's mouth; and the two exchanged choice words. Cobb denied it in his autobiography, and the play-by-play of the 1909 World Series confirms that the event could not have happened as stated: Cobb was never tagged out by Wagner in a caught-stealing.
The Pirates won the series in seven games behind the pitching of rookie Babe Adams.
Later career
In 1910, Wagner's average fell to .320, his lowest average since . Nevertheless, he aged exceptionally well; the three highest OPS+ seasons by any shortstop aged 35 or older belong to Wagner, and even his age-41 season ranks 8th on the list.
Wagner won the 1911 batting title by the narrowest of margins. He went hitless in a 1–0 win against the Cubs on May 30, but a successful league protest by the Cubs wiped out the result (and Wagner's at-bats). Wagner ended up edging the Boston Rustlers' Doc Miller, .334 to .333. The Pirates were in contention into August, but an ankle injury sidelined Wagner for 25 games and the team slid from the race.
On June 9, , at age 40, Wagner recorded his 3,000th hit, a double off Philadelphia's Erskine Mayer, the second player in baseball history to reach the figure, after Cap Anson, and Nap Lajoie joined them three months later. This accomplishment, however, came during a down period for Wagner and Pirates. Wagner hit only .252 in 1914, the lowest average of his career. In July 1915, he became the oldest player to hit a grand slam, a record which stood for 70 years until topped by 43-year-old Tony Pérez. In 1916, Wagner became the oldest player to hit an inside-the-park home run.
In , following another retirement, Wagner returned for his final, abbreviated season. Returning in June, he was spiked in July and played only sparingly for the remainder of the year, batting .265. He briefly held the role of interim manager, but after going 1–4, Wagner told owner Dreyfuss the job was not for him. He retired as the NL's all-time hit leader, with 3,430. (Subsequent research has since revised this total to 3,418.) It took 45 years for St. Louis' Stan Musial to surpass Wagner's hit total.
Wagner has been considered one of the very best all-around players to ever play baseball since the day he retired in 1917. Baseball historian and statistician Bill James named Honus Wagner as the second-best player of all time after Babe Ruth, rating him as the best major league player in 1900 and each year from 1902 to 1908. Statisticians John Thorn and Pete Palmer rate Wagner as ninth all-time in their "Total Player Ranking". Many of the greats who played or managed against Wagner, including Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, and Walter Johnson, list him at shortstop on their All-Time teams.
Life after baseball
Wagner was not finished playing baseball after his retirement from major league baseball. He managed and played for a semi-pro team.
After retirement, Wagner served the Pirates as a coach for 39 years, most notably as a hitting instructor from to . Arky Vaughan, Ralph Kiner, Pie Traynor (player-manager from –), and Hank Greenberg (although Greenberg was in his final major league season in 1947, his only season with the Pirates, and very well established) all future Hall of Famers, were notable "pupils" of Wagner. During this time, he wore uniform number 14 but later changed it to his more famous 33, which was later the number retired for him. (His entire playing career was in the days before uniform numbers were worn.) His appearances at National League stadiums during his coaching years were always well received and Wagner remained a beloved ambassador of baseball. Wagner also coached baseball and basketball at Carnegie Institute of Technology, which is now part of Carnegie Mellon University.
In 1928, Wagner ran for the office of Sheriff of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania but lost. He was appointed as a deputy of the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office in 1942. He also ran a well-known sporting goods company. A sporting goods store bearing the name "Honus Wagner" operated in downtown Pittsburgh for 93 years before closing permanently in 2011.
The Pirates hosted the 1944 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Forbes Field. Wagner was invited to be an honorary coach for the National League squad, the first time this honor was bestowed in Major League Baseball's All-Star Game.
Wagner lived the remainder of his life in Pittsburgh, where he was well known as a friendly figure around town. He died on December 6, 1955, at the age of 81, and he is buried at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh.
Film legacy
Wagner, along with his famous baseball card, was one of the earliest athletes to make the crossover into pop culture film. He starred as a sports hero in 1919's Spring Fever with Moe Howard and Shemp Howard of the Three Stooges, and has been depicted as the subject of The Winning Season (2004) and in a brief scene in Cobb (1994).
Baseball legacy
When the Baseball Hall of Fame held its first election in 1936, Wagner tied for second in the voting with Babe Ruth, trailing Cobb. A 1942 Sporting News poll of 100 former players and managers confirmed this opinion, with Wagner finishing 43 votes behind Cobb and six ahead of Ruth. In 1969, on the 100th anniversary of professional baseball, a vote was taken to honor the greatest players ever, and Wagner was selected as the all-time shortstop. In 1999, 82 years after his last game and 44 years since his death, Wagner was voted Number 13 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Players, where he was again the highest-ranking shortstop. That same year, he was selected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team by the oversight committee, after losing out in the popular vote to Cal Ripken, Jr. and Ernie Banks.
Christy Mathewson asserted that Wagner was the only player he faced that did not have a weakness. Mathewson felt that the only way to keep Wagner from hitting was not to pitch to him.
"A stirring march and two-step", titled "Husky Hans", and "respectfully dedicated to Hans Wagner, Three-time Champion Batsman of The National League" was written by William J. Hartz in 1904.
Bill James says that Wagner is easily the greatest shortstop of all time, noting that the difference between Wagner and the second greatest shortstop, in James' estimation Arky Vaughan, is roughly the same as the gulf between Vaughan and the 20th greatest shortstop.
Wagner is mentioned in the poem Line-Up for Yesterday by Ogden Nash.
A life-size statue of Wagner swinging a bat, atop a marble pedestal featuring admiring children, was forged by a local sculptor named Frank Vittor, and placed outside the left-field corner gate at Forbes Field. It was dedicated on April 30, 1955, and the then-frail Wagner was well enough to attend and wave to his many fans. The Pirates have relocated twice since then, and the statue has come along with them. It now stands outside the main gate of PNC Park. The statue roughly faces the site of the Pirates' original home, Exposition Park, so in a sense, Wagner has come full circle.
Wagner is honored in the form of a small stadium residing behind Carnegie Elementary School on Washington Avenue in Carnegie, Pennsylvania. The stadium serves as the home field for Carlynton High School varsity sports. The Historical Society of Carnegie History Center houses the Honus Wagner Sports Museum which includes many Wagner collectibles and memorabilia. Visitors receive replicas of the famous card.
In the 1992 episode Homer at the Bat, the popular TV show The Simpsons made a reference to Wagner. The character Mr. Burns lists three ringers he wants for his company's baseball team, but they are Honus Wagner, Cap Anson, and "Mordecai 'Three Fingers' Brown". His assistant has to point out that they are not only retired but long-dead ... Anson having played in the late 19th century.
In 2000, Wagner was honored with a U.S. postage stamp. The stamp was issued as part of a "Legends of Baseball" series that honored 20 all-time greats in conjunction with MLB's All-Century team.
T206 Baseball card
The T206 Honus Wagner baseball card''' is one of the rarest and most expensive baseball cards in the world, as only 57 copies are known to exist. The card was designed and issued by the American Tobacco Company (ATC) from 1909 to 1911 as part of its T206 series. While sources allege that Wagner, a nonsmoker, refused to allow the production of his baseball card to continue, the more likely reason was the sum ATC was willing to pay Wagner. The ATC ended production of the Wagner card and a total of only 57 to 200 cards were ever distributed to the public, as compared to the "tens or hundreds of thousands" of T206 cards, over three years in 16 brands of cigarettes, for any other player. In 1933, the card was first listed at a price value of US $50 in Jefferson Burdick's The American Card Catalog, making it the most expensive baseball card at the time.
The typical card in the T206 series had a width of and a height of . Some cards were awkwardly shaped or irregularly sized, which prompted a belief that many of the cards in the series had been altered at one point or another. In his work Inside T206: A Collector Guide to the Classic Baseball Card Set, Scot A. Reader wrote that, "It is not at all uncommon to find T206 examples that have been altered at some point during their near-century of existence." These discrepancies were taken advantage of by "card doctors" who trimmed corners and dirty edges to improve the appearance of the card. The front of all T206 series cards, including the Wagner card, displayed a lithograph of the player created by a multi-stage printing process in which a number of colors were printed on top of each other to create a lithograph with the appropriate design. The backs of the cards featured the monochromatic colors of the 16 tobacco brands for which the cards were printed. The Wagner cards in particular advertised the Piedmont and Sweet Caporal brands of cigarettes and were produced at Factory 25 in Virginia, as indicated by the factory stamp imprinted on the back of the cards.
Starting from January 1909, the ATC sought authorization from baseball players for inclusion in the T206 series, which featured 524 major league players, 76 of whom were later inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Wagner had been at the top of his game throughout the decade and was even considered the game's greatest player at the time. He had appeared on advertisements for a number of other products such as chewing gum, gunpowder, and soft drinks. Unsurprisingly, the ATC asked for Wagner's permission to have his picture on a baseball card. According to an October 12, 1912 issue of The Sporting News, Wagner did not give his consent to appear on the baseball card. In response to the authorization request letter sent by John Gruber, a Pittsburgh sportswriter hired by the ATC to seek Wagner's permission, Wagner wrote that he "did not care to have his picture in a package of cigarettes". He threatened to seek legal action against ATC if they went ahead and created his baseball card.
A near mint-mint condition T206 Wagner card sold in 2007 for $2.8 million, the highest price ever for a baseball card. In 2010, a previously unknown copy of the card was donated to the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Baltimore. The card, which was in poor condition, sold in November 2010 to a collector for $262,000, well over the $150,000 that was expected at auction. The card came with Sister Virginia Muller's brother's handwritten note: "Although damaged, the value of this baseball card should increase exponentially throughout the 21st century!"
On April 20, 2012, a New Jersey resident purchased a VG-3 graded T206 Wagner card for more than $1.2 million.
On April 6, 2013, a 1909–11 T206 baseball card featuring Honus Wagner sold at auction for $2.1 million.
On October 1, 2016, a T206 Wagner card graded PSA-5 sold for $3.12 million, setting yet again the record for the highest price paid for any baseball card.
On May 29, 2019, a Honus Wagner T-206 sold for $1.2 million by SCP Auctions in Southern California. The same card had been previously auctioned for $657,250 in 2014 and $776,750 in 2016. The encapsulated card was rated as only a 2 on a scale to 10.
In May 2021, one example sold for a new record $3.75 million. In doing so it became the second most expensive baseball card sold at auction.
In August 2021, another example sold for $6.6 million dollars making it the most valuable sportscard.
The card featured in the plot of the Nickelodeon film Swindle.
Statistics
The numbers shown below are the figures officially recognized on MLB.com.
The figures on Baseball-Reference.com are as follows. Other private research sites may have different figures. Caught Stealing is not shown comprehensively for Wagner's MLB.com totals because the stat was not regularly captured until 1920. Strikeouts is not shown comprehensively for Wagner's MLB.com totals, because the stat was not regularly captured until 1910. Note that mlb.com's Total Bases do not correspond to the number of hits, 2B, 3B, and HR listed.
See also
3,000 hit club
List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball career triples leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball doubles records
List of Major League Baseball triples records
List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball batting champions
List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual stolen base leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders
List of Major League Baseball player-managers
Major League Baseball titles leaders
References
Bibliography
Hall of Fame Network: "Honus Wagner as Mona Lisa", HOFMAG.com. Honus Wagner: A Biography, by Dennis DeValeria and Jeanne Burke DeValeria, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1995.
Hittner, Arthur D. Honus Wagner: The Life of Baseball's "Flying Dutchman." Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1996 and 2003 (softcover). . Winner of the 1996 Seymour Medal, awarded by the Society for American Baseball Research.Honus and Me'' by Dan Gutman (novel), Perfection Learning Corporation, 1999.
External links
The T206 Collection – The Players & Their Stories
Honus Wagner's Obit – The New York Times, Tuesday, December 6, 1955
Honus-Wagner.org
19th-century baseball players
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Louisville Colonels players
Baseball players from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball shortstops
National League batting champions
National League RBI champions
National League stolen base champions
Pittsburgh Pirates managers
Pittsburgh Pirates players
Pittsburgh Pirates coaches
Sportspeople from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Carnegie Mellon University faculty
People from Washington County, Pennsylvania
1874 births
1955 deaths
American people of German descent
Minor league baseball managers
Adrian Reformers players
Adrian Demons players
Steubenville Stubs players
Akron Akrons players
Lima Kids players
Mansfield Kids players
Paterson Silk Weavers players
Major League Baseball player-managers
American sportsmen
People from Carnegie, Pennsylvania
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"This article contains a list of child bridegrooms or child husbands wherein notable or historically significant examples have been singled out.\n\nList\n\nAntiquity \n Tutankhamun was married before the age of nine years to his half-sister Ankhesenamun (aged about 16).\n\n8th century \n The future Emperor Shōmu (aged about 16) was married to in Asukabe-hime (aged 16) .\n\n10th century \n The future Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor (aged 16/17), was married to Theophanu (aged about 17) in 972.\n\n The future Louis V of France (aged about 15) was married to the twice-widowed Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou (aged 40) in 982.\n\n The future Emperor Ichijō (aged 10) was married to Fujiwara no Teishi (about 12/13) in October 990.\n\n11th century \n Fujiwara no Shōshi (aged about 12) was married to the future Emperor Ichijō (aged 19/20) in 1000.\n\n The future Emperor Go-Ichijō (aged 10) married his aunt Fujiwara no Ishi (aged 19) in 1018.\n\n The future Emperor Horikawa (aged 14) was married to his paternal aunt Princess Tokushi (aged about 33) in 1093.\n\n12th century \n Pons, Count of Tripoli (aged 13/14), was married to Cecile of France (aged 14/15) in 1112.\n\n William Adelin (aged 15), son and heir of Henry I of England, was married to Matilda of Anjou (aged about 13) in 1119.\n\n Louis VII of France (aged 17) married Eleanor of Aquitaine (aged about 15) in 1137; their marriage was annulled in 1152.\n\n Eustace IV, Count of Boulogne (aged about 12/13), was married to Constance of France (aged about 15/16) in 1140.\n\n Philip I, Count of Flanders (aged 15/16), was married to Elisabeth of Vermandois (aged 16) in 1159.\n\n The future Emperor Nijō (aged 15) was married to his paternal aunt Princess Yoshiko (aged 17) in March 1159.\n\n Alfonso VIII of Castile (aged 14/15) married Eleanor of England in 1170, when she was about 9-years-old.\n\n Henry the Young King (aged 17) was married to Margaret of France (aged 13/14) in 1172. They had been betrothed since 1160, when Henry was 5 and Margaret was about 2.\n\n Canute VI of Denmark (aged about 13/14) was married to Gertrude of Bavaria (aged 22 or 25) in 1177. They had been engaged since 1171, since he was about 7/8 and she was about 16 or 19.\n\n Henry I, Duke of Brabant (aged about 14), was married to Matilda of Boulogne (aged 9) in 1179.\n\n Alexios II Komnenos was 10 when he is reported to have married Agnes of France (aged 9) in 1180.\n\n Philip II of France (aged 14) married Isabella of Hainault (aged 10) in 1180.\n\n Humphrey IV of Toron (aged about 17) married Isabella of Jerusalem (aged 10/11) in 1183. They had been betrothed when Humphrey was about 14/15 and Isabella was 8-years-old.\n\n Conrad II, Duke of Swabia (aged 13/14), married Berengaria of Castile in 1187, when she was about 8-years-old. The marriage was never consummated due to Berengaria's young age.\n\n William IV, Count of Ponthieu (aged 15/16), was married to Alys of France, Countess of Vexin (aged 34), in 1195.\n\n13th century \n Henry VI, Count Palatine of the Rhine (aged about 16), was married to Matilda of Brabant (aged about 12) in 1212.\n\n Henry I of Castile married his cousin Mafalda of Portugal (aged about 20) in 1215, when he was either 10- or 11-years-old. The marriage was never consummated due to Henry's young age; and the marriage was annulled by the Pope in 1216 on the grounds of consanguinity. Later that year, Henry was betrothed to his second cousin Sancha, heiress of León, but he died in 1217 at the age of 13.\n\n Baldwin II of Constantinople (aged about 17) was married to Marie of Brienne (aged about 10) in 1234.\n\n Alexander III of Scotland (aged 10) was married to Margaret of England (aged 11) in December 1251.\n\n Edward I of England (aged 15) was married to Eleanor of Castile (aged 13) in 1254.\n\n The future Philip III of France (aged 17) was married to Isabella of Aragon (aged 13/14) in May 1262. They had been betrothed since May 1258, when he was 13 and she was 9/10.\n\n John I, Duke of Brabant (17/18), was married to Margaret of France (aged 15/16) in 1270.\n\n The future Ladislaus IV of Hungary (aged 7/8) was married to Elizabeth of Sicily (aged 8/9) in 1270.\n\n Philip of Sicily (aged about 15/16) was married to Isabella of Villehardouin (aged either 8 or 11) in May 1271.\n\n The future Philip IV of France (aged 16) was married to Joan I of Navarre (aged 11) in August 1285.\n\n Wenceslaus II of Bohemia (aged 13) was married to Judith of Habsburg (aged 13) in January 1285.\n\n John II, Duke of Brabant (aged 14), was married to Margaret of England (aged 15) in 1290. John and Margaret had been betrothed since they were 2 and 3, respectively.\n\n Henry, Count of Luxembourg (aged about 13/14), was married to Margaret of Brabant (aged 15) in July 1292.\n\n John I, Count of Holland (aged 12/13), was married to Elizabeth of Rhuddlan (aged 14) in 1297.\n\n14th century \n Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March (aged 14), was married to Joan de Geneville (aged 15) in 1301.\n\n The future Gaston I, Count of Foix (aged 13/14), was married to Joan of Artois (aged 11/12) in 1301.\n\n The future Louis X of France (aged 15) was married to Margaret of Burgundy (aged about 15) in 1305.\n\n Philip V of France (aged about 13/14) was married to Joan of Burgundy (aged 14/15) in 1307.\n\n The future Charles IV of France (aged 13) was married to Blanche of Burgundy (aged about 11/12) in January 1308.\n\n John of Luxembourg (aged 14) was married to Elizabeth of Bohemia (aged 18) in September 1310.\n\n John III, Duke of Brabant (aged 10/11), was married to Marie of Évreux (aged 7/8) in 1311.\n\n Edmund Mortimer (aged about 13/14, possibly younger) was married to Elizabeth de Badlesmere (aged 3) in 1316.\n\n Thomas Beauchamp (aged about 6) was married to Katherine Mortimer (aged about 5) in 1319.\n\n Louis I, Count of Flanders (aged about 15/16), was married to Margaret of France (aged 9/10) in 1320.\n\n Guigues VIII of Viennois (aged 13/14) was married to Isabella of France (aged 10/11) in 1323.\n\n Alfonso XI of Castile (aged 13/14) was married to Constanza Manuel of Villena (aged at most 10) in 1325. He had the marriage annulled two years later, and in 1328, at the age of 16/17, married his double first cousin Maria of Portugal (aged 14/15).\n \n Edward III of England (aged 15) was married to Philippa of Hainault (between the ages of 12 and 17) in 1327.\n\n The future David II of Scotland (aged 4) was married to Joan of the Tower (aged 7) in 1328.\n\n Laurence Hastings, 1st Earl of Pembroke (aged about 9/10), was married to Agnes Mortimer (aged about 11/12) in 1328 or 1329. Laurence was a ward of Agnes's father, Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March.\n\n Charles IV, King of Bohemia (aged about 12/13; later Holy Roman Emperor), was married to Blanche of Valois (aged about 12/13) in 1329.\n\n Reginald II, Duke of Guelders (aged about 16), was married to Sophia Berthout in 1311. After Sophia's death in 1329, he married Eleanor of Woodstock (aged 13) in 1332, when he was about 37-years-old.\n\n John, Duke of Normandy (aged 13), was married to Bonne of Luxembourg (aged 17) in July 1332.\n\n Andrew of Hungary (aged 6) was married to the future Joanna I of Naples (aged about 6/7) in 1333.\n\n William IV, Count of Holland (aged 10/11), was married to Joanna of Brabant (aged 11/12) in 1334.\n\n Marie de Namur (aged about 13/14) was married to Henry II, Graf of Vianden, in 1335/36. Henry was murdered in 1337; about three years later, in 1340, Marie (now about 17/18) was married to Theobald of Bar, Seigneur de Pierrepont (aged about 25/26), her second cousin, once removed.\n\n Philip of Burgundy (aged about 14/15) was married to Joan I, Countess of Auvergne (aged about 11/12), circa 1338.\n\n William Montagu (aged 12) was married to Joan of Kent (aged 13) in either late 1340 or early 1341. In 1348, it was revealed that Joan had secretly married Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent, in 1340; and, as a result, Montagu's marriage to Joan was annulled.\n\n Gaston III, Count of Foix (aged 16/17), was married to Agnes of Navarre (aged 13/14) in 1348.\n\n Charles V of France (aged 12) was married Joanna of Bourbon (aged 12) to in April 1350.\n\n Thomas de Vere, 8th Earl of Oxford (aged about 15), was married to Maud de Ufford (born 1345/46) sometime before 10 June 1350, when Maud was about 5-years-old.\n\n Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence (aged 13/14), was married to Elizabeth de Burgh, 4th Countess of Ulster (aged 20), in 1352.\n\n Philip I, Duke of Burgundy (aged 10/11), was married to the future Margaret III, Countess of Flanders (aged 6/7), in 1357.\n\n Richard Fitzalan (aged 12/13) was married to Elizabeth de Bohun (aged about 9) in 1359.\n\n John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (aged 11), was married to Margaret of England (aged 12), daughter of Henry III of England, in 1359.\n\n Gian Galeazzo Visconti (aged 8) was married to Isabella of Valois (aged 11/12) in October 1360, about a week before Gian's 9th birthday.\n\n Albert III, Duke of Austria (aged 16/17), was married to Elisabeth of Bohemia (aged 7/8) in 1366.\n\n Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March (aged 15/16), was married to Philippa of Clarence (aged 12/13) in 1368.\n\n The future Charles III of Navarre (aged 13/14) was married to Eleanor of Castile (aged about 12) in May 1375.\n\n John V, Lord of Arkel (aged 14), was married to Joanna of Jülich in October 1376.\n\n John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (aged 8), was married to Elizabeth of Lancaster (aged 17) in 1380. The marriage remained unconsummated due to John's age, and was annulled after Elizabeth became pregnant by John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, whom she later married.\n\n Henry Bolingbroke (aged 13; later King Henry IV of England) was married to Mary de Bohun (aged about 10/11) in 1380.\n\n Richard II of England (aged 15) was married to Anne of Bohemia (aged 15) in January 1382.\n\n John, Count of Nevers (aged 14) was married to Margaret of Bavaria (aged 21/22) in April 1385.\n\n The future John V, Duke of Brittany (aged 6/7), was married to Joan of France (aged 4/5) in 1396.\n\n John of Perche (aged 10/11) was married to Marie of Brittany (aged 5) in July 1396.\n\n15th century \n Louis, Duke of Guyenne (aged 7), married Margaret of Nevers (aged 10) in August 1404.\nCharles, Duke of Orléans (aged 11), married his cousin Isabella of Valois (aged 16) in June 1406.\n\n Philip the Good (aged 12) was married to Michelle of Valois (aged 14) in June 1409.\n\n John, Duke of Touraine (aged 16), was married to Jacqueline of Hainaut (aged 14) in 1415.\n\n John IV, Duke of Brabant (aged 14), was married to Jacqueline of Hainaut (aged 16) in March 1418, following her first husband's death the year before.\n\n John II, Duke of Alençon (aged 15), married Joan of Valois (aged 15), daughter of Charles, Duke of Orléans, in 1424.\n\n Louis, Dauphin of France (aged 12), was married to Margaret Stewart (aged 11), daughter of James I of Scotland, in June 1436. The wedding took place a little over a week before Louis's thirteenth birthday.\n\n Henry IV of Castile (aged 14/15) was married to his cousin Blanche of Navarre (aged 15/16) in 1440.\n\n Afonso V of Portugal (aged 15) was married to Isabel of Coimbra (aged 15) in May 1447.\n\n John de la Pole (age 7) was married to Margaret Beaufort, (age 7; approximately) in 1450 by the arrangement John's father. The marriage was annulled in 1453.\n\n Ferdinand II of Aragon (aged 17) was married to his second cousin Infanta Isabella of Castile (aged 18; later Isabella I of Castile) in 1469. They became the parents of Catherine of Aragon.\n\n John, Prince of Portugal (aged 14) was married to his first cousin Eleanor of Viseu (aged 11) in January 1470.\n\n Louis, Duke of Orléans (aged 14) was married to his cousin Joan of France, Duchess of Berry (age 12), in 1476.\n\n Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York (age 4), was married to Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk (age 6), in 1477. She died at age 10 and he, as one of the Princes in the Tower, is believed to have been murdered at age 10.\n\n Afonso, Prince of Portugal (aged about 15), was married by proxy to Isabella of Aragon (aged 19) in the spring of 1490.\n\n16th century \n Arthur, Prince of Wales (aged 15), was married to Catherine of Aragon (aged 15) in 1501. He died a few months later and she eventually married his younger brother, Henry VIII of England.\n\n Charles, Count of Montpensier (aged 15), was married to Suzanne, Duchess of Bourbon (aged 14), in 1505.\n\n Henry VIII of England (aged 17), married Catherine of Aragon (aged 23) in June 1509, a couple of weeks before his 18th birthday.\n\n Claude, Duke of Guise (aged 16), was married to Antoinette de Bourbon (aged 18) in 1513.\n\n Henry, Duke of Orléans (aged 14), was married to Catherine de' Medici (aged 14) in 1533.\n\n Henry Grey, Marquess of Dorset (aged 15/16), was married to Lady Frances Brandon (aged 15/16) in 1533.\n\n Henry Clifford (aged 17/18) was married to Lady Eleanor Brandon (aged 15/16) in 1535.\n\n Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma (aged 14), grandson of Pope Paul III, was married to Margaret of Parma (aged 15), illegitimate daughter of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, in November 1538.\n\n Philip, Prince of Asturias (aged 16; later Philip II of Spain), was married to Maria Manuela, Princess of Portugal (aged 16), in 1543.\n\n João Manuel, Prince of Portugal (aged 14), was married to his double first cousin Joanna of Austria (aged 16) in 1552.\n\n Lord Guildford Dudley (aged about 17/18) was married to Lady Jane Grey (aged about 16/17) in 1553.\n\n Henry, Lord Herbert, was at most 15-years-old, was married to Lady Katherine Grey (aged 12), younger sister of Lady Jane Grey, in 1553. The marriage was annulled in 1554.\n\n Francis, Dauphin of France (aged 13/14), was married to Mary, Queen of Scots (aged 15/16), in 1558. The pair had been betrothed since Mary was five and Francis was three.\n\n Charles III, Duke of Lorraine (aged 15), was married to Claude of France (aged 11), daughter of Henry II of France, in 1559.\n\n17th century \n Alfonso, Hereditary Prince of Modena (aged 16/17), was married to Isabella of Savoy (aged 16) in 1608.\n\n César, Duke of Vendôme (aged 14), was married to Françoise de Lorraine (aged 15/16) in July 1608.\n\n Frederick V, Elector Palatine (aged 16), married Elizabeth Stuart (aged 16), eldest daughter of James VI and I and Anne of Denmark, in 1613.\n\n Louis XIII of France (aged 14) was married to his second cousin Anne of Austria (aged 14) in November 1615.\n\n The future Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (aged 14), was married to Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy (aged 14) in December 1650.\n\n The future William II, Prince of Orange (aged 15), married Mary, Princess Royal (aged 9), in 1641. The marriage was reported to not have been consummated for a number of years due to the bride's age.\n\n Walter Scott of Highchester (aged 14) was married to Mary Scott, 3rd Countess of Buccleuch (aged 11), in 1659.\n\n James Crofts, 1st Duke of Monmouth (aged 14), illegitimate son of Charles II of England and his mistress Lucy Walter, was married to Anne Scott, 1st Duchess of Buccleuch (aged 12), in April 1663.\n\n Sir Edward Lee (aged 14) was married to Lady Charlotte FitzRoy (aged 13) in 1677. They had been betrothed since 1674, before Charlotte's tenth birthday.\n\n Ivan V of Russia (aged 17) was married to Praskovia Saltykova (aged 18/19) in either late 1683 or early 1684.\n\n Louis, Prince of Condé (aged 16), was married to his distant cousin Louise Françoise de Bourbon (aged 11) in 1685.\n\n Philippe, Duke of Chartres (aged 17), married his first cousin Françoise Marie de Bourbon (aged 14), legitimated daughter of Louis XIV, in February 1692.\n\n Louis, Duke of Burgundy (aged 15), was married to Marie Adélaïde of Savoy (aged 12) in December 1697.\n\n18th century \n Philip V of Spain (aged 17) was married to Maria Luisa Gabriela of Savoy (aged 12) in September 1701, five days before Maria Luisa's 13th birthday.\n\n Louis Armand II, Prince of Conti (aged 17), was married to Louise Élisabeth de Bourbon (aged 19) in July 1713.\n\n Jules, Prince of Soubise (aged 17), was married to Anne Julie de Melun (aged 15/16) in September 1714.\n\n Louis, Prince of Asturias (aged 14), was married by proxy to Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans (aged 11) in November 1721.\n\n Louis XV of France (aged 15) was married to Marie Leszczyńska (aged 22) in 1725.\n\n José, Prince of Brazil (aged 14), was married to Infanta Mariana Victoria of Spain (aged 10) in January 1729.\n\n Louis François, Prince of Conti (aged 14), was married to Louise Diane d'Orléans (aged 15) in January 1732.\n\n Gaston, Count of Marsan (aged 17), was married to Marie Louise de Rohan (aged 16) in June 1736.\n\n Ercole Rinaldo d'Este (aged 13/14) was married to Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina, Duchess of Massa (aged 15/16) in 1741.\n\n Louis, Dauphin of France (aged 15), was married to Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain (aged 18) in 1744. After Maria Teresa's death in early 1746, Louis was required to remarry quickly in order to secure the succession to the French crown. Thus, he married again in February 1747, at the age of 17, to Duchess Maria Josepha of Saxony (aged 15).\n\n Peter of Holstein-Gottorp (later Peter III of Russia) was 17-years-old when he married his 16-year-old second cousin Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst (later known as Catherine the Great) in 1745.\n\n Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé (aged 16), was married to Charlotte de Rohan (aged 15) in 1753.\n\n Christian VII of Denmark (aged 17) was married to Princess Caroline Matilda of Great Britain (aged 15) in 1766.\n\n Ferdinand IV & III of Naples and Sicily (aged 17) was married by proxy to Maria Carolina of Austria (aged 15) in April 1768.\n\n Louis Henri, Duke of Enghien (aged 14), was married to Bathilde d'Orléans (aged 19) in 1770.\n\n Louis-Auguste, Dauphin of France (aged 15), was married to Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria (aged 14; later known as Marie Antoinette) in April 1770.\n\n Louis Stanislas, Count of Provence (aged 15; the future King Louis XVIII of France), was married to Marie Joséphine of Savoy (aged 17) in 1771.\n\n Charles Philippe, Duke of Artois (aged 16; later Charles X of France), was married to Princess Maria Theresa of Savoy (aged 17) in 1773.\n\n The future Alexander I of Russia (aged 15) married Princess Louise of Baden (aged 14) in 1793.\n\n19th century\n Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias (aged 17; later Ferdinand VII of Spain), was married to his first cousin Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily (aged 17) in October 1802, about a week before his 18th birthday.\n\n Tokugawa Iemochi (aged 15) was married to Chikako, Princess Kazu (aged 15), daughter of Emperor Ninkō, in February 1862.\n\nCeremonial marriages\n\nSanele Masilela, a nine year old South African boy married 62-year-old Helen Shabangu.\nJose Griggs, at the age of seven, married nine-year-old Jayla Cooper\n\nSee also\nList of child brides\nTeen marriage\n\nReferences\n\nLists of men\nHusbands",
"Lachlan Og MacLean, 1st Laird of Torloisk was the second son of Sir Lachlan Mor Maclean and the first Laird of Torloisk.\n\nBiography\nHe was the second son of Sir Lachlan Mor Maclean, and he received from his father a charter of the lands of Lehire-Torloisk, forfeited by the son of Ailean nan Sop, which was afterward confirmed by royal grant. He was present at the Battle of Gruinnart, and was severely wounded. He was a witness to a charter given by his father to Martin MacGillivray of Pennyghael, and subscribed himself in the Irish characters, Mise Lachin Mhac Gilleoin. He was an important man in his day, and was so influential that he was compelled to make his appearance before the privy council.\n\nHe was first married to Marian, daughter of Sir Duncan Campbell of Achnabreck and had:\nHector MacLean, 2nd Laird of Torloisk\nHe was a second time married to Margaret, daughter of Captain Stewart of Dumbarton, but had no children. \nHe was a third time married to Marian, daughter of Donald MacDonald of Clanranald, and had:\nHector Maclean\nLachlan Og Maclean, who died unmarried but had a son Donald Maclean\nLachlan Catanach Maclean was killed at Inverkeithing\nEwen Maclean\nJohn Diuriach Maclean married the daughter of John Maclean, Laird of Ardgour and had Allan and several daughters\nOther children include: \nAllan Maclean who died unmarried at Harris\nNeil Maclean who married a daughter of Lochbuie, by whom he had a daughter\nLachlan, who died a lieutenant-colonel in the British service\nJannet Maclean, married Hector, first MacLean of Kinlochaline \nMary Maclean, married John Garbh, eldest son of John Dubh of Morvern \nCatherine Maclean, married John, brother to MacNeil of Barra\nJulian Maclean, married Allan MacLean, brother of Lochbuie\nIsabella Maclean, married Martin MacGillivray of Pennyghael\n\nLachlan Og lived to an advanced age, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Hector MacLean, 2nd Laird of Torloisk.\n\nReferences\n\nYear of birth missing\nYear of death missing\nLachlan Og MacLean, 1st Laird of Torloisk\nLachlan"
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"Honus Wagner",
"Life after baseball",
"How was wagners life after baseball",
"Wagner lived the remainder of his life in Pittsburgh, where he was well known as a friendly figure around town.",
"Did he have any hobbies",
"Baseball",
"Did he teach others?",
"Wagner also coached baseball",
"Was he married>",
"I don't know."
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did he have kids
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Did Wagner have kids?
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Honus Wagner
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Wagner was not finished playing baseball after his retirement from major league baseball. He managed and played for a semi-pro team. After retirement, Wagner served the Pirates as a coach for 39 years, most notably as a hitting instructor from 1933 to 1952. Arky Vaughan, Ralph Kiner, Pie Traynor (player-manager from 1934-1939), and Hank Greenberg (although, Greenberg was in his final major league season in 1947, his only season with the Pirates, and very well established) all future Hall of Famers, were notable "pupils" of Wagner. During this time, he wore uniform number 14, but later changed it to his more famous 33, which was later the number retired for him. (His entire playing career was in the days before uniform numbers were worn.) His appearances at National League stadiums during his coaching years were always well received and Wagner remained a beloved ambassador of baseball. Wagner also coached baseball and basketball at what is now Carnegie Mellon University. In 1928, Wagner ran for sheriff of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania but lost. He was made deputy county sheriff in 1942. He also ran a well-known sporting goods company. A sporting goods store bearing the name "Honus Wagner" operated in downtown Pittsburgh for 93 years before closing permanently in 2011. The Pirates hosted the 1944 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Forbes Field. Wagner was invited to be an honorary coach for the National League squad, the first time this honor was bestowed in Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. Wagner lived the remainder of his life in Pittsburgh, where he was well known as a friendly figure around town. He died on December 6, 1955 at the age of 81, and he is buried at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955), sometimes referred to as "Hans" Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Wagner won his eighth (and final) batting title in 1911, a National League record that remains unbroken to this day, and matched only once, in 1997, by Tony Gwynn. He also led the league in slugging six times and stolen bases five times. Wagner was nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman" due to his superb speed and German heritage. This nickname was a nod to the popular folk-tale made into a famous opera by the German composer Richard Wagner.
In , the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Wagner as one of the first five members. He received the second-highest vote total, behind Ty Cobb's 222 and tied with Babe Ruth at 215.
Most baseball historians consider Wagner to be the greatest shortstop ever and one of the greatest players ever. Ty Cobb himself called Wagner "maybe the greatest star ever to take the diamond". Honus Wagner is also the featured player of one of the rarest and the most valuable baseball cards in existence.
Early life
Wagner was born to German immigrants Peter and Katheryn Wagner in the borough of Chartiers, in what is now Carnegie, Pennsylvania.
Wagner was one of nine children. As a child, he was called Hans by his mother, which later evolved into Honus. "Hans" was also an alternate nickname during his major league career. Wagner dropped out of school at age 12 to help his father and brothers in the coal mines. In their free time, he and his brothers played sandlot baseball and developed their skills to such an extent that three of his brothers went on to become professionals as well.
Wagner's older brother, Albert "Butts" Wagner, who had a brief major league career himself, is often credited with getting Honus his first tryout. Butts persuaded his manager to take a look at his younger brother. Following his brother, Wagner trained to be a barber before becoming successful in baseball.
In 1916, Wagner married Bessie Baine Smith, and the couple had three daughters: Elva Katrina (b. 1918, stillborn), Betty Baine (1919–1992), and Virginia Mae (1922–1985).
Professional career
Career before Major League Baseball
Honus' brother Albert "Butts" Wagner was considered the ballplayer of the family. Albert suggested Honus in 1895 when his Inter-State League team was in need of help. Wagner played for five teams in that first year, in three different leagues over the course of 80 games.
In 1896, Edward Barrow, from the Wheeling, West Virginia, team that Wagner was playing on, decided to take Honus with him to his next team, the Paterson Silk Sox (Atlantic League). Barrow proved to be a good talent scout, as Wagner could play wherever he was needed, including all three bases and the outfield. Wagner hit .313 for Paterson in 1896 and .375 in 74 games in 1897.
Louisville Colonels
Recognizing that Wagner should be playing at the highest level, Barrow contacted the Louisville Colonels, who had finished last in the National League in 1896 with a record of 38–93. They were doing better in 1897 when Barrow persuaded club president Barney Dreyfuss, club secretary Harry Pulliam, and outfielder-manager Fred Clarke to go to Paterson to see Wagner play. Dreyfuss and Clarke were not impressed with the awkward-looking man, not surprising, as Wagner was oddly built: he was tall, weighed , and had a barrel chest, massive shoulders, heavily muscled arms, huge hands, and incredibly bowed legs that deprived him of any grace and several inches of height. Pulliam, though, persuaded Dreyfuss and Clarke to take a chance on him. Wagner debuted with Louisville on July 19 and hit .338 in 61 games.
By his second season, Wagner was already one of the best hitters in the National League although he came up short a percentage point from finishing the season at .300. Following the season, the NL contracted from twelve to eight teams, with the Colonels one of four teams eliminated. Owner Barney Dreyfuss, who had purchased half ownership in the Pirates, took Wagner and many of his other top players with him to the Pittsburgh team.
Tommy Leach recounted his impressions of joining the Louisville club in 1898 with hopes of winning the starting job at third base:
Pittsburgh Pirates
The move to the Pittsburgh Pirates signified Wagner's emergence as a premier hitter. In 1900, Wagner won his first batting championship with a .381 mark and also led the league in doubles (45), triples (22), and slugging percentage (.573), all of which were career highs. For the next nine seasons, Wagner's average did not fall below .330.
In , the American League began to sign National League players, creating a bidding war, which depleted the league of many talented players. Wagner was offered a $20,000 contract by the Chicago White Sox, but turned it down and continued to play with the Pirates.
Prior to 1904, Wagner had played several positions but settled into the shortstop role full-time that season, where he became a skilled fielder. His biography on BaseballLibrary.com describes his gritty style:
Bowlegged, barrel-chested, long-limbed ... he was often likened to an octopus. When he fielded grounders, his huge hands also collected large scoops of infield dirt, which accompanied his throws to first like the tail of a comet.
In 1898, Wagner won a distance contest in Louisville by throwing a baseball more than . In August 1899, he became the first player credited with stealing second base, third, and home in succession under the new rule differentiating between advanced bases and stolen bases. He repeated the feat in 1902, 1907, and 1909. Wagner retired with the National League record for most steals of home (27), which was broken by Greasy Neale in 1922.
In September 1905, Wagner signed a contract to produce the first bat with a player's signature, the Louisville Slugger, becoming the first sportsperson to endorse a commercial product; the Honus Wagner was to become a best-seller for years. One month later, with one point separating him from Reds center fielder Cy Seymour for the batting title, Wagner fell short in a head-to-head matchup on the final day of the season, with Seymour collecting four hits to Wagner's two, as contemporary press reports stated that the fans were far more interested in the Seymour-Wagner battle than in the outcome of the games.
Shortly before the season, Wagner retired. In desperation, owner Barney Dreyfuss offered him $10,000 per year, making him the highest-paid Pirate for many years. He returned to the Pirates early in the 1908 season, and finished two home runs short of the league's Triple Crown, leading the league in hitting (for the sixth time)‚ hits‚ total bases‚ doubles‚ triples‚ RBI‚ and stolen bases. Wagner took over the batting lead from the New York Giants' flamboyant outfielder Mike Donlin during a July 25 game against the Giants and their star pitcher Christy Mathewson. Wagner was 5-for-5 in the game; after each hit, he reportedly held up another finger to Donlin, who went hitless, and who had just beaten runner-up Wagner by a wide margin in a "most popular player" poll.
Bill James cites Wagner's 1908 season as the greatest single-season for any player in baseball history. He notes that the league ERA of 2.35 was the lowest of the dead-ball era and about half of the ERAs of modern baseball. Since Wagner hit .354 with 109 RBI in an environment when half as many runs were scored as today, he asks, "if you had a Gold Glove shortstop, like Wagner, who drove in 218 runs, what would he be worth?"
He was the first winner of 'The World's Championship Batsman' 's Cup, in 1908, made by Welshman George "Honey Boy" Evans.
1903 and 1909 World Series
In , the Pirates played the Boston Americans in Major League Baseball's inaugural World Series. Wagner, by this point, was an established star and much was expected of him, especially since the Pirates' starting rotation was decimated by injury. Wagner himself was not at full strength and hit only .222 for the series. The Americans, meanwhile, had some fans, called the "Royal Rooters" who, whenever Wagner came to bat, sang "Honus, Honus, why do you hit so badly?" to the tune of "Tessie", a popular song of the day. The Rooters, led by Boston bartender Michael "Nuf Ced" McGreevy, even traveled to Pittsburgh to continue their heckling. Pittsburgh lost in the best-of-nine series, five games to three, to a team led by pitchers Cy Young and Bill Dinneen and third baseman–manager Jimmy Collins. Christy Mathewson, in his book "Pitching in a Pinch" wrote: "For some time after "Hans" Wagner's poor showing in the world's series of 1903 ... it was reported that he was "yellow" (poor in the clutch). This grieved the Dutchman deeply, for I don't know a ballplayer in either league who would assay less quit to the ton than Wagner ... This was the real tragedy in Wagner's career. Notwithstanding his stolid appearance, he is a sensitive player, and this has hurt him more than anything else in his life ever has."
Wagner was distraught by his performance. The following spring, he refused to send his portrait to a "Hall of Fame" for batting champions, citing his play in the World Series. "I was too bum last year", he wrote. "I was a joke in that Boston-Pittsburgh Series. What does it profit a man to hammer along and make a few hits when they are not needed only to fall down when it comes to a pinch? I would be ashamed to have my picture up now."
Wagner and the Pirates were given a chance to prove that they were not "yellow" in . The Pirates faced Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers. The series was the only meeting of the two superior batsmen of the day, and the first time that the batting champions of each league faced one another (this later occurred thrice more, in 1931, 1954, and 2012 World Series). Wagner was by this time 35 years old, Cobb just 22.
This time, Wagner could not be stifled as he outhit Cobb, .333 to .231, and stole six bases, establishing the new Series record. The speed demon Cobb only managed two steals, one of which Cobb himself admitted was a botched call. Wagner recounted: "We had him out at second. We put up a squawk, but Silk O'Loughlin, the umpire, overruled it. We kept the squawk going for a minute or so, making no headway of course, and then Cobb spoke up. He turned to O'Loughlin, an American League umpire, by the way, and said, 'Of course I was out. They had me by a foot. You just booted the play, so come on, let's play ball.'"
There was also a story that was widely circulated over the years and famously recounted in Lawrence Ritter's The Glory of Their Times, that at one point Cobb was on first; he bragged to Wagner that he was going to steal second and threatened to assault him physically doing it; Wagner defiantly dared him to try it and placed an especially rough tag to Cobb's mouth; and the two exchanged choice words. Cobb denied it in his autobiography, and the play-by-play of the 1909 World Series confirms that the event could not have happened as stated: Cobb was never tagged out by Wagner in a caught-stealing.
The Pirates won the series in seven games behind the pitching of rookie Babe Adams.
Later career
In 1910, Wagner's average fell to .320, his lowest average since . Nevertheless, he aged exceptionally well; the three highest OPS+ seasons by any shortstop aged 35 or older belong to Wagner, and even his age-41 season ranks 8th on the list.
Wagner won the 1911 batting title by the narrowest of margins. He went hitless in a 1–0 win against the Cubs on May 30, but a successful league protest by the Cubs wiped out the result (and Wagner's at-bats). Wagner ended up edging the Boston Rustlers' Doc Miller, .334 to .333. The Pirates were in contention into August, but an ankle injury sidelined Wagner for 25 games and the team slid from the race.
On June 9, , at age 40, Wagner recorded his 3,000th hit, a double off Philadelphia's Erskine Mayer, the second player in baseball history to reach the figure, after Cap Anson, and Nap Lajoie joined them three months later. This accomplishment, however, came during a down period for Wagner and Pirates. Wagner hit only .252 in 1914, the lowest average of his career. In July 1915, he became the oldest player to hit a grand slam, a record which stood for 70 years until topped by 43-year-old Tony Pérez. In 1916, Wagner became the oldest player to hit an inside-the-park home run.
In , following another retirement, Wagner returned for his final, abbreviated season. Returning in June, he was spiked in July and played only sparingly for the remainder of the year, batting .265. He briefly held the role of interim manager, but after going 1–4, Wagner told owner Dreyfuss the job was not for him. He retired as the NL's all-time hit leader, with 3,430. (Subsequent research has since revised this total to 3,418.) It took 45 years for St. Louis' Stan Musial to surpass Wagner's hit total.
Wagner has been considered one of the very best all-around players to ever play baseball since the day he retired in 1917. Baseball historian and statistician Bill James named Honus Wagner as the second-best player of all time after Babe Ruth, rating him as the best major league player in 1900 and each year from 1902 to 1908. Statisticians John Thorn and Pete Palmer rate Wagner as ninth all-time in their "Total Player Ranking". Many of the greats who played or managed against Wagner, including Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, and Walter Johnson, list him at shortstop on their All-Time teams.
Life after baseball
Wagner was not finished playing baseball after his retirement from major league baseball. He managed and played for a semi-pro team.
After retirement, Wagner served the Pirates as a coach for 39 years, most notably as a hitting instructor from to . Arky Vaughan, Ralph Kiner, Pie Traynor (player-manager from –), and Hank Greenberg (although Greenberg was in his final major league season in 1947, his only season with the Pirates, and very well established) all future Hall of Famers, were notable "pupils" of Wagner. During this time, he wore uniform number 14 but later changed it to his more famous 33, which was later the number retired for him. (His entire playing career was in the days before uniform numbers were worn.) His appearances at National League stadiums during his coaching years were always well received and Wagner remained a beloved ambassador of baseball. Wagner also coached baseball and basketball at Carnegie Institute of Technology, which is now part of Carnegie Mellon University.
In 1928, Wagner ran for the office of Sheriff of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania but lost. He was appointed as a deputy of the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office in 1942. He also ran a well-known sporting goods company. A sporting goods store bearing the name "Honus Wagner" operated in downtown Pittsburgh for 93 years before closing permanently in 2011.
The Pirates hosted the 1944 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Forbes Field. Wagner was invited to be an honorary coach for the National League squad, the first time this honor was bestowed in Major League Baseball's All-Star Game.
Wagner lived the remainder of his life in Pittsburgh, where he was well known as a friendly figure around town. He died on December 6, 1955, at the age of 81, and he is buried at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh.
Film legacy
Wagner, along with his famous baseball card, was one of the earliest athletes to make the crossover into pop culture film. He starred as a sports hero in 1919's Spring Fever with Moe Howard and Shemp Howard of the Three Stooges, and has been depicted as the subject of The Winning Season (2004) and in a brief scene in Cobb (1994).
Baseball legacy
When the Baseball Hall of Fame held its first election in 1936, Wagner tied for second in the voting with Babe Ruth, trailing Cobb. A 1942 Sporting News poll of 100 former players and managers confirmed this opinion, with Wagner finishing 43 votes behind Cobb and six ahead of Ruth. In 1969, on the 100th anniversary of professional baseball, a vote was taken to honor the greatest players ever, and Wagner was selected as the all-time shortstop. In 1999, 82 years after his last game and 44 years since his death, Wagner was voted Number 13 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Players, where he was again the highest-ranking shortstop. That same year, he was selected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team by the oversight committee, after losing out in the popular vote to Cal Ripken, Jr. and Ernie Banks.
Christy Mathewson asserted that Wagner was the only player he faced that did not have a weakness. Mathewson felt that the only way to keep Wagner from hitting was not to pitch to him.
"A stirring march and two-step", titled "Husky Hans", and "respectfully dedicated to Hans Wagner, Three-time Champion Batsman of The National League" was written by William J. Hartz in 1904.
Bill James says that Wagner is easily the greatest shortstop of all time, noting that the difference between Wagner and the second greatest shortstop, in James' estimation Arky Vaughan, is roughly the same as the gulf between Vaughan and the 20th greatest shortstop.
Wagner is mentioned in the poem Line-Up for Yesterday by Ogden Nash.
A life-size statue of Wagner swinging a bat, atop a marble pedestal featuring admiring children, was forged by a local sculptor named Frank Vittor, and placed outside the left-field corner gate at Forbes Field. It was dedicated on April 30, 1955, and the then-frail Wagner was well enough to attend and wave to his many fans. The Pirates have relocated twice since then, and the statue has come along with them. It now stands outside the main gate of PNC Park. The statue roughly faces the site of the Pirates' original home, Exposition Park, so in a sense, Wagner has come full circle.
Wagner is honored in the form of a small stadium residing behind Carnegie Elementary School on Washington Avenue in Carnegie, Pennsylvania. The stadium serves as the home field for Carlynton High School varsity sports. The Historical Society of Carnegie History Center houses the Honus Wagner Sports Museum which includes many Wagner collectibles and memorabilia. Visitors receive replicas of the famous card.
In the 1992 episode Homer at the Bat, the popular TV show The Simpsons made a reference to Wagner. The character Mr. Burns lists three ringers he wants for his company's baseball team, but they are Honus Wagner, Cap Anson, and "Mordecai 'Three Fingers' Brown". His assistant has to point out that they are not only retired but long-dead ... Anson having played in the late 19th century.
In 2000, Wagner was honored with a U.S. postage stamp. The stamp was issued as part of a "Legends of Baseball" series that honored 20 all-time greats in conjunction with MLB's All-Century team.
T206 Baseball card
The T206 Honus Wagner baseball card''' is one of the rarest and most expensive baseball cards in the world, as only 57 copies are known to exist. The card was designed and issued by the American Tobacco Company (ATC) from 1909 to 1911 as part of its T206 series. While sources allege that Wagner, a nonsmoker, refused to allow the production of his baseball card to continue, the more likely reason was the sum ATC was willing to pay Wagner. The ATC ended production of the Wagner card and a total of only 57 to 200 cards were ever distributed to the public, as compared to the "tens or hundreds of thousands" of T206 cards, over three years in 16 brands of cigarettes, for any other player. In 1933, the card was first listed at a price value of US $50 in Jefferson Burdick's The American Card Catalog, making it the most expensive baseball card at the time.
The typical card in the T206 series had a width of and a height of . Some cards were awkwardly shaped or irregularly sized, which prompted a belief that many of the cards in the series had been altered at one point or another. In his work Inside T206: A Collector Guide to the Classic Baseball Card Set, Scot A. Reader wrote that, "It is not at all uncommon to find T206 examples that have been altered at some point during their near-century of existence." These discrepancies were taken advantage of by "card doctors" who trimmed corners and dirty edges to improve the appearance of the card. The front of all T206 series cards, including the Wagner card, displayed a lithograph of the player created by a multi-stage printing process in which a number of colors were printed on top of each other to create a lithograph with the appropriate design. The backs of the cards featured the monochromatic colors of the 16 tobacco brands for which the cards were printed. The Wagner cards in particular advertised the Piedmont and Sweet Caporal brands of cigarettes and were produced at Factory 25 in Virginia, as indicated by the factory stamp imprinted on the back of the cards.
Starting from January 1909, the ATC sought authorization from baseball players for inclusion in the T206 series, which featured 524 major league players, 76 of whom were later inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Wagner had been at the top of his game throughout the decade and was even considered the game's greatest player at the time. He had appeared on advertisements for a number of other products such as chewing gum, gunpowder, and soft drinks. Unsurprisingly, the ATC asked for Wagner's permission to have his picture on a baseball card. According to an October 12, 1912 issue of The Sporting News, Wagner did not give his consent to appear on the baseball card. In response to the authorization request letter sent by John Gruber, a Pittsburgh sportswriter hired by the ATC to seek Wagner's permission, Wagner wrote that he "did not care to have his picture in a package of cigarettes". He threatened to seek legal action against ATC if they went ahead and created his baseball card.
A near mint-mint condition T206 Wagner card sold in 2007 for $2.8 million, the highest price ever for a baseball card. In 2010, a previously unknown copy of the card was donated to the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Baltimore. The card, which was in poor condition, sold in November 2010 to a collector for $262,000, well over the $150,000 that was expected at auction. The card came with Sister Virginia Muller's brother's handwritten note: "Although damaged, the value of this baseball card should increase exponentially throughout the 21st century!"
On April 20, 2012, a New Jersey resident purchased a VG-3 graded T206 Wagner card for more than $1.2 million.
On April 6, 2013, a 1909–11 T206 baseball card featuring Honus Wagner sold at auction for $2.1 million.
On October 1, 2016, a T206 Wagner card graded PSA-5 sold for $3.12 million, setting yet again the record for the highest price paid for any baseball card.
On May 29, 2019, a Honus Wagner T-206 sold for $1.2 million by SCP Auctions in Southern California. The same card had been previously auctioned for $657,250 in 2014 and $776,750 in 2016. The encapsulated card was rated as only a 2 on a scale to 10.
In May 2021, one example sold for a new record $3.75 million. In doing so it became the second most expensive baseball card sold at auction.
In August 2021, another example sold for $6.6 million dollars making it the most valuable sportscard.
The card featured in the plot of the Nickelodeon film Swindle.
Statistics
The numbers shown below are the figures officially recognized on MLB.com.
The figures on Baseball-Reference.com are as follows. Other private research sites may have different figures. Caught Stealing is not shown comprehensively for Wagner's MLB.com totals because the stat was not regularly captured until 1920. Strikeouts is not shown comprehensively for Wagner's MLB.com totals, because the stat was not regularly captured until 1910. Note that mlb.com's Total Bases do not correspond to the number of hits, 2B, 3B, and HR listed.
See also
3,000 hit club
List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball career triples leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball doubles records
List of Major League Baseball triples records
List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball batting champions
List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual stolen base leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders
List of Major League Baseball player-managers
Major League Baseball titles leaders
References
Bibliography
Hall of Fame Network: "Honus Wagner as Mona Lisa", HOFMAG.com. Honus Wagner: A Biography, by Dennis DeValeria and Jeanne Burke DeValeria, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1995.
Hittner, Arthur D. Honus Wagner: The Life of Baseball's "Flying Dutchman." Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1996 and 2003 (softcover). . Winner of the 1996 Seymour Medal, awarded by the Society for American Baseball Research.Honus and Me'' by Dan Gutman (novel), Perfection Learning Corporation, 1999.
External links
The T206 Collection – The Players & Their Stories
Honus Wagner's Obit – The New York Times, Tuesday, December 6, 1955
Honus-Wagner.org
19th-century baseball players
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Louisville Colonels players
Baseball players from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball shortstops
National League batting champions
National League RBI champions
National League stolen base champions
Pittsburgh Pirates managers
Pittsburgh Pirates players
Pittsburgh Pirates coaches
Sportspeople from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Carnegie Mellon University faculty
People from Washington County, Pennsylvania
1874 births
1955 deaths
American people of German descent
Minor league baseball managers
Adrian Reformers players
Adrian Demons players
Steubenville Stubs players
Akron Akrons players
Lima Kids players
Mansfield Kids players
Paterson Silk Weavers players
Major League Baseball player-managers
American sportsmen
People from Carnegie, Pennsylvania
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[
"Kids for Cash is a 2013 documentary film about the \"kids for cash\" scandal which unfolded in 2008 over judicial kickbacks in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Two judges were found guilty of accepting kickbacks in exchange for sending thousands of juveniles to detention centers when probation or a lesser penalty would have been appropriate. Some juveniles were sent to detention centers for incidents as minor as theft of a CD from Walmart.\n\nPlot\nIn the film, former judge Michael Conahan admits to his crime and accepts the plea agreement. On September 23, 2011, he was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison and ordered to pay 874,000 dollars in restitution. Unlike Conahan, former judge Mark Ciavarella did not accept a plea agreement and completely denied allegations of his involvement in the kids-for-cash scam. He and his family went as far as accusing Conahan of lying about the scam. They claimed Ciavarella was being falsely accused of a crime he did not commit. As a result, he was sentenced to 28 years in prison, 10.5 more years than Conahan. Had he admitted to his crimes, Ciavarella may have had a lesser sentence similar to that of Conahan.\n\nThe documentary points directly to Conahan’s involvement in the scam and how he was involved in several business endeavors that gave him the experience necessary to orchestrate the scam. Conahan signed a plea agreement admitting to financial kickbacks from the scam. Ciavarella was found guilty of twelve of thirty-nine federal felonies including racketeering, mail fraud, money laundering, fraud conspiracy and filing false tax returns.\n\nAfter beginning his sentence at a Federal correctional institution in Pekin, Illinois, Ciavarella was transferred in October 2014 to a Federal transfer center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In March 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States rejected Ciavarella’s petition for an appeal of his conviction. He will be 85-years-old when he is eligible for release. Several sources have published that former judge Conahan demanded $129,000 from former judge Ciavarella’s in-laws, but more reputable sources have yet to confirm this allegation.\n\nProduction\n\nInterviewees include Mark Ciavarella, Michael Conahan, Justin Bodnar, Hillary Transue, Amanda Lorah, Sandy Fonzo, Charlie Balasavage, and Terrie Morgan-Besecker.\n\nRelease\n\nReception\n\nCritical response\nCritical response for Kids for Cash has been positive. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently has a 91 percent approval rating based on 32 reviews.\n\nSee also\n\nIncarceration in the United States\nPrivate prison\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n \n \n \n Film Review: ‘Kids for Cash’ by Ronnie Scheib for Variety (2 December 2013)\n Kids for Cash: Film Review by Frank Scheck for The Hollywood Reporter (19 November 2014)\n Kids for Cash Documentary: Meet the Director by Scott Schaffer (18 November 2013)\n Kids For Cash: Inside One of the Nation’s Most Shocking Juvenile Justice Scandals. Democracy Now! (4 February 2014)\n'Kids For Cash' Captures A Juvenile Justice Scandal From Two Sides. NPR. (8 March 2014)\n\n2013 films\n2013 documentary films\nAmerican films\nAmerican documentary films\nDocumentary films about children\nDocumentary films about crime in the United States\nDocumentary films about incarceration in the United States\nDocumentary films about lawyers\nDocumentary films about miscarriage of justice in the United States\nDocumentary films about rights\nFilms scored by Michael Brook\nFilms about corruption in the United States\nFilms about lawyers\nFilms set in Pennsylvania\nJuvenile justice system",
"Kids Helping Kids is an entirely student run 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based out of the San Marcos High School AP Economics classes in Santa Barbara, California. Headed by Economics teachers Jamie DeVries and Jillian Heckman, Kids Helping Kids originally began with a student-run penny drive in 2002 and has evolved into an annual signature gala event at the Santa Barbara multimillion-dollar Granada Theatre. Over the course of fifteen years, students have volunteered over 10,000 hours of work, resulting in a gross of $2,500,000 raised for children in need throughout the community and abroad.\nThe Kids Helping Kids mission statement reads: \"Empowered students making a difference from the classroom to the community.\"\n\nBeginnings \n\nKids Helping Kids was founded in 2002 by one of the San Marcos High School AP Economics classes. Its vision came from teacher Jamie Devries, who wanted to change the stagnant atmosphere of the AP Economics curriculum and give the students a real world application to the principles they learn in class. The organization's first project was a penny drive, enlisting the help of local grade schools and high schools. From there, Kids Helping Kids students hosted a benefit night and silent auction at Santa Barbara's Ruby's Diner, where a portion of each dinner was donated to Kids Helping Kids. Through money raised from food sales, the silent auction, and donations, Kids Helping Kids was able to raise $8,000 for the 2003 year. This money was donated directly to the Santa Barbara Unity Shoppe, a public benefit corporation encouraging self-sufficiency and independence through education and basic necessities. Since then, Kids Helping Kids has grown exponentially; each year, the students have been building off of the accomplishments, both financial and organizational, of the prior class.\n\nFundraising\n\nSignature Concert Gala \nKids Helping Kids hit its big break in 2008 when Tyrone Wells, folk-pop singer and songwriter, agreed to perform for a benefit concert. Largely because of the concert, the Kids Helping Kids class of 2008 ended up raising $105,000. 2008 also marked the year that Mark Chipello, Tyrone Wells' personal manager, became Kids Helping Kids' talent buyer. Chipello continues to serve as a liaison between Kids Helping Kids and record industries, securing each year's artist. The following year, the Kids Helping Kids class of 2009 landed alternative rock band Toad the Wet Sprocket to headline, and Tyrone Wells to open, at the now annual benefit concert. 2009 was also the first year the concert was held at the beautiful, historic Granada Theater in Santa, Barbara, CA, where it continues to be held every year. \nSince then, Kids Helping Kids concert artists have been: Five for Fighting (2010), Matt Kearney with Tyrone Wells (2011), Sara Bareilles with Tyrone Wells (2012), Switchfoot with Brad Corrigan (2013), and Andy Grammer with Tim Lopez (2014), Ingrid Michaelson with Jon McLaughlin (2015), NEEDTOBREATHE with JohnnySwim (2016), Gavin DeGraw with Parachute (2017). Many are Grammy nominated and platinum recording.\n\nSponsors \nDeckers Outdoor Corporation, a function-orientated footwear manufacturer based in Goleta, California, has been the title sponsor of Kids Helping Kids since 2009. They have generously contributed over $160,000 to Kids Helping Kids. In 2013, the State Farm Youth Advisory Board rewarded Kids Helping Kids a $78,400 grant to facilitate Kids Helping Kids Santa Barbara's mission to expand on a national level.\n\nCauses \nA total of 2,200,000 has been raised by Kids Helping Kids. \nLocally, Kids Helping Kids has donated directly to the Unity Shoppe as well as annually covering the cost of AP tests and lab fees for lower income families. In 2011, Kids Helping Kids helped subsidize the medical and funeral costs for a local student who was killed in car accident. Additionally, the organization replaced a visual aid machine for a local student and gave a grant to a grade school band to purchase brand new instruments. \nGlobally, Kids Helped Kids has funded the building of a preschool and orphanage in Rwanda, which benefits vulnerable orphans and children. Kids Helping Kids also paid for a safe house to be built in Nicaragua.\n\nRecent activity \nIn November 2013, a group of Kids Helping Kids members traveled to the safe house they fund in Managua, Nicaragua. Kids Helping Kids is currently working to expand on a national level. There are currently four branches of Kids Helping Kids, with the Santa Barbara, California chapter acting as the mother organization for high schools in Sacramento, Ojai, and Denver. Kids Helping Kids Sacramento held their first benefit concert in May 2013, raising over $20,000 for charitable purposes.\nIn September 2013, Kids Helping Kids received a $78,400 grant from the State Farm Youth Advisory Board. The grant is intended to provide the students of Kids Helping Kids Santa Barbara with the necessary funds to fly representatives across the country mentoring other high schools in the fundamentals of creating a non-profit organization in Kids Helping Kids name.\n\"Kids Helping Kids is incredibly grateful to receive such a substantial grant from State Farm,\" said Kids Helping Kids CEO Carter Hudson. \"To know that the model we have put together at San Marcos has been recognized on a national landscape is extremely encouraging. It is a testament to the diligence and commitment of the past and present Kids Helping Kids students and the support of the Santa Barbara community.\"\nThis years senior management team consists of CEO Elizabeth Kravchuk, CMO Allie Jones, CFO Kelsey Warren, COO Mya Adornetto, Director of Advancement Claire Hyatt, and Director of Outreach Avery Ridenour.\n\nAccomplishments \nSince 2002, Kids Helping Kids has raised over $2,500,000. \nIn 2011, Kids Helping Kids was recognized with the Subway National High School Heroes Award. \nWe have spread our Kids Helping Kids model to 4 other high schools: Sacramento, CA; Ojai, CA; A.\nIn 2013, Kids Helping Kids was awarded a $78,000 grant from the Youth Advisory Board of State Farm Insurance to support our dream of spreading the Kids Helping Kids program to other high schools across the nation.\n\nSee also\n Youth philanthropy\n A Kid's Guide to Giving\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\nCharities based in California\nYouth organizations based in California"
] |
[
"Honus Wagner",
"Life after baseball",
"How was wagners life after baseball",
"Wagner lived the remainder of his life in Pittsburgh, where he was well known as a friendly figure around town.",
"Did he have any hobbies",
"Baseball",
"Did he teach others?",
"Wagner also coached baseball",
"Was he married>",
"I don't know.",
"did he have kids",
"I don't know."
] |
C_3ec1772242c54fc09c141708739d650d_0
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did anything significant happen after his career
| 6 |
Did anything significant happen after Wagner's career?
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Honus Wagner
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Wagner was not finished playing baseball after his retirement from major league baseball. He managed and played for a semi-pro team. After retirement, Wagner served the Pirates as a coach for 39 years, most notably as a hitting instructor from 1933 to 1952. Arky Vaughan, Ralph Kiner, Pie Traynor (player-manager from 1934-1939), and Hank Greenberg (although, Greenberg was in his final major league season in 1947, his only season with the Pirates, and very well established) all future Hall of Famers, were notable "pupils" of Wagner. During this time, he wore uniform number 14, but later changed it to his more famous 33, which was later the number retired for him. (His entire playing career was in the days before uniform numbers were worn.) His appearances at National League stadiums during his coaching years were always well received and Wagner remained a beloved ambassador of baseball. Wagner also coached baseball and basketball at what is now Carnegie Mellon University. In 1928, Wagner ran for sheriff of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania but lost. He was made deputy county sheriff in 1942. He also ran a well-known sporting goods company. A sporting goods store bearing the name "Honus Wagner" operated in downtown Pittsburgh for 93 years before closing permanently in 2011. The Pirates hosted the 1944 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Forbes Field. Wagner was invited to be an honorary coach for the National League squad, the first time this honor was bestowed in Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. Wagner lived the remainder of his life in Pittsburgh, where he was well known as a friendly figure around town. He died on December 6, 1955 at the age of 81, and he is buried at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh. CANNOTANSWER
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He died on December 6, 1955 at the age of 81,
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Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955), sometimes referred to as "Hans" Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Wagner won his eighth (and final) batting title in 1911, a National League record that remains unbroken to this day, and matched only once, in 1997, by Tony Gwynn. He also led the league in slugging six times and stolen bases five times. Wagner was nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman" due to his superb speed and German heritage. This nickname was a nod to the popular folk-tale made into a famous opera by the German composer Richard Wagner.
In , the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Wagner as one of the first five members. He received the second-highest vote total, behind Ty Cobb's 222 and tied with Babe Ruth at 215.
Most baseball historians consider Wagner to be the greatest shortstop ever and one of the greatest players ever. Ty Cobb himself called Wagner "maybe the greatest star ever to take the diamond". Honus Wagner is also the featured player of one of the rarest and the most valuable baseball cards in existence.
Early life
Wagner was born to German immigrants Peter and Katheryn Wagner in the borough of Chartiers, in what is now Carnegie, Pennsylvania.
Wagner was one of nine children. As a child, he was called Hans by his mother, which later evolved into Honus. "Hans" was also an alternate nickname during his major league career. Wagner dropped out of school at age 12 to help his father and brothers in the coal mines. In their free time, he and his brothers played sandlot baseball and developed their skills to such an extent that three of his brothers went on to become professionals as well.
Wagner's older brother, Albert "Butts" Wagner, who had a brief major league career himself, is often credited with getting Honus his first tryout. Butts persuaded his manager to take a look at his younger brother. Following his brother, Wagner trained to be a barber before becoming successful in baseball.
In 1916, Wagner married Bessie Baine Smith, and the couple had three daughters: Elva Katrina (b. 1918, stillborn), Betty Baine (1919–1992), and Virginia Mae (1922–1985).
Professional career
Career before Major League Baseball
Honus' brother Albert "Butts" Wagner was considered the ballplayer of the family. Albert suggested Honus in 1895 when his Inter-State League team was in need of help. Wagner played for five teams in that first year, in three different leagues over the course of 80 games.
In 1896, Edward Barrow, from the Wheeling, West Virginia, team that Wagner was playing on, decided to take Honus with him to his next team, the Paterson Silk Sox (Atlantic League). Barrow proved to be a good talent scout, as Wagner could play wherever he was needed, including all three bases and the outfield. Wagner hit .313 for Paterson in 1896 and .375 in 74 games in 1897.
Louisville Colonels
Recognizing that Wagner should be playing at the highest level, Barrow contacted the Louisville Colonels, who had finished last in the National League in 1896 with a record of 38–93. They were doing better in 1897 when Barrow persuaded club president Barney Dreyfuss, club secretary Harry Pulliam, and outfielder-manager Fred Clarke to go to Paterson to see Wagner play. Dreyfuss and Clarke were not impressed with the awkward-looking man, not surprising, as Wagner was oddly built: he was tall, weighed , and had a barrel chest, massive shoulders, heavily muscled arms, huge hands, and incredibly bowed legs that deprived him of any grace and several inches of height. Pulliam, though, persuaded Dreyfuss and Clarke to take a chance on him. Wagner debuted with Louisville on July 19 and hit .338 in 61 games.
By his second season, Wagner was already one of the best hitters in the National League although he came up short a percentage point from finishing the season at .300. Following the season, the NL contracted from twelve to eight teams, with the Colonels one of four teams eliminated. Owner Barney Dreyfuss, who had purchased half ownership in the Pirates, took Wagner and many of his other top players with him to the Pittsburgh team.
Tommy Leach recounted his impressions of joining the Louisville club in 1898 with hopes of winning the starting job at third base:
Pittsburgh Pirates
The move to the Pittsburgh Pirates signified Wagner's emergence as a premier hitter. In 1900, Wagner won his first batting championship with a .381 mark and also led the league in doubles (45), triples (22), and slugging percentage (.573), all of which were career highs. For the next nine seasons, Wagner's average did not fall below .330.
In , the American League began to sign National League players, creating a bidding war, which depleted the league of many talented players. Wagner was offered a $20,000 contract by the Chicago White Sox, but turned it down and continued to play with the Pirates.
Prior to 1904, Wagner had played several positions but settled into the shortstop role full-time that season, where he became a skilled fielder. His biography on BaseballLibrary.com describes his gritty style:
Bowlegged, barrel-chested, long-limbed ... he was often likened to an octopus. When he fielded grounders, his huge hands also collected large scoops of infield dirt, which accompanied his throws to first like the tail of a comet.
In 1898, Wagner won a distance contest in Louisville by throwing a baseball more than . In August 1899, he became the first player credited with stealing second base, third, and home in succession under the new rule differentiating between advanced bases and stolen bases. He repeated the feat in 1902, 1907, and 1909. Wagner retired with the National League record for most steals of home (27), which was broken by Greasy Neale in 1922.
In September 1905, Wagner signed a contract to produce the first bat with a player's signature, the Louisville Slugger, becoming the first sportsperson to endorse a commercial product; the Honus Wagner was to become a best-seller for years. One month later, with one point separating him from Reds center fielder Cy Seymour for the batting title, Wagner fell short in a head-to-head matchup on the final day of the season, with Seymour collecting four hits to Wagner's two, as contemporary press reports stated that the fans were far more interested in the Seymour-Wagner battle than in the outcome of the games.
Shortly before the season, Wagner retired. In desperation, owner Barney Dreyfuss offered him $10,000 per year, making him the highest-paid Pirate for many years. He returned to the Pirates early in the 1908 season, and finished two home runs short of the league's Triple Crown, leading the league in hitting (for the sixth time)‚ hits‚ total bases‚ doubles‚ triples‚ RBI‚ and stolen bases. Wagner took over the batting lead from the New York Giants' flamboyant outfielder Mike Donlin during a July 25 game against the Giants and their star pitcher Christy Mathewson. Wagner was 5-for-5 in the game; after each hit, he reportedly held up another finger to Donlin, who went hitless, and who had just beaten runner-up Wagner by a wide margin in a "most popular player" poll.
Bill James cites Wagner's 1908 season as the greatest single-season for any player in baseball history. He notes that the league ERA of 2.35 was the lowest of the dead-ball era and about half of the ERAs of modern baseball. Since Wagner hit .354 with 109 RBI in an environment when half as many runs were scored as today, he asks, "if you had a Gold Glove shortstop, like Wagner, who drove in 218 runs, what would he be worth?"
He was the first winner of 'The World's Championship Batsman' 's Cup, in 1908, made by Welshman George "Honey Boy" Evans.
1903 and 1909 World Series
In , the Pirates played the Boston Americans in Major League Baseball's inaugural World Series. Wagner, by this point, was an established star and much was expected of him, especially since the Pirates' starting rotation was decimated by injury. Wagner himself was not at full strength and hit only .222 for the series. The Americans, meanwhile, had some fans, called the "Royal Rooters" who, whenever Wagner came to bat, sang "Honus, Honus, why do you hit so badly?" to the tune of "Tessie", a popular song of the day. The Rooters, led by Boston bartender Michael "Nuf Ced" McGreevy, even traveled to Pittsburgh to continue their heckling. Pittsburgh lost in the best-of-nine series, five games to three, to a team led by pitchers Cy Young and Bill Dinneen and third baseman–manager Jimmy Collins. Christy Mathewson, in his book "Pitching in a Pinch" wrote: "For some time after "Hans" Wagner's poor showing in the world's series of 1903 ... it was reported that he was "yellow" (poor in the clutch). This grieved the Dutchman deeply, for I don't know a ballplayer in either league who would assay less quit to the ton than Wagner ... This was the real tragedy in Wagner's career. Notwithstanding his stolid appearance, he is a sensitive player, and this has hurt him more than anything else in his life ever has."
Wagner was distraught by his performance. The following spring, he refused to send his portrait to a "Hall of Fame" for batting champions, citing his play in the World Series. "I was too bum last year", he wrote. "I was a joke in that Boston-Pittsburgh Series. What does it profit a man to hammer along and make a few hits when they are not needed only to fall down when it comes to a pinch? I would be ashamed to have my picture up now."
Wagner and the Pirates were given a chance to prove that they were not "yellow" in . The Pirates faced Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers. The series was the only meeting of the two superior batsmen of the day, and the first time that the batting champions of each league faced one another (this later occurred thrice more, in 1931, 1954, and 2012 World Series). Wagner was by this time 35 years old, Cobb just 22.
This time, Wagner could not be stifled as he outhit Cobb, .333 to .231, and stole six bases, establishing the new Series record. The speed demon Cobb only managed two steals, one of which Cobb himself admitted was a botched call. Wagner recounted: "We had him out at second. We put up a squawk, but Silk O'Loughlin, the umpire, overruled it. We kept the squawk going for a minute or so, making no headway of course, and then Cobb spoke up. He turned to O'Loughlin, an American League umpire, by the way, and said, 'Of course I was out. They had me by a foot. You just booted the play, so come on, let's play ball.'"
There was also a story that was widely circulated over the years and famously recounted in Lawrence Ritter's The Glory of Their Times, that at one point Cobb was on first; he bragged to Wagner that he was going to steal second and threatened to assault him physically doing it; Wagner defiantly dared him to try it and placed an especially rough tag to Cobb's mouth; and the two exchanged choice words. Cobb denied it in his autobiography, and the play-by-play of the 1909 World Series confirms that the event could not have happened as stated: Cobb was never tagged out by Wagner in a caught-stealing.
The Pirates won the series in seven games behind the pitching of rookie Babe Adams.
Later career
In 1910, Wagner's average fell to .320, his lowest average since . Nevertheless, he aged exceptionally well; the three highest OPS+ seasons by any shortstop aged 35 or older belong to Wagner, and even his age-41 season ranks 8th on the list.
Wagner won the 1911 batting title by the narrowest of margins. He went hitless in a 1–0 win against the Cubs on May 30, but a successful league protest by the Cubs wiped out the result (and Wagner's at-bats). Wagner ended up edging the Boston Rustlers' Doc Miller, .334 to .333. The Pirates were in contention into August, but an ankle injury sidelined Wagner for 25 games and the team slid from the race.
On June 9, , at age 40, Wagner recorded his 3,000th hit, a double off Philadelphia's Erskine Mayer, the second player in baseball history to reach the figure, after Cap Anson, and Nap Lajoie joined them three months later. This accomplishment, however, came during a down period for Wagner and Pirates. Wagner hit only .252 in 1914, the lowest average of his career. In July 1915, he became the oldest player to hit a grand slam, a record which stood for 70 years until topped by 43-year-old Tony Pérez. In 1916, Wagner became the oldest player to hit an inside-the-park home run.
In , following another retirement, Wagner returned for his final, abbreviated season. Returning in June, he was spiked in July and played only sparingly for the remainder of the year, batting .265. He briefly held the role of interim manager, but after going 1–4, Wagner told owner Dreyfuss the job was not for him. He retired as the NL's all-time hit leader, with 3,430. (Subsequent research has since revised this total to 3,418.) It took 45 years for St. Louis' Stan Musial to surpass Wagner's hit total.
Wagner has been considered one of the very best all-around players to ever play baseball since the day he retired in 1917. Baseball historian and statistician Bill James named Honus Wagner as the second-best player of all time after Babe Ruth, rating him as the best major league player in 1900 and each year from 1902 to 1908. Statisticians John Thorn and Pete Palmer rate Wagner as ninth all-time in their "Total Player Ranking". Many of the greats who played or managed against Wagner, including Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, and Walter Johnson, list him at shortstop on their All-Time teams.
Life after baseball
Wagner was not finished playing baseball after his retirement from major league baseball. He managed and played for a semi-pro team.
After retirement, Wagner served the Pirates as a coach for 39 years, most notably as a hitting instructor from to . Arky Vaughan, Ralph Kiner, Pie Traynor (player-manager from –), and Hank Greenberg (although Greenberg was in his final major league season in 1947, his only season with the Pirates, and very well established) all future Hall of Famers, were notable "pupils" of Wagner. During this time, he wore uniform number 14 but later changed it to his more famous 33, which was later the number retired for him. (His entire playing career was in the days before uniform numbers were worn.) His appearances at National League stadiums during his coaching years were always well received and Wagner remained a beloved ambassador of baseball. Wagner also coached baseball and basketball at Carnegie Institute of Technology, which is now part of Carnegie Mellon University.
In 1928, Wagner ran for the office of Sheriff of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania but lost. He was appointed as a deputy of the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office in 1942. He also ran a well-known sporting goods company. A sporting goods store bearing the name "Honus Wagner" operated in downtown Pittsburgh for 93 years before closing permanently in 2011.
The Pirates hosted the 1944 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Forbes Field. Wagner was invited to be an honorary coach for the National League squad, the first time this honor was bestowed in Major League Baseball's All-Star Game.
Wagner lived the remainder of his life in Pittsburgh, where he was well known as a friendly figure around town. He died on December 6, 1955, at the age of 81, and he is buried at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh.
Film legacy
Wagner, along with his famous baseball card, was one of the earliest athletes to make the crossover into pop culture film. He starred as a sports hero in 1919's Spring Fever with Moe Howard and Shemp Howard of the Three Stooges, and has been depicted as the subject of The Winning Season (2004) and in a brief scene in Cobb (1994).
Baseball legacy
When the Baseball Hall of Fame held its first election in 1936, Wagner tied for second in the voting with Babe Ruth, trailing Cobb. A 1942 Sporting News poll of 100 former players and managers confirmed this opinion, with Wagner finishing 43 votes behind Cobb and six ahead of Ruth. In 1969, on the 100th anniversary of professional baseball, a vote was taken to honor the greatest players ever, and Wagner was selected as the all-time shortstop. In 1999, 82 years after his last game and 44 years since his death, Wagner was voted Number 13 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Players, where he was again the highest-ranking shortstop. That same year, he was selected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team by the oversight committee, after losing out in the popular vote to Cal Ripken, Jr. and Ernie Banks.
Christy Mathewson asserted that Wagner was the only player he faced that did not have a weakness. Mathewson felt that the only way to keep Wagner from hitting was not to pitch to him.
"A stirring march and two-step", titled "Husky Hans", and "respectfully dedicated to Hans Wagner, Three-time Champion Batsman of The National League" was written by William J. Hartz in 1904.
Bill James says that Wagner is easily the greatest shortstop of all time, noting that the difference between Wagner and the second greatest shortstop, in James' estimation Arky Vaughan, is roughly the same as the gulf between Vaughan and the 20th greatest shortstop.
Wagner is mentioned in the poem Line-Up for Yesterday by Ogden Nash.
A life-size statue of Wagner swinging a bat, atop a marble pedestal featuring admiring children, was forged by a local sculptor named Frank Vittor, and placed outside the left-field corner gate at Forbes Field. It was dedicated on April 30, 1955, and the then-frail Wagner was well enough to attend and wave to his many fans. The Pirates have relocated twice since then, and the statue has come along with them. It now stands outside the main gate of PNC Park. The statue roughly faces the site of the Pirates' original home, Exposition Park, so in a sense, Wagner has come full circle.
Wagner is honored in the form of a small stadium residing behind Carnegie Elementary School on Washington Avenue in Carnegie, Pennsylvania. The stadium serves as the home field for Carlynton High School varsity sports. The Historical Society of Carnegie History Center houses the Honus Wagner Sports Museum which includes many Wagner collectibles and memorabilia. Visitors receive replicas of the famous card.
In the 1992 episode Homer at the Bat, the popular TV show The Simpsons made a reference to Wagner. The character Mr. Burns lists three ringers he wants for his company's baseball team, but they are Honus Wagner, Cap Anson, and "Mordecai 'Three Fingers' Brown". His assistant has to point out that they are not only retired but long-dead ... Anson having played in the late 19th century.
In 2000, Wagner was honored with a U.S. postage stamp. The stamp was issued as part of a "Legends of Baseball" series that honored 20 all-time greats in conjunction with MLB's All-Century team.
T206 Baseball card
The T206 Honus Wagner baseball card''' is one of the rarest and most expensive baseball cards in the world, as only 57 copies are known to exist. The card was designed and issued by the American Tobacco Company (ATC) from 1909 to 1911 as part of its T206 series. While sources allege that Wagner, a nonsmoker, refused to allow the production of his baseball card to continue, the more likely reason was the sum ATC was willing to pay Wagner. The ATC ended production of the Wagner card and a total of only 57 to 200 cards were ever distributed to the public, as compared to the "tens or hundreds of thousands" of T206 cards, over three years in 16 brands of cigarettes, for any other player. In 1933, the card was first listed at a price value of US $50 in Jefferson Burdick's The American Card Catalog, making it the most expensive baseball card at the time.
The typical card in the T206 series had a width of and a height of . Some cards were awkwardly shaped or irregularly sized, which prompted a belief that many of the cards in the series had been altered at one point or another. In his work Inside T206: A Collector Guide to the Classic Baseball Card Set, Scot A. Reader wrote that, "It is not at all uncommon to find T206 examples that have been altered at some point during their near-century of existence." These discrepancies were taken advantage of by "card doctors" who trimmed corners and dirty edges to improve the appearance of the card. The front of all T206 series cards, including the Wagner card, displayed a lithograph of the player created by a multi-stage printing process in which a number of colors were printed on top of each other to create a lithograph with the appropriate design. The backs of the cards featured the monochromatic colors of the 16 tobacco brands for which the cards were printed. The Wagner cards in particular advertised the Piedmont and Sweet Caporal brands of cigarettes and were produced at Factory 25 in Virginia, as indicated by the factory stamp imprinted on the back of the cards.
Starting from January 1909, the ATC sought authorization from baseball players for inclusion in the T206 series, which featured 524 major league players, 76 of whom were later inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Wagner had been at the top of his game throughout the decade and was even considered the game's greatest player at the time. He had appeared on advertisements for a number of other products such as chewing gum, gunpowder, and soft drinks. Unsurprisingly, the ATC asked for Wagner's permission to have his picture on a baseball card. According to an October 12, 1912 issue of The Sporting News, Wagner did not give his consent to appear on the baseball card. In response to the authorization request letter sent by John Gruber, a Pittsburgh sportswriter hired by the ATC to seek Wagner's permission, Wagner wrote that he "did not care to have his picture in a package of cigarettes". He threatened to seek legal action against ATC if they went ahead and created his baseball card.
A near mint-mint condition T206 Wagner card sold in 2007 for $2.8 million, the highest price ever for a baseball card. In 2010, a previously unknown copy of the card was donated to the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Baltimore. The card, which was in poor condition, sold in November 2010 to a collector for $262,000, well over the $150,000 that was expected at auction. The card came with Sister Virginia Muller's brother's handwritten note: "Although damaged, the value of this baseball card should increase exponentially throughout the 21st century!"
On April 20, 2012, a New Jersey resident purchased a VG-3 graded T206 Wagner card for more than $1.2 million.
On April 6, 2013, a 1909–11 T206 baseball card featuring Honus Wagner sold at auction for $2.1 million.
On October 1, 2016, a T206 Wagner card graded PSA-5 sold for $3.12 million, setting yet again the record for the highest price paid for any baseball card.
On May 29, 2019, a Honus Wagner T-206 sold for $1.2 million by SCP Auctions in Southern California. The same card had been previously auctioned for $657,250 in 2014 and $776,750 in 2016. The encapsulated card was rated as only a 2 on a scale to 10.
In May 2021, one example sold for a new record $3.75 million. In doing so it became the second most expensive baseball card sold at auction.
In August 2021, another example sold for $6.6 million dollars making it the most valuable sportscard.
The card featured in the plot of the Nickelodeon film Swindle.
Statistics
The numbers shown below are the figures officially recognized on MLB.com.
The figures on Baseball-Reference.com are as follows. Other private research sites may have different figures. Caught Stealing is not shown comprehensively for Wagner's MLB.com totals because the stat was not regularly captured until 1920. Strikeouts is not shown comprehensively for Wagner's MLB.com totals, because the stat was not regularly captured until 1910. Note that mlb.com's Total Bases do not correspond to the number of hits, 2B, 3B, and HR listed.
See also
3,000 hit club
List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball career triples leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball doubles records
List of Major League Baseball triples records
List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball batting champions
List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual stolen base leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders
List of Major League Baseball player-managers
Major League Baseball titles leaders
References
Bibliography
Hall of Fame Network: "Honus Wagner as Mona Lisa", HOFMAG.com. Honus Wagner: A Biography, by Dennis DeValeria and Jeanne Burke DeValeria, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1995.
Hittner, Arthur D. Honus Wagner: The Life of Baseball's "Flying Dutchman." Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1996 and 2003 (softcover). . Winner of the 1996 Seymour Medal, awarded by the Society for American Baseball Research.Honus and Me'' by Dan Gutman (novel), Perfection Learning Corporation, 1999.
External links
The T206 Collection – The Players & Their Stories
Honus Wagner's Obit – The New York Times, Tuesday, December 6, 1955
Honus-Wagner.org
19th-century baseball players
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Louisville Colonels players
Baseball players from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball shortstops
National League batting champions
National League RBI champions
National League stolen base champions
Pittsburgh Pirates managers
Pittsburgh Pirates players
Pittsburgh Pirates coaches
Sportspeople from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Carnegie Mellon University faculty
People from Washington County, Pennsylvania
1874 births
1955 deaths
American people of German descent
Minor league baseball managers
Adrian Reformers players
Adrian Demons players
Steubenville Stubs players
Akron Akrons players
Lima Kids players
Mansfield Kids players
Paterson Silk Weavers players
Major League Baseball player-managers
American sportsmen
People from Carnegie, Pennsylvania
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"Dorothea Paas is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Toronto, Ontario, whose debut album Anything Can't Happen was a longlisted nominee for the 2021 Polaris Music Prize.\n\nPaas has released a number of EPs since 2012. Although she has often resisted active self-promotion, she successfully built up a career as a backing vocalist for musicians such as Jennifer Castle and U.S. Girls. Anything Can't Happen, which features Paul Saulnier of PS I Love You on bass guitar, has been described by critics as \"Joni Mitchell fronting Shellac at a coffee shop.\n\nIn addition to her solo career, she also performs as a sometime guest vocalist with Badge Époque Ensemble. She has also had occasional roles as a film actress, most notably in Kazik Radwanski's films How Heavy This Hammer and Anne at 13,000 Ft.\n\nDiscography\nSame Sun (2012)\nA Thirst (2013)\nStrange Times/Just the Same/Drought (2013)\nCalm Your Body Down (2015)\nPrest (2016)\nNo Loose Ends (2016)\nOne for the Road (2018)\nAnything Can't Happen (2021)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n21st-century Canadian women singers\n21st-century Canadian actresses\nCanadian women singer-songwriters\nCanadian folk singer-songwriters\nCanadian indie rock musicians\nActresses from Toronto\nMusicians from Toronto\nLiving people\nYear of birth missing (living people)"
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Honus Wagner
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Wagner was not finished playing baseball after his retirement from major league baseball. He managed and played for a semi-pro team. After retirement, Wagner served the Pirates as a coach for 39 years, most notably as a hitting instructor from 1933 to 1952. Arky Vaughan, Ralph Kiner, Pie Traynor (player-manager from 1934-1939), and Hank Greenberg (although, Greenberg was in his final major league season in 1947, his only season with the Pirates, and very well established) all future Hall of Famers, were notable "pupils" of Wagner. During this time, he wore uniform number 14, but later changed it to his more famous 33, which was later the number retired for him. (His entire playing career was in the days before uniform numbers were worn.) His appearances at National League stadiums during his coaching years were always well received and Wagner remained a beloved ambassador of baseball. Wagner also coached baseball and basketball at what is now Carnegie Mellon University. In 1928, Wagner ran for sheriff of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania but lost. He was made deputy county sheriff in 1942. He also ran a well-known sporting goods company. A sporting goods store bearing the name "Honus Wagner" operated in downtown Pittsburgh for 93 years before closing permanently in 2011. The Pirates hosted the 1944 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Forbes Field. Wagner was invited to be an honorary coach for the National League squad, the first time this honor was bestowed in Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. Wagner lived the remainder of his life in Pittsburgh, where he was well known as a friendly figure around town. He died on December 6, 1955 at the age of 81, and he is buried at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955), sometimes referred to as "Hans" Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Wagner won his eighth (and final) batting title in 1911, a National League record that remains unbroken to this day, and matched only once, in 1997, by Tony Gwynn. He also led the league in slugging six times and stolen bases five times. Wagner was nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman" due to his superb speed and German heritage. This nickname was a nod to the popular folk-tale made into a famous opera by the German composer Richard Wagner.
In , the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Wagner as one of the first five members. He received the second-highest vote total, behind Ty Cobb's 222 and tied with Babe Ruth at 215.
Most baseball historians consider Wagner to be the greatest shortstop ever and one of the greatest players ever. Ty Cobb himself called Wagner "maybe the greatest star ever to take the diamond". Honus Wagner is also the featured player of one of the rarest and the most valuable baseball cards in existence.
Early life
Wagner was born to German immigrants Peter and Katheryn Wagner in the borough of Chartiers, in what is now Carnegie, Pennsylvania.
Wagner was one of nine children. As a child, he was called Hans by his mother, which later evolved into Honus. "Hans" was also an alternate nickname during his major league career. Wagner dropped out of school at age 12 to help his father and brothers in the coal mines. In their free time, he and his brothers played sandlot baseball and developed their skills to such an extent that three of his brothers went on to become professionals as well.
Wagner's older brother, Albert "Butts" Wagner, who had a brief major league career himself, is often credited with getting Honus his first tryout. Butts persuaded his manager to take a look at his younger brother. Following his brother, Wagner trained to be a barber before becoming successful in baseball.
In 1916, Wagner married Bessie Baine Smith, and the couple had three daughters: Elva Katrina (b. 1918, stillborn), Betty Baine (1919–1992), and Virginia Mae (1922–1985).
Professional career
Career before Major League Baseball
Honus' brother Albert "Butts" Wagner was considered the ballplayer of the family. Albert suggested Honus in 1895 when his Inter-State League team was in need of help. Wagner played for five teams in that first year, in three different leagues over the course of 80 games.
In 1896, Edward Barrow, from the Wheeling, West Virginia, team that Wagner was playing on, decided to take Honus with him to his next team, the Paterson Silk Sox (Atlantic League). Barrow proved to be a good talent scout, as Wagner could play wherever he was needed, including all three bases and the outfield. Wagner hit .313 for Paterson in 1896 and .375 in 74 games in 1897.
Louisville Colonels
Recognizing that Wagner should be playing at the highest level, Barrow contacted the Louisville Colonels, who had finished last in the National League in 1896 with a record of 38–93. They were doing better in 1897 when Barrow persuaded club president Barney Dreyfuss, club secretary Harry Pulliam, and outfielder-manager Fred Clarke to go to Paterson to see Wagner play. Dreyfuss and Clarke were not impressed with the awkward-looking man, not surprising, as Wagner was oddly built: he was tall, weighed , and had a barrel chest, massive shoulders, heavily muscled arms, huge hands, and incredibly bowed legs that deprived him of any grace and several inches of height. Pulliam, though, persuaded Dreyfuss and Clarke to take a chance on him. Wagner debuted with Louisville on July 19 and hit .338 in 61 games.
By his second season, Wagner was already one of the best hitters in the National League although he came up short a percentage point from finishing the season at .300. Following the season, the NL contracted from twelve to eight teams, with the Colonels one of four teams eliminated. Owner Barney Dreyfuss, who had purchased half ownership in the Pirates, took Wagner and many of his other top players with him to the Pittsburgh team.
Tommy Leach recounted his impressions of joining the Louisville club in 1898 with hopes of winning the starting job at third base:
Pittsburgh Pirates
The move to the Pittsburgh Pirates signified Wagner's emergence as a premier hitter. In 1900, Wagner won his first batting championship with a .381 mark and also led the league in doubles (45), triples (22), and slugging percentage (.573), all of which were career highs. For the next nine seasons, Wagner's average did not fall below .330.
In , the American League began to sign National League players, creating a bidding war, which depleted the league of many talented players. Wagner was offered a $20,000 contract by the Chicago White Sox, but turned it down and continued to play with the Pirates.
Prior to 1904, Wagner had played several positions but settled into the shortstop role full-time that season, where he became a skilled fielder. His biography on BaseballLibrary.com describes his gritty style:
Bowlegged, barrel-chested, long-limbed ... he was often likened to an octopus. When he fielded grounders, his huge hands also collected large scoops of infield dirt, which accompanied his throws to first like the tail of a comet.
In 1898, Wagner won a distance contest in Louisville by throwing a baseball more than . In August 1899, he became the first player credited with stealing second base, third, and home in succession under the new rule differentiating between advanced bases and stolen bases. He repeated the feat in 1902, 1907, and 1909. Wagner retired with the National League record for most steals of home (27), which was broken by Greasy Neale in 1922.
In September 1905, Wagner signed a contract to produce the first bat with a player's signature, the Louisville Slugger, becoming the first sportsperson to endorse a commercial product; the Honus Wagner was to become a best-seller for years. One month later, with one point separating him from Reds center fielder Cy Seymour for the batting title, Wagner fell short in a head-to-head matchup on the final day of the season, with Seymour collecting four hits to Wagner's two, as contemporary press reports stated that the fans were far more interested in the Seymour-Wagner battle than in the outcome of the games.
Shortly before the season, Wagner retired. In desperation, owner Barney Dreyfuss offered him $10,000 per year, making him the highest-paid Pirate for many years. He returned to the Pirates early in the 1908 season, and finished two home runs short of the league's Triple Crown, leading the league in hitting (for the sixth time)‚ hits‚ total bases‚ doubles‚ triples‚ RBI‚ and stolen bases. Wagner took over the batting lead from the New York Giants' flamboyant outfielder Mike Donlin during a July 25 game against the Giants and their star pitcher Christy Mathewson. Wagner was 5-for-5 in the game; after each hit, he reportedly held up another finger to Donlin, who went hitless, and who had just beaten runner-up Wagner by a wide margin in a "most popular player" poll.
Bill James cites Wagner's 1908 season as the greatest single-season for any player in baseball history. He notes that the league ERA of 2.35 was the lowest of the dead-ball era and about half of the ERAs of modern baseball. Since Wagner hit .354 with 109 RBI in an environment when half as many runs were scored as today, he asks, "if you had a Gold Glove shortstop, like Wagner, who drove in 218 runs, what would he be worth?"
He was the first winner of 'The World's Championship Batsman' 's Cup, in 1908, made by Welshman George "Honey Boy" Evans.
1903 and 1909 World Series
In , the Pirates played the Boston Americans in Major League Baseball's inaugural World Series. Wagner, by this point, was an established star and much was expected of him, especially since the Pirates' starting rotation was decimated by injury. Wagner himself was not at full strength and hit only .222 for the series. The Americans, meanwhile, had some fans, called the "Royal Rooters" who, whenever Wagner came to bat, sang "Honus, Honus, why do you hit so badly?" to the tune of "Tessie", a popular song of the day. The Rooters, led by Boston bartender Michael "Nuf Ced" McGreevy, even traveled to Pittsburgh to continue their heckling. Pittsburgh lost in the best-of-nine series, five games to three, to a team led by pitchers Cy Young and Bill Dinneen and third baseman–manager Jimmy Collins. Christy Mathewson, in his book "Pitching in a Pinch" wrote: "For some time after "Hans" Wagner's poor showing in the world's series of 1903 ... it was reported that he was "yellow" (poor in the clutch). This grieved the Dutchman deeply, for I don't know a ballplayer in either league who would assay less quit to the ton than Wagner ... This was the real tragedy in Wagner's career. Notwithstanding his stolid appearance, he is a sensitive player, and this has hurt him more than anything else in his life ever has."
Wagner was distraught by his performance. The following spring, he refused to send his portrait to a "Hall of Fame" for batting champions, citing his play in the World Series. "I was too bum last year", he wrote. "I was a joke in that Boston-Pittsburgh Series. What does it profit a man to hammer along and make a few hits when they are not needed only to fall down when it comes to a pinch? I would be ashamed to have my picture up now."
Wagner and the Pirates were given a chance to prove that they were not "yellow" in . The Pirates faced Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers. The series was the only meeting of the two superior batsmen of the day, and the first time that the batting champions of each league faced one another (this later occurred thrice more, in 1931, 1954, and 2012 World Series). Wagner was by this time 35 years old, Cobb just 22.
This time, Wagner could not be stifled as he outhit Cobb, .333 to .231, and stole six bases, establishing the new Series record. The speed demon Cobb only managed two steals, one of which Cobb himself admitted was a botched call. Wagner recounted: "We had him out at second. We put up a squawk, but Silk O'Loughlin, the umpire, overruled it. We kept the squawk going for a minute or so, making no headway of course, and then Cobb spoke up. He turned to O'Loughlin, an American League umpire, by the way, and said, 'Of course I was out. They had me by a foot. You just booted the play, so come on, let's play ball.'"
There was also a story that was widely circulated over the years and famously recounted in Lawrence Ritter's The Glory of Their Times, that at one point Cobb was on first; he bragged to Wagner that he was going to steal second and threatened to assault him physically doing it; Wagner defiantly dared him to try it and placed an especially rough tag to Cobb's mouth; and the two exchanged choice words. Cobb denied it in his autobiography, and the play-by-play of the 1909 World Series confirms that the event could not have happened as stated: Cobb was never tagged out by Wagner in a caught-stealing.
The Pirates won the series in seven games behind the pitching of rookie Babe Adams.
Later career
In 1910, Wagner's average fell to .320, his lowest average since . Nevertheless, he aged exceptionally well; the three highest OPS+ seasons by any shortstop aged 35 or older belong to Wagner, and even his age-41 season ranks 8th on the list.
Wagner won the 1911 batting title by the narrowest of margins. He went hitless in a 1–0 win against the Cubs on May 30, but a successful league protest by the Cubs wiped out the result (and Wagner's at-bats). Wagner ended up edging the Boston Rustlers' Doc Miller, .334 to .333. The Pirates were in contention into August, but an ankle injury sidelined Wagner for 25 games and the team slid from the race.
On June 9, , at age 40, Wagner recorded his 3,000th hit, a double off Philadelphia's Erskine Mayer, the second player in baseball history to reach the figure, after Cap Anson, and Nap Lajoie joined them three months later. This accomplishment, however, came during a down period for Wagner and Pirates. Wagner hit only .252 in 1914, the lowest average of his career. In July 1915, he became the oldest player to hit a grand slam, a record which stood for 70 years until topped by 43-year-old Tony Pérez. In 1916, Wagner became the oldest player to hit an inside-the-park home run.
In , following another retirement, Wagner returned for his final, abbreviated season. Returning in June, he was spiked in July and played only sparingly for the remainder of the year, batting .265. He briefly held the role of interim manager, but after going 1–4, Wagner told owner Dreyfuss the job was not for him. He retired as the NL's all-time hit leader, with 3,430. (Subsequent research has since revised this total to 3,418.) It took 45 years for St. Louis' Stan Musial to surpass Wagner's hit total.
Wagner has been considered one of the very best all-around players to ever play baseball since the day he retired in 1917. Baseball historian and statistician Bill James named Honus Wagner as the second-best player of all time after Babe Ruth, rating him as the best major league player in 1900 and each year from 1902 to 1908. Statisticians John Thorn and Pete Palmer rate Wagner as ninth all-time in their "Total Player Ranking". Many of the greats who played or managed against Wagner, including Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, and Walter Johnson, list him at shortstop on their All-Time teams.
Life after baseball
Wagner was not finished playing baseball after his retirement from major league baseball. He managed and played for a semi-pro team.
After retirement, Wagner served the Pirates as a coach for 39 years, most notably as a hitting instructor from to . Arky Vaughan, Ralph Kiner, Pie Traynor (player-manager from –), and Hank Greenberg (although Greenberg was in his final major league season in 1947, his only season with the Pirates, and very well established) all future Hall of Famers, were notable "pupils" of Wagner. During this time, he wore uniform number 14 but later changed it to his more famous 33, which was later the number retired for him. (His entire playing career was in the days before uniform numbers were worn.) His appearances at National League stadiums during his coaching years were always well received and Wagner remained a beloved ambassador of baseball. Wagner also coached baseball and basketball at Carnegie Institute of Technology, which is now part of Carnegie Mellon University.
In 1928, Wagner ran for the office of Sheriff of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania but lost. He was appointed as a deputy of the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office in 1942. He also ran a well-known sporting goods company. A sporting goods store bearing the name "Honus Wagner" operated in downtown Pittsburgh for 93 years before closing permanently in 2011.
The Pirates hosted the 1944 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Forbes Field. Wagner was invited to be an honorary coach for the National League squad, the first time this honor was bestowed in Major League Baseball's All-Star Game.
Wagner lived the remainder of his life in Pittsburgh, where he was well known as a friendly figure around town. He died on December 6, 1955, at the age of 81, and he is buried at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh.
Film legacy
Wagner, along with his famous baseball card, was one of the earliest athletes to make the crossover into pop culture film. He starred as a sports hero in 1919's Spring Fever with Moe Howard and Shemp Howard of the Three Stooges, and has been depicted as the subject of The Winning Season (2004) and in a brief scene in Cobb (1994).
Baseball legacy
When the Baseball Hall of Fame held its first election in 1936, Wagner tied for second in the voting with Babe Ruth, trailing Cobb. A 1942 Sporting News poll of 100 former players and managers confirmed this opinion, with Wagner finishing 43 votes behind Cobb and six ahead of Ruth. In 1969, on the 100th anniversary of professional baseball, a vote was taken to honor the greatest players ever, and Wagner was selected as the all-time shortstop. In 1999, 82 years after his last game and 44 years since his death, Wagner was voted Number 13 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Players, where he was again the highest-ranking shortstop. That same year, he was selected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team by the oversight committee, after losing out in the popular vote to Cal Ripken, Jr. and Ernie Banks.
Christy Mathewson asserted that Wagner was the only player he faced that did not have a weakness. Mathewson felt that the only way to keep Wagner from hitting was not to pitch to him.
"A stirring march and two-step", titled "Husky Hans", and "respectfully dedicated to Hans Wagner, Three-time Champion Batsman of The National League" was written by William J. Hartz in 1904.
Bill James says that Wagner is easily the greatest shortstop of all time, noting that the difference between Wagner and the second greatest shortstop, in James' estimation Arky Vaughan, is roughly the same as the gulf between Vaughan and the 20th greatest shortstop.
Wagner is mentioned in the poem Line-Up for Yesterday by Ogden Nash.
A life-size statue of Wagner swinging a bat, atop a marble pedestal featuring admiring children, was forged by a local sculptor named Frank Vittor, and placed outside the left-field corner gate at Forbes Field. It was dedicated on April 30, 1955, and the then-frail Wagner was well enough to attend and wave to his many fans. The Pirates have relocated twice since then, and the statue has come along with them. It now stands outside the main gate of PNC Park. The statue roughly faces the site of the Pirates' original home, Exposition Park, so in a sense, Wagner has come full circle.
Wagner is honored in the form of a small stadium residing behind Carnegie Elementary School on Washington Avenue in Carnegie, Pennsylvania. The stadium serves as the home field for Carlynton High School varsity sports. The Historical Society of Carnegie History Center houses the Honus Wagner Sports Museum which includes many Wagner collectibles and memorabilia. Visitors receive replicas of the famous card.
In the 1992 episode Homer at the Bat, the popular TV show The Simpsons made a reference to Wagner. The character Mr. Burns lists three ringers he wants for his company's baseball team, but they are Honus Wagner, Cap Anson, and "Mordecai 'Three Fingers' Brown". His assistant has to point out that they are not only retired but long-dead ... Anson having played in the late 19th century.
In 2000, Wagner was honored with a U.S. postage stamp. The stamp was issued as part of a "Legends of Baseball" series that honored 20 all-time greats in conjunction with MLB's All-Century team.
T206 Baseball card
The T206 Honus Wagner baseball card''' is one of the rarest and most expensive baseball cards in the world, as only 57 copies are known to exist. The card was designed and issued by the American Tobacco Company (ATC) from 1909 to 1911 as part of its T206 series. While sources allege that Wagner, a nonsmoker, refused to allow the production of his baseball card to continue, the more likely reason was the sum ATC was willing to pay Wagner. The ATC ended production of the Wagner card and a total of only 57 to 200 cards were ever distributed to the public, as compared to the "tens or hundreds of thousands" of T206 cards, over three years in 16 brands of cigarettes, for any other player. In 1933, the card was first listed at a price value of US $50 in Jefferson Burdick's The American Card Catalog, making it the most expensive baseball card at the time.
The typical card in the T206 series had a width of and a height of . Some cards were awkwardly shaped or irregularly sized, which prompted a belief that many of the cards in the series had been altered at one point or another. In his work Inside T206: A Collector Guide to the Classic Baseball Card Set, Scot A. Reader wrote that, "It is not at all uncommon to find T206 examples that have been altered at some point during their near-century of existence." These discrepancies were taken advantage of by "card doctors" who trimmed corners and dirty edges to improve the appearance of the card. The front of all T206 series cards, including the Wagner card, displayed a lithograph of the player created by a multi-stage printing process in which a number of colors were printed on top of each other to create a lithograph with the appropriate design. The backs of the cards featured the monochromatic colors of the 16 tobacco brands for which the cards were printed. The Wagner cards in particular advertised the Piedmont and Sweet Caporal brands of cigarettes and were produced at Factory 25 in Virginia, as indicated by the factory stamp imprinted on the back of the cards.
Starting from January 1909, the ATC sought authorization from baseball players for inclusion in the T206 series, which featured 524 major league players, 76 of whom were later inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Wagner had been at the top of his game throughout the decade and was even considered the game's greatest player at the time. He had appeared on advertisements for a number of other products such as chewing gum, gunpowder, and soft drinks. Unsurprisingly, the ATC asked for Wagner's permission to have his picture on a baseball card. According to an October 12, 1912 issue of The Sporting News, Wagner did not give his consent to appear on the baseball card. In response to the authorization request letter sent by John Gruber, a Pittsburgh sportswriter hired by the ATC to seek Wagner's permission, Wagner wrote that he "did not care to have his picture in a package of cigarettes". He threatened to seek legal action against ATC if they went ahead and created his baseball card.
A near mint-mint condition T206 Wagner card sold in 2007 for $2.8 million, the highest price ever for a baseball card. In 2010, a previously unknown copy of the card was donated to the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Baltimore. The card, which was in poor condition, sold in November 2010 to a collector for $262,000, well over the $150,000 that was expected at auction. The card came with Sister Virginia Muller's brother's handwritten note: "Although damaged, the value of this baseball card should increase exponentially throughout the 21st century!"
On April 20, 2012, a New Jersey resident purchased a VG-3 graded T206 Wagner card for more than $1.2 million.
On April 6, 2013, a 1909–11 T206 baseball card featuring Honus Wagner sold at auction for $2.1 million.
On October 1, 2016, a T206 Wagner card graded PSA-5 sold for $3.12 million, setting yet again the record for the highest price paid for any baseball card.
On May 29, 2019, a Honus Wagner T-206 sold for $1.2 million by SCP Auctions in Southern California. The same card had been previously auctioned for $657,250 in 2014 and $776,750 in 2016. The encapsulated card was rated as only a 2 on a scale to 10.
In May 2021, one example sold for a new record $3.75 million. In doing so it became the second most expensive baseball card sold at auction.
In August 2021, another example sold for $6.6 million dollars making it the most valuable sportscard.
The card featured in the plot of the Nickelodeon film Swindle.
Statistics
The numbers shown below are the figures officially recognized on MLB.com.
The figures on Baseball-Reference.com are as follows. Other private research sites may have different figures. Caught Stealing is not shown comprehensively for Wagner's MLB.com totals because the stat was not regularly captured until 1920. Strikeouts is not shown comprehensively for Wagner's MLB.com totals, because the stat was not regularly captured until 1910. Note that mlb.com's Total Bases do not correspond to the number of hits, 2B, 3B, and HR listed.
See also
3,000 hit club
List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball career triples leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball doubles records
List of Major League Baseball triples records
List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders
List of Major League Baseball batting champions
List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual runs scored leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual stolen base leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders
List of Major League Baseball player-managers
Major League Baseball titles leaders
References
Bibliography
Hall of Fame Network: "Honus Wagner as Mona Lisa", HOFMAG.com. Honus Wagner: A Biography, by Dennis DeValeria and Jeanne Burke DeValeria, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1995.
Hittner, Arthur D. Honus Wagner: The Life of Baseball's "Flying Dutchman." Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1996 and 2003 (softcover). . Winner of the 1996 Seymour Medal, awarded by the Society for American Baseball Research.Honus and Me'' by Dan Gutman (novel), Perfection Learning Corporation, 1999.
External links
The T206 Collection – The Players & Their Stories
Honus Wagner's Obit – The New York Times, Tuesday, December 6, 1955
Honus-Wagner.org
19th-century baseball players
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Louisville Colonels players
Baseball players from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball shortstops
National League batting champions
National League RBI champions
National League stolen base champions
Pittsburgh Pirates managers
Pittsburgh Pirates players
Pittsburgh Pirates coaches
Sportspeople from Pennsylvania
Major League Baseball players with retired numbers
Carnegie Mellon University faculty
People from Washington County, Pennsylvania
1874 births
1955 deaths
American people of German descent
Minor league baseball managers
Adrian Reformers players
Adrian Demons players
Steubenville Stubs players
Akron Akrons players
Lima Kids players
Mansfield Kids players
Paterson Silk Weavers players
Major League Baseball player-managers
American sportsmen
People from Carnegie, Pennsylvania
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[
"Hagen Friedrich Liebing (18 February 1961 – 25 September 2016), nicknamed \"The Incredible Hagen\", was a German musician and journalist, best known as the bassist for the influential punk band Die Ärzte. \n\nIn 1986, drummer Bela B invited him to join Die Ärzte. The two knew each other from early Berlin punk days. The band disbanded in 1988. Liebing tried his hand at journalism shortly thereafter. He wrote several articles for Der Tagesspiegel, and was the senior music editor of Tip Berlin since the mid-1990s. \n\nWhen Die Ärzte reunited in 1993, Liebing did not join them. However, he did join them on stage as a special guest in 2002. In 2003, he published his memoirs The Incredible Hagen – My Years with Die Ärzte. From 2003 to 2010, he headed the Press and Public Relations at the football club Tennis Borussia Berlin. \n\nLiebing died in Berlin on 25 September 2016, after a battle with a brain tumor.\n\nReferences\n\n1961 births\n2016 deaths\nMusicians from Berlin\nGerman male musicians\nGerman journalists\nDeaths from cancer in Germany\nDeaths from brain tumor",
"Gefangen im Schattenreich von Die Ärzte (\"Imprisoned in the netherworld of Die Ärzte\") is the third VHS by German rock band Die Ärzte. It features live and backstage videos. It is the first part of the tour videos from 1993 to 1996.\n\nTrack listing \n \"Super Drei\" (Super three)\n \"Geh mit mir\" (Date me lit. Go with me)\n \"FaFaFa\"\n \"Friedenspanzer\" (Peace tank)\n \"Der Misanthrop\" (The misanthrope)\n \"Teddybär\" (Teddy bear)\n \"2000 Mädchen\" (2,000 girls)\n \"Vermissen, Baby\" (Missing, baby)\n \"Omaboy\" (Grandma boy)\n \"Schunder-Song\"\n \"Ich bin reich\" (I'm rich)\n \"Anneliese Schmidt\"\n \"Westerland\"\n \"Revolution\"\n \"Ist das alles?\" (Is that all?)\n Video clip: \"Hurra\" (Hooray!)\n \"Making of: Quark\"\n\nNoch mehr gefangen im Schattenreich von Die Ärzte \nNoch mehr gefangen im Schattenreich von Die Ärzte (\"Even more imprisoned in the netherworld of Die Ärzte\") is the fourth VHS by the German rock band Die Ärzte. It features the second part of the tour videos from 1993 to 1996.\n\nTrack listing \n \"Making of: Planet Punk\"\n \"Zum Bäcker\" (To the baker)\n \"Mysteryland\"\n \"Making of: 3-Tage-Bart\" (Designer stubble; lit: 3-days-beard)\n \"Trick 17 m.S\"\n \"Elke\"\n \"Die Banane\" (The banana)\n \"Frank'n'Stein\"\n \"Westerland\"\n \"Paul\"\n \"BGS\" (Bundesgrenzschutz - Federal Border Guard)\n \"Making of: Hurra\" (Hooray!)\n \"Die traurige Ballade von Susi Spakowski\"\n \"Die Allerschürfste\" (The Superhottest)\n \"Tour-Charts - Was Die Ärzte so hinter der Bühne singen…\" (Tour charts - What Die Ärzte sing backstage)\n \"Alleine in der Nacht\" (Alone at night)\n \"Sweet Sweet Gwendoline\"\n \"Making of: Schunder-Song\"\n \"Schopenhauer\"\n \"Punk Rock - Die Ärzte als Gesangstrio, das alte deutsche Lieder vorträgt\" (Punk Rock - Die Ärzte as a singing-trio, singing old German songs)\n \"B.S.L.\" (Brutaler, schneller Lärm - Brutal, rapid noise)\n \"Wie am ersten Tag\" (Like the first day)\n \"Blumen\" (Flowers)\n \"Erna P.\"\n \"Vollmilch\" (Whole milk)\n \"Schrei nach Liebe\" (Cry for love)\n \"Rod Loves You\"\n\nVollkommen gefangen im Schattenreich von Die Ärzte \nVollkommen gefangen im Schattenreich von Die Ärzte (\"Completely imprisoned in the netherworld of Die Ärzte\") is the third DVD by German rock band Die Ärzte. It is a DVD sampler of the tour videos from 1993 to 1996.\n\nSong information \nVHS 1\n Track 6, 12 from the EP Zu schön, um wahr zu sein!\n Track 11 from the album Die Ärzte\n Track 7 from the album Ist das alles? (13 Höhepunkte mit den Ärzten)\n Track 13 from the album Das ist nicht die ganze Wahrheit...\n Track 3, 4, 9, 14 from the album Die Bestie in Menschengestalt\n Track 1, 2, 5, 8, 10 from the album Planet Punk\n\nVHS 2\n Track 24 from the single \"Paul\"\n Track 8, 10 from the album Debil\n Track 3, 16, 17 from the album Die Ärzte\n Track 6, 9, 22, 23 from the album Das ist nicht die ganze Wahrheit...\n Track 2, 25 from the album Die Ärzte früher!\n Track 11 from the EP 1, 2, 3, 4 – Bullenstaat!\n Track 14, 19, 26 from the album Die Bestie in Menschengestalt\n Track 5, 7, 13, 21, 27 from the album Planet Punk\n\nChart performance\nVollkommen gefangen im Schattenreich von Die Ärzte peaked at No. 71 in Germany.\n\nCertifications\n\nReferences\n\nDie Ärzte video albums\n1996 video albums\nLive video albums\n1996 live albums"
] |
[
"Joaquin Phoenix",
"2006-2010: Producing and self-imposed break"
] |
C_7778de4d51af45d58cbe0ea79e0db2f7_0
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What did Joaquin do in 2006?
| 1 |
What did Joaquin do in 2006?
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Joaquin Phoenix
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In 2006, Phoenix was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2007, Phoenix reunited with director James Gray for the film We Own the Night, which he also produced. In the film, Phoenix played a New York nightclub manager who tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hit men. The film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, receiving mixed reviews from critics and grossed a total of $54.5 million worldwide. Critic Peter Travers described Phoenix as "electrifying and then some", and he was awarded the People's Choice Award for Favorite Leading Man for the performance. For his second film of 2007, Phoenix also reunited with director Terry George for the film Reservation Road. In it, Phoenix played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident. The film failed at the box office and received negative reviews from critics, with film critic Peter Travers writing "Even the best actors -- and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest -- can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix made his third collaboration with director James Gray in the film Two Lovers (2008), where he played a bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor. Two Lovers premiered in competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival in May, receiving largely positive reviews, especially Phoenix who was praised by film critics David Edelstein who wrote "He [Phoenix] is, once again, stupendous, and stupendous in a way he has never been before" and Roger Ebert describing his performance as "perfect pitch". Two Lovers grossed $16 million worldwide. Phoenix's mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010) premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival on September 6, 2010. The film was directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and was also written by Affleck and Phoenix himself. The film purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist. Filming officially began on January 16, 2009 at a Las Vegas nightclub. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Although widely suspected to be a "mockumentary," the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. The film received mixed reviews and failed at the box office. After the releasing of the film, Phoenix took a self-imposed break from acting. CANNOTANSWER
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In 2006, Phoenix was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and animal rights activist. Known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent film, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was ranked 12th on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times.
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Los Angeles and Florida, Phoenix began his career by appearing in television series in the early 1980s with his brother River. His first major film roles were in SpaceCamp (1986) and Parenthood (1989). During this period, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, a name he gave himself. He took back his birth first name in the early 1990s and received critical acclaim for his supporting roles in the comedy-drama film To Die For (1995) and the period film Quills (2000). Phoenix received further critical acclaim and first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of the evil emperor Commodus in the historical drama film Gladiator (2000). He had success with the horror films Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), the historical drama Hotel Rwanda (2004) and won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of musician Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line (2005). He continued to receive acclaim in two features with his frequent director James Gray; the action thriller We Own the Night (2007) and the romantic drama Two Lovers (2008), before taking a break from acting.
In the 2010s, Phoenix returned to acting to critical acclaim. He starred in the psychological drama The Master (2012), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and earning his third Academy Award nomination. He received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the romantic drama Her (2013) and the crime satire Inherent Vice (2014) and won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here (2017). Phoenix achieved international stardom and won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a second Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of the title character in Joker (2019).
Phoenix is an animal rights activist. He has been vegan since the age of three and regularly supports charitable causes and has produced several documentaries on global meat consumption and its impact on the environment. He is in a relationship with actress Rooney Mara, with whom he has a son.
Early life and acting background
Joaquin Rafael Bottom was born on October 28, 1974, in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to John Lee Bottom, the founder of a landscape gardening company, and Arlyn "Heart" Bottom (née Dunetz), who was an executive secretary at NBC and whose connection to an agent provided her children with acting work. He is the third of five children, following River (1970–1993) and Rain (born 1972), and preceding Liberty (born 1976) and Summer (born 1978), all of whom have been involved in acting. He also has a half-sister named Jodean (born 1964) from his father's previous relationship. His father was a Catholic from Fontana, California and was of English, German and French ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Meyer Dunetz, was Russian Jewish and his maternal grandmother, Margit Lefkowitz, was Hungarian Jewish; they were both Ashkenazi Jews who resided in New York City. His parents met when his mother was hitchhiking in California and got married less than a year after meeting.
Soon after the second child was born, they joined the religious cult called Children of God and started traveling throughout South America and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean as Christian missionaries, where the next two children were born. They eventually grew disillusioned with Children of God and left in 1977, being opposed to the cult's increasingly distorted rules, particularly the practice of flirty fishing. The fifth child was born in Florida where the family settled for a while. It was also around this time they legally adopted the surname Phoenix, inspired by the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, symbolizing a new beginning. When Phoenix was three, he and his older siblings witnessed fish being killed as the fishermen threw them violently against nails into the wall. This act made the whole family convert to veganism. He also began calling himself "Leaf", having been inspired by spending time outdoors raking leaves and desiring to have a nature-related name like his siblings. Leaf became the name he used before changing it back to his birth name Joaquin at the age of fifteen.
In 1979, after Phoenix's father had to stop working because of an old spinal injury, the whole family moved to Los Angeles where the mother met a high-profile child agent named Iris Burton, who got the children into commercials and bit parts on TV. He made his acting debut alongside his brother in the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the 1982 episode "Christmas Song". He has said of his first time acting:
In 1984, Phoenix starred opposite River in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, for which they shared a nomination for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television at the 6th Youth in Film Awards. He also made guest appearances in the Murder, She Wrote episode "We're Off to Kill the Wizard" and individual episodes of The Fall Guy and Hill Street Blues. A year later, Phoenix appeared in the television film Kids Don't Tell. To supplement their income, the kids sang their original songs like "Gonna Make It," written by River, and busked for money in matching yellow shirts and shorts. They also studied dance; Phoenix became an avid break dancer. Phoenix dropped out of high school when he was sent a dead frog in the mail to dissect for his biology studies, which prompted him to discontinue his studies. Dissatisfied with life in Los Angeles, the Phoenixes moved back to Florida, settling in Gainesville.
Career
1986–1999: Early work and return to acting
Phoenix made his feature film debut in the adventure film SpaceCamp (1986) as a young boy who goes to Kennedy Space Center to learn about the NASA space program and undergoes amateur astronaut training. He guest starred in the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "A Very Happy Ending" in the same year, playing a child who blackmails a hitman (played by Robert Loggia) into killing his father (John Aprea). Phoenix's first starring role was in the film Russkies (1987), about a group of friends who unknowingly befriend a Russian soldier during the Cold War.
In 1989, Phoenix co-starred as Garry, the withdrawn teenage nephew of Steve Martin's character in Ron Howard's comedy-drama Parenthood. The film was box office success, grossing $126 million worldwide against its $20 million budget. Critics praised the film, with IndieWire reviewers highlighting the film's cast and their performances for possessing "genuinely likable, and occasionally insightful, heart" calling Phoenix a "terrifically believable angsty adolescent", in a performance which garnered him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film. The role of Garry was reprised in the series based on the film by Leonardo DiCaprio, who studied Phoenix's performance in order to get it right. After establishing himself as a child actor, Phoenix felt that he wasn't getting any appealing offers and decided to take a break from acting and traveled to Mexico with his father, learning Spanish. When he returned to the States, his brother River Phoenix suggested that Phoenix changed his name back to Joaquin and encouraged him to start acting again.
On October 31, 1993, River died of an overdose outside The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Phoenix, who had accompanied his brother and older sister Rain to the club, called 911 to seek help for his dying brother. After the death, the phone call was repeatedly broadcast on TV and radio shows. The family retreated to Costa Rica to escape the media glare as the event came to be depicted as a cautionary tale of young Hollywood surrounded by mythology and conspiracy.
In 1995, Phoenix returned to acting in Gus Van Sant's black comedy To Die For, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was inspired by the Pamela Smart murder case. Phoenix starred as Jimmy Emmett, a disturbed young man who is seduced by a woman (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. The film premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, with New York Times critic Janet Maslin praising Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all."
In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. The film was released to a dismal box office performance and was not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) investigate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out to be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics.
2000–2010: Critical acclaim and commercial success
In 2000, Phoenix co-starred in three films. In the first of these, he portrayed a fictionalized version of Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's historical epic film Gladiator. The film received positive reviews and grossed $457 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly called Phoenix's work "a more nuanced star-making performance" when comparing him to the lead Russell Crowe, writing "Phoenix turns what could have easily been a cartoonish villain into a richly layered study of pathology." Phoenix earned his first nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. He and his late brother River became the first brothers to be nominated for acting Academy Awards. To this date, they are the only brothers to hold this distinction.
His next film marked his first collaboration with director James Gray in The Yards. The crime film follows the corruption in the rail yards of Queens. Although failing to perform well at the box office, The Yards received positive reviews from critics with many considering Phoenix's performance as the villain a stand out. The third release of 2000 was Philip Kaufman's Quills, a satirical thriller inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade. Phoenix portrayed the conflicted priest Abbé de Coulmier opposite Kate Winslet. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was a modest art house success grossing a total of $17 million at the box office. It was received with critical praise with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praising Phoenix and his chemistry with Winslet, stating "Phoenix, on a roll this year with Gladiator and The Yards, excels at making the priest a seductive figure — a neat trick considering the real Abbe was a four-foot hunchback. Winslet and Phoenix generate real fire, notably when Abbe dreams of ravishing Madeleine on the altar." For his combined roles of that year, Phoenix was awarded the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The following year, Phoenix starred in the satirical film Buffalo Soldiers as a U.S. Army soldier. The world premiere was held at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in early September. However, because the film was a satire of the US military, its wider theatrical run was delayed by approximately two years because of the September 11 attacks; it was finally released on July 25, 2003. BBCs Nev Pierce wrote that "Phoenix is excellent as a Gen X Sergeant Bilko, ensuring his cheerfully amoral character never loses heart - showcasing tenderness, love, grief and fear as his games get out of control" and Phoenix received a nomination for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor.
The science fiction thriller Signs (2002) marked Phoenix's first collaboration with director M. Night Shyamalan. In the film, he played Merrill Hess, a former Minor League baseball player who, along with his older brother Graham (Mel Gibson), discovers that Earth has been invaded by extraterrestrials. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Phoenix's performance was praised, with critic Peter Travers writing that Phoenix "registers impressively, finding the humor and the pain in this lost boy [...] never making a false move as a helpless Merrill watches his rock of a brother crumble into a despairing crisis of faith." The film was a commercial success, grossing $408.2 million worldwide.
In 2003, Phoenix played the irresolute husband of a superstar-skater (Claire Danes) in Thomas Vinterberg's romance-drama It's All About Love, and voiced Kenai in the Disney animated film Brother Bear. Phoenix expressed immense joy being cast as the lead voice role in a Disney animated feature, stating "The real pinnacle [in my career] is that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the greatest?" The film grossed $250.4 million worldwide, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He was replaced by Patrick Dempsey in the sequel Brother Bear 2. Phoenix reunited with Shyamalan in the period thriller The Village (2004). The film is about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it, referred to as "Those We Don't Speak Of". He played farmer Lucius Hunt, a role which Christopher Orr of The Atlantic found "underdeveloped". Though initially receiving mixed reviews, the film attracted retrospective reviews years after its release. Several critics deemed it one of Shyamalan's best films, praising Phoenix's "terrific" performance. The film was a financial success, grossing $256.7 million worldwide on its $60 million budget.
In his next film of the year, he starred opposite John Travolta in the drama film Ladder 49 as a Baltimore firefighter. In preparation for the role, Phoenix trained for two months with the Baltimore Fire Department, putting out actual fires. He admitted that he was afraid of heights before he started making this film, recalling "I got to the pole and I looked down and I couldn't do it. But you go through the training and it exposes your fears and helps you to overcome them. We ended up rappelling off a six-story tower and that really helped." The film earned $102.3 million at the box office despite receiving generally mixed reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the performances in the film. Phoenix's final film of 2004 was Terry George's Hotel Rwanda, playing cameraman Jack Daglish. Based on the Rwandan genocide, the film documents Paul Rusesabagina's (Don Cheadle) efforts to save the lives of his family and more than 1,000 other refugees by providing them with shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. The film was a moderate financial success but was a critical success, receiving almost exclusively positive reviews from critics. For his performance in the film, Phoenix was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast.
In 2005, Phoenix co-starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the James Mangold directed film Walk the Line, a Johnny Cash biopic, after Cash himself approved of Phoenix. All of Cash's vocal tracks in the film and on the accompanying soundtrack are played and sung by Phoenix. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, eventually grossing $186 million worldwide. Phoenix's performance received rave reviews from critics and it inspired film critic Roger Ebert to write, "Knowing Johnny Cash's albums more or less by heart, I closed my eyes to focus on the soundtrack and decided that, yes, that was the voice of Johnny Cash I was listening to. The closing credits make it clear it's Joaquin Phoenix doing the singing, and I was gob-smacked". For his portrayal of Johnny Cash, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's soundtrack. Phoenix also received a second Academy Award nomination, his first in the Best Actor category as well as a second BAFTA nomination. Earlier that year, he narrated Earthlings (2005), a documentary about the investigation of animal abuse in factory farms, and pet mills, and for scientific research. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2005, for his work and contribution to Earthlings. Animal rights philosopher Tom Regan remarked that "for those who watch Earthlings, the world will never be the same".
Phoenix's first producing task was the action thriller We Own the Night (2007), in which he played nightclub manager Bobby Green/Grusinsky who tries to save his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) from Russian mafia hitmen. The James Gray-directed film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews; Roger Ebert praised Gray's direction and the acting, but criticized its screenplay for lack of originality. David Edelstein of New York Magazine commended Phoenix for elevating the film's conflict, writing that it "might be heavy-handed without Phoenix's face—his irresolution somehow more powerful than other actors' resolve. There is no artifice. He's not an actor disappearing into a role but a man disappearing into himself[...]Phoenix homes in on the truth of this person. It's the paradox of the greatest acting".
Later that year, he played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident in his second feature with Terry George, the crime drama film Reservation Road. The film received mixed reviews from critics; Peter Travers praised Phoenix's acting stating "Even the best actors – and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest – can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix also executive produced the television show 4Real, a half-hour program which began airing in 2007. The series showcased celebrity guests on global adventures "in order to connect with young leaders who are creating social and economic change".
In 2008, Phoenix starred as a suicidal bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor in Gray's Two Lovers. The romantic drama premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Reviews for the film and Phoenix's performance were positive; New York Magazine'''s chief critic called it his best performance to date and Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter felt that Phoenix led the film with "great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable". During the promotion of Two Lovers, Phoenix had started to film his next performance for the mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010), which the media felt overshadowed the former's theatrical release. I'm Still Here purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist managed by rap icon Sean "Diddy" Combs. Directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and co-written by Affleck and Phoenix, the little-seen film premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival to mixed reviews; critics were divided on whether to interpret the film as documentary or performance art. After its release, Phoenix explained that the idea for the feature arose from his amazement that people believed reality television shows' claims of being unscripted. By claiming to retire from acting, he and Affleck planned to make a film that "explored celebrity, and explored the relationship between the media and the consumers and the celebrities themselves" through their film.
2011–2018: Established career and continued acclaim
In 2011, it was announced that Phoenix would star in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama film The Master, which traces the relationship between Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II navy veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society and Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffmann), a leader of a religious movement known as "The Cause". To create the character, Phoenix lost a significant amount of weight and went to a dentist to help force his jaw shut on one side; a trait his own father had. The film premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival where he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. The art house film only grossed $28 million but was received with critical acclaim, with Phoenix's performance receiving high praise. Peter Travers called it the performance of his career writing "Acting doesn't get better or go deeper[...]Phoenix wears the role like a second skin. You can't take your eyes off him." His performance as Freddie was described as "career-defining" by Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, who was impressed that Anderson and Phoenix collaboratively were able to build such complex work around such a derelict figure. Fellow actor Daniel Day-Lewis publicly lauded the "remarkable" Phoenix while accepting the Screen Actors Guild Award, apologising for the fact that Phoenix hadn't been nominated for the same award. Despite this, Phoenix received his third Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his leading role.
Phoenix and Gray's fourth collaboration came with The Immigrant (2013), a drama film in which he played the supporting role of a pimp who prostitutes Polish immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and ends up falling for her. The Immigrant and his performance premiered to highly positive reviews at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In his review, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club thought the film featured one of his best performances and commended Phoenix's and Gray's developing work, writing of that "the two are so perfectly in sync, that it's hard to tell where Phoenix's performance ends and Gray's visual style[...]—begins", further lauding their development of Bruno into "a fully fledged tragic character, even though he is neither the protagonist of The Immigrant nor the main driving force behind its plot".
His next feature film of that year was the Spike Jonze-directed romantic science-fiction drama Her. He played Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. Released to critical acclaim, critic A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club labeled Phoenix as "one of the most emotionally honest actors in Hollywood", impressed at how he effortlessly unleashes waves of vulnerability in the film's many tight, invasive close-up images, calling it a "tremendous performance, one that rescues this character—a mess of insecurities, regrets, and desires—from the walking pity party he could have been". Her earned more than double of its production budget, and Phoenix received his fourth nomination at the Golden Globes. Several journalists expressed disappointment over his failure to receive an Oscar nomination for it, with Peter Knegt of IndieWire naming it of one of ten worst Oscar acting snubs of the last decade in 2015.
In 2014, Phoenix took on the role of Doc Sportello, a private investigator and hippie/dope head trying to help his ex-girlfriend solve a crime in the crime comedy-drama Inherent Vice, based on Thomas Pynchon's detective novel of the same name. Reviews toward the film were positive; critics praised Phoenix's performance and Paul Thomas Anderson's direction, while some were frustrated by its complicated plot. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph termed Phoenix as Anderson's "perfect leading man" and his work as "the kind of quietly dazzling performance that rarely wins awards but will be adoringly dissected and quoted for decades". Phoenix earned his fifth Golden Globe nomination for the film.
After narrating the sequel to Earthlings, the 2015 animal rights' documentary Unity, Phoenix teamed with director Woody Allen and Emma Stone in the crime mystery film Irrational Man. He played Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor experiencing an existential crisis. The film was released to mixed reviews at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival; The Hollywood Reporter felt that the film was too similar to Allen's previous films, but praised Phoenix's chemistry with Stone and Phoenix for playing the character "with a wonderful baggy, lived-in quality that makes us want to climb inside the character's whiskey-sozzled head".
The thriller You Were Never Really Here, written and directed by Lynne Ramsay and based on the novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames, ranks among the most acclaimed films of Phoenix's career. The film is about Joe (played by Phoenix), a traumatized former FBI agent and Gulf War veteran who tracks down missing girls for a living. To prepare for the film, Phoenix was advised by a former bodyguard who goes on international missions to rescue children suffering sexual exploitation and abuse by human traffickers; he gained a significant amount of weight and muscle for the part. Phoenix was Ramsay's first and only choice to play the veteran, with Ramsay calling him "my soulmate in making movies". The film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it received universal acclaim and earned Phoenix the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times described Phoenix's performance as "the most rivetingly contained" work of his career and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer of Consequence noted that his evocative manners in the film, led to him giving career-high work and "the kind of haunting turn that only comes around a few times every decade or so".
In 2018, Phoenix portrayed Jesus in the biblical drama Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis. The film, and his performance, received mixed reviews; a reviewer for Entertainment Weekly thought that Phoenix lacked the quiet compassion and grace that was required for the role, while Nick Allen of Roger Ebert's website described his performance as "a human being who is visibly tormented by the power and wisdom that works through him", deeming it one of the best portrayals of Jesus ever. His next two featuresthe biopic Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and the crime drama The Sisters Brothers were much better received. In the former, Phoenix reunited with his To Die For director Gus Van Sant to portray quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote that there's no better leading actor producing better work than Phoenix, stating "The actor – never a simple chameleon, but someone who disappears into a role entirely with a frightening conviction – continues to display new and tremendous range here" and David Hughes of Empire thought that in a more conventional film, Phoenix would be the favourite to win an Academy Award.
The third film of 2018 was The Sisters Brothers, Jacques Audiard's adaptation of the novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt. The film starred John C. Reilly and Phoenix as the notorious assassin brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters respectively and chronicles their chase after two men who have banded together to search for gold. Writing for Roger Ebert's website, Tomris Laffly commented on Phoenix's and Reilly's "tremendous chemistry" and Lindsey Behr of the Associated Press opined that the duo "excellently manage all the various tones in the film".
Also in 2018, he collaborated with Rooney Mara and Sia to narrate Chris Delforce's documentary Dominion. Animal rights activists have called it one of the most powerful documentaries ever made. For his contribution to the documentary, Phoenix was granted the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.
2019–present: Joker and further success
In 2019, Phoenix starred as the DC Comics character Joker in Todd Phillips's psychological thriller Joker; an alternative origin story for the character. Set in 1981, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. Phoenix lost in preparation, and based his laugh on "videos of people suffering from pathological laughter." Released to critical acclaim at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, the film experienced a polarized critical reception after its theatrical release. While Phoenix's performance received rave reviews, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-life violence; the movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises refused to show it. Despite this, Joker became a box office success grossing over $1 billion (against its $55 million production budget), the first and only R-rated film to do so, becoming Phoenix's highest-grossing film.
Pete Hammond of Deadline wrote of Phoenix's "extraordinary" performance, describing it as "dazzling risky and original" and The Hollywood Reporters David Rooney called his performance the "must-see factor" of the film, writing "he inhabits [the character] with an insanity by turns pitiful and fearsome in an out-there performance that's no laughing matter[...]Phoenix is the prime force that makes Joker such a distinctively edgy entry in the Hollywood comics industrial complex." The film earned him numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor.
In 2020, Phoenix served as an executive producer on Gunda, directed by Viktor Kossakovsky. The acclaimed documentary follows the daily life of a pig, two cows, and a one-legged chicken. That same year, Phoenix was named on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times. The list was compiled by famed critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott and Phoenix's paragraph was written by his frequent collaborator, director James Gray.
In 2021, he starred in Mike Mills' drama C'mon C'mon, as Johnny, a radio journalist who embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew. The A24 film premiered at the 48th Telluride Film Festival to universal acclaim and scored the best per-venue average for a limited release since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture praised Phoenix writing "a tremendous showing from Joaquin Phoenix, operating at a register he's rarely found before. It's a career best for him — lovely, empathetic, humane[...]He possesses a warmth that glows from beginning to end. As Johnny, Phoenix listens to people and the world around him with full-bodied curiosity. This is where the bravura lies in the performance: his ability to seemingly just be."
Upcoming projects
Phoenix has three upcoming films. He will star in Ari Aster's Disappointment Blvd., and in January 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Phoenix is set to portray Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon, his second collaboration with director Ridley Scott. He is also set to reunite with director Lynne Ramsay for an upcoming feature called Polaris, co-starring Rooney Mara.
Reception and acting style
At the beginning of his career, Phoenix was often referred to as "the second most famous Phoenix", his name associated most closely with the death of his brother River Phoenix. The media would often compare the two, with The New York Times describing Joaquin as "sweetly unsettling and endlessly vulnerable" compared to his brother's "pure all-American blond boyishness". After his brother died, Phoenix gained a reputation for his distrust of the media, with many speculating that it is derived from how the death was covered by the press. He was often asked about the day River died, and still is to this date. Phoenix has described these interviews as "insincere" and has felt that they impeded on the mourning process. Caroline Frost of The Huffington Post has said that Phoenix is "engaging, engaged, mischievous, honest" in person and Anderson Cooper of 60 Minutes thought that he was "wry, shy and couldn't be any more friendlier" adding that Phoenix "just doesn't like to talk about himself". Although known for his intensity and darkness on-screen, director James Gray who worked with Phoenix in four feature films, says that Phoenix is very different off-screen saying "He's actually very tender and sweet and sensitive. It's almost as if he channels his intensity into the characters. Like the work is an outlet for his darker side."
Phoenix has been described as one of the finest actors of his generation. As he achieved stardom after Gladiator (2000), he was conveniently ruled out of teen-idol roles because of his hard gaze and scarred lip. Justin Chang, analyzing his career in Los Angeles Times in 2020, remarked that filmmakers immediately seemed to recognize that Phoenix was more than a heartthrob, and that there was "something more tortured, more vulnerable and infinitely more interesting at play beneath the surface". He noted that through his work, Phoenix is challenging and redefining cinematic manhood and that this quality sets him apart from most of his contemporaries. Renowned film critic and film historian Leonard Maltin has called Phoenix "a true chameleon", writing "[Phoenix] commands the screen and breaks your heart; he makes us feel it all vicariously."
Phoenix is particularly known for his ability to heavily commit to each role he plays and his intense preparations, deeply immersing himself in the characters, often blurring the lines between fiction and reality. That immersion was particularly evident during the filming of the mockumentary I'm Still Here (2010), when Phoenix announced to the world that he was retiring from acting to become a rapper. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Media outlets worldwide believed that Phoenix was having a mental breakdown after his infamous appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Confusion from the media turned to concern as the seemingly drug-addled Phoenix continued his attempts to convince crowds he was serious about a rap career. Many worried his erratic behaviour was a sign he was stuck in a downward spiral, and headed down the same self-destructive path that took the life of his older brother. Although widely suspected to be a mockumentary, the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. To this day, some people believe he went through a personal meltdown during the filming period. Phoenix has credited the making of I'm Still Here for allowing him to make bolder choices in acting.
Phoenix contends there's no real methodology to the roles he chooses, but has said that he is drawn to complex characters. He speculates that his affinity for dark roles derives from something more ineffable, possibly prenatal saying that "I think there is a combination of nature and nurture[...]—and some of it is my upbringing." Even so, Phoenix remains reluctant to draw a line between his unusual childhood, his private tragedy and his talent for "inhabiting the morose, damaged, violent, and otherwise anxiety-riddled characters". James Gray has described Phoenix as "one of the most incorruptible people I've ever known, and the least superficial", and has spoken of his acting, saying that he admires Phoenix's "limitless ability to surprise you in the best ways and inspire you to move in a direction that you haven't thought of originally, better than what you have in mind". Garth Davis, who directed Phoenix in Mary Magdalene (2018), has remarked that he does not apply method acting, but said that working with Phoenix is like "working with this beautiful wild animal, where you have to give him the space to be free, so his performance can roam freely: raw, uncontrived and truly natural. If he smells the design of the scene, you lose his free spirit; if the script is weak, he will expose its flaws. He is fiercely intelligent and almost completely instinctual. And he has this immense sensitivity that can be both his curse and his gift, but for me, that is what it means to be human". In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Phoenix claimed that he prefers independent film over major studio film, citing that "the quality of acting suffers".
In 2019, he stated that in choosing films, he solely relies on the director, "I don't really care about genre or budget size, anything like that. It's just whether there is a filmmaker that has a unique vision, has a voice, and the ability to make the film." For Phoenix, a great performance is in the director's hands — it's ultimately the director's world he's entering. He maintains that the director creates the character's arc and that the best directors adjust to what is happening with the actor in the moment.
Phoenix has cited Robert De Niro as one of his favorite actors and strongest acting influences. Phoenix recalled watching Raging Bull for the first time in an interview, "I think it just… awakened something in me. And I could suddenly see it through his eyes. There's a part in Raging Bull where De Niro meets a girl in between a chain-link fence. And he, you know, shakes her pinky and it's like this just beautiful little detail, it's this wonderful moment. And I think that in some ways is what I'm always looking for."
Other ventures
Music
Phoenix has directed music videos for Ringside, She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr., and Silversun Pickups. He was said to have produced the opening track for Pusha T's My Name Is My Name album alongside Kanye West. The track is called "King Push". Phoenix then denied in a statement to XXL having produced the record, saying, "While it was widely reported that Pusha T used my beat and that I produced his song, I can't take any credit. A friend's son played me his music, and all I did was make an introduction to Kanye [West]'s camp."
Animal rights activism
Phoenix is identified as one of the most active celebrities in the animal rights movement. A vegan since age three, he does not wear any clothes made out of animal skin; he requests that all of his leather costumes in films are made from synthetic materials. Phoenix has said that animal rights are one of the most important pillars in his life, and maintains that "climate change is imminent if we do not adopt a plant-based lifestyle". He has helped raise awareness of the correlation between animal rights, climate change and health issues. Phoenix has received praise and accolades from animal rights groups, with PETA naming him "Person of the Year" in 2019.
PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement: "Joaquin Phoenix never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight away from himself and onto animals' plight and to set a great example of walking the vegan walk". He has been an active supporter of numerous animal rights organizations, including PETA.
Throughout the years, Phoenix has headlined numerous campaigns for different organizations to help promote veganism and end animal slaughter. In 2019, Phoenix and his partner Rooney Mara led the National Animal Rights Day demonstration to help spread awareness for animal rights. On January 10, 2020, Phoenix was arrested with actress Jane Fonda at a climate change protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At the protest, Phoenix spoke about the link between animal agriculture and climate change.
During the 2019–20 awards season, amid protesting for animal rights, Phoenix had been driving a behind-the-scenes movement that transformed five events to meat-free menus, beginning with the Golden Globe Awards. He acknowledged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association during his acceptance speech, for its "very bold move making tonight plant-based. It really sends a powerful message." Soon after, Critics' Choice and SAG followed suit. Phoenix contacted the presidents of the award ceremonies, accompanied by signatures from the likes of fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Phoenix's pitch was that meat agriculture is a leading cause of climate change and that the televised spectacles should use their platforms to address pressing societal issues. The Academy Awards later announced that all food served at the Dolby Theatre before the Oscars was going to be vegan. Lisa Lange, senior vp communications at PETA, spoke of Phoenix's power saying "He knows what can be done. He knows he's in a good position to push. He enlists friends. And it works. He can have influence in Hollywood and it influences the rest of the world."
A day after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, and subsequently delivering a headlining acceptance speech in which he spoke to the plight of mother cows and their babies used in animal agriculture, Phoenix helped to rescue a cow and her newborn calf from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. They were taken to Farm Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary and advocacy organization, where they will live out the rest of their lives. The same month, he starred in Guardians of Life, the first of twelve short films by the environmental organization Mobilize Earth that highlighted the most pressing issues facing humanity and the natural world. Funds raised by the project went to Amazon Watch and Extinction Rebellion.
Two animal species have been named after him. In 2011, a Trilobite species was named Gladiatoria phoenix for his iconic role in the 2000 film Gladiator and in 2020 a Spider species endemic to Iran was named Loureedia phoenixi, also known as the Joker spider due to its color pattern matching the DC Comics character Joker, for his role in the 2019 film Joker.
Other activism
In 2020, Phoenix collaborated with JusticeLA to create a public service announcement #SuingToSaveLives about the health of people in L.A. County jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal life
Views and lifestyle
After re-establishing himself as an actor in the mid 1990s, Phoenix moved back to Los Angeles. He is known for his disdain of celebrity culture, rarely granting interviews, and being reticent about discussing
his private life. In 2018, he described himself as a secular Jew who does not affiliate with any organized religion; one of his "core values" is the idea of forgiveness. Phoenix has also claimed that his mother believed in Jesus, though his parents were not religious. While portraying Jesus for the 2018 movie Mary Magdalene, he expressed that the role changed his perspective on the nature of forgiveness.
In early April 2005, Phoenix checked himself into rehab to be treated for alcoholism. Twelve years later, he revealed that he did not need an intervention: "I really just thought of myself as a hedonist. I was an actor in L.A. I wanted to have a good time. But I wasn't engaging with the world or myself in the way I wanted to". On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Phoenix veered off the road and flipped his car. The crash was reportedly caused by brake failure. Shaken and confused, he heard someone tapping on his window and telling him to "just relax". Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." The man replied, "No, you're not." The man then stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette while gasoline was leaking into the car cabin. Phoenix realized that the man was German filmmaker Werner Herzog. While Herzog helped Phoenix out of the wreckage by breaking the back window of the car, bystanders called an ambulance. Phoenix approached Herzog to express his gratitude.
In 2012, Phoenix labeled the Academy Awards "bullshit". He later gave an interview apologizing for his comments, and acknowledged that the awards provide an important platform for many deserving filmmakers. He elaborated on the topic while on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015, explaining that he is uncomfortable receiving accolades for his work in films when he considers the filmmaking process to be a collaborative one.
A longtime vegan, Phoenix finds animal agriculture "absurd and barbaric". He explained his reasoning behind his veganism; "To me, it just seems obvious – I don't want to cause pain to another living empathetic creature. I don't want to take its babies away from it, I don't want to force it to be indoors and fattened up just to be slaughtered. Certainly, also, the effect that it has on our environment is devastating. So, for me, it's my life and has always been my life, and it's really one of the most important things to me."
Relationships and family
From 1995 to 1998, Phoenix dated his Inventing the Abbotts co-star Liv Tyler. The two remain close friends, with Tyler considering Phoenix and his sisters as her family.<ref></></ref> He was romantically involved with South African model Topaz Page-Green from 2001 to 2005. Phoenix is currently on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides daily meals to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa, founded by Page-Green.
In 2012, Phoenix met Her co-star Rooney Mara. The two remained friends and began a romantic relationship four years later, during the making of Mary Magdalene. Their engagement was confirmed in July 2019 and the following year, the couple were reported to be expecting their first child together. In late September 2020, it was announced that the couple had a son, named River after Phoenix's late brother. They reside in the Hollywood Hills. Phoenix has described his family life as simple. He enjoys meditating, watching documentaries, reading scripts and taking karate classes. He has a black belt in karate.
Filmography and accolades
According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and the box-office site Box Office Mojo, Phoenix's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films include Parenthood (1989), To Die For (1995), Gladiator (2000), Signs (2002), Brother Bear (2003), The Village (2004), Walk the Line (2005), Two Lovers (2008), The Master (2012), The Immigrant (2013), Her (2013), Inherent Vice (2014), You Were Never Really Here (2017) and Joker (2019).
Phoenix has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
73rd Academy Awards (2001): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, as Commodus in Gladiator78th Academy Awards (2006): Best Actor, nomination, as John R. "Johnny" Cash in Walk the Line85th Academy Awards (2013): Best Actor, nomination, as Freddie Quell in The Master92nd Academy Awards (2020): Best Actor, win, as Arthur Fleck/Joker in JokerPhoenix has won two Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Walk the Line and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for Joker, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Joker.
Phoenix was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the Walk The Line soundtrack. He has also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 69th Venice International Film Festival for The Master and the Best Actor Award at the 70th Cannes Film Festival for You Were Never Really Here''.
Phoenix and River Phoenix hold the distinction of being the only brothers nominated for acting Academy Awards. Both Phoenix and Heath Ledger won an Academy Award for their performances as the Joker, becoming the second pair of actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same character – the other pair being Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, who won Best Actor and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor respectively, for their portrayals of Vito Corleone.
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of animal rights advocates
List of vegans
Notes
References
External links
1974 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American animal rights activists
American environmentalists
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American people of English descent
American people of French descent
American people of German descent
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American street performers
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from Gainesville, Florida
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Method actors
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Los Angeles
People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Joaquin
Veganism activists
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners
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"The San Joaquin Light and Power Corporation was a utility company that provided electricity to seven counties in the San Joaquin Valley of California. The company is one of several utilities acquired by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company during the 1920s and 1930s to form the modern PG&E system.\n\nHistory \nThe company was first organized as the San Joaquin Electric Company on April 1, 1895, by engineer James Samuel Eastwood for the construction of the hydroelectric San Joaquin Powerhouse No. 1, located 37 miles from Fresno on Willow Creek, a tributary of the San Joaquin River. The company later became the San Joaquin Power Company in 1905 and then the San Joaquin Light and Power Corporation in 1910. By 1920, the company had 11 powerhouses.\n\nSan Joaquin's early business was challenged by the competing Fresno Gas and Electric Company, controlled by Fulton G. Berry, owner of Fresno's Grand Central Hotel. Berry used riparian claims filed on water upstream from San Joaquin Electric Company's intake flume to divert water away from the company's powerhouse through a mile-long ditch. Combined with several years of drought, this diversion of water forced San Joaquin Electric into bankruptcy in 1899.\n\nDespite the company's bankruptcy, San Joaquin Electric continued to operate. Bondholders, seeking to protect their investment by providing the company's powerhouse a steady source of water, financed the 1901 construction of what would become the hydraulic fill Crane Valley Dam and the reservoir of Bass Lake.\n\nSan Joaquin Electric Company was purchased out of bankruptcy in 1902 by William G. Kerckhoff, a lumber magnate and president of Pacific Light & Power, and reincorporated as the San Joaquin Power Company. Under Kerckhoff, San Joaquin Power Company purchased the electric system of the competing Fresno Gas and Electric Company in 1903 for $25,000. \n\nSan Joaquin Power also reached a separate 1903 agreement with the California Gas and Electric Company—which would merge with the San Francisco Gas and Electric Company two years later to create PG&E—setting territories for electrical service, drawing a line that extended roughly from the southern border of Santa Cruz County east to the southern border of Mono County.\n\nSan Joaquin Light and Power Corporation was acquired in 1924 by the Great Western Power Company, a subsidiary of The North American Company. North American subsequently sold its interests in the combined utilities to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company in 1930 in exchange for $114 million in PG&E stock, creating a single consolidated utility serving most of Northern and Central California.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nElectric power companies of the United States\nEnergy in California\nHistory of the San Joaquin Valley\nDefunct companies based in California\nCompanies based in Fresno, California\nEnergy companies established in 1895\n1895 establishments in California\n1930 disestablishments in California\nPacific Gas and Electric Company\nEnergy companies disestablished in 1930\nDefunct energy companies of the United States",
"Joaquin Lucas Miguel S. Reyes (born October 28, 2000), known by his stage name Joaquin Reyes, is a Filipino actor, singer and songwriter. He is a member of Gimme 5 an all-boy group in the Philippines signed under ABS-CBN, Star Magic and Star Music.\n\nCareer \n\nJoaquin Reyes made his first acting stint in Muling Buksan Ang Puso where he plays young Leonel Beltran, the younger version of Enchong Dee's character. After a lot of stints & guestings, that particular episode made his break through the walls of the TV industry. He shared that since his appearance from the show, Star Magic immediately kept in touch with them. He also shared that, after few months since he appeared, he guested on Minute to Win It along with not knowingly his soon-to-be group mates, Grae Fernandez & Brace Arquiza. Joaquin described that they went through make overs, trainings & other preparations while being clueless that they were going to be formed as a group. Currently, he is a member of Gimme 5.\n\nReyes, before joining Gimme 5, has done various commercials including his very first commercial 'drumline' from Milo. Since then, Joaquin did many commercials until he slowly entered the TV industry. One of his first lead roles was in an episode of Jollitown. In Season 4, Episode 10, he portrayed \"Jason\" who doesn't have any patience to learn things. At first, he never thought of being a celebrity or anything that is in the show business. He admits that when he joined the group didn't know what to do as things paced by quickly.\n\nJoaquin said that the life of being in a boy group for him is very fun. He said much changed since the moment they were launched. He described it as one of the best things you can do, having fun with your work.\n\nReyes wrote a song for their second album 'Sophomore'. He said that both he and Nash submitted around 3-4 of their songs, and the management picked one each. 'Hindi Ko Alam' is the title of the song that Joaquin wrote. They often joke about the title of the song on their shows asking each other what the next song is. He shares a 'not so typical' story on how he wrote the song which has also no way to do with the lyrics. On his international musical influences, he mentioned various bands in different interviews including, The Beatles, One Direction, Bee Gees, Imagine Dragons. For his local influence, he said his music is heavily influenced \"Eraserheads\", especially Ely Buendia since many of The Heads' songs are written by Buendia.\n\nGimme 5 (2013 - Present) \n\nIn 2013, the band debuted on ASAP 18 where they performed The Wanted's Glad You Came. The group admits to not being good singers. Nash even describes his voice as \"parang pinunit na maong\" but still, they proved their worth. Since then, the group improved themselves as singers, dancers and models. Their following on social media had grown since.\n\nIn November 2014, Gimme 5 released their self-titled debut album under Star Music. They also starred in the TV series Bagito alongside Ella Cruz, Angel Aquino which ended in March 2015. The group were interviewed by Myx on how they got their group name and was supposedly named \"baby boys\" which they found \"baduy\".\n\nAfter the TV series Bagito they resumed their album tour which was slowed down due to the TV Series. Non-stop sold out album tours were held in different places in the Philippines, giving their fans a chance to watch them perform live. The group also shared in an interview with PUSH a memorable fan experience in Albay Astrodome in Legazpi. They first won an award in June 2015, as \"Most Promising Recording/Performing Group\" in 46th GMMSF Box-Office Entertainment Awards. On August 14, 2015, The \"Teen Power: The Kabataan Pinoy Concert Party\" led by Gimme 5 and joined by the PBB 737 Teen Housemates, was held at the Aliw Theater in Pasay.\n\nIn September 2015, the hit local boy group Gimme 5 won the \"Clash of Celebrities\" on Saturday, which was part of the kick-off celebration for the sixth anniversary of \"It's Showtime\" held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.\n\nBefore they ended their tour, they shared what they mostly do before they start the show. After a year of touring, their final leg was held in Dagupan on May 7, 2016. After their final leg, they decided to lean on acting as individuals. In June 2016, Star Music and Gimme 5 announced that the group will release a second album for their fans. Aguas said in an interview that some of the songs will be written by them.\n\nDiscography\n\nMusic videos\n\nSingles\n\nStudio albums\nOn 6 November 2014, Gimme 5 released their debut album under Star Music.\n\nFilmography\n\nMovies\n\nTV series\n\nVariety shows\n\nReferences\n30 . Gimme 5 - Walang Dahilan\n\n2000 births\nLiving people\n21st-century Filipino male singers\nPeople from Caloocan\nMale actors from Metro Manila\nSingers from Metro Manila\nABS-CBN personalities"
] |
[
"Joaquin Phoenix",
"2006-2010: Producing and self-imposed break",
"What did Joaquin do in 2006?",
"In 2006, Phoenix was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences."
] |
C_7778de4d51af45d58cbe0ea79e0db2f7_0
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What happened in 2007?
| 2 |
What happened to Joaquin Phoenix in 2007?
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Joaquin Phoenix
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In 2006, Phoenix was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2007, Phoenix reunited with director James Gray for the film We Own the Night, which he also produced. In the film, Phoenix played a New York nightclub manager who tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hit men. The film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, receiving mixed reviews from critics and grossed a total of $54.5 million worldwide. Critic Peter Travers described Phoenix as "electrifying and then some", and he was awarded the People's Choice Award for Favorite Leading Man for the performance. For his second film of 2007, Phoenix also reunited with director Terry George for the film Reservation Road. In it, Phoenix played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident. The film failed at the box office and received negative reviews from critics, with film critic Peter Travers writing "Even the best actors -- and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest -- can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix made his third collaboration with director James Gray in the film Two Lovers (2008), where he played a bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor. Two Lovers premiered in competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival in May, receiving largely positive reviews, especially Phoenix who was praised by film critics David Edelstein who wrote "He [Phoenix] is, once again, stupendous, and stupendous in a way he has never been before" and Roger Ebert describing his performance as "perfect pitch". Two Lovers grossed $16 million worldwide. Phoenix's mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010) premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival on September 6, 2010. The film was directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and was also written by Affleck and Phoenix himself. The film purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist. Filming officially began on January 16, 2009 at a Las Vegas nightclub. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Although widely suspected to be a "mockumentary," the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. The film received mixed reviews and failed at the box office. After the releasing of the film, Phoenix took a self-imposed break from acting. CANNOTANSWER
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In 2007, Phoenix reunited with director James Gray for the film We Own the Night, which he also
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Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and animal rights activist. Known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent film, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was ranked 12th on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times.
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Los Angeles and Florida, Phoenix began his career by appearing in television series in the early 1980s with his brother River. His first major film roles were in SpaceCamp (1986) and Parenthood (1989). During this period, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, a name he gave himself. He took back his birth first name in the early 1990s and received critical acclaim for his supporting roles in the comedy-drama film To Die For (1995) and the period film Quills (2000). Phoenix received further critical acclaim and first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of the evil emperor Commodus in the historical drama film Gladiator (2000). He had success with the horror films Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), the historical drama Hotel Rwanda (2004) and won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of musician Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line (2005). He continued to receive acclaim in two features with his frequent director James Gray; the action thriller We Own the Night (2007) and the romantic drama Two Lovers (2008), before taking a break from acting.
In the 2010s, Phoenix returned to acting to critical acclaim. He starred in the psychological drama The Master (2012), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and earning his third Academy Award nomination. He received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the romantic drama Her (2013) and the crime satire Inherent Vice (2014) and won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here (2017). Phoenix achieved international stardom and won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a second Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of the title character in Joker (2019).
Phoenix is an animal rights activist. He has been vegan since the age of three and regularly supports charitable causes and has produced several documentaries on global meat consumption and its impact on the environment. He is in a relationship with actress Rooney Mara, with whom he has a son.
Early life and acting background
Joaquin Rafael Bottom was born on October 28, 1974, in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to John Lee Bottom, the founder of a landscape gardening company, and Arlyn "Heart" Bottom (née Dunetz), who was an executive secretary at NBC and whose connection to an agent provided her children with acting work. He is the third of five children, following River (1970–1993) and Rain (born 1972), and preceding Liberty (born 1976) and Summer (born 1978), all of whom have been involved in acting. He also has a half-sister named Jodean (born 1964) from his father's previous relationship. His father was a Catholic from Fontana, California and was of English, German and French ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Meyer Dunetz, was Russian Jewish and his maternal grandmother, Margit Lefkowitz, was Hungarian Jewish; they were both Ashkenazi Jews who resided in New York City. His parents met when his mother was hitchhiking in California and got married less than a year after meeting.
Soon after the second child was born, they joined the religious cult called Children of God and started traveling throughout South America and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean as Christian missionaries, where the next two children were born. They eventually grew disillusioned with Children of God and left in 1977, being opposed to the cult's increasingly distorted rules, particularly the practice of flirty fishing. The fifth child was born in Florida where the family settled for a while. It was also around this time they legally adopted the surname Phoenix, inspired by the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, symbolizing a new beginning. When Phoenix was three, he and his older siblings witnessed fish being killed as the fishermen threw them violently against nails into the wall. This act made the whole family convert to veganism. He also began calling himself "Leaf", having been inspired by spending time outdoors raking leaves and desiring to have a nature-related name like his siblings. Leaf became the name he used before changing it back to his birth name Joaquin at the age of fifteen.
In 1979, after Phoenix's father had to stop working because of an old spinal injury, the whole family moved to Los Angeles where the mother met a high-profile child agent named Iris Burton, who got the children into commercials and bit parts on TV. He made his acting debut alongside his brother in the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the 1982 episode "Christmas Song". He has said of his first time acting:
In 1984, Phoenix starred opposite River in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, for which they shared a nomination for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television at the 6th Youth in Film Awards. He also made guest appearances in the Murder, She Wrote episode "We're Off to Kill the Wizard" and individual episodes of The Fall Guy and Hill Street Blues. A year later, Phoenix appeared in the television film Kids Don't Tell. To supplement their income, the kids sang their original songs like "Gonna Make It," written by River, and busked for money in matching yellow shirts and shorts. They also studied dance; Phoenix became an avid break dancer. Phoenix dropped out of high school when he was sent a dead frog in the mail to dissect for his biology studies, which prompted him to discontinue his studies. Dissatisfied with life in Los Angeles, the Phoenixes moved back to Florida, settling in Gainesville.
Career
1986–1999: Early work and return to acting
Phoenix made his feature film debut in the adventure film SpaceCamp (1986) as a young boy who goes to Kennedy Space Center to learn about the NASA space program and undergoes amateur astronaut training. He guest starred in the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "A Very Happy Ending" in the same year, playing a child who blackmails a hitman (played by Robert Loggia) into killing his father (John Aprea). Phoenix's first starring role was in the film Russkies (1987), about a group of friends who unknowingly befriend a Russian soldier during the Cold War.
In 1989, Phoenix co-starred as Garry, the withdrawn teenage nephew of Steve Martin's character in Ron Howard's comedy-drama Parenthood. The film was box office success, grossing $126 million worldwide against its $20 million budget. Critics praised the film, with IndieWire reviewers highlighting the film's cast and their performances for possessing "genuinely likable, and occasionally insightful, heart" calling Phoenix a "terrifically believable angsty adolescent", in a performance which garnered him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film. The role of Garry was reprised in the series based on the film by Leonardo DiCaprio, who studied Phoenix's performance in order to get it right. After establishing himself as a child actor, Phoenix felt that he wasn't getting any appealing offers and decided to take a break from acting and traveled to Mexico with his father, learning Spanish. When he returned to the States, his brother River Phoenix suggested that Phoenix changed his name back to Joaquin and encouraged him to start acting again.
On October 31, 1993, River died of an overdose outside The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Phoenix, who had accompanied his brother and older sister Rain to the club, called 911 to seek help for his dying brother. After the death, the phone call was repeatedly broadcast on TV and radio shows. The family retreated to Costa Rica to escape the media glare as the event came to be depicted as a cautionary tale of young Hollywood surrounded by mythology and conspiracy.
In 1995, Phoenix returned to acting in Gus Van Sant's black comedy To Die For, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was inspired by the Pamela Smart murder case. Phoenix starred as Jimmy Emmett, a disturbed young man who is seduced by a woman (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. The film premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, with New York Times critic Janet Maslin praising Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all."
In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. The film was released to a dismal box office performance and was not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) investigate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out to be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics.
2000–2010: Critical acclaim and commercial success
In 2000, Phoenix co-starred in three films. In the first of these, he portrayed a fictionalized version of Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's historical epic film Gladiator. The film received positive reviews and grossed $457 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly called Phoenix's work "a more nuanced star-making performance" when comparing him to the lead Russell Crowe, writing "Phoenix turns what could have easily been a cartoonish villain into a richly layered study of pathology." Phoenix earned his first nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. He and his late brother River became the first brothers to be nominated for acting Academy Awards. To this date, they are the only brothers to hold this distinction.
His next film marked his first collaboration with director James Gray in The Yards. The crime film follows the corruption in the rail yards of Queens. Although failing to perform well at the box office, The Yards received positive reviews from critics with many considering Phoenix's performance as the villain a stand out. The third release of 2000 was Philip Kaufman's Quills, a satirical thriller inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade. Phoenix portrayed the conflicted priest Abbé de Coulmier opposite Kate Winslet. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was a modest art house success grossing a total of $17 million at the box office. It was received with critical praise with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praising Phoenix and his chemistry with Winslet, stating "Phoenix, on a roll this year with Gladiator and The Yards, excels at making the priest a seductive figure — a neat trick considering the real Abbe was a four-foot hunchback. Winslet and Phoenix generate real fire, notably when Abbe dreams of ravishing Madeleine on the altar." For his combined roles of that year, Phoenix was awarded the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The following year, Phoenix starred in the satirical film Buffalo Soldiers as a U.S. Army soldier. The world premiere was held at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in early September. However, because the film was a satire of the US military, its wider theatrical run was delayed by approximately two years because of the September 11 attacks; it was finally released on July 25, 2003. BBCs Nev Pierce wrote that "Phoenix is excellent as a Gen X Sergeant Bilko, ensuring his cheerfully amoral character never loses heart - showcasing tenderness, love, grief and fear as his games get out of control" and Phoenix received a nomination for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor.
The science fiction thriller Signs (2002) marked Phoenix's first collaboration with director M. Night Shyamalan. In the film, he played Merrill Hess, a former Minor League baseball player who, along with his older brother Graham (Mel Gibson), discovers that Earth has been invaded by extraterrestrials. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Phoenix's performance was praised, with critic Peter Travers writing that Phoenix "registers impressively, finding the humor and the pain in this lost boy [...] never making a false move as a helpless Merrill watches his rock of a brother crumble into a despairing crisis of faith." The film was a commercial success, grossing $408.2 million worldwide.
In 2003, Phoenix played the irresolute husband of a superstar-skater (Claire Danes) in Thomas Vinterberg's romance-drama It's All About Love, and voiced Kenai in the Disney animated film Brother Bear. Phoenix expressed immense joy being cast as the lead voice role in a Disney animated feature, stating "The real pinnacle [in my career] is that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the greatest?" The film grossed $250.4 million worldwide, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He was replaced by Patrick Dempsey in the sequel Brother Bear 2. Phoenix reunited with Shyamalan in the period thriller The Village (2004). The film is about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it, referred to as "Those We Don't Speak Of". He played farmer Lucius Hunt, a role which Christopher Orr of The Atlantic found "underdeveloped". Though initially receiving mixed reviews, the film attracted retrospective reviews years after its release. Several critics deemed it one of Shyamalan's best films, praising Phoenix's "terrific" performance. The film was a financial success, grossing $256.7 million worldwide on its $60 million budget.
In his next film of the year, he starred opposite John Travolta in the drama film Ladder 49 as a Baltimore firefighter. In preparation for the role, Phoenix trained for two months with the Baltimore Fire Department, putting out actual fires. He admitted that he was afraid of heights before he started making this film, recalling "I got to the pole and I looked down and I couldn't do it. But you go through the training and it exposes your fears and helps you to overcome them. We ended up rappelling off a six-story tower and that really helped." The film earned $102.3 million at the box office despite receiving generally mixed reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the performances in the film. Phoenix's final film of 2004 was Terry George's Hotel Rwanda, playing cameraman Jack Daglish. Based on the Rwandan genocide, the film documents Paul Rusesabagina's (Don Cheadle) efforts to save the lives of his family and more than 1,000 other refugees by providing them with shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. The film was a moderate financial success but was a critical success, receiving almost exclusively positive reviews from critics. For his performance in the film, Phoenix was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast.
In 2005, Phoenix co-starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the James Mangold directed film Walk the Line, a Johnny Cash biopic, after Cash himself approved of Phoenix. All of Cash's vocal tracks in the film and on the accompanying soundtrack are played and sung by Phoenix. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, eventually grossing $186 million worldwide. Phoenix's performance received rave reviews from critics and it inspired film critic Roger Ebert to write, "Knowing Johnny Cash's albums more or less by heart, I closed my eyes to focus on the soundtrack and decided that, yes, that was the voice of Johnny Cash I was listening to. The closing credits make it clear it's Joaquin Phoenix doing the singing, and I was gob-smacked". For his portrayal of Johnny Cash, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's soundtrack. Phoenix also received a second Academy Award nomination, his first in the Best Actor category as well as a second BAFTA nomination. Earlier that year, he narrated Earthlings (2005), a documentary about the investigation of animal abuse in factory farms, and pet mills, and for scientific research. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2005, for his work and contribution to Earthlings. Animal rights philosopher Tom Regan remarked that "for those who watch Earthlings, the world will never be the same".
Phoenix's first producing task was the action thriller We Own the Night (2007), in which he played nightclub manager Bobby Green/Grusinsky who tries to save his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) from Russian mafia hitmen. The James Gray-directed film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews; Roger Ebert praised Gray's direction and the acting, but criticized its screenplay for lack of originality. David Edelstein of New York Magazine commended Phoenix for elevating the film's conflict, writing that it "might be heavy-handed without Phoenix's face—his irresolution somehow more powerful than other actors' resolve. There is no artifice. He's not an actor disappearing into a role but a man disappearing into himself[...]Phoenix homes in on the truth of this person. It's the paradox of the greatest acting".
Later that year, he played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident in his second feature with Terry George, the crime drama film Reservation Road. The film received mixed reviews from critics; Peter Travers praised Phoenix's acting stating "Even the best actors – and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest – can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix also executive produced the television show 4Real, a half-hour program which began airing in 2007. The series showcased celebrity guests on global adventures "in order to connect with young leaders who are creating social and economic change".
In 2008, Phoenix starred as a suicidal bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor in Gray's Two Lovers. The romantic drama premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Reviews for the film and Phoenix's performance were positive; New York Magazine'''s chief critic called it his best performance to date and Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter felt that Phoenix led the film with "great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable". During the promotion of Two Lovers, Phoenix had started to film his next performance for the mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010), which the media felt overshadowed the former's theatrical release. I'm Still Here purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist managed by rap icon Sean "Diddy" Combs. Directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and co-written by Affleck and Phoenix, the little-seen film premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival to mixed reviews; critics were divided on whether to interpret the film as documentary or performance art. After its release, Phoenix explained that the idea for the feature arose from his amazement that people believed reality television shows' claims of being unscripted. By claiming to retire from acting, he and Affleck planned to make a film that "explored celebrity, and explored the relationship between the media and the consumers and the celebrities themselves" through their film.
2011–2018: Established career and continued acclaim
In 2011, it was announced that Phoenix would star in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama film The Master, which traces the relationship between Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II navy veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society and Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffmann), a leader of a religious movement known as "The Cause". To create the character, Phoenix lost a significant amount of weight and went to a dentist to help force his jaw shut on one side; a trait his own father had. The film premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival where he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. The art house film only grossed $28 million but was received with critical acclaim, with Phoenix's performance receiving high praise. Peter Travers called it the performance of his career writing "Acting doesn't get better or go deeper[...]Phoenix wears the role like a second skin. You can't take your eyes off him." His performance as Freddie was described as "career-defining" by Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, who was impressed that Anderson and Phoenix collaboratively were able to build such complex work around such a derelict figure. Fellow actor Daniel Day-Lewis publicly lauded the "remarkable" Phoenix while accepting the Screen Actors Guild Award, apologising for the fact that Phoenix hadn't been nominated for the same award. Despite this, Phoenix received his third Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his leading role.
Phoenix and Gray's fourth collaboration came with The Immigrant (2013), a drama film in which he played the supporting role of a pimp who prostitutes Polish immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and ends up falling for her. The Immigrant and his performance premiered to highly positive reviews at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In his review, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club thought the film featured one of his best performances and commended Phoenix's and Gray's developing work, writing of that "the two are so perfectly in sync, that it's hard to tell where Phoenix's performance ends and Gray's visual style[...]—begins", further lauding their development of Bruno into "a fully fledged tragic character, even though he is neither the protagonist of The Immigrant nor the main driving force behind its plot".
His next feature film of that year was the Spike Jonze-directed romantic science-fiction drama Her. He played Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. Released to critical acclaim, critic A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club labeled Phoenix as "one of the most emotionally honest actors in Hollywood", impressed at how he effortlessly unleashes waves of vulnerability in the film's many tight, invasive close-up images, calling it a "tremendous performance, one that rescues this character—a mess of insecurities, regrets, and desires—from the walking pity party he could have been". Her earned more than double of its production budget, and Phoenix received his fourth nomination at the Golden Globes. Several journalists expressed disappointment over his failure to receive an Oscar nomination for it, with Peter Knegt of IndieWire naming it of one of ten worst Oscar acting snubs of the last decade in 2015.
In 2014, Phoenix took on the role of Doc Sportello, a private investigator and hippie/dope head trying to help his ex-girlfriend solve a crime in the crime comedy-drama Inherent Vice, based on Thomas Pynchon's detective novel of the same name. Reviews toward the film were positive; critics praised Phoenix's performance and Paul Thomas Anderson's direction, while some were frustrated by its complicated plot. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph termed Phoenix as Anderson's "perfect leading man" and his work as "the kind of quietly dazzling performance that rarely wins awards but will be adoringly dissected and quoted for decades". Phoenix earned his fifth Golden Globe nomination for the film.
After narrating the sequel to Earthlings, the 2015 animal rights' documentary Unity, Phoenix teamed with director Woody Allen and Emma Stone in the crime mystery film Irrational Man. He played Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor experiencing an existential crisis. The film was released to mixed reviews at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival; The Hollywood Reporter felt that the film was too similar to Allen's previous films, but praised Phoenix's chemistry with Stone and Phoenix for playing the character "with a wonderful baggy, lived-in quality that makes us want to climb inside the character's whiskey-sozzled head".
The thriller You Were Never Really Here, written and directed by Lynne Ramsay and based on the novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames, ranks among the most acclaimed films of Phoenix's career. The film is about Joe (played by Phoenix), a traumatized former FBI agent and Gulf War veteran who tracks down missing girls for a living. To prepare for the film, Phoenix was advised by a former bodyguard who goes on international missions to rescue children suffering sexual exploitation and abuse by human traffickers; he gained a significant amount of weight and muscle for the part. Phoenix was Ramsay's first and only choice to play the veteran, with Ramsay calling him "my soulmate in making movies". The film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it received universal acclaim and earned Phoenix the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times described Phoenix's performance as "the most rivetingly contained" work of his career and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer of Consequence noted that his evocative manners in the film, led to him giving career-high work and "the kind of haunting turn that only comes around a few times every decade or so".
In 2018, Phoenix portrayed Jesus in the biblical drama Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis. The film, and his performance, received mixed reviews; a reviewer for Entertainment Weekly thought that Phoenix lacked the quiet compassion and grace that was required for the role, while Nick Allen of Roger Ebert's website described his performance as "a human being who is visibly tormented by the power and wisdom that works through him", deeming it one of the best portrayals of Jesus ever. His next two featuresthe biopic Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and the crime drama The Sisters Brothers were much better received. In the former, Phoenix reunited with his To Die For director Gus Van Sant to portray quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote that there's no better leading actor producing better work than Phoenix, stating "The actor – never a simple chameleon, but someone who disappears into a role entirely with a frightening conviction – continues to display new and tremendous range here" and David Hughes of Empire thought that in a more conventional film, Phoenix would be the favourite to win an Academy Award.
The third film of 2018 was The Sisters Brothers, Jacques Audiard's adaptation of the novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt. The film starred John C. Reilly and Phoenix as the notorious assassin brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters respectively and chronicles their chase after two men who have banded together to search for gold. Writing for Roger Ebert's website, Tomris Laffly commented on Phoenix's and Reilly's "tremendous chemistry" and Lindsey Behr of the Associated Press opined that the duo "excellently manage all the various tones in the film".
Also in 2018, he collaborated with Rooney Mara and Sia to narrate Chris Delforce's documentary Dominion. Animal rights activists have called it one of the most powerful documentaries ever made. For his contribution to the documentary, Phoenix was granted the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.
2019–present: Joker and further success
In 2019, Phoenix starred as the DC Comics character Joker in Todd Phillips's psychological thriller Joker; an alternative origin story for the character. Set in 1981, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. Phoenix lost in preparation, and based his laugh on "videos of people suffering from pathological laughter." Released to critical acclaim at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, the film experienced a polarized critical reception after its theatrical release. While Phoenix's performance received rave reviews, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-life violence; the movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises refused to show it. Despite this, Joker became a box office success grossing over $1 billion (against its $55 million production budget), the first and only R-rated film to do so, becoming Phoenix's highest-grossing film.
Pete Hammond of Deadline wrote of Phoenix's "extraordinary" performance, describing it as "dazzling risky and original" and The Hollywood Reporters David Rooney called his performance the "must-see factor" of the film, writing "he inhabits [the character] with an insanity by turns pitiful and fearsome in an out-there performance that's no laughing matter[...]Phoenix is the prime force that makes Joker such a distinctively edgy entry in the Hollywood comics industrial complex." The film earned him numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor.
In 2020, Phoenix served as an executive producer on Gunda, directed by Viktor Kossakovsky. The acclaimed documentary follows the daily life of a pig, two cows, and a one-legged chicken. That same year, Phoenix was named on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times. The list was compiled by famed critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott and Phoenix's paragraph was written by his frequent collaborator, director James Gray.
In 2021, he starred in Mike Mills' drama C'mon C'mon, as Johnny, a radio journalist who embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew. The A24 film premiered at the 48th Telluride Film Festival to universal acclaim and scored the best per-venue average for a limited release since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture praised Phoenix writing "a tremendous showing from Joaquin Phoenix, operating at a register he's rarely found before. It's a career best for him — lovely, empathetic, humane[...]He possesses a warmth that glows from beginning to end. As Johnny, Phoenix listens to people and the world around him with full-bodied curiosity. This is where the bravura lies in the performance: his ability to seemingly just be."
Upcoming projects
Phoenix has three upcoming films. He will star in Ari Aster's Disappointment Blvd., and in January 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Phoenix is set to portray Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon, his second collaboration with director Ridley Scott. He is also set to reunite with director Lynne Ramsay for an upcoming feature called Polaris, co-starring Rooney Mara.
Reception and acting style
At the beginning of his career, Phoenix was often referred to as "the second most famous Phoenix", his name associated most closely with the death of his brother River Phoenix. The media would often compare the two, with The New York Times describing Joaquin as "sweetly unsettling and endlessly vulnerable" compared to his brother's "pure all-American blond boyishness". After his brother died, Phoenix gained a reputation for his distrust of the media, with many speculating that it is derived from how the death was covered by the press. He was often asked about the day River died, and still is to this date. Phoenix has described these interviews as "insincere" and has felt that they impeded on the mourning process. Caroline Frost of The Huffington Post has said that Phoenix is "engaging, engaged, mischievous, honest" in person and Anderson Cooper of 60 Minutes thought that he was "wry, shy and couldn't be any more friendlier" adding that Phoenix "just doesn't like to talk about himself". Although known for his intensity and darkness on-screen, director James Gray who worked with Phoenix in four feature films, says that Phoenix is very different off-screen saying "He's actually very tender and sweet and sensitive. It's almost as if he channels his intensity into the characters. Like the work is an outlet for his darker side."
Phoenix has been described as one of the finest actors of his generation. As he achieved stardom after Gladiator (2000), he was conveniently ruled out of teen-idol roles because of his hard gaze and scarred lip. Justin Chang, analyzing his career in Los Angeles Times in 2020, remarked that filmmakers immediately seemed to recognize that Phoenix was more than a heartthrob, and that there was "something more tortured, more vulnerable and infinitely more interesting at play beneath the surface". He noted that through his work, Phoenix is challenging and redefining cinematic manhood and that this quality sets him apart from most of his contemporaries. Renowned film critic and film historian Leonard Maltin has called Phoenix "a true chameleon", writing "[Phoenix] commands the screen and breaks your heart; he makes us feel it all vicariously."
Phoenix is particularly known for his ability to heavily commit to each role he plays and his intense preparations, deeply immersing himself in the characters, often blurring the lines between fiction and reality. That immersion was particularly evident during the filming of the mockumentary I'm Still Here (2010), when Phoenix announced to the world that he was retiring from acting to become a rapper. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Media outlets worldwide believed that Phoenix was having a mental breakdown after his infamous appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Confusion from the media turned to concern as the seemingly drug-addled Phoenix continued his attempts to convince crowds he was serious about a rap career. Many worried his erratic behaviour was a sign he was stuck in a downward spiral, and headed down the same self-destructive path that took the life of his older brother. Although widely suspected to be a mockumentary, the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. To this day, some people believe he went through a personal meltdown during the filming period. Phoenix has credited the making of I'm Still Here for allowing him to make bolder choices in acting.
Phoenix contends there's no real methodology to the roles he chooses, but has said that he is drawn to complex characters. He speculates that his affinity for dark roles derives from something more ineffable, possibly prenatal saying that "I think there is a combination of nature and nurture[...]—and some of it is my upbringing." Even so, Phoenix remains reluctant to draw a line between his unusual childhood, his private tragedy and his talent for "inhabiting the morose, damaged, violent, and otherwise anxiety-riddled characters". James Gray has described Phoenix as "one of the most incorruptible people I've ever known, and the least superficial", and has spoken of his acting, saying that he admires Phoenix's "limitless ability to surprise you in the best ways and inspire you to move in a direction that you haven't thought of originally, better than what you have in mind". Garth Davis, who directed Phoenix in Mary Magdalene (2018), has remarked that he does not apply method acting, but said that working with Phoenix is like "working with this beautiful wild animal, where you have to give him the space to be free, so his performance can roam freely: raw, uncontrived and truly natural. If he smells the design of the scene, you lose his free spirit; if the script is weak, he will expose its flaws. He is fiercely intelligent and almost completely instinctual. And he has this immense sensitivity that can be both his curse and his gift, but for me, that is what it means to be human". In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Phoenix claimed that he prefers independent film over major studio film, citing that "the quality of acting suffers".
In 2019, he stated that in choosing films, he solely relies on the director, "I don't really care about genre or budget size, anything like that. It's just whether there is a filmmaker that has a unique vision, has a voice, and the ability to make the film." For Phoenix, a great performance is in the director's hands — it's ultimately the director's world he's entering. He maintains that the director creates the character's arc and that the best directors adjust to what is happening with the actor in the moment.
Phoenix has cited Robert De Niro as one of his favorite actors and strongest acting influences. Phoenix recalled watching Raging Bull for the first time in an interview, "I think it just… awakened something in me. And I could suddenly see it through his eyes. There's a part in Raging Bull where De Niro meets a girl in between a chain-link fence. And he, you know, shakes her pinky and it's like this just beautiful little detail, it's this wonderful moment. And I think that in some ways is what I'm always looking for."
Other ventures
Music
Phoenix has directed music videos for Ringside, She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr., and Silversun Pickups. He was said to have produced the opening track for Pusha T's My Name Is My Name album alongside Kanye West. The track is called "King Push". Phoenix then denied in a statement to XXL having produced the record, saying, "While it was widely reported that Pusha T used my beat and that I produced his song, I can't take any credit. A friend's son played me his music, and all I did was make an introduction to Kanye [West]'s camp."
Animal rights activism
Phoenix is identified as one of the most active celebrities in the animal rights movement. A vegan since age three, he does not wear any clothes made out of animal skin; he requests that all of his leather costumes in films are made from synthetic materials. Phoenix has said that animal rights are one of the most important pillars in his life, and maintains that "climate change is imminent if we do not adopt a plant-based lifestyle". He has helped raise awareness of the correlation between animal rights, climate change and health issues. Phoenix has received praise and accolades from animal rights groups, with PETA naming him "Person of the Year" in 2019.
PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement: "Joaquin Phoenix never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight away from himself and onto animals' plight and to set a great example of walking the vegan walk". He has been an active supporter of numerous animal rights organizations, including PETA.
Throughout the years, Phoenix has headlined numerous campaigns for different organizations to help promote veganism and end animal slaughter. In 2019, Phoenix and his partner Rooney Mara led the National Animal Rights Day demonstration to help spread awareness for animal rights. On January 10, 2020, Phoenix was arrested with actress Jane Fonda at a climate change protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At the protest, Phoenix spoke about the link between animal agriculture and climate change.
During the 2019–20 awards season, amid protesting for animal rights, Phoenix had been driving a behind-the-scenes movement that transformed five events to meat-free menus, beginning with the Golden Globe Awards. He acknowledged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association during his acceptance speech, for its "very bold move making tonight plant-based. It really sends a powerful message." Soon after, Critics' Choice and SAG followed suit. Phoenix contacted the presidents of the award ceremonies, accompanied by signatures from the likes of fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Phoenix's pitch was that meat agriculture is a leading cause of climate change and that the televised spectacles should use their platforms to address pressing societal issues. The Academy Awards later announced that all food served at the Dolby Theatre before the Oscars was going to be vegan. Lisa Lange, senior vp communications at PETA, spoke of Phoenix's power saying "He knows what can be done. He knows he's in a good position to push. He enlists friends. And it works. He can have influence in Hollywood and it influences the rest of the world."
A day after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, and subsequently delivering a headlining acceptance speech in which he spoke to the plight of mother cows and their babies used in animal agriculture, Phoenix helped to rescue a cow and her newborn calf from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. They were taken to Farm Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary and advocacy organization, where they will live out the rest of their lives. The same month, he starred in Guardians of Life, the first of twelve short films by the environmental organization Mobilize Earth that highlighted the most pressing issues facing humanity and the natural world. Funds raised by the project went to Amazon Watch and Extinction Rebellion.
Two animal species have been named after him. In 2011, a Trilobite species was named Gladiatoria phoenix for his iconic role in the 2000 film Gladiator and in 2020 a Spider species endemic to Iran was named Loureedia phoenixi, also known as the Joker spider due to its color pattern matching the DC Comics character Joker, for his role in the 2019 film Joker.
Other activism
In 2020, Phoenix collaborated with JusticeLA to create a public service announcement #SuingToSaveLives about the health of people in L.A. County jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal life
Views and lifestyle
After re-establishing himself as an actor in the mid 1990s, Phoenix moved back to Los Angeles. He is known for his disdain of celebrity culture, rarely granting interviews, and being reticent about discussing
his private life. In 2018, he described himself as a secular Jew who does not affiliate with any organized religion; one of his "core values" is the idea of forgiveness. Phoenix has also claimed that his mother believed in Jesus, though his parents were not religious. While portraying Jesus for the 2018 movie Mary Magdalene, he expressed that the role changed his perspective on the nature of forgiveness.
In early April 2005, Phoenix checked himself into rehab to be treated for alcoholism. Twelve years later, he revealed that he did not need an intervention: "I really just thought of myself as a hedonist. I was an actor in L.A. I wanted to have a good time. But I wasn't engaging with the world or myself in the way I wanted to". On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Phoenix veered off the road and flipped his car. The crash was reportedly caused by brake failure. Shaken and confused, he heard someone tapping on his window and telling him to "just relax". Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." The man replied, "No, you're not." The man then stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette while gasoline was leaking into the car cabin. Phoenix realized that the man was German filmmaker Werner Herzog. While Herzog helped Phoenix out of the wreckage by breaking the back window of the car, bystanders called an ambulance. Phoenix approached Herzog to express his gratitude.
In 2012, Phoenix labeled the Academy Awards "bullshit". He later gave an interview apologizing for his comments, and acknowledged that the awards provide an important platform for many deserving filmmakers. He elaborated on the topic while on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015, explaining that he is uncomfortable receiving accolades for his work in films when he considers the filmmaking process to be a collaborative one.
A longtime vegan, Phoenix finds animal agriculture "absurd and barbaric". He explained his reasoning behind his veganism; "To me, it just seems obvious – I don't want to cause pain to another living empathetic creature. I don't want to take its babies away from it, I don't want to force it to be indoors and fattened up just to be slaughtered. Certainly, also, the effect that it has on our environment is devastating. So, for me, it's my life and has always been my life, and it's really one of the most important things to me."
Relationships and family
From 1995 to 1998, Phoenix dated his Inventing the Abbotts co-star Liv Tyler. The two remain close friends, with Tyler considering Phoenix and his sisters as her family.<ref></></ref> He was romantically involved with South African model Topaz Page-Green from 2001 to 2005. Phoenix is currently on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides daily meals to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa, founded by Page-Green.
In 2012, Phoenix met Her co-star Rooney Mara. The two remained friends and began a romantic relationship four years later, during the making of Mary Magdalene. Their engagement was confirmed in July 2019 and the following year, the couple were reported to be expecting their first child together. In late September 2020, it was announced that the couple had a son, named River after Phoenix's late brother. They reside in the Hollywood Hills. Phoenix has described his family life as simple. He enjoys meditating, watching documentaries, reading scripts and taking karate classes. He has a black belt in karate.
Filmography and accolades
According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and the box-office site Box Office Mojo, Phoenix's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films include Parenthood (1989), To Die For (1995), Gladiator (2000), Signs (2002), Brother Bear (2003), The Village (2004), Walk the Line (2005), Two Lovers (2008), The Master (2012), The Immigrant (2013), Her (2013), Inherent Vice (2014), You Were Never Really Here (2017) and Joker (2019).
Phoenix has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
73rd Academy Awards (2001): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, as Commodus in Gladiator78th Academy Awards (2006): Best Actor, nomination, as John R. "Johnny" Cash in Walk the Line85th Academy Awards (2013): Best Actor, nomination, as Freddie Quell in The Master92nd Academy Awards (2020): Best Actor, win, as Arthur Fleck/Joker in JokerPhoenix has won two Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Walk the Line and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for Joker, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Joker.
Phoenix was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the Walk The Line soundtrack. He has also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 69th Venice International Film Festival for The Master and the Best Actor Award at the 70th Cannes Film Festival for You Were Never Really Here''.
Phoenix and River Phoenix hold the distinction of being the only brothers nominated for acting Academy Awards. Both Phoenix and Heath Ledger won an Academy Award for their performances as the Joker, becoming the second pair of actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same character – the other pair being Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, who won Best Actor and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor respectively, for their portrayals of Vito Corleone.
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of animal rights advocates
List of vegans
Notes
References
External links
1974 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American animal rights activists
American environmentalists
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American people of English descent
American people of French descent
American people of German descent
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American street performers
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from Gainesville, Florida
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Method actors
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Los Angeles
People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Joaquin
Veganism activists
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners
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[
"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"
] |
[
"Joaquin Phoenix",
"2006-2010: Producing and self-imposed break",
"What did Joaquin do in 2006?",
"In 2006, Phoenix was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.",
"What happened in 2007?",
"In 2007, Phoenix reunited with director James Gray for the film We Own the Night, which he also"
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C_7778de4d51af45d58cbe0ea79e0db2f7_0
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What was this movie about?
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What was the film We Own the Night about?
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Joaquin Phoenix
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In 2006, Phoenix was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2007, Phoenix reunited with director James Gray for the film We Own the Night, which he also produced. In the film, Phoenix played a New York nightclub manager who tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hit men. The film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, receiving mixed reviews from critics and grossed a total of $54.5 million worldwide. Critic Peter Travers described Phoenix as "electrifying and then some", and he was awarded the People's Choice Award for Favorite Leading Man for the performance. For his second film of 2007, Phoenix also reunited with director Terry George for the film Reservation Road. In it, Phoenix played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident. The film failed at the box office and received negative reviews from critics, with film critic Peter Travers writing "Even the best actors -- and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest -- can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix made his third collaboration with director James Gray in the film Two Lovers (2008), where he played a bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor. Two Lovers premiered in competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival in May, receiving largely positive reviews, especially Phoenix who was praised by film critics David Edelstein who wrote "He [Phoenix] is, once again, stupendous, and stupendous in a way he has never been before" and Roger Ebert describing his performance as "perfect pitch". Two Lovers grossed $16 million worldwide. Phoenix's mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010) premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival on September 6, 2010. The film was directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and was also written by Affleck and Phoenix himself. The film purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist. Filming officially began on January 16, 2009 at a Las Vegas nightclub. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Although widely suspected to be a "mockumentary," the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. The film received mixed reviews and failed at the box office. After the releasing of the film, Phoenix took a self-imposed break from acting. CANNOTANSWER
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In the film, Phoenix played a New York nightclub manager who tries to save his brother and father from
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Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and animal rights activist. Known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent film, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was ranked 12th on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times.
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Los Angeles and Florida, Phoenix began his career by appearing in television series in the early 1980s with his brother River. His first major film roles were in SpaceCamp (1986) and Parenthood (1989). During this period, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, a name he gave himself. He took back his birth first name in the early 1990s and received critical acclaim for his supporting roles in the comedy-drama film To Die For (1995) and the period film Quills (2000). Phoenix received further critical acclaim and first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of the evil emperor Commodus in the historical drama film Gladiator (2000). He had success with the horror films Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), the historical drama Hotel Rwanda (2004) and won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of musician Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line (2005). He continued to receive acclaim in two features with his frequent director James Gray; the action thriller We Own the Night (2007) and the romantic drama Two Lovers (2008), before taking a break from acting.
In the 2010s, Phoenix returned to acting to critical acclaim. He starred in the psychological drama The Master (2012), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and earning his third Academy Award nomination. He received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the romantic drama Her (2013) and the crime satire Inherent Vice (2014) and won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here (2017). Phoenix achieved international stardom and won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a second Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of the title character in Joker (2019).
Phoenix is an animal rights activist. He has been vegan since the age of three and regularly supports charitable causes and has produced several documentaries on global meat consumption and its impact on the environment. He is in a relationship with actress Rooney Mara, with whom he has a son.
Early life and acting background
Joaquin Rafael Bottom was born on October 28, 1974, in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to John Lee Bottom, the founder of a landscape gardening company, and Arlyn "Heart" Bottom (née Dunetz), who was an executive secretary at NBC and whose connection to an agent provided her children with acting work. He is the third of five children, following River (1970–1993) and Rain (born 1972), and preceding Liberty (born 1976) and Summer (born 1978), all of whom have been involved in acting. He also has a half-sister named Jodean (born 1964) from his father's previous relationship. His father was a Catholic from Fontana, California and was of English, German and French ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Meyer Dunetz, was Russian Jewish and his maternal grandmother, Margit Lefkowitz, was Hungarian Jewish; they were both Ashkenazi Jews who resided in New York City. His parents met when his mother was hitchhiking in California and got married less than a year after meeting.
Soon after the second child was born, they joined the religious cult called Children of God and started traveling throughout South America and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean as Christian missionaries, where the next two children were born. They eventually grew disillusioned with Children of God and left in 1977, being opposed to the cult's increasingly distorted rules, particularly the practice of flirty fishing. The fifth child was born in Florida where the family settled for a while. It was also around this time they legally adopted the surname Phoenix, inspired by the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, symbolizing a new beginning. When Phoenix was three, he and his older siblings witnessed fish being killed as the fishermen threw them violently against nails into the wall. This act made the whole family convert to veganism. He also began calling himself "Leaf", having been inspired by spending time outdoors raking leaves and desiring to have a nature-related name like his siblings. Leaf became the name he used before changing it back to his birth name Joaquin at the age of fifteen.
In 1979, after Phoenix's father had to stop working because of an old spinal injury, the whole family moved to Los Angeles where the mother met a high-profile child agent named Iris Burton, who got the children into commercials and bit parts on TV. He made his acting debut alongside his brother in the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the 1982 episode "Christmas Song". He has said of his first time acting:
In 1984, Phoenix starred opposite River in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, for which they shared a nomination for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television at the 6th Youth in Film Awards. He also made guest appearances in the Murder, She Wrote episode "We're Off to Kill the Wizard" and individual episodes of The Fall Guy and Hill Street Blues. A year later, Phoenix appeared in the television film Kids Don't Tell. To supplement their income, the kids sang their original songs like "Gonna Make It," written by River, and busked for money in matching yellow shirts and shorts. They also studied dance; Phoenix became an avid break dancer. Phoenix dropped out of high school when he was sent a dead frog in the mail to dissect for his biology studies, which prompted him to discontinue his studies. Dissatisfied with life in Los Angeles, the Phoenixes moved back to Florida, settling in Gainesville.
Career
1986–1999: Early work and return to acting
Phoenix made his feature film debut in the adventure film SpaceCamp (1986) as a young boy who goes to Kennedy Space Center to learn about the NASA space program and undergoes amateur astronaut training. He guest starred in the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "A Very Happy Ending" in the same year, playing a child who blackmails a hitman (played by Robert Loggia) into killing his father (John Aprea). Phoenix's first starring role was in the film Russkies (1987), about a group of friends who unknowingly befriend a Russian soldier during the Cold War.
In 1989, Phoenix co-starred as Garry, the withdrawn teenage nephew of Steve Martin's character in Ron Howard's comedy-drama Parenthood. The film was box office success, grossing $126 million worldwide against its $20 million budget. Critics praised the film, with IndieWire reviewers highlighting the film's cast and their performances for possessing "genuinely likable, and occasionally insightful, heart" calling Phoenix a "terrifically believable angsty adolescent", in a performance which garnered him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film. The role of Garry was reprised in the series based on the film by Leonardo DiCaprio, who studied Phoenix's performance in order to get it right. After establishing himself as a child actor, Phoenix felt that he wasn't getting any appealing offers and decided to take a break from acting and traveled to Mexico with his father, learning Spanish. When he returned to the States, his brother River Phoenix suggested that Phoenix changed his name back to Joaquin and encouraged him to start acting again.
On October 31, 1993, River died of an overdose outside The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Phoenix, who had accompanied his brother and older sister Rain to the club, called 911 to seek help for his dying brother. After the death, the phone call was repeatedly broadcast on TV and radio shows. The family retreated to Costa Rica to escape the media glare as the event came to be depicted as a cautionary tale of young Hollywood surrounded by mythology and conspiracy.
In 1995, Phoenix returned to acting in Gus Van Sant's black comedy To Die For, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was inspired by the Pamela Smart murder case. Phoenix starred as Jimmy Emmett, a disturbed young man who is seduced by a woman (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. The film premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, with New York Times critic Janet Maslin praising Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all."
In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. The film was released to a dismal box office performance and was not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) investigate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out to be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics.
2000–2010: Critical acclaim and commercial success
In 2000, Phoenix co-starred in three films. In the first of these, he portrayed a fictionalized version of Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's historical epic film Gladiator. The film received positive reviews and grossed $457 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly called Phoenix's work "a more nuanced star-making performance" when comparing him to the lead Russell Crowe, writing "Phoenix turns what could have easily been a cartoonish villain into a richly layered study of pathology." Phoenix earned his first nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. He and his late brother River became the first brothers to be nominated for acting Academy Awards. To this date, they are the only brothers to hold this distinction.
His next film marked his first collaboration with director James Gray in The Yards. The crime film follows the corruption in the rail yards of Queens. Although failing to perform well at the box office, The Yards received positive reviews from critics with many considering Phoenix's performance as the villain a stand out. The third release of 2000 was Philip Kaufman's Quills, a satirical thriller inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade. Phoenix portrayed the conflicted priest Abbé de Coulmier opposite Kate Winslet. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was a modest art house success grossing a total of $17 million at the box office. It was received with critical praise with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praising Phoenix and his chemistry with Winslet, stating "Phoenix, on a roll this year with Gladiator and The Yards, excels at making the priest a seductive figure — a neat trick considering the real Abbe was a four-foot hunchback. Winslet and Phoenix generate real fire, notably when Abbe dreams of ravishing Madeleine on the altar." For his combined roles of that year, Phoenix was awarded the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The following year, Phoenix starred in the satirical film Buffalo Soldiers as a U.S. Army soldier. The world premiere was held at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in early September. However, because the film was a satire of the US military, its wider theatrical run was delayed by approximately two years because of the September 11 attacks; it was finally released on July 25, 2003. BBCs Nev Pierce wrote that "Phoenix is excellent as a Gen X Sergeant Bilko, ensuring his cheerfully amoral character never loses heart - showcasing tenderness, love, grief and fear as his games get out of control" and Phoenix received a nomination for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor.
The science fiction thriller Signs (2002) marked Phoenix's first collaboration with director M. Night Shyamalan. In the film, he played Merrill Hess, a former Minor League baseball player who, along with his older brother Graham (Mel Gibson), discovers that Earth has been invaded by extraterrestrials. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Phoenix's performance was praised, with critic Peter Travers writing that Phoenix "registers impressively, finding the humor and the pain in this lost boy [...] never making a false move as a helpless Merrill watches his rock of a brother crumble into a despairing crisis of faith." The film was a commercial success, grossing $408.2 million worldwide.
In 2003, Phoenix played the irresolute husband of a superstar-skater (Claire Danes) in Thomas Vinterberg's romance-drama It's All About Love, and voiced Kenai in the Disney animated film Brother Bear. Phoenix expressed immense joy being cast as the lead voice role in a Disney animated feature, stating "The real pinnacle [in my career] is that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the greatest?" The film grossed $250.4 million worldwide, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He was replaced by Patrick Dempsey in the sequel Brother Bear 2. Phoenix reunited with Shyamalan in the period thriller The Village (2004). The film is about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it, referred to as "Those We Don't Speak Of". He played farmer Lucius Hunt, a role which Christopher Orr of The Atlantic found "underdeveloped". Though initially receiving mixed reviews, the film attracted retrospective reviews years after its release. Several critics deemed it one of Shyamalan's best films, praising Phoenix's "terrific" performance. The film was a financial success, grossing $256.7 million worldwide on its $60 million budget.
In his next film of the year, he starred opposite John Travolta in the drama film Ladder 49 as a Baltimore firefighter. In preparation for the role, Phoenix trained for two months with the Baltimore Fire Department, putting out actual fires. He admitted that he was afraid of heights before he started making this film, recalling "I got to the pole and I looked down and I couldn't do it. But you go through the training and it exposes your fears and helps you to overcome them. We ended up rappelling off a six-story tower and that really helped." The film earned $102.3 million at the box office despite receiving generally mixed reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the performances in the film. Phoenix's final film of 2004 was Terry George's Hotel Rwanda, playing cameraman Jack Daglish. Based on the Rwandan genocide, the film documents Paul Rusesabagina's (Don Cheadle) efforts to save the lives of his family and more than 1,000 other refugees by providing them with shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. The film was a moderate financial success but was a critical success, receiving almost exclusively positive reviews from critics. For his performance in the film, Phoenix was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast.
In 2005, Phoenix co-starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the James Mangold directed film Walk the Line, a Johnny Cash biopic, after Cash himself approved of Phoenix. All of Cash's vocal tracks in the film and on the accompanying soundtrack are played and sung by Phoenix. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, eventually grossing $186 million worldwide. Phoenix's performance received rave reviews from critics and it inspired film critic Roger Ebert to write, "Knowing Johnny Cash's albums more or less by heart, I closed my eyes to focus on the soundtrack and decided that, yes, that was the voice of Johnny Cash I was listening to. The closing credits make it clear it's Joaquin Phoenix doing the singing, and I was gob-smacked". For his portrayal of Johnny Cash, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's soundtrack. Phoenix also received a second Academy Award nomination, his first in the Best Actor category as well as a second BAFTA nomination. Earlier that year, he narrated Earthlings (2005), a documentary about the investigation of animal abuse in factory farms, and pet mills, and for scientific research. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2005, for his work and contribution to Earthlings. Animal rights philosopher Tom Regan remarked that "for those who watch Earthlings, the world will never be the same".
Phoenix's first producing task was the action thriller We Own the Night (2007), in which he played nightclub manager Bobby Green/Grusinsky who tries to save his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) from Russian mafia hitmen. The James Gray-directed film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews; Roger Ebert praised Gray's direction and the acting, but criticized its screenplay for lack of originality. David Edelstein of New York Magazine commended Phoenix for elevating the film's conflict, writing that it "might be heavy-handed without Phoenix's face—his irresolution somehow more powerful than other actors' resolve. There is no artifice. He's not an actor disappearing into a role but a man disappearing into himself[...]Phoenix homes in on the truth of this person. It's the paradox of the greatest acting".
Later that year, he played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident in his second feature with Terry George, the crime drama film Reservation Road. The film received mixed reviews from critics; Peter Travers praised Phoenix's acting stating "Even the best actors – and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest – can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix also executive produced the television show 4Real, a half-hour program which began airing in 2007. The series showcased celebrity guests on global adventures "in order to connect with young leaders who are creating social and economic change".
In 2008, Phoenix starred as a suicidal bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor in Gray's Two Lovers. The romantic drama premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Reviews for the film and Phoenix's performance were positive; New York Magazine'''s chief critic called it his best performance to date and Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter felt that Phoenix led the film with "great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable". During the promotion of Two Lovers, Phoenix had started to film his next performance for the mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010), which the media felt overshadowed the former's theatrical release. I'm Still Here purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist managed by rap icon Sean "Diddy" Combs. Directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and co-written by Affleck and Phoenix, the little-seen film premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival to mixed reviews; critics were divided on whether to interpret the film as documentary or performance art. After its release, Phoenix explained that the idea for the feature arose from his amazement that people believed reality television shows' claims of being unscripted. By claiming to retire from acting, he and Affleck planned to make a film that "explored celebrity, and explored the relationship between the media and the consumers and the celebrities themselves" through their film.
2011–2018: Established career and continued acclaim
In 2011, it was announced that Phoenix would star in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama film The Master, which traces the relationship between Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II navy veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society and Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffmann), a leader of a religious movement known as "The Cause". To create the character, Phoenix lost a significant amount of weight and went to a dentist to help force his jaw shut on one side; a trait his own father had. The film premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival where he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. The art house film only grossed $28 million but was received with critical acclaim, with Phoenix's performance receiving high praise. Peter Travers called it the performance of his career writing "Acting doesn't get better or go deeper[...]Phoenix wears the role like a second skin. You can't take your eyes off him." His performance as Freddie was described as "career-defining" by Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, who was impressed that Anderson and Phoenix collaboratively were able to build such complex work around such a derelict figure. Fellow actor Daniel Day-Lewis publicly lauded the "remarkable" Phoenix while accepting the Screen Actors Guild Award, apologising for the fact that Phoenix hadn't been nominated for the same award. Despite this, Phoenix received his third Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his leading role.
Phoenix and Gray's fourth collaboration came with The Immigrant (2013), a drama film in which he played the supporting role of a pimp who prostitutes Polish immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and ends up falling for her. The Immigrant and his performance premiered to highly positive reviews at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In his review, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club thought the film featured one of his best performances and commended Phoenix's and Gray's developing work, writing of that "the two are so perfectly in sync, that it's hard to tell where Phoenix's performance ends and Gray's visual style[...]—begins", further lauding their development of Bruno into "a fully fledged tragic character, even though he is neither the protagonist of The Immigrant nor the main driving force behind its plot".
His next feature film of that year was the Spike Jonze-directed romantic science-fiction drama Her. He played Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. Released to critical acclaim, critic A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club labeled Phoenix as "one of the most emotionally honest actors in Hollywood", impressed at how he effortlessly unleashes waves of vulnerability in the film's many tight, invasive close-up images, calling it a "tremendous performance, one that rescues this character—a mess of insecurities, regrets, and desires—from the walking pity party he could have been". Her earned more than double of its production budget, and Phoenix received his fourth nomination at the Golden Globes. Several journalists expressed disappointment over his failure to receive an Oscar nomination for it, with Peter Knegt of IndieWire naming it of one of ten worst Oscar acting snubs of the last decade in 2015.
In 2014, Phoenix took on the role of Doc Sportello, a private investigator and hippie/dope head trying to help his ex-girlfriend solve a crime in the crime comedy-drama Inherent Vice, based on Thomas Pynchon's detective novel of the same name. Reviews toward the film were positive; critics praised Phoenix's performance and Paul Thomas Anderson's direction, while some were frustrated by its complicated plot. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph termed Phoenix as Anderson's "perfect leading man" and his work as "the kind of quietly dazzling performance that rarely wins awards but will be adoringly dissected and quoted for decades". Phoenix earned his fifth Golden Globe nomination for the film.
After narrating the sequel to Earthlings, the 2015 animal rights' documentary Unity, Phoenix teamed with director Woody Allen and Emma Stone in the crime mystery film Irrational Man. He played Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor experiencing an existential crisis. The film was released to mixed reviews at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival; The Hollywood Reporter felt that the film was too similar to Allen's previous films, but praised Phoenix's chemistry with Stone and Phoenix for playing the character "with a wonderful baggy, lived-in quality that makes us want to climb inside the character's whiskey-sozzled head".
The thriller You Were Never Really Here, written and directed by Lynne Ramsay and based on the novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames, ranks among the most acclaimed films of Phoenix's career. The film is about Joe (played by Phoenix), a traumatized former FBI agent and Gulf War veteran who tracks down missing girls for a living. To prepare for the film, Phoenix was advised by a former bodyguard who goes on international missions to rescue children suffering sexual exploitation and abuse by human traffickers; he gained a significant amount of weight and muscle for the part. Phoenix was Ramsay's first and only choice to play the veteran, with Ramsay calling him "my soulmate in making movies". The film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it received universal acclaim and earned Phoenix the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times described Phoenix's performance as "the most rivetingly contained" work of his career and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer of Consequence noted that his evocative manners in the film, led to him giving career-high work and "the kind of haunting turn that only comes around a few times every decade or so".
In 2018, Phoenix portrayed Jesus in the biblical drama Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis. The film, and his performance, received mixed reviews; a reviewer for Entertainment Weekly thought that Phoenix lacked the quiet compassion and grace that was required for the role, while Nick Allen of Roger Ebert's website described his performance as "a human being who is visibly tormented by the power and wisdom that works through him", deeming it one of the best portrayals of Jesus ever. His next two featuresthe biopic Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and the crime drama The Sisters Brothers were much better received. In the former, Phoenix reunited with his To Die For director Gus Van Sant to portray quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote that there's no better leading actor producing better work than Phoenix, stating "The actor – never a simple chameleon, but someone who disappears into a role entirely with a frightening conviction – continues to display new and tremendous range here" and David Hughes of Empire thought that in a more conventional film, Phoenix would be the favourite to win an Academy Award.
The third film of 2018 was The Sisters Brothers, Jacques Audiard's adaptation of the novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt. The film starred John C. Reilly and Phoenix as the notorious assassin brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters respectively and chronicles their chase after two men who have banded together to search for gold. Writing for Roger Ebert's website, Tomris Laffly commented on Phoenix's and Reilly's "tremendous chemistry" and Lindsey Behr of the Associated Press opined that the duo "excellently manage all the various tones in the film".
Also in 2018, he collaborated with Rooney Mara and Sia to narrate Chris Delforce's documentary Dominion. Animal rights activists have called it one of the most powerful documentaries ever made. For his contribution to the documentary, Phoenix was granted the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.
2019–present: Joker and further success
In 2019, Phoenix starred as the DC Comics character Joker in Todd Phillips's psychological thriller Joker; an alternative origin story for the character. Set in 1981, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. Phoenix lost in preparation, and based his laugh on "videos of people suffering from pathological laughter." Released to critical acclaim at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, the film experienced a polarized critical reception after its theatrical release. While Phoenix's performance received rave reviews, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-life violence; the movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises refused to show it. Despite this, Joker became a box office success grossing over $1 billion (against its $55 million production budget), the first and only R-rated film to do so, becoming Phoenix's highest-grossing film.
Pete Hammond of Deadline wrote of Phoenix's "extraordinary" performance, describing it as "dazzling risky and original" and The Hollywood Reporters David Rooney called his performance the "must-see factor" of the film, writing "he inhabits [the character] with an insanity by turns pitiful and fearsome in an out-there performance that's no laughing matter[...]Phoenix is the prime force that makes Joker such a distinctively edgy entry in the Hollywood comics industrial complex." The film earned him numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor.
In 2020, Phoenix served as an executive producer on Gunda, directed by Viktor Kossakovsky. The acclaimed documentary follows the daily life of a pig, two cows, and a one-legged chicken. That same year, Phoenix was named on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times. The list was compiled by famed critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott and Phoenix's paragraph was written by his frequent collaborator, director James Gray.
In 2021, he starred in Mike Mills' drama C'mon C'mon, as Johnny, a radio journalist who embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew. The A24 film premiered at the 48th Telluride Film Festival to universal acclaim and scored the best per-venue average for a limited release since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture praised Phoenix writing "a tremendous showing from Joaquin Phoenix, operating at a register he's rarely found before. It's a career best for him — lovely, empathetic, humane[...]He possesses a warmth that glows from beginning to end. As Johnny, Phoenix listens to people and the world around him with full-bodied curiosity. This is where the bravura lies in the performance: his ability to seemingly just be."
Upcoming projects
Phoenix has three upcoming films. He will star in Ari Aster's Disappointment Blvd., and in January 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Phoenix is set to portray Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon, his second collaboration with director Ridley Scott. He is also set to reunite with director Lynne Ramsay for an upcoming feature called Polaris, co-starring Rooney Mara.
Reception and acting style
At the beginning of his career, Phoenix was often referred to as "the second most famous Phoenix", his name associated most closely with the death of his brother River Phoenix. The media would often compare the two, with The New York Times describing Joaquin as "sweetly unsettling and endlessly vulnerable" compared to his brother's "pure all-American blond boyishness". After his brother died, Phoenix gained a reputation for his distrust of the media, with many speculating that it is derived from how the death was covered by the press. He was often asked about the day River died, and still is to this date. Phoenix has described these interviews as "insincere" and has felt that they impeded on the mourning process. Caroline Frost of The Huffington Post has said that Phoenix is "engaging, engaged, mischievous, honest" in person and Anderson Cooper of 60 Minutes thought that he was "wry, shy and couldn't be any more friendlier" adding that Phoenix "just doesn't like to talk about himself". Although known for his intensity and darkness on-screen, director James Gray who worked with Phoenix in four feature films, says that Phoenix is very different off-screen saying "He's actually very tender and sweet and sensitive. It's almost as if he channels his intensity into the characters. Like the work is an outlet for his darker side."
Phoenix has been described as one of the finest actors of his generation. As he achieved stardom after Gladiator (2000), he was conveniently ruled out of teen-idol roles because of his hard gaze and scarred lip. Justin Chang, analyzing his career in Los Angeles Times in 2020, remarked that filmmakers immediately seemed to recognize that Phoenix was more than a heartthrob, and that there was "something more tortured, more vulnerable and infinitely more interesting at play beneath the surface". He noted that through his work, Phoenix is challenging and redefining cinematic manhood and that this quality sets him apart from most of his contemporaries. Renowned film critic and film historian Leonard Maltin has called Phoenix "a true chameleon", writing "[Phoenix] commands the screen and breaks your heart; he makes us feel it all vicariously."
Phoenix is particularly known for his ability to heavily commit to each role he plays and his intense preparations, deeply immersing himself in the characters, often blurring the lines between fiction and reality. That immersion was particularly evident during the filming of the mockumentary I'm Still Here (2010), when Phoenix announced to the world that he was retiring from acting to become a rapper. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Media outlets worldwide believed that Phoenix was having a mental breakdown after his infamous appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Confusion from the media turned to concern as the seemingly drug-addled Phoenix continued his attempts to convince crowds he was serious about a rap career. Many worried his erratic behaviour was a sign he was stuck in a downward spiral, and headed down the same self-destructive path that took the life of his older brother. Although widely suspected to be a mockumentary, the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. To this day, some people believe he went through a personal meltdown during the filming period. Phoenix has credited the making of I'm Still Here for allowing him to make bolder choices in acting.
Phoenix contends there's no real methodology to the roles he chooses, but has said that he is drawn to complex characters. He speculates that his affinity for dark roles derives from something more ineffable, possibly prenatal saying that "I think there is a combination of nature and nurture[...]—and some of it is my upbringing." Even so, Phoenix remains reluctant to draw a line between his unusual childhood, his private tragedy and his talent for "inhabiting the morose, damaged, violent, and otherwise anxiety-riddled characters". James Gray has described Phoenix as "one of the most incorruptible people I've ever known, and the least superficial", and has spoken of his acting, saying that he admires Phoenix's "limitless ability to surprise you in the best ways and inspire you to move in a direction that you haven't thought of originally, better than what you have in mind". Garth Davis, who directed Phoenix in Mary Magdalene (2018), has remarked that he does not apply method acting, but said that working with Phoenix is like "working with this beautiful wild animal, where you have to give him the space to be free, so his performance can roam freely: raw, uncontrived and truly natural. If he smells the design of the scene, you lose his free spirit; if the script is weak, he will expose its flaws. He is fiercely intelligent and almost completely instinctual. And he has this immense sensitivity that can be both his curse and his gift, but for me, that is what it means to be human". In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Phoenix claimed that he prefers independent film over major studio film, citing that "the quality of acting suffers".
In 2019, he stated that in choosing films, he solely relies on the director, "I don't really care about genre or budget size, anything like that. It's just whether there is a filmmaker that has a unique vision, has a voice, and the ability to make the film." For Phoenix, a great performance is in the director's hands — it's ultimately the director's world he's entering. He maintains that the director creates the character's arc and that the best directors adjust to what is happening with the actor in the moment.
Phoenix has cited Robert De Niro as one of his favorite actors and strongest acting influences. Phoenix recalled watching Raging Bull for the first time in an interview, "I think it just… awakened something in me. And I could suddenly see it through his eyes. There's a part in Raging Bull where De Niro meets a girl in between a chain-link fence. And he, you know, shakes her pinky and it's like this just beautiful little detail, it's this wonderful moment. And I think that in some ways is what I'm always looking for."
Other ventures
Music
Phoenix has directed music videos for Ringside, She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr., and Silversun Pickups. He was said to have produced the opening track for Pusha T's My Name Is My Name album alongside Kanye West. The track is called "King Push". Phoenix then denied in a statement to XXL having produced the record, saying, "While it was widely reported that Pusha T used my beat and that I produced his song, I can't take any credit. A friend's son played me his music, and all I did was make an introduction to Kanye [West]'s camp."
Animal rights activism
Phoenix is identified as one of the most active celebrities in the animal rights movement. A vegan since age three, he does not wear any clothes made out of animal skin; he requests that all of his leather costumes in films are made from synthetic materials. Phoenix has said that animal rights are one of the most important pillars in his life, and maintains that "climate change is imminent if we do not adopt a plant-based lifestyle". He has helped raise awareness of the correlation between animal rights, climate change and health issues. Phoenix has received praise and accolades from animal rights groups, with PETA naming him "Person of the Year" in 2019.
PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement: "Joaquin Phoenix never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight away from himself and onto animals' plight and to set a great example of walking the vegan walk". He has been an active supporter of numerous animal rights organizations, including PETA.
Throughout the years, Phoenix has headlined numerous campaigns for different organizations to help promote veganism and end animal slaughter. In 2019, Phoenix and his partner Rooney Mara led the National Animal Rights Day demonstration to help spread awareness for animal rights. On January 10, 2020, Phoenix was arrested with actress Jane Fonda at a climate change protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At the protest, Phoenix spoke about the link between animal agriculture and climate change.
During the 2019–20 awards season, amid protesting for animal rights, Phoenix had been driving a behind-the-scenes movement that transformed five events to meat-free menus, beginning with the Golden Globe Awards. He acknowledged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association during his acceptance speech, for its "very bold move making tonight plant-based. It really sends a powerful message." Soon after, Critics' Choice and SAG followed suit. Phoenix contacted the presidents of the award ceremonies, accompanied by signatures from the likes of fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Phoenix's pitch was that meat agriculture is a leading cause of climate change and that the televised spectacles should use their platforms to address pressing societal issues. The Academy Awards later announced that all food served at the Dolby Theatre before the Oscars was going to be vegan. Lisa Lange, senior vp communications at PETA, spoke of Phoenix's power saying "He knows what can be done. He knows he's in a good position to push. He enlists friends. And it works. He can have influence in Hollywood and it influences the rest of the world."
A day after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, and subsequently delivering a headlining acceptance speech in which he spoke to the plight of mother cows and their babies used in animal agriculture, Phoenix helped to rescue a cow and her newborn calf from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. They were taken to Farm Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary and advocacy organization, where they will live out the rest of their lives. The same month, he starred in Guardians of Life, the first of twelve short films by the environmental organization Mobilize Earth that highlighted the most pressing issues facing humanity and the natural world. Funds raised by the project went to Amazon Watch and Extinction Rebellion.
Two animal species have been named after him. In 2011, a Trilobite species was named Gladiatoria phoenix for his iconic role in the 2000 film Gladiator and in 2020 a Spider species endemic to Iran was named Loureedia phoenixi, also known as the Joker spider due to its color pattern matching the DC Comics character Joker, for his role in the 2019 film Joker.
Other activism
In 2020, Phoenix collaborated with JusticeLA to create a public service announcement #SuingToSaveLives about the health of people in L.A. County jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal life
Views and lifestyle
After re-establishing himself as an actor in the mid 1990s, Phoenix moved back to Los Angeles. He is known for his disdain of celebrity culture, rarely granting interviews, and being reticent about discussing
his private life. In 2018, he described himself as a secular Jew who does not affiliate with any organized religion; one of his "core values" is the idea of forgiveness. Phoenix has also claimed that his mother believed in Jesus, though his parents were not religious. While portraying Jesus for the 2018 movie Mary Magdalene, he expressed that the role changed his perspective on the nature of forgiveness.
In early April 2005, Phoenix checked himself into rehab to be treated for alcoholism. Twelve years later, he revealed that he did not need an intervention: "I really just thought of myself as a hedonist. I was an actor in L.A. I wanted to have a good time. But I wasn't engaging with the world or myself in the way I wanted to". On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Phoenix veered off the road and flipped his car. The crash was reportedly caused by brake failure. Shaken and confused, he heard someone tapping on his window and telling him to "just relax". Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." The man replied, "No, you're not." The man then stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette while gasoline was leaking into the car cabin. Phoenix realized that the man was German filmmaker Werner Herzog. While Herzog helped Phoenix out of the wreckage by breaking the back window of the car, bystanders called an ambulance. Phoenix approached Herzog to express his gratitude.
In 2012, Phoenix labeled the Academy Awards "bullshit". He later gave an interview apologizing for his comments, and acknowledged that the awards provide an important platform for many deserving filmmakers. He elaborated on the topic while on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015, explaining that he is uncomfortable receiving accolades for his work in films when he considers the filmmaking process to be a collaborative one.
A longtime vegan, Phoenix finds animal agriculture "absurd and barbaric". He explained his reasoning behind his veganism; "To me, it just seems obvious – I don't want to cause pain to another living empathetic creature. I don't want to take its babies away from it, I don't want to force it to be indoors and fattened up just to be slaughtered. Certainly, also, the effect that it has on our environment is devastating. So, for me, it's my life and has always been my life, and it's really one of the most important things to me."
Relationships and family
From 1995 to 1998, Phoenix dated his Inventing the Abbotts co-star Liv Tyler. The two remain close friends, with Tyler considering Phoenix and his sisters as her family.<ref></></ref> He was romantically involved with South African model Topaz Page-Green from 2001 to 2005. Phoenix is currently on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides daily meals to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa, founded by Page-Green.
In 2012, Phoenix met Her co-star Rooney Mara. The two remained friends and began a romantic relationship four years later, during the making of Mary Magdalene. Their engagement was confirmed in July 2019 and the following year, the couple were reported to be expecting their first child together. In late September 2020, it was announced that the couple had a son, named River after Phoenix's late brother. They reside in the Hollywood Hills. Phoenix has described his family life as simple. He enjoys meditating, watching documentaries, reading scripts and taking karate classes. He has a black belt in karate.
Filmography and accolades
According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and the box-office site Box Office Mojo, Phoenix's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films include Parenthood (1989), To Die For (1995), Gladiator (2000), Signs (2002), Brother Bear (2003), The Village (2004), Walk the Line (2005), Two Lovers (2008), The Master (2012), The Immigrant (2013), Her (2013), Inherent Vice (2014), You Were Never Really Here (2017) and Joker (2019).
Phoenix has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
73rd Academy Awards (2001): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, as Commodus in Gladiator78th Academy Awards (2006): Best Actor, nomination, as John R. "Johnny" Cash in Walk the Line85th Academy Awards (2013): Best Actor, nomination, as Freddie Quell in The Master92nd Academy Awards (2020): Best Actor, win, as Arthur Fleck/Joker in JokerPhoenix has won two Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Walk the Line and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for Joker, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Joker.
Phoenix was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the Walk The Line soundtrack. He has also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 69th Venice International Film Festival for The Master and the Best Actor Award at the 70th Cannes Film Festival for You Were Never Really Here''.
Phoenix and River Phoenix hold the distinction of being the only brothers nominated for acting Academy Awards. Both Phoenix and Heath Ledger won an Academy Award for their performances as the Joker, becoming the second pair of actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same character – the other pair being Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, who won Best Actor and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor respectively, for their portrayals of Vito Corleone.
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of animal rights advocates
List of vegans
Notes
References
External links
1974 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American animal rights activists
American environmentalists
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American people of English descent
American people of French descent
American people of German descent
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American street performers
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from Gainesville, Florida
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Method actors
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Los Angeles
People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Joaquin
Veganism activists
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners
| false |
[
"The Southern Oklahoma Cosmic Trigger Contest is a soundtrack by The Flaming Lips to the Bradley Beesley fishing documentary Okie Noodling, featuring three country-tinged songs not found elsewhere, two of which are instrumentals.\n\nIt was distributed as a promotional CD at early screenings of the film.\n\nThe first track has the following spoken introduction: \"when Bradley first told me, I guess maybe a year and a half ago, about making this little movie about okie noodling, I'd really never heard of the term noodling before and for some reason I immediately imagined it was about, of all things, masturbation. I guess it sort of... Oh, it sounded sort of funny and perverted and that's just what I thought. And even though Bradley continued sort of talking, telling about his idea, all this stuff kind of happening in a, you know, a couple of seconds, my mind was still building up this bizarre masturbation story and so by now I was thinking that he was going to make a movie about this cult of teenagers living in Southern Oklahoma who have these, you know, bizarre masturbation contests and I was thinking what a crazy movie that would be... But anyway, I eventually snapped out of my daydreaming and quickly realized he was talking about a weird kind of fishing where guys use their hands instead of rods and hooks. And though it wasn't as interesting as what I was imagining, it seemed at least absurd and I figured if Bradley was doing it is would entertaining just the same. So when he eventually asked me to contribute to music for his movie, I agreed with him that it should have a kind of playful, adult, country feel to it, not too hillbilly and not too swampy, and his examples that he leans towards were sort of classic Glen Campbell stuff, which, you know, is great stuff. And, as we got towards finishing up the music and he got finished making up his movie, he was still wishing for something from us that I was singing on, because up until then it was all just music and sound-oriented compositions and I told him that I would try to come up with something. And though I tried, I couldn't connect this fishing thing with the bigger, sort of cosmic theme without sounding like some, you know, kind of back-to-nature zen bullshit and I didn't want this. I wanted, you know, something that was playful and absurd, and then I was kind of reminded of this, you know, my initial imaginings of the cult of masturbating teenagers and, within moments, I had the basic song sort of done. And though it doesn't really mention fishing anywhere in it, the theme of entertaining yourself with your hands was my ridiculous way of connecting them\".\n\nTrack listing\n\nFootnotes and references\n\nExternal links\n Official Okie Noodling film site\n\n2001 EPs\nThe Flaming Lips EPs",
"Black Starlet is a 1974 film.\n\nPlot summary\n\nIntroduction\nA young woman decides she no longer wants to work as a street walker in Chicago, now she wants to follow her dreams as an actress in Hollywood. The main cast members are Clara/Carla Brown – Juanita Brown, Brisco – Eric Mason, Ben – Rockne Tarkington, Skully – Damu King, Joyce – Diane Holden, Phil – Noah Keen, and Sam – Al Lewis. The writers are Daniel Cady and Howard Ostroff. The movie was filmed in Hollywood.\n\nPlot\nThe protagonist, Clara, starts out as a prostitute but is a young aspiring actress at heart. After saving up some money, she leavesher pimp boyfriend behind and moves to Hollywood. After some initial struggles, being robbed and pursued by lustful men, she finally makes it to Hollywood. While looking for work, Clara met a good friend named Joyce. Joyce taught Clara all the ins and outs about Hollywood, even introducing her to her manager. Although during Clara's time as an actress she was raped, Clara did not let that stop her. She soon became a well-known actress/writer.\n\nBackground\nOne of the reasons this movie wasn't your typical 1970s person top pick is that it was a low-budget movie, according to the \"Every 70s Movie\" article. Since the movie was set at a low budget this meant that the actors and actresses wouldn't be too great. As stated in the \"Every 70s Movie\" article, \"Yet Black Starlet meets and nearly exceeds the very low expectations set by its subject matter and title.\" Everyone in that time period just knew it was going to be a terrible movie because no one wanted to give up more funds for it forcing the producers to find casts willing to work for a very low wage. According to \"Every 70s Movie\", \"What makes Black Starlet more or less palatable are the moments wedged between exploitation-flick extremes.\"\n\nSocial norms\nIn the 1970s, it was a time when everyone was fighting for equality, African Americans, women, gays, and lesbians. The book Bucks and a Black Movie Boom stated that during the 1970s \"Very few films attempted to explore a black woman's tensions or aspirations or to examine the dynamics of sexual politics within the black community.\" Women were and still are experiencing sexual abuse. To further the fight for equality even if the industry felt no one would be interested in hearing about a black woman's struggle. Women were constantly put down about their acting talent but that was all put to rest when the movie Sparkle was introduced. It too was a low budget film that everyone thought would not take off anywhere, but soon became an appealing movie.\n\nWomanism\nThe fight for women's rights: the 1970s was a time when women were campaigning women's rights. In 1972, Congress approved the Equal Rights Amendment. This amendment states “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” This was a time where women opened abortion clinics and rape centers. According to the book Bucks and a Black Movie Boom, \"It was the 1970s, that slick trendy, and contradictory era that led opened with politics and social issues very much on the minds of most Americans.\" The 1970s was an era for Black women to show that they were more than just a stereotype, they could act as well. In the book it discusses, \"What with the Black Nationalist movement, the youth movement, and the rising tide of feminism, the 1970s looked as if it, like the 1960s, would be propelled along by political activism. The movies gave Blacks a way to express their feelings without backlash. With this being said the 1970s era was different, different how? Bucks and a Black Movie Boom states that \"Then, too, while the 1970s opened with films with some political heat, the age closed with movies that were increasingly more escapist.\" In this era, Blacks were looking for a movie that shed light to America's racial conflicts and issues such as actors who showed power, who showed they weren't afraid of standing up for what was right. The 1970s is explained to be, \"No other period in black movie history, however, has been quite so energetic or important as the frenetic 1970s,\" as described in the book Bucks and a Black Movie Boom. This era, was like no other time era. It was a moment for anyone, blacks included, to rise above the pre-existing weak stereotypes.\n\nDiscussion of context\nThe soundtrack to the movie is soulful music coming from Joe Hinton and Dee Irvin. Songs include “Up is Down”, “Hollywood Faces”, “Fire Sign”, and “Go on and Find Your Star”.\n\nConclusion\nAs far as information about the main characters, there is not much information about Juanita Brown and Rockne Tarkington died in 2015. It is said that Tarkington has appeared in many movies. As for Brown, she has appeared in a few movies as stated in the article \"Every 70s Movie\". Yet nothing else has appeared about the actress. This film is listed as a blaxploitation film on Wikipedia.\n\nReferences\n\nSources\n\nExternal links\n Black Starlet (1974) [FULL MOVIE] | Itinerant Blog\n Black Starlet (1974) directed by Chris Munger • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd\n\n1974 films\nBlaxploitation films"
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[
"Joaquin Phoenix",
"2006-2010: Producing and self-imposed break",
"What did Joaquin do in 2006?",
"In 2006, Phoenix was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.",
"What happened in 2007?",
"In 2007, Phoenix reunited with director James Gray for the film We Own the Night, which he also",
"What was this movie about?",
"In the film, Phoenix played a New York nightclub manager who tries to save his brother and father from"
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C_7778de4d51af45d58cbe0ea79e0db2f7_0
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Did the movie do well?
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Did the film We Own the Night do well?
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Joaquin Phoenix
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In 2006, Phoenix was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2007, Phoenix reunited with director James Gray for the film We Own the Night, which he also produced. In the film, Phoenix played a New York nightclub manager who tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hit men. The film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, receiving mixed reviews from critics and grossed a total of $54.5 million worldwide. Critic Peter Travers described Phoenix as "electrifying and then some", and he was awarded the People's Choice Award for Favorite Leading Man for the performance. For his second film of 2007, Phoenix also reunited with director Terry George for the film Reservation Road. In it, Phoenix played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident. The film failed at the box office and received negative reviews from critics, with film critic Peter Travers writing "Even the best actors -- and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest -- can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix made his third collaboration with director James Gray in the film Two Lovers (2008), where he played a bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor. Two Lovers premiered in competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival in May, receiving largely positive reviews, especially Phoenix who was praised by film critics David Edelstein who wrote "He [Phoenix] is, once again, stupendous, and stupendous in a way he has never been before" and Roger Ebert describing his performance as "perfect pitch". Two Lovers grossed $16 million worldwide. Phoenix's mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010) premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival on September 6, 2010. The film was directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and was also written by Affleck and Phoenix himself. The film purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist. Filming officially began on January 16, 2009 at a Las Vegas nightclub. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Although widely suspected to be a "mockumentary," the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. The film received mixed reviews and failed at the box office. After the releasing of the film, Phoenix took a self-imposed break from acting. CANNOTANSWER
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The film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, receiving mixed reviews from critics and grossed a total of $54.5 million worldwide.
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Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and animal rights activist. Known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent film, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was ranked 12th on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times.
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Los Angeles and Florida, Phoenix began his career by appearing in television series in the early 1980s with his brother River. His first major film roles were in SpaceCamp (1986) and Parenthood (1989). During this period, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, a name he gave himself. He took back his birth first name in the early 1990s and received critical acclaim for his supporting roles in the comedy-drama film To Die For (1995) and the period film Quills (2000). Phoenix received further critical acclaim and first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of the evil emperor Commodus in the historical drama film Gladiator (2000). He had success with the horror films Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), the historical drama Hotel Rwanda (2004) and won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of musician Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line (2005). He continued to receive acclaim in two features with his frequent director James Gray; the action thriller We Own the Night (2007) and the romantic drama Two Lovers (2008), before taking a break from acting.
In the 2010s, Phoenix returned to acting to critical acclaim. He starred in the psychological drama The Master (2012), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and earning his third Academy Award nomination. He received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the romantic drama Her (2013) and the crime satire Inherent Vice (2014) and won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here (2017). Phoenix achieved international stardom and won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a second Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of the title character in Joker (2019).
Phoenix is an animal rights activist. He has been vegan since the age of three and regularly supports charitable causes and has produced several documentaries on global meat consumption and its impact on the environment. He is in a relationship with actress Rooney Mara, with whom he has a son.
Early life and acting background
Joaquin Rafael Bottom was born on October 28, 1974, in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to John Lee Bottom, the founder of a landscape gardening company, and Arlyn "Heart" Bottom (née Dunetz), who was an executive secretary at NBC and whose connection to an agent provided her children with acting work. He is the third of five children, following River (1970–1993) and Rain (born 1972), and preceding Liberty (born 1976) and Summer (born 1978), all of whom have been involved in acting. He also has a half-sister named Jodean (born 1964) from his father's previous relationship. His father was a Catholic from Fontana, California and was of English, German and French ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Meyer Dunetz, was Russian Jewish and his maternal grandmother, Margit Lefkowitz, was Hungarian Jewish; they were both Ashkenazi Jews who resided in New York City. His parents met when his mother was hitchhiking in California and got married less than a year after meeting.
Soon after the second child was born, they joined the religious cult called Children of God and started traveling throughout South America and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean as Christian missionaries, where the next two children were born. They eventually grew disillusioned with Children of God and left in 1977, being opposed to the cult's increasingly distorted rules, particularly the practice of flirty fishing. The fifth child was born in Florida where the family settled for a while. It was also around this time they legally adopted the surname Phoenix, inspired by the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, symbolizing a new beginning. When Phoenix was three, he and his older siblings witnessed fish being killed as the fishermen threw them violently against nails into the wall. This act made the whole family convert to veganism. He also began calling himself "Leaf", having been inspired by spending time outdoors raking leaves and desiring to have a nature-related name like his siblings. Leaf became the name he used before changing it back to his birth name Joaquin at the age of fifteen.
In 1979, after Phoenix's father had to stop working because of an old spinal injury, the whole family moved to Los Angeles where the mother met a high-profile child agent named Iris Burton, who got the children into commercials and bit parts on TV. He made his acting debut alongside his brother in the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the 1982 episode "Christmas Song". He has said of his first time acting:
In 1984, Phoenix starred opposite River in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, for which they shared a nomination for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television at the 6th Youth in Film Awards. He also made guest appearances in the Murder, She Wrote episode "We're Off to Kill the Wizard" and individual episodes of The Fall Guy and Hill Street Blues. A year later, Phoenix appeared in the television film Kids Don't Tell. To supplement their income, the kids sang their original songs like "Gonna Make It," written by River, and busked for money in matching yellow shirts and shorts. They also studied dance; Phoenix became an avid break dancer. Phoenix dropped out of high school when he was sent a dead frog in the mail to dissect for his biology studies, which prompted him to discontinue his studies. Dissatisfied with life in Los Angeles, the Phoenixes moved back to Florida, settling in Gainesville.
Career
1986–1999: Early work and return to acting
Phoenix made his feature film debut in the adventure film SpaceCamp (1986) as a young boy who goes to Kennedy Space Center to learn about the NASA space program and undergoes amateur astronaut training. He guest starred in the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "A Very Happy Ending" in the same year, playing a child who blackmails a hitman (played by Robert Loggia) into killing his father (John Aprea). Phoenix's first starring role was in the film Russkies (1987), about a group of friends who unknowingly befriend a Russian soldier during the Cold War.
In 1989, Phoenix co-starred as Garry, the withdrawn teenage nephew of Steve Martin's character in Ron Howard's comedy-drama Parenthood. The film was box office success, grossing $126 million worldwide against its $20 million budget. Critics praised the film, with IndieWire reviewers highlighting the film's cast and their performances for possessing "genuinely likable, and occasionally insightful, heart" calling Phoenix a "terrifically believable angsty adolescent", in a performance which garnered him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film. The role of Garry was reprised in the series based on the film by Leonardo DiCaprio, who studied Phoenix's performance in order to get it right. After establishing himself as a child actor, Phoenix felt that he wasn't getting any appealing offers and decided to take a break from acting and traveled to Mexico with his father, learning Spanish. When he returned to the States, his brother River Phoenix suggested that Phoenix changed his name back to Joaquin and encouraged him to start acting again.
On October 31, 1993, River died of an overdose outside The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Phoenix, who had accompanied his brother and older sister Rain to the club, called 911 to seek help for his dying brother. After the death, the phone call was repeatedly broadcast on TV and radio shows. The family retreated to Costa Rica to escape the media glare as the event came to be depicted as a cautionary tale of young Hollywood surrounded by mythology and conspiracy.
In 1995, Phoenix returned to acting in Gus Van Sant's black comedy To Die For, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was inspired by the Pamela Smart murder case. Phoenix starred as Jimmy Emmett, a disturbed young man who is seduced by a woman (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. The film premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, with New York Times critic Janet Maslin praising Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all."
In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. The film was released to a dismal box office performance and was not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) investigate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out to be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics.
2000–2010: Critical acclaim and commercial success
In 2000, Phoenix co-starred in three films. In the first of these, he portrayed a fictionalized version of Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's historical epic film Gladiator. The film received positive reviews and grossed $457 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly called Phoenix's work "a more nuanced star-making performance" when comparing him to the lead Russell Crowe, writing "Phoenix turns what could have easily been a cartoonish villain into a richly layered study of pathology." Phoenix earned his first nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. He and his late brother River became the first brothers to be nominated for acting Academy Awards. To this date, they are the only brothers to hold this distinction.
His next film marked his first collaboration with director James Gray in The Yards. The crime film follows the corruption in the rail yards of Queens. Although failing to perform well at the box office, The Yards received positive reviews from critics with many considering Phoenix's performance as the villain a stand out. The third release of 2000 was Philip Kaufman's Quills, a satirical thriller inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade. Phoenix portrayed the conflicted priest Abbé de Coulmier opposite Kate Winslet. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was a modest art house success grossing a total of $17 million at the box office. It was received with critical praise with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praising Phoenix and his chemistry with Winslet, stating "Phoenix, on a roll this year with Gladiator and The Yards, excels at making the priest a seductive figure — a neat trick considering the real Abbe was a four-foot hunchback. Winslet and Phoenix generate real fire, notably when Abbe dreams of ravishing Madeleine on the altar." For his combined roles of that year, Phoenix was awarded the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The following year, Phoenix starred in the satirical film Buffalo Soldiers as a U.S. Army soldier. The world premiere was held at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in early September. However, because the film was a satire of the US military, its wider theatrical run was delayed by approximately two years because of the September 11 attacks; it was finally released on July 25, 2003. BBCs Nev Pierce wrote that "Phoenix is excellent as a Gen X Sergeant Bilko, ensuring his cheerfully amoral character never loses heart - showcasing tenderness, love, grief and fear as his games get out of control" and Phoenix received a nomination for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor.
The science fiction thriller Signs (2002) marked Phoenix's first collaboration with director M. Night Shyamalan. In the film, he played Merrill Hess, a former Minor League baseball player who, along with his older brother Graham (Mel Gibson), discovers that Earth has been invaded by extraterrestrials. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Phoenix's performance was praised, with critic Peter Travers writing that Phoenix "registers impressively, finding the humor and the pain in this lost boy [...] never making a false move as a helpless Merrill watches his rock of a brother crumble into a despairing crisis of faith." The film was a commercial success, grossing $408.2 million worldwide.
In 2003, Phoenix played the irresolute husband of a superstar-skater (Claire Danes) in Thomas Vinterberg's romance-drama It's All About Love, and voiced Kenai in the Disney animated film Brother Bear. Phoenix expressed immense joy being cast as the lead voice role in a Disney animated feature, stating "The real pinnacle [in my career] is that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the greatest?" The film grossed $250.4 million worldwide, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He was replaced by Patrick Dempsey in the sequel Brother Bear 2. Phoenix reunited with Shyamalan in the period thriller The Village (2004). The film is about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it, referred to as "Those We Don't Speak Of". He played farmer Lucius Hunt, a role which Christopher Orr of The Atlantic found "underdeveloped". Though initially receiving mixed reviews, the film attracted retrospective reviews years after its release. Several critics deemed it one of Shyamalan's best films, praising Phoenix's "terrific" performance. The film was a financial success, grossing $256.7 million worldwide on its $60 million budget.
In his next film of the year, he starred opposite John Travolta in the drama film Ladder 49 as a Baltimore firefighter. In preparation for the role, Phoenix trained for two months with the Baltimore Fire Department, putting out actual fires. He admitted that he was afraid of heights before he started making this film, recalling "I got to the pole and I looked down and I couldn't do it. But you go through the training and it exposes your fears and helps you to overcome them. We ended up rappelling off a six-story tower and that really helped." The film earned $102.3 million at the box office despite receiving generally mixed reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the performances in the film. Phoenix's final film of 2004 was Terry George's Hotel Rwanda, playing cameraman Jack Daglish. Based on the Rwandan genocide, the film documents Paul Rusesabagina's (Don Cheadle) efforts to save the lives of his family and more than 1,000 other refugees by providing them with shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. The film was a moderate financial success but was a critical success, receiving almost exclusively positive reviews from critics. For his performance in the film, Phoenix was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast.
In 2005, Phoenix co-starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the James Mangold directed film Walk the Line, a Johnny Cash biopic, after Cash himself approved of Phoenix. All of Cash's vocal tracks in the film and on the accompanying soundtrack are played and sung by Phoenix. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, eventually grossing $186 million worldwide. Phoenix's performance received rave reviews from critics and it inspired film critic Roger Ebert to write, "Knowing Johnny Cash's albums more or less by heart, I closed my eyes to focus on the soundtrack and decided that, yes, that was the voice of Johnny Cash I was listening to. The closing credits make it clear it's Joaquin Phoenix doing the singing, and I was gob-smacked". For his portrayal of Johnny Cash, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's soundtrack. Phoenix also received a second Academy Award nomination, his first in the Best Actor category as well as a second BAFTA nomination. Earlier that year, he narrated Earthlings (2005), a documentary about the investigation of animal abuse in factory farms, and pet mills, and for scientific research. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2005, for his work and contribution to Earthlings. Animal rights philosopher Tom Regan remarked that "for those who watch Earthlings, the world will never be the same".
Phoenix's first producing task was the action thriller We Own the Night (2007), in which he played nightclub manager Bobby Green/Grusinsky who tries to save his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) from Russian mafia hitmen. The James Gray-directed film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews; Roger Ebert praised Gray's direction and the acting, but criticized its screenplay for lack of originality. David Edelstein of New York Magazine commended Phoenix for elevating the film's conflict, writing that it "might be heavy-handed without Phoenix's face—his irresolution somehow more powerful than other actors' resolve. There is no artifice. He's not an actor disappearing into a role but a man disappearing into himself[...]Phoenix homes in on the truth of this person. It's the paradox of the greatest acting".
Later that year, he played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident in his second feature with Terry George, the crime drama film Reservation Road. The film received mixed reviews from critics; Peter Travers praised Phoenix's acting stating "Even the best actors – and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest – can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix also executive produced the television show 4Real, a half-hour program which began airing in 2007. The series showcased celebrity guests on global adventures "in order to connect with young leaders who are creating social and economic change".
In 2008, Phoenix starred as a suicidal bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor in Gray's Two Lovers. The romantic drama premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Reviews for the film and Phoenix's performance were positive; New York Magazine'''s chief critic called it his best performance to date and Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter felt that Phoenix led the film with "great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable". During the promotion of Two Lovers, Phoenix had started to film his next performance for the mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010), which the media felt overshadowed the former's theatrical release. I'm Still Here purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist managed by rap icon Sean "Diddy" Combs. Directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and co-written by Affleck and Phoenix, the little-seen film premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival to mixed reviews; critics were divided on whether to interpret the film as documentary or performance art. After its release, Phoenix explained that the idea for the feature arose from his amazement that people believed reality television shows' claims of being unscripted. By claiming to retire from acting, he and Affleck planned to make a film that "explored celebrity, and explored the relationship between the media and the consumers and the celebrities themselves" through their film.
2011–2018: Established career and continued acclaim
In 2011, it was announced that Phoenix would star in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama film The Master, which traces the relationship between Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II navy veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society and Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffmann), a leader of a religious movement known as "The Cause". To create the character, Phoenix lost a significant amount of weight and went to a dentist to help force his jaw shut on one side; a trait his own father had. The film premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival where he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. The art house film only grossed $28 million but was received with critical acclaim, with Phoenix's performance receiving high praise. Peter Travers called it the performance of his career writing "Acting doesn't get better or go deeper[...]Phoenix wears the role like a second skin. You can't take your eyes off him." His performance as Freddie was described as "career-defining" by Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, who was impressed that Anderson and Phoenix collaboratively were able to build such complex work around such a derelict figure. Fellow actor Daniel Day-Lewis publicly lauded the "remarkable" Phoenix while accepting the Screen Actors Guild Award, apologising for the fact that Phoenix hadn't been nominated for the same award. Despite this, Phoenix received his third Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his leading role.
Phoenix and Gray's fourth collaboration came with The Immigrant (2013), a drama film in which he played the supporting role of a pimp who prostitutes Polish immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and ends up falling for her. The Immigrant and his performance premiered to highly positive reviews at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In his review, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club thought the film featured one of his best performances and commended Phoenix's and Gray's developing work, writing of that "the two are so perfectly in sync, that it's hard to tell where Phoenix's performance ends and Gray's visual style[...]—begins", further lauding their development of Bruno into "a fully fledged tragic character, even though he is neither the protagonist of The Immigrant nor the main driving force behind its plot".
His next feature film of that year was the Spike Jonze-directed romantic science-fiction drama Her. He played Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. Released to critical acclaim, critic A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club labeled Phoenix as "one of the most emotionally honest actors in Hollywood", impressed at how he effortlessly unleashes waves of vulnerability in the film's many tight, invasive close-up images, calling it a "tremendous performance, one that rescues this character—a mess of insecurities, regrets, and desires—from the walking pity party he could have been". Her earned more than double of its production budget, and Phoenix received his fourth nomination at the Golden Globes. Several journalists expressed disappointment over his failure to receive an Oscar nomination for it, with Peter Knegt of IndieWire naming it of one of ten worst Oscar acting snubs of the last decade in 2015.
In 2014, Phoenix took on the role of Doc Sportello, a private investigator and hippie/dope head trying to help his ex-girlfriend solve a crime in the crime comedy-drama Inherent Vice, based on Thomas Pynchon's detective novel of the same name. Reviews toward the film were positive; critics praised Phoenix's performance and Paul Thomas Anderson's direction, while some were frustrated by its complicated plot. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph termed Phoenix as Anderson's "perfect leading man" and his work as "the kind of quietly dazzling performance that rarely wins awards but will be adoringly dissected and quoted for decades". Phoenix earned his fifth Golden Globe nomination for the film.
After narrating the sequel to Earthlings, the 2015 animal rights' documentary Unity, Phoenix teamed with director Woody Allen and Emma Stone in the crime mystery film Irrational Man. He played Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor experiencing an existential crisis. The film was released to mixed reviews at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival; The Hollywood Reporter felt that the film was too similar to Allen's previous films, but praised Phoenix's chemistry with Stone and Phoenix for playing the character "with a wonderful baggy, lived-in quality that makes us want to climb inside the character's whiskey-sozzled head".
The thriller You Were Never Really Here, written and directed by Lynne Ramsay and based on the novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames, ranks among the most acclaimed films of Phoenix's career. The film is about Joe (played by Phoenix), a traumatized former FBI agent and Gulf War veteran who tracks down missing girls for a living. To prepare for the film, Phoenix was advised by a former bodyguard who goes on international missions to rescue children suffering sexual exploitation and abuse by human traffickers; he gained a significant amount of weight and muscle for the part. Phoenix was Ramsay's first and only choice to play the veteran, with Ramsay calling him "my soulmate in making movies". The film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it received universal acclaim and earned Phoenix the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times described Phoenix's performance as "the most rivetingly contained" work of his career and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer of Consequence noted that his evocative manners in the film, led to him giving career-high work and "the kind of haunting turn that only comes around a few times every decade or so".
In 2018, Phoenix portrayed Jesus in the biblical drama Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis. The film, and his performance, received mixed reviews; a reviewer for Entertainment Weekly thought that Phoenix lacked the quiet compassion and grace that was required for the role, while Nick Allen of Roger Ebert's website described his performance as "a human being who is visibly tormented by the power and wisdom that works through him", deeming it one of the best portrayals of Jesus ever. His next two featuresthe biopic Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and the crime drama The Sisters Brothers were much better received. In the former, Phoenix reunited with his To Die For director Gus Van Sant to portray quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote that there's no better leading actor producing better work than Phoenix, stating "The actor – never a simple chameleon, but someone who disappears into a role entirely with a frightening conviction – continues to display new and tremendous range here" and David Hughes of Empire thought that in a more conventional film, Phoenix would be the favourite to win an Academy Award.
The third film of 2018 was The Sisters Brothers, Jacques Audiard's adaptation of the novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt. The film starred John C. Reilly and Phoenix as the notorious assassin brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters respectively and chronicles their chase after two men who have banded together to search for gold. Writing for Roger Ebert's website, Tomris Laffly commented on Phoenix's and Reilly's "tremendous chemistry" and Lindsey Behr of the Associated Press opined that the duo "excellently manage all the various tones in the film".
Also in 2018, he collaborated with Rooney Mara and Sia to narrate Chris Delforce's documentary Dominion. Animal rights activists have called it one of the most powerful documentaries ever made. For his contribution to the documentary, Phoenix was granted the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.
2019–present: Joker and further success
In 2019, Phoenix starred as the DC Comics character Joker in Todd Phillips's psychological thriller Joker; an alternative origin story for the character. Set in 1981, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. Phoenix lost in preparation, and based his laugh on "videos of people suffering from pathological laughter." Released to critical acclaim at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, the film experienced a polarized critical reception after its theatrical release. While Phoenix's performance received rave reviews, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-life violence; the movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises refused to show it. Despite this, Joker became a box office success grossing over $1 billion (against its $55 million production budget), the first and only R-rated film to do so, becoming Phoenix's highest-grossing film.
Pete Hammond of Deadline wrote of Phoenix's "extraordinary" performance, describing it as "dazzling risky and original" and The Hollywood Reporters David Rooney called his performance the "must-see factor" of the film, writing "he inhabits [the character] with an insanity by turns pitiful and fearsome in an out-there performance that's no laughing matter[...]Phoenix is the prime force that makes Joker such a distinctively edgy entry in the Hollywood comics industrial complex." The film earned him numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor.
In 2020, Phoenix served as an executive producer on Gunda, directed by Viktor Kossakovsky. The acclaimed documentary follows the daily life of a pig, two cows, and a one-legged chicken. That same year, Phoenix was named on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times. The list was compiled by famed critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott and Phoenix's paragraph was written by his frequent collaborator, director James Gray.
In 2021, he starred in Mike Mills' drama C'mon C'mon, as Johnny, a radio journalist who embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew. The A24 film premiered at the 48th Telluride Film Festival to universal acclaim and scored the best per-venue average for a limited release since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture praised Phoenix writing "a tremendous showing from Joaquin Phoenix, operating at a register he's rarely found before. It's a career best for him — lovely, empathetic, humane[...]He possesses a warmth that glows from beginning to end. As Johnny, Phoenix listens to people and the world around him with full-bodied curiosity. This is where the bravura lies in the performance: his ability to seemingly just be."
Upcoming projects
Phoenix has three upcoming films. He will star in Ari Aster's Disappointment Blvd., and in January 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Phoenix is set to portray Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon, his second collaboration with director Ridley Scott. He is also set to reunite with director Lynne Ramsay for an upcoming feature called Polaris, co-starring Rooney Mara.
Reception and acting style
At the beginning of his career, Phoenix was often referred to as "the second most famous Phoenix", his name associated most closely with the death of his brother River Phoenix. The media would often compare the two, with The New York Times describing Joaquin as "sweetly unsettling and endlessly vulnerable" compared to his brother's "pure all-American blond boyishness". After his brother died, Phoenix gained a reputation for his distrust of the media, with many speculating that it is derived from how the death was covered by the press. He was often asked about the day River died, and still is to this date. Phoenix has described these interviews as "insincere" and has felt that they impeded on the mourning process. Caroline Frost of The Huffington Post has said that Phoenix is "engaging, engaged, mischievous, honest" in person and Anderson Cooper of 60 Minutes thought that he was "wry, shy and couldn't be any more friendlier" adding that Phoenix "just doesn't like to talk about himself". Although known for his intensity and darkness on-screen, director James Gray who worked with Phoenix in four feature films, says that Phoenix is very different off-screen saying "He's actually very tender and sweet and sensitive. It's almost as if he channels his intensity into the characters. Like the work is an outlet for his darker side."
Phoenix has been described as one of the finest actors of his generation. As he achieved stardom after Gladiator (2000), he was conveniently ruled out of teen-idol roles because of his hard gaze and scarred lip. Justin Chang, analyzing his career in Los Angeles Times in 2020, remarked that filmmakers immediately seemed to recognize that Phoenix was more than a heartthrob, and that there was "something more tortured, more vulnerable and infinitely more interesting at play beneath the surface". He noted that through his work, Phoenix is challenging and redefining cinematic manhood and that this quality sets him apart from most of his contemporaries. Renowned film critic and film historian Leonard Maltin has called Phoenix "a true chameleon", writing "[Phoenix] commands the screen and breaks your heart; he makes us feel it all vicariously."
Phoenix is particularly known for his ability to heavily commit to each role he plays and his intense preparations, deeply immersing himself in the characters, often blurring the lines between fiction and reality. That immersion was particularly evident during the filming of the mockumentary I'm Still Here (2010), when Phoenix announced to the world that he was retiring from acting to become a rapper. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Media outlets worldwide believed that Phoenix was having a mental breakdown after his infamous appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Confusion from the media turned to concern as the seemingly drug-addled Phoenix continued his attempts to convince crowds he was serious about a rap career. Many worried his erratic behaviour was a sign he was stuck in a downward spiral, and headed down the same self-destructive path that took the life of his older brother. Although widely suspected to be a mockumentary, the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. To this day, some people believe he went through a personal meltdown during the filming period. Phoenix has credited the making of I'm Still Here for allowing him to make bolder choices in acting.
Phoenix contends there's no real methodology to the roles he chooses, but has said that he is drawn to complex characters. He speculates that his affinity for dark roles derives from something more ineffable, possibly prenatal saying that "I think there is a combination of nature and nurture[...]—and some of it is my upbringing." Even so, Phoenix remains reluctant to draw a line between his unusual childhood, his private tragedy and his talent for "inhabiting the morose, damaged, violent, and otherwise anxiety-riddled characters". James Gray has described Phoenix as "one of the most incorruptible people I've ever known, and the least superficial", and has spoken of his acting, saying that he admires Phoenix's "limitless ability to surprise you in the best ways and inspire you to move in a direction that you haven't thought of originally, better than what you have in mind". Garth Davis, who directed Phoenix in Mary Magdalene (2018), has remarked that he does not apply method acting, but said that working with Phoenix is like "working with this beautiful wild animal, where you have to give him the space to be free, so his performance can roam freely: raw, uncontrived and truly natural. If he smells the design of the scene, you lose his free spirit; if the script is weak, he will expose its flaws. He is fiercely intelligent and almost completely instinctual. And he has this immense sensitivity that can be both his curse and his gift, but for me, that is what it means to be human". In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Phoenix claimed that he prefers independent film over major studio film, citing that "the quality of acting suffers".
In 2019, he stated that in choosing films, he solely relies on the director, "I don't really care about genre or budget size, anything like that. It's just whether there is a filmmaker that has a unique vision, has a voice, and the ability to make the film." For Phoenix, a great performance is in the director's hands — it's ultimately the director's world he's entering. He maintains that the director creates the character's arc and that the best directors adjust to what is happening with the actor in the moment.
Phoenix has cited Robert De Niro as one of his favorite actors and strongest acting influences. Phoenix recalled watching Raging Bull for the first time in an interview, "I think it just… awakened something in me. And I could suddenly see it through his eyes. There's a part in Raging Bull where De Niro meets a girl in between a chain-link fence. And he, you know, shakes her pinky and it's like this just beautiful little detail, it's this wonderful moment. And I think that in some ways is what I'm always looking for."
Other ventures
Music
Phoenix has directed music videos for Ringside, She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr., and Silversun Pickups. He was said to have produced the opening track for Pusha T's My Name Is My Name album alongside Kanye West. The track is called "King Push". Phoenix then denied in a statement to XXL having produced the record, saying, "While it was widely reported that Pusha T used my beat and that I produced his song, I can't take any credit. A friend's son played me his music, and all I did was make an introduction to Kanye [West]'s camp."
Animal rights activism
Phoenix is identified as one of the most active celebrities in the animal rights movement. A vegan since age three, he does not wear any clothes made out of animal skin; he requests that all of his leather costumes in films are made from synthetic materials. Phoenix has said that animal rights are one of the most important pillars in his life, and maintains that "climate change is imminent if we do not adopt a plant-based lifestyle". He has helped raise awareness of the correlation between animal rights, climate change and health issues. Phoenix has received praise and accolades from animal rights groups, with PETA naming him "Person of the Year" in 2019.
PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement: "Joaquin Phoenix never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight away from himself and onto animals' plight and to set a great example of walking the vegan walk". He has been an active supporter of numerous animal rights organizations, including PETA.
Throughout the years, Phoenix has headlined numerous campaigns for different organizations to help promote veganism and end animal slaughter. In 2019, Phoenix and his partner Rooney Mara led the National Animal Rights Day demonstration to help spread awareness for animal rights. On January 10, 2020, Phoenix was arrested with actress Jane Fonda at a climate change protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At the protest, Phoenix spoke about the link between animal agriculture and climate change.
During the 2019–20 awards season, amid protesting for animal rights, Phoenix had been driving a behind-the-scenes movement that transformed five events to meat-free menus, beginning with the Golden Globe Awards. He acknowledged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association during his acceptance speech, for its "very bold move making tonight plant-based. It really sends a powerful message." Soon after, Critics' Choice and SAG followed suit. Phoenix contacted the presidents of the award ceremonies, accompanied by signatures from the likes of fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Phoenix's pitch was that meat agriculture is a leading cause of climate change and that the televised spectacles should use their platforms to address pressing societal issues. The Academy Awards later announced that all food served at the Dolby Theatre before the Oscars was going to be vegan. Lisa Lange, senior vp communications at PETA, spoke of Phoenix's power saying "He knows what can be done. He knows he's in a good position to push. He enlists friends. And it works. He can have influence in Hollywood and it influences the rest of the world."
A day after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, and subsequently delivering a headlining acceptance speech in which he spoke to the plight of mother cows and their babies used in animal agriculture, Phoenix helped to rescue a cow and her newborn calf from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. They were taken to Farm Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary and advocacy organization, where they will live out the rest of their lives. The same month, he starred in Guardians of Life, the first of twelve short films by the environmental organization Mobilize Earth that highlighted the most pressing issues facing humanity and the natural world. Funds raised by the project went to Amazon Watch and Extinction Rebellion.
Two animal species have been named after him. In 2011, a Trilobite species was named Gladiatoria phoenix for his iconic role in the 2000 film Gladiator and in 2020 a Spider species endemic to Iran was named Loureedia phoenixi, also known as the Joker spider due to its color pattern matching the DC Comics character Joker, for his role in the 2019 film Joker.
Other activism
In 2020, Phoenix collaborated with JusticeLA to create a public service announcement #SuingToSaveLives about the health of people in L.A. County jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal life
Views and lifestyle
After re-establishing himself as an actor in the mid 1990s, Phoenix moved back to Los Angeles. He is known for his disdain of celebrity culture, rarely granting interviews, and being reticent about discussing
his private life. In 2018, he described himself as a secular Jew who does not affiliate with any organized religion; one of his "core values" is the idea of forgiveness. Phoenix has also claimed that his mother believed in Jesus, though his parents were not religious. While portraying Jesus for the 2018 movie Mary Magdalene, he expressed that the role changed his perspective on the nature of forgiveness.
In early April 2005, Phoenix checked himself into rehab to be treated for alcoholism. Twelve years later, he revealed that he did not need an intervention: "I really just thought of myself as a hedonist. I was an actor in L.A. I wanted to have a good time. But I wasn't engaging with the world or myself in the way I wanted to". On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Phoenix veered off the road and flipped his car. The crash was reportedly caused by brake failure. Shaken and confused, he heard someone tapping on his window and telling him to "just relax". Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." The man replied, "No, you're not." The man then stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette while gasoline was leaking into the car cabin. Phoenix realized that the man was German filmmaker Werner Herzog. While Herzog helped Phoenix out of the wreckage by breaking the back window of the car, bystanders called an ambulance. Phoenix approached Herzog to express his gratitude.
In 2012, Phoenix labeled the Academy Awards "bullshit". He later gave an interview apologizing for his comments, and acknowledged that the awards provide an important platform for many deserving filmmakers. He elaborated on the topic while on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015, explaining that he is uncomfortable receiving accolades for his work in films when he considers the filmmaking process to be a collaborative one.
A longtime vegan, Phoenix finds animal agriculture "absurd and barbaric". He explained his reasoning behind his veganism; "To me, it just seems obvious – I don't want to cause pain to another living empathetic creature. I don't want to take its babies away from it, I don't want to force it to be indoors and fattened up just to be slaughtered. Certainly, also, the effect that it has on our environment is devastating. So, for me, it's my life and has always been my life, and it's really one of the most important things to me."
Relationships and family
From 1995 to 1998, Phoenix dated his Inventing the Abbotts co-star Liv Tyler. The two remain close friends, with Tyler considering Phoenix and his sisters as her family.<ref></></ref> He was romantically involved with South African model Topaz Page-Green from 2001 to 2005. Phoenix is currently on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides daily meals to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa, founded by Page-Green.
In 2012, Phoenix met Her co-star Rooney Mara. The two remained friends and began a romantic relationship four years later, during the making of Mary Magdalene. Their engagement was confirmed in July 2019 and the following year, the couple were reported to be expecting their first child together. In late September 2020, it was announced that the couple had a son, named River after Phoenix's late brother. They reside in the Hollywood Hills. Phoenix has described his family life as simple. He enjoys meditating, watching documentaries, reading scripts and taking karate classes. He has a black belt in karate.
Filmography and accolades
According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and the box-office site Box Office Mojo, Phoenix's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films include Parenthood (1989), To Die For (1995), Gladiator (2000), Signs (2002), Brother Bear (2003), The Village (2004), Walk the Line (2005), Two Lovers (2008), The Master (2012), The Immigrant (2013), Her (2013), Inherent Vice (2014), You Were Never Really Here (2017) and Joker (2019).
Phoenix has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
73rd Academy Awards (2001): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, as Commodus in Gladiator78th Academy Awards (2006): Best Actor, nomination, as John R. "Johnny" Cash in Walk the Line85th Academy Awards (2013): Best Actor, nomination, as Freddie Quell in The Master92nd Academy Awards (2020): Best Actor, win, as Arthur Fleck/Joker in JokerPhoenix has won two Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Walk the Line and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for Joker, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Joker.
Phoenix was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the Walk The Line soundtrack. He has also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 69th Venice International Film Festival for The Master and the Best Actor Award at the 70th Cannes Film Festival for You Were Never Really Here''.
Phoenix and River Phoenix hold the distinction of being the only brothers nominated for acting Academy Awards. Both Phoenix and Heath Ledger won an Academy Award for their performances as the Joker, becoming the second pair of actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same character – the other pair being Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, who won Best Actor and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor respectively, for their portrayals of Vito Corleone.
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of animal rights advocates
List of vegans
Notes
References
External links
1974 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American animal rights activists
American environmentalists
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American people of English descent
American people of French descent
American people of German descent
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American street performers
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from Gainesville, Florida
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Method actors
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Los Angeles
People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Joaquin
Veganism activists
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners
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[
"Vellivelichathil is a 2014 Indian Malayalam film directed by Madhu Kaithapram, starring John Brittas and Iniya in the leading roles. This is the first Malayalam film to be shot entirely in Muscat, Oman.\n\nPlot\nThe plot revolves around the life of Upendran, played by John Brittas, who falls in love with and wishes to marry a bar dancer, played by Iniya. The lives of NRI Malayalees are portrayed by the other characters in the movie, depicting their daily struggles.\n\nCast\n John Brittas as Upendran\n Iniya\n Geeta Poduval\n Suraj Venjaramoodu\n Lalu Alex\n Raveendran\n Tini Tom\n Sudheer Karamana\n Sreejith Ravi\n Renny Johnson\n Neena Kurup\n Rafeek Muscat\n\nMusic\nThe music soundtrack for the movie was released by Satyam Audios.\n\nTrack listing\n\nReception \nThe film received mixed reviews and did not do too well in the box office. The Times of India movie reviews rated the movie with 1 and a half stars and calling Madhu Kaithapram's effort a lazy act of self-indulgence.\nThe Satellite rights for the movie were secured by Asianet.\n\nReferences\n\n2014 films\nMalayalam-language films\nIndian films\n2010s Malayalam-language films",
"Shahara () is a Bangladeshi film actress. She made her debut through the film Rukhe Daraw in 2004 with Shakib Khan. Her career lasted from 2003 to 2013, the year her last movie was released. She did not sign any movie contract after that and is thought to have retired after getting married in 2015.\n\nCareer\n\nShahara started her career in 2004 with the film Rukhe Darao. Shahara was a superb addition to Bangladeshi film industry during the days action films in the middle part of last decade. Her start in the film industry was not a smooth ride. \"Rukhe Darao\", her first movie, did not do well in the box office as she was deemed to be too conservative for films. She was under pressure to change this tag and appeared in a bolder role in her next movie \"Varate Khuni\". She then signed several new action films, the most coveted genre of that era. One of them named \"Bishakto Chokh\", a big budget movie starring super star Rubel and Reaz. She landed several roles as a glamour girl.\n\nIn 2008, she starred in blockbuster \"Priya Amar Priya\".\n\nFilmography\n\nSee also\n Symon Sadik\n Mahiya Mahi\n Bappy Chowdhury\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\nBangladeshi film actresses\nPeople from Dhaka\nYear of birth missing (living people)"
] |
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"2006-2010: Producing and self-imposed break",
"What did Joaquin do in 2006?",
"In 2006, Phoenix was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.",
"What happened in 2007?",
"In 2007, Phoenix reunited with director James Gray for the film We Own the Night, which he also",
"What was this movie about?",
"In the film, Phoenix played a New York nightclub manager who tries to save his brother and father from",
"Did the movie do well?",
"The film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, receiving mixed reviews from critics and grossed a total of $54.5 million worldwide."
] |
C_7778de4d51af45d58cbe0ea79e0db2f7_0
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Did he work on any more movies?
| 5 |
Did Joaquin Phoenix work on any more movies?
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Joaquin Phoenix
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In 2006, Phoenix was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2007, Phoenix reunited with director James Gray for the film We Own the Night, which he also produced. In the film, Phoenix played a New York nightclub manager who tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hit men. The film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, receiving mixed reviews from critics and grossed a total of $54.5 million worldwide. Critic Peter Travers described Phoenix as "electrifying and then some", and he was awarded the People's Choice Award for Favorite Leading Man for the performance. For his second film of 2007, Phoenix also reunited with director Terry George for the film Reservation Road. In it, Phoenix played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident. The film failed at the box office and received negative reviews from critics, with film critic Peter Travers writing "Even the best actors -- and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest -- can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix made his third collaboration with director James Gray in the film Two Lovers (2008), where he played a bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor. Two Lovers premiered in competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival in May, receiving largely positive reviews, especially Phoenix who was praised by film critics David Edelstein who wrote "He [Phoenix] is, once again, stupendous, and stupendous in a way he has never been before" and Roger Ebert describing his performance as "perfect pitch". Two Lovers grossed $16 million worldwide. Phoenix's mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010) premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival on September 6, 2010. The film was directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and was also written by Affleck and Phoenix himself. The film purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist. Filming officially began on January 16, 2009 at a Las Vegas nightclub. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Although widely suspected to be a "mockumentary," the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. The film received mixed reviews and failed at the box office. After the releasing of the film, Phoenix took a self-imposed break from acting. CANNOTANSWER
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For his second film of 2007, Phoenix also reunited with director Terry George for the film Reservation Road. In it,
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Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and animal rights activist. Known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent film, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was ranked 12th on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times.
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Los Angeles and Florida, Phoenix began his career by appearing in television series in the early 1980s with his brother River. His first major film roles were in SpaceCamp (1986) and Parenthood (1989). During this period, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, a name he gave himself. He took back his birth first name in the early 1990s and received critical acclaim for his supporting roles in the comedy-drama film To Die For (1995) and the period film Quills (2000). Phoenix received further critical acclaim and first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of the evil emperor Commodus in the historical drama film Gladiator (2000). He had success with the horror films Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), the historical drama Hotel Rwanda (2004) and won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of musician Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line (2005). He continued to receive acclaim in two features with his frequent director James Gray; the action thriller We Own the Night (2007) and the romantic drama Two Lovers (2008), before taking a break from acting.
In the 2010s, Phoenix returned to acting to critical acclaim. He starred in the psychological drama The Master (2012), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and earning his third Academy Award nomination. He received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the romantic drama Her (2013) and the crime satire Inherent Vice (2014) and won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here (2017). Phoenix achieved international stardom and won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a second Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of the title character in Joker (2019).
Phoenix is an animal rights activist. He has been vegan since the age of three and regularly supports charitable causes and has produced several documentaries on global meat consumption and its impact on the environment. He is in a relationship with actress Rooney Mara, with whom he has a son.
Early life and acting background
Joaquin Rafael Bottom was born on October 28, 1974, in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to John Lee Bottom, the founder of a landscape gardening company, and Arlyn "Heart" Bottom (née Dunetz), who was an executive secretary at NBC and whose connection to an agent provided her children with acting work. He is the third of five children, following River (1970–1993) and Rain (born 1972), and preceding Liberty (born 1976) and Summer (born 1978), all of whom have been involved in acting. He also has a half-sister named Jodean (born 1964) from his father's previous relationship. His father was a Catholic from Fontana, California and was of English, German and French ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Meyer Dunetz, was Russian Jewish and his maternal grandmother, Margit Lefkowitz, was Hungarian Jewish; they were both Ashkenazi Jews who resided in New York City. His parents met when his mother was hitchhiking in California and got married less than a year after meeting.
Soon after the second child was born, they joined the religious cult called Children of God and started traveling throughout South America and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean as Christian missionaries, where the next two children were born. They eventually grew disillusioned with Children of God and left in 1977, being opposed to the cult's increasingly distorted rules, particularly the practice of flirty fishing. The fifth child was born in Florida where the family settled for a while. It was also around this time they legally adopted the surname Phoenix, inspired by the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, symbolizing a new beginning. When Phoenix was three, he and his older siblings witnessed fish being killed as the fishermen threw them violently against nails into the wall. This act made the whole family convert to veganism. He also began calling himself "Leaf", having been inspired by spending time outdoors raking leaves and desiring to have a nature-related name like his siblings. Leaf became the name he used before changing it back to his birth name Joaquin at the age of fifteen.
In 1979, after Phoenix's father had to stop working because of an old spinal injury, the whole family moved to Los Angeles where the mother met a high-profile child agent named Iris Burton, who got the children into commercials and bit parts on TV. He made his acting debut alongside his brother in the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the 1982 episode "Christmas Song". He has said of his first time acting:
In 1984, Phoenix starred opposite River in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, for which they shared a nomination for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television at the 6th Youth in Film Awards. He also made guest appearances in the Murder, She Wrote episode "We're Off to Kill the Wizard" and individual episodes of The Fall Guy and Hill Street Blues. A year later, Phoenix appeared in the television film Kids Don't Tell. To supplement their income, the kids sang their original songs like "Gonna Make It," written by River, and busked for money in matching yellow shirts and shorts. They also studied dance; Phoenix became an avid break dancer. Phoenix dropped out of high school when he was sent a dead frog in the mail to dissect for his biology studies, which prompted him to discontinue his studies. Dissatisfied with life in Los Angeles, the Phoenixes moved back to Florida, settling in Gainesville.
Career
1986–1999: Early work and return to acting
Phoenix made his feature film debut in the adventure film SpaceCamp (1986) as a young boy who goes to Kennedy Space Center to learn about the NASA space program and undergoes amateur astronaut training. He guest starred in the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "A Very Happy Ending" in the same year, playing a child who blackmails a hitman (played by Robert Loggia) into killing his father (John Aprea). Phoenix's first starring role was in the film Russkies (1987), about a group of friends who unknowingly befriend a Russian soldier during the Cold War.
In 1989, Phoenix co-starred as Garry, the withdrawn teenage nephew of Steve Martin's character in Ron Howard's comedy-drama Parenthood. The film was box office success, grossing $126 million worldwide against its $20 million budget. Critics praised the film, with IndieWire reviewers highlighting the film's cast and their performances for possessing "genuinely likable, and occasionally insightful, heart" calling Phoenix a "terrifically believable angsty adolescent", in a performance which garnered him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film. The role of Garry was reprised in the series based on the film by Leonardo DiCaprio, who studied Phoenix's performance in order to get it right. After establishing himself as a child actor, Phoenix felt that he wasn't getting any appealing offers and decided to take a break from acting and traveled to Mexico with his father, learning Spanish. When he returned to the States, his brother River Phoenix suggested that Phoenix changed his name back to Joaquin and encouraged him to start acting again.
On October 31, 1993, River died of an overdose outside The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Phoenix, who had accompanied his brother and older sister Rain to the club, called 911 to seek help for his dying brother. After the death, the phone call was repeatedly broadcast on TV and radio shows. The family retreated to Costa Rica to escape the media glare as the event came to be depicted as a cautionary tale of young Hollywood surrounded by mythology and conspiracy.
In 1995, Phoenix returned to acting in Gus Van Sant's black comedy To Die For, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was inspired by the Pamela Smart murder case. Phoenix starred as Jimmy Emmett, a disturbed young man who is seduced by a woman (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. The film premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, with New York Times critic Janet Maslin praising Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all."
In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. The film was released to a dismal box office performance and was not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) investigate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out to be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics.
2000–2010: Critical acclaim and commercial success
In 2000, Phoenix co-starred in three films. In the first of these, he portrayed a fictionalized version of Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's historical epic film Gladiator. The film received positive reviews and grossed $457 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly called Phoenix's work "a more nuanced star-making performance" when comparing him to the lead Russell Crowe, writing "Phoenix turns what could have easily been a cartoonish villain into a richly layered study of pathology." Phoenix earned his first nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. He and his late brother River became the first brothers to be nominated for acting Academy Awards. To this date, they are the only brothers to hold this distinction.
His next film marked his first collaboration with director James Gray in The Yards. The crime film follows the corruption in the rail yards of Queens. Although failing to perform well at the box office, The Yards received positive reviews from critics with many considering Phoenix's performance as the villain a stand out. The third release of 2000 was Philip Kaufman's Quills, a satirical thriller inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade. Phoenix portrayed the conflicted priest Abbé de Coulmier opposite Kate Winslet. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was a modest art house success grossing a total of $17 million at the box office. It was received with critical praise with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praising Phoenix and his chemistry with Winslet, stating "Phoenix, on a roll this year with Gladiator and The Yards, excels at making the priest a seductive figure — a neat trick considering the real Abbe was a four-foot hunchback. Winslet and Phoenix generate real fire, notably when Abbe dreams of ravishing Madeleine on the altar." For his combined roles of that year, Phoenix was awarded the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The following year, Phoenix starred in the satirical film Buffalo Soldiers as a U.S. Army soldier. The world premiere was held at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in early September. However, because the film was a satire of the US military, its wider theatrical run was delayed by approximately two years because of the September 11 attacks; it was finally released on July 25, 2003. BBCs Nev Pierce wrote that "Phoenix is excellent as a Gen X Sergeant Bilko, ensuring his cheerfully amoral character never loses heart - showcasing tenderness, love, grief and fear as his games get out of control" and Phoenix received a nomination for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor.
The science fiction thriller Signs (2002) marked Phoenix's first collaboration with director M. Night Shyamalan. In the film, he played Merrill Hess, a former Minor League baseball player who, along with his older brother Graham (Mel Gibson), discovers that Earth has been invaded by extraterrestrials. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Phoenix's performance was praised, with critic Peter Travers writing that Phoenix "registers impressively, finding the humor and the pain in this lost boy [...] never making a false move as a helpless Merrill watches his rock of a brother crumble into a despairing crisis of faith." The film was a commercial success, grossing $408.2 million worldwide.
In 2003, Phoenix played the irresolute husband of a superstar-skater (Claire Danes) in Thomas Vinterberg's romance-drama It's All About Love, and voiced Kenai in the Disney animated film Brother Bear. Phoenix expressed immense joy being cast as the lead voice role in a Disney animated feature, stating "The real pinnacle [in my career] is that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the greatest?" The film grossed $250.4 million worldwide, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He was replaced by Patrick Dempsey in the sequel Brother Bear 2. Phoenix reunited with Shyamalan in the period thriller The Village (2004). The film is about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it, referred to as "Those We Don't Speak Of". He played farmer Lucius Hunt, a role which Christopher Orr of The Atlantic found "underdeveloped". Though initially receiving mixed reviews, the film attracted retrospective reviews years after its release. Several critics deemed it one of Shyamalan's best films, praising Phoenix's "terrific" performance. The film was a financial success, grossing $256.7 million worldwide on its $60 million budget.
In his next film of the year, he starred opposite John Travolta in the drama film Ladder 49 as a Baltimore firefighter. In preparation for the role, Phoenix trained for two months with the Baltimore Fire Department, putting out actual fires. He admitted that he was afraid of heights before he started making this film, recalling "I got to the pole and I looked down and I couldn't do it. But you go through the training and it exposes your fears and helps you to overcome them. We ended up rappelling off a six-story tower and that really helped." The film earned $102.3 million at the box office despite receiving generally mixed reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the performances in the film. Phoenix's final film of 2004 was Terry George's Hotel Rwanda, playing cameraman Jack Daglish. Based on the Rwandan genocide, the film documents Paul Rusesabagina's (Don Cheadle) efforts to save the lives of his family and more than 1,000 other refugees by providing them with shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. The film was a moderate financial success but was a critical success, receiving almost exclusively positive reviews from critics. For his performance in the film, Phoenix was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast.
In 2005, Phoenix co-starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the James Mangold directed film Walk the Line, a Johnny Cash biopic, after Cash himself approved of Phoenix. All of Cash's vocal tracks in the film and on the accompanying soundtrack are played and sung by Phoenix. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, eventually grossing $186 million worldwide. Phoenix's performance received rave reviews from critics and it inspired film critic Roger Ebert to write, "Knowing Johnny Cash's albums more or less by heart, I closed my eyes to focus on the soundtrack and decided that, yes, that was the voice of Johnny Cash I was listening to. The closing credits make it clear it's Joaquin Phoenix doing the singing, and I was gob-smacked". For his portrayal of Johnny Cash, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's soundtrack. Phoenix also received a second Academy Award nomination, his first in the Best Actor category as well as a second BAFTA nomination. Earlier that year, he narrated Earthlings (2005), a documentary about the investigation of animal abuse in factory farms, and pet mills, and for scientific research. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2005, for his work and contribution to Earthlings. Animal rights philosopher Tom Regan remarked that "for those who watch Earthlings, the world will never be the same".
Phoenix's first producing task was the action thriller We Own the Night (2007), in which he played nightclub manager Bobby Green/Grusinsky who tries to save his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) from Russian mafia hitmen. The James Gray-directed film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews; Roger Ebert praised Gray's direction and the acting, but criticized its screenplay for lack of originality. David Edelstein of New York Magazine commended Phoenix for elevating the film's conflict, writing that it "might be heavy-handed without Phoenix's face—his irresolution somehow more powerful than other actors' resolve. There is no artifice. He's not an actor disappearing into a role but a man disappearing into himself[...]Phoenix homes in on the truth of this person. It's the paradox of the greatest acting".
Later that year, he played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident in his second feature with Terry George, the crime drama film Reservation Road. The film received mixed reviews from critics; Peter Travers praised Phoenix's acting stating "Even the best actors – and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest – can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix also executive produced the television show 4Real, a half-hour program which began airing in 2007. The series showcased celebrity guests on global adventures "in order to connect with young leaders who are creating social and economic change".
In 2008, Phoenix starred as a suicidal bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor in Gray's Two Lovers. The romantic drama premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Reviews for the film and Phoenix's performance were positive; New York Magazine'''s chief critic called it his best performance to date and Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter felt that Phoenix led the film with "great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable". During the promotion of Two Lovers, Phoenix had started to film his next performance for the mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010), which the media felt overshadowed the former's theatrical release. I'm Still Here purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist managed by rap icon Sean "Diddy" Combs. Directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and co-written by Affleck and Phoenix, the little-seen film premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival to mixed reviews; critics were divided on whether to interpret the film as documentary or performance art. After its release, Phoenix explained that the idea for the feature arose from his amazement that people believed reality television shows' claims of being unscripted. By claiming to retire from acting, he and Affleck planned to make a film that "explored celebrity, and explored the relationship between the media and the consumers and the celebrities themselves" through their film.
2011–2018: Established career and continued acclaim
In 2011, it was announced that Phoenix would star in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama film The Master, which traces the relationship between Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II navy veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society and Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffmann), a leader of a religious movement known as "The Cause". To create the character, Phoenix lost a significant amount of weight and went to a dentist to help force his jaw shut on one side; a trait his own father had. The film premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival where he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. The art house film only grossed $28 million but was received with critical acclaim, with Phoenix's performance receiving high praise. Peter Travers called it the performance of his career writing "Acting doesn't get better or go deeper[...]Phoenix wears the role like a second skin. You can't take your eyes off him." His performance as Freddie was described as "career-defining" by Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, who was impressed that Anderson and Phoenix collaboratively were able to build such complex work around such a derelict figure. Fellow actor Daniel Day-Lewis publicly lauded the "remarkable" Phoenix while accepting the Screen Actors Guild Award, apologising for the fact that Phoenix hadn't been nominated for the same award. Despite this, Phoenix received his third Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his leading role.
Phoenix and Gray's fourth collaboration came with The Immigrant (2013), a drama film in which he played the supporting role of a pimp who prostitutes Polish immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and ends up falling for her. The Immigrant and his performance premiered to highly positive reviews at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In his review, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club thought the film featured one of his best performances and commended Phoenix's and Gray's developing work, writing of that "the two are so perfectly in sync, that it's hard to tell where Phoenix's performance ends and Gray's visual style[...]—begins", further lauding their development of Bruno into "a fully fledged tragic character, even though he is neither the protagonist of The Immigrant nor the main driving force behind its plot".
His next feature film of that year was the Spike Jonze-directed romantic science-fiction drama Her. He played Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. Released to critical acclaim, critic A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club labeled Phoenix as "one of the most emotionally honest actors in Hollywood", impressed at how he effortlessly unleashes waves of vulnerability in the film's many tight, invasive close-up images, calling it a "tremendous performance, one that rescues this character—a mess of insecurities, regrets, and desires—from the walking pity party he could have been". Her earned more than double of its production budget, and Phoenix received his fourth nomination at the Golden Globes. Several journalists expressed disappointment over his failure to receive an Oscar nomination for it, with Peter Knegt of IndieWire naming it of one of ten worst Oscar acting snubs of the last decade in 2015.
In 2014, Phoenix took on the role of Doc Sportello, a private investigator and hippie/dope head trying to help his ex-girlfriend solve a crime in the crime comedy-drama Inherent Vice, based on Thomas Pynchon's detective novel of the same name. Reviews toward the film were positive; critics praised Phoenix's performance and Paul Thomas Anderson's direction, while some were frustrated by its complicated plot. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph termed Phoenix as Anderson's "perfect leading man" and his work as "the kind of quietly dazzling performance that rarely wins awards but will be adoringly dissected and quoted for decades". Phoenix earned his fifth Golden Globe nomination for the film.
After narrating the sequel to Earthlings, the 2015 animal rights' documentary Unity, Phoenix teamed with director Woody Allen and Emma Stone in the crime mystery film Irrational Man. He played Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor experiencing an existential crisis. The film was released to mixed reviews at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival; The Hollywood Reporter felt that the film was too similar to Allen's previous films, but praised Phoenix's chemistry with Stone and Phoenix for playing the character "with a wonderful baggy, lived-in quality that makes us want to climb inside the character's whiskey-sozzled head".
The thriller You Were Never Really Here, written and directed by Lynne Ramsay and based on the novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames, ranks among the most acclaimed films of Phoenix's career. The film is about Joe (played by Phoenix), a traumatized former FBI agent and Gulf War veteran who tracks down missing girls for a living. To prepare for the film, Phoenix was advised by a former bodyguard who goes on international missions to rescue children suffering sexual exploitation and abuse by human traffickers; he gained a significant amount of weight and muscle for the part. Phoenix was Ramsay's first and only choice to play the veteran, with Ramsay calling him "my soulmate in making movies". The film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it received universal acclaim and earned Phoenix the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times described Phoenix's performance as "the most rivetingly contained" work of his career and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer of Consequence noted that his evocative manners in the film, led to him giving career-high work and "the kind of haunting turn that only comes around a few times every decade or so".
In 2018, Phoenix portrayed Jesus in the biblical drama Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis. The film, and his performance, received mixed reviews; a reviewer for Entertainment Weekly thought that Phoenix lacked the quiet compassion and grace that was required for the role, while Nick Allen of Roger Ebert's website described his performance as "a human being who is visibly tormented by the power and wisdom that works through him", deeming it one of the best portrayals of Jesus ever. His next two featuresthe biopic Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and the crime drama The Sisters Brothers were much better received. In the former, Phoenix reunited with his To Die For director Gus Van Sant to portray quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote that there's no better leading actor producing better work than Phoenix, stating "The actor – never a simple chameleon, but someone who disappears into a role entirely with a frightening conviction – continues to display new and tremendous range here" and David Hughes of Empire thought that in a more conventional film, Phoenix would be the favourite to win an Academy Award.
The third film of 2018 was The Sisters Brothers, Jacques Audiard's adaptation of the novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt. The film starred John C. Reilly and Phoenix as the notorious assassin brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters respectively and chronicles their chase after two men who have banded together to search for gold. Writing for Roger Ebert's website, Tomris Laffly commented on Phoenix's and Reilly's "tremendous chemistry" and Lindsey Behr of the Associated Press opined that the duo "excellently manage all the various tones in the film".
Also in 2018, he collaborated with Rooney Mara and Sia to narrate Chris Delforce's documentary Dominion. Animal rights activists have called it one of the most powerful documentaries ever made. For his contribution to the documentary, Phoenix was granted the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.
2019–present: Joker and further success
In 2019, Phoenix starred as the DC Comics character Joker in Todd Phillips's psychological thriller Joker; an alternative origin story for the character. Set in 1981, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. Phoenix lost in preparation, and based his laugh on "videos of people suffering from pathological laughter." Released to critical acclaim at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, the film experienced a polarized critical reception after its theatrical release. While Phoenix's performance received rave reviews, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-life violence; the movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises refused to show it. Despite this, Joker became a box office success grossing over $1 billion (against its $55 million production budget), the first and only R-rated film to do so, becoming Phoenix's highest-grossing film.
Pete Hammond of Deadline wrote of Phoenix's "extraordinary" performance, describing it as "dazzling risky and original" and The Hollywood Reporters David Rooney called his performance the "must-see factor" of the film, writing "he inhabits [the character] with an insanity by turns pitiful and fearsome in an out-there performance that's no laughing matter[...]Phoenix is the prime force that makes Joker such a distinctively edgy entry in the Hollywood comics industrial complex." The film earned him numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor.
In 2020, Phoenix served as an executive producer on Gunda, directed by Viktor Kossakovsky. The acclaimed documentary follows the daily life of a pig, two cows, and a one-legged chicken. That same year, Phoenix was named on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times. The list was compiled by famed critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott and Phoenix's paragraph was written by his frequent collaborator, director James Gray.
In 2021, he starred in Mike Mills' drama C'mon C'mon, as Johnny, a radio journalist who embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew. The A24 film premiered at the 48th Telluride Film Festival to universal acclaim and scored the best per-venue average for a limited release since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture praised Phoenix writing "a tremendous showing from Joaquin Phoenix, operating at a register he's rarely found before. It's a career best for him — lovely, empathetic, humane[...]He possesses a warmth that glows from beginning to end. As Johnny, Phoenix listens to people and the world around him with full-bodied curiosity. This is where the bravura lies in the performance: his ability to seemingly just be."
Upcoming projects
Phoenix has three upcoming films. He will star in Ari Aster's Disappointment Blvd., and in January 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Phoenix is set to portray Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon, his second collaboration with director Ridley Scott. He is also set to reunite with director Lynne Ramsay for an upcoming feature called Polaris, co-starring Rooney Mara.
Reception and acting style
At the beginning of his career, Phoenix was often referred to as "the second most famous Phoenix", his name associated most closely with the death of his brother River Phoenix. The media would often compare the two, with The New York Times describing Joaquin as "sweetly unsettling and endlessly vulnerable" compared to his brother's "pure all-American blond boyishness". After his brother died, Phoenix gained a reputation for his distrust of the media, with many speculating that it is derived from how the death was covered by the press. He was often asked about the day River died, and still is to this date. Phoenix has described these interviews as "insincere" and has felt that they impeded on the mourning process. Caroline Frost of The Huffington Post has said that Phoenix is "engaging, engaged, mischievous, honest" in person and Anderson Cooper of 60 Minutes thought that he was "wry, shy and couldn't be any more friendlier" adding that Phoenix "just doesn't like to talk about himself". Although known for his intensity and darkness on-screen, director James Gray who worked with Phoenix in four feature films, says that Phoenix is very different off-screen saying "He's actually very tender and sweet and sensitive. It's almost as if he channels his intensity into the characters. Like the work is an outlet for his darker side."
Phoenix has been described as one of the finest actors of his generation. As he achieved stardom after Gladiator (2000), he was conveniently ruled out of teen-idol roles because of his hard gaze and scarred lip. Justin Chang, analyzing his career in Los Angeles Times in 2020, remarked that filmmakers immediately seemed to recognize that Phoenix was more than a heartthrob, and that there was "something more tortured, more vulnerable and infinitely more interesting at play beneath the surface". He noted that through his work, Phoenix is challenging and redefining cinematic manhood and that this quality sets him apart from most of his contemporaries. Renowned film critic and film historian Leonard Maltin has called Phoenix "a true chameleon", writing "[Phoenix] commands the screen and breaks your heart; he makes us feel it all vicariously."
Phoenix is particularly known for his ability to heavily commit to each role he plays and his intense preparations, deeply immersing himself in the characters, often blurring the lines between fiction and reality. That immersion was particularly evident during the filming of the mockumentary I'm Still Here (2010), when Phoenix announced to the world that he was retiring from acting to become a rapper. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Media outlets worldwide believed that Phoenix was having a mental breakdown after his infamous appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Confusion from the media turned to concern as the seemingly drug-addled Phoenix continued his attempts to convince crowds he was serious about a rap career. Many worried his erratic behaviour was a sign he was stuck in a downward spiral, and headed down the same self-destructive path that took the life of his older brother. Although widely suspected to be a mockumentary, the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. To this day, some people believe he went through a personal meltdown during the filming period. Phoenix has credited the making of I'm Still Here for allowing him to make bolder choices in acting.
Phoenix contends there's no real methodology to the roles he chooses, but has said that he is drawn to complex characters. He speculates that his affinity for dark roles derives from something more ineffable, possibly prenatal saying that "I think there is a combination of nature and nurture[...]—and some of it is my upbringing." Even so, Phoenix remains reluctant to draw a line between his unusual childhood, his private tragedy and his talent for "inhabiting the morose, damaged, violent, and otherwise anxiety-riddled characters". James Gray has described Phoenix as "one of the most incorruptible people I've ever known, and the least superficial", and has spoken of his acting, saying that he admires Phoenix's "limitless ability to surprise you in the best ways and inspire you to move in a direction that you haven't thought of originally, better than what you have in mind". Garth Davis, who directed Phoenix in Mary Magdalene (2018), has remarked that he does not apply method acting, but said that working with Phoenix is like "working with this beautiful wild animal, where you have to give him the space to be free, so his performance can roam freely: raw, uncontrived and truly natural. If he smells the design of the scene, you lose his free spirit; if the script is weak, he will expose its flaws. He is fiercely intelligent and almost completely instinctual. And he has this immense sensitivity that can be both his curse and his gift, but for me, that is what it means to be human". In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Phoenix claimed that he prefers independent film over major studio film, citing that "the quality of acting suffers".
In 2019, he stated that in choosing films, he solely relies on the director, "I don't really care about genre or budget size, anything like that. It's just whether there is a filmmaker that has a unique vision, has a voice, and the ability to make the film." For Phoenix, a great performance is in the director's hands — it's ultimately the director's world he's entering. He maintains that the director creates the character's arc and that the best directors adjust to what is happening with the actor in the moment.
Phoenix has cited Robert De Niro as one of his favorite actors and strongest acting influences. Phoenix recalled watching Raging Bull for the first time in an interview, "I think it just… awakened something in me. And I could suddenly see it through his eyes. There's a part in Raging Bull where De Niro meets a girl in between a chain-link fence. And he, you know, shakes her pinky and it's like this just beautiful little detail, it's this wonderful moment. And I think that in some ways is what I'm always looking for."
Other ventures
Music
Phoenix has directed music videos for Ringside, She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr., and Silversun Pickups. He was said to have produced the opening track for Pusha T's My Name Is My Name album alongside Kanye West. The track is called "King Push". Phoenix then denied in a statement to XXL having produced the record, saying, "While it was widely reported that Pusha T used my beat and that I produced his song, I can't take any credit. A friend's son played me his music, and all I did was make an introduction to Kanye [West]'s camp."
Animal rights activism
Phoenix is identified as one of the most active celebrities in the animal rights movement. A vegan since age three, he does not wear any clothes made out of animal skin; he requests that all of his leather costumes in films are made from synthetic materials. Phoenix has said that animal rights are one of the most important pillars in his life, and maintains that "climate change is imminent if we do not adopt a plant-based lifestyle". He has helped raise awareness of the correlation between animal rights, climate change and health issues. Phoenix has received praise and accolades from animal rights groups, with PETA naming him "Person of the Year" in 2019.
PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement: "Joaquin Phoenix never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight away from himself and onto animals' plight and to set a great example of walking the vegan walk". He has been an active supporter of numerous animal rights organizations, including PETA.
Throughout the years, Phoenix has headlined numerous campaigns for different organizations to help promote veganism and end animal slaughter. In 2019, Phoenix and his partner Rooney Mara led the National Animal Rights Day demonstration to help spread awareness for animal rights. On January 10, 2020, Phoenix was arrested with actress Jane Fonda at a climate change protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At the protest, Phoenix spoke about the link between animal agriculture and climate change.
During the 2019–20 awards season, amid protesting for animal rights, Phoenix had been driving a behind-the-scenes movement that transformed five events to meat-free menus, beginning with the Golden Globe Awards. He acknowledged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association during his acceptance speech, for its "very bold move making tonight plant-based. It really sends a powerful message." Soon after, Critics' Choice and SAG followed suit. Phoenix contacted the presidents of the award ceremonies, accompanied by signatures from the likes of fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Phoenix's pitch was that meat agriculture is a leading cause of climate change and that the televised spectacles should use their platforms to address pressing societal issues. The Academy Awards later announced that all food served at the Dolby Theatre before the Oscars was going to be vegan. Lisa Lange, senior vp communications at PETA, spoke of Phoenix's power saying "He knows what can be done. He knows he's in a good position to push. He enlists friends. And it works. He can have influence in Hollywood and it influences the rest of the world."
A day after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, and subsequently delivering a headlining acceptance speech in which he spoke to the plight of mother cows and their babies used in animal agriculture, Phoenix helped to rescue a cow and her newborn calf from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. They were taken to Farm Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary and advocacy organization, where they will live out the rest of their lives. The same month, he starred in Guardians of Life, the first of twelve short films by the environmental organization Mobilize Earth that highlighted the most pressing issues facing humanity and the natural world. Funds raised by the project went to Amazon Watch and Extinction Rebellion.
Two animal species have been named after him. In 2011, a Trilobite species was named Gladiatoria phoenix for his iconic role in the 2000 film Gladiator and in 2020 a Spider species endemic to Iran was named Loureedia phoenixi, also known as the Joker spider due to its color pattern matching the DC Comics character Joker, for his role in the 2019 film Joker.
Other activism
In 2020, Phoenix collaborated with JusticeLA to create a public service announcement #SuingToSaveLives about the health of people in L.A. County jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal life
Views and lifestyle
After re-establishing himself as an actor in the mid 1990s, Phoenix moved back to Los Angeles. He is known for his disdain of celebrity culture, rarely granting interviews, and being reticent about discussing
his private life. In 2018, he described himself as a secular Jew who does not affiliate with any organized religion; one of his "core values" is the idea of forgiveness. Phoenix has also claimed that his mother believed in Jesus, though his parents were not religious. While portraying Jesus for the 2018 movie Mary Magdalene, he expressed that the role changed his perspective on the nature of forgiveness.
In early April 2005, Phoenix checked himself into rehab to be treated for alcoholism. Twelve years later, he revealed that he did not need an intervention: "I really just thought of myself as a hedonist. I was an actor in L.A. I wanted to have a good time. But I wasn't engaging with the world or myself in the way I wanted to". On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Phoenix veered off the road and flipped his car. The crash was reportedly caused by brake failure. Shaken and confused, he heard someone tapping on his window and telling him to "just relax". Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." The man replied, "No, you're not." The man then stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette while gasoline was leaking into the car cabin. Phoenix realized that the man was German filmmaker Werner Herzog. While Herzog helped Phoenix out of the wreckage by breaking the back window of the car, bystanders called an ambulance. Phoenix approached Herzog to express his gratitude.
In 2012, Phoenix labeled the Academy Awards "bullshit". He later gave an interview apologizing for his comments, and acknowledged that the awards provide an important platform for many deserving filmmakers. He elaborated on the topic while on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015, explaining that he is uncomfortable receiving accolades for his work in films when he considers the filmmaking process to be a collaborative one.
A longtime vegan, Phoenix finds animal agriculture "absurd and barbaric". He explained his reasoning behind his veganism; "To me, it just seems obvious – I don't want to cause pain to another living empathetic creature. I don't want to take its babies away from it, I don't want to force it to be indoors and fattened up just to be slaughtered. Certainly, also, the effect that it has on our environment is devastating. So, for me, it's my life and has always been my life, and it's really one of the most important things to me."
Relationships and family
From 1995 to 1998, Phoenix dated his Inventing the Abbotts co-star Liv Tyler. The two remain close friends, with Tyler considering Phoenix and his sisters as her family.<ref></></ref> He was romantically involved with South African model Topaz Page-Green from 2001 to 2005. Phoenix is currently on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides daily meals to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa, founded by Page-Green.
In 2012, Phoenix met Her co-star Rooney Mara. The two remained friends and began a romantic relationship four years later, during the making of Mary Magdalene. Their engagement was confirmed in July 2019 and the following year, the couple were reported to be expecting their first child together. In late September 2020, it was announced that the couple had a son, named River after Phoenix's late brother. They reside in the Hollywood Hills. Phoenix has described his family life as simple. He enjoys meditating, watching documentaries, reading scripts and taking karate classes. He has a black belt in karate.
Filmography and accolades
According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and the box-office site Box Office Mojo, Phoenix's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films include Parenthood (1989), To Die For (1995), Gladiator (2000), Signs (2002), Brother Bear (2003), The Village (2004), Walk the Line (2005), Two Lovers (2008), The Master (2012), The Immigrant (2013), Her (2013), Inherent Vice (2014), You Were Never Really Here (2017) and Joker (2019).
Phoenix has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
73rd Academy Awards (2001): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, as Commodus in Gladiator78th Academy Awards (2006): Best Actor, nomination, as John R. "Johnny" Cash in Walk the Line85th Academy Awards (2013): Best Actor, nomination, as Freddie Quell in The Master92nd Academy Awards (2020): Best Actor, win, as Arthur Fleck/Joker in JokerPhoenix has won two Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Walk the Line and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for Joker, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Joker.
Phoenix was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the Walk The Line soundtrack. He has also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 69th Venice International Film Festival for The Master and the Best Actor Award at the 70th Cannes Film Festival for You Were Never Really Here''.
Phoenix and River Phoenix hold the distinction of being the only brothers nominated for acting Academy Awards. Both Phoenix and Heath Ledger won an Academy Award for their performances as the Joker, becoming the second pair of actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same character – the other pair being Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, who won Best Actor and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor respectively, for their portrayals of Vito Corleone.
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of animal rights advocates
List of vegans
Notes
References
External links
1974 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American animal rights activists
American environmentalists
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American people of English descent
American people of French descent
American people of German descent
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American street performers
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from Gainesville, Florida
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Method actors
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Los Angeles
People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Joaquin
Veganism activists
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners
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"Jack N. Young (September 25, 1926 – September 12, 2018) was an American stunt performer and location manager who worked on many westerns and adventure movies from 1947 to 2006.\n\nOften uncredited, his work includes Winchester '73, High Noon, Hondo, The Tall Men, The Searchers, 3:10 to Yuma, The Alamo, How The West Was Won and 70 more movies.\n\nHe also worked as a location manager on more than fifty notable movies including Joe Kidd, Tom Horn and Cannonball Run II. Young died on September 12, 2018 at the age of 91.\n\nFilmography\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1926 births\n2018 deaths\nAmerican stunt performers",
"Sun Haven Studios was a movie company located on Weedon Island in St. Petersburg, Florida during the early 1930s. It produced only 3 movies: Playthings of Desire (1933), Hired Wife (1934) and Chloe (1934). All of the lead actors were minor players from Hollywood. \n\nIn addition to these three productions, the company had several adaptations from popular novels in development, including The Mad Dancer, Ermine and Rhinestones, Wings of Pride, Her Indiscretion and Madonnas and Men. Buster Keaton did come to the studios to work on revitalizing his career but left before making any movies. The studio was closed shortly thereafter.\n\nIn late 1933, pulp writer Eustace L. Adams, who wintered in the St. Petersburg area, was working on a script for the Sun Haven film Gambler's Throw, based on his 1930 Argosy magazine serial.\n\nReferences\n\nMass media companies established in 1933\nMass media companies disestablished in 1934\nDefunct American film studios\nFilm production companies of the United States\n1933 establishments in Florida\n1934 disestablishments in Florida"
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"In 2007, Phoenix reunited with director James Gray for the film We Own the Night, which he also",
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"The film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, receiving mixed reviews from critics and grossed a total of $54.5 million worldwide.",
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"For his second film of 2007, Phoenix also reunited with director Terry George for the film Reservation Road. In it,"
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Who did he play in this role?
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Who did Joaquin Phoenix play in his role in the film Reservation Road?
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Joaquin Phoenix
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In 2006, Phoenix was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2007, Phoenix reunited with director James Gray for the film We Own the Night, which he also produced. In the film, Phoenix played a New York nightclub manager who tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hit men. The film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, receiving mixed reviews from critics and grossed a total of $54.5 million worldwide. Critic Peter Travers described Phoenix as "electrifying and then some", and he was awarded the People's Choice Award for Favorite Leading Man for the performance. For his second film of 2007, Phoenix also reunited with director Terry George for the film Reservation Road. In it, Phoenix played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident. The film failed at the box office and received negative reviews from critics, with film critic Peter Travers writing "Even the best actors -- and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest -- can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix made his third collaboration with director James Gray in the film Two Lovers (2008), where he played a bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor. Two Lovers premiered in competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival in May, receiving largely positive reviews, especially Phoenix who was praised by film critics David Edelstein who wrote "He [Phoenix] is, once again, stupendous, and stupendous in a way he has never been before" and Roger Ebert describing his performance as "perfect pitch". Two Lovers grossed $16 million worldwide. Phoenix's mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010) premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival on September 6, 2010. The film was directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and was also written by Affleck and Phoenix himself. The film purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist. Filming officially began on January 16, 2009 at a Las Vegas nightclub. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Although widely suspected to be a "mockumentary," the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. The film received mixed reviews and failed at the box office. After the releasing of the film, Phoenix took a self-imposed break from acting. CANNOTANSWER
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Phoenix played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident.
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Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and animal rights activist. Known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent film, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was ranked 12th on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times.
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Los Angeles and Florida, Phoenix began his career by appearing in television series in the early 1980s with his brother River. His first major film roles were in SpaceCamp (1986) and Parenthood (1989). During this period, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, a name he gave himself. He took back his birth first name in the early 1990s and received critical acclaim for his supporting roles in the comedy-drama film To Die For (1995) and the period film Quills (2000). Phoenix received further critical acclaim and first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of the evil emperor Commodus in the historical drama film Gladiator (2000). He had success with the horror films Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), the historical drama Hotel Rwanda (2004) and won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of musician Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line (2005). He continued to receive acclaim in two features with his frequent director James Gray; the action thriller We Own the Night (2007) and the romantic drama Two Lovers (2008), before taking a break from acting.
In the 2010s, Phoenix returned to acting to critical acclaim. He starred in the psychological drama The Master (2012), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and earning his third Academy Award nomination. He received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the romantic drama Her (2013) and the crime satire Inherent Vice (2014) and won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here (2017). Phoenix achieved international stardom and won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a second Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of the title character in Joker (2019).
Phoenix is an animal rights activist. He has been vegan since the age of three and regularly supports charitable causes and has produced several documentaries on global meat consumption and its impact on the environment. He is in a relationship with actress Rooney Mara, with whom he has a son.
Early life and acting background
Joaquin Rafael Bottom was born on October 28, 1974, in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to John Lee Bottom, the founder of a landscape gardening company, and Arlyn "Heart" Bottom (née Dunetz), who was an executive secretary at NBC and whose connection to an agent provided her children with acting work. He is the third of five children, following River (1970–1993) and Rain (born 1972), and preceding Liberty (born 1976) and Summer (born 1978), all of whom have been involved in acting. He also has a half-sister named Jodean (born 1964) from his father's previous relationship. His father was a Catholic from Fontana, California and was of English, German and French ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Meyer Dunetz, was Russian Jewish and his maternal grandmother, Margit Lefkowitz, was Hungarian Jewish; they were both Ashkenazi Jews who resided in New York City. His parents met when his mother was hitchhiking in California and got married less than a year after meeting.
Soon after the second child was born, they joined the religious cult called Children of God and started traveling throughout South America and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean as Christian missionaries, where the next two children were born. They eventually grew disillusioned with Children of God and left in 1977, being opposed to the cult's increasingly distorted rules, particularly the practice of flirty fishing. The fifth child was born in Florida where the family settled for a while. It was also around this time they legally adopted the surname Phoenix, inspired by the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, symbolizing a new beginning. When Phoenix was three, he and his older siblings witnessed fish being killed as the fishermen threw them violently against nails into the wall. This act made the whole family convert to veganism. He also began calling himself "Leaf", having been inspired by spending time outdoors raking leaves and desiring to have a nature-related name like his siblings. Leaf became the name he used before changing it back to his birth name Joaquin at the age of fifteen.
In 1979, after Phoenix's father had to stop working because of an old spinal injury, the whole family moved to Los Angeles where the mother met a high-profile child agent named Iris Burton, who got the children into commercials and bit parts on TV. He made his acting debut alongside his brother in the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the 1982 episode "Christmas Song". He has said of his first time acting:
In 1984, Phoenix starred opposite River in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, for which they shared a nomination for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television at the 6th Youth in Film Awards. He also made guest appearances in the Murder, She Wrote episode "We're Off to Kill the Wizard" and individual episodes of The Fall Guy and Hill Street Blues. A year later, Phoenix appeared in the television film Kids Don't Tell. To supplement their income, the kids sang their original songs like "Gonna Make It," written by River, and busked for money in matching yellow shirts and shorts. They also studied dance; Phoenix became an avid break dancer. Phoenix dropped out of high school when he was sent a dead frog in the mail to dissect for his biology studies, which prompted him to discontinue his studies. Dissatisfied with life in Los Angeles, the Phoenixes moved back to Florida, settling in Gainesville.
Career
1986–1999: Early work and return to acting
Phoenix made his feature film debut in the adventure film SpaceCamp (1986) as a young boy who goes to Kennedy Space Center to learn about the NASA space program and undergoes amateur astronaut training. He guest starred in the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "A Very Happy Ending" in the same year, playing a child who blackmails a hitman (played by Robert Loggia) into killing his father (John Aprea). Phoenix's first starring role was in the film Russkies (1987), about a group of friends who unknowingly befriend a Russian soldier during the Cold War.
In 1989, Phoenix co-starred as Garry, the withdrawn teenage nephew of Steve Martin's character in Ron Howard's comedy-drama Parenthood. The film was box office success, grossing $126 million worldwide against its $20 million budget. Critics praised the film, with IndieWire reviewers highlighting the film's cast and their performances for possessing "genuinely likable, and occasionally insightful, heart" calling Phoenix a "terrifically believable angsty adolescent", in a performance which garnered him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film. The role of Garry was reprised in the series based on the film by Leonardo DiCaprio, who studied Phoenix's performance in order to get it right. After establishing himself as a child actor, Phoenix felt that he wasn't getting any appealing offers and decided to take a break from acting and traveled to Mexico with his father, learning Spanish. When he returned to the States, his brother River Phoenix suggested that Phoenix changed his name back to Joaquin and encouraged him to start acting again.
On October 31, 1993, River died of an overdose outside The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Phoenix, who had accompanied his brother and older sister Rain to the club, called 911 to seek help for his dying brother. After the death, the phone call was repeatedly broadcast on TV and radio shows. The family retreated to Costa Rica to escape the media glare as the event came to be depicted as a cautionary tale of young Hollywood surrounded by mythology and conspiracy.
In 1995, Phoenix returned to acting in Gus Van Sant's black comedy To Die For, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was inspired by the Pamela Smart murder case. Phoenix starred as Jimmy Emmett, a disturbed young man who is seduced by a woman (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. The film premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, with New York Times critic Janet Maslin praising Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all."
In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. The film was released to a dismal box office performance and was not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) investigate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out to be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics.
2000–2010: Critical acclaim and commercial success
In 2000, Phoenix co-starred in three films. In the first of these, he portrayed a fictionalized version of Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's historical epic film Gladiator. The film received positive reviews and grossed $457 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly called Phoenix's work "a more nuanced star-making performance" when comparing him to the lead Russell Crowe, writing "Phoenix turns what could have easily been a cartoonish villain into a richly layered study of pathology." Phoenix earned his first nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. He and his late brother River became the first brothers to be nominated for acting Academy Awards. To this date, they are the only brothers to hold this distinction.
His next film marked his first collaboration with director James Gray in The Yards. The crime film follows the corruption in the rail yards of Queens. Although failing to perform well at the box office, The Yards received positive reviews from critics with many considering Phoenix's performance as the villain a stand out. The third release of 2000 was Philip Kaufman's Quills, a satirical thriller inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade. Phoenix portrayed the conflicted priest Abbé de Coulmier opposite Kate Winslet. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was a modest art house success grossing a total of $17 million at the box office. It was received with critical praise with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praising Phoenix and his chemistry with Winslet, stating "Phoenix, on a roll this year with Gladiator and The Yards, excels at making the priest a seductive figure — a neat trick considering the real Abbe was a four-foot hunchback. Winslet and Phoenix generate real fire, notably when Abbe dreams of ravishing Madeleine on the altar." For his combined roles of that year, Phoenix was awarded the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The following year, Phoenix starred in the satirical film Buffalo Soldiers as a U.S. Army soldier. The world premiere was held at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in early September. However, because the film was a satire of the US military, its wider theatrical run was delayed by approximately two years because of the September 11 attacks; it was finally released on July 25, 2003. BBCs Nev Pierce wrote that "Phoenix is excellent as a Gen X Sergeant Bilko, ensuring his cheerfully amoral character never loses heart - showcasing tenderness, love, grief and fear as his games get out of control" and Phoenix received a nomination for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor.
The science fiction thriller Signs (2002) marked Phoenix's first collaboration with director M. Night Shyamalan. In the film, he played Merrill Hess, a former Minor League baseball player who, along with his older brother Graham (Mel Gibson), discovers that Earth has been invaded by extraterrestrials. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Phoenix's performance was praised, with critic Peter Travers writing that Phoenix "registers impressively, finding the humor and the pain in this lost boy [...] never making a false move as a helpless Merrill watches his rock of a brother crumble into a despairing crisis of faith." The film was a commercial success, grossing $408.2 million worldwide.
In 2003, Phoenix played the irresolute husband of a superstar-skater (Claire Danes) in Thomas Vinterberg's romance-drama It's All About Love, and voiced Kenai in the Disney animated film Brother Bear. Phoenix expressed immense joy being cast as the lead voice role in a Disney animated feature, stating "The real pinnacle [in my career] is that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the greatest?" The film grossed $250.4 million worldwide, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He was replaced by Patrick Dempsey in the sequel Brother Bear 2. Phoenix reunited with Shyamalan in the period thriller The Village (2004). The film is about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it, referred to as "Those We Don't Speak Of". He played farmer Lucius Hunt, a role which Christopher Orr of The Atlantic found "underdeveloped". Though initially receiving mixed reviews, the film attracted retrospective reviews years after its release. Several critics deemed it one of Shyamalan's best films, praising Phoenix's "terrific" performance. The film was a financial success, grossing $256.7 million worldwide on its $60 million budget.
In his next film of the year, he starred opposite John Travolta in the drama film Ladder 49 as a Baltimore firefighter. In preparation for the role, Phoenix trained for two months with the Baltimore Fire Department, putting out actual fires. He admitted that he was afraid of heights before he started making this film, recalling "I got to the pole and I looked down and I couldn't do it. But you go through the training and it exposes your fears and helps you to overcome them. We ended up rappelling off a six-story tower and that really helped." The film earned $102.3 million at the box office despite receiving generally mixed reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the performances in the film. Phoenix's final film of 2004 was Terry George's Hotel Rwanda, playing cameraman Jack Daglish. Based on the Rwandan genocide, the film documents Paul Rusesabagina's (Don Cheadle) efforts to save the lives of his family and more than 1,000 other refugees by providing them with shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. The film was a moderate financial success but was a critical success, receiving almost exclusively positive reviews from critics. For his performance in the film, Phoenix was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast.
In 2005, Phoenix co-starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the James Mangold directed film Walk the Line, a Johnny Cash biopic, after Cash himself approved of Phoenix. All of Cash's vocal tracks in the film and on the accompanying soundtrack are played and sung by Phoenix. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, eventually grossing $186 million worldwide. Phoenix's performance received rave reviews from critics and it inspired film critic Roger Ebert to write, "Knowing Johnny Cash's albums more or less by heart, I closed my eyes to focus on the soundtrack and decided that, yes, that was the voice of Johnny Cash I was listening to. The closing credits make it clear it's Joaquin Phoenix doing the singing, and I was gob-smacked". For his portrayal of Johnny Cash, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's soundtrack. Phoenix also received a second Academy Award nomination, his first in the Best Actor category as well as a second BAFTA nomination. Earlier that year, he narrated Earthlings (2005), a documentary about the investigation of animal abuse in factory farms, and pet mills, and for scientific research. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2005, for his work and contribution to Earthlings. Animal rights philosopher Tom Regan remarked that "for those who watch Earthlings, the world will never be the same".
Phoenix's first producing task was the action thriller We Own the Night (2007), in which he played nightclub manager Bobby Green/Grusinsky who tries to save his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) from Russian mafia hitmen. The James Gray-directed film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews; Roger Ebert praised Gray's direction and the acting, but criticized its screenplay for lack of originality. David Edelstein of New York Magazine commended Phoenix for elevating the film's conflict, writing that it "might be heavy-handed without Phoenix's face—his irresolution somehow more powerful than other actors' resolve. There is no artifice. He's not an actor disappearing into a role but a man disappearing into himself[...]Phoenix homes in on the truth of this person. It's the paradox of the greatest acting".
Later that year, he played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident in his second feature with Terry George, the crime drama film Reservation Road. The film received mixed reviews from critics; Peter Travers praised Phoenix's acting stating "Even the best actors – and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest – can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix also executive produced the television show 4Real, a half-hour program which began airing in 2007. The series showcased celebrity guests on global adventures "in order to connect with young leaders who are creating social and economic change".
In 2008, Phoenix starred as a suicidal bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor in Gray's Two Lovers. The romantic drama premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Reviews for the film and Phoenix's performance were positive; New York Magazine'''s chief critic called it his best performance to date and Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter felt that Phoenix led the film with "great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable". During the promotion of Two Lovers, Phoenix had started to film his next performance for the mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010), which the media felt overshadowed the former's theatrical release. I'm Still Here purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist managed by rap icon Sean "Diddy" Combs. Directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and co-written by Affleck and Phoenix, the little-seen film premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival to mixed reviews; critics were divided on whether to interpret the film as documentary or performance art. After its release, Phoenix explained that the idea for the feature arose from his amazement that people believed reality television shows' claims of being unscripted. By claiming to retire from acting, he and Affleck planned to make a film that "explored celebrity, and explored the relationship between the media and the consumers and the celebrities themselves" through their film.
2011–2018: Established career and continued acclaim
In 2011, it was announced that Phoenix would star in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama film The Master, which traces the relationship between Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II navy veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society and Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffmann), a leader of a religious movement known as "The Cause". To create the character, Phoenix lost a significant amount of weight and went to a dentist to help force his jaw shut on one side; a trait his own father had. The film premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival where he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. The art house film only grossed $28 million but was received with critical acclaim, with Phoenix's performance receiving high praise. Peter Travers called it the performance of his career writing "Acting doesn't get better or go deeper[...]Phoenix wears the role like a second skin. You can't take your eyes off him." His performance as Freddie was described as "career-defining" by Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, who was impressed that Anderson and Phoenix collaboratively were able to build such complex work around such a derelict figure. Fellow actor Daniel Day-Lewis publicly lauded the "remarkable" Phoenix while accepting the Screen Actors Guild Award, apologising for the fact that Phoenix hadn't been nominated for the same award. Despite this, Phoenix received his third Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his leading role.
Phoenix and Gray's fourth collaboration came with The Immigrant (2013), a drama film in which he played the supporting role of a pimp who prostitutes Polish immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and ends up falling for her. The Immigrant and his performance premiered to highly positive reviews at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In his review, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club thought the film featured one of his best performances and commended Phoenix's and Gray's developing work, writing of that "the two are so perfectly in sync, that it's hard to tell where Phoenix's performance ends and Gray's visual style[...]—begins", further lauding their development of Bruno into "a fully fledged tragic character, even though he is neither the protagonist of The Immigrant nor the main driving force behind its plot".
His next feature film of that year was the Spike Jonze-directed romantic science-fiction drama Her. He played Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. Released to critical acclaim, critic A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club labeled Phoenix as "one of the most emotionally honest actors in Hollywood", impressed at how he effortlessly unleashes waves of vulnerability in the film's many tight, invasive close-up images, calling it a "tremendous performance, one that rescues this character—a mess of insecurities, regrets, and desires—from the walking pity party he could have been". Her earned more than double of its production budget, and Phoenix received his fourth nomination at the Golden Globes. Several journalists expressed disappointment over his failure to receive an Oscar nomination for it, with Peter Knegt of IndieWire naming it of one of ten worst Oscar acting snubs of the last decade in 2015.
In 2014, Phoenix took on the role of Doc Sportello, a private investigator and hippie/dope head trying to help his ex-girlfriend solve a crime in the crime comedy-drama Inherent Vice, based on Thomas Pynchon's detective novel of the same name. Reviews toward the film were positive; critics praised Phoenix's performance and Paul Thomas Anderson's direction, while some were frustrated by its complicated plot. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph termed Phoenix as Anderson's "perfect leading man" and his work as "the kind of quietly dazzling performance that rarely wins awards but will be adoringly dissected and quoted for decades". Phoenix earned his fifth Golden Globe nomination for the film.
After narrating the sequel to Earthlings, the 2015 animal rights' documentary Unity, Phoenix teamed with director Woody Allen and Emma Stone in the crime mystery film Irrational Man. He played Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor experiencing an existential crisis. The film was released to mixed reviews at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival; The Hollywood Reporter felt that the film was too similar to Allen's previous films, but praised Phoenix's chemistry with Stone and Phoenix for playing the character "with a wonderful baggy, lived-in quality that makes us want to climb inside the character's whiskey-sozzled head".
The thriller You Were Never Really Here, written and directed by Lynne Ramsay and based on the novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames, ranks among the most acclaimed films of Phoenix's career. The film is about Joe (played by Phoenix), a traumatized former FBI agent and Gulf War veteran who tracks down missing girls for a living. To prepare for the film, Phoenix was advised by a former bodyguard who goes on international missions to rescue children suffering sexual exploitation and abuse by human traffickers; he gained a significant amount of weight and muscle for the part. Phoenix was Ramsay's first and only choice to play the veteran, with Ramsay calling him "my soulmate in making movies". The film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it received universal acclaim and earned Phoenix the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times described Phoenix's performance as "the most rivetingly contained" work of his career and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer of Consequence noted that his evocative manners in the film, led to him giving career-high work and "the kind of haunting turn that only comes around a few times every decade or so".
In 2018, Phoenix portrayed Jesus in the biblical drama Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis. The film, and his performance, received mixed reviews; a reviewer for Entertainment Weekly thought that Phoenix lacked the quiet compassion and grace that was required for the role, while Nick Allen of Roger Ebert's website described his performance as "a human being who is visibly tormented by the power and wisdom that works through him", deeming it one of the best portrayals of Jesus ever. His next two featuresthe biopic Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and the crime drama The Sisters Brothers were much better received. In the former, Phoenix reunited with his To Die For director Gus Van Sant to portray quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote that there's no better leading actor producing better work than Phoenix, stating "The actor – never a simple chameleon, but someone who disappears into a role entirely with a frightening conviction – continues to display new and tremendous range here" and David Hughes of Empire thought that in a more conventional film, Phoenix would be the favourite to win an Academy Award.
The third film of 2018 was The Sisters Brothers, Jacques Audiard's adaptation of the novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt. The film starred John C. Reilly and Phoenix as the notorious assassin brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters respectively and chronicles their chase after two men who have banded together to search for gold. Writing for Roger Ebert's website, Tomris Laffly commented on Phoenix's and Reilly's "tremendous chemistry" and Lindsey Behr of the Associated Press opined that the duo "excellently manage all the various tones in the film".
Also in 2018, he collaborated with Rooney Mara and Sia to narrate Chris Delforce's documentary Dominion. Animal rights activists have called it one of the most powerful documentaries ever made. For his contribution to the documentary, Phoenix was granted the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.
2019–present: Joker and further success
In 2019, Phoenix starred as the DC Comics character Joker in Todd Phillips's psychological thriller Joker; an alternative origin story for the character. Set in 1981, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. Phoenix lost in preparation, and based his laugh on "videos of people suffering from pathological laughter." Released to critical acclaim at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, the film experienced a polarized critical reception after its theatrical release. While Phoenix's performance received rave reviews, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-life violence; the movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises refused to show it. Despite this, Joker became a box office success grossing over $1 billion (against its $55 million production budget), the first and only R-rated film to do so, becoming Phoenix's highest-grossing film.
Pete Hammond of Deadline wrote of Phoenix's "extraordinary" performance, describing it as "dazzling risky and original" and The Hollywood Reporters David Rooney called his performance the "must-see factor" of the film, writing "he inhabits [the character] with an insanity by turns pitiful and fearsome in an out-there performance that's no laughing matter[...]Phoenix is the prime force that makes Joker such a distinctively edgy entry in the Hollywood comics industrial complex." The film earned him numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor.
In 2020, Phoenix served as an executive producer on Gunda, directed by Viktor Kossakovsky. The acclaimed documentary follows the daily life of a pig, two cows, and a one-legged chicken. That same year, Phoenix was named on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times. The list was compiled by famed critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott and Phoenix's paragraph was written by his frequent collaborator, director James Gray.
In 2021, he starred in Mike Mills' drama C'mon C'mon, as Johnny, a radio journalist who embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew. The A24 film premiered at the 48th Telluride Film Festival to universal acclaim and scored the best per-venue average for a limited release since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture praised Phoenix writing "a tremendous showing from Joaquin Phoenix, operating at a register he's rarely found before. It's a career best for him — lovely, empathetic, humane[...]He possesses a warmth that glows from beginning to end. As Johnny, Phoenix listens to people and the world around him with full-bodied curiosity. This is where the bravura lies in the performance: his ability to seemingly just be."
Upcoming projects
Phoenix has three upcoming films. He will star in Ari Aster's Disappointment Blvd., and in January 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Phoenix is set to portray Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon, his second collaboration with director Ridley Scott. He is also set to reunite with director Lynne Ramsay for an upcoming feature called Polaris, co-starring Rooney Mara.
Reception and acting style
At the beginning of his career, Phoenix was often referred to as "the second most famous Phoenix", his name associated most closely with the death of his brother River Phoenix. The media would often compare the two, with The New York Times describing Joaquin as "sweetly unsettling and endlessly vulnerable" compared to his brother's "pure all-American blond boyishness". After his brother died, Phoenix gained a reputation for his distrust of the media, with many speculating that it is derived from how the death was covered by the press. He was often asked about the day River died, and still is to this date. Phoenix has described these interviews as "insincere" and has felt that they impeded on the mourning process. Caroline Frost of The Huffington Post has said that Phoenix is "engaging, engaged, mischievous, honest" in person and Anderson Cooper of 60 Minutes thought that he was "wry, shy and couldn't be any more friendlier" adding that Phoenix "just doesn't like to talk about himself". Although known for his intensity and darkness on-screen, director James Gray who worked with Phoenix in four feature films, says that Phoenix is very different off-screen saying "He's actually very tender and sweet and sensitive. It's almost as if he channels his intensity into the characters. Like the work is an outlet for his darker side."
Phoenix has been described as one of the finest actors of his generation. As he achieved stardom after Gladiator (2000), he was conveniently ruled out of teen-idol roles because of his hard gaze and scarred lip. Justin Chang, analyzing his career in Los Angeles Times in 2020, remarked that filmmakers immediately seemed to recognize that Phoenix was more than a heartthrob, and that there was "something more tortured, more vulnerable and infinitely more interesting at play beneath the surface". He noted that through his work, Phoenix is challenging and redefining cinematic manhood and that this quality sets him apart from most of his contemporaries. Renowned film critic and film historian Leonard Maltin has called Phoenix "a true chameleon", writing "[Phoenix] commands the screen and breaks your heart; he makes us feel it all vicariously."
Phoenix is particularly known for his ability to heavily commit to each role he plays and his intense preparations, deeply immersing himself in the characters, often blurring the lines between fiction and reality. That immersion was particularly evident during the filming of the mockumentary I'm Still Here (2010), when Phoenix announced to the world that he was retiring from acting to become a rapper. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Media outlets worldwide believed that Phoenix was having a mental breakdown after his infamous appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Confusion from the media turned to concern as the seemingly drug-addled Phoenix continued his attempts to convince crowds he was serious about a rap career. Many worried his erratic behaviour was a sign he was stuck in a downward spiral, and headed down the same self-destructive path that took the life of his older brother. Although widely suspected to be a mockumentary, the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. To this day, some people believe he went through a personal meltdown during the filming period. Phoenix has credited the making of I'm Still Here for allowing him to make bolder choices in acting.
Phoenix contends there's no real methodology to the roles he chooses, but has said that he is drawn to complex characters. He speculates that his affinity for dark roles derives from something more ineffable, possibly prenatal saying that "I think there is a combination of nature and nurture[...]—and some of it is my upbringing." Even so, Phoenix remains reluctant to draw a line between his unusual childhood, his private tragedy and his talent for "inhabiting the morose, damaged, violent, and otherwise anxiety-riddled characters". James Gray has described Phoenix as "one of the most incorruptible people I've ever known, and the least superficial", and has spoken of his acting, saying that he admires Phoenix's "limitless ability to surprise you in the best ways and inspire you to move in a direction that you haven't thought of originally, better than what you have in mind". Garth Davis, who directed Phoenix in Mary Magdalene (2018), has remarked that he does not apply method acting, but said that working with Phoenix is like "working with this beautiful wild animal, where you have to give him the space to be free, so his performance can roam freely: raw, uncontrived and truly natural. If he smells the design of the scene, you lose his free spirit; if the script is weak, he will expose its flaws. He is fiercely intelligent and almost completely instinctual. And he has this immense sensitivity that can be both his curse and his gift, but for me, that is what it means to be human". In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Phoenix claimed that he prefers independent film over major studio film, citing that "the quality of acting suffers".
In 2019, he stated that in choosing films, he solely relies on the director, "I don't really care about genre or budget size, anything like that. It's just whether there is a filmmaker that has a unique vision, has a voice, and the ability to make the film." For Phoenix, a great performance is in the director's hands — it's ultimately the director's world he's entering. He maintains that the director creates the character's arc and that the best directors adjust to what is happening with the actor in the moment.
Phoenix has cited Robert De Niro as one of his favorite actors and strongest acting influences. Phoenix recalled watching Raging Bull for the first time in an interview, "I think it just… awakened something in me. And I could suddenly see it through his eyes. There's a part in Raging Bull where De Niro meets a girl in between a chain-link fence. And he, you know, shakes her pinky and it's like this just beautiful little detail, it's this wonderful moment. And I think that in some ways is what I'm always looking for."
Other ventures
Music
Phoenix has directed music videos for Ringside, She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr., and Silversun Pickups. He was said to have produced the opening track for Pusha T's My Name Is My Name album alongside Kanye West. The track is called "King Push". Phoenix then denied in a statement to XXL having produced the record, saying, "While it was widely reported that Pusha T used my beat and that I produced his song, I can't take any credit. A friend's son played me his music, and all I did was make an introduction to Kanye [West]'s camp."
Animal rights activism
Phoenix is identified as one of the most active celebrities in the animal rights movement. A vegan since age three, he does not wear any clothes made out of animal skin; he requests that all of his leather costumes in films are made from synthetic materials. Phoenix has said that animal rights are one of the most important pillars in his life, and maintains that "climate change is imminent if we do not adopt a plant-based lifestyle". He has helped raise awareness of the correlation between animal rights, climate change and health issues. Phoenix has received praise and accolades from animal rights groups, with PETA naming him "Person of the Year" in 2019.
PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement: "Joaquin Phoenix never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight away from himself and onto animals' plight and to set a great example of walking the vegan walk". He has been an active supporter of numerous animal rights organizations, including PETA.
Throughout the years, Phoenix has headlined numerous campaigns for different organizations to help promote veganism and end animal slaughter. In 2019, Phoenix and his partner Rooney Mara led the National Animal Rights Day demonstration to help spread awareness for animal rights. On January 10, 2020, Phoenix was arrested with actress Jane Fonda at a climate change protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At the protest, Phoenix spoke about the link between animal agriculture and climate change.
During the 2019–20 awards season, amid protesting for animal rights, Phoenix had been driving a behind-the-scenes movement that transformed five events to meat-free menus, beginning with the Golden Globe Awards. He acknowledged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association during his acceptance speech, for its "very bold move making tonight plant-based. It really sends a powerful message." Soon after, Critics' Choice and SAG followed suit. Phoenix contacted the presidents of the award ceremonies, accompanied by signatures from the likes of fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Phoenix's pitch was that meat agriculture is a leading cause of climate change and that the televised spectacles should use their platforms to address pressing societal issues. The Academy Awards later announced that all food served at the Dolby Theatre before the Oscars was going to be vegan. Lisa Lange, senior vp communications at PETA, spoke of Phoenix's power saying "He knows what can be done. He knows he's in a good position to push. He enlists friends. And it works. He can have influence in Hollywood and it influences the rest of the world."
A day after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, and subsequently delivering a headlining acceptance speech in which he spoke to the plight of mother cows and their babies used in animal agriculture, Phoenix helped to rescue a cow and her newborn calf from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. They were taken to Farm Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary and advocacy organization, where they will live out the rest of their lives. The same month, he starred in Guardians of Life, the first of twelve short films by the environmental organization Mobilize Earth that highlighted the most pressing issues facing humanity and the natural world. Funds raised by the project went to Amazon Watch and Extinction Rebellion.
Two animal species have been named after him. In 2011, a Trilobite species was named Gladiatoria phoenix for his iconic role in the 2000 film Gladiator and in 2020 a Spider species endemic to Iran was named Loureedia phoenixi, also known as the Joker spider due to its color pattern matching the DC Comics character Joker, for his role in the 2019 film Joker.
Other activism
In 2020, Phoenix collaborated with JusticeLA to create a public service announcement #SuingToSaveLives about the health of people in L.A. County jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal life
Views and lifestyle
After re-establishing himself as an actor in the mid 1990s, Phoenix moved back to Los Angeles. He is known for his disdain of celebrity culture, rarely granting interviews, and being reticent about discussing
his private life. In 2018, he described himself as a secular Jew who does not affiliate with any organized religion; one of his "core values" is the idea of forgiveness. Phoenix has also claimed that his mother believed in Jesus, though his parents were not religious. While portraying Jesus for the 2018 movie Mary Magdalene, he expressed that the role changed his perspective on the nature of forgiveness.
In early April 2005, Phoenix checked himself into rehab to be treated for alcoholism. Twelve years later, he revealed that he did not need an intervention: "I really just thought of myself as a hedonist. I was an actor in L.A. I wanted to have a good time. But I wasn't engaging with the world or myself in the way I wanted to". On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Phoenix veered off the road and flipped his car. The crash was reportedly caused by brake failure. Shaken and confused, he heard someone tapping on his window and telling him to "just relax". Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." The man replied, "No, you're not." The man then stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette while gasoline was leaking into the car cabin. Phoenix realized that the man was German filmmaker Werner Herzog. While Herzog helped Phoenix out of the wreckage by breaking the back window of the car, bystanders called an ambulance. Phoenix approached Herzog to express his gratitude.
In 2012, Phoenix labeled the Academy Awards "bullshit". He later gave an interview apologizing for his comments, and acknowledged that the awards provide an important platform for many deserving filmmakers. He elaborated on the topic while on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015, explaining that he is uncomfortable receiving accolades for his work in films when he considers the filmmaking process to be a collaborative one.
A longtime vegan, Phoenix finds animal agriculture "absurd and barbaric". He explained his reasoning behind his veganism; "To me, it just seems obvious – I don't want to cause pain to another living empathetic creature. I don't want to take its babies away from it, I don't want to force it to be indoors and fattened up just to be slaughtered. Certainly, also, the effect that it has on our environment is devastating. So, for me, it's my life and has always been my life, and it's really one of the most important things to me."
Relationships and family
From 1995 to 1998, Phoenix dated his Inventing the Abbotts co-star Liv Tyler. The two remain close friends, with Tyler considering Phoenix and his sisters as her family.<ref></></ref> He was romantically involved with South African model Topaz Page-Green from 2001 to 2005. Phoenix is currently on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides daily meals to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa, founded by Page-Green.
In 2012, Phoenix met Her co-star Rooney Mara. The two remained friends and began a romantic relationship four years later, during the making of Mary Magdalene. Their engagement was confirmed in July 2019 and the following year, the couple were reported to be expecting their first child together. In late September 2020, it was announced that the couple had a son, named River after Phoenix's late brother. They reside in the Hollywood Hills. Phoenix has described his family life as simple. He enjoys meditating, watching documentaries, reading scripts and taking karate classes. He has a black belt in karate.
Filmography and accolades
According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and the box-office site Box Office Mojo, Phoenix's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films include Parenthood (1989), To Die For (1995), Gladiator (2000), Signs (2002), Brother Bear (2003), The Village (2004), Walk the Line (2005), Two Lovers (2008), The Master (2012), The Immigrant (2013), Her (2013), Inherent Vice (2014), You Were Never Really Here (2017) and Joker (2019).
Phoenix has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
73rd Academy Awards (2001): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, as Commodus in Gladiator78th Academy Awards (2006): Best Actor, nomination, as John R. "Johnny" Cash in Walk the Line85th Academy Awards (2013): Best Actor, nomination, as Freddie Quell in The Master92nd Academy Awards (2020): Best Actor, win, as Arthur Fleck/Joker in JokerPhoenix has won two Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Walk the Line and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for Joker, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Joker.
Phoenix was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the Walk The Line soundtrack. He has also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 69th Venice International Film Festival for The Master and the Best Actor Award at the 70th Cannes Film Festival for You Were Never Really Here''.
Phoenix and River Phoenix hold the distinction of being the only brothers nominated for acting Academy Awards. Both Phoenix and Heath Ledger won an Academy Award for their performances as the Joker, becoming the second pair of actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same character – the other pair being Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, who won Best Actor and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor respectively, for their portrayals of Vito Corleone.
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of animal rights advocates
List of vegans
Notes
References
External links
1974 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American animal rights activists
American environmentalists
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American people of English descent
American people of French descent
American people of German descent
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American street performers
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from Gainesville, Florida
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Method actors
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Los Angeles
People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Joaquin
Veganism activists
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners
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[
"Rajat Tokas (born 19 July 1991) is an Indian television actor known for his roles in Dharti Ka Veer Yodha Prithviraj Chauhan,Dharam Veer, Tere Liye, Jodha Akbar, Chandra Nandini and Naagin 3.He also played the role of Kabir and Vikrant in Naagin season 1 and 3\n\nCareer\n\nTokas started his television career with show Bongo as Ashu on DD national. He then did many shows including Lighthouse for children, Jadui Chirag, Tarang, and Ye Hawayan. In 2005, he came to Mumbai with his father & bagged the role of Tantya, who was Sai Baba's brother, in Sai Baba.\n\nIn 2006, Tokas was selected by Sagar Arts to play his first lead role of young Prithviraj Chauhan in the series Dharti Ka Veer Yodha Prithviraj Chauhan for which he won best actor in ITA 2007.\n\nIn 2008 he was again selected by Sagar Arts to play Veer in the NDTV imagine show Dharam Veer.\n\nIn 2010-11, Ekta Kapoor of Balaji Telefilms chose Rajat to play the parallel lead in Tere Liye where he played the character of Robindo Ganguly. Later, he did episodic roles in Bandini and Fear Files: Darr Ki Sacchi Tasvirein.\n\nIn 2013, he was once again selected by Kapoor to reprise the role of the Mughal Emperor Jalaluddin Mohammed Akbar in her historical drama, Jodha Akbar for which he went on to win BIG Star Most Entertaining Television Actor - Male, Star Guild Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series, Boroplus Gold Award for Best Actor in Lead Role (Critics), Indian Telly Award for Best Actor in a Lead Role. In 2016, he played the negative role of Kabir (Icchadhari Nevla) in Naagin, a fantasy drama which was aired on Colors TV. \n\nAlso in 2016 he was selected by Balaji Telefilms to play the lead role of Chandragupta Maurya in Star Plus show Chandra Nandini. He also played the role Vikrant on Naagin 3, again produced by Balaji Telefilms.\n\nEarly life\nHe studied in the Hope Hall Foundation School, R. K. Puram, Delhi and later on completed his graduation through distance mode.\n\nPersonal life\nOn 30 January 2015, he married Shrishti Nayyar, a theatre actor.\n\nFilmography\n\nAwards\n\nSee also \n List of Indian television actors\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n21st-century Indian male actors\nLiving people\nIndian male television actors\nPeople from South West Delhi district\nIndian male soap opera actors\nMale actors from Delhi\n1991 births",
"Pranoti Pradhan is an Indian television and film actress.\n\nCareer \nPranoti Pradhan started her acting career as a child artist. She played a popular story of Rabindranath Tagore named Dakghar, her role was of a boy. She used to take part in her school plays. Her career started when she was selected in a TV series named Hum paanchi ek dal ke as Kunti, these serials were broadcast on DD National at 9:30 am. She received a best child actress award for this show. After that she did a lot more serials as a child artist namely Mamaji, Khelghar, Haste Khelte. As a child artist she also did a Marathi serial named Najuka and a Kannada movie.\n\nAfter that Pradhan took a break, then again started with Hindi and Marathi theatre in her college years. At that time, Pranoti did a Gujarati play. During that time, Vipul Mehta offered her a commercial Gujarati play, Pritam Khele Aankh Micholi, which she performed 17 times. After that a role in the play Rang che Raja was offered to her. This play was performed 80 times in India and in America.\n\nIn 2006, Pradhan was cast in the serial Thodi Khushi Thode Gham, telecast on Sony TV. Pradhan did many Gujarati plays including Hatt Tari ne Hath mathi gai, Ek Murakh ne evi tev, Parnela ne Puchi juo, Chaanu ne Chapanu Kai Thai nai, Vaat Bahar Jai nai, Hu, Raju ne Ruksana and Tamne maline Anand Thayo.\n\nPranoti Pradhan did a TV series named Vicky and Vetaal on Disney Channel, and a Life OK TV series named Zindagi Kahe Smile Please. Pradhan played the role of Asha in Firangi Bahu. Then she did the role of Ansuya Mehta in the serial Naya Mahisagar on Big Magic in 2016. Pradhan hosted a reality TV show named Aji Sunte Ho on Zee TV in 2016–2017.\n\nTelevision\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nIndian film actresses\nIndian television actresses\nActresses from Mumbai\nActresses in Marathi television\nActresses in Hindi television\nActresses in Gujarati cinema\n20th-century Indian actresses\n21st-century Indian actresses"
] |
[
"Joaquin Phoenix",
"2006-2010: Producing and self-imposed break",
"What did Joaquin do in 2006?",
"In 2006, Phoenix was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.",
"What happened in 2007?",
"In 2007, Phoenix reunited with director James Gray for the film We Own the Night, which he also",
"What was this movie about?",
"In the film, Phoenix played a New York nightclub manager who tries to save his brother and father from",
"Did the movie do well?",
"The film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, receiving mixed reviews from critics and grossed a total of $54.5 million worldwide.",
"Did he work on any more movies?",
"For his second film of 2007, Phoenix also reunited with director Terry George for the film Reservation Road. In it,",
"Who did he play in this role?",
"Phoenix played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident."
] |
C_7778de4d51af45d58cbe0ea79e0db2f7_0
|
Did the film perform well in theaters?
| 7 |
Did the film Reservation Road perform well in theaters?
|
Joaquin Phoenix
|
In 2006, Phoenix was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2007, Phoenix reunited with director James Gray for the film We Own the Night, which he also produced. In the film, Phoenix played a New York nightclub manager who tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hit men. The film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, receiving mixed reviews from critics and grossed a total of $54.5 million worldwide. Critic Peter Travers described Phoenix as "electrifying and then some", and he was awarded the People's Choice Award for Favorite Leading Man for the performance. For his second film of 2007, Phoenix also reunited with director Terry George for the film Reservation Road. In it, Phoenix played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident. The film failed at the box office and received negative reviews from critics, with film critic Peter Travers writing "Even the best actors -- and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest -- can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix made his third collaboration with director James Gray in the film Two Lovers (2008), where he played a bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor. Two Lovers premiered in competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival in May, receiving largely positive reviews, especially Phoenix who was praised by film critics David Edelstein who wrote "He [Phoenix] is, once again, stupendous, and stupendous in a way he has never been before" and Roger Ebert describing his performance as "perfect pitch". Two Lovers grossed $16 million worldwide. Phoenix's mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010) premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival on September 6, 2010. The film was directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and was also written by Affleck and Phoenix himself. The film purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist. Filming officially began on January 16, 2009 at a Las Vegas nightclub. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Although widely suspected to be a "mockumentary," the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. The film received mixed reviews and failed at the box office. After the releasing of the film, Phoenix took a self-imposed break from acting. CANNOTANSWER
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The film failed at the box office and received negative reviews from critics, with film critic Peter Travers writing "
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Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and animal rights activist. Known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent film, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was ranked 12th on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times.
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Los Angeles and Florida, Phoenix began his career by appearing in television series in the early 1980s with his brother River. His first major film roles were in SpaceCamp (1986) and Parenthood (1989). During this period, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, a name he gave himself. He took back his birth first name in the early 1990s and received critical acclaim for his supporting roles in the comedy-drama film To Die For (1995) and the period film Quills (2000). Phoenix received further critical acclaim and first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of the evil emperor Commodus in the historical drama film Gladiator (2000). He had success with the horror films Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), the historical drama Hotel Rwanda (2004) and won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of musician Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line (2005). He continued to receive acclaim in two features with his frequent director James Gray; the action thriller We Own the Night (2007) and the romantic drama Two Lovers (2008), before taking a break from acting.
In the 2010s, Phoenix returned to acting to critical acclaim. He starred in the psychological drama The Master (2012), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and earning his third Academy Award nomination. He received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the romantic drama Her (2013) and the crime satire Inherent Vice (2014) and won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here (2017). Phoenix achieved international stardom and won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a second Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of the title character in Joker (2019).
Phoenix is an animal rights activist. He has been vegan since the age of three and regularly supports charitable causes and has produced several documentaries on global meat consumption and its impact on the environment. He is in a relationship with actress Rooney Mara, with whom he has a son.
Early life and acting background
Joaquin Rafael Bottom was born on October 28, 1974, in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to John Lee Bottom, the founder of a landscape gardening company, and Arlyn "Heart" Bottom (née Dunetz), who was an executive secretary at NBC and whose connection to an agent provided her children with acting work. He is the third of five children, following River (1970–1993) and Rain (born 1972), and preceding Liberty (born 1976) and Summer (born 1978), all of whom have been involved in acting. He also has a half-sister named Jodean (born 1964) from his father's previous relationship. His father was a Catholic from Fontana, California and was of English, German and French ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Meyer Dunetz, was Russian Jewish and his maternal grandmother, Margit Lefkowitz, was Hungarian Jewish; they were both Ashkenazi Jews who resided in New York City. His parents met when his mother was hitchhiking in California and got married less than a year after meeting.
Soon after the second child was born, they joined the religious cult called Children of God and started traveling throughout South America and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean as Christian missionaries, where the next two children were born. They eventually grew disillusioned with Children of God and left in 1977, being opposed to the cult's increasingly distorted rules, particularly the practice of flirty fishing. The fifth child was born in Florida where the family settled for a while. It was also around this time they legally adopted the surname Phoenix, inspired by the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, symbolizing a new beginning. When Phoenix was three, he and his older siblings witnessed fish being killed as the fishermen threw them violently against nails into the wall. This act made the whole family convert to veganism. He also began calling himself "Leaf", having been inspired by spending time outdoors raking leaves and desiring to have a nature-related name like his siblings. Leaf became the name he used before changing it back to his birth name Joaquin at the age of fifteen.
In 1979, after Phoenix's father had to stop working because of an old spinal injury, the whole family moved to Los Angeles where the mother met a high-profile child agent named Iris Burton, who got the children into commercials and bit parts on TV. He made his acting debut alongside his brother in the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the 1982 episode "Christmas Song". He has said of his first time acting:
In 1984, Phoenix starred opposite River in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, for which they shared a nomination for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television at the 6th Youth in Film Awards. He also made guest appearances in the Murder, She Wrote episode "We're Off to Kill the Wizard" and individual episodes of The Fall Guy and Hill Street Blues. A year later, Phoenix appeared in the television film Kids Don't Tell. To supplement their income, the kids sang their original songs like "Gonna Make It," written by River, and busked for money in matching yellow shirts and shorts. They also studied dance; Phoenix became an avid break dancer. Phoenix dropped out of high school when he was sent a dead frog in the mail to dissect for his biology studies, which prompted him to discontinue his studies. Dissatisfied with life in Los Angeles, the Phoenixes moved back to Florida, settling in Gainesville.
Career
1986–1999: Early work and return to acting
Phoenix made his feature film debut in the adventure film SpaceCamp (1986) as a young boy who goes to Kennedy Space Center to learn about the NASA space program and undergoes amateur astronaut training. He guest starred in the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "A Very Happy Ending" in the same year, playing a child who blackmails a hitman (played by Robert Loggia) into killing his father (John Aprea). Phoenix's first starring role was in the film Russkies (1987), about a group of friends who unknowingly befriend a Russian soldier during the Cold War.
In 1989, Phoenix co-starred as Garry, the withdrawn teenage nephew of Steve Martin's character in Ron Howard's comedy-drama Parenthood. The film was box office success, grossing $126 million worldwide against its $20 million budget. Critics praised the film, with IndieWire reviewers highlighting the film's cast and their performances for possessing "genuinely likable, and occasionally insightful, heart" calling Phoenix a "terrifically believable angsty adolescent", in a performance which garnered him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film. The role of Garry was reprised in the series based on the film by Leonardo DiCaprio, who studied Phoenix's performance in order to get it right. After establishing himself as a child actor, Phoenix felt that he wasn't getting any appealing offers and decided to take a break from acting and traveled to Mexico with his father, learning Spanish. When he returned to the States, his brother River Phoenix suggested that Phoenix changed his name back to Joaquin and encouraged him to start acting again.
On October 31, 1993, River died of an overdose outside The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Phoenix, who had accompanied his brother and older sister Rain to the club, called 911 to seek help for his dying brother. After the death, the phone call was repeatedly broadcast on TV and radio shows. The family retreated to Costa Rica to escape the media glare as the event came to be depicted as a cautionary tale of young Hollywood surrounded by mythology and conspiracy.
In 1995, Phoenix returned to acting in Gus Van Sant's black comedy To Die For, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was inspired by the Pamela Smart murder case. Phoenix starred as Jimmy Emmett, a disturbed young man who is seduced by a woman (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. The film premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, with New York Times critic Janet Maslin praising Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all."
In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. The film was released to a dismal box office performance and was not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) investigate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out to be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics.
2000–2010: Critical acclaim and commercial success
In 2000, Phoenix co-starred in three films. In the first of these, he portrayed a fictionalized version of Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's historical epic film Gladiator. The film received positive reviews and grossed $457 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly called Phoenix's work "a more nuanced star-making performance" when comparing him to the lead Russell Crowe, writing "Phoenix turns what could have easily been a cartoonish villain into a richly layered study of pathology." Phoenix earned his first nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. He and his late brother River became the first brothers to be nominated for acting Academy Awards. To this date, they are the only brothers to hold this distinction.
His next film marked his first collaboration with director James Gray in The Yards. The crime film follows the corruption in the rail yards of Queens. Although failing to perform well at the box office, The Yards received positive reviews from critics with many considering Phoenix's performance as the villain a stand out. The third release of 2000 was Philip Kaufman's Quills, a satirical thriller inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade. Phoenix portrayed the conflicted priest Abbé de Coulmier opposite Kate Winslet. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was a modest art house success grossing a total of $17 million at the box office. It was received with critical praise with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praising Phoenix and his chemistry with Winslet, stating "Phoenix, on a roll this year with Gladiator and The Yards, excels at making the priest a seductive figure — a neat trick considering the real Abbe was a four-foot hunchback. Winslet and Phoenix generate real fire, notably when Abbe dreams of ravishing Madeleine on the altar." For his combined roles of that year, Phoenix was awarded the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The following year, Phoenix starred in the satirical film Buffalo Soldiers as a U.S. Army soldier. The world premiere was held at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in early September. However, because the film was a satire of the US military, its wider theatrical run was delayed by approximately two years because of the September 11 attacks; it was finally released on July 25, 2003. BBCs Nev Pierce wrote that "Phoenix is excellent as a Gen X Sergeant Bilko, ensuring his cheerfully amoral character never loses heart - showcasing tenderness, love, grief and fear as his games get out of control" and Phoenix received a nomination for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor.
The science fiction thriller Signs (2002) marked Phoenix's first collaboration with director M. Night Shyamalan. In the film, he played Merrill Hess, a former Minor League baseball player who, along with his older brother Graham (Mel Gibson), discovers that Earth has been invaded by extraterrestrials. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Phoenix's performance was praised, with critic Peter Travers writing that Phoenix "registers impressively, finding the humor and the pain in this lost boy [...] never making a false move as a helpless Merrill watches his rock of a brother crumble into a despairing crisis of faith." The film was a commercial success, grossing $408.2 million worldwide.
In 2003, Phoenix played the irresolute husband of a superstar-skater (Claire Danes) in Thomas Vinterberg's romance-drama It's All About Love, and voiced Kenai in the Disney animated film Brother Bear. Phoenix expressed immense joy being cast as the lead voice role in a Disney animated feature, stating "The real pinnacle [in my career] is that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the greatest?" The film grossed $250.4 million worldwide, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He was replaced by Patrick Dempsey in the sequel Brother Bear 2. Phoenix reunited with Shyamalan in the period thriller The Village (2004). The film is about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it, referred to as "Those We Don't Speak Of". He played farmer Lucius Hunt, a role which Christopher Orr of The Atlantic found "underdeveloped". Though initially receiving mixed reviews, the film attracted retrospective reviews years after its release. Several critics deemed it one of Shyamalan's best films, praising Phoenix's "terrific" performance. The film was a financial success, grossing $256.7 million worldwide on its $60 million budget.
In his next film of the year, he starred opposite John Travolta in the drama film Ladder 49 as a Baltimore firefighter. In preparation for the role, Phoenix trained for two months with the Baltimore Fire Department, putting out actual fires. He admitted that he was afraid of heights before he started making this film, recalling "I got to the pole and I looked down and I couldn't do it. But you go through the training and it exposes your fears and helps you to overcome them. We ended up rappelling off a six-story tower and that really helped." The film earned $102.3 million at the box office despite receiving generally mixed reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the performances in the film. Phoenix's final film of 2004 was Terry George's Hotel Rwanda, playing cameraman Jack Daglish. Based on the Rwandan genocide, the film documents Paul Rusesabagina's (Don Cheadle) efforts to save the lives of his family and more than 1,000 other refugees by providing them with shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. The film was a moderate financial success but was a critical success, receiving almost exclusively positive reviews from critics. For his performance in the film, Phoenix was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast.
In 2005, Phoenix co-starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the James Mangold directed film Walk the Line, a Johnny Cash biopic, after Cash himself approved of Phoenix. All of Cash's vocal tracks in the film and on the accompanying soundtrack are played and sung by Phoenix. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, eventually grossing $186 million worldwide. Phoenix's performance received rave reviews from critics and it inspired film critic Roger Ebert to write, "Knowing Johnny Cash's albums more or less by heart, I closed my eyes to focus on the soundtrack and decided that, yes, that was the voice of Johnny Cash I was listening to. The closing credits make it clear it's Joaquin Phoenix doing the singing, and I was gob-smacked". For his portrayal of Johnny Cash, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's soundtrack. Phoenix also received a second Academy Award nomination, his first in the Best Actor category as well as a second BAFTA nomination. Earlier that year, he narrated Earthlings (2005), a documentary about the investigation of animal abuse in factory farms, and pet mills, and for scientific research. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2005, for his work and contribution to Earthlings. Animal rights philosopher Tom Regan remarked that "for those who watch Earthlings, the world will never be the same".
Phoenix's first producing task was the action thriller We Own the Night (2007), in which he played nightclub manager Bobby Green/Grusinsky who tries to save his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) from Russian mafia hitmen. The James Gray-directed film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews; Roger Ebert praised Gray's direction and the acting, but criticized its screenplay for lack of originality. David Edelstein of New York Magazine commended Phoenix for elevating the film's conflict, writing that it "might be heavy-handed without Phoenix's face—his irresolution somehow more powerful than other actors' resolve. There is no artifice. He's not an actor disappearing into a role but a man disappearing into himself[...]Phoenix homes in on the truth of this person. It's the paradox of the greatest acting".
Later that year, he played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident in his second feature with Terry George, the crime drama film Reservation Road. The film received mixed reviews from critics; Peter Travers praised Phoenix's acting stating "Even the best actors – and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest – can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix also executive produced the television show 4Real, a half-hour program which began airing in 2007. The series showcased celebrity guests on global adventures "in order to connect with young leaders who are creating social and economic change".
In 2008, Phoenix starred as a suicidal bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor in Gray's Two Lovers. The romantic drama premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Reviews for the film and Phoenix's performance were positive; New York Magazine'''s chief critic called it his best performance to date and Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter felt that Phoenix led the film with "great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable". During the promotion of Two Lovers, Phoenix had started to film his next performance for the mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010), which the media felt overshadowed the former's theatrical release. I'm Still Here purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist managed by rap icon Sean "Diddy" Combs. Directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and co-written by Affleck and Phoenix, the little-seen film premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival to mixed reviews; critics were divided on whether to interpret the film as documentary or performance art. After its release, Phoenix explained that the idea for the feature arose from his amazement that people believed reality television shows' claims of being unscripted. By claiming to retire from acting, he and Affleck planned to make a film that "explored celebrity, and explored the relationship between the media and the consumers and the celebrities themselves" through their film.
2011–2018: Established career and continued acclaim
In 2011, it was announced that Phoenix would star in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama film The Master, which traces the relationship between Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II navy veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society and Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffmann), a leader of a religious movement known as "The Cause". To create the character, Phoenix lost a significant amount of weight and went to a dentist to help force his jaw shut on one side; a trait his own father had. The film premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival where he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. The art house film only grossed $28 million but was received with critical acclaim, with Phoenix's performance receiving high praise. Peter Travers called it the performance of his career writing "Acting doesn't get better or go deeper[...]Phoenix wears the role like a second skin. You can't take your eyes off him." His performance as Freddie was described as "career-defining" by Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, who was impressed that Anderson and Phoenix collaboratively were able to build such complex work around such a derelict figure. Fellow actor Daniel Day-Lewis publicly lauded the "remarkable" Phoenix while accepting the Screen Actors Guild Award, apologising for the fact that Phoenix hadn't been nominated for the same award. Despite this, Phoenix received his third Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his leading role.
Phoenix and Gray's fourth collaboration came with The Immigrant (2013), a drama film in which he played the supporting role of a pimp who prostitutes Polish immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and ends up falling for her. The Immigrant and his performance premiered to highly positive reviews at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In his review, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club thought the film featured one of his best performances and commended Phoenix's and Gray's developing work, writing of that "the two are so perfectly in sync, that it's hard to tell where Phoenix's performance ends and Gray's visual style[...]—begins", further lauding their development of Bruno into "a fully fledged tragic character, even though he is neither the protagonist of The Immigrant nor the main driving force behind its plot".
His next feature film of that year was the Spike Jonze-directed romantic science-fiction drama Her. He played Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. Released to critical acclaim, critic A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club labeled Phoenix as "one of the most emotionally honest actors in Hollywood", impressed at how he effortlessly unleashes waves of vulnerability in the film's many tight, invasive close-up images, calling it a "tremendous performance, one that rescues this character—a mess of insecurities, regrets, and desires—from the walking pity party he could have been". Her earned more than double of its production budget, and Phoenix received his fourth nomination at the Golden Globes. Several journalists expressed disappointment over his failure to receive an Oscar nomination for it, with Peter Knegt of IndieWire naming it of one of ten worst Oscar acting snubs of the last decade in 2015.
In 2014, Phoenix took on the role of Doc Sportello, a private investigator and hippie/dope head trying to help his ex-girlfriend solve a crime in the crime comedy-drama Inherent Vice, based on Thomas Pynchon's detective novel of the same name. Reviews toward the film were positive; critics praised Phoenix's performance and Paul Thomas Anderson's direction, while some were frustrated by its complicated plot. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph termed Phoenix as Anderson's "perfect leading man" and his work as "the kind of quietly dazzling performance that rarely wins awards but will be adoringly dissected and quoted for decades". Phoenix earned his fifth Golden Globe nomination for the film.
After narrating the sequel to Earthlings, the 2015 animal rights' documentary Unity, Phoenix teamed with director Woody Allen and Emma Stone in the crime mystery film Irrational Man. He played Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor experiencing an existential crisis. The film was released to mixed reviews at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival; The Hollywood Reporter felt that the film was too similar to Allen's previous films, but praised Phoenix's chemistry with Stone and Phoenix for playing the character "with a wonderful baggy, lived-in quality that makes us want to climb inside the character's whiskey-sozzled head".
The thriller You Were Never Really Here, written and directed by Lynne Ramsay and based on the novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames, ranks among the most acclaimed films of Phoenix's career. The film is about Joe (played by Phoenix), a traumatized former FBI agent and Gulf War veteran who tracks down missing girls for a living. To prepare for the film, Phoenix was advised by a former bodyguard who goes on international missions to rescue children suffering sexual exploitation and abuse by human traffickers; he gained a significant amount of weight and muscle for the part. Phoenix was Ramsay's first and only choice to play the veteran, with Ramsay calling him "my soulmate in making movies". The film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it received universal acclaim and earned Phoenix the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times described Phoenix's performance as "the most rivetingly contained" work of his career and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer of Consequence noted that his evocative manners in the film, led to him giving career-high work and "the kind of haunting turn that only comes around a few times every decade or so".
In 2018, Phoenix portrayed Jesus in the biblical drama Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis. The film, and his performance, received mixed reviews; a reviewer for Entertainment Weekly thought that Phoenix lacked the quiet compassion and grace that was required for the role, while Nick Allen of Roger Ebert's website described his performance as "a human being who is visibly tormented by the power and wisdom that works through him", deeming it one of the best portrayals of Jesus ever. His next two featuresthe biopic Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and the crime drama The Sisters Brothers were much better received. In the former, Phoenix reunited with his To Die For director Gus Van Sant to portray quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote that there's no better leading actor producing better work than Phoenix, stating "The actor – never a simple chameleon, but someone who disappears into a role entirely with a frightening conviction – continues to display new and tremendous range here" and David Hughes of Empire thought that in a more conventional film, Phoenix would be the favourite to win an Academy Award.
The third film of 2018 was The Sisters Brothers, Jacques Audiard's adaptation of the novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt. The film starred John C. Reilly and Phoenix as the notorious assassin brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters respectively and chronicles their chase after two men who have banded together to search for gold. Writing for Roger Ebert's website, Tomris Laffly commented on Phoenix's and Reilly's "tremendous chemistry" and Lindsey Behr of the Associated Press opined that the duo "excellently manage all the various tones in the film".
Also in 2018, he collaborated with Rooney Mara and Sia to narrate Chris Delforce's documentary Dominion. Animal rights activists have called it one of the most powerful documentaries ever made. For his contribution to the documentary, Phoenix was granted the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.
2019–present: Joker and further success
In 2019, Phoenix starred as the DC Comics character Joker in Todd Phillips's psychological thriller Joker; an alternative origin story for the character. Set in 1981, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. Phoenix lost in preparation, and based his laugh on "videos of people suffering from pathological laughter." Released to critical acclaim at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, the film experienced a polarized critical reception after its theatrical release. While Phoenix's performance received rave reviews, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-life violence; the movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises refused to show it. Despite this, Joker became a box office success grossing over $1 billion (against its $55 million production budget), the first and only R-rated film to do so, becoming Phoenix's highest-grossing film.
Pete Hammond of Deadline wrote of Phoenix's "extraordinary" performance, describing it as "dazzling risky and original" and The Hollywood Reporters David Rooney called his performance the "must-see factor" of the film, writing "he inhabits [the character] with an insanity by turns pitiful and fearsome in an out-there performance that's no laughing matter[...]Phoenix is the prime force that makes Joker such a distinctively edgy entry in the Hollywood comics industrial complex." The film earned him numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor.
In 2020, Phoenix served as an executive producer on Gunda, directed by Viktor Kossakovsky. The acclaimed documentary follows the daily life of a pig, two cows, and a one-legged chicken. That same year, Phoenix was named on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times. The list was compiled by famed critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott and Phoenix's paragraph was written by his frequent collaborator, director James Gray.
In 2021, he starred in Mike Mills' drama C'mon C'mon, as Johnny, a radio journalist who embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew. The A24 film premiered at the 48th Telluride Film Festival to universal acclaim and scored the best per-venue average for a limited release since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture praised Phoenix writing "a tremendous showing from Joaquin Phoenix, operating at a register he's rarely found before. It's a career best for him — lovely, empathetic, humane[...]He possesses a warmth that glows from beginning to end. As Johnny, Phoenix listens to people and the world around him with full-bodied curiosity. This is where the bravura lies in the performance: his ability to seemingly just be."
Upcoming projects
Phoenix has three upcoming films. He will star in Ari Aster's Disappointment Blvd., and in January 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Phoenix is set to portray Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon, his second collaboration with director Ridley Scott. He is also set to reunite with director Lynne Ramsay for an upcoming feature called Polaris, co-starring Rooney Mara.
Reception and acting style
At the beginning of his career, Phoenix was often referred to as "the second most famous Phoenix", his name associated most closely with the death of his brother River Phoenix. The media would often compare the two, with The New York Times describing Joaquin as "sweetly unsettling and endlessly vulnerable" compared to his brother's "pure all-American blond boyishness". After his brother died, Phoenix gained a reputation for his distrust of the media, with many speculating that it is derived from how the death was covered by the press. He was often asked about the day River died, and still is to this date. Phoenix has described these interviews as "insincere" and has felt that they impeded on the mourning process. Caroline Frost of The Huffington Post has said that Phoenix is "engaging, engaged, mischievous, honest" in person and Anderson Cooper of 60 Minutes thought that he was "wry, shy and couldn't be any more friendlier" adding that Phoenix "just doesn't like to talk about himself". Although known for his intensity and darkness on-screen, director James Gray who worked with Phoenix in four feature films, says that Phoenix is very different off-screen saying "He's actually very tender and sweet and sensitive. It's almost as if he channels his intensity into the characters. Like the work is an outlet for his darker side."
Phoenix has been described as one of the finest actors of his generation. As he achieved stardom after Gladiator (2000), he was conveniently ruled out of teen-idol roles because of his hard gaze and scarred lip. Justin Chang, analyzing his career in Los Angeles Times in 2020, remarked that filmmakers immediately seemed to recognize that Phoenix was more than a heartthrob, and that there was "something more tortured, more vulnerable and infinitely more interesting at play beneath the surface". He noted that through his work, Phoenix is challenging and redefining cinematic manhood and that this quality sets him apart from most of his contemporaries. Renowned film critic and film historian Leonard Maltin has called Phoenix "a true chameleon", writing "[Phoenix] commands the screen and breaks your heart; he makes us feel it all vicariously."
Phoenix is particularly known for his ability to heavily commit to each role he plays and his intense preparations, deeply immersing himself in the characters, often blurring the lines between fiction and reality. That immersion was particularly evident during the filming of the mockumentary I'm Still Here (2010), when Phoenix announced to the world that he was retiring from acting to become a rapper. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Media outlets worldwide believed that Phoenix was having a mental breakdown after his infamous appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Confusion from the media turned to concern as the seemingly drug-addled Phoenix continued his attempts to convince crowds he was serious about a rap career. Many worried his erratic behaviour was a sign he was stuck in a downward spiral, and headed down the same self-destructive path that took the life of his older brother. Although widely suspected to be a mockumentary, the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. To this day, some people believe he went through a personal meltdown during the filming period. Phoenix has credited the making of I'm Still Here for allowing him to make bolder choices in acting.
Phoenix contends there's no real methodology to the roles he chooses, but has said that he is drawn to complex characters. He speculates that his affinity for dark roles derives from something more ineffable, possibly prenatal saying that "I think there is a combination of nature and nurture[...]—and some of it is my upbringing." Even so, Phoenix remains reluctant to draw a line between his unusual childhood, his private tragedy and his talent for "inhabiting the morose, damaged, violent, and otherwise anxiety-riddled characters". James Gray has described Phoenix as "one of the most incorruptible people I've ever known, and the least superficial", and has spoken of his acting, saying that he admires Phoenix's "limitless ability to surprise you in the best ways and inspire you to move in a direction that you haven't thought of originally, better than what you have in mind". Garth Davis, who directed Phoenix in Mary Magdalene (2018), has remarked that he does not apply method acting, but said that working with Phoenix is like "working with this beautiful wild animal, where you have to give him the space to be free, so his performance can roam freely: raw, uncontrived and truly natural. If he smells the design of the scene, you lose his free spirit; if the script is weak, he will expose its flaws. He is fiercely intelligent and almost completely instinctual. And he has this immense sensitivity that can be both his curse and his gift, but for me, that is what it means to be human". In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Phoenix claimed that he prefers independent film over major studio film, citing that "the quality of acting suffers".
In 2019, he stated that in choosing films, he solely relies on the director, "I don't really care about genre or budget size, anything like that. It's just whether there is a filmmaker that has a unique vision, has a voice, and the ability to make the film." For Phoenix, a great performance is in the director's hands — it's ultimately the director's world he's entering. He maintains that the director creates the character's arc and that the best directors adjust to what is happening with the actor in the moment.
Phoenix has cited Robert De Niro as one of his favorite actors and strongest acting influences. Phoenix recalled watching Raging Bull for the first time in an interview, "I think it just… awakened something in me. And I could suddenly see it through his eyes. There's a part in Raging Bull where De Niro meets a girl in between a chain-link fence. And he, you know, shakes her pinky and it's like this just beautiful little detail, it's this wonderful moment. And I think that in some ways is what I'm always looking for."
Other ventures
Music
Phoenix has directed music videos for Ringside, She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr., and Silversun Pickups. He was said to have produced the opening track for Pusha T's My Name Is My Name album alongside Kanye West. The track is called "King Push". Phoenix then denied in a statement to XXL having produced the record, saying, "While it was widely reported that Pusha T used my beat and that I produced his song, I can't take any credit. A friend's son played me his music, and all I did was make an introduction to Kanye [West]'s camp."
Animal rights activism
Phoenix is identified as one of the most active celebrities in the animal rights movement. A vegan since age three, he does not wear any clothes made out of animal skin; he requests that all of his leather costumes in films are made from synthetic materials. Phoenix has said that animal rights are one of the most important pillars in his life, and maintains that "climate change is imminent if we do not adopt a plant-based lifestyle". He has helped raise awareness of the correlation between animal rights, climate change and health issues. Phoenix has received praise and accolades from animal rights groups, with PETA naming him "Person of the Year" in 2019.
PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement: "Joaquin Phoenix never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight away from himself and onto animals' plight and to set a great example of walking the vegan walk". He has been an active supporter of numerous animal rights organizations, including PETA.
Throughout the years, Phoenix has headlined numerous campaigns for different organizations to help promote veganism and end animal slaughter. In 2019, Phoenix and his partner Rooney Mara led the National Animal Rights Day demonstration to help spread awareness for animal rights. On January 10, 2020, Phoenix was arrested with actress Jane Fonda at a climate change protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At the protest, Phoenix spoke about the link between animal agriculture and climate change.
During the 2019–20 awards season, amid protesting for animal rights, Phoenix had been driving a behind-the-scenes movement that transformed five events to meat-free menus, beginning with the Golden Globe Awards. He acknowledged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association during his acceptance speech, for its "very bold move making tonight plant-based. It really sends a powerful message." Soon after, Critics' Choice and SAG followed suit. Phoenix contacted the presidents of the award ceremonies, accompanied by signatures from the likes of fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Phoenix's pitch was that meat agriculture is a leading cause of climate change and that the televised spectacles should use their platforms to address pressing societal issues. The Academy Awards later announced that all food served at the Dolby Theatre before the Oscars was going to be vegan. Lisa Lange, senior vp communications at PETA, spoke of Phoenix's power saying "He knows what can be done. He knows he's in a good position to push. He enlists friends. And it works. He can have influence in Hollywood and it influences the rest of the world."
A day after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, and subsequently delivering a headlining acceptance speech in which he spoke to the plight of mother cows and their babies used in animal agriculture, Phoenix helped to rescue a cow and her newborn calf from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. They were taken to Farm Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary and advocacy organization, where they will live out the rest of their lives. The same month, he starred in Guardians of Life, the first of twelve short films by the environmental organization Mobilize Earth that highlighted the most pressing issues facing humanity and the natural world. Funds raised by the project went to Amazon Watch and Extinction Rebellion.
Two animal species have been named after him. In 2011, a Trilobite species was named Gladiatoria phoenix for his iconic role in the 2000 film Gladiator and in 2020 a Spider species endemic to Iran was named Loureedia phoenixi, also known as the Joker spider due to its color pattern matching the DC Comics character Joker, for his role in the 2019 film Joker.
Other activism
In 2020, Phoenix collaborated with JusticeLA to create a public service announcement #SuingToSaveLives about the health of people in L.A. County jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal life
Views and lifestyle
After re-establishing himself as an actor in the mid 1990s, Phoenix moved back to Los Angeles. He is known for his disdain of celebrity culture, rarely granting interviews, and being reticent about discussing
his private life. In 2018, he described himself as a secular Jew who does not affiliate with any organized religion; one of his "core values" is the idea of forgiveness. Phoenix has also claimed that his mother believed in Jesus, though his parents were not religious. While portraying Jesus for the 2018 movie Mary Magdalene, he expressed that the role changed his perspective on the nature of forgiveness.
In early April 2005, Phoenix checked himself into rehab to be treated for alcoholism. Twelve years later, he revealed that he did not need an intervention: "I really just thought of myself as a hedonist. I was an actor in L.A. I wanted to have a good time. But I wasn't engaging with the world or myself in the way I wanted to". On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Phoenix veered off the road and flipped his car. The crash was reportedly caused by brake failure. Shaken and confused, he heard someone tapping on his window and telling him to "just relax". Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." The man replied, "No, you're not." The man then stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette while gasoline was leaking into the car cabin. Phoenix realized that the man was German filmmaker Werner Herzog. While Herzog helped Phoenix out of the wreckage by breaking the back window of the car, bystanders called an ambulance. Phoenix approached Herzog to express his gratitude.
In 2012, Phoenix labeled the Academy Awards "bullshit". He later gave an interview apologizing for his comments, and acknowledged that the awards provide an important platform for many deserving filmmakers. He elaborated on the topic while on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015, explaining that he is uncomfortable receiving accolades for his work in films when he considers the filmmaking process to be a collaborative one.
A longtime vegan, Phoenix finds animal agriculture "absurd and barbaric". He explained his reasoning behind his veganism; "To me, it just seems obvious – I don't want to cause pain to another living empathetic creature. I don't want to take its babies away from it, I don't want to force it to be indoors and fattened up just to be slaughtered. Certainly, also, the effect that it has on our environment is devastating. So, for me, it's my life and has always been my life, and it's really one of the most important things to me."
Relationships and family
From 1995 to 1998, Phoenix dated his Inventing the Abbotts co-star Liv Tyler. The two remain close friends, with Tyler considering Phoenix and his sisters as her family.<ref></></ref> He was romantically involved with South African model Topaz Page-Green from 2001 to 2005. Phoenix is currently on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides daily meals to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa, founded by Page-Green.
In 2012, Phoenix met Her co-star Rooney Mara. The two remained friends and began a romantic relationship four years later, during the making of Mary Magdalene. Their engagement was confirmed in July 2019 and the following year, the couple were reported to be expecting their first child together. In late September 2020, it was announced that the couple had a son, named River after Phoenix's late brother. They reside in the Hollywood Hills. Phoenix has described his family life as simple. He enjoys meditating, watching documentaries, reading scripts and taking karate classes. He has a black belt in karate.
Filmography and accolades
According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and the box-office site Box Office Mojo, Phoenix's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films include Parenthood (1989), To Die For (1995), Gladiator (2000), Signs (2002), Brother Bear (2003), The Village (2004), Walk the Line (2005), Two Lovers (2008), The Master (2012), The Immigrant (2013), Her (2013), Inherent Vice (2014), You Were Never Really Here (2017) and Joker (2019).
Phoenix has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
73rd Academy Awards (2001): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, as Commodus in Gladiator78th Academy Awards (2006): Best Actor, nomination, as John R. "Johnny" Cash in Walk the Line85th Academy Awards (2013): Best Actor, nomination, as Freddie Quell in The Master92nd Academy Awards (2020): Best Actor, win, as Arthur Fleck/Joker in JokerPhoenix has won two Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Walk the Line and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for Joker, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Joker.
Phoenix was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the Walk The Line soundtrack. He has also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 69th Venice International Film Festival for The Master and the Best Actor Award at the 70th Cannes Film Festival for You Were Never Really Here''.
Phoenix and River Phoenix hold the distinction of being the only brothers nominated for acting Academy Awards. Both Phoenix and Heath Ledger won an Academy Award for their performances as the Joker, becoming the second pair of actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same character – the other pair being Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, who won Best Actor and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor respectively, for their portrayals of Vito Corleone.
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of animal rights advocates
List of vegans
Notes
References
External links
1974 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American animal rights activists
American environmentalists
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American people of English descent
American people of French descent
American people of German descent
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American street performers
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from Gainesville, Florida
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Method actors
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Los Angeles
People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Joaquin
Veganism activists
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners
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"The cinema of Djibouti refers to the film industry in Djibouti.\n\nHistory\nStorytelling is an ancient custom in the culture of Djibouti. Love of cinema is but a modern, visual incarnation and continuation of this well-established tradition. The earliest forms of public film display in Djibouti were in French. In the 1920s, the first local movie theaters opened, during a time when Djibouti City was growing in size. Film theaters became a place where local residents could watch movies in a relaxed atmosphere. With the development of the local film industry, additional theaters were launched. Among these establishments was the Eden in 1934, Olympia in 1939, Le Paris in 1965, and Al Hilal in 1975.\n\nDuring the 1970s, the capital city had five movie theaters, with one in each district. Some local film making attempts were carried out with local actors. One was Burta Djinka, a 1972 film in Somali directed by G. Borg. Following independence in 1977, a growing number of government-owned production and distribution companies as well as actual projection theaters sprang up.\n\nIn the 1990s two of the biggest cinemas, Odeon and Olympia, closed their doors.\n\nReferences",
"A is a type of Japanese independent movie theater that is not under the direct influence of any major film companies. Mini theaters are characterized by their relatively smaller size and seating capacity compared to larger, non-independent movie theaters found in Japan, as well as their programming, which includes independent or arthouse films.\n\nHistory\n\nOrigins and rise in popularity\nIn 1974, a film distribution project known as Equipe de Cinema was instituted at , a venue constructed by Iwanami Shoten, in Tokyo, Japan. Iwanami Hall, which was originally used as a multipurpose hall, became one of the first mini theaters, able to seat 220 people. The project was headed by Etsuko Tanakno, general manager of Iwanami Hall, and film producer Kashiko Kawakita, who sought to screen films deemed inappropriate for wide distribution.\n\nMini theaters were popularized throughout Japan in the 1980s. During that decade, mini theaters often screened European independent and arthouse films, such as films produced during the French New Wave, as well as films originating from Hungary, Poland and Bulgaria. Mini theaters also screened independent films produced in Japan by relatively unknown Japanese filmmakers. The popularity of mini theaters continued into the 1990s, and some mini-theater operators, such as Theatre Shinjuku and Eurospace, began investing in film production.\n\nIn the 21st century\n\nSeveral mini theaters in the Tokyo metropolitan area were closed during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Mini theater Cine Vivant ceased operations in 1999, and Cine Saison and Ginza Theatre Cinema closed in 2011 and 2013, respectively. On April 7, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the Japanese government to declare a state of emergency for Tokyo and six other prefectures, resulting in the closure of movie theaters nationwide. Consequently, mini theaters have suffered significant drops in revenue.\n\nDue to the negative financial impact of the pandemic on mini theaters, Japanese filmmakers have organized movements to help support them. Directors Kōji Fukada and Ryūsuke Hamaguchi launched a crowdfunding campaign to assist mini theaters; the campaign amassed over 100 million yen in donations in three days.\n\nSee also\n\n Movie palace\n Multiplex (movie theater)\n\nReferences\n\nCinemas and movie theaters\nCinemas in Japan\nTheatres"
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C_7778de4d51af45d58cbe0ea79e0db2f7_0
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Did he make any more movies?
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Did Joaquin Phoenix make any more movies?
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Joaquin Phoenix
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In 2006, Phoenix was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2007, Phoenix reunited with director James Gray for the film We Own the Night, which he also produced. In the film, Phoenix played a New York nightclub manager who tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hit men. The film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, receiving mixed reviews from critics and grossed a total of $54.5 million worldwide. Critic Peter Travers described Phoenix as "electrifying and then some", and he was awarded the People's Choice Award for Favorite Leading Man for the performance. For his second film of 2007, Phoenix also reunited with director Terry George for the film Reservation Road. In it, Phoenix played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident. The film failed at the box office and received negative reviews from critics, with film critic Peter Travers writing "Even the best actors -- and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest -- can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix made his third collaboration with director James Gray in the film Two Lovers (2008), where he played a bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor. Two Lovers premiered in competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival in May, receiving largely positive reviews, especially Phoenix who was praised by film critics David Edelstein who wrote "He [Phoenix] is, once again, stupendous, and stupendous in a way he has never been before" and Roger Ebert describing his performance as "perfect pitch". Two Lovers grossed $16 million worldwide. Phoenix's mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010) premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival on September 6, 2010. The film was directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and was also written by Affleck and Phoenix himself. The film purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist. Filming officially began on January 16, 2009 at a Las Vegas nightclub. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Although widely suspected to be a "mockumentary," the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. The film received mixed reviews and failed at the box office. After the releasing of the film, Phoenix took a self-imposed break from acting. CANNOTANSWER
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Phoenix made his third collaboration with director James Gray in the film Two Lovers (2008), where he played a
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Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and animal rights activist. Known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent film, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was ranked 12th on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times.
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Los Angeles and Florida, Phoenix began his career by appearing in television series in the early 1980s with his brother River. His first major film roles were in SpaceCamp (1986) and Parenthood (1989). During this period, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, a name he gave himself. He took back his birth first name in the early 1990s and received critical acclaim for his supporting roles in the comedy-drama film To Die For (1995) and the period film Quills (2000). Phoenix received further critical acclaim and first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of the evil emperor Commodus in the historical drama film Gladiator (2000). He had success with the horror films Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), the historical drama Hotel Rwanda (2004) and won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of musician Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line (2005). He continued to receive acclaim in two features with his frequent director James Gray; the action thriller We Own the Night (2007) and the romantic drama Two Lovers (2008), before taking a break from acting.
In the 2010s, Phoenix returned to acting to critical acclaim. He starred in the psychological drama The Master (2012), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and earning his third Academy Award nomination. He received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the romantic drama Her (2013) and the crime satire Inherent Vice (2014) and won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here (2017). Phoenix achieved international stardom and won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a second Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of the title character in Joker (2019).
Phoenix is an animal rights activist. He has been vegan since the age of three and regularly supports charitable causes and has produced several documentaries on global meat consumption and its impact on the environment. He is in a relationship with actress Rooney Mara, with whom he has a son.
Early life and acting background
Joaquin Rafael Bottom was born on October 28, 1974, in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to John Lee Bottom, the founder of a landscape gardening company, and Arlyn "Heart" Bottom (née Dunetz), who was an executive secretary at NBC and whose connection to an agent provided her children with acting work. He is the third of five children, following River (1970–1993) and Rain (born 1972), and preceding Liberty (born 1976) and Summer (born 1978), all of whom have been involved in acting. He also has a half-sister named Jodean (born 1964) from his father's previous relationship. His father was a Catholic from Fontana, California and was of English, German and French ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Meyer Dunetz, was Russian Jewish and his maternal grandmother, Margit Lefkowitz, was Hungarian Jewish; they were both Ashkenazi Jews who resided in New York City. His parents met when his mother was hitchhiking in California and got married less than a year after meeting.
Soon after the second child was born, they joined the religious cult called Children of God and started traveling throughout South America and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean as Christian missionaries, where the next two children were born. They eventually grew disillusioned with Children of God and left in 1977, being opposed to the cult's increasingly distorted rules, particularly the practice of flirty fishing. The fifth child was born in Florida where the family settled for a while. It was also around this time they legally adopted the surname Phoenix, inspired by the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, symbolizing a new beginning. When Phoenix was three, he and his older siblings witnessed fish being killed as the fishermen threw them violently against nails into the wall. This act made the whole family convert to veganism. He also began calling himself "Leaf", having been inspired by spending time outdoors raking leaves and desiring to have a nature-related name like his siblings. Leaf became the name he used before changing it back to his birth name Joaquin at the age of fifteen.
In 1979, after Phoenix's father had to stop working because of an old spinal injury, the whole family moved to Los Angeles where the mother met a high-profile child agent named Iris Burton, who got the children into commercials and bit parts on TV. He made his acting debut alongside his brother in the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the 1982 episode "Christmas Song". He has said of his first time acting:
In 1984, Phoenix starred opposite River in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, for which they shared a nomination for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television at the 6th Youth in Film Awards. He also made guest appearances in the Murder, She Wrote episode "We're Off to Kill the Wizard" and individual episodes of The Fall Guy and Hill Street Blues. A year later, Phoenix appeared in the television film Kids Don't Tell. To supplement their income, the kids sang their original songs like "Gonna Make It," written by River, and busked for money in matching yellow shirts and shorts. They also studied dance; Phoenix became an avid break dancer. Phoenix dropped out of high school when he was sent a dead frog in the mail to dissect for his biology studies, which prompted him to discontinue his studies. Dissatisfied with life in Los Angeles, the Phoenixes moved back to Florida, settling in Gainesville.
Career
1986–1999: Early work and return to acting
Phoenix made his feature film debut in the adventure film SpaceCamp (1986) as a young boy who goes to Kennedy Space Center to learn about the NASA space program and undergoes amateur astronaut training. He guest starred in the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "A Very Happy Ending" in the same year, playing a child who blackmails a hitman (played by Robert Loggia) into killing his father (John Aprea). Phoenix's first starring role was in the film Russkies (1987), about a group of friends who unknowingly befriend a Russian soldier during the Cold War.
In 1989, Phoenix co-starred as Garry, the withdrawn teenage nephew of Steve Martin's character in Ron Howard's comedy-drama Parenthood. The film was box office success, grossing $126 million worldwide against its $20 million budget. Critics praised the film, with IndieWire reviewers highlighting the film's cast and their performances for possessing "genuinely likable, and occasionally insightful, heart" calling Phoenix a "terrifically believable angsty adolescent", in a performance which garnered him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film. The role of Garry was reprised in the series based on the film by Leonardo DiCaprio, who studied Phoenix's performance in order to get it right. After establishing himself as a child actor, Phoenix felt that he wasn't getting any appealing offers and decided to take a break from acting and traveled to Mexico with his father, learning Spanish. When he returned to the States, his brother River Phoenix suggested that Phoenix changed his name back to Joaquin and encouraged him to start acting again.
On October 31, 1993, River died of an overdose outside The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Phoenix, who had accompanied his brother and older sister Rain to the club, called 911 to seek help for his dying brother. After the death, the phone call was repeatedly broadcast on TV and radio shows. The family retreated to Costa Rica to escape the media glare as the event came to be depicted as a cautionary tale of young Hollywood surrounded by mythology and conspiracy.
In 1995, Phoenix returned to acting in Gus Van Sant's black comedy To Die For, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was inspired by the Pamela Smart murder case. Phoenix starred as Jimmy Emmett, a disturbed young man who is seduced by a woman (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. The film premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, with New York Times critic Janet Maslin praising Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all."
In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. The film was released to a dismal box office performance and was not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) investigate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out to be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics.
2000–2010: Critical acclaim and commercial success
In 2000, Phoenix co-starred in three films. In the first of these, he portrayed a fictionalized version of Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's historical epic film Gladiator. The film received positive reviews and grossed $457 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly called Phoenix's work "a more nuanced star-making performance" when comparing him to the lead Russell Crowe, writing "Phoenix turns what could have easily been a cartoonish villain into a richly layered study of pathology." Phoenix earned his first nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. He and his late brother River became the first brothers to be nominated for acting Academy Awards. To this date, they are the only brothers to hold this distinction.
His next film marked his first collaboration with director James Gray in The Yards. The crime film follows the corruption in the rail yards of Queens. Although failing to perform well at the box office, The Yards received positive reviews from critics with many considering Phoenix's performance as the villain a stand out. The third release of 2000 was Philip Kaufman's Quills, a satirical thriller inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade. Phoenix portrayed the conflicted priest Abbé de Coulmier opposite Kate Winslet. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was a modest art house success grossing a total of $17 million at the box office. It was received with critical praise with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praising Phoenix and his chemistry with Winslet, stating "Phoenix, on a roll this year with Gladiator and The Yards, excels at making the priest a seductive figure — a neat trick considering the real Abbe was a four-foot hunchback. Winslet and Phoenix generate real fire, notably when Abbe dreams of ravishing Madeleine on the altar." For his combined roles of that year, Phoenix was awarded the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The following year, Phoenix starred in the satirical film Buffalo Soldiers as a U.S. Army soldier. The world premiere was held at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in early September. However, because the film was a satire of the US military, its wider theatrical run was delayed by approximately two years because of the September 11 attacks; it was finally released on July 25, 2003. BBCs Nev Pierce wrote that "Phoenix is excellent as a Gen X Sergeant Bilko, ensuring his cheerfully amoral character never loses heart - showcasing tenderness, love, grief and fear as his games get out of control" and Phoenix received a nomination for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor.
The science fiction thriller Signs (2002) marked Phoenix's first collaboration with director M. Night Shyamalan. In the film, he played Merrill Hess, a former Minor League baseball player who, along with his older brother Graham (Mel Gibson), discovers that Earth has been invaded by extraterrestrials. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Phoenix's performance was praised, with critic Peter Travers writing that Phoenix "registers impressively, finding the humor and the pain in this lost boy [...] never making a false move as a helpless Merrill watches his rock of a brother crumble into a despairing crisis of faith." The film was a commercial success, grossing $408.2 million worldwide.
In 2003, Phoenix played the irresolute husband of a superstar-skater (Claire Danes) in Thomas Vinterberg's romance-drama It's All About Love, and voiced Kenai in the Disney animated film Brother Bear. Phoenix expressed immense joy being cast as the lead voice role in a Disney animated feature, stating "The real pinnacle [in my career] is that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the greatest?" The film grossed $250.4 million worldwide, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He was replaced by Patrick Dempsey in the sequel Brother Bear 2. Phoenix reunited with Shyamalan in the period thriller The Village (2004). The film is about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it, referred to as "Those We Don't Speak Of". He played farmer Lucius Hunt, a role which Christopher Orr of The Atlantic found "underdeveloped". Though initially receiving mixed reviews, the film attracted retrospective reviews years after its release. Several critics deemed it one of Shyamalan's best films, praising Phoenix's "terrific" performance. The film was a financial success, grossing $256.7 million worldwide on its $60 million budget.
In his next film of the year, he starred opposite John Travolta in the drama film Ladder 49 as a Baltimore firefighter. In preparation for the role, Phoenix trained for two months with the Baltimore Fire Department, putting out actual fires. He admitted that he was afraid of heights before he started making this film, recalling "I got to the pole and I looked down and I couldn't do it. But you go through the training and it exposes your fears and helps you to overcome them. We ended up rappelling off a six-story tower and that really helped." The film earned $102.3 million at the box office despite receiving generally mixed reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the performances in the film. Phoenix's final film of 2004 was Terry George's Hotel Rwanda, playing cameraman Jack Daglish. Based on the Rwandan genocide, the film documents Paul Rusesabagina's (Don Cheadle) efforts to save the lives of his family and more than 1,000 other refugees by providing them with shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. The film was a moderate financial success but was a critical success, receiving almost exclusively positive reviews from critics. For his performance in the film, Phoenix was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast.
In 2005, Phoenix co-starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the James Mangold directed film Walk the Line, a Johnny Cash biopic, after Cash himself approved of Phoenix. All of Cash's vocal tracks in the film and on the accompanying soundtrack are played and sung by Phoenix. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, eventually grossing $186 million worldwide. Phoenix's performance received rave reviews from critics and it inspired film critic Roger Ebert to write, "Knowing Johnny Cash's albums more or less by heart, I closed my eyes to focus on the soundtrack and decided that, yes, that was the voice of Johnny Cash I was listening to. The closing credits make it clear it's Joaquin Phoenix doing the singing, and I was gob-smacked". For his portrayal of Johnny Cash, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's soundtrack. Phoenix also received a second Academy Award nomination, his first in the Best Actor category as well as a second BAFTA nomination. Earlier that year, he narrated Earthlings (2005), a documentary about the investigation of animal abuse in factory farms, and pet mills, and for scientific research. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2005, for his work and contribution to Earthlings. Animal rights philosopher Tom Regan remarked that "for those who watch Earthlings, the world will never be the same".
Phoenix's first producing task was the action thriller We Own the Night (2007), in which he played nightclub manager Bobby Green/Grusinsky who tries to save his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) from Russian mafia hitmen. The James Gray-directed film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews; Roger Ebert praised Gray's direction and the acting, but criticized its screenplay for lack of originality. David Edelstein of New York Magazine commended Phoenix for elevating the film's conflict, writing that it "might be heavy-handed without Phoenix's face—his irresolution somehow more powerful than other actors' resolve. There is no artifice. He's not an actor disappearing into a role but a man disappearing into himself[...]Phoenix homes in on the truth of this person. It's the paradox of the greatest acting".
Later that year, he played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident in his second feature with Terry George, the crime drama film Reservation Road. The film received mixed reviews from critics; Peter Travers praised Phoenix's acting stating "Even the best actors – and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest – can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix also executive produced the television show 4Real, a half-hour program which began airing in 2007. The series showcased celebrity guests on global adventures "in order to connect with young leaders who are creating social and economic change".
In 2008, Phoenix starred as a suicidal bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor in Gray's Two Lovers. The romantic drama premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Reviews for the film and Phoenix's performance were positive; New York Magazine'''s chief critic called it his best performance to date and Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter felt that Phoenix led the film with "great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable". During the promotion of Two Lovers, Phoenix had started to film his next performance for the mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010), which the media felt overshadowed the former's theatrical release. I'm Still Here purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist managed by rap icon Sean "Diddy" Combs. Directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and co-written by Affleck and Phoenix, the little-seen film premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival to mixed reviews; critics were divided on whether to interpret the film as documentary or performance art. After its release, Phoenix explained that the idea for the feature arose from his amazement that people believed reality television shows' claims of being unscripted. By claiming to retire from acting, he and Affleck planned to make a film that "explored celebrity, and explored the relationship between the media and the consumers and the celebrities themselves" through their film.
2011–2018: Established career and continued acclaim
In 2011, it was announced that Phoenix would star in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama film The Master, which traces the relationship between Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II navy veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society and Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffmann), a leader of a religious movement known as "The Cause". To create the character, Phoenix lost a significant amount of weight and went to a dentist to help force his jaw shut on one side; a trait his own father had. The film premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival where he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. The art house film only grossed $28 million but was received with critical acclaim, with Phoenix's performance receiving high praise. Peter Travers called it the performance of his career writing "Acting doesn't get better or go deeper[...]Phoenix wears the role like a second skin. You can't take your eyes off him." His performance as Freddie was described as "career-defining" by Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, who was impressed that Anderson and Phoenix collaboratively were able to build such complex work around such a derelict figure. Fellow actor Daniel Day-Lewis publicly lauded the "remarkable" Phoenix while accepting the Screen Actors Guild Award, apologising for the fact that Phoenix hadn't been nominated for the same award. Despite this, Phoenix received his third Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his leading role.
Phoenix and Gray's fourth collaboration came with The Immigrant (2013), a drama film in which he played the supporting role of a pimp who prostitutes Polish immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and ends up falling for her. The Immigrant and his performance premiered to highly positive reviews at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In his review, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club thought the film featured one of his best performances and commended Phoenix's and Gray's developing work, writing of that "the two are so perfectly in sync, that it's hard to tell where Phoenix's performance ends and Gray's visual style[...]—begins", further lauding their development of Bruno into "a fully fledged tragic character, even though he is neither the protagonist of The Immigrant nor the main driving force behind its plot".
His next feature film of that year was the Spike Jonze-directed romantic science-fiction drama Her. He played Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. Released to critical acclaim, critic A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club labeled Phoenix as "one of the most emotionally honest actors in Hollywood", impressed at how he effortlessly unleashes waves of vulnerability in the film's many tight, invasive close-up images, calling it a "tremendous performance, one that rescues this character—a mess of insecurities, regrets, and desires—from the walking pity party he could have been". Her earned more than double of its production budget, and Phoenix received his fourth nomination at the Golden Globes. Several journalists expressed disappointment over his failure to receive an Oscar nomination for it, with Peter Knegt of IndieWire naming it of one of ten worst Oscar acting snubs of the last decade in 2015.
In 2014, Phoenix took on the role of Doc Sportello, a private investigator and hippie/dope head trying to help his ex-girlfriend solve a crime in the crime comedy-drama Inherent Vice, based on Thomas Pynchon's detective novel of the same name. Reviews toward the film were positive; critics praised Phoenix's performance and Paul Thomas Anderson's direction, while some were frustrated by its complicated plot. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph termed Phoenix as Anderson's "perfect leading man" and his work as "the kind of quietly dazzling performance that rarely wins awards but will be adoringly dissected and quoted for decades". Phoenix earned his fifth Golden Globe nomination for the film.
After narrating the sequel to Earthlings, the 2015 animal rights' documentary Unity, Phoenix teamed with director Woody Allen and Emma Stone in the crime mystery film Irrational Man. He played Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor experiencing an existential crisis. The film was released to mixed reviews at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival; The Hollywood Reporter felt that the film was too similar to Allen's previous films, but praised Phoenix's chemistry with Stone and Phoenix for playing the character "with a wonderful baggy, lived-in quality that makes us want to climb inside the character's whiskey-sozzled head".
The thriller You Were Never Really Here, written and directed by Lynne Ramsay and based on the novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames, ranks among the most acclaimed films of Phoenix's career. The film is about Joe (played by Phoenix), a traumatized former FBI agent and Gulf War veteran who tracks down missing girls for a living. To prepare for the film, Phoenix was advised by a former bodyguard who goes on international missions to rescue children suffering sexual exploitation and abuse by human traffickers; he gained a significant amount of weight and muscle for the part. Phoenix was Ramsay's first and only choice to play the veteran, with Ramsay calling him "my soulmate in making movies". The film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it received universal acclaim and earned Phoenix the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times described Phoenix's performance as "the most rivetingly contained" work of his career and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer of Consequence noted that his evocative manners in the film, led to him giving career-high work and "the kind of haunting turn that only comes around a few times every decade or so".
In 2018, Phoenix portrayed Jesus in the biblical drama Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis. The film, and his performance, received mixed reviews; a reviewer for Entertainment Weekly thought that Phoenix lacked the quiet compassion and grace that was required for the role, while Nick Allen of Roger Ebert's website described his performance as "a human being who is visibly tormented by the power and wisdom that works through him", deeming it one of the best portrayals of Jesus ever. His next two featuresthe biopic Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and the crime drama The Sisters Brothers were much better received. In the former, Phoenix reunited with his To Die For director Gus Van Sant to portray quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote that there's no better leading actor producing better work than Phoenix, stating "The actor – never a simple chameleon, but someone who disappears into a role entirely with a frightening conviction – continues to display new and tremendous range here" and David Hughes of Empire thought that in a more conventional film, Phoenix would be the favourite to win an Academy Award.
The third film of 2018 was The Sisters Brothers, Jacques Audiard's adaptation of the novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt. The film starred John C. Reilly and Phoenix as the notorious assassin brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters respectively and chronicles their chase after two men who have banded together to search for gold. Writing for Roger Ebert's website, Tomris Laffly commented on Phoenix's and Reilly's "tremendous chemistry" and Lindsey Behr of the Associated Press opined that the duo "excellently manage all the various tones in the film".
Also in 2018, he collaborated with Rooney Mara and Sia to narrate Chris Delforce's documentary Dominion. Animal rights activists have called it one of the most powerful documentaries ever made. For his contribution to the documentary, Phoenix was granted the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.
2019–present: Joker and further success
In 2019, Phoenix starred as the DC Comics character Joker in Todd Phillips's psychological thriller Joker; an alternative origin story for the character. Set in 1981, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. Phoenix lost in preparation, and based his laugh on "videos of people suffering from pathological laughter." Released to critical acclaim at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, the film experienced a polarized critical reception after its theatrical release. While Phoenix's performance received rave reviews, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-life violence; the movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises refused to show it. Despite this, Joker became a box office success grossing over $1 billion (against its $55 million production budget), the first and only R-rated film to do so, becoming Phoenix's highest-grossing film.
Pete Hammond of Deadline wrote of Phoenix's "extraordinary" performance, describing it as "dazzling risky and original" and The Hollywood Reporters David Rooney called his performance the "must-see factor" of the film, writing "he inhabits [the character] with an insanity by turns pitiful and fearsome in an out-there performance that's no laughing matter[...]Phoenix is the prime force that makes Joker such a distinctively edgy entry in the Hollywood comics industrial complex." The film earned him numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor.
In 2020, Phoenix served as an executive producer on Gunda, directed by Viktor Kossakovsky. The acclaimed documentary follows the daily life of a pig, two cows, and a one-legged chicken. That same year, Phoenix was named on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times. The list was compiled by famed critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott and Phoenix's paragraph was written by his frequent collaborator, director James Gray.
In 2021, he starred in Mike Mills' drama C'mon C'mon, as Johnny, a radio journalist who embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew. The A24 film premiered at the 48th Telluride Film Festival to universal acclaim and scored the best per-venue average for a limited release since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture praised Phoenix writing "a tremendous showing from Joaquin Phoenix, operating at a register he's rarely found before. It's a career best for him — lovely, empathetic, humane[...]He possesses a warmth that glows from beginning to end. As Johnny, Phoenix listens to people and the world around him with full-bodied curiosity. This is where the bravura lies in the performance: his ability to seemingly just be."
Upcoming projects
Phoenix has three upcoming films. He will star in Ari Aster's Disappointment Blvd., and in January 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Phoenix is set to portray Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon, his second collaboration with director Ridley Scott. He is also set to reunite with director Lynne Ramsay for an upcoming feature called Polaris, co-starring Rooney Mara.
Reception and acting style
At the beginning of his career, Phoenix was often referred to as "the second most famous Phoenix", his name associated most closely with the death of his brother River Phoenix. The media would often compare the two, with The New York Times describing Joaquin as "sweetly unsettling and endlessly vulnerable" compared to his brother's "pure all-American blond boyishness". After his brother died, Phoenix gained a reputation for his distrust of the media, with many speculating that it is derived from how the death was covered by the press. He was often asked about the day River died, and still is to this date. Phoenix has described these interviews as "insincere" and has felt that they impeded on the mourning process. Caroline Frost of The Huffington Post has said that Phoenix is "engaging, engaged, mischievous, honest" in person and Anderson Cooper of 60 Minutes thought that he was "wry, shy and couldn't be any more friendlier" adding that Phoenix "just doesn't like to talk about himself". Although known for his intensity and darkness on-screen, director James Gray who worked with Phoenix in four feature films, says that Phoenix is very different off-screen saying "He's actually very tender and sweet and sensitive. It's almost as if he channels his intensity into the characters. Like the work is an outlet for his darker side."
Phoenix has been described as one of the finest actors of his generation. As he achieved stardom after Gladiator (2000), he was conveniently ruled out of teen-idol roles because of his hard gaze and scarred lip. Justin Chang, analyzing his career in Los Angeles Times in 2020, remarked that filmmakers immediately seemed to recognize that Phoenix was more than a heartthrob, and that there was "something more tortured, more vulnerable and infinitely more interesting at play beneath the surface". He noted that through his work, Phoenix is challenging and redefining cinematic manhood and that this quality sets him apart from most of his contemporaries. Renowned film critic and film historian Leonard Maltin has called Phoenix "a true chameleon", writing "[Phoenix] commands the screen and breaks your heart; he makes us feel it all vicariously."
Phoenix is particularly known for his ability to heavily commit to each role he plays and his intense preparations, deeply immersing himself in the characters, often blurring the lines between fiction and reality. That immersion was particularly evident during the filming of the mockumentary I'm Still Here (2010), when Phoenix announced to the world that he was retiring from acting to become a rapper. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Media outlets worldwide believed that Phoenix was having a mental breakdown after his infamous appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Confusion from the media turned to concern as the seemingly drug-addled Phoenix continued his attempts to convince crowds he was serious about a rap career. Many worried his erratic behaviour was a sign he was stuck in a downward spiral, and headed down the same self-destructive path that took the life of his older brother. Although widely suspected to be a mockumentary, the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. To this day, some people believe he went through a personal meltdown during the filming period. Phoenix has credited the making of I'm Still Here for allowing him to make bolder choices in acting.
Phoenix contends there's no real methodology to the roles he chooses, but has said that he is drawn to complex characters. He speculates that his affinity for dark roles derives from something more ineffable, possibly prenatal saying that "I think there is a combination of nature and nurture[...]—and some of it is my upbringing." Even so, Phoenix remains reluctant to draw a line between his unusual childhood, his private tragedy and his talent for "inhabiting the morose, damaged, violent, and otherwise anxiety-riddled characters". James Gray has described Phoenix as "one of the most incorruptible people I've ever known, and the least superficial", and has spoken of his acting, saying that he admires Phoenix's "limitless ability to surprise you in the best ways and inspire you to move in a direction that you haven't thought of originally, better than what you have in mind". Garth Davis, who directed Phoenix in Mary Magdalene (2018), has remarked that he does not apply method acting, but said that working with Phoenix is like "working with this beautiful wild animal, where you have to give him the space to be free, so his performance can roam freely: raw, uncontrived and truly natural. If he smells the design of the scene, you lose his free spirit; if the script is weak, he will expose its flaws. He is fiercely intelligent and almost completely instinctual. And he has this immense sensitivity that can be both his curse and his gift, but for me, that is what it means to be human". In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Phoenix claimed that he prefers independent film over major studio film, citing that "the quality of acting suffers".
In 2019, he stated that in choosing films, he solely relies on the director, "I don't really care about genre or budget size, anything like that. It's just whether there is a filmmaker that has a unique vision, has a voice, and the ability to make the film." For Phoenix, a great performance is in the director's hands — it's ultimately the director's world he's entering. He maintains that the director creates the character's arc and that the best directors adjust to what is happening with the actor in the moment.
Phoenix has cited Robert De Niro as one of his favorite actors and strongest acting influences. Phoenix recalled watching Raging Bull for the first time in an interview, "I think it just… awakened something in me. And I could suddenly see it through his eyes. There's a part in Raging Bull where De Niro meets a girl in between a chain-link fence. And he, you know, shakes her pinky and it's like this just beautiful little detail, it's this wonderful moment. And I think that in some ways is what I'm always looking for."
Other ventures
Music
Phoenix has directed music videos for Ringside, She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr., and Silversun Pickups. He was said to have produced the opening track for Pusha T's My Name Is My Name album alongside Kanye West. The track is called "King Push". Phoenix then denied in a statement to XXL having produced the record, saying, "While it was widely reported that Pusha T used my beat and that I produced his song, I can't take any credit. A friend's son played me his music, and all I did was make an introduction to Kanye [West]'s camp."
Animal rights activism
Phoenix is identified as one of the most active celebrities in the animal rights movement. A vegan since age three, he does not wear any clothes made out of animal skin; he requests that all of his leather costumes in films are made from synthetic materials. Phoenix has said that animal rights are one of the most important pillars in his life, and maintains that "climate change is imminent if we do not adopt a plant-based lifestyle". He has helped raise awareness of the correlation between animal rights, climate change and health issues. Phoenix has received praise and accolades from animal rights groups, with PETA naming him "Person of the Year" in 2019.
PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement: "Joaquin Phoenix never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight away from himself and onto animals' plight and to set a great example of walking the vegan walk". He has been an active supporter of numerous animal rights organizations, including PETA.
Throughout the years, Phoenix has headlined numerous campaigns for different organizations to help promote veganism and end animal slaughter. In 2019, Phoenix and his partner Rooney Mara led the National Animal Rights Day demonstration to help spread awareness for animal rights. On January 10, 2020, Phoenix was arrested with actress Jane Fonda at a climate change protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At the protest, Phoenix spoke about the link between animal agriculture and climate change.
During the 2019–20 awards season, amid protesting for animal rights, Phoenix had been driving a behind-the-scenes movement that transformed five events to meat-free menus, beginning with the Golden Globe Awards. He acknowledged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association during his acceptance speech, for its "very bold move making tonight plant-based. It really sends a powerful message." Soon after, Critics' Choice and SAG followed suit. Phoenix contacted the presidents of the award ceremonies, accompanied by signatures from the likes of fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Phoenix's pitch was that meat agriculture is a leading cause of climate change and that the televised spectacles should use their platforms to address pressing societal issues. The Academy Awards later announced that all food served at the Dolby Theatre before the Oscars was going to be vegan. Lisa Lange, senior vp communications at PETA, spoke of Phoenix's power saying "He knows what can be done. He knows he's in a good position to push. He enlists friends. And it works. He can have influence in Hollywood and it influences the rest of the world."
A day after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, and subsequently delivering a headlining acceptance speech in which he spoke to the plight of mother cows and their babies used in animal agriculture, Phoenix helped to rescue a cow and her newborn calf from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. They were taken to Farm Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary and advocacy organization, where they will live out the rest of their lives. The same month, he starred in Guardians of Life, the first of twelve short films by the environmental organization Mobilize Earth that highlighted the most pressing issues facing humanity and the natural world. Funds raised by the project went to Amazon Watch and Extinction Rebellion.
Two animal species have been named after him. In 2011, a Trilobite species was named Gladiatoria phoenix for his iconic role in the 2000 film Gladiator and in 2020 a Spider species endemic to Iran was named Loureedia phoenixi, also known as the Joker spider due to its color pattern matching the DC Comics character Joker, for his role in the 2019 film Joker.
Other activism
In 2020, Phoenix collaborated with JusticeLA to create a public service announcement #SuingToSaveLives about the health of people in L.A. County jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal life
Views and lifestyle
After re-establishing himself as an actor in the mid 1990s, Phoenix moved back to Los Angeles. He is known for his disdain of celebrity culture, rarely granting interviews, and being reticent about discussing
his private life. In 2018, he described himself as a secular Jew who does not affiliate with any organized religion; one of his "core values" is the idea of forgiveness. Phoenix has also claimed that his mother believed in Jesus, though his parents were not religious. While portraying Jesus for the 2018 movie Mary Magdalene, he expressed that the role changed his perspective on the nature of forgiveness.
In early April 2005, Phoenix checked himself into rehab to be treated for alcoholism. Twelve years later, he revealed that he did not need an intervention: "I really just thought of myself as a hedonist. I was an actor in L.A. I wanted to have a good time. But I wasn't engaging with the world or myself in the way I wanted to". On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Phoenix veered off the road and flipped his car. The crash was reportedly caused by brake failure. Shaken and confused, he heard someone tapping on his window and telling him to "just relax". Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." The man replied, "No, you're not." The man then stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette while gasoline was leaking into the car cabin. Phoenix realized that the man was German filmmaker Werner Herzog. While Herzog helped Phoenix out of the wreckage by breaking the back window of the car, bystanders called an ambulance. Phoenix approached Herzog to express his gratitude.
In 2012, Phoenix labeled the Academy Awards "bullshit". He later gave an interview apologizing for his comments, and acknowledged that the awards provide an important platform for many deserving filmmakers. He elaborated on the topic while on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015, explaining that he is uncomfortable receiving accolades for his work in films when he considers the filmmaking process to be a collaborative one.
A longtime vegan, Phoenix finds animal agriculture "absurd and barbaric". He explained his reasoning behind his veganism; "To me, it just seems obvious – I don't want to cause pain to another living empathetic creature. I don't want to take its babies away from it, I don't want to force it to be indoors and fattened up just to be slaughtered. Certainly, also, the effect that it has on our environment is devastating. So, for me, it's my life and has always been my life, and it's really one of the most important things to me."
Relationships and family
From 1995 to 1998, Phoenix dated his Inventing the Abbotts co-star Liv Tyler. The two remain close friends, with Tyler considering Phoenix and his sisters as her family.<ref></></ref> He was romantically involved with South African model Topaz Page-Green from 2001 to 2005. Phoenix is currently on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides daily meals to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa, founded by Page-Green.
In 2012, Phoenix met Her co-star Rooney Mara. The two remained friends and began a romantic relationship four years later, during the making of Mary Magdalene. Their engagement was confirmed in July 2019 and the following year, the couple were reported to be expecting their first child together. In late September 2020, it was announced that the couple had a son, named River after Phoenix's late brother. They reside in the Hollywood Hills. Phoenix has described his family life as simple. He enjoys meditating, watching documentaries, reading scripts and taking karate classes. He has a black belt in karate.
Filmography and accolades
According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and the box-office site Box Office Mojo, Phoenix's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films include Parenthood (1989), To Die For (1995), Gladiator (2000), Signs (2002), Brother Bear (2003), The Village (2004), Walk the Line (2005), Two Lovers (2008), The Master (2012), The Immigrant (2013), Her (2013), Inherent Vice (2014), You Were Never Really Here (2017) and Joker (2019).
Phoenix has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
73rd Academy Awards (2001): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, as Commodus in Gladiator78th Academy Awards (2006): Best Actor, nomination, as John R. "Johnny" Cash in Walk the Line85th Academy Awards (2013): Best Actor, nomination, as Freddie Quell in The Master92nd Academy Awards (2020): Best Actor, win, as Arthur Fleck/Joker in JokerPhoenix has won two Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Walk the Line and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for Joker, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Joker.
Phoenix was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the Walk The Line soundtrack. He has also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 69th Venice International Film Festival for The Master and the Best Actor Award at the 70th Cannes Film Festival for You Were Never Really Here''.
Phoenix and River Phoenix hold the distinction of being the only brothers nominated for acting Academy Awards. Both Phoenix and Heath Ledger won an Academy Award for their performances as the Joker, becoming the second pair of actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same character – the other pair being Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, who won Best Actor and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor respectively, for their portrayals of Vito Corleone.
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of animal rights advocates
List of vegans
Notes
References
External links
1974 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American animal rights activists
American environmentalists
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American people of English descent
American people of French descent
American people of German descent
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American street performers
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from Gainesville, Florida
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Method actors
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Los Angeles
People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Joaquin
Veganism activists
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners
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"Billie Ray Worley is an American film and television actor. He played Patrick Quinn on the U.S. TV show Early Edition.\n\nFilmography\nMovies\nHear No Evil (1993)\nI Love Trouble (1994)\nStrange Days (1995)\nI Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998)\nHow to Make the Cruelest Month (1998)\nSpace Cowboys (2000)\nBad Meat (2004)\nDaylight Fades (2009)\nTennessee Queer (2012)\nTV Movies\nTad (1995)\nPiranha (1995)\nWeapons of Mass Distraction (1997)\nThe Pentagon Wars (1998)\nHow to Make the Cruelest Month (1998)\nMovies That Went Straight To Video\nThe Vernonia Incident (1989)\nBrain Smasher... A Love Story (1993)\nFraternity Massacre at Hell Island (2007)\nTelevision\nThe Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (1993, 1 Episode)\nMurphy Brown (1993, 1 Episode)\nNurses (1994, 1 Episode)\nER (1997, 1 Episode)\nLeaving L.A. (1997, 6 Episodes)\nPoltergeist: The Legacy (1998, 1 Episode)\nCupid (1 Episode)\nEarly Edition (1998–1999, 28 Episodes)\nJudging Amy (2003–2006, 1 Episode)\nLove & Money (2000, 1 Episode)\nAny Day Now (2001, 1 Episode)\nProducer\nMemphis Heat: The True Story of Memphis Wrasslin' (2010) (Post-Production)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nAmerican male film actors\nAmerican male television actors\nLiving people"
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Joaquin Phoenix
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In 2006, Phoenix was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2007, Phoenix reunited with director James Gray for the film We Own the Night, which he also produced. In the film, Phoenix played a New York nightclub manager who tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hit men. The film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, receiving mixed reviews from critics and grossed a total of $54.5 million worldwide. Critic Peter Travers described Phoenix as "electrifying and then some", and he was awarded the People's Choice Award for Favorite Leading Man for the performance. For his second film of 2007, Phoenix also reunited with director Terry George for the film Reservation Road. In it, Phoenix played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident. The film failed at the box office and received negative reviews from critics, with film critic Peter Travers writing "Even the best actors -- and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest -- can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix made his third collaboration with director James Gray in the film Two Lovers (2008), where he played a bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor. Two Lovers premiered in competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival in May, receiving largely positive reviews, especially Phoenix who was praised by film critics David Edelstein who wrote "He [Phoenix] is, once again, stupendous, and stupendous in a way he has never been before" and Roger Ebert describing his performance as "perfect pitch". Two Lovers grossed $16 million worldwide. Phoenix's mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010) premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival on September 6, 2010. The film was directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and was also written by Affleck and Phoenix himself. The film purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist. Filming officially began on January 16, 2009 at a Las Vegas nightclub. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Although widely suspected to be a "mockumentary," the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. The film received mixed reviews and failed at the box office. After the releasing of the film, Phoenix took a self-imposed break from acting. CANNOTANSWER
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In the film, Phoenix played a New York nightclub manager who tries to save his brother and father from
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Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and animal rights activist. Known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent film, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was ranked 12th on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times.
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Los Angeles and Florida, Phoenix began his career by appearing in television series in the early 1980s with his brother River. His first major film roles were in SpaceCamp (1986) and Parenthood (1989). During this period, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, a name he gave himself. He took back his birth first name in the early 1990s and received critical acclaim for his supporting roles in the comedy-drama film To Die For (1995) and the period film Quills (2000). Phoenix received further critical acclaim and first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of the evil emperor Commodus in the historical drama film Gladiator (2000). He had success with the horror films Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), the historical drama Hotel Rwanda (2004) and won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of musician Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line (2005). He continued to receive acclaim in two features with his frequent director James Gray; the action thriller We Own the Night (2007) and the romantic drama Two Lovers (2008), before taking a break from acting.
In the 2010s, Phoenix returned to acting to critical acclaim. He starred in the psychological drama The Master (2012), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and earning his third Academy Award nomination. He received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the romantic drama Her (2013) and the crime satire Inherent Vice (2014) and won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here (2017). Phoenix achieved international stardom and won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a second Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of the title character in Joker (2019).
Phoenix is an animal rights activist. He has been vegan since the age of three and regularly supports charitable causes and has produced several documentaries on global meat consumption and its impact on the environment. He is in a relationship with actress Rooney Mara, with whom he has a son.
Early life and acting background
Joaquin Rafael Bottom was born on October 28, 1974, in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to John Lee Bottom, the founder of a landscape gardening company, and Arlyn "Heart" Bottom (née Dunetz), who was an executive secretary at NBC and whose connection to an agent provided her children with acting work. He is the third of five children, following River (1970–1993) and Rain (born 1972), and preceding Liberty (born 1976) and Summer (born 1978), all of whom have been involved in acting. He also has a half-sister named Jodean (born 1964) from his father's previous relationship. His father was a Catholic from Fontana, California and was of English, German and French ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Meyer Dunetz, was Russian Jewish and his maternal grandmother, Margit Lefkowitz, was Hungarian Jewish; they were both Ashkenazi Jews who resided in New York City. His parents met when his mother was hitchhiking in California and got married less than a year after meeting.
Soon after the second child was born, they joined the religious cult called Children of God and started traveling throughout South America and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean as Christian missionaries, where the next two children were born. They eventually grew disillusioned with Children of God and left in 1977, being opposed to the cult's increasingly distorted rules, particularly the practice of flirty fishing. The fifth child was born in Florida where the family settled for a while. It was also around this time they legally adopted the surname Phoenix, inspired by the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, symbolizing a new beginning. When Phoenix was three, he and his older siblings witnessed fish being killed as the fishermen threw them violently against nails into the wall. This act made the whole family convert to veganism. He also began calling himself "Leaf", having been inspired by spending time outdoors raking leaves and desiring to have a nature-related name like his siblings. Leaf became the name he used before changing it back to his birth name Joaquin at the age of fifteen.
In 1979, after Phoenix's father had to stop working because of an old spinal injury, the whole family moved to Los Angeles where the mother met a high-profile child agent named Iris Burton, who got the children into commercials and bit parts on TV. He made his acting debut alongside his brother in the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the 1982 episode "Christmas Song". He has said of his first time acting:
In 1984, Phoenix starred opposite River in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, for which they shared a nomination for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television at the 6th Youth in Film Awards. He also made guest appearances in the Murder, She Wrote episode "We're Off to Kill the Wizard" and individual episodes of The Fall Guy and Hill Street Blues. A year later, Phoenix appeared in the television film Kids Don't Tell. To supplement their income, the kids sang their original songs like "Gonna Make It," written by River, and busked for money in matching yellow shirts and shorts. They also studied dance; Phoenix became an avid break dancer. Phoenix dropped out of high school when he was sent a dead frog in the mail to dissect for his biology studies, which prompted him to discontinue his studies. Dissatisfied with life in Los Angeles, the Phoenixes moved back to Florida, settling in Gainesville.
Career
1986–1999: Early work and return to acting
Phoenix made his feature film debut in the adventure film SpaceCamp (1986) as a young boy who goes to Kennedy Space Center to learn about the NASA space program and undergoes amateur astronaut training. He guest starred in the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "A Very Happy Ending" in the same year, playing a child who blackmails a hitman (played by Robert Loggia) into killing his father (John Aprea). Phoenix's first starring role was in the film Russkies (1987), about a group of friends who unknowingly befriend a Russian soldier during the Cold War.
In 1989, Phoenix co-starred as Garry, the withdrawn teenage nephew of Steve Martin's character in Ron Howard's comedy-drama Parenthood. The film was box office success, grossing $126 million worldwide against its $20 million budget. Critics praised the film, with IndieWire reviewers highlighting the film's cast and their performances for possessing "genuinely likable, and occasionally insightful, heart" calling Phoenix a "terrifically believable angsty adolescent", in a performance which garnered him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film. The role of Garry was reprised in the series based on the film by Leonardo DiCaprio, who studied Phoenix's performance in order to get it right. After establishing himself as a child actor, Phoenix felt that he wasn't getting any appealing offers and decided to take a break from acting and traveled to Mexico with his father, learning Spanish. When he returned to the States, his brother River Phoenix suggested that Phoenix changed his name back to Joaquin and encouraged him to start acting again.
On October 31, 1993, River died of an overdose outside The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Phoenix, who had accompanied his brother and older sister Rain to the club, called 911 to seek help for his dying brother. After the death, the phone call was repeatedly broadcast on TV and radio shows. The family retreated to Costa Rica to escape the media glare as the event came to be depicted as a cautionary tale of young Hollywood surrounded by mythology and conspiracy.
In 1995, Phoenix returned to acting in Gus Van Sant's black comedy To Die For, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was inspired by the Pamela Smart murder case. Phoenix starred as Jimmy Emmett, a disturbed young man who is seduced by a woman (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. The film premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, with New York Times critic Janet Maslin praising Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all."
In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. The film was released to a dismal box office performance and was not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) investigate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out to be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics.
2000–2010: Critical acclaim and commercial success
In 2000, Phoenix co-starred in three films. In the first of these, he portrayed a fictionalized version of Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's historical epic film Gladiator. The film received positive reviews and grossed $457 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly called Phoenix's work "a more nuanced star-making performance" when comparing him to the lead Russell Crowe, writing "Phoenix turns what could have easily been a cartoonish villain into a richly layered study of pathology." Phoenix earned his first nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. He and his late brother River became the first brothers to be nominated for acting Academy Awards. To this date, they are the only brothers to hold this distinction.
His next film marked his first collaboration with director James Gray in The Yards. The crime film follows the corruption in the rail yards of Queens. Although failing to perform well at the box office, The Yards received positive reviews from critics with many considering Phoenix's performance as the villain a stand out. The third release of 2000 was Philip Kaufman's Quills, a satirical thriller inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade. Phoenix portrayed the conflicted priest Abbé de Coulmier opposite Kate Winslet. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was a modest art house success grossing a total of $17 million at the box office. It was received with critical praise with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praising Phoenix and his chemistry with Winslet, stating "Phoenix, on a roll this year with Gladiator and The Yards, excels at making the priest a seductive figure — a neat trick considering the real Abbe was a four-foot hunchback. Winslet and Phoenix generate real fire, notably when Abbe dreams of ravishing Madeleine on the altar." For his combined roles of that year, Phoenix was awarded the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The following year, Phoenix starred in the satirical film Buffalo Soldiers as a U.S. Army soldier. The world premiere was held at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in early September. However, because the film was a satire of the US military, its wider theatrical run was delayed by approximately two years because of the September 11 attacks; it was finally released on July 25, 2003. BBCs Nev Pierce wrote that "Phoenix is excellent as a Gen X Sergeant Bilko, ensuring his cheerfully amoral character never loses heart - showcasing tenderness, love, grief and fear as his games get out of control" and Phoenix received a nomination for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor.
The science fiction thriller Signs (2002) marked Phoenix's first collaboration with director M. Night Shyamalan. In the film, he played Merrill Hess, a former Minor League baseball player who, along with his older brother Graham (Mel Gibson), discovers that Earth has been invaded by extraterrestrials. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Phoenix's performance was praised, with critic Peter Travers writing that Phoenix "registers impressively, finding the humor and the pain in this lost boy [...] never making a false move as a helpless Merrill watches his rock of a brother crumble into a despairing crisis of faith." The film was a commercial success, grossing $408.2 million worldwide.
In 2003, Phoenix played the irresolute husband of a superstar-skater (Claire Danes) in Thomas Vinterberg's romance-drama It's All About Love, and voiced Kenai in the Disney animated film Brother Bear. Phoenix expressed immense joy being cast as the lead voice role in a Disney animated feature, stating "The real pinnacle [in my career] is that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the greatest?" The film grossed $250.4 million worldwide, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He was replaced by Patrick Dempsey in the sequel Brother Bear 2. Phoenix reunited with Shyamalan in the period thriller The Village (2004). The film is about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it, referred to as "Those We Don't Speak Of". He played farmer Lucius Hunt, a role which Christopher Orr of The Atlantic found "underdeveloped". Though initially receiving mixed reviews, the film attracted retrospective reviews years after its release. Several critics deemed it one of Shyamalan's best films, praising Phoenix's "terrific" performance. The film was a financial success, grossing $256.7 million worldwide on its $60 million budget.
In his next film of the year, he starred opposite John Travolta in the drama film Ladder 49 as a Baltimore firefighter. In preparation for the role, Phoenix trained for two months with the Baltimore Fire Department, putting out actual fires. He admitted that he was afraid of heights before he started making this film, recalling "I got to the pole and I looked down and I couldn't do it. But you go through the training and it exposes your fears and helps you to overcome them. We ended up rappelling off a six-story tower and that really helped." The film earned $102.3 million at the box office despite receiving generally mixed reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the performances in the film. Phoenix's final film of 2004 was Terry George's Hotel Rwanda, playing cameraman Jack Daglish. Based on the Rwandan genocide, the film documents Paul Rusesabagina's (Don Cheadle) efforts to save the lives of his family and more than 1,000 other refugees by providing them with shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. The film was a moderate financial success but was a critical success, receiving almost exclusively positive reviews from critics. For his performance in the film, Phoenix was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast.
In 2005, Phoenix co-starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the James Mangold directed film Walk the Line, a Johnny Cash biopic, after Cash himself approved of Phoenix. All of Cash's vocal tracks in the film and on the accompanying soundtrack are played and sung by Phoenix. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, eventually grossing $186 million worldwide. Phoenix's performance received rave reviews from critics and it inspired film critic Roger Ebert to write, "Knowing Johnny Cash's albums more or less by heart, I closed my eyes to focus on the soundtrack and decided that, yes, that was the voice of Johnny Cash I was listening to. The closing credits make it clear it's Joaquin Phoenix doing the singing, and I was gob-smacked". For his portrayal of Johnny Cash, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's soundtrack. Phoenix also received a second Academy Award nomination, his first in the Best Actor category as well as a second BAFTA nomination. Earlier that year, he narrated Earthlings (2005), a documentary about the investigation of animal abuse in factory farms, and pet mills, and for scientific research. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2005, for his work and contribution to Earthlings. Animal rights philosopher Tom Regan remarked that "for those who watch Earthlings, the world will never be the same".
Phoenix's first producing task was the action thriller We Own the Night (2007), in which he played nightclub manager Bobby Green/Grusinsky who tries to save his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) from Russian mafia hitmen. The James Gray-directed film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews; Roger Ebert praised Gray's direction and the acting, but criticized its screenplay for lack of originality. David Edelstein of New York Magazine commended Phoenix for elevating the film's conflict, writing that it "might be heavy-handed without Phoenix's face—his irresolution somehow more powerful than other actors' resolve. There is no artifice. He's not an actor disappearing into a role but a man disappearing into himself[...]Phoenix homes in on the truth of this person. It's the paradox of the greatest acting".
Later that year, he played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident in his second feature with Terry George, the crime drama film Reservation Road. The film received mixed reviews from critics; Peter Travers praised Phoenix's acting stating "Even the best actors – and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest – can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix also executive produced the television show 4Real, a half-hour program which began airing in 2007. The series showcased celebrity guests on global adventures "in order to connect with young leaders who are creating social and economic change".
In 2008, Phoenix starred as a suicidal bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor in Gray's Two Lovers. The romantic drama premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Reviews for the film and Phoenix's performance were positive; New York Magazine'''s chief critic called it his best performance to date and Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter felt that Phoenix led the film with "great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable". During the promotion of Two Lovers, Phoenix had started to film his next performance for the mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010), which the media felt overshadowed the former's theatrical release. I'm Still Here purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist managed by rap icon Sean "Diddy" Combs. Directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and co-written by Affleck and Phoenix, the little-seen film premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival to mixed reviews; critics were divided on whether to interpret the film as documentary or performance art. After its release, Phoenix explained that the idea for the feature arose from his amazement that people believed reality television shows' claims of being unscripted. By claiming to retire from acting, he and Affleck planned to make a film that "explored celebrity, and explored the relationship between the media and the consumers and the celebrities themselves" through their film.
2011–2018: Established career and continued acclaim
In 2011, it was announced that Phoenix would star in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama film The Master, which traces the relationship between Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II navy veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society and Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffmann), a leader of a religious movement known as "The Cause". To create the character, Phoenix lost a significant amount of weight and went to a dentist to help force his jaw shut on one side; a trait his own father had. The film premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival where he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. The art house film only grossed $28 million but was received with critical acclaim, with Phoenix's performance receiving high praise. Peter Travers called it the performance of his career writing "Acting doesn't get better or go deeper[...]Phoenix wears the role like a second skin. You can't take your eyes off him." His performance as Freddie was described as "career-defining" by Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, who was impressed that Anderson and Phoenix collaboratively were able to build such complex work around such a derelict figure. Fellow actor Daniel Day-Lewis publicly lauded the "remarkable" Phoenix while accepting the Screen Actors Guild Award, apologising for the fact that Phoenix hadn't been nominated for the same award. Despite this, Phoenix received his third Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his leading role.
Phoenix and Gray's fourth collaboration came with The Immigrant (2013), a drama film in which he played the supporting role of a pimp who prostitutes Polish immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and ends up falling for her. The Immigrant and his performance premiered to highly positive reviews at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In his review, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club thought the film featured one of his best performances and commended Phoenix's and Gray's developing work, writing of that "the two are so perfectly in sync, that it's hard to tell where Phoenix's performance ends and Gray's visual style[...]—begins", further lauding their development of Bruno into "a fully fledged tragic character, even though he is neither the protagonist of The Immigrant nor the main driving force behind its plot".
His next feature film of that year was the Spike Jonze-directed romantic science-fiction drama Her. He played Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. Released to critical acclaim, critic A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club labeled Phoenix as "one of the most emotionally honest actors in Hollywood", impressed at how he effortlessly unleashes waves of vulnerability in the film's many tight, invasive close-up images, calling it a "tremendous performance, one that rescues this character—a mess of insecurities, regrets, and desires—from the walking pity party he could have been". Her earned more than double of its production budget, and Phoenix received his fourth nomination at the Golden Globes. Several journalists expressed disappointment over his failure to receive an Oscar nomination for it, with Peter Knegt of IndieWire naming it of one of ten worst Oscar acting snubs of the last decade in 2015.
In 2014, Phoenix took on the role of Doc Sportello, a private investigator and hippie/dope head trying to help his ex-girlfriend solve a crime in the crime comedy-drama Inherent Vice, based on Thomas Pynchon's detective novel of the same name. Reviews toward the film were positive; critics praised Phoenix's performance and Paul Thomas Anderson's direction, while some were frustrated by its complicated plot. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph termed Phoenix as Anderson's "perfect leading man" and his work as "the kind of quietly dazzling performance that rarely wins awards but will be adoringly dissected and quoted for decades". Phoenix earned his fifth Golden Globe nomination for the film.
After narrating the sequel to Earthlings, the 2015 animal rights' documentary Unity, Phoenix teamed with director Woody Allen and Emma Stone in the crime mystery film Irrational Man. He played Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor experiencing an existential crisis. The film was released to mixed reviews at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival; The Hollywood Reporter felt that the film was too similar to Allen's previous films, but praised Phoenix's chemistry with Stone and Phoenix for playing the character "with a wonderful baggy, lived-in quality that makes us want to climb inside the character's whiskey-sozzled head".
The thriller You Were Never Really Here, written and directed by Lynne Ramsay and based on the novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames, ranks among the most acclaimed films of Phoenix's career. The film is about Joe (played by Phoenix), a traumatized former FBI agent and Gulf War veteran who tracks down missing girls for a living. To prepare for the film, Phoenix was advised by a former bodyguard who goes on international missions to rescue children suffering sexual exploitation and abuse by human traffickers; he gained a significant amount of weight and muscle for the part. Phoenix was Ramsay's first and only choice to play the veteran, with Ramsay calling him "my soulmate in making movies". The film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it received universal acclaim and earned Phoenix the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times described Phoenix's performance as "the most rivetingly contained" work of his career and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer of Consequence noted that his evocative manners in the film, led to him giving career-high work and "the kind of haunting turn that only comes around a few times every decade or so".
In 2018, Phoenix portrayed Jesus in the biblical drama Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis. The film, and his performance, received mixed reviews; a reviewer for Entertainment Weekly thought that Phoenix lacked the quiet compassion and grace that was required for the role, while Nick Allen of Roger Ebert's website described his performance as "a human being who is visibly tormented by the power and wisdom that works through him", deeming it one of the best portrayals of Jesus ever. His next two featuresthe biopic Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and the crime drama The Sisters Brothers were much better received. In the former, Phoenix reunited with his To Die For director Gus Van Sant to portray quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote that there's no better leading actor producing better work than Phoenix, stating "The actor – never a simple chameleon, but someone who disappears into a role entirely with a frightening conviction – continues to display new and tremendous range here" and David Hughes of Empire thought that in a more conventional film, Phoenix would be the favourite to win an Academy Award.
The third film of 2018 was The Sisters Brothers, Jacques Audiard's adaptation of the novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt. The film starred John C. Reilly and Phoenix as the notorious assassin brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters respectively and chronicles their chase after two men who have banded together to search for gold. Writing for Roger Ebert's website, Tomris Laffly commented on Phoenix's and Reilly's "tremendous chemistry" and Lindsey Behr of the Associated Press opined that the duo "excellently manage all the various tones in the film".
Also in 2018, he collaborated with Rooney Mara and Sia to narrate Chris Delforce's documentary Dominion. Animal rights activists have called it one of the most powerful documentaries ever made. For his contribution to the documentary, Phoenix was granted the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.
2019–present: Joker and further success
In 2019, Phoenix starred as the DC Comics character Joker in Todd Phillips's psychological thriller Joker; an alternative origin story for the character. Set in 1981, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. Phoenix lost in preparation, and based his laugh on "videos of people suffering from pathological laughter." Released to critical acclaim at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, the film experienced a polarized critical reception after its theatrical release. While Phoenix's performance received rave reviews, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-life violence; the movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises refused to show it. Despite this, Joker became a box office success grossing over $1 billion (against its $55 million production budget), the first and only R-rated film to do so, becoming Phoenix's highest-grossing film.
Pete Hammond of Deadline wrote of Phoenix's "extraordinary" performance, describing it as "dazzling risky and original" and The Hollywood Reporters David Rooney called his performance the "must-see factor" of the film, writing "he inhabits [the character] with an insanity by turns pitiful and fearsome in an out-there performance that's no laughing matter[...]Phoenix is the prime force that makes Joker such a distinctively edgy entry in the Hollywood comics industrial complex." The film earned him numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor.
In 2020, Phoenix served as an executive producer on Gunda, directed by Viktor Kossakovsky. The acclaimed documentary follows the daily life of a pig, two cows, and a one-legged chicken. That same year, Phoenix was named on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times. The list was compiled by famed critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott and Phoenix's paragraph was written by his frequent collaborator, director James Gray.
In 2021, he starred in Mike Mills' drama C'mon C'mon, as Johnny, a radio journalist who embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew. The A24 film premiered at the 48th Telluride Film Festival to universal acclaim and scored the best per-venue average for a limited release since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture praised Phoenix writing "a tremendous showing from Joaquin Phoenix, operating at a register he's rarely found before. It's a career best for him — lovely, empathetic, humane[...]He possesses a warmth that glows from beginning to end. As Johnny, Phoenix listens to people and the world around him with full-bodied curiosity. This is where the bravura lies in the performance: his ability to seemingly just be."
Upcoming projects
Phoenix has three upcoming films. He will star in Ari Aster's Disappointment Blvd., and in January 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Phoenix is set to portray Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon, his second collaboration with director Ridley Scott. He is also set to reunite with director Lynne Ramsay for an upcoming feature called Polaris, co-starring Rooney Mara.
Reception and acting style
At the beginning of his career, Phoenix was often referred to as "the second most famous Phoenix", his name associated most closely with the death of his brother River Phoenix. The media would often compare the two, with The New York Times describing Joaquin as "sweetly unsettling and endlessly vulnerable" compared to his brother's "pure all-American blond boyishness". After his brother died, Phoenix gained a reputation for his distrust of the media, with many speculating that it is derived from how the death was covered by the press. He was often asked about the day River died, and still is to this date. Phoenix has described these interviews as "insincere" and has felt that they impeded on the mourning process. Caroline Frost of The Huffington Post has said that Phoenix is "engaging, engaged, mischievous, honest" in person and Anderson Cooper of 60 Minutes thought that he was "wry, shy and couldn't be any more friendlier" adding that Phoenix "just doesn't like to talk about himself". Although known for his intensity and darkness on-screen, director James Gray who worked with Phoenix in four feature films, says that Phoenix is very different off-screen saying "He's actually very tender and sweet and sensitive. It's almost as if he channels his intensity into the characters. Like the work is an outlet for his darker side."
Phoenix has been described as one of the finest actors of his generation. As he achieved stardom after Gladiator (2000), he was conveniently ruled out of teen-idol roles because of his hard gaze and scarred lip. Justin Chang, analyzing his career in Los Angeles Times in 2020, remarked that filmmakers immediately seemed to recognize that Phoenix was more than a heartthrob, and that there was "something more tortured, more vulnerable and infinitely more interesting at play beneath the surface". He noted that through his work, Phoenix is challenging and redefining cinematic manhood and that this quality sets him apart from most of his contemporaries. Renowned film critic and film historian Leonard Maltin has called Phoenix "a true chameleon", writing "[Phoenix] commands the screen and breaks your heart; he makes us feel it all vicariously."
Phoenix is particularly known for his ability to heavily commit to each role he plays and his intense preparations, deeply immersing himself in the characters, often blurring the lines between fiction and reality. That immersion was particularly evident during the filming of the mockumentary I'm Still Here (2010), when Phoenix announced to the world that he was retiring from acting to become a rapper. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Media outlets worldwide believed that Phoenix was having a mental breakdown after his infamous appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Confusion from the media turned to concern as the seemingly drug-addled Phoenix continued his attempts to convince crowds he was serious about a rap career. Many worried his erratic behaviour was a sign he was stuck in a downward spiral, and headed down the same self-destructive path that took the life of his older brother. Although widely suspected to be a mockumentary, the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. To this day, some people believe he went through a personal meltdown during the filming period. Phoenix has credited the making of I'm Still Here for allowing him to make bolder choices in acting.
Phoenix contends there's no real methodology to the roles he chooses, but has said that he is drawn to complex characters. He speculates that his affinity for dark roles derives from something more ineffable, possibly prenatal saying that "I think there is a combination of nature and nurture[...]—and some of it is my upbringing." Even so, Phoenix remains reluctant to draw a line between his unusual childhood, his private tragedy and his talent for "inhabiting the morose, damaged, violent, and otherwise anxiety-riddled characters". James Gray has described Phoenix as "one of the most incorruptible people I've ever known, and the least superficial", and has spoken of his acting, saying that he admires Phoenix's "limitless ability to surprise you in the best ways and inspire you to move in a direction that you haven't thought of originally, better than what you have in mind". Garth Davis, who directed Phoenix in Mary Magdalene (2018), has remarked that he does not apply method acting, but said that working with Phoenix is like "working with this beautiful wild animal, where you have to give him the space to be free, so his performance can roam freely: raw, uncontrived and truly natural. If he smells the design of the scene, you lose his free spirit; if the script is weak, he will expose its flaws. He is fiercely intelligent and almost completely instinctual. And he has this immense sensitivity that can be both his curse and his gift, but for me, that is what it means to be human". In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Phoenix claimed that he prefers independent film over major studio film, citing that "the quality of acting suffers".
In 2019, he stated that in choosing films, he solely relies on the director, "I don't really care about genre or budget size, anything like that. It's just whether there is a filmmaker that has a unique vision, has a voice, and the ability to make the film." For Phoenix, a great performance is in the director's hands — it's ultimately the director's world he's entering. He maintains that the director creates the character's arc and that the best directors adjust to what is happening with the actor in the moment.
Phoenix has cited Robert De Niro as one of his favorite actors and strongest acting influences. Phoenix recalled watching Raging Bull for the first time in an interview, "I think it just… awakened something in me. And I could suddenly see it through his eyes. There's a part in Raging Bull where De Niro meets a girl in between a chain-link fence. And he, you know, shakes her pinky and it's like this just beautiful little detail, it's this wonderful moment. And I think that in some ways is what I'm always looking for."
Other ventures
Music
Phoenix has directed music videos for Ringside, She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr., and Silversun Pickups. He was said to have produced the opening track for Pusha T's My Name Is My Name album alongside Kanye West. The track is called "King Push". Phoenix then denied in a statement to XXL having produced the record, saying, "While it was widely reported that Pusha T used my beat and that I produced his song, I can't take any credit. A friend's son played me his music, and all I did was make an introduction to Kanye [West]'s camp."
Animal rights activism
Phoenix is identified as one of the most active celebrities in the animal rights movement. A vegan since age three, he does not wear any clothes made out of animal skin; he requests that all of his leather costumes in films are made from synthetic materials. Phoenix has said that animal rights are one of the most important pillars in his life, and maintains that "climate change is imminent if we do not adopt a plant-based lifestyle". He has helped raise awareness of the correlation between animal rights, climate change and health issues. Phoenix has received praise and accolades from animal rights groups, with PETA naming him "Person of the Year" in 2019.
PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement: "Joaquin Phoenix never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight away from himself and onto animals' plight and to set a great example of walking the vegan walk". He has been an active supporter of numerous animal rights organizations, including PETA.
Throughout the years, Phoenix has headlined numerous campaigns for different organizations to help promote veganism and end animal slaughter. In 2019, Phoenix and his partner Rooney Mara led the National Animal Rights Day demonstration to help spread awareness for animal rights. On January 10, 2020, Phoenix was arrested with actress Jane Fonda at a climate change protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At the protest, Phoenix spoke about the link between animal agriculture and climate change.
During the 2019–20 awards season, amid protesting for animal rights, Phoenix had been driving a behind-the-scenes movement that transformed five events to meat-free menus, beginning with the Golden Globe Awards. He acknowledged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association during his acceptance speech, for its "very bold move making tonight plant-based. It really sends a powerful message." Soon after, Critics' Choice and SAG followed suit. Phoenix contacted the presidents of the award ceremonies, accompanied by signatures from the likes of fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Phoenix's pitch was that meat agriculture is a leading cause of climate change and that the televised spectacles should use their platforms to address pressing societal issues. The Academy Awards later announced that all food served at the Dolby Theatre before the Oscars was going to be vegan. Lisa Lange, senior vp communications at PETA, spoke of Phoenix's power saying "He knows what can be done. He knows he's in a good position to push. He enlists friends. And it works. He can have influence in Hollywood and it influences the rest of the world."
A day after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, and subsequently delivering a headlining acceptance speech in which he spoke to the plight of mother cows and their babies used in animal agriculture, Phoenix helped to rescue a cow and her newborn calf from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. They were taken to Farm Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary and advocacy organization, where they will live out the rest of their lives. The same month, he starred in Guardians of Life, the first of twelve short films by the environmental organization Mobilize Earth that highlighted the most pressing issues facing humanity and the natural world. Funds raised by the project went to Amazon Watch and Extinction Rebellion.
Two animal species have been named after him. In 2011, a Trilobite species was named Gladiatoria phoenix for his iconic role in the 2000 film Gladiator and in 2020 a Spider species endemic to Iran was named Loureedia phoenixi, also known as the Joker spider due to its color pattern matching the DC Comics character Joker, for his role in the 2019 film Joker.
Other activism
In 2020, Phoenix collaborated with JusticeLA to create a public service announcement #SuingToSaveLives about the health of people in L.A. County jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal life
Views and lifestyle
After re-establishing himself as an actor in the mid 1990s, Phoenix moved back to Los Angeles. He is known for his disdain of celebrity culture, rarely granting interviews, and being reticent about discussing
his private life. In 2018, he described himself as a secular Jew who does not affiliate with any organized religion; one of his "core values" is the idea of forgiveness. Phoenix has also claimed that his mother believed in Jesus, though his parents were not religious. While portraying Jesus for the 2018 movie Mary Magdalene, he expressed that the role changed his perspective on the nature of forgiveness.
In early April 2005, Phoenix checked himself into rehab to be treated for alcoholism. Twelve years later, he revealed that he did not need an intervention: "I really just thought of myself as a hedonist. I was an actor in L.A. I wanted to have a good time. But I wasn't engaging with the world or myself in the way I wanted to". On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Phoenix veered off the road and flipped his car. The crash was reportedly caused by brake failure. Shaken and confused, he heard someone tapping on his window and telling him to "just relax". Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." The man replied, "No, you're not." The man then stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette while gasoline was leaking into the car cabin. Phoenix realized that the man was German filmmaker Werner Herzog. While Herzog helped Phoenix out of the wreckage by breaking the back window of the car, bystanders called an ambulance. Phoenix approached Herzog to express his gratitude.
In 2012, Phoenix labeled the Academy Awards "bullshit". He later gave an interview apologizing for his comments, and acknowledged that the awards provide an important platform for many deserving filmmakers. He elaborated on the topic while on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015, explaining that he is uncomfortable receiving accolades for his work in films when he considers the filmmaking process to be a collaborative one.
A longtime vegan, Phoenix finds animal agriculture "absurd and barbaric". He explained his reasoning behind his veganism; "To me, it just seems obvious – I don't want to cause pain to another living empathetic creature. I don't want to take its babies away from it, I don't want to force it to be indoors and fattened up just to be slaughtered. Certainly, also, the effect that it has on our environment is devastating. So, for me, it's my life and has always been my life, and it's really one of the most important things to me."
Relationships and family
From 1995 to 1998, Phoenix dated his Inventing the Abbotts co-star Liv Tyler. The two remain close friends, with Tyler considering Phoenix and his sisters as her family.<ref></></ref> He was romantically involved with South African model Topaz Page-Green from 2001 to 2005. Phoenix is currently on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides daily meals to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa, founded by Page-Green.
In 2012, Phoenix met Her co-star Rooney Mara. The two remained friends and began a romantic relationship four years later, during the making of Mary Magdalene. Their engagement was confirmed in July 2019 and the following year, the couple were reported to be expecting their first child together. In late September 2020, it was announced that the couple had a son, named River after Phoenix's late brother. They reside in the Hollywood Hills. Phoenix has described his family life as simple. He enjoys meditating, watching documentaries, reading scripts and taking karate classes. He has a black belt in karate.
Filmography and accolades
According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and the box-office site Box Office Mojo, Phoenix's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films include Parenthood (1989), To Die For (1995), Gladiator (2000), Signs (2002), Brother Bear (2003), The Village (2004), Walk the Line (2005), Two Lovers (2008), The Master (2012), The Immigrant (2013), Her (2013), Inherent Vice (2014), You Were Never Really Here (2017) and Joker (2019).
Phoenix has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
73rd Academy Awards (2001): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, as Commodus in Gladiator78th Academy Awards (2006): Best Actor, nomination, as John R. "Johnny" Cash in Walk the Line85th Academy Awards (2013): Best Actor, nomination, as Freddie Quell in The Master92nd Academy Awards (2020): Best Actor, win, as Arthur Fleck/Joker in JokerPhoenix has won two Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Walk the Line and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for Joker, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Joker.
Phoenix was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the Walk The Line soundtrack. He has also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 69th Venice International Film Festival for The Master and the Best Actor Award at the 70th Cannes Film Festival for You Were Never Really Here''.
Phoenix and River Phoenix hold the distinction of being the only brothers nominated for acting Academy Awards. Both Phoenix and Heath Ledger won an Academy Award for their performances as the Joker, becoming the second pair of actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same character – the other pair being Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, who won Best Actor and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor respectively, for their portrayals of Vito Corleone.
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of animal rights advocates
List of vegans
Notes
References
External links
1974 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American animal rights activists
American environmentalists
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American people of English descent
American people of French descent
American people of German descent
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American street performers
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from Gainesville, Florida
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Method actors
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Los Angeles
People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Joaquin
Veganism activists
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners
| false |
[
"The Southern Oklahoma Cosmic Trigger Contest is a soundtrack by The Flaming Lips to the Bradley Beesley fishing documentary Okie Noodling, featuring three country-tinged songs not found elsewhere, two of which are instrumentals.\n\nIt was distributed as a promotional CD at early screenings of the film.\n\nThe first track has the following spoken introduction: \"when Bradley first told me, I guess maybe a year and a half ago, about making this little movie about okie noodling, I'd really never heard of the term noodling before and for some reason I immediately imagined it was about, of all things, masturbation. I guess it sort of... Oh, it sounded sort of funny and perverted and that's just what I thought. And even though Bradley continued sort of talking, telling about his idea, all this stuff kind of happening in a, you know, a couple of seconds, my mind was still building up this bizarre masturbation story and so by now I was thinking that he was going to make a movie about this cult of teenagers living in Southern Oklahoma who have these, you know, bizarre masturbation contests and I was thinking what a crazy movie that would be... But anyway, I eventually snapped out of my daydreaming and quickly realized he was talking about a weird kind of fishing where guys use their hands instead of rods and hooks. And though it wasn't as interesting as what I was imagining, it seemed at least absurd and I figured if Bradley was doing it is would entertaining just the same. So when he eventually asked me to contribute to music for his movie, I agreed with him that it should have a kind of playful, adult, country feel to it, not too hillbilly and not too swampy, and his examples that he leans towards were sort of classic Glen Campbell stuff, which, you know, is great stuff. And, as we got towards finishing up the music and he got finished making up his movie, he was still wishing for something from us that I was singing on, because up until then it was all just music and sound-oriented compositions and I told him that I would try to come up with something. And though I tried, I couldn't connect this fishing thing with the bigger, sort of cosmic theme without sounding like some, you know, kind of back-to-nature zen bullshit and I didn't want this. I wanted, you know, something that was playful and absurd, and then I was kind of reminded of this, you know, my initial imaginings of the cult of masturbating teenagers and, within moments, I had the basic song sort of done. And though it doesn't really mention fishing anywhere in it, the theme of entertaining yourself with your hands was my ridiculous way of connecting them\".\n\nTrack listing\n\nFootnotes and references\n\nExternal links\n Official Okie Noodling film site\n\n2001 EPs\nThe Flaming Lips EPs",
"Black Starlet is a 1974 film.\n\nPlot summary\n\nIntroduction\nA young woman decides she no longer wants to work as a street walker in Chicago, now she wants to follow her dreams as an actress in Hollywood. The main cast members are Clara/Carla Brown – Juanita Brown, Brisco – Eric Mason, Ben – Rockne Tarkington, Skully – Damu King, Joyce – Diane Holden, Phil – Noah Keen, and Sam – Al Lewis. The writers are Daniel Cady and Howard Ostroff. The movie was filmed in Hollywood.\n\nPlot\nThe protagonist, Clara, starts out as a prostitute but is a young aspiring actress at heart. After saving up some money, she leavesher pimp boyfriend behind and moves to Hollywood. After some initial struggles, being robbed and pursued by lustful men, she finally makes it to Hollywood. While looking for work, Clara met a good friend named Joyce. Joyce taught Clara all the ins and outs about Hollywood, even introducing her to her manager. Although during Clara's time as an actress she was raped, Clara did not let that stop her. She soon became a well-known actress/writer.\n\nBackground\nOne of the reasons this movie wasn't your typical 1970s person top pick is that it was a low-budget movie, according to the \"Every 70s Movie\" article. Since the movie was set at a low budget this meant that the actors and actresses wouldn't be too great. As stated in the \"Every 70s Movie\" article, \"Yet Black Starlet meets and nearly exceeds the very low expectations set by its subject matter and title.\" Everyone in that time period just knew it was going to be a terrible movie because no one wanted to give up more funds for it forcing the producers to find casts willing to work for a very low wage. According to \"Every 70s Movie\", \"What makes Black Starlet more or less palatable are the moments wedged between exploitation-flick extremes.\"\n\nSocial norms\nIn the 1970s, it was a time when everyone was fighting for equality, African Americans, women, gays, and lesbians. The book Bucks and a Black Movie Boom stated that during the 1970s \"Very few films attempted to explore a black woman's tensions or aspirations or to examine the dynamics of sexual politics within the black community.\" Women were and still are experiencing sexual abuse. To further the fight for equality even if the industry felt no one would be interested in hearing about a black woman's struggle. Women were constantly put down about their acting talent but that was all put to rest when the movie Sparkle was introduced. It too was a low budget film that everyone thought would not take off anywhere, but soon became an appealing movie.\n\nWomanism\nThe fight for women's rights: the 1970s was a time when women were campaigning women's rights. In 1972, Congress approved the Equal Rights Amendment. This amendment states “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” This was a time where women opened abortion clinics and rape centers. According to the book Bucks and a Black Movie Boom, \"It was the 1970s, that slick trendy, and contradictory era that led opened with politics and social issues very much on the minds of most Americans.\" The 1970s was an era for Black women to show that they were more than just a stereotype, they could act as well. In the book it discusses, \"What with the Black Nationalist movement, the youth movement, and the rising tide of feminism, the 1970s looked as if it, like the 1960s, would be propelled along by political activism. The movies gave Blacks a way to express their feelings without backlash. With this being said the 1970s era was different, different how? Bucks and a Black Movie Boom states that \"Then, too, while the 1970s opened with films with some political heat, the age closed with movies that were increasingly more escapist.\" In this era, Blacks were looking for a movie that shed light to America's racial conflicts and issues such as actors who showed power, who showed they weren't afraid of standing up for what was right. The 1970s is explained to be, \"No other period in black movie history, however, has been quite so energetic or important as the frenetic 1970s,\" as described in the book Bucks and a Black Movie Boom. This era, was like no other time era. It was a moment for anyone, blacks included, to rise above the pre-existing weak stereotypes.\n\nDiscussion of context\nThe soundtrack to the movie is soulful music coming from Joe Hinton and Dee Irvin. Songs include “Up is Down”, “Hollywood Faces”, “Fire Sign”, and “Go on and Find Your Star”.\n\nConclusion\nAs far as information about the main characters, there is not much information about Juanita Brown and Rockne Tarkington died in 2015. It is said that Tarkington has appeared in many movies. As for Brown, she has appeared in a few movies as stated in the article \"Every 70s Movie\". Yet nothing else has appeared about the actress. This film is listed as a blaxploitation film on Wikipedia.\n\nReferences\n\nSources\n\nExternal links\n Black Starlet (1974) [FULL MOVIE] | Itinerant Blog\n Black Starlet (1974) directed by Chris Munger • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd\n\n1974 films\nBlaxploitation films"
] |
[
"Joaquin Phoenix",
"2006-2010: Producing and self-imposed break",
"What did Joaquin do in 2006?",
"In 2006, Phoenix was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.",
"What happened in 2007?",
"In 2007, Phoenix reunited with director James Gray for the film We Own the Night, which he also",
"What was this movie about?",
"In the film, Phoenix played a New York nightclub manager who tries to save his brother and father from",
"Did the movie do well?",
"The film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, receiving mixed reviews from critics and grossed a total of $54.5 million worldwide.",
"Did he work on any more movies?",
"For his second film of 2007, Phoenix also reunited with director Terry George for the film Reservation Road. In it,",
"Who did he play in this role?",
"Phoenix played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident.",
"Did the film perform well in theaters?",
"The film failed at the box office and received negative reviews from critics, with film critic Peter Travers writing \"",
"Did he make any more movies?",
"Phoenix made his third collaboration with director James Gray in the film Two Lovers (2008), where he played a",
"What was this movie about?",
"Phoenix played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident."
] |
C_7778de4d51af45d58cbe0ea79e0db2f7_0
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How did this movie do for him?
| 10 |
How did the film Two Lovers do for Joaquin Phoenix?
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Joaquin Phoenix
|
In 2006, Phoenix was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2007, Phoenix reunited with director James Gray for the film We Own the Night, which he also produced. In the film, Phoenix played a New York nightclub manager who tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hit men. The film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, receiving mixed reviews from critics and grossed a total of $54.5 million worldwide. Critic Peter Travers described Phoenix as "electrifying and then some", and he was awarded the People's Choice Award for Favorite Leading Man for the performance. For his second film of 2007, Phoenix also reunited with director Terry George for the film Reservation Road. In it, Phoenix played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident. The film failed at the box office and received negative reviews from critics, with film critic Peter Travers writing "Even the best actors -- and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest -- can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix made his third collaboration with director James Gray in the film Two Lovers (2008), where he played a bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor. Two Lovers premiered in competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival in May, receiving largely positive reviews, especially Phoenix who was praised by film critics David Edelstein who wrote "He [Phoenix] is, once again, stupendous, and stupendous in a way he has never been before" and Roger Ebert describing his performance as "perfect pitch". Two Lovers grossed $16 million worldwide. Phoenix's mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010) premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival on September 6, 2010. The film was directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and was also written by Affleck and Phoenix himself. The film purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist. Filming officially began on January 16, 2009 at a Las Vegas nightclub. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Although widely suspected to be a "mockumentary," the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. The film received mixed reviews and failed at the box office. After the releasing of the film, Phoenix took a self-imposed break from acting. CANNOTANSWER
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The film failed at the box office and received negative reviews
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Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and animal rights activist. Known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent film, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was ranked 12th on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times.
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Los Angeles and Florida, Phoenix began his career by appearing in television series in the early 1980s with his brother River. His first major film roles were in SpaceCamp (1986) and Parenthood (1989). During this period, he was credited as Leaf Phoenix, a name he gave himself. He took back his birth first name in the early 1990s and received critical acclaim for his supporting roles in the comedy-drama film To Die For (1995) and the period film Quills (2000). Phoenix received further critical acclaim and first Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of the evil emperor Commodus in the historical drama film Gladiator (2000). He had success with the horror films Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), the historical drama Hotel Rwanda (2004) and won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of musician Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line (2005). He continued to receive acclaim in two features with his frequent director James Gray; the action thriller We Own the Night (2007) and the romantic drama Two Lovers (2008), before taking a break from acting.
In the 2010s, Phoenix returned to acting to critical acclaim. He starred in the psychological drama The Master (2012), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and earning his third Academy Award nomination. He received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the romantic drama Her (2013) and the crime satire Inherent Vice (2014) and won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here (2017). Phoenix achieved international stardom and won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a second Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of the title character in Joker (2019).
Phoenix is an animal rights activist. He has been vegan since the age of three and regularly supports charitable causes and has produced several documentaries on global meat consumption and its impact on the environment. He is in a relationship with actress Rooney Mara, with whom he has a son.
Early life and acting background
Joaquin Rafael Bottom was born on October 28, 1974, in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to John Lee Bottom, the founder of a landscape gardening company, and Arlyn "Heart" Bottom (née Dunetz), who was an executive secretary at NBC and whose connection to an agent provided her children with acting work. He is the third of five children, following River (1970–1993) and Rain (born 1972), and preceding Liberty (born 1976) and Summer (born 1978), all of whom have been involved in acting. He also has a half-sister named Jodean (born 1964) from his father's previous relationship. His father was a Catholic from Fontana, California and was of English, German and French ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Meyer Dunetz, was Russian Jewish and his maternal grandmother, Margit Lefkowitz, was Hungarian Jewish; they were both Ashkenazi Jews who resided in New York City. His parents met when his mother was hitchhiking in California and got married less than a year after meeting.
Soon after the second child was born, they joined the religious cult called Children of God and started traveling throughout South America and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean as Christian missionaries, where the next two children were born. They eventually grew disillusioned with Children of God and left in 1977, being opposed to the cult's increasingly distorted rules, particularly the practice of flirty fishing. The fifth child was born in Florida where the family settled for a while. It was also around this time they legally adopted the surname Phoenix, inspired by the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, symbolizing a new beginning. When Phoenix was three, he and his older siblings witnessed fish being killed as the fishermen threw them violently against nails into the wall. This act made the whole family convert to veganism. He also began calling himself "Leaf", having been inspired by spending time outdoors raking leaves and desiring to have a nature-related name like his siblings. Leaf became the name he used before changing it back to his birth name Joaquin at the age of fifteen.
In 1979, after Phoenix's father had to stop working because of an old spinal injury, the whole family moved to Los Angeles where the mother met a high-profile child agent named Iris Burton, who got the children into commercials and bit parts on TV. He made his acting debut alongside his brother in the television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the 1982 episode "Christmas Song". He has said of his first time acting:
In 1984, Phoenix starred opposite River in the ABC Afterschool Special entitled Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, for which they shared a nomination for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television at the 6th Youth in Film Awards. He also made guest appearances in the Murder, She Wrote episode "We're Off to Kill the Wizard" and individual episodes of The Fall Guy and Hill Street Blues. A year later, Phoenix appeared in the television film Kids Don't Tell. To supplement their income, the kids sang their original songs like "Gonna Make It," written by River, and busked for money in matching yellow shirts and shorts. They also studied dance; Phoenix became an avid break dancer. Phoenix dropped out of high school when he was sent a dead frog in the mail to dissect for his biology studies, which prompted him to discontinue his studies. Dissatisfied with life in Los Angeles, the Phoenixes moved back to Florida, settling in Gainesville.
Career
1986–1999: Early work and return to acting
Phoenix made his feature film debut in the adventure film SpaceCamp (1986) as a young boy who goes to Kennedy Space Center to learn about the NASA space program and undergoes amateur astronaut training. He guest starred in the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "A Very Happy Ending" in the same year, playing a child who blackmails a hitman (played by Robert Loggia) into killing his father (John Aprea). Phoenix's first starring role was in the film Russkies (1987), about a group of friends who unknowingly befriend a Russian soldier during the Cold War.
In 1989, Phoenix co-starred as Garry, the withdrawn teenage nephew of Steve Martin's character in Ron Howard's comedy-drama Parenthood. The film was box office success, grossing $126 million worldwide against its $20 million budget. Critics praised the film, with IndieWire reviewers highlighting the film's cast and their performances for possessing "genuinely likable, and occasionally insightful, heart" calling Phoenix a "terrifically believable angsty adolescent", in a performance which garnered him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film. The role of Garry was reprised in the series based on the film by Leonardo DiCaprio, who studied Phoenix's performance in order to get it right. After establishing himself as a child actor, Phoenix felt that he wasn't getting any appealing offers and decided to take a break from acting and traveled to Mexico with his father, learning Spanish. When he returned to the States, his brother River Phoenix suggested that Phoenix changed his name back to Joaquin and encouraged him to start acting again.
On October 31, 1993, River died of an overdose outside The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Phoenix, who had accompanied his brother and older sister Rain to the club, called 911 to seek help for his dying brother. After the death, the phone call was repeatedly broadcast on TV and radio shows. The family retreated to Costa Rica to escape the media glare as the event came to be depicted as a cautionary tale of young Hollywood surrounded by mythology and conspiracy.
In 1995, Phoenix returned to acting in Gus Van Sant's black comedy To Die For, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was inspired by the Pamela Smart murder case. Phoenix starred as Jimmy Emmett, a disturbed young man who is seduced by a woman (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. The film premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, with New York Times critic Janet Maslin praising Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all."
In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. The film was released to a dismal box office performance and was not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) investigate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out to be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics.
2000–2010: Critical acclaim and commercial success
In 2000, Phoenix co-starred in three films. In the first of these, he portrayed a fictionalized version of Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's historical epic film Gladiator. The film received positive reviews and grossed $457 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2000. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly called Phoenix's work "a more nuanced star-making performance" when comparing him to the lead Russell Crowe, writing "Phoenix turns what could have easily been a cartoonish villain into a richly layered study of pathology." Phoenix earned his first nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. He and his late brother River became the first brothers to be nominated for acting Academy Awards. To this date, they are the only brothers to hold this distinction.
His next film marked his first collaboration with director James Gray in The Yards. The crime film follows the corruption in the rail yards of Queens. Although failing to perform well at the box office, The Yards received positive reviews from critics with many considering Phoenix's performance as the villain a stand out. The third release of 2000 was Philip Kaufman's Quills, a satirical thriller inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade. Phoenix portrayed the conflicted priest Abbé de Coulmier opposite Kate Winslet. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was a modest art house success grossing a total of $17 million at the box office. It was received with critical praise with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praising Phoenix and his chemistry with Winslet, stating "Phoenix, on a roll this year with Gladiator and The Yards, excels at making the priest a seductive figure — a neat trick considering the real Abbe was a four-foot hunchback. Winslet and Phoenix generate real fire, notably when Abbe dreams of ravishing Madeleine on the altar." For his combined roles of that year, Phoenix was awarded the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The following year, Phoenix starred in the satirical film Buffalo Soldiers as a U.S. Army soldier. The world premiere was held at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in early September. However, because the film was a satire of the US military, its wider theatrical run was delayed by approximately two years because of the September 11 attacks; it was finally released on July 25, 2003. BBCs Nev Pierce wrote that "Phoenix is excellent as a Gen X Sergeant Bilko, ensuring his cheerfully amoral character never loses heart - showcasing tenderness, love, grief and fear as his games get out of control" and Phoenix received a nomination for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor.
The science fiction thriller Signs (2002) marked Phoenix's first collaboration with director M. Night Shyamalan. In the film, he played Merrill Hess, a former Minor League baseball player who, along with his older brother Graham (Mel Gibson), discovers that Earth has been invaded by extraterrestrials. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Phoenix's performance was praised, with critic Peter Travers writing that Phoenix "registers impressively, finding the humor and the pain in this lost boy [...] never making a false move as a helpless Merrill watches his rock of a brother crumble into a despairing crisis of faith." The film was a commercial success, grossing $408.2 million worldwide.
In 2003, Phoenix played the irresolute husband of a superstar-skater (Claire Danes) in Thomas Vinterberg's romance-drama It's All About Love, and voiced Kenai in the Disney animated film Brother Bear. Phoenix expressed immense joy being cast as the lead voice role in a Disney animated feature, stating "The real pinnacle [in my career] is that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the greatest?" The film grossed $250.4 million worldwide, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He was replaced by Patrick Dempsey in the sequel Brother Bear 2. Phoenix reunited with Shyamalan in the period thriller The Village (2004). The film is about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it, referred to as "Those We Don't Speak Of". He played farmer Lucius Hunt, a role which Christopher Orr of The Atlantic found "underdeveloped". Though initially receiving mixed reviews, the film attracted retrospective reviews years after its release. Several critics deemed it one of Shyamalan's best films, praising Phoenix's "terrific" performance. The film was a financial success, grossing $256.7 million worldwide on its $60 million budget.
In his next film of the year, he starred opposite John Travolta in the drama film Ladder 49 as a Baltimore firefighter. In preparation for the role, Phoenix trained for two months with the Baltimore Fire Department, putting out actual fires. He admitted that he was afraid of heights before he started making this film, recalling "I got to the pole and I looked down and I couldn't do it. But you go through the training and it exposes your fears and helps you to overcome them. We ended up rappelling off a six-story tower and that really helped." The film earned $102.3 million at the box office despite receiving generally mixed reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the performances in the film. Phoenix's final film of 2004 was Terry George's Hotel Rwanda, playing cameraman Jack Daglish. Based on the Rwandan genocide, the film documents Paul Rusesabagina's (Don Cheadle) efforts to save the lives of his family and more than 1,000 other refugees by providing them with shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. The film was a moderate financial success but was a critical success, receiving almost exclusively positive reviews from critics. For his performance in the film, Phoenix was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast.
In 2005, Phoenix co-starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the James Mangold directed film Walk the Line, a Johnny Cash biopic, after Cash himself approved of Phoenix. All of Cash's vocal tracks in the film and on the accompanying soundtrack are played and sung by Phoenix. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, eventually grossing $186 million worldwide. Phoenix's performance received rave reviews from critics and it inspired film critic Roger Ebert to write, "Knowing Johnny Cash's albums more or less by heart, I closed my eyes to focus on the soundtrack and decided that, yes, that was the voice of Johnny Cash I was listening to. The closing credits make it clear it's Joaquin Phoenix doing the singing, and I was gob-smacked". For his portrayal of Johnny Cash, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's soundtrack. Phoenix also received a second Academy Award nomination, his first in the Best Actor category as well as a second BAFTA nomination. Earlier that year, he narrated Earthlings (2005), a documentary about the investigation of animal abuse in factory farms, and pet mills, and for scientific research. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2005, for his work and contribution to Earthlings. Animal rights philosopher Tom Regan remarked that "for those who watch Earthlings, the world will never be the same".
Phoenix's first producing task was the action thriller We Own the Night (2007), in which he played nightclub manager Bobby Green/Grusinsky who tries to save his brother (Mark Wahlberg) and father (Robert Duvall) from Russian mafia hitmen. The James Gray-directed film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews; Roger Ebert praised Gray's direction and the acting, but criticized its screenplay for lack of originality. David Edelstein of New York Magazine commended Phoenix for elevating the film's conflict, writing that it "might be heavy-handed without Phoenix's face—his irresolution somehow more powerful than other actors' resolve. There is no artifice. He's not an actor disappearing into a role but a man disappearing into himself[...]Phoenix homes in on the truth of this person. It's the paradox of the greatest acting".
Later that year, he played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident in his second feature with Terry George, the crime drama film Reservation Road. The film received mixed reviews from critics; Peter Travers praised Phoenix's acting stating "Even the best actors – and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest – can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix also executive produced the television show 4Real, a half-hour program which began airing in 2007. The series showcased celebrity guests on global adventures "in order to connect with young leaders who are creating social and economic change".
In 2008, Phoenix starred as a suicidal bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor in Gray's Two Lovers. The romantic drama premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Reviews for the film and Phoenix's performance were positive; New York Magazine'''s chief critic called it his best performance to date and Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter felt that Phoenix led the film with "great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable". During the promotion of Two Lovers, Phoenix had started to film his next performance for the mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010), which the media felt overshadowed the former's theatrical release. I'm Still Here purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist managed by rap icon Sean "Diddy" Combs. Directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and co-written by Affleck and Phoenix, the little-seen film premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival to mixed reviews; critics were divided on whether to interpret the film as documentary or performance art. After its release, Phoenix explained that the idea for the feature arose from his amazement that people believed reality television shows' claims of being unscripted. By claiming to retire from acting, he and Affleck planned to make a film that "explored celebrity, and explored the relationship between the media and the consumers and the celebrities themselves" through their film.
2011–2018: Established career and continued acclaim
In 2011, it was announced that Phoenix would star in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama film The Master, which traces the relationship between Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II navy veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society and Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffmann), a leader of a religious movement known as "The Cause". To create the character, Phoenix lost a significant amount of weight and went to a dentist to help force his jaw shut on one side; a trait his own father had. The film premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival where he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. The art house film only grossed $28 million but was received with critical acclaim, with Phoenix's performance receiving high praise. Peter Travers called it the performance of his career writing "Acting doesn't get better or go deeper[...]Phoenix wears the role like a second skin. You can't take your eyes off him." His performance as Freddie was described as "career-defining" by Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, who was impressed that Anderson and Phoenix collaboratively were able to build such complex work around such a derelict figure. Fellow actor Daniel Day-Lewis publicly lauded the "remarkable" Phoenix while accepting the Screen Actors Guild Award, apologising for the fact that Phoenix hadn't been nominated for the same award. Despite this, Phoenix received his third Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his leading role.
Phoenix and Gray's fourth collaboration came with The Immigrant (2013), a drama film in which he played the supporting role of a pimp who prostitutes Polish immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and ends up falling for her. The Immigrant and his performance premiered to highly positive reviews at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In his review, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club thought the film featured one of his best performances and commended Phoenix's and Gray's developing work, writing of that "the two are so perfectly in sync, that it's hard to tell where Phoenix's performance ends and Gray's visual style[...]—begins", further lauding their development of Bruno into "a fully fledged tragic character, even though he is neither the protagonist of The Immigrant nor the main driving force behind its plot".
His next feature film of that year was the Spike Jonze-directed romantic science-fiction drama Her. He played Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. Released to critical acclaim, critic A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club labeled Phoenix as "one of the most emotionally honest actors in Hollywood", impressed at how he effortlessly unleashes waves of vulnerability in the film's many tight, invasive close-up images, calling it a "tremendous performance, one that rescues this character—a mess of insecurities, regrets, and desires—from the walking pity party he could have been". Her earned more than double of its production budget, and Phoenix received his fourth nomination at the Golden Globes. Several journalists expressed disappointment over his failure to receive an Oscar nomination for it, with Peter Knegt of IndieWire naming it of one of ten worst Oscar acting snubs of the last decade in 2015.
In 2014, Phoenix took on the role of Doc Sportello, a private investigator and hippie/dope head trying to help his ex-girlfriend solve a crime in the crime comedy-drama Inherent Vice, based on Thomas Pynchon's detective novel of the same name. Reviews toward the film were positive; critics praised Phoenix's performance and Paul Thomas Anderson's direction, while some were frustrated by its complicated plot. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph termed Phoenix as Anderson's "perfect leading man" and his work as "the kind of quietly dazzling performance that rarely wins awards but will be adoringly dissected and quoted for decades". Phoenix earned his fifth Golden Globe nomination for the film.
After narrating the sequel to Earthlings, the 2015 animal rights' documentary Unity, Phoenix teamed with director Woody Allen and Emma Stone in the crime mystery film Irrational Man. He played Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor experiencing an existential crisis. The film was released to mixed reviews at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival; The Hollywood Reporter felt that the film was too similar to Allen's previous films, but praised Phoenix's chemistry with Stone and Phoenix for playing the character "with a wonderful baggy, lived-in quality that makes us want to climb inside the character's whiskey-sozzled head".
The thriller You Were Never Really Here, written and directed by Lynne Ramsay and based on the novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames, ranks among the most acclaimed films of Phoenix's career. The film is about Joe (played by Phoenix), a traumatized former FBI agent and Gulf War veteran who tracks down missing girls for a living. To prepare for the film, Phoenix was advised by a former bodyguard who goes on international missions to rescue children suffering sexual exploitation and abuse by human traffickers; he gained a significant amount of weight and muscle for the part. Phoenix was Ramsay's first and only choice to play the veteran, with Ramsay calling him "my soulmate in making movies". The film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it received universal acclaim and earned Phoenix the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times described Phoenix's performance as "the most rivetingly contained" work of his career and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer of Consequence noted that his evocative manners in the film, led to him giving career-high work and "the kind of haunting turn that only comes around a few times every decade or so".
In 2018, Phoenix portrayed Jesus in the biblical drama Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis. The film, and his performance, received mixed reviews; a reviewer for Entertainment Weekly thought that Phoenix lacked the quiet compassion and grace that was required for the role, while Nick Allen of Roger Ebert's website described his performance as "a human being who is visibly tormented by the power and wisdom that works through him", deeming it one of the best portrayals of Jesus ever. His next two featuresthe biopic Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and the crime drama The Sisters Brothers were much better received. In the former, Phoenix reunited with his To Die For director Gus Van Sant to portray quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail wrote that there's no better leading actor producing better work than Phoenix, stating "The actor – never a simple chameleon, but someone who disappears into a role entirely with a frightening conviction – continues to display new and tremendous range here" and David Hughes of Empire thought that in a more conventional film, Phoenix would be the favourite to win an Academy Award.
The third film of 2018 was The Sisters Brothers, Jacques Audiard's adaptation of the novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt. The film starred John C. Reilly and Phoenix as the notorious assassin brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters respectively and chronicles their chase after two men who have banded together to search for gold. Writing for Roger Ebert's website, Tomris Laffly commented on Phoenix's and Reilly's "tremendous chemistry" and Lindsey Behr of the Associated Press opined that the duo "excellently manage all the various tones in the film".
Also in 2018, he collaborated with Rooney Mara and Sia to narrate Chris Delforce's documentary Dominion. Animal rights activists have called it one of the most powerful documentaries ever made. For his contribution to the documentary, Phoenix was granted the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards.
2019–present: Joker and further success
In 2019, Phoenix starred as the DC Comics character Joker in Todd Phillips's psychological thriller Joker; an alternative origin story for the character. Set in 1981, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. Phoenix lost in preparation, and based his laugh on "videos of people suffering from pathological laughter." Released to critical acclaim at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, the film experienced a polarized critical reception after its theatrical release. While Phoenix's performance received rave reviews, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-life violence; the movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises refused to show it. Despite this, Joker became a box office success grossing over $1 billion (against its $55 million production budget), the first and only R-rated film to do so, becoming Phoenix's highest-grossing film.
Pete Hammond of Deadline wrote of Phoenix's "extraordinary" performance, describing it as "dazzling risky and original" and The Hollywood Reporters David Rooney called his performance the "must-see factor" of the film, writing "he inhabits [the character] with an insanity by turns pitiful and fearsome in an out-there performance that's no laughing matter[...]Phoenix is the prime force that makes Joker such a distinctively edgy entry in the Hollywood comics industrial complex." The film earned him numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor.
In 2020, Phoenix served as an executive producer on Gunda, directed by Viktor Kossakovsky. The acclaimed documentary follows the daily life of a pig, two cows, and a one-legged chicken. That same year, Phoenix was named on the list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century by The New York Times. The list was compiled by famed critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott and Phoenix's paragraph was written by his frequent collaborator, director James Gray.
In 2021, he starred in Mike Mills' drama C'mon C'mon, as Johnny, a radio journalist who embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew. The A24 film premiered at the 48th Telluride Film Festival to universal acclaim and scored the best per-venue average for a limited release since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture praised Phoenix writing "a tremendous showing from Joaquin Phoenix, operating at a register he's rarely found before. It's a career best for him — lovely, empathetic, humane[...]He possesses a warmth that glows from beginning to end. As Johnny, Phoenix listens to people and the world around him with full-bodied curiosity. This is where the bravura lies in the performance: his ability to seemingly just be."
Upcoming projects
Phoenix has three upcoming films. He will star in Ari Aster's Disappointment Blvd., and in January 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Phoenix is set to portray Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon, his second collaboration with director Ridley Scott. He is also set to reunite with director Lynne Ramsay for an upcoming feature called Polaris, co-starring Rooney Mara.
Reception and acting style
At the beginning of his career, Phoenix was often referred to as "the second most famous Phoenix", his name associated most closely with the death of his brother River Phoenix. The media would often compare the two, with The New York Times describing Joaquin as "sweetly unsettling and endlessly vulnerable" compared to his brother's "pure all-American blond boyishness". After his brother died, Phoenix gained a reputation for his distrust of the media, with many speculating that it is derived from how the death was covered by the press. He was often asked about the day River died, and still is to this date. Phoenix has described these interviews as "insincere" and has felt that they impeded on the mourning process. Caroline Frost of The Huffington Post has said that Phoenix is "engaging, engaged, mischievous, honest" in person and Anderson Cooper of 60 Minutes thought that he was "wry, shy and couldn't be any more friendlier" adding that Phoenix "just doesn't like to talk about himself". Although known for his intensity and darkness on-screen, director James Gray who worked with Phoenix in four feature films, says that Phoenix is very different off-screen saying "He's actually very tender and sweet and sensitive. It's almost as if he channels his intensity into the characters. Like the work is an outlet for his darker side."
Phoenix has been described as one of the finest actors of his generation. As he achieved stardom after Gladiator (2000), he was conveniently ruled out of teen-idol roles because of his hard gaze and scarred lip. Justin Chang, analyzing his career in Los Angeles Times in 2020, remarked that filmmakers immediately seemed to recognize that Phoenix was more than a heartthrob, and that there was "something more tortured, more vulnerable and infinitely more interesting at play beneath the surface". He noted that through his work, Phoenix is challenging and redefining cinematic manhood and that this quality sets him apart from most of his contemporaries. Renowned film critic and film historian Leonard Maltin has called Phoenix "a true chameleon", writing "[Phoenix] commands the screen and breaks your heart; he makes us feel it all vicariously."
Phoenix is particularly known for his ability to heavily commit to each role he plays and his intense preparations, deeply immersing himself in the characters, often blurring the lines between fiction and reality. That immersion was particularly evident during the filming of the mockumentary I'm Still Here (2010), when Phoenix announced to the world that he was retiring from acting to become a rapper. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Media outlets worldwide believed that Phoenix was having a mental breakdown after his infamous appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Confusion from the media turned to concern as the seemingly drug-addled Phoenix continued his attempts to convince crowds he was serious about a rap career. Many worried his erratic behaviour was a sign he was stuck in a downward spiral, and headed down the same self-destructive path that took the life of his older brother. Although widely suspected to be a mockumentary, the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. To this day, some people believe he went through a personal meltdown during the filming period. Phoenix has credited the making of I'm Still Here for allowing him to make bolder choices in acting.
Phoenix contends there's no real methodology to the roles he chooses, but has said that he is drawn to complex characters. He speculates that his affinity for dark roles derives from something more ineffable, possibly prenatal saying that "I think there is a combination of nature and nurture[...]—and some of it is my upbringing." Even so, Phoenix remains reluctant to draw a line between his unusual childhood, his private tragedy and his talent for "inhabiting the morose, damaged, violent, and otherwise anxiety-riddled characters". James Gray has described Phoenix as "one of the most incorruptible people I've ever known, and the least superficial", and has spoken of his acting, saying that he admires Phoenix's "limitless ability to surprise you in the best ways and inspire you to move in a direction that you haven't thought of originally, better than what you have in mind". Garth Davis, who directed Phoenix in Mary Magdalene (2018), has remarked that he does not apply method acting, but said that working with Phoenix is like "working with this beautiful wild animal, where you have to give him the space to be free, so his performance can roam freely: raw, uncontrived and truly natural. If he smells the design of the scene, you lose his free spirit; if the script is weak, he will expose its flaws. He is fiercely intelligent and almost completely instinctual. And he has this immense sensitivity that can be both his curse and his gift, but for me, that is what it means to be human". In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Phoenix claimed that he prefers independent film over major studio film, citing that "the quality of acting suffers".
In 2019, he stated that in choosing films, he solely relies on the director, "I don't really care about genre or budget size, anything like that. It's just whether there is a filmmaker that has a unique vision, has a voice, and the ability to make the film." For Phoenix, a great performance is in the director's hands — it's ultimately the director's world he's entering. He maintains that the director creates the character's arc and that the best directors adjust to what is happening with the actor in the moment.
Phoenix has cited Robert De Niro as one of his favorite actors and strongest acting influences. Phoenix recalled watching Raging Bull for the first time in an interview, "I think it just… awakened something in me. And I could suddenly see it through his eyes. There's a part in Raging Bull where De Niro meets a girl in between a chain-link fence. And he, you know, shakes her pinky and it's like this just beautiful little detail, it's this wonderful moment. And I think that in some ways is what I'm always looking for."
Other ventures
Music
Phoenix has directed music videos for Ringside, She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr., and Silversun Pickups. He was said to have produced the opening track for Pusha T's My Name Is My Name album alongside Kanye West. The track is called "King Push". Phoenix then denied in a statement to XXL having produced the record, saying, "While it was widely reported that Pusha T used my beat and that I produced his song, I can't take any credit. A friend's son played me his music, and all I did was make an introduction to Kanye [West]'s camp."
Animal rights activism
Phoenix is identified as one of the most active celebrities in the animal rights movement. A vegan since age three, he does not wear any clothes made out of animal skin; he requests that all of his leather costumes in films are made from synthetic materials. Phoenix has said that animal rights are one of the most important pillars in his life, and maintains that "climate change is imminent if we do not adopt a plant-based lifestyle". He has helped raise awareness of the correlation between animal rights, climate change and health issues. Phoenix has received praise and accolades from animal rights groups, with PETA naming him "Person of the Year" in 2019.
PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement: "Joaquin Phoenix never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight away from himself and onto animals' plight and to set a great example of walking the vegan walk". He has been an active supporter of numerous animal rights organizations, including PETA.
Throughout the years, Phoenix has headlined numerous campaigns for different organizations to help promote veganism and end animal slaughter. In 2019, Phoenix and his partner Rooney Mara led the National Animal Rights Day demonstration to help spread awareness for animal rights. On January 10, 2020, Phoenix was arrested with actress Jane Fonda at a climate change protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At the protest, Phoenix spoke about the link between animal agriculture and climate change.
During the 2019–20 awards season, amid protesting for animal rights, Phoenix had been driving a behind-the-scenes movement that transformed five events to meat-free menus, beginning with the Golden Globe Awards. He acknowledged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association during his acceptance speech, for its "very bold move making tonight plant-based. It really sends a powerful message." Soon after, Critics' Choice and SAG followed suit. Phoenix contacted the presidents of the award ceremonies, accompanied by signatures from the likes of fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Phoenix's pitch was that meat agriculture is a leading cause of climate change and that the televised spectacles should use their platforms to address pressing societal issues. The Academy Awards later announced that all food served at the Dolby Theatre before the Oscars was going to be vegan. Lisa Lange, senior vp communications at PETA, spoke of Phoenix's power saying "He knows what can be done. He knows he's in a good position to push. He enlists friends. And it works. He can have influence in Hollywood and it influences the rest of the world."
A day after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, and subsequently delivering a headlining acceptance speech in which he spoke to the plight of mother cows and their babies used in animal agriculture, Phoenix helped to rescue a cow and her newborn calf from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. They were taken to Farm Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary and advocacy organization, where they will live out the rest of their lives. The same month, he starred in Guardians of Life, the first of twelve short films by the environmental organization Mobilize Earth that highlighted the most pressing issues facing humanity and the natural world. Funds raised by the project went to Amazon Watch and Extinction Rebellion.
Two animal species have been named after him. In 2011, a Trilobite species was named Gladiatoria phoenix for his iconic role in the 2000 film Gladiator and in 2020 a Spider species endemic to Iran was named Loureedia phoenixi, also known as the Joker spider due to its color pattern matching the DC Comics character Joker, for his role in the 2019 film Joker.
Other activism
In 2020, Phoenix collaborated with JusticeLA to create a public service announcement #SuingToSaveLives about the health of people in L.A. County jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal life
Views and lifestyle
After re-establishing himself as an actor in the mid 1990s, Phoenix moved back to Los Angeles. He is known for his disdain of celebrity culture, rarely granting interviews, and being reticent about discussing
his private life. In 2018, he described himself as a secular Jew who does not affiliate with any organized religion; one of his "core values" is the idea of forgiveness. Phoenix has also claimed that his mother believed in Jesus, though his parents were not religious. While portraying Jesus for the 2018 movie Mary Magdalene, he expressed that the role changed his perspective on the nature of forgiveness.
In early April 2005, Phoenix checked himself into rehab to be treated for alcoholism. Twelve years later, he revealed that he did not need an intervention: "I really just thought of myself as a hedonist. I was an actor in L.A. I wanted to have a good time. But I wasn't engaging with the world or myself in the way I wanted to". On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Phoenix veered off the road and flipped his car. The crash was reportedly caused by brake failure. Shaken and confused, he heard someone tapping on his window and telling him to "just relax". Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." The man replied, "No, you're not." The man then stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette while gasoline was leaking into the car cabin. Phoenix realized that the man was German filmmaker Werner Herzog. While Herzog helped Phoenix out of the wreckage by breaking the back window of the car, bystanders called an ambulance. Phoenix approached Herzog to express his gratitude.
In 2012, Phoenix labeled the Academy Awards "bullshit". He later gave an interview apologizing for his comments, and acknowledged that the awards provide an important platform for many deserving filmmakers. He elaborated on the topic while on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015, explaining that he is uncomfortable receiving accolades for his work in films when he considers the filmmaking process to be a collaborative one.
A longtime vegan, Phoenix finds animal agriculture "absurd and barbaric". He explained his reasoning behind his veganism; "To me, it just seems obvious – I don't want to cause pain to another living empathetic creature. I don't want to take its babies away from it, I don't want to force it to be indoors and fattened up just to be slaughtered. Certainly, also, the effect that it has on our environment is devastating. So, for me, it's my life and has always been my life, and it's really one of the most important things to me."
Relationships and family
From 1995 to 1998, Phoenix dated his Inventing the Abbotts co-star Liv Tyler. The two remain close friends, with Tyler considering Phoenix and his sisters as her family.<ref></></ref> He was romantically involved with South African model Topaz Page-Green from 2001 to 2005. Phoenix is currently on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides daily meals to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa, founded by Page-Green.
In 2012, Phoenix met Her co-star Rooney Mara. The two remained friends and began a romantic relationship four years later, during the making of Mary Magdalene. Their engagement was confirmed in July 2019 and the following year, the couple were reported to be expecting their first child together. In late September 2020, it was announced that the couple had a son, named River after Phoenix's late brother. They reside in the Hollywood Hills. Phoenix has described his family life as simple. He enjoys meditating, watching documentaries, reading scripts and taking karate classes. He has a black belt in karate.
Filmography and accolades
According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and the box-office site Box Office Mojo, Phoenix's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films include Parenthood (1989), To Die For (1995), Gladiator (2000), Signs (2002), Brother Bear (2003), The Village (2004), Walk the Line (2005), Two Lovers (2008), The Master (2012), The Immigrant (2013), Her (2013), Inherent Vice (2014), You Were Never Really Here (2017) and Joker (2019).
Phoenix has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:
73rd Academy Awards (2001): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, as Commodus in Gladiator78th Academy Awards (2006): Best Actor, nomination, as John R. "Johnny" Cash in Walk the Line85th Academy Awards (2013): Best Actor, nomination, as Freddie Quell in The Master92nd Academy Awards (2020): Best Actor, win, as Arthur Fleck/Joker in JokerPhoenix has won two Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Walk the Line and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for Joker, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Joker.
Phoenix was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the Walk The Line soundtrack. He has also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 69th Venice International Film Festival for The Master and the Best Actor Award at the 70th Cannes Film Festival for You Were Never Really Here''.
Phoenix and River Phoenix hold the distinction of being the only brothers nominated for acting Academy Awards. Both Phoenix and Heath Ledger won an Academy Award for their performances as the Joker, becoming the second pair of actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same character – the other pair being Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, who won Best Actor and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor respectively, for their portrayals of Vito Corleone.
See also
List of actors with Academy Award nominations
List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of animal rights advocates
List of vegans
Notes
References
External links
1974 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American animal rights activists
American environmentalists
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American people of English descent
American people of French descent
American people of German descent
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American street performers
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from Gainesville, Florida
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Method actors
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Los Angeles
People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Joaquin
Veganism activists
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners
| false |
[
"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",
"My Hero 2 (一本漫畫闖天涯2之妙想天開) is a 1993 Hong Kong comedy film directed by Joe Chu, starring Dicky Cheung and Ng Man Tat. Despite the title, it is not a sequel to the movie \"My Hero (1990)\", starring Stephen Chow.\n\nSynopsis\nThe movie is about Cheung Kin-Hong's (Dicky Cheung) ploy to get a good story involving triads for his comics. He is a comics artist and writer who has not been very successful in the past. Then one day he encounters his hero, Brother Tat (Ng Man-Tat) at his regular cafe. He manages to convince Tat, who happens to be also involved with the triads, to help him get the information he needed for his comics. How did it turn out? Did it help him to succeed?\n\nCast\n\nExternal links\n \n My Hero 2 (1993) at HKCinemagic\n \n\n1990s Cantonese-language films\nHong Kong films\n1993 comedy films\n1993 films\nHong Kong comedy films"
] |
[
"Grace Slick",
"Visual art"
] |
C_292e7df72849446db2ef827bb12e043c_0
|
Did she release any visual art pieces?
| 1 |
Did Grace Slick release any visual art pieces?
|
Grace Slick
|
After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals, mainly to amuse herself and because doing so made her happy during a difficult period in her life. Soon thereafter, she was approached about writing her memoir, which ultimately became Somebody to Love? A Rock-and-Roll Memoir. Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography. Hesitant at first (because she thought "it was way too cute. Rock-n-Roll draws Rock-n-Roll"), she eventually agreed because she found she enjoyed it, and color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography. An "Alice in Wonderland"-themed painting and various other sketches are scattered throughout the book. Her paintings of Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady were used for the cover art of the album The Best of Hot Tuna. Though Slick has been drawing and painting since she was a child, she admits to not being able to multitask, so did not do much of it while she was focusing on her musical career. A notable exception is the cover art of her first solo album, Manhole, which she signed "Child Type Odd Art by Grace." Slick is not bound by any specific style or medium in her production of visual art and has no interest in developing one. She uses acrylic paints, saying oil takes too long to dry, canvas, pen, ink, scratchboard, pastels, and pencil. Many of her works are mixed media. Her styles range from the children's bookish "Alice in Wonderland" themes to the realism of the rock and roll portraits and scratchboards of animals to the minimalist ink wash styled nudes to a variety of other subjects and styles. The best-selling prints and originals are her various renditions of the white rabbit and the portraits of her colleagues in the music industry. In 2006, the popularity of her "Alice in Wonderland" works led to a partnership with Dark Horse Comics, Inc. that resulted in the release of stationery and journals with the "Wonderland" motif. While critics have variously panned and praised her work, Slick seems indifferent to the criticism. She views her visual artistry as just another extension of the artistic temperament that landed her in the music scene in the first place, as it allows her to continue to produce art in a way that does not require the physical demands of appearing on a stage nightly or traveling with a large group of people. Slick attends many of her art gallery shows across the United States, sometimes attending over 30 shows in a year. While she says she enjoys talking with the people who come to her art shows, she is not a fan of the traveling involved, particularly the flying. At most of her art shows, those who purchase a piece of her art get a photo with Slick, an opportunity to chat, and a personalized autograph on the back of the piece that has been purchased. CANNOTANSWER
|
After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals,
|
Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing; October 30, 1939) is an American artist, painter and retired singer-songwriter. Slick was a key figure in San Francisco's early psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s. With a music career spanning four decades, she first performed with The Great Society, but is best known for her work with Jefferson Airplane and the subsequent successor bands Jefferson Starship and Starship. Slick and Jefferson Airplane first achieved fame with their 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow, which included the top-ten Billboard hits "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love". She provided the lead vocals on both tracks. With Starship, she sang co-lead for two number one hits, "We Built This City" and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". She would also release four solo albums. Slick retired from music in 1990, but continues to be active in the visual arts field.
Early life
Grace Barnett Wing was born October 30, 1939, in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois to Ivan Wilford Wing (1907–1987), of British descent, and Virginia Wing (née Barnett; 1909–1983). Her parents met while they were both students at the University of Washington, and later married. In 1949, her brother Chris was born. Her father, working in the investment banking sector for Weeden and Company, was transferred several times when she was a child, and in addition to the Chicago metropolitan area, she lived in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, before her family finally settled in Palo Alto, California in the early 1950s.
Wing attended Palo Alto Senior High School, then switched to Castilleja School, a private all-girls school in Palo Alto. Following graduation, she attended Finch College in New York City from 1957 to 1958, and the University of Miami in Coral Gables from 1958 to 1959. On August 26, 1961, Wing married Gerald "Jerry" Slick, an aspiring filmmaker, and after the couple briefly moved away from San Francisco, Grace Slick worked as a model at an I. Magnin department store for three years. Slick also started composing music, including a contribution to a short film by Jerry Slick.
Career
1965–1966: The Great Society
In August 1965, Slick read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the newly formed Jefferson Airplane. Despite being situated in the growing musical center of San Francisco, Slick only half-heartedly considered music for a profession until she watched the band live at The Matrix. As a result, Slick (vocals, guitar), accompanied by husband Jerry Slick (drums), Jerry's brother Darby Slick (lead guitar), and David Miner (bass guitar) formed a group called The Great Society. On October 15, 1965, the band made its debut performance at a venue known as the Coffee Gallery, and soon after Slick composed the psychedelic piece "White Rabbit". The song, which she is purported to have written in an hour, is a reflection on the hallucinatory effects of psychedelic drugs; when performed live, it featured a speedier tempo and was an instant favorite among the band's followers. Although Slick was an equal contributor to The Great Society's original material, Darby Slick pushed the band toward becoming a raga-influenced psychedelic act. By late 1965, they had become a popular attraction in the Bay Area. Between October and December 1965, The Great Society entered Golden State Recorders and recorded several tracks under the supervision of Sylvester Stewart. One single emerged from the demos, the Darby Slick-penned "Someone to Love" (the “B” side to "Free Advice") on the locally based Autumn Records subsidiary label "North Beach". Grace Slick supplied vocals, guitar, piano, and recorder.
1966–1972: Jefferson Airplane
During the autumn of 1966, Jefferson Airplane's then singer Signe Toly Anderson decided to leave the band to raise her child, and Jack Casady asked Slick to join them. Slick stated that she joined the Airplane because it was run in a professional manner, unlike the Great Society. With Slick on board, Jefferson Airplane began recording new music, and they turned in a more psychedelic direction from their former folk-rock style. Surrealistic Pillow included new recordings of "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love", both of which became top 10 singles. Jefferson Airplane became one of the most popular bands in the country and earned Slick a position as one of the most prominent female rock musicians of her time. In 1968, Slick performed "Crown of Creation" on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in blackface and ended the performance with a Black Panther raised fist. In an appearance on a 1969 episode of The Dick Cavett Show, she became the first person to say "motherfucker" on television during a performance of "We Can Be Together".
1970–1984: Jefferson Starship and solo career
After Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen decided to leave Jefferson Airplane to focus on their project Hot Tuna, Slick formed Jefferson Starship with Paul Kantner and other bandmates, and also began a string of solo albums with Manhole, followed by Dreams, Welcome to the Wrecking Ball!, and Software. Manhole also featured keyboardist/bassist Pete Sears, who later joined Jefferson Starship in 1974. Sears and Slick penned several early Jefferson Starship songs together, including "Hyperdrive" and "Play On Love". Dreams, which was produced by Ron Frangipane and incorporated many of the ideas she encountered attending twelve-step program meetings, is the most personal of her solo albums and was nominated for a Grammy Award. The song "Do It the Hard Way" from Dreams is one example of Slick's music at the time.
Slick was nicknamed "The Chrome Nun" by David Crosby, who also used the nickname "Baron von Tollbooth" for Kantner. Their nicknames appear as the title of an album she made in 1973 with bandmates Kantner and David Freiberg: Baron von Tollbooth & the Chrome Nun.
1984–1989: Starship and Jefferson Airplane reunion
During the 1980s, while Slick was the only member remaining from Jefferson Airplane in Starship, the band went on to score three chart-topping successes with "We Built This City", "Sara", and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Despite the success, Slick since has spoken negatively about the experience and the music. In 1987, Slick co-hosted The Legendary Ladies of Rock & Roll, for which she also sang backing vocals on "Be My Baby" and "Da Doo Ron Ron". She left Starship in 1988, shortly after the release of No Protection.
In 1989, Slick and her former Jefferson Airplane band members reformed the group. They released a self-titled reunion album, and held a successful tour before disbanding.
1989–present: Retirement
Following the Jefferson Airplane reunion, Slick retired from the music business. During a 1998 interview with VH1 on a Behind the Music documentary featuring Jefferson Airplane, Slick, who was never shy about the idea of getting old, said that the main reason she retired from the music business was, "All rock-and-rollers over the age of 50 look stupid and should retire." In a 2007 interview, she repeated her belief that, "You can do jazz, classical, blues, opera, country until you're 150, but rap and rock and roll are really a way for young people to get that anger out", and, "It's silly to perform a song that has no relevance to the present or expresses feelings you no longer have."
Despite her retirement, Slick has appeared twice with Kantner's revamped version of Jefferson Starship; the first came in 1995 when the band played at Los Angeles's House of Blues, as documented on the live album Deep Space/Virgin Sky. The second was for a post-9/11 gig in late 2001, during which she came on the stage initially covered in black from head to toe in a makeshift burqa. She then removed the burqa to reveal a covering bearing an American flag and the words "Fuck Fear". Her statement to fans on the outfit was: "The outfit is not about Islam, it's about oppression; this flag is not about politics, it's about liberty."
After retiring from music, Slick began painting and drawing. She has done many renditions of her fellow 1960s musicians, such as Janis Joplin, Jerry Garcia, and others. Slick has had a passion for art since she was a child, before she pivoted to music. In 2000, she began displaying and selling her artwork. She attends many of her art shows across the United States. She has generally refrained from engaging in the music business, although she did perform on "Knock Me Out", a track from In Flight, the 1996 solo debut from former 4 Non Blondes singer, and friend of daughter China, Linda Perry. The song was also on the soundtrack to the film The Crow: City of Angels.
Slick published her autobiography, Somebody to Love? A Rock and Roll Memoir, in 1998 and narrated an abridged version of the book as an audiobook. A biography, Grace Slick, The Biography, by Barbara Rowes, was released in 1980 and is currently out of print. In a 2001 USA Today article, Slick said, "I'm in good health and people want to know what I do to be this way ... I don't eat cheese, I don't eat duck—the point is I'm vegan." However, she admitted she's "not strict vegan, because I'm a hedonist pig. If I see a big chocolate cake that is made with eggs, I'll have it."
In 2006, Slick suffered from diverticulitis. After initial surgery, she had a relapse requiring further surgery and a tracheotomy. She was placed in an induced coma for two months and then had to learn to walk again. Also in 2006, Slick gave a speech at the inauguration of the new Virgin America airline, which named their first aircraft Jefferson Airplane. In 2010, Slick co-wrote "Edge of Madness" with singer Michelle Mangione to raise money for remediation efforts following the BP oil spill. Grace also sang background vocals on the song and is clearly audible in the middle of the song singing, "On the edge of madness." In recent years, Slick has made sporadic appearances and has done radio interviews. She also made an appearance at the Grammy Lifetime Achievement awards in 2016.
Personal life
Slick was married to cinematographer and drummer Gerald "Jerry" Slick from 1961 to 1971, then to lighting designer Skip Johnson from 1976 to 1994. She has a daughter, actress China Wing Kantner, born January 25, 1971. China's father is Jefferson Airplane guitarist Paul Kantner, with whom Slick had a relationship from 1969 to 1975.
In 1971, Slick was nearly fatally injured when the car she was driving crashed into the inside of a tunnel in San Francisco. This happened while she was drag racing Jorma Kaukonen and both were driving over 100 miles per hour.
Slick has publicly acknowledged her alcoholism and use of substances including LSD and marijuana. She has discussed this, and her rehabilitation experiences, in her autobiography, various interviews, and several published celebrity addiction and recovery books. The latter include The Courage to Change by Dennis Wholey and The Harder They Fall by Gary Stromberg and Jane Merrill. Her alcoholism became a problem for the band during Jefferson Starship's 1978 European tour. The group had to cancel the first night in Germany because she was too intoxicated to perform, causing the audience to riot. She performed the next night with the band but was so inebriated that she could not sing properly. She also attacked the audience, mocking Germany for losing World War II and groping both female audience members and bandmates. She left the group the next day, and she was "dragged off" a San Francisco game show for abusing the contestants. She was admitted to a detoxification facility at least twice, once during the 1970s at Duffy's in Napa Valley, and once in the 1990s with daughter China.
Legal incidents
President Richard Nixon's daughter Tricia and Slick are both alumnae of Finch College, and Slick was invited to a tea party for the alumnae at the White House in 1969. She invited anarchist Abbie Hoffman to be her escort and planned to spike President Nixon's tea with 600 micrograms of LSD (an enormous amount), but the party had been billed as an "all ladies" event. Hoffman's presence in the waiting line immediately aroused the suspicions of White House security personnel; he claimed to be Slick's "bodyguard and escort", which failed to convince the security personnel, who told him that the event was "strictly for females". Hoffman then took out a black flag with a multicolored marijuana leaf and hung it on the White House gate. Slick declined to attend once Hoffman was denied entry, and the two ran across the street to a waiting car. Slick later speculated that she received the invitation only because it was addressed to "Grace Wing" (her maiden name), and that she never would have been invited if the Nixons had known that she was Grace Slick.
Slick was arrested at least four times for what she has referred to as "TUI" ("talking under the influence") and "drunk mouth". One incident occurred when a police officer encountered her sitting against a tree trunk in the backwoods of Marin County, California, drinking wine, eating bread, and reading poetry. The officer asked what she was doing; she gave a sarcastic response and was arrested and jailed. She was arrested in 1994 for assault with a deadly weapon after pointing an unloaded gun at a police officer. She alleged that the officer had come onto her property without explanation.
Visual art
After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals, mainly to amuse herself and because doing so made her happy during a difficult period in her life. Soon thereafter, she was approached about writing her memoir, which ultimately became Somebody to Love? A Rock-and-Roll Memoir. Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography. Hesitant at first (because she thought "it was way too cute. Rock-n-Roll draws Rock-n-Roll"), she eventually agreed because she found she enjoyed it, and color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography. An Alice in Wonderland-themed painting and various other sketches are scattered throughout the book. Her paintings of Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady were used for the cover art of the 1998 album The Best of Hot Tuna. Though Slick has been drawing and painting since she was a child, she admits to not being able to multitask, so did not do much of it while she was focusing on her music career. A notable exception is the 1974 cover art of her first solo album, Manhole, which she signed "Child Type Odd Art by Grace".
Slick does not always use the same style or medium in her production of visual art and has no interest in doing so. She uses acrylic paints (saying oil paint takes too long to dry), canvas, pen, ink, scratchboard, pastels, and pencil. Many of her works are mixed media. Her styles include the children's bookish Alice in Wonderland themes, realistic rock and roll portraits, scratchboards of animals, minimalist ink wash-styled nudes and a variety of other subjects and styles.
The best-selling prints and originals are her various renditions of the White Rabbit and the portraits of her colleagues in the music industry. In 2006, the popularity of her Alice in Wonderland works led to a partnership with Dark Horse Comics, Inc. that resulted in the release of stationery and journals with the Wonderland motif.
While critics have variously panned and praised her work, Slick seems indifferent to the criticism. She views her visual artistry as just another extension of the artistic temperament that landed her in the music business in the first place, as it allows her to continue to produce art in a way that does not require the physical demands of appearing on a stage nightly or traveling with a large group of people.
Interviewed in 2007, Slick attends many of her art gallery shows across the United States, sometimes attending more than 30 shows in a year. While she says she enjoys talking with the people who come to her art shows, she is not a fan of the traveling involved, particularly the flying.
Legacy
Slick, famous as a rock 'n' roll singer, was one of the earliest female rock stars alongside her close contemporary Janis Joplin, and was an important figure in the development of rock music in the late 1960s. Her distinctive vocal style and striking stage presence exerted influence on other female performers, including Stevie Nicks, Patti Smith, and Terri Nunn (of "Berlin" fame).
Between 1985 and 1999, Slick was the oldest female vocalist on a Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping single. "We Built This City" reached number one on November 16, 1985, shortly after her 46th birthday. Previously, the distinction of the oldest female vocalist with a chart-topping single was Tina Turner, who at age 44 had 1984's number-one smash, "What's Love Got To Do With It". Turner (who is one month younger than Slick) turned 45 two months after the song topped the charts. Slick broke her own record in April 1987 at age 47 when "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" topped the US charts. Her record stood for 12 years but was ultimately broken by Cher, who was 53 in 1999 when "Believe" hit number one.
Slick did vocals for a piece known as "Jazz Numbers", a series of animated shorts about the numbers two through 10 (a number-one short was never made), which aired on Sesame Street. The segment for the number two appeared in the first episode of the first season of Sesame Street, November 10, 1969. She was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1981 as Best Rock Female Vocalist for her solo album Dreams. She also performed the song "Panda" at the 1990 March for the Animals.
She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 as a member of Jefferson Airplane.
In 1993, she narrated the Stephen King short story "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band" on his Nightmares & Dreamscapes audiobook.
She was ranked number 20 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock N Roll in 1999.
In 2017, Grace Slick licensed the Starship song "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" to Chick-fil-A to use in a TV commercial, but because she disagrees with Chick-fil-A's corporate views on same-sex marriage she gave all of the proceeds of that deal to Lambda Legal, an organization that works to advance the civil rights of LGBTQ people and everyone living with HIV.
Discography
with Paul Kantner
Other appearances
References
External links
Jefferson Airplane official website
Episode of Biography about Grace Slick
Area Arts, Grace Slick's US art distributor
Counterculture Meets Mall Culture for Grace Slick
1939 births
20th-century American women singers
American contraltos
American women singer-songwriters
20th-century American painters
American people of English descent
American people of Norwegian descent
American people of Scottish descent
American people of Swedish descent
American women rock singers
American rock songwriters
Artists from Evanston, Illinois
Castilleja School alumni
Finch College alumni
Jefferson Airplane members
Jefferson Starship members
Living people
Musicians from Evanston, Illinois
Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area
Palo Alto High School alumni
Psychedelic rock musicians
University of Miami alumni
Writers from Evanston, Illinois
20th-century American singers
21st-century American painters
Singer-songwriters from California
Singer-songwriters from Illinois
| true |
[
"is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by Unisonshift and was released on December 23, 2004, for Windows. The game was described by the development team as a . The gameplay in Peace@Pieces follows a linear plot line, which offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the main female characters.\n\nDevelopment\nPeace@Pieces was the tenth project developed by Unisonshift, and is developed as an adult game much like previous titles such as Innocent Eye's. Planning for the game was headed by @Pieces. Art direction and character designs were provided by Noizi Ito, known for her work on Shakugan no Shana, the Haruhi Suzumiya franchise, and the later Nanatsuiro Drops. The scenario was provided solely by Tamaki Ichikawa. Music in the game was solely composed by Ryō Mizutsuki, known for her later contributions on BaseSon's Koihime Musō, and Key Sounds Label's Piano no Mori.\n\nRelease history\nPeace@Pieces was first introduced to the public on December 23, 2004, as a DVD-ROM playable on only a Microsoft Windows PC, and was subsequently followed by a fan disc, titled One More@Pieces, released on August 9, 2005. It was later followed by a second release, titled Peace@Pieces + One More@Pieces Special Memorial Edition, released on November 22, 2007, containing the game itself and the fan disc.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOfficial Peace@Pieces visual novel website \n\n2004 video games\nBishōjo games\nEroge\nJapan-exclusive video games\nRomance video games\nSeinen manga\nVideo games developed in Japan\nVisual novels\nWindows games\nWindows-only games",
"Hélène Rochette is a Québécois artist in visual arts oriented towards the field of sculpture.\n\nIn 1982, she obtained a bachelor's degree in visual arts from the Université Laval in the City of Québec.\n\nShe created several public art pieces, including Les fluides for the Montreal Metro at the Montmorency station.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOfficial website\nMontreal Metro - Hélène Rochette\n\nArtists from Quebec\nUniversité Laval alumni\nCanadian sculptors\nLiving people\nYear of birth missing (living people)"
] |
[
"Grace Slick",
"Visual art",
"Did she release any visual art pieces?",
"After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals,"
] |
C_292e7df72849446db2ef827bb12e043c_0
|
Did she have any success with her art?
| 2 |
Did Grace Slick have any success with her art?
|
Grace Slick
|
After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals, mainly to amuse herself and because doing so made her happy during a difficult period in her life. Soon thereafter, she was approached about writing her memoir, which ultimately became Somebody to Love? A Rock-and-Roll Memoir. Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography. Hesitant at first (because she thought "it was way too cute. Rock-n-Roll draws Rock-n-Roll"), she eventually agreed because she found she enjoyed it, and color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography. An "Alice in Wonderland"-themed painting and various other sketches are scattered throughout the book. Her paintings of Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady were used for the cover art of the album The Best of Hot Tuna. Though Slick has been drawing and painting since she was a child, she admits to not being able to multitask, so did not do much of it while she was focusing on her musical career. A notable exception is the cover art of her first solo album, Manhole, which she signed "Child Type Odd Art by Grace." Slick is not bound by any specific style or medium in her production of visual art and has no interest in developing one. She uses acrylic paints, saying oil takes too long to dry, canvas, pen, ink, scratchboard, pastels, and pencil. Many of her works are mixed media. Her styles range from the children's bookish "Alice in Wonderland" themes to the realism of the rock and roll portraits and scratchboards of animals to the minimalist ink wash styled nudes to a variety of other subjects and styles. The best-selling prints and originals are her various renditions of the white rabbit and the portraits of her colleagues in the music industry. In 2006, the popularity of her "Alice in Wonderland" works led to a partnership with Dark Horse Comics, Inc. that resulted in the release of stationery and journals with the "Wonderland" motif. While critics have variously panned and praised her work, Slick seems indifferent to the criticism. She views her visual artistry as just another extension of the artistic temperament that landed her in the music scene in the first place, as it allows her to continue to produce art in a way that does not require the physical demands of appearing on a stage nightly or traveling with a large group of people. Slick attends many of her art gallery shows across the United States, sometimes attending over 30 shows in a year. While she says she enjoys talking with the people who come to her art shows, she is not a fan of the traveling involved, particularly the flying. At most of her art shows, those who purchase a piece of her art get a photo with Slick, an opportunity to chat, and a personalized autograph on the back of the piece that has been purchased. CANNOTANSWER
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Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography.
|
Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing; October 30, 1939) is an American artist, painter and retired singer-songwriter. Slick was a key figure in San Francisco's early psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s. With a music career spanning four decades, she first performed with The Great Society, but is best known for her work with Jefferson Airplane and the subsequent successor bands Jefferson Starship and Starship. Slick and Jefferson Airplane first achieved fame with their 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow, which included the top-ten Billboard hits "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love". She provided the lead vocals on both tracks. With Starship, she sang co-lead for two number one hits, "We Built This City" and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". She would also release four solo albums. Slick retired from music in 1990, but continues to be active in the visual arts field.
Early life
Grace Barnett Wing was born October 30, 1939, in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois to Ivan Wilford Wing (1907–1987), of British descent, and Virginia Wing (née Barnett; 1909–1983). Her parents met while they were both students at the University of Washington, and later married. In 1949, her brother Chris was born. Her father, working in the investment banking sector for Weeden and Company, was transferred several times when she was a child, and in addition to the Chicago metropolitan area, she lived in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, before her family finally settled in Palo Alto, California in the early 1950s.
Wing attended Palo Alto Senior High School, then switched to Castilleja School, a private all-girls school in Palo Alto. Following graduation, she attended Finch College in New York City from 1957 to 1958, and the University of Miami in Coral Gables from 1958 to 1959. On August 26, 1961, Wing married Gerald "Jerry" Slick, an aspiring filmmaker, and after the couple briefly moved away from San Francisco, Grace Slick worked as a model at an I. Magnin department store for three years. Slick also started composing music, including a contribution to a short film by Jerry Slick.
Career
1965–1966: The Great Society
In August 1965, Slick read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the newly formed Jefferson Airplane. Despite being situated in the growing musical center of San Francisco, Slick only half-heartedly considered music for a profession until she watched the band live at The Matrix. As a result, Slick (vocals, guitar), accompanied by husband Jerry Slick (drums), Jerry's brother Darby Slick (lead guitar), and David Miner (bass guitar) formed a group called The Great Society. On October 15, 1965, the band made its debut performance at a venue known as the Coffee Gallery, and soon after Slick composed the psychedelic piece "White Rabbit". The song, which she is purported to have written in an hour, is a reflection on the hallucinatory effects of psychedelic drugs; when performed live, it featured a speedier tempo and was an instant favorite among the band's followers. Although Slick was an equal contributor to The Great Society's original material, Darby Slick pushed the band toward becoming a raga-influenced psychedelic act. By late 1965, they had become a popular attraction in the Bay Area. Between October and December 1965, The Great Society entered Golden State Recorders and recorded several tracks under the supervision of Sylvester Stewart. One single emerged from the demos, the Darby Slick-penned "Someone to Love" (the “B” side to "Free Advice") on the locally based Autumn Records subsidiary label "North Beach". Grace Slick supplied vocals, guitar, piano, and recorder.
1966–1972: Jefferson Airplane
During the autumn of 1966, Jefferson Airplane's then singer Signe Toly Anderson decided to leave the band to raise her child, and Jack Casady asked Slick to join them. Slick stated that she joined the Airplane because it was run in a professional manner, unlike the Great Society. With Slick on board, Jefferson Airplane began recording new music, and they turned in a more psychedelic direction from their former folk-rock style. Surrealistic Pillow included new recordings of "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love", both of which became top 10 singles. Jefferson Airplane became one of the most popular bands in the country and earned Slick a position as one of the most prominent female rock musicians of her time. In 1968, Slick performed "Crown of Creation" on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in blackface and ended the performance with a Black Panther raised fist. In an appearance on a 1969 episode of The Dick Cavett Show, she became the first person to say "motherfucker" on television during a performance of "We Can Be Together".
1970–1984: Jefferson Starship and solo career
After Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen decided to leave Jefferson Airplane to focus on their project Hot Tuna, Slick formed Jefferson Starship with Paul Kantner and other bandmates, and also began a string of solo albums with Manhole, followed by Dreams, Welcome to the Wrecking Ball!, and Software. Manhole also featured keyboardist/bassist Pete Sears, who later joined Jefferson Starship in 1974. Sears and Slick penned several early Jefferson Starship songs together, including "Hyperdrive" and "Play On Love". Dreams, which was produced by Ron Frangipane and incorporated many of the ideas she encountered attending twelve-step program meetings, is the most personal of her solo albums and was nominated for a Grammy Award. The song "Do It the Hard Way" from Dreams is one example of Slick's music at the time.
Slick was nicknamed "The Chrome Nun" by David Crosby, who also used the nickname "Baron von Tollbooth" for Kantner. Their nicknames appear as the title of an album she made in 1973 with bandmates Kantner and David Freiberg: Baron von Tollbooth & the Chrome Nun.
1984–1989: Starship and Jefferson Airplane reunion
During the 1980s, while Slick was the only member remaining from Jefferson Airplane in Starship, the band went on to score three chart-topping successes with "We Built This City", "Sara", and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Despite the success, Slick since has spoken negatively about the experience and the music. In 1987, Slick co-hosted The Legendary Ladies of Rock & Roll, for which she also sang backing vocals on "Be My Baby" and "Da Doo Ron Ron". She left Starship in 1988, shortly after the release of No Protection.
In 1989, Slick and her former Jefferson Airplane band members reformed the group. They released a self-titled reunion album, and held a successful tour before disbanding.
1989–present: Retirement
Following the Jefferson Airplane reunion, Slick retired from the music business. During a 1998 interview with VH1 on a Behind the Music documentary featuring Jefferson Airplane, Slick, who was never shy about the idea of getting old, said that the main reason she retired from the music business was, "All rock-and-rollers over the age of 50 look stupid and should retire." In a 2007 interview, she repeated her belief that, "You can do jazz, classical, blues, opera, country until you're 150, but rap and rock and roll are really a way for young people to get that anger out", and, "It's silly to perform a song that has no relevance to the present or expresses feelings you no longer have."
Despite her retirement, Slick has appeared twice with Kantner's revamped version of Jefferson Starship; the first came in 1995 when the band played at Los Angeles's House of Blues, as documented on the live album Deep Space/Virgin Sky. The second was for a post-9/11 gig in late 2001, during which she came on the stage initially covered in black from head to toe in a makeshift burqa. She then removed the burqa to reveal a covering bearing an American flag and the words "Fuck Fear". Her statement to fans on the outfit was: "The outfit is not about Islam, it's about oppression; this flag is not about politics, it's about liberty."
After retiring from music, Slick began painting and drawing. She has done many renditions of her fellow 1960s musicians, such as Janis Joplin, Jerry Garcia, and others. Slick has had a passion for art since she was a child, before she pivoted to music. In 2000, she began displaying and selling her artwork. She attends many of her art shows across the United States. She has generally refrained from engaging in the music business, although she did perform on "Knock Me Out", a track from In Flight, the 1996 solo debut from former 4 Non Blondes singer, and friend of daughter China, Linda Perry. The song was also on the soundtrack to the film The Crow: City of Angels.
Slick published her autobiography, Somebody to Love? A Rock and Roll Memoir, in 1998 and narrated an abridged version of the book as an audiobook. A biography, Grace Slick, The Biography, by Barbara Rowes, was released in 1980 and is currently out of print. In a 2001 USA Today article, Slick said, "I'm in good health and people want to know what I do to be this way ... I don't eat cheese, I don't eat duck—the point is I'm vegan." However, she admitted she's "not strict vegan, because I'm a hedonist pig. If I see a big chocolate cake that is made with eggs, I'll have it."
In 2006, Slick suffered from diverticulitis. After initial surgery, she had a relapse requiring further surgery and a tracheotomy. She was placed in an induced coma for two months and then had to learn to walk again. Also in 2006, Slick gave a speech at the inauguration of the new Virgin America airline, which named their first aircraft Jefferson Airplane. In 2010, Slick co-wrote "Edge of Madness" with singer Michelle Mangione to raise money for remediation efforts following the BP oil spill. Grace also sang background vocals on the song and is clearly audible in the middle of the song singing, "On the edge of madness." In recent years, Slick has made sporadic appearances and has done radio interviews. She also made an appearance at the Grammy Lifetime Achievement awards in 2016.
Personal life
Slick was married to cinematographer and drummer Gerald "Jerry" Slick from 1961 to 1971, then to lighting designer Skip Johnson from 1976 to 1994. She has a daughter, actress China Wing Kantner, born January 25, 1971. China's father is Jefferson Airplane guitarist Paul Kantner, with whom Slick had a relationship from 1969 to 1975.
In 1971, Slick was nearly fatally injured when the car she was driving crashed into the inside of a tunnel in San Francisco. This happened while she was drag racing Jorma Kaukonen and both were driving over 100 miles per hour.
Slick has publicly acknowledged her alcoholism and use of substances including LSD and marijuana. She has discussed this, and her rehabilitation experiences, in her autobiography, various interviews, and several published celebrity addiction and recovery books. The latter include The Courage to Change by Dennis Wholey and The Harder They Fall by Gary Stromberg and Jane Merrill. Her alcoholism became a problem for the band during Jefferson Starship's 1978 European tour. The group had to cancel the first night in Germany because she was too intoxicated to perform, causing the audience to riot. She performed the next night with the band but was so inebriated that she could not sing properly. She also attacked the audience, mocking Germany for losing World War II and groping both female audience members and bandmates. She left the group the next day, and she was "dragged off" a San Francisco game show for abusing the contestants. She was admitted to a detoxification facility at least twice, once during the 1970s at Duffy's in Napa Valley, and once in the 1990s with daughter China.
Legal incidents
President Richard Nixon's daughter Tricia and Slick are both alumnae of Finch College, and Slick was invited to a tea party for the alumnae at the White House in 1969. She invited anarchist Abbie Hoffman to be her escort and planned to spike President Nixon's tea with 600 micrograms of LSD (an enormous amount), but the party had been billed as an "all ladies" event. Hoffman's presence in the waiting line immediately aroused the suspicions of White House security personnel; he claimed to be Slick's "bodyguard and escort", which failed to convince the security personnel, who told him that the event was "strictly for females". Hoffman then took out a black flag with a multicolored marijuana leaf and hung it on the White House gate. Slick declined to attend once Hoffman was denied entry, and the two ran across the street to a waiting car. Slick later speculated that she received the invitation only because it was addressed to "Grace Wing" (her maiden name), and that she never would have been invited if the Nixons had known that she was Grace Slick.
Slick was arrested at least four times for what she has referred to as "TUI" ("talking under the influence") and "drunk mouth". One incident occurred when a police officer encountered her sitting against a tree trunk in the backwoods of Marin County, California, drinking wine, eating bread, and reading poetry. The officer asked what she was doing; she gave a sarcastic response and was arrested and jailed. She was arrested in 1994 for assault with a deadly weapon after pointing an unloaded gun at a police officer. She alleged that the officer had come onto her property without explanation.
Visual art
After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals, mainly to amuse herself and because doing so made her happy during a difficult period in her life. Soon thereafter, she was approached about writing her memoir, which ultimately became Somebody to Love? A Rock-and-Roll Memoir. Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography. Hesitant at first (because she thought "it was way too cute. Rock-n-Roll draws Rock-n-Roll"), she eventually agreed because she found she enjoyed it, and color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography. An Alice in Wonderland-themed painting and various other sketches are scattered throughout the book. Her paintings of Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady were used for the cover art of the 1998 album The Best of Hot Tuna. Though Slick has been drawing and painting since she was a child, she admits to not being able to multitask, so did not do much of it while she was focusing on her music career. A notable exception is the 1974 cover art of her first solo album, Manhole, which she signed "Child Type Odd Art by Grace".
Slick does not always use the same style or medium in her production of visual art and has no interest in doing so. She uses acrylic paints (saying oil paint takes too long to dry), canvas, pen, ink, scratchboard, pastels, and pencil. Many of her works are mixed media. Her styles include the children's bookish Alice in Wonderland themes, realistic rock and roll portraits, scratchboards of animals, minimalist ink wash-styled nudes and a variety of other subjects and styles.
The best-selling prints and originals are her various renditions of the White Rabbit and the portraits of her colleagues in the music industry. In 2006, the popularity of her Alice in Wonderland works led to a partnership with Dark Horse Comics, Inc. that resulted in the release of stationery and journals with the Wonderland motif.
While critics have variously panned and praised her work, Slick seems indifferent to the criticism. She views her visual artistry as just another extension of the artistic temperament that landed her in the music business in the first place, as it allows her to continue to produce art in a way that does not require the physical demands of appearing on a stage nightly or traveling with a large group of people.
Interviewed in 2007, Slick attends many of her art gallery shows across the United States, sometimes attending more than 30 shows in a year. While she says she enjoys talking with the people who come to her art shows, she is not a fan of the traveling involved, particularly the flying.
Legacy
Slick, famous as a rock 'n' roll singer, was one of the earliest female rock stars alongside her close contemporary Janis Joplin, and was an important figure in the development of rock music in the late 1960s. Her distinctive vocal style and striking stage presence exerted influence on other female performers, including Stevie Nicks, Patti Smith, and Terri Nunn (of "Berlin" fame).
Between 1985 and 1999, Slick was the oldest female vocalist on a Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping single. "We Built This City" reached number one on November 16, 1985, shortly after her 46th birthday. Previously, the distinction of the oldest female vocalist with a chart-topping single was Tina Turner, who at age 44 had 1984's number-one smash, "What's Love Got To Do With It". Turner (who is one month younger than Slick) turned 45 two months after the song topped the charts. Slick broke her own record in April 1987 at age 47 when "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" topped the US charts. Her record stood for 12 years but was ultimately broken by Cher, who was 53 in 1999 when "Believe" hit number one.
Slick did vocals for a piece known as "Jazz Numbers", a series of animated shorts about the numbers two through 10 (a number-one short was never made), which aired on Sesame Street. The segment for the number two appeared in the first episode of the first season of Sesame Street, November 10, 1969. She was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1981 as Best Rock Female Vocalist for her solo album Dreams. She also performed the song "Panda" at the 1990 March for the Animals.
She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 as a member of Jefferson Airplane.
In 1993, she narrated the Stephen King short story "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band" on his Nightmares & Dreamscapes audiobook.
She was ranked number 20 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock N Roll in 1999.
In 2017, Grace Slick licensed the Starship song "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" to Chick-fil-A to use in a TV commercial, but because she disagrees with Chick-fil-A's corporate views on same-sex marriage she gave all of the proceeds of that deal to Lambda Legal, an organization that works to advance the civil rights of LGBTQ people and everyone living with HIV.
Discography
with Paul Kantner
Other appearances
References
External links
Jefferson Airplane official website
Episode of Biography about Grace Slick
Area Arts, Grace Slick's US art distributor
Counterculture Meets Mall Culture for Grace Slick
1939 births
20th-century American women singers
American contraltos
American women singer-songwriters
20th-century American painters
American people of English descent
American people of Norwegian descent
American people of Scottish descent
American people of Swedish descent
American women rock singers
American rock songwriters
Artists from Evanston, Illinois
Castilleja School alumni
Finch College alumni
Jefferson Airplane members
Jefferson Starship members
Living people
Musicians from Evanston, Illinois
Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area
Palo Alto High School alumni
Psychedelic rock musicians
University of Miami alumni
Writers from Evanston, Illinois
20th-century American singers
21st-century American painters
Singer-songwriters from California
Singer-songwriters from Illinois
| true |
[
"Magalene Wilson (1898–2001), also known as Magdalene Wilson, was an American artist. She is associated with the Gee's Bend quilting collective. Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and is included in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.\n\nLife \nWilson was close friends with Martha Jane Pettway and Loretta Pettway's grandmother Prissy. She did not have any children. She owned her land and frequently let her neighbors farm on it. She was generous with her neighbors and owned many cats. \n\nShe retired to a community in Mobile, Alabama, but remained self-sufficient and independent.\n\nWork \nAlthough her friends and neighbors often quilted communally, Wilson pieced and sewed her quilts by herself. This allowed her the space and time to quilt meticulously and with tremendous detail.\n\nReferences \n\n1898 births\n2001 deaths\nQuilters\nAmerican centenarians\nWomen centenarians",
"Marysole Wörner Baz (born August 17, 1936 in Mexico City - June 22, 2014) was a Mexican painter, engraver and sculptor.\n\nLife\nShe was born in Mexico City. As a child her parents gave her pens to sketch with, because a pencil can be erased and corrected. She had and did not want any formal training.\n\nShe initially launched her career in Paris and she received some attention. She was self-taught and she mixed with older foreign artists that kept her up to date with Mexican visual arts. It also gave her the chance to develop a style quite different from other contemporary artists.\n\nBaz's contemporaries included the “Generación de la Ruptura” including Manuel Felguérez, Vicente Rojo Almazán, Lilia Carrillo and Alberto Gironella. However she was more akin to the European artists living in Mexico, like Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo, Vlady, Mathias Goeritz, Francisco Moreno Capdevilla and Benito Messeguer.\n\nHer success and her expanding knowledge of different media—from painting to drawing and sculpture was limited by her alcoholism. Rehabilitation in the early seventies gave her access to exhibitions in the (Palacio de Bellas Artes, Museo de Arte Moderno, Museo Universitario del Chopo and to international collectors.\n\nFrom her first individual exhibition, in 1955, and throughout her more than five decades work, she explored diverse media, kinetic art and installation art.\n\nBaz died in 2014.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Additional info and gallery\n\n1936 births\nLiving people\nMexican sculptors\n20th-century Mexican painters\n21st-century Mexican painters\n20th-century sculptors\n21st-century sculptors\nMexican women painters\nArtists from Mexico City\n20th-century Mexican women artists\n21st-century Mexican women artists\nMexican people of German descent"
] |
[
"Grace Slick",
"Visual art",
"Did she release any visual art pieces?",
"After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals,",
"Did she have any success with her art?",
"Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography."
] |
C_292e7df72849446db2ef827bb12e043c_0
|
What did she submit to be included?
| 3 |
What did Grace Slick submit to be included in the autobiography?
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Grace Slick
|
After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals, mainly to amuse herself and because doing so made her happy during a difficult period in her life. Soon thereafter, she was approached about writing her memoir, which ultimately became Somebody to Love? A Rock-and-Roll Memoir. Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography. Hesitant at first (because she thought "it was way too cute. Rock-n-Roll draws Rock-n-Roll"), she eventually agreed because she found she enjoyed it, and color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography. An "Alice in Wonderland"-themed painting and various other sketches are scattered throughout the book. Her paintings of Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady were used for the cover art of the album The Best of Hot Tuna. Though Slick has been drawing and painting since she was a child, she admits to not being able to multitask, so did not do much of it while she was focusing on her musical career. A notable exception is the cover art of her first solo album, Manhole, which she signed "Child Type Odd Art by Grace." Slick is not bound by any specific style or medium in her production of visual art and has no interest in developing one. She uses acrylic paints, saying oil takes too long to dry, canvas, pen, ink, scratchboard, pastels, and pencil. Many of her works are mixed media. Her styles range from the children's bookish "Alice in Wonderland" themes to the realism of the rock and roll portraits and scratchboards of animals to the minimalist ink wash styled nudes to a variety of other subjects and styles. The best-selling prints and originals are her various renditions of the white rabbit and the portraits of her colleagues in the music industry. In 2006, the popularity of her "Alice in Wonderland" works led to a partnership with Dark Horse Comics, Inc. that resulted in the release of stationery and journals with the "Wonderland" motif. While critics have variously panned and praised her work, Slick seems indifferent to the criticism. She views her visual artistry as just another extension of the artistic temperament that landed her in the music scene in the first place, as it allows her to continue to produce art in a way that does not require the physical demands of appearing on a stage nightly or traveling with a large group of people. Slick attends many of her art gallery shows across the United States, sometimes attending over 30 shows in a year. While she says she enjoys talking with the people who come to her art shows, she is not a fan of the traveling involved, particularly the flying. At most of her art shows, those who purchase a piece of her art get a photo with Slick, an opportunity to chat, and a personalized autograph on the back of the piece that has been purchased. CANNOTANSWER
|
color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography.
|
Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing; October 30, 1939) is an American artist, painter and retired singer-songwriter. Slick was a key figure in San Francisco's early psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s. With a music career spanning four decades, she first performed with The Great Society, but is best known for her work with Jefferson Airplane and the subsequent successor bands Jefferson Starship and Starship. Slick and Jefferson Airplane first achieved fame with their 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow, which included the top-ten Billboard hits "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love". She provided the lead vocals on both tracks. With Starship, she sang co-lead for two number one hits, "We Built This City" and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". She would also release four solo albums. Slick retired from music in 1990, but continues to be active in the visual arts field.
Early life
Grace Barnett Wing was born October 30, 1939, in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois to Ivan Wilford Wing (1907–1987), of British descent, and Virginia Wing (née Barnett; 1909–1983). Her parents met while they were both students at the University of Washington, and later married. In 1949, her brother Chris was born. Her father, working in the investment banking sector for Weeden and Company, was transferred several times when she was a child, and in addition to the Chicago metropolitan area, she lived in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, before her family finally settled in Palo Alto, California in the early 1950s.
Wing attended Palo Alto Senior High School, then switched to Castilleja School, a private all-girls school in Palo Alto. Following graduation, she attended Finch College in New York City from 1957 to 1958, and the University of Miami in Coral Gables from 1958 to 1959. On August 26, 1961, Wing married Gerald "Jerry" Slick, an aspiring filmmaker, and after the couple briefly moved away from San Francisco, Grace Slick worked as a model at an I. Magnin department store for three years. Slick also started composing music, including a contribution to a short film by Jerry Slick.
Career
1965–1966: The Great Society
In August 1965, Slick read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the newly formed Jefferson Airplane. Despite being situated in the growing musical center of San Francisco, Slick only half-heartedly considered music for a profession until she watched the band live at The Matrix. As a result, Slick (vocals, guitar), accompanied by husband Jerry Slick (drums), Jerry's brother Darby Slick (lead guitar), and David Miner (bass guitar) formed a group called The Great Society. On October 15, 1965, the band made its debut performance at a venue known as the Coffee Gallery, and soon after Slick composed the psychedelic piece "White Rabbit". The song, which she is purported to have written in an hour, is a reflection on the hallucinatory effects of psychedelic drugs; when performed live, it featured a speedier tempo and was an instant favorite among the band's followers. Although Slick was an equal contributor to The Great Society's original material, Darby Slick pushed the band toward becoming a raga-influenced psychedelic act. By late 1965, they had become a popular attraction in the Bay Area. Between October and December 1965, The Great Society entered Golden State Recorders and recorded several tracks under the supervision of Sylvester Stewart. One single emerged from the demos, the Darby Slick-penned "Someone to Love" (the “B” side to "Free Advice") on the locally based Autumn Records subsidiary label "North Beach". Grace Slick supplied vocals, guitar, piano, and recorder.
1966–1972: Jefferson Airplane
During the autumn of 1966, Jefferson Airplane's then singer Signe Toly Anderson decided to leave the band to raise her child, and Jack Casady asked Slick to join them. Slick stated that she joined the Airplane because it was run in a professional manner, unlike the Great Society. With Slick on board, Jefferson Airplane began recording new music, and they turned in a more psychedelic direction from their former folk-rock style. Surrealistic Pillow included new recordings of "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love", both of which became top 10 singles. Jefferson Airplane became one of the most popular bands in the country and earned Slick a position as one of the most prominent female rock musicians of her time. In 1968, Slick performed "Crown of Creation" on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in blackface and ended the performance with a Black Panther raised fist. In an appearance on a 1969 episode of The Dick Cavett Show, she became the first person to say "motherfucker" on television during a performance of "We Can Be Together".
1970–1984: Jefferson Starship and solo career
After Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen decided to leave Jefferson Airplane to focus on their project Hot Tuna, Slick formed Jefferson Starship with Paul Kantner and other bandmates, and also began a string of solo albums with Manhole, followed by Dreams, Welcome to the Wrecking Ball!, and Software. Manhole also featured keyboardist/bassist Pete Sears, who later joined Jefferson Starship in 1974. Sears and Slick penned several early Jefferson Starship songs together, including "Hyperdrive" and "Play On Love". Dreams, which was produced by Ron Frangipane and incorporated many of the ideas she encountered attending twelve-step program meetings, is the most personal of her solo albums and was nominated for a Grammy Award. The song "Do It the Hard Way" from Dreams is one example of Slick's music at the time.
Slick was nicknamed "The Chrome Nun" by David Crosby, who also used the nickname "Baron von Tollbooth" for Kantner. Their nicknames appear as the title of an album she made in 1973 with bandmates Kantner and David Freiberg: Baron von Tollbooth & the Chrome Nun.
1984–1989: Starship and Jefferson Airplane reunion
During the 1980s, while Slick was the only member remaining from Jefferson Airplane in Starship, the band went on to score three chart-topping successes with "We Built This City", "Sara", and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Despite the success, Slick since has spoken negatively about the experience and the music. In 1987, Slick co-hosted The Legendary Ladies of Rock & Roll, for which she also sang backing vocals on "Be My Baby" and "Da Doo Ron Ron". She left Starship in 1988, shortly after the release of No Protection.
In 1989, Slick and her former Jefferson Airplane band members reformed the group. They released a self-titled reunion album, and held a successful tour before disbanding.
1989–present: Retirement
Following the Jefferson Airplane reunion, Slick retired from the music business. During a 1998 interview with VH1 on a Behind the Music documentary featuring Jefferson Airplane, Slick, who was never shy about the idea of getting old, said that the main reason she retired from the music business was, "All rock-and-rollers over the age of 50 look stupid and should retire." In a 2007 interview, she repeated her belief that, "You can do jazz, classical, blues, opera, country until you're 150, but rap and rock and roll are really a way for young people to get that anger out", and, "It's silly to perform a song that has no relevance to the present or expresses feelings you no longer have."
Despite her retirement, Slick has appeared twice with Kantner's revamped version of Jefferson Starship; the first came in 1995 when the band played at Los Angeles's House of Blues, as documented on the live album Deep Space/Virgin Sky. The second was for a post-9/11 gig in late 2001, during which she came on the stage initially covered in black from head to toe in a makeshift burqa. She then removed the burqa to reveal a covering bearing an American flag and the words "Fuck Fear". Her statement to fans on the outfit was: "The outfit is not about Islam, it's about oppression; this flag is not about politics, it's about liberty."
After retiring from music, Slick began painting and drawing. She has done many renditions of her fellow 1960s musicians, such as Janis Joplin, Jerry Garcia, and others. Slick has had a passion for art since she was a child, before she pivoted to music. In 2000, she began displaying and selling her artwork. She attends many of her art shows across the United States. She has generally refrained from engaging in the music business, although she did perform on "Knock Me Out", a track from In Flight, the 1996 solo debut from former 4 Non Blondes singer, and friend of daughter China, Linda Perry. The song was also on the soundtrack to the film The Crow: City of Angels.
Slick published her autobiography, Somebody to Love? A Rock and Roll Memoir, in 1998 and narrated an abridged version of the book as an audiobook. A biography, Grace Slick, The Biography, by Barbara Rowes, was released in 1980 and is currently out of print. In a 2001 USA Today article, Slick said, "I'm in good health and people want to know what I do to be this way ... I don't eat cheese, I don't eat duck—the point is I'm vegan." However, she admitted she's "not strict vegan, because I'm a hedonist pig. If I see a big chocolate cake that is made with eggs, I'll have it."
In 2006, Slick suffered from diverticulitis. After initial surgery, she had a relapse requiring further surgery and a tracheotomy. She was placed in an induced coma for two months and then had to learn to walk again. Also in 2006, Slick gave a speech at the inauguration of the new Virgin America airline, which named their first aircraft Jefferson Airplane. In 2010, Slick co-wrote "Edge of Madness" with singer Michelle Mangione to raise money for remediation efforts following the BP oil spill. Grace also sang background vocals on the song and is clearly audible in the middle of the song singing, "On the edge of madness." In recent years, Slick has made sporadic appearances and has done radio interviews. She also made an appearance at the Grammy Lifetime Achievement awards in 2016.
Personal life
Slick was married to cinematographer and drummer Gerald "Jerry" Slick from 1961 to 1971, then to lighting designer Skip Johnson from 1976 to 1994. She has a daughter, actress China Wing Kantner, born January 25, 1971. China's father is Jefferson Airplane guitarist Paul Kantner, with whom Slick had a relationship from 1969 to 1975.
In 1971, Slick was nearly fatally injured when the car she was driving crashed into the inside of a tunnel in San Francisco. This happened while she was drag racing Jorma Kaukonen and both were driving over 100 miles per hour.
Slick has publicly acknowledged her alcoholism and use of substances including LSD and marijuana. She has discussed this, and her rehabilitation experiences, in her autobiography, various interviews, and several published celebrity addiction and recovery books. The latter include The Courage to Change by Dennis Wholey and The Harder They Fall by Gary Stromberg and Jane Merrill. Her alcoholism became a problem for the band during Jefferson Starship's 1978 European tour. The group had to cancel the first night in Germany because she was too intoxicated to perform, causing the audience to riot. She performed the next night with the band but was so inebriated that she could not sing properly. She also attacked the audience, mocking Germany for losing World War II and groping both female audience members and bandmates. She left the group the next day, and she was "dragged off" a San Francisco game show for abusing the contestants. She was admitted to a detoxification facility at least twice, once during the 1970s at Duffy's in Napa Valley, and once in the 1990s with daughter China.
Legal incidents
President Richard Nixon's daughter Tricia and Slick are both alumnae of Finch College, and Slick was invited to a tea party for the alumnae at the White House in 1969. She invited anarchist Abbie Hoffman to be her escort and planned to spike President Nixon's tea with 600 micrograms of LSD (an enormous amount), but the party had been billed as an "all ladies" event. Hoffman's presence in the waiting line immediately aroused the suspicions of White House security personnel; he claimed to be Slick's "bodyguard and escort", which failed to convince the security personnel, who told him that the event was "strictly for females". Hoffman then took out a black flag with a multicolored marijuana leaf and hung it on the White House gate. Slick declined to attend once Hoffman was denied entry, and the two ran across the street to a waiting car. Slick later speculated that she received the invitation only because it was addressed to "Grace Wing" (her maiden name), and that she never would have been invited if the Nixons had known that she was Grace Slick.
Slick was arrested at least four times for what she has referred to as "TUI" ("talking under the influence") and "drunk mouth". One incident occurred when a police officer encountered her sitting against a tree trunk in the backwoods of Marin County, California, drinking wine, eating bread, and reading poetry. The officer asked what she was doing; she gave a sarcastic response and was arrested and jailed. She was arrested in 1994 for assault with a deadly weapon after pointing an unloaded gun at a police officer. She alleged that the officer had come onto her property without explanation.
Visual art
After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals, mainly to amuse herself and because doing so made her happy during a difficult period in her life. Soon thereafter, she was approached about writing her memoir, which ultimately became Somebody to Love? A Rock-and-Roll Memoir. Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography. Hesitant at first (because she thought "it was way too cute. Rock-n-Roll draws Rock-n-Roll"), she eventually agreed because she found she enjoyed it, and color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography. An Alice in Wonderland-themed painting and various other sketches are scattered throughout the book. Her paintings of Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady were used for the cover art of the 1998 album The Best of Hot Tuna. Though Slick has been drawing and painting since she was a child, she admits to not being able to multitask, so did not do much of it while she was focusing on her music career. A notable exception is the 1974 cover art of her first solo album, Manhole, which she signed "Child Type Odd Art by Grace".
Slick does not always use the same style or medium in her production of visual art and has no interest in doing so. She uses acrylic paints (saying oil paint takes too long to dry), canvas, pen, ink, scratchboard, pastels, and pencil. Many of her works are mixed media. Her styles include the children's bookish Alice in Wonderland themes, realistic rock and roll portraits, scratchboards of animals, minimalist ink wash-styled nudes and a variety of other subjects and styles.
The best-selling prints and originals are her various renditions of the White Rabbit and the portraits of her colleagues in the music industry. In 2006, the popularity of her Alice in Wonderland works led to a partnership with Dark Horse Comics, Inc. that resulted in the release of stationery and journals with the Wonderland motif.
While critics have variously panned and praised her work, Slick seems indifferent to the criticism. She views her visual artistry as just another extension of the artistic temperament that landed her in the music business in the first place, as it allows her to continue to produce art in a way that does not require the physical demands of appearing on a stage nightly or traveling with a large group of people.
Interviewed in 2007, Slick attends many of her art gallery shows across the United States, sometimes attending more than 30 shows in a year. While she says she enjoys talking with the people who come to her art shows, she is not a fan of the traveling involved, particularly the flying.
Legacy
Slick, famous as a rock 'n' roll singer, was one of the earliest female rock stars alongside her close contemporary Janis Joplin, and was an important figure in the development of rock music in the late 1960s. Her distinctive vocal style and striking stage presence exerted influence on other female performers, including Stevie Nicks, Patti Smith, and Terri Nunn (of "Berlin" fame).
Between 1985 and 1999, Slick was the oldest female vocalist on a Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping single. "We Built This City" reached number one on November 16, 1985, shortly after her 46th birthday. Previously, the distinction of the oldest female vocalist with a chart-topping single was Tina Turner, who at age 44 had 1984's number-one smash, "What's Love Got To Do With It". Turner (who is one month younger than Slick) turned 45 two months after the song topped the charts. Slick broke her own record in April 1987 at age 47 when "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" topped the US charts. Her record stood for 12 years but was ultimately broken by Cher, who was 53 in 1999 when "Believe" hit number one.
Slick did vocals for a piece known as "Jazz Numbers", a series of animated shorts about the numbers two through 10 (a number-one short was never made), which aired on Sesame Street. The segment for the number two appeared in the first episode of the first season of Sesame Street, November 10, 1969. She was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1981 as Best Rock Female Vocalist for her solo album Dreams. She also performed the song "Panda" at the 1990 March for the Animals.
She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 as a member of Jefferson Airplane.
In 1993, she narrated the Stephen King short story "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band" on his Nightmares & Dreamscapes audiobook.
She was ranked number 20 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock N Roll in 1999.
In 2017, Grace Slick licensed the Starship song "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" to Chick-fil-A to use in a TV commercial, but because she disagrees with Chick-fil-A's corporate views on same-sex marriage she gave all of the proceeds of that deal to Lambda Legal, an organization that works to advance the civil rights of LGBTQ people and everyone living with HIV.
Discography
with Paul Kantner
Other appearances
References
External links
Jefferson Airplane official website
Episode of Biography about Grace Slick
Area Arts, Grace Slick's US art distributor
Counterculture Meets Mall Culture for Grace Slick
1939 births
20th-century American women singers
American contraltos
American women singer-songwriters
20th-century American painters
American people of English descent
American people of Norwegian descent
American people of Scottish descent
American people of Swedish descent
American women rock singers
American rock songwriters
Artists from Evanston, Illinois
Castilleja School alumni
Finch College alumni
Jefferson Airplane members
Jefferson Starship members
Living people
Musicians from Evanston, Illinois
Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area
Palo Alto High School alumni
Psychedelic rock musicians
University of Miami alumni
Writers from Evanston, Illinois
20th-century American singers
21st-century American painters
Singer-songwriters from California
Singer-songwriters from Illinois
| true |
[
"Theresa Thibodeau (born June 9, 1975) is an American politician who served as a member of the Nebraska Legislature 2017 to 2018. In November 2021, Thibodeau entered the Republican primary for Governor of Nebraska.\n\nEarly life and career \n\nThibodeau was born Theresa Sanderson on June 9, 1975, in Kansas City, Missouri. She attended Capistrano Valley High School and graduated in 1993. She attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha from 1996 to 1998, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology.\n\nPolitical career\n\nNebraska State Legislature \n\nThibodeau was appointed to represent District 6, in Omaha, by Governor Pete Ricketts in October 2017. The seat became vacant following the resignation of the incumbent Republican, Joni Craighead. Thibodeau was encouraged by Pete Rickets to submit her name for the position, which she did on October 13, two weeks after the deadline to submit on September 29. Thibodeau was defeated by Democrat Machaela Cavanaugh in the 2018 midterm elections held in November 2018.\n\nElectoral history\n\nPersonal life \nThibodeau is Catholic. She and her husband, Joseph Thibodeau, live in Nebraska with their three children, two daughters and a son.\n\nReferences \n\nWomen state legislators in Nebraska\n21st-century American women politicians\n21st-century American politicians\nNebraska Republicans\nNebraska state senators\n1975 births\nLiving people\nPoliticians from Kansas City, Missouri\nUniversity of Nebraska Omaha alumni\nCatholics from Missouri\nCatholics from Nebraska",
"Gaia Bassani Antivari (born July 8, 1978) is an Italian-born alpine skier who competed for Azerbaijan at the 2010 Winter Olympics, and 2014.\n\nShe previously competed for Grenada, and attempted to compete for them at the 2002 Winter Olympics. However, she couldn't as the GOA did not submit paperwork. She withdrew from the Slalom of 2014 Olympic Winter Games due to a serious injury suffered just three days before the race.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \nOlympic Reference Profile\n\n1978 births\nLiving people\nAlpine skiers from Milan\nItalian female alpine skiers\nAzerbaijani female alpine skiers\nGrenadian female alpine skiers\nNaturalized citizens of Azerbaijan\nItalian emigrants to Azerbaijan\nItalian emigrants to Grenada\nOlympic alpine skiers of Azerbaijan\nAlpine skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics\nAlpine skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics"
] |
[
"Grace Slick",
"Visual art",
"Did she release any visual art pieces?",
"After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals,",
"Did she have any success with her art?",
"Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography.",
"What did she submit to be included?",
"color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography."
] |
C_292e7df72849446db2ef827bb12e043c_0
|
Did she do another other artwork?
| 4 |
Besides her color rendition of popular musicians, did Grace Slick do any other artwork?
|
Grace Slick
|
After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals, mainly to amuse herself and because doing so made her happy during a difficult period in her life. Soon thereafter, she was approached about writing her memoir, which ultimately became Somebody to Love? A Rock-and-Roll Memoir. Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography. Hesitant at first (because she thought "it was way too cute. Rock-n-Roll draws Rock-n-Roll"), she eventually agreed because she found she enjoyed it, and color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography. An "Alice in Wonderland"-themed painting and various other sketches are scattered throughout the book. Her paintings of Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady were used for the cover art of the album The Best of Hot Tuna. Though Slick has been drawing and painting since she was a child, she admits to not being able to multitask, so did not do much of it while she was focusing on her musical career. A notable exception is the cover art of her first solo album, Manhole, which she signed "Child Type Odd Art by Grace." Slick is not bound by any specific style or medium in her production of visual art and has no interest in developing one. She uses acrylic paints, saying oil takes too long to dry, canvas, pen, ink, scratchboard, pastels, and pencil. Many of her works are mixed media. Her styles range from the children's bookish "Alice in Wonderland" themes to the realism of the rock and roll portraits and scratchboards of animals to the minimalist ink wash styled nudes to a variety of other subjects and styles. The best-selling prints and originals are her various renditions of the white rabbit and the portraits of her colleagues in the music industry. In 2006, the popularity of her "Alice in Wonderland" works led to a partnership with Dark Horse Comics, Inc. that resulted in the release of stationery and journals with the "Wonderland" motif. While critics have variously panned and praised her work, Slick seems indifferent to the criticism. She views her visual artistry as just another extension of the artistic temperament that landed her in the music scene in the first place, as it allows her to continue to produce art in a way that does not require the physical demands of appearing on a stage nightly or traveling with a large group of people. Slick attends many of her art gallery shows across the United States, sometimes attending over 30 shows in a year. While she says she enjoys talking with the people who come to her art shows, she is not a fan of the traveling involved, particularly the flying. At most of her art shows, those who purchase a piece of her art get a photo with Slick, an opportunity to chat, and a personalized autograph on the back of the piece that has been purchased. CANNOTANSWER
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An "Alice in Wonderland"-themed painting and various other sketches are scattered throughout the book.
|
Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing; October 30, 1939) is an American artist, painter and retired singer-songwriter. Slick was a key figure in San Francisco's early psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s. With a music career spanning four decades, she first performed with The Great Society, but is best known for her work with Jefferson Airplane and the subsequent successor bands Jefferson Starship and Starship. Slick and Jefferson Airplane first achieved fame with their 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow, which included the top-ten Billboard hits "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love". She provided the lead vocals on both tracks. With Starship, she sang co-lead for two number one hits, "We Built This City" and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". She would also release four solo albums. Slick retired from music in 1990, but continues to be active in the visual arts field.
Early life
Grace Barnett Wing was born October 30, 1939, in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois to Ivan Wilford Wing (1907–1987), of British descent, and Virginia Wing (née Barnett; 1909–1983). Her parents met while they were both students at the University of Washington, and later married. In 1949, her brother Chris was born. Her father, working in the investment banking sector for Weeden and Company, was transferred several times when she was a child, and in addition to the Chicago metropolitan area, she lived in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, before her family finally settled in Palo Alto, California in the early 1950s.
Wing attended Palo Alto Senior High School, then switched to Castilleja School, a private all-girls school in Palo Alto. Following graduation, she attended Finch College in New York City from 1957 to 1958, and the University of Miami in Coral Gables from 1958 to 1959. On August 26, 1961, Wing married Gerald "Jerry" Slick, an aspiring filmmaker, and after the couple briefly moved away from San Francisco, Grace Slick worked as a model at an I. Magnin department store for three years. Slick also started composing music, including a contribution to a short film by Jerry Slick.
Career
1965–1966: The Great Society
In August 1965, Slick read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the newly formed Jefferson Airplane. Despite being situated in the growing musical center of San Francisco, Slick only half-heartedly considered music for a profession until she watched the band live at The Matrix. As a result, Slick (vocals, guitar), accompanied by husband Jerry Slick (drums), Jerry's brother Darby Slick (lead guitar), and David Miner (bass guitar) formed a group called The Great Society. On October 15, 1965, the band made its debut performance at a venue known as the Coffee Gallery, and soon after Slick composed the psychedelic piece "White Rabbit". The song, which she is purported to have written in an hour, is a reflection on the hallucinatory effects of psychedelic drugs; when performed live, it featured a speedier tempo and was an instant favorite among the band's followers. Although Slick was an equal contributor to The Great Society's original material, Darby Slick pushed the band toward becoming a raga-influenced psychedelic act. By late 1965, they had become a popular attraction in the Bay Area. Between October and December 1965, The Great Society entered Golden State Recorders and recorded several tracks under the supervision of Sylvester Stewart. One single emerged from the demos, the Darby Slick-penned "Someone to Love" (the “B” side to "Free Advice") on the locally based Autumn Records subsidiary label "North Beach". Grace Slick supplied vocals, guitar, piano, and recorder.
1966–1972: Jefferson Airplane
During the autumn of 1966, Jefferson Airplane's then singer Signe Toly Anderson decided to leave the band to raise her child, and Jack Casady asked Slick to join them. Slick stated that she joined the Airplane because it was run in a professional manner, unlike the Great Society. With Slick on board, Jefferson Airplane began recording new music, and they turned in a more psychedelic direction from their former folk-rock style. Surrealistic Pillow included new recordings of "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love", both of which became top 10 singles. Jefferson Airplane became one of the most popular bands in the country and earned Slick a position as one of the most prominent female rock musicians of her time. In 1968, Slick performed "Crown of Creation" on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in blackface and ended the performance with a Black Panther raised fist. In an appearance on a 1969 episode of The Dick Cavett Show, she became the first person to say "motherfucker" on television during a performance of "We Can Be Together".
1970–1984: Jefferson Starship and solo career
After Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen decided to leave Jefferson Airplane to focus on their project Hot Tuna, Slick formed Jefferson Starship with Paul Kantner and other bandmates, and also began a string of solo albums with Manhole, followed by Dreams, Welcome to the Wrecking Ball!, and Software. Manhole also featured keyboardist/bassist Pete Sears, who later joined Jefferson Starship in 1974. Sears and Slick penned several early Jefferson Starship songs together, including "Hyperdrive" and "Play On Love". Dreams, which was produced by Ron Frangipane and incorporated many of the ideas she encountered attending twelve-step program meetings, is the most personal of her solo albums and was nominated for a Grammy Award. The song "Do It the Hard Way" from Dreams is one example of Slick's music at the time.
Slick was nicknamed "The Chrome Nun" by David Crosby, who also used the nickname "Baron von Tollbooth" for Kantner. Their nicknames appear as the title of an album she made in 1973 with bandmates Kantner and David Freiberg: Baron von Tollbooth & the Chrome Nun.
1984–1989: Starship and Jefferson Airplane reunion
During the 1980s, while Slick was the only member remaining from Jefferson Airplane in Starship, the band went on to score three chart-topping successes with "We Built This City", "Sara", and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Despite the success, Slick since has spoken negatively about the experience and the music. In 1987, Slick co-hosted The Legendary Ladies of Rock & Roll, for which she also sang backing vocals on "Be My Baby" and "Da Doo Ron Ron". She left Starship in 1988, shortly after the release of No Protection.
In 1989, Slick and her former Jefferson Airplane band members reformed the group. They released a self-titled reunion album, and held a successful tour before disbanding.
1989–present: Retirement
Following the Jefferson Airplane reunion, Slick retired from the music business. During a 1998 interview with VH1 on a Behind the Music documentary featuring Jefferson Airplane, Slick, who was never shy about the idea of getting old, said that the main reason she retired from the music business was, "All rock-and-rollers over the age of 50 look stupid and should retire." In a 2007 interview, she repeated her belief that, "You can do jazz, classical, blues, opera, country until you're 150, but rap and rock and roll are really a way for young people to get that anger out", and, "It's silly to perform a song that has no relevance to the present or expresses feelings you no longer have."
Despite her retirement, Slick has appeared twice with Kantner's revamped version of Jefferson Starship; the first came in 1995 when the band played at Los Angeles's House of Blues, as documented on the live album Deep Space/Virgin Sky. The second was for a post-9/11 gig in late 2001, during which she came on the stage initially covered in black from head to toe in a makeshift burqa. She then removed the burqa to reveal a covering bearing an American flag and the words "Fuck Fear". Her statement to fans on the outfit was: "The outfit is not about Islam, it's about oppression; this flag is not about politics, it's about liberty."
After retiring from music, Slick began painting and drawing. She has done many renditions of her fellow 1960s musicians, such as Janis Joplin, Jerry Garcia, and others. Slick has had a passion for art since she was a child, before she pivoted to music. In 2000, she began displaying and selling her artwork. She attends many of her art shows across the United States. She has generally refrained from engaging in the music business, although she did perform on "Knock Me Out", a track from In Flight, the 1996 solo debut from former 4 Non Blondes singer, and friend of daughter China, Linda Perry. The song was also on the soundtrack to the film The Crow: City of Angels.
Slick published her autobiography, Somebody to Love? A Rock and Roll Memoir, in 1998 and narrated an abridged version of the book as an audiobook. A biography, Grace Slick, The Biography, by Barbara Rowes, was released in 1980 and is currently out of print. In a 2001 USA Today article, Slick said, "I'm in good health and people want to know what I do to be this way ... I don't eat cheese, I don't eat duck—the point is I'm vegan." However, she admitted she's "not strict vegan, because I'm a hedonist pig. If I see a big chocolate cake that is made with eggs, I'll have it."
In 2006, Slick suffered from diverticulitis. After initial surgery, she had a relapse requiring further surgery and a tracheotomy. She was placed in an induced coma for two months and then had to learn to walk again. Also in 2006, Slick gave a speech at the inauguration of the new Virgin America airline, which named their first aircraft Jefferson Airplane. In 2010, Slick co-wrote "Edge of Madness" with singer Michelle Mangione to raise money for remediation efforts following the BP oil spill. Grace also sang background vocals on the song and is clearly audible in the middle of the song singing, "On the edge of madness." In recent years, Slick has made sporadic appearances and has done radio interviews. She also made an appearance at the Grammy Lifetime Achievement awards in 2016.
Personal life
Slick was married to cinematographer and drummer Gerald "Jerry" Slick from 1961 to 1971, then to lighting designer Skip Johnson from 1976 to 1994. She has a daughter, actress China Wing Kantner, born January 25, 1971. China's father is Jefferson Airplane guitarist Paul Kantner, with whom Slick had a relationship from 1969 to 1975.
In 1971, Slick was nearly fatally injured when the car she was driving crashed into the inside of a tunnel in San Francisco. This happened while she was drag racing Jorma Kaukonen and both were driving over 100 miles per hour.
Slick has publicly acknowledged her alcoholism and use of substances including LSD and marijuana. She has discussed this, and her rehabilitation experiences, in her autobiography, various interviews, and several published celebrity addiction and recovery books. The latter include The Courage to Change by Dennis Wholey and The Harder They Fall by Gary Stromberg and Jane Merrill. Her alcoholism became a problem for the band during Jefferson Starship's 1978 European tour. The group had to cancel the first night in Germany because she was too intoxicated to perform, causing the audience to riot. She performed the next night with the band but was so inebriated that she could not sing properly. She also attacked the audience, mocking Germany for losing World War II and groping both female audience members and bandmates. She left the group the next day, and she was "dragged off" a San Francisco game show for abusing the contestants. She was admitted to a detoxification facility at least twice, once during the 1970s at Duffy's in Napa Valley, and once in the 1990s with daughter China.
Legal incidents
President Richard Nixon's daughter Tricia and Slick are both alumnae of Finch College, and Slick was invited to a tea party for the alumnae at the White House in 1969. She invited anarchist Abbie Hoffman to be her escort and planned to spike President Nixon's tea with 600 micrograms of LSD (an enormous amount), but the party had been billed as an "all ladies" event. Hoffman's presence in the waiting line immediately aroused the suspicions of White House security personnel; he claimed to be Slick's "bodyguard and escort", which failed to convince the security personnel, who told him that the event was "strictly for females". Hoffman then took out a black flag with a multicolored marijuana leaf and hung it on the White House gate. Slick declined to attend once Hoffman was denied entry, and the two ran across the street to a waiting car. Slick later speculated that she received the invitation only because it was addressed to "Grace Wing" (her maiden name), and that she never would have been invited if the Nixons had known that she was Grace Slick.
Slick was arrested at least four times for what she has referred to as "TUI" ("talking under the influence") and "drunk mouth". One incident occurred when a police officer encountered her sitting against a tree trunk in the backwoods of Marin County, California, drinking wine, eating bread, and reading poetry. The officer asked what she was doing; she gave a sarcastic response and was arrested and jailed. She was arrested in 1994 for assault with a deadly weapon after pointing an unloaded gun at a police officer. She alleged that the officer had come onto her property without explanation.
Visual art
After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals, mainly to amuse herself and because doing so made her happy during a difficult period in her life. Soon thereafter, she was approached about writing her memoir, which ultimately became Somebody to Love? A Rock-and-Roll Memoir. Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography. Hesitant at first (because she thought "it was way too cute. Rock-n-Roll draws Rock-n-Roll"), she eventually agreed because she found she enjoyed it, and color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography. An Alice in Wonderland-themed painting and various other sketches are scattered throughout the book. Her paintings of Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady were used for the cover art of the 1998 album The Best of Hot Tuna. Though Slick has been drawing and painting since she was a child, she admits to not being able to multitask, so did not do much of it while she was focusing on her music career. A notable exception is the 1974 cover art of her first solo album, Manhole, which she signed "Child Type Odd Art by Grace".
Slick does not always use the same style or medium in her production of visual art and has no interest in doing so. She uses acrylic paints (saying oil paint takes too long to dry), canvas, pen, ink, scratchboard, pastels, and pencil. Many of her works are mixed media. Her styles include the children's bookish Alice in Wonderland themes, realistic rock and roll portraits, scratchboards of animals, minimalist ink wash-styled nudes and a variety of other subjects and styles.
The best-selling prints and originals are her various renditions of the White Rabbit and the portraits of her colleagues in the music industry. In 2006, the popularity of her Alice in Wonderland works led to a partnership with Dark Horse Comics, Inc. that resulted in the release of stationery and journals with the Wonderland motif.
While critics have variously panned and praised her work, Slick seems indifferent to the criticism. She views her visual artistry as just another extension of the artistic temperament that landed her in the music business in the first place, as it allows her to continue to produce art in a way that does not require the physical demands of appearing on a stage nightly or traveling with a large group of people.
Interviewed in 2007, Slick attends many of her art gallery shows across the United States, sometimes attending more than 30 shows in a year. While she says she enjoys talking with the people who come to her art shows, she is not a fan of the traveling involved, particularly the flying.
Legacy
Slick, famous as a rock 'n' roll singer, was one of the earliest female rock stars alongside her close contemporary Janis Joplin, and was an important figure in the development of rock music in the late 1960s. Her distinctive vocal style and striking stage presence exerted influence on other female performers, including Stevie Nicks, Patti Smith, and Terri Nunn (of "Berlin" fame).
Between 1985 and 1999, Slick was the oldest female vocalist on a Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping single. "We Built This City" reached number one on November 16, 1985, shortly after her 46th birthday. Previously, the distinction of the oldest female vocalist with a chart-topping single was Tina Turner, who at age 44 had 1984's number-one smash, "What's Love Got To Do With It". Turner (who is one month younger than Slick) turned 45 two months after the song topped the charts. Slick broke her own record in April 1987 at age 47 when "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" topped the US charts. Her record stood for 12 years but was ultimately broken by Cher, who was 53 in 1999 when "Believe" hit number one.
Slick did vocals for a piece known as "Jazz Numbers", a series of animated shorts about the numbers two through 10 (a number-one short was never made), which aired on Sesame Street. The segment for the number two appeared in the first episode of the first season of Sesame Street, November 10, 1969. She was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1981 as Best Rock Female Vocalist for her solo album Dreams. She also performed the song "Panda" at the 1990 March for the Animals.
She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 as a member of Jefferson Airplane.
In 1993, she narrated the Stephen King short story "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band" on his Nightmares & Dreamscapes audiobook.
She was ranked number 20 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock N Roll in 1999.
In 2017, Grace Slick licensed the Starship song "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" to Chick-fil-A to use in a TV commercial, but because she disagrees with Chick-fil-A's corporate views on same-sex marriage she gave all of the proceeds of that deal to Lambda Legal, an organization that works to advance the civil rights of LGBTQ people and everyone living with HIV.
Discography
with Paul Kantner
Other appearances
References
External links
Jefferson Airplane official website
Episode of Biography about Grace Slick
Area Arts, Grace Slick's US art distributor
Counterculture Meets Mall Culture for Grace Slick
1939 births
20th-century American women singers
American contraltos
American women singer-songwriters
20th-century American painters
American people of English descent
American people of Norwegian descent
American people of Scottish descent
American people of Swedish descent
American women rock singers
American rock songwriters
Artists from Evanston, Illinois
Castilleja School alumni
Finch College alumni
Jefferson Airplane members
Jefferson Starship members
Living people
Musicians from Evanston, Illinois
Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area
Palo Alto High School alumni
Psychedelic rock musicians
University of Miami alumni
Writers from Evanston, Illinois
20th-century American singers
21st-century American painters
Singer-songwriters from California
Singer-songwriters from Illinois
| false |
[
"\"Didn't Wanna Do It\" (Russian: Давай Закрутим Землю; Davai Zakrutim Zemlyu Translation: Let’s Make The Earth Turn) is a song by the Russian recording artist and songwriter Julia Volkova from her studio album. \"Didn't Wanna Do It\" was written by Julia Volkova, Saeed Molavi, Nadir Benkahla and the Grammy-nominated producer Taj Jackson, with production by Saeed Molavi & Nadir Benkahla (known as The Euroz). The song was chosen as the second single, and was released digitally on August 21, 2012. Musically, the song is a dance-pop song, which features elements of house and Europop. The song's homoerotic lyrics are a first-person account of the singer's sexual encounter with another woman and the ambivalent feelings the experience evoked. Bisexuality has been a frequent theme of Volkova's work, such as in her first single as t.A.T.u., \"All The Things She Said\" (2002) as well as \"Loves Me Not\". The single's accompanying artwork caused criticism and controversy among fans.\n\n\"Didn't Wanna Do It\" received mixed to positive reviews from critics, as most enjoyed the sexual-oriented style of the song and the production, though some felt the composition lacked originality. The accompanying music video, released on Volkova's YouTube channel, features a female as she witnesses her boyfriend cheating on her. Volkova then helps her become more sexual, and takes her to a \"Free Love Club,\" where both women party. The video received positive reviews from critics.\n\nBackground\nIn August 2011, Volkova had signed to the Russian label Gala Records, a subsidiary of EMI Records. While her studio album was in production, she released her first solo single entitled \"Woman All The Way Down\", which was also recorded in Stockholm, Sweden. Not long after, the Russian version and the music video were released on her website. The single turned out to be a buzz single. In March 2012, it was reported by the press that Volkova would be one of the 25 artists in the Russian final selection who would compete to represent Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Russian broadcaster RTR later confirmed her participation among the other 25. She entered the competition with the Eurovision 2008 winner Dima Bilan as a duo with the song \"Back to Her Future\". They finished in second place with 29.25 points. The winning entry, \"Party for Everybody\" by the Russian ethno-pop band Buranovskiye Babushki, was 38.51 points ahead of them. She then recorded a studio version, which was released on iTunes not long after.\n\nComposition\n\n\"Didn't Wanna Do It\" is a dance-oriented song, with elements of Europop and house music. According to Volkova on her website, \"The song is a departure from t.A.T.u.'s signature sound that catapulted Julia to worldwide fame and critical acclaim but the new musical direction is undeniably her own.\" MuuMuse compared the lyrics to LMFAO by saying \"The feisty brunette's since ditched t.A.T.u.'s brooding act and decided to toss her head back, throw back a few shots and enter into LMFAO-like territory: “I didn't wanna do it…but I did”. MuuMuse also compared the composition to Far East Movement saying \"Julia laments across the bubbly, unhinged Euro-dance anthem, trading dooming synthesizers for Far East Movement-friendly thumps.\" The Prophet Blog noticed the production off auto-tune in the song and said it resembled 2NE1's \"I Am the Best\" (2012). It also commented on the lyrics, saying it \"seduces another woman, then regrets it and claims she never wanted to do it in the first place.\"\n\nFor the release off the Russian version, \"Davai Zakrutim Zemlyu\", the song's pitch is different to the original version so it can suit Volkova's vocals.\n\nRelease and artwork\n\"Didn't Wanna Do It\" was her first worldwide single. It was expected to be released in July 2012, but was delayed until 21 August 2012.\n\nOn 14 July 2012, Volkova, along with t.A.T.u.'s fansite AllMyLove.org, posted the picture of the single cover artwork on Facebook. The artwork, a drawing inspired by graphic novels, caused controversy among fans. It is said to be inspired by the Australian artwork of t.A.T.u.'s single \"All the Things She Said\", but many fans argued that it did not share any similarities.\n\nCritical reception\n\"Didn't Wanna Do It\" received generally positive reviews from mainstream and independent music critics. According to Volkova herself, \"With the collision of its stomping bass, raw, grinding synths and the infectious, unforgettable chorus this song has all the makings of a summer hit.\" MuuMuse gave it a positive review, describing it as catchy saying \"It’s a ridiculously raunchy, filthy fun club cut, and that chorus ain’t leaving my brain anytime soon.\" The Prophet Blog gave it a mixed review, calling Volkova in the song \"naive and innocent\", while saying \"With beauty created by the surgeon’s knife, buckets of autotune, and porno-pop music videos, Yulia is basically the Russian Nicki Minaj.\" However, he later went on to give the song and video a positive review stating that \"Julia Volkova’s “Didn’t Wanna Do It” is flawless.\"\n\nMusic video\n\nThe music video was premiered on MuuMuse on 31 July 2012. It was directed by Hindrek Maasik and shot in Cuba. Volkova said of the shooting, \"I didn't expect that it would be so hot. We were constantly trying to hide in the shadows. The sun was just unbearable. I was sweating like a mouse the whole time and my make-up was leaking. It was such a pain to film.\"\n\nThe song starts with a woman catching her boyfriend cheating on her with her own mother. After crying outside in the streets, she sees a flyer saying \"LOVE PROBLEMS? CALL (S)EXPERTS: 69\", which she dials. It turns out to be Volkova, who helps her become more sexual, teaching her some erotic dance moves and taking her to her house where she tries out some clothes. The pair then drive to a \"Free Love Party\", where the partygoers drink, dance, and have sex. An uncensored version was released on her website, with full frontal nudity and onscreen sex, though the censored version has only brief full-frontal nudity.\n\nLive performances\n\nOn 27 August 2012, Volkova performed the Russian version of the song (\"Давай закрутим Землю\") at Diskoteka Muz TV, in Riga, Latvia. Following the performance, she sang the Russian version of the song \"Back To Her Future (\"Любовь-сука\"), with the Russian singer Dima Bilan. On 8 September 2012, Volkova performed at Ello Festival in Moscow, performing all the songs in Russian, including \"Я сошла с ума\" (\"All The Things She Said\"), \"Сдвину мир\" (\"All Because of You\") and \"Давай закрутим Землю\" (\"Didn't Wanna Do It\").\n\nTrack listing\n Didn't Wanna Do It (Explicit)\n \"Didn't Wanna Do It\" (Explicit) - 3:44\n \"Давай закрутим Землю\" (Explicit) - 3:45\n\n Didn't Wanna Do It\n \"Didn't Wanna Do It\" (Clean) - 3:44\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\n2012 singles\n2012 songs",
"Oeva Jean Wells Koebernick (July 25, 1955 – January 25, 2012) was an American writer, artist, and editor in the field of role-playing games. She was the first female game designer to be hired by TSR, Inc. Her career at TSR stalled after she wrote a controversial Dungeons & Dragons adventure module that was withdrawn on the eve of publication and subsequently rewritten.\n\nEarly life\nJean Wells was born July 25, 1955 in Jacksonville, Florida to Walton and Ellen Loft Wells. During a college canoe camping trip, she participated in an impromptu session of Dungeons & Dragons. She was fascinated by the game, and once back on campus, she quickly ordered her own set of the rules, and joined a local group called the \"D&D Gang of Statesmen Complex\". After several gaming sessions, she realized that she liked the role of dungeon master more than player. In her words, \"It gave me an opportunity to use my creativity in an area I already liked, Medieval History and Fantasy.\"\n\nCareer at TSR\nWells also ordered a subscription of The Dragon from TSR Hobbies, and in the July 1978 issue, she noticed an ad for \"an alert and talented person [with] design and editorial talent and a good general knowledge of games\" in TSR's design department. Although she was still at college studying to be an elementary school art teacher, and her only gaming experience was the D&D she had just started playing, she applied for the position. After some back-and-forth correspondence with Gary Gygax during the fall of 1978, she flew to TSR headquarters in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin in January 1979 for a three-day visit. Despite her lack of experience, Gygax hired her as the first female in the design department. Wells later recalled that, \"he knew I didn't know how to really write rules... He was hiring my imagination and would teach me the rest.\"\n\nHowever, Wells had arrived just as TSR was, in her words, \"exploding\", and Gygax did not have time to introduce her to the world of game design. As a result, and especially because she was the only woman in the design department, Wells felt out of place. She later described herself as \"the token female\".\n\nShe moved into a nearby house nicknamed the \"TSR Dorm\", since all the renters were TSR staffers—she actually took over the bedroom of Larry Elmore, who had just left TSR—and she started to date Skip Williams.\n\nHer first work was editing the adventure module S2 White Plume Mountain by Lawrence Schick. In addition, she also contributed interior art for the adventure module Lost Tamaochan, as well as artwork to the fourth printing of the original Monster Manual, including drawings of an eye of the deep, a giant Sumatran rat, and violet fungi.\n\nShe was the inaugural author of \"Sage Advice\", a D&D advice column that first appeared in The Dragon starting with issue #31 in November 1979. She tried to bring some humor to the column, believing that some of her young readers were taking D&D too seriously. One such example appeared in her first column, when she was asked how much damage a bow did in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Her answer was, \"None. Bows do not do damage, arrows do. However, if you hit someone with a bow, I’d say it would probably do 1-4 points of damage and thereafter render the bow completely useless for firing arrows.\" She continued to handle the \"Sage Advice\" column until issue #39 (July 1980).\n\nIn 1980, she did the design and layout of Brian Blume's The Rogues Gallery (which included her own D&D character Ceatitle). She was also the editor of Gary Gygax's module B2 Keep on the Borderlands, her bestselling piece of design work, since it was included in later printings of the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set, which sold over one million copies.\n\nPalace of the Silver Princess\nAfter the success of B2 Keep on the Borderlands, Wells was assigned to write an adventure for the \"B\" (Basic) series that would teach new players how to play D&D. She consulted her editor, Ed Sollers, about every detail, and the result was B3 Palace of the Silver Princess. In keeping with the design of the first D&D module of the \"B\" series, B1 In Search of the Unknown by Mike Carr, Wells left several rooms and areas of the module incomplete so that players could customize those areas themselves. As she related, \"I was trying to show the players that there was more to a 'dungeon' than just the building. I didn't complete the palace, trying to show them this map could be a mini base map for their game. The players could discover the part of the dungeon that had been caved in wasn't any longer and the DM could expand it. I was assuming that they were trying to learn to set up their own world and I was trying to help.\"\n\nDuring the editorial process, Wells wanted to replace artwork by Erol Otus that had transformed her \"ubues\"—new three-headed monsters—into hermaphrodites whose heads were caricatures of TSR staffers and management. However, she was told that the artwork couldn't be replaced without causing unreasonable printing delays.\n\nOn the day when the cartons of printed modules arrived at TSR headquarters ready for shipping and copies were distributed to staff, someone in TSR's upper management strongly objected to the module. Some sources state that the objectionable content was four pieces of artwork by Erol Otus and Laura Roslof that were too overtly sexual while Frank Mentzer later stated that it was specifically the Otus illustration with the caricatures of TSR executives.\n\nWells herself related that another member of the design department complained to Kevin Blume, and that subsequently she and her editor, Ed Sollers, were called into Kevin Blume's office and asked to explain why a module designed for a younger audience contained S&M.\n\nThe end result was that the entire print run of what became known as the \"orange version\"—because of its orange cover design—was destroyed, except for a few copies that were saved from the trash pile by TSR employees.\n\nThe entire module was subsequently rewritten by Tom Moldvay, who changed the plot, replaced all of Wells' new monsters with standard monsters from the D&D Basic Set, and removed the empty areas. In addition, the four contentious pieces of artwork, as well as many others, were replaced. The new version was then released with a green cover.\n\nFollowing the Silver Princess incident, Wells wanted to write another module, but in her words, \"nobody would touch my game ideas with a ten-foot pole.\" When she realized her suggestions for new adventures and games were being ignored and she was only being given secretarial tasks instead of new design work, she left TSR.\n\nLife after TSR\nWells married another TSR employee, Corey Koebernick, in 1981. When he was laid off by TSR a few months later, they moved to Beloit, Wisconsin, where she would spend the rest of her life. She did not work again, staying at home to raise their two sons.\n\nWells struggled with several serious illnesses for the last thirty years of her life, including hepatitis C.\n\nOn January 24, 2012, Wells was admitted to hospital, and died early the next morning.\n\nLegacy\nThe piece of work Wells was best known for, the orange version of Palace of the Silver Princess, is an extremely rare item, since most copies were destroyed before its release. One copy rated in VF/SW condition was sold at auction in March 2008 for $3050, making it the highest price paid for a single non-unique D&D module.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\n1955 births\n2012 deaths\n21st-century American women\nAmerican women writers\nArtists from Jacksonville, Florida\nDungeons & Dragons game designers\nPeople from Beloit, Wisconsin\nRole-playing game artists\nWomen science fiction and fantasy writers\nWriters from Jacksonville, Florida"
] |
[
"Grace Slick",
"Visual art",
"Did she release any visual art pieces?",
"After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals,",
"Did she have any success with her art?",
"Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography.",
"What did she submit to be included?",
"color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography.",
"Did she do another other artwork?",
"An \"Alice in Wonderland\"-themed painting and various other sketches are scattered throughout the book."
] |
C_292e7df72849446db2ef827bb12e043c_0
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What did critics have to say about her work?
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What did critics have to say about Grace Slick's work?
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Grace Slick
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After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals, mainly to amuse herself and because doing so made her happy during a difficult period in her life. Soon thereafter, she was approached about writing her memoir, which ultimately became Somebody to Love? A Rock-and-Roll Memoir. Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography. Hesitant at first (because she thought "it was way too cute. Rock-n-Roll draws Rock-n-Roll"), she eventually agreed because she found she enjoyed it, and color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography. An "Alice in Wonderland"-themed painting and various other sketches are scattered throughout the book. Her paintings of Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady were used for the cover art of the album The Best of Hot Tuna. Though Slick has been drawing and painting since she was a child, she admits to not being able to multitask, so did not do much of it while she was focusing on her musical career. A notable exception is the cover art of her first solo album, Manhole, which she signed "Child Type Odd Art by Grace." Slick is not bound by any specific style or medium in her production of visual art and has no interest in developing one. She uses acrylic paints, saying oil takes too long to dry, canvas, pen, ink, scratchboard, pastels, and pencil. Many of her works are mixed media. Her styles range from the children's bookish "Alice in Wonderland" themes to the realism of the rock and roll portraits and scratchboards of animals to the minimalist ink wash styled nudes to a variety of other subjects and styles. The best-selling prints and originals are her various renditions of the white rabbit and the portraits of her colleagues in the music industry. In 2006, the popularity of her "Alice in Wonderland" works led to a partnership with Dark Horse Comics, Inc. that resulted in the release of stationery and journals with the "Wonderland" motif. While critics have variously panned and praised her work, Slick seems indifferent to the criticism. She views her visual artistry as just another extension of the artistic temperament that landed her in the music scene in the first place, as it allows her to continue to produce art in a way that does not require the physical demands of appearing on a stage nightly or traveling with a large group of people. Slick attends many of her art gallery shows across the United States, sometimes attending over 30 shows in a year. While she says she enjoys talking with the people who come to her art shows, she is not a fan of the traveling involved, particularly the flying. At most of her art shows, those who purchase a piece of her art get a photo with Slick, an opportunity to chat, and a personalized autograph on the back of the piece that has been purchased. CANNOTANSWER
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While critics have variously panned and praised her work, Slick seems indifferent to the criticism.
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Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing; October 30, 1939) is an American artist, painter and retired singer-songwriter. Slick was a key figure in San Francisco's early psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s. With a music career spanning four decades, she first performed with The Great Society, but is best known for her work with Jefferson Airplane and the subsequent successor bands Jefferson Starship and Starship. Slick and Jefferson Airplane first achieved fame with their 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow, which included the top-ten Billboard hits "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love". She provided the lead vocals on both tracks. With Starship, she sang co-lead for two number one hits, "We Built This City" and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". She would also release four solo albums. Slick retired from music in 1990, but continues to be active in the visual arts field.
Early life
Grace Barnett Wing was born October 30, 1939, in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois to Ivan Wilford Wing (1907–1987), of British descent, and Virginia Wing (née Barnett; 1909–1983). Her parents met while they were both students at the University of Washington, and later married. In 1949, her brother Chris was born. Her father, working in the investment banking sector for Weeden and Company, was transferred several times when she was a child, and in addition to the Chicago metropolitan area, she lived in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, before her family finally settled in Palo Alto, California in the early 1950s.
Wing attended Palo Alto Senior High School, then switched to Castilleja School, a private all-girls school in Palo Alto. Following graduation, she attended Finch College in New York City from 1957 to 1958, and the University of Miami in Coral Gables from 1958 to 1959. On August 26, 1961, Wing married Gerald "Jerry" Slick, an aspiring filmmaker, and after the couple briefly moved away from San Francisco, Grace Slick worked as a model at an I. Magnin department store for three years. Slick also started composing music, including a contribution to a short film by Jerry Slick.
Career
1965–1966: The Great Society
In August 1965, Slick read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the newly formed Jefferson Airplane. Despite being situated in the growing musical center of San Francisco, Slick only half-heartedly considered music for a profession until she watched the band live at The Matrix. As a result, Slick (vocals, guitar), accompanied by husband Jerry Slick (drums), Jerry's brother Darby Slick (lead guitar), and David Miner (bass guitar) formed a group called The Great Society. On October 15, 1965, the band made its debut performance at a venue known as the Coffee Gallery, and soon after Slick composed the psychedelic piece "White Rabbit". The song, which she is purported to have written in an hour, is a reflection on the hallucinatory effects of psychedelic drugs; when performed live, it featured a speedier tempo and was an instant favorite among the band's followers. Although Slick was an equal contributor to The Great Society's original material, Darby Slick pushed the band toward becoming a raga-influenced psychedelic act. By late 1965, they had become a popular attraction in the Bay Area. Between October and December 1965, The Great Society entered Golden State Recorders and recorded several tracks under the supervision of Sylvester Stewart. One single emerged from the demos, the Darby Slick-penned "Someone to Love" (the “B” side to "Free Advice") on the locally based Autumn Records subsidiary label "North Beach". Grace Slick supplied vocals, guitar, piano, and recorder.
1966–1972: Jefferson Airplane
During the autumn of 1966, Jefferson Airplane's then singer Signe Toly Anderson decided to leave the band to raise her child, and Jack Casady asked Slick to join them. Slick stated that she joined the Airplane because it was run in a professional manner, unlike the Great Society. With Slick on board, Jefferson Airplane began recording new music, and they turned in a more psychedelic direction from their former folk-rock style. Surrealistic Pillow included new recordings of "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love", both of which became top 10 singles. Jefferson Airplane became one of the most popular bands in the country and earned Slick a position as one of the most prominent female rock musicians of her time. In 1968, Slick performed "Crown of Creation" on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in blackface and ended the performance with a Black Panther raised fist. In an appearance on a 1969 episode of The Dick Cavett Show, she became the first person to say "motherfucker" on television during a performance of "We Can Be Together".
1970–1984: Jefferson Starship and solo career
After Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen decided to leave Jefferson Airplane to focus on their project Hot Tuna, Slick formed Jefferson Starship with Paul Kantner and other bandmates, and also began a string of solo albums with Manhole, followed by Dreams, Welcome to the Wrecking Ball!, and Software. Manhole also featured keyboardist/bassist Pete Sears, who later joined Jefferson Starship in 1974. Sears and Slick penned several early Jefferson Starship songs together, including "Hyperdrive" and "Play On Love". Dreams, which was produced by Ron Frangipane and incorporated many of the ideas she encountered attending twelve-step program meetings, is the most personal of her solo albums and was nominated for a Grammy Award. The song "Do It the Hard Way" from Dreams is one example of Slick's music at the time.
Slick was nicknamed "The Chrome Nun" by David Crosby, who also used the nickname "Baron von Tollbooth" for Kantner. Their nicknames appear as the title of an album she made in 1973 with bandmates Kantner and David Freiberg: Baron von Tollbooth & the Chrome Nun.
1984–1989: Starship and Jefferson Airplane reunion
During the 1980s, while Slick was the only member remaining from Jefferson Airplane in Starship, the band went on to score three chart-topping successes with "We Built This City", "Sara", and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Despite the success, Slick since has spoken negatively about the experience and the music. In 1987, Slick co-hosted The Legendary Ladies of Rock & Roll, for which she also sang backing vocals on "Be My Baby" and "Da Doo Ron Ron". She left Starship in 1988, shortly after the release of No Protection.
In 1989, Slick and her former Jefferson Airplane band members reformed the group. They released a self-titled reunion album, and held a successful tour before disbanding.
1989–present: Retirement
Following the Jefferson Airplane reunion, Slick retired from the music business. During a 1998 interview with VH1 on a Behind the Music documentary featuring Jefferson Airplane, Slick, who was never shy about the idea of getting old, said that the main reason she retired from the music business was, "All rock-and-rollers over the age of 50 look stupid and should retire." In a 2007 interview, she repeated her belief that, "You can do jazz, classical, blues, opera, country until you're 150, but rap and rock and roll are really a way for young people to get that anger out", and, "It's silly to perform a song that has no relevance to the present or expresses feelings you no longer have."
Despite her retirement, Slick has appeared twice with Kantner's revamped version of Jefferson Starship; the first came in 1995 when the band played at Los Angeles's House of Blues, as documented on the live album Deep Space/Virgin Sky. The second was for a post-9/11 gig in late 2001, during which she came on the stage initially covered in black from head to toe in a makeshift burqa. She then removed the burqa to reveal a covering bearing an American flag and the words "Fuck Fear". Her statement to fans on the outfit was: "The outfit is not about Islam, it's about oppression; this flag is not about politics, it's about liberty."
After retiring from music, Slick began painting and drawing. She has done many renditions of her fellow 1960s musicians, such as Janis Joplin, Jerry Garcia, and others. Slick has had a passion for art since she was a child, before she pivoted to music. In 2000, she began displaying and selling her artwork. She attends many of her art shows across the United States. She has generally refrained from engaging in the music business, although she did perform on "Knock Me Out", a track from In Flight, the 1996 solo debut from former 4 Non Blondes singer, and friend of daughter China, Linda Perry. The song was also on the soundtrack to the film The Crow: City of Angels.
Slick published her autobiography, Somebody to Love? A Rock and Roll Memoir, in 1998 and narrated an abridged version of the book as an audiobook. A biography, Grace Slick, The Biography, by Barbara Rowes, was released in 1980 and is currently out of print. In a 2001 USA Today article, Slick said, "I'm in good health and people want to know what I do to be this way ... I don't eat cheese, I don't eat duck—the point is I'm vegan." However, she admitted she's "not strict vegan, because I'm a hedonist pig. If I see a big chocolate cake that is made with eggs, I'll have it."
In 2006, Slick suffered from diverticulitis. After initial surgery, she had a relapse requiring further surgery and a tracheotomy. She was placed in an induced coma for two months and then had to learn to walk again. Also in 2006, Slick gave a speech at the inauguration of the new Virgin America airline, which named their first aircraft Jefferson Airplane. In 2010, Slick co-wrote "Edge of Madness" with singer Michelle Mangione to raise money for remediation efforts following the BP oil spill. Grace also sang background vocals on the song and is clearly audible in the middle of the song singing, "On the edge of madness." In recent years, Slick has made sporadic appearances and has done radio interviews. She also made an appearance at the Grammy Lifetime Achievement awards in 2016.
Personal life
Slick was married to cinematographer and drummer Gerald "Jerry" Slick from 1961 to 1971, then to lighting designer Skip Johnson from 1976 to 1994. She has a daughter, actress China Wing Kantner, born January 25, 1971. China's father is Jefferson Airplane guitarist Paul Kantner, with whom Slick had a relationship from 1969 to 1975.
In 1971, Slick was nearly fatally injured when the car she was driving crashed into the inside of a tunnel in San Francisco. This happened while she was drag racing Jorma Kaukonen and both were driving over 100 miles per hour.
Slick has publicly acknowledged her alcoholism and use of substances including LSD and marijuana. She has discussed this, and her rehabilitation experiences, in her autobiography, various interviews, and several published celebrity addiction and recovery books. The latter include The Courage to Change by Dennis Wholey and The Harder They Fall by Gary Stromberg and Jane Merrill. Her alcoholism became a problem for the band during Jefferson Starship's 1978 European tour. The group had to cancel the first night in Germany because she was too intoxicated to perform, causing the audience to riot. She performed the next night with the band but was so inebriated that she could not sing properly. She also attacked the audience, mocking Germany for losing World War II and groping both female audience members and bandmates. She left the group the next day, and she was "dragged off" a San Francisco game show for abusing the contestants. She was admitted to a detoxification facility at least twice, once during the 1970s at Duffy's in Napa Valley, and once in the 1990s with daughter China.
Legal incidents
President Richard Nixon's daughter Tricia and Slick are both alumnae of Finch College, and Slick was invited to a tea party for the alumnae at the White House in 1969. She invited anarchist Abbie Hoffman to be her escort and planned to spike President Nixon's tea with 600 micrograms of LSD (an enormous amount), but the party had been billed as an "all ladies" event. Hoffman's presence in the waiting line immediately aroused the suspicions of White House security personnel; he claimed to be Slick's "bodyguard and escort", which failed to convince the security personnel, who told him that the event was "strictly for females". Hoffman then took out a black flag with a multicolored marijuana leaf and hung it on the White House gate. Slick declined to attend once Hoffman was denied entry, and the two ran across the street to a waiting car. Slick later speculated that she received the invitation only because it was addressed to "Grace Wing" (her maiden name), and that she never would have been invited if the Nixons had known that she was Grace Slick.
Slick was arrested at least four times for what she has referred to as "TUI" ("talking under the influence") and "drunk mouth". One incident occurred when a police officer encountered her sitting against a tree trunk in the backwoods of Marin County, California, drinking wine, eating bread, and reading poetry. The officer asked what she was doing; she gave a sarcastic response and was arrested and jailed. She was arrested in 1994 for assault with a deadly weapon after pointing an unloaded gun at a police officer. She alleged that the officer had come onto her property without explanation.
Visual art
After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals, mainly to amuse herself and because doing so made her happy during a difficult period in her life. Soon thereafter, she was approached about writing her memoir, which ultimately became Somebody to Love? A Rock-and-Roll Memoir. Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography. Hesitant at first (because she thought "it was way too cute. Rock-n-Roll draws Rock-n-Roll"), she eventually agreed because she found she enjoyed it, and color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography. An Alice in Wonderland-themed painting and various other sketches are scattered throughout the book. Her paintings of Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady were used for the cover art of the 1998 album The Best of Hot Tuna. Though Slick has been drawing and painting since she was a child, she admits to not being able to multitask, so did not do much of it while she was focusing on her music career. A notable exception is the 1974 cover art of her first solo album, Manhole, which she signed "Child Type Odd Art by Grace".
Slick does not always use the same style or medium in her production of visual art and has no interest in doing so. She uses acrylic paints (saying oil paint takes too long to dry), canvas, pen, ink, scratchboard, pastels, and pencil. Many of her works are mixed media. Her styles include the children's bookish Alice in Wonderland themes, realistic rock and roll portraits, scratchboards of animals, minimalist ink wash-styled nudes and a variety of other subjects and styles.
The best-selling prints and originals are her various renditions of the White Rabbit and the portraits of her colleagues in the music industry. In 2006, the popularity of her Alice in Wonderland works led to a partnership with Dark Horse Comics, Inc. that resulted in the release of stationery and journals with the Wonderland motif.
While critics have variously panned and praised her work, Slick seems indifferent to the criticism. She views her visual artistry as just another extension of the artistic temperament that landed her in the music business in the first place, as it allows her to continue to produce art in a way that does not require the physical demands of appearing on a stage nightly or traveling with a large group of people.
Interviewed in 2007, Slick attends many of her art gallery shows across the United States, sometimes attending more than 30 shows in a year. While she says she enjoys talking with the people who come to her art shows, she is not a fan of the traveling involved, particularly the flying.
Legacy
Slick, famous as a rock 'n' roll singer, was one of the earliest female rock stars alongside her close contemporary Janis Joplin, and was an important figure in the development of rock music in the late 1960s. Her distinctive vocal style and striking stage presence exerted influence on other female performers, including Stevie Nicks, Patti Smith, and Terri Nunn (of "Berlin" fame).
Between 1985 and 1999, Slick was the oldest female vocalist on a Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping single. "We Built This City" reached number one on November 16, 1985, shortly after her 46th birthday. Previously, the distinction of the oldest female vocalist with a chart-topping single was Tina Turner, who at age 44 had 1984's number-one smash, "What's Love Got To Do With It". Turner (who is one month younger than Slick) turned 45 two months after the song topped the charts. Slick broke her own record in April 1987 at age 47 when "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" topped the US charts. Her record stood for 12 years but was ultimately broken by Cher, who was 53 in 1999 when "Believe" hit number one.
Slick did vocals for a piece known as "Jazz Numbers", a series of animated shorts about the numbers two through 10 (a number-one short was never made), which aired on Sesame Street. The segment for the number two appeared in the first episode of the first season of Sesame Street, November 10, 1969. She was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1981 as Best Rock Female Vocalist for her solo album Dreams. She also performed the song "Panda" at the 1990 March for the Animals.
She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 as a member of Jefferson Airplane.
In 1993, she narrated the Stephen King short story "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band" on his Nightmares & Dreamscapes audiobook.
She was ranked number 20 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock N Roll in 1999.
In 2017, Grace Slick licensed the Starship song "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" to Chick-fil-A to use in a TV commercial, but because she disagrees with Chick-fil-A's corporate views on same-sex marriage she gave all of the proceeds of that deal to Lambda Legal, an organization that works to advance the civil rights of LGBTQ people and everyone living with HIV.
Discography
with Paul Kantner
Other appearances
References
External links
Jefferson Airplane official website
Episode of Biography about Grace Slick
Area Arts, Grace Slick's US art distributor
Counterculture Meets Mall Culture for Grace Slick
1939 births
20th-century American women singers
American contraltos
American women singer-songwriters
20th-century American painters
American people of English descent
American people of Norwegian descent
American people of Scottish descent
American people of Swedish descent
American women rock singers
American rock songwriters
Artists from Evanston, Illinois
Castilleja School alumni
Finch College alumni
Jefferson Airplane members
Jefferson Starship members
Living people
Musicians from Evanston, Illinois
Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area
Palo Alto High School alumni
Psychedelic rock musicians
University of Miami alumni
Writers from Evanston, Illinois
20th-century American singers
21st-century American painters
Singer-songwriters from California
Singer-songwriters from Illinois
| true |
[
"\n\nTrack listing\n Opening Overture\n \"I Get a Kick Out of You\" (Cole Porter)\n \"You Are the Sunshine of My Life\" (Stevie Wonder)\n \"You Will Be My Music\" (Joe Raposo)\n \"Don't Worry 'bout Me\" (Ted Koehler, Rube Bloom)\n \"If\" (David Gates)\n \"Bad, Bad Leroy Brown\" (Jim Croce)\n \"Ol' Man River\" (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II)\n Famous Monologue\n Saloon Trilogy: \"Last Night When We Were Young\"/\"Violets for Your Furs\"/\"Here's That Rainy Day\" (Harold Arlen, E.Y. Harburg)/(Matt Dennis, Tom Adair)/(Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke)\n \"I've Got You Under My Skin\" (Porter)\n \"My Kind of Town\" (Sammy Cahn, Van Heusen)\n \"Let Me Try Again\" (Paul Anka, Cahn, Michel Jourdan)\n \"The Lady Is a Tramp\" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)\n \"My Way\" (Anka, Claude Francois, Jacques Revaux, Gilles Thibaut)\n\nFrank Sinatra's Monologue About the Australian Press\nI do believe this is my interval, as we say... We've been having a marvelous time being chased around the country for three days. You know, I think it's worth mentioning because it's so idiotic, it's so ridiculous what's been happening. We came all the way to Australia because I chose to come here. I haven't been here for a long time and I wanted to come back for a few days. Wait now, wait. I'm not buttering anybody at all. I don't have to. I really don't have to. I like coming here. I like the people. I love your attitude. I like the booze and the beer and everything else that comes into the scene. I also like the way the country's growing and it's a swinging place.\n\nSo we come here and what happens? We gotta run all day long because of the parasites who chase us with automobiles. That's dangerous, too, on the road, you know. Might cause an accident. They won't quit. They wonder why I won't talk to them. I wouldn't drink their water, let alone talk to them. And if any of you folks in the press are in the audience, please quote me properly. Don't mix it up, do it exactly as I'm saying it, please. Write it down very clearly. One idiot called me up and he wanted to know what I had for breakfast. What the hell does he care what I had for breakfast? I was about to tell him what I did after breakfast. Oh, boy, they're murder! We have a name in the States for their counterparts: They're called parasites. Because they take and take and take and never give, absolutely, never give. I don't care what you think about any press in the world, I say they're bums and they'll always be bums, everyone of them. There are just a few exceptions to the rule. Some good editorial writers who don't go out in the street and chase people around. Critics don't bother me, because if I do badly, I know I'm bad before they even write it, and if I'm good, I know I'm good before they write it. It's true. I know best about myself. So, a critic is a critic. He doesn't anger me. It's the scandal man who bugs you, drives you crazy. It's the two-bit-type work that they do. They're pimps. They're just crazy, you know. And the broads who work in the press are the hookers of the press. Need I explain that to you? I might offer them a buck and a half... I'm not sure. I once gave a chick in Washington $2 and I overpaid her, I found out. She didn't even bathe. Imagine what that was like, ha, ha.\n\nNow, it's a good thing I'm not angry. Really. It's a good thing I'm not angry. I couldn't care less. The press of the world never made a person a star who was untalented, nor did they ever hurt any artist who was talented. So we, who have God-given talent, say, \"To hell with them.\" It doesn't make any difference, you know. And I want to say one more thing. From what I see what's happened since I was last here... what, 16 years ago? Twelve years ago. From what I've seen to happen with the type of news that they print in this town shocked me. And do you know what is devastating? It's old-fashioned. It was done in America and England twenty years ago. And they're catching up with it now, with the scandal sheet. They're rags, that's what they are. You use them to train your dog and your parrot. What else do I have to say? Oh, I guess that's it. That'll keep them talking to themselves for a while. I think most of them are a bunch of fags anyway. Never did a hard day's work in their life. I love when they say, \"What do you mean, you won't stand still when I take your picture?\" All of a sudden, they're God. We gotta do what they want us to do. It's incredible. A pox on them... Now, let's get down to some serious business here...\n\nSee also\nConcerts of Frank Sinatra\n\nFrank Sinatra",
"Britney vs Spears is an 2021 American documentary film directed by Erin Lee Carr, that follows American singer-songwriter Britney Spears and her life over several years of her career and her conservatorship. It was released on September 28, 2021, on Netflix.\n\nPlot\nFollowing Britney Spears life over several years and her conservatorship.\n\nProduction\nErin Lee Carr spent two years researching and investigating the Spears' conservatorship dispute. Carr had attempted to reach out to Britney Spears through her representatives, but did not receive a response, instead writing her a letter about the film. The film initially was supposed to revolve around the conservatorship and the media's treatment of her, but following the release of Framing Britney Spears, it changed the structure of the film.\n\nIn February 2021, it was announced Lee Carr would direct an untitled film about Spears, with Netflix set to distribute.\n\nReception\nOn Rotten Tomatoes it has a 45% approval rating based on reviews from 11 critics, with an average rating of 3.80/10. On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 40 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating \"mixed or average reviews\".\n\nKristen Lopez for IndieWire gave the film a B- writing, \"Erin Lee Carr’s Britney vs Spears feels like a movie not searching for scandal but a genuine desire to help, to say something to Spears, to remind us why we love her and how we failed her. It reminds us how a government system has failed her consistently for 13 years. It reminds us of how her family has failed her. Judy Berman of Time gave the film a positive review, writing: \"The most thoughtful, stylishly composed of the three docs, it's framed by Carr and Eliscu’s collaborative quest to break the silence surrounding the conservatorship.\"\n\nConversely, Michael Cragg for The Guardian gave the film one star out of five, writing: \"Certainly not in the pop star’s best interests, this disturbing film gives redemption stories to controversial figures from Britney’s past. Nothing about this feels right.\" Daniel D'Addario for Variety wrote: \"This shapeless doc feels overlong at just over 90 minutes, because it's unclear what, exactly, Carr and collaborator Jenny Eliscu want to say about Spears.\" Jen Chaney for Vulture wrote: \"a Netflix work that was originally intended to celebrate Britney unfortunately comes across as a bandwagon jump.\" The Daily Beast and San Francisco Chronicle both described the film as \"exploitive\".\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n \n\nBritney Spears\nAmerican films\n2021 films\n2021 documentary films\nAmerican documentary films\nDocumentary films about singers\nNetflix original documentary films\nFilms directed by Erin Lee Carr"
] |
[
"Grace Slick",
"Visual art",
"Did she release any visual art pieces?",
"After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals,",
"Did she have any success with her art?",
"Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography.",
"What did she submit to be included?",
"color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography.",
"Did she do another other artwork?",
"An \"Alice in Wonderland\"-themed painting and various other sketches are scattered throughout the book.",
"What did critics have to say about her work?",
"While critics have variously panned and praised her work, Slick seems indifferent to the criticism."
] |
C_292e7df72849446db2ef827bb12e043c_0
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how did she respond to the critiscm?
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How did Grace Slick respond to the criticism of her work?
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Grace Slick
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After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals, mainly to amuse herself and because doing so made her happy during a difficult period in her life. Soon thereafter, she was approached about writing her memoir, which ultimately became Somebody to Love? A Rock-and-Roll Memoir. Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography. Hesitant at first (because she thought "it was way too cute. Rock-n-Roll draws Rock-n-Roll"), she eventually agreed because she found she enjoyed it, and color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography. An "Alice in Wonderland"-themed painting and various other sketches are scattered throughout the book. Her paintings of Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady were used for the cover art of the album The Best of Hot Tuna. Though Slick has been drawing and painting since she was a child, she admits to not being able to multitask, so did not do much of it while she was focusing on her musical career. A notable exception is the cover art of her first solo album, Manhole, which she signed "Child Type Odd Art by Grace." Slick is not bound by any specific style or medium in her production of visual art and has no interest in developing one. She uses acrylic paints, saying oil takes too long to dry, canvas, pen, ink, scratchboard, pastels, and pencil. Many of her works are mixed media. Her styles range from the children's bookish "Alice in Wonderland" themes to the realism of the rock and roll portraits and scratchboards of animals to the minimalist ink wash styled nudes to a variety of other subjects and styles. The best-selling prints and originals are her various renditions of the white rabbit and the portraits of her colleagues in the music industry. In 2006, the popularity of her "Alice in Wonderland" works led to a partnership with Dark Horse Comics, Inc. that resulted in the release of stationery and journals with the "Wonderland" motif. While critics have variously panned and praised her work, Slick seems indifferent to the criticism. She views her visual artistry as just another extension of the artistic temperament that landed her in the music scene in the first place, as it allows her to continue to produce art in a way that does not require the physical demands of appearing on a stage nightly or traveling with a large group of people. Slick attends many of her art gallery shows across the United States, sometimes attending over 30 shows in a year. While she says she enjoys talking with the people who come to her art shows, she is not a fan of the traveling involved, particularly the flying. At most of her art shows, those who purchase a piece of her art get a photo with Slick, an opportunity to chat, and a personalized autograph on the back of the piece that has been purchased. CANNOTANSWER
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Slick seems indifferent to the criticism.
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Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing; October 30, 1939) is an American artist, painter and retired singer-songwriter. Slick was a key figure in San Francisco's early psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s. With a music career spanning four decades, she first performed with The Great Society, but is best known for her work with Jefferson Airplane and the subsequent successor bands Jefferson Starship and Starship. Slick and Jefferson Airplane first achieved fame with their 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow, which included the top-ten Billboard hits "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love". She provided the lead vocals on both tracks. With Starship, she sang co-lead for two number one hits, "We Built This City" and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". She would also release four solo albums. Slick retired from music in 1990, but continues to be active in the visual arts field.
Early life
Grace Barnett Wing was born October 30, 1939, in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois to Ivan Wilford Wing (1907–1987), of British descent, and Virginia Wing (née Barnett; 1909–1983). Her parents met while they were both students at the University of Washington, and later married. In 1949, her brother Chris was born. Her father, working in the investment banking sector for Weeden and Company, was transferred several times when she was a child, and in addition to the Chicago metropolitan area, she lived in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, before her family finally settled in Palo Alto, California in the early 1950s.
Wing attended Palo Alto Senior High School, then switched to Castilleja School, a private all-girls school in Palo Alto. Following graduation, she attended Finch College in New York City from 1957 to 1958, and the University of Miami in Coral Gables from 1958 to 1959. On August 26, 1961, Wing married Gerald "Jerry" Slick, an aspiring filmmaker, and after the couple briefly moved away from San Francisco, Grace Slick worked as a model at an I. Magnin department store for three years. Slick also started composing music, including a contribution to a short film by Jerry Slick.
Career
1965–1966: The Great Society
In August 1965, Slick read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the newly formed Jefferson Airplane. Despite being situated in the growing musical center of San Francisco, Slick only half-heartedly considered music for a profession until she watched the band live at The Matrix. As a result, Slick (vocals, guitar), accompanied by husband Jerry Slick (drums), Jerry's brother Darby Slick (lead guitar), and David Miner (bass guitar) formed a group called The Great Society. On October 15, 1965, the band made its debut performance at a venue known as the Coffee Gallery, and soon after Slick composed the psychedelic piece "White Rabbit". The song, which she is purported to have written in an hour, is a reflection on the hallucinatory effects of psychedelic drugs; when performed live, it featured a speedier tempo and was an instant favorite among the band's followers. Although Slick was an equal contributor to The Great Society's original material, Darby Slick pushed the band toward becoming a raga-influenced psychedelic act. By late 1965, they had become a popular attraction in the Bay Area. Between October and December 1965, The Great Society entered Golden State Recorders and recorded several tracks under the supervision of Sylvester Stewart. One single emerged from the demos, the Darby Slick-penned "Someone to Love" (the “B” side to "Free Advice") on the locally based Autumn Records subsidiary label "North Beach". Grace Slick supplied vocals, guitar, piano, and recorder.
1966–1972: Jefferson Airplane
During the autumn of 1966, Jefferson Airplane's then singer Signe Toly Anderson decided to leave the band to raise her child, and Jack Casady asked Slick to join them. Slick stated that she joined the Airplane because it was run in a professional manner, unlike the Great Society. With Slick on board, Jefferson Airplane began recording new music, and they turned in a more psychedelic direction from their former folk-rock style. Surrealistic Pillow included new recordings of "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love", both of which became top 10 singles. Jefferson Airplane became one of the most popular bands in the country and earned Slick a position as one of the most prominent female rock musicians of her time. In 1968, Slick performed "Crown of Creation" on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in blackface and ended the performance with a Black Panther raised fist. In an appearance on a 1969 episode of The Dick Cavett Show, she became the first person to say "motherfucker" on television during a performance of "We Can Be Together".
1970–1984: Jefferson Starship and solo career
After Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen decided to leave Jefferson Airplane to focus on their project Hot Tuna, Slick formed Jefferson Starship with Paul Kantner and other bandmates, and also began a string of solo albums with Manhole, followed by Dreams, Welcome to the Wrecking Ball!, and Software. Manhole also featured keyboardist/bassist Pete Sears, who later joined Jefferson Starship in 1974. Sears and Slick penned several early Jefferson Starship songs together, including "Hyperdrive" and "Play On Love". Dreams, which was produced by Ron Frangipane and incorporated many of the ideas she encountered attending twelve-step program meetings, is the most personal of her solo albums and was nominated for a Grammy Award. The song "Do It the Hard Way" from Dreams is one example of Slick's music at the time.
Slick was nicknamed "The Chrome Nun" by David Crosby, who also used the nickname "Baron von Tollbooth" for Kantner. Their nicknames appear as the title of an album she made in 1973 with bandmates Kantner and David Freiberg: Baron von Tollbooth & the Chrome Nun.
1984–1989: Starship and Jefferson Airplane reunion
During the 1980s, while Slick was the only member remaining from Jefferson Airplane in Starship, the band went on to score three chart-topping successes with "We Built This City", "Sara", and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Despite the success, Slick since has spoken negatively about the experience and the music. In 1987, Slick co-hosted The Legendary Ladies of Rock & Roll, for which she also sang backing vocals on "Be My Baby" and "Da Doo Ron Ron". She left Starship in 1988, shortly after the release of No Protection.
In 1989, Slick and her former Jefferson Airplane band members reformed the group. They released a self-titled reunion album, and held a successful tour before disbanding.
1989–present: Retirement
Following the Jefferson Airplane reunion, Slick retired from the music business. During a 1998 interview with VH1 on a Behind the Music documentary featuring Jefferson Airplane, Slick, who was never shy about the idea of getting old, said that the main reason she retired from the music business was, "All rock-and-rollers over the age of 50 look stupid and should retire." In a 2007 interview, she repeated her belief that, "You can do jazz, classical, blues, opera, country until you're 150, but rap and rock and roll are really a way for young people to get that anger out", and, "It's silly to perform a song that has no relevance to the present or expresses feelings you no longer have."
Despite her retirement, Slick has appeared twice with Kantner's revamped version of Jefferson Starship; the first came in 1995 when the band played at Los Angeles's House of Blues, as documented on the live album Deep Space/Virgin Sky. The second was for a post-9/11 gig in late 2001, during which she came on the stage initially covered in black from head to toe in a makeshift burqa. She then removed the burqa to reveal a covering bearing an American flag and the words "Fuck Fear". Her statement to fans on the outfit was: "The outfit is not about Islam, it's about oppression; this flag is not about politics, it's about liberty."
After retiring from music, Slick began painting and drawing. She has done many renditions of her fellow 1960s musicians, such as Janis Joplin, Jerry Garcia, and others. Slick has had a passion for art since she was a child, before she pivoted to music. In 2000, she began displaying and selling her artwork. She attends many of her art shows across the United States. She has generally refrained from engaging in the music business, although she did perform on "Knock Me Out", a track from In Flight, the 1996 solo debut from former 4 Non Blondes singer, and friend of daughter China, Linda Perry. The song was also on the soundtrack to the film The Crow: City of Angels.
Slick published her autobiography, Somebody to Love? A Rock and Roll Memoir, in 1998 and narrated an abridged version of the book as an audiobook. A biography, Grace Slick, The Biography, by Barbara Rowes, was released in 1980 and is currently out of print. In a 2001 USA Today article, Slick said, "I'm in good health and people want to know what I do to be this way ... I don't eat cheese, I don't eat duck—the point is I'm vegan." However, she admitted she's "not strict vegan, because I'm a hedonist pig. If I see a big chocolate cake that is made with eggs, I'll have it."
In 2006, Slick suffered from diverticulitis. After initial surgery, she had a relapse requiring further surgery and a tracheotomy. She was placed in an induced coma for two months and then had to learn to walk again. Also in 2006, Slick gave a speech at the inauguration of the new Virgin America airline, which named their first aircraft Jefferson Airplane. In 2010, Slick co-wrote "Edge of Madness" with singer Michelle Mangione to raise money for remediation efforts following the BP oil spill. Grace also sang background vocals on the song and is clearly audible in the middle of the song singing, "On the edge of madness." In recent years, Slick has made sporadic appearances and has done radio interviews. She also made an appearance at the Grammy Lifetime Achievement awards in 2016.
Personal life
Slick was married to cinematographer and drummer Gerald "Jerry" Slick from 1961 to 1971, then to lighting designer Skip Johnson from 1976 to 1994. She has a daughter, actress China Wing Kantner, born January 25, 1971. China's father is Jefferson Airplane guitarist Paul Kantner, with whom Slick had a relationship from 1969 to 1975.
In 1971, Slick was nearly fatally injured when the car she was driving crashed into the inside of a tunnel in San Francisco. This happened while she was drag racing Jorma Kaukonen and both were driving over 100 miles per hour.
Slick has publicly acknowledged her alcoholism and use of substances including LSD and marijuana. She has discussed this, and her rehabilitation experiences, in her autobiography, various interviews, and several published celebrity addiction and recovery books. The latter include The Courage to Change by Dennis Wholey and The Harder They Fall by Gary Stromberg and Jane Merrill. Her alcoholism became a problem for the band during Jefferson Starship's 1978 European tour. The group had to cancel the first night in Germany because she was too intoxicated to perform, causing the audience to riot. She performed the next night with the band but was so inebriated that she could not sing properly. She also attacked the audience, mocking Germany for losing World War II and groping both female audience members and bandmates. She left the group the next day, and she was "dragged off" a San Francisco game show for abusing the contestants. She was admitted to a detoxification facility at least twice, once during the 1970s at Duffy's in Napa Valley, and once in the 1990s with daughter China.
Legal incidents
President Richard Nixon's daughter Tricia and Slick are both alumnae of Finch College, and Slick was invited to a tea party for the alumnae at the White House in 1969. She invited anarchist Abbie Hoffman to be her escort and planned to spike President Nixon's tea with 600 micrograms of LSD (an enormous amount), but the party had been billed as an "all ladies" event. Hoffman's presence in the waiting line immediately aroused the suspicions of White House security personnel; he claimed to be Slick's "bodyguard and escort", which failed to convince the security personnel, who told him that the event was "strictly for females". Hoffman then took out a black flag with a multicolored marijuana leaf and hung it on the White House gate. Slick declined to attend once Hoffman was denied entry, and the two ran across the street to a waiting car. Slick later speculated that she received the invitation only because it was addressed to "Grace Wing" (her maiden name), and that she never would have been invited if the Nixons had known that she was Grace Slick.
Slick was arrested at least four times for what she has referred to as "TUI" ("talking under the influence") and "drunk mouth". One incident occurred when a police officer encountered her sitting against a tree trunk in the backwoods of Marin County, California, drinking wine, eating bread, and reading poetry. The officer asked what she was doing; she gave a sarcastic response and was arrested and jailed. She was arrested in 1994 for assault with a deadly weapon after pointing an unloaded gun at a police officer. She alleged that the officer had come onto her property without explanation.
Visual art
After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals, mainly to amuse herself and because doing so made her happy during a difficult period in her life. Soon thereafter, she was approached about writing her memoir, which ultimately became Somebody to Love? A Rock-and-Roll Memoir. Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography. Hesitant at first (because she thought "it was way too cute. Rock-n-Roll draws Rock-n-Roll"), she eventually agreed because she found she enjoyed it, and color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography. An Alice in Wonderland-themed painting and various other sketches are scattered throughout the book. Her paintings of Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady were used for the cover art of the 1998 album The Best of Hot Tuna. Though Slick has been drawing and painting since she was a child, she admits to not being able to multitask, so did not do much of it while she was focusing on her music career. A notable exception is the 1974 cover art of her first solo album, Manhole, which she signed "Child Type Odd Art by Grace".
Slick does not always use the same style or medium in her production of visual art and has no interest in doing so. She uses acrylic paints (saying oil paint takes too long to dry), canvas, pen, ink, scratchboard, pastels, and pencil. Many of her works are mixed media. Her styles include the children's bookish Alice in Wonderland themes, realistic rock and roll portraits, scratchboards of animals, minimalist ink wash-styled nudes and a variety of other subjects and styles.
The best-selling prints and originals are her various renditions of the White Rabbit and the portraits of her colleagues in the music industry. In 2006, the popularity of her Alice in Wonderland works led to a partnership with Dark Horse Comics, Inc. that resulted in the release of stationery and journals with the Wonderland motif.
While critics have variously panned and praised her work, Slick seems indifferent to the criticism. She views her visual artistry as just another extension of the artistic temperament that landed her in the music business in the first place, as it allows her to continue to produce art in a way that does not require the physical demands of appearing on a stage nightly or traveling with a large group of people.
Interviewed in 2007, Slick attends many of her art gallery shows across the United States, sometimes attending more than 30 shows in a year. While she says she enjoys talking with the people who come to her art shows, she is not a fan of the traveling involved, particularly the flying.
Legacy
Slick, famous as a rock 'n' roll singer, was one of the earliest female rock stars alongside her close contemporary Janis Joplin, and was an important figure in the development of rock music in the late 1960s. Her distinctive vocal style and striking stage presence exerted influence on other female performers, including Stevie Nicks, Patti Smith, and Terri Nunn (of "Berlin" fame).
Between 1985 and 1999, Slick was the oldest female vocalist on a Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping single. "We Built This City" reached number one on November 16, 1985, shortly after her 46th birthday. Previously, the distinction of the oldest female vocalist with a chart-topping single was Tina Turner, who at age 44 had 1984's number-one smash, "What's Love Got To Do With It". Turner (who is one month younger than Slick) turned 45 two months after the song topped the charts. Slick broke her own record in April 1987 at age 47 when "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" topped the US charts. Her record stood for 12 years but was ultimately broken by Cher, who was 53 in 1999 when "Believe" hit number one.
Slick did vocals for a piece known as "Jazz Numbers", a series of animated shorts about the numbers two through 10 (a number-one short was never made), which aired on Sesame Street. The segment for the number two appeared in the first episode of the first season of Sesame Street, November 10, 1969. She was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1981 as Best Rock Female Vocalist for her solo album Dreams. She also performed the song "Panda" at the 1990 March for the Animals.
She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 as a member of Jefferson Airplane.
In 1993, she narrated the Stephen King short story "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band" on his Nightmares & Dreamscapes audiobook.
She was ranked number 20 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock N Roll in 1999.
In 2017, Grace Slick licensed the Starship song "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" to Chick-fil-A to use in a TV commercial, but because she disagrees with Chick-fil-A's corporate views on same-sex marriage she gave all of the proceeds of that deal to Lambda Legal, an organization that works to advance the civil rights of LGBTQ people and everyone living with HIV.
Discography
with Paul Kantner
Other appearances
References
External links
Jefferson Airplane official website
Episode of Biography about Grace Slick
Area Arts, Grace Slick's US art distributor
Counterculture Meets Mall Culture for Grace Slick
1939 births
20th-century American women singers
American contraltos
American women singer-songwriters
20th-century American painters
American people of English descent
American people of Norwegian descent
American people of Scottish descent
American people of Swedish descent
American women rock singers
American rock songwriters
Artists from Evanston, Illinois
Castilleja School alumni
Finch College alumni
Jefferson Airplane members
Jefferson Starship members
Living people
Musicians from Evanston, Illinois
Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area
Palo Alto High School alumni
Psychedelic rock musicians
University of Miami alumni
Writers from Evanston, Illinois
20th-century American singers
21st-century American painters
Singer-songwriters from California
Singer-songwriters from Illinois
| true |
[
"Daniela Drummond-Barbosa is a Brazilian-American geneticist who is a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her research considers stem cell regulation.\n\nEarly life and education \nDrummond-Barbosa grew up in Belo Horizonte in Brazil. She earned her undergraduate degree in biological sciences at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in 1991. She moved to New Haven, Connecticut for her graduate studies, where she worked with Daniel DiMaio on the interactions between platelet-derived growth factor receptors and the bovine papillomavirus E5 protein. She joined the laboratory of Allan C. Spradling at the Carnegie Institution for Science for her postdoctoral research. Here she first identified that stem cells and their derivatives responded to diet.\n\nResearch and career \nDrummond-Barbosa continued to study the regulation of stem cells as she started her independent career at Vanderbilt University. She focused on how germline stem cells are regulated by diet and the control of meiotic maturation in Drosophila. In 2009 Drummond-Barbosa was appointed to Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her research considers how adult stem cells sense and respond to external and systemic environments. She has focused on the ovarian stem cells of Drosophila and how they respond to diet, concentrating on hormones, insulin and adipose tissue.\n\nAwards \n 1990 Conselho Nacional de Pesquisas Scientific Initiation Fellowship\n 1997 National Institutes of Health National Research Service Award\n 2006 Vanderbilt University Chancellor's Award for Research\n 2007 American Cancer Society Research Scholar\n 2014 Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science\n 2017 Johns Hopkins University Shikani/El Hibri Prize for Discovery & Innovation\n\nSelected publications\n\nReferences \n\nLiving people\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nPeople from Belo Horizonte\nJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health faculty",
"USS Thunderbolt (PC-12) is the twelfth . Thunderbolt was laid down 9 June 1994 by Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana, and launched 2 December 1994. She was commissioned by the United States Navy on 7 October 1995.\n\nOperational history\n\nIn 2013,Thunderbolt shifted homeport to Naval Support Activity Bahrain, arriving pierside there on 3 July 2013.\n\nOn 25 July 2017, Thunderbolt fired warning shots at an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy vessel. According to an unnamed U.S. defense official source, \"The IRGCN boat was coming in at a high rate of speed. It did not respond to any signals, they did not respond to any bridge-to-bridge calls, they (the USS Thunderbolt) felt there was no choice except to fire the warning shots.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n USS Thunderbolt Intercepted by an Iranian Patrol Boat\n FAS\n Photo gallery at navsource.org\n\n \n\nCyclone-class patrol ships\nShips built in Lockport, Louisiana\n1994 ships"
] |
[
"Grace Slick",
"Visual art",
"Did she release any visual art pieces?",
"After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals,",
"Did she have any success with her art?",
"Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography.",
"What did she submit to be included?",
"color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography.",
"Did she do another other artwork?",
"An \"Alice in Wonderland\"-themed painting and various other sketches are scattered throughout the book.",
"What did critics have to say about her work?",
"While critics have variously panned and praised her work, Slick seems indifferent to the criticism.",
"how did she respond to the critiscm?",
"Slick seems indifferent to the criticism."
] |
C_292e7df72849446db2ef827bb12e043c_0
|
Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
| 7 |
Besides her indifference to criticism, are there any other interesting aspects about Grace Slick's work?
|
Grace Slick
|
After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals, mainly to amuse herself and because doing so made her happy during a difficult period in her life. Soon thereafter, she was approached about writing her memoir, which ultimately became Somebody to Love? A Rock-and-Roll Memoir. Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography. Hesitant at first (because she thought "it was way too cute. Rock-n-Roll draws Rock-n-Roll"), she eventually agreed because she found she enjoyed it, and color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography. An "Alice in Wonderland"-themed painting and various other sketches are scattered throughout the book. Her paintings of Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady were used for the cover art of the album The Best of Hot Tuna. Though Slick has been drawing and painting since she was a child, she admits to not being able to multitask, so did not do much of it while she was focusing on her musical career. A notable exception is the cover art of her first solo album, Manhole, which she signed "Child Type Odd Art by Grace." Slick is not bound by any specific style or medium in her production of visual art and has no interest in developing one. She uses acrylic paints, saying oil takes too long to dry, canvas, pen, ink, scratchboard, pastels, and pencil. Many of her works are mixed media. Her styles range from the children's bookish "Alice in Wonderland" themes to the realism of the rock and roll portraits and scratchboards of animals to the minimalist ink wash styled nudes to a variety of other subjects and styles. The best-selling prints and originals are her various renditions of the white rabbit and the portraits of her colleagues in the music industry. In 2006, the popularity of her "Alice in Wonderland" works led to a partnership with Dark Horse Comics, Inc. that resulted in the release of stationery and journals with the "Wonderland" motif. While critics have variously panned and praised her work, Slick seems indifferent to the criticism. She views her visual artistry as just another extension of the artistic temperament that landed her in the music scene in the first place, as it allows her to continue to produce art in a way that does not require the physical demands of appearing on a stage nightly or traveling with a large group of people. Slick attends many of her art gallery shows across the United States, sometimes attending over 30 shows in a year. While she says she enjoys talking with the people who come to her art shows, she is not a fan of the traveling involved, particularly the flying. At most of her art shows, those who purchase a piece of her art get a photo with Slick, an opportunity to chat, and a personalized autograph on the back of the piece that has been purchased. CANNOTANSWER
|
Slick attends many of her art gallery shows across the United States, sometimes attending over 30 shows in a year.
|
Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing; October 30, 1939) is an American artist, painter and retired singer-songwriter. Slick was a key figure in San Francisco's early psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s. With a music career spanning four decades, she first performed with The Great Society, but is best known for her work with Jefferson Airplane and the subsequent successor bands Jefferson Starship and Starship. Slick and Jefferson Airplane first achieved fame with their 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow, which included the top-ten Billboard hits "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love". She provided the lead vocals on both tracks. With Starship, she sang co-lead for two number one hits, "We Built This City" and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". She would also release four solo albums. Slick retired from music in 1990, but continues to be active in the visual arts field.
Early life
Grace Barnett Wing was born October 30, 1939, in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois to Ivan Wilford Wing (1907–1987), of British descent, and Virginia Wing (née Barnett; 1909–1983). Her parents met while they were both students at the University of Washington, and later married. In 1949, her brother Chris was born. Her father, working in the investment banking sector for Weeden and Company, was transferred several times when she was a child, and in addition to the Chicago metropolitan area, she lived in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, before her family finally settled in Palo Alto, California in the early 1950s.
Wing attended Palo Alto Senior High School, then switched to Castilleja School, a private all-girls school in Palo Alto. Following graduation, she attended Finch College in New York City from 1957 to 1958, and the University of Miami in Coral Gables from 1958 to 1959. On August 26, 1961, Wing married Gerald "Jerry" Slick, an aspiring filmmaker, and after the couple briefly moved away from San Francisco, Grace Slick worked as a model at an I. Magnin department store for three years. Slick also started composing music, including a contribution to a short film by Jerry Slick.
Career
1965–1966: The Great Society
In August 1965, Slick read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the newly formed Jefferson Airplane. Despite being situated in the growing musical center of San Francisco, Slick only half-heartedly considered music for a profession until she watched the band live at The Matrix. As a result, Slick (vocals, guitar), accompanied by husband Jerry Slick (drums), Jerry's brother Darby Slick (lead guitar), and David Miner (bass guitar) formed a group called The Great Society. On October 15, 1965, the band made its debut performance at a venue known as the Coffee Gallery, and soon after Slick composed the psychedelic piece "White Rabbit". The song, which she is purported to have written in an hour, is a reflection on the hallucinatory effects of psychedelic drugs; when performed live, it featured a speedier tempo and was an instant favorite among the band's followers. Although Slick was an equal contributor to The Great Society's original material, Darby Slick pushed the band toward becoming a raga-influenced psychedelic act. By late 1965, they had become a popular attraction in the Bay Area. Between October and December 1965, The Great Society entered Golden State Recorders and recorded several tracks under the supervision of Sylvester Stewart. One single emerged from the demos, the Darby Slick-penned "Someone to Love" (the “B” side to "Free Advice") on the locally based Autumn Records subsidiary label "North Beach". Grace Slick supplied vocals, guitar, piano, and recorder.
1966–1972: Jefferson Airplane
During the autumn of 1966, Jefferson Airplane's then singer Signe Toly Anderson decided to leave the band to raise her child, and Jack Casady asked Slick to join them. Slick stated that she joined the Airplane because it was run in a professional manner, unlike the Great Society. With Slick on board, Jefferson Airplane began recording new music, and they turned in a more psychedelic direction from their former folk-rock style. Surrealistic Pillow included new recordings of "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love", both of which became top 10 singles. Jefferson Airplane became one of the most popular bands in the country and earned Slick a position as one of the most prominent female rock musicians of her time. In 1968, Slick performed "Crown of Creation" on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in blackface and ended the performance with a Black Panther raised fist. In an appearance on a 1969 episode of The Dick Cavett Show, she became the first person to say "motherfucker" on television during a performance of "We Can Be Together".
1970–1984: Jefferson Starship and solo career
After Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen decided to leave Jefferson Airplane to focus on their project Hot Tuna, Slick formed Jefferson Starship with Paul Kantner and other bandmates, and also began a string of solo albums with Manhole, followed by Dreams, Welcome to the Wrecking Ball!, and Software. Manhole also featured keyboardist/bassist Pete Sears, who later joined Jefferson Starship in 1974. Sears and Slick penned several early Jefferson Starship songs together, including "Hyperdrive" and "Play On Love". Dreams, which was produced by Ron Frangipane and incorporated many of the ideas she encountered attending twelve-step program meetings, is the most personal of her solo albums and was nominated for a Grammy Award. The song "Do It the Hard Way" from Dreams is one example of Slick's music at the time.
Slick was nicknamed "The Chrome Nun" by David Crosby, who also used the nickname "Baron von Tollbooth" for Kantner. Their nicknames appear as the title of an album she made in 1973 with bandmates Kantner and David Freiberg: Baron von Tollbooth & the Chrome Nun.
1984–1989: Starship and Jefferson Airplane reunion
During the 1980s, while Slick was the only member remaining from Jefferson Airplane in Starship, the band went on to score three chart-topping successes with "We Built This City", "Sara", and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Despite the success, Slick since has spoken negatively about the experience and the music. In 1987, Slick co-hosted The Legendary Ladies of Rock & Roll, for which she also sang backing vocals on "Be My Baby" and "Da Doo Ron Ron". She left Starship in 1988, shortly after the release of No Protection.
In 1989, Slick and her former Jefferson Airplane band members reformed the group. They released a self-titled reunion album, and held a successful tour before disbanding.
1989–present: Retirement
Following the Jefferson Airplane reunion, Slick retired from the music business. During a 1998 interview with VH1 on a Behind the Music documentary featuring Jefferson Airplane, Slick, who was never shy about the idea of getting old, said that the main reason she retired from the music business was, "All rock-and-rollers over the age of 50 look stupid and should retire." In a 2007 interview, she repeated her belief that, "You can do jazz, classical, blues, opera, country until you're 150, but rap and rock and roll are really a way for young people to get that anger out", and, "It's silly to perform a song that has no relevance to the present or expresses feelings you no longer have."
Despite her retirement, Slick has appeared twice with Kantner's revamped version of Jefferson Starship; the first came in 1995 when the band played at Los Angeles's House of Blues, as documented on the live album Deep Space/Virgin Sky. The second was for a post-9/11 gig in late 2001, during which she came on the stage initially covered in black from head to toe in a makeshift burqa. She then removed the burqa to reveal a covering bearing an American flag and the words "Fuck Fear". Her statement to fans on the outfit was: "The outfit is not about Islam, it's about oppression; this flag is not about politics, it's about liberty."
After retiring from music, Slick began painting and drawing. She has done many renditions of her fellow 1960s musicians, such as Janis Joplin, Jerry Garcia, and others. Slick has had a passion for art since she was a child, before she pivoted to music. In 2000, she began displaying and selling her artwork. She attends many of her art shows across the United States. She has generally refrained from engaging in the music business, although she did perform on "Knock Me Out", a track from In Flight, the 1996 solo debut from former 4 Non Blondes singer, and friend of daughter China, Linda Perry. The song was also on the soundtrack to the film The Crow: City of Angels.
Slick published her autobiography, Somebody to Love? A Rock and Roll Memoir, in 1998 and narrated an abridged version of the book as an audiobook. A biography, Grace Slick, The Biography, by Barbara Rowes, was released in 1980 and is currently out of print. In a 2001 USA Today article, Slick said, "I'm in good health and people want to know what I do to be this way ... I don't eat cheese, I don't eat duck—the point is I'm vegan." However, she admitted she's "not strict vegan, because I'm a hedonist pig. If I see a big chocolate cake that is made with eggs, I'll have it."
In 2006, Slick suffered from diverticulitis. After initial surgery, she had a relapse requiring further surgery and a tracheotomy. She was placed in an induced coma for two months and then had to learn to walk again. Also in 2006, Slick gave a speech at the inauguration of the new Virgin America airline, which named their first aircraft Jefferson Airplane. In 2010, Slick co-wrote "Edge of Madness" with singer Michelle Mangione to raise money for remediation efforts following the BP oil spill. Grace also sang background vocals on the song and is clearly audible in the middle of the song singing, "On the edge of madness." In recent years, Slick has made sporadic appearances and has done radio interviews. She also made an appearance at the Grammy Lifetime Achievement awards in 2016.
Personal life
Slick was married to cinematographer and drummer Gerald "Jerry" Slick from 1961 to 1971, then to lighting designer Skip Johnson from 1976 to 1994. She has a daughter, actress China Wing Kantner, born January 25, 1971. China's father is Jefferson Airplane guitarist Paul Kantner, with whom Slick had a relationship from 1969 to 1975.
In 1971, Slick was nearly fatally injured when the car she was driving crashed into the inside of a tunnel in San Francisco. This happened while she was drag racing Jorma Kaukonen and both were driving over 100 miles per hour.
Slick has publicly acknowledged her alcoholism and use of substances including LSD and marijuana. She has discussed this, and her rehabilitation experiences, in her autobiography, various interviews, and several published celebrity addiction and recovery books. The latter include The Courage to Change by Dennis Wholey and The Harder They Fall by Gary Stromberg and Jane Merrill. Her alcoholism became a problem for the band during Jefferson Starship's 1978 European tour. The group had to cancel the first night in Germany because she was too intoxicated to perform, causing the audience to riot. She performed the next night with the band but was so inebriated that she could not sing properly. She also attacked the audience, mocking Germany for losing World War II and groping both female audience members and bandmates. She left the group the next day, and she was "dragged off" a San Francisco game show for abusing the contestants. She was admitted to a detoxification facility at least twice, once during the 1970s at Duffy's in Napa Valley, and once in the 1990s with daughter China.
Legal incidents
President Richard Nixon's daughter Tricia and Slick are both alumnae of Finch College, and Slick was invited to a tea party for the alumnae at the White House in 1969. She invited anarchist Abbie Hoffman to be her escort and planned to spike President Nixon's tea with 600 micrograms of LSD (an enormous amount), but the party had been billed as an "all ladies" event. Hoffman's presence in the waiting line immediately aroused the suspicions of White House security personnel; he claimed to be Slick's "bodyguard and escort", which failed to convince the security personnel, who told him that the event was "strictly for females". Hoffman then took out a black flag with a multicolored marijuana leaf and hung it on the White House gate. Slick declined to attend once Hoffman was denied entry, and the two ran across the street to a waiting car. Slick later speculated that she received the invitation only because it was addressed to "Grace Wing" (her maiden name), and that she never would have been invited if the Nixons had known that she was Grace Slick.
Slick was arrested at least four times for what she has referred to as "TUI" ("talking under the influence") and "drunk mouth". One incident occurred when a police officer encountered her sitting against a tree trunk in the backwoods of Marin County, California, drinking wine, eating bread, and reading poetry. The officer asked what she was doing; she gave a sarcastic response and was arrested and jailed. She was arrested in 1994 for assault with a deadly weapon after pointing an unloaded gun at a police officer. She alleged that the officer had come onto her property without explanation.
Visual art
After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals, mainly to amuse herself and because doing so made her happy during a difficult period in her life. Soon thereafter, she was approached about writing her memoir, which ultimately became Somebody to Love? A Rock-and-Roll Memoir. Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography. Hesitant at first (because she thought "it was way too cute. Rock-n-Roll draws Rock-n-Roll"), she eventually agreed because she found she enjoyed it, and color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography. An Alice in Wonderland-themed painting and various other sketches are scattered throughout the book. Her paintings of Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady were used for the cover art of the 1998 album The Best of Hot Tuna. Though Slick has been drawing and painting since she was a child, she admits to not being able to multitask, so did not do much of it while she was focusing on her music career. A notable exception is the 1974 cover art of her first solo album, Manhole, which she signed "Child Type Odd Art by Grace".
Slick does not always use the same style or medium in her production of visual art and has no interest in doing so. She uses acrylic paints (saying oil paint takes too long to dry), canvas, pen, ink, scratchboard, pastels, and pencil. Many of her works are mixed media. Her styles include the children's bookish Alice in Wonderland themes, realistic rock and roll portraits, scratchboards of animals, minimalist ink wash-styled nudes and a variety of other subjects and styles.
The best-selling prints and originals are her various renditions of the White Rabbit and the portraits of her colleagues in the music industry. In 2006, the popularity of her Alice in Wonderland works led to a partnership with Dark Horse Comics, Inc. that resulted in the release of stationery and journals with the Wonderland motif.
While critics have variously panned and praised her work, Slick seems indifferent to the criticism. She views her visual artistry as just another extension of the artistic temperament that landed her in the music business in the first place, as it allows her to continue to produce art in a way that does not require the physical demands of appearing on a stage nightly or traveling with a large group of people.
Interviewed in 2007, Slick attends many of her art gallery shows across the United States, sometimes attending more than 30 shows in a year. While she says she enjoys talking with the people who come to her art shows, she is not a fan of the traveling involved, particularly the flying.
Legacy
Slick, famous as a rock 'n' roll singer, was one of the earliest female rock stars alongside her close contemporary Janis Joplin, and was an important figure in the development of rock music in the late 1960s. Her distinctive vocal style and striking stage presence exerted influence on other female performers, including Stevie Nicks, Patti Smith, and Terri Nunn (of "Berlin" fame).
Between 1985 and 1999, Slick was the oldest female vocalist on a Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping single. "We Built This City" reached number one on November 16, 1985, shortly after her 46th birthday. Previously, the distinction of the oldest female vocalist with a chart-topping single was Tina Turner, who at age 44 had 1984's number-one smash, "What's Love Got To Do With It". Turner (who is one month younger than Slick) turned 45 two months after the song topped the charts. Slick broke her own record in April 1987 at age 47 when "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" topped the US charts. Her record stood for 12 years but was ultimately broken by Cher, who was 53 in 1999 when "Believe" hit number one.
Slick did vocals for a piece known as "Jazz Numbers", a series of animated shorts about the numbers two through 10 (a number-one short was never made), which aired on Sesame Street. The segment for the number two appeared in the first episode of the first season of Sesame Street, November 10, 1969. She was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1981 as Best Rock Female Vocalist for her solo album Dreams. She also performed the song "Panda" at the 1990 March for the Animals.
She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 as a member of Jefferson Airplane.
In 1993, she narrated the Stephen King short story "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band" on his Nightmares & Dreamscapes audiobook.
She was ranked number 20 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock N Roll in 1999.
In 2017, Grace Slick licensed the Starship song "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" to Chick-fil-A to use in a TV commercial, but because she disagrees with Chick-fil-A's corporate views on same-sex marriage she gave all of the proceeds of that deal to Lambda Legal, an organization that works to advance the civil rights of LGBTQ people and everyone living with HIV.
Discography
with Paul Kantner
Other appearances
References
External links
Jefferson Airplane official website
Episode of Biography about Grace Slick
Area Arts, Grace Slick's US art distributor
Counterculture Meets Mall Culture for Grace Slick
1939 births
20th-century American women singers
American contraltos
American women singer-songwriters
20th-century American painters
American people of English descent
American people of Norwegian descent
American people of Scottish descent
American people of Swedish descent
American women rock singers
American rock songwriters
Artists from Evanston, Illinois
Castilleja School alumni
Finch College alumni
Jefferson Airplane members
Jefferson Starship members
Living people
Musicians from Evanston, Illinois
Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area
Palo Alto High School alumni
Psychedelic rock musicians
University of Miami alumni
Writers from Evanston, Illinois
20th-century American singers
21st-century American painters
Singer-songwriters from California
Singer-songwriters from Illinois
| false |
[
"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"
] |
[
"Grace Slick",
"Visual art",
"Did she release any visual art pieces?",
"After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals,",
"Did she have any success with her art?",
"Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography.",
"What did she submit to be included?",
"color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography.",
"Did she do another other artwork?",
"An \"Alice in Wonderland\"-themed painting and various other sketches are scattered throughout the book.",
"What did critics have to say about her work?",
"While critics have variously panned and praised her work, Slick seems indifferent to the criticism.",
"how did she respond to the critiscm?",
"Slick seems indifferent to the criticism.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Slick attends many of her art gallery shows across the United States, sometimes attending over 30 shows in a year."
] |
C_292e7df72849446db2ef827bb12e043c_0
|
Why does she attend so many?
| 8 |
Why does Grace Slick attend so many of her own art shows?
|
Grace Slick
|
After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals, mainly to amuse herself and because doing so made her happy during a difficult period in her life. Soon thereafter, she was approached about writing her memoir, which ultimately became Somebody to Love? A Rock-and-Roll Memoir. Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography. Hesitant at first (because she thought "it was way too cute. Rock-n-Roll draws Rock-n-Roll"), she eventually agreed because she found she enjoyed it, and color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography. An "Alice in Wonderland"-themed painting and various other sketches are scattered throughout the book. Her paintings of Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady were used for the cover art of the album The Best of Hot Tuna. Though Slick has been drawing and painting since she was a child, she admits to not being able to multitask, so did not do much of it while she was focusing on her musical career. A notable exception is the cover art of her first solo album, Manhole, which she signed "Child Type Odd Art by Grace." Slick is not bound by any specific style or medium in her production of visual art and has no interest in developing one. She uses acrylic paints, saying oil takes too long to dry, canvas, pen, ink, scratchboard, pastels, and pencil. Many of her works are mixed media. Her styles range from the children's bookish "Alice in Wonderland" themes to the realism of the rock and roll portraits and scratchboards of animals to the minimalist ink wash styled nudes to a variety of other subjects and styles. The best-selling prints and originals are her various renditions of the white rabbit and the portraits of her colleagues in the music industry. In 2006, the popularity of her "Alice in Wonderland" works led to a partnership with Dark Horse Comics, Inc. that resulted in the release of stationery and journals with the "Wonderland" motif. While critics have variously panned and praised her work, Slick seems indifferent to the criticism. She views her visual artistry as just another extension of the artistic temperament that landed her in the music scene in the first place, as it allows her to continue to produce art in a way that does not require the physical demands of appearing on a stage nightly or traveling with a large group of people. Slick attends many of her art gallery shows across the United States, sometimes attending over 30 shows in a year. While she says she enjoys talking with the people who come to her art shows, she is not a fan of the traveling involved, particularly the flying. At most of her art shows, those who purchase a piece of her art get a photo with Slick, an opportunity to chat, and a personalized autograph on the back of the piece that has been purchased. CANNOTANSWER
|
she enjoys talking with the people who come to her art shows,
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Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing; October 30, 1939) is an American artist, painter and retired singer-songwriter. Slick was a key figure in San Francisco's early psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s. With a music career spanning four decades, she first performed with The Great Society, but is best known for her work with Jefferson Airplane and the subsequent successor bands Jefferson Starship and Starship. Slick and Jefferson Airplane first achieved fame with their 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow, which included the top-ten Billboard hits "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love". She provided the lead vocals on both tracks. With Starship, she sang co-lead for two number one hits, "We Built This City" and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". She would also release four solo albums. Slick retired from music in 1990, but continues to be active in the visual arts field.
Early life
Grace Barnett Wing was born October 30, 1939, in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois to Ivan Wilford Wing (1907–1987), of British descent, and Virginia Wing (née Barnett; 1909–1983). Her parents met while they were both students at the University of Washington, and later married. In 1949, her brother Chris was born. Her father, working in the investment banking sector for Weeden and Company, was transferred several times when she was a child, and in addition to the Chicago metropolitan area, she lived in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, before her family finally settled in Palo Alto, California in the early 1950s.
Wing attended Palo Alto Senior High School, then switched to Castilleja School, a private all-girls school in Palo Alto. Following graduation, she attended Finch College in New York City from 1957 to 1958, and the University of Miami in Coral Gables from 1958 to 1959. On August 26, 1961, Wing married Gerald "Jerry" Slick, an aspiring filmmaker, and after the couple briefly moved away from San Francisco, Grace Slick worked as a model at an I. Magnin department store for three years. Slick also started composing music, including a contribution to a short film by Jerry Slick.
Career
1965–1966: The Great Society
In August 1965, Slick read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the newly formed Jefferson Airplane. Despite being situated in the growing musical center of San Francisco, Slick only half-heartedly considered music for a profession until she watched the band live at The Matrix. As a result, Slick (vocals, guitar), accompanied by husband Jerry Slick (drums), Jerry's brother Darby Slick (lead guitar), and David Miner (bass guitar) formed a group called The Great Society. On October 15, 1965, the band made its debut performance at a venue known as the Coffee Gallery, and soon after Slick composed the psychedelic piece "White Rabbit". The song, which she is purported to have written in an hour, is a reflection on the hallucinatory effects of psychedelic drugs; when performed live, it featured a speedier tempo and was an instant favorite among the band's followers. Although Slick was an equal contributor to The Great Society's original material, Darby Slick pushed the band toward becoming a raga-influenced psychedelic act. By late 1965, they had become a popular attraction in the Bay Area. Between October and December 1965, The Great Society entered Golden State Recorders and recorded several tracks under the supervision of Sylvester Stewart. One single emerged from the demos, the Darby Slick-penned "Someone to Love" (the “B” side to "Free Advice") on the locally based Autumn Records subsidiary label "North Beach". Grace Slick supplied vocals, guitar, piano, and recorder.
1966–1972: Jefferson Airplane
During the autumn of 1966, Jefferson Airplane's then singer Signe Toly Anderson decided to leave the band to raise her child, and Jack Casady asked Slick to join them. Slick stated that she joined the Airplane because it was run in a professional manner, unlike the Great Society. With Slick on board, Jefferson Airplane began recording new music, and they turned in a more psychedelic direction from their former folk-rock style. Surrealistic Pillow included new recordings of "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love", both of which became top 10 singles. Jefferson Airplane became one of the most popular bands in the country and earned Slick a position as one of the most prominent female rock musicians of her time. In 1968, Slick performed "Crown of Creation" on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in blackface and ended the performance with a Black Panther raised fist. In an appearance on a 1969 episode of The Dick Cavett Show, she became the first person to say "motherfucker" on television during a performance of "We Can Be Together".
1970–1984: Jefferson Starship and solo career
After Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen decided to leave Jefferson Airplane to focus on their project Hot Tuna, Slick formed Jefferson Starship with Paul Kantner and other bandmates, and also began a string of solo albums with Manhole, followed by Dreams, Welcome to the Wrecking Ball!, and Software. Manhole also featured keyboardist/bassist Pete Sears, who later joined Jefferson Starship in 1974. Sears and Slick penned several early Jefferson Starship songs together, including "Hyperdrive" and "Play On Love". Dreams, which was produced by Ron Frangipane and incorporated many of the ideas she encountered attending twelve-step program meetings, is the most personal of her solo albums and was nominated for a Grammy Award. The song "Do It the Hard Way" from Dreams is one example of Slick's music at the time.
Slick was nicknamed "The Chrome Nun" by David Crosby, who also used the nickname "Baron von Tollbooth" for Kantner. Their nicknames appear as the title of an album she made in 1973 with bandmates Kantner and David Freiberg: Baron von Tollbooth & the Chrome Nun.
1984–1989: Starship and Jefferson Airplane reunion
During the 1980s, while Slick was the only member remaining from Jefferson Airplane in Starship, the band went on to score three chart-topping successes with "We Built This City", "Sara", and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Despite the success, Slick since has spoken negatively about the experience and the music. In 1987, Slick co-hosted The Legendary Ladies of Rock & Roll, for which she also sang backing vocals on "Be My Baby" and "Da Doo Ron Ron". She left Starship in 1988, shortly after the release of No Protection.
In 1989, Slick and her former Jefferson Airplane band members reformed the group. They released a self-titled reunion album, and held a successful tour before disbanding.
1989–present: Retirement
Following the Jefferson Airplane reunion, Slick retired from the music business. During a 1998 interview with VH1 on a Behind the Music documentary featuring Jefferson Airplane, Slick, who was never shy about the idea of getting old, said that the main reason she retired from the music business was, "All rock-and-rollers over the age of 50 look stupid and should retire." In a 2007 interview, she repeated her belief that, "You can do jazz, classical, blues, opera, country until you're 150, but rap and rock and roll are really a way for young people to get that anger out", and, "It's silly to perform a song that has no relevance to the present or expresses feelings you no longer have."
Despite her retirement, Slick has appeared twice with Kantner's revamped version of Jefferson Starship; the first came in 1995 when the band played at Los Angeles's House of Blues, as documented on the live album Deep Space/Virgin Sky. The second was for a post-9/11 gig in late 2001, during which she came on the stage initially covered in black from head to toe in a makeshift burqa. She then removed the burqa to reveal a covering bearing an American flag and the words "Fuck Fear". Her statement to fans on the outfit was: "The outfit is not about Islam, it's about oppression; this flag is not about politics, it's about liberty."
After retiring from music, Slick began painting and drawing. She has done many renditions of her fellow 1960s musicians, such as Janis Joplin, Jerry Garcia, and others. Slick has had a passion for art since she was a child, before she pivoted to music. In 2000, she began displaying and selling her artwork. She attends many of her art shows across the United States. She has generally refrained from engaging in the music business, although she did perform on "Knock Me Out", a track from In Flight, the 1996 solo debut from former 4 Non Blondes singer, and friend of daughter China, Linda Perry. The song was also on the soundtrack to the film The Crow: City of Angels.
Slick published her autobiography, Somebody to Love? A Rock and Roll Memoir, in 1998 and narrated an abridged version of the book as an audiobook. A biography, Grace Slick, The Biography, by Barbara Rowes, was released in 1980 and is currently out of print. In a 2001 USA Today article, Slick said, "I'm in good health and people want to know what I do to be this way ... I don't eat cheese, I don't eat duck—the point is I'm vegan." However, she admitted she's "not strict vegan, because I'm a hedonist pig. If I see a big chocolate cake that is made with eggs, I'll have it."
In 2006, Slick suffered from diverticulitis. After initial surgery, she had a relapse requiring further surgery and a tracheotomy. She was placed in an induced coma for two months and then had to learn to walk again. Also in 2006, Slick gave a speech at the inauguration of the new Virgin America airline, which named their first aircraft Jefferson Airplane. In 2010, Slick co-wrote "Edge of Madness" with singer Michelle Mangione to raise money for remediation efforts following the BP oil spill. Grace also sang background vocals on the song and is clearly audible in the middle of the song singing, "On the edge of madness." In recent years, Slick has made sporadic appearances and has done radio interviews. She also made an appearance at the Grammy Lifetime Achievement awards in 2016.
Personal life
Slick was married to cinematographer and drummer Gerald "Jerry" Slick from 1961 to 1971, then to lighting designer Skip Johnson from 1976 to 1994. She has a daughter, actress China Wing Kantner, born January 25, 1971. China's father is Jefferson Airplane guitarist Paul Kantner, with whom Slick had a relationship from 1969 to 1975.
In 1971, Slick was nearly fatally injured when the car she was driving crashed into the inside of a tunnel in San Francisco. This happened while she was drag racing Jorma Kaukonen and both were driving over 100 miles per hour.
Slick has publicly acknowledged her alcoholism and use of substances including LSD and marijuana. She has discussed this, and her rehabilitation experiences, in her autobiography, various interviews, and several published celebrity addiction and recovery books. The latter include The Courage to Change by Dennis Wholey and The Harder They Fall by Gary Stromberg and Jane Merrill. Her alcoholism became a problem for the band during Jefferson Starship's 1978 European tour. The group had to cancel the first night in Germany because she was too intoxicated to perform, causing the audience to riot. She performed the next night with the band but was so inebriated that she could not sing properly. She also attacked the audience, mocking Germany for losing World War II and groping both female audience members and bandmates. She left the group the next day, and she was "dragged off" a San Francisco game show for abusing the contestants. She was admitted to a detoxification facility at least twice, once during the 1970s at Duffy's in Napa Valley, and once in the 1990s with daughter China.
Legal incidents
President Richard Nixon's daughter Tricia and Slick are both alumnae of Finch College, and Slick was invited to a tea party for the alumnae at the White House in 1969. She invited anarchist Abbie Hoffman to be her escort and planned to spike President Nixon's tea with 600 micrograms of LSD (an enormous amount), but the party had been billed as an "all ladies" event. Hoffman's presence in the waiting line immediately aroused the suspicions of White House security personnel; he claimed to be Slick's "bodyguard and escort", which failed to convince the security personnel, who told him that the event was "strictly for females". Hoffman then took out a black flag with a multicolored marijuana leaf and hung it on the White House gate. Slick declined to attend once Hoffman was denied entry, and the two ran across the street to a waiting car. Slick later speculated that she received the invitation only because it was addressed to "Grace Wing" (her maiden name), and that she never would have been invited if the Nixons had known that she was Grace Slick.
Slick was arrested at least four times for what she has referred to as "TUI" ("talking under the influence") and "drunk mouth". One incident occurred when a police officer encountered her sitting against a tree trunk in the backwoods of Marin County, California, drinking wine, eating bread, and reading poetry. The officer asked what she was doing; she gave a sarcastic response and was arrested and jailed. She was arrested in 1994 for assault with a deadly weapon after pointing an unloaded gun at a police officer. She alleged that the officer had come onto her property without explanation.
Visual art
After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals, mainly to amuse herself and because doing so made her happy during a difficult period in her life. Soon thereafter, she was approached about writing her memoir, which ultimately became Somebody to Love? A Rock-and-Roll Memoir. Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography. Hesitant at first (because she thought "it was way too cute. Rock-n-Roll draws Rock-n-Roll"), she eventually agreed because she found she enjoyed it, and color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography. An Alice in Wonderland-themed painting and various other sketches are scattered throughout the book. Her paintings of Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady were used for the cover art of the 1998 album The Best of Hot Tuna. Though Slick has been drawing and painting since she was a child, she admits to not being able to multitask, so did not do much of it while she was focusing on her music career. A notable exception is the 1974 cover art of her first solo album, Manhole, which she signed "Child Type Odd Art by Grace".
Slick does not always use the same style or medium in her production of visual art and has no interest in doing so. She uses acrylic paints (saying oil paint takes too long to dry), canvas, pen, ink, scratchboard, pastels, and pencil. Many of her works are mixed media. Her styles include the children's bookish Alice in Wonderland themes, realistic rock and roll portraits, scratchboards of animals, minimalist ink wash-styled nudes and a variety of other subjects and styles.
The best-selling prints and originals are her various renditions of the White Rabbit and the portraits of her colleagues in the music industry. In 2006, the popularity of her Alice in Wonderland works led to a partnership with Dark Horse Comics, Inc. that resulted in the release of stationery and journals with the Wonderland motif.
While critics have variously panned and praised her work, Slick seems indifferent to the criticism. She views her visual artistry as just another extension of the artistic temperament that landed her in the music business in the first place, as it allows her to continue to produce art in a way that does not require the physical demands of appearing on a stage nightly or traveling with a large group of people.
Interviewed in 2007, Slick attends many of her art gallery shows across the United States, sometimes attending more than 30 shows in a year. While she says she enjoys talking with the people who come to her art shows, she is not a fan of the traveling involved, particularly the flying.
Legacy
Slick, famous as a rock 'n' roll singer, was one of the earliest female rock stars alongside her close contemporary Janis Joplin, and was an important figure in the development of rock music in the late 1960s. Her distinctive vocal style and striking stage presence exerted influence on other female performers, including Stevie Nicks, Patti Smith, and Terri Nunn (of "Berlin" fame).
Between 1985 and 1999, Slick was the oldest female vocalist on a Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping single. "We Built This City" reached number one on November 16, 1985, shortly after her 46th birthday. Previously, the distinction of the oldest female vocalist with a chart-topping single was Tina Turner, who at age 44 had 1984's number-one smash, "What's Love Got To Do With It". Turner (who is one month younger than Slick) turned 45 two months after the song topped the charts. Slick broke her own record in April 1987 at age 47 when "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" topped the US charts. Her record stood for 12 years but was ultimately broken by Cher, who was 53 in 1999 when "Believe" hit number one.
Slick did vocals for a piece known as "Jazz Numbers", a series of animated shorts about the numbers two through 10 (a number-one short was never made), which aired on Sesame Street. The segment for the number two appeared in the first episode of the first season of Sesame Street, November 10, 1969. She was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1981 as Best Rock Female Vocalist for her solo album Dreams. She also performed the song "Panda" at the 1990 March for the Animals.
She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 as a member of Jefferson Airplane.
In 1993, she narrated the Stephen King short story "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band" on his Nightmares & Dreamscapes audiobook.
She was ranked number 20 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock N Roll in 1999.
In 2017, Grace Slick licensed the Starship song "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" to Chick-fil-A to use in a TV commercial, but because she disagrees with Chick-fil-A's corporate views on same-sex marriage she gave all of the proceeds of that deal to Lambda Legal, an organization that works to advance the civil rights of LGBTQ people and everyone living with HIV.
Discography
with Paul Kantner
Other appearances
References
External links
Jefferson Airplane official website
Episode of Biography about Grace Slick
Area Arts, Grace Slick's US art distributor
Counterculture Meets Mall Culture for Grace Slick
1939 births
20th-century American women singers
American contraltos
American women singer-songwriters
20th-century American painters
American people of English descent
American people of Norwegian descent
American people of Scottish descent
American people of Swedish descent
American women rock singers
American rock songwriters
Artists from Evanston, Illinois
Castilleja School alumni
Finch College alumni
Jefferson Airplane members
Jefferson Starship members
Living people
Musicians from Evanston, Illinois
Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area
Palo Alto High School alumni
Psychedelic rock musicians
University of Miami alumni
Writers from Evanston, Illinois
20th-century American singers
21st-century American painters
Singer-songwriters from California
Singer-songwriters from Illinois
| true |
[
"\"Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?\" is a song by American electronica musician Moby. It was released on October 11, 1999, as the fourth single from his fifth studio album Play. It became a hit in several regions, including German-speaking Europe and the United Kingdom.\n\nBackground and composition\n\"Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?\" was originally written by Moby in 1992 in an iteration which Moby would describe as \"really bad techno... Just mediocre, generic techno.\" Years later, Moby revisited the song, reproducing it as a considerably slower and more \"mournful and romantic\" song, which he eventually included on his fifth studio album, Play after being encouraged to do so by his manager, Eric Härle. The track is based on the samples from The Banks Brothers' «He’ll Roll Your Burdens Away» (1963).\n\nRelease\n\"Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?\" was released on October 11, 1999 by Mute Records as the fourth single from Play. The single peaked at number 16 on the UK Singles Chart. It also reached the top ten on the charts of several other European territories, including Austria, Switzerland, and Germany, where it reached number three, its highest peak chart position. At the time, Moby felt that the single's success in Germany was \"as far as any success for Play was gonna go.\"\n\nOn October 16, 2000, \"Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?\" was re-released as a double A-side single with a remix of \"Honey\" featuring American R&B singer Kelis, reaching number 17 on the UK Singles Chart.\n\nMusic video\nThe music video for \"Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?\" was directed by Filipe Alçada, Hotessa Laurence, and Susi Wilkinson. It is completely animated and features the character Little Idiot, who is also featured on the \"Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?\" single cover. The video depicts Little Idiot and his pet dog coming down from the Moon to Earth and traveling through a variety of locations, before eventually climbing back to the Moon on a ladder.\n\nTrack listings\n\n CD single \n \"Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?\" – 3:45\n \"Flying Foxes\" – 6:16\n \"Princess\" – 8:17\n \"Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?\" – 3:51\n\n CD single – remixes \n \"Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?\" – 6:49\n \"Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?\" – 6:46\n \"Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?\" – 6:22\n\n 12-inch single \n \"Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?\" – 6:43\n \"Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?\" – 6:41\n \"Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?\" – 6:12\n\n CD single \n \"Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?\" – 3:45\n \"Honey\" – 3:13\n \"Flower\" – 3:25\n\n CD single – remixes \n \"Honey\" – 6:19\n \"Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?\" – 5:59\n \"The Sun Never Stops Setting\" – 4:19\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1999 singles\n1999 songs\n2000 singles\nAnimated music videos\nMoby songs\nMute Records singles\nSongs written by Moby",
"13th Boy (열세번째 남자, 13th Guy, Chàng trai thứ 13) is a 12 volume Korean manhwa written by SangEun Lee. Being published in English by Yen Press (12 volumes - complete)\n\nStoryline\nHee-So Eun is determined to find her fated one, she has dated 12 boys so far, but to her, her love stops there. Hoping and Trying to get back with boyfriend number 12, Won-Jun Kang, it seems as though it's going to be a difficult task. Not just because he is not interested anymore, but also because, what exactly lies in her past that she has forgotten? The only clues left is a very special gift, a mysterious boy, and her long to be remembered thoughts from before.\n\nCharacters\nHee-So Eun\n\nHee-So a 15-year-old girl who is trying to find the one, but is she looking in the right direction. Stubborn, clueless at times, mean, and crazy she is still managed to be loved by many. She is a very important person in this unique series because the story revolves around her and a few others. As the story progresses she manages to remember a few things that she has forgotten, but she still needs to learn a lot more at that. But what DOES she need to remember?\n\nWhie-Young Jang\n\nWhie-Young is a very mysterious person. Extremely popular with girls but he doesn't seem to notice . . . or care, probably because he's truly focused on one girl that doesn't seem to be interested. He is a JERK in a lot of people's eyes, but that's really not his true nature. He is an important person as well because in the story there is something strange about him, that not only doesn't seem right, but something that not many know about, but what is his big secret? And why does he always act so strange around so many people?\n\nWon-Jun Kang\nWon-Jun is a quiet boy. He is also popular with girls but no one ever approaches him because he always looks so cold, although no one really knows if that is true. He is a smart person who has done a couple of things in the past that he regrets and cannot ever turn back, but at least that's what he thinks.\n\nSae-Bom Son\n\nSae-Bom is a 15-year-old girl stuck in the past. Nothing ever really goes good for her, except for the attention she gets from certain people around her. She's lonely in a sort of way and just can't grow up, that is in some people's eyes, but there is a reason why and there is also someone who is at fault at that, but who and why?\n\nBeatrice\n\nBeatrice is a talking cactus that turns into a human once a month on a full moon. Beatrice is Hee-So's loyal sidekick as well as her little secret, always by her side when she's down, happy, angry, or just being an idiot even though she treats him like a slave. Beatrice has a secret of his own though and just like Hee-So, he must find the truth of his past but when he does, How will Hee-So react when he tells her and who is the one that made him the way he is?\n\nExternal links\n\nReferences\n\nManhwa titles\n2009 comics debuts\nYen Press titles\n\nde:Die 11. Katze"
] |
[
"Emily Dickinson",
"Teenage years"
] |
C_46199e7ffd6d4ee89dd4ebb9698bfd94_1
|
What were Emily's teenage years like?
| 1 |
What were Emily Dickinson's teenage years like?
|
Emily Dickinson
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Dickinson spent seven years at the Academy, taking classes in English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, "mental philosophy," and arithmetic. Daniel Taggart Fiske, the school's principal at the time, would later recall that Dickinson was "very bright" and "an excellent scholar, of exemplary deportment, faithful in all school duties". Although she had a few terms off due to illness--the longest of which was in 1845-1846, when she was enrolled for only eleven weeks--she enjoyed her strenuous studies, writing to a friend that the Academy was "a very fine school". Dickinson was troubled from a young age by the "deepening menace" of death, especially the deaths of those who were close to her. When Sophia Holland, her second cousin and a close friend, grew ill from typhus and died in April 1844, Emily was traumatized. Recalling the incident two years later, Emily wrote that "it seemed to me I should die too if I could not be permitted to watch over her or even look at her face." She became so melancholic that her parents sent her to stay with family in Boston to recover. With her health and spirits restored, she soon returned to Amherst Academy to continue her studies. During this period, she first met people who were to become lifelong friends and correspondents, such as Abiah Root, Abby Wood, Jane Humphrey, and Susan Huntington Gilbert (who later married Emily's brother Austin). In 1845, a religious revival took place in Amherst, resulting in 46 confessions of faith among Dickinson's peers. Dickinson wrote to a friend the following year: "I never enjoyed such perfect peace and happiness as the short time in which I felt I had found my savior." She went on to say that it was her "greatest pleasure to commune alone with the great God & to feel that he would listen to my prayers." The experience did not last: Dickinson never made a formal declaration of faith and attended services regularly for only a few years. After her church-going ended, about 1852, she wrote a poem opening: "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church - / I keep it, staying at Home". During the last year of her stay at the Academy, Emily became friendly with Leonard Humphrey, its popular new young principal. After finishing her final term at the Academy on August 10, 1847, Dickinson began attending Mary Lyon's Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (which later became Mount Holyoke College) in South Hadley, about ten miles (16 km) from Amherst. She was at the seminary for only ten months. Although she liked the girls at Holyoke, Dickinson made no lasting friendships there. The explanations for her brief stay at Holyoke differ considerably: either she was in poor health, her father wanted to have her at home, she rebelled against the evangelical fervor present at the school, she disliked the discipline-minded teachers, or she was simply homesick. Whatever the specific reason for leaving Holyoke, her brother Austin appeared on March 25, 1848, to "bring [her] home at all events". Back in Amherst, Dickinson occupied her time with household activities. She took up baking for the family and enjoyed attending local events and activities in the budding college town. CANNOTANSWER
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spent seven years at the Academy, taking classes in English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, "mental philosophy,"
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Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry.
Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, into a prominent family with strong ties to its community. After studying at the Amherst Academy for seven years in her youth, she briefly attended the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before returning to her family's home in Amherst.
Evidence suggests that Dickinson lived much of her life in isolation. Considered an eccentric by locals, she developed a penchant for white clothing and was known for her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, to even leave her bedroom. Dickinson never married, and most friendships between her and others depended entirely upon correspondence.
While Dickinson was a prolific writer, her only publications during her lifetime were 10 of her nearly 1,800 poems, and one letter. The poems published then were usually edited significantly to fit conventional poetic rules. Her poems were unique for her era. They contain short lines, typically lack titles, and often use slant rhyme as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation. Many of her poems deal with themes of death and immortality, two recurring topics in letters to her friends, and also explore aesthetics, society, nature and spirituality.
Although Dickinson's acquaintances were most likely aware of her writing, it was not until after her death in 1886—when Lavinia, Dickinson's younger sister, discovered her cache of poems—that her work became public. Her first collection of poetry was published in 1890 by personal acquaintances Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd, though both heavily edited the content. A 1998 article in The New York Times revealed that of the many edits made to Dickinson's work, the name "Susan" was often deliberately removed. At least eleven of Dickinson's poems were dedicated to sister-in-law Susan Huntington Gilbert Dickinson, though all the dedications were obliterated, presumably by Todd. A complete, and mostly unaltered, collection of her poetry became available for the first time when scholar Thomas H. Johnson published The Poems of Emily Dickinson in 1955.
Life
Family and early childhood
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born at the family's homestead in Amherst, Massachusetts, on December 10, 1830, into a prominent, but not wealthy, family. Her father, Edward Dickinson was a lawyer in Amherst and a trustee of Amherst College. Two hundred years earlier, her patrilineal ancestors had arrived in the New World—in the Puritan Great Migration—where they prospered. Emily Dickinson's paternal grandfather, Samuel Dickinson, was one of the founders of Amherst College. In 1813, he built the Homestead, a large mansion on the town's Main Street, that became the focus of Dickinson family life for the better part of a century. Samuel Dickinson's eldest son, Edward, was treasurer of Amherst College from 1835 to 1873, served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1838–1839; 1873) and the Massachusetts Senate (1842–1843), and represented Massachusetts's 10th congressional district in the 33rd U.S. Congress (1853–1855). On May 6, 1828, he married Emily Norcross from Monson, Massachusetts. They had three children:
William Austin (1829–1895), known as Austin, Aust or Awe
Emily Elizabeth
Lavinia Norcross (1833–1899), known as Lavinia or Vinnie
By all accounts, young Dickinson was a well-behaved girl. On an extended visit to Monson when she was two, Dickinson's Aunt Lavinia described her as "perfectly well & contented—She is a very good child & but little trouble." Dickinson's aunt also noted the girl's affinity for music and her particular talent for the piano, which she called "the moosic".
Dickinson attended primary school in a two-story building on Pleasant Street. Her education was "ambitiously classical for a Victorian girl". Wanting his children well-educated, her father followed their progress even while away on business. When Dickinson was seven, he wrote home, reminding his children to "keep school, and learn, so as to tell me, when I come home, how many new things you have learned". While Dickinson consistently described her father in a warm manner, her correspondence suggests that her mother was regularly cold and aloof. In a letter to a confidante, Dickinson wrote she "always ran Home to Awe [Austin] when a child, if anything befell me. He was an awful Mother, but I liked him better than none."
On September 7, 1840, Dickinson and her sister Lavinia started together at Amherst Academy, a former boys' school that had opened to female students just two years earlier. At about the same time, her father purchased a house on North Pleasant Street. Dickinson's brother Austin later described this large new home as the "mansion" over which he and Dickinson presided as "lord and lady" while their parents were absent. The house overlooked Amherst's burial ground, described by one local minister as treeless and "forbidding".
Teenage years
Dickinson spent seven years at the academy, taking classes in English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, "mental philosophy," and arithmetic. Daniel Taggart Fiske, the school's principal at the time, would later recall that Dickinson was "very bright" and "an excellent scholar, of exemplary deportment, faithful in all school duties". Although she had a few terms off due to illness—the longest of which was in 1845–1846, when she was enrolled for only eleven weeks—she enjoyed her strenuous studies, writing to a friend that the academy was "a very fine school".
Dickinson was troubled from a young age by the "deepening menace" of death, especially the deaths of those who were close to her. When Sophia Holland, her second cousin and a close friend, grew ill from typhus and died in April 1844, Dickinson was traumatized. Recalling the incident two years later, she wrote that "it seemed to me I should die too if I could not be permitted to watch over her or even look at her face." She became so melancholic that her parents sent her to stay with family in Boston to recover. With her health and spirits restored, she soon returned to Amherst Academy to continue her studies. During this period, she met people who were to become lifelong friends and correspondents, such as Abiah Root, Abby Wood, Jane Humphrey, and Susan Huntington Gilbert (who later married Dickinson's brother Austin).
In 1845, a religious revival took place in Amherst, resulting in 46 confessions of faith among Dickinson's peers. Dickinson wrote to a friend the following year: "I never enjoyed such perfect peace and happiness as the short time in which I felt I had found my Savior." She went on to say it was her "greatest pleasure to commune alone with the great God & to feel that he would listen to my prayers." The experience did not last: Dickinson never made a formal declaration of faith and attended services regularly for only a few years. After her church-going ended, about 1852, she wrote a poem opening: "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church – / I keep it, staying at Home".
During the last year of her stay at the academy, Dickinson became friendly with Leonard Humphrey, its popular new young principal. After finishing her final term at the Academy on August 10, 1847, Dickinson began attending Mary Lyon's Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (which later became Mount Holyoke College) in South Hadley, about ten miles (16 km) from Amherst. She stayed at the seminary for only ten months. Although she liked the girls at Holyoke, Dickinson made no lasting friendships there. The explanations for her brief stay at Holyoke differ considerably: either she was in poor health, her father wanted to have her at home, she rebelled against the evangelical fervor present at the school, she disliked the discipline-minded teachers, or she was simply homesick. Whatever the reasons for leaving Holyoke, her brother Austin appeared on March 25, 1848, to "bring [her] home at all events". Back in Amherst, Dickinson occupied her time with household activities. She took up baking for the family and enjoyed attending local events and activities in the budding college town.
Early influences and writing
When she was eighteen, Dickinson's family befriended a young attorney by the name of Benjamin Franklin Newton. According to a letter written by Dickinson after Newton's death, he had been "with my Father two years, before going to Worcester – in pursuing his studies, and was much in our family." Although their relationship was probably not romantic, Newton was a formative influence and would become the second in a series of older men (after Humphrey) that Dickinson referred to, variously, as her tutor, preceptor or master.
Newton likely introduced her to the writings of William Wordsworth, and his gift to her of Ralph Waldo Emerson's first book of collected poems had a liberating effect. She wrote later that he, "whose name my Father's Law Student taught me, has touched the secret Spring". Newton held her in high regard, believing in and recognizing her as a poet. When he was dying of tuberculosis, he wrote to her, saying he would like to live until she achieved the greatness he foresaw. Biographers believe that Dickinson's statement of 1862—"When a little Girl, I had a friend, who taught me Immortality – but venturing too near, himself – he never returned"—refers to Newton.
Dickinson was familiar with not only the Bible but also contemporary popular literature. She was probably influenced by Lydia Maria Child's Letters from New York, another gift from Newton (after reading it, she gushed "This then is a book! And there are more of them!"). Her brother smuggled a copy of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Kavanagh into the house for her (because her father might disapprove) and a friend lent her Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre in late 1849. Jane Eyres influence cannot be measured, but when Dickinson acquired her first and only dog, a Newfoundland, she named him "Carlo" after the character St. John Rivers' dog. William Shakespeare was also a potent influence in her life. Referring to his plays, she wrote to one friend, "Why clasp any hand but this?" and to another, "Why is any other book needed?"
Adulthood and seclusion
In early 1850, Dickinson wrote that "Amherst is alive with fun this winter ... Oh, a very great town this is!" Her high spirits soon turned to melancholy after another death. The Amherst Academy principal, Leonard Humphrey, died suddenly of "brain congestion" at age 25. Two years after his death, she revealed to her friend Abiah Root the extent of her sadness:some of my friends are gone, and some of my friends are sleeping – sleeping the churchyard sleep – the hour of evening is sad – it was once my study hour – my master has gone to rest, and the open leaf of the book, and the scholar at school alone, make the tears come, and I cannot brush them away; I would not if I could, for they are the only tribute I can pay the departed Humphrey.
During the 1850s, Dickinson's strongest and most affectionate relationship was with her sister-in-law, Susan Gilbert. Dickinson eventually sent her over three hundred letters, more than to any other correspondent, over the course of their relationship. Susan was supportive of the poet, playing the role of "most beloved friend, influence, muse, and adviser" whose editorial suggestions Dickinson sometimes followed. In an 1882 letter to Susan, Dickinson said, "With the exception of Shakespeare, you have told me of more knowledge than any one living."
The importance of Dickinson's relationship with Susan has widely been overlooked due to a point of view first promoted by Mabel Loomis Todd, who was involved for many years in a relationship with Austin Dickinson and who diminished Susan's role in Dickinson's life due to her own poor relationship with her lover's wife. However, the notion of a "cruel" Susan—as promoted by her romantic rival—has been questioned, most especially by Susan and Austin's surviving children, with whom Dickinson was close. Many scholars interpret the relationship between Emily and Susan as a romantic one. In The Emily Dickinson Journal Lena Koski wrote, "Dickinson's letters to Gilbert express strong homoerotic feelings." She quotes from many of their letters, including one from 1852 in which Dickinson proclaims, "Susie, will you indeed come home next Saturday, and be my own again, and kiss me ... I hope for you so much, and feel so eager for you, feel that I cannot wait, feel that now I must have you—that the expectation once more to see your face again, makes me feel hot and feverish, and my heart beats so fast ... my darling, so near I seem to you, that I disdain this pen, and wait for a warmer language." The relationship between Emily and Susan is portrayed in the film Wild Nights with Emily and explored in the TV series Dickinson.
Sue married Austin in 1856 after a four-year courtship, though their marriage was not a happy one. Edward Dickinson built a house for Austin and Sue naming it the Evergreens, a stand of which was located on the west side of the Homestead.
Until 1855, Dickinson had not strayed far from Amherst. That spring, accompanied by her mother and sister, she took one of her longest and farthest trips away from home. First, they spent three weeks in Washington, where her father was representing Massachusetts in Congress. Then they went to Philadelphia for two weeks to visit family. In Philadelphia, she met Charles Wadsworth, a famous minister of the Arch Street Presbyterian Church, with whom she forged a strong friendship which lasted until his death in 1882. Despite seeing him only twice after 1855 (he moved to San Francisco in 1862), she variously referred to him as "my Philadelphia", "my Clergyman", "my dearest earthly friend" and "my Shepherd from 'Little Girl'hood".
From the mid-1850s, Dickinson's mother became effectively bedridden with various chronic illnesses until her death in 1882. Writing to a friend in summer 1858, Dickinson said she would visit if she could leave "home, or mother. I do not go out at all, lest father will come and miss me, or miss some little act, which I might forget, should I run away – Mother is much as usual. I Know not what to hope of her". As her mother continued to decline, Dickinson's domestic responsibilities weighed more heavily upon her and she confined herself within the Homestead. Forty years later, Lavinia said that because their mother was chronically ill, one of the daughters had to remain always with her. Dickinson took this role as her own, and "finding the life with her books and nature so congenial, continued to live it".
Withdrawing more and more from the outside world, Dickinson began in the summer of 1858 what would be her lasting legacy. Reviewing poems she had written previously, she began making clean copies of her work, assembling carefully pieced-together manuscript books. The forty fascicles she created from 1858 through 1865 eventually held nearly eight hundred poems. No one was aware of the existence of these books until after her death.
In the late 1850s, the Dickinsons befriended Samuel Bowles, the owner and editor-in-chief of the Springfield Republican, and his wife, Mary. They visited the Dickinsons regularly for years to come. During this time Dickinson sent him over three dozen letters and nearly fifty poems. Their friendship brought out some of her most intense writing and Bowles published a few of her poems in his journal. It was from 1858 to 1861 that Dickinson is believed to have written a trio of letters that have been called "The Master Letters". These three letters, drafted to an unknown man simply referred to as "Master", continue to be the subject of speculation and contention amongst scholars.
The first half of the 1860s, after she had largely withdrawn from social life, proved to be Dickinson's most productive writing period. Modern scholars and researchers are divided as to the cause for Dickinson's withdrawal and extreme seclusion. While she was diagnosed as having "nervous prostration" by a physician during her lifetime, some today believe she may have suffered from illnesses as various as agoraphobia and epilepsy.
Is "my Verse ... alive?"
In April 1862, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a literary critic, radical abolitionist, and ex-minister, wrote a lead piece for The Atlantic Monthly titled, "Letter to a Young Contributor". Higginson's essay, in which he urged aspiring writers to "charge your style with life", contained practical advice for those wishing to break into print. Dickinson's decision to contact Higginson suggests that by 1862 she was contemplating publication and that it may have become increasingly difficult to write poetry without an audience. Seeking literary guidance that no one close to her could provide, Dickinson sent him a letter, which read in full:
This highly nuanced and largely theatrical letter was unsigned, but she had included her name on a card and enclosed it in an envelope, along with four of her poems. He praised her work but suggested that she delay publishing until she had written longer, being unaware she had already appeared in print. She assured him that publishing was as foreign to her "as Firmament to Fin", but also proposed that "If fame belonged to me, I could not escape her". Dickinson delighted in dramatic self-characterization and mystery in her letters to Higginson. She said of herself, "I am small, like the wren, and my hair is bold, like the chestnut bur, and my eyes like the sherry in the glass that the guest leaves." She stressed her solitary nature, saying her only real companions were the hills, the sundown, and her dog, Carlo. She also mentioned that whereas her mother did not "care for Thought", her father bought her books, but begged her "not to read them – because he fears they joggle the Mind".
Dickinson valued his advice, going from calling him "Mr. Higginson" to "Dear friend" as well as signing her letters, "Your Gnome" and "Your Scholar". His interest in her work certainly provided great moral support; many years later, Dickinson told Higginson that he had saved her life in 1862. They corresponded until her death, but her difficulty in expressing her literary needs and a reluctance to enter into a cooperative exchange left Higginson nonplussed; he did not press her to publish in subsequent correspondence. Dickinson's own ambivalence on the matter militated against the likelihood of publication. Literary critic Edmund Wilson, in his review of Civil War literature, surmised that "with encouragement, she would certainly have published".
The woman in white
In direct opposition to the immense productivity that she displayed in the early 1860s, Dickinson wrote fewer poems in 1866. Beset with personal loss as well as loss of domestic help, Dickinson may have been too overcome to keep up her previous level of writing. Carlo died during this time after having provided sixteen years of companionship; Dickinson never owned another dog. Although the household servant of nine years, Margaret O'Brien, had married and left the Homestead that same year, it was not until 1869 that the Dickinsons brought in a permanent household servant, Margaret Maher, to replace their former maid-of-all-work. Emily once again was responsible for the kitchen, including cooking and cleaning up, as well as the baking at which she excelled.
Around this time, Dickinson's behavior began to change. She did not leave the Homestead unless it was absolutely necessary and as early as 1867, she began to talk to visitors from the other side of a door rather than speaking to them face to face. She acquired local notoriety; she was rarely seen, and when she was, she was usually clothed in white. Dickinson's one surviving article of clothing is a white cotton dress, possibly sewn circa 1878–1882. Few of the locals who exchanged messages with Dickinson during her last fifteen years ever saw her in person. Austin and his family began to protect Dickinson's privacy, deciding that she was not to be a subject of discussion with outsiders. Despite her physical seclusion, however, Dickinson was socially active and expressive through what makes up two-thirds of her surviving notes and letters. When visitors came to either the Homestead or the Evergreens, she would often leave or send over small gifts of poems or flowers. Dickinson also had a good rapport with the children in her life. Mattie Dickinson, the second child of Austin and Sue, later said that "Aunt Emily stood for indulgence." MacGregor (Mac) Jenkins, the son of family friends who later wrote a short article in 1891 called "A Child's Recollection of Emily Dickinson", thought of her as always offering support to the neighborhood children.
When Higginson urged her to come to Boston in 1868 so they could formally meet for the first time, she declined, writing: "Could it please your convenience to come so far as Amherst I should be very glad, but I do not cross my Father's ground to any House or town". It was not until he came to Amherst in 1870 that they met. Later he referred to her, in the most detailed and vivid physical account of her on record, as "a little plain woman with two smooth bands of reddish hair ... in a very plain & exquisitely clean white piqué & a blue net worsted shawl." He also felt that he never was "with any one who drained my nerve power so much. Without touching her, she drew from me. I am glad not to live near her."
Posies and poesies
Scholar Judith Farr notes that Dickinson, during her lifetime, "was known more widely as a gardener, perhaps, than as a poet". Dickinson studied botany from the age of nine and, along with her sister, tended the garden at Homestead. During her lifetime, she assembled a collection of pressed plants in a sixty-six-page leather-bound herbarium. It contained 424 pressed flower specimens that she collected, classified, and labeled using the Linnaean system. The Homestead garden was well known and admired locally in its time. It has not survived, but efforts to revive it have begun. Dickinson kept no garden notebooks or plant lists, but a clear impression can be formed from the letters and recollections of friends and family. Her niece, Martha Dickinson Bianchi, remembered "carpets of lily-of-the-valley and pansies, platoons of sweetpeas, hyacinths, enough in May to give all the bees of summer dyspepsia. There were ribbons of peony hedges and drifts of daffodils in season, marigolds to distraction—a butterfly utopia". In particular, Dickinson cultivated scented exotic flowers, writing that she "could inhabit the Spice Isles merely by crossing the dining room to the conservatory, where the plants hang in baskets". Dickinson would often send her friends bunches of flowers with verses attached, but "they valued the posy more than the poetry".
Later life
On June 16, 1874, while in Boston, Edward Dickinson suffered a stroke and died. When the simple funeral was held in the Homestead's entrance hall, Dickinson stayed in her room with the door cracked open. Neither did she attend the memorial service on June 28. She wrote to Higginson that her father's "Heart was pure and terrible and I think no other like it exists." A year later, on June 15, 1875, Dickinson's mother also suffered a stroke, which produced a partial lateral paralysis and impaired memory. Lamenting her mother's increasing physical as well as mental demands, Dickinson wrote that "Home is so far from Home".
Otis Phillips Lord, an elderly judge on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from Salem, in 1872 or 1873 became an acquaintance of Dickinson's. After the death of Lord's wife in 1877, his friendship with Dickinson probably became a late-life romance, though as their letters were destroyed, this is surmised. Dickinson found a kindred soul in Lord, especially in terms of shared literary interests; the few letters which survived contain multiple quotations of Shakespeare's work, including the plays Othello, Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet and King Lear. In 1880 he gave her Cowden Clarke's Complete Concordance to Shakespeare (1877). Dickinson wrote that "While others go to Church, I go to mine, for are you not my Church, and have we not a Hymn that no one knows but us?" She referred to him as "My lovely Salem" and they wrote to each other religiously every Sunday. Dickinson looked forward to this day greatly; a surviving fragment of a letter written by her states that "Tuesday is a deeply depressed Day".
After being critically ill for several years, Judge Lord died in March 1884. Dickinson referred to him as "our latest Lost". Two years before this, on April 1, 1882, Dickinson's "Shepherd from 'Little Girl'hood", Charles Wadsworth, also had died after a long illness.
Decline and death
Although she continued to write in her last years, Dickinson stopped editing and organizing her poems. She also exacted a promise from her sister Lavinia to burn her papers. Lavinia, who never married, remained at the Homestead until her own death in 1899.
The 1880s were a difficult time for the remaining Dickinsons. Irreconcilably alienated from his wife, Austin fell in love in 1882 with Mabel Loomis Todd, an Amherst College faculty wife who had recently moved to the area. Todd never met Dickinson but was intrigued by her, referring to her as "a lady whom the people call the Myth". Austin distanced himself from his family as his affair continued and his wife became sick with grief. Dickinson's mother died on November 14, 1882. Five weeks later, Dickinson wrote, "We were never intimate ... while she was our Mother – but Mines in the same Ground meet by tunneling and when she became our Child, the Affection came." The next year, Austin and Sue's third and youngest child, Gilbert—Emily's favorite—died of typhoid fever.
As death succeeded death, Dickinson found her world upended. In the fall of 1884, she wrote, "The Dyings have been too deep for me, and before I could raise my Heart from one, another has come." That summer she had seen "a great darkness coming" and fainted while baking in the kitchen. She remained unconscious late into the night and weeks of ill health followed. On November 30, 1885, her feebleness and other symptoms were so worrying that Austin canceled a trip to Boston. She was confined to her bed for a few months, but managed to send a final burst of letters in the spring. What is thought to be her last letter was sent to her cousins, Louise and Frances Norcross, and simply read: "Little Cousins, Called Back. Emily". On May 15, 1886, after several days of worsening symptoms, Emily Dickinson died at the age of 55. Austin wrote in his diary that "the day was awful ... she ceased to breathe that terrible breathing just before the [afternoon] whistle sounded for six." Dickinson's chief physician gave the cause of death as Bright's disease and its duration as two and a half years.
Lavinia and Austin asked Susan to wash Dickinson's body upon her death. Susan also wrote Dickinson's obituary for the Springfield Republican, ending it with four lines from one of Dickinson's poems: "Morns like these, we parted; Noons like these, she rose; Fluttering first, then firmer, To her fair repose." Lavinia was perfectly satisfied that Sue should arrange everything, knowing it would be done lovingly. Dickinson was buried, laid in a white coffin with vanilla-scented heliotrope, a lady's slipper orchid, and a "knot of blue field violets" placed about it. The funeral service, held in the Homestead's library, was simple and short; Higginson, who had met her only twice, read "No Coward Soul Is Mine", a poem by Emily Brontë that had been a favorite of Dickinson's. At Dickinson's request, her "coffin [was] not driven but carried through fields of buttercups" for burial in the family plot at West Cemetery on Triangle Street.
Publication
Despite Dickinson's prolific writing, only ten poems and a letter were published during her lifetime. After her younger sister Lavinia discovered the collection of nearly 1800 poems, Dickinson's first volume was published four years after her death. Until Thomas H. Johnson published Dickinson's Complete Poems in 1955, Dickinson's poems were considerably edited and altered from their manuscript versions. Since 1890 Dickinson has remained continuously in print.
Contemporary
A few of Dickinson's poems appeared in Samuel Bowles' Springfield Republican between 1858 and 1868. They were published anonymously and heavily edited, with conventionalized punctuation and formal titles. The first poem, "Nobody knows this little rose", may have been published without Dickinson's permission. The Republican also published "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" as "The Snake", "Safe in their Alabaster Chambers –" as "The Sleeping", and "Blazing in the Gold and quenching in Purple" as "Sunset". The poem "I taste a liquor never brewed –" is an example of the edited versions; the last two lines in the first stanza were completely rewritten.
{|
| style="width:18em; vertical-align:top; white-space:nowrap"|
Original wording
I taste a liquor never brewed –
From Tankards scooped in Pearl –
Not all the Frankfort Berries
Yield such an Alcohol!
|
Republican version
I taste a liquor never brewed –
From Tankards scooped in Pearl –
Not Frankfort Berries yield the sense
Such a delirious whirl!
|
|}
In 1864, several poems were altered and published in Drum Beat, to raise funds for medical care for Union soldiers in the war. Another appeared in April 1864 in the Brooklyn Daily Union.
In the 1870s, Higginson showed Dickinson's poems to Helen Hunt Jackson, who had coincidentally been at the academy with Dickinson when they were girls. Jackson was deeply involved in the publishing world, and managed to convince Dickinson to publish her poem "Success is counted sweetest" anonymously in a volume called A Masque of Poets. The poem, however, was altered to agree with contemporary taste. It was the last poem published during Dickinson's lifetime.
Posthumous
After Dickinson's death, Lavinia Dickinson kept her promise and burned most of the poet's correspondence. Significantly though, Dickinson had left no instructions about the 40 notebooks and loose sheets gathered in a locked chest. Lavinia recognized the poems' worth and became obsessed with seeing them published. She turned first to her brother's wife and then to Mabel Loomis Todd, his lover, for assistance. A feud ensued, with the manuscripts divided between the Todd and Dickinson houses, preventing complete publication of Dickinson's poetry for more than half a century.
The first volume of Dickinson's Poems, edited jointly by Mabel Loomis Todd and T. W. Higginson, appeared in November 1890. Although Todd claimed that only essential changes were made, the poems were extensively edited to match punctuation and capitalization to late 19th-century standards, with occasional rewordings to reduce Dickinson's obliquity. The first 115-poem volume was a critical and financial success, going through eleven printings in two years. Poems: Second Series followed in 1891, running to five editions by 1893; a third series appeared in 1896. One reviewer, in 1892, wrote: "The world will not rest satisfied till every scrap of her writings, letters as well as literature, has been published".
Nearly a dozen new editions of Dickinson's poetry, whether containing previously unpublished or newly edited poems, were published between 1914 and 1945. Martha Dickinson Bianchi, the daughter of Susan and Austin Dickinson, published collections of her aunt's poetry based on the manuscripts held by her family, whereas Mabel Loomis Todd's daughter, Millicent Todd Bingham, published collections based on the manuscripts held by her mother. These competing editions of Dickinson's poetry, often differing in order and structure, ensured that the poet's work was in the public's eye.
The first scholarly publication came in 1955 with a complete new three-volume set edited by Thomas H. Johnson. Forming the basis of later Dickinson scholarship, Johnson's variorum brought all of Dickinson's known poems together for the first time. Johnson's goal was to present the poems very nearly as Dickinson had left them in her manuscripts. They were untitled, only numbered in an approximate chronological sequence, strewn with dashes and irregularly capitalized, and often extremely elliptical in their language. Three years later, Johnson edited and published, along with Theodora Ward, a complete collection of Dickinson's letters, also presented in three volumes.
In 1981, The Manuscript Books of Emily Dickinson was published. Using the physical evidence of the original papers, the poems were intended to be published in their original order for the first time. Editor Ralph W. Franklin relied on smudge marks, needle punctures and other clues to reassemble the poet's packets. Since then, many critics have argued for thematic unity in these small collections, believing the ordering of the poems to be more than chronological or convenient.
Dickinson biographer Alfred Habegger wrote in My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson (2001) that "The consequences of the poet's failure to disseminate her work in a faithful and orderly manner are still very much with us".
Poetry
Dickinson's poems generally fall into three distinct periods, the works in each period having certain general characters in common.
Pre-1861: In the period before 1858, the poems are most often conventional and sentimental in nature. Thomas H. Johnson, who later published The Poems of Emily Dickinson, was able to date only five of Dickinson's poems as written before 1858. Two of these are mock valentines done in an ornate and humorous style, two others are conventional lyrics, one of which is about missing her brother Austin, and the fifth poem, which begins "I have a Bird in spring", conveys her grief over the feared loss of friendship and was sent to her friend Sue Gilbert. In 1858, Dickinson began to collect her poems in the small hand-sewn books she called fascicles.
1861–1865: This was her most creative period, and these poems represent her most vigorous and creative work. Her poetic production also increased dramatically during this period. Johnson estimated that she composed 35 poems in 1860, 86 poems in 1861, 366 in 1862, 141 in 1863, and 174 in 1864. It was during this period that Dickinson fully developed her themes concerning nature, life, and mortality.
Post-1866: Only a third of Dickinson's poems were written in the last twenty years of her life, when her poetic production slowed considerably. During this period, she no longer collected her poems in fascicles.
Structure and syntax
The extensive use of dashes and unconventional capitalization in Dickinson's manuscripts, and the idiosyncratic vocabulary and imagery, combine to create a body of work that is "far more various in its styles and forms than is commonly supposed". Dickinson avoids pentameter, opting more generally for trimeter, tetrameter and, less often, dimeter. Sometimes her use of these meters is regular, but oftentimes it is irregular. The regular form that she most often employs is the ballad stanza, a traditional form that is divided into quatrains, using tetrameter for the first and third lines and trimeter for the second and fourth, while rhyming the second and fourth lines (ABCB). Though Dickinson often uses perfect rhymes for lines two and four, she also makes frequent use of slant rhyme. In some of her poems, she varies the meter from the traditional ballad stanza by using trimeter for lines one, two and four; while using tetrameter for only line three.
Since many of her poems were written in traditional ballad stanzas with ABCB rhyme schemes, some of these poems can be sung to fit the melodies of popular folk songs and hymns that also use the common meter, employing alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter.
Dickinson scholar and poet Anthony Hecht finds resonances in Dickinson's poetry not only with hymns and song-forms but also with psalms and riddles, citing the following example: "Who is the East? / The Yellow Man / Who may be Purple if he can / That carries in the Sun. / Who is the West? / The Purple Man / Who may be Yellow if He can / That lets Him out again."
Late 20th-century scholars are "deeply interested" by Dickinson's highly individual use of punctuation and lineation (line lengths and line breaks). Following the publication of one of the few poems that appeared in her lifetime – "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass", published as "The Snake" in the Republican – Dickinson complained that the edited punctuation (an added comma and a full stop substitution for the original dash) altered the meaning of the entire poem.
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Original wording
A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides –
You may have met Him – did you not
His notice sudden is –
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Republican version
A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides –
You may have met Him – did you not,
His notice sudden is.
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As Farr points out, "snakes instantly notice you"; Dickinson's version captures the "breathless immediacy" of the encounter; and The Republicans punctuation renders "her lines more commonplace". With the increasingly close focus on Dickinson's structures and syntax has come a growing appreciation that they are "aesthetically based". Although Johnson's landmark 1955 edition of poems was relatively unaltered from the original, later scholars critiqued it for deviating from the style and layout of Dickinson's manuscripts. Meaningful distinctions, these scholars assert, can be drawn from varying lengths and angles of dash, and differing arrangements of text on the page. Several volumes have attempted to render Dickinson's handwritten dashes using many typographic symbols of varying length and angle. R. W. Franklin's 1998 variorum edition of the poems provided alternate wordings to those chosen by Johnson, in a more limited editorial intervention. Franklin also used typeset dashes of varying length to approximate the manuscripts' dashes more closely.
Major themes
Dickinson left no formal statement of her aesthetic intentions and, because of the variety of her themes, her work does not fit conveniently into any one genre. She has been regarded, alongside Emerson (whose poems Dickinson admired), as a Transcendentalist. However, Farr disagrees with this analysis, saying that Dickinson's "relentlessly measuring mind ... deflates the airy elevation of the Transcendental". Apart from the major themes discussed below, Dickinson's poetry frequently uses humor, puns, irony and satire.
Flowers and gardens: Farr notes that Dickinson's "poems and letters almost wholly concern flowers" and that allusions to gardens often refer to an "imaginative realm ... wherein flowers [are] often emblems for actions and emotions". She associates some flowers, like gentians and anemones, with youth and humility; others with prudence and insight. Her poems were often sent to friends with accompanying letters and nosegays. Farr notes that one of Dickinson's earlier poems, written about 1859, appears to "conflate her poetry itself with the posies": "My nosegays are for Captives – / Dim – long expectant eyes – / Fingers denied the plucking, / Patient till Paradise – / To such, if they sh'd whisper / Of morning and the moor – / They bear no other errand, / And I, no other prayer".
The Master poems: Dickinson left a large number of poems addressed to "Signor", "Sir" and "Master", who is characterized as Dickinson's "lover for all eternity". These confessional poems are often "searing in their self-inquiry" and "harrowing to the reader" and typically take their metaphors from texts and paintings of Dickinson's day. The Dickinson family themselves believed these poems were addressed to actual individuals but this view is frequently rejected by scholars. Farr, for example, contends that the Master is an unattainable composite figure, "human, with specific characteristics, but godlike" and speculates that Master may be a "kind of Christian muse".
Morbidity: Dickinson's poems reflect her "early and lifelong fascination" with illness, dying and death. Perhaps surprisingly for a New England spinster, her poems allude to death by many methods: "crucifixion, drowning, hanging, suffocation, freezing, premature burial, shooting, stabbing and guillotinage". She reserved her sharpest insights into the "death blow aimed by God" and the "funeral in the brain", often reinforced by images of thirst and starvation. Dickinson scholar Vivian Pollak considers these references an autobiographical reflection of Dickinson's "thirsting-starving persona", an outward expression of her needy self-image as small, thin and frail. Dickinson's most psychologically complex poems explore the theme that the loss of hunger for life causes the death of self and place this at "the interface of murder and suicide". Death and morbidity in Dickinson's poetry is also heavily connected to winter themes. Critic Edwin Folsom analyzes how "winter for Dickinson is the season that forces reality, that strips all hope of transcendence. It is a season of death and a metaphor for death".
Gospel poems: Throughout her life, Dickinson wrote poems reflecting a preoccupation with the teachings of Jesus Christ and, indeed, many are addressed to him. She stresses the Gospels' contemporary pertinence and recreates them, often with "wit and American colloquial language". Scholar Dorothy Oberhaus finds that the "salient feature uniting Christian poets ... is their reverential attention to the life of Jesus Christ" and contends that Dickinson's deep structures place her in the "poetic tradition of Christian devotion" alongside Hopkins, Eliot and Auden. In a Nativity poem, Dickinson combines lightness and wit to revisit an ancient theme: "The Savior must have been / A docile Gentleman – / To come so far so cold a Day / For little Fellowmen / The Road to Bethlehem / Since He and I were Boys / Was leveled, but for that twould be / A rugged billion Miles –".
The Undiscovered Continent: Academic Suzanne Juhasz considers that Dickinson saw the mind and spirit as tangible visitable places and that for much of her life she lived within them. Often, this intensely private place is referred to as the "undiscovered continent" and the "landscape of the spirit" and embellished with nature imagery. At other times, the imagery is darker and forbidding—castles or prisons, complete with corridors and rooms—to create a dwelling place of "oneself" where one resides with one's other selves. An example that brings together many of these ideas is: "Me from Myself – to banish – / Had I Art – / Impregnable my Fortress / Unto All Heart – / But since myself—assault Me – / How have I peace / Except by subjugating / Consciousness. / And since We're mutual Monarch / How this be / Except by Abdication – / Me – of Me?".
Reception
The surge of posthumous publication gave Dickinson's poetry its first public exposure. Backed by Higginson and with a favorable notice from William Dean Howells, an editor of Harper's Magazine, the poetry received mixed reviews after it was first published in 1890. Higginson himself stated in his preface to the first edition of Dickinson's published work that the poetry's quality "is that of extraordinary grasp and insight", albeit "without the proper control and chastening" that the experience of publishing during her lifetime might have conferred. His judgment that her opus was "incomplete and unsatisfactory" would be echoed in the essays of the New Critics in the 1930s.
Maurice Thompson, who was literary editor of The Independent for twelve years, noted in 1891 that her poetry had "a strange mixture of rare individuality and originality". Some critics hailed Dickinson's effort, but disapproved of her unusual non-traditional style. Andrew Lang, a British writer, dismissed Dickinson's work, stating that "if poetry is to exist at all, it really must have form and grammar, and must rhyme when it professes to rhyme. The wisdom of the ages and the nature of man insist on so much". Thomas Bailey Aldrich, a poet and novelist, equally dismissed Dickinson's poetic technique in The Atlantic Monthly in January 1892: "It is plain that Miss Dickinson possessed an extremely unconventional and grotesque fancy. She was deeply tinged by the mysticism of Blake, and strongly influenced by the mannerism of Emerson ... But the incoherence and formlessness of her — versicles are fatal ... an eccentric, dreamy, half-educated recluse in an out-of-the-way New England village (or anywhere else) cannot with impunity set at defiance the laws of gravitation and grammar".
Critical attention to Dickinson's poetry was meager from 1897 to the early 1920s. By the start of the 20th century, interest in her poetry became broader in scope and some critics began to consider Dickinson as essentially modern. Rather than seeing Dickinson's poetic styling as a result of lack of knowledge or skill, modern critics believed the irregularities were consciously artistic. In a 1915 essay, Elizabeth Shepley Sergeant called the poet's inspiration "daring" and named her "one of the rarest flowers the sterner New England land ever bore". With the growing popularity of modernist poetry in the 1920s, Dickinson's failure to conform to 19th-century poetic form was no longer surprising nor distasteful to new generations of readers. Dickinson was suddenly referred to by various critics as a great woman poet, and a cult following began to form.
In the 1930s, a number of the New Critics – among them R. P. Blackmur, Allen Tate, Cleanth Brooks and Yvor Winters – appraised the significance of Dickinson's poetry. As critic Roland Hagenbüchle pointed out, their "affirmative and prohibitive tenets turned out to be of special relevance to Dickinson scholarship". Blackmur, in an attempt to focus and clarify the major claims for and against the poet's greatness, wrote in a landmark 1937 critical essay: "... she was a private poet who wrote as indefatigably as some women cook or knit. Her gift for words and the cultural predicament of her time drove her to poetry instead of antimacassars ... She came ... at the right time for one kind of poetry: the poetry of sophisticated, eccentric vision."
The second wave of feminism created greater cultural sympathy for her as a female poet. In the first collection of critical essays on Dickinson from a feminist perspective, she is heralded as the greatest woman poet in the English language. Biographers and theorists of the past tended to separate Dickinson's roles as a woman and a poet. For example, George Whicher wrote in his 1952 book This Was a Poet: A Critical Biography of Emily Dickinson, "Perhaps as a poet [Dickinson] could find the fulfillment she had missed as a woman." Feminist criticism, on the other hand, declares that there is a necessary and powerful conjunction between Dickinson being a woman and a poet. Adrienne Rich theorized in Vesuvius at Home: The Power of Emily Dickinson (1976) that Dickinson's identity as a woman poet brought her power: "[she] chose her seclusion, knowing she was exceptional and knowing what she needed ... She carefully selected her society and controlled the disposal of her time ... neither eccentric nor quaint; she was determined to survive, to use her powers, to practice necessary economics."
Some scholars question the poet's sexuality, theorizing that the numerous letters and poems that were dedicated to Susan Gilbert Dickinson indicate a lesbian romance, and speculating about how this may have influenced her poetry. Critics such as John Cody, Lillian Faderman, Vivian R. Pollak, Paula Bennett, Judith Farr, Ellen Louise Hart, and Martha Nell Smith have argued that Susan was the central erotic relationship in Dickinson's life.
Legacy
In the early 20th century, Martha Dickinson Bianchi and Millicent Todd Bingham kept the achievement of Emily Dickinson alive. Bianchi promoted Dickinson's poetic achievement. Bianchi inherited The Evergreens as well as the copyright for her aunt's poetry from her parents, publishing works such as Emily Dickinson Face to Face and Letters of Emily Dickinson, which stoked public curiosity about her aunt. Bianchi's books perpetrated legends about her aunt in the context of family tradition, personal recollection and correspondence. In contrast, Millicent Todd Bingham's took a more objective and realistic approach to the poet.
Emily Dickinson is now considered a powerful and persistent figure in American culture. Although much of the early reception concentrated on Dickinson's eccentric and secluded nature, she has become widely acknowledged as an innovative, proto-modernist poet. As early as 1891, William Dean Howells wrote that "If nothing else had come out of our life but this strange poetry, we should feel that in the work of Emily Dickinson, America, or New England rather, had made a distinctive addition to the literature of the world, and could not be left out of any record of it." Critic Harold Bloom has placed her alongside Walt Whitman, Wallace Stevens, Robert Frost, T. S. Eliot, and Hart Crane as a major American poet, and in 1994 listed her among the 26 central writers of Western civilization.
Dickinson is taught in American literature and poetry classes in the United States from middle school to college. Her poetry is frequently anthologized and has been used as text for art songs by composers such as Aaron Copland, Nick Peros, John Adams and Michael Tilson Thomas. Several schools have been established in her name; for example, Emily Dickinson Elementary Schools exist in Bozeman, Montana; Redmond, Washington; and New York City. A few literary journals — including The Emily Dickinson Journal, the official publication of the Emily Dickinson International Society — have been founded to examine her work. An 8-cent commemorative stamp in honor of Dickinson was issued by the United States Postal Service on August 28, 1971, as the second stamp in the "American Poet" series. Dickinson was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1973. A one-woman play titled The Belle of Amherst appeared on Broadway in 1976, winning several awards; it was later adapted for television.
Dickinson's herbarium, which is now held in the Houghton Library at Harvard University, was published in 2006 as Emily Dickinson's Herbarium by Harvard University Press. The original work was compiled by Dickinson during her years at Amherst Academy, and consists of 424 pressed specimens of plants arranged on 66 pages of a bound album. A digital facsimile of the herbarium is available online. The town of Amherst Jones Library's Special Collections department has an Emily Dickinson Collection consisting of approximately seven thousand items, including original manuscript poems and letters, family correspondence, scholarly articles and books, newspaper clippings, theses, plays, photographs and contemporary artwork and prints. The Archives and Special Collections at Amherst College has substantial holdings of Dickinson's manuscripts and letters as well as a lock of Dickinson's hair and the original of the only positively identified image of the poet. In 1965, in recognition of Dickinson's growing stature as a poet, the Homestead was purchased by Amherst College. It opened to the public for tours, and also served as a faculty residence for many years. The Emily Dickinson Museum was created in 2003 when ownership of the Evergreens, which had been occupied by Dickinson family heirs until 1988, was transferred to the college.
Modern influence and inspiration
Emily Dickinson's life and works have been the source of inspiration to artists, particularly to feminist-oriented artists, of a variety of mediums. A few notable examples are as follows:
The feminist artwork The Dinner Party, by Judy Chicago, first exhibited in 1979, features a place setting for Dickinson.
Jane Campion's film The Piano and its novelization (co-authored by Kate Pullinger) were inspired by the poetry of Emily Dickinson as well as the novels by the Brontë sisters.
A character who is a literary scholar at a fictional New England college in the comic campus novel by Pamela Hansford Johnson Night and Silence Who Is Here? is intent on proving that Emily Dickinson was a secret dipsomaniac. His obsession costs him his job.
The 2012 book The Emily Dickinson Reader by Paul Legault is an English-to-English translation of her complete poems published by McSweeney's.
Dickinson's work has been set by numerous composers including Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Chester Biscardi, Elliot Carter, John Adams, Libby Larsen, Peter Seabourne, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Judith Weir.
A public garden is named in her honor in Paris: 'square Emily-Dickinson', in the 20th arrondissement.
Jazz saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom released the 2017 double album Wild Lines: Improvising Emily Dickinson inspired by the poet's works.
English director Terence Davies directed and wrote A Quiet Passion, a 2016 biographical film about the life of Emily Dickinson. The film stars Cynthia Nixon as the reclusive poet. The film premiered at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2016 and was released in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2017.
Dickinson is a TV series starring Academy Award nominee Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Dickinson and premiered in 2019 on Apple TV+. The series focused on Dickinson's life.
Translation
Emily Dickinson's poetry has been translated into languages including French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Persian, Kurdish, Turkish, Georgian, Swedish, and Russian. A few examples of these translations are the following:
The Queen of Bashful Violets, a Kurdish translation by Madeh Piryonesi published in 2016.
French translation by Charlotte Melançon which includes 40 poems.
Mandarin Chinese translation by Professor Jianxin Zhou
Swedish translation by Ann Jäderlund.
Persian translations: Three Persian translations of Emily Dickinson are available from Saeed Saeedpoor, Madeh Piryonesi and Okhovat.
Turkish translation: Selected Poems, translated by Selahattin Özpalabıyıklar in 2006, is available from Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları through its special Hasan Âli Yücel classics series.
See also
List of Emily Dickinson poems
References
Notes
Editions of poetry and letters
Cristanne Miller (ed.). 2016. Emily Dickinson's Poems: As She Preserved Them. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Franklin, R. W. (ed.). 1998. The Poems of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. .
Johnson, Thomas H. and Theodora Ward (eds.). 1958. The Letters of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Johnson, Thomas H. (ed.). 1955. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.
Secondary sources
Bianchi, Martha Dickinson. 1970. Emily Dickinson Face to Face: Unpublished Letters with Notes and Reminiscences. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books.
Blake, Caesar R. (ed). 1964. The Recognition of Emily Dickinson: Selected Criticism Since 1890. Ed. Caesar R. Blake. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Bloom, Harold. 1999. Emily Dickinson. Broomall, PA: Chelsea House Publishers. .
Bloom, Harold. 1994. The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Buckingham, Willis J. (ed). 1989. Emily Dickinson's Reception in the 1890s: A Documentary History. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. .
Comment, Kristin M. 2001. "Dickinson's Bawdy: Shakespeare and Sexual Symbolism in Emily Dickinson's Writing to Susan Dickinson". Legacy. 18(2). pp. 167–181.
Crumbley, Paul. 1997. Inflections of the Pen: Dash and Voice in Emily Dickinson. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky. .
D'Arienzo, Daria. 2006. "Looking at Emily", Amherst Magazine. Winter 2006. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
Farr, Judith (ed). 1996. Emily Dickinson: A Collection of Critical Essays. Prentice Hall International Paperback Editions. .
Farr, Judith. 2005. The Gardens of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England: Harvard University Press. .
Ford, Thomas W. 1966. Heaven Beguiles the Tired: Death in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson. University of Alabama Press.
Franklin, R. W. 1998. The Master Letters of Emily Dickinson. University of Massachusetts Press. .
Gordon, Lyndall. 2010. Lives Like Loaded Guns: Emily Dickinson and Her Family's Feuds. Viking. .
Grabher, Gudrun, Roland Hagenbüchle and Cristanne Miller. 1998. The Emily Dickinson Handbook. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
Habegger, Alfred. 2001. My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson. New York: Random House. .
Roland Hagenbüchle: Precision and Indeterminacy in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson, Emerson Society Quarterly, 1974
Hecht, Anthony. 1996. "The Riddles of Emily Dickinson" in Farr (1996) 149–162.
Juhasz, Suzanne (ed). 1983. Feminist Critics Read Emily Dickinson. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. .
Juhasz, Suzanne. 1996. "The Landscape of the Spirit" in Farr (1996) 130–140.
Knapp, Bettina L. 1989. Emily Dickinson. New York: Continuum Publishing.
Martin, Wendy (ed). 2002. The Cambridge Companion to Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
McNeil, Helen. 1986. Emily Dickinson. London: Virago Press. .
Mitchell, Domhnall Mitchell and Maria Stuart. 2009. The International Reception of Emily Dickinson. New York: Continuum. .
Murray, Aífe. 2010. Maid as Muse: How Domestic Servants Changed Emily Dickinson's Life and Language. University Press of New England. .
Murray, Aífe. 1996. "Kitchen Table Poetics: Maid Margaret Maher and Her Poet Emily Dickinson," The Emily Dickinson Journal. 5(2). pp. 285–296.
Paglia, Camille. 1990. Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson. Yale University Press. .
Oberhaus, Dorothy Huff. 1996. " 'Tender pioneer': Emily Dickinson's Poems on the Life of Christ" in Farr (1996) 105–119.
Parker, Peter. 2007. "New Feet Within My Garden Go: Emily Dickinson's Herbarium", The Daily Telegraph, June 29, 2007. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
Pickard, John B. 1967. Emily Dickinson: An Introduction and Interpretation. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Pollak, Vivian R. 1996. "Thirst and Starvation in Emily Dickinson's Poetry" in Farr (1996) 62–75.
Sewall, Richard B. 1974. The Life of Emily Dickinson. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. .
Smith, Martha Nell. 1992. Rowing in Eden: Rereading Emily Dickinson. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. .
Stocks, Kenneth. 1988. Emily Dickinson and the Modern Consciousness: A Poet of Our Time. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Walsh, John Evangelist. 1971. The Hidden Life of Emily Dickinson. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Wells, Anna Mary. 1929. "Early Criticism of Emily Dickinson", American Literature, Vol. 1, No. 3. (November 1929).
Wilson, Edmund. 1962. Patriotic Gore: Studies in the Literature of the American Civil War. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. .
Wolff, Cynthia Griffin. 1986. Emily Dickinson. New York. Alfred A. Knopf. .
Further reading
Emily Dickinson Papers, 1844–1891 (3 microfilm reels) are housed at the Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University.
Visiting Emily: Poems Inspired by the Life and Works of Emily Dickinson (University of Iowa Press, 2001) by Thomas Tammaro and Sheila Coghill (2001 Minnesota Book Awards winner)
External links
Dickinson Electronic Archives
Emily Dickinson Archive
Emily Dickinson poems and texts at the Academy of American Poets
Profile and poems of Emily Dickinson, including audio files, at the Poetry Foundation.
Emily Dickinson Lexicon
Emily Dickinson at Modern American Poetry
Emily Dickinson International Society
Emily Dickinson Museum The Homestead and the Evergreens, Amherst, Massachusetts
Emily Dickinson at Amherst College, Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
Emily Dickinson Collection at Houghton Library, Harvard University
Emily Dickinson Papers, Galatea Collection, Boston Public Library
Interview with Them Tammaro and Sheila Coghill about their book Visiting Emily: Poems Inspired by the Life and Work of Emily Dickinson, NORTHERN LIGHTS Minnesota Author Interview TV Series #465 (2001)
1830 births
1886 deaths
19th-century American poets
19th-century American women writers
American women poets
Deaths from nephritis
Mount Holyoke College alumni
People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War
Women in the American Civil War
Writers from Amherst, Massachusetts
Christian poets
Dickinson family
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[
"Ears Like Golden Bats is the third album by My Teenage Stride. Lawrence Lui of CokemachineGlow.com gave it a 69% rating, stating \"taking C86 pastoralism and refracting it through the prism of ‘90s lo-fi Amer-indie, Ears Like Golden Bats projects a treble-happy modesty that can be at once charming and cloying\". Jennifer Kelly of PopMatters described it as \"wonderful stuff\". Alistair Fitchett, in Tangets, described it as \"one of the finer albums of the year\". Magnet featured it in its top 20 albums of 2008 list, and it has appeared on many top 10, 20, and 100 album and song lists in the blogosphere.\n\nTrack listing\nAll songs written by Jedediah Smith.\n\n\"Reception\" – 2:11\n\"That Should Stand for Something\" – 2:20\n\"To Live and Die in the Airport Lounge\" – 3:43\n\"Actors' Colony\" – 1:35\n\"Ears Like Golden Bats\" – 2:20\n\"The Genie of New Jersey\" – 2:47\n\"Terror Bends\" – 2:40\n\"Reversal\" – 2:48\n\"Chock's Rally\" – 2:24\n\"Heartless & Cruel\" – 2:17\n\"Ruin\" – 2:53\n\"We'll Meet at Emily's\" – 2:59\n\"Depression Kicks\" – 3:23\n\"Boys Will Tell\" – 3:31\n\nReferences\n\n2007 albums\nMy Teenage Stride albums",
"Be Somebody is a 2016 romantic comedy film, directed by Joshua Caldwell. The film stars Vine blogger Matthew Espinosa as Jordan Jaye, a pop star who disappears from his own tour to escape his demanding mother.\n\nPlot \nJordan Jaye (Matthew Espinosa) is a teenage pop star on tour. While at a pit stop, Jordan gets off the bus, but the bus takes off before he can get back on. As he walks around town, he stops to take a look at a poster until a group of fans sees him and chases him. As he runs away, he bumps into Emily Lowe (Sarah Jeffery), who couldn't care less about Jordan and his status as a star, while she is delivering pizzas. \n\nJordan convinces Emily to give him a ride away. After Emily drives him away, Jordan convinces her to hide him for the night. Emily reluctantly agrees and the two hide out at a bowling ally until Emily's parents go to bed. Emily then sneaks Jordan into her room for the night.\n\nThe following day, Jordan convinces Emily to use her interest in art, and specifically her interest in street art, and share her designs with people by tagging the school. Before they go and do that, they bump into a former friend of Emily's, taking her down a notch. Then, as she has gotten through to her parents (thanks to Jordan), her parents convince them to have a sit-down meal together. Later, as they tag the school, the two bond over their feelings of not knowing what to do with their crafts and their futures.\n\nThey inspire one another to take charge of their own lives. Emily becomes inspired to apply to art school, he gives himself breaks off from his concerts, and in the end, he turns up in a tux and with a limo to accompany her to her prom.\n\nCast\nMatthew Espinosa as Jordan Jaye\nSarah Jeffery as Emily Lowe\nAllison Paige as Jessica\nTava Smiley as Mrs. Jaye\nLaMonica Garrett as Richard Lowe\nCaitlin Keats as Karen Lowe\nMahaley Patel as Kelsey\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nRotten Tomatoes\n\nAmerican romantic comedy films\n2016 romantic comedy films\nAmerican films"
] |
[
"Emily Dickinson",
"Teenage years",
"What were Emily's teenage years like?",
"spent seven years at the Academy, taking classes in English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, \"mental philosophy,\""
] |
C_46199e7ffd6d4ee89dd4ebb9698bfd94_1
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Where did she go to school?
| 2 |
Where did Emily Dickinson go to school?
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Emily Dickinson
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Dickinson spent seven years at the Academy, taking classes in English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, "mental philosophy," and arithmetic. Daniel Taggart Fiske, the school's principal at the time, would later recall that Dickinson was "very bright" and "an excellent scholar, of exemplary deportment, faithful in all school duties". Although she had a few terms off due to illness--the longest of which was in 1845-1846, when she was enrolled for only eleven weeks--she enjoyed her strenuous studies, writing to a friend that the Academy was "a very fine school". Dickinson was troubled from a young age by the "deepening menace" of death, especially the deaths of those who were close to her. When Sophia Holland, her second cousin and a close friend, grew ill from typhus and died in April 1844, Emily was traumatized. Recalling the incident two years later, Emily wrote that "it seemed to me I should die too if I could not be permitted to watch over her or even look at her face." She became so melancholic that her parents sent her to stay with family in Boston to recover. With her health and spirits restored, she soon returned to Amherst Academy to continue her studies. During this period, she first met people who were to become lifelong friends and correspondents, such as Abiah Root, Abby Wood, Jane Humphrey, and Susan Huntington Gilbert (who later married Emily's brother Austin). In 1845, a religious revival took place in Amherst, resulting in 46 confessions of faith among Dickinson's peers. Dickinson wrote to a friend the following year: "I never enjoyed such perfect peace and happiness as the short time in which I felt I had found my savior." She went on to say that it was her "greatest pleasure to commune alone with the great God & to feel that he would listen to my prayers." The experience did not last: Dickinson never made a formal declaration of faith and attended services regularly for only a few years. After her church-going ended, about 1852, she wrote a poem opening: "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church - / I keep it, staying at Home". During the last year of her stay at the Academy, Emily became friendly with Leonard Humphrey, its popular new young principal. After finishing her final term at the Academy on August 10, 1847, Dickinson began attending Mary Lyon's Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (which later became Mount Holyoke College) in South Hadley, about ten miles (16 km) from Amherst. She was at the seminary for only ten months. Although she liked the girls at Holyoke, Dickinson made no lasting friendships there. The explanations for her brief stay at Holyoke differ considerably: either she was in poor health, her father wanted to have her at home, she rebelled against the evangelical fervor present at the school, she disliked the discipline-minded teachers, or she was simply homesick. Whatever the specific reason for leaving Holyoke, her brother Austin appeared on March 25, 1848, to "bring [her] home at all events". Back in Amherst, Dickinson occupied her time with household activities. She took up baking for the family and enjoyed attending local events and activities in the budding college town. CANNOTANSWER
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the Academy,
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Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry.
Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, into a prominent family with strong ties to its community. After studying at the Amherst Academy for seven years in her youth, she briefly attended the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before returning to her family's home in Amherst.
Evidence suggests that Dickinson lived much of her life in isolation. Considered an eccentric by locals, she developed a penchant for white clothing and was known for her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, to even leave her bedroom. Dickinson never married, and most friendships between her and others depended entirely upon correspondence.
While Dickinson was a prolific writer, her only publications during her lifetime were 10 of her nearly 1,800 poems, and one letter. The poems published then were usually edited significantly to fit conventional poetic rules. Her poems were unique for her era. They contain short lines, typically lack titles, and often use slant rhyme as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation. Many of her poems deal with themes of death and immortality, two recurring topics in letters to her friends, and also explore aesthetics, society, nature and spirituality.
Although Dickinson's acquaintances were most likely aware of her writing, it was not until after her death in 1886—when Lavinia, Dickinson's younger sister, discovered her cache of poems—that her work became public. Her first collection of poetry was published in 1890 by personal acquaintances Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd, though both heavily edited the content. A 1998 article in The New York Times revealed that of the many edits made to Dickinson's work, the name "Susan" was often deliberately removed. At least eleven of Dickinson's poems were dedicated to sister-in-law Susan Huntington Gilbert Dickinson, though all the dedications were obliterated, presumably by Todd. A complete, and mostly unaltered, collection of her poetry became available for the first time when scholar Thomas H. Johnson published The Poems of Emily Dickinson in 1955.
Life
Family and early childhood
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born at the family's homestead in Amherst, Massachusetts, on December 10, 1830, into a prominent, but not wealthy, family. Her father, Edward Dickinson was a lawyer in Amherst and a trustee of Amherst College. Two hundred years earlier, her patrilineal ancestors had arrived in the New World—in the Puritan Great Migration—where they prospered. Emily Dickinson's paternal grandfather, Samuel Dickinson, was one of the founders of Amherst College. In 1813, he built the Homestead, a large mansion on the town's Main Street, that became the focus of Dickinson family life for the better part of a century. Samuel Dickinson's eldest son, Edward, was treasurer of Amherst College from 1835 to 1873, served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1838–1839; 1873) and the Massachusetts Senate (1842–1843), and represented Massachusetts's 10th congressional district in the 33rd U.S. Congress (1853–1855). On May 6, 1828, he married Emily Norcross from Monson, Massachusetts. They had three children:
William Austin (1829–1895), known as Austin, Aust or Awe
Emily Elizabeth
Lavinia Norcross (1833–1899), known as Lavinia or Vinnie
By all accounts, young Dickinson was a well-behaved girl. On an extended visit to Monson when she was two, Dickinson's Aunt Lavinia described her as "perfectly well & contented—She is a very good child & but little trouble." Dickinson's aunt also noted the girl's affinity for music and her particular talent for the piano, which she called "the moosic".
Dickinson attended primary school in a two-story building on Pleasant Street. Her education was "ambitiously classical for a Victorian girl". Wanting his children well-educated, her father followed their progress even while away on business. When Dickinson was seven, he wrote home, reminding his children to "keep school, and learn, so as to tell me, when I come home, how many new things you have learned". While Dickinson consistently described her father in a warm manner, her correspondence suggests that her mother was regularly cold and aloof. In a letter to a confidante, Dickinson wrote she "always ran Home to Awe [Austin] when a child, if anything befell me. He was an awful Mother, but I liked him better than none."
On September 7, 1840, Dickinson and her sister Lavinia started together at Amherst Academy, a former boys' school that had opened to female students just two years earlier. At about the same time, her father purchased a house on North Pleasant Street. Dickinson's brother Austin later described this large new home as the "mansion" over which he and Dickinson presided as "lord and lady" while their parents were absent. The house overlooked Amherst's burial ground, described by one local minister as treeless and "forbidding".
Teenage years
Dickinson spent seven years at the academy, taking classes in English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, "mental philosophy," and arithmetic. Daniel Taggart Fiske, the school's principal at the time, would later recall that Dickinson was "very bright" and "an excellent scholar, of exemplary deportment, faithful in all school duties". Although she had a few terms off due to illness—the longest of which was in 1845–1846, when she was enrolled for only eleven weeks—she enjoyed her strenuous studies, writing to a friend that the academy was "a very fine school".
Dickinson was troubled from a young age by the "deepening menace" of death, especially the deaths of those who were close to her. When Sophia Holland, her second cousin and a close friend, grew ill from typhus and died in April 1844, Dickinson was traumatized. Recalling the incident two years later, she wrote that "it seemed to me I should die too if I could not be permitted to watch over her or even look at her face." She became so melancholic that her parents sent her to stay with family in Boston to recover. With her health and spirits restored, she soon returned to Amherst Academy to continue her studies. During this period, she met people who were to become lifelong friends and correspondents, such as Abiah Root, Abby Wood, Jane Humphrey, and Susan Huntington Gilbert (who later married Dickinson's brother Austin).
In 1845, a religious revival took place in Amherst, resulting in 46 confessions of faith among Dickinson's peers. Dickinson wrote to a friend the following year: "I never enjoyed such perfect peace and happiness as the short time in which I felt I had found my Savior." She went on to say it was her "greatest pleasure to commune alone with the great God & to feel that he would listen to my prayers." The experience did not last: Dickinson never made a formal declaration of faith and attended services regularly for only a few years. After her church-going ended, about 1852, she wrote a poem opening: "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church – / I keep it, staying at Home".
During the last year of her stay at the academy, Dickinson became friendly with Leonard Humphrey, its popular new young principal. After finishing her final term at the Academy on August 10, 1847, Dickinson began attending Mary Lyon's Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (which later became Mount Holyoke College) in South Hadley, about ten miles (16 km) from Amherst. She stayed at the seminary for only ten months. Although she liked the girls at Holyoke, Dickinson made no lasting friendships there. The explanations for her brief stay at Holyoke differ considerably: either she was in poor health, her father wanted to have her at home, she rebelled against the evangelical fervor present at the school, she disliked the discipline-minded teachers, or she was simply homesick. Whatever the reasons for leaving Holyoke, her brother Austin appeared on March 25, 1848, to "bring [her] home at all events". Back in Amherst, Dickinson occupied her time with household activities. She took up baking for the family and enjoyed attending local events and activities in the budding college town.
Early influences and writing
When she was eighteen, Dickinson's family befriended a young attorney by the name of Benjamin Franklin Newton. According to a letter written by Dickinson after Newton's death, he had been "with my Father two years, before going to Worcester – in pursuing his studies, and was much in our family." Although their relationship was probably not romantic, Newton was a formative influence and would become the second in a series of older men (after Humphrey) that Dickinson referred to, variously, as her tutor, preceptor or master.
Newton likely introduced her to the writings of William Wordsworth, and his gift to her of Ralph Waldo Emerson's first book of collected poems had a liberating effect. She wrote later that he, "whose name my Father's Law Student taught me, has touched the secret Spring". Newton held her in high regard, believing in and recognizing her as a poet. When he was dying of tuberculosis, he wrote to her, saying he would like to live until she achieved the greatness he foresaw. Biographers believe that Dickinson's statement of 1862—"When a little Girl, I had a friend, who taught me Immortality – but venturing too near, himself – he never returned"—refers to Newton.
Dickinson was familiar with not only the Bible but also contemporary popular literature. She was probably influenced by Lydia Maria Child's Letters from New York, another gift from Newton (after reading it, she gushed "This then is a book! And there are more of them!"). Her brother smuggled a copy of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Kavanagh into the house for her (because her father might disapprove) and a friend lent her Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre in late 1849. Jane Eyres influence cannot be measured, but when Dickinson acquired her first and only dog, a Newfoundland, she named him "Carlo" after the character St. John Rivers' dog. William Shakespeare was also a potent influence in her life. Referring to his plays, she wrote to one friend, "Why clasp any hand but this?" and to another, "Why is any other book needed?"
Adulthood and seclusion
In early 1850, Dickinson wrote that "Amherst is alive with fun this winter ... Oh, a very great town this is!" Her high spirits soon turned to melancholy after another death. The Amherst Academy principal, Leonard Humphrey, died suddenly of "brain congestion" at age 25. Two years after his death, she revealed to her friend Abiah Root the extent of her sadness:some of my friends are gone, and some of my friends are sleeping – sleeping the churchyard sleep – the hour of evening is sad – it was once my study hour – my master has gone to rest, and the open leaf of the book, and the scholar at school alone, make the tears come, and I cannot brush them away; I would not if I could, for they are the only tribute I can pay the departed Humphrey.
During the 1850s, Dickinson's strongest and most affectionate relationship was with her sister-in-law, Susan Gilbert. Dickinson eventually sent her over three hundred letters, more than to any other correspondent, over the course of their relationship. Susan was supportive of the poet, playing the role of "most beloved friend, influence, muse, and adviser" whose editorial suggestions Dickinson sometimes followed. In an 1882 letter to Susan, Dickinson said, "With the exception of Shakespeare, you have told me of more knowledge than any one living."
The importance of Dickinson's relationship with Susan has widely been overlooked due to a point of view first promoted by Mabel Loomis Todd, who was involved for many years in a relationship with Austin Dickinson and who diminished Susan's role in Dickinson's life due to her own poor relationship with her lover's wife. However, the notion of a "cruel" Susan—as promoted by her romantic rival—has been questioned, most especially by Susan and Austin's surviving children, with whom Dickinson was close. Many scholars interpret the relationship between Emily and Susan as a romantic one. In The Emily Dickinson Journal Lena Koski wrote, "Dickinson's letters to Gilbert express strong homoerotic feelings." She quotes from many of their letters, including one from 1852 in which Dickinson proclaims, "Susie, will you indeed come home next Saturday, and be my own again, and kiss me ... I hope for you so much, and feel so eager for you, feel that I cannot wait, feel that now I must have you—that the expectation once more to see your face again, makes me feel hot and feverish, and my heart beats so fast ... my darling, so near I seem to you, that I disdain this pen, and wait for a warmer language." The relationship between Emily and Susan is portrayed in the film Wild Nights with Emily and explored in the TV series Dickinson.
Sue married Austin in 1856 after a four-year courtship, though their marriage was not a happy one. Edward Dickinson built a house for Austin and Sue naming it the Evergreens, a stand of which was located on the west side of the Homestead.
Until 1855, Dickinson had not strayed far from Amherst. That spring, accompanied by her mother and sister, she took one of her longest and farthest trips away from home. First, they spent three weeks in Washington, where her father was representing Massachusetts in Congress. Then they went to Philadelphia for two weeks to visit family. In Philadelphia, she met Charles Wadsworth, a famous minister of the Arch Street Presbyterian Church, with whom she forged a strong friendship which lasted until his death in 1882. Despite seeing him only twice after 1855 (he moved to San Francisco in 1862), she variously referred to him as "my Philadelphia", "my Clergyman", "my dearest earthly friend" and "my Shepherd from 'Little Girl'hood".
From the mid-1850s, Dickinson's mother became effectively bedridden with various chronic illnesses until her death in 1882. Writing to a friend in summer 1858, Dickinson said she would visit if she could leave "home, or mother. I do not go out at all, lest father will come and miss me, or miss some little act, which I might forget, should I run away – Mother is much as usual. I Know not what to hope of her". As her mother continued to decline, Dickinson's domestic responsibilities weighed more heavily upon her and she confined herself within the Homestead. Forty years later, Lavinia said that because their mother was chronically ill, one of the daughters had to remain always with her. Dickinson took this role as her own, and "finding the life with her books and nature so congenial, continued to live it".
Withdrawing more and more from the outside world, Dickinson began in the summer of 1858 what would be her lasting legacy. Reviewing poems she had written previously, she began making clean copies of her work, assembling carefully pieced-together manuscript books. The forty fascicles she created from 1858 through 1865 eventually held nearly eight hundred poems. No one was aware of the existence of these books until after her death.
In the late 1850s, the Dickinsons befriended Samuel Bowles, the owner and editor-in-chief of the Springfield Republican, and his wife, Mary. They visited the Dickinsons regularly for years to come. During this time Dickinson sent him over three dozen letters and nearly fifty poems. Their friendship brought out some of her most intense writing and Bowles published a few of her poems in his journal. It was from 1858 to 1861 that Dickinson is believed to have written a trio of letters that have been called "The Master Letters". These three letters, drafted to an unknown man simply referred to as "Master", continue to be the subject of speculation and contention amongst scholars.
The first half of the 1860s, after she had largely withdrawn from social life, proved to be Dickinson's most productive writing period. Modern scholars and researchers are divided as to the cause for Dickinson's withdrawal and extreme seclusion. While she was diagnosed as having "nervous prostration" by a physician during her lifetime, some today believe she may have suffered from illnesses as various as agoraphobia and epilepsy.
Is "my Verse ... alive?"
In April 1862, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a literary critic, radical abolitionist, and ex-minister, wrote a lead piece for The Atlantic Monthly titled, "Letter to a Young Contributor". Higginson's essay, in which he urged aspiring writers to "charge your style with life", contained practical advice for those wishing to break into print. Dickinson's decision to contact Higginson suggests that by 1862 she was contemplating publication and that it may have become increasingly difficult to write poetry without an audience. Seeking literary guidance that no one close to her could provide, Dickinson sent him a letter, which read in full:
This highly nuanced and largely theatrical letter was unsigned, but she had included her name on a card and enclosed it in an envelope, along with four of her poems. He praised her work but suggested that she delay publishing until she had written longer, being unaware she had already appeared in print. She assured him that publishing was as foreign to her "as Firmament to Fin", but also proposed that "If fame belonged to me, I could not escape her". Dickinson delighted in dramatic self-characterization and mystery in her letters to Higginson. She said of herself, "I am small, like the wren, and my hair is bold, like the chestnut bur, and my eyes like the sherry in the glass that the guest leaves." She stressed her solitary nature, saying her only real companions were the hills, the sundown, and her dog, Carlo. She also mentioned that whereas her mother did not "care for Thought", her father bought her books, but begged her "not to read them – because he fears they joggle the Mind".
Dickinson valued his advice, going from calling him "Mr. Higginson" to "Dear friend" as well as signing her letters, "Your Gnome" and "Your Scholar". His interest in her work certainly provided great moral support; many years later, Dickinson told Higginson that he had saved her life in 1862. They corresponded until her death, but her difficulty in expressing her literary needs and a reluctance to enter into a cooperative exchange left Higginson nonplussed; he did not press her to publish in subsequent correspondence. Dickinson's own ambivalence on the matter militated against the likelihood of publication. Literary critic Edmund Wilson, in his review of Civil War literature, surmised that "with encouragement, she would certainly have published".
The woman in white
In direct opposition to the immense productivity that she displayed in the early 1860s, Dickinson wrote fewer poems in 1866. Beset with personal loss as well as loss of domestic help, Dickinson may have been too overcome to keep up her previous level of writing. Carlo died during this time after having provided sixteen years of companionship; Dickinson never owned another dog. Although the household servant of nine years, Margaret O'Brien, had married and left the Homestead that same year, it was not until 1869 that the Dickinsons brought in a permanent household servant, Margaret Maher, to replace their former maid-of-all-work. Emily once again was responsible for the kitchen, including cooking and cleaning up, as well as the baking at which she excelled.
Around this time, Dickinson's behavior began to change. She did not leave the Homestead unless it was absolutely necessary and as early as 1867, she began to talk to visitors from the other side of a door rather than speaking to them face to face. She acquired local notoriety; she was rarely seen, and when she was, she was usually clothed in white. Dickinson's one surviving article of clothing is a white cotton dress, possibly sewn circa 1878–1882. Few of the locals who exchanged messages with Dickinson during her last fifteen years ever saw her in person. Austin and his family began to protect Dickinson's privacy, deciding that she was not to be a subject of discussion with outsiders. Despite her physical seclusion, however, Dickinson was socially active and expressive through what makes up two-thirds of her surviving notes and letters. When visitors came to either the Homestead or the Evergreens, she would often leave or send over small gifts of poems or flowers. Dickinson also had a good rapport with the children in her life. Mattie Dickinson, the second child of Austin and Sue, later said that "Aunt Emily stood for indulgence." MacGregor (Mac) Jenkins, the son of family friends who later wrote a short article in 1891 called "A Child's Recollection of Emily Dickinson", thought of her as always offering support to the neighborhood children.
When Higginson urged her to come to Boston in 1868 so they could formally meet for the first time, she declined, writing: "Could it please your convenience to come so far as Amherst I should be very glad, but I do not cross my Father's ground to any House or town". It was not until he came to Amherst in 1870 that they met. Later he referred to her, in the most detailed and vivid physical account of her on record, as "a little plain woman with two smooth bands of reddish hair ... in a very plain & exquisitely clean white piqué & a blue net worsted shawl." He also felt that he never was "with any one who drained my nerve power so much. Without touching her, she drew from me. I am glad not to live near her."
Posies and poesies
Scholar Judith Farr notes that Dickinson, during her lifetime, "was known more widely as a gardener, perhaps, than as a poet". Dickinson studied botany from the age of nine and, along with her sister, tended the garden at Homestead. During her lifetime, she assembled a collection of pressed plants in a sixty-six-page leather-bound herbarium. It contained 424 pressed flower specimens that she collected, classified, and labeled using the Linnaean system. The Homestead garden was well known and admired locally in its time. It has not survived, but efforts to revive it have begun. Dickinson kept no garden notebooks or plant lists, but a clear impression can be formed from the letters and recollections of friends and family. Her niece, Martha Dickinson Bianchi, remembered "carpets of lily-of-the-valley and pansies, platoons of sweetpeas, hyacinths, enough in May to give all the bees of summer dyspepsia. There were ribbons of peony hedges and drifts of daffodils in season, marigolds to distraction—a butterfly utopia". In particular, Dickinson cultivated scented exotic flowers, writing that she "could inhabit the Spice Isles merely by crossing the dining room to the conservatory, where the plants hang in baskets". Dickinson would often send her friends bunches of flowers with verses attached, but "they valued the posy more than the poetry".
Later life
On June 16, 1874, while in Boston, Edward Dickinson suffered a stroke and died. When the simple funeral was held in the Homestead's entrance hall, Dickinson stayed in her room with the door cracked open. Neither did she attend the memorial service on June 28. She wrote to Higginson that her father's "Heart was pure and terrible and I think no other like it exists." A year later, on June 15, 1875, Dickinson's mother also suffered a stroke, which produced a partial lateral paralysis and impaired memory. Lamenting her mother's increasing physical as well as mental demands, Dickinson wrote that "Home is so far from Home".
Otis Phillips Lord, an elderly judge on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from Salem, in 1872 or 1873 became an acquaintance of Dickinson's. After the death of Lord's wife in 1877, his friendship with Dickinson probably became a late-life romance, though as their letters were destroyed, this is surmised. Dickinson found a kindred soul in Lord, especially in terms of shared literary interests; the few letters which survived contain multiple quotations of Shakespeare's work, including the plays Othello, Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet and King Lear. In 1880 he gave her Cowden Clarke's Complete Concordance to Shakespeare (1877). Dickinson wrote that "While others go to Church, I go to mine, for are you not my Church, and have we not a Hymn that no one knows but us?" She referred to him as "My lovely Salem" and they wrote to each other religiously every Sunday. Dickinson looked forward to this day greatly; a surviving fragment of a letter written by her states that "Tuesday is a deeply depressed Day".
After being critically ill for several years, Judge Lord died in March 1884. Dickinson referred to him as "our latest Lost". Two years before this, on April 1, 1882, Dickinson's "Shepherd from 'Little Girl'hood", Charles Wadsworth, also had died after a long illness.
Decline and death
Although she continued to write in her last years, Dickinson stopped editing and organizing her poems. She also exacted a promise from her sister Lavinia to burn her papers. Lavinia, who never married, remained at the Homestead until her own death in 1899.
The 1880s were a difficult time for the remaining Dickinsons. Irreconcilably alienated from his wife, Austin fell in love in 1882 with Mabel Loomis Todd, an Amherst College faculty wife who had recently moved to the area. Todd never met Dickinson but was intrigued by her, referring to her as "a lady whom the people call the Myth". Austin distanced himself from his family as his affair continued and his wife became sick with grief. Dickinson's mother died on November 14, 1882. Five weeks later, Dickinson wrote, "We were never intimate ... while she was our Mother – but Mines in the same Ground meet by tunneling and when she became our Child, the Affection came." The next year, Austin and Sue's third and youngest child, Gilbert—Emily's favorite—died of typhoid fever.
As death succeeded death, Dickinson found her world upended. In the fall of 1884, she wrote, "The Dyings have been too deep for me, and before I could raise my Heart from one, another has come." That summer she had seen "a great darkness coming" and fainted while baking in the kitchen. She remained unconscious late into the night and weeks of ill health followed. On November 30, 1885, her feebleness and other symptoms were so worrying that Austin canceled a trip to Boston. She was confined to her bed for a few months, but managed to send a final burst of letters in the spring. What is thought to be her last letter was sent to her cousins, Louise and Frances Norcross, and simply read: "Little Cousins, Called Back. Emily". On May 15, 1886, after several days of worsening symptoms, Emily Dickinson died at the age of 55. Austin wrote in his diary that "the day was awful ... she ceased to breathe that terrible breathing just before the [afternoon] whistle sounded for six." Dickinson's chief physician gave the cause of death as Bright's disease and its duration as two and a half years.
Lavinia and Austin asked Susan to wash Dickinson's body upon her death. Susan also wrote Dickinson's obituary for the Springfield Republican, ending it with four lines from one of Dickinson's poems: "Morns like these, we parted; Noons like these, she rose; Fluttering first, then firmer, To her fair repose." Lavinia was perfectly satisfied that Sue should arrange everything, knowing it would be done lovingly. Dickinson was buried, laid in a white coffin with vanilla-scented heliotrope, a lady's slipper orchid, and a "knot of blue field violets" placed about it. The funeral service, held in the Homestead's library, was simple and short; Higginson, who had met her only twice, read "No Coward Soul Is Mine", a poem by Emily Brontë that had been a favorite of Dickinson's. At Dickinson's request, her "coffin [was] not driven but carried through fields of buttercups" for burial in the family plot at West Cemetery on Triangle Street.
Publication
Despite Dickinson's prolific writing, only ten poems and a letter were published during her lifetime. After her younger sister Lavinia discovered the collection of nearly 1800 poems, Dickinson's first volume was published four years after her death. Until Thomas H. Johnson published Dickinson's Complete Poems in 1955, Dickinson's poems were considerably edited and altered from their manuscript versions. Since 1890 Dickinson has remained continuously in print.
Contemporary
A few of Dickinson's poems appeared in Samuel Bowles' Springfield Republican between 1858 and 1868. They were published anonymously and heavily edited, with conventionalized punctuation and formal titles. The first poem, "Nobody knows this little rose", may have been published without Dickinson's permission. The Republican also published "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" as "The Snake", "Safe in their Alabaster Chambers –" as "The Sleeping", and "Blazing in the Gold and quenching in Purple" as "Sunset". The poem "I taste a liquor never brewed –" is an example of the edited versions; the last two lines in the first stanza were completely rewritten.
{|
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Original wording
I taste a liquor never brewed –
From Tankards scooped in Pearl –
Not all the Frankfort Berries
Yield such an Alcohol!
|
Republican version
I taste a liquor never brewed –
From Tankards scooped in Pearl –
Not Frankfort Berries yield the sense
Such a delirious whirl!
|
|}
In 1864, several poems were altered and published in Drum Beat, to raise funds for medical care for Union soldiers in the war. Another appeared in April 1864 in the Brooklyn Daily Union.
In the 1870s, Higginson showed Dickinson's poems to Helen Hunt Jackson, who had coincidentally been at the academy with Dickinson when they were girls. Jackson was deeply involved in the publishing world, and managed to convince Dickinson to publish her poem "Success is counted sweetest" anonymously in a volume called A Masque of Poets. The poem, however, was altered to agree with contemporary taste. It was the last poem published during Dickinson's lifetime.
Posthumous
After Dickinson's death, Lavinia Dickinson kept her promise and burned most of the poet's correspondence. Significantly though, Dickinson had left no instructions about the 40 notebooks and loose sheets gathered in a locked chest. Lavinia recognized the poems' worth and became obsessed with seeing them published. She turned first to her brother's wife and then to Mabel Loomis Todd, his lover, for assistance. A feud ensued, with the manuscripts divided between the Todd and Dickinson houses, preventing complete publication of Dickinson's poetry for more than half a century.
The first volume of Dickinson's Poems, edited jointly by Mabel Loomis Todd and T. W. Higginson, appeared in November 1890. Although Todd claimed that only essential changes were made, the poems were extensively edited to match punctuation and capitalization to late 19th-century standards, with occasional rewordings to reduce Dickinson's obliquity. The first 115-poem volume was a critical and financial success, going through eleven printings in two years. Poems: Second Series followed in 1891, running to five editions by 1893; a third series appeared in 1896. One reviewer, in 1892, wrote: "The world will not rest satisfied till every scrap of her writings, letters as well as literature, has been published".
Nearly a dozen new editions of Dickinson's poetry, whether containing previously unpublished or newly edited poems, were published between 1914 and 1945. Martha Dickinson Bianchi, the daughter of Susan and Austin Dickinson, published collections of her aunt's poetry based on the manuscripts held by her family, whereas Mabel Loomis Todd's daughter, Millicent Todd Bingham, published collections based on the manuscripts held by her mother. These competing editions of Dickinson's poetry, often differing in order and structure, ensured that the poet's work was in the public's eye.
The first scholarly publication came in 1955 with a complete new three-volume set edited by Thomas H. Johnson. Forming the basis of later Dickinson scholarship, Johnson's variorum brought all of Dickinson's known poems together for the first time. Johnson's goal was to present the poems very nearly as Dickinson had left them in her manuscripts. They were untitled, only numbered in an approximate chronological sequence, strewn with dashes and irregularly capitalized, and often extremely elliptical in their language. Three years later, Johnson edited and published, along with Theodora Ward, a complete collection of Dickinson's letters, also presented in three volumes.
In 1981, The Manuscript Books of Emily Dickinson was published. Using the physical evidence of the original papers, the poems were intended to be published in their original order for the first time. Editor Ralph W. Franklin relied on smudge marks, needle punctures and other clues to reassemble the poet's packets. Since then, many critics have argued for thematic unity in these small collections, believing the ordering of the poems to be more than chronological or convenient.
Dickinson biographer Alfred Habegger wrote in My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson (2001) that "The consequences of the poet's failure to disseminate her work in a faithful and orderly manner are still very much with us".
Poetry
Dickinson's poems generally fall into three distinct periods, the works in each period having certain general characters in common.
Pre-1861: In the period before 1858, the poems are most often conventional and sentimental in nature. Thomas H. Johnson, who later published The Poems of Emily Dickinson, was able to date only five of Dickinson's poems as written before 1858. Two of these are mock valentines done in an ornate and humorous style, two others are conventional lyrics, one of which is about missing her brother Austin, and the fifth poem, which begins "I have a Bird in spring", conveys her grief over the feared loss of friendship and was sent to her friend Sue Gilbert. In 1858, Dickinson began to collect her poems in the small hand-sewn books she called fascicles.
1861–1865: This was her most creative period, and these poems represent her most vigorous and creative work. Her poetic production also increased dramatically during this period. Johnson estimated that she composed 35 poems in 1860, 86 poems in 1861, 366 in 1862, 141 in 1863, and 174 in 1864. It was during this period that Dickinson fully developed her themes concerning nature, life, and mortality.
Post-1866: Only a third of Dickinson's poems were written in the last twenty years of her life, when her poetic production slowed considerably. During this period, she no longer collected her poems in fascicles.
Structure and syntax
The extensive use of dashes and unconventional capitalization in Dickinson's manuscripts, and the idiosyncratic vocabulary and imagery, combine to create a body of work that is "far more various in its styles and forms than is commonly supposed". Dickinson avoids pentameter, opting more generally for trimeter, tetrameter and, less often, dimeter. Sometimes her use of these meters is regular, but oftentimes it is irregular. The regular form that she most often employs is the ballad stanza, a traditional form that is divided into quatrains, using tetrameter for the first and third lines and trimeter for the second and fourth, while rhyming the second and fourth lines (ABCB). Though Dickinson often uses perfect rhymes for lines two and four, she also makes frequent use of slant rhyme. In some of her poems, she varies the meter from the traditional ballad stanza by using trimeter for lines one, two and four; while using tetrameter for only line three.
Since many of her poems were written in traditional ballad stanzas with ABCB rhyme schemes, some of these poems can be sung to fit the melodies of popular folk songs and hymns that also use the common meter, employing alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter.
Dickinson scholar and poet Anthony Hecht finds resonances in Dickinson's poetry not only with hymns and song-forms but also with psalms and riddles, citing the following example: "Who is the East? / The Yellow Man / Who may be Purple if he can / That carries in the Sun. / Who is the West? / The Purple Man / Who may be Yellow if He can / That lets Him out again."
Late 20th-century scholars are "deeply interested" by Dickinson's highly individual use of punctuation and lineation (line lengths and line breaks). Following the publication of one of the few poems that appeared in her lifetime – "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass", published as "The Snake" in the Republican – Dickinson complained that the edited punctuation (an added comma and a full stop substitution for the original dash) altered the meaning of the entire poem.
{|
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Original wording
A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides –
You may have met Him – did you not
His notice sudden is –
|
Republican version
A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides –
You may have met Him – did you not,
His notice sudden is.
|
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As Farr points out, "snakes instantly notice you"; Dickinson's version captures the "breathless immediacy" of the encounter; and The Republicans punctuation renders "her lines more commonplace". With the increasingly close focus on Dickinson's structures and syntax has come a growing appreciation that they are "aesthetically based". Although Johnson's landmark 1955 edition of poems was relatively unaltered from the original, later scholars critiqued it for deviating from the style and layout of Dickinson's manuscripts. Meaningful distinctions, these scholars assert, can be drawn from varying lengths and angles of dash, and differing arrangements of text on the page. Several volumes have attempted to render Dickinson's handwritten dashes using many typographic symbols of varying length and angle. R. W. Franklin's 1998 variorum edition of the poems provided alternate wordings to those chosen by Johnson, in a more limited editorial intervention. Franklin also used typeset dashes of varying length to approximate the manuscripts' dashes more closely.
Major themes
Dickinson left no formal statement of her aesthetic intentions and, because of the variety of her themes, her work does not fit conveniently into any one genre. She has been regarded, alongside Emerson (whose poems Dickinson admired), as a Transcendentalist. However, Farr disagrees with this analysis, saying that Dickinson's "relentlessly measuring mind ... deflates the airy elevation of the Transcendental". Apart from the major themes discussed below, Dickinson's poetry frequently uses humor, puns, irony and satire.
Flowers and gardens: Farr notes that Dickinson's "poems and letters almost wholly concern flowers" and that allusions to gardens often refer to an "imaginative realm ... wherein flowers [are] often emblems for actions and emotions". She associates some flowers, like gentians and anemones, with youth and humility; others with prudence and insight. Her poems were often sent to friends with accompanying letters and nosegays. Farr notes that one of Dickinson's earlier poems, written about 1859, appears to "conflate her poetry itself with the posies": "My nosegays are for Captives – / Dim – long expectant eyes – / Fingers denied the plucking, / Patient till Paradise – / To such, if they sh'd whisper / Of morning and the moor – / They bear no other errand, / And I, no other prayer".
The Master poems: Dickinson left a large number of poems addressed to "Signor", "Sir" and "Master", who is characterized as Dickinson's "lover for all eternity". These confessional poems are often "searing in their self-inquiry" and "harrowing to the reader" and typically take their metaphors from texts and paintings of Dickinson's day. The Dickinson family themselves believed these poems were addressed to actual individuals but this view is frequently rejected by scholars. Farr, for example, contends that the Master is an unattainable composite figure, "human, with specific characteristics, but godlike" and speculates that Master may be a "kind of Christian muse".
Morbidity: Dickinson's poems reflect her "early and lifelong fascination" with illness, dying and death. Perhaps surprisingly for a New England spinster, her poems allude to death by many methods: "crucifixion, drowning, hanging, suffocation, freezing, premature burial, shooting, stabbing and guillotinage". She reserved her sharpest insights into the "death blow aimed by God" and the "funeral in the brain", often reinforced by images of thirst and starvation. Dickinson scholar Vivian Pollak considers these references an autobiographical reflection of Dickinson's "thirsting-starving persona", an outward expression of her needy self-image as small, thin and frail. Dickinson's most psychologically complex poems explore the theme that the loss of hunger for life causes the death of self and place this at "the interface of murder and suicide". Death and morbidity in Dickinson's poetry is also heavily connected to winter themes. Critic Edwin Folsom analyzes how "winter for Dickinson is the season that forces reality, that strips all hope of transcendence. It is a season of death and a metaphor for death".
Gospel poems: Throughout her life, Dickinson wrote poems reflecting a preoccupation with the teachings of Jesus Christ and, indeed, many are addressed to him. She stresses the Gospels' contemporary pertinence and recreates them, often with "wit and American colloquial language". Scholar Dorothy Oberhaus finds that the "salient feature uniting Christian poets ... is their reverential attention to the life of Jesus Christ" and contends that Dickinson's deep structures place her in the "poetic tradition of Christian devotion" alongside Hopkins, Eliot and Auden. In a Nativity poem, Dickinson combines lightness and wit to revisit an ancient theme: "The Savior must have been / A docile Gentleman – / To come so far so cold a Day / For little Fellowmen / The Road to Bethlehem / Since He and I were Boys / Was leveled, but for that twould be / A rugged billion Miles –".
The Undiscovered Continent: Academic Suzanne Juhasz considers that Dickinson saw the mind and spirit as tangible visitable places and that for much of her life she lived within them. Often, this intensely private place is referred to as the "undiscovered continent" and the "landscape of the spirit" and embellished with nature imagery. At other times, the imagery is darker and forbidding—castles or prisons, complete with corridors and rooms—to create a dwelling place of "oneself" where one resides with one's other selves. An example that brings together many of these ideas is: "Me from Myself – to banish – / Had I Art – / Impregnable my Fortress / Unto All Heart – / But since myself—assault Me – / How have I peace / Except by subjugating / Consciousness. / And since We're mutual Monarch / How this be / Except by Abdication – / Me – of Me?".
Reception
The surge of posthumous publication gave Dickinson's poetry its first public exposure. Backed by Higginson and with a favorable notice from William Dean Howells, an editor of Harper's Magazine, the poetry received mixed reviews after it was first published in 1890. Higginson himself stated in his preface to the first edition of Dickinson's published work that the poetry's quality "is that of extraordinary grasp and insight", albeit "without the proper control and chastening" that the experience of publishing during her lifetime might have conferred. His judgment that her opus was "incomplete and unsatisfactory" would be echoed in the essays of the New Critics in the 1930s.
Maurice Thompson, who was literary editor of The Independent for twelve years, noted in 1891 that her poetry had "a strange mixture of rare individuality and originality". Some critics hailed Dickinson's effort, but disapproved of her unusual non-traditional style. Andrew Lang, a British writer, dismissed Dickinson's work, stating that "if poetry is to exist at all, it really must have form and grammar, and must rhyme when it professes to rhyme. The wisdom of the ages and the nature of man insist on so much". Thomas Bailey Aldrich, a poet and novelist, equally dismissed Dickinson's poetic technique in The Atlantic Monthly in January 1892: "It is plain that Miss Dickinson possessed an extremely unconventional and grotesque fancy. She was deeply tinged by the mysticism of Blake, and strongly influenced by the mannerism of Emerson ... But the incoherence and formlessness of her — versicles are fatal ... an eccentric, dreamy, half-educated recluse in an out-of-the-way New England village (or anywhere else) cannot with impunity set at defiance the laws of gravitation and grammar".
Critical attention to Dickinson's poetry was meager from 1897 to the early 1920s. By the start of the 20th century, interest in her poetry became broader in scope and some critics began to consider Dickinson as essentially modern. Rather than seeing Dickinson's poetic styling as a result of lack of knowledge or skill, modern critics believed the irregularities were consciously artistic. In a 1915 essay, Elizabeth Shepley Sergeant called the poet's inspiration "daring" and named her "one of the rarest flowers the sterner New England land ever bore". With the growing popularity of modernist poetry in the 1920s, Dickinson's failure to conform to 19th-century poetic form was no longer surprising nor distasteful to new generations of readers. Dickinson was suddenly referred to by various critics as a great woman poet, and a cult following began to form.
In the 1930s, a number of the New Critics – among them R. P. Blackmur, Allen Tate, Cleanth Brooks and Yvor Winters – appraised the significance of Dickinson's poetry. As critic Roland Hagenbüchle pointed out, their "affirmative and prohibitive tenets turned out to be of special relevance to Dickinson scholarship". Blackmur, in an attempt to focus and clarify the major claims for and against the poet's greatness, wrote in a landmark 1937 critical essay: "... she was a private poet who wrote as indefatigably as some women cook or knit. Her gift for words and the cultural predicament of her time drove her to poetry instead of antimacassars ... She came ... at the right time for one kind of poetry: the poetry of sophisticated, eccentric vision."
The second wave of feminism created greater cultural sympathy for her as a female poet. In the first collection of critical essays on Dickinson from a feminist perspective, she is heralded as the greatest woman poet in the English language. Biographers and theorists of the past tended to separate Dickinson's roles as a woman and a poet. For example, George Whicher wrote in his 1952 book This Was a Poet: A Critical Biography of Emily Dickinson, "Perhaps as a poet [Dickinson] could find the fulfillment she had missed as a woman." Feminist criticism, on the other hand, declares that there is a necessary and powerful conjunction between Dickinson being a woman and a poet. Adrienne Rich theorized in Vesuvius at Home: The Power of Emily Dickinson (1976) that Dickinson's identity as a woman poet brought her power: "[she] chose her seclusion, knowing she was exceptional and knowing what she needed ... She carefully selected her society and controlled the disposal of her time ... neither eccentric nor quaint; she was determined to survive, to use her powers, to practice necessary economics."
Some scholars question the poet's sexuality, theorizing that the numerous letters and poems that were dedicated to Susan Gilbert Dickinson indicate a lesbian romance, and speculating about how this may have influenced her poetry. Critics such as John Cody, Lillian Faderman, Vivian R. Pollak, Paula Bennett, Judith Farr, Ellen Louise Hart, and Martha Nell Smith have argued that Susan was the central erotic relationship in Dickinson's life.
Legacy
In the early 20th century, Martha Dickinson Bianchi and Millicent Todd Bingham kept the achievement of Emily Dickinson alive. Bianchi promoted Dickinson's poetic achievement. Bianchi inherited The Evergreens as well as the copyright for her aunt's poetry from her parents, publishing works such as Emily Dickinson Face to Face and Letters of Emily Dickinson, which stoked public curiosity about her aunt. Bianchi's books perpetrated legends about her aunt in the context of family tradition, personal recollection and correspondence. In contrast, Millicent Todd Bingham's took a more objective and realistic approach to the poet.
Emily Dickinson is now considered a powerful and persistent figure in American culture. Although much of the early reception concentrated on Dickinson's eccentric and secluded nature, she has become widely acknowledged as an innovative, proto-modernist poet. As early as 1891, William Dean Howells wrote that "If nothing else had come out of our life but this strange poetry, we should feel that in the work of Emily Dickinson, America, or New England rather, had made a distinctive addition to the literature of the world, and could not be left out of any record of it." Critic Harold Bloom has placed her alongside Walt Whitman, Wallace Stevens, Robert Frost, T. S. Eliot, and Hart Crane as a major American poet, and in 1994 listed her among the 26 central writers of Western civilization.
Dickinson is taught in American literature and poetry classes in the United States from middle school to college. Her poetry is frequently anthologized and has been used as text for art songs by composers such as Aaron Copland, Nick Peros, John Adams and Michael Tilson Thomas. Several schools have been established in her name; for example, Emily Dickinson Elementary Schools exist in Bozeman, Montana; Redmond, Washington; and New York City. A few literary journals — including The Emily Dickinson Journal, the official publication of the Emily Dickinson International Society — have been founded to examine her work. An 8-cent commemorative stamp in honor of Dickinson was issued by the United States Postal Service on August 28, 1971, as the second stamp in the "American Poet" series. Dickinson was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1973. A one-woman play titled The Belle of Amherst appeared on Broadway in 1976, winning several awards; it was later adapted for television.
Dickinson's herbarium, which is now held in the Houghton Library at Harvard University, was published in 2006 as Emily Dickinson's Herbarium by Harvard University Press. The original work was compiled by Dickinson during her years at Amherst Academy, and consists of 424 pressed specimens of plants arranged on 66 pages of a bound album. A digital facsimile of the herbarium is available online. The town of Amherst Jones Library's Special Collections department has an Emily Dickinson Collection consisting of approximately seven thousand items, including original manuscript poems and letters, family correspondence, scholarly articles and books, newspaper clippings, theses, plays, photographs and contemporary artwork and prints. The Archives and Special Collections at Amherst College has substantial holdings of Dickinson's manuscripts and letters as well as a lock of Dickinson's hair and the original of the only positively identified image of the poet. In 1965, in recognition of Dickinson's growing stature as a poet, the Homestead was purchased by Amherst College. It opened to the public for tours, and also served as a faculty residence for many years. The Emily Dickinson Museum was created in 2003 when ownership of the Evergreens, which had been occupied by Dickinson family heirs until 1988, was transferred to the college.
Modern influence and inspiration
Emily Dickinson's life and works have been the source of inspiration to artists, particularly to feminist-oriented artists, of a variety of mediums. A few notable examples are as follows:
The feminist artwork The Dinner Party, by Judy Chicago, first exhibited in 1979, features a place setting for Dickinson.
Jane Campion's film The Piano and its novelization (co-authored by Kate Pullinger) were inspired by the poetry of Emily Dickinson as well as the novels by the Brontë sisters.
A character who is a literary scholar at a fictional New England college in the comic campus novel by Pamela Hansford Johnson Night and Silence Who Is Here? is intent on proving that Emily Dickinson was a secret dipsomaniac. His obsession costs him his job.
The 2012 book The Emily Dickinson Reader by Paul Legault is an English-to-English translation of her complete poems published by McSweeney's.
Dickinson's work has been set by numerous composers including Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Chester Biscardi, Elliot Carter, John Adams, Libby Larsen, Peter Seabourne, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Judith Weir.
A public garden is named in her honor in Paris: 'square Emily-Dickinson', in the 20th arrondissement.
Jazz saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom released the 2017 double album Wild Lines: Improvising Emily Dickinson inspired by the poet's works.
English director Terence Davies directed and wrote A Quiet Passion, a 2016 biographical film about the life of Emily Dickinson. The film stars Cynthia Nixon as the reclusive poet. The film premiered at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2016 and was released in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2017.
Dickinson is a TV series starring Academy Award nominee Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Dickinson and premiered in 2019 on Apple TV+. The series focused on Dickinson's life.
Translation
Emily Dickinson's poetry has been translated into languages including French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Persian, Kurdish, Turkish, Georgian, Swedish, and Russian. A few examples of these translations are the following:
The Queen of Bashful Violets, a Kurdish translation by Madeh Piryonesi published in 2016.
French translation by Charlotte Melançon which includes 40 poems.
Mandarin Chinese translation by Professor Jianxin Zhou
Swedish translation by Ann Jäderlund.
Persian translations: Three Persian translations of Emily Dickinson are available from Saeed Saeedpoor, Madeh Piryonesi and Okhovat.
Turkish translation: Selected Poems, translated by Selahattin Özpalabıyıklar in 2006, is available from Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları through its special Hasan Âli Yücel classics series.
See also
List of Emily Dickinson poems
References
Notes
Editions of poetry and letters
Cristanne Miller (ed.). 2016. Emily Dickinson's Poems: As She Preserved Them. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Franklin, R. W. (ed.). 1998. The Poems of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. .
Johnson, Thomas H. and Theodora Ward (eds.). 1958. The Letters of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Johnson, Thomas H. (ed.). 1955. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.
Secondary sources
Bianchi, Martha Dickinson. 1970. Emily Dickinson Face to Face: Unpublished Letters with Notes and Reminiscences. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books.
Blake, Caesar R. (ed). 1964. The Recognition of Emily Dickinson: Selected Criticism Since 1890. Ed. Caesar R. Blake. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Bloom, Harold. 1999. Emily Dickinson. Broomall, PA: Chelsea House Publishers. .
Bloom, Harold. 1994. The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Buckingham, Willis J. (ed). 1989. Emily Dickinson's Reception in the 1890s: A Documentary History. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. .
Comment, Kristin M. 2001. "Dickinson's Bawdy: Shakespeare and Sexual Symbolism in Emily Dickinson's Writing to Susan Dickinson". Legacy. 18(2). pp. 167–181.
Crumbley, Paul. 1997. Inflections of the Pen: Dash and Voice in Emily Dickinson. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky. .
D'Arienzo, Daria. 2006. "Looking at Emily", Amherst Magazine. Winter 2006. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
Farr, Judith (ed). 1996. Emily Dickinson: A Collection of Critical Essays. Prentice Hall International Paperback Editions. .
Farr, Judith. 2005. The Gardens of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England: Harvard University Press. .
Ford, Thomas W. 1966. Heaven Beguiles the Tired: Death in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson. University of Alabama Press.
Franklin, R. W. 1998. The Master Letters of Emily Dickinson. University of Massachusetts Press. .
Gordon, Lyndall. 2010. Lives Like Loaded Guns: Emily Dickinson and Her Family's Feuds. Viking. .
Grabher, Gudrun, Roland Hagenbüchle and Cristanne Miller. 1998. The Emily Dickinson Handbook. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
Habegger, Alfred. 2001. My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson. New York: Random House. .
Roland Hagenbüchle: Precision and Indeterminacy in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson, Emerson Society Quarterly, 1974
Hecht, Anthony. 1996. "The Riddles of Emily Dickinson" in Farr (1996) 149–162.
Juhasz, Suzanne (ed). 1983. Feminist Critics Read Emily Dickinson. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. .
Juhasz, Suzanne. 1996. "The Landscape of the Spirit" in Farr (1996) 130–140.
Knapp, Bettina L. 1989. Emily Dickinson. New York: Continuum Publishing.
Martin, Wendy (ed). 2002. The Cambridge Companion to Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
McNeil, Helen. 1986. Emily Dickinson. London: Virago Press. .
Mitchell, Domhnall Mitchell and Maria Stuart. 2009. The International Reception of Emily Dickinson. New York: Continuum. .
Murray, Aífe. 2010. Maid as Muse: How Domestic Servants Changed Emily Dickinson's Life and Language. University Press of New England. .
Murray, Aífe. 1996. "Kitchen Table Poetics: Maid Margaret Maher and Her Poet Emily Dickinson," The Emily Dickinson Journal. 5(2). pp. 285–296.
Paglia, Camille. 1990. Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson. Yale University Press. .
Oberhaus, Dorothy Huff. 1996. " 'Tender pioneer': Emily Dickinson's Poems on the Life of Christ" in Farr (1996) 105–119.
Parker, Peter. 2007. "New Feet Within My Garden Go: Emily Dickinson's Herbarium", The Daily Telegraph, June 29, 2007. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
Pickard, John B. 1967. Emily Dickinson: An Introduction and Interpretation. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Pollak, Vivian R. 1996. "Thirst and Starvation in Emily Dickinson's Poetry" in Farr (1996) 62–75.
Sewall, Richard B. 1974. The Life of Emily Dickinson. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. .
Smith, Martha Nell. 1992. Rowing in Eden: Rereading Emily Dickinson. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. .
Stocks, Kenneth. 1988. Emily Dickinson and the Modern Consciousness: A Poet of Our Time. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Walsh, John Evangelist. 1971. The Hidden Life of Emily Dickinson. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Wells, Anna Mary. 1929. "Early Criticism of Emily Dickinson", American Literature, Vol. 1, No. 3. (November 1929).
Wilson, Edmund. 1962. Patriotic Gore: Studies in the Literature of the American Civil War. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. .
Wolff, Cynthia Griffin. 1986. Emily Dickinson. New York. Alfred A. Knopf. .
Further reading
Emily Dickinson Papers, 1844–1891 (3 microfilm reels) are housed at the Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University.
Visiting Emily: Poems Inspired by the Life and Works of Emily Dickinson (University of Iowa Press, 2001) by Thomas Tammaro and Sheila Coghill (2001 Minnesota Book Awards winner)
External links
Dickinson Electronic Archives
Emily Dickinson Archive
Emily Dickinson poems and texts at the Academy of American Poets
Profile and poems of Emily Dickinson, including audio files, at the Poetry Foundation.
Emily Dickinson Lexicon
Emily Dickinson at Modern American Poetry
Emily Dickinson International Society
Emily Dickinson Museum The Homestead and the Evergreens, Amherst, Massachusetts
Emily Dickinson at Amherst College, Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
Emily Dickinson Collection at Houghton Library, Harvard University
Emily Dickinson Papers, Galatea Collection, Boston Public Library
Interview with Them Tammaro and Sheila Coghill about their book Visiting Emily: Poems Inspired by the Life and Work of Emily Dickinson, NORTHERN LIGHTS Minnesota Author Interview TV Series #465 (2001)
1830 births
1886 deaths
19th-century American poets
19th-century American women writers
American women poets
Deaths from nephritis
Mount Holyoke College alumni
People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War
Women in the American Civil War
Writers from Amherst, Massachusetts
Christian poets
Dickinson family
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[
"Annemie Anne Francine Coenen (born 14 July 1978 in Herk-de-Stad) is a Belgian singer and songwriter who was in the duo AnnaGrace (formerly known as Ian Van Dahl).\n\nLife\nCoenen sang in school musical comedies and choral in Antwerp. She joined a dance band at the age of 17. She hoped to become a fashion designer, and aimed to enter a fashion school at Antwerp. To this end, she worked a variety of odd jobs around Antwerp. One of her friends invited her to Ibiza where she found the dance scene.\n\nWhen she did return to Belgium, Coenen recorded a demo which she said was mainly \"just for fun.\" However, the demo came to the attention of Stefan Wuyts, representing the A&R label, who was looking for a mime artist for a song called \"Castles in the Sky\" which was meant to be part of a new Belgian project called Ian Van Dahl. Since her joining the group in 2001, it has sold four million CDs and singles worldwide. She was the main vocalist on the albums Ace and Lost and Found.\n\nIn June 2008, Coenen and Luts teamed together to create their own trance music project called AnnaGrace. \n\nSince March 2014, Coenen has had her own fashion line named Gracenatic.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\n Ace\n Lost and Found\n (AnnaGrace) Ready to Dare\n\nSingles\n Ian Van Dahl:\n 2000 \"Castles in the Sky\"\n 2001 \"Secret Love\"\n 2001 \"Will I?\"\n 2002 \"Reason\"\n 2002 \"Try\"\n 2003 \"I Can't Let You Go\"\n 2004 \"Where Are You Now?\"\n 2004 \"Believe\"\n 2004 \"Inspiration\"\n 2005 \"Movin' On\"\n 2006 \"Just a Girl\"\n AnnaGrace:\n 2008 \"You Make Me Feel\"\n 2009 \"Let the Feelings Go\"\n 2009 \"Love Keeps Calling\"\n 2010 \"Celebration\"\n 2011 \"Don't Let Go\"\n 2012 \"Ready to Fall in Love\"\n 2012 \"Alive\"\n 2013 \"Girls Like Dancing\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official Annagrace site\n Official Gracenatic site\n\n1978 births\nLiving people\nBelgian songwriters\nEnglish-language singers from Belgium\nTrance singers\n21st-century Belgian women singers",
"Feng Yun (Chinese: 丰云; Pinyin: Fēng Yún; born October 2, 1966) is a professional Go player. She is the second woman after Rui Naiwei to ever attain the level of 9-dan professional.\n\nBiography\nFeng Yun was born in Chong Qing, China. She started learning Go in Henan province when she was nine years old. She began her professional career in 1979 at the age of 12. In 1982 she was selected for the Chinese National Go Team where she trained for 18 years. In 1997, Feng Yun reached the top rank of professional Go players and ascended to 9-dan professional. She was the second woman in the world ever (after Rui Naiwei) to reach 9 dan. She has lived in New Jersey, U.S. with her family since 2000. The Feng Yun Go School, with four locations in New Jersey, has produced many strong players. Her book, The Best Play, analyzes two amateur games played on the internet.\n\nProfessional accomplishments\nFeng Yun was a finalist in the first four Bohae Cups, winning on the second occasion (1995), but lost to Rui Naiwei on the other three occasions, finishing 2nd in 1994, 1996 and 1997. \n1979 Promoted a professional Go player of the Henan Provincial Team \n1982 Promoted to 4 dan professional\n1983 Promoted to 5 dan professional, won her first title: National Women's Championship \n1987 Promoted to 6 dan professional \n1990 Finished second in National Individual Go Tournament (China)\n1991 Finished second in National Individual Go Tournament (China)\n1992 Promoted to 7 dan professional \n1995 Promoted to 8 dan professional \n1997 Advanced to 9 dan professional, one of the only three women 9p in the world \n1998 Won Kuerle Cup champion\n2002 Founded first 9-dan school in North America, was the challenger in the 2002 North American Masters Tournament\n2004 Won Ing Pro Tournament held at the 20th AGA Go Congress in Rochester, New York\n2008 Won Ing Pro Tournament held at the 24th AGA Go Congress in Portland, Oregon\n\nExternal links\nFeng Yun Go School Official Site\nGoBase.org Information on Feng Yun + her replayable games\n\n1966 births\nLiving people\nChinese Go players\nFemale Go players\nSportspeople from Liaoning\nAmerican Go players\nAmerican sportspeople of Chinese descent"
] |
[
"Emily Dickinson",
"Teenage years",
"What were Emily's teenage years like?",
"spent seven years at the Academy, taking classes in English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, \"mental philosophy,\"",
"Where did she go to school?",
"the Academy,"
] |
C_46199e7ffd6d4ee89dd4ebb9698bfd94_1
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When did she start writing?
| 3 |
When did Emily Dickinson start writing?
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Emily Dickinson
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Dickinson spent seven years at the Academy, taking classes in English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, "mental philosophy," and arithmetic. Daniel Taggart Fiske, the school's principal at the time, would later recall that Dickinson was "very bright" and "an excellent scholar, of exemplary deportment, faithful in all school duties". Although she had a few terms off due to illness--the longest of which was in 1845-1846, when she was enrolled for only eleven weeks--she enjoyed her strenuous studies, writing to a friend that the Academy was "a very fine school". Dickinson was troubled from a young age by the "deepening menace" of death, especially the deaths of those who were close to her. When Sophia Holland, her second cousin and a close friend, grew ill from typhus and died in April 1844, Emily was traumatized. Recalling the incident two years later, Emily wrote that "it seemed to me I should die too if I could not be permitted to watch over her or even look at her face." She became so melancholic that her parents sent her to stay with family in Boston to recover. With her health and spirits restored, she soon returned to Amherst Academy to continue her studies. During this period, she first met people who were to become lifelong friends and correspondents, such as Abiah Root, Abby Wood, Jane Humphrey, and Susan Huntington Gilbert (who later married Emily's brother Austin). In 1845, a religious revival took place in Amherst, resulting in 46 confessions of faith among Dickinson's peers. Dickinson wrote to a friend the following year: "I never enjoyed such perfect peace and happiness as the short time in which I felt I had found my savior." She went on to say that it was her "greatest pleasure to commune alone with the great God & to feel that he would listen to my prayers." The experience did not last: Dickinson never made a formal declaration of faith and attended services regularly for only a few years. After her church-going ended, about 1852, she wrote a poem opening: "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church - / I keep it, staying at Home". During the last year of her stay at the Academy, Emily became friendly with Leonard Humphrey, its popular new young principal. After finishing her final term at the Academy on August 10, 1847, Dickinson began attending Mary Lyon's Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (which later became Mount Holyoke College) in South Hadley, about ten miles (16 km) from Amherst. She was at the seminary for only ten months. Although she liked the girls at Holyoke, Dickinson made no lasting friendships there. The explanations for her brief stay at Holyoke differ considerably: either she was in poor health, her father wanted to have her at home, she rebelled against the evangelical fervor present at the school, she disliked the discipline-minded teachers, or she was simply homesick. Whatever the specific reason for leaving Holyoke, her brother Austin appeared on March 25, 1848, to "bring [her] home at all events". Back in Amherst, Dickinson occupied her time with household activities. She took up baking for the family and enjoyed attending local events and activities in the budding college town. CANNOTANSWER
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After her church-going ended, about 1852, she wrote a poem
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Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry.
Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, into a prominent family with strong ties to its community. After studying at the Amherst Academy for seven years in her youth, she briefly attended the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before returning to her family's home in Amherst.
Evidence suggests that Dickinson lived much of her life in isolation. Considered an eccentric by locals, she developed a penchant for white clothing and was known for her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, to even leave her bedroom. Dickinson never married, and most friendships between her and others depended entirely upon correspondence.
While Dickinson was a prolific writer, her only publications during her lifetime were 10 of her nearly 1,800 poems, and one letter. The poems published then were usually edited significantly to fit conventional poetic rules. Her poems were unique for her era. They contain short lines, typically lack titles, and often use slant rhyme as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation. Many of her poems deal with themes of death and immortality, two recurring topics in letters to her friends, and also explore aesthetics, society, nature and spirituality.
Although Dickinson's acquaintances were most likely aware of her writing, it was not until after her death in 1886—when Lavinia, Dickinson's younger sister, discovered her cache of poems—that her work became public. Her first collection of poetry was published in 1890 by personal acquaintances Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd, though both heavily edited the content. A 1998 article in The New York Times revealed that of the many edits made to Dickinson's work, the name "Susan" was often deliberately removed. At least eleven of Dickinson's poems were dedicated to sister-in-law Susan Huntington Gilbert Dickinson, though all the dedications were obliterated, presumably by Todd. A complete, and mostly unaltered, collection of her poetry became available for the first time when scholar Thomas H. Johnson published The Poems of Emily Dickinson in 1955.
Life
Family and early childhood
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born at the family's homestead in Amherst, Massachusetts, on December 10, 1830, into a prominent, but not wealthy, family. Her father, Edward Dickinson was a lawyer in Amherst and a trustee of Amherst College. Two hundred years earlier, her patrilineal ancestors had arrived in the New World—in the Puritan Great Migration—where they prospered. Emily Dickinson's paternal grandfather, Samuel Dickinson, was one of the founders of Amherst College. In 1813, he built the Homestead, a large mansion on the town's Main Street, that became the focus of Dickinson family life for the better part of a century. Samuel Dickinson's eldest son, Edward, was treasurer of Amherst College from 1835 to 1873, served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1838–1839; 1873) and the Massachusetts Senate (1842–1843), and represented Massachusetts's 10th congressional district in the 33rd U.S. Congress (1853–1855). On May 6, 1828, he married Emily Norcross from Monson, Massachusetts. They had three children:
William Austin (1829–1895), known as Austin, Aust or Awe
Emily Elizabeth
Lavinia Norcross (1833–1899), known as Lavinia or Vinnie
By all accounts, young Dickinson was a well-behaved girl. On an extended visit to Monson when she was two, Dickinson's Aunt Lavinia described her as "perfectly well & contented—She is a very good child & but little trouble." Dickinson's aunt also noted the girl's affinity for music and her particular talent for the piano, which she called "the moosic".
Dickinson attended primary school in a two-story building on Pleasant Street. Her education was "ambitiously classical for a Victorian girl". Wanting his children well-educated, her father followed their progress even while away on business. When Dickinson was seven, he wrote home, reminding his children to "keep school, and learn, so as to tell me, when I come home, how many new things you have learned". While Dickinson consistently described her father in a warm manner, her correspondence suggests that her mother was regularly cold and aloof. In a letter to a confidante, Dickinson wrote she "always ran Home to Awe [Austin] when a child, if anything befell me. He was an awful Mother, but I liked him better than none."
On September 7, 1840, Dickinson and her sister Lavinia started together at Amherst Academy, a former boys' school that had opened to female students just two years earlier. At about the same time, her father purchased a house on North Pleasant Street. Dickinson's brother Austin later described this large new home as the "mansion" over which he and Dickinson presided as "lord and lady" while their parents were absent. The house overlooked Amherst's burial ground, described by one local minister as treeless and "forbidding".
Teenage years
Dickinson spent seven years at the academy, taking classes in English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, "mental philosophy," and arithmetic. Daniel Taggart Fiske, the school's principal at the time, would later recall that Dickinson was "very bright" and "an excellent scholar, of exemplary deportment, faithful in all school duties". Although she had a few terms off due to illness—the longest of which was in 1845–1846, when she was enrolled for only eleven weeks—she enjoyed her strenuous studies, writing to a friend that the academy was "a very fine school".
Dickinson was troubled from a young age by the "deepening menace" of death, especially the deaths of those who were close to her. When Sophia Holland, her second cousin and a close friend, grew ill from typhus and died in April 1844, Dickinson was traumatized. Recalling the incident two years later, she wrote that "it seemed to me I should die too if I could not be permitted to watch over her or even look at her face." She became so melancholic that her parents sent her to stay with family in Boston to recover. With her health and spirits restored, she soon returned to Amherst Academy to continue her studies. During this period, she met people who were to become lifelong friends and correspondents, such as Abiah Root, Abby Wood, Jane Humphrey, and Susan Huntington Gilbert (who later married Dickinson's brother Austin).
In 1845, a religious revival took place in Amherst, resulting in 46 confessions of faith among Dickinson's peers. Dickinson wrote to a friend the following year: "I never enjoyed such perfect peace and happiness as the short time in which I felt I had found my Savior." She went on to say it was her "greatest pleasure to commune alone with the great God & to feel that he would listen to my prayers." The experience did not last: Dickinson never made a formal declaration of faith and attended services regularly for only a few years. After her church-going ended, about 1852, she wrote a poem opening: "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church – / I keep it, staying at Home".
During the last year of her stay at the academy, Dickinson became friendly with Leonard Humphrey, its popular new young principal. After finishing her final term at the Academy on August 10, 1847, Dickinson began attending Mary Lyon's Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (which later became Mount Holyoke College) in South Hadley, about ten miles (16 km) from Amherst. She stayed at the seminary for only ten months. Although she liked the girls at Holyoke, Dickinson made no lasting friendships there. The explanations for her brief stay at Holyoke differ considerably: either she was in poor health, her father wanted to have her at home, she rebelled against the evangelical fervor present at the school, she disliked the discipline-minded teachers, or she was simply homesick. Whatever the reasons for leaving Holyoke, her brother Austin appeared on March 25, 1848, to "bring [her] home at all events". Back in Amherst, Dickinson occupied her time with household activities. She took up baking for the family and enjoyed attending local events and activities in the budding college town.
Early influences and writing
When she was eighteen, Dickinson's family befriended a young attorney by the name of Benjamin Franklin Newton. According to a letter written by Dickinson after Newton's death, he had been "with my Father two years, before going to Worcester – in pursuing his studies, and was much in our family." Although their relationship was probably not romantic, Newton was a formative influence and would become the second in a series of older men (after Humphrey) that Dickinson referred to, variously, as her tutor, preceptor or master.
Newton likely introduced her to the writings of William Wordsworth, and his gift to her of Ralph Waldo Emerson's first book of collected poems had a liberating effect. She wrote later that he, "whose name my Father's Law Student taught me, has touched the secret Spring". Newton held her in high regard, believing in and recognizing her as a poet. When he was dying of tuberculosis, he wrote to her, saying he would like to live until she achieved the greatness he foresaw. Biographers believe that Dickinson's statement of 1862—"When a little Girl, I had a friend, who taught me Immortality – but venturing too near, himself – he never returned"—refers to Newton.
Dickinson was familiar with not only the Bible but also contemporary popular literature. She was probably influenced by Lydia Maria Child's Letters from New York, another gift from Newton (after reading it, she gushed "This then is a book! And there are more of them!"). Her brother smuggled a copy of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Kavanagh into the house for her (because her father might disapprove) and a friend lent her Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre in late 1849. Jane Eyres influence cannot be measured, but when Dickinson acquired her first and only dog, a Newfoundland, she named him "Carlo" after the character St. John Rivers' dog. William Shakespeare was also a potent influence in her life. Referring to his plays, she wrote to one friend, "Why clasp any hand but this?" and to another, "Why is any other book needed?"
Adulthood and seclusion
In early 1850, Dickinson wrote that "Amherst is alive with fun this winter ... Oh, a very great town this is!" Her high spirits soon turned to melancholy after another death. The Amherst Academy principal, Leonard Humphrey, died suddenly of "brain congestion" at age 25. Two years after his death, she revealed to her friend Abiah Root the extent of her sadness:some of my friends are gone, and some of my friends are sleeping – sleeping the churchyard sleep – the hour of evening is sad – it was once my study hour – my master has gone to rest, and the open leaf of the book, and the scholar at school alone, make the tears come, and I cannot brush them away; I would not if I could, for they are the only tribute I can pay the departed Humphrey.
During the 1850s, Dickinson's strongest and most affectionate relationship was with her sister-in-law, Susan Gilbert. Dickinson eventually sent her over three hundred letters, more than to any other correspondent, over the course of their relationship. Susan was supportive of the poet, playing the role of "most beloved friend, influence, muse, and adviser" whose editorial suggestions Dickinson sometimes followed. In an 1882 letter to Susan, Dickinson said, "With the exception of Shakespeare, you have told me of more knowledge than any one living."
The importance of Dickinson's relationship with Susan has widely been overlooked due to a point of view first promoted by Mabel Loomis Todd, who was involved for many years in a relationship with Austin Dickinson and who diminished Susan's role in Dickinson's life due to her own poor relationship with her lover's wife. However, the notion of a "cruel" Susan—as promoted by her romantic rival—has been questioned, most especially by Susan and Austin's surviving children, with whom Dickinson was close. Many scholars interpret the relationship between Emily and Susan as a romantic one. In The Emily Dickinson Journal Lena Koski wrote, "Dickinson's letters to Gilbert express strong homoerotic feelings." She quotes from many of their letters, including one from 1852 in which Dickinson proclaims, "Susie, will you indeed come home next Saturday, and be my own again, and kiss me ... I hope for you so much, and feel so eager for you, feel that I cannot wait, feel that now I must have you—that the expectation once more to see your face again, makes me feel hot and feverish, and my heart beats so fast ... my darling, so near I seem to you, that I disdain this pen, and wait for a warmer language." The relationship between Emily and Susan is portrayed in the film Wild Nights with Emily and explored in the TV series Dickinson.
Sue married Austin in 1856 after a four-year courtship, though their marriage was not a happy one. Edward Dickinson built a house for Austin and Sue naming it the Evergreens, a stand of which was located on the west side of the Homestead.
Until 1855, Dickinson had not strayed far from Amherst. That spring, accompanied by her mother and sister, she took one of her longest and farthest trips away from home. First, they spent three weeks in Washington, where her father was representing Massachusetts in Congress. Then they went to Philadelphia for two weeks to visit family. In Philadelphia, she met Charles Wadsworth, a famous minister of the Arch Street Presbyterian Church, with whom she forged a strong friendship which lasted until his death in 1882. Despite seeing him only twice after 1855 (he moved to San Francisco in 1862), she variously referred to him as "my Philadelphia", "my Clergyman", "my dearest earthly friend" and "my Shepherd from 'Little Girl'hood".
From the mid-1850s, Dickinson's mother became effectively bedridden with various chronic illnesses until her death in 1882. Writing to a friend in summer 1858, Dickinson said she would visit if she could leave "home, or mother. I do not go out at all, lest father will come and miss me, or miss some little act, which I might forget, should I run away – Mother is much as usual. I Know not what to hope of her". As her mother continued to decline, Dickinson's domestic responsibilities weighed more heavily upon her and she confined herself within the Homestead. Forty years later, Lavinia said that because their mother was chronically ill, one of the daughters had to remain always with her. Dickinson took this role as her own, and "finding the life with her books and nature so congenial, continued to live it".
Withdrawing more and more from the outside world, Dickinson began in the summer of 1858 what would be her lasting legacy. Reviewing poems she had written previously, she began making clean copies of her work, assembling carefully pieced-together manuscript books. The forty fascicles she created from 1858 through 1865 eventually held nearly eight hundred poems. No one was aware of the existence of these books until after her death.
In the late 1850s, the Dickinsons befriended Samuel Bowles, the owner and editor-in-chief of the Springfield Republican, and his wife, Mary. They visited the Dickinsons regularly for years to come. During this time Dickinson sent him over three dozen letters and nearly fifty poems. Their friendship brought out some of her most intense writing and Bowles published a few of her poems in his journal. It was from 1858 to 1861 that Dickinson is believed to have written a trio of letters that have been called "The Master Letters". These three letters, drafted to an unknown man simply referred to as "Master", continue to be the subject of speculation and contention amongst scholars.
The first half of the 1860s, after she had largely withdrawn from social life, proved to be Dickinson's most productive writing period. Modern scholars and researchers are divided as to the cause for Dickinson's withdrawal and extreme seclusion. While she was diagnosed as having "nervous prostration" by a physician during her lifetime, some today believe she may have suffered from illnesses as various as agoraphobia and epilepsy.
Is "my Verse ... alive?"
In April 1862, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a literary critic, radical abolitionist, and ex-minister, wrote a lead piece for The Atlantic Monthly titled, "Letter to a Young Contributor". Higginson's essay, in which he urged aspiring writers to "charge your style with life", contained practical advice for those wishing to break into print. Dickinson's decision to contact Higginson suggests that by 1862 she was contemplating publication and that it may have become increasingly difficult to write poetry without an audience. Seeking literary guidance that no one close to her could provide, Dickinson sent him a letter, which read in full:
This highly nuanced and largely theatrical letter was unsigned, but she had included her name on a card and enclosed it in an envelope, along with four of her poems. He praised her work but suggested that she delay publishing until she had written longer, being unaware she had already appeared in print. She assured him that publishing was as foreign to her "as Firmament to Fin", but also proposed that "If fame belonged to me, I could not escape her". Dickinson delighted in dramatic self-characterization and mystery in her letters to Higginson. She said of herself, "I am small, like the wren, and my hair is bold, like the chestnut bur, and my eyes like the sherry in the glass that the guest leaves." She stressed her solitary nature, saying her only real companions were the hills, the sundown, and her dog, Carlo. She also mentioned that whereas her mother did not "care for Thought", her father bought her books, but begged her "not to read them – because he fears they joggle the Mind".
Dickinson valued his advice, going from calling him "Mr. Higginson" to "Dear friend" as well as signing her letters, "Your Gnome" and "Your Scholar". His interest in her work certainly provided great moral support; many years later, Dickinson told Higginson that he had saved her life in 1862. They corresponded until her death, but her difficulty in expressing her literary needs and a reluctance to enter into a cooperative exchange left Higginson nonplussed; he did not press her to publish in subsequent correspondence. Dickinson's own ambivalence on the matter militated against the likelihood of publication. Literary critic Edmund Wilson, in his review of Civil War literature, surmised that "with encouragement, she would certainly have published".
The woman in white
In direct opposition to the immense productivity that she displayed in the early 1860s, Dickinson wrote fewer poems in 1866. Beset with personal loss as well as loss of domestic help, Dickinson may have been too overcome to keep up her previous level of writing. Carlo died during this time after having provided sixteen years of companionship; Dickinson never owned another dog. Although the household servant of nine years, Margaret O'Brien, had married and left the Homestead that same year, it was not until 1869 that the Dickinsons brought in a permanent household servant, Margaret Maher, to replace their former maid-of-all-work. Emily once again was responsible for the kitchen, including cooking and cleaning up, as well as the baking at which she excelled.
Around this time, Dickinson's behavior began to change. She did not leave the Homestead unless it was absolutely necessary and as early as 1867, she began to talk to visitors from the other side of a door rather than speaking to them face to face. She acquired local notoriety; she was rarely seen, and when she was, she was usually clothed in white. Dickinson's one surviving article of clothing is a white cotton dress, possibly sewn circa 1878–1882. Few of the locals who exchanged messages with Dickinson during her last fifteen years ever saw her in person. Austin and his family began to protect Dickinson's privacy, deciding that she was not to be a subject of discussion with outsiders. Despite her physical seclusion, however, Dickinson was socially active and expressive through what makes up two-thirds of her surviving notes and letters. When visitors came to either the Homestead or the Evergreens, she would often leave or send over small gifts of poems or flowers. Dickinson also had a good rapport with the children in her life. Mattie Dickinson, the second child of Austin and Sue, later said that "Aunt Emily stood for indulgence." MacGregor (Mac) Jenkins, the son of family friends who later wrote a short article in 1891 called "A Child's Recollection of Emily Dickinson", thought of her as always offering support to the neighborhood children.
When Higginson urged her to come to Boston in 1868 so they could formally meet for the first time, she declined, writing: "Could it please your convenience to come so far as Amherst I should be very glad, but I do not cross my Father's ground to any House or town". It was not until he came to Amherst in 1870 that they met. Later he referred to her, in the most detailed and vivid physical account of her on record, as "a little plain woman with two smooth bands of reddish hair ... in a very plain & exquisitely clean white piqué & a blue net worsted shawl." He also felt that he never was "with any one who drained my nerve power so much. Without touching her, she drew from me. I am glad not to live near her."
Posies and poesies
Scholar Judith Farr notes that Dickinson, during her lifetime, "was known more widely as a gardener, perhaps, than as a poet". Dickinson studied botany from the age of nine and, along with her sister, tended the garden at Homestead. During her lifetime, she assembled a collection of pressed plants in a sixty-six-page leather-bound herbarium. It contained 424 pressed flower specimens that she collected, classified, and labeled using the Linnaean system. The Homestead garden was well known and admired locally in its time. It has not survived, but efforts to revive it have begun. Dickinson kept no garden notebooks or plant lists, but a clear impression can be formed from the letters and recollections of friends and family. Her niece, Martha Dickinson Bianchi, remembered "carpets of lily-of-the-valley and pansies, platoons of sweetpeas, hyacinths, enough in May to give all the bees of summer dyspepsia. There were ribbons of peony hedges and drifts of daffodils in season, marigolds to distraction—a butterfly utopia". In particular, Dickinson cultivated scented exotic flowers, writing that she "could inhabit the Spice Isles merely by crossing the dining room to the conservatory, where the plants hang in baskets". Dickinson would often send her friends bunches of flowers with verses attached, but "they valued the posy more than the poetry".
Later life
On June 16, 1874, while in Boston, Edward Dickinson suffered a stroke and died. When the simple funeral was held in the Homestead's entrance hall, Dickinson stayed in her room with the door cracked open. Neither did she attend the memorial service on June 28. She wrote to Higginson that her father's "Heart was pure and terrible and I think no other like it exists." A year later, on June 15, 1875, Dickinson's mother also suffered a stroke, which produced a partial lateral paralysis and impaired memory. Lamenting her mother's increasing physical as well as mental demands, Dickinson wrote that "Home is so far from Home".
Otis Phillips Lord, an elderly judge on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from Salem, in 1872 or 1873 became an acquaintance of Dickinson's. After the death of Lord's wife in 1877, his friendship with Dickinson probably became a late-life romance, though as their letters were destroyed, this is surmised. Dickinson found a kindred soul in Lord, especially in terms of shared literary interests; the few letters which survived contain multiple quotations of Shakespeare's work, including the plays Othello, Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet and King Lear. In 1880 he gave her Cowden Clarke's Complete Concordance to Shakespeare (1877). Dickinson wrote that "While others go to Church, I go to mine, for are you not my Church, and have we not a Hymn that no one knows but us?" She referred to him as "My lovely Salem" and they wrote to each other religiously every Sunday. Dickinson looked forward to this day greatly; a surviving fragment of a letter written by her states that "Tuesday is a deeply depressed Day".
After being critically ill for several years, Judge Lord died in March 1884. Dickinson referred to him as "our latest Lost". Two years before this, on April 1, 1882, Dickinson's "Shepherd from 'Little Girl'hood", Charles Wadsworth, also had died after a long illness.
Decline and death
Although she continued to write in her last years, Dickinson stopped editing and organizing her poems. She also exacted a promise from her sister Lavinia to burn her papers. Lavinia, who never married, remained at the Homestead until her own death in 1899.
The 1880s were a difficult time for the remaining Dickinsons. Irreconcilably alienated from his wife, Austin fell in love in 1882 with Mabel Loomis Todd, an Amherst College faculty wife who had recently moved to the area. Todd never met Dickinson but was intrigued by her, referring to her as "a lady whom the people call the Myth". Austin distanced himself from his family as his affair continued and his wife became sick with grief. Dickinson's mother died on November 14, 1882. Five weeks later, Dickinson wrote, "We were never intimate ... while she was our Mother – but Mines in the same Ground meet by tunneling and when she became our Child, the Affection came." The next year, Austin and Sue's third and youngest child, Gilbert—Emily's favorite—died of typhoid fever.
As death succeeded death, Dickinson found her world upended. In the fall of 1884, she wrote, "The Dyings have been too deep for me, and before I could raise my Heart from one, another has come." That summer she had seen "a great darkness coming" and fainted while baking in the kitchen. She remained unconscious late into the night and weeks of ill health followed. On November 30, 1885, her feebleness and other symptoms were so worrying that Austin canceled a trip to Boston. She was confined to her bed for a few months, but managed to send a final burst of letters in the spring. What is thought to be her last letter was sent to her cousins, Louise and Frances Norcross, and simply read: "Little Cousins, Called Back. Emily". On May 15, 1886, after several days of worsening symptoms, Emily Dickinson died at the age of 55. Austin wrote in his diary that "the day was awful ... she ceased to breathe that terrible breathing just before the [afternoon] whistle sounded for six." Dickinson's chief physician gave the cause of death as Bright's disease and its duration as two and a half years.
Lavinia and Austin asked Susan to wash Dickinson's body upon her death. Susan also wrote Dickinson's obituary for the Springfield Republican, ending it with four lines from one of Dickinson's poems: "Morns like these, we parted; Noons like these, she rose; Fluttering first, then firmer, To her fair repose." Lavinia was perfectly satisfied that Sue should arrange everything, knowing it would be done lovingly. Dickinson was buried, laid in a white coffin with vanilla-scented heliotrope, a lady's slipper orchid, and a "knot of blue field violets" placed about it. The funeral service, held in the Homestead's library, was simple and short; Higginson, who had met her only twice, read "No Coward Soul Is Mine", a poem by Emily Brontë that had been a favorite of Dickinson's. At Dickinson's request, her "coffin [was] not driven but carried through fields of buttercups" for burial in the family plot at West Cemetery on Triangle Street.
Publication
Despite Dickinson's prolific writing, only ten poems and a letter were published during her lifetime. After her younger sister Lavinia discovered the collection of nearly 1800 poems, Dickinson's first volume was published four years after her death. Until Thomas H. Johnson published Dickinson's Complete Poems in 1955, Dickinson's poems were considerably edited and altered from their manuscript versions. Since 1890 Dickinson has remained continuously in print.
Contemporary
A few of Dickinson's poems appeared in Samuel Bowles' Springfield Republican between 1858 and 1868. They were published anonymously and heavily edited, with conventionalized punctuation and formal titles. The first poem, "Nobody knows this little rose", may have been published without Dickinson's permission. The Republican also published "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" as "The Snake", "Safe in their Alabaster Chambers –" as "The Sleeping", and "Blazing in the Gold and quenching in Purple" as "Sunset". The poem "I taste a liquor never brewed –" is an example of the edited versions; the last two lines in the first stanza were completely rewritten.
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Original wording
I taste a liquor never brewed –
From Tankards scooped in Pearl –
Not all the Frankfort Berries
Yield such an Alcohol!
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Republican version
I taste a liquor never brewed –
From Tankards scooped in Pearl –
Not Frankfort Berries yield the sense
Such a delirious whirl!
|
|}
In 1864, several poems were altered and published in Drum Beat, to raise funds for medical care for Union soldiers in the war. Another appeared in April 1864 in the Brooklyn Daily Union.
In the 1870s, Higginson showed Dickinson's poems to Helen Hunt Jackson, who had coincidentally been at the academy with Dickinson when they were girls. Jackson was deeply involved in the publishing world, and managed to convince Dickinson to publish her poem "Success is counted sweetest" anonymously in a volume called A Masque of Poets. The poem, however, was altered to agree with contemporary taste. It was the last poem published during Dickinson's lifetime.
Posthumous
After Dickinson's death, Lavinia Dickinson kept her promise and burned most of the poet's correspondence. Significantly though, Dickinson had left no instructions about the 40 notebooks and loose sheets gathered in a locked chest. Lavinia recognized the poems' worth and became obsessed with seeing them published. She turned first to her brother's wife and then to Mabel Loomis Todd, his lover, for assistance. A feud ensued, with the manuscripts divided between the Todd and Dickinson houses, preventing complete publication of Dickinson's poetry for more than half a century.
The first volume of Dickinson's Poems, edited jointly by Mabel Loomis Todd and T. W. Higginson, appeared in November 1890. Although Todd claimed that only essential changes were made, the poems were extensively edited to match punctuation and capitalization to late 19th-century standards, with occasional rewordings to reduce Dickinson's obliquity. The first 115-poem volume was a critical and financial success, going through eleven printings in two years. Poems: Second Series followed in 1891, running to five editions by 1893; a third series appeared in 1896. One reviewer, in 1892, wrote: "The world will not rest satisfied till every scrap of her writings, letters as well as literature, has been published".
Nearly a dozen new editions of Dickinson's poetry, whether containing previously unpublished or newly edited poems, were published between 1914 and 1945. Martha Dickinson Bianchi, the daughter of Susan and Austin Dickinson, published collections of her aunt's poetry based on the manuscripts held by her family, whereas Mabel Loomis Todd's daughter, Millicent Todd Bingham, published collections based on the manuscripts held by her mother. These competing editions of Dickinson's poetry, often differing in order and structure, ensured that the poet's work was in the public's eye.
The first scholarly publication came in 1955 with a complete new three-volume set edited by Thomas H. Johnson. Forming the basis of later Dickinson scholarship, Johnson's variorum brought all of Dickinson's known poems together for the first time. Johnson's goal was to present the poems very nearly as Dickinson had left them in her manuscripts. They were untitled, only numbered in an approximate chronological sequence, strewn with dashes and irregularly capitalized, and often extremely elliptical in their language. Three years later, Johnson edited and published, along with Theodora Ward, a complete collection of Dickinson's letters, also presented in three volumes.
In 1981, The Manuscript Books of Emily Dickinson was published. Using the physical evidence of the original papers, the poems were intended to be published in their original order for the first time. Editor Ralph W. Franklin relied on smudge marks, needle punctures and other clues to reassemble the poet's packets. Since then, many critics have argued for thematic unity in these small collections, believing the ordering of the poems to be more than chronological or convenient.
Dickinson biographer Alfred Habegger wrote in My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson (2001) that "The consequences of the poet's failure to disseminate her work in a faithful and orderly manner are still very much with us".
Poetry
Dickinson's poems generally fall into three distinct periods, the works in each period having certain general characters in common.
Pre-1861: In the period before 1858, the poems are most often conventional and sentimental in nature. Thomas H. Johnson, who later published The Poems of Emily Dickinson, was able to date only five of Dickinson's poems as written before 1858. Two of these are mock valentines done in an ornate and humorous style, two others are conventional lyrics, one of which is about missing her brother Austin, and the fifth poem, which begins "I have a Bird in spring", conveys her grief over the feared loss of friendship and was sent to her friend Sue Gilbert. In 1858, Dickinson began to collect her poems in the small hand-sewn books she called fascicles.
1861–1865: This was her most creative period, and these poems represent her most vigorous and creative work. Her poetic production also increased dramatically during this period. Johnson estimated that she composed 35 poems in 1860, 86 poems in 1861, 366 in 1862, 141 in 1863, and 174 in 1864. It was during this period that Dickinson fully developed her themes concerning nature, life, and mortality.
Post-1866: Only a third of Dickinson's poems were written in the last twenty years of her life, when her poetic production slowed considerably. During this period, she no longer collected her poems in fascicles.
Structure and syntax
The extensive use of dashes and unconventional capitalization in Dickinson's manuscripts, and the idiosyncratic vocabulary and imagery, combine to create a body of work that is "far more various in its styles and forms than is commonly supposed". Dickinson avoids pentameter, opting more generally for trimeter, tetrameter and, less often, dimeter. Sometimes her use of these meters is regular, but oftentimes it is irregular. The regular form that she most often employs is the ballad stanza, a traditional form that is divided into quatrains, using tetrameter for the first and third lines and trimeter for the second and fourth, while rhyming the second and fourth lines (ABCB). Though Dickinson often uses perfect rhymes for lines two and four, she also makes frequent use of slant rhyme. In some of her poems, she varies the meter from the traditional ballad stanza by using trimeter for lines one, two and four; while using tetrameter for only line three.
Since many of her poems were written in traditional ballad stanzas with ABCB rhyme schemes, some of these poems can be sung to fit the melodies of popular folk songs and hymns that also use the common meter, employing alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter.
Dickinson scholar and poet Anthony Hecht finds resonances in Dickinson's poetry not only with hymns and song-forms but also with psalms and riddles, citing the following example: "Who is the East? / The Yellow Man / Who may be Purple if he can / That carries in the Sun. / Who is the West? / The Purple Man / Who may be Yellow if He can / That lets Him out again."
Late 20th-century scholars are "deeply interested" by Dickinson's highly individual use of punctuation and lineation (line lengths and line breaks). Following the publication of one of the few poems that appeared in her lifetime – "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass", published as "The Snake" in the Republican – Dickinson complained that the edited punctuation (an added comma and a full stop substitution for the original dash) altered the meaning of the entire poem.
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Original wording
A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides –
You may have met Him – did you not
His notice sudden is –
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Republican version
A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides –
You may have met Him – did you not,
His notice sudden is.
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|}
As Farr points out, "snakes instantly notice you"; Dickinson's version captures the "breathless immediacy" of the encounter; and The Republicans punctuation renders "her lines more commonplace". With the increasingly close focus on Dickinson's structures and syntax has come a growing appreciation that they are "aesthetically based". Although Johnson's landmark 1955 edition of poems was relatively unaltered from the original, later scholars critiqued it for deviating from the style and layout of Dickinson's manuscripts. Meaningful distinctions, these scholars assert, can be drawn from varying lengths and angles of dash, and differing arrangements of text on the page. Several volumes have attempted to render Dickinson's handwritten dashes using many typographic symbols of varying length and angle. R. W. Franklin's 1998 variorum edition of the poems provided alternate wordings to those chosen by Johnson, in a more limited editorial intervention. Franklin also used typeset dashes of varying length to approximate the manuscripts' dashes more closely.
Major themes
Dickinson left no formal statement of her aesthetic intentions and, because of the variety of her themes, her work does not fit conveniently into any one genre. She has been regarded, alongside Emerson (whose poems Dickinson admired), as a Transcendentalist. However, Farr disagrees with this analysis, saying that Dickinson's "relentlessly measuring mind ... deflates the airy elevation of the Transcendental". Apart from the major themes discussed below, Dickinson's poetry frequently uses humor, puns, irony and satire.
Flowers and gardens: Farr notes that Dickinson's "poems and letters almost wholly concern flowers" and that allusions to gardens often refer to an "imaginative realm ... wherein flowers [are] often emblems for actions and emotions". She associates some flowers, like gentians and anemones, with youth and humility; others with prudence and insight. Her poems were often sent to friends with accompanying letters and nosegays. Farr notes that one of Dickinson's earlier poems, written about 1859, appears to "conflate her poetry itself with the posies": "My nosegays are for Captives – / Dim – long expectant eyes – / Fingers denied the plucking, / Patient till Paradise – / To such, if they sh'd whisper / Of morning and the moor – / They bear no other errand, / And I, no other prayer".
The Master poems: Dickinson left a large number of poems addressed to "Signor", "Sir" and "Master", who is characterized as Dickinson's "lover for all eternity". These confessional poems are often "searing in their self-inquiry" and "harrowing to the reader" and typically take their metaphors from texts and paintings of Dickinson's day. The Dickinson family themselves believed these poems were addressed to actual individuals but this view is frequently rejected by scholars. Farr, for example, contends that the Master is an unattainable composite figure, "human, with specific characteristics, but godlike" and speculates that Master may be a "kind of Christian muse".
Morbidity: Dickinson's poems reflect her "early and lifelong fascination" with illness, dying and death. Perhaps surprisingly for a New England spinster, her poems allude to death by many methods: "crucifixion, drowning, hanging, suffocation, freezing, premature burial, shooting, stabbing and guillotinage". She reserved her sharpest insights into the "death blow aimed by God" and the "funeral in the brain", often reinforced by images of thirst and starvation. Dickinson scholar Vivian Pollak considers these references an autobiographical reflection of Dickinson's "thirsting-starving persona", an outward expression of her needy self-image as small, thin and frail. Dickinson's most psychologically complex poems explore the theme that the loss of hunger for life causes the death of self and place this at "the interface of murder and suicide". Death and morbidity in Dickinson's poetry is also heavily connected to winter themes. Critic Edwin Folsom analyzes how "winter for Dickinson is the season that forces reality, that strips all hope of transcendence. It is a season of death and a metaphor for death".
Gospel poems: Throughout her life, Dickinson wrote poems reflecting a preoccupation with the teachings of Jesus Christ and, indeed, many are addressed to him. She stresses the Gospels' contemporary pertinence and recreates them, often with "wit and American colloquial language". Scholar Dorothy Oberhaus finds that the "salient feature uniting Christian poets ... is their reverential attention to the life of Jesus Christ" and contends that Dickinson's deep structures place her in the "poetic tradition of Christian devotion" alongside Hopkins, Eliot and Auden. In a Nativity poem, Dickinson combines lightness and wit to revisit an ancient theme: "The Savior must have been / A docile Gentleman – / To come so far so cold a Day / For little Fellowmen / The Road to Bethlehem / Since He and I were Boys / Was leveled, but for that twould be / A rugged billion Miles –".
The Undiscovered Continent: Academic Suzanne Juhasz considers that Dickinson saw the mind and spirit as tangible visitable places and that for much of her life she lived within them. Often, this intensely private place is referred to as the "undiscovered continent" and the "landscape of the spirit" and embellished with nature imagery. At other times, the imagery is darker and forbidding—castles or prisons, complete with corridors and rooms—to create a dwelling place of "oneself" where one resides with one's other selves. An example that brings together many of these ideas is: "Me from Myself – to banish – / Had I Art – / Impregnable my Fortress / Unto All Heart – / But since myself—assault Me – / How have I peace / Except by subjugating / Consciousness. / And since We're mutual Monarch / How this be / Except by Abdication – / Me – of Me?".
Reception
The surge of posthumous publication gave Dickinson's poetry its first public exposure. Backed by Higginson and with a favorable notice from William Dean Howells, an editor of Harper's Magazine, the poetry received mixed reviews after it was first published in 1890. Higginson himself stated in his preface to the first edition of Dickinson's published work that the poetry's quality "is that of extraordinary grasp and insight", albeit "without the proper control and chastening" that the experience of publishing during her lifetime might have conferred. His judgment that her opus was "incomplete and unsatisfactory" would be echoed in the essays of the New Critics in the 1930s.
Maurice Thompson, who was literary editor of The Independent for twelve years, noted in 1891 that her poetry had "a strange mixture of rare individuality and originality". Some critics hailed Dickinson's effort, but disapproved of her unusual non-traditional style. Andrew Lang, a British writer, dismissed Dickinson's work, stating that "if poetry is to exist at all, it really must have form and grammar, and must rhyme when it professes to rhyme. The wisdom of the ages and the nature of man insist on so much". Thomas Bailey Aldrich, a poet and novelist, equally dismissed Dickinson's poetic technique in The Atlantic Monthly in January 1892: "It is plain that Miss Dickinson possessed an extremely unconventional and grotesque fancy. She was deeply tinged by the mysticism of Blake, and strongly influenced by the mannerism of Emerson ... But the incoherence and formlessness of her — versicles are fatal ... an eccentric, dreamy, half-educated recluse in an out-of-the-way New England village (or anywhere else) cannot with impunity set at defiance the laws of gravitation and grammar".
Critical attention to Dickinson's poetry was meager from 1897 to the early 1920s. By the start of the 20th century, interest in her poetry became broader in scope and some critics began to consider Dickinson as essentially modern. Rather than seeing Dickinson's poetic styling as a result of lack of knowledge or skill, modern critics believed the irregularities were consciously artistic. In a 1915 essay, Elizabeth Shepley Sergeant called the poet's inspiration "daring" and named her "one of the rarest flowers the sterner New England land ever bore". With the growing popularity of modernist poetry in the 1920s, Dickinson's failure to conform to 19th-century poetic form was no longer surprising nor distasteful to new generations of readers. Dickinson was suddenly referred to by various critics as a great woman poet, and a cult following began to form.
In the 1930s, a number of the New Critics – among them R. P. Blackmur, Allen Tate, Cleanth Brooks and Yvor Winters – appraised the significance of Dickinson's poetry. As critic Roland Hagenbüchle pointed out, their "affirmative and prohibitive tenets turned out to be of special relevance to Dickinson scholarship". Blackmur, in an attempt to focus and clarify the major claims for and against the poet's greatness, wrote in a landmark 1937 critical essay: "... she was a private poet who wrote as indefatigably as some women cook or knit. Her gift for words and the cultural predicament of her time drove her to poetry instead of antimacassars ... She came ... at the right time for one kind of poetry: the poetry of sophisticated, eccentric vision."
The second wave of feminism created greater cultural sympathy for her as a female poet. In the first collection of critical essays on Dickinson from a feminist perspective, she is heralded as the greatest woman poet in the English language. Biographers and theorists of the past tended to separate Dickinson's roles as a woman and a poet. For example, George Whicher wrote in his 1952 book This Was a Poet: A Critical Biography of Emily Dickinson, "Perhaps as a poet [Dickinson] could find the fulfillment she had missed as a woman." Feminist criticism, on the other hand, declares that there is a necessary and powerful conjunction between Dickinson being a woman and a poet. Adrienne Rich theorized in Vesuvius at Home: The Power of Emily Dickinson (1976) that Dickinson's identity as a woman poet brought her power: "[she] chose her seclusion, knowing she was exceptional and knowing what she needed ... She carefully selected her society and controlled the disposal of her time ... neither eccentric nor quaint; she was determined to survive, to use her powers, to practice necessary economics."
Some scholars question the poet's sexuality, theorizing that the numerous letters and poems that were dedicated to Susan Gilbert Dickinson indicate a lesbian romance, and speculating about how this may have influenced her poetry. Critics such as John Cody, Lillian Faderman, Vivian R. Pollak, Paula Bennett, Judith Farr, Ellen Louise Hart, and Martha Nell Smith have argued that Susan was the central erotic relationship in Dickinson's life.
Legacy
In the early 20th century, Martha Dickinson Bianchi and Millicent Todd Bingham kept the achievement of Emily Dickinson alive. Bianchi promoted Dickinson's poetic achievement. Bianchi inherited The Evergreens as well as the copyright for her aunt's poetry from her parents, publishing works such as Emily Dickinson Face to Face and Letters of Emily Dickinson, which stoked public curiosity about her aunt. Bianchi's books perpetrated legends about her aunt in the context of family tradition, personal recollection and correspondence. In contrast, Millicent Todd Bingham's took a more objective and realistic approach to the poet.
Emily Dickinson is now considered a powerful and persistent figure in American culture. Although much of the early reception concentrated on Dickinson's eccentric and secluded nature, she has become widely acknowledged as an innovative, proto-modernist poet. As early as 1891, William Dean Howells wrote that "If nothing else had come out of our life but this strange poetry, we should feel that in the work of Emily Dickinson, America, or New England rather, had made a distinctive addition to the literature of the world, and could not be left out of any record of it." Critic Harold Bloom has placed her alongside Walt Whitman, Wallace Stevens, Robert Frost, T. S. Eliot, and Hart Crane as a major American poet, and in 1994 listed her among the 26 central writers of Western civilization.
Dickinson is taught in American literature and poetry classes in the United States from middle school to college. Her poetry is frequently anthologized and has been used as text for art songs by composers such as Aaron Copland, Nick Peros, John Adams and Michael Tilson Thomas. Several schools have been established in her name; for example, Emily Dickinson Elementary Schools exist in Bozeman, Montana; Redmond, Washington; and New York City. A few literary journals — including The Emily Dickinson Journal, the official publication of the Emily Dickinson International Society — have been founded to examine her work. An 8-cent commemorative stamp in honor of Dickinson was issued by the United States Postal Service on August 28, 1971, as the second stamp in the "American Poet" series. Dickinson was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1973. A one-woman play titled The Belle of Amherst appeared on Broadway in 1976, winning several awards; it was later adapted for television.
Dickinson's herbarium, which is now held in the Houghton Library at Harvard University, was published in 2006 as Emily Dickinson's Herbarium by Harvard University Press. The original work was compiled by Dickinson during her years at Amherst Academy, and consists of 424 pressed specimens of plants arranged on 66 pages of a bound album. A digital facsimile of the herbarium is available online. The town of Amherst Jones Library's Special Collections department has an Emily Dickinson Collection consisting of approximately seven thousand items, including original manuscript poems and letters, family correspondence, scholarly articles and books, newspaper clippings, theses, plays, photographs and contemporary artwork and prints. The Archives and Special Collections at Amherst College has substantial holdings of Dickinson's manuscripts and letters as well as a lock of Dickinson's hair and the original of the only positively identified image of the poet. In 1965, in recognition of Dickinson's growing stature as a poet, the Homestead was purchased by Amherst College. It opened to the public for tours, and also served as a faculty residence for many years. The Emily Dickinson Museum was created in 2003 when ownership of the Evergreens, which had been occupied by Dickinson family heirs until 1988, was transferred to the college.
Modern influence and inspiration
Emily Dickinson's life and works have been the source of inspiration to artists, particularly to feminist-oriented artists, of a variety of mediums. A few notable examples are as follows:
The feminist artwork The Dinner Party, by Judy Chicago, first exhibited in 1979, features a place setting for Dickinson.
Jane Campion's film The Piano and its novelization (co-authored by Kate Pullinger) were inspired by the poetry of Emily Dickinson as well as the novels by the Brontë sisters.
A character who is a literary scholar at a fictional New England college in the comic campus novel by Pamela Hansford Johnson Night and Silence Who Is Here? is intent on proving that Emily Dickinson was a secret dipsomaniac. His obsession costs him his job.
The 2012 book The Emily Dickinson Reader by Paul Legault is an English-to-English translation of her complete poems published by McSweeney's.
Dickinson's work has been set by numerous composers including Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Chester Biscardi, Elliot Carter, John Adams, Libby Larsen, Peter Seabourne, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Judith Weir.
A public garden is named in her honor in Paris: 'square Emily-Dickinson', in the 20th arrondissement.
Jazz saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom released the 2017 double album Wild Lines: Improvising Emily Dickinson inspired by the poet's works.
English director Terence Davies directed and wrote A Quiet Passion, a 2016 biographical film about the life of Emily Dickinson. The film stars Cynthia Nixon as the reclusive poet. The film premiered at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2016 and was released in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2017.
Dickinson is a TV series starring Academy Award nominee Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Dickinson and premiered in 2019 on Apple TV+. The series focused on Dickinson's life.
Translation
Emily Dickinson's poetry has been translated into languages including French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Persian, Kurdish, Turkish, Georgian, Swedish, and Russian. A few examples of these translations are the following:
The Queen of Bashful Violets, a Kurdish translation by Madeh Piryonesi published in 2016.
French translation by Charlotte Melançon which includes 40 poems.
Mandarin Chinese translation by Professor Jianxin Zhou
Swedish translation by Ann Jäderlund.
Persian translations: Three Persian translations of Emily Dickinson are available from Saeed Saeedpoor, Madeh Piryonesi and Okhovat.
Turkish translation: Selected Poems, translated by Selahattin Özpalabıyıklar in 2006, is available from Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları through its special Hasan Âli Yücel classics series.
See also
List of Emily Dickinson poems
References
Notes
Editions of poetry and letters
Cristanne Miller (ed.). 2016. Emily Dickinson's Poems: As She Preserved Them. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Franklin, R. W. (ed.). 1998. The Poems of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. .
Johnson, Thomas H. and Theodora Ward (eds.). 1958. The Letters of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Johnson, Thomas H. (ed.). 1955. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.
Secondary sources
Bianchi, Martha Dickinson. 1970. Emily Dickinson Face to Face: Unpublished Letters with Notes and Reminiscences. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books.
Blake, Caesar R. (ed). 1964. The Recognition of Emily Dickinson: Selected Criticism Since 1890. Ed. Caesar R. Blake. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Bloom, Harold. 1999. Emily Dickinson. Broomall, PA: Chelsea House Publishers. .
Bloom, Harold. 1994. The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Buckingham, Willis J. (ed). 1989. Emily Dickinson's Reception in the 1890s: A Documentary History. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. .
Comment, Kristin M. 2001. "Dickinson's Bawdy: Shakespeare and Sexual Symbolism in Emily Dickinson's Writing to Susan Dickinson". Legacy. 18(2). pp. 167–181.
Crumbley, Paul. 1997. Inflections of the Pen: Dash and Voice in Emily Dickinson. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky. .
D'Arienzo, Daria. 2006. "Looking at Emily", Amherst Magazine. Winter 2006. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
Farr, Judith (ed). 1996. Emily Dickinson: A Collection of Critical Essays. Prentice Hall International Paperback Editions. .
Farr, Judith. 2005. The Gardens of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England: Harvard University Press. .
Ford, Thomas W. 1966. Heaven Beguiles the Tired: Death in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson. University of Alabama Press.
Franklin, R. W. 1998. The Master Letters of Emily Dickinson. University of Massachusetts Press. .
Gordon, Lyndall. 2010. Lives Like Loaded Guns: Emily Dickinson and Her Family's Feuds. Viking. .
Grabher, Gudrun, Roland Hagenbüchle and Cristanne Miller. 1998. The Emily Dickinson Handbook. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
Habegger, Alfred. 2001. My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson. New York: Random House. .
Roland Hagenbüchle: Precision and Indeterminacy in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson, Emerson Society Quarterly, 1974
Hecht, Anthony. 1996. "The Riddles of Emily Dickinson" in Farr (1996) 149–162.
Juhasz, Suzanne (ed). 1983. Feminist Critics Read Emily Dickinson. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. .
Juhasz, Suzanne. 1996. "The Landscape of the Spirit" in Farr (1996) 130–140.
Knapp, Bettina L. 1989. Emily Dickinson. New York: Continuum Publishing.
Martin, Wendy (ed). 2002. The Cambridge Companion to Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
McNeil, Helen. 1986. Emily Dickinson. London: Virago Press. .
Mitchell, Domhnall Mitchell and Maria Stuart. 2009. The International Reception of Emily Dickinson. New York: Continuum. .
Murray, Aífe. 2010. Maid as Muse: How Domestic Servants Changed Emily Dickinson's Life and Language. University Press of New England. .
Murray, Aífe. 1996. "Kitchen Table Poetics: Maid Margaret Maher and Her Poet Emily Dickinson," The Emily Dickinson Journal. 5(2). pp. 285–296.
Paglia, Camille. 1990. Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson. Yale University Press. .
Oberhaus, Dorothy Huff. 1996. " 'Tender pioneer': Emily Dickinson's Poems on the Life of Christ" in Farr (1996) 105–119.
Parker, Peter. 2007. "New Feet Within My Garden Go: Emily Dickinson's Herbarium", The Daily Telegraph, June 29, 2007. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
Pickard, John B. 1967. Emily Dickinson: An Introduction and Interpretation. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Pollak, Vivian R. 1996. "Thirst and Starvation in Emily Dickinson's Poetry" in Farr (1996) 62–75.
Sewall, Richard B. 1974. The Life of Emily Dickinson. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. .
Smith, Martha Nell. 1992. Rowing in Eden: Rereading Emily Dickinson. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. .
Stocks, Kenneth. 1988. Emily Dickinson and the Modern Consciousness: A Poet of Our Time. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Walsh, John Evangelist. 1971. The Hidden Life of Emily Dickinson. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Wells, Anna Mary. 1929. "Early Criticism of Emily Dickinson", American Literature, Vol. 1, No. 3. (November 1929).
Wilson, Edmund. 1962. Patriotic Gore: Studies in the Literature of the American Civil War. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. .
Wolff, Cynthia Griffin. 1986. Emily Dickinson. New York. Alfred A. Knopf. .
Further reading
Emily Dickinson Papers, 1844–1891 (3 microfilm reels) are housed at the Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University.
Visiting Emily: Poems Inspired by the Life and Works of Emily Dickinson (University of Iowa Press, 2001) by Thomas Tammaro and Sheila Coghill (2001 Minnesota Book Awards winner)
External links
Dickinson Electronic Archives
Emily Dickinson Archive
Emily Dickinson poems and texts at the Academy of American Poets
Profile and poems of Emily Dickinson, including audio files, at the Poetry Foundation.
Emily Dickinson Lexicon
Emily Dickinson at Modern American Poetry
Emily Dickinson International Society
Emily Dickinson Museum The Homestead and the Evergreens, Amherst, Massachusetts
Emily Dickinson at Amherst College, Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
Emily Dickinson Collection at Houghton Library, Harvard University
Emily Dickinson Papers, Galatea Collection, Boston Public Library
Interview with Them Tammaro and Sheila Coghill about their book Visiting Emily: Poems Inspired by the Life and Work of Emily Dickinson, NORTHERN LIGHTS Minnesota Author Interview TV Series #465 (2001)
1830 births
1886 deaths
19th-century American poets
19th-century American women writers
American women poets
Deaths from nephritis
Mount Holyoke College alumni
People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War
Women in the American Civil War
Writers from Amherst, Massachusetts
Christian poets
Dickinson family
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[
"Louise Murphy was born in 1943 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Her ethnicity is Scottish, Irish, and German. Murphy’s hobbies include playing the flute, classical music, and the opera. Ms. Murphy began writing when she was five because as she puts it, “I wrote because of the joy of holding in my hand something that I had made, something that could never disappear again the way all my thoughts did”. Louise Murphy also loved reading and still today tells her students to read anything possible.\n\nEducation \nMurphy attended the University of Kentucky in 1964. Upon leaving the University, she became a junior high English teacher in Newark, DE from 1966-68. After teaching at a junior high, she went to San Francisco State University in 1977 where she received her master's degree of art and became a professor at the university from 1977-82.\n\nWriting career \nShe began writing novels in 1980 when she wrote her first book (a children’s book), My Garden: A Journal for Gardening around the Year, a journal that has weekly entries about gardening from January to the beginning of November. After writing her first book, she continued writing and also continued her teaching.\n\nHer next novel was The Sea Within, a story of a woman who is depressed because of her destroyed marriage and inability to have a child, so she decides to start a new life in Kentucky. After writing The Sea Within, she went on to become a teacher of novel writing at the Acalanes Adult Education in Lafayette, California from 1986-91. She wrote many essays and poetry pieces in newspapers, magazines, and journals.\n\nShe then wrote a poem and a book in the same year: 2003. She wrote Pilgrimage (a poem) and then probably her most significant and acclaimed novel: The True Story of Hansel and Gretel: A Novel of War and Survival. She caught both kids and adult readers in her story of the classic fairy tale Hansel and Gretel mixed in with the Holocaust and World War II. Mark Harris, a reporter for Entertainment Weekly, described the change from the fairy tale into a “parable of survival” an “intriguing idea”. She won the Writers Digest award for poetry and she also won the Shaunt Basmajian Award for books both in 2003. She is currently working on her latest novel, which is set in 1984 in California, Love Stories.\n\nReferences (MLA format) \n \"The Sea Within\". Amazon.com. Retrieved 10 Feb. 2009.\n \"The True Story of Hansel and Gretel\". Penguin Books. Retrieved 10 Feb. 2009.\n\n1943 births\nLiving people\nAmerican women poets\nUniversity of Kentucky alumni\nSan Francisco State University alumni\nSan Francisco State University faculty\n21st-century American women",
", born , was a Japanese writer.\n\nBiography \nShe was born in Tsuruoka, Yamagata. Her father, a military doctor, did not approve of her writing ambitions. Her mother was a businessperson, and she also had a younger sister.\n\nShe submitted works to literary journals and followed authors there. While living in Tsuruoka she had begun corresponding with Yamada Bimyō, and had adopted the pen name Inafune. She departed for Tokyo with the stated purpose to attend the Kyōritsu Women's Occupational School, where she would learn how to paint. Melek Ortabasi, author of \"Tazawa Inabune (1874-1896)\", wrote that \"one may guess\" that the woman's \"real goal\" was to move to Tokyo since her father was strict, and her father had attempted to arrange a marriage.\n\nShe met Bimyō as soon as she arrived, She enrolled in the school, but did not graduate, and she ultimately married him. According to Ortabasi, during Inabune's life, \"her fame had at least as much to do with the buzz surrounding her affair with Bimyō as it did her own talent\".\n\nDuring the marriage, Bimyō was having affairs with other women. Inabune lived with Bimyō's mother and paternal grandmother. Inabune had little skill in domestic chores, which would make her task of serving Bimyō's relatives difficult. The marriage attracted scrutiny from the press. After three months they divorced and Inafune was forced to return to her parents' home. The Yomiuri Shimbun published Inabune monogatari (\"The Inabune Story\"), based on the marriage.\n\nInabune continued writing even when she was ill with tuberculosis. Ortabasi stated that this may have hastened her death. Inabune died at age 21, in late September 1896. Many newspapers reported that she committed suicide, and another stated \"mental derangement\" was the cause of her death. Ortabasi wrote that Inabune's death ended Bimyō's career \"in large part\" because Bimyō received criticisms for how he had treated Inabune.\n\nHasegawa Shigure wrote a fictionalized biography of Inabune as part of Shuntaiki—Meiji Taishō josei shō (\"A springtime account—Portraits of women of Meiji and Taishō\"), a seven-part series that was serialized in Tokyo Asahi. Ortabasi wrote that compared to the Yomiuri Shimbun series, this was \"more sympathetic\". Inabune appears in Dawn to the West by Donald Keene. Keene wrote that Inabune's death was one reason why Bimyō lost his career, and he inaccurately stated that Inabune killed herself.\n\nWriting style\nInabune's earlier works had influences from Bimyō's writing, while her later writing began to diverge in style. Tanaka stated that the Bimyō features seen in the earlier works included \"gruesome description\" and \"unconventional stage props\".\n\nWorks\n\nThe following were published prior to Inabune's death:\n Shirobara (\"A White Rose\", 1895) - A short story\n Komachi yu (\"Komachi Bathhouse\", 1896) - A short story\n Shinobine (\"A Faint Tune\", 1896) - A free verse\n Tsuki ni Utau Zange no Hitofushi (\"Repentance Uttered to the Moon\", 1896) - A free verse\n\nThe following were published after Inabune's death:\n \"The Temple of Godai\" (In Japanese: \"Godai-dō\", 1896)\n Translated by Melek Ortabasi into English and printed in The Modern Murasaki: Writing by Women of Meiji Japan. Start p. 160.\n \"Yuiga-Dokuson\" (\"Self-Conceit\", 1897) - This is her final work\n\nReferences\n Ortabasi, Melek. \"Tazawa Inabune (1874-1896)\". In: Copeland, Rebecca L. and Melek Ortabasi (editors). The Modern Murasaki: Writing by Women of Meiji Japan (Asia Perspectives: History, Society, and Culture). Columbia University Press, August 13, 2013. , 9780231510660. Start p. 151.\n Tanaka, Yukiko. Women Writers of Meiji and Taisho Japan: Their Lives, Works and Critical Reception, 1868-1926. McFarland & Company, September 1, 2000. , 9780786481972.\n\nNotes\n\nExternal links\n Tazawa Inabune at Aozora Bunko \n\nJapanese historical novelists\n1874 births\n1896 deaths\nPlace of birth missing\nJapanese women novelists\n19th-century Japanese novelists\n19th-century Japanese women writers\nWomen historical novelists\nWriters from Yamagata Prefecture"
] |
[
"Emily Dickinson",
"Teenage years",
"What were Emily's teenage years like?",
"spent seven years at the Academy, taking classes in English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, \"mental philosophy,\"",
"Where did she go to school?",
"the Academy,",
"When did she start writing?",
"After her church-going ended, about 1852, she wrote a poem"
] |
C_46199e7ffd6d4ee89dd4ebb9698bfd94_1
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What else did she do as a teenager?
| 4 |
Besides attending the Academy and writing a poem, what else did Emily Dickinson do as a teenager?
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Emily Dickinson
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Dickinson spent seven years at the Academy, taking classes in English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, "mental philosophy," and arithmetic. Daniel Taggart Fiske, the school's principal at the time, would later recall that Dickinson was "very bright" and "an excellent scholar, of exemplary deportment, faithful in all school duties". Although she had a few terms off due to illness--the longest of which was in 1845-1846, when she was enrolled for only eleven weeks--she enjoyed her strenuous studies, writing to a friend that the Academy was "a very fine school". Dickinson was troubled from a young age by the "deepening menace" of death, especially the deaths of those who were close to her. When Sophia Holland, her second cousin and a close friend, grew ill from typhus and died in April 1844, Emily was traumatized. Recalling the incident two years later, Emily wrote that "it seemed to me I should die too if I could not be permitted to watch over her or even look at her face." She became so melancholic that her parents sent her to stay with family in Boston to recover. With her health and spirits restored, she soon returned to Amherst Academy to continue her studies. During this period, she first met people who were to become lifelong friends and correspondents, such as Abiah Root, Abby Wood, Jane Humphrey, and Susan Huntington Gilbert (who later married Emily's brother Austin). In 1845, a religious revival took place in Amherst, resulting in 46 confessions of faith among Dickinson's peers. Dickinson wrote to a friend the following year: "I never enjoyed such perfect peace and happiness as the short time in which I felt I had found my savior." She went on to say that it was her "greatest pleasure to commune alone with the great God & to feel that he would listen to my prayers." The experience did not last: Dickinson never made a formal declaration of faith and attended services regularly for only a few years. After her church-going ended, about 1852, she wrote a poem opening: "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church - / I keep it, staying at Home". During the last year of her stay at the Academy, Emily became friendly with Leonard Humphrey, its popular new young principal. After finishing her final term at the Academy on August 10, 1847, Dickinson began attending Mary Lyon's Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (which later became Mount Holyoke College) in South Hadley, about ten miles (16 km) from Amherst. She was at the seminary for only ten months. Although she liked the girls at Holyoke, Dickinson made no lasting friendships there. The explanations for her brief stay at Holyoke differ considerably: either she was in poor health, her father wanted to have her at home, she rebelled against the evangelical fervor present at the school, she disliked the discipline-minded teachers, or she was simply homesick. Whatever the specific reason for leaving Holyoke, her brother Austin appeared on March 25, 1848, to "bring [her] home at all events". Back in Amherst, Dickinson occupied her time with household activities. She took up baking for the family and enjoyed attending local events and activities in the budding college town. CANNOTANSWER
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Dickinson was troubled from a young age by the "deepening menace" of death,
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Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry.
Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, into a prominent family with strong ties to its community. After studying at the Amherst Academy for seven years in her youth, she briefly attended the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before returning to her family's home in Amherst.
Evidence suggests that Dickinson lived much of her life in isolation. Considered an eccentric by locals, she developed a penchant for white clothing and was known for her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, to even leave her bedroom. Dickinson never married, and most friendships between her and others depended entirely upon correspondence.
While Dickinson was a prolific writer, her only publications during her lifetime were 10 of her nearly 1,800 poems, and one letter. The poems published then were usually edited significantly to fit conventional poetic rules. Her poems were unique for her era. They contain short lines, typically lack titles, and often use slant rhyme as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation. Many of her poems deal with themes of death and immortality, two recurring topics in letters to her friends, and also explore aesthetics, society, nature and spirituality.
Although Dickinson's acquaintances were most likely aware of her writing, it was not until after her death in 1886—when Lavinia, Dickinson's younger sister, discovered her cache of poems—that her work became public. Her first collection of poetry was published in 1890 by personal acquaintances Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd, though both heavily edited the content. A 1998 article in The New York Times revealed that of the many edits made to Dickinson's work, the name "Susan" was often deliberately removed. At least eleven of Dickinson's poems were dedicated to sister-in-law Susan Huntington Gilbert Dickinson, though all the dedications were obliterated, presumably by Todd. A complete, and mostly unaltered, collection of her poetry became available for the first time when scholar Thomas H. Johnson published The Poems of Emily Dickinson in 1955.
Life
Family and early childhood
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born at the family's homestead in Amherst, Massachusetts, on December 10, 1830, into a prominent, but not wealthy, family. Her father, Edward Dickinson was a lawyer in Amherst and a trustee of Amherst College. Two hundred years earlier, her patrilineal ancestors had arrived in the New World—in the Puritan Great Migration—where they prospered. Emily Dickinson's paternal grandfather, Samuel Dickinson, was one of the founders of Amherst College. In 1813, he built the Homestead, a large mansion on the town's Main Street, that became the focus of Dickinson family life for the better part of a century. Samuel Dickinson's eldest son, Edward, was treasurer of Amherst College from 1835 to 1873, served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1838–1839; 1873) and the Massachusetts Senate (1842–1843), and represented Massachusetts's 10th congressional district in the 33rd U.S. Congress (1853–1855). On May 6, 1828, he married Emily Norcross from Monson, Massachusetts. They had three children:
William Austin (1829–1895), known as Austin, Aust or Awe
Emily Elizabeth
Lavinia Norcross (1833–1899), known as Lavinia or Vinnie
By all accounts, young Dickinson was a well-behaved girl. On an extended visit to Monson when she was two, Dickinson's Aunt Lavinia described her as "perfectly well & contented—She is a very good child & but little trouble." Dickinson's aunt also noted the girl's affinity for music and her particular talent for the piano, which she called "the moosic".
Dickinson attended primary school in a two-story building on Pleasant Street. Her education was "ambitiously classical for a Victorian girl". Wanting his children well-educated, her father followed their progress even while away on business. When Dickinson was seven, he wrote home, reminding his children to "keep school, and learn, so as to tell me, when I come home, how many new things you have learned". While Dickinson consistently described her father in a warm manner, her correspondence suggests that her mother was regularly cold and aloof. In a letter to a confidante, Dickinson wrote she "always ran Home to Awe [Austin] when a child, if anything befell me. He was an awful Mother, but I liked him better than none."
On September 7, 1840, Dickinson and her sister Lavinia started together at Amherst Academy, a former boys' school that had opened to female students just two years earlier. At about the same time, her father purchased a house on North Pleasant Street. Dickinson's brother Austin later described this large new home as the "mansion" over which he and Dickinson presided as "lord and lady" while their parents were absent. The house overlooked Amherst's burial ground, described by one local minister as treeless and "forbidding".
Teenage years
Dickinson spent seven years at the academy, taking classes in English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, "mental philosophy," and arithmetic. Daniel Taggart Fiske, the school's principal at the time, would later recall that Dickinson was "very bright" and "an excellent scholar, of exemplary deportment, faithful in all school duties". Although she had a few terms off due to illness—the longest of which was in 1845–1846, when she was enrolled for only eleven weeks—she enjoyed her strenuous studies, writing to a friend that the academy was "a very fine school".
Dickinson was troubled from a young age by the "deepening menace" of death, especially the deaths of those who were close to her. When Sophia Holland, her second cousin and a close friend, grew ill from typhus and died in April 1844, Dickinson was traumatized. Recalling the incident two years later, she wrote that "it seemed to me I should die too if I could not be permitted to watch over her or even look at her face." She became so melancholic that her parents sent her to stay with family in Boston to recover. With her health and spirits restored, she soon returned to Amherst Academy to continue her studies. During this period, she met people who were to become lifelong friends and correspondents, such as Abiah Root, Abby Wood, Jane Humphrey, and Susan Huntington Gilbert (who later married Dickinson's brother Austin).
In 1845, a religious revival took place in Amherst, resulting in 46 confessions of faith among Dickinson's peers. Dickinson wrote to a friend the following year: "I never enjoyed such perfect peace and happiness as the short time in which I felt I had found my Savior." She went on to say it was her "greatest pleasure to commune alone with the great God & to feel that he would listen to my prayers." The experience did not last: Dickinson never made a formal declaration of faith and attended services regularly for only a few years. After her church-going ended, about 1852, she wrote a poem opening: "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church – / I keep it, staying at Home".
During the last year of her stay at the academy, Dickinson became friendly with Leonard Humphrey, its popular new young principal. After finishing her final term at the Academy on August 10, 1847, Dickinson began attending Mary Lyon's Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (which later became Mount Holyoke College) in South Hadley, about ten miles (16 km) from Amherst. She stayed at the seminary for only ten months. Although she liked the girls at Holyoke, Dickinson made no lasting friendships there. The explanations for her brief stay at Holyoke differ considerably: either she was in poor health, her father wanted to have her at home, she rebelled against the evangelical fervor present at the school, she disliked the discipline-minded teachers, or she was simply homesick. Whatever the reasons for leaving Holyoke, her brother Austin appeared on March 25, 1848, to "bring [her] home at all events". Back in Amherst, Dickinson occupied her time with household activities. She took up baking for the family and enjoyed attending local events and activities in the budding college town.
Early influences and writing
When she was eighteen, Dickinson's family befriended a young attorney by the name of Benjamin Franklin Newton. According to a letter written by Dickinson after Newton's death, he had been "with my Father two years, before going to Worcester – in pursuing his studies, and was much in our family." Although their relationship was probably not romantic, Newton was a formative influence and would become the second in a series of older men (after Humphrey) that Dickinson referred to, variously, as her tutor, preceptor or master.
Newton likely introduced her to the writings of William Wordsworth, and his gift to her of Ralph Waldo Emerson's first book of collected poems had a liberating effect. She wrote later that he, "whose name my Father's Law Student taught me, has touched the secret Spring". Newton held her in high regard, believing in and recognizing her as a poet. When he was dying of tuberculosis, he wrote to her, saying he would like to live until she achieved the greatness he foresaw. Biographers believe that Dickinson's statement of 1862—"When a little Girl, I had a friend, who taught me Immortality – but venturing too near, himself – he never returned"—refers to Newton.
Dickinson was familiar with not only the Bible but also contemporary popular literature. She was probably influenced by Lydia Maria Child's Letters from New York, another gift from Newton (after reading it, she gushed "This then is a book! And there are more of them!"). Her brother smuggled a copy of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Kavanagh into the house for her (because her father might disapprove) and a friend lent her Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre in late 1849. Jane Eyres influence cannot be measured, but when Dickinson acquired her first and only dog, a Newfoundland, she named him "Carlo" after the character St. John Rivers' dog. William Shakespeare was also a potent influence in her life. Referring to his plays, she wrote to one friend, "Why clasp any hand but this?" and to another, "Why is any other book needed?"
Adulthood and seclusion
In early 1850, Dickinson wrote that "Amherst is alive with fun this winter ... Oh, a very great town this is!" Her high spirits soon turned to melancholy after another death. The Amherst Academy principal, Leonard Humphrey, died suddenly of "brain congestion" at age 25. Two years after his death, she revealed to her friend Abiah Root the extent of her sadness:some of my friends are gone, and some of my friends are sleeping – sleeping the churchyard sleep – the hour of evening is sad – it was once my study hour – my master has gone to rest, and the open leaf of the book, and the scholar at school alone, make the tears come, and I cannot brush them away; I would not if I could, for they are the only tribute I can pay the departed Humphrey.
During the 1850s, Dickinson's strongest and most affectionate relationship was with her sister-in-law, Susan Gilbert. Dickinson eventually sent her over three hundred letters, more than to any other correspondent, over the course of their relationship. Susan was supportive of the poet, playing the role of "most beloved friend, influence, muse, and adviser" whose editorial suggestions Dickinson sometimes followed. In an 1882 letter to Susan, Dickinson said, "With the exception of Shakespeare, you have told me of more knowledge than any one living."
The importance of Dickinson's relationship with Susan has widely been overlooked due to a point of view first promoted by Mabel Loomis Todd, who was involved for many years in a relationship with Austin Dickinson and who diminished Susan's role in Dickinson's life due to her own poor relationship with her lover's wife. However, the notion of a "cruel" Susan—as promoted by her romantic rival—has been questioned, most especially by Susan and Austin's surviving children, with whom Dickinson was close. Many scholars interpret the relationship between Emily and Susan as a romantic one. In The Emily Dickinson Journal Lena Koski wrote, "Dickinson's letters to Gilbert express strong homoerotic feelings." She quotes from many of their letters, including one from 1852 in which Dickinson proclaims, "Susie, will you indeed come home next Saturday, and be my own again, and kiss me ... I hope for you so much, and feel so eager for you, feel that I cannot wait, feel that now I must have you—that the expectation once more to see your face again, makes me feel hot and feverish, and my heart beats so fast ... my darling, so near I seem to you, that I disdain this pen, and wait for a warmer language." The relationship between Emily and Susan is portrayed in the film Wild Nights with Emily and explored in the TV series Dickinson.
Sue married Austin in 1856 after a four-year courtship, though their marriage was not a happy one. Edward Dickinson built a house for Austin and Sue naming it the Evergreens, a stand of which was located on the west side of the Homestead.
Until 1855, Dickinson had not strayed far from Amherst. That spring, accompanied by her mother and sister, she took one of her longest and farthest trips away from home. First, they spent three weeks in Washington, where her father was representing Massachusetts in Congress. Then they went to Philadelphia for two weeks to visit family. In Philadelphia, she met Charles Wadsworth, a famous minister of the Arch Street Presbyterian Church, with whom she forged a strong friendship which lasted until his death in 1882. Despite seeing him only twice after 1855 (he moved to San Francisco in 1862), she variously referred to him as "my Philadelphia", "my Clergyman", "my dearest earthly friend" and "my Shepherd from 'Little Girl'hood".
From the mid-1850s, Dickinson's mother became effectively bedridden with various chronic illnesses until her death in 1882. Writing to a friend in summer 1858, Dickinson said she would visit if she could leave "home, or mother. I do not go out at all, lest father will come and miss me, or miss some little act, which I might forget, should I run away – Mother is much as usual. I Know not what to hope of her". As her mother continued to decline, Dickinson's domestic responsibilities weighed more heavily upon her and she confined herself within the Homestead. Forty years later, Lavinia said that because their mother was chronically ill, one of the daughters had to remain always with her. Dickinson took this role as her own, and "finding the life with her books and nature so congenial, continued to live it".
Withdrawing more and more from the outside world, Dickinson began in the summer of 1858 what would be her lasting legacy. Reviewing poems she had written previously, she began making clean copies of her work, assembling carefully pieced-together manuscript books. The forty fascicles she created from 1858 through 1865 eventually held nearly eight hundred poems. No one was aware of the existence of these books until after her death.
In the late 1850s, the Dickinsons befriended Samuel Bowles, the owner and editor-in-chief of the Springfield Republican, and his wife, Mary. They visited the Dickinsons regularly for years to come. During this time Dickinson sent him over three dozen letters and nearly fifty poems. Their friendship brought out some of her most intense writing and Bowles published a few of her poems in his journal. It was from 1858 to 1861 that Dickinson is believed to have written a trio of letters that have been called "The Master Letters". These three letters, drafted to an unknown man simply referred to as "Master", continue to be the subject of speculation and contention amongst scholars.
The first half of the 1860s, after she had largely withdrawn from social life, proved to be Dickinson's most productive writing period. Modern scholars and researchers are divided as to the cause for Dickinson's withdrawal and extreme seclusion. While she was diagnosed as having "nervous prostration" by a physician during her lifetime, some today believe she may have suffered from illnesses as various as agoraphobia and epilepsy.
Is "my Verse ... alive?"
In April 1862, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a literary critic, radical abolitionist, and ex-minister, wrote a lead piece for The Atlantic Monthly titled, "Letter to a Young Contributor". Higginson's essay, in which he urged aspiring writers to "charge your style with life", contained practical advice for those wishing to break into print. Dickinson's decision to contact Higginson suggests that by 1862 she was contemplating publication and that it may have become increasingly difficult to write poetry without an audience. Seeking literary guidance that no one close to her could provide, Dickinson sent him a letter, which read in full:
This highly nuanced and largely theatrical letter was unsigned, but she had included her name on a card and enclosed it in an envelope, along with four of her poems. He praised her work but suggested that she delay publishing until she had written longer, being unaware she had already appeared in print. She assured him that publishing was as foreign to her "as Firmament to Fin", but also proposed that "If fame belonged to me, I could not escape her". Dickinson delighted in dramatic self-characterization and mystery in her letters to Higginson. She said of herself, "I am small, like the wren, and my hair is bold, like the chestnut bur, and my eyes like the sherry in the glass that the guest leaves." She stressed her solitary nature, saying her only real companions were the hills, the sundown, and her dog, Carlo. She also mentioned that whereas her mother did not "care for Thought", her father bought her books, but begged her "not to read them – because he fears they joggle the Mind".
Dickinson valued his advice, going from calling him "Mr. Higginson" to "Dear friend" as well as signing her letters, "Your Gnome" and "Your Scholar". His interest in her work certainly provided great moral support; many years later, Dickinson told Higginson that he had saved her life in 1862. They corresponded until her death, but her difficulty in expressing her literary needs and a reluctance to enter into a cooperative exchange left Higginson nonplussed; he did not press her to publish in subsequent correspondence. Dickinson's own ambivalence on the matter militated against the likelihood of publication. Literary critic Edmund Wilson, in his review of Civil War literature, surmised that "with encouragement, she would certainly have published".
The woman in white
In direct opposition to the immense productivity that she displayed in the early 1860s, Dickinson wrote fewer poems in 1866. Beset with personal loss as well as loss of domestic help, Dickinson may have been too overcome to keep up her previous level of writing. Carlo died during this time after having provided sixteen years of companionship; Dickinson never owned another dog. Although the household servant of nine years, Margaret O'Brien, had married and left the Homestead that same year, it was not until 1869 that the Dickinsons brought in a permanent household servant, Margaret Maher, to replace their former maid-of-all-work. Emily once again was responsible for the kitchen, including cooking and cleaning up, as well as the baking at which she excelled.
Around this time, Dickinson's behavior began to change. She did not leave the Homestead unless it was absolutely necessary and as early as 1867, she began to talk to visitors from the other side of a door rather than speaking to them face to face. She acquired local notoriety; she was rarely seen, and when she was, she was usually clothed in white. Dickinson's one surviving article of clothing is a white cotton dress, possibly sewn circa 1878–1882. Few of the locals who exchanged messages with Dickinson during her last fifteen years ever saw her in person. Austin and his family began to protect Dickinson's privacy, deciding that she was not to be a subject of discussion with outsiders. Despite her physical seclusion, however, Dickinson was socially active and expressive through what makes up two-thirds of her surviving notes and letters. When visitors came to either the Homestead or the Evergreens, she would often leave or send over small gifts of poems or flowers. Dickinson also had a good rapport with the children in her life. Mattie Dickinson, the second child of Austin and Sue, later said that "Aunt Emily stood for indulgence." MacGregor (Mac) Jenkins, the son of family friends who later wrote a short article in 1891 called "A Child's Recollection of Emily Dickinson", thought of her as always offering support to the neighborhood children.
When Higginson urged her to come to Boston in 1868 so they could formally meet for the first time, she declined, writing: "Could it please your convenience to come so far as Amherst I should be very glad, but I do not cross my Father's ground to any House or town". It was not until he came to Amherst in 1870 that they met. Later he referred to her, in the most detailed and vivid physical account of her on record, as "a little plain woman with two smooth bands of reddish hair ... in a very plain & exquisitely clean white piqué & a blue net worsted shawl." He also felt that he never was "with any one who drained my nerve power so much. Without touching her, she drew from me. I am glad not to live near her."
Posies and poesies
Scholar Judith Farr notes that Dickinson, during her lifetime, "was known more widely as a gardener, perhaps, than as a poet". Dickinson studied botany from the age of nine and, along with her sister, tended the garden at Homestead. During her lifetime, she assembled a collection of pressed plants in a sixty-six-page leather-bound herbarium. It contained 424 pressed flower specimens that she collected, classified, and labeled using the Linnaean system. The Homestead garden was well known and admired locally in its time. It has not survived, but efforts to revive it have begun. Dickinson kept no garden notebooks or plant lists, but a clear impression can be formed from the letters and recollections of friends and family. Her niece, Martha Dickinson Bianchi, remembered "carpets of lily-of-the-valley and pansies, platoons of sweetpeas, hyacinths, enough in May to give all the bees of summer dyspepsia. There were ribbons of peony hedges and drifts of daffodils in season, marigolds to distraction—a butterfly utopia". In particular, Dickinson cultivated scented exotic flowers, writing that she "could inhabit the Spice Isles merely by crossing the dining room to the conservatory, where the plants hang in baskets". Dickinson would often send her friends bunches of flowers with verses attached, but "they valued the posy more than the poetry".
Later life
On June 16, 1874, while in Boston, Edward Dickinson suffered a stroke and died. When the simple funeral was held in the Homestead's entrance hall, Dickinson stayed in her room with the door cracked open. Neither did she attend the memorial service on June 28. She wrote to Higginson that her father's "Heart was pure and terrible and I think no other like it exists." A year later, on June 15, 1875, Dickinson's mother also suffered a stroke, which produced a partial lateral paralysis and impaired memory. Lamenting her mother's increasing physical as well as mental demands, Dickinson wrote that "Home is so far from Home".
Otis Phillips Lord, an elderly judge on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from Salem, in 1872 or 1873 became an acquaintance of Dickinson's. After the death of Lord's wife in 1877, his friendship with Dickinson probably became a late-life romance, though as their letters were destroyed, this is surmised. Dickinson found a kindred soul in Lord, especially in terms of shared literary interests; the few letters which survived contain multiple quotations of Shakespeare's work, including the plays Othello, Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet and King Lear. In 1880 he gave her Cowden Clarke's Complete Concordance to Shakespeare (1877). Dickinson wrote that "While others go to Church, I go to mine, for are you not my Church, and have we not a Hymn that no one knows but us?" She referred to him as "My lovely Salem" and they wrote to each other religiously every Sunday. Dickinson looked forward to this day greatly; a surviving fragment of a letter written by her states that "Tuesday is a deeply depressed Day".
After being critically ill for several years, Judge Lord died in March 1884. Dickinson referred to him as "our latest Lost". Two years before this, on April 1, 1882, Dickinson's "Shepherd from 'Little Girl'hood", Charles Wadsworth, also had died after a long illness.
Decline and death
Although she continued to write in her last years, Dickinson stopped editing and organizing her poems. She also exacted a promise from her sister Lavinia to burn her papers. Lavinia, who never married, remained at the Homestead until her own death in 1899.
The 1880s were a difficult time for the remaining Dickinsons. Irreconcilably alienated from his wife, Austin fell in love in 1882 with Mabel Loomis Todd, an Amherst College faculty wife who had recently moved to the area. Todd never met Dickinson but was intrigued by her, referring to her as "a lady whom the people call the Myth". Austin distanced himself from his family as his affair continued and his wife became sick with grief. Dickinson's mother died on November 14, 1882. Five weeks later, Dickinson wrote, "We were never intimate ... while she was our Mother – but Mines in the same Ground meet by tunneling and when she became our Child, the Affection came." The next year, Austin and Sue's third and youngest child, Gilbert—Emily's favorite—died of typhoid fever.
As death succeeded death, Dickinson found her world upended. In the fall of 1884, she wrote, "The Dyings have been too deep for me, and before I could raise my Heart from one, another has come." That summer she had seen "a great darkness coming" and fainted while baking in the kitchen. She remained unconscious late into the night and weeks of ill health followed. On November 30, 1885, her feebleness and other symptoms were so worrying that Austin canceled a trip to Boston. She was confined to her bed for a few months, but managed to send a final burst of letters in the spring. What is thought to be her last letter was sent to her cousins, Louise and Frances Norcross, and simply read: "Little Cousins, Called Back. Emily". On May 15, 1886, after several days of worsening symptoms, Emily Dickinson died at the age of 55. Austin wrote in his diary that "the day was awful ... she ceased to breathe that terrible breathing just before the [afternoon] whistle sounded for six." Dickinson's chief physician gave the cause of death as Bright's disease and its duration as two and a half years.
Lavinia and Austin asked Susan to wash Dickinson's body upon her death. Susan also wrote Dickinson's obituary for the Springfield Republican, ending it with four lines from one of Dickinson's poems: "Morns like these, we parted; Noons like these, she rose; Fluttering first, then firmer, To her fair repose." Lavinia was perfectly satisfied that Sue should arrange everything, knowing it would be done lovingly. Dickinson was buried, laid in a white coffin with vanilla-scented heliotrope, a lady's slipper orchid, and a "knot of blue field violets" placed about it. The funeral service, held in the Homestead's library, was simple and short; Higginson, who had met her only twice, read "No Coward Soul Is Mine", a poem by Emily Brontë that had been a favorite of Dickinson's. At Dickinson's request, her "coffin [was] not driven but carried through fields of buttercups" for burial in the family plot at West Cemetery on Triangle Street.
Publication
Despite Dickinson's prolific writing, only ten poems and a letter were published during her lifetime. After her younger sister Lavinia discovered the collection of nearly 1800 poems, Dickinson's first volume was published four years after her death. Until Thomas H. Johnson published Dickinson's Complete Poems in 1955, Dickinson's poems were considerably edited and altered from their manuscript versions. Since 1890 Dickinson has remained continuously in print.
Contemporary
A few of Dickinson's poems appeared in Samuel Bowles' Springfield Republican between 1858 and 1868. They were published anonymously and heavily edited, with conventionalized punctuation and formal titles. The first poem, "Nobody knows this little rose", may have been published without Dickinson's permission. The Republican also published "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" as "The Snake", "Safe in their Alabaster Chambers –" as "The Sleeping", and "Blazing in the Gold and quenching in Purple" as "Sunset". The poem "I taste a liquor never brewed –" is an example of the edited versions; the last two lines in the first stanza were completely rewritten.
{|
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Original wording
I taste a liquor never brewed –
From Tankards scooped in Pearl –
Not all the Frankfort Berries
Yield such an Alcohol!
|
Republican version
I taste a liquor never brewed –
From Tankards scooped in Pearl –
Not Frankfort Berries yield the sense
Such a delirious whirl!
|
|}
In 1864, several poems were altered and published in Drum Beat, to raise funds for medical care for Union soldiers in the war. Another appeared in April 1864 in the Brooklyn Daily Union.
In the 1870s, Higginson showed Dickinson's poems to Helen Hunt Jackson, who had coincidentally been at the academy with Dickinson when they were girls. Jackson was deeply involved in the publishing world, and managed to convince Dickinson to publish her poem "Success is counted sweetest" anonymously in a volume called A Masque of Poets. The poem, however, was altered to agree with contemporary taste. It was the last poem published during Dickinson's lifetime.
Posthumous
After Dickinson's death, Lavinia Dickinson kept her promise and burned most of the poet's correspondence. Significantly though, Dickinson had left no instructions about the 40 notebooks and loose sheets gathered in a locked chest. Lavinia recognized the poems' worth and became obsessed with seeing them published. She turned first to her brother's wife and then to Mabel Loomis Todd, his lover, for assistance. A feud ensued, with the manuscripts divided between the Todd and Dickinson houses, preventing complete publication of Dickinson's poetry for more than half a century.
The first volume of Dickinson's Poems, edited jointly by Mabel Loomis Todd and T. W. Higginson, appeared in November 1890. Although Todd claimed that only essential changes were made, the poems were extensively edited to match punctuation and capitalization to late 19th-century standards, with occasional rewordings to reduce Dickinson's obliquity. The first 115-poem volume was a critical and financial success, going through eleven printings in two years. Poems: Second Series followed in 1891, running to five editions by 1893; a third series appeared in 1896. One reviewer, in 1892, wrote: "The world will not rest satisfied till every scrap of her writings, letters as well as literature, has been published".
Nearly a dozen new editions of Dickinson's poetry, whether containing previously unpublished or newly edited poems, were published between 1914 and 1945. Martha Dickinson Bianchi, the daughter of Susan and Austin Dickinson, published collections of her aunt's poetry based on the manuscripts held by her family, whereas Mabel Loomis Todd's daughter, Millicent Todd Bingham, published collections based on the manuscripts held by her mother. These competing editions of Dickinson's poetry, often differing in order and structure, ensured that the poet's work was in the public's eye.
The first scholarly publication came in 1955 with a complete new three-volume set edited by Thomas H. Johnson. Forming the basis of later Dickinson scholarship, Johnson's variorum brought all of Dickinson's known poems together for the first time. Johnson's goal was to present the poems very nearly as Dickinson had left them in her manuscripts. They were untitled, only numbered in an approximate chronological sequence, strewn with dashes and irregularly capitalized, and often extremely elliptical in their language. Three years later, Johnson edited and published, along with Theodora Ward, a complete collection of Dickinson's letters, also presented in three volumes.
In 1981, The Manuscript Books of Emily Dickinson was published. Using the physical evidence of the original papers, the poems were intended to be published in their original order for the first time. Editor Ralph W. Franklin relied on smudge marks, needle punctures and other clues to reassemble the poet's packets. Since then, many critics have argued for thematic unity in these small collections, believing the ordering of the poems to be more than chronological or convenient.
Dickinson biographer Alfred Habegger wrote in My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson (2001) that "The consequences of the poet's failure to disseminate her work in a faithful and orderly manner are still very much with us".
Poetry
Dickinson's poems generally fall into three distinct periods, the works in each period having certain general characters in common.
Pre-1861: In the period before 1858, the poems are most often conventional and sentimental in nature. Thomas H. Johnson, who later published The Poems of Emily Dickinson, was able to date only five of Dickinson's poems as written before 1858. Two of these are mock valentines done in an ornate and humorous style, two others are conventional lyrics, one of which is about missing her brother Austin, and the fifth poem, which begins "I have a Bird in spring", conveys her grief over the feared loss of friendship and was sent to her friend Sue Gilbert. In 1858, Dickinson began to collect her poems in the small hand-sewn books she called fascicles.
1861–1865: This was her most creative period, and these poems represent her most vigorous and creative work. Her poetic production also increased dramatically during this period. Johnson estimated that she composed 35 poems in 1860, 86 poems in 1861, 366 in 1862, 141 in 1863, and 174 in 1864. It was during this period that Dickinson fully developed her themes concerning nature, life, and mortality.
Post-1866: Only a third of Dickinson's poems were written in the last twenty years of her life, when her poetic production slowed considerably. During this period, she no longer collected her poems in fascicles.
Structure and syntax
The extensive use of dashes and unconventional capitalization in Dickinson's manuscripts, and the idiosyncratic vocabulary and imagery, combine to create a body of work that is "far more various in its styles and forms than is commonly supposed". Dickinson avoids pentameter, opting more generally for trimeter, tetrameter and, less often, dimeter. Sometimes her use of these meters is regular, but oftentimes it is irregular. The regular form that she most often employs is the ballad stanza, a traditional form that is divided into quatrains, using tetrameter for the first and third lines and trimeter for the second and fourth, while rhyming the second and fourth lines (ABCB). Though Dickinson often uses perfect rhymes for lines two and four, she also makes frequent use of slant rhyme. In some of her poems, she varies the meter from the traditional ballad stanza by using trimeter for lines one, two and four; while using tetrameter for only line three.
Since many of her poems were written in traditional ballad stanzas with ABCB rhyme schemes, some of these poems can be sung to fit the melodies of popular folk songs and hymns that also use the common meter, employing alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter.
Dickinson scholar and poet Anthony Hecht finds resonances in Dickinson's poetry not only with hymns and song-forms but also with psalms and riddles, citing the following example: "Who is the East? / The Yellow Man / Who may be Purple if he can / That carries in the Sun. / Who is the West? / The Purple Man / Who may be Yellow if He can / That lets Him out again."
Late 20th-century scholars are "deeply interested" by Dickinson's highly individual use of punctuation and lineation (line lengths and line breaks). Following the publication of one of the few poems that appeared in her lifetime – "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass", published as "The Snake" in the Republican – Dickinson complained that the edited punctuation (an added comma and a full stop substitution for the original dash) altered the meaning of the entire poem.
{|
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Original wording
A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides –
You may have met Him – did you not
His notice sudden is –
|
Republican version
A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides –
You may have met Him – did you not,
His notice sudden is.
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As Farr points out, "snakes instantly notice you"; Dickinson's version captures the "breathless immediacy" of the encounter; and The Republicans punctuation renders "her lines more commonplace". With the increasingly close focus on Dickinson's structures and syntax has come a growing appreciation that they are "aesthetically based". Although Johnson's landmark 1955 edition of poems was relatively unaltered from the original, later scholars critiqued it for deviating from the style and layout of Dickinson's manuscripts. Meaningful distinctions, these scholars assert, can be drawn from varying lengths and angles of dash, and differing arrangements of text on the page. Several volumes have attempted to render Dickinson's handwritten dashes using many typographic symbols of varying length and angle. R. W. Franklin's 1998 variorum edition of the poems provided alternate wordings to those chosen by Johnson, in a more limited editorial intervention. Franklin also used typeset dashes of varying length to approximate the manuscripts' dashes more closely.
Major themes
Dickinson left no formal statement of her aesthetic intentions and, because of the variety of her themes, her work does not fit conveniently into any one genre. She has been regarded, alongside Emerson (whose poems Dickinson admired), as a Transcendentalist. However, Farr disagrees with this analysis, saying that Dickinson's "relentlessly measuring mind ... deflates the airy elevation of the Transcendental". Apart from the major themes discussed below, Dickinson's poetry frequently uses humor, puns, irony and satire.
Flowers and gardens: Farr notes that Dickinson's "poems and letters almost wholly concern flowers" and that allusions to gardens often refer to an "imaginative realm ... wherein flowers [are] often emblems for actions and emotions". She associates some flowers, like gentians and anemones, with youth and humility; others with prudence and insight. Her poems were often sent to friends with accompanying letters and nosegays. Farr notes that one of Dickinson's earlier poems, written about 1859, appears to "conflate her poetry itself with the posies": "My nosegays are for Captives – / Dim – long expectant eyes – / Fingers denied the plucking, / Patient till Paradise – / To such, if they sh'd whisper / Of morning and the moor – / They bear no other errand, / And I, no other prayer".
The Master poems: Dickinson left a large number of poems addressed to "Signor", "Sir" and "Master", who is characterized as Dickinson's "lover for all eternity". These confessional poems are often "searing in their self-inquiry" and "harrowing to the reader" and typically take their metaphors from texts and paintings of Dickinson's day. The Dickinson family themselves believed these poems were addressed to actual individuals but this view is frequently rejected by scholars. Farr, for example, contends that the Master is an unattainable composite figure, "human, with specific characteristics, but godlike" and speculates that Master may be a "kind of Christian muse".
Morbidity: Dickinson's poems reflect her "early and lifelong fascination" with illness, dying and death. Perhaps surprisingly for a New England spinster, her poems allude to death by many methods: "crucifixion, drowning, hanging, suffocation, freezing, premature burial, shooting, stabbing and guillotinage". She reserved her sharpest insights into the "death blow aimed by God" and the "funeral in the brain", often reinforced by images of thirst and starvation. Dickinson scholar Vivian Pollak considers these references an autobiographical reflection of Dickinson's "thirsting-starving persona", an outward expression of her needy self-image as small, thin and frail. Dickinson's most psychologically complex poems explore the theme that the loss of hunger for life causes the death of self and place this at "the interface of murder and suicide". Death and morbidity in Dickinson's poetry is also heavily connected to winter themes. Critic Edwin Folsom analyzes how "winter for Dickinson is the season that forces reality, that strips all hope of transcendence. It is a season of death and a metaphor for death".
Gospel poems: Throughout her life, Dickinson wrote poems reflecting a preoccupation with the teachings of Jesus Christ and, indeed, many are addressed to him. She stresses the Gospels' contemporary pertinence and recreates them, often with "wit and American colloquial language". Scholar Dorothy Oberhaus finds that the "salient feature uniting Christian poets ... is their reverential attention to the life of Jesus Christ" and contends that Dickinson's deep structures place her in the "poetic tradition of Christian devotion" alongside Hopkins, Eliot and Auden. In a Nativity poem, Dickinson combines lightness and wit to revisit an ancient theme: "The Savior must have been / A docile Gentleman – / To come so far so cold a Day / For little Fellowmen / The Road to Bethlehem / Since He and I were Boys / Was leveled, but for that twould be / A rugged billion Miles –".
The Undiscovered Continent: Academic Suzanne Juhasz considers that Dickinson saw the mind and spirit as tangible visitable places and that for much of her life she lived within them. Often, this intensely private place is referred to as the "undiscovered continent" and the "landscape of the spirit" and embellished with nature imagery. At other times, the imagery is darker and forbidding—castles or prisons, complete with corridors and rooms—to create a dwelling place of "oneself" where one resides with one's other selves. An example that brings together many of these ideas is: "Me from Myself – to banish – / Had I Art – / Impregnable my Fortress / Unto All Heart – / But since myself—assault Me – / How have I peace / Except by subjugating / Consciousness. / And since We're mutual Monarch / How this be / Except by Abdication – / Me – of Me?".
Reception
The surge of posthumous publication gave Dickinson's poetry its first public exposure. Backed by Higginson and with a favorable notice from William Dean Howells, an editor of Harper's Magazine, the poetry received mixed reviews after it was first published in 1890. Higginson himself stated in his preface to the first edition of Dickinson's published work that the poetry's quality "is that of extraordinary grasp and insight", albeit "without the proper control and chastening" that the experience of publishing during her lifetime might have conferred. His judgment that her opus was "incomplete and unsatisfactory" would be echoed in the essays of the New Critics in the 1930s.
Maurice Thompson, who was literary editor of The Independent for twelve years, noted in 1891 that her poetry had "a strange mixture of rare individuality and originality". Some critics hailed Dickinson's effort, but disapproved of her unusual non-traditional style. Andrew Lang, a British writer, dismissed Dickinson's work, stating that "if poetry is to exist at all, it really must have form and grammar, and must rhyme when it professes to rhyme. The wisdom of the ages and the nature of man insist on so much". Thomas Bailey Aldrich, a poet and novelist, equally dismissed Dickinson's poetic technique in The Atlantic Monthly in January 1892: "It is plain that Miss Dickinson possessed an extremely unconventional and grotesque fancy. She was deeply tinged by the mysticism of Blake, and strongly influenced by the mannerism of Emerson ... But the incoherence and formlessness of her — versicles are fatal ... an eccentric, dreamy, half-educated recluse in an out-of-the-way New England village (or anywhere else) cannot with impunity set at defiance the laws of gravitation and grammar".
Critical attention to Dickinson's poetry was meager from 1897 to the early 1920s. By the start of the 20th century, interest in her poetry became broader in scope and some critics began to consider Dickinson as essentially modern. Rather than seeing Dickinson's poetic styling as a result of lack of knowledge or skill, modern critics believed the irregularities were consciously artistic. In a 1915 essay, Elizabeth Shepley Sergeant called the poet's inspiration "daring" and named her "one of the rarest flowers the sterner New England land ever bore". With the growing popularity of modernist poetry in the 1920s, Dickinson's failure to conform to 19th-century poetic form was no longer surprising nor distasteful to new generations of readers. Dickinson was suddenly referred to by various critics as a great woman poet, and a cult following began to form.
In the 1930s, a number of the New Critics – among them R. P. Blackmur, Allen Tate, Cleanth Brooks and Yvor Winters – appraised the significance of Dickinson's poetry. As critic Roland Hagenbüchle pointed out, their "affirmative and prohibitive tenets turned out to be of special relevance to Dickinson scholarship". Blackmur, in an attempt to focus and clarify the major claims for and against the poet's greatness, wrote in a landmark 1937 critical essay: "... she was a private poet who wrote as indefatigably as some women cook or knit. Her gift for words and the cultural predicament of her time drove her to poetry instead of antimacassars ... She came ... at the right time for one kind of poetry: the poetry of sophisticated, eccentric vision."
The second wave of feminism created greater cultural sympathy for her as a female poet. In the first collection of critical essays on Dickinson from a feminist perspective, she is heralded as the greatest woman poet in the English language. Biographers and theorists of the past tended to separate Dickinson's roles as a woman and a poet. For example, George Whicher wrote in his 1952 book This Was a Poet: A Critical Biography of Emily Dickinson, "Perhaps as a poet [Dickinson] could find the fulfillment she had missed as a woman." Feminist criticism, on the other hand, declares that there is a necessary and powerful conjunction between Dickinson being a woman and a poet. Adrienne Rich theorized in Vesuvius at Home: The Power of Emily Dickinson (1976) that Dickinson's identity as a woman poet brought her power: "[she] chose her seclusion, knowing she was exceptional and knowing what she needed ... She carefully selected her society and controlled the disposal of her time ... neither eccentric nor quaint; she was determined to survive, to use her powers, to practice necessary economics."
Some scholars question the poet's sexuality, theorizing that the numerous letters and poems that were dedicated to Susan Gilbert Dickinson indicate a lesbian romance, and speculating about how this may have influenced her poetry. Critics such as John Cody, Lillian Faderman, Vivian R. Pollak, Paula Bennett, Judith Farr, Ellen Louise Hart, and Martha Nell Smith have argued that Susan was the central erotic relationship in Dickinson's life.
Legacy
In the early 20th century, Martha Dickinson Bianchi and Millicent Todd Bingham kept the achievement of Emily Dickinson alive. Bianchi promoted Dickinson's poetic achievement. Bianchi inherited The Evergreens as well as the copyright for her aunt's poetry from her parents, publishing works such as Emily Dickinson Face to Face and Letters of Emily Dickinson, which stoked public curiosity about her aunt. Bianchi's books perpetrated legends about her aunt in the context of family tradition, personal recollection and correspondence. In contrast, Millicent Todd Bingham's took a more objective and realistic approach to the poet.
Emily Dickinson is now considered a powerful and persistent figure in American culture. Although much of the early reception concentrated on Dickinson's eccentric and secluded nature, she has become widely acknowledged as an innovative, proto-modernist poet. As early as 1891, William Dean Howells wrote that "If nothing else had come out of our life but this strange poetry, we should feel that in the work of Emily Dickinson, America, or New England rather, had made a distinctive addition to the literature of the world, and could not be left out of any record of it." Critic Harold Bloom has placed her alongside Walt Whitman, Wallace Stevens, Robert Frost, T. S. Eliot, and Hart Crane as a major American poet, and in 1994 listed her among the 26 central writers of Western civilization.
Dickinson is taught in American literature and poetry classes in the United States from middle school to college. Her poetry is frequently anthologized and has been used as text for art songs by composers such as Aaron Copland, Nick Peros, John Adams and Michael Tilson Thomas. Several schools have been established in her name; for example, Emily Dickinson Elementary Schools exist in Bozeman, Montana; Redmond, Washington; and New York City. A few literary journals — including The Emily Dickinson Journal, the official publication of the Emily Dickinson International Society — have been founded to examine her work. An 8-cent commemorative stamp in honor of Dickinson was issued by the United States Postal Service on August 28, 1971, as the second stamp in the "American Poet" series. Dickinson was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1973. A one-woman play titled The Belle of Amherst appeared on Broadway in 1976, winning several awards; it was later adapted for television.
Dickinson's herbarium, which is now held in the Houghton Library at Harvard University, was published in 2006 as Emily Dickinson's Herbarium by Harvard University Press. The original work was compiled by Dickinson during her years at Amherst Academy, and consists of 424 pressed specimens of plants arranged on 66 pages of a bound album. A digital facsimile of the herbarium is available online. The town of Amherst Jones Library's Special Collections department has an Emily Dickinson Collection consisting of approximately seven thousand items, including original manuscript poems and letters, family correspondence, scholarly articles and books, newspaper clippings, theses, plays, photographs and contemporary artwork and prints. The Archives and Special Collections at Amherst College has substantial holdings of Dickinson's manuscripts and letters as well as a lock of Dickinson's hair and the original of the only positively identified image of the poet. In 1965, in recognition of Dickinson's growing stature as a poet, the Homestead was purchased by Amherst College. It opened to the public for tours, and also served as a faculty residence for many years. The Emily Dickinson Museum was created in 2003 when ownership of the Evergreens, which had been occupied by Dickinson family heirs until 1988, was transferred to the college.
Modern influence and inspiration
Emily Dickinson's life and works have been the source of inspiration to artists, particularly to feminist-oriented artists, of a variety of mediums. A few notable examples are as follows:
The feminist artwork The Dinner Party, by Judy Chicago, first exhibited in 1979, features a place setting for Dickinson.
Jane Campion's film The Piano and its novelization (co-authored by Kate Pullinger) were inspired by the poetry of Emily Dickinson as well as the novels by the Brontë sisters.
A character who is a literary scholar at a fictional New England college in the comic campus novel by Pamela Hansford Johnson Night and Silence Who Is Here? is intent on proving that Emily Dickinson was a secret dipsomaniac. His obsession costs him his job.
The 2012 book The Emily Dickinson Reader by Paul Legault is an English-to-English translation of her complete poems published by McSweeney's.
Dickinson's work has been set by numerous composers including Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Chester Biscardi, Elliot Carter, John Adams, Libby Larsen, Peter Seabourne, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Judith Weir.
A public garden is named in her honor in Paris: 'square Emily-Dickinson', in the 20th arrondissement.
Jazz saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom released the 2017 double album Wild Lines: Improvising Emily Dickinson inspired by the poet's works.
English director Terence Davies directed and wrote A Quiet Passion, a 2016 biographical film about the life of Emily Dickinson. The film stars Cynthia Nixon as the reclusive poet. The film premiered at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2016 and was released in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2017.
Dickinson is a TV series starring Academy Award nominee Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Dickinson and premiered in 2019 on Apple TV+. The series focused on Dickinson's life.
Translation
Emily Dickinson's poetry has been translated into languages including French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Persian, Kurdish, Turkish, Georgian, Swedish, and Russian. A few examples of these translations are the following:
The Queen of Bashful Violets, a Kurdish translation by Madeh Piryonesi published in 2016.
French translation by Charlotte Melançon which includes 40 poems.
Mandarin Chinese translation by Professor Jianxin Zhou
Swedish translation by Ann Jäderlund.
Persian translations: Three Persian translations of Emily Dickinson are available from Saeed Saeedpoor, Madeh Piryonesi and Okhovat.
Turkish translation: Selected Poems, translated by Selahattin Özpalabıyıklar in 2006, is available from Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları through its special Hasan Âli Yücel classics series.
See also
List of Emily Dickinson poems
References
Notes
Editions of poetry and letters
Cristanne Miller (ed.). 2016. Emily Dickinson's Poems: As She Preserved Them. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Franklin, R. W. (ed.). 1998. The Poems of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. .
Johnson, Thomas H. and Theodora Ward (eds.). 1958. The Letters of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Johnson, Thomas H. (ed.). 1955. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.
Secondary sources
Bianchi, Martha Dickinson. 1970. Emily Dickinson Face to Face: Unpublished Letters with Notes and Reminiscences. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books.
Blake, Caesar R. (ed). 1964. The Recognition of Emily Dickinson: Selected Criticism Since 1890. Ed. Caesar R. Blake. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Bloom, Harold. 1999. Emily Dickinson. Broomall, PA: Chelsea House Publishers. .
Bloom, Harold. 1994. The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Buckingham, Willis J. (ed). 1989. Emily Dickinson's Reception in the 1890s: A Documentary History. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. .
Comment, Kristin M. 2001. "Dickinson's Bawdy: Shakespeare and Sexual Symbolism in Emily Dickinson's Writing to Susan Dickinson". Legacy. 18(2). pp. 167–181.
Crumbley, Paul. 1997. Inflections of the Pen: Dash and Voice in Emily Dickinson. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky. .
D'Arienzo, Daria. 2006. "Looking at Emily", Amherst Magazine. Winter 2006. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
Farr, Judith (ed). 1996. Emily Dickinson: A Collection of Critical Essays. Prentice Hall International Paperback Editions. .
Farr, Judith. 2005. The Gardens of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England: Harvard University Press. .
Ford, Thomas W. 1966. Heaven Beguiles the Tired: Death in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson. University of Alabama Press.
Franklin, R. W. 1998. The Master Letters of Emily Dickinson. University of Massachusetts Press. .
Gordon, Lyndall. 2010. Lives Like Loaded Guns: Emily Dickinson and Her Family's Feuds. Viking. .
Grabher, Gudrun, Roland Hagenbüchle and Cristanne Miller. 1998. The Emily Dickinson Handbook. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
Habegger, Alfred. 2001. My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson. New York: Random House. .
Roland Hagenbüchle: Precision and Indeterminacy in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson, Emerson Society Quarterly, 1974
Hecht, Anthony. 1996. "The Riddles of Emily Dickinson" in Farr (1996) 149–162.
Juhasz, Suzanne (ed). 1983. Feminist Critics Read Emily Dickinson. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. .
Juhasz, Suzanne. 1996. "The Landscape of the Spirit" in Farr (1996) 130–140.
Knapp, Bettina L. 1989. Emily Dickinson. New York: Continuum Publishing.
Martin, Wendy (ed). 2002. The Cambridge Companion to Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
McNeil, Helen. 1986. Emily Dickinson. London: Virago Press. .
Mitchell, Domhnall Mitchell and Maria Stuart. 2009. The International Reception of Emily Dickinson. New York: Continuum. .
Murray, Aífe. 2010. Maid as Muse: How Domestic Servants Changed Emily Dickinson's Life and Language. University Press of New England. .
Murray, Aífe. 1996. "Kitchen Table Poetics: Maid Margaret Maher and Her Poet Emily Dickinson," The Emily Dickinson Journal. 5(2). pp. 285–296.
Paglia, Camille. 1990. Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson. Yale University Press. .
Oberhaus, Dorothy Huff. 1996. " 'Tender pioneer': Emily Dickinson's Poems on the Life of Christ" in Farr (1996) 105–119.
Parker, Peter. 2007. "New Feet Within My Garden Go: Emily Dickinson's Herbarium", The Daily Telegraph, June 29, 2007. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
Pickard, John B. 1967. Emily Dickinson: An Introduction and Interpretation. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Pollak, Vivian R. 1996. "Thirst and Starvation in Emily Dickinson's Poetry" in Farr (1996) 62–75.
Sewall, Richard B. 1974. The Life of Emily Dickinson. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. .
Smith, Martha Nell. 1992. Rowing in Eden: Rereading Emily Dickinson. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. .
Stocks, Kenneth. 1988. Emily Dickinson and the Modern Consciousness: A Poet of Our Time. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Walsh, John Evangelist. 1971. The Hidden Life of Emily Dickinson. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Wells, Anna Mary. 1929. "Early Criticism of Emily Dickinson", American Literature, Vol. 1, No. 3. (November 1929).
Wilson, Edmund. 1962. Patriotic Gore: Studies in the Literature of the American Civil War. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. .
Wolff, Cynthia Griffin. 1986. Emily Dickinson. New York. Alfred A. Knopf. .
Further reading
Emily Dickinson Papers, 1844–1891 (3 microfilm reels) are housed at the Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University.
Visiting Emily: Poems Inspired by the Life and Works of Emily Dickinson (University of Iowa Press, 2001) by Thomas Tammaro and Sheila Coghill (2001 Minnesota Book Awards winner)
External links
Dickinson Electronic Archives
Emily Dickinson Archive
Emily Dickinson poems and texts at the Academy of American Poets
Profile and poems of Emily Dickinson, including audio files, at the Poetry Foundation.
Emily Dickinson Lexicon
Emily Dickinson at Modern American Poetry
Emily Dickinson International Society
Emily Dickinson Museum The Homestead and the Evergreens, Amherst, Massachusetts
Emily Dickinson at Amherst College, Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
Emily Dickinson Collection at Houghton Library, Harvard University
Emily Dickinson Papers, Galatea Collection, Boston Public Library
Interview with Them Tammaro and Sheila Coghill about their book Visiting Emily: Poems Inspired by the Life and Work of Emily Dickinson, NORTHERN LIGHTS Minnesota Author Interview TV Series #465 (2001)
1830 births
1886 deaths
19th-century American poets
19th-century American women writers
American women poets
Deaths from nephritis
Mount Holyoke College alumni
People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War
Women in the American Civil War
Writers from Amherst, Massachusetts
Christian poets
Dickinson family
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[
"Flora Moore (born 1951) is an American artist associated with the Gee's Bend group of quilters.\n\nHer work is included in the collection of the High Museum.\n\nEarly life \nMoore was born in Rehobeth, Alabama to Isaac James and Creola Young. Growing up, her main responsibilities were to harvest cotton and attend school. She worked on the farm \" until [she] got big enough to know what it was about, and then [she] didn’t want to do that no more.\" Her education was disrupted during desegregation when the Gee's Bend High School was shut down in order for integration with Wilcox County schools. She finished the eleventh grade.\n\nWork \nShe used to do yard work for her cousin Estelle Witherspoon, a pillar of Gee's Bend's quilting community. In fact, seeing the quilts hanging in Witherspoon's yard, an early gathering place for quilters before the Freedom Quilting Bee collective started, was what inspired Moore to learn to quilt as a teenager. She began quilting under the instruction of Witherspoon and her aunt Ma Willie Abrams. Despite their mentorship, Moore still describes her work and patterns as following her own internal compass. The free-form, improvised quilting style is iconic of Gee's Bend artists. Moore describes her methods and artistic practices in an interview with The Souls Grown Deep Foundation:\" Sometimes you sit down and be thinking you going to put it this way, according to how you feel about it. You might know how somebody else do it, but you tell yourself, I’m going to do it different. When you sit, you don’t know how it going to come out, and you don’t think it will come out like that. I made that quilt out of corduroy. I just put it my way; I didn’t put it the way the pattern went.\"Moore often made her work from sturdier materials such as corduroy and clothes donated to the quilting bee.\n\nReferences\n\n1951 births\nLiving people\n20th-century American women artists\n20th-century American artists\nQuilters\nArtists from Alabama\n21st-century American women",
"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"
] |
[
"Emily Dickinson",
"Teenage years",
"What were Emily's teenage years like?",
"spent seven years at the Academy, taking classes in English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, \"mental philosophy,\"",
"Where did she go to school?",
"the Academy,",
"When did she start writing?",
"After her church-going ended, about 1852, she wrote a poem",
"What else did she do as a teenager?",
"Dickinson was troubled from a young age by the \"deepening menace\" of death,"
] |
C_46199e7ffd6d4ee89dd4ebb9698bfd94_1
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Did she have depression?
| 5 |
Did Emily Dickinson have depression?
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Emily Dickinson
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Dickinson spent seven years at the Academy, taking classes in English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, "mental philosophy," and arithmetic. Daniel Taggart Fiske, the school's principal at the time, would later recall that Dickinson was "very bright" and "an excellent scholar, of exemplary deportment, faithful in all school duties". Although she had a few terms off due to illness--the longest of which was in 1845-1846, when she was enrolled for only eleven weeks--she enjoyed her strenuous studies, writing to a friend that the Academy was "a very fine school". Dickinson was troubled from a young age by the "deepening menace" of death, especially the deaths of those who were close to her. When Sophia Holland, her second cousin and a close friend, grew ill from typhus and died in April 1844, Emily was traumatized. Recalling the incident two years later, Emily wrote that "it seemed to me I should die too if I could not be permitted to watch over her or even look at her face." She became so melancholic that her parents sent her to stay with family in Boston to recover. With her health and spirits restored, she soon returned to Amherst Academy to continue her studies. During this period, she first met people who were to become lifelong friends and correspondents, such as Abiah Root, Abby Wood, Jane Humphrey, and Susan Huntington Gilbert (who later married Emily's brother Austin). In 1845, a religious revival took place in Amherst, resulting in 46 confessions of faith among Dickinson's peers. Dickinson wrote to a friend the following year: "I never enjoyed such perfect peace and happiness as the short time in which I felt I had found my savior." She went on to say that it was her "greatest pleasure to commune alone with the great God & to feel that he would listen to my prayers." The experience did not last: Dickinson never made a formal declaration of faith and attended services regularly for only a few years. After her church-going ended, about 1852, she wrote a poem opening: "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church - / I keep it, staying at Home". During the last year of her stay at the Academy, Emily became friendly with Leonard Humphrey, its popular new young principal. After finishing her final term at the Academy on August 10, 1847, Dickinson began attending Mary Lyon's Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (which later became Mount Holyoke College) in South Hadley, about ten miles (16 km) from Amherst. She was at the seminary for only ten months. Although she liked the girls at Holyoke, Dickinson made no lasting friendships there. The explanations for her brief stay at Holyoke differ considerably: either she was in poor health, her father wanted to have her at home, she rebelled against the evangelical fervor present at the school, she disliked the discipline-minded teachers, or she was simply homesick. Whatever the specific reason for leaving Holyoke, her brother Austin appeared on March 25, 1848, to "bring [her] home at all events". Back in Amherst, Dickinson occupied her time with household activities. She took up baking for the family and enjoyed attending local events and activities in the budding college town. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry.
Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, into a prominent family with strong ties to its community. After studying at the Amherst Academy for seven years in her youth, she briefly attended the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before returning to her family's home in Amherst.
Evidence suggests that Dickinson lived much of her life in isolation. Considered an eccentric by locals, she developed a penchant for white clothing and was known for her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, to even leave her bedroom. Dickinson never married, and most friendships between her and others depended entirely upon correspondence.
While Dickinson was a prolific writer, her only publications during her lifetime were 10 of her nearly 1,800 poems, and one letter. The poems published then were usually edited significantly to fit conventional poetic rules. Her poems were unique for her era. They contain short lines, typically lack titles, and often use slant rhyme as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation. Many of her poems deal with themes of death and immortality, two recurring topics in letters to her friends, and also explore aesthetics, society, nature and spirituality.
Although Dickinson's acquaintances were most likely aware of her writing, it was not until after her death in 1886—when Lavinia, Dickinson's younger sister, discovered her cache of poems—that her work became public. Her first collection of poetry was published in 1890 by personal acquaintances Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd, though both heavily edited the content. A 1998 article in The New York Times revealed that of the many edits made to Dickinson's work, the name "Susan" was often deliberately removed. At least eleven of Dickinson's poems were dedicated to sister-in-law Susan Huntington Gilbert Dickinson, though all the dedications were obliterated, presumably by Todd. A complete, and mostly unaltered, collection of her poetry became available for the first time when scholar Thomas H. Johnson published The Poems of Emily Dickinson in 1955.
Life
Family and early childhood
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born at the family's homestead in Amherst, Massachusetts, on December 10, 1830, into a prominent, but not wealthy, family. Her father, Edward Dickinson was a lawyer in Amherst and a trustee of Amherst College. Two hundred years earlier, her patrilineal ancestors had arrived in the New World—in the Puritan Great Migration—where they prospered. Emily Dickinson's paternal grandfather, Samuel Dickinson, was one of the founders of Amherst College. In 1813, he built the Homestead, a large mansion on the town's Main Street, that became the focus of Dickinson family life for the better part of a century. Samuel Dickinson's eldest son, Edward, was treasurer of Amherst College from 1835 to 1873, served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1838–1839; 1873) and the Massachusetts Senate (1842–1843), and represented Massachusetts's 10th congressional district in the 33rd U.S. Congress (1853–1855). On May 6, 1828, he married Emily Norcross from Monson, Massachusetts. They had three children:
William Austin (1829–1895), known as Austin, Aust or Awe
Emily Elizabeth
Lavinia Norcross (1833–1899), known as Lavinia or Vinnie
By all accounts, young Dickinson was a well-behaved girl. On an extended visit to Monson when she was two, Dickinson's Aunt Lavinia described her as "perfectly well & contented—She is a very good child & but little trouble." Dickinson's aunt also noted the girl's affinity for music and her particular talent for the piano, which she called "the moosic".
Dickinson attended primary school in a two-story building on Pleasant Street. Her education was "ambitiously classical for a Victorian girl". Wanting his children well-educated, her father followed their progress even while away on business. When Dickinson was seven, he wrote home, reminding his children to "keep school, and learn, so as to tell me, when I come home, how many new things you have learned". While Dickinson consistently described her father in a warm manner, her correspondence suggests that her mother was regularly cold and aloof. In a letter to a confidante, Dickinson wrote she "always ran Home to Awe [Austin] when a child, if anything befell me. He was an awful Mother, but I liked him better than none."
On September 7, 1840, Dickinson and her sister Lavinia started together at Amherst Academy, a former boys' school that had opened to female students just two years earlier. At about the same time, her father purchased a house on North Pleasant Street. Dickinson's brother Austin later described this large new home as the "mansion" over which he and Dickinson presided as "lord and lady" while their parents were absent. The house overlooked Amherst's burial ground, described by one local minister as treeless and "forbidding".
Teenage years
Dickinson spent seven years at the academy, taking classes in English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, "mental philosophy," and arithmetic. Daniel Taggart Fiske, the school's principal at the time, would later recall that Dickinson was "very bright" and "an excellent scholar, of exemplary deportment, faithful in all school duties". Although she had a few terms off due to illness—the longest of which was in 1845–1846, when she was enrolled for only eleven weeks—she enjoyed her strenuous studies, writing to a friend that the academy was "a very fine school".
Dickinson was troubled from a young age by the "deepening menace" of death, especially the deaths of those who were close to her. When Sophia Holland, her second cousin and a close friend, grew ill from typhus and died in April 1844, Dickinson was traumatized. Recalling the incident two years later, she wrote that "it seemed to me I should die too if I could not be permitted to watch over her or even look at her face." She became so melancholic that her parents sent her to stay with family in Boston to recover. With her health and spirits restored, she soon returned to Amherst Academy to continue her studies. During this period, she met people who were to become lifelong friends and correspondents, such as Abiah Root, Abby Wood, Jane Humphrey, and Susan Huntington Gilbert (who later married Dickinson's brother Austin).
In 1845, a religious revival took place in Amherst, resulting in 46 confessions of faith among Dickinson's peers. Dickinson wrote to a friend the following year: "I never enjoyed such perfect peace and happiness as the short time in which I felt I had found my Savior." She went on to say it was her "greatest pleasure to commune alone with the great God & to feel that he would listen to my prayers." The experience did not last: Dickinson never made a formal declaration of faith and attended services regularly for only a few years. After her church-going ended, about 1852, she wrote a poem opening: "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church – / I keep it, staying at Home".
During the last year of her stay at the academy, Dickinson became friendly with Leonard Humphrey, its popular new young principal. After finishing her final term at the Academy on August 10, 1847, Dickinson began attending Mary Lyon's Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (which later became Mount Holyoke College) in South Hadley, about ten miles (16 km) from Amherst. She stayed at the seminary for only ten months. Although she liked the girls at Holyoke, Dickinson made no lasting friendships there. The explanations for her brief stay at Holyoke differ considerably: either she was in poor health, her father wanted to have her at home, she rebelled against the evangelical fervor present at the school, she disliked the discipline-minded teachers, or she was simply homesick. Whatever the reasons for leaving Holyoke, her brother Austin appeared on March 25, 1848, to "bring [her] home at all events". Back in Amherst, Dickinson occupied her time with household activities. She took up baking for the family and enjoyed attending local events and activities in the budding college town.
Early influences and writing
When she was eighteen, Dickinson's family befriended a young attorney by the name of Benjamin Franklin Newton. According to a letter written by Dickinson after Newton's death, he had been "with my Father two years, before going to Worcester – in pursuing his studies, and was much in our family." Although their relationship was probably not romantic, Newton was a formative influence and would become the second in a series of older men (after Humphrey) that Dickinson referred to, variously, as her tutor, preceptor or master.
Newton likely introduced her to the writings of William Wordsworth, and his gift to her of Ralph Waldo Emerson's first book of collected poems had a liberating effect. She wrote later that he, "whose name my Father's Law Student taught me, has touched the secret Spring". Newton held her in high regard, believing in and recognizing her as a poet. When he was dying of tuberculosis, he wrote to her, saying he would like to live until she achieved the greatness he foresaw. Biographers believe that Dickinson's statement of 1862—"When a little Girl, I had a friend, who taught me Immortality – but venturing too near, himself – he never returned"—refers to Newton.
Dickinson was familiar with not only the Bible but also contemporary popular literature. She was probably influenced by Lydia Maria Child's Letters from New York, another gift from Newton (after reading it, she gushed "This then is a book! And there are more of them!"). Her brother smuggled a copy of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Kavanagh into the house for her (because her father might disapprove) and a friend lent her Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre in late 1849. Jane Eyres influence cannot be measured, but when Dickinson acquired her first and only dog, a Newfoundland, she named him "Carlo" after the character St. John Rivers' dog. William Shakespeare was also a potent influence in her life. Referring to his plays, she wrote to one friend, "Why clasp any hand but this?" and to another, "Why is any other book needed?"
Adulthood and seclusion
In early 1850, Dickinson wrote that "Amherst is alive with fun this winter ... Oh, a very great town this is!" Her high spirits soon turned to melancholy after another death. The Amherst Academy principal, Leonard Humphrey, died suddenly of "brain congestion" at age 25. Two years after his death, she revealed to her friend Abiah Root the extent of her sadness:some of my friends are gone, and some of my friends are sleeping – sleeping the churchyard sleep – the hour of evening is sad – it was once my study hour – my master has gone to rest, and the open leaf of the book, and the scholar at school alone, make the tears come, and I cannot brush them away; I would not if I could, for they are the only tribute I can pay the departed Humphrey.
During the 1850s, Dickinson's strongest and most affectionate relationship was with her sister-in-law, Susan Gilbert. Dickinson eventually sent her over three hundred letters, more than to any other correspondent, over the course of their relationship. Susan was supportive of the poet, playing the role of "most beloved friend, influence, muse, and adviser" whose editorial suggestions Dickinson sometimes followed. In an 1882 letter to Susan, Dickinson said, "With the exception of Shakespeare, you have told me of more knowledge than any one living."
The importance of Dickinson's relationship with Susan has widely been overlooked due to a point of view first promoted by Mabel Loomis Todd, who was involved for many years in a relationship with Austin Dickinson and who diminished Susan's role in Dickinson's life due to her own poor relationship with her lover's wife. However, the notion of a "cruel" Susan—as promoted by her romantic rival—has been questioned, most especially by Susan and Austin's surviving children, with whom Dickinson was close. Many scholars interpret the relationship between Emily and Susan as a romantic one. In The Emily Dickinson Journal Lena Koski wrote, "Dickinson's letters to Gilbert express strong homoerotic feelings." She quotes from many of their letters, including one from 1852 in which Dickinson proclaims, "Susie, will you indeed come home next Saturday, and be my own again, and kiss me ... I hope for you so much, and feel so eager for you, feel that I cannot wait, feel that now I must have you—that the expectation once more to see your face again, makes me feel hot and feverish, and my heart beats so fast ... my darling, so near I seem to you, that I disdain this pen, and wait for a warmer language." The relationship between Emily and Susan is portrayed in the film Wild Nights with Emily and explored in the TV series Dickinson.
Sue married Austin in 1856 after a four-year courtship, though their marriage was not a happy one. Edward Dickinson built a house for Austin and Sue naming it the Evergreens, a stand of which was located on the west side of the Homestead.
Until 1855, Dickinson had not strayed far from Amherst. That spring, accompanied by her mother and sister, she took one of her longest and farthest trips away from home. First, they spent three weeks in Washington, where her father was representing Massachusetts in Congress. Then they went to Philadelphia for two weeks to visit family. In Philadelphia, she met Charles Wadsworth, a famous minister of the Arch Street Presbyterian Church, with whom she forged a strong friendship which lasted until his death in 1882. Despite seeing him only twice after 1855 (he moved to San Francisco in 1862), she variously referred to him as "my Philadelphia", "my Clergyman", "my dearest earthly friend" and "my Shepherd from 'Little Girl'hood".
From the mid-1850s, Dickinson's mother became effectively bedridden with various chronic illnesses until her death in 1882. Writing to a friend in summer 1858, Dickinson said she would visit if she could leave "home, or mother. I do not go out at all, lest father will come and miss me, or miss some little act, which I might forget, should I run away – Mother is much as usual. I Know not what to hope of her". As her mother continued to decline, Dickinson's domestic responsibilities weighed more heavily upon her and she confined herself within the Homestead. Forty years later, Lavinia said that because their mother was chronically ill, one of the daughters had to remain always with her. Dickinson took this role as her own, and "finding the life with her books and nature so congenial, continued to live it".
Withdrawing more and more from the outside world, Dickinson began in the summer of 1858 what would be her lasting legacy. Reviewing poems she had written previously, she began making clean copies of her work, assembling carefully pieced-together manuscript books. The forty fascicles she created from 1858 through 1865 eventually held nearly eight hundred poems. No one was aware of the existence of these books until after her death.
In the late 1850s, the Dickinsons befriended Samuel Bowles, the owner and editor-in-chief of the Springfield Republican, and his wife, Mary. They visited the Dickinsons regularly for years to come. During this time Dickinson sent him over three dozen letters and nearly fifty poems. Their friendship brought out some of her most intense writing and Bowles published a few of her poems in his journal. It was from 1858 to 1861 that Dickinson is believed to have written a trio of letters that have been called "The Master Letters". These three letters, drafted to an unknown man simply referred to as "Master", continue to be the subject of speculation and contention amongst scholars.
The first half of the 1860s, after she had largely withdrawn from social life, proved to be Dickinson's most productive writing period. Modern scholars and researchers are divided as to the cause for Dickinson's withdrawal and extreme seclusion. While she was diagnosed as having "nervous prostration" by a physician during her lifetime, some today believe she may have suffered from illnesses as various as agoraphobia and epilepsy.
Is "my Verse ... alive?"
In April 1862, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a literary critic, radical abolitionist, and ex-minister, wrote a lead piece for The Atlantic Monthly titled, "Letter to a Young Contributor". Higginson's essay, in which he urged aspiring writers to "charge your style with life", contained practical advice for those wishing to break into print. Dickinson's decision to contact Higginson suggests that by 1862 she was contemplating publication and that it may have become increasingly difficult to write poetry without an audience. Seeking literary guidance that no one close to her could provide, Dickinson sent him a letter, which read in full:
This highly nuanced and largely theatrical letter was unsigned, but she had included her name on a card and enclosed it in an envelope, along with four of her poems. He praised her work but suggested that she delay publishing until she had written longer, being unaware she had already appeared in print. She assured him that publishing was as foreign to her "as Firmament to Fin", but also proposed that "If fame belonged to me, I could not escape her". Dickinson delighted in dramatic self-characterization and mystery in her letters to Higginson. She said of herself, "I am small, like the wren, and my hair is bold, like the chestnut bur, and my eyes like the sherry in the glass that the guest leaves." She stressed her solitary nature, saying her only real companions were the hills, the sundown, and her dog, Carlo. She also mentioned that whereas her mother did not "care for Thought", her father bought her books, but begged her "not to read them – because he fears they joggle the Mind".
Dickinson valued his advice, going from calling him "Mr. Higginson" to "Dear friend" as well as signing her letters, "Your Gnome" and "Your Scholar". His interest in her work certainly provided great moral support; many years later, Dickinson told Higginson that he had saved her life in 1862. They corresponded until her death, but her difficulty in expressing her literary needs and a reluctance to enter into a cooperative exchange left Higginson nonplussed; he did not press her to publish in subsequent correspondence. Dickinson's own ambivalence on the matter militated against the likelihood of publication. Literary critic Edmund Wilson, in his review of Civil War literature, surmised that "with encouragement, she would certainly have published".
The woman in white
In direct opposition to the immense productivity that she displayed in the early 1860s, Dickinson wrote fewer poems in 1866. Beset with personal loss as well as loss of domestic help, Dickinson may have been too overcome to keep up her previous level of writing. Carlo died during this time after having provided sixteen years of companionship; Dickinson never owned another dog. Although the household servant of nine years, Margaret O'Brien, had married and left the Homestead that same year, it was not until 1869 that the Dickinsons brought in a permanent household servant, Margaret Maher, to replace their former maid-of-all-work. Emily once again was responsible for the kitchen, including cooking and cleaning up, as well as the baking at which she excelled.
Around this time, Dickinson's behavior began to change. She did not leave the Homestead unless it was absolutely necessary and as early as 1867, she began to talk to visitors from the other side of a door rather than speaking to them face to face. She acquired local notoriety; she was rarely seen, and when she was, she was usually clothed in white. Dickinson's one surviving article of clothing is a white cotton dress, possibly sewn circa 1878–1882. Few of the locals who exchanged messages with Dickinson during her last fifteen years ever saw her in person. Austin and his family began to protect Dickinson's privacy, deciding that she was not to be a subject of discussion with outsiders. Despite her physical seclusion, however, Dickinson was socially active and expressive through what makes up two-thirds of her surviving notes and letters. When visitors came to either the Homestead or the Evergreens, she would often leave or send over small gifts of poems or flowers. Dickinson also had a good rapport with the children in her life. Mattie Dickinson, the second child of Austin and Sue, later said that "Aunt Emily stood for indulgence." MacGregor (Mac) Jenkins, the son of family friends who later wrote a short article in 1891 called "A Child's Recollection of Emily Dickinson", thought of her as always offering support to the neighborhood children.
When Higginson urged her to come to Boston in 1868 so they could formally meet for the first time, she declined, writing: "Could it please your convenience to come so far as Amherst I should be very glad, but I do not cross my Father's ground to any House or town". It was not until he came to Amherst in 1870 that they met. Later he referred to her, in the most detailed and vivid physical account of her on record, as "a little plain woman with two smooth bands of reddish hair ... in a very plain & exquisitely clean white piqué & a blue net worsted shawl." He also felt that he never was "with any one who drained my nerve power so much. Without touching her, she drew from me. I am glad not to live near her."
Posies and poesies
Scholar Judith Farr notes that Dickinson, during her lifetime, "was known more widely as a gardener, perhaps, than as a poet". Dickinson studied botany from the age of nine and, along with her sister, tended the garden at Homestead. During her lifetime, she assembled a collection of pressed plants in a sixty-six-page leather-bound herbarium. It contained 424 pressed flower specimens that she collected, classified, and labeled using the Linnaean system. The Homestead garden was well known and admired locally in its time. It has not survived, but efforts to revive it have begun. Dickinson kept no garden notebooks or plant lists, but a clear impression can be formed from the letters and recollections of friends and family. Her niece, Martha Dickinson Bianchi, remembered "carpets of lily-of-the-valley and pansies, platoons of sweetpeas, hyacinths, enough in May to give all the bees of summer dyspepsia. There were ribbons of peony hedges and drifts of daffodils in season, marigolds to distraction—a butterfly utopia". In particular, Dickinson cultivated scented exotic flowers, writing that she "could inhabit the Spice Isles merely by crossing the dining room to the conservatory, where the plants hang in baskets". Dickinson would often send her friends bunches of flowers with verses attached, but "they valued the posy more than the poetry".
Later life
On June 16, 1874, while in Boston, Edward Dickinson suffered a stroke and died. When the simple funeral was held in the Homestead's entrance hall, Dickinson stayed in her room with the door cracked open. Neither did she attend the memorial service on June 28. She wrote to Higginson that her father's "Heart was pure and terrible and I think no other like it exists." A year later, on June 15, 1875, Dickinson's mother also suffered a stroke, which produced a partial lateral paralysis and impaired memory. Lamenting her mother's increasing physical as well as mental demands, Dickinson wrote that "Home is so far from Home".
Otis Phillips Lord, an elderly judge on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from Salem, in 1872 or 1873 became an acquaintance of Dickinson's. After the death of Lord's wife in 1877, his friendship with Dickinson probably became a late-life romance, though as their letters were destroyed, this is surmised. Dickinson found a kindred soul in Lord, especially in terms of shared literary interests; the few letters which survived contain multiple quotations of Shakespeare's work, including the plays Othello, Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet and King Lear. In 1880 he gave her Cowden Clarke's Complete Concordance to Shakespeare (1877). Dickinson wrote that "While others go to Church, I go to mine, for are you not my Church, and have we not a Hymn that no one knows but us?" She referred to him as "My lovely Salem" and they wrote to each other religiously every Sunday. Dickinson looked forward to this day greatly; a surviving fragment of a letter written by her states that "Tuesday is a deeply depressed Day".
After being critically ill for several years, Judge Lord died in March 1884. Dickinson referred to him as "our latest Lost". Two years before this, on April 1, 1882, Dickinson's "Shepherd from 'Little Girl'hood", Charles Wadsworth, also had died after a long illness.
Decline and death
Although she continued to write in her last years, Dickinson stopped editing and organizing her poems. She also exacted a promise from her sister Lavinia to burn her papers. Lavinia, who never married, remained at the Homestead until her own death in 1899.
The 1880s were a difficult time for the remaining Dickinsons. Irreconcilably alienated from his wife, Austin fell in love in 1882 with Mabel Loomis Todd, an Amherst College faculty wife who had recently moved to the area. Todd never met Dickinson but was intrigued by her, referring to her as "a lady whom the people call the Myth". Austin distanced himself from his family as his affair continued and his wife became sick with grief. Dickinson's mother died on November 14, 1882. Five weeks later, Dickinson wrote, "We were never intimate ... while she was our Mother – but Mines in the same Ground meet by tunneling and when she became our Child, the Affection came." The next year, Austin and Sue's third and youngest child, Gilbert—Emily's favorite—died of typhoid fever.
As death succeeded death, Dickinson found her world upended. In the fall of 1884, she wrote, "The Dyings have been too deep for me, and before I could raise my Heart from one, another has come." That summer she had seen "a great darkness coming" and fainted while baking in the kitchen. She remained unconscious late into the night and weeks of ill health followed. On November 30, 1885, her feebleness and other symptoms were so worrying that Austin canceled a trip to Boston. She was confined to her bed for a few months, but managed to send a final burst of letters in the spring. What is thought to be her last letter was sent to her cousins, Louise and Frances Norcross, and simply read: "Little Cousins, Called Back. Emily". On May 15, 1886, after several days of worsening symptoms, Emily Dickinson died at the age of 55. Austin wrote in his diary that "the day was awful ... she ceased to breathe that terrible breathing just before the [afternoon] whistle sounded for six." Dickinson's chief physician gave the cause of death as Bright's disease and its duration as two and a half years.
Lavinia and Austin asked Susan to wash Dickinson's body upon her death. Susan also wrote Dickinson's obituary for the Springfield Republican, ending it with four lines from one of Dickinson's poems: "Morns like these, we parted; Noons like these, she rose; Fluttering first, then firmer, To her fair repose." Lavinia was perfectly satisfied that Sue should arrange everything, knowing it would be done lovingly. Dickinson was buried, laid in a white coffin with vanilla-scented heliotrope, a lady's slipper orchid, and a "knot of blue field violets" placed about it. The funeral service, held in the Homestead's library, was simple and short; Higginson, who had met her only twice, read "No Coward Soul Is Mine", a poem by Emily Brontë that had been a favorite of Dickinson's. At Dickinson's request, her "coffin [was] not driven but carried through fields of buttercups" for burial in the family plot at West Cemetery on Triangle Street.
Publication
Despite Dickinson's prolific writing, only ten poems and a letter were published during her lifetime. After her younger sister Lavinia discovered the collection of nearly 1800 poems, Dickinson's first volume was published four years after her death. Until Thomas H. Johnson published Dickinson's Complete Poems in 1955, Dickinson's poems were considerably edited and altered from their manuscript versions. Since 1890 Dickinson has remained continuously in print.
Contemporary
A few of Dickinson's poems appeared in Samuel Bowles' Springfield Republican between 1858 and 1868. They were published anonymously and heavily edited, with conventionalized punctuation and formal titles. The first poem, "Nobody knows this little rose", may have been published without Dickinson's permission. The Republican also published "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" as "The Snake", "Safe in their Alabaster Chambers –" as "The Sleeping", and "Blazing in the Gold and quenching in Purple" as "Sunset". The poem "I taste a liquor never brewed –" is an example of the edited versions; the last two lines in the first stanza were completely rewritten.
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Original wording
I taste a liquor never brewed –
From Tankards scooped in Pearl –
Not all the Frankfort Berries
Yield such an Alcohol!
|
Republican version
I taste a liquor never brewed –
From Tankards scooped in Pearl –
Not Frankfort Berries yield the sense
Such a delirious whirl!
|
|}
In 1864, several poems were altered and published in Drum Beat, to raise funds for medical care for Union soldiers in the war. Another appeared in April 1864 in the Brooklyn Daily Union.
In the 1870s, Higginson showed Dickinson's poems to Helen Hunt Jackson, who had coincidentally been at the academy with Dickinson when they were girls. Jackson was deeply involved in the publishing world, and managed to convince Dickinson to publish her poem "Success is counted sweetest" anonymously in a volume called A Masque of Poets. The poem, however, was altered to agree with contemporary taste. It was the last poem published during Dickinson's lifetime.
Posthumous
After Dickinson's death, Lavinia Dickinson kept her promise and burned most of the poet's correspondence. Significantly though, Dickinson had left no instructions about the 40 notebooks and loose sheets gathered in a locked chest. Lavinia recognized the poems' worth and became obsessed with seeing them published. She turned first to her brother's wife and then to Mabel Loomis Todd, his lover, for assistance. A feud ensued, with the manuscripts divided between the Todd and Dickinson houses, preventing complete publication of Dickinson's poetry for more than half a century.
The first volume of Dickinson's Poems, edited jointly by Mabel Loomis Todd and T. W. Higginson, appeared in November 1890. Although Todd claimed that only essential changes were made, the poems were extensively edited to match punctuation and capitalization to late 19th-century standards, with occasional rewordings to reduce Dickinson's obliquity. The first 115-poem volume was a critical and financial success, going through eleven printings in two years. Poems: Second Series followed in 1891, running to five editions by 1893; a third series appeared in 1896. One reviewer, in 1892, wrote: "The world will not rest satisfied till every scrap of her writings, letters as well as literature, has been published".
Nearly a dozen new editions of Dickinson's poetry, whether containing previously unpublished or newly edited poems, were published between 1914 and 1945. Martha Dickinson Bianchi, the daughter of Susan and Austin Dickinson, published collections of her aunt's poetry based on the manuscripts held by her family, whereas Mabel Loomis Todd's daughter, Millicent Todd Bingham, published collections based on the manuscripts held by her mother. These competing editions of Dickinson's poetry, often differing in order and structure, ensured that the poet's work was in the public's eye.
The first scholarly publication came in 1955 with a complete new three-volume set edited by Thomas H. Johnson. Forming the basis of later Dickinson scholarship, Johnson's variorum brought all of Dickinson's known poems together for the first time. Johnson's goal was to present the poems very nearly as Dickinson had left them in her manuscripts. They were untitled, only numbered in an approximate chronological sequence, strewn with dashes and irregularly capitalized, and often extremely elliptical in their language. Three years later, Johnson edited and published, along with Theodora Ward, a complete collection of Dickinson's letters, also presented in three volumes.
In 1981, The Manuscript Books of Emily Dickinson was published. Using the physical evidence of the original papers, the poems were intended to be published in their original order for the first time. Editor Ralph W. Franklin relied on smudge marks, needle punctures and other clues to reassemble the poet's packets. Since then, many critics have argued for thematic unity in these small collections, believing the ordering of the poems to be more than chronological or convenient.
Dickinson biographer Alfred Habegger wrote in My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson (2001) that "The consequences of the poet's failure to disseminate her work in a faithful and orderly manner are still very much with us".
Poetry
Dickinson's poems generally fall into three distinct periods, the works in each period having certain general characters in common.
Pre-1861: In the period before 1858, the poems are most often conventional and sentimental in nature. Thomas H. Johnson, who later published The Poems of Emily Dickinson, was able to date only five of Dickinson's poems as written before 1858. Two of these are mock valentines done in an ornate and humorous style, two others are conventional lyrics, one of which is about missing her brother Austin, and the fifth poem, which begins "I have a Bird in spring", conveys her grief over the feared loss of friendship and was sent to her friend Sue Gilbert. In 1858, Dickinson began to collect her poems in the small hand-sewn books she called fascicles.
1861–1865: This was her most creative period, and these poems represent her most vigorous and creative work. Her poetic production also increased dramatically during this period. Johnson estimated that she composed 35 poems in 1860, 86 poems in 1861, 366 in 1862, 141 in 1863, and 174 in 1864. It was during this period that Dickinson fully developed her themes concerning nature, life, and mortality.
Post-1866: Only a third of Dickinson's poems were written in the last twenty years of her life, when her poetic production slowed considerably. During this period, she no longer collected her poems in fascicles.
Structure and syntax
The extensive use of dashes and unconventional capitalization in Dickinson's manuscripts, and the idiosyncratic vocabulary and imagery, combine to create a body of work that is "far more various in its styles and forms than is commonly supposed". Dickinson avoids pentameter, opting more generally for trimeter, tetrameter and, less often, dimeter. Sometimes her use of these meters is regular, but oftentimes it is irregular. The regular form that she most often employs is the ballad stanza, a traditional form that is divided into quatrains, using tetrameter for the first and third lines and trimeter for the second and fourth, while rhyming the second and fourth lines (ABCB). Though Dickinson often uses perfect rhymes for lines two and four, she also makes frequent use of slant rhyme. In some of her poems, she varies the meter from the traditional ballad stanza by using trimeter for lines one, two and four; while using tetrameter for only line three.
Since many of her poems were written in traditional ballad stanzas with ABCB rhyme schemes, some of these poems can be sung to fit the melodies of popular folk songs and hymns that also use the common meter, employing alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter.
Dickinson scholar and poet Anthony Hecht finds resonances in Dickinson's poetry not only with hymns and song-forms but also with psalms and riddles, citing the following example: "Who is the East? / The Yellow Man / Who may be Purple if he can / That carries in the Sun. / Who is the West? / The Purple Man / Who may be Yellow if He can / That lets Him out again."
Late 20th-century scholars are "deeply interested" by Dickinson's highly individual use of punctuation and lineation (line lengths and line breaks). Following the publication of one of the few poems that appeared in her lifetime – "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass", published as "The Snake" in the Republican – Dickinson complained that the edited punctuation (an added comma and a full stop substitution for the original dash) altered the meaning of the entire poem.
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Original wording
A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides –
You may have met Him – did you not
His notice sudden is –
|
Republican version
A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides –
You may have met Him – did you not,
His notice sudden is.
|
|}
As Farr points out, "snakes instantly notice you"; Dickinson's version captures the "breathless immediacy" of the encounter; and The Republicans punctuation renders "her lines more commonplace". With the increasingly close focus on Dickinson's structures and syntax has come a growing appreciation that they are "aesthetically based". Although Johnson's landmark 1955 edition of poems was relatively unaltered from the original, later scholars critiqued it for deviating from the style and layout of Dickinson's manuscripts. Meaningful distinctions, these scholars assert, can be drawn from varying lengths and angles of dash, and differing arrangements of text on the page. Several volumes have attempted to render Dickinson's handwritten dashes using many typographic symbols of varying length and angle. R. W. Franklin's 1998 variorum edition of the poems provided alternate wordings to those chosen by Johnson, in a more limited editorial intervention. Franklin also used typeset dashes of varying length to approximate the manuscripts' dashes more closely.
Major themes
Dickinson left no formal statement of her aesthetic intentions and, because of the variety of her themes, her work does not fit conveniently into any one genre. She has been regarded, alongside Emerson (whose poems Dickinson admired), as a Transcendentalist. However, Farr disagrees with this analysis, saying that Dickinson's "relentlessly measuring mind ... deflates the airy elevation of the Transcendental". Apart from the major themes discussed below, Dickinson's poetry frequently uses humor, puns, irony and satire.
Flowers and gardens: Farr notes that Dickinson's "poems and letters almost wholly concern flowers" and that allusions to gardens often refer to an "imaginative realm ... wherein flowers [are] often emblems for actions and emotions". She associates some flowers, like gentians and anemones, with youth and humility; others with prudence and insight. Her poems were often sent to friends with accompanying letters and nosegays. Farr notes that one of Dickinson's earlier poems, written about 1859, appears to "conflate her poetry itself with the posies": "My nosegays are for Captives – / Dim – long expectant eyes – / Fingers denied the plucking, / Patient till Paradise – / To such, if they sh'd whisper / Of morning and the moor – / They bear no other errand, / And I, no other prayer".
The Master poems: Dickinson left a large number of poems addressed to "Signor", "Sir" and "Master", who is characterized as Dickinson's "lover for all eternity". These confessional poems are often "searing in their self-inquiry" and "harrowing to the reader" and typically take their metaphors from texts and paintings of Dickinson's day. The Dickinson family themselves believed these poems were addressed to actual individuals but this view is frequently rejected by scholars. Farr, for example, contends that the Master is an unattainable composite figure, "human, with specific characteristics, but godlike" and speculates that Master may be a "kind of Christian muse".
Morbidity: Dickinson's poems reflect her "early and lifelong fascination" with illness, dying and death. Perhaps surprisingly for a New England spinster, her poems allude to death by many methods: "crucifixion, drowning, hanging, suffocation, freezing, premature burial, shooting, stabbing and guillotinage". She reserved her sharpest insights into the "death blow aimed by God" and the "funeral in the brain", often reinforced by images of thirst and starvation. Dickinson scholar Vivian Pollak considers these references an autobiographical reflection of Dickinson's "thirsting-starving persona", an outward expression of her needy self-image as small, thin and frail. Dickinson's most psychologically complex poems explore the theme that the loss of hunger for life causes the death of self and place this at "the interface of murder and suicide". Death and morbidity in Dickinson's poetry is also heavily connected to winter themes. Critic Edwin Folsom analyzes how "winter for Dickinson is the season that forces reality, that strips all hope of transcendence. It is a season of death and a metaphor for death".
Gospel poems: Throughout her life, Dickinson wrote poems reflecting a preoccupation with the teachings of Jesus Christ and, indeed, many are addressed to him. She stresses the Gospels' contemporary pertinence and recreates them, often with "wit and American colloquial language". Scholar Dorothy Oberhaus finds that the "salient feature uniting Christian poets ... is their reverential attention to the life of Jesus Christ" and contends that Dickinson's deep structures place her in the "poetic tradition of Christian devotion" alongside Hopkins, Eliot and Auden. In a Nativity poem, Dickinson combines lightness and wit to revisit an ancient theme: "The Savior must have been / A docile Gentleman – / To come so far so cold a Day / For little Fellowmen / The Road to Bethlehem / Since He and I were Boys / Was leveled, but for that twould be / A rugged billion Miles –".
The Undiscovered Continent: Academic Suzanne Juhasz considers that Dickinson saw the mind and spirit as tangible visitable places and that for much of her life she lived within them. Often, this intensely private place is referred to as the "undiscovered continent" and the "landscape of the spirit" and embellished with nature imagery. At other times, the imagery is darker and forbidding—castles or prisons, complete with corridors and rooms—to create a dwelling place of "oneself" where one resides with one's other selves. An example that brings together many of these ideas is: "Me from Myself – to banish – / Had I Art – / Impregnable my Fortress / Unto All Heart – / But since myself—assault Me – / How have I peace / Except by subjugating / Consciousness. / And since We're mutual Monarch / How this be / Except by Abdication – / Me – of Me?".
Reception
The surge of posthumous publication gave Dickinson's poetry its first public exposure. Backed by Higginson and with a favorable notice from William Dean Howells, an editor of Harper's Magazine, the poetry received mixed reviews after it was first published in 1890. Higginson himself stated in his preface to the first edition of Dickinson's published work that the poetry's quality "is that of extraordinary grasp and insight", albeit "without the proper control and chastening" that the experience of publishing during her lifetime might have conferred. His judgment that her opus was "incomplete and unsatisfactory" would be echoed in the essays of the New Critics in the 1930s.
Maurice Thompson, who was literary editor of The Independent for twelve years, noted in 1891 that her poetry had "a strange mixture of rare individuality and originality". Some critics hailed Dickinson's effort, but disapproved of her unusual non-traditional style. Andrew Lang, a British writer, dismissed Dickinson's work, stating that "if poetry is to exist at all, it really must have form and grammar, and must rhyme when it professes to rhyme. The wisdom of the ages and the nature of man insist on so much". Thomas Bailey Aldrich, a poet and novelist, equally dismissed Dickinson's poetic technique in The Atlantic Monthly in January 1892: "It is plain that Miss Dickinson possessed an extremely unconventional and grotesque fancy. She was deeply tinged by the mysticism of Blake, and strongly influenced by the mannerism of Emerson ... But the incoherence and formlessness of her — versicles are fatal ... an eccentric, dreamy, half-educated recluse in an out-of-the-way New England village (or anywhere else) cannot with impunity set at defiance the laws of gravitation and grammar".
Critical attention to Dickinson's poetry was meager from 1897 to the early 1920s. By the start of the 20th century, interest in her poetry became broader in scope and some critics began to consider Dickinson as essentially modern. Rather than seeing Dickinson's poetic styling as a result of lack of knowledge or skill, modern critics believed the irregularities were consciously artistic. In a 1915 essay, Elizabeth Shepley Sergeant called the poet's inspiration "daring" and named her "one of the rarest flowers the sterner New England land ever bore". With the growing popularity of modernist poetry in the 1920s, Dickinson's failure to conform to 19th-century poetic form was no longer surprising nor distasteful to new generations of readers. Dickinson was suddenly referred to by various critics as a great woman poet, and a cult following began to form.
In the 1930s, a number of the New Critics – among them R. P. Blackmur, Allen Tate, Cleanth Brooks and Yvor Winters – appraised the significance of Dickinson's poetry. As critic Roland Hagenbüchle pointed out, their "affirmative and prohibitive tenets turned out to be of special relevance to Dickinson scholarship". Blackmur, in an attempt to focus and clarify the major claims for and against the poet's greatness, wrote in a landmark 1937 critical essay: "... she was a private poet who wrote as indefatigably as some women cook or knit. Her gift for words and the cultural predicament of her time drove her to poetry instead of antimacassars ... She came ... at the right time for one kind of poetry: the poetry of sophisticated, eccentric vision."
The second wave of feminism created greater cultural sympathy for her as a female poet. In the first collection of critical essays on Dickinson from a feminist perspective, she is heralded as the greatest woman poet in the English language. Biographers and theorists of the past tended to separate Dickinson's roles as a woman and a poet. For example, George Whicher wrote in his 1952 book This Was a Poet: A Critical Biography of Emily Dickinson, "Perhaps as a poet [Dickinson] could find the fulfillment she had missed as a woman." Feminist criticism, on the other hand, declares that there is a necessary and powerful conjunction between Dickinson being a woman and a poet. Adrienne Rich theorized in Vesuvius at Home: The Power of Emily Dickinson (1976) that Dickinson's identity as a woman poet brought her power: "[she] chose her seclusion, knowing she was exceptional and knowing what she needed ... She carefully selected her society and controlled the disposal of her time ... neither eccentric nor quaint; she was determined to survive, to use her powers, to practice necessary economics."
Some scholars question the poet's sexuality, theorizing that the numerous letters and poems that were dedicated to Susan Gilbert Dickinson indicate a lesbian romance, and speculating about how this may have influenced her poetry. Critics such as John Cody, Lillian Faderman, Vivian R. Pollak, Paula Bennett, Judith Farr, Ellen Louise Hart, and Martha Nell Smith have argued that Susan was the central erotic relationship in Dickinson's life.
Legacy
In the early 20th century, Martha Dickinson Bianchi and Millicent Todd Bingham kept the achievement of Emily Dickinson alive. Bianchi promoted Dickinson's poetic achievement. Bianchi inherited The Evergreens as well as the copyright for her aunt's poetry from her parents, publishing works such as Emily Dickinson Face to Face and Letters of Emily Dickinson, which stoked public curiosity about her aunt. Bianchi's books perpetrated legends about her aunt in the context of family tradition, personal recollection and correspondence. In contrast, Millicent Todd Bingham's took a more objective and realistic approach to the poet.
Emily Dickinson is now considered a powerful and persistent figure in American culture. Although much of the early reception concentrated on Dickinson's eccentric and secluded nature, she has become widely acknowledged as an innovative, proto-modernist poet. As early as 1891, William Dean Howells wrote that "If nothing else had come out of our life but this strange poetry, we should feel that in the work of Emily Dickinson, America, or New England rather, had made a distinctive addition to the literature of the world, and could not be left out of any record of it." Critic Harold Bloom has placed her alongside Walt Whitman, Wallace Stevens, Robert Frost, T. S. Eliot, and Hart Crane as a major American poet, and in 1994 listed her among the 26 central writers of Western civilization.
Dickinson is taught in American literature and poetry classes in the United States from middle school to college. Her poetry is frequently anthologized and has been used as text for art songs by composers such as Aaron Copland, Nick Peros, John Adams and Michael Tilson Thomas. Several schools have been established in her name; for example, Emily Dickinson Elementary Schools exist in Bozeman, Montana; Redmond, Washington; and New York City. A few literary journals — including The Emily Dickinson Journal, the official publication of the Emily Dickinson International Society — have been founded to examine her work. An 8-cent commemorative stamp in honor of Dickinson was issued by the United States Postal Service on August 28, 1971, as the second stamp in the "American Poet" series. Dickinson was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1973. A one-woman play titled The Belle of Amherst appeared on Broadway in 1976, winning several awards; it was later adapted for television.
Dickinson's herbarium, which is now held in the Houghton Library at Harvard University, was published in 2006 as Emily Dickinson's Herbarium by Harvard University Press. The original work was compiled by Dickinson during her years at Amherst Academy, and consists of 424 pressed specimens of plants arranged on 66 pages of a bound album. A digital facsimile of the herbarium is available online. The town of Amherst Jones Library's Special Collections department has an Emily Dickinson Collection consisting of approximately seven thousand items, including original manuscript poems and letters, family correspondence, scholarly articles and books, newspaper clippings, theses, plays, photographs and contemporary artwork and prints. The Archives and Special Collections at Amherst College has substantial holdings of Dickinson's manuscripts and letters as well as a lock of Dickinson's hair and the original of the only positively identified image of the poet. In 1965, in recognition of Dickinson's growing stature as a poet, the Homestead was purchased by Amherst College. It opened to the public for tours, and also served as a faculty residence for many years. The Emily Dickinson Museum was created in 2003 when ownership of the Evergreens, which had been occupied by Dickinson family heirs until 1988, was transferred to the college.
Modern influence and inspiration
Emily Dickinson's life and works have been the source of inspiration to artists, particularly to feminist-oriented artists, of a variety of mediums. A few notable examples are as follows:
The feminist artwork The Dinner Party, by Judy Chicago, first exhibited in 1979, features a place setting for Dickinson.
Jane Campion's film The Piano and its novelization (co-authored by Kate Pullinger) were inspired by the poetry of Emily Dickinson as well as the novels by the Brontë sisters.
A character who is a literary scholar at a fictional New England college in the comic campus novel by Pamela Hansford Johnson Night and Silence Who Is Here? is intent on proving that Emily Dickinson was a secret dipsomaniac. His obsession costs him his job.
The 2012 book The Emily Dickinson Reader by Paul Legault is an English-to-English translation of her complete poems published by McSweeney's.
Dickinson's work has been set by numerous composers including Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Chester Biscardi, Elliot Carter, John Adams, Libby Larsen, Peter Seabourne, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Judith Weir.
A public garden is named in her honor in Paris: 'square Emily-Dickinson', in the 20th arrondissement.
Jazz saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom released the 2017 double album Wild Lines: Improvising Emily Dickinson inspired by the poet's works.
English director Terence Davies directed and wrote A Quiet Passion, a 2016 biographical film about the life of Emily Dickinson. The film stars Cynthia Nixon as the reclusive poet. The film premiered at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2016 and was released in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2017.
Dickinson is a TV series starring Academy Award nominee Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Dickinson and premiered in 2019 on Apple TV+. The series focused on Dickinson's life.
Translation
Emily Dickinson's poetry has been translated into languages including French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Persian, Kurdish, Turkish, Georgian, Swedish, and Russian. A few examples of these translations are the following:
The Queen of Bashful Violets, a Kurdish translation by Madeh Piryonesi published in 2016.
French translation by Charlotte Melançon which includes 40 poems.
Mandarin Chinese translation by Professor Jianxin Zhou
Swedish translation by Ann Jäderlund.
Persian translations: Three Persian translations of Emily Dickinson are available from Saeed Saeedpoor, Madeh Piryonesi and Okhovat.
Turkish translation: Selected Poems, translated by Selahattin Özpalabıyıklar in 2006, is available from Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları through its special Hasan Âli Yücel classics series.
See also
List of Emily Dickinson poems
References
Notes
Editions of poetry and letters
Cristanne Miller (ed.). 2016. Emily Dickinson's Poems: As She Preserved Them. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Franklin, R. W. (ed.). 1998. The Poems of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. .
Johnson, Thomas H. and Theodora Ward (eds.). 1958. The Letters of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Johnson, Thomas H. (ed.). 1955. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.
Secondary sources
Bianchi, Martha Dickinson. 1970. Emily Dickinson Face to Face: Unpublished Letters with Notes and Reminiscences. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books.
Blake, Caesar R. (ed). 1964. The Recognition of Emily Dickinson: Selected Criticism Since 1890. Ed. Caesar R. Blake. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Bloom, Harold. 1999. Emily Dickinson. Broomall, PA: Chelsea House Publishers. .
Bloom, Harold. 1994. The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Buckingham, Willis J. (ed). 1989. Emily Dickinson's Reception in the 1890s: A Documentary History. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. .
Comment, Kristin M. 2001. "Dickinson's Bawdy: Shakespeare and Sexual Symbolism in Emily Dickinson's Writing to Susan Dickinson". Legacy. 18(2). pp. 167–181.
Crumbley, Paul. 1997. Inflections of the Pen: Dash and Voice in Emily Dickinson. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky. .
D'Arienzo, Daria. 2006. "Looking at Emily", Amherst Magazine. Winter 2006. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
Farr, Judith (ed). 1996. Emily Dickinson: A Collection of Critical Essays. Prentice Hall International Paperback Editions. .
Farr, Judith. 2005. The Gardens of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England: Harvard University Press. .
Ford, Thomas W. 1966. Heaven Beguiles the Tired: Death in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson. University of Alabama Press.
Franklin, R. W. 1998. The Master Letters of Emily Dickinson. University of Massachusetts Press. .
Gordon, Lyndall. 2010. Lives Like Loaded Guns: Emily Dickinson and Her Family's Feuds. Viking. .
Grabher, Gudrun, Roland Hagenbüchle and Cristanne Miller. 1998. The Emily Dickinson Handbook. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
Habegger, Alfred. 2001. My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson. New York: Random House. .
Roland Hagenbüchle: Precision and Indeterminacy in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson, Emerson Society Quarterly, 1974
Hecht, Anthony. 1996. "The Riddles of Emily Dickinson" in Farr (1996) 149–162.
Juhasz, Suzanne (ed). 1983. Feminist Critics Read Emily Dickinson. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. .
Juhasz, Suzanne. 1996. "The Landscape of the Spirit" in Farr (1996) 130–140.
Knapp, Bettina L. 1989. Emily Dickinson. New York: Continuum Publishing.
Martin, Wendy (ed). 2002. The Cambridge Companion to Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
McNeil, Helen. 1986. Emily Dickinson. London: Virago Press. .
Mitchell, Domhnall Mitchell and Maria Stuart. 2009. The International Reception of Emily Dickinson. New York: Continuum. .
Murray, Aífe. 2010. Maid as Muse: How Domestic Servants Changed Emily Dickinson's Life and Language. University Press of New England. .
Murray, Aífe. 1996. "Kitchen Table Poetics: Maid Margaret Maher and Her Poet Emily Dickinson," The Emily Dickinson Journal. 5(2). pp. 285–296.
Paglia, Camille. 1990. Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson. Yale University Press. .
Oberhaus, Dorothy Huff. 1996. " 'Tender pioneer': Emily Dickinson's Poems on the Life of Christ" in Farr (1996) 105–119.
Parker, Peter. 2007. "New Feet Within My Garden Go: Emily Dickinson's Herbarium", The Daily Telegraph, June 29, 2007. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
Pickard, John B. 1967. Emily Dickinson: An Introduction and Interpretation. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Pollak, Vivian R. 1996. "Thirst and Starvation in Emily Dickinson's Poetry" in Farr (1996) 62–75.
Sewall, Richard B. 1974. The Life of Emily Dickinson. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. .
Smith, Martha Nell. 1992. Rowing in Eden: Rereading Emily Dickinson. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. .
Stocks, Kenneth. 1988. Emily Dickinson and the Modern Consciousness: A Poet of Our Time. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Walsh, John Evangelist. 1971. The Hidden Life of Emily Dickinson. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Wells, Anna Mary. 1929. "Early Criticism of Emily Dickinson", American Literature, Vol. 1, No. 3. (November 1929).
Wilson, Edmund. 1962. Patriotic Gore: Studies in the Literature of the American Civil War. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. .
Wolff, Cynthia Griffin. 1986. Emily Dickinson. New York. Alfred A. Knopf. .
Further reading
Emily Dickinson Papers, 1844–1891 (3 microfilm reels) are housed at the Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University.
Visiting Emily: Poems Inspired by the Life and Works of Emily Dickinson (University of Iowa Press, 2001) by Thomas Tammaro and Sheila Coghill (2001 Minnesota Book Awards winner)
External links
Dickinson Electronic Archives
Emily Dickinson Archive
Emily Dickinson poems and texts at the Academy of American Poets
Profile and poems of Emily Dickinson, including audio files, at the Poetry Foundation.
Emily Dickinson Lexicon
Emily Dickinson at Modern American Poetry
Emily Dickinson International Society
Emily Dickinson Museum The Homestead and the Evergreens, Amherst, Massachusetts
Emily Dickinson at Amherst College, Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
Emily Dickinson Collection at Houghton Library, Harvard University
Emily Dickinson Papers, Galatea Collection, Boston Public Library
Interview with Them Tammaro and Sheila Coghill about their book Visiting Emily: Poems Inspired by the Life and Work of Emily Dickinson, NORTHERN LIGHTS Minnesota Author Interview TV Series #465 (2001)
1830 births
1886 deaths
19th-century American poets
19th-century American women writers
American women poets
Deaths from nephritis
Mount Holyoke College alumni
People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War
Women in the American Civil War
Writers from Amherst, Massachusetts
Christian poets
Dickinson family
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[
"Sabrina Benaim (born November 30, 1987 in Toronto, Canada) is a writer, performance artist, and slam poet. Benaim was a winner of the 2014 Toronto Poetry Slam. She is best known for her poem \"Explaining My Depression To My Mother.\"\n\nPersonal life\nSabrina Benaim was born November 30, 1987 in Toronto, Canada. She was a member of Canadian championship-winning 2014 Toronto Poetry Slam Team. She is currently a coach of the 2016 Toronto Poetry Slam (TPS) team. At age 23, Benaim was found to have a benign tumor in her throat. She took to performance poetry as a way to cope with her health complications, and to raise awareness for issues like anxiety and depression. She also represented Toronto at the Women Of The World Poetry Slam.\n\nCareer \nShe took off on social media through her poem \"Explaining My Depression To My Mother.\" From there she did a tour of The UK, Australia, USA & Canada connecting with many of her fans through her poetry, books, and storytelling which furthered the take off of her career. Her poetry tackles issues that are relevant in our society like mental health, family, and love. Benaim has written poetry for ESPNW, the Government of Canada, and she made her television debut on Sport Chek. Benaim is well known for performing on the Button Poetry YouTube series.\n\nWorks\n\nPoems \n Explaining My Depression To My Mother (Genius) \n June (Button poetry)\n What I Told the Doctor (Genius) \n Hurdles/Dreams (Button Poetry)\n What I Told the Doctor the Second Time (Button Poetry)\n So, I'm Talking to My Depression (Button Poetry)\n The Slow Now (Button Poetry)\n The Loneliest Sweet Potato (Button Poetry)\n\nBooks \n Depression and Other Magic Tricks (2017)\n\nAwards \n Nominated for Goodreads Best Poetry 2017 Choice Awards.\n Championship of the 2014 Toronto Poetry Slam\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\n1987 births\nWriters from Toronto\n21st-century Canadian poets\nCanadian women poets\n21st-century Canadian women writers",
"Frances Vernon (1963–1991) was a British novelist. She was the daughter of the tenth Baron Vernon.\n\nNovels\nVernon was encouraged in her writing by her first cousin, the photographer and author Michael Marten. She wrote her first novel Privileged Children (1982) at the age of sixteen. It won the Author's Club First Novel Award. She studied briefly at New Hall, Cambridge (now Murray Edwards College, Cambridge) but soon left to continue her writing. \nShe produced five more novels: Gentlemen and Players (1984), The Bohemian Girl (1985), A Desirable Husband (1987), The Marquis of Westmarch (1989) and finally The Fall of Doctor Onslow (1994), which was published three years after her death. Lucasta Miller for the Independent described it as \"both a tragic reminder of what she might have gone on to do, and a testimony to what she did achieve\".\n\nDepression and suicide\nVernon suffered from depression, which worsened towards the end of her life. She was seeing a psychotherapist for about five years before her death. She suffered in particular from a fear of travelling.\nVernon committed suicide on 11 July 1991. She had promised her psychiatrist not to use the pills he had prescribed her for her depression but instead used her own \"herbal\" concoction.\n\nNotes\n\nSources\n\n \n \n\n1963 births\nEnglish women novelists\nAlumni of New Hall, Cambridge\n20th-century English novelists\n20th-century English women writers\n1991 suicides"
] |
[
"Emily Dickinson",
"Teenage years",
"What were Emily's teenage years like?",
"spent seven years at the Academy, taking classes in English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, \"mental philosophy,\"",
"Where did she go to school?",
"the Academy,",
"When did she start writing?",
"After her church-going ended, about 1852, she wrote a poem",
"What else did she do as a teenager?",
"Dickinson was troubled from a young age by the \"deepening menace\" of death,",
"Did she have depression?",
"I don't know."
] |
C_46199e7ffd6d4ee89dd4ebb9698bfd94_1
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Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
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Besides attending the Academy and writing a poem, are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
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Emily Dickinson
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Dickinson spent seven years at the Academy, taking classes in English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, "mental philosophy," and arithmetic. Daniel Taggart Fiske, the school's principal at the time, would later recall that Dickinson was "very bright" and "an excellent scholar, of exemplary deportment, faithful in all school duties". Although she had a few terms off due to illness--the longest of which was in 1845-1846, when she was enrolled for only eleven weeks--she enjoyed her strenuous studies, writing to a friend that the Academy was "a very fine school". Dickinson was troubled from a young age by the "deepening menace" of death, especially the deaths of those who were close to her. When Sophia Holland, her second cousin and a close friend, grew ill from typhus and died in April 1844, Emily was traumatized. Recalling the incident two years later, Emily wrote that "it seemed to me I should die too if I could not be permitted to watch over her or even look at her face." She became so melancholic that her parents sent her to stay with family in Boston to recover. With her health and spirits restored, she soon returned to Amherst Academy to continue her studies. During this period, she first met people who were to become lifelong friends and correspondents, such as Abiah Root, Abby Wood, Jane Humphrey, and Susan Huntington Gilbert (who later married Emily's brother Austin). In 1845, a religious revival took place in Amherst, resulting in 46 confessions of faith among Dickinson's peers. Dickinson wrote to a friend the following year: "I never enjoyed such perfect peace and happiness as the short time in which I felt I had found my savior." She went on to say that it was her "greatest pleasure to commune alone with the great God & to feel that he would listen to my prayers." The experience did not last: Dickinson never made a formal declaration of faith and attended services regularly for only a few years. After her church-going ended, about 1852, she wrote a poem opening: "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church - / I keep it, staying at Home". During the last year of her stay at the Academy, Emily became friendly with Leonard Humphrey, its popular new young principal. After finishing her final term at the Academy on August 10, 1847, Dickinson began attending Mary Lyon's Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (which later became Mount Holyoke College) in South Hadley, about ten miles (16 km) from Amherst. She was at the seminary for only ten months. Although she liked the girls at Holyoke, Dickinson made no lasting friendships there. The explanations for her brief stay at Holyoke differ considerably: either she was in poor health, her father wanted to have her at home, she rebelled against the evangelical fervor present at the school, she disliked the discipline-minded teachers, or she was simply homesick. Whatever the specific reason for leaving Holyoke, her brother Austin appeared on March 25, 1848, to "bring [her] home at all events". Back in Amherst, Dickinson occupied her time with household activities. She took up baking for the family and enjoyed attending local events and activities in the budding college town. CANNOTANSWER
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She took up baking for the family and enjoyed attending local events and activities in the budding college town.
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Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry.
Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, into a prominent family with strong ties to its community. After studying at the Amherst Academy for seven years in her youth, she briefly attended the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before returning to her family's home in Amherst.
Evidence suggests that Dickinson lived much of her life in isolation. Considered an eccentric by locals, she developed a penchant for white clothing and was known for her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, to even leave her bedroom. Dickinson never married, and most friendships between her and others depended entirely upon correspondence.
While Dickinson was a prolific writer, her only publications during her lifetime were 10 of her nearly 1,800 poems, and one letter. The poems published then were usually edited significantly to fit conventional poetic rules. Her poems were unique for her era. They contain short lines, typically lack titles, and often use slant rhyme as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation. Many of her poems deal with themes of death and immortality, two recurring topics in letters to her friends, and also explore aesthetics, society, nature and spirituality.
Although Dickinson's acquaintances were most likely aware of her writing, it was not until after her death in 1886—when Lavinia, Dickinson's younger sister, discovered her cache of poems—that her work became public. Her first collection of poetry was published in 1890 by personal acquaintances Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd, though both heavily edited the content. A 1998 article in The New York Times revealed that of the many edits made to Dickinson's work, the name "Susan" was often deliberately removed. At least eleven of Dickinson's poems were dedicated to sister-in-law Susan Huntington Gilbert Dickinson, though all the dedications were obliterated, presumably by Todd. A complete, and mostly unaltered, collection of her poetry became available for the first time when scholar Thomas H. Johnson published The Poems of Emily Dickinson in 1955.
Life
Family and early childhood
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born at the family's homestead in Amherst, Massachusetts, on December 10, 1830, into a prominent, but not wealthy, family. Her father, Edward Dickinson was a lawyer in Amherst and a trustee of Amherst College. Two hundred years earlier, her patrilineal ancestors had arrived in the New World—in the Puritan Great Migration—where they prospered. Emily Dickinson's paternal grandfather, Samuel Dickinson, was one of the founders of Amherst College. In 1813, he built the Homestead, a large mansion on the town's Main Street, that became the focus of Dickinson family life for the better part of a century. Samuel Dickinson's eldest son, Edward, was treasurer of Amherst College from 1835 to 1873, served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1838–1839; 1873) and the Massachusetts Senate (1842–1843), and represented Massachusetts's 10th congressional district in the 33rd U.S. Congress (1853–1855). On May 6, 1828, he married Emily Norcross from Monson, Massachusetts. They had three children:
William Austin (1829–1895), known as Austin, Aust or Awe
Emily Elizabeth
Lavinia Norcross (1833–1899), known as Lavinia or Vinnie
By all accounts, young Dickinson was a well-behaved girl. On an extended visit to Monson when she was two, Dickinson's Aunt Lavinia described her as "perfectly well & contented—She is a very good child & but little trouble." Dickinson's aunt also noted the girl's affinity for music and her particular talent for the piano, which she called "the moosic".
Dickinson attended primary school in a two-story building on Pleasant Street. Her education was "ambitiously classical for a Victorian girl". Wanting his children well-educated, her father followed their progress even while away on business. When Dickinson was seven, he wrote home, reminding his children to "keep school, and learn, so as to tell me, when I come home, how many new things you have learned". While Dickinson consistently described her father in a warm manner, her correspondence suggests that her mother was regularly cold and aloof. In a letter to a confidante, Dickinson wrote she "always ran Home to Awe [Austin] when a child, if anything befell me. He was an awful Mother, but I liked him better than none."
On September 7, 1840, Dickinson and her sister Lavinia started together at Amherst Academy, a former boys' school that had opened to female students just two years earlier. At about the same time, her father purchased a house on North Pleasant Street. Dickinson's brother Austin later described this large new home as the "mansion" over which he and Dickinson presided as "lord and lady" while their parents were absent. The house overlooked Amherst's burial ground, described by one local minister as treeless and "forbidding".
Teenage years
Dickinson spent seven years at the academy, taking classes in English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, "mental philosophy," and arithmetic. Daniel Taggart Fiske, the school's principal at the time, would later recall that Dickinson was "very bright" and "an excellent scholar, of exemplary deportment, faithful in all school duties". Although she had a few terms off due to illness—the longest of which was in 1845–1846, when she was enrolled for only eleven weeks—she enjoyed her strenuous studies, writing to a friend that the academy was "a very fine school".
Dickinson was troubled from a young age by the "deepening menace" of death, especially the deaths of those who were close to her. When Sophia Holland, her second cousin and a close friend, grew ill from typhus and died in April 1844, Dickinson was traumatized. Recalling the incident two years later, she wrote that "it seemed to me I should die too if I could not be permitted to watch over her or even look at her face." She became so melancholic that her parents sent her to stay with family in Boston to recover. With her health and spirits restored, she soon returned to Amherst Academy to continue her studies. During this period, she met people who were to become lifelong friends and correspondents, such as Abiah Root, Abby Wood, Jane Humphrey, and Susan Huntington Gilbert (who later married Dickinson's brother Austin).
In 1845, a religious revival took place in Amherst, resulting in 46 confessions of faith among Dickinson's peers. Dickinson wrote to a friend the following year: "I never enjoyed such perfect peace and happiness as the short time in which I felt I had found my Savior." She went on to say it was her "greatest pleasure to commune alone with the great God & to feel that he would listen to my prayers." The experience did not last: Dickinson never made a formal declaration of faith and attended services regularly for only a few years. After her church-going ended, about 1852, she wrote a poem opening: "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church – / I keep it, staying at Home".
During the last year of her stay at the academy, Dickinson became friendly with Leonard Humphrey, its popular new young principal. After finishing her final term at the Academy on August 10, 1847, Dickinson began attending Mary Lyon's Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (which later became Mount Holyoke College) in South Hadley, about ten miles (16 km) from Amherst. She stayed at the seminary for only ten months. Although she liked the girls at Holyoke, Dickinson made no lasting friendships there. The explanations for her brief stay at Holyoke differ considerably: either she was in poor health, her father wanted to have her at home, she rebelled against the evangelical fervor present at the school, she disliked the discipline-minded teachers, or she was simply homesick. Whatever the reasons for leaving Holyoke, her brother Austin appeared on March 25, 1848, to "bring [her] home at all events". Back in Amherst, Dickinson occupied her time with household activities. She took up baking for the family and enjoyed attending local events and activities in the budding college town.
Early influences and writing
When she was eighteen, Dickinson's family befriended a young attorney by the name of Benjamin Franklin Newton. According to a letter written by Dickinson after Newton's death, he had been "with my Father two years, before going to Worcester – in pursuing his studies, and was much in our family." Although their relationship was probably not romantic, Newton was a formative influence and would become the second in a series of older men (after Humphrey) that Dickinson referred to, variously, as her tutor, preceptor or master.
Newton likely introduced her to the writings of William Wordsworth, and his gift to her of Ralph Waldo Emerson's first book of collected poems had a liberating effect. She wrote later that he, "whose name my Father's Law Student taught me, has touched the secret Spring". Newton held her in high regard, believing in and recognizing her as a poet. When he was dying of tuberculosis, he wrote to her, saying he would like to live until she achieved the greatness he foresaw. Biographers believe that Dickinson's statement of 1862—"When a little Girl, I had a friend, who taught me Immortality – but venturing too near, himself – he never returned"—refers to Newton.
Dickinson was familiar with not only the Bible but also contemporary popular literature. She was probably influenced by Lydia Maria Child's Letters from New York, another gift from Newton (after reading it, she gushed "This then is a book! And there are more of them!"). Her brother smuggled a copy of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Kavanagh into the house for her (because her father might disapprove) and a friend lent her Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre in late 1849. Jane Eyres influence cannot be measured, but when Dickinson acquired her first and only dog, a Newfoundland, she named him "Carlo" after the character St. John Rivers' dog. William Shakespeare was also a potent influence in her life. Referring to his plays, she wrote to one friend, "Why clasp any hand but this?" and to another, "Why is any other book needed?"
Adulthood and seclusion
In early 1850, Dickinson wrote that "Amherst is alive with fun this winter ... Oh, a very great town this is!" Her high spirits soon turned to melancholy after another death. The Amherst Academy principal, Leonard Humphrey, died suddenly of "brain congestion" at age 25. Two years after his death, she revealed to her friend Abiah Root the extent of her sadness:some of my friends are gone, and some of my friends are sleeping – sleeping the churchyard sleep – the hour of evening is sad – it was once my study hour – my master has gone to rest, and the open leaf of the book, and the scholar at school alone, make the tears come, and I cannot brush them away; I would not if I could, for they are the only tribute I can pay the departed Humphrey.
During the 1850s, Dickinson's strongest and most affectionate relationship was with her sister-in-law, Susan Gilbert. Dickinson eventually sent her over three hundred letters, more than to any other correspondent, over the course of their relationship. Susan was supportive of the poet, playing the role of "most beloved friend, influence, muse, and adviser" whose editorial suggestions Dickinson sometimes followed. In an 1882 letter to Susan, Dickinson said, "With the exception of Shakespeare, you have told me of more knowledge than any one living."
The importance of Dickinson's relationship with Susan has widely been overlooked due to a point of view first promoted by Mabel Loomis Todd, who was involved for many years in a relationship with Austin Dickinson and who diminished Susan's role in Dickinson's life due to her own poor relationship with her lover's wife. However, the notion of a "cruel" Susan—as promoted by her romantic rival—has been questioned, most especially by Susan and Austin's surviving children, with whom Dickinson was close. Many scholars interpret the relationship between Emily and Susan as a romantic one. In The Emily Dickinson Journal Lena Koski wrote, "Dickinson's letters to Gilbert express strong homoerotic feelings." She quotes from many of their letters, including one from 1852 in which Dickinson proclaims, "Susie, will you indeed come home next Saturday, and be my own again, and kiss me ... I hope for you so much, and feel so eager for you, feel that I cannot wait, feel that now I must have you—that the expectation once more to see your face again, makes me feel hot and feverish, and my heart beats so fast ... my darling, so near I seem to you, that I disdain this pen, and wait for a warmer language." The relationship between Emily and Susan is portrayed in the film Wild Nights with Emily and explored in the TV series Dickinson.
Sue married Austin in 1856 after a four-year courtship, though their marriage was not a happy one. Edward Dickinson built a house for Austin and Sue naming it the Evergreens, a stand of which was located on the west side of the Homestead.
Until 1855, Dickinson had not strayed far from Amherst. That spring, accompanied by her mother and sister, she took one of her longest and farthest trips away from home. First, they spent three weeks in Washington, where her father was representing Massachusetts in Congress. Then they went to Philadelphia for two weeks to visit family. In Philadelphia, she met Charles Wadsworth, a famous minister of the Arch Street Presbyterian Church, with whom she forged a strong friendship which lasted until his death in 1882. Despite seeing him only twice after 1855 (he moved to San Francisco in 1862), she variously referred to him as "my Philadelphia", "my Clergyman", "my dearest earthly friend" and "my Shepherd from 'Little Girl'hood".
From the mid-1850s, Dickinson's mother became effectively bedridden with various chronic illnesses until her death in 1882. Writing to a friend in summer 1858, Dickinson said she would visit if she could leave "home, or mother. I do not go out at all, lest father will come and miss me, or miss some little act, which I might forget, should I run away – Mother is much as usual. I Know not what to hope of her". As her mother continued to decline, Dickinson's domestic responsibilities weighed more heavily upon her and she confined herself within the Homestead. Forty years later, Lavinia said that because their mother was chronically ill, one of the daughters had to remain always with her. Dickinson took this role as her own, and "finding the life with her books and nature so congenial, continued to live it".
Withdrawing more and more from the outside world, Dickinson began in the summer of 1858 what would be her lasting legacy. Reviewing poems she had written previously, she began making clean copies of her work, assembling carefully pieced-together manuscript books. The forty fascicles she created from 1858 through 1865 eventually held nearly eight hundred poems. No one was aware of the existence of these books until after her death.
In the late 1850s, the Dickinsons befriended Samuel Bowles, the owner and editor-in-chief of the Springfield Republican, and his wife, Mary. They visited the Dickinsons regularly for years to come. During this time Dickinson sent him over three dozen letters and nearly fifty poems. Their friendship brought out some of her most intense writing and Bowles published a few of her poems in his journal. It was from 1858 to 1861 that Dickinson is believed to have written a trio of letters that have been called "The Master Letters". These three letters, drafted to an unknown man simply referred to as "Master", continue to be the subject of speculation and contention amongst scholars.
The first half of the 1860s, after she had largely withdrawn from social life, proved to be Dickinson's most productive writing period. Modern scholars and researchers are divided as to the cause for Dickinson's withdrawal and extreme seclusion. While she was diagnosed as having "nervous prostration" by a physician during her lifetime, some today believe she may have suffered from illnesses as various as agoraphobia and epilepsy.
Is "my Verse ... alive?"
In April 1862, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a literary critic, radical abolitionist, and ex-minister, wrote a lead piece for The Atlantic Monthly titled, "Letter to a Young Contributor". Higginson's essay, in which he urged aspiring writers to "charge your style with life", contained practical advice for those wishing to break into print. Dickinson's decision to contact Higginson suggests that by 1862 she was contemplating publication and that it may have become increasingly difficult to write poetry without an audience. Seeking literary guidance that no one close to her could provide, Dickinson sent him a letter, which read in full:
This highly nuanced and largely theatrical letter was unsigned, but she had included her name on a card and enclosed it in an envelope, along with four of her poems. He praised her work but suggested that she delay publishing until she had written longer, being unaware she had already appeared in print. She assured him that publishing was as foreign to her "as Firmament to Fin", but also proposed that "If fame belonged to me, I could not escape her". Dickinson delighted in dramatic self-characterization and mystery in her letters to Higginson. She said of herself, "I am small, like the wren, and my hair is bold, like the chestnut bur, and my eyes like the sherry in the glass that the guest leaves." She stressed her solitary nature, saying her only real companions were the hills, the sundown, and her dog, Carlo. She also mentioned that whereas her mother did not "care for Thought", her father bought her books, but begged her "not to read them – because he fears they joggle the Mind".
Dickinson valued his advice, going from calling him "Mr. Higginson" to "Dear friend" as well as signing her letters, "Your Gnome" and "Your Scholar". His interest in her work certainly provided great moral support; many years later, Dickinson told Higginson that he had saved her life in 1862. They corresponded until her death, but her difficulty in expressing her literary needs and a reluctance to enter into a cooperative exchange left Higginson nonplussed; he did not press her to publish in subsequent correspondence. Dickinson's own ambivalence on the matter militated against the likelihood of publication. Literary critic Edmund Wilson, in his review of Civil War literature, surmised that "with encouragement, she would certainly have published".
The woman in white
In direct opposition to the immense productivity that she displayed in the early 1860s, Dickinson wrote fewer poems in 1866. Beset with personal loss as well as loss of domestic help, Dickinson may have been too overcome to keep up her previous level of writing. Carlo died during this time after having provided sixteen years of companionship; Dickinson never owned another dog. Although the household servant of nine years, Margaret O'Brien, had married and left the Homestead that same year, it was not until 1869 that the Dickinsons brought in a permanent household servant, Margaret Maher, to replace their former maid-of-all-work. Emily once again was responsible for the kitchen, including cooking and cleaning up, as well as the baking at which she excelled.
Around this time, Dickinson's behavior began to change. She did not leave the Homestead unless it was absolutely necessary and as early as 1867, she began to talk to visitors from the other side of a door rather than speaking to them face to face. She acquired local notoriety; she was rarely seen, and when she was, she was usually clothed in white. Dickinson's one surviving article of clothing is a white cotton dress, possibly sewn circa 1878–1882. Few of the locals who exchanged messages with Dickinson during her last fifteen years ever saw her in person. Austin and his family began to protect Dickinson's privacy, deciding that she was not to be a subject of discussion with outsiders. Despite her physical seclusion, however, Dickinson was socially active and expressive through what makes up two-thirds of her surviving notes and letters. When visitors came to either the Homestead or the Evergreens, she would often leave or send over small gifts of poems or flowers. Dickinson also had a good rapport with the children in her life. Mattie Dickinson, the second child of Austin and Sue, later said that "Aunt Emily stood for indulgence." MacGregor (Mac) Jenkins, the son of family friends who later wrote a short article in 1891 called "A Child's Recollection of Emily Dickinson", thought of her as always offering support to the neighborhood children.
When Higginson urged her to come to Boston in 1868 so they could formally meet for the first time, she declined, writing: "Could it please your convenience to come so far as Amherst I should be very glad, but I do not cross my Father's ground to any House or town". It was not until he came to Amherst in 1870 that they met. Later he referred to her, in the most detailed and vivid physical account of her on record, as "a little plain woman with two smooth bands of reddish hair ... in a very plain & exquisitely clean white piqué & a blue net worsted shawl." He also felt that he never was "with any one who drained my nerve power so much. Without touching her, she drew from me. I am glad not to live near her."
Posies and poesies
Scholar Judith Farr notes that Dickinson, during her lifetime, "was known more widely as a gardener, perhaps, than as a poet". Dickinson studied botany from the age of nine and, along with her sister, tended the garden at Homestead. During her lifetime, she assembled a collection of pressed plants in a sixty-six-page leather-bound herbarium. It contained 424 pressed flower specimens that she collected, classified, and labeled using the Linnaean system. The Homestead garden was well known and admired locally in its time. It has not survived, but efforts to revive it have begun. Dickinson kept no garden notebooks or plant lists, but a clear impression can be formed from the letters and recollections of friends and family. Her niece, Martha Dickinson Bianchi, remembered "carpets of lily-of-the-valley and pansies, platoons of sweetpeas, hyacinths, enough in May to give all the bees of summer dyspepsia. There were ribbons of peony hedges and drifts of daffodils in season, marigolds to distraction—a butterfly utopia". In particular, Dickinson cultivated scented exotic flowers, writing that she "could inhabit the Spice Isles merely by crossing the dining room to the conservatory, where the plants hang in baskets". Dickinson would often send her friends bunches of flowers with verses attached, but "they valued the posy more than the poetry".
Later life
On June 16, 1874, while in Boston, Edward Dickinson suffered a stroke and died. When the simple funeral was held in the Homestead's entrance hall, Dickinson stayed in her room with the door cracked open. Neither did she attend the memorial service on June 28. She wrote to Higginson that her father's "Heart was pure and terrible and I think no other like it exists." A year later, on June 15, 1875, Dickinson's mother also suffered a stroke, which produced a partial lateral paralysis and impaired memory. Lamenting her mother's increasing physical as well as mental demands, Dickinson wrote that "Home is so far from Home".
Otis Phillips Lord, an elderly judge on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from Salem, in 1872 or 1873 became an acquaintance of Dickinson's. After the death of Lord's wife in 1877, his friendship with Dickinson probably became a late-life romance, though as their letters were destroyed, this is surmised. Dickinson found a kindred soul in Lord, especially in terms of shared literary interests; the few letters which survived contain multiple quotations of Shakespeare's work, including the plays Othello, Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet and King Lear. In 1880 he gave her Cowden Clarke's Complete Concordance to Shakespeare (1877). Dickinson wrote that "While others go to Church, I go to mine, for are you not my Church, and have we not a Hymn that no one knows but us?" She referred to him as "My lovely Salem" and they wrote to each other religiously every Sunday. Dickinson looked forward to this day greatly; a surviving fragment of a letter written by her states that "Tuesday is a deeply depressed Day".
After being critically ill for several years, Judge Lord died in March 1884. Dickinson referred to him as "our latest Lost". Two years before this, on April 1, 1882, Dickinson's "Shepherd from 'Little Girl'hood", Charles Wadsworth, also had died after a long illness.
Decline and death
Although she continued to write in her last years, Dickinson stopped editing and organizing her poems. She also exacted a promise from her sister Lavinia to burn her papers. Lavinia, who never married, remained at the Homestead until her own death in 1899.
The 1880s were a difficult time for the remaining Dickinsons. Irreconcilably alienated from his wife, Austin fell in love in 1882 with Mabel Loomis Todd, an Amherst College faculty wife who had recently moved to the area. Todd never met Dickinson but was intrigued by her, referring to her as "a lady whom the people call the Myth". Austin distanced himself from his family as his affair continued and his wife became sick with grief. Dickinson's mother died on November 14, 1882. Five weeks later, Dickinson wrote, "We were never intimate ... while she was our Mother – but Mines in the same Ground meet by tunneling and when she became our Child, the Affection came." The next year, Austin and Sue's third and youngest child, Gilbert—Emily's favorite—died of typhoid fever.
As death succeeded death, Dickinson found her world upended. In the fall of 1884, she wrote, "The Dyings have been too deep for me, and before I could raise my Heart from one, another has come." That summer she had seen "a great darkness coming" and fainted while baking in the kitchen. She remained unconscious late into the night and weeks of ill health followed. On November 30, 1885, her feebleness and other symptoms were so worrying that Austin canceled a trip to Boston. She was confined to her bed for a few months, but managed to send a final burst of letters in the spring. What is thought to be her last letter was sent to her cousins, Louise and Frances Norcross, and simply read: "Little Cousins, Called Back. Emily". On May 15, 1886, after several days of worsening symptoms, Emily Dickinson died at the age of 55. Austin wrote in his diary that "the day was awful ... she ceased to breathe that terrible breathing just before the [afternoon] whistle sounded for six." Dickinson's chief physician gave the cause of death as Bright's disease and its duration as two and a half years.
Lavinia and Austin asked Susan to wash Dickinson's body upon her death. Susan also wrote Dickinson's obituary for the Springfield Republican, ending it with four lines from one of Dickinson's poems: "Morns like these, we parted; Noons like these, she rose; Fluttering first, then firmer, To her fair repose." Lavinia was perfectly satisfied that Sue should arrange everything, knowing it would be done lovingly. Dickinson was buried, laid in a white coffin with vanilla-scented heliotrope, a lady's slipper orchid, and a "knot of blue field violets" placed about it. The funeral service, held in the Homestead's library, was simple and short; Higginson, who had met her only twice, read "No Coward Soul Is Mine", a poem by Emily Brontë that had been a favorite of Dickinson's. At Dickinson's request, her "coffin [was] not driven but carried through fields of buttercups" for burial in the family plot at West Cemetery on Triangle Street.
Publication
Despite Dickinson's prolific writing, only ten poems and a letter were published during her lifetime. After her younger sister Lavinia discovered the collection of nearly 1800 poems, Dickinson's first volume was published four years after her death. Until Thomas H. Johnson published Dickinson's Complete Poems in 1955, Dickinson's poems were considerably edited and altered from their manuscript versions. Since 1890 Dickinson has remained continuously in print.
Contemporary
A few of Dickinson's poems appeared in Samuel Bowles' Springfield Republican between 1858 and 1868. They were published anonymously and heavily edited, with conventionalized punctuation and formal titles. The first poem, "Nobody knows this little rose", may have been published without Dickinson's permission. The Republican also published "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" as "The Snake", "Safe in their Alabaster Chambers –" as "The Sleeping", and "Blazing in the Gold and quenching in Purple" as "Sunset". The poem "I taste a liquor never brewed –" is an example of the edited versions; the last two lines in the first stanza were completely rewritten.
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Original wording
I taste a liquor never brewed –
From Tankards scooped in Pearl –
Not all the Frankfort Berries
Yield such an Alcohol!
|
Republican version
I taste a liquor never brewed –
From Tankards scooped in Pearl –
Not Frankfort Berries yield the sense
Such a delirious whirl!
|
|}
In 1864, several poems were altered and published in Drum Beat, to raise funds for medical care for Union soldiers in the war. Another appeared in April 1864 in the Brooklyn Daily Union.
In the 1870s, Higginson showed Dickinson's poems to Helen Hunt Jackson, who had coincidentally been at the academy with Dickinson when they were girls. Jackson was deeply involved in the publishing world, and managed to convince Dickinson to publish her poem "Success is counted sweetest" anonymously in a volume called A Masque of Poets. The poem, however, was altered to agree with contemporary taste. It was the last poem published during Dickinson's lifetime.
Posthumous
After Dickinson's death, Lavinia Dickinson kept her promise and burned most of the poet's correspondence. Significantly though, Dickinson had left no instructions about the 40 notebooks and loose sheets gathered in a locked chest. Lavinia recognized the poems' worth and became obsessed with seeing them published. She turned first to her brother's wife and then to Mabel Loomis Todd, his lover, for assistance. A feud ensued, with the manuscripts divided between the Todd and Dickinson houses, preventing complete publication of Dickinson's poetry for more than half a century.
The first volume of Dickinson's Poems, edited jointly by Mabel Loomis Todd and T. W. Higginson, appeared in November 1890. Although Todd claimed that only essential changes were made, the poems were extensively edited to match punctuation and capitalization to late 19th-century standards, with occasional rewordings to reduce Dickinson's obliquity. The first 115-poem volume was a critical and financial success, going through eleven printings in two years. Poems: Second Series followed in 1891, running to five editions by 1893; a third series appeared in 1896. One reviewer, in 1892, wrote: "The world will not rest satisfied till every scrap of her writings, letters as well as literature, has been published".
Nearly a dozen new editions of Dickinson's poetry, whether containing previously unpublished or newly edited poems, were published between 1914 and 1945. Martha Dickinson Bianchi, the daughter of Susan and Austin Dickinson, published collections of her aunt's poetry based on the manuscripts held by her family, whereas Mabel Loomis Todd's daughter, Millicent Todd Bingham, published collections based on the manuscripts held by her mother. These competing editions of Dickinson's poetry, often differing in order and structure, ensured that the poet's work was in the public's eye.
The first scholarly publication came in 1955 with a complete new three-volume set edited by Thomas H. Johnson. Forming the basis of later Dickinson scholarship, Johnson's variorum brought all of Dickinson's known poems together for the first time. Johnson's goal was to present the poems very nearly as Dickinson had left them in her manuscripts. They were untitled, only numbered in an approximate chronological sequence, strewn with dashes and irregularly capitalized, and often extremely elliptical in their language. Three years later, Johnson edited and published, along with Theodora Ward, a complete collection of Dickinson's letters, also presented in three volumes.
In 1981, The Manuscript Books of Emily Dickinson was published. Using the physical evidence of the original papers, the poems were intended to be published in their original order for the first time. Editor Ralph W. Franklin relied on smudge marks, needle punctures and other clues to reassemble the poet's packets. Since then, many critics have argued for thematic unity in these small collections, believing the ordering of the poems to be more than chronological or convenient.
Dickinson biographer Alfred Habegger wrote in My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson (2001) that "The consequences of the poet's failure to disseminate her work in a faithful and orderly manner are still very much with us".
Poetry
Dickinson's poems generally fall into three distinct periods, the works in each period having certain general characters in common.
Pre-1861: In the period before 1858, the poems are most often conventional and sentimental in nature. Thomas H. Johnson, who later published The Poems of Emily Dickinson, was able to date only five of Dickinson's poems as written before 1858. Two of these are mock valentines done in an ornate and humorous style, two others are conventional lyrics, one of which is about missing her brother Austin, and the fifth poem, which begins "I have a Bird in spring", conveys her grief over the feared loss of friendship and was sent to her friend Sue Gilbert. In 1858, Dickinson began to collect her poems in the small hand-sewn books she called fascicles.
1861–1865: This was her most creative period, and these poems represent her most vigorous and creative work. Her poetic production also increased dramatically during this period. Johnson estimated that she composed 35 poems in 1860, 86 poems in 1861, 366 in 1862, 141 in 1863, and 174 in 1864. It was during this period that Dickinson fully developed her themes concerning nature, life, and mortality.
Post-1866: Only a third of Dickinson's poems were written in the last twenty years of her life, when her poetic production slowed considerably. During this period, she no longer collected her poems in fascicles.
Structure and syntax
The extensive use of dashes and unconventional capitalization in Dickinson's manuscripts, and the idiosyncratic vocabulary and imagery, combine to create a body of work that is "far more various in its styles and forms than is commonly supposed". Dickinson avoids pentameter, opting more generally for trimeter, tetrameter and, less often, dimeter. Sometimes her use of these meters is regular, but oftentimes it is irregular. The regular form that she most often employs is the ballad stanza, a traditional form that is divided into quatrains, using tetrameter for the first and third lines and trimeter for the second and fourth, while rhyming the second and fourth lines (ABCB). Though Dickinson often uses perfect rhymes for lines two and four, she also makes frequent use of slant rhyme. In some of her poems, she varies the meter from the traditional ballad stanza by using trimeter for lines one, two and four; while using tetrameter for only line three.
Since many of her poems were written in traditional ballad stanzas with ABCB rhyme schemes, some of these poems can be sung to fit the melodies of popular folk songs and hymns that also use the common meter, employing alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter.
Dickinson scholar and poet Anthony Hecht finds resonances in Dickinson's poetry not only with hymns and song-forms but also with psalms and riddles, citing the following example: "Who is the East? / The Yellow Man / Who may be Purple if he can / That carries in the Sun. / Who is the West? / The Purple Man / Who may be Yellow if He can / That lets Him out again."
Late 20th-century scholars are "deeply interested" by Dickinson's highly individual use of punctuation and lineation (line lengths and line breaks). Following the publication of one of the few poems that appeared in her lifetime – "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass", published as "The Snake" in the Republican – Dickinson complained that the edited punctuation (an added comma and a full stop substitution for the original dash) altered the meaning of the entire poem.
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Original wording
A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides –
You may have met Him – did you not
His notice sudden is –
|
Republican version
A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides –
You may have met Him – did you not,
His notice sudden is.
|
|}
As Farr points out, "snakes instantly notice you"; Dickinson's version captures the "breathless immediacy" of the encounter; and The Republicans punctuation renders "her lines more commonplace". With the increasingly close focus on Dickinson's structures and syntax has come a growing appreciation that they are "aesthetically based". Although Johnson's landmark 1955 edition of poems was relatively unaltered from the original, later scholars critiqued it for deviating from the style and layout of Dickinson's manuscripts. Meaningful distinctions, these scholars assert, can be drawn from varying lengths and angles of dash, and differing arrangements of text on the page. Several volumes have attempted to render Dickinson's handwritten dashes using many typographic symbols of varying length and angle. R. W. Franklin's 1998 variorum edition of the poems provided alternate wordings to those chosen by Johnson, in a more limited editorial intervention. Franklin also used typeset dashes of varying length to approximate the manuscripts' dashes more closely.
Major themes
Dickinson left no formal statement of her aesthetic intentions and, because of the variety of her themes, her work does not fit conveniently into any one genre. She has been regarded, alongside Emerson (whose poems Dickinson admired), as a Transcendentalist. However, Farr disagrees with this analysis, saying that Dickinson's "relentlessly measuring mind ... deflates the airy elevation of the Transcendental". Apart from the major themes discussed below, Dickinson's poetry frequently uses humor, puns, irony and satire.
Flowers and gardens: Farr notes that Dickinson's "poems and letters almost wholly concern flowers" and that allusions to gardens often refer to an "imaginative realm ... wherein flowers [are] often emblems for actions and emotions". She associates some flowers, like gentians and anemones, with youth and humility; others with prudence and insight. Her poems were often sent to friends with accompanying letters and nosegays. Farr notes that one of Dickinson's earlier poems, written about 1859, appears to "conflate her poetry itself with the posies": "My nosegays are for Captives – / Dim – long expectant eyes – / Fingers denied the plucking, / Patient till Paradise – / To such, if they sh'd whisper / Of morning and the moor – / They bear no other errand, / And I, no other prayer".
The Master poems: Dickinson left a large number of poems addressed to "Signor", "Sir" and "Master", who is characterized as Dickinson's "lover for all eternity". These confessional poems are often "searing in their self-inquiry" and "harrowing to the reader" and typically take their metaphors from texts and paintings of Dickinson's day. The Dickinson family themselves believed these poems were addressed to actual individuals but this view is frequently rejected by scholars. Farr, for example, contends that the Master is an unattainable composite figure, "human, with specific characteristics, but godlike" and speculates that Master may be a "kind of Christian muse".
Morbidity: Dickinson's poems reflect her "early and lifelong fascination" with illness, dying and death. Perhaps surprisingly for a New England spinster, her poems allude to death by many methods: "crucifixion, drowning, hanging, suffocation, freezing, premature burial, shooting, stabbing and guillotinage". She reserved her sharpest insights into the "death blow aimed by God" and the "funeral in the brain", often reinforced by images of thirst and starvation. Dickinson scholar Vivian Pollak considers these references an autobiographical reflection of Dickinson's "thirsting-starving persona", an outward expression of her needy self-image as small, thin and frail. Dickinson's most psychologically complex poems explore the theme that the loss of hunger for life causes the death of self and place this at "the interface of murder and suicide". Death and morbidity in Dickinson's poetry is also heavily connected to winter themes. Critic Edwin Folsom analyzes how "winter for Dickinson is the season that forces reality, that strips all hope of transcendence. It is a season of death and a metaphor for death".
Gospel poems: Throughout her life, Dickinson wrote poems reflecting a preoccupation with the teachings of Jesus Christ and, indeed, many are addressed to him. She stresses the Gospels' contemporary pertinence and recreates them, often with "wit and American colloquial language". Scholar Dorothy Oberhaus finds that the "salient feature uniting Christian poets ... is their reverential attention to the life of Jesus Christ" and contends that Dickinson's deep structures place her in the "poetic tradition of Christian devotion" alongside Hopkins, Eliot and Auden. In a Nativity poem, Dickinson combines lightness and wit to revisit an ancient theme: "The Savior must have been / A docile Gentleman – / To come so far so cold a Day / For little Fellowmen / The Road to Bethlehem / Since He and I were Boys / Was leveled, but for that twould be / A rugged billion Miles –".
The Undiscovered Continent: Academic Suzanne Juhasz considers that Dickinson saw the mind and spirit as tangible visitable places and that for much of her life she lived within them. Often, this intensely private place is referred to as the "undiscovered continent" and the "landscape of the spirit" and embellished with nature imagery. At other times, the imagery is darker and forbidding—castles or prisons, complete with corridors and rooms—to create a dwelling place of "oneself" where one resides with one's other selves. An example that brings together many of these ideas is: "Me from Myself – to banish – / Had I Art – / Impregnable my Fortress / Unto All Heart – / But since myself—assault Me – / How have I peace / Except by subjugating / Consciousness. / And since We're mutual Monarch / How this be / Except by Abdication – / Me – of Me?".
Reception
The surge of posthumous publication gave Dickinson's poetry its first public exposure. Backed by Higginson and with a favorable notice from William Dean Howells, an editor of Harper's Magazine, the poetry received mixed reviews after it was first published in 1890. Higginson himself stated in his preface to the first edition of Dickinson's published work that the poetry's quality "is that of extraordinary grasp and insight", albeit "without the proper control and chastening" that the experience of publishing during her lifetime might have conferred. His judgment that her opus was "incomplete and unsatisfactory" would be echoed in the essays of the New Critics in the 1930s.
Maurice Thompson, who was literary editor of The Independent for twelve years, noted in 1891 that her poetry had "a strange mixture of rare individuality and originality". Some critics hailed Dickinson's effort, but disapproved of her unusual non-traditional style. Andrew Lang, a British writer, dismissed Dickinson's work, stating that "if poetry is to exist at all, it really must have form and grammar, and must rhyme when it professes to rhyme. The wisdom of the ages and the nature of man insist on so much". Thomas Bailey Aldrich, a poet and novelist, equally dismissed Dickinson's poetic technique in The Atlantic Monthly in January 1892: "It is plain that Miss Dickinson possessed an extremely unconventional and grotesque fancy. She was deeply tinged by the mysticism of Blake, and strongly influenced by the mannerism of Emerson ... But the incoherence and formlessness of her — versicles are fatal ... an eccentric, dreamy, half-educated recluse in an out-of-the-way New England village (or anywhere else) cannot with impunity set at defiance the laws of gravitation and grammar".
Critical attention to Dickinson's poetry was meager from 1897 to the early 1920s. By the start of the 20th century, interest in her poetry became broader in scope and some critics began to consider Dickinson as essentially modern. Rather than seeing Dickinson's poetic styling as a result of lack of knowledge or skill, modern critics believed the irregularities were consciously artistic. In a 1915 essay, Elizabeth Shepley Sergeant called the poet's inspiration "daring" and named her "one of the rarest flowers the sterner New England land ever bore". With the growing popularity of modernist poetry in the 1920s, Dickinson's failure to conform to 19th-century poetic form was no longer surprising nor distasteful to new generations of readers. Dickinson was suddenly referred to by various critics as a great woman poet, and a cult following began to form.
In the 1930s, a number of the New Critics – among them R. P. Blackmur, Allen Tate, Cleanth Brooks and Yvor Winters – appraised the significance of Dickinson's poetry. As critic Roland Hagenbüchle pointed out, their "affirmative and prohibitive tenets turned out to be of special relevance to Dickinson scholarship". Blackmur, in an attempt to focus and clarify the major claims for and against the poet's greatness, wrote in a landmark 1937 critical essay: "... she was a private poet who wrote as indefatigably as some women cook or knit. Her gift for words and the cultural predicament of her time drove her to poetry instead of antimacassars ... She came ... at the right time for one kind of poetry: the poetry of sophisticated, eccentric vision."
The second wave of feminism created greater cultural sympathy for her as a female poet. In the first collection of critical essays on Dickinson from a feminist perspective, she is heralded as the greatest woman poet in the English language. Biographers and theorists of the past tended to separate Dickinson's roles as a woman and a poet. For example, George Whicher wrote in his 1952 book This Was a Poet: A Critical Biography of Emily Dickinson, "Perhaps as a poet [Dickinson] could find the fulfillment she had missed as a woman." Feminist criticism, on the other hand, declares that there is a necessary and powerful conjunction between Dickinson being a woman and a poet. Adrienne Rich theorized in Vesuvius at Home: The Power of Emily Dickinson (1976) that Dickinson's identity as a woman poet brought her power: "[she] chose her seclusion, knowing she was exceptional and knowing what she needed ... She carefully selected her society and controlled the disposal of her time ... neither eccentric nor quaint; she was determined to survive, to use her powers, to practice necessary economics."
Some scholars question the poet's sexuality, theorizing that the numerous letters and poems that were dedicated to Susan Gilbert Dickinson indicate a lesbian romance, and speculating about how this may have influenced her poetry. Critics such as John Cody, Lillian Faderman, Vivian R. Pollak, Paula Bennett, Judith Farr, Ellen Louise Hart, and Martha Nell Smith have argued that Susan was the central erotic relationship in Dickinson's life.
Legacy
In the early 20th century, Martha Dickinson Bianchi and Millicent Todd Bingham kept the achievement of Emily Dickinson alive. Bianchi promoted Dickinson's poetic achievement. Bianchi inherited The Evergreens as well as the copyright for her aunt's poetry from her parents, publishing works such as Emily Dickinson Face to Face and Letters of Emily Dickinson, which stoked public curiosity about her aunt. Bianchi's books perpetrated legends about her aunt in the context of family tradition, personal recollection and correspondence. In contrast, Millicent Todd Bingham's took a more objective and realistic approach to the poet.
Emily Dickinson is now considered a powerful and persistent figure in American culture. Although much of the early reception concentrated on Dickinson's eccentric and secluded nature, she has become widely acknowledged as an innovative, proto-modernist poet. As early as 1891, William Dean Howells wrote that "If nothing else had come out of our life but this strange poetry, we should feel that in the work of Emily Dickinson, America, or New England rather, had made a distinctive addition to the literature of the world, and could not be left out of any record of it." Critic Harold Bloom has placed her alongside Walt Whitman, Wallace Stevens, Robert Frost, T. S. Eliot, and Hart Crane as a major American poet, and in 1994 listed her among the 26 central writers of Western civilization.
Dickinson is taught in American literature and poetry classes in the United States from middle school to college. Her poetry is frequently anthologized and has been used as text for art songs by composers such as Aaron Copland, Nick Peros, John Adams and Michael Tilson Thomas. Several schools have been established in her name; for example, Emily Dickinson Elementary Schools exist in Bozeman, Montana; Redmond, Washington; and New York City. A few literary journals — including The Emily Dickinson Journal, the official publication of the Emily Dickinson International Society — have been founded to examine her work. An 8-cent commemorative stamp in honor of Dickinson was issued by the United States Postal Service on August 28, 1971, as the second stamp in the "American Poet" series. Dickinson was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1973. A one-woman play titled The Belle of Amherst appeared on Broadway in 1976, winning several awards; it was later adapted for television.
Dickinson's herbarium, which is now held in the Houghton Library at Harvard University, was published in 2006 as Emily Dickinson's Herbarium by Harvard University Press. The original work was compiled by Dickinson during her years at Amherst Academy, and consists of 424 pressed specimens of plants arranged on 66 pages of a bound album. A digital facsimile of the herbarium is available online. The town of Amherst Jones Library's Special Collections department has an Emily Dickinson Collection consisting of approximately seven thousand items, including original manuscript poems and letters, family correspondence, scholarly articles and books, newspaper clippings, theses, plays, photographs and contemporary artwork and prints. The Archives and Special Collections at Amherst College has substantial holdings of Dickinson's manuscripts and letters as well as a lock of Dickinson's hair and the original of the only positively identified image of the poet. In 1965, in recognition of Dickinson's growing stature as a poet, the Homestead was purchased by Amherst College. It opened to the public for tours, and also served as a faculty residence for many years. The Emily Dickinson Museum was created in 2003 when ownership of the Evergreens, which had been occupied by Dickinson family heirs until 1988, was transferred to the college.
Modern influence and inspiration
Emily Dickinson's life and works have been the source of inspiration to artists, particularly to feminist-oriented artists, of a variety of mediums. A few notable examples are as follows:
The feminist artwork The Dinner Party, by Judy Chicago, first exhibited in 1979, features a place setting for Dickinson.
Jane Campion's film The Piano and its novelization (co-authored by Kate Pullinger) were inspired by the poetry of Emily Dickinson as well as the novels by the Brontë sisters.
A character who is a literary scholar at a fictional New England college in the comic campus novel by Pamela Hansford Johnson Night and Silence Who Is Here? is intent on proving that Emily Dickinson was a secret dipsomaniac. His obsession costs him his job.
The 2012 book The Emily Dickinson Reader by Paul Legault is an English-to-English translation of her complete poems published by McSweeney's.
Dickinson's work has been set by numerous composers including Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Chester Biscardi, Elliot Carter, John Adams, Libby Larsen, Peter Seabourne, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Judith Weir.
A public garden is named in her honor in Paris: 'square Emily-Dickinson', in the 20th arrondissement.
Jazz saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom released the 2017 double album Wild Lines: Improvising Emily Dickinson inspired by the poet's works.
English director Terence Davies directed and wrote A Quiet Passion, a 2016 biographical film about the life of Emily Dickinson. The film stars Cynthia Nixon as the reclusive poet. The film premiered at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2016 and was released in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2017.
Dickinson is a TV series starring Academy Award nominee Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Dickinson and premiered in 2019 on Apple TV+. The series focused on Dickinson's life.
Translation
Emily Dickinson's poetry has been translated into languages including French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Persian, Kurdish, Turkish, Georgian, Swedish, and Russian. A few examples of these translations are the following:
The Queen of Bashful Violets, a Kurdish translation by Madeh Piryonesi published in 2016.
French translation by Charlotte Melançon which includes 40 poems.
Mandarin Chinese translation by Professor Jianxin Zhou
Swedish translation by Ann Jäderlund.
Persian translations: Three Persian translations of Emily Dickinson are available from Saeed Saeedpoor, Madeh Piryonesi and Okhovat.
Turkish translation: Selected Poems, translated by Selahattin Özpalabıyıklar in 2006, is available from Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları through its special Hasan Âli Yücel classics series.
See also
List of Emily Dickinson poems
References
Notes
Editions of poetry and letters
Cristanne Miller (ed.). 2016. Emily Dickinson's Poems: As She Preserved Them. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Franklin, R. W. (ed.). 1998. The Poems of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. .
Johnson, Thomas H. and Theodora Ward (eds.). 1958. The Letters of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Johnson, Thomas H. (ed.). 1955. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.
Secondary sources
Bianchi, Martha Dickinson. 1970. Emily Dickinson Face to Face: Unpublished Letters with Notes and Reminiscences. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books.
Blake, Caesar R. (ed). 1964. The Recognition of Emily Dickinson: Selected Criticism Since 1890. Ed. Caesar R. Blake. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Bloom, Harold. 1999. Emily Dickinson. Broomall, PA: Chelsea House Publishers. .
Bloom, Harold. 1994. The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Buckingham, Willis J. (ed). 1989. Emily Dickinson's Reception in the 1890s: A Documentary History. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. .
Comment, Kristin M. 2001. "Dickinson's Bawdy: Shakespeare and Sexual Symbolism in Emily Dickinson's Writing to Susan Dickinson". Legacy. 18(2). pp. 167–181.
Crumbley, Paul. 1997. Inflections of the Pen: Dash and Voice in Emily Dickinson. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky. .
D'Arienzo, Daria. 2006. "Looking at Emily", Amherst Magazine. Winter 2006. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
Farr, Judith (ed). 1996. Emily Dickinson: A Collection of Critical Essays. Prentice Hall International Paperback Editions. .
Farr, Judith. 2005. The Gardens of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England: Harvard University Press. .
Ford, Thomas W. 1966. Heaven Beguiles the Tired: Death in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson. University of Alabama Press.
Franklin, R. W. 1998. The Master Letters of Emily Dickinson. University of Massachusetts Press. .
Gordon, Lyndall. 2010. Lives Like Loaded Guns: Emily Dickinson and Her Family's Feuds. Viking. .
Grabher, Gudrun, Roland Hagenbüchle and Cristanne Miller. 1998. The Emily Dickinson Handbook. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
Habegger, Alfred. 2001. My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson. New York: Random House. .
Roland Hagenbüchle: Precision and Indeterminacy in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson, Emerson Society Quarterly, 1974
Hecht, Anthony. 1996. "The Riddles of Emily Dickinson" in Farr (1996) 149–162.
Juhasz, Suzanne (ed). 1983. Feminist Critics Read Emily Dickinson. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. .
Juhasz, Suzanne. 1996. "The Landscape of the Spirit" in Farr (1996) 130–140.
Knapp, Bettina L. 1989. Emily Dickinson. New York: Continuum Publishing.
Martin, Wendy (ed). 2002. The Cambridge Companion to Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
McNeil, Helen. 1986. Emily Dickinson. London: Virago Press. .
Mitchell, Domhnall Mitchell and Maria Stuart. 2009. The International Reception of Emily Dickinson. New York: Continuum. .
Murray, Aífe. 2010. Maid as Muse: How Domestic Servants Changed Emily Dickinson's Life and Language. University Press of New England. .
Murray, Aífe. 1996. "Kitchen Table Poetics: Maid Margaret Maher and Her Poet Emily Dickinson," The Emily Dickinson Journal. 5(2). pp. 285–296.
Paglia, Camille. 1990. Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson. Yale University Press. .
Oberhaus, Dorothy Huff. 1996. " 'Tender pioneer': Emily Dickinson's Poems on the Life of Christ" in Farr (1996) 105–119.
Parker, Peter. 2007. "New Feet Within My Garden Go: Emily Dickinson's Herbarium", The Daily Telegraph, June 29, 2007. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
Pickard, John B. 1967. Emily Dickinson: An Introduction and Interpretation. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Pollak, Vivian R. 1996. "Thirst and Starvation in Emily Dickinson's Poetry" in Farr (1996) 62–75.
Sewall, Richard B. 1974. The Life of Emily Dickinson. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. .
Smith, Martha Nell. 1992. Rowing in Eden: Rereading Emily Dickinson. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. .
Stocks, Kenneth. 1988. Emily Dickinson and the Modern Consciousness: A Poet of Our Time. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Walsh, John Evangelist. 1971. The Hidden Life of Emily Dickinson. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Wells, Anna Mary. 1929. "Early Criticism of Emily Dickinson", American Literature, Vol. 1, No. 3. (November 1929).
Wilson, Edmund. 1962. Patriotic Gore: Studies in the Literature of the American Civil War. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. .
Wolff, Cynthia Griffin. 1986. Emily Dickinson. New York. Alfred A. Knopf. .
Further reading
Emily Dickinson Papers, 1844–1891 (3 microfilm reels) are housed at the Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University.
Visiting Emily: Poems Inspired by the Life and Works of Emily Dickinson (University of Iowa Press, 2001) by Thomas Tammaro and Sheila Coghill (2001 Minnesota Book Awards winner)
External links
Dickinson Electronic Archives
Emily Dickinson Archive
Emily Dickinson poems and texts at the Academy of American Poets
Profile and poems of Emily Dickinson, including audio files, at the Poetry Foundation.
Emily Dickinson Lexicon
Emily Dickinson at Modern American Poetry
Emily Dickinson International Society
Emily Dickinson Museum The Homestead and the Evergreens, Amherst, Massachusetts
Emily Dickinson at Amherst College, Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
Emily Dickinson Collection at Houghton Library, Harvard University
Emily Dickinson Papers, Galatea Collection, Boston Public Library
Interview with Them Tammaro and Sheila Coghill about their book Visiting Emily: Poems Inspired by the Life and Work of Emily Dickinson, NORTHERN LIGHTS Minnesota Author Interview TV Series #465 (2001)
1830 births
1886 deaths
19th-century American poets
19th-century American women writers
American women poets
Deaths from nephritis
Mount Holyoke College alumni
People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War
Women in the American Civil War
Writers from Amherst, Massachusetts
Christian poets
Dickinson family
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[
"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"
] |
[
"Emily Dickinson",
"Teenage years",
"What were Emily's teenage years like?",
"spent seven years at the Academy, taking classes in English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, \"mental philosophy,\"",
"Where did she go to school?",
"the Academy,",
"When did she start writing?",
"After her church-going ended, about 1852, she wrote a poem",
"What else did she do as a teenager?",
"Dickinson was troubled from a young age by the \"deepening menace\" of death,",
"Did she have depression?",
"I don't know.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"She took up baking for the family and enjoyed attending local events and activities in the budding college town."
] |
C_46199e7ffd6d4ee89dd4ebb9698bfd94_1
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Which college town?
| 7 |
Which college town did Emily Dickinson attend event and activities?
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Emily Dickinson
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Dickinson spent seven years at the Academy, taking classes in English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, "mental philosophy," and arithmetic. Daniel Taggart Fiske, the school's principal at the time, would later recall that Dickinson was "very bright" and "an excellent scholar, of exemplary deportment, faithful in all school duties". Although she had a few terms off due to illness--the longest of which was in 1845-1846, when she was enrolled for only eleven weeks--she enjoyed her strenuous studies, writing to a friend that the Academy was "a very fine school". Dickinson was troubled from a young age by the "deepening menace" of death, especially the deaths of those who were close to her. When Sophia Holland, her second cousin and a close friend, grew ill from typhus and died in April 1844, Emily was traumatized. Recalling the incident two years later, Emily wrote that "it seemed to me I should die too if I could not be permitted to watch over her or even look at her face." She became so melancholic that her parents sent her to stay with family in Boston to recover. With her health and spirits restored, she soon returned to Amherst Academy to continue her studies. During this period, she first met people who were to become lifelong friends and correspondents, such as Abiah Root, Abby Wood, Jane Humphrey, and Susan Huntington Gilbert (who later married Emily's brother Austin). In 1845, a religious revival took place in Amherst, resulting in 46 confessions of faith among Dickinson's peers. Dickinson wrote to a friend the following year: "I never enjoyed such perfect peace and happiness as the short time in which I felt I had found my savior." She went on to say that it was her "greatest pleasure to commune alone with the great God & to feel that he would listen to my prayers." The experience did not last: Dickinson never made a formal declaration of faith and attended services regularly for only a few years. After her church-going ended, about 1852, she wrote a poem opening: "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church - / I keep it, staying at Home". During the last year of her stay at the Academy, Emily became friendly with Leonard Humphrey, its popular new young principal. After finishing her final term at the Academy on August 10, 1847, Dickinson began attending Mary Lyon's Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (which later became Mount Holyoke College) in South Hadley, about ten miles (16 km) from Amherst. She was at the seminary for only ten months. Although she liked the girls at Holyoke, Dickinson made no lasting friendships there. The explanations for her brief stay at Holyoke differ considerably: either she was in poor health, her father wanted to have her at home, she rebelled against the evangelical fervor present at the school, she disliked the discipline-minded teachers, or she was simply homesick. Whatever the specific reason for leaving Holyoke, her brother Austin appeared on March 25, 1848, to "bring [her] home at all events". Back in Amherst, Dickinson occupied her time with household activities. She took up baking for the family and enjoyed attending local events and activities in the budding college town. CANNOTANSWER
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Amherst,
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Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry.
Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, into a prominent family with strong ties to its community. After studying at the Amherst Academy for seven years in her youth, she briefly attended the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before returning to her family's home in Amherst.
Evidence suggests that Dickinson lived much of her life in isolation. Considered an eccentric by locals, she developed a penchant for white clothing and was known for her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, to even leave her bedroom. Dickinson never married, and most friendships between her and others depended entirely upon correspondence.
While Dickinson was a prolific writer, her only publications during her lifetime were 10 of her nearly 1,800 poems, and one letter. The poems published then were usually edited significantly to fit conventional poetic rules. Her poems were unique for her era. They contain short lines, typically lack titles, and often use slant rhyme as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation. Many of her poems deal with themes of death and immortality, two recurring topics in letters to her friends, and also explore aesthetics, society, nature and spirituality.
Although Dickinson's acquaintances were most likely aware of her writing, it was not until after her death in 1886—when Lavinia, Dickinson's younger sister, discovered her cache of poems—that her work became public. Her first collection of poetry was published in 1890 by personal acquaintances Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd, though both heavily edited the content. A 1998 article in The New York Times revealed that of the many edits made to Dickinson's work, the name "Susan" was often deliberately removed. At least eleven of Dickinson's poems were dedicated to sister-in-law Susan Huntington Gilbert Dickinson, though all the dedications were obliterated, presumably by Todd. A complete, and mostly unaltered, collection of her poetry became available for the first time when scholar Thomas H. Johnson published The Poems of Emily Dickinson in 1955.
Life
Family and early childhood
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born at the family's homestead in Amherst, Massachusetts, on December 10, 1830, into a prominent, but not wealthy, family. Her father, Edward Dickinson was a lawyer in Amherst and a trustee of Amherst College. Two hundred years earlier, her patrilineal ancestors had arrived in the New World—in the Puritan Great Migration—where they prospered. Emily Dickinson's paternal grandfather, Samuel Dickinson, was one of the founders of Amherst College. In 1813, he built the Homestead, a large mansion on the town's Main Street, that became the focus of Dickinson family life for the better part of a century. Samuel Dickinson's eldest son, Edward, was treasurer of Amherst College from 1835 to 1873, served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1838–1839; 1873) and the Massachusetts Senate (1842–1843), and represented Massachusetts's 10th congressional district in the 33rd U.S. Congress (1853–1855). On May 6, 1828, he married Emily Norcross from Monson, Massachusetts. They had three children:
William Austin (1829–1895), known as Austin, Aust or Awe
Emily Elizabeth
Lavinia Norcross (1833–1899), known as Lavinia or Vinnie
By all accounts, young Dickinson was a well-behaved girl. On an extended visit to Monson when she was two, Dickinson's Aunt Lavinia described her as "perfectly well & contented—She is a very good child & but little trouble." Dickinson's aunt also noted the girl's affinity for music and her particular talent for the piano, which she called "the moosic".
Dickinson attended primary school in a two-story building on Pleasant Street. Her education was "ambitiously classical for a Victorian girl". Wanting his children well-educated, her father followed their progress even while away on business. When Dickinson was seven, he wrote home, reminding his children to "keep school, and learn, so as to tell me, when I come home, how many new things you have learned". While Dickinson consistently described her father in a warm manner, her correspondence suggests that her mother was regularly cold and aloof. In a letter to a confidante, Dickinson wrote she "always ran Home to Awe [Austin] when a child, if anything befell me. He was an awful Mother, but I liked him better than none."
On September 7, 1840, Dickinson and her sister Lavinia started together at Amherst Academy, a former boys' school that had opened to female students just two years earlier. At about the same time, her father purchased a house on North Pleasant Street. Dickinson's brother Austin later described this large new home as the "mansion" over which he and Dickinson presided as "lord and lady" while their parents were absent. The house overlooked Amherst's burial ground, described by one local minister as treeless and "forbidding".
Teenage years
Dickinson spent seven years at the academy, taking classes in English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, "mental philosophy," and arithmetic. Daniel Taggart Fiske, the school's principal at the time, would later recall that Dickinson was "very bright" and "an excellent scholar, of exemplary deportment, faithful in all school duties". Although she had a few terms off due to illness—the longest of which was in 1845–1846, when she was enrolled for only eleven weeks—she enjoyed her strenuous studies, writing to a friend that the academy was "a very fine school".
Dickinson was troubled from a young age by the "deepening menace" of death, especially the deaths of those who were close to her. When Sophia Holland, her second cousin and a close friend, grew ill from typhus and died in April 1844, Dickinson was traumatized. Recalling the incident two years later, she wrote that "it seemed to me I should die too if I could not be permitted to watch over her or even look at her face." She became so melancholic that her parents sent her to stay with family in Boston to recover. With her health and spirits restored, she soon returned to Amherst Academy to continue her studies. During this period, she met people who were to become lifelong friends and correspondents, such as Abiah Root, Abby Wood, Jane Humphrey, and Susan Huntington Gilbert (who later married Dickinson's brother Austin).
In 1845, a religious revival took place in Amherst, resulting in 46 confessions of faith among Dickinson's peers. Dickinson wrote to a friend the following year: "I never enjoyed such perfect peace and happiness as the short time in which I felt I had found my Savior." She went on to say it was her "greatest pleasure to commune alone with the great God & to feel that he would listen to my prayers." The experience did not last: Dickinson never made a formal declaration of faith and attended services regularly for only a few years. After her church-going ended, about 1852, she wrote a poem opening: "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church – / I keep it, staying at Home".
During the last year of her stay at the academy, Dickinson became friendly with Leonard Humphrey, its popular new young principal. After finishing her final term at the Academy on August 10, 1847, Dickinson began attending Mary Lyon's Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (which later became Mount Holyoke College) in South Hadley, about ten miles (16 km) from Amherst. She stayed at the seminary for only ten months. Although she liked the girls at Holyoke, Dickinson made no lasting friendships there. The explanations for her brief stay at Holyoke differ considerably: either she was in poor health, her father wanted to have her at home, she rebelled against the evangelical fervor present at the school, she disliked the discipline-minded teachers, or she was simply homesick. Whatever the reasons for leaving Holyoke, her brother Austin appeared on March 25, 1848, to "bring [her] home at all events". Back in Amherst, Dickinson occupied her time with household activities. She took up baking for the family and enjoyed attending local events and activities in the budding college town.
Early influences and writing
When she was eighteen, Dickinson's family befriended a young attorney by the name of Benjamin Franklin Newton. According to a letter written by Dickinson after Newton's death, he had been "with my Father two years, before going to Worcester – in pursuing his studies, and was much in our family." Although their relationship was probably not romantic, Newton was a formative influence and would become the second in a series of older men (after Humphrey) that Dickinson referred to, variously, as her tutor, preceptor or master.
Newton likely introduced her to the writings of William Wordsworth, and his gift to her of Ralph Waldo Emerson's first book of collected poems had a liberating effect. She wrote later that he, "whose name my Father's Law Student taught me, has touched the secret Spring". Newton held her in high regard, believing in and recognizing her as a poet. When he was dying of tuberculosis, he wrote to her, saying he would like to live until she achieved the greatness he foresaw. Biographers believe that Dickinson's statement of 1862—"When a little Girl, I had a friend, who taught me Immortality – but venturing too near, himself – he never returned"—refers to Newton.
Dickinson was familiar with not only the Bible but also contemporary popular literature. She was probably influenced by Lydia Maria Child's Letters from New York, another gift from Newton (after reading it, she gushed "This then is a book! And there are more of them!"). Her brother smuggled a copy of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Kavanagh into the house for her (because her father might disapprove) and a friend lent her Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre in late 1849. Jane Eyres influence cannot be measured, but when Dickinson acquired her first and only dog, a Newfoundland, she named him "Carlo" after the character St. John Rivers' dog. William Shakespeare was also a potent influence in her life. Referring to his plays, she wrote to one friend, "Why clasp any hand but this?" and to another, "Why is any other book needed?"
Adulthood and seclusion
In early 1850, Dickinson wrote that "Amherst is alive with fun this winter ... Oh, a very great town this is!" Her high spirits soon turned to melancholy after another death. The Amherst Academy principal, Leonard Humphrey, died suddenly of "brain congestion" at age 25. Two years after his death, she revealed to her friend Abiah Root the extent of her sadness:some of my friends are gone, and some of my friends are sleeping – sleeping the churchyard sleep – the hour of evening is sad – it was once my study hour – my master has gone to rest, and the open leaf of the book, and the scholar at school alone, make the tears come, and I cannot brush them away; I would not if I could, for they are the only tribute I can pay the departed Humphrey.
During the 1850s, Dickinson's strongest and most affectionate relationship was with her sister-in-law, Susan Gilbert. Dickinson eventually sent her over three hundred letters, more than to any other correspondent, over the course of their relationship. Susan was supportive of the poet, playing the role of "most beloved friend, influence, muse, and adviser" whose editorial suggestions Dickinson sometimes followed. In an 1882 letter to Susan, Dickinson said, "With the exception of Shakespeare, you have told me of more knowledge than any one living."
The importance of Dickinson's relationship with Susan has widely been overlooked due to a point of view first promoted by Mabel Loomis Todd, who was involved for many years in a relationship with Austin Dickinson and who diminished Susan's role in Dickinson's life due to her own poor relationship with her lover's wife. However, the notion of a "cruel" Susan—as promoted by her romantic rival—has been questioned, most especially by Susan and Austin's surviving children, with whom Dickinson was close. Many scholars interpret the relationship between Emily and Susan as a romantic one. In The Emily Dickinson Journal Lena Koski wrote, "Dickinson's letters to Gilbert express strong homoerotic feelings." She quotes from many of their letters, including one from 1852 in which Dickinson proclaims, "Susie, will you indeed come home next Saturday, and be my own again, and kiss me ... I hope for you so much, and feel so eager for you, feel that I cannot wait, feel that now I must have you—that the expectation once more to see your face again, makes me feel hot and feverish, and my heart beats so fast ... my darling, so near I seem to you, that I disdain this pen, and wait for a warmer language." The relationship between Emily and Susan is portrayed in the film Wild Nights with Emily and explored in the TV series Dickinson.
Sue married Austin in 1856 after a four-year courtship, though their marriage was not a happy one. Edward Dickinson built a house for Austin and Sue naming it the Evergreens, a stand of which was located on the west side of the Homestead.
Until 1855, Dickinson had not strayed far from Amherst. That spring, accompanied by her mother and sister, she took one of her longest and farthest trips away from home. First, they spent three weeks in Washington, where her father was representing Massachusetts in Congress. Then they went to Philadelphia for two weeks to visit family. In Philadelphia, she met Charles Wadsworth, a famous minister of the Arch Street Presbyterian Church, with whom she forged a strong friendship which lasted until his death in 1882. Despite seeing him only twice after 1855 (he moved to San Francisco in 1862), she variously referred to him as "my Philadelphia", "my Clergyman", "my dearest earthly friend" and "my Shepherd from 'Little Girl'hood".
From the mid-1850s, Dickinson's mother became effectively bedridden with various chronic illnesses until her death in 1882. Writing to a friend in summer 1858, Dickinson said she would visit if she could leave "home, or mother. I do not go out at all, lest father will come and miss me, or miss some little act, which I might forget, should I run away – Mother is much as usual. I Know not what to hope of her". As her mother continued to decline, Dickinson's domestic responsibilities weighed more heavily upon her and she confined herself within the Homestead. Forty years later, Lavinia said that because their mother was chronically ill, one of the daughters had to remain always with her. Dickinson took this role as her own, and "finding the life with her books and nature so congenial, continued to live it".
Withdrawing more and more from the outside world, Dickinson began in the summer of 1858 what would be her lasting legacy. Reviewing poems she had written previously, she began making clean copies of her work, assembling carefully pieced-together manuscript books. The forty fascicles she created from 1858 through 1865 eventually held nearly eight hundred poems. No one was aware of the existence of these books until after her death.
In the late 1850s, the Dickinsons befriended Samuel Bowles, the owner and editor-in-chief of the Springfield Republican, and his wife, Mary. They visited the Dickinsons regularly for years to come. During this time Dickinson sent him over three dozen letters and nearly fifty poems. Their friendship brought out some of her most intense writing and Bowles published a few of her poems in his journal. It was from 1858 to 1861 that Dickinson is believed to have written a trio of letters that have been called "The Master Letters". These three letters, drafted to an unknown man simply referred to as "Master", continue to be the subject of speculation and contention amongst scholars.
The first half of the 1860s, after she had largely withdrawn from social life, proved to be Dickinson's most productive writing period. Modern scholars and researchers are divided as to the cause for Dickinson's withdrawal and extreme seclusion. While she was diagnosed as having "nervous prostration" by a physician during her lifetime, some today believe she may have suffered from illnesses as various as agoraphobia and epilepsy.
Is "my Verse ... alive?"
In April 1862, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a literary critic, radical abolitionist, and ex-minister, wrote a lead piece for The Atlantic Monthly titled, "Letter to a Young Contributor". Higginson's essay, in which he urged aspiring writers to "charge your style with life", contained practical advice for those wishing to break into print. Dickinson's decision to contact Higginson suggests that by 1862 she was contemplating publication and that it may have become increasingly difficult to write poetry without an audience. Seeking literary guidance that no one close to her could provide, Dickinson sent him a letter, which read in full:
This highly nuanced and largely theatrical letter was unsigned, but she had included her name on a card and enclosed it in an envelope, along with four of her poems. He praised her work but suggested that she delay publishing until she had written longer, being unaware she had already appeared in print. She assured him that publishing was as foreign to her "as Firmament to Fin", but also proposed that "If fame belonged to me, I could not escape her". Dickinson delighted in dramatic self-characterization and mystery in her letters to Higginson. She said of herself, "I am small, like the wren, and my hair is bold, like the chestnut bur, and my eyes like the sherry in the glass that the guest leaves." She stressed her solitary nature, saying her only real companions were the hills, the sundown, and her dog, Carlo. She also mentioned that whereas her mother did not "care for Thought", her father bought her books, but begged her "not to read them – because he fears they joggle the Mind".
Dickinson valued his advice, going from calling him "Mr. Higginson" to "Dear friend" as well as signing her letters, "Your Gnome" and "Your Scholar". His interest in her work certainly provided great moral support; many years later, Dickinson told Higginson that he had saved her life in 1862. They corresponded until her death, but her difficulty in expressing her literary needs and a reluctance to enter into a cooperative exchange left Higginson nonplussed; he did not press her to publish in subsequent correspondence. Dickinson's own ambivalence on the matter militated against the likelihood of publication. Literary critic Edmund Wilson, in his review of Civil War literature, surmised that "with encouragement, she would certainly have published".
The woman in white
In direct opposition to the immense productivity that she displayed in the early 1860s, Dickinson wrote fewer poems in 1866. Beset with personal loss as well as loss of domestic help, Dickinson may have been too overcome to keep up her previous level of writing. Carlo died during this time after having provided sixteen years of companionship; Dickinson never owned another dog. Although the household servant of nine years, Margaret O'Brien, had married and left the Homestead that same year, it was not until 1869 that the Dickinsons brought in a permanent household servant, Margaret Maher, to replace their former maid-of-all-work. Emily once again was responsible for the kitchen, including cooking and cleaning up, as well as the baking at which she excelled.
Around this time, Dickinson's behavior began to change. She did not leave the Homestead unless it was absolutely necessary and as early as 1867, she began to talk to visitors from the other side of a door rather than speaking to them face to face. She acquired local notoriety; she was rarely seen, and when she was, she was usually clothed in white. Dickinson's one surviving article of clothing is a white cotton dress, possibly sewn circa 1878–1882. Few of the locals who exchanged messages with Dickinson during her last fifteen years ever saw her in person. Austin and his family began to protect Dickinson's privacy, deciding that she was not to be a subject of discussion with outsiders. Despite her physical seclusion, however, Dickinson was socially active and expressive through what makes up two-thirds of her surviving notes and letters. When visitors came to either the Homestead or the Evergreens, she would often leave or send over small gifts of poems or flowers. Dickinson also had a good rapport with the children in her life. Mattie Dickinson, the second child of Austin and Sue, later said that "Aunt Emily stood for indulgence." MacGregor (Mac) Jenkins, the son of family friends who later wrote a short article in 1891 called "A Child's Recollection of Emily Dickinson", thought of her as always offering support to the neighborhood children.
When Higginson urged her to come to Boston in 1868 so they could formally meet for the first time, she declined, writing: "Could it please your convenience to come so far as Amherst I should be very glad, but I do not cross my Father's ground to any House or town". It was not until he came to Amherst in 1870 that they met. Later he referred to her, in the most detailed and vivid physical account of her on record, as "a little plain woman with two smooth bands of reddish hair ... in a very plain & exquisitely clean white piqué & a blue net worsted shawl." He also felt that he never was "with any one who drained my nerve power so much. Without touching her, she drew from me. I am glad not to live near her."
Posies and poesies
Scholar Judith Farr notes that Dickinson, during her lifetime, "was known more widely as a gardener, perhaps, than as a poet". Dickinson studied botany from the age of nine and, along with her sister, tended the garden at Homestead. During her lifetime, she assembled a collection of pressed plants in a sixty-six-page leather-bound herbarium. It contained 424 pressed flower specimens that she collected, classified, and labeled using the Linnaean system. The Homestead garden was well known and admired locally in its time. It has not survived, but efforts to revive it have begun. Dickinson kept no garden notebooks or plant lists, but a clear impression can be formed from the letters and recollections of friends and family. Her niece, Martha Dickinson Bianchi, remembered "carpets of lily-of-the-valley and pansies, platoons of sweetpeas, hyacinths, enough in May to give all the bees of summer dyspepsia. There were ribbons of peony hedges and drifts of daffodils in season, marigolds to distraction—a butterfly utopia". In particular, Dickinson cultivated scented exotic flowers, writing that she "could inhabit the Spice Isles merely by crossing the dining room to the conservatory, where the plants hang in baskets". Dickinson would often send her friends bunches of flowers with verses attached, but "they valued the posy more than the poetry".
Later life
On June 16, 1874, while in Boston, Edward Dickinson suffered a stroke and died. When the simple funeral was held in the Homestead's entrance hall, Dickinson stayed in her room with the door cracked open. Neither did she attend the memorial service on June 28. She wrote to Higginson that her father's "Heart was pure and terrible and I think no other like it exists." A year later, on June 15, 1875, Dickinson's mother also suffered a stroke, which produced a partial lateral paralysis and impaired memory. Lamenting her mother's increasing physical as well as mental demands, Dickinson wrote that "Home is so far from Home".
Otis Phillips Lord, an elderly judge on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from Salem, in 1872 or 1873 became an acquaintance of Dickinson's. After the death of Lord's wife in 1877, his friendship with Dickinson probably became a late-life romance, though as their letters were destroyed, this is surmised. Dickinson found a kindred soul in Lord, especially in terms of shared literary interests; the few letters which survived contain multiple quotations of Shakespeare's work, including the plays Othello, Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet and King Lear. In 1880 he gave her Cowden Clarke's Complete Concordance to Shakespeare (1877). Dickinson wrote that "While others go to Church, I go to mine, for are you not my Church, and have we not a Hymn that no one knows but us?" She referred to him as "My lovely Salem" and they wrote to each other religiously every Sunday. Dickinson looked forward to this day greatly; a surviving fragment of a letter written by her states that "Tuesday is a deeply depressed Day".
After being critically ill for several years, Judge Lord died in March 1884. Dickinson referred to him as "our latest Lost". Two years before this, on April 1, 1882, Dickinson's "Shepherd from 'Little Girl'hood", Charles Wadsworth, also had died after a long illness.
Decline and death
Although she continued to write in her last years, Dickinson stopped editing and organizing her poems. She also exacted a promise from her sister Lavinia to burn her papers. Lavinia, who never married, remained at the Homestead until her own death in 1899.
The 1880s were a difficult time for the remaining Dickinsons. Irreconcilably alienated from his wife, Austin fell in love in 1882 with Mabel Loomis Todd, an Amherst College faculty wife who had recently moved to the area. Todd never met Dickinson but was intrigued by her, referring to her as "a lady whom the people call the Myth". Austin distanced himself from his family as his affair continued and his wife became sick with grief. Dickinson's mother died on November 14, 1882. Five weeks later, Dickinson wrote, "We were never intimate ... while she was our Mother – but Mines in the same Ground meet by tunneling and when she became our Child, the Affection came." The next year, Austin and Sue's third and youngest child, Gilbert—Emily's favorite—died of typhoid fever.
As death succeeded death, Dickinson found her world upended. In the fall of 1884, she wrote, "The Dyings have been too deep for me, and before I could raise my Heart from one, another has come." That summer she had seen "a great darkness coming" and fainted while baking in the kitchen. She remained unconscious late into the night and weeks of ill health followed. On November 30, 1885, her feebleness and other symptoms were so worrying that Austin canceled a trip to Boston. She was confined to her bed for a few months, but managed to send a final burst of letters in the spring. What is thought to be her last letter was sent to her cousins, Louise and Frances Norcross, and simply read: "Little Cousins, Called Back. Emily". On May 15, 1886, after several days of worsening symptoms, Emily Dickinson died at the age of 55. Austin wrote in his diary that "the day was awful ... she ceased to breathe that terrible breathing just before the [afternoon] whistle sounded for six." Dickinson's chief physician gave the cause of death as Bright's disease and its duration as two and a half years.
Lavinia and Austin asked Susan to wash Dickinson's body upon her death. Susan also wrote Dickinson's obituary for the Springfield Republican, ending it with four lines from one of Dickinson's poems: "Morns like these, we parted; Noons like these, she rose; Fluttering first, then firmer, To her fair repose." Lavinia was perfectly satisfied that Sue should arrange everything, knowing it would be done lovingly. Dickinson was buried, laid in a white coffin with vanilla-scented heliotrope, a lady's slipper orchid, and a "knot of blue field violets" placed about it. The funeral service, held in the Homestead's library, was simple and short; Higginson, who had met her only twice, read "No Coward Soul Is Mine", a poem by Emily Brontë that had been a favorite of Dickinson's. At Dickinson's request, her "coffin [was] not driven but carried through fields of buttercups" for burial in the family plot at West Cemetery on Triangle Street.
Publication
Despite Dickinson's prolific writing, only ten poems and a letter were published during her lifetime. After her younger sister Lavinia discovered the collection of nearly 1800 poems, Dickinson's first volume was published four years after her death. Until Thomas H. Johnson published Dickinson's Complete Poems in 1955, Dickinson's poems were considerably edited and altered from their manuscript versions. Since 1890 Dickinson has remained continuously in print.
Contemporary
A few of Dickinson's poems appeared in Samuel Bowles' Springfield Republican between 1858 and 1868. They were published anonymously and heavily edited, with conventionalized punctuation and formal titles. The first poem, "Nobody knows this little rose", may have been published without Dickinson's permission. The Republican also published "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" as "The Snake", "Safe in their Alabaster Chambers –" as "The Sleeping", and "Blazing in the Gold and quenching in Purple" as "Sunset". The poem "I taste a liquor never brewed –" is an example of the edited versions; the last two lines in the first stanza were completely rewritten.
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Original wording
I taste a liquor never brewed –
From Tankards scooped in Pearl –
Not all the Frankfort Berries
Yield such an Alcohol!
|
Republican version
I taste a liquor never brewed –
From Tankards scooped in Pearl –
Not Frankfort Berries yield the sense
Such a delirious whirl!
|
|}
In 1864, several poems were altered and published in Drum Beat, to raise funds for medical care for Union soldiers in the war. Another appeared in April 1864 in the Brooklyn Daily Union.
In the 1870s, Higginson showed Dickinson's poems to Helen Hunt Jackson, who had coincidentally been at the academy with Dickinson when they were girls. Jackson was deeply involved in the publishing world, and managed to convince Dickinson to publish her poem "Success is counted sweetest" anonymously in a volume called A Masque of Poets. The poem, however, was altered to agree with contemporary taste. It was the last poem published during Dickinson's lifetime.
Posthumous
After Dickinson's death, Lavinia Dickinson kept her promise and burned most of the poet's correspondence. Significantly though, Dickinson had left no instructions about the 40 notebooks and loose sheets gathered in a locked chest. Lavinia recognized the poems' worth and became obsessed with seeing them published. She turned first to her brother's wife and then to Mabel Loomis Todd, his lover, for assistance. A feud ensued, with the manuscripts divided between the Todd and Dickinson houses, preventing complete publication of Dickinson's poetry for more than half a century.
The first volume of Dickinson's Poems, edited jointly by Mabel Loomis Todd and T. W. Higginson, appeared in November 1890. Although Todd claimed that only essential changes were made, the poems were extensively edited to match punctuation and capitalization to late 19th-century standards, with occasional rewordings to reduce Dickinson's obliquity. The first 115-poem volume was a critical and financial success, going through eleven printings in two years. Poems: Second Series followed in 1891, running to five editions by 1893; a third series appeared in 1896. One reviewer, in 1892, wrote: "The world will not rest satisfied till every scrap of her writings, letters as well as literature, has been published".
Nearly a dozen new editions of Dickinson's poetry, whether containing previously unpublished or newly edited poems, were published between 1914 and 1945. Martha Dickinson Bianchi, the daughter of Susan and Austin Dickinson, published collections of her aunt's poetry based on the manuscripts held by her family, whereas Mabel Loomis Todd's daughter, Millicent Todd Bingham, published collections based on the manuscripts held by her mother. These competing editions of Dickinson's poetry, often differing in order and structure, ensured that the poet's work was in the public's eye.
The first scholarly publication came in 1955 with a complete new three-volume set edited by Thomas H. Johnson. Forming the basis of later Dickinson scholarship, Johnson's variorum brought all of Dickinson's known poems together for the first time. Johnson's goal was to present the poems very nearly as Dickinson had left them in her manuscripts. They were untitled, only numbered in an approximate chronological sequence, strewn with dashes and irregularly capitalized, and often extremely elliptical in their language. Three years later, Johnson edited and published, along with Theodora Ward, a complete collection of Dickinson's letters, also presented in three volumes.
In 1981, The Manuscript Books of Emily Dickinson was published. Using the physical evidence of the original papers, the poems were intended to be published in their original order for the first time. Editor Ralph W. Franklin relied on smudge marks, needle punctures and other clues to reassemble the poet's packets. Since then, many critics have argued for thematic unity in these small collections, believing the ordering of the poems to be more than chronological or convenient.
Dickinson biographer Alfred Habegger wrote in My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson (2001) that "The consequences of the poet's failure to disseminate her work in a faithful and orderly manner are still very much with us".
Poetry
Dickinson's poems generally fall into three distinct periods, the works in each period having certain general characters in common.
Pre-1861: In the period before 1858, the poems are most often conventional and sentimental in nature. Thomas H. Johnson, who later published The Poems of Emily Dickinson, was able to date only five of Dickinson's poems as written before 1858. Two of these are mock valentines done in an ornate and humorous style, two others are conventional lyrics, one of which is about missing her brother Austin, and the fifth poem, which begins "I have a Bird in spring", conveys her grief over the feared loss of friendship and was sent to her friend Sue Gilbert. In 1858, Dickinson began to collect her poems in the small hand-sewn books she called fascicles.
1861–1865: This was her most creative period, and these poems represent her most vigorous and creative work. Her poetic production also increased dramatically during this period. Johnson estimated that she composed 35 poems in 1860, 86 poems in 1861, 366 in 1862, 141 in 1863, and 174 in 1864. It was during this period that Dickinson fully developed her themes concerning nature, life, and mortality.
Post-1866: Only a third of Dickinson's poems were written in the last twenty years of her life, when her poetic production slowed considerably. During this period, she no longer collected her poems in fascicles.
Structure and syntax
The extensive use of dashes and unconventional capitalization in Dickinson's manuscripts, and the idiosyncratic vocabulary and imagery, combine to create a body of work that is "far more various in its styles and forms than is commonly supposed". Dickinson avoids pentameter, opting more generally for trimeter, tetrameter and, less often, dimeter. Sometimes her use of these meters is regular, but oftentimes it is irregular. The regular form that she most often employs is the ballad stanza, a traditional form that is divided into quatrains, using tetrameter for the first and third lines and trimeter for the second and fourth, while rhyming the second and fourth lines (ABCB). Though Dickinson often uses perfect rhymes for lines two and four, she also makes frequent use of slant rhyme. In some of her poems, she varies the meter from the traditional ballad stanza by using trimeter for lines one, two and four; while using tetrameter for only line three.
Since many of her poems were written in traditional ballad stanzas with ABCB rhyme schemes, some of these poems can be sung to fit the melodies of popular folk songs and hymns that also use the common meter, employing alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter.
Dickinson scholar and poet Anthony Hecht finds resonances in Dickinson's poetry not only with hymns and song-forms but also with psalms and riddles, citing the following example: "Who is the East? / The Yellow Man / Who may be Purple if he can / That carries in the Sun. / Who is the West? / The Purple Man / Who may be Yellow if He can / That lets Him out again."
Late 20th-century scholars are "deeply interested" by Dickinson's highly individual use of punctuation and lineation (line lengths and line breaks). Following the publication of one of the few poems that appeared in her lifetime – "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass", published as "The Snake" in the Republican – Dickinson complained that the edited punctuation (an added comma and a full stop substitution for the original dash) altered the meaning of the entire poem.
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Original wording
A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides –
You may have met Him – did you not
His notice sudden is –
|
Republican version
A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides –
You may have met Him – did you not,
His notice sudden is.
|
|}
As Farr points out, "snakes instantly notice you"; Dickinson's version captures the "breathless immediacy" of the encounter; and The Republicans punctuation renders "her lines more commonplace". With the increasingly close focus on Dickinson's structures and syntax has come a growing appreciation that they are "aesthetically based". Although Johnson's landmark 1955 edition of poems was relatively unaltered from the original, later scholars critiqued it for deviating from the style and layout of Dickinson's manuscripts. Meaningful distinctions, these scholars assert, can be drawn from varying lengths and angles of dash, and differing arrangements of text on the page. Several volumes have attempted to render Dickinson's handwritten dashes using many typographic symbols of varying length and angle. R. W. Franklin's 1998 variorum edition of the poems provided alternate wordings to those chosen by Johnson, in a more limited editorial intervention. Franklin also used typeset dashes of varying length to approximate the manuscripts' dashes more closely.
Major themes
Dickinson left no formal statement of her aesthetic intentions and, because of the variety of her themes, her work does not fit conveniently into any one genre. She has been regarded, alongside Emerson (whose poems Dickinson admired), as a Transcendentalist. However, Farr disagrees with this analysis, saying that Dickinson's "relentlessly measuring mind ... deflates the airy elevation of the Transcendental". Apart from the major themes discussed below, Dickinson's poetry frequently uses humor, puns, irony and satire.
Flowers and gardens: Farr notes that Dickinson's "poems and letters almost wholly concern flowers" and that allusions to gardens often refer to an "imaginative realm ... wherein flowers [are] often emblems for actions and emotions". She associates some flowers, like gentians and anemones, with youth and humility; others with prudence and insight. Her poems were often sent to friends with accompanying letters and nosegays. Farr notes that one of Dickinson's earlier poems, written about 1859, appears to "conflate her poetry itself with the posies": "My nosegays are for Captives – / Dim – long expectant eyes – / Fingers denied the plucking, / Patient till Paradise – / To such, if they sh'd whisper / Of morning and the moor – / They bear no other errand, / And I, no other prayer".
The Master poems: Dickinson left a large number of poems addressed to "Signor", "Sir" and "Master", who is characterized as Dickinson's "lover for all eternity". These confessional poems are often "searing in their self-inquiry" and "harrowing to the reader" and typically take their metaphors from texts and paintings of Dickinson's day. The Dickinson family themselves believed these poems were addressed to actual individuals but this view is frequently rejected by scholars. Farr, for example, contends that the Master is an unattainable composite figure, "human, with specific characteristics, but godlike" and speculates that Master may be a "kind of Christian muse".
Morbidity: Dickinson's poems reflect her "early and lifelong fascination" with illness, dying and death. Perhaps surprisingly for a New England spinster, her poems allude to death by many methods: "crucifixion, drowning, hanging, suffocation, freezing, premature burial, shooting, stabbing and guillotinage". She reserved her sharpest insights into the "death blow aimed by God" and the "funeral in the brain", often reinforced by images of thirst and starvation. Dickinson scholar Vivian Pollak considers these references an autobiographical reflection of Dickinson's "thirsting-starving persona", an outward expression of her needy self-image as small, thin and frail. Dickinson's most psychologically complex poems explore the theme that the loss of hunger for life causes the death of self and place this at "the interface of murder and suicide". Death and morbidity in Dickinson's poetry is also heavily connected to winter themes. Critic Edwin Folsom analyzes how "winter for Dickinson is the season that forces reality, that strips all hope of transcendence. It is a season of death and a metaphor for death".
Gospel poems: Throughout her life, Dickinson wrote poems reflecting a preoccupation with the teachings of Jesus Christ and, indeed, many are addressed to him. She stresses the Gospels' contemporary pertinence and recreates them, often with "wit and American colloquial language". Scholar Dorothy Oberhaus finds that the "salient feature uniting Christian poets ... is their reverential attention to the life of Jesus Christ" and contends that Dickinson's deep structures place her in the "poetic tradition of Christian devotion" alongside Hopkins, Eliot and Auden. In a Nativity poem, Dickinson combines lightness and wit to revisit an ancient theme: "The Savior must have been / A docile Gentleman – / To come so far so cold a Day / For little Fellowmen / The Road to Bethlehem / Since He and I were Boys / Was leveled, but for that twould be / A rugged billion Miles –".
The Undiscovered Continent: Academic Suzanne Juhasz considers that Dickinson saw the mind and spirit as tangible visitable places and that for much of her life she lived within them. Often, this intensely private place is referred to as the "undiscovered continent" and the "landscape of the spirit" and embellished with nature imagery. At other times, the imagery is darker and forbidding—castles or prisons, complete with corridors and rooms—to create a dwelling place of "oneself" where one resides with one's other selves. An example that brings together many of these ideas is: "Me from Myself – to banish – / Had I Art – / Impregnable my Fortress / Unto All Heart – / But since myself—assault Me – / How have I peace / Except by subjugating / Consciousness. / And since We're mutual Monarch / How this be / Except by Abdication – / Me – of Me?".
Reception
The surge of posthumous publication gave Dickinson's poetry its first public exposure. Backed by Higginson and with a favorable notice from William Dean Howells, an editor of Harper's Magazine, the poetry received mixed reviews after it was first published in 1890. Higginson himself stated in his preface to the first edition of Dickinson's published work that the poetry's quality "is that of extraordinary grasp and insight", albeit "without the proper control and chastening" that the experience of publishing during her lifetime might have conferred. His judgment that her opus was "incomplete and unsatisfactory" would be echoed in the essays of the New Critics in the 1930s.
Maurice Thompson, who was literary editor of The Independent for twelve years, noted in 1891 that her poetry had "a strange mixture of rare individuality and originality". Some critics hailed Dickinson's effort, but disapproved of her unusual non-traditional style. Andrew Lang, a British writer, dismissed Dickinson's work, stating that "if poetry is to exist at all, it really must have form and grammar, and must rhyme when it professes to rhyme. The wisdom of the ages and the nature of man insist on so much". Thomas Bailey Aldrich, a poet and novelist, equally dismissed Dickinson's poetic technique in The Atlantic Monthly in January 1892: "It is plain that Miss Dickinson possessed an extremely unconventional and grotesque fancy. She was deeply tinged by the mysticism of Blake, and strongly influenced by the mannerism of Emerson ... But the incoherence and formlessness of her — versicles are fatal ... an eccentric, dreamy, half-educated recluse in an out-of-the-way New England village (or anywhere else) cannot with impunity set at defiance the laws of gravitation and grammar".
Critical attention to Dickinson's poetry was meager from 1897 to the early 1920s. By the start of the 20th century, interest in her poetry became broader in scope and some critics began to consider Dickinson as essentially modern. Rather than seeing Dickinson's poetic styling as a result of lack of knowledge or skill, modern critics believed the irregularities were consciously artistic. In a 1915 essay, Elizabeth Shepley Sergeant called the poet's inspiration "daring" and named her "one of the rarest flowers the sterner New England land ever bore". With the growing popularity of modernist poetry in the 1920s, Dickinson's failure to conform to 19th-century poetic form was no longer surprising nor distasteful to new generations of readers. Dickinson was suddenly referred to by various critics as a great woman poet, and a cult following began to form.
In the 1930s, a number of the New Critics – among them R. P. Blackmur, Allen Tate, Cleanth Brooks and Yvor Winters – appraised the significance of Dickinson's poetry. As critic Roland Hagenbüchle pointed out, their "affirmative and prohibitive tenets turned out to be of special relevance to Dickinson scholarship". Blackmur, in an attempt to focus and clarify the major claims for and against the poet's greatness, wrote in a landmark 1937 critical essay: "... she was a private poet who wrote as indefatigably as some women cook or knit. Her gift for words and the cultural predicament of her time drove her to poetry instead of antimacassars ... She came ... at the right time for one kind of poetry: the poetry of sophisticated, eccentric vision."
The second wave of feminism created greater cultural sympathy for her as a female poet. In the first collection of critical essays on Dickinson from a feminist perspective, she is heralded as the greatest woman poet in the English language. Biographers and theorists of the past tended to separate Dickinson's roles as a woman and a poet. For example, George Whicher wrote in his 1952 book This Was a Poet: A Critical Biography of Emily Dickinson, "Perhaps as a poet [Dickinson] could find the fulfillment she had missed as a woman." Feminist criticism, on the other hand, declares that there is a necessary and powerful conjunction between Dickinson being a woman and a poet. Adrienne Rich theorized in Vesuvius at Home: The Power of Emily Dickinson (1976) that Dickinson's identity as a woman poet brought her power: "[she] chose her seclusion, knowing she was exceptional and knowing what she needed ... She carefully selected her society and controlled the disposal of her time ... neither eccentric nor quaint; she was determined to survive, to use her powers, to practice necessary economics."
Some scholars question the poet's sexuality, theorizing that the numerous letters and poems that were dedicated to Susan Gilbert Dickinson indicate a lesbian romance, and speculating about how this may have influenced her poetry. Critics such as John Cody, Lillian Faderman, Vivian R. Pollak, Paula Bennett, Judith Farr, Ellen Louise Hart, and Martha Nell Smith have argued that Susan was the central erotic relationship in Dickinson's life.
Legacy
In the early 20th century, Martha Dickinson Bianchi and Millicent Todd Bingham kept the achievement of Emily Dickinson alive. Bianchi promoted Dickinson's poetic achievement. Bianchi inherited The Evergreens as well as the copyright for her aunt's poetry from her parents, publishing works such as Emily Dickinson Face to Face and Letters of Emily Dickinson, which stoked public curiosity about her aunt. Bianchi's books perpetrated legends about her aunt in the context of family tradition, personal recollection and correspondence. In contrast, Millicent Todd Bingham's took a more objective and realistic approach to the poet.
Emily Dickinson is now considered a powerful and persistent figure in American culture. Although much of the early reception concentrated on Dickinson's eccentric and secluded nature, she has become widely acknowledged as an innovative, proto-modernist poet. As early as 1891, William Dean Howells wrote that "If nothing else had come out of our life but this strange poetry, we should feel that in the work of Emily Dickinson, America, or New England rather, had made a distinctive addition to the literature of the world, and could not be left out of any record of it." Critic Harold Bloom has placed her alongside Walt Whitman, Wallace Stevens, Robert Frost, T. S. Eliot, and Hart Crane as a major American poet, and in 1994 listed her among the 26 central writers of Western civilization.
Dickinson is taught in American literature and poetry classes in the United States from middle school to college. Her poetry is frequently anthologized and has been used as text for art songs by composers such as Aaron Copland, Nick Peros, John Adams and Michael Tilson Thomas. Several schools have been established in her name; for example, Emily Dickinson Elementary Schools exist in Bozeman, Montana; Redmond, Washington; and New York City. A few literary journals — including The Emily Dickinson Journal, the official publication of the Emily Dickinson International Society — have been founded to examine her work. An 8-cent commemorative stamp in honor of Dickinson was issued by the United States Postal Service on August 28, 1971, as the second stamp in the "American Poet" series. Dickinson was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1973. A one-woman play titled The Belle of Amherst appeared on Broadway in 1976, winning several awards; it was later adapted for television.
Dickinson's herbarium, which is now held in the Houghton Library at Harvard University, was published in 2006 as Emily Dickinson's Herbarium by Harvard University Press. The original work was compiled by Dickinson during her years at Amherst Academy, and consists of 424 pressed specimens of plants arranged on 66 pages of a bound album. A digital facsimile of the herbarium is available online. The town of Amherst Jones Library's Special Collections department has an Emily Dickinson Collection consisting of approximately seven thousand items, including original manuscript poems and letters, family correspondence, scholarly articles and books, newspaper clippings, theses, plays, photographs and contemporary artwork and prints. The Archives and Special Collections at Amherst College has substantial holdings of Dickinson's manuscripts and letters as well as a lock of Dickinson's hair and the original of the only positively identified image of the poet. In 1965, in recognition of Dickinson's growing stature as a poet, the Homestead was purchased by Amherst College. It opened to the public for tours, and also served as a faculty residence for many years. The Emily Dickinson Museum was created in 2003 when ownership of the Evergreens, which had been occupied by Dickinson family heirs until 1988, was transferred to the college.
Modern influence and inspiration
Emily Dickinson's life and works have been the source of inspiration to artists, particularly to feminist-oriented artists, of a variety of mediums. A few notable examples are as follows:
The feminist artwork The Dinner Party, by Judy Chicago, first exhibited in 1979, features a place setting for Dickinson.
Jane Campion's film The Piano and its novelization (co-authored by Kate Pullinger) were inspired by the poetry of Emily Dickinson as well as the novels by the Brontë sisters.
A character who is a literary scholar at a fictional New England college in the comic campus novel by Pamela Hansford Johnson Night and Silence Who Is Here? is intent on proving that Emily Dickinson was a secret dipsomaniac. His obsession costs him his job.
The 2012 book The Emily Dickinson Reader by Paul Legault is an English-to-English translation of her complete poems published by McSweeney's.
Dickinson's work has been set by numerous composers including Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Chester Biscardi, Elliot Carter, John Adams, Libby Larsen, Peter Seabourne, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Judith Weir.
A public garden is named in her honor in Paris: 'square Emily-Dickinson', in the 20th arrondissement.
Jazz saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom released the 2017 double album Wild Lines: Improvising Emily Dickinson inspired by the poet's works.
English director Terence Davies directed and wrote A Quiet Passion, a 2016 biographical film about the life of Emily Dickinson. The film stars Cynthia Nixon as the reclusive poet. The film premiered at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2016 and was released in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2017.
Dickinson is a TV series starring Academy Award nominee Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Dickinson and premiered in 2019 on Apple TV+. The series focused on Dickinson's life.
Translation
Emily Dickinson's poetry has been translated into languages including French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Persian, Kurdish, Turkish, Georgian, Swedish, and Russian. A few examples of these translations are the following:
The Queen of Bashful Violets, a Kurdish translation by Madeh Piryonesi published in 2016.
French translation by Charlotte Melançon which includes 40 poems.
Mandarin Chinese translation by Professor Jianxin Zhou
Swedish translation by Ann Jäderlund.
Persian translations: Three Persian translations of Emily Dickinson are available from Saeed Saeedpoor, Madeh Piryonesi and Okhovat.
Turkish translation: Selected Poems, translated by Selahattin Özpalabıyıklar in 2006, is available from Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları through its special Hasan Âli Yücel classics series.
See also
List of Emily Dickinson poems
References
Notes
Editions of poetry and letters
Cristanne Miller (ed.). 2016. Emily Dickinson's Poems: As She Preserved Them. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Franklin, R. W. (ed.). 1998. The Poems of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. .
Johnson, Thomas H. and Theodora Ward (eds.). 1958. The Letters of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Johnson, Thomas H. (ed.). 1955. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.
Secondary sources
Bianchi, Martha Dickinson. 1970. Emily Dickinson Face to Face: Unpublished Letters with Notes and Reminiscences. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books.
Blake, Caesar R. (ed). 1964. The Recognition of Emily Dickinson: Selected Criticism Since 1890. Ed. Caesar R. Blake. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Bloom, Harold. 1999. Emily Dickinson. Broomall, PA: Chelsea House Publishers. .
Bloom, Harold. 1994. The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Buckingham, Willis J. (ed). 1989. Emily Dickinson's Reception in the 1890s: A Documentary History. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. .
Comment, Kristin M. 2001. "Dickinson's Bawdy: Shakespeare and Sexual Symbolism in Emily Dickinson's Writing to Susan Dickinson". Legacy. 18(2). pp. 167–181.
Crumbley, Paul. 1997. Inflections of the Pen: Dash and Voice in Emily Dickinson. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky. .
D'Arienzo, Daria. 2006. "Looking at Emily", Amherst Magazine. Winter 2006. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
Farr, Judith (ed). 1996. Emily Dickinson: A Collection of Critical Essays. Prentice Hall International Paperback Editions. .
Farr, Judith. 2005. The Gardens of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England: Harvard University Press. .
Ford, Thomas W. 1966. Heaven Beguiles the Tired: Death in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson. University of Alabama Press.
Franklin, R. W. 1998. The Master Letters of Emily Dickinson. University of Massachusetts Press. .
Gordon, Lyndall. 2010. Lives Like Loaded Guns: Emily Dickinson and Her Family's Feuds. Viking. .
Grabher, Gudrun, Roland Hagenbüchle and Cristanne Miller. 1998. The Emily Dickinson Handbook. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
Habegger, Alfred. 2001. My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson. New York: Random House. .
Roland Hagenbüchle: Precision and Indeterminacy in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson, Emerson Society Quarterly, 1974
Hecht, Anthony. 1996. "The Riddles of Emily Dickinson" in Farr (1996) 149–162.
Juhasz, Suzanne (ed). 1983. Feminist Critics Read Emily Dickinson. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. .
Juhasz, Suzanne. 1996. "The Landscape of the Spirit" in Farr (1996) 130–140.
Knapp, Bettina L. 1989. Emily Dickinson. New York: Continuum Publishing.
Martin, Wendy (ed). 2002. The Cambridge Companion to Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
McNeil, Helen. 1986. Emily Dickinson. London: Virago Press. .
Mitchell, Domhnall Mitchell and Maria Stuart. 2009. The International Reception of Emily Dickinson. New York: Continuum. .
Murray, Aífe. 2010. Maid as Muse: How Domestic Servants Changed Emily Dickinson's Life and Language. University Press of New England. .
Murray, Aífe. 1996. "Kitchen Table Poetics: Maid Margaret Maher and Her Poet Emily Dickinson," The Emily Dickinson Journal. 5(2). pp. 285–296.
Paglia, Camille. 1990. Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson. Yale University Press. .
Oberhaus, Dorothy Huff. 1996. " 'Tender pioneer': Emily Dickinson's Poems on the Life of Christ" in Farr (1996) 105–119.
Parker, Peter. 2007. "New Feet Within My Garden Go: Emily Dickinson's Herbarium", The Daily Telegraph, June 29, 2007. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
Pickard, John B. 1967. Emily Dickinson: An Introduction and Interpretation. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Pollak, Vivian R. 1996. "Thirst and Starvation in Emily Dickinson's Poetry" in Farr (1996) 62–75.
Sewall, Richard B. 1974. The Life of Emily Dickinson. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. .
Smith, Martha Nell. 1992. Rowing in Eden: Rereading Emily Dickinson. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. .
Stocks, Kenneth. 1988. Emily Dickinson and the Modern Consciousness: A Poet of Our Time. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Walsh, John Evangelist. 1971. The Hidden Life of Emily Dickinson. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Wells, Anna Mary. 1929. "Early Criticism of Emily Dickinson", American Literature, Vol. 1, No. 3. (November 1929).
Wilson, Edmund. 1962. Patriotic Gore: Studies in the Literature of the American Civil War. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. .
Wolff, Cynthia Griffin. 1986. Emily Dickinson. New York. Alfred A. Knopf. .
Further reading
Emily Dickinson Papers, 1844–1891 (3 microfilm reels) are housed at the Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University.
Visiting Emily: Poems Inspired by the Life and Works of Emily Dickinson (University of Iowa Press, 2001) by Thomas Tammaro and Sheila Coghill (2001 Minnesota Book Awards winner)
External links
Dickinson Electronic Archives
Emily Dickinson Archive
Emily Dickinson poems and texts at the Academy of American Poets
Profile and poems of Emily Dickinson, including audio files, at the Poetry Foundation.
Emily Dickinson Lexicon
Emily Dickinson at Modern American Poetry
Emily Dickinson International Society
Emily Dickinson Museum The Homestead and the Evergreens, Amherst, Massachusetts
Emily Dickinson at Amherst College, Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
Emily Dickinson Collection at Houghton Library, Harvard University
Emily Dickinson Papers, Galatea Collection, Boston Public Library
Interview with Them Tammaro and Sheila Coghill about their book Visiting Emily: Poems Inspired by the Life and Work of Emily Dickinson, NORTHERN LIGHTS Minnesota Author Interview TV Series #465 (2001)
1830 births
1886 deaths
19th-century American poets
19th-century American women writers
American women poets
Deaths from nephritis
Mount Holyoke College alumni
People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War
Women in the American Civil War
Writers from Amherst, Massachusetts
Christian poets
Dickinson family
| true |
[
"A college town or university town is a settlement dominated by a university community. It may also refer to\n\n College Park, South Australia, formerly known as College Town\n College Town, Berkshire, England\n Collegetown, commercial district of Ithaca, New York\n Any of various housing or mixed-use developments serving particular university communities\n Any of various town and gown relations programs\n\nSee also\n College City\n College Hill\n College Park\n College Township (disambiguation)\n University City\n University Hill\n University Park\n University town (disambiguation)",
"Government College of Women are public Junior Women's colleges in Pakistan. In 1972, Government of Pakistan nationalized nearly all schools and colleges in Pakistan. The government renamed colleges and many Women's colleges were prefixed with Government College as in 'Government College of Women and Government Degree Girls College''.\n\nThe Government College of Women are two-year Junior colleges or Intermediate colleges that are equivalent to Eleventh grade and Twelfth grade High School in United States. These junior colleges award Higher Secondary School Certificate. These colleges concentrate on either Science or Arts educational curriculum. The successful completion of two-year Science curriculum awards F.Sc. certificate. While the successful completion of two-year Arts curriculum awards F.A. certificate. These certificates are equivalent to the High school diploma in USA.\n\nList of Government College of Women\n\nBalochistan\n\nFATA\n\nGilgit-Baltistan\n\nIslamabad\n\nPakhtunkhwa\nGovernment women college mansehra\n\nPunjab\n Government College for Women Dhoke Kala Khan\n Government Degree College Attock\n Viqar un Nisa College for Women, Rawalpindi\n Government College for Women, Lahore\n Government Post Graduate College for Women, Satellite Town, Rawalpindi\n Government College For Women, Bahawalpur\n Government College For Women, Chakwal \n Government College for Women, Jhelum\n\nSindh\n Government College for Women F.B. Area, Gulberg Town, Karachi\n Government College for Women Korangi-4, Korangi Town, Karachi\n Government College for Women Korangi–6, Korangi Town, Karachi\n Government College for Women Nazimabad, Liaquatabad Town, Karachi\n Government College for Women New Karachi, New Karachi Town, Karachi\n Government College for Women North Karachi, New Karachi Town, Karachi\n Government College for Women Saudabad, Malir Town, Karachi\n Government College for Women Shahrah-e-Liaquat, Saddar Town, Karachi\n Khatoon-e-Pakistan Government College for Women, Stadium Road, Karachi\n\nSee also\n Education in Pakistan\n Intermediate college\n Junior college\n Government College (disambiguation)\n Higher Secondary School Certificate\n Faculty in Science (Certificate) (F.Sc.)\n Faculty in Arts (Certificate) (F.A.)\n Government Degree Girls College\n\nReferences\n\nWomen's universities and colleges in Pakistan"
] |
[
"Sage (comics)",
"The Hellfire Club"
] |
C_e540206936bc4dc0918ad3b0f47da1be_1
|
What was the Hellfire Club?
| 1 |
What was the Hellfire Club?
|
Sage (comics)
|
Years later, Sage meets up again with Xavier, who at the time is recruiting the original X-Men. Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class, she is instead sent to spy on the Hellfire Club as Tessa, and to keep watch on Sebastian Shaw, something which returns to haunt her in the following years. While working at the Hellfire Club she encounters Psylocke, Jean Grey, and Emma Frost, who at this point is the White Queen. While she is able to successfully warn Psylocke away from the Hellfire Club, Tessa is later remorseful that she is unable to similarly prevent the corruption of Phoenix into the Black Queen. This transformation is a key factor in the creation of Dark Phoenix. Sometime during Tessa's time with the Hellfire Club, Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost dare the man known as Elias Bogan to wager in a game of poker. Though he holds no official rank in the Inner Circle, the telepathic Bogan is one of the Club's most important and powerful members; his patronage guarantees success in the organization. By the terms of the wager, if Shaw lost, Frost would "belong" to Bogan, but if Bogan's agent lost, then his fortune would be turned over to Shaw. Thanks to Tessa's advice and analytical skills, Bogan loses the game and is forced to honor the wager. Having never lost before, Bogan harbors a grudge against Tessa. During the X-Men's initial conflicts with the Hellfire Club, Tessa primarily maintains a background role and is seen as only Shaw's unusually intelligent assistant. Hints of her more complex role are indicated when she and Xavier are kidnapped by Donald Pierce, a renegade member of the club, with grudges against both organizations. Based on the interactions between Xavier and Tessa, it is unclear whether he is helping to maintain her cover or whether he feels as if he has lost his agent, since the interaction between the two is kept impersonal. The two are rescued by the nascent team of New Mutants, and Tessa takes Pierce into custody on behalf of the Hellfire Club. Tessa's next notable interaction with Xavier's students happens months later when the X-Men and Hellfire Club are hunting down Rachel Summers after her attempted murder of Selene, the newly installed Black Queen. In the middle of their fight, both teams are taken by surprise by Nimrod, a mutant-hunting robot from the future. Recognizing the more immediate threat, the two groups join forces and are able to severely damage Nimrod. The X-Men and Hellfire Club each sustain heavy losses and are forced to flee the scene quickly. Tessa offers Storm and the X-Men temporary sanctuary with the Club, which later results in Magneto and Storm jointly accepting the role of White King in the Inner Circle. CANNOTANSWER
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Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class, she is instead sent to spy on the Hellfire Club as Tessa,
| false |
[
"The Hellfire Club was a name for several exclusive clubs for high-society rakes established in Britain and Ireland in the 18th century.\n\nHellfire Club may also refer to:\n\nHellfire Club (comics), a fictional society in the Marvel Comics universe\nHellfire Club (album), an album by Edguy\nThe Hellfire Club (film), a 1960 film starring Peter Cushing\nHellfire Club, Dublin, a ruined building on Montpelier Hill in the Dublin Mountains, Ireland\nThe Hellfire Club, a novel by Peter Straub\nThe Hellfire Club, a 2018 novel by Jake Tapper\nThe Hellfire Club, a closed BDSM nightclub in New York City's Meatpacking District\nChapter One: The Hellfire Club, the upcoming season 4 premiere episode of the Netflix web television series Stranger Things",
"Hellfire Club was a name for several exclusive clubs for high-society rakes established in Britain and Ireland in the 18th century. The name is most commonly used to refer to Sir Francis Dashwood's Order of the Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe. Such clubs were rumoured to be the meeting places of \"persons of quality\" who wished to take part in socially perceived immoral acts, and the members were often involved in politics. Neither the activities nor membership of the club are easy to ascertain. The clubs were rumoured to have distant ties to an elite society known only as The Order of the Second Circle.\n\nThe first official Hellfire Club was founded in London in 1718, by Philip, Duke of Wharton and a handful of other high society friends. The most notorious club associated with the name was established in England by Sir Francis Dashwood, and met irregularly from around 1749 to around 1760, and possibly up until 1766. In its later years, the Hellfire was closely associated with Brooks's, established in 1764. Other clubs using the name \"Hellfire Club\" were set up throughout the 18th century. Most of these clubs were set up in Ireland after Wharton's had been dissolved.\n\nDuke of Wharton's club\n\nLord Wharton, made a duke by George I, was a prominent politician with two separate lives: the first a \"man of letters\" and the second \"a drunkard, a rioter, an infidel and a rake\". The members of Wharton's club are largely unknown. Mark Blackett-Ord assumes that members included Wharton's immediate friends: Earl of Hillsborough, cousin – the Earl of Lichfield and Sir Ed. O'Brien. Aside from these names, other members are not revealed.\n\nAt the time of the London gentlemen's club, where there was a meeting place for every interest, including poetry, philosophy and politics, Wharton's Hellfire Club was, according to Blackett-Ord, a satirical \"gentleman's club\" which was known to ridicule religion, catching onto the then-current trend in England of blasphemy. The club was more a joke, meant to shock the outside world, than a serious attack on religion or morality. The supposed president of this club was the Devil, although the members themselves did not apparently worship demons or the Devil, but called themselves devils. Wharton's club admitted men and women as equals, unlike other clubs of the time. The club met on Sundays at a number of different locations around London. The Greyhound Tavern was one of the meeting places used regularly, but because women were not to be seen in taverns, the meetings were also held at members' houses and at Wharton's riding club.\n\nAccording to at least one source, their activities included mock religious ceremonies and partaking in meals containing dishes like \"Holy Ghost Pie\", \"Breast of Venus\", and \"Devil's Loin\", while drinking \"Hell-fire punch\". Members of the Club supposedly came to meetings dressed as characters from the Bible.\n\nWharton's club came to an end in 1721 when George I, under the influence of Wharton's political enemies (namely Robert Walpole) put forward a Bill \"against 'horrid impieties'\" (or immorality), aimed at the Hellfire Club. Wharton's political opposition used his membership as a way to pit him against his political allies, thus removing him from Parliament. After his Club was disbanded, Wharton became a Freemason, and in 1722 he became the Grand Master of England.\n\nSir Francis Dashwood's clubs\nSir Francis Dashwood and the Earl of Sandwich are alleged to have been members of a Hellfire Club that met at the George and Vulture Inn throughout the 1730s. Dashwood founded the Order of the Knights of St Francis in 1746, originally meeting at the George & Vulture.\n\nThe club motto was Fais ce que tu voudras (Do what thou wilt), a philosophy of life associated with François Rabelais' fictional abbey at Thélème and later used by Aleister Crowley.\n\nFrancis Dashwood was well known for his pranks: for example, while in the Royal Court in St Petersburg, he dressed up as the King of Sweden, a great enemy of Russia. The membership of Sir Francis' club was initially limited to twelve but soon increased. Of the original twelve, some are regularly identified: Dashwood, Robert Vansittart, Thomas Potter, Francis Duffield, Edward Thompson, Paul Whitehead and John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. The list of supposed members is immense; among the more probable candidates are Benjamin Bates II, George Bubb Dodington, a fabulously corpulent man in his 60s; William Hogarth, although hardly a gentleman, has been associated with the club after painting Dashwood as a Franciscan Friar and John Wilkes, though much later, under the pseudonym John of Aylesbury. Benjamin Franklin is known to have occasionally attended the club's meetings in 1758 during his time in England. As there are no records left (having been burned in 1774), many of these members are just assumed or linked by letters sent to each other.\n\nMeetings and club activities\nSir Francis's club was never originally known as a Hellfire Club; it was given this name much later. His club in fact used a number of other names, such as the Brotherhood of St. Francis of Wy, Order of Knights of West Wycombe, The Order of the Friars of St Francis of Wycombe, and later, after moving their meetings to Medmenham Abbey, they became the Monks or Friars of Medmenham. The first meeting at Sir Francis's family home in West Wycombe was held on Walpurgis Night, 1752; a much larger meeting, it was something of a failure and no large-scale meetings were held there again. In 1751, Dashwood, leased Medmenham Abbey on the Thames from a friend, Francis Duffield.\n\nOn moving into Medmenham Abbey, Dashwood had numerous expensive works done on the building. It was rebuilt by the architect Nicholas Revett in the style of the 18th-century Gothic revival. At this time, the motto Fais ce que tu voudras was placed above a doorway in stained glass. It is thought that William Hogarth may have executed murals for this building; none, however, survive. Eventually, the meetings were moved out of the abbey into a series of tunnels and caves in West Wycombe Hill.\nThey were decorated again with mythological themes, phallic symbols and other items of a sexual nature.\n\nRecords indicate that the members performed \"obscene parodies of religious rites\" according to one source. According to Horace Walpole, the members' \"practice was rigorously pagan: Bacchus and Venus were the deities to whom they almost publicly sacrificed; and the nymphs and the hogsheads that were laid in against the festivals of this new church, sufficiently informed the neighborhood of the complexion of those hermits.\" Dashwood's garden at West Wycombe contained numerous statues and shrines to different gods; Daphne and Flora, Priapus and the previously mentioned Venus and Dionysus.\n\nA Parish history from 1925 stated that members included \"Frederick Prince of Wales, the Duke of Queensberry, the Earl of Bute, Lord Melcombe, Sir William Stanhope, K.B, Sir John Dashwood-King, bart., Sir Francis Delaval, K.B., Sir John Vanluttan, kt., Henry Vansittart, afterwards Governor of Bengal, (fn. 13) and Paul Whitchead the poet\". Meetings occurred twice a month, with an AGM lasting a week or more in June or September. The members addressed each other as \"Brothers\" and the leader, which changed regularly, as \"Abbot\". During meetings members supposedly wore ritual clothing: white trousers, jacket and cap, while the \"Abbot\" wore a red ensemble of the same style. Legends of Black Masses and Satan or demon worship have subsequently become attached to the club, beginning in the late Nineteenth Century. Rumours saw female \"guests\" (a euphemism for prostitutes) referred to as \"Nuns\". Dashwood's Club meetings often included mock rituals, items of a pornographic nature, much drinking, wenching and banqueting.\n\nDecline of Dashwood's Club\nThe downfall of Dashwood's Club was more drawn-out and complicated. In 1762, the Earl of Bute appointed Dashwood his Chancellor of the Exchequer, despite Dashwood being widely held to be incapable of understanding \"a bar bill of five figures\". (Dashwood resigned the post the next year, having raised a tax on cider which caused near-riots). Dashwood now sat in the House of Lords after taking up the title of Baron Le Despencer after the previous holder died. Then there was the attempted arrest of John Wilkes for seditious libel against the King in the notorious issue No. 45 of his The North Briton in early 1763. During a search authorised by a General warrant (possibly set up by Sandwich, who wanted to get rid of Wilkes), a version of The Essay on Woman was discovered set up on the press of a printer whom Wilkes had almost certainly used. The work was almost certainly principally written by Thomas Potter, and from internal evidence can be dated to around 1755. It was scurrilous, blasphemous, libelous, and bawdy, though not pornographic- still unquestionably illegal under the laws of the time, and the Government subsequently used it to drive Wilkes into exile. Between 1760 and 1765 Chrysal, or the Adventures of a Guinea by Charles Johnstone was published. It contained stories easily identified with Medmenham, one in which Lord Sandwich was ridiculed as having mistaken a monkey for the Devil. This book sparked the association between the Medmenham Monks and the Hellfire Club. By this time, many of the Friars were either dead or too far away for the Club to continue as it did before. Medmenham was finished by 1766.\n\nPaul Whitehead had been the Secretary and Steward of the Order at Medmenham. When he died in 1774, as his will specified, his heart was placed in an urn at West Wycombe. It was sometimes taken out to show to visitors, but was stolen in 1829.\n\nThe West Wycombe Caves in which the Friars met are now a tourist site known as the \"Hell Fire Caves\". The attraction is highly rated (four stars) by users of the international Web site, Tripadvisor.\n\nIn Anstruther, Scotland, a likeminded sex and drinking club called the Beggar's Benison was formed in the 1730s, which survived for a century and spawned additional branches in Glasgow and Edinburgh. \nHonorary membership was extended to the Prince of Wales in 1783. 39 years later, while the Prince (by now King George IV) was paying a royal visit to Scotland, he bequeathed the club a snuff box filled with his mistresses' pubic hair.\n\nHellfire Clubs in contemporary life\n\nPhoenix Society\nIn 1781, Dashwood's nephew Joseph Alderson (an undergraduate at Brasenose College, Oxford) founded the Phoenix Society (later known as the Phoenix Common Room), but it was only in 1786 that the small gathering of friends asserted themselves as a recognised institution. The Phoenix was established in honour of Sir Francis, who died in 1781, as a symbolic rising from the ashes of Dashwood's earlier institution. To this day, the dining society abides by many of its predecessor's tenets. Its motto 'when one is torn away another succeeds' is from the sixth book of Virgil's Aeneid and refers to the practice of establishing the continuity of the society through a process of constant renewal of its graduate and undergraduate members. The Phoenix Common Room's continuous history was reported in 1954 as a matter of note to the college.\n\nIn Ireland\nA number of Hellfire Clubs are allegedly still in existence in Ireland and are centred around universities and meet secretly.\n\nIn popular culture\n\nLiterature\nThe Hellfire Club has appeared in numerous literary works:\nRobert Graves describes it as an \"organic fraternity, alias the Society of Monks of Medmenham\" in his historical novel Sergeant Lamb of the 9th.\n Jerome K. Jerome cites the Hellfire Club in his 1889 novel Three Men in a Boat.\n Ian Fleming in his 1955 novel Moonraker cites the \"rare engravings of the Hell-Fire Club in which each figure is shown making a minute gesture of scatological or magical significance.\"\n Hunter S. Thompson in the 1988 collection of columns Generation of Swine.\n Peter Straub's 1996 novel The Hellfire Club centers around a BDSM-friendly sex and social club of the same name.\n In Diana Gabaldon's 1998 historical novella Lord John and the Hellfire Club.\n Lawrence Miles has referenced the Hellfire Club across several works. His 2002 novel The Adventuress of Henrietta Street features characters carrying on the Hellfire tradition, while the Faction Paradox audio plays, Sabbath Dei and The Year of the Cat, feature Francis Dashwood as a secondary character.\n Kage Baker in her 2007 short story \"Hellfire at Twilight\".\n Tom Knox in the 2009 novel The Genesis Secret.\n Jake Tapper in the 2018 political thriller The Hellfire Club.\nJames Herbert in his 1995 novel, The Ghosts of Sleath, Dashwood and the Hellfire Club feature.\nJ. D. Barker & Dacre Stoker in 2018's novel Dracul.\nThe Hellfire Club heavily inspired the Heavenly Host in Anne Stuart's House of Rohan series. The club also inspired the Lords of Chaos in Elizabeth Hoyt's Maiden Lane series.\n The 2004 visual novel Animamundi: Dark Alchemist contains scenes where a character named Francis Dashwood brings the protagonist to the Hellfire Club.\n\nComics\n In the Marvel Comics comic book series The X-Men, the Hellfire Club (1980) is an ancient club for the rich and hedonistic with Regency Era trappings that has branches all over the world, concealing the \"Inner Circle\", a powerful and influential criminal organization that has played a prominent role in various story lines since its introduction during the Dark Phoenix Saga.\n Neil Gaiman named a debauched bar in the underworld \"The Hellfire Club\" in his comic book series The Sandman (1989–1996).\n The Hellfire Club and Dashwood play a role in the comic Hellblazer.\n\nDrama\n The 2001 audio play Minuet in Hell features the Hellfire Club led by a descendant of Sir Francis Dashwood.\n\nFilm\n The 1960 film The Hellfire Club starring Keith Michell and Peter Cushing depicts Dashwood's organisation.\n In the 2011 film X-Men: First Class, the Hellfire Club is infiltrated by CIA agent Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne) suspecting communist activity. Once inside, she discovers that U.S. Army Colonel Hendry is colluding with Sebastian Shaw to turn the Cuban Missile Crisis into a full-scale nuclear war.\n\nTelevision\n The Avengers episode \"A Touch of Brimstone\" (1966) had Steed and Mrs. Peel infiltrate a modern incarnation of the club whose pranks were expanding to destroy the government.\n The Blackadder the Third episode \"Ink & Incapability\" (1987) begins with a scene in which the Prince Regent mentions having drunk at the \"Naughty Hellfire Club\" the previous night.\n The Hellfire Club makes an appearance in \"Deliverance\", a 2014 episode of the TV show Sleepy Hollow.\n In the Gotham episode \"The Blind Fortune Teller\" (2015), the Hellfire Club is said to be a \"Satanist cult that committed a string of ritual murders.\"\n The Hellfire Club is investigated on Season 6, Episode 8 of Ghost Adventures, a television show on the Travel Channel that investigates paranormal hotspots.\nThe first chapter of the fourth season of the Netflix original series Stranger Things is titled \"The Hellfire Club\".\n A 19th century version of the Hellfire Club are revealed to be the overarching villains in the first season of the Irish-Canadian TV series Dead Still.\n\nMusic\n Hellfire Club, released on 6 April 2004, is the sixth album by German power metal band Edguy.\n In 2011, rapper Nocando founded the record label Hellfyre Club. On EP Catcher of the Fade, the label's rappers made reference to Dashwood.\nThe 2020 album, by thrash metal band, Gama Bomb, references the Hellfire Club in the song \"Lords of the Hellfire Club\".\n\nSee also\nThe Beggar's Benison\nMontpelier Hill, 18th century meeting place of the Irish Hell Fire Club.\nHellfire Caves, the still-existing underground network of caves and tunnels in the chalk hills above West Wycombe, in which meetings of Dashwood's club took place.\n\nReferences\nNotes\n\nBibliography\n Alamantra, Frater. \"Looking into the Word\" in Ashé Journal, Vol 3, Issue 1, Spring 2004. Retrieved 24 March 2009.\n Ashe, Geoffrey. The Hell-Fire Clubs: A History of Anti-Morality. Great Britain: Sutton Publishing, 2005.\n \n \n Thomas, Will. The Hellfire Conspiracy. Touchstone, 2007. .\n Suster, Gerald. The Hell-Fire Friars. London: Robson, 2000.\n Willens, Daniel. \"Sex, Politics, and Religion in Eighteenth-Century England\" in Gnosis, Summer 1992.\n\nExternal links \n\n The Hellfire Club Archives at Blather.net\n Secrets of the Hellfire Club\n The Hell-Fire Clubs\n History of the Hell-Fire Club\n The Lives & Times of the Hellfire Club\nJohn Wilkes: Parliament & The Hellfire Club – UK Parliament Living Heritage\n\n \nClubs and societies in England\nSecret societies in the United Kingdom",
"The Hellfire Club is a fictional society appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Hellfire Club often comes into confrontation with the mutant superhero team, the X-Men. Although the Club appears to merely be an international social club for wealthy elites, its clandestine Inner Circle seeks to influence world events, in accordance with their own agenda.\n\nCreated by the Uncanny X-Men writer/artist duo of Chris Claremont and John Byrne, they were heavily influenced by a 1966 episode of the British television series The Avengers (\"A Touch of Brimstone\"). The name \"Hellfire Club\" in fact has a historical precedent, having been a popular name for gentlemen's clubs in the 18th century. Additionally, the hierarchy of the Inner Circle is modeled on the pieces of a chess set, with Black and White sets of Kings, Queens, Bishops and Rooks.\n\nThe Hellfire Club and its Inner Circle were introduced in \"The Dark Phoenix Saga\", attempting to subvert the X-Men's Jean Grey. This incarnation, composed most notably of Black King Sebastian Shaw and White Queen Emma Frost, would remain prominent for many years. After their initial confrontations, the Hellfire Club and the X-Men settled into an uneasy alliance. This eventually changed as endless power struggles perpetuated a series of upheavals within the Inner Circle. The club has appeared in two X-Men animated series (X-Men: The Animated Series and Wolverine and the X-Men), both times being renamed as simply The Inner Circle, due to the aversion of using the term \"hellfire\" in a children's cartoon. Members of the Hellfire Club appeared in 2011's X-Men: First Class as the main villains, led by Sebastian Shaw, Emma Frost, Azazel and Riptide. The Hellfire Club’s Inner Circle also appear as the main antagonists of the second season of the television series The Gifted led by a character named Reeva Payge played by Grace Byers, and the Frost sisters played by Skyler Samuels.\n\nPublication history\nIn creating the Hellfire Club, Uncanny X-Men writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne drew heavily upon a 1966 episode of the British spy series The Avengers entitled \"A Touch of Brimstone\". In the episode, agents John Steed and Emma Peel attempt to infiltrate a secret society named after the Hellfire Club of the 18th century, whose members of the \"Inner Circle\" all wear period costumes. Emma Peel's guise as \"the Queen of Sin\", dressed in a black leather corset, would be the model for the Club's Queens, her first name even borrowed for White Queen Emma Frost. The leader of the episode's club was played by actor Peter Wyngarde, best known for his role as Jason King, forming the basis for Mastermind's new \"Jason Wyngarde\" identity.\n\nThe other members of Claremont and Byrne's Hellfire Club were similarly drawn from the names and faces of famous actors: Sebastian Shaw was based on actor Robert Shaw, Harry Leland on Orson Welles (who acted as Harry Lime in The Third Man and whose film Citizen Kane featured a reporter named Jed Leland), and Donald Pierce was based on Donald Sutherland (the surname referencing his Hawkeye Pierce character from M*A*S*H).\n\nLater writers would further the references to The Avengers: Sir Patrick and Lady Diana, from the Philadelphia branch of the 1780s, are named after actors Patrick Macnee (John Steed) and Diana Rigg (Mrs. Emma Peel); conversely, the Black Queen of the London branch was revealed to be named Ms. Emma Steed.\n\nOverview\nThe Hellfire Club counts among its members the most famous, wealthy, and influential members of society. Membership is passed on to descendants, and can also be earned through wealth or influence. While many accept the invitation simply for the pleasures that the Club offers, others seek wealth and influence. In fact, the purpose of the Hellfire Club is to obtain and exert power through politics and economic influence instead of outward conquest and domination. Since its foundation, the Hellfire Club has been involved in wars and assassinations to further the agendas of the Club's most powerful members.\n\nThe Club has branches in New York City, London, Hong Kong, and Paris; the various branches are all overseen by the Lord Imperial (a position long-held by Sir Gordon Phillips). Unbeknownst to most members is the Club's Inner Circle. Originally known as the Council of the Chosen, this secret group formed around Edward \"Ned\" Buckman, each member assuming the titles of the major chess pieces. As White King, Buckman financed Stephen Lang's revived Sentinel program with the assistance of probationary member Sebastian Shaw. Shaw, now Black Bishop, began securing allies within the Club, meeting Harry Leland, Emma Frost, and Donald Pierce, as well as his loyal assistant, Tessa. Buckman, no longer having a use for the dangerously-ambitious Shaw, ordered a Sentinel attack on Shaw and his allies, resulting in the death of Shaw's lover, Lourdes Chantel. That night, Shaw and Emma Frost purged the entire Council of the Chosen, remaking it as the Lords Cardinal and appointing themselves Black King and White Queen.\n\nShaw's Inner Circle soon turned their attentions to the X-Men, kidnapping several of their number. Mastermind, as Jason Wyngarde, was made a probationary member pending his subversion of the X-Men's Jean Grey. Jean Grey was in fact the Phoenix, a god-like cosmic entity who became unstable after Mastermind's psychic manipulations, turning into the Dark Phoenix. The Hellfire Club had failed, and the X-Men had taken their toll: Phoenix had driven Mastermind insane, Colossus had crippled Donald Pierce and Wolverine nearly killed Harry Leland and several guards.\n\nDespite such setbacks, the Inner Circle continued to pursue its agenda. Shaw, using his connections to Senator Robert Kelly to initiate Project: Wideawake, secured a government contract for Shaw Industries to manufacture Sentinels, profiting from the state of fear concerning the \"mutant menace\" despite secretly being a mutant himself. Frost meanwhile ran the Massachusetts Academy, a prestigious preparatory school affiliated with the Hellfire Club that secretly trained a team of young mutants, known as the Hellions. The Inner Circle also underwent some personnel changes, notably the expulsion of Donald Pierce for conspiring against his mutant colleagues, and the addition of Selene as Black Queen.\n\nAlthough the hierarchy of the Inner Circle goes through constant upheaval due to the competing egos and political motives of its members, it continues to exist in the same basic structure today.\n\nMagneto briefly took the title of Grey King after Sebastian Shaw was voted out of the Inner Circle, and with Emma Frost he began plotting against Black Queen Selene, having planted Hellion Empath into Nova Roma via his relationship with New Mutant Magma prior to ousting Shaw. However, when Magneto discovered the X-Man Rogue alive and well in the Savage Land (where Magneto was visiting), Magneto abandoned the Hellfire Club and ultimately went into exile when he was rejected by Rogue when he murdered the Savage Land priestess Zaladane. Meanwhile, Emma Frost attempted to force former Hellion Firestar to rejoin the Hellions but was rebuked by Firestar and her new teammates in the New Warriors.\n\nDisjointed, Selene exploited the chaos to launch a pre-emptive strike to slaughter the Lord Cardinals with aid from a group of young mutant \"Upstarts\" who were loyal to Selene. Points for each kill were awarded by the Gamesmaster and Magneto, Shaw, Pierce, and Frost were all targeted, before Selene herself was betrayed by Trevor Fritzroy and Gamemaster. During this time the Inner Circle of the London branch was working behind the American branch's back and was influencing Parliament and the secret government agency Black Air. Captain Britain (Brian Braddock) held a position for a short term on Shinobi Shaw's advisement to investigate its activities as they had mutual objectives. Excalibur collected evidence of their crimes and the Inner Circle was either arrested or went into hiding.\n\nThe Upstarts' uprising was quashed by Sebastian Shaw. He reinstated some of the old Inner Circle until he disbanded it due to his own invested interest in business pursuits. The Club still continued loosely partly due to Selene's influence, although it never had the same prestige as the original.\n\nSebastian Shaw again reformed a variation of the original Inner Circle with a nobler outlook posing as a force for good, which may have been a deception on his part. Tessa/Sage rejoined the Inner Circle to observe this and to assist Roberto da Costa's usurping the position of Lord Imperial which Shaw had claimed.\n\nThe Hellfire Club was next under the leadership of Roberto da Costa as the Lord Imperial aided by Sage. Sat-Yr-9 (under the guise of Courtney Ross) as the new White Queen, aided by her assassin Viper, her \"Warrior White Princess\". As with many members in the past, both Sat-Yr-9 and Viper have their own personal agendas.\n\nFollowing M-Day, Sunspot remains as Lord Imperial, while Shaw resumes his activities, though under Sunspot's close watch. While Sat-Yr-9's whereabouts remain unknown, Viper returns to Madripoor to oversee HYDRA operations and Sage became a member of the short-lived New Excalibur, only to end up as one of the Exiles.\n\nWhen the X-Men and many other powered or depowered mutants came to San Francisco, an offshoot of the Club, known as the Hellfire Cult, begins attacking mutants and \"species traitors\". Officially, their leadership appears to be Empath, but the real power behind the scenes is the mysterious Red Queen. Their activities draw the attention of the X-Men.\n\nKade Kilgore later took control of the Hellfire Club. Kilgore founded the Hellfire Academy where he recruited mutant outlaws as its faculty and started looking for students to attend this school. The Hellfire Academy serves as the direct opponent for the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning.\n\nOrganization\n\nLord Imperial\nThe Lord Imperial is not a member of the Inner Circle or any particular branch of the Hellfire Club; the Lord Imperial is the true leader of the Hellfire Club and oversees all branches of it. As such, only a few individuals have held the title. Sir Gordon Phillips, while unknown at the time, ruled as Lord Imperial for most of the club's modern history, holding the position from before the club's introduction until his death from the Legacy Virus.\n\n Sir Gordon Phillips\n Elias Bogan\n Sebastian Shaw\n Roberto da Costa (Sunspot)\n\nInner Circle\nThe constant intrigue, backstabbing, blackmailing and politicking that plague the Hellfire Club have resulted in many changes of the Inner Circle, as new players seek out membership in order to obtain influence, power and wealth. The following lists the membership of each incarnation of the Inner Circle and the title they held; in descending order of rank are Kings and Queens, followed by Bishops and Rooks.\n\nThe Council of the Chosen\nThe original Inner Circle (existing prior to the club's introduction) consisted of:\n\n Edward \"Ned\" Buckman - White King\n Paris Seville - White Queen\n Sebastian Shaw - Black Bishop\n\nSebastian Shaw was instrumental in the Hellfire Club's funding of Stephen Lang's resurrected Sentinel program, but having completed his purpose, White King Ned Buckman sought to eliminate the ambitious Black Bishop. After a Sentinel attack on Shaw's beach house resulted in the death of his lover, Lourdes Chantel, Shaw and his ally Emma Frost purged the entire Council in one night and appointed themselves its Black King and White Queen.\n\nThe Lords Cardinal\nShaw renamed The Council of the Chosen as The Lords Cardinal following his takeover of the New York branch, and appointed a number of allies to key positions. Frost began running the Massachusetts Academy at this time. Jason Wyngarde, also known as Mastermind, later became a probationary member pending his subversion of the X-Men's Jean Grey into the Club's Black Queen.\n\n Sebastian Shaw - Black King\n Emma Frost - White Queen\n Donald Pierce - White Bishop\n Harry Leland - Black Bishop\n Jason Wyngarde (Mastermind) - A probationary member who was presumably intended for one of the two Rooks.\n Phoenix (posing as Jean Grey) - Black Queen\n Tessa - Shaw's personal aide.\n Warhawk - Associate of the Hellfire Club.\n\nFollowing Mastermind's failed subversion of Jean Grey, the title of Black Queen was once again empty. Donald Pierce reached the rank of White King but was later expelled for conspiring against his mutant colleagues. New members appointed during this period were:\n\n Selene: - Black Queen\n Friedrich Von Roehm - Black Rook\n Emmanuel da Costa - White Rook\n\nA truce between the Hellfire Club and the X-Men began after an encounter with Nimrod resulted in the deaths of Leland and von Roehm. This truce soon grew into a formal alliance as Storm and Magneto, as the leaders of the X-Men and Xavier's school respectively, took over the shared position of White King.\n\n Storm - White King (with Magneto)\n Magneto - White King, later Grey King\n\nStorm and the X-Men would later seemingly die, leaving Magneto alone to deal with the Inner Circle. After a protracted power struggle, Magneto turned Emma Frost and Selene against Shaw and expelled him from Inner Circle, assuming both mantles as the new Grey King. Magneto, while never formally resigning, would soon withdraw from the club, after relocating to Savage Land to deal with the threat of the villainess Zaladane. Meanwhile, Selene would turn against Frost and Magneto after learning that the two had sent Empath (one of Emma's students) to Selene's Amazon fortress Nova Roma in order to subvert Selene's granddaughter Magma. Selene would create \"The Upstarts\", a group of young and wealthy mutants who replace the Hellfire Club. Organizing a \"game\" where whichever member killed the most Hellfire Club members would rule the group, Emma Frost's students in the Hellfire Club were slaughtered by Trevor Fitzroy and Emma herself put into a coma. Fitzroy also \"killed\" Donald Pierce and his Reavers. Magneto meanwhile, having relocated to Asteroid M, invited a young healer named Fabian Cortez and his group known as the Acolytes to stay with him. Cortez (whose power was to boost other mutants abilities) manipulated Magneto into declaring war upon the X-Men and ultimately hijacked control over a SHIELD orbital weapons platform, to blow up Asteroid M, seemingly killing Magneto. Sebastian Shaw would be \"killed\" by Shinobi Shaw, a young mutant who was fathered by Harry Leland but raised by Sebastian as his son. In retaliation, Empath used his powers to manipulate all of Nova Roma (including Magma) into thinking they were kidnapped victims of Selene's, who had been manipulated due to her mind control powers, into thinking they were citizens of an ancient, long lost Roman settlement in South America. Selene however, would soon fall prey to her new allies own wrath as Trevor Fitzroy and Selene's ally, the Gamemaster, turned against her and allowed Gamemaster to take control over the Upstarts.\n\nWhite Rook Emmanuel da Costa was also killed around this period, though his death was unrelated to the agenda of the Upstarts. A group of immortal mutants known as the Externals, became aware of a prophecy that one of the New Mutants was destined to play a major role in the salvation of the planet. The prophecy referenced two New Mutants in particular, de Costa's son Sunspot and the New Mutant Cannonball, one of which potentially possessed the secondary mutation of immortality and the destiny of savior of mutantkind. As Cable infiltrated the New Mutants under the notion that Cannonball was to be the immortal messiah, the External's leader Gideon sought to corrupt Sunspot, who was the messiah promised in the prophecy. Already a family friend, Gideon had de Costa's secretary poison the White Rook in order to force his super-hero son to leave the New Mutants and take leadership of his family's company. When Cannonball survived a near fatal impaling (which Cable mistook as being the result of his being immortal), Gideon turned on Sunspot who was ultimately rescued by X-Force.\n\nWith exception of de Costa; all of the Hellfire Club Lord Cardinals killed by the Upstarts, later recovered. Sebastian Shaw faked his death, as did Magneto. Donald Pierce was rebuilt by Stryfe along with the rest of the Reavers, while Emma Frost recovered from her coma and repented her evil ways.\n\nShinobi Shaw's Upstart Inner Circle\nSelene had originally planned on creating a new Inner Circle with the help of the Upstarts - among them Shinobi Shaw, son of Sebastian Shaw - but they betrayed and imprisoned her. Believing to have successfully assassinated his father, Shinobi Shaw briefly took over the New York branch of the Club, seemingly with support from the External Candra. He offered membership in his Inner Circle to Archangel, Storm, and Sunspot (also known as Roberto da Costa, son of former White Rook Emmanuel da Costa), but all declined.\n\n Shinobi Shaw - Black King\n Benedict Kine - White King\n Benazir Kaur - White Queen\n Reeva Payge - Black Queen\n Candra - Associate\n Cordelia Frost - Probationary member\n Ebon Knights - Shinobi Shaw's Black Guard\n Ivory Knights - Benedict Kine's White Guard\n\nThe titles of Payge and Kaur are not established. When Cordelia Frost (younger sister of Emma) applies for membership to the Inner Circle, Shinobi states that the title of White Queen is already taken.\n\nShinobi Shaw's actions as Black King were limited to failed attempts at extending his influence and monitoring the London branch of the Club.\n\nThe London Branch\nThe Hellfire Club's London branch is introduced briefly operating parallel to Shinobi's Inner Circle. Instead of Black and White, the titles of the London Inner Circle are designated Black and Red.\n\n Emma Steed - Black Queen\n Margali Szardos - Red Queen\n Quentin Templeton - Black King\n Alan Wilson - Red King\n Brian Braddock (Captain Britain) - Black Bishop\n Conrad Strathdee - Red Bishop\n Jane Hampshire (possessed by Mountjoy) - Red Rook\n Rutledge - Servant\n\nCaptain Britain, having inherited club membership from his father, Sir James Braddock, was asked by Shinobi Shaw to infiltrate the London Inner Circle, as the branch's mysterious agenda surely ran counter to both their interests. The London Branch and their plans were soon brought to an end after a failed attempt to use a demon's essence to control the city. The Black Queen and Red King were taken into police custody.\n\nShaw's Second Circle\nSebastian Shaw, despite his apparent death, later re-emerged and retook control of the Hellfire Club in attempt to restore its former power and glory. Selene, freed from her imprisonment by the Upstarts, took under her influence a resurrected Madelyne Pryor in her quest for revenge. Shaw meanwhile attempted to ally with the AOA-exile Holocaust. Meeting in New York, Shaw proposes a reformation of the Inner Circle with the following line-up: At first operating in secret from outside the Hellfire Club (still under Shinobi Shaw's control), Sebastian's group soon reasserted control over the organization.\n\n Sebastian Shaw - Black King\n Selene - Black Queen\n Trevor Fitzroy - White Rook\n Madelyne Pryor - Red Queen\n Donald Pierce - Applicant for White Bishop\n Tessa - Shaw's personal aide\n Ella - Selene's personal servant\n Holocaust - Associate\n Miss Hoo - Associate\n\nSelene's mind control over Madelyne Pryor eventually waned, and the Black Rook's allegiance soon turned to Sebastian Shaw. Concerned, Selene contacted Fitzroy and Tessa to counteract the changing balance of power. Donald Pierce returned to the Hellfire Club as a probationary member, however his failure in attaining the alien technology of Apocalypse resulted in his expulsion from the group. Pryor meanwhile had betrayed and deserted the club. Shaw, presented with a mysterious offer, decided to accept its terms and resign from the Inner Circle, advising Fitzroy to do the same.\n\nSelene's Hellfire Club\nSelene, finding herself the sole remaining member of the Inner Circle, reformed the club in her own image and allied with the ruler of Hell, Blackheart. After a confrontation with the Fantastic Four, Blackheart is imprisoned and Selene's captive Daimon Hellstrom is freed; Hellstorm then became the club's White King to ensure a balance of power and light. Selene would later successfully induct Sunspot (Roberto da Costa, son of former Black Rook Emmanuel da Costa) into the Inner Circle, offering the resurrection of his long-dead girlfriend, Julianna, who died saving his life.\n\n Selene - Black Queen\n Blackheart - Black King\n Daimon Hellstrom - White King\n Roberto da Costa (Sunspot) - Black Rook\n\nIt is unknown what led to the dissolution of this incarnation. The Hellfire Club was found closed and abandoned, covered in blackbriar thorns; Selene herself was trapped inside the mansion, unable to leave.\n\nThe Fifth Inner Circle\nAfter the death of Sir Gordon Phillips at the hands of the Brotherhood of Mutants, Sebastian Shaw positioned himself as the new Lord Imperial and, as such, oversaw the entire Hellfire Club.\n\n Sebastian Shaw - Lord Imperial\n Roberto da Costa (Sunspot) - Black King\n Selene - Black Queen\n Sat-Yr-9 (as Courtney Ross) - White Queen\n Viper - White Warrior Princess\n Tessa - Shaw's personal aide and Sunspot's personal adviser.\n Red Lotus - Associate\n\nSelene, despite remaining imprisoned underneath the Hellfire Club's New York mansion and not actively participating in the Inner Circle, has apparently retained her title of Black Queen. It was also revealed that Emma Frost, despite having left the club long ago and having since joined the X-Men, still retained her membership and White Queen title. Sat-Yr-9 confronts Emma Frost and, assuming her title, becomes the newest addition to the Inner Circle, bringing with her bodyguard and self-appointed \"White Warrior Princess\" Viper.\n\nA confrontation with Donald Pierce leaves Sebastian Shaw gravely injured, and Sunspot takes over as Lord Imperial, which was Tessa's plan all along. Tessa left the Club, still under Sunspot's rule, and joined New Excalibur in the wake of M-Day. Shaw has since returned as the Black King, seemingly plotting to rebuild his power base.\n\nNova's Inner Circle\n\n Emma Frost\n Sebastian Shaw\n Perfection\n Cassandra Nova\n Negasonic Teenage Warhead\n\nA mysterious new Inner Circle emerged in the pages of 'Astonishing X-Men' vol. 3. Members of this version were never given titles since they were revealed to be psionic projections created by Emma Frost at the behest of Cassandra Nova. In an attempt to free herself the X-Men, Cassandra had placed a portion of her consciousness in Frost's prior to being mentally imprisoned and launched an assault on the X-Mansion by using Emma as a Trojan horse. Other than Cassandra Nova, each member appears to represent a different aspect of Emma's past with Negasonic Teenage Warhead being a former student of hers who died in Genosha; Perfection, a manifestation of Emma's younger, evil self and Sebastian Shaw representing her time with the Hellfire Club.\n\nSelene's second Inner Circle\nSelene, finding herself once again the sole remaining member of the Inner Circle, and disappointed by the many betrayals from Sebastian Shaw and his Hellfire Club, decided it was time to rise to goddesshood, a state she believed she was destined for. To accomplish that, she specifically recruited a Coven of deadly mutants to seek revenge against all those that had betrayed her or stood in her way in the past. Together they went to the New York branch of the Hellfire Club, where she cut all ties with them by using her new Inner Circle to slaughter every person there. This Inner Circle was made up of mostly by mutants whose abilities were designed for killing. Membership consisted of:\n\n Blink \n Senyaka\n Mortis\n Wither\n Eli Bard - only non-mutant member. Turned into a vampire-like creature by Selene.\n\nThe Sixth Inner Circle\nSebastian Shaw's Inner Circle eventually reemerged. Wolverine came into confrontation with a new \"Inner Circle\", under the false impression (by Sebastian Shaw and \"Miss Sinister\") that they are behind the kidnapping of his son, Daken.\n\n Sebastian Shaw\n Claudine Renko (Miss Sinister)\n Mr. Castlemere\n Turner\n Peter Scholl (Leonine)\n Mercedes\n\nThe Seventh Inner Circle\nIn the event \"Schism\", there has apparently been a pro-human coup in the Hellfire Club, all mutant members have been removed, and 12-year-old supergenius Kade Kilgore has been named the new Black King. Kilgore then called together a cabal of prepubescent geniuses to secretly rule the Hellfire Club and eradicate mutantkind, then proceeding to poison the other remaining Hellfire Club members, making them the sole leadership. Kade Kilgore later had a change of heart and began recruiting mutants to his side to train the newly manifested mutants at the Hellfire Academy. The Hellfire Academy is destroyed by the staff of the Jean Grey School.\n\n Kade Kilgore - Black King. A twelve-year-old sociopath who is also the leader of the group. \n Doctor Maximilian Frankenstein (formerly Baron Maximilian von Katzenelnbogen) - Black Bishop. Descendant of Victor Frankenstein. He was responsible for creating the Krakoa that the X-Men befriended and the Krakoas that defended the unnamed island where the Hellfire Academy is located.\n Manuel Enduque - White King. He is well-versed in weaponry with his family reportedly being a dynasty of slavers in Africa with Manuel having strangled his own father to death, thus resulting in him taking control of the business.\n Wilhemina Kensington - White Queen. She is an eleven year old with a love of martial arts and beauty pageants who inherited the company after her mother died. She is also both psychopathic and sociopathic, having killed human guards and alien warriors and is also alleged to have mutilated both cats and penguins. \n\n Associates:\n Sabretooth\n Ezekiel Stane \n Kid Blackheart \n Cordelia Frost\n Szandor Shaw\n Kevin Krask\n Kenneth Krask\n Wolfgang von Roehm\n\nThe Eighth Inner Circle\nSebastian Shaw has since regained control of the Hellfire Club and in an attempt to restore its former power and glory, decided to ally himself with Magneto and his X-Men branch to form a new Inner Circle.\n\n Sebastian Shaw - Black King\n Briar Raleigh - Black Bishop - Magneto's former associate and the only non-mutant within the Inner Circle\n Monet St. Croix - White Queen\n Black Tom Cassidy - White Bishop\n\nThe Ninth Inner Circle\nEventually Emma Frost decided to rid of Shaw, by spiking his wine with a paralytic agent she made sure there was no way for him to release his body's absorbed energies which overloaded his Mothervine-induced secondary mutation, resulting in his death. She then reformed the Inner Circle in her image and using Vanisher as her personal transportation, she worked behind the scenes to get the X-Men to handle certain affairs.\n\nBlack King: Emma Frost\nWhite King: Mystique\nBlack Bishop: Elixir\nWhite Bishop: Marrow\n\nThe Tenth Inner Circle\nWith mutants congregating on Krakoa, Kade Kilgore is able to retake control of the Hellfire Club branch in New York City. Opting later to rename themselves as \"Homines Verendi\", a Latin name which roughly translates to \"man must be revered and feared\", Kade and his group (Maximilian Frankenstein, Manuel Enduque and Wilhemina Kensington) recruited Taiwanese millionaire and anti-mutant activist, Chen Zhao and stands poised ready to tear down the new age of mutantkind as they are involved in the Krakoans' problems.\n\nWith each of the founding members already in possession of massive fortunes, they succeeded in taking over Madripoor, an island in Southeast Asia, and are using it as its base of power. While it is unknown whether or not the royal family of Madripoor has been detained, fled or simply murdered, it's clear that the lawless island is no longer a safe haven for mutants. Once used as a base of operations for the X-Man Wolverine while using the alias “Patch,” Madripoor has now degenerated into a country that is openly hostile toward mutants and has even gone so far as to offer its citizens payment for killing mutants. It's almost become a dark reflection of Krakoa and everything that it stands for and recruited long-time X-Men foe Donald Pierce to act as Madripoor’s official representative to the United Nations.\n\nThey also secretly aid Hellfire Club member Sebastian Shaw in the murder of Kitty Pryde. Shaw paid Verendi to participate in his scheme to get Kitty alone on Verendi's ship so that he could ensnare her in Krakoan vines and sink her with the ship.\n\nMembers\nThe following characters are members of the Hellfire Club, many of them being extremely influential, but were not part of any of the Inner Circle incarnations mentioned above. Membership is either hereditary, or obtained through personal invitation from the branch's King. Known members include:\n\n Warren Worthington Jr. and Kathryn Worthington (both deceased) - invited by Ned Buckman\n Howard Stark (deceased) - invited by Ned Buckman\n Sir James Braddock (deceased) - invited by Ned Buckman, former Black Bishop of the London Branch, left the Inner Circle when his inventions were used for anti-mutant purposes.\n Senator Robert Kelly (deceased)\n Warren Worthington III (Angel) - inherited membership from his father.\n Candace \"Candy\" Southern (deceased)\n Elizabeth Braddock (Psylocke) - inherited membership.\n James Braddock Jr. - inherited membership.\n Berhard Van Ostamgen - failed entry into Inner Circle\n Ronald Parvenue\n Dwayne Taylor (Night Thrasher) (deceased)\n Anthony Stark (Iron Man) - inherited membership from his father\n Norman Osborn (Green Goblin)\n Bianca LeNeige\n Vance Astrovik\n Oliver Ryland - Elias Bogan's protégé\n The Kingmaker\n Rachel Summers - White Warrior Princess, invited by Emma Frost\n Lady Jacqueline Falsworth-Crichton - inherited membership\n Angus Munroe - deceased\n\nPast members\n Philadelphia, 1780/81: Sir Patrick Clemens (King title), Lady Diana Knight (Queen title), Lady Grey (Queen title), Elizabeth Shaw-Worthington, Major General Wallace Worthington, Commander Clinton\n London, 1859: Lord Braddock, Mr. Shaw (Sebastian Shaw's great-grandfather and Cornelius Shaw's father)\n Boston, 1872/74: Anton Pierce (Member of the Inner Circle)\n London, 1915: Brigadier-General Cornelius Shaw, Sir Harry Manners, Waltham Pierce\n\nIn Runaways #10, Emma Frost tells Cyclops that the Hellfire Club had once reached out for the Hayeses, though the attempt went awry because the Hayeses were \"sadistic monsters\".\n\nStaff\nThe Hellfire Club has employed a large number of mostly-anonymous armed guards. A few have been named:\n\n Wade Cole\n Angelo Macon\n Murray Reese\n Samuel Guthrie (Cannonball)\n Richard Salmons\n Randall Chase\n Chet Andrews\n\nCole, Macon and Reese were savagely wounded by Wolverine in the Hellfire Club's first confrontation with the X-Men. They would return to duty as cyborgs before leaving the Club to join Lady Deathstrike in seeking revenge against Wolverine, eventually joining the Reavers. Sam Guthrie worked as a Hellfire guard for a brief period before joining the New Mutants as Cannonball. Kade Kilgore also recruited two survivors of private military company Blackguard, who were augmented with adamantium skeletons, and laser claws as his personal bodyguards.\n\nThe Hellfire Club also employs a number of servants, escorts and strippers. Sharon Kelly was a waitress at the New York branch who was chosen by Sebastian Shaw to seduce Senator Robert Kelly. The couple quickly married, but soon afterwards Sharon was killed in a battle involving the X-Men, further fueling her husband's hatred for mutants.\n\nMassachusetts Academy\n\nThe Hellfire Club was aligned with the prestigious prep school the Massachusetts Academy, run by White Queen Emma Frost, for a number of years. In addition to its large, traditional, student body, the Academy secretly trained a team of young mutants known as the Hellions. Due to their affiliation with the Club, the Hellions were often present at its social functions. This group would entertain a rivalry with Professor Charles Xavier's students at the time, the New Mutants.\n\nAfter the death of the Hellions in an attack orchestrated by the Upstarts, Emma Frost left the Hellfire Club. Re-aligning herself with Professor Xavier, the Massachusetts Academy became the new site for Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and a new class, known as Generation X.\n\nHellfire Academy\nThe seventh incarnation of the Hellfire Club have since founded the Hellfire Academy, a rival to the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. It is located on an unnamed island. According to Kade Kilgore, the purpose of recruiting newly empowered mutants is to train them to be supervillains so he can then profit from the fear generated by them through his Sentinel program. Staff outside the Hellfire Club's leadership include:\n\n Mystique - Headmistress who also teaches Intro to Evil. Joined in Wolverine and the X-Men #20.\n Sabretooth - Headmaster. Joined in Wolverine and the X-Men #3.\n Dog Logan - Brother of Wolverine. He teaches physical education. Joined in Wolverine and the X-Men #29.\n Dr. Xanto Starblood - Self-proclaimed Extreme Zoologist who teaches Xenobiology. Joined in Wolverine and the X-Men #30\n Husk - Former X-Man. She is the lunch lady and librarian. Joined sometime after Wolverine and the X-Men #19.; later rejoined X-Men\n Lord Deathstrike - Brother of Lady Deathstrike who works as a recruited resourcer. Joined in Wolverine and the X-Men #20.\n Master Pandemonium - He teaches Hell Literature. Joined in Wolverine and the X-Men #20.\n Madame Mondo - Female member of the Spinless Ones from the Mojoverse. She works as the Public Relations teacher. Joined in Wolverine and the X-Men #20.\n Sauron - He works as a science teacher. Joined in Wolverine and the X-Men #20.\n Silver Samurai -The son of the original Silver Samurai who works as a designer. Joined in Wolverine and the X-Men #20.\n The Philistine - Joined in Wolverine and the X-Men #20.\n Toad - Joined in Wolverine and the X-Men #30.; left in Wolverine and the X-Men #33; later rejoined X-Men\n Wendigo - He works as a Danger Room Instructor. Joined in Wolverine and the X-Men #20.\n\nThe students of the Hellfire Academy include:\n\n Broo - Joined in Wolverine and the X-Men #30; later rejoined X-Men\n Glob Herman - Joined prior to Wolverine and the X-Men #18 \n Infestation - Joined in Wolverine and the X-Men #31 \n Mudbug - Joined in Wolverine and the X-Men #20\n Oya - Joined in Wolverine and the X-Men #29; left in Wolverine and the X-Men #33; later rejoined X-Men\n Kid Omega - Joined in Wolverine and the X-Men #30; left in Wolverine and the X-Men #32; later rejoined X-Men\n Snot - Joined in Wolverine and the X-Men #31\n Tin Man - Joined in X-Men vol. 3 #41\n\nHellfire Trading Company\nIn the wake of the establishment of the mutant nation of Krakoa, Emma Frost reforms the Club and reorganized it into the Hellfire Trading Company, the distribution arm for the Krakoan drugs produced by the mutant nation-state. Sailing out of Hellfire Bay, its ships the Marauder, the Upstart and the Mercury perform public delivery of mutant goods, while also smuggling the drugs illicitly and freeing mutants from unfriendly nations. The company is run by a new Inner Circle which is compose of a triple dynasty of black, white and red Hellfire royalty.\n\n White Palace\nWhite Queen: Stepford Cuckoos: Emma Frost (formerly)\nWhite Bishop: Christian Frost\nWhite Knight: Callisto\nBlackstone\nBlack Queen: Lourdes Chantel; Sebastian Shaw (formerly Black King)\nBlack Bishop: Shinobi Shaw\nBlack Knights: Andrea and Andreas Strucker\nRed Keep\n Red Queen: Katherine Pryde\n Red Bishop: Lucas Bishop\n\nOther versions\n\nAge of Apocalypse\nIn the alternate universe known as the \"Age of Apocalypse\", the Hellfire Club was not active and was possibly decimated by the forces of Apocalypse. Its closest counterpart was Heaven, Warren Worthington III's nightclub that formed a neutral zone from the genetic conflict that boiled outside. Sebastian Shaw meanwhile served as a member of Apocalypse's court. Donald Pierce also became a servant of Apocalypse, and lead the techno-organic-infected Reavers. On the other side of the conflict, Emma Frost served as part of the Human High Council, having been stripped of her powers through a lobotomy. Jason Wyngarde, a victim of the Sugar Man's genetic experiments, had become one of Forge's Outcasts.\n\nAfter the ascension of Weapon X, Sebastian Shaw remade Heaven into his image and renamed the nightclub as Hellfire Club all the while trying to gain power.\n\nBishop's Future\nThe Hellfire Club retained its position as one of the world's major powers in the future timeline of Bishop. The Club is ruled by Anthony Shaw, a descendant of Sebastian Shaw; he also has an illegitimate son, Trevor Fitzroy. (Fitzroy would later travel back in time, bringing him into conflict with his forefathers Shinobi and Sebastian Shaw.) Malcolm, a colleague of Bishop and member of the Xavier Security Enforcers (X.S.E.), was also a member of the Club.\n\nClan Hellfire\nIn a future dominated by Trevor Fitzroy, calling himself The Chronomancer, one of the forces opposing his rule is Clan Hellfire, led by a Samara Shaw.\n\nX-Men: Ronin\nIn one alternate reality in which the X-Men are based in Japan, the Hellfire Club is ruled by Professor Xavier. The White Queen Emma Frost is a junior member who, along with Tessa, believe Xavier to be their biological father. The Club controls the Shadowcat Clan of ninjas, which includes Pyro, Iceman and Colossus.\n\nMarvel Noir\nIn X-Men Noir, the Hellfire Club is an exclusive S&M club owned by Sebastian Shaw, and is plundered early on by Beast, Cyclops and Iceman.\n\nUltimate Marvel\nWithin the Hellfire Club of the Ultimate Marvel Universe is an Inner Circle led by Sebastian Shaw (with other notable members being Xavier spy Gerald Lavine, and Shaw's son Shinobi) who worship a pagan \"Phoenix God\". Believing the Phoenix to be incarnated in the body of X-Man Jean Grey, the Club quietly funded Professor Charles Xavier as she developed under his tutelage. Jean however underwent a mental breakdown, and stole the Inner Circle's bank access codes and wiped their minds.\n\nA group called the Church of Shi'ar Enlightenment later approached the Xavier Institute, claiming the Hellfire Club was a breakaway sect, and asking to examine whether or not Jean really is the Phoenix God. However, Lilandra's assistant Gerald Lavine was revealed to be an operative of the Hellfire Club and working for Shinobi Shaw, who is also dating Emma Frost, headmistress of the Academy of Tomorrow and secretly a member of the Hellfire Club.\n\nIn other media\n\nTelevision\n Emma Frost, as the White Queen, is a member of Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in the one off animated episode Pryde of the X-Men in 1989. It was planned to be a series, but was cancelled, with only the pilot being produced. She is seen freeing Magneto from a military convoy at the beginning of the episode and can later be seen fighting against Cyclops on Asteroid M.\n The original Inner Circle appeared in X-Men under the name of the \"Inner Circle Club\" to prevent any controversy regarding the use of the word \"Hellfire\". They appear first in cameos in the episode \"The Phoenix Saga - Part IV\". The members of the Inner Circle are Sebastian Shaw, Jason Wyngarde, Emma Frost, Donald Pierce, and Harry Leland. They aimed to control Jean Grey and brainwash her into joining them, but unwittingly unleashed the Dark Phoenix. At the end of the saga Shaw, Pierce, and Frost escape, Wyngarde is left catatonic, and Leland is missing following a fight with Wolverine.\n The animated series Wolverine and the X-Men featured the Inner Circle composed of Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, Harry Leland, Donald Pierce, Selene, and the Stepford Cuckoos. This Inner Circle appears more closely related to the Ultimate Marvel series, as a group who is obsessed solely with attaining the power of the Phoenix. In the episode \"Shades of Grey,\" Emma Frost telepathically puts the X-Men to sleep so that the Hellfire Club can abduct Jean Grey. In the three-part episode \"Foresight,\" Sebastian Shaw, Harry Leland, Donald Pierce, and Selene prepare a ritual that would extract the Phoenix Force from Jean Grey and place it in the Stepford Cuckoos. Emma Frost warned them against the plan, but her warnings fell on deaf ears. When the Phoenix was released, the ceiling fell on top of Leland and Pierce. Emma Frost used her telepathy to subdue Shaw and Selene.\n The Hellfire Club (once again under the name Inner Circle) were featured in Marvel Anime: X-Men. In the first episode, they were seen trying to manipulate Jean Grey into using the Phoenix Force for their own use until Jean Grey sacrifices herself. This show also includes some Inner Circle mutants named Rat, Marsh, and Neuron (the Inner Circle's White Bishop) who assisted Mastermind in his plans to rule humanity.\n A live action television series titled Hellfire was under development by 20th Century Fox Television and Marvel Television with an early 2017 air date, but on July 12, 2016, Variety reports that the project is no longer moving forward.\n Hellfire Club appears in The Gifted television series. In the first season Stepford Cuckoos are revealed to be working for the Hellfire Club, convincing several characters to join them in the season finale. In the second season Reeva Payge takes control of the Inner Circle and pursues a goal of mutant liberation. Other members include Andy Strucker, Polaris (Lorna Dane), Fade and Sage, all of whom joined the Hellfire Club at the end of Season 1 after losing faith in the Mutant Underground. However, Marsh, Rat and Neuron are killed by the X-Men, while Mastermind is killed by Takeo when the boy's powers go out of control.\n\nFilm\n The Hellfire Club appeared in the film X-Men: First Class as the main antagonists. The Hellfire Club is led by Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) and Emma Frost (January Jones), with Azazel (Jason Flemyng), Riptide (Álex González), and Angel Salvadore (Zoë Kravitz) as the main members (Although Angel was initially a member of the X-Men before she defected). Their overall goal is to start World War III in order to wipe out the human race from Earth, allowing the mutants to rise up and take over as the survivor race, with Shaw as the leader of the new world order. To this end, they manipulate American and Soviet government officials to instigate the Cuban Missile Crisis, prompting CIA agent Moira MacTaggert to supervise the initial formation of the X-Men, coordinated by Charles Xavier, his adoptive sister Raven, new ally Erik Lensherr, and CIA scientist Hank McCoy, to oppose them. At the end of the movie, Sebastian Shaw is killed by Magneto while many of its members (Emma Frost, Azazel, Riptide, Angel and Raven) join Magneto and his new group the Brotherhood of Mutants.\n The Hellfire Club were originally planned to return in X-Men: Dark Phoenix with a comics-accurate lineup consisting of Harry Leland, Freidrich Von Roehm, the Strucker Twins, Shinobi Shaw, a returning Emma Frost and the Red Lotus Gang though they were cut from the film.\n\nVideo games\n Emma Frost was a boss character in the X-Men arcade game by Konami in 1992, loosely based on the \"Pryde of the X-Men\" pilot.\n The Hellfire Club have appeared in numerous X-Men video games as villains in various stages specifically within the Hellfire Mansion with the final boss almost always being Sebastian Shaw. The Hellfire Club Mansion appeared as the first stage in X-Men (Game Gear System) as well as X-Men 2: Game Master's Legacy (Game Gear). Another game they appeared in was X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse.\n The Hellfire Club appears as antagonist in the video game Wolverine: Adamantium Rage, for the SNES and Sega Genesis, with Selene and Shinobi Shaw appearing as bosses in their stage.\n The Hellfire Club appears in Marvel: Avengers Alliance. In the Spec Ops part of the game, Emma Frost tells Nick Fury and the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent that someone is claiming her former title as White Queen. Their foot soldiers consist of Hellfire Elites, Hellfire Gunners, Hellfire Heavies, Hellfire Hunters, Hellfire Officers, and Hellfire Snipers. The Hellfire Club has also received help in their goals from Avalanche, Blob, Crimson Dynamo (who built the Sentinels that obey the Hellfire Club's every commands), Juggernaut, and Omega Sentinel. In the 6th Spec Ops mission, the Hellfire Club brings Living Pharaoh out of stasis and plots to help him transform into Living Monolith. This time, the Hellfire Club have also enlisted the help of Bullseye, Constrictor, and Dragoness. Also the Hellfire Club is a major antagonist in the first chapter of the second season, with Selene making her first appearance, as a boss in the mission 5. Special Operations 19: Fratricide follows the storyline of the remnants of the Brotherhood being hunted down by Mr. Sinister, Bastion, and the Hellfire Club. Sebastian Shaw appears as the Boss of Mission 3, which also marks his first appearance in the game.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Hellfire Club at Marvel.com\n Hellfire Club at Marvel Wiki\n Hellfire Academy at Marvel Wiki\n\nAnimated series villains\nCharacters created by Chris Claremont\nCharacters created by John Byrne (comics)\nFictional clubs\nFictional organizations in Marvel Comics\nMarvel Comics supervillain teams\nX-Men supporting characters"
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[
"Sage (comics)",
"The Hellfire Club",
"What was the Hellfire Club?",
"Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class, she is instead sent to spy on the Hellfire Club as Tessa,"
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C_e540206936bc4dc0918ad3b0f47da1be_1
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Why was she sent to spy on them?
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Why was Sage sent to spy on Hellfire Club?
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Sage (comics)
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Years later, Sage meets up again with Xavier, who at the time is recruiting the original X-Men. Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class, she is instead sent to spy on the Hellfire Club as Tessa, and to keep watch on Sebastian Shaw, something which returns to haunt her in the following years. While working at the Hellfire Club she encounters Psylocke, Jean Grey, and Emma Frost, who at this point is the White Queen. While she is able to successfully warn Psylocke away from the Hellfire Club, Tessa is later remorseful that she is unable to similarly prevent the corruption of Phoenix into the Black Queen. This transformation is a key factor in the creation of Dark Phoenix. Sometime during Tessa's time with the Hellfire Club, Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost dare the man known as Elias Bogan to wager in a game of poker. Though he holds no official rank in the Inner Circle, the telepathic Bogan is one of the Club's most important and powerful members; his patronage guarantees success in the organization. By the terms of the wager, if Shaw lost, Frost would "belong" to Bogan, but if Bogan's agent lost, then his fortune would be turned over to Shaw. Thanks to Tessa's advice and analytical skills, Bogan loses the game and is forced to honor the wager. Having never lost before, Bogan harbors a grudge against Tessa. During the X-Men's initial conflicts with the Hellfire Club, Tessa primarily maintains a background role and is seen as only Shaw's unusually intelligent assistant. Hints of her more complex role are indicated when she and Xavier are kidnapped by Donald Pierce, a renegade member of the club, with grudges against both organizations. Based on the interactions between Xavier and Tessa, it is unclear whether he is helping to maintain her cover or whether he feels as if he has lost his agent, since the interaction between the two is kept impersonal. The two are rescued by the nascent team of New Mutants, and Tessa takes Pierce into custody on behalf of the Hellfire Club. Tessa's next notable interaction with Xavier's students happens months later when the X-Men and Hellfire Club are hunting down Rachel Summers after her attempted murder of Selene, the newly installed Black Queen. In the middle of their fight, both teams are taken by surprise by Nimrod, a mutant-hunting robot from the future. Recognizing the more immediate threat, the two groups join forces and are able to severely damage Nimrod. The X-Men and Hellfire Club each sustain heavy losses and are forced to flee the scene quickly. Tessa offers Storm and the X-Men temporary sanctuary with the Club, which later results in Magneto and Storm jointly accepting the role of White King in the Inner Circle. CANNOTANSWER
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Years later, Sage meets up again with Xavier, who at the time is recruiting the original X-Men. Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class,
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"HMS Spy was a Bonetta-class sloop launched at Rotherhithe in 1756 for the Royal Navy. The Navy sold her in 1773. From 1776, or perhaps earlier she was a transport. Then from 1780 to 1783, as Mars, she was first a privateer and then a slave ship, engaged in the triangular trade in enslaved persons. Between 1783 and 1787 her name was Tartar, and she traded with the Mediterranean. From 1787 on she was a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She made at least four complete whaling voyages and was last listed in 1792.\n\nHMS Spy\nCommander Richard Hughes commissioned Spy in February 1756, in the Downs.\n\nIn November Spy was under the command of Commander William Bayne. She sailed her for New York on 8 May 1757. She spent 1858 cruising. At some point in late 1758 or early 1759 Spy and Portmahon captured Guillaume. Bayne was also her commander when Spy captured the French privateer Banaba on 29 December 1758.\n\nIn March 1760 Spy was under the command of Commander William Phillips, and cruising in Home waters.\n\nIn November 1761 she was under the command of Commander Thomas Hayward. He paid her her off in late 1762 or early 1763. She then underwent a survey on 22 March 1763.\n\nCommander William Phillips recommissioned Spy in March 1763. He then sailed for Newfoundland on 22 May 1764.\n \nIn 1765 Spy was under the command of Commander Thomas Allwright, at Newfoundland. She was paid off in December 1767.\n\nSpy was surveyed on 23 June 1768. Between March 1769 and September 1770, she underwent a Small Repair at Deptford.\n\nCommander James Worth recommissioned Spy in July 1770. He sailed her for the Leeward Islands on 5 October.\n\nSpy was paid off in 1772.\n\nDisposal: Spy was surveyed in July 1773 and sold at Sheerness on 3 September, for £240.\n\nMercantile Spy\nMissing volumes of Lloyd's Register (LR) have resulted in Spy first appearing in the register in 1776. From this volume on, throughout her history and name changes, the register gave her origins as the \"King's ard, perhaps because she was completed at the Royal dockyards at Deptford, and her launch year as 1758.\n\nMars\nMars, ex-Spy, appeared in Lloyd's Register in 1780.\n\nLloyd's List reported in January 1781 that the privateer Mars had sent into Dartmouth a Dutch vessel that had been sailing from Lisbon to Rouen with a cargo of cotton, rice, etc. Mars had sailed from Dartmouth on 28 December 1780.\n\nMars then switched from privateering to the slave trade.\n\nSlave trading voyage (1782–1783): Captain Robert Patterson sailed from London on 14 January 1782, bound for the Gold Coast. Mars started acquiring slaves on 30 April, first at Cape Coast Castle, and then at Anomabu. She sailed from Africa on 29 September and arrived at Kingston, Jamaica on 3 December. She had embarked 300 slaves and arrived with 284. She landed 275, for about an 8% mortality rate on the voyage. She arrived back at London on 19 July 1793.\n\nTartar\nTartar, ex-Mars, appeared in Lloyd's Register in 1783.\n\nSouthampton\nSouthampton, ex-Tartar, appeared in Lloyd's Register in 1787. She then became a whaler.\n\n1st whaling voyage (1787–1788): Captain William Aikin (or Aiken), sailed from London on 31 August 1787, bound for the Brazil Banks. Southampton returned on 20 June 1788 with 18 tuns of sperm oil, 64 tuns of whale oil, and 40 cwt of bone. She had killed 15 whales.\n\n2nd whaling voyage (1788–1789): Captain Akin (or Atkinson) sailed from Southampton on 28 August 1788, for the southern fishery. In a letter dated 1 December 1788 Akin reported that Southampton was on the Brazil Coast in latitude 35°30'S. He further reported on the weather and with news of several other whalers. Southampton returned to Southampton on 12 May 1789 with 12 tun of whale oil.\n\n3rd whaling voyage (1789–1790): Captain A. Muirhead from Southampton on 11 September 1789, bound for Walvis Bay. Southampton was reported in December to have been at Bonavista. She left Walwich Bay on 14 October and Saint Helena on 5 November, and on her return to England report on whales she had left either location. She arrived at Cowes on 30 December 1790.\n\n4th whaling voyage (1791–1792): Captain Sam Marshall sailed from Southampton on 10 July 1791. On 20 August she was well at Porto Praya. Lloyd's List reported in October 1792 that Southampton, Marshall, master, had returned to Southampton from the South Seas.\n\n5th whaling voyage (1793?): Although there is a record that Captain Hart sailed, or intended to sail Southampton to the Brazil Banks in 1793, there is no record in Lloyd's Lists ship arrival and departure data of her departure or return. Furthermore, she is last listed in Lloyd's Register in 1792.\n\nCitations & references\nCitations\n\nReferences\n \n\n1756 ships\nSloops of the Royal Navy\nAge of Sail merchant ships of England\nPrivateer ships of Great Britain\nLondon slave ships\nWhaling ships",
"Spy was built in France in 1780, almost surely under another name, and taken in prize. The British East India Company (EIC) purchased her in 1781 and used her for almost two years as a fast packet vessel and cruiser based in St Helena. It then sold her and she became a London-based slave ship, making two voyages carrying slaves from West Africa to the West Indies. She then became a whaler, making seven whaling voyages between 1786 and 1795. She was probably wrecked in August 1795 on a voyage as a government transport.\n\nEIC packet\nOne source states that Spy was built in the Thames for the EIC, but that appears to be a mistake. The EIC had her surveyed before purchasing her. The same source states that she sailed to Bombay and Bengal. Actually, she never sailed east of the Cape of Good Hope (the Cape). The EIC stationed her at St Helena and had her patrol in nearby waters. \n\nSpy, John Sherwood, master, sailed from Gravesend on 13 December 1781, and Portsmouth on 6 February 1782 and arrived at St Helena on 13 June. She sailed from there on 18 August and returned on 7 September. She sailed from St Helena on 23 September and returned on 11 October. She sailed from St Helena on 16 November and returned on 6 December. She sailed from St Helena on 10 March 1783 and returned on 1 April. She sailed on 17 May and returned on 1 June. On 8 September she was at the Cape and she returned on 7 October. She returned to the Downs on 8 December. She was back at London by 16 December.\n\nOne source states that in 1784 the EIC sent Spy out to St. Helena and stationed her there permanently as a guard ship. It did not. Instead, it sold her to Camden and Calvert, who went on to employ Spy as a slave ship.\n\nSlave ship\nThe preeminent database on the trans-Atlantic slave trade confuses two vessels. It gives Spy the origins and dimensions of , of 337 tons (bm). Stag was launched in 1774 in France and captured circa 1779. It then attributes to Stag the burthen (200 tons), of Spy. The probable source of the confusion is that in 1786 Captain Thomas Wilson transferred from Spy to Stag, which had been renamed Spy in 1784, with the change of name not making it into Lloyd's Register until 1787.\n\n1st slave voyage (1784-1785): Captain Thomas Wilson sailed from London on 12 August 1784. Spy started acquiring her slaves on 1 December at Cape Coast Castle. She sailed from Africa on 1 March 1785 and arrived at Montego Bay, Jamaica on 4 May with 350 slaves. She sailed from Jamaica on 24 June and arrived back at London on 23 August.\n\n2nd slave voyage (1785–1786): Captain Thomas Wilson sailed from London on 28 September 1785. Spy acquired her slaves at Cape Coast Castle and then at Anomabu. She embarked 450 in all and left Africa on 26 March 1786. She arrived at Grenada with on 20 May with 430 slaves, having lost 20 on the voyage. She disembarked 424. She arrived back at London on 1 August..\n\nOn her return her owners, Camden & Calvert, decided to try whaling instead of the slave trade. Captain Wilson transferred to another Spy, the former Stag, and continued in the slave trade.\n\nWhaler\n\n1st whaling voyage (1786–1787): Captain J. Brown sailed from London on 31 August 1786, bound for the Brazil Banks. Spy returned on 22 June 1787 with 10 tuns of sperm oil, 55 tuns of whale oil, and 38 cwt of whale bone.\n\nCalvert & Camden sold Spy to King & Co. \n\n2nd whaling voyage (1787–1788): Captain Thomas Wyer (or Wier) sailed from London on 4 December 1787, bound for the Brazil Banks. Spy returned on 19 August 1788 with 50 tuns of sperm oil.\n\n3rd whaling voyage (1788–1789): Captain William Fitch sailed from London in 1788, bound for the coast of Africa. In January 1789 she and several other whalers, including , were \"all well\" off the coast of Guinea. In June she had 240 barrels of spermaceti oil. Spy returned on 25 August 1789 with 56 tuns of sperm oil. In 1789 she underwent repairs.\n\n4th whaling voyage (1789-1791): Captain Fitch sailed from London on 12 November 1789. Spy returned on 10 January 1791.\n\n5th whaling voyage (1791-1792): Captain Fitch sailed in 1791. Spy returned on 25 June 1792.\n\nApparently Calvert & Co. were once again owners of Spy. \n\n6th whaling voyage (1792-1793): Captain Fitch sailed in 1792, bound for Brazil. Spy returned on 5 April 1793 with 105 tuns of whale oil and 75 cwt of whale bone.\n\n7th whaling voyage (1793-1795): Captain Fitch sailed from London on 17 October 1793, bound for the coast of Peru. Spy returned on 26 July 1795.\n\nFate\nLR continued to carry Spy through 1797, but with stale data. However, a Spy, Howard, master, was lost in the last week of August near Dungeness. She was outbound as a government transport; her crew were rescued. A second report had her running on shore at Dymchurch. She had been carrying men from the 3rd Regiment (The Old Buffs), who were safely landed.\n\nNotes, citations, and references\nNotes\n\nCitations\n\nReferences\n \n \n \n\n1780 ships\nShips built in France\nCaptured ships\nAge of Sail merchant ships of England\nShips of the British East India Company\nLondon slave ships\nWhaling ships",
"Liu Ling (劉陵) (died 122 BC or earlier) was a Han dynasty princess during Emperor Wu's reign. She was the daughter of Liu An, the King of Huainan, as well as a second cousin of Emperor Wu. \n\nLiu An sent her to the national capital Chang'an to become a socialite, so as to spy on Emperor Wu and his ministers. After Liu An was accused of staging a rebellion, his entire clan was apprehended and executed, Liu Ling presumably among them (unless she died before that).\n\nBiography\nLiu Ling probably grew up in her father Liu An's territory of Huainan, a large area south of the Huai River. She was said to be intelligent and articulate. Her father was fond of her, and sent her to Chang'an with a lot of \"gold and money\" to \"befriend\" and \"spy on\" the Emperor and those to his \"left and right\". She bribed and had an illicit sexual relationship with at least one person: Zhang Cigong (張次公), the Marquess of Antou (岸頭侯), who lost his title and territory when the scandal was exposed in 122 BC, the year Liu An and Liu Ling were executed.\n\nAccording to official history, Liu An plotted to rebel, while his wife Tu (荼), son Liu Qian (劉遷), and daughter Liu Ling were all profligate and oppressive: they robbed commoners of their farmland and houses, and sentenced people on wanton charges. In 122 BC, Emperor Wu discovered Liu An's plot and called for his arrest: Liu An committed suicide, while thousands of people including his entire clan were executed.\n\nNotes and references\n\n122 BC deaths"
] |
|
[
"Sage (comics)",
"The Hellfire Club",
"What was the Hellfire Club?",
"Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class, she is instead sent to spy on the Hellfire Club as Tessa,",
"Why was she sent to spy on them?",
"Years later, Sage meets up again with Xavier, who at the time is recruiting the original X-Men. Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class,"
] |
C_e540206936bc4dc0918ad3b0f47da1be_1
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Why was he recruiting them?
| 3 |
Why was Xavier recruiting the original X-Men?
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Sage (comics)
|
Years later, Sage meets up again with Xavier, who at the time is recruiting the original X-Men. Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class, she is instead sent to spy on the Hellfire Club as Tessa, and to keep watch on Sebastian Shaw, something which returns to haunt her in the following years. While working at the Hellfire Club she encounters Psylocke, Jean Grey, and Emma Frost, who at this point is the White Queen. While she is able to successfully warn Psylocke away from the Hellfire Club, Tessa is later remorseful that she is unable to similarly prevent the corruption of Phoenix into the Black Queen. This transformation is a key factor in the creation of Dark Phoenix. Sometime during Tessa's time with the Hellfire Club, Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost dare the man known as Elias Bogan to wager in a game of poker. Though he holds no official rank in the Inner Circle, the telepathic Bogan is one of the Club's most important and powerful members; his patronage guarantees success in the organization. By the terms of the wager, if Shaw lost, Frost would "belong" to Bogan, but if Bogan's agent lost, then his fortune would be turned over to Shaw. Thanks to Tessa's advice and analytical skills, Bogan loses the game and is forced to honor the wager. Having never lost before, Bogan harbors a grudge against Tessa. During the X-Men's initial conflicts with the Hellfire Club, Tessa primarily maintains a background role and is seen as only Shaw's unusually intelligent assistant. Hints of her more complex role are indicated when she and Xavier are kidnapped by Donald Pierce, a renegade member of the club, with grudges against both organizations. Based on the interactions between Xavier and Tessa, it is unclear whether he is helping to maintain her cover or whether he feels as if he has lost his agent, since the interaction between the two is kept impersonal. The two are rescued by the nascent team of New Mutants, and Tessa takes Pierce into custody on behalf of the Hellfire Club. Tessa's next notable interaction with Xavier's students happens months later when the X-Men and Hellfire Club are hunting down Rachel Summers after her attempted murder of Selene, the newly installed Black Queen. In the middle of their fight, both teams are taken by surprise by Nimrod, a mutant-hunting robot from the future. Recognizing the more immediate threat, the two groups join forces and are able to severely damage Nimrod. The X-Men and Hellfire Club each sustain heavy losses and are forced to flee the scene quickly. Tessa offers Storm and the X-Men temporary sanctuary with the Club, which later results in Magneto and Storm jointly accepting the role of White King in the Inner Circle. CANNOTANSWER
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[
"The Queensland Recruiting Committee was a volunteer organisation in Queensland, Australia, which urged Queensland men to enlist for military service during World War I. It operated from May 1915 to December 1916, when it was replaced by an Australian Government recruitment organisation, the Queensland State Recruiting Committee.\n\nHistory \nOn 28 May 1915, a meeting was held at the Brisbane Town Hall, chaired by Brisbane mayor George Down, to discuss ways to encourage able-bodied men to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force to fight in World War I. The decision of the meeting was to create the Queensland Recruiting Committee, the first recruitment committee established in Australia. Unlike in other states, the Queensland Recruitment Committee was not a government organisation but rather an independent and privately funded organisation with volunteer members.\n\nThe immediate actions of the committee were to take advantage of a march down Queen Street the following day by establishing two temporary recruiting booths, one in front of the Town Hall and one in front of the Brisbane General Post Office. The committee also decided to establish a permanent recruiting booth in Queen Street.The initial belief of the committee was that their role was primarily one of education; young men would enlist if they understood the issues at stake and the need for their service. Local recruiting committees were also established in local government areas and other committees were formed to support the war effort, e.g. the University of Queensland had a University War Committee.\n\nIn October 1915, the Queensland Recruiting Committee become a sub-committee of the Queensland War Council when the council was established in September 1915.\n\nAs part of the education campaign, the committee commissioned cartoons for use in newspapers, posters for railway stations and a set of lantern slides which would be shown each day at the 20 picture theatres operated by Birch Carroll & Coyle. The committee also distributed promotional material developed in other states, sending several hundred copies of Victorian poster \"Will They Never Come?\" to every Queensland town. Another educational initiative was the publication of a 16-page booklet entitled \"For Queensland's Honour: Queensland expects that every man will do his duty\", providing a mix of motivational and practical information (rates of pay and training) for potential recruits. It also includes an additional verse added to the national anthem of God Save the King as follows:\n\nGod save our splendid men\nSend them safe home again\nGod save our men\nKeep them victorious\nPatient and chivalrous\nThey are so dear to us\nGod save our men.\n\nThe committee was also involved in holding recruitment meetings of various kinds and coordinated with local recruiting committee to provide inspirational addresses by prominent citizens. Religious leaders of all faiths were also asked to appeal for volunteers to enlist as part of religious services. The committee asked each Queensland school to maintain a roll of honour listing those former pupils and teachers who had enlisted.\n\nIn August 1915, five trains were borrowed from the Queensland Government to use for a country recruiting drive with school children to be given a holiday on the day the train came to their town. Each train was fitted out as a recruiting depot with a doctor and a recruiting sergeant as well as carrying politicians and members of the Queensland Recruiting Committee to give speeches. At each town, the local mayor organised for people to attend the recruiting rally at the station as the train arrived. The trains travelled to destinations such as:\n Brisbane to Roma and Charleville\n Brisbane to Goondiwindi\n Brisbane to Bundaberg and Gladstone\n Rockhampton to Longreach\n Townsville to Charters Towers and Cloncurry\nstopping at many smaller towns along the way and taking a number of branch lines along the route.\n\nThe committee also took action on reasons why men might be reluctant to enlist. The committee had a campaign to get employers to commit to re-employing any staff members who enlisted and to otherwise give priority to employing returned servicemen.\n\nIn October 1915, the committee organised for the first recruiting film to be shown in Queensland, which showed the conditions in which recruits would live and was hoped would convince those who may have listened to the \"anti-recruiters\" misrepresenting the conditions.\n\nIn November 1915, the committee organised a snowball march, the March of the Dungarees, from Warwick to Brisbane. The march began at Warwick with 28 men and followed the Southern railway line through Toowoomba, Laidley, and Ipswich to its destination in Brisbane, gathering 125 recruits along the way. Despite the strong support for the march shown along the route by the townsfolk, the Brisbane Courier expressed disappointment in the overall numbers of men recruited, given the high recruitment expectations demanded by the Australian Government. However, the Courier praised those who had enlisted through the march as \"splendid\" \"high-spirited patriots\" in contrast to the \"lethargic\" \"craven\" \"slackers\" who were able to enlist but did not heed the call.\n\nOn 26 November 1915, the new Prime Minister, Billy Hughes, promised Britain 50,000 more soldiers. Towards the end of 1915, the Australian Government initiated a war census. Every man between the age of 18 and 44 had to send their reply by 1 March 2016.\n\nBy early 1916, the Queensland Recruiting Committee was seeking new ways to attract recruits. Recruiting sergeants were appointed to many country districts. The committee also advertised that it would arrange for a recruiting sergeant and military band to attend for any local \"patriotic entertainment\". Recruiting sergeants were either returned servicemen or older men (ineligible for military service) with enlisted sons, to demonstrate their personal commitment to military service during the war.\n\nIt was hoped that holding Anzac Day ceremonies in Queensland on 25 April 1916 (the first anniversary of the Gallipoli landings) would encourage recruitment. The committee initiated a public meeting in Brisbane to form a local Anzac Day committee to organise the event and, following the success of that meeting, decided to contact mayors in every town to establish a local organisation committees to conduct some suitable public meeting to mark the occasion. Although the Queensland Recruiting Committee allowed the local committees to make their own arrangements, they stipulated that the day should focus on the commemoration of fallen soldiers and the honouring of those serving and that there should be no fund-raising. They also asked that all people should stand for a minute's silence at 9pm throughout the state. The committee also called on all religious denominations to mark the day with an appropriate religious service. One of the local initiatives was the Cane Beetles March, a snowball match from Bartle Frere to Cairns, arriving in time to take part in the Anzac Day march in Cairns.\n\nIn March 1916, it was decided to allow the enlistment of men born within the British Empire but whose fathers were born in enemy nations if the local recruiting committee were unanimous in attesting to the loyalty of the recruit.\n\nThe Queensland Recruiting Committee was tasked with processing the war census returns in Queensland. Many men and women volunteered their time to help process the returns and organisations donated space and refreshments and small gifts of thanks for these volunteers. To encourage frank disclosure, all those involved in processing the returns had to sign a document pledging strict secrecy. However, there was some concerns created in relation to whether the Queensland committee or the local committee should process the replies. Some local committees felt they would have a better understanding of local situations; others did not want the workload. Meanwhile, the Queensland committee believed that some men would not wish their circumstances to become known to other local people. By March 1916, 113,00 war census returns had been received from the 140,000 expected and up to 70 volunteers a day were working on classifying the returns.\n\nAfter the Anzac Day ceremonies, the committee launched three large recruitment rallies in Brisbane, in the belief that men would more ready to enlist after that day of reflection.\n\nBy May 1916 the Queensland Recruiting Committee had created a centralised and cross-referenced filing system. This filing system provided the Committee with detailed records of 120,000 eligible males in Queensland and used a classification system to show availability in terms of family responsibilities, work commitments and other factors. This enabled recruitment to be much more focussed, enabling the committee to initiate follow-up enquiries to those who might be eligible to serve by local recruiting committees and recruiting sergeants.\n\nIn June 1916, the committee organised a march of school children in Brisbane on Friday 9 June, accompanied by school bands and the singing of patriotic songs by the children, while distributing handbills urging enlistment. Over two thousand children from 19 schools participated having between them over 9,500 of their fathers, brothers, uncles and cousins already enlisted. However, only 10 men enlisted at the recruitment station that night. Despite the effort going into recruitment activities, fewer recruits were coming forward with some country districts reporting no new recruits and many local recruiting committees doubting they could meet their targets of volunteer recruits; increasingly the discussion turned to the possibility of conscription. It seemed that \"nothing but compulsory service would bring in the shirkers\". By July 1916, Queensland recruitment was at 250 men per week, a third of the level of only two months earlier. Also, some districts such as Lowood which had a strong German heritage were running short of eligible \"Britishers\". In July 1916, the enlistment of men with fathers born in enemy countries was further relaxed to allow enlistment if a majority of the local recruiting committee would attest to their loyalty (rather than a unanimous opinion).\n\nOn Monday 14 August 1916, the Queensland Recruiting Committee convened a conference of local recruiting committees in Brisbane. The committee's filing system had identified approximately 30,000 single fit men who should be able to enlist. But in September 1916, it was announced that Queensland recruitment had fallen even lower being roughly one-seventh of the increasing levels demanded by the Australian Government. A poll of the local recruiting committees showed 95% recommended conscription. However, the Queensland Government declared it was opposed to conscription. Although some members of the Queensland Recruiting Committee were strongly in favour of conscription, the committee did not take an official position on conscription either way. Indeed, it was unclear if their role as a subcommittee of the Queensland Government's War Council allowed them have an independent position. The committee was also concerned that the growing public debate on conscription was distracting attention from the need for ongoing recruitment. Nonetheless, in the anticipation of conscription being legislated by the Australian Government, the Committee wrote to major employers asking them to consider which men in their employment might be most likely to be called up for service and encouraged them to contact the National Council of Women of Queensland see how women might be employed to make up for the conscripted men. If employers were to \"devote a little time to instruct female workers\", the committee felt they could undertake work in offices, retailing, and manufacturing. It also advised local recruiting committees (who were not subordinate to the Queensland War Council) to prepare to campaign for conscription.\n\nMeanwhile, Premier T. J. Ryan was subject to ongoing criticism that he had not enlisted himself despite being a man of suitable age. In discussing the completion of his war census card in January 1916, Ryan \"hedged\" his answer saying \"there is great room for difference of opinion as to the best way to serve the Empire\". In March 1916, when Ryan addressed a recruiting railly in Rockhampton urging men to enlist, a heckler in the crowd called out \"I will go with you tomorrow\" to which Ryan responded \"I am prepared to go tomorrow\" and claimed he had indicated his willingness to serve on his war census card. In August 1916, when pressed on his willingness to enlist, Ryan deflected the question suggesting that the proof was to be found in correspondence between him and the Queensland Recruiting Committee, but that the committee would have to agree to the release of the correspondence. Later in early October 1916, Ryan defended himself by producing a letter dated 18 March 1916 from Andrew Thynne, as chairman of the Queensland Recruiting Committee, withdrawing Ryan's call-up letter due to \"the importance of your duties as Premier of the State and of your intended visit on public business to England\". However, Thynne presented a different version of events in which Ryan had approached Thynne to get his call-up withdrawn because of the impending visit. In Thynne's view, now that the visit was completed \"There is nothing now that I know of to prevent Mr Ryan from enlisting\". Ryan then accused Thynne of \"wilfully misrepresenting\" their conversation.\n\nAlthough it was constitutionally possible for the Australian Government to have introduced conscription, it was a controversial move to do so in the face of considerable opposition demonstrated by the public and politicians. Therefore, the Australian Prime Minister, Billy Hughes, decided to hold a plebiscite on 28 October 1916 to obtain a symbolic mandate from the Australian people. On Wednesday 4 October 1916, Hughes came to Brisbane to speak in support of the conscription plebiscite at the Exhibition Hall. On Sunday 15 October 1916, the Queensland Treasurer, Ted Theodore, spoke at Warwick opposing conscription, saying, amongst other things, that voluntary recruitment had only failed because of \"the incompetency and blundering mismanagement of the Queensland Recruiting Committee who had discouraged voluntary enlistment\". The committee requested Theodore withdraw or explain his remarks, pointing out that, as a member of the Queensland Cabinet, he would have received regular briefings on the work of the committee yet had never raised any concerns. Furthermore, the work of the committee had been praised by the Federal Government including the Governor-General who described the committee as \"the finest organisation of its kind in the Commonwealth\".\n\nThe outcome of the conscription plebiscite was a majority \"No\" vote, meaning voluntary recruitment had to continue. However, how that was to be achieved was unclear to the recruitment committees. The Federal Government decided that recruitment should be coordinated directly by the Federal Government with a hierarchical structure of local committees, state committees and a federal committee all under the direction of a Federal Director-General of Recruitment, Donald Mackinnon. Although it was noted that the existing Queensland recruiting arrangements were already arranged in this way, the federal scheme involved the creation of a new Queensland State Recruiting Committee chaired by Captain George Macdonald Dash and the Queensland Recruiting Committee was to \"retire\" after passing on information on the methods they had used for recruitment. Mackinnon thanked the Queensland Recruiting Committee for the \"great zeal\" it had shown.\n\nOn Thursday 14 December 1916, the Queensland Recruitment Committee held its final meeting, in which its members offered their services in any way that might assist the new committee.\n\nMembership \n\nThe initial members of the committee included:\nAndrew Joseph Thynne (chairman), a Member of the Queensland Legislative Council and a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Queensland Volunteer Defence Force\n Colonel Robert Albert Moore \n Colonel Albert Edward Halstead \n Colonel John Francis Flewell-Smith, commander of the 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen in the Boer War \n Colonel Henry Venn King \nArthur Whittingham, a Member of the Queensland Legislative Council\n Alexander James Gibson, Professor of Engineering at the University of Queensland \n George Down, Mayor of Brisbane \n Peter Balderston Macgregor, Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly \n Robert Christian (Bob) Ramsay \n Thomas Brown \nLater members included:\n Canon David John Garland, an Anglican clergyman and an Australian Army chaplain, who joined the committee in June 1915 as honorary secretary \n John Adamson (Minister for Railways) \n Herbert Hardacre (Minister for Lands) \n G. H. Seabrook \n Harry Diddams, alderman and former Mayor of Brisbane \n Sir Robert Philp, former Premier of Queensland \n Sir Alfred Cowley, former Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly \n G. Gray \n W. P. Devereux\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\nExternal links \n — full text available online via the State Library of Victoria\n \n \n — full text available online\n\nMilitary recruitment in Queensland in World War I",
"During World War I, extensive military recruitment took place in Queensland. Although many enlisted voluntarily, there was considerable pressure for the unwilling to enlist, including two unsuccessful attempts to introduce conscription in 1916 and 1917. Overall, more than 57,700 Queenslanders fought in World War I and over 10,000 of them died.\n\nHistory \n\nThe recruitment of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) during the First World War has been called \"the greatest effort that Australia ever made as a nation\". Approximately 417,000 Australians enlisted voluntarily between 1914 and 1918, of which more than 57,700 were Queenslanders. This figure constituted about 40 per cent of all men aged between 18 and 45 years of age. The recruitment initiatives during the war involved a considerable degree of state, social, media and moral pressure brought to bear on eligible males to enlist (\"take the king's shilling\"), especially in the later years of the war.\n\nBritain's declaration of war against Germany and Austria-Hungary in August 1914 was greeted in Australia with popular enthusiasm. Though artificially high fitness standards were set by army doctors at the outset, more than 52,000 men had enlisted by the end of 1914. Accounts of extraordinary individual efforts to join up are legion. A Queensland grazier rode nearly 500 miles to the closest railhead to offer himself to the Australian Light Horse in Adelaide. There the quota was filled. He sailed to Hobart and once again faced disappointment. He eventually enlisted in Sydney as a private. Enthusiasm for the war was high and no special recruiting agencies were required. \"Everything went with a swing\", an official report at the time recorded.\n\nAfter a lull in the early months of 1915, national excitement around the Gallipoli landing in April, indignation and horror around the sinking of the Lusitania in May 1915, and an imperial call for reinforcements – in the form of a letter from the King George V to state premiers – kept the recruiting officials busy. In September 1915 the federal government undertook a war census which required completion by all males between the ages of 18 and 60. The census was followed in December by a call to arms – an enlistment appeal in the form of a letter from the Prime Minister addressed to all eligible men inviting them to enlist and asking \"If they were not prepared to do so, why not?\". The Queensland Recruiting Committee – which included members of parliament, clergymen and local government officials – was formed in June 1915, and, unlike their counterparts in other states, was initially an independent and privately funded body of citizen volunteers. It was chaired by prominent Brisbane lawyer Andrew Joseph Thynne. In October 1915 it came under the aegis of the recently appointed Queensland War Council.\n\nNational enthusiasm for enlistment was on the wane by the later half of 1915. July 1915 was the highest enlistment month of the war, but as rates declined in the subsequent months, recruiters employed a variety of methods to increase numbers including extensive press advertising and billboards. Soapbox recruiters sought to gather a crowd on street corners. Recruiting trains were organised as were snowball marches. One example of a snowball march in Queensland was that of the March of the Dungarees, a group of enlistees who left Warwick in November 1915 to march to Brisbane, and who gathered other recruits on the way. However, the ongoing publication of casualty lists meant that the naïve enthusiasm for war evident in 1914 was increasingly replaced by a sense of hardened resolution and grimmer purpose. Most willing volunteers had already joined the colours by the end of 1915.\n\nBy May 1916 the Queensland Recruiting Committee had instituted a centralised and cross-referenced filing system. This filing system provided the Committee with detailed records of 120,000 eligible males in Queensland and used a classification system to show availability in terms of family responsibilities, work commitments and other factors. This elaborate and detailed organisation was informed as much by the expectation of conscription as it was by the ongoing campaign for voluntary enlistment. Recruiting organisers increasingly believed that the voluntary system had reached its limit and invested in the success of compulsory conscription which had been publicly advocated by the Universal Service League and others since September 1915. The government under William Morris Hughes offered a plebiscite on the issue of conscription – campaigning for which proved highly socially and politically divisive. This debate helped to shatter any illusion of national unanimity around the war issue. The plebiscite was narrowly defeated on 28 October 1916. A second plebiscite in December 1917 was also defeated. Campaigning prior to the second vote proved even more vitriolic and divisive than the first. In the wake of these setbacks, recruiting organisers pulled out all stops to meet the quotas demanded by the government.\n\nThere was no neutral political space available for those who were eligible but chose not to enlist. They were typically branded as \"shirkers\", \"traitors\" and \"pro-German\". State, social and moral pressure was applied. In the wake of the conscription referendum in 1916 these accusations became more malicious. The social divisions produced by conscription and the pressure to enlist cut particularly deeply into rural communities. The myth of the digger as the military embodiment of the Australian bushman is a powerful and persistent one which had its origins in part in the writings of the prominent journalist and the war's official Australian historian Charles Bean. However, men from the cities enlisted in proportionally equal numbers to those from rural areas.\n\nIn 1917 the Queensland Recruiting Committee reported that every eligible man whose contact details could be confirmed had been interviewed at least once by a recruiting officer and summaries of the interviews were kept on file. Frequently there were follow-up interviews. Local recruiting committees were urged to ensure that rallies were held weekly and recruiting speeches were given twice daily outside the General Post Office in Brisbane. Each week Queensland newspapers carried a double-column advertisement for recruits. Racecourses, picture theatres and places of amusement were particularly targeted. Box kites were flown over the racecourse advertising the need for recruits. Despite these efforts, after the first conscription plebiscite in October 1916, the monthly recruitment quotas were never reached.\n\nIn the wake of a determined German military thrust on the Western front in March 1918 and increased anxieties about the outcome of the struggle, a national recruiting conference of all state and federal political parties was convened by the Governor-General and held in Melbourne in April 1918. The purpose of the conference was to reenergise the recruitment drive and help heal the social divisions around the war. It proved a forlorn attempt at national cohesion around voluntarism as Labor delegates increasingly aired publicly their growing anti-war sentiment and Prime Minister Hughes' polemical and high-handed style did little to appease them. The experience of war in general, and tensions around recruitment and conscription in particular, had shattered the nation's innocence and sense of unanimity. Behind the triumph and celebrations of victory there remained deep and lasting scars.\n\nReferences\n\nAttribution \nThis Wikipedia article was originally based on \"Recruitment and enlistment\" (January 2014) by Mark Cryle published by the State of Queensland under CC-BY 3.0 AU licence (accessed on 2 March 2016, archived on 2 March 2016).\n\nExternal links \n\n \nQueensland in World War I\nArticles incorporating text from the Queensland Government",
"Colonel Augustus Mervyn Owen Anwyl Anwyl-Passingham, CBE, DL, JP (1880–1955) was a British soldier, recruiting officer and Territorial Army organiser.\n\nEarly life and family \nBorn on 31 August 1880, Anwyl-Passingham belonged to a family of Anglo-Welsh gentry. He was the second and youngest son of Major Robert Townshend Anwyl-Passingham, JP, DL (1843–1893), of Bala, Merionethshire (who had taken the additional name of Anwyl in 1888), and his wife Lucy Emma (d. 1909), eldest daughter of Thomas Jeffreys Badger of Kingsland, Shropshire. His elder brother was the soldier Robert Townshend Anwyl-Passingham, OBE (1867–1926), and two of his sisters married Italian noblemen.\n\nCareer\n\nMilitary \nAnwyl-Passingham was educated at Dover College, before joining The Middlesex Regiment in 1899 as a Second Lieutenant; he served in the Second Boer War (1901–02), and was promoted to a Lieutenant in 1903. Between 1905 and 1907, he was part of the Royal West African Frontier Force and in 1906 participated in the Hadeija and Sokoto expeditions in Nigeria. Returning to the United Kingdom thereafter, he was wounded in 1907 during rioting in Ireland. Promoted to Captain in 1911, he was appointed a Recruiting Staff Officer for the London Recruiting Area in 1913 and remained in that post after the onset of the First World War.\n\nIn January 1916, he was appointed a Staff Captain in the War Office with the temporary rank of Major; he was promoted to the full rank in July 1916, and in September he was appointed an Assistant Inspector of Registration and Recruiting in the War Office. He was made a Deputy Director of Recruiting with responsibility for Wales and was promoted to temporary Colonel in August 1917; he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in January 1918 for his services.\n\nAnwyl-Passingham left that post and the temporary rank in May 1918, and was \"recalled to the colours\". According to his obituary in The Times, he served in Italy and was mentioned in dispatches. After the war, he served in Upper Silesia between 1919 and 1921, helping to oversee the preparations for its transfer to Poland. He was promoted to Colonel and retired in August 1922.\n\nRetirement and later life \nIn 1924, Anwyl-Passingham became secretary of the Middlesex Territorial Army and Air Force Association, serving until 1945. He was appointed a deputy lieutenant for Middlesex in 1927 and served as the county's high sheriff in 1938. In the 1942 New Year Honours, he was advanced to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He died on 22 November 1955.\n\nReferences \n\n1880 births\nMiddlesex Regiment officers\nCommanders of the Order of the British Empire\nDeputy Lieutenants of Middlesex\nHigh Sheriffs of Middlesex\nBritish Army personnel of the Second Boer War\nRoyal West African Frontier Force officers\nBritish Army personnel of World War I\n1955 deaths"
] |
|
[
"Sage (comics)",
"The Hellfire Club",
"What was the Hellfire Club?",
"Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class, she is instead sent to spy on the Hellfire Club as Tessa,",
"Why was she sent to spy on them?",
"Years later, Sage meets up again with Xavier, who at the time is recruiting the original X-Men. Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class,",
"Why was he recruiting them?",
"I don't know."
] |
C_e540206936bc4dc0918ad3b0f47da1be_1
|
Was he successful?
| 4 |
Was Xavier successful in recruiting the original X-Men?
|
Sage (comics)
|
Years later, Sage meets up again with Xavier, who at the time is recruiting the original X-Men. Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class, she is instead sent to spy on the Hellfire Club as Tessa, and to keep watch on Sebastian Shaw, something which returns to haunt her in the following years. While working at the Hellfire Club she encounters Psylocke, Jean Grey, and Emma Frost, who at this point is the White Queen. While she is able to successfully warn Psylocke away from the Hellfire Club, Tessa is later remorseful that she is unable to similarly prevent the corruption of Phoenix into the Black Queen. This transformation is a key factor in the creation of Dark Phoenix. Sometime during Tessa's time with the Hellfire Club, Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost dare the man known as Elias Bogan to wager in a game of poker. Though he holds no official rank in the Inner Circle, the telepathic Bogan is one of the Club's most important and powerful members; his patronage guarantees success in the organization. By the terms of the wager, if Shaw lost, Frost would "belong" to Bogan, but if Bogan's agent lost, then his fortune would be turned over to Shaw. Thanks to Tessa's advice and analytical skills, Bogan loses the game and is forced to honor the wager. Having never lost before, Bogan harbors a grudge against Tessa. During the X-Men's initial conflicts with the Hellfire Club, Tessa primarily maintains a background role and is seen as only Shaw's unusually intelligent assistant. Hints of her more complex role are indicated when she and Xavier are kidnapped by Donald Pierce, a renegade member of the club, with grudges against both organizations. Based on the interactions between Xavier and Tessa, it is unclear whether he is helping to maintain her cover or whether he feels as if he has lost his agent, since the interaction between the two is kept impersonal. The two are rescued by the nascent team of New Mutants, and Tessa takes Pierce into custody on behalf of the Hellfire Club. Tessa's next notable interaction with Xavier's students happens months later when the X-Men and Hellfire Club are hunting down Rachel Summers after her attempted murder of Selene, the newly installed Black Queen. In the middle of their fight, both teams are taken by surprise by Nimrod, a mutant-hunting robot from the future. Recognizing the more immediate threat, the two groups join forces and are able to severely damage Nimrod. The X-Men and Hellfire Club each sustain heavy losses and are forced to flee the scene quickly. Tessa offers Storm and the X-Men temporary sanctuary with the Club, which later results in Magneto and Storm jointly accepting the role of White King in the Inner Circle. CANNOTANSWER
|
While she is able to successfully warn Psylocke away from the Hellfire Club, Tessa is later remorseful
| false |
[
"Charles Young (September 1686 – 12 December 1758) was an English organist and composer. He was part of a well-known English family of musicians that included several professional singers and organists during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.\n\nBiography\nCharles Young was born sometime during September 1686 in the Covent Garden area of London and was baptised on 7 October of the same year. Born into a musical family, his initial studies were with his father alongside his elder brother Anthony Young, who would also become a successful organist and minor composer. He became a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral in the late 1690s where he sang for over a decade. In 1713, Young was appointed organist of All Hallows, Barking-by-the-Tower, where he remained until his death in 1758. His grandson, Charles John Frederick Lampe, replaced him as organist at All Hallows after his death.\n\nAs a composer, Young wrote music mostly for the Church of England. He was not prolific, producing only a handful of anthems and some organ preludes. He also composed a few vocal art songs. His reputation lies more on his skills as an organist and he was regarded as one of the finest players in England during the eighteenth century.\n\nSeveral of Young's children went on to have successful careers. His eldest daughter Cecilia Young (1712-1789) was one of the greatest English sopranos of the eighteenth century and the wife of composer Thomas Arne. Their son and Charles's grandson, Michael Arne, was a successful composer. His daughter Isabella was also a successful soprano and the wife of composer John Frederick Lampe, and his daughter Esther was a well known contralto and wife to Charles Jones, one of the largest music publishers in England during the eighteenth century. Young's only son, Charles, was a clerk at the Treasury, whose daughters, Isabella, Elizabeth, and Polly followed in the foot steps of their aunts to become successful singers.\n\nReferences\n\n1686 births\n1758 deaths\nEnglish organists\nBritish male organists\nEnglish composers\nCharles",
"This is a list of members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly between the 1917 election and the 1921 election, together known as the 10th Parliament.\n\nNotes\n The Labor member for Subiaco, Bartholomew James Stubbs, died in action in Belgium on 26 September 1917. At the resulting by-election on 10 November 1917, the Nationalist candidate, Samuel Brown, was successful.\n The Nationalist member for Claremont, John Stewart, resigned on 30 August 1918. At the resulting by-election on 14 September 1918, the Nationalist candidate, Thomas Duff, was successful.\n Sir James Mitchell, member for Northam, was appointed by Premier Hal Colebatch as Minister for Lands and Repatriation on 17 April 1919. Mitchell was therefore required to resign and contest a ministerial by-election, at which he was declared elected upon the close of nominations on 24 April 1919. He himself became premier three weeks later after the failure of the Colebatch Ministry.\n The Nationalist member for Albany, Herbert Robinson, died on 2 May 1919. At the resulting by-election on 31 May 1919, the National Labor candidate, former Premier John Scaddan, was successful.\n Thomas Draper, member for West Perth, was appointed by Premier James Mitchell as Attorney-General on 17 May 1919. Draper was therefore required to resign and contest a ministerial by-election, at which he was successful against an Independent candidate on 7 June 1919.\n Frank Broun, member for Beverley, was appointed by Premier James Mitchell as Colonial Secretary on 25 June 1919. Broun was therefore required to resign and contest a ministerial by-election, at which he was returned unopposed at the close of nominations on 10 July 1919.\n The National Labor member for Mount Leonora, George Foley, resigned on 18 November 1920, to run as the Nationalist candidate for the federal seat of Kalgoorlie at a by-election following the expulsion of Hugh Mahon from the Australian House of Representatives. At the resulting by-election on 20 December 1920, the Labor candidate, Thomas Heron, was successful.\n\nSources\n \n \n\nMembers of Western Australian parliaments by term",
"Andreas Ugland (30 December 1925 – 18 April 2019) was a Norwegian ships engineer and shipowner.\n\nHe was born in Grimstad to ship owner Johan Milmar Ugland and Sara Lund. He was assigned with the family company Uglands Rederi, and after his father's death in 1960 he was running the company along with his brother. He was a board member of the Norwegian Maritime Authority for several years, and has been vice president of the Norwegian Shipowners' Association. He was decorated Knight, First Class of the Order of St. Olav in 1984.\n\nPowerboat Racing \n\nUgland was a successful powerboat racer and competed in the UIM Class One and ProVee classes and won both the Beaverbrook and Needles trophies in a successful career.\n\nReferences\n\n1925 births\n2019 deaths\nPeople from Grimstad\nNorwegian engineers\nNorwegian businesspeople in shipping"
] |
|
[
"Sage (comics)",
"The Hellfire Club",
"What was the Hellfire Club?",
"Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class, she is instead sent to spy on the Hellfire Club as Tessa,",
"Why was she sent to spy on them?",
"Years later, Sage meets up again with Xavier, who at the time is recruiting the original X-Men. Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class,",
"Why was he recruiting them?",
"I don't know.",
"Was he successful?",
"While she is able to successfully warn Psylocke away from the Hellfire Club, Tessa is later remorseful"
] |
C_e540206936bc4dc0918ad3b0f47da1be_1
|
Why was she remorseful?
| 5 |
Why was Sage (Tessa) remorseful?
|
Sage (comics)
|
Years later, Sage meets up again with Xavier, who at the time is recruiting the original X-Men. Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class, she is instead sent to spy on the Hellfire Club as Tessa, and to keep watch on Sebastian Shaw, something which returns to haunt her in the following years. While working at the Hellfire Club she encounters Psylocke, Jean Grey, and Emma Frost, who at this point is the White Queen. While she is able to successfully warn Psylocke away from the Hellfire Club, Tessa is later remorseful that she is unable to similarly prevent the corruption of Phoenix into the Black Queen. This transformation is a key factor in the creation of Dark Phoenix. Sometime during Tessa's time with the Hellfire Club, Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost dare the man known as Elias Bogan to wager in a game of poker. Though he holds no official rank in the Inner Circle, the telepathic Bogan is one of the Club's most important and powerful members; his patronage guarantees success in the organization. By the terms of the wager, if Shaw lost, Frost would "belong" to Bogan, but if Bogan's agent lost, then his fortune would be turned over to Shaw. Thanks to Tessa's advice and analytical skills, Bogan loses the game and is forced to honor the wager. Having never lost before, Bogan harbors a grudge against Tessa. During the X-Men's initial conflicts with the Hellfire Club, Tessa primarily maintains a background role and is seen as only Shaw's unusually intelligent assistant. Hints of her more complex role are indicated when she and Xavier are kidnapped by Donald Pierce, a renegade member of the club, with grudges against both organizations. Based on the interactions between Xavier and Tessa, it is unclear whether he is helping to maintain her cover or whether he feels as if he has lost his agent, since the interaction between the two is kept impersonal. The two are rescued by the nascent team of New Mutants, and Tessa takes Pierce into custody on behalf of the Hellfire Club. Tessa's next notable interaction with Xavier's students happens months later when the X-Men and Hellfire Club are hunting down Rachel Summers after her attempted murder of Selene, the newly installed Black Queen. In the middle of their fight, both teams are taken by surprise by Nimrod, a mutant-hunting robot from the future. Recognizing the more immediate threat, the two groups join forces and are able to severely damage Nimrod. The X-Men and Hellfire Club each sustain heavy losses and are forced to flee the scene quickly. Tessa offers Storm and the X-Men temporary sanctuary with the Club, which later results in Magneto and Storm jointly accepting the role of White King in the Inner Circle. CANNOTANSWER
|
she is unable to similarly prevent the corruption of Phoenix into the Black Queen. This transformation is a key factor in the creation of Dark Phoenix.
| false |
[
"The Remorseful Day is a crime novel by Colin Dexter, the last novel in the Inspector Morse series. The novel was adapted as the final episode in the Inspector Morse television series.\n\nTitle\nThe title derives from a line in the poem \"XVI – (How clear, how lovely bright)\", from More Poems, by A. E. Housman, a favourite poet of Dexter and Morse:\n\n\"Ensanguining the skies\nHow heavily it dies\nInto the west away;\nPast touch and sight and sound\nNot further to be found,\nHow hopeless under ground\nFalls the remorseful day.\"\n\nPlot\nMorse tries to solve the unsolved murder of Yvonne Harrison, as his health deteriorates.\n\nHarrison, a nurse, has inspired romantic attachment in Morse during an earlier (and separate) illness, and he has written to her about it. She is a sharer of her favours; recipients, including her daughter's lover, are serially suspect.\n\nHis superintendent has found Morse's letter among crime-scene evidence but has sequestered it.\n\nMorse dies of acute myocardial infarction; his last words are \"Thank Lewis for me.\"\n\nPublication history\n 1999: London: Macmillan , Pub date 15 September 1999, Hardback\n\nAdaptations\nThis novel was adapted for the television series Inspector Morse as an episode of the same title \"The Remorseful Day\", the final episode of the series (fifth in Series 8) as well as of the novels.\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\n Bishop, David, The Complete Inspector Morse: From the Original Novels to the TV Series London: Reynolds & Hearn (2006) \n\n1999 British novels\nNovels by Colin Dexter\nBritish novels adapted into television shows",
"Leonard William Armstrong was a Grand Dragon of the White Knights, Tennessee's Ku Klux Klan. On the night of June 10, 1990 with Damien Patton driving, Armstrong shot at the West End Synagogue with a TEC-9. The two were later assisted by Christian music producer and KKK member Jonathan David Brown. He was indicted for civil rights violations in December 1991 and pled guilty, taking a plea bargain, in April 1992. He served 42 months in prison. Talking with OneZero in 2020, Armstrong was remorseful, stating he \"was the guy who was at the root of this whole thing\". He also said he has joined Life After Hate.\n\nReferences\n\nAmerican white supremacists\nFormer Ku Klux Klan members\nLiving people\nYear of birth missing (living people)",
"\"Why'd You Lie to Me\" is a song by American singer Anastacia from her second studio album Freak of Nature (2001). Written by Anastacia, Damon Sharpe, Greg Lawson, Trey Parker, Damon Butler, and Canela Cox, the song first appeared on the US edition of Anastacia's debut album Not That Kind in March 2001. It was released as the third single from Freak of Nature on August 12, 2002 by Daylight Records and Epic Records.\n\nCritical reception\nWith a positive review, James Salmon from Yahoo! Music said: \"Just when you think she's about to grind to an insipid halt, she snaps out of it with good old fashioned pop rants against the male species ('Why'd You Lie To Me').\" Jose Promis from Allmusic compared it to a \"Destiny's Child-sounding\".\n\nMusic video\nDirected by Mike Lipscombe and produced by Michael J. Pierce, the music video for \"Why'd You Lie to Me\" was shot at Raleigh Studios in Los Angeles on July 6–7, 2002. It was later included on Anastacia's first music DVD, The Video Collection. The video is notable for being the first to show the singer without her trademark glasses. Choreography was done by Tina Landon. In June 2010, Anastacia confirmed in her last tour she films a new alternative video of this single and a new music video of \"I Thought I Told You That\".\n\nCover versions and media appearances\nThe song was covered by Operación Triunfo series six finalist Noelia. She sang the song live on May 27, 2008, when the gala show took place. She was nominated by the panel for eviction, but was saved by the teachers. The song is also used as the fanfare to introduce \"The Lie of the Day\" segment on The Laura Ingraham Radio Show.\n\nTrack listings\n\nUK CD1\n \"Why'd You Lie to Me\" (album version)\n \"Why'd You Lie to Me\" (M*A*S*H master mix)\n \"Bad Girls\" (live at the Brits 2002 with Jamiroquai)\n \"Why'd You Lie to Me\" (video)\n\nUK CD2\n \"Why'd You Lie to Me\" (album version)\n \"Why'd You Lie to Me\" (Kardinal Beats mix)\n \"Boom\" (album version)\n \"Boom\" (video)\n\nUK cassette single\n \"Why'd You Lie to Me\" (album version)\n \"Why'd You Lie to Me\" (NDB Nu Soul mix)\n \"Why'd You Lie to Me\" (M*A*S*H master mix)\n\nEuropean CD single\n \"Why'd You Lie to Me\" (album version) – 3:43\n \"Why'd You Lie to Me\" (M*A*S*H master mix) – 7:03\n\nEuropean maxi-CD single\n \"Why'd You Lie to Me\" (album version) – 3:43\n \"Why'd You Lie to Me\" (M*A*S*H master mix) – 7:03\n \"Why'd You Lie to Me\" (M*A*S*H deep club) – 8:14\n \"Why'd You Lie to Me\" (Kardinal Beats mix) – 4:31\n \"Why'd You Lie to Me\" (video)\n\nAustralian CD single\n \"Why'd You Lie to Me\" (album version) – 4:02\n \"Why'd You Lie to Me\" (M*A*S*H remix radio edit) – 3:40\n \"Why'd You Lie to Me\" (Kardinal Beats mix) – 4:31\n \"Bad Girls\" (live at the Brits 2002 with Jamiroquai) – 4:13\n\nCharts\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\n2001 songs\n2002 singles\nAnastacia songs\nDance-pop songs\nDaylight Records singles\nEpic Records singles\nMusic videos directed by Mike Lipscombe\nSong recordings produced by Ric Wake\nSongs about betrayal\nSongs written by Anastacia\nSongs written by Damon Sharpe\nSongs written by Greg Lawson"
] |
|
[
"Sage (comics)",
"The Hellfire Club",
"What was the Hellfire Club?",
"Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class, she is instead sent to spy on the Hellfire Club as Tessa,",
"Why was she sent to spy on them?",
"Years later, Sage meets up again with Xavier, who at the time is recruiting the original X-Men. Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class,",
"Why was he recruiting them?",
"I don't know.",
"Was he successful?",
"While she is able to successfully warn Psylocke away from the Hellfire Club, Tessa is later remorseful",
"Why was she remorseful?",
"she is unable to similarly prevent the corruption of Phoenix into the Black Queen. This transformation is a key factor in the creation of Dark Phoenix."
] |
C_e540206936bc4dc0918ad3b0f47da1be_1
|
So she created Dark Phoenix?
| 6 |
So Sage (Tessa) created Dark Phoenix?
|
Sage (comics)
|
Years later, Sage meets up again with Xavier, who at the time is recruiting the original X-Men. Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class, she is instead sent to spy on the Hellfire Club as Tessa, and to keep watch on Sebastian Shaw, something which returns to haunt her in the following years. While working at the Hellfire Club she encounters Psylocke, Jean Grey, and Emma Frost, who at this point is the White Queen. While she is able to successfully warn Psylocke away from the Hellfire Club, Tessa is later remorseful that she is unable to similarly prevent the corruption of Phoenix into the Black Queen. This transformation is a key factor in the creation of Dark Phoenix. Sometime during Tessa's time with the Hellfire Club, Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost dare the man known as Elias Bogan to wager in a game of poker. Though he holds no official rank in the Inner Circle, the telepathic Bogan is one of the Club's most important and powerful members; his patronage guarantees success in the organization. By the terms of the wager, if Shaw lost, Frost would "belong" to Bogan, but if Bogan's agent lost, then his fortune would be turned over to Shaw. Thanks to Tessa's advice and analytical skills, Bogan loses the game and is forced to honor the wager. Having never lost before, Bogan harbors a grudge against Tessa. During the X-Men's initial conflicts with the Hellfire Club, Tessa primarily maintains a background role and is seen as only Shaw's unusually intelligent assistant. Hints of her more complex role are indicated when she and Xavier are kidnapped by Donald Pierce, a renegade member of the club, with grudges against both organizations. Based on the interactions between Xavier and Tessa, it is unclear whether he is helping to maintain her cover or whether he feels as if he has lost his agent, since the interaction between the two is kept impersonal. The two are rescued by the nascent team of New Mutants, and Tessa takes Pierce into custody on behalf of the Hellfire Club. Tessa's next notable interaction with Xavier's students happens months later when the X-Men and Hellfire Club are hunting down Rachel Summers after her attempted murder of Selene, the newly installed Black Queen. In the middle of their fight, both teams are taken by surprise by Nimrod, a mutant-hunting robot from the future. Recognizing the more immediate threat, the two groups join forces and are able to severely damage Nimrod. The X-Men and Hellfire Club each sustain heavy losses and are forced to flee the scene quickly. Tessa offers Storm and the X-Men temporary sanctuary with the Club, which later results in Magneto and Storm jointly accepting the role of White King in the Inner Circle. CANNOTANSWER
|
unable to similarly prevent the corruption
| false |
[
"\"The Dark Phoenix Saga\" is an extended X-Men storyline in the fictional , focusing on Jean Grey and the Phoenix Force. It was written by Chris Claremont with art by John Byrne.\n\nIt is sometimes divided into two parts, with Grey's seeming assumption of the Phoenix power and the repair of the M'Kraan Crystal in Uncanny X-Men #101-108, and her corruption and fall in Uncanny X-Men #129-138. It is one of the most well-known and heavily referenced stories in mainstream American superhero comics, and widely considered a classic.\n\nIt was adapted for the X-Men animated series, and alluded to in the live-action movie X2: X-Men United. A third live-action movie, X-Men: The Last Stand, released in 2006, contains some elements from the saga. The animated series Wolverine and the X-Men adapted \"the Dark Phoenix\" saga at the end of its first season, though it changed many elements of the story.\n\nHad there been a fifth season of the animated series X-Men: Evolution, its own version of the four-part Dark Phoenix would have been adapted. The 2019 live-action X-Men film Dark Phoenix is an adaptation of the Hellfire arc of the story.\n\nSummary\nReturning from a mission in space, Jean Grey is exposed to the deadly radiation of a solar flare, and briefly attains her ultimate potential as a telepath and telekinetic. Jean becomes a being of pure thought, and then re-forms herself upon return to Earth with the new costume, identity and power of \"Phoenix\". It is with this incredible power that Jean repairs the fractured M'Kraan Crystal, but voluntarily restrains her powers afterward in order to keep them under control.\n\nHer vast potential makes her a target for Mastermind, who is attempting to prove himself in order to join the prestigious Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club. Under the identity of Jason Wyngarde, he begins to seduce Jean. With the help of a mind-tap device created by the Club's White Queen, Emma Frost, Mastermind projects his illusions directly into Phoenix's mind. These illusions cause her to believe that she is reliving the memories of an ancestor, Lady Grey, who in Mastermind's illusions was the Hellfire Club's Black Queen and the lover of one of Wyngarde's ancestors. Phoenix eventually accepts the Black Queen as her actual identity, a decadent role that allows her to relish the extremes of human emotion and begins to break down the barriers that she had erected.\n\nShe helps the Hellfire Club capture the X-Men, and Jean's true love Cyclops faces Mastermind in a psychic duel. When Mastermind kills Cyclops' psychic image, it breaks his hold over Jean's psyche and shatters the final barriers on her power. Experiencing this power in its totality overwhelms Jean, and she renames herself \"Dark Phoenix\". Enraged at Mastermind, she uses a telepathic illusion to make him experience godhood, driving him insane. To break her ties with her less powerful identity as Jean Grey, she strikes down the X-Men and departs for a distant galaxy. However, her power proves to be far more limited than she thought; the intergalactic trip leaves her almost completely drained. To recharge, she devours the energy of the nearby D'Bari star, causing a supernova which kills the entire population of the only civilized planet orbiting the star. A Shi'ar vessel attacks to prevent her from destroying other stars. Dark Phoenix easily destroys the vessel, but not before they alert the Shi'ar Empress Lilandra. A council of intergalactic associates is gathered, including the Kree and Skrull empires, and concludes that Dark Phoenix is an even more serious threat than the planet-consuming Galactus and must be destroyed.\n\nOn Earth, the X-Men are greeted by Avengers member (and former X-Man) Beast. Dark Phoenix returns to Earth, to her family's home, and finds herself conflicted between her normal feelings for her loved ones and her new destructive impulses as Dark Phoenix. The X-Men attack her but are again defeated. Her mentor, Charles Xavier, arrives, and through a vicious psychic duel, he creates a new set of psychic \"circuit-breakers\" which reduce her to only her original Marvel Girl powers. This allows Jean's normal personality to reassert control.\n\nThe Shi'ar abduct the X-Men, tell them of Dark Phoenix' casual genocide, and declare that she must be put to death. Xavier challenges Lilandra to Arin'n Haelar, a Shi'ar duel of honor that cannot be refused. After conferring with the Kree and Skrulls, Lilandra agrees to Xavier's demand.\n\nThe next day, the X-Men and the Shi'ar Imperial Guard are teleported to the Blue Area of the Moon to do battle, with the victors deciding the fate of Phoenix. The Imperial Guard defeat most of the X-Men, leaving Cyclops and Phoenix alone to make a final stand. When Cyclops is seemingly killed, Jean's panic overrides Xavier's psychic restraints and restores her to Dark Phoenix. Lilandra initiates Plan Omega, which would consist of destroying the whole Solar System in hopes of eliminating Dark Phoenix in the process. Xavier orders the X-Men to subdue Jean to preempt Lilandra's emergency measure. They battle her until she regains her senses. Running inside one of the Blue Area's ruins, Jean, struggling to keep control, activates an ancient Kree weapon that disintegrates her after an emotional good-bye to Cyclops. He deduces that Jean had planned her sacrifice from the moment they had landed on the Moon.\n\nThe story ends with Uatu the Watcher commenting that \"Jean Grey could have lived to become a god. But it was more important to her that she die...a human.\"\n\nBackground and creation\n\nAccording to Byrne, it had become a problem storywise that Claremont kept writing Phoenix stronger and stronger, making her the dominating element of the X-Men book. Steven Grant then suggested they should make her a villain to solve the issue, and eventually it seemed like the best solution to get the book back on track.\n\nThe segment of the saga set at the Hellfire Club (Uncanny X-Men #132–134) was heavily inspired by the Avengers television episode \"A Touch of Brimstone\", and some of the characters' appearances were modeled after the cast of \"A Touch of Brimstone\" as a subtle acknowledgment of the inspiration.\n\nThe ending of the story was a matter of intense controversy with the editorial staff. Jim Shooter's recollections are that the original intent of the Dark Phoenix storyline was to introduce Dark Phoenix as a cosmic nemesis for the X-Men. This was what had been discussed originally amongst the creative team and Shooter, and this was the story development that had been approved. When Uncanny X-Men issue 135 was in the final artwork stages, Shooter happened to look at the proofs for the issue and noticed that the story included the destruction of an inhabited solar system, with an explicit mention of billions of lives lost. Louise Simonson feels it was Shooter's outrage over this plot element which led to him taking editor Jim Salicrup off the series several issues earlier than he had been scheduled to.\n\nUpon questioning Salicrup about where the plot went from there, he was told that issue 137 ended with Jean being permanently depowered by the Shi'ar and released into the custody of the X-Men. Shooter disagreed with this development both from a storytelling standpoint as well as, secondarily, a moral standpoint, likening the ending to \"taking the German army away from Hitler and letting him go back to governing Germany,\" and finding it out of character for the X-Men to retain friendly relations with a being who had committed genocide. Byrne and Salicrup explained that they had no problem with this resolution because they had always thought of Dark Phoenix as a separate entity who had possessed Jean Grey, with Salicrup drawing an analogy to the film adaptation of The Exorcist: \"In the movie there's this little girl who's taken over and several people get killed, but by the end, when the demon's gone no one thinks, 'Let's kill that murderous little girl.'\" However, on reading the issues over they agreed with Shooter that from the reader's perspective, she did not seem to be possessed, and Claremont admitted that while writing the Dark Phoenix Saga he was never clear in his own mind whether Jean Grey was possessed or her actions as Dark Phoenix were her own.\n\nShooter, during a conversation with Claremont, suggested a scenario where Jean would be permanently imprisoned as a compromise, and Claremont responded that such a scenario was unfeasible since in his opinion, the X-Men would want to continually try to rescue Jean from imprisonment. According to Shooter, Claremont out of frustration suggested that they kill off Jean completely. Although Shooter suggests that the proposed plot point was a bluff by Claremont, playing on the unwritten rule that main characters were not to be killed permanently, he accepted it, even over later objections by both Claremont and Byrne. Ultimately, it was decided by Byrne and Claremont to have Jean commit suicide after her Dark Phoenix persona resurfaces at the climax of the fight against the Imperial Guard. Issue 137 was left largely unchanged, but the last five pages were completely rewritten and redrawn for the new ending, and Claremont also took the opportunity to write a second draft of his script. Because of this, comparison of the original and published versions of X-Men #137 reveals numerous differences in the script with no connection to the ending; for instance, in the original version of the day of rest, the individual X-Men are each thinking of their own personal issues, while the published version shows them reflecting on their decision to protect Jean.\n\nThe original ending ultimately saw print in 1984 in Phoenix: The Untold Story. Besides the original version of Uncanny X-Men #137, it featured a transcript of a round table discussion between Claremont, Byrne, Simonson, Salicrup, Shooter, and inker Terry Austin, discussing the story behind the original ending and why it was changed.\n\nJean Grey and Phoenix as separate entities\nShortly before the publication of Uncanny X-Men #137, future freelance writer Kurt Busiek, then still a college student, heard about the upcoming events through the fan grapevine, as did fellow future comics pros Carol Kalish (who would go on to head up Marvel's Direct Sales Department for years) and Richard Howell (artist of the Vision and The Scarlet Witch 12-issue limited series, among others). The three of them also heard that Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter had declared that Jean Grey could not be revived unless it was done in such a way as to render her guiltless of Dark Phoenix' crimes. Taking this as a creative challenge, all three then-fans decided to come up with their own resurrection scenario. Busiek's involved the discovery that Jean Grey was still on the bottom of Jamaica Bay in suspended animation following the original shuttle crash and that the Phoenix entity had used her body and mind as a lens, creating an immensely powerful duplicate of Jean, but one which grew more corrupted and distorted the longer it remained separate from the true Jean.\n\nIn 1982, Dark Phoenix resurfaced in the DC/Marvel intercompany crossover one-shot The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans, written by regular X-Men writer Chris Claremont. The story (which is not part of DC or Marvel canon) has the cosmic villain Darkseid resurrect Jean Grey in her Dark Phoenix persona as part of his quest to discover the secret of the Anti-Life Equation. In the end, Dark Phoenix is betrayed by Darkseid and sacrifices her life yet again to stop Darkseid.\n\nAlso in 1983, shortly after beginning a freelance writing career, Kurt Busiek attended a comics convention in Ithaca, New York, staying at the home of Marvel writer Roger Stern. In conversation, both writers' longtime interest in the X-Men came up, and Stern expressed regret that there was no way to bring Jean back, not while satisfying Shooter's edict. Busiek told Stern his idea, not expecting it to amount to more than idle conversation. Later, Stern told the idea to John Byrne, then writer/artist of Fantastic Four.\n\nIn 1985, Jim Shooter greenlit a new series that would reunite the original X-Men into a new team called X-Factor, to be written by longtime freelancer Bob Layton. Hearing of this, Byrne called Layton and suggested Busiek's idea as a means of raising Jean Grey from the dead while satisfying Shooter's demands for total absolution for Jean.\n \nA three-part crossover was planned to launch X-Factor, involving the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and the debut issue of X-Factor, thus involving Avengers writer Stern, Fantastic Four writer/artist Byrne and X-Factor writer Layton. Busiek, by that time, was working at Marvel as a freelance assistant editor on Marvel Age Magazine. He was paid and credited for the idea, and edited a series of interviews for Marvel Age promoting the new series. Everything in the interviews pertaining to Jean's resurrection was marked out with black tape to create an air of mystery about the revelations that the crossover would involve, and Busiek thus found himself taping over all mention of his idea.\n\nSequel\nUncanny X-Men #168 (April 1983) began a subplot which culminated with the apparent reincarnation of Dark Phoenix in Uncanny X-Men #174-175 (October–November 1983). These issues were later collected in trade paperback form under the title From the Ashes.\n\nThe story revolves around Cyclops and the newly introduced Madelyne Pryor, a commercial airline pilot who is not only physically identical to Jean Grey, but survived a traumatic airliner crash at exactly the same moment that Jean died. Pryor's transformation into Dark Phoenix is revealed to be an illusion by Mastermind, seeking revenge for what Jean Grey did to him during the Dark Phoenix Saga. In issue #175, Cyclops and Madelyne repeat the dialogue he exchanged with Jean Grey after Professor X locked away her Dark Phoenix powers, marking the parallel with the dissolving of Mastermind's Dark Phoenix illusion.\n\nCollected editions\n\nThe story (issues #129-137) was first collected as a trade paperback in 1984. The first edition featured a cover painting by Bill Sienkiewicz.\n\nTo celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Phoenix Saga, the storyline was reprinted in an oversized trim hardcover. The X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga hardcover (352 pages, July 2010, Marvel, ) collects The X-Men #129-138, Classic X-Men #43, Bizarre Adventures #27, Phoenix: The Untold Story (one-shot), and What If? #27.\n\nThe story (The X-Men #129-137) has been collected into a number of trade paperbacks:\n X-Men Legends, Volume 2: Dark Phoenix Saga (192 pages, August 1990, Marvel, )\n X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga (200 pages, April 2006, Marvel, )\n\nThe story is also included in Essential X-Men, Volume 2 (584 pages, October 1997, Panini Comics, ), part of Marvel's Essential series of black-and-white trade paperbacks. The volume collects The X-Men #120-144 and The X-Men Annual #3-4.\n\nThe story is included in the hardcover Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men, Volume 4 (The X-Men #122-131, Annual #3) and Volume 5 (The X-Men #132-140, Annual #4)\n\nThe opening of the story is in the final pages of Uncanny X-Men Omnibus, Volume 1, which includes Giant-Size Uncanny X-Men #1, The X-Men Annual #3, and The X-Men #94-131; it concludes in Uncanny X-Men Omnibus Volume 2, which continues through issue 153 and also includes Annual #4–5, Avengers Annual #10, Marvel Fanfare #1–4, Marvel Treasury Edition #26–27, Marvel Team-Up #100, Bizarre Adventures #27, and Phoenix: The Untold Story.\n\nThe saga was printed in hardback form for issue 2 of The Official Marvel Graphic Novel Collection, a graphic novel series based in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, in January 2012.\n\nAnother omnibus edition, X-Men: Dark Phoenix Saga Omnibus, was published in August 2018, and included Uncanny X-Men #97–105, 107–108, 125–138, Bizarre Adventures #27, Phoenix: The Untold Story, What If? #27, and material from Classic X-Men #6, 8, 13, 18, 24, 43 (688 pages, )\n\nIn other media\n\nTelevision\n The Dark Phoenix Saga, along with the Phoenix Saga, was adapted in X-Men. During the five-part Phoenix Saga, the X-Men had to help the Shi'ar fight Lilandra's deranged brother, D'Ken. Jean Grey's psionic powers of telekinesis, empathy and telepathy all manifest to tremendously incalculable power-levels during the four-part Dark Phoenix saga, turning her against her comrades. The X-Men, with the help of the Shi'ar, finally succeed in the Dark Phoenix learning the error of her ways and leaving Jean's body to parts unknown.\n The Dark Phoenix Saga was foreshadowed in X-Men: Evolution. In \"Power Surge\", Jean loses controls of her powers, making her dangerous around others. At the end of the episode, Rogue absorbed some of Jean's mind, defeating her. At the end of the series, Professor Xavier saw Jean transforming into the Dark Phoenix when he was under Apocalypse's control. The Dark Phoenix saga was going to be adapted in four episodes of Season Five. However, the saga did not appear after the series was cancelled in 2003.\n In Wolverine and the X-Men, the Dark Phoenix saga was adapted at the three-part season finale \"Foresight\". In the three-part episode \"Foresight\", the Hellfire Club kidnaps Jean after the X-Men saved her from the Marauders. Wolverine finds out Emma Frost was in league with the Hellfire Club and locks her in a containment unit. Cyclops releases Frost, enraging Wolverine. While the X-Men go to Genosha to fight the Sentinels, Frost tells Jean about the Phoenix Force. Later, Frost tells Cyclops of Jean's whereabouts when the X-Jet was crashed by the Sentinels. The two go to Jean's location, where the Hellfire Club betrays Frost and imprisons them. Selene reveals to Cyclops that Frost was the one who triggered Jean's dormant Phoenix abilities when the Xavier Institute was destroyed. After the Hellfire Club is defeated at the hands of Jean, she and Scott leave Frost. After saving the X-Men from the Mutant Response Division, Wolverine finds Frost at the Club's hideout. Reluctantly, he releases her, and the two go to find Scott and Jean. After Magneto and the Sentinels are defeated, Jean unleashes the Phoenix Force. Frost absorbs the Phoenix Force into her body, seemingly killing her in the process.\n\nFilm\n The Dark Phoenix Saga is alluded to in X2; as Jean's powers expand, a flash can occasionally be seen in her eyes. After Jean supposedly dies while protecting her teammates from drowning, an image of a phoenix can be seen on the surface of Alkali Lake.\n The plot of X-Men: The Last Stand contains elements of the Dark Phoenix Saga. In this film, the Phoenix is a dual personality of Jean, which Professor X had telepathically repressed during her childhood, fearing its destructive potential. It is awakened after Jean cocoons herself in telekinetic energy to survive the collapse of Alkali Lake. The Phoenix behaves irresponsibly, has no control over her decision-making, exposes her sexual desires for Wolverine, sides with Magneto and even murders Professor X and Cyclops. The Phoenix is destroyed when Jean is euthanized by Wolverine.\n The Dark Phoenix Saga is alluded to in X-Men: Apocalypse; in the final battle against Apocalypse, Professor X encourages Jean to use the full extent of her abilities to defeat Apocalypse. As Jean unleashes her powers, she is engulfed in an aura of flames in the shape of a phoenix.\n Prior to the release of X-Men: Apocalypse, Simon Kinberg talked about redoing the Dark Phoenix Saga story line in a future X-Men film. The 2019 X-Men film is titled Dark Phoenix and was released on June 7, 2019.\n\nNovels\n X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga received a prose novelization in mid-2019 written by Stuart Moore to coincide with the release of the Dark Phoenix film.\n\nParodies and imitations\nSouthern Knights #30 (December 1988) opens with a four-page parody of the Dark Phoenix Saga, with the character Connie Ronnin wreaking havoc as \"Dark Connie\".\nRedfox #5-10 (September 1986 - July 1987) are officially titled \"The Demon Queen Saga\", and the plot is essentially the Dark Phoenix Saga translated to a sword-and-sorcery setting.\nArmy Surpluz Comics #5 had Cutey Bunny transformed into Dark Cutey due to her magic amulet interacting with Wunner Bunny's magic lasso and other forces. Once transformed she tempts her former friends with the merchandising potential of being \"dark\" and finally engages in a pie fight with some incompetent super-heroes from WWII.\nPower Pachyderms (one-shot) had 4 anthropomorphic elephants (born to circus elephants irradiated by a gamma bomb detonation). They are takes on Cyclops (Trunklops), Wolverine (Rumbo), and Colossus (Mammoth), whereas Electralux parodied Electra. In a battle with Clarinetto and his New Musicians, she is buried in radioactive make-up and becomes Rogue Elephant whose song can destroy anything. Her teammates succeed in blowing the make-up off her to return her to herself.\nOne panel featuring the destruction of the D'Bari system is replicated in the DC/Hanna-Barbera crossover Superman/Top Cat Special (October 2018). This is employed as an ironic twist, since it coincides with the relocation of an alien - the last survivor of his species - to D'Bari by Superman to give him a new, peaceful home.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n \n MarvelDatabase:Dark Phoenix\n MarvelDatabase:Character Gallery Dark Phoenix\n\nComics by Chris Claremont\nComics by John Byrne (comics)\nComics adapted into films",
"Tiphanie Brooke (born 1981), known professionally as Antigirl, is an American multidisciplinary artist and graphic designer, best known for her series of heart paintings, street art and collages.\n\nEarly life and education\nBrooke was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, and spent part of her childhood in San Pedro, California. She attended Phoenix College, and later the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, receiving her BFA in graphic design.\n\nCareer\n\nPainting and design\nBrooke has said that she adopted the name Antigirl in 1999 after a friend asked, \"Why are you so anti, girl?\" The moniker would become her project and brand name. She first started incorporating hearts into her work in 2009 with a print pack called A Dozen Hearts; her Hearts collection has since grown into a large project that includes public and private installations, exhibitions and commissioned artwork. In 2010, she started taking photographs, winning an award from Phoenix College for a deconstructed photo she took. The photo was later displayed at the Phoenix Art Museum.\n\nWhile living in Phoenix, she started going out at night to paste prints of her work on abandoned buildings and in alleys around the city. Her heart murals have been pasted around Los Angeles, including her All Heart in L.A. mural in the city's Sunset Junction neighborhood, and her Bleeding Hearts series, with dripping paint and sometimes glitter. After showing her work mostly online for nearly a decade, she started doing street art as a way to make her work larger scale and to display it on a more local level.\n\nBrooke's work has appeared at shows in the United States, Canada and Belgium. Her first solo show, Tart, was exhibited at Uppercase Gallery in Calgary, Alberta, and featured the debut of her Women series. The series was later shown at galleries including Ann Street Gallery in New York in 2007 and Undercurrent Arts in Miami in 2008. In September 2010, she created a heart mural, Heart No. 23, on a two-story wall at the Phoenicia Association in Phoenix. In 2012, while preparing for a solo show in Phoenix, her father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and she started writing the phrase \"Love Life\" on her work. This later morphed into \"Love life/fuck life.\"\n\nOn June 27, 2014, the Living Room at the W Hotel in Los Angeles-Westwood was transformed into an art space to display the works of Antigirl, for an exhibit that was on display for a month. The exhibit included her Heart of Los Angeles, a work that was initially designed in response to Milton Glaser's iconic 1977 I Heart New York logo. In September 2014, Antigirl put on her first glow-in-the-dark art exhibit, at the Standard Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.\n\nHer graphic design clients include The New Yorker, The New York Times, Nylon, Teen Vogue, Computer Arts Magazine, Elemente Magazine, Showtime, SuicideGirls and Automata Studios. In 2019, Brooke was featured in the Polaris catalogue produced by Visual Collaborative, she was interviewed alongside other practitioners from around the world.\n\nStyle\nBrooke works in mixed media, using papers, glues, inks, paints and digital alterations. She blends traditional materials with techniques using modern technology and includes screen printing, photography, typography, printmaking, illustration and painting. Her work is often sweet, with a contrary, punk attitude.\n\nExhibitions (selected)\n Tart, Uppercase Gallery, Calgary, AB, 2005\n Ann Street Gallery, New York, NY, 2007\n Visual Collaborative at Undercurrent Arts, Miami, FL, 2008\n Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ, 2010\n Phoenix Design Week, Phoenix, AZ, 2010\n Antigirl Hearts Show, Phoenicia Association, Phoenix, AZ, 2011\n The Living Room, W Hotel, Los Angeles, CA, 2014\n The First Glow-In-the-Dark Exhibit, The Standard Hotel, Los Angeles, CA, 2014\n\nHonors and awards\n Photography Award, Phoenix College, 2010\n #23, Phoenix New Times 100 Creatives, 2010\n\nPersonal life\nIn 2019, Brooke gave birth to a healthy baby boy.\nIn 2012, Brooke relocated from Phoenix to Los Angeles, California.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOfficial Site \nOfficial Shop \n\nLiving people\n1984 births\n21st-century American painters\nArtists from Phoenix, Arizona\nArtists from Los Angeles\nPhoenix College alumni\nArt Center College of Design alumni\nStreet artists\nAmerican graffiti artists\nAmerican graphic designers\nCollage artists\nWomen graffiti artists\n21st-century American women artists\nWomen muralists\nAmerican women painters\nPainters from Phoenix, Arizona\nWomen graphic designers",
"The Phoenix Force is a fictional entity appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.\n\nThe Phoenix Force is famous for its central role in The Dark Phoenix Saga storyline, and is frequently linked to Jean Grey. In 2009, Jean Grey as the Dark Phoenix was ranked as IGN's 9th-greatest comic book villain of all time. Wizard list of Top 100 villains ranked the Dark Phoenix as 38th.\n\nPublication history\n\nThe Phoenix first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men #101 (October 1976) in the guise of Jean Grey, and was created by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum.\n\nFictional character biography\nThe Phoenix Force is an immortal and immutable manifestation of the universal force of life and passion. The Phoenix Force is a creation of the universe that was born of the void between states of being. It is the nexus of all psionic energy of the past, present, and future in all realities of the multiverse, the Guardian of Creation and of the dangerously powerful M'Kraan Crystal.\n\nThe Phoenix Force is among the most feared beings in all of existence—it can cut, re-grow, or destroy any part of the universe. It has been described as being \"the embodiment of the very passion of Creation—the spark that gave life to the Universe, the flame that will ultimately consume it.\"\n\nDuring its time as a sentient and formless mass of energy, it traveled the cosmos and was worshiped by several alien races, including the Shi'ar, who named the entity Phal'kon, the \"sister\" of their other gods K'ythri and Sharra. \n\nAccording to the alien peace-keeping robot Unit, a billion years ago the alien Demon Lords of Stasis cast a spell on their planet to stop the Evolution. However, five powerful beings led by a female with pyrokinetic powers wage a rebellion against the Lords of Stasis. The rebellion drew the Phoenix to the planet. Although the Demon Lords fight to prevent it, the Phoenix communes with the female and with the loyalty of her disciples that helps her to control the infinite power of the Phoenix, she breaks the spell and the Demons are swept away.\n\nThe Phoenix is later drawn to Earth when Firehair, a young primitive female red-haired mutant overwhelmed with despair by her friends' deaths, contemplates turning her psychic abilities on herself to commit suicide at the \"Burnt Place\". Attracted to Firehair's untapped raw psychic power, the Phoenix prevents the suicide, bonds with her, and seeks to use her to fulfill its intended purpose of razing planets to ashes. Consumed by vengeful rage, Firehair nearly gives in to the firebird's bloodlust to become a Dark Phoenix, but is pacified by her wolf guardian and decides to use her powers to protect those weaker than herself. Using the alias Lady Phoenix, she joins that time period's incarnation of the Avengers. Her only known fight is with an out-of-control Celestial called the Fallen. During this time she and Odin share a romantic relationship that Odin considers the one time in his life when he truly felt alive. From their love, Thor was born.\n\nThe Rise of Dark Phoenix\nAt some point, the entity ends up in Shi'ar space, where it bonds with a citizen of the Empire named Rook'shir, who controls the power of the Phoenix Force in conjunction with his blade. He is ultimately overwhelmed by the Phoenix's power and becomes the first known host to succumb to the Phoenix Force's destructive impulses, going insane from the power it embodied and becoming the Dark Phoenix. Rook'shir goes on a destructive rampage through the Empire and destroys many planets in the process. He is killed by the Imperial Guard, which later becomes the first line of defense of the Shi'ar Empire. The Phoenix flees, leaving a small remnant of itself in the blade, which can only be lifted by Rook'shir's descendants. Fearing the power of the Phoenix, the Shi'ar demonizes the entity and orders the deaths or sterilizations of Rook'shir's descendants.\n\nAs time passes, the entity is contacted by a mage named Feron. Feron worships the legendary Phoenix, so his daydream-like visions prompts the Phoenix to adopt the fiery bird's form. He asks the Phoenix to help him by lending its energy to project a lighthouse-like stone pillar across the multiverse. The pillar later becomes the lighthouse base for the British superhero team Excalibur. Afterwards, Necrom attacks Feron to steal the power of the Phoenix. Strengthened by the Phoenix Force, Feron is able to fight back, but Necrom steals a fraction of the Phoenix Force's essence, forcing it to flee back to space in agonized confusion.\n\nIn the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century, Yu-Ti of K'un-L'un has visions of the Phoenix coming to Earth and of a red-headed Iron Fist who would confront it. In one vision, she loses control and destroys the world; in another, she tames its power. When walking the streets, Yu-Ti comes across Fongji Wu, the daughter of a woman who had ventured to the outside world and lain with a man from beyond K'un-Lun. After defeating Shou-Lao and becoming the Iron Fist, Fongji confronts the Phoenix Force and becomes its host. The Phoenix Force attempts to overwhelm Fongji and turn her into a Dark Phoenix, but she resists the being's control. Determining that she needed to leave Earth in order to prevent the possibility of losing control, Fongji ventures off into space, never to be seen again.\n\nJean Grey\nCenturies later, the Phoenix Force returns to Earth without a host when it feels the mind of a human transcend the physical realm and resonate with its energy. A young Jean Grey telepathically linked her mind to her dying friend, Annie Richardson, to keep Annie's soul from moving to the afterlife. In doing so, Jean's mind is dragged along to the \"other side\" with Annie. Phoenix lends its energy to break the connection, and keeps a close watch on her because it felt a kinship with the young mutant. Years later, when Jean is dying on a space shuttle, her mind calls out for help and the Phoenix Force answers and saves her, transforming Jean into the Phoenix.\n\nThe Phoenix remains with the X-Men for only a short time. She prevents the complete destruction of the universe by repairing the damaged energy matrix at the core of the M'Kraan Crystal. During a skirmish with Magneto, Phoenix and Beast are separated from the other X-Men, each group believing the other to have perished. In Greece, Phoenix meets a man named Nikos, later revealed to be Mastermind, a mutant that can alter the perceptions of others. He plants seeds of dissent within Phoenix's fragile psyche by comparing her to a god and insisting she could do whatever she wished. She encounters him again in Scotland under the guise of Jason Wyngarde, believing him to be both the work of the reality-warping mutant Proteus and the lover of one of her ancestors.\n\nAfter an encounter with the Hellfire Club and manipulation by Mastermind and the White Queen, the Phoenix is transformed into their Black Queen. She breaks free of Mastermind's control, but transforms into Dark Phoenix. She battles the X-Men, flees to the stars, devours the energies of the D'Bari star system to satisfy her \"hunger\" as Dark Phoenix, annihilates the five billion inhabitants of its fourth planet, and destroys a nearby Shi'ar observatory vessel that opens fire on her before she returns to Earth. There, Dark Phoenix is defeated in psionic combat by Professor X, and Jean Grey regains control. The X-Men, along with Phoenix, are teleported to space by the Shi'ar and given a trial by combat. Just as victory seemed certain for the Imperial Guard, Jean becomes Dark Phoenix again. She apparently commits suicide on Earth's moon before Cyclops.\n\nAs originally written, the Jean Grey incarnation of the Phoenix is Jean herself, having attained her ultimate potential as a psi, becoming a being of pure energy and reforming herself as Phoenix, only to become slowly corrupted by the manipulation of such foes as Mastermind and Emma Frost; unable to adapt to her enormous power, Jean is driven mad.\n\nIn order to return Jean to the fold several years later, this storyline was retconned to reveal the existence of the cosmic Phoenix Force entity, which had created a duplicate body of Jean, believed itself to be Jean and acted in her place while the real Jean lay in a healing cocoon at the bottom of Jamaica Bay, where the Avengers and Fantastic Four discover her. It allowed Jean to be revived as a member of X-Factor. The extent to which the duplicate and Jean are separate entities depends on who is writing the characters at the time: some instances portray them as inherently separate, while others demonstrate a shared consciousness.\n\nAfter committing suicide, the Phoenix Force reaches the Hot White Room where it encounters a manifestation of Death and returns itself to Jean in the cocoon. Horrified by what it has done, Jean rejects it and it fuses with Jean's clone, Madelyne Pryor. This portion of the Phoenix remains with Madelyne until she commits suicide while fighting Jean Grey before rejoining Jean's consciousness.\n\nRachel Summers\nAnother known possessor of the Phoenix Force is Rachel Summers, Scott Summers and Jean Grey's daughter from the Days of Future Past alternate future. The Phoenix Force bonds with Rachel, making her the next avatar of the Phoenix Force. Rachel is one of the longest reigning avatars of the Phoenix, and while she eventually adopts the uniform, she never becomes Dark Phoenix. Rachel has been referred by the entity as \"The One True Phoenix\".\n\nDuring an encounter with Galactus, Rachel Summers—completely overtaken by the Phoenix Force—battles Galactus to save a planet he was preparing to devour. The Phoenix Force disrupts Galactus' feeding process and easily defeats him. Galactus accuses the Phoenix Force of hypocrisy and reveals to it that its existence in a corporeal state is sustained by robbing energy used to birth future generations. Realizing this to be true, the Phoenix vows to return to its prior existence of \"touching all that is\" while allowing an echo of its power to remain with Rachel's now-dominant consciousness.\n\nInto the Future\nReturning to Earth with all her memories, Rachel manages to return to the future she had come from. While she could not change her past, she and her teammates are able to change the directives of all the Sentinels of the era to preserve all life, ending the genocide that had prevailed for years. On the way back to her time, Captain Britain is lost in the timestream and Rachel is forced to switch places with him, as she does not belong in the timeline she had existed in. She emerges from the timestream about 1,900 years in the future and forms the Clan Askani, which is responsible for bringing her brother Nathan to their time to fight Apocalypse. She later encounters Diamanda Nero, Apocalypse's High Councilor and viceroy. She tries overpowering him, but is left powerless after being shortly bonded to the Phoenix Force.\n\nPhoenix resurrection\nAs an interdimensional portal transports four villains from the 616 Marvel Universe into the Ultraverse dimension, the Phoenix Force is also pulled into the Ultraverse and critically damaged. Requiring a human host to recover, the Phoenix Force bonds with Prime then with Amber Hunt. Amber, unable to control the Phoenix Force's power, attacks her friends and would have destroyed the planet if the X-Men and new Ultra hero Foxfire had not arrived, who after a long battle are able to separate the Phoenix from Amber and send the cosmic entity back to the 616 universe.\n\nJean Grey begins to wear the same costume the Phoenix Force had worn, manifest Phoenix firebirds, and tap into its cosmic reserves several times, worrying Scott as he feared the Phoenix had returned until Jean temporarily loses her powers as a result of the Psi-War.\n\nIn order to help Psylocke after the Psi-War, Jean switches powers with her. Jean loses her telekinesis but her telepathy increases greatly. Jean begins to manifest \"Phoenix raptors\" that represent her telepathic powers \"honed to their sharpest edge\". As a result of the power switch, Jean temporarily displays a shadow astral form with a Phoenix symbol over her right eye.\n\nJean begins manifesting the Phoenix raptor, creating a rift between her own and Scott's relationship, and the entity starts to appear as another personality within Jean, having a conversation with Professor Xavier on its role in events to come. When the X-Man Xorn reveals himself to be a traitor who claimed to be Magneto, he traps Jean and Wolverine on Asteroid M, which is drifting closer to the Sun. Rather than watch Jean die a slow painful death, Wolverine tries to kill Jean, but he awakens the Phoenix Force within her. Using her incredible powers, Phoenix/Jean returns with Logan to New York City to face \"Magneto\". Xorn's last act is to kill Jean with an electromagnetic pulse.\n\nEndsong and Warsong\nThe Phoenix Force returns to Earth during the mini-series X-Men: Phoenix – Endsong, where it resurrects Jean Grey from her grave. It is not long before she remembers what she has come for—Scott Summers. She needs to feed from the energy from his optic blasts, and, confused by her own emotions, thinks she is in love with Scott. She realizes Scott is in love with Emma Frost, former White Queen of the Hellfire Club and headmistress of the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. Through a number of incidents, Jean manages to assert herself and gain control of the Phoenix Force with emotional support from the X-Men. Jean then declares that she and the Phoenix Force are truly one entity, have transcended into the White Phoenix of the Crown, signified by a new white and gold costume.\n\nAs a result of a Shi'ar attack on the Phoenix Force, the entity is in an incomplete state and Jean must search out the remaining parts of the Phoenix Force. The consequences of this were partially addressed in X-Men: Phoenix – Warsong in which a small part of the Phoenix Force joins with the Stepford Cuckoos. After nearly losing control to the Phoenix power, the Stepford Cuckoos develop a secondary mutation, where their hearts turned to diamond and they are able to imprison the piece of the Phoenix Force.\n\nEnd of Greys\nWith the failed attack on the Phoenix Force that ended with Jean Grey escaping their suicide bomb attack and returned to the White Hot Room to restore herself, the Shi'ar still want to permanently prevent the ascension of the Phoenix Force. In hopes of eliminating the possibility of a new Omega-level psionic mutant becoming a host for the Phoenix Force, the Shi'ar sent a commando unit—the Death Commandos—with the purpose of wiping out the Grey genome and killing Quentin Quire to Earth. They arrived at Rachel's family reunion site and kill all the members of the Grey family, except Rachel, who was marked, and Cable, who was not present. Afterward, at the graves of the Grey family, Rachel vows revenge on the Shi'ar and says: \"I'm not my mom. I'm not the Phoenix. I'm my own woman. And by the time I'm done... they'll wish I WERE the Phoenix.\"\n\nKingbreaker\nIn the last issue of Kingbreaker, the Phoenix abandons Rachel and Korvus during battle with Vulcan's new guard, leaving them both without its power. As it leaves Rachel mutters \"Please, not now... Mom.\" implying that Jean is calling back the missing pieces of the Phoenix Force, and perhaps planning another resurrection. Rachel later says that it was almost like the Phoenix was never with her for she \"[c]an't feel it... I can't hear it...It's like it was never there.\"\n\nThe Sisterhood\nAround the same time in San Francisco, the Red Queen and her Sisterhood attack the X-Men; first trapping Emma in a psychic barricade by Lady Mastermind. Inside what appears to be the White Hot Room, a woman resembling Jean Grey appears to Emma and helps her break free of Regan's influence with what appears to be a miniature version of the Phoenix energy raptor to let her help Logan, who has been robbed of a lock of Jean's hair that was in his possession. Madelyne uses the hair sample to locate Jean's gravesite, and then attempts to repeat a resurrection ritual with her corpse, but Cyclops had ordered Domino to substitute the body for someone else's and it causes Madelyne to either discorporate or become absorbed into the fake.\n\nUtopia\nDuring a conflict with several Predators X (genetically engineered mutant hunters), the Stepford Cuckoos are overwhelmed and knocked unconscious as the fragment of the Phoenix they captured forcefully escape from the girls' diamond hearts.\n\nSecond Coming\nDuring the final confrontation with Bastion, Hope Summers turns into what appears to be the Phoenix and blasts Bastion, who manages to grasp Hope's neck. Hope touches the ground, goes full Phoenix Force, and blasts Bastion and the dome.\nLater at a celebratory bonfire, Emma notices the flames around Hope take the shape of the Phoenix and Emma recalls the Sisterhood attack where the woman resembling Jean freed her from Lady Mastermind's illusion.\n\nGeneration Hope\nWhile fighting the fifth so-called \"Light\", who was out of control, Hope attempts to take some of his powers only to exhaust herself and collapses. She is contacted by the Phoenix Force who refers to Hope as her \"child\", and that the other lights needed her. Hope regains consciousness and goes back to face Kenji Uedo.\n\nAge of X\nThe Age of X reality is created when Legion's mind reacted to Doctor Nemesis's attempt to restore its sanity. In this reality, Jean Grey's Phoenix Force ability causes a tremendous amount of destruction and death in Albany. Although she was presumed deceased when the Air Force bombs the area, a new phoenix shape emerges from the rubble. Under the name of Revenant, it is not known whether she is Jean Grey (presumably dead after the Albany incident) or a new incarnation. She joins Magneto and becomes part of the Force Warriors.\n\nWhen the truth about the Age of X is revealed, Legion apologizes to everyone before rewriting the universe and putting everything back the way it was. However, Revenant is also brought back to Utopia. Later, as all mutants begin to regain their true memories, Revenant is revealed to be the mind of Rachel Summers given human form.\n\nFear Itself\nDuring the Fear Itself storyline, the Phoenix Force appears to Emma Frost. The Phoenix mocks her, saying that Scott Summers would never love her as he loved Jean Grey. It seems to be a side effect of when Emma invaded Juggernaut's mind and began feeding into Emma's fears. As the Phoenix convinces Emma that Hope is Jean reincarnated, it tells Emma that she knows what to do. Emma, in a trance-like state, takes her pillow and is about to smother her to death, but Namor intervenes.\n\nAvengers vs. X-Men\n\nDuring the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline, the event has the Phoenix Force returning to Earth, presumably to reclaim Hope Summers, which leads to a confrontation between the Avengers and the X-Men on how to deal with its arrival. The Avengers anticipate the destruction that the Phoenix could bring while Cyclops hopes to use the Phoenix Force to restart the mutant population.\n\nAs the Phoenix Force nears Earth, the Avengers fight the X-Men on the Blue Area of the Moon with Hope caught in the middle, while Iron Man and Giant-Man prepare a disruptor weapon to kill the Phoenix Force. Iron Man pilots the weapon against the Phoenix Force, but when he uses it to blast the Phoenix Force, the entity is forcefully altered and divided into five fragments that bond with Cyclops, Emma Frost, Namor, Colossus and Magik. They defeat the Avengers and head back to Earth with Hope. It is theorized that Scarlet Witch's spell of \"No more mutants\" angered the Phoenix, and to calm the entity, a new host was needed along, with five acolytes, to succeed at bringing about evolution (the acolytes were actually revealed to be the first five new mutants that have appeared around the globe since the decimation of the mutant population), and that was the reason the Phoenix came to Earth.\n\nWhen the Avengers defeat Namor in an attack on Wakanda, his portion of the Phoenix Force becomes divided between the other four members of the \"Phoenix Five\", making it harder to defeat them. Spider-Man then baits Colossus and Magik into taking each other out by playing off of their fears when fighting them in a volcano, forcing their portions of the Phoenix to be divided between Emma and Cyclops. When Cyclops invades the mystical city of K'un Lun, Lei Kung defends the city on the back of the immortal dragon Shou-Lao the Undying, and reveals it had defeated the Phoenix in a past incarnation. While Cyclops defeats the dragon, Hope is able to absorb its power and defeat Cyclops who then goes to seek the other remaining portion of the Phoenix Force possessed by Emma Frost. Emma had been using the Phoenix Force to control all of Utopia, read the thoughts of everyone on the planet, take vengeance on anyone who had ever harmed a mutant, and dismantle all Sentinels. Cyclops defeats Emma and elevates to the level of Dark Phoenix, killing Professor X in the process.\n\nIn the final issue, the X-Men and the Avengers battle the Dark Phoenix, but they are losing as the Dark Phoenix starts to burn the world. As a last resort, Captain America sends in Hope and Scarlet Witch, who together manage to take down the Dark Phoenix, while Jean Grey appears within Cyclops' mind and convinces him to let go of the Phoenix Force. The Phoenix escapes Cyclops' body and enters Hope Summers'. Together, Hope and the Scarlet Witch wish away the Phoenix Force and the damage it caused, in the process activating the X-gene that allows the creation of new mutants around the world.\n\nEven with the Phoenix gone, its effects remain in various ways, with four of the former Phoenix Five—Cyclops, Emma Frost, Colossus and Magik—suffering from various problems with their powers as well as Magneto, due to his prolonged time on Utopia. Cyclops and Magneto's control over their abilities regress back to the level of control that they had possessed in their first appearances, Emma Frost retains her diamond form but only has erratic control over her telepathy, and Colossus' body fluctuates between his organic and his metal parts rather than completely transforming into one or the other. While Magik's powers initially appeared to have been increased to the point where she can channel the power of Limbo on her own, a confrontation with Dormammu reveals that her new power is destroying Limbo each time she used it. It is later revealed that the power disruptions experienced by Cyclops, Emma, Colossus, Magik and Magneto were actually the result of nano-sentinels unleashed on them by Dark Beast.\n\nSimultaneously, while spending some time in deep space, Iron Man helps defend an ancient planet from space pirates. He is later confronted by robotic police officers looking to arrest him for deicide. Before he is able to escape the planet, Iron Man realizes that the planet's people, known as the Voldi, worship the Phoenix Force and his hand in its disappearance has angered them.\n\nTime Runs Out and Secret Wars\nAt some point during the Time Runs Out storyline, Cyclops acquires a Phoenix Egg that he holds in reserve, hoping to use it to end the Incursions.\n\nDuring the Secret Wars storyline, Cyclops stands on top of the Phoenix Egg during the incursion between Earth-616 and Earth-1610. Cyclops uses it to become one with the Phoenix Force again, and uses his powers to decimate the Children of Tomorrow. After the realities collapse together, the Phoenix-Cyclops was one of the few survivors to come through the Incursion with a full memory of what had come before, proclaiming that resurrection was the goal of their mission. He is killed by God Emperor Doom in a subsequent confrontation.\n\nAll New, All Different Marvel\nIt has since been revealed that thousands of years ago, the civilization of planet Maveth was able to create a bomb that, when used, scorched the entire surface of the planet, killing all life within a generation; however, a second bomb is discovered by Gamora and Kitty Pryde to be hidden in the tomb of Maveth's king, which in turn is also being sought by the Chitauri. To Kitty's surprise, the bomb is actually an artifact that contained a fragment of the Phoenix Force. In order to escape from the Chitauri alive, Kitty accidentally activates the bomb, which kills the Chitauri and apparently releases the fragment of the Phoenix Force into the Universe again.\n\nThe deities of the Shi'ar, Sharra and K'ythri, can summon the entity at will and consider itself as their sister.\n\nUnder unknown circumstances, Terrax the Tamer acquires a Phoenix Egg and stores it on his warship. Thane deceives his allies (the Champion, Starfox and Nebula) into helping him invade Terrax's warship to steal the egg. After being shot and killed by Nebula, Thane opens the egg and become the new host of the Phoenix. Using his new powers, Thane defeats his own father and conquers the Black Quadrant. Thane finds Thanos and fights him, causing them both to fall into the entrance to the God Quarry. Inside, the Coven senses the Phoenix Force inside of Thane and separates it from him so that Thane can fight his father as the man he truly is. The Phoenix Force flies off and presumably leaves the God Quarry.\n\nPsych War\nWhile on a solo mission against the Wrecking Crew, teenaged Jean receives a vision that the Phoenix Force is coming back to Earth. Determined to not succumb to the fate that befell her adult counterpart, Jean tries to fight the future and forge her own destiny. When the Phoenix arrives, Jean, backed by a host of former Phoenix Force wielders, tries to defy destiny and stop the Phoenix before it can take her over. While she is able to wound the Phoenix with the aid of Cable's Psi-mitar, the Phoenix seems just too strong for anyone to overcome. Jean eventually pushes the cosmic force far away from her friends and allies, where a final battle can take place. It is revealed the Phoenix wants the adult Jean, but to do that it needs the younger Jean out of the way. The force floods her body with flaming psychic energy, incinerating her from the inside out, leaving only a skeleton.\n\nPhoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey\nStrange psychic occurrences around the world, which include a large bird flaring out from the sun and an explosion on the moon, raises red flags for the X-Men, who quickly launch an investigation on these events. After a string of bizarre encounters with familiar enemies, many of them considered deceased, the X-Men come to one conclusion: the Phoenix Force is back on Earth. The X-Men also discover that psychics are going missing or falling ill, which prompts the team to investigate Jean Grey's grave. They find her coffin empty, and race to locate the Phoenix Force before it can find a suitable host. With the time-displaced teen Jean Grey out of the Phoenix Force's way, the cosmic entity had resurrected the present adult Jean Grey. However, she does not recall her life as a mutant and an X-Man, and terrible visions from her previous life leave Jean unsure of the differences between reality and fiction. The X-Men theorize that the strange psychic occurrences are subconscious cries for help made by Jean Grey, and they must try to stop the Phoenix Force from merging with her. Old Man Logan is able to make Jean Grey remember her true life and as she learns about the fate of her family and several friends. Jean faces the Phoenix Force and is finally able to convince the cosmic entity to stop bringing her back as its avatar and to let her go. Alive once again, Jean is reunited with her friends as the Phoenix Force journeys back into space.\n\nReturning to Earth\nNamor, embittered by the surface world's reckless disregard for his underwater kingdom, beckons the Phoenix Force to Earth and vows to sacrifice every part of himself to reunite with the entity once more. Namor proposes that if the Phoenix helps him destroy the Avengers, then he will help it set the galaxies ablaze. The Phoenix chooses Moon Knight as its new host instead, allowing him to escape Khonshu's sway, but also provides him with a tremendous amount of power that is problematic considering Moon Knight's mental instability. As the Fist of the Phoenix, Moon Knight rejects Khonshu as his master, uppercutting Khonshu with the full might of the Phoenix Force, sending him crashing back down to Earth and losing his hold over Thor's hammer Mjolnir as well. Moon Knight declares that the new age will now belong to him instead. Once on the ground, Black Panther and Ghost Rider get to work, calling back the Spirit of Vengeance, Iron Fist and Eye of Agamotto out of Khonshu's grasp. With that, the Avengers assemble and Khonshu's forces weaken. However, Moon Knight is still floating up in the atmosphere, reacting and dwelling on the new power that now lies within him. The voices in Moon Knight's head suggest that if he were to burn the world with the Phoenix Force, the parasite of humanity would be purged and he would be a hero that saved the world. At this point, Moon Knight understands that he has lost his mind. After he reignites the sun and Thor breaks free from his entrapment with his hammer, Moon Knight almost welcomes the beating he gets from Thor, and the Phoenix Force subsequently leaves him as its host. Instead of returning to space, the Phoenix remains on Earth with Jean Grey deducing it is searching for a new avatar.\n\nEnter the Phoenix\nHaving made a nest near Avengers Mountain at the North Pole, Namor and the Defenders of the Deep attempt to take the entity by force, leading to a battle with the Avengers and Agents of Wakanda. However, the Phoenix decides to hold a contest to judge who would be worthy to become its next host. The entity selects Captain America and Doctor Doom as its first combatants, who are empowered by a small spark of the Phoenix's cosmic fire and transported to the Savage Land for their match. Realizing that the Phoenix refuses to let Rogers die for unknown reasons, Doom forfeits, refusing to play into the cosmic entity's game. As Doom is returned, Captain America is transported to the White Hot Room where he encounters other competitors chosen by the Phoenix being held in wait for the next match. The Phoenix grants each competitor a vestige of its power and sends them to different parts of the world to fight each other. During the tournament, the essence of Lady Phoenix attempts to goad Black Panther into becoming the entity's next host, but is rebuked by him. As the tournament continues, the remaining Avengers and their allies attempt to keep the Phoenix at bay. During a confrontation with Thor, the Phoenix reveals that she is his biological mother, which confuses and enrages him. At the tournament's conclusion, Echo is chosen as the Phoenix's new host. As Jean Grey telepathically consoles and congratulates Echo, three Phoenix chicks are seen next to the infant Starbrand's crib at Avengers Mountain\n\nPhoenix Song: Echo\nWhile Maya fully accepts being the Phoenix Force's host, her first outing as the Phoenix does not go according to plan. While stopping a burglary, she loses control of her temper and burns one of the perpetrators alive before starting a fire that threatens to harm countless innocent people. Even Echo's behavior along with her attitude and body language shifts dramatically when being influenced by the Phoenix Force, which prompts Elektra and Forge to confront her about the dangers of her powers. She rejects their condescending nature and admonishments but still recognizes that she needs help reigning in her powers.\n\nHosts\nThe following are the known hosts of the Phoenix Force:\n\n Jean Grey: The most powerful and complete Phoenix Force and host combination. Together they became the White Phoenix of the Crown. Death has stated that Jean is the rightful owner of the Phoenix Force and the embodiment of the Phoenix. Jean is later revived to be a full host for the Phoenix Force, but she convinces the cosmic entity to stop repeatedly resurrecting her, and let her go so she could live as she wanted.\nTime-Displaced Jean Grey: Hosts a spark of the Phoenix that allows her to be transported to the White Hot Room. The Phoenix Force kills her as it does not consider her a true host, since Jean had conspired against the Phoenix from the beginning. The Phoenix Force was, however, forced to resurrect the Time-Displaced Jean Grey in order to expel her from the White Hot Room.\n Rook'shir: A Shi'ar that wields the Phoenix Force through the Blade of the Phoenix. He almost decimates the Shi'ar Empire.\n Feron: Ancestor of the modern-day Feron whose daydream-like visions prompt the Phoenix to adopt the firebird form.\n Necrom: Steals a fraction of the Phoenix Force from Feron that is later known as the Anti-Phoenix.\nAnti-Phoenix: A corpse that was animated and incubates the fraction of the Phoenix Force that Necrom stole from Feron, along with a portion of his own life essence for future use.\n Fongji: Host who lived in K'un-Lun centuries ago and was trained in the Iron Fist. The previous guardians of K'un-Lun decided to keep her existence and the Phoenix Force's connection to the legacy of the Iron Fist a secret until its next return. Her name means bird of fire.\n Madelyne Pryor: A clone of Jean Grey that is brought to life by a fraction of the Phoenix Force. Sinister later creates six clones to take the energies from the Phoenix Five (Cyclops, Emma Frost, Colossus, Namor, and Magik), and while they manage to siphon some of the energy from the Phoenix, the entity burns away the Madelyne clones and frees the Phoenix Five, who then incinerate Mister Sinister and his city.\n Rachel Summers: The daughter of Jean Grey and Scott Summers from an alternate timeline who has been referred to as \"The One True Phoenix\". Rachel is the longest Earth-born host of the Phoenix and has never become Dark Phoenix. She mysteriously loses her connection to the fragment of the \"blue\" Phoenix within her, while at the same time the \"hound\" markings reappear on her face.\n Professor X: Charles Xavier briefly possesses an echo of the Phoenix Force during his time with the Starjammers.\n Diamanda Nero: The alleged daughter of Apocalypse from the Askani timeline and briefly becomes the host of the Phoenix after her fight with Rachel. She is unable to contain the Phoenix and begs Rachel to release it from her. Rachel releases the Force into the cosmos, depowering Nero in the process.\n Prime: Prime is briefly possessed by the Phoenix Force while it is in the Malibu Universe.\n Amber Hunt: Amber is possessed by the Phoenix Force while it is in the Malibu Universe and retains her Phoenix-enhanced power levels even after the entity returns to Earth-616. She loses this power enhancement when Maxis absorbs the Phoenix energy and uses it to permanently stabilize its humanoid shape without the need for a host body.\n Foxfire: Foxfire siphons some of the energy from the Phoenix while it is in the Malibu Universe and has a small portion of the Phoenix Force bonded to her at a sub-atomic level.<ref>Phoenix Resurrection: Revelations</ref>\n Quentin Quire: Quentin reconstitutes his body using a fragment of the shattered Phoenix Force when it comes to Earth, but it leaves him to his \"sickness\". He later becomes the host of the Phoenix Force during the \"Asgard/Shi'ar War\", and is asked to become the New God of the Shi'ar as the Phoenix. This arrangement apparently does not last as Quentin is seen on Earth possessing only a shard of the Phoenix Force. He relinquishes it to save Jubilee from certain death.\n Emma Frost: Emma Frost has become the host for the Phoenix Force on two occasions. In the first instance she is unable to contain it, stating that she is not \"strong\" enough. Greg Pak later elaborated on this in an interview after the second series X-Men: Phoenix – Warsong that \"perhaps the Phoenix requires a willingness to open oneself up or give oneself away\" in a way that Emma at the time could not, which was why Celeste Cuckoo was the only Emma Frost clone to truly become Phoenix. She later becomes a true host to the Phoenix (see Phoenix Five).\n Stepford Cuckoos: The group possesses a fraction of the Phoenix Force that they imprison inside of their diamond hearts. The Cuckoos later lose their connection to the Phoenix fragment, as the fragment escapes their diamond hearts without a known destination.\n Korvus: Descendant of Rook'shir and wielder of the Blade of the Phoenix. The Blade is powerless after the connection to the Phoenix fragment is lost.\n Captain Marvel: Resurrected by a fragment of the Phoenix Force. He later willingly allows the Phoenix to reclaim the fragment, which kills him in the process.\n The Phoenix Five: During the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline, the Phoenix Force approaches Earth, but Iron Man and Giant-Man use a disruptor weapon that alters the entity and divides it into five fragments that forcefully bonds with: \nNamor: Possesses a fragment of the Phoenix Force, and loses it after being defeated by the Avengers.\n Magik: Possesses a fragment of the Phoenix Force that leaves her after Spider-Man baits her and Colossus into taking each other out.\n Colossus: Possesses by a fragment of the Phoenix Force that leaves him after Spider-Man baits him and Magik into taking each other out.\n Emma Frost: Possesses a fragment of the Phoenix Force, who refers to Frost as its \"beloved child\" after she alerts it to Mister Sinister's plot. Her half of the Phoenix Force is later stolen by Cyclops to increase his power during the final battle with the Avengers and X-Men.\n Cyclops: Possesses a fragment of the Phoenix Force, and is the last of the Phoenix Five to fall under the corrupted influence of the Phoenix Force. He becomes Dark Phoenix after hosting all five fragments, but Jean Grey's essence convinces him to let the Phoenix leave his body as he is attacked by Hope Summers and the Scarlet Witch. He later acquires the Phoenix Egg, and uses it to become one with the Phoenix Force to decimate the Children of Tomorrow during the incursion between Earth-616 and Earth-1610. He retains the Phoenix after the remaining universes crash together, but loses it when he is killed by Doctor Doom. The Phoenix Force temporarily resurrects Cyclops to convince Jean Grey to accept the entity, but is returned to the dead when she refused. An alternate version of Cable makes arrangements to place a device near Cyclops' heart that siphons some of the Phoenix's energy when it resurrected him to allow his rebirth.\n Hope Summers: According to Cable and later confirmed by the Scarlet Witch, she is the incarnation of the Phoenix Force itself, which explains her resemblance to Jean Grey, and for that same reason, is able to relinquish its powers. Hope and the Phoenix temporarily become the White Phoenix.\n Thane: The half-Inhuman son of Thanos, the Mad Titan. He becomes a host of the Phoenix Force after his death and subsequent rebirth hatches a Phoenix Egg. He loses his connection to the Phoenix when the Coven separates it from him when he and his father have one last fight in the God Quarry.\n Lady Phoenix: As an infant during prehistoric times, Firehair is abandoned by her parents at the Burnt Place because of her red hair. A pack of wolves take her in and she grows up a feral child. She later encounters a child with one eye called Highwalker, and joins the Tribe Without Fear, which consists of prehistoric mutants. Firehair's mutant abilities manifest as she warns the Tribe Without Fear about an upcoming attack by the xenophobic tribes. After Firehair faints, the Tribe Without Fear and the xenophobic tribes kill each other. Firehair blames herself after recovering and returns to the Burnt Place to await death. The Phoenix Force, which created the Burnt Place, arrives and saves her while bonding with her. Consumed by the rage of the Tribe Without Fear's death, Firehair starts to become the Dark Phoenix and is only pacified by the wolf that saved her as an infant. Years later, Firehair becomes Lady Phoenix and seeks out Odin to form 1,000,000 B.C.'s version of the Avengers with other mystically-enhanced beings. Its only known fight is with an out-of-control Celestial called the Fallen. The Stone Age Avengers defeat the Fallen and seal it underground in what would become South Africa. It is implied she and Odin shared a romantic relationship during this time, and that Thor had born from that relationship. For reasons unknown the Phoenix Force keeps Firehair's consciousness suppressed in the White Hot Room, but she isable to exert a degree of subconscious influence over it, causing it to instinctively seek out hosts from Earth, with a preference for red-haired women with psionic abilities, but is apparently released when Time-Displaced Jean Grey reaches the White Hot Room, as Firehair is seen with other avatars battling the young mutant. \n Chosen Champions of the Phoenix: During the Enter the Phoenix storyline, the Phoenix Force holds a tournament to judge who its next host will be, choosing many participants from around the world, empowering each of them with a portion of its power and pitting them in trials by combat, with the eliminated contestants losing its power. For the tournament, the Phoenix chooses: \n Doctor Doom: The only one of the chosen to realize the Phoenix had its own inscrutable agenda, forfeiting his match against Captain America when he correctly deduces that the Phoenix was not looking for his particular character traits.\n Man-Thing: Is defeated by Black Panther in combat.\n Luke Cage: Is defeated by American Eagle in combat.\n Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: While Moon Girl does not receive a spark of the cosmic flame, Devil Dinosaur is made a temporary host. Both are eliminated when Devil Dinosaur is defeated by Shanna the She-Devil and Zabu.\n The Orb: Is defeated by Valkyrie in combat.\n Hyperion: Due to the Phoenix's power overloading his super senses to unbearable pain, Hyperion immediately forfeits his match against Shang-Chi.\n Howard the Duck: Is defeated by Red Widow in combat.\n Nighthawk: Despite fighting Black Panther to a standstill, the Phoenix declares Black Panther the winner, eliminating Nighthawk from the tournament.\n Shang-Chi: With the support of most of the remaining participants, Captain America realizes Shang-Chi is the best suited candidate to wield the Phoenix's power and arranges for Shang-Chi to win their match while training him to contain his power. Angered by Rogers' sabotage and Shang-Chi's refusal to kill, the Phoenix eliminates Shang-Chi and forces Captain America to advance to the next round.\n Wolverine: Is defeated by Black Panther in combat.\n Valkyrie: Is defeated by She-Hulk in combat.\n Black Knight: Is defeated by Red Widow in combat.\n American Eagle: Is defeated by Shanna the She-Devil and Zabu in combat.\n Red Widow: Her fight with Shanna the She-Devil and Zabu is interrupted by Echo, who burns Red Widow with cosmic fire while extracting her portion of the Phoenix's power.\n Shanna the She-Devil and Zabu: Their fight with Red Widow is interrupted by Echo, who peacefully takes their portion of the Phoenix's power from them.\n Namor: His fight with She-Hulk is interrupted by Echo, who brutally attacks him as payback for her earlier defeat by his hands while extracting his portion of the Phoenix's power from him.\n She-Hulk: Her fight with Namor is interrupted by Echo, who peacefully takes her portion of the Phoenix's power from her.\n Captain America: His fight with Black Panther is interrupted by Echo, who peacefully takes his portion of the Phoenix's power from him.\n Black Panther: His fight with Captain America is interrupted by Echo, who peacefully takes his portion of the Phoenix's power from him.\n Echo: Despite being defeated and left for dead by Namor under the Atlantic Ocean in an earlier match, the Phoenix was drawn to Echo's suffering and refusal to die, ultimately choosing her to be its next host. After resurfacing from the ocean, Echo intercepted the last fights and absorbed the Phoenix's remaining vestiges from the last participants.\n\nOther characters were only possessed by the Phoenix Force during out-of-continuity tales, including Franklin Richards, Nightcrawler, Storm, Wolverine, Thor, Cosmic Ghost Rider, and Gabriel Summers in separate What If... stories, as well as Cyclops in the X-Men/Teen Titans inter-company crossover. Quentin Quire is revealed to be a host in the Here Comes Tomorrow storyline and in the visions of Deathlok, and in the timeline of Nocturne, the Phoenix Force possesses Colossus' soulless body and reshapes it into a female form.\n\nPowers and abilities\nThe Phoenix Force can manipulate cosmic energies and tap into the life-force reserved for future generations, which denies their existence. It can wield this energy to project beams of immense destructive force. It can migrate throughout time and space by folding its energy back into itself, causing it to collapse akin to a black hole and then reform itself upon reaching its destination. It can directly absorb offensive energy such as Cyclops' optic blasts or the energy and life-force from a foe. As it is the nexus of all psionic energy, it has mental abilities on a cosmic level, including telepathy and telekinesis.\n\nIt allows its preferred host to perform cosmic pyrokinesis, as it allows Lady Phoenix from 1,000,000 BC Avengers to summon preternatural flames that can melt supernovas. For Jean Grey, it allows her to perform cosmic pyrokinesis strong enough to easily defeat Terrax, as she is in complete control of her own cosmic fire that after Terrax submits to his defeat, the fire dissipates at her will leaving him charred. She also uses the cosmic fire blast to counter Galactus. In some conditions, a bit of cosmic fire can easily burn anything it comes into contact, as when it possesses young Jean Grey she unconsciously melts the equipment the medics try to put on her.\n\nThe extent of the Phoenix Force's abilities has not been fully clarified. Jean Grey as The White Phoenix of the Crown is able to change the future of a universe by reaching back in time and urging Cyclops to move on with his life.\n\nAnother major display of the power of the Phoenix is during the Secret Wars II. Rachel Summers seeks to kill the Beyonder, who expresses both amazement and disappointment in her. With that, the Beyonder gives Rachel full access to the power of the Phoenix as well as some of his own. With such power, Rachel is able to absorb the consciousness of every sentient mortal being in the universe.\n\nThe Phoenix often seeks hosts with strong inherent psionic abilities so they can withstand its power. When the Phoenix Force enters a host, a small fragment of its power is left behind when it leaves. Even a small fragment can be stronger than an inexperienced host using the Phoenix Force's powers, such as with Rachel Summers, who has full access to the Force, but her opponent Necrom threw moons at her with only a fragment. When bonded with a host, the Phoenix Force amplifies their abilities to incalculable levels. It can manipulate matter on a sub-atomic level and transmute elements, like turning wood to gold or stone to crystal; on a smaller scale, it can alter the molecular fabrics. It can teleport others across space and open interdimensional portals to instantly access distant portions of the Universe. If an avatar of the Phoenix Force is harmed or killed, it forms an \"egg\" of cosmic power around them that is incubated in the White Hot Room, and hatches out completely healed. As one of the oldest cosmic beings, the Phoenix Force possesses a high level of cosmic awareness and prescience.\n\nOther versions\n31st century\n\nIn the 31st century in the Guardians of the Galaxy comics series, ordinary human Giraud of New Haven becomes a host to the Phoenix Force. As Phoenix, Giraud is a rarity for a Phoenix host, since he is an ordinary human with no active magic or psionic abilities—only those powers granted him directly by the Phoenix Force. However, the Phoenix Force tells him that he has latent psi-abilities, and it was that latent psi-potential that drew it to him.\n\n\"Age of Apocalypse\"\nIn the Age of Apocalypse reality, after Jean Grey's death at the hands of Havok, nuclear bombs set to destroy America are destroyed by Jean, awakened as the Phoenix (known as \"Mutant Alpha\", the legendary ultimate mutant). Sinister captures Phoenix and brainwashes her into becoming one of his Sinister Six. He turns Phoenix against the X-Men, displaying the personality of Dark Phoenix. Phoenix generates enough heat to nearly burn Sunfire to death, but Psylocke uses her psychic knife to bring her to her senses. Jean uses the Phoenix Force to incinerate her former master, and becomes leader of the X-Men in Magneto's absence.\n\nAmalgam Comics\nIn Amalgam Comics, the Jean Grey incarnation of Phoenix with is combined with DC Comics character Fire to make Firebird in JLX #1. She is brainwashed into becoming the Dark Firebird. The Rachel Summers version of Phoenix was combined with Legion of Super-Heroes member Kinetix to make Phoenetix in Spider-Boy Team-Up #1.\n\nEarth X\nAlthough the origins and history of Phoenix of the Earth-X limited series match her Earth-616 counterpart, the Phoenix Force is originally a citizen of the first universe that existed before the Big Bang that created the current universe in which Earth-9997 resides. The original universe collapsed due to the manipulations and reproduction of the Celestial race. There are a number of survivors who were referred to as \"The Elders of the Universe\", the Phoenix Force being one of these elders. It is later revealed that the Elders plan to reunify the fragmented universe (and all its parallel universe and alternate history counterparts) through the Realm of the Dead and with the aid of Death.\n\nThe Phoenix Force is a part of the plot to reverse the damage the Celestials had already created. As the Elders were all nearly immortal and could not die, the Phoenix Force binds itself to Jean Grey. Unable to bind with her severely burned body, it becomes a binary being with her and assumes her identity, personality, and physical form, while sealing her charred body in a cocoon to heal. When the shuttle crashes the cocoon sinks to the bottom of Jamaica Bay, and the Phoenix Force takes Jean's place.\n\nThe Phoenix sacrifices her life and the real Jean Grey returns. The Phoenix ended up in Death's realm in Jean's form, and is one of the few beings in this realm that are aware they are dead. She joins Mar-Vel's army to battle Death and her army. During this time, Scott Summers is able to establish a mental rapport with the Phoenix and kept informed as to the goings-on in the Realm of the Dead and Mar-Vel's Paradise.\n\nAfter the creation of Mar-Vel's Paradise, Phoenix becomes one of the Avenging Host, a group of former champions who are transmogrified by technology that belonged to the High Evolutionary. During her time as one of the Avenging Host, its members begin to doubt Mar-Vel's intentions. Their doubts in Mar-Vel's quest are strengthened when they realize that no new dead were appearing in Death's former realm. Phoenix relays this information to Scott, prompting the heroes of Earth-9997 to seek out Jude, the Entropic Man, to become the new Death. When Cap, 3-D Man, Comet Man, Benny Becksley, and Thanos learn that each \"Paradise\" created for the realms citizens is wish fulfillment, the Avenging Host helps free each citizen from their private \"heaven\" and resolve to confront Mar-Vel about his intentions.\n\nThe host and Rick Jones are summoned and put on trial by Mar-Vel. Confronted by Mar-Vel with Captain America, Phoenix and the rest of the host are killed by the leader when Cap refuses to take Mar-Vel's power. Shortly after their death, the Kree army invades Paradise and instigates a large battle. During the combat, Reed Richards arrives from the Negative Zone and confronts Mar-Vel. During their talk, Mar-Vel resurrects the Avenging Host to help the citizens of Paradise defeat the Kree invaders. After the battle's conclusion, Phoenix's whereabouts are unknown.\n\nHeroes Reborn\nIn an alternate reality depicted in the miniseries Heroes Reborn, Maya Lopez becomes the Phoenix Force's host.Heroes Reborn vol. 2 #6 (June 2021). Marvel Comics.Heroes Return #1 (June 2021). Marvel Comics.\n\nLegacy of Fire\nIn X-Men: Phoenix - Legacy of Fire, the Phoenix Force is also a weapon. The Phoenix Sword is guarded and wielded by the sorceress Madelyne Pyre, who inherits the sword from her mother. When Madelyne's time as wielder of the sword is almost over, she trains her little sister, Jena, to fight and use magic. When their reality's version of Shadow King steals the Phoenix Sword, Jena tried to reclaim it before being stabbed with the sword. The powers of the Phoenix Sword pass on to the dying Jena, who becomes the Phoenix Force's first host and vanquishes Shadow King before becoming the guardian of her dimension.\n\nMarvel 1602\nIn Marvel 1602, Jean, who disguises herself as a man, dies of sickness on Carlos Javier's ship. As a funeral, this version of Angel carries Jean's corpse into the sky, where 1602 Cyclops burns her to ashes with his eye beams. The fire briefly forms a shape similar to the Phoenix before vanishing.\n\nMarvel Zombies\nPhoenix appears in the Marvel Zombies 2 mini-series. The zombie survivors of the first series, who now possess the powers of Galactus, are joined by other \"cosmic level\" zombies, including an unnamed Dark Phoenix who appears to be Jean Grey. She is responsible, along with the others, for eating most of the sentient life in the universe. A long trip back to Earth and leads to Jean and the others regaining their sense of morality and control over their hunger. Jean is destroyed by the Hulk.\n\nUltimate Marvel\n\nIn the Ultimate Marvel Universe, Jean Grey is placed in a mental institute after she hears voices and sees visions of an omnipotent Phoenix God. After her release, she thinks she contacted a celestial God-entity that destroyed worlds.\n\nAs a result, the Hellfire Club believes that it should summon the Phoenix and merge it with Jean via a ritual. While the ritual is successful, the Phoenix has different plans and kills the Hellfire Club. In the Ultimate X-Men's Hellfire and Brimstone arc, the Phoenix Force makes its first appearance as the entity within Jean's body.\n\nJean gains some control over Phoenix at the expense of using dangerous amounts of its power and causing extreme destruction.\n\nCharles Xavier is confronted by Lilandra Neramani, the leader of a religious group known as the Church of Shi'ar Enlightenment, who worship a god known as the Phoenix. As a result of their meeting, Lilandra asks to study Jean Grey to determine whether she is the embodiment of the Phoenix Force. During the examination, the Phoenix entity apparently asserts itself in an evil form but is seemingly suppressed by Professor Xavier's more experienced psychic powers and his emotional outreach to Jean Grey's normal personality.\n\nAfter the suppression of what seems to be the Phoenix Force, Lilandra and Charles are informed by Gerald, Lilandra's assistant, that Jean tested negative. He reveals that Jean Grey's parents have a connection to the Shi'ar Church and postulates that her subconscious has manifested a false Phoenix persona after being subjected to Phoenix Force stories in her youth. Feeling that she has lost her mind, Jean slips into a depressed state and begins seeing green creatures latched on to her body. It is then revealed that Jean tested positive as the carrier of the Phoenix Force and Gerald has covered it up under orders from his actual superiors: the Hellfire Club.\n\nJean learns to control the powers of the Phoenix. When Apocalypse prepares to kill Xavier, Jean accepts the Phoenix, creating a humanoid fiery entity whose power is able to bring down the ancient being. She alters reality completely and resets time to undo the damage done by Apocalypse and supposedly by Professor Xavier.\n\nIn Ultimate X-Men/Fantastic Four Annual #1, a teenage Franklin Richards is shown to be host to the Phoenix, and a member of that timeline's X-Men.\n\nWhat If?\nThe Phoenix has been the subject of What If on a number of occasions.\n\n The timeline shown in What If? vol. 2 #32 and #33 diverged from the main timeline just before the Phoenix dies. Rather than committing suicide, the Phoenix is given a psychic lobotomy by the Shi'ar and returned to Earth with the X-Men to live as Jean Grey. Phoenix and Cyclops marry, and she gives birth to Rachel Summers. Phoenix refuses Magneto's offer to restore her powers, but eventually regains them in an encounter with Mastermind. In a fit of despair, Phoenix kills the real Jean Grey, who is lying in stasis at the bottom of the sea. When the rest of the X-Men discover that \"Jean\" has become the Phoenix again, she temporarily leaves before returning to save them from an attack by the Sentinels. Scott and Phoenix reconcile, but Destiny tells Phoenix that she only saw death in her future if she tried to remain among mortals. In response, the Phoenix leaves the Earth to wander the universe alone.\n The timeline shown in What If? vol. 2 #79 diverges from the main reality on the day the X-Men's shuttle passes through cosmic radiation during re-entry to Earth. Jean Grey is knocked out, so Storm volunteers to steer the capsule with her elemental powers. All of the X-Men except Wolverine die during the crash. Storm seemingly survives and emerges from the wreckage as Stormphoenix, displaying absolute control over all aspects of the weather. She erects a benevolent dictatorship on Earth, drawing young mutants to her side and freezing the super-beings who oppose her in the atmosphere. As she grows crueler and detached from humanity, the remaining heroes—as well as her acolyte, Kitty, and her mentor, Ahadi—plan to get rid of her. They examine the space capsule and find the real Storm, who had been placed in a healing cocoon and submerged in the Hudson Bay. Kitty takes over her body and they confront Stormphoenix as the fake she was. Shocked back to its senses, the Phoenix leaves Earth, but the real Storm dies in the process.\n The What If? X-Men: Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire looks at what would have happened if Vulcan had inherited the powers of Phoenix via the M'Kraan Crystal. In this reality, Vulcan ends up inside the M'Kraan Crystal instead of Professor X. Through the M'Kraan Crystal, Vulcan ascends to the White Hot Room where he meets the Phoenix Corps, one of them being Kid Omega, who says that Vulcan does not belong there. Vulcan takes Kid Omega's powers. He slays all the Phoenix Corps and takes their power. He leaves the Crystal and takes the pieces of the Phoenix Force out of Rachel and Korvus. Wielding supposedly the full Phoenix Force, he destroys the Shi'ar Empire, Xavier, Nightcrawler, Polaris, Warpath, Darwin, the Starjammers, Gladiator and Lilandra. Only Rachel and Havok survive through a teleportation portal opened by Jean Grey. Vulcan destroys one third of the Annihilation Wave along with Annihilus himself. Nova pleads Ronan the Accuser to escape, but Vulcan destroys the Kree Empire. The Watchers comment that the Phoenix \"consumed\" a galaxy. Rachel and Havok arrive on Earth. They, along with Cyclops and Cable, engage Vulcan. The battle takes place on Krakoa. Vulcan begins to lose control during the battle. Rachel warns him that the Phoenix Force reacts poorly to negative emotions. The consequences of losing total control will not only consume himself but all of reality. Letting go of the rage and hate he holds, Vulcan halts his rampage and accepts his death. As Vulcan ascends to the White Hot Room, he meets Jean Grey, who is the White Phoenix of the Crown. He is comforted by Jean who jokingly tells him that she always had a soft spot for Summers men.\n\nX-Men: No More Humans\nIn X-Men: No More Humans, Raze – the future son of Wolverine and Mystique who becomes trapped in the present — attempts to force the X-Men to accept his new status quo by teleporting all humans off of Earth and summoning other mutants from worlds where they are being oppressed, with one of them being a Jean Grey who maintained her Dark Phoenix state albeit under the control of her world's Mastermind. The present Grey confronts her time-displaced counterpart and appeals to her to help the X-Men undo Raze's actions and save the displaced humans. In the process, they create a new Earth in a pocket dimension for the refugee mutants.\n\nCrossovers\nPhoenix has appeared in the following intercompany crossovers:\n\n Dark Phoenix teamed up with Darkseid in The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans crossover between DC and Marvel Comics' respective teams. The story was made by Chris Claremont, Walt Simonson and Terry Austin in 1983. The story follows Darkseid conversing with Metron for the Anti-Life Equation at the edge of the Universe. Metron and Darkseid make a deal, and Dark Phoenix becomes part of that equation. The Teen Titans try to stop Darkseid, with the help of the X-Men, who later go head to head with Deathstroke the Terminator. The Dark Phoenix breaks free from Darkseid's grasp, is briefly hosted by Cyclops, and eventually dies again.\n The Phoenix Force is transported to the Ultraverse where it possessed the pyrokinetic ultra Amber Hunt. The X-Men, Ultraforce, Exiles, and numerous other characters team-up to stop the Phoenix from destroying the world.\n\nIn other media\n\nTelevision\n\n The entire saga of the Phoenix is retold and adapted in the third season of the X-Men animated series, subdivided into the five-part \"Phoenix Saga\", in which Jean Grey acquires the power of the Phoenix and the battle for the M'Kraan Crystal occurs; and the \"Dark Phoenix Saga\", showcasing the battle with the Hellfire Club, the Phoenix Force's transformation into Dark Phoenix, and the battle to decide her fate. As the Phoenix Force retcon occurred before the creation of the series, the episodes were made with this change in mind—rather than have Jean develop her powers independently or be replaced by the cosmic Phoenix Force entity, the two concepts were merged: Jean's body is possessed by the Phoenix Force, leading to a struggle between two independent entities. Jean pilots a shuttle, and when her telekinetic shield fails Phoenix enters her body. Rather than destroying an inhabited system—which was the cause for the decision to kill off the character in the comics—the animated story had her destroy a deserted system and only disable the attacking Shi'ar cruiser. These changes made it possible for aspects of the original ending of Uncanny X-Men #137, in which Jean survives, to be used. Jean commits suicide (with the Shi'ar's laser beam instead of an ancient weapon), but with her death, the Phoenix Force is purified, and it uses its powers to resurrect Jean, drawing on the combined life-force of the assembled X-Men. Jean retains her original basic powers.\n The Phoenix Force makes a cameo appearance in the last episode of X-Men: Evolution. During a confrontation with Professor X as a Horsemen of Apocalypse, the Phoenix briefly forms from Jean Grey's shield during their psychic battle. Following Apocalypse's defeat, her other cameo is part of Professor X's glimpse of the future, and shows her host screaming out as the Phoenix.\n The Phoenix makes an appearance in Wolverine and the X-Men. The Phoenix Force is an entity that has afflicted psychic mutants since the Homo Superior race first appeared. It enters the host at birth and grows with it. Once they reach maturity, the Phoenix Force takes over the host to cause mass destruction. Emma Frost's own intent is to lure the Phoenix out of Jean Grey's body to put an end to the damage that it causes with help from the Hellfire Club and the Stepford Cuckoos. However, the Hellfire Club and the Stepford Cuckoos reveal their ulterior motives. It is also revealed that Jean caused the explosion at the Xavier Institute from transforming into the Phoenix because of the Hellfire Club's first attempt to take the Phoenix's power. Jean and Cyclops face the Phoenix, risking it devastating the planet and creating the future the X-Men had been trying to prevent, but Wolverine allows Emma to join the fight to seemingly sacrifice herself to stop the Phoenix by absorbing it into her body before turning into her diamond form and shattering herself into pieces. The Phoenix Force seemingly vanishes without a host.\n The Phoenix makes appearances in the beginning and final episodes of Marvel Anime: X-Men.\n\nFilms\n Famke Janssen plays Jean Grey in the first three movies. In X-Men, Jean uses Cerebro for the first time, which puts strain on both her mind and abilities, and is affected when Magneto tries to use a machine to turn the world leaders into mutants by said machine's destruction. \n In X2, a fiery aura appears in Jean's eyes when using her powers, and she is engulfed in a fiery aura as she sacrifices herself to hold back a tsunami of water from a burst dam and lift the X-Jet to save the X-Men. In the final scene, a giant flaming bird-shaped object can be seen reflected in the water.\n\n The Phoenix appears in X-Men: The Last Stand. Having survived her supposed death, Jean becomes Dark Phoenix, the only known class five mutant. Her mutation is seeded in the unconscious part of her mind, and Professor X fears what could happen if she cannot not control her near-infinite abilities. He uses his powers to build several psychic barriers in her mind at a young age to isolate most of her powers from her conscious mind, which causes a split in her psyche—Jean, whose limited powers were always in her control; and her dormant side, a purely instinctual, powerful creature that called itself the \"Phoenix\" with little to no regard toward anyone that Jean cares about. During the movie, with the psychic barriers removed by everything that Jean had gone through in the previous films, Phoenix is eventually able to gain dominance over Jean. Phoenix kills Scott Summers and Professor X before joining Magneto. Phoenix abstains from the battle on Alcatraz until military reinforcements show up and try to shoot Jean; Phoenix gains full control and demolishes the island on the molecular level. Facing Phoenix alone, Wolverine calls to Jean. As Logan climbs to her, his flesh is repeatedly and painfully peeled from his adamantium-covered bones, the healing factor being the only thing keeping Logan alive. When Wolverine reaches Phoenix, it asks if Wolverine would die for the rest of humanity, to which he tells it and Jean that he would only die for her. His words pull Jean to the fore; unable to stop Phoenix, she tells Logan to save her. Wolverine stabs Jean with the claws, killing her and ending the destruction. Jean's tombstone lies on the X-Mansion ground, beside the markers of her slain teammates.\n Jean Grey appears in X-Men: Apocalypse, portrayed by Sophie Turner. Jean is one of the most ostracized of Charles Xavier's students because she struggles to control her powers as exhibited when she suffers a premonitory nightmare, shaking the school and causing Xavier strain as he tries to wake and calm her. In the film's climax during the X-Men's battle against Apocalypse, Charles tells Apocalypse in an astral battle ground that he is not the most powerful psychic. After bringing Jean there, Charles convinces her to unleash the full extent of her powers. She shatters Apocalypse's astral projection before disintegrating his physical body, her body surrounded by a flaming bird-shaped aura.\n Dark Phoenix loosely adapts The Dark Phoenix Saga. Jean loses control of her mental abilities and unleashes the Phoenix. While the original trilogy stated that the Phoenix was Jean's darker personality traits, Jean has some difficulties but has generally suppressed them since her childhood. When the X-Men go up to rescue the shuttle Endeavour from an apparent solar flare, Jean is left behind in the shuttle when the 'solar flare' strikes it, only for her body to absorb the energy. Jean is later contacted by Vuk, a member of the D'Bari, who claims that her world was destroyed by the \"solar flare\" that struck Jean. Vuk explains that it is actually a cosmic force of supreme power, a fragment of the energy of the universe itself, though only Jean has been able to contain and handle its immense power. Vuk attempts to encourage Jean to tap that power, allegedly to move beyond old standards, but really intends to absorb the power herself so that she can remake Earth for her people. With the X-Men's support, Jean is able to harness the power inside her and destroy the D'Bari forces, but subsequently departs Earth.\n\nVideo games\n\n In X-Men: Next Dimension, several of Jean Grey's powers take base from the Phoenix. The game also includes the Dark Phoenix separately as an unlockable bonus character. Her attacks are mainly related to the Phoenix Force. In the hidden cutscene \"The Fury of Dark Phoenix\", it is revealed that after Jean Grey/Phoenix successful defeats Bastion on Asteroid M, Cyclops transports to Asteroid M. Before Cyclops and Jean can re-unite, Bastion shoots a laser beam at Cyclops, instantly killing him, which causes the Dark Phoenix to manifest in Jean. As the Dark Phoenix, she destroys Asteroid M, Bastion, and presumably Wolverine and Magneto,. From the X-Mansion, Professor Xavier senses the Dark Phoenix. She transforms into her fiery bird form and destroys the moon before going on a rampage.\n In Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro, a costume called Spider-Phoenix represents Spider-Man as a host of the Phoenix Force. Although Spider-Man cannot use Phoenix's powers in game, the costume grants the player invulnerability, as well as greater strength and webswing speed.\n In X-Men Legends, Jean Grey appears as a playable character. One of her alternate costumes is a green and yellow/gold Phoenix costume. Her \"X-treme attack\" is \"Phoenix Force\". \n In X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, Jean Grey, who is a playable character, has some attacks related to the Phoenix Force, such as the ability to resurrect another character during game play, and the player can choose between her original and Dark Phoenix costumes. In addition to Jean, the PlayStation Portable version of this game also includes the Dark Phoenix separately as an unlockable bonus character.\n In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, the Dark Phoenix makes an appearance in the ending of the game if the player chooses to save Nightcrawler instead of saving Jean in Mephisto's realm. Since Jean Grey does not die in the Infinity Vortex, she returns to Earth in the form of the Dark Phoenix to take vengeance upon those who did not save her.\n In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, Jean Grey is playable, and has her Phoenix costume as her primary outfit.\n Jean Grey appears as \"Phoenix\" as a playable character in the crossover fighting game Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. She has the ability to resurrect herself as the Dark Phoenix.\n Jean Grey appears as \"Phoenix\" as a playable character in the Adobe Flash network game Marvel: Avengers Alliance. During the game's third Special Operation (inspired by the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline), the Phoenix Force is hosted by Colossus, Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magik, and Jean Grey (as the Dark Phoenix). The game's Phoenix Five can either be the player's allies or enemies depending on which side the player chooses in the conflict.\n Phoenix is a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes. Dark Phoenix is also available via downloadable content.\n In Marvel Heroes'', Jean Grey is an unlockable character with a power of the Phoenix.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Phoenix Force at Marvel.com\n \n\nCharacters created by Chris Claremont\nCharacters created by Dave Cockrum\nComics characters introduced in 1976\nFemale characters in comics\nFictional characters who can manipulate reality\nFictional characters who can manipulate time\nFictional characters with elemental transmutation abilities\nFictional characters with spirit possession or body swapping abilities\nFictional telekinetics\nMarvel Comics cosmic entities\nMarvel Comics female supervillains\nMarvel Comics telepaths\nMerged fictional characters\nPhoenixes in popular culture\nX-Men supporting characters\n\nlt:Feniksas (komiksai)"
] |
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[
"Sage (comics)",
"The Hellfire Club",
"What was the Hellfire Club?",
"Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class, she is instead sent to spy on the Hellfire Club as Tessa,",
"Why was she sent to spy on them?",
"Years later, Sage meets up again with Xavier, who at the time is recruiting the original X-Men. Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class,",
"Why was he recruiting them?",
"I don't know.",
"Was he successful?",
"While she is able to successfully warn Psylocke away from the Hellfire Club, Tessa is later remorseful",
"Why was she remorseful?",
"she is unable to similarly prevent the corruption of Phoenix into the Black Queen. This transformation is a key factor in the creation of Dark Phoenix.",
"So she created Dark Phoenix?",
"unable to similarly prevent the corruption"
] |
C_e540206936bc4dc0918ad3b0f47da1be_1
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What did she do after that?
| 7 |
What did Sage (Tessa) do after being unable to prevent the corruption of Phoenix into the Black Queen?
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Sage (comics)
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Years later, Sage meets up again with Xavier, who at the time is recruiting the original X-Men. Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class, she is instead sent to spy on the Hellfire Club as Tessa, and to keep watch on Sebastian Shaw, something which returns to haunt her in the following years. While working at the Hellfire Club she encounters Psylocke, Jean Grey, and Emma Frost, who at this point is the White Queen. While she is able to successfully warn Psylocke away from the Hellfire Club, Tessa is later remorseful that she is unable to similarly prevent the corruption of Phoenix into the Black Queen. This transformation is a key factor in the creation of Dark Phoenix. Sometime during Tessa's time with the Hellfire Club, Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost dare the man known as Elias Bogan to wager in a game of poker. Though he holds no official rank in the Inner Circle, the telepathic Bogan is one of the Club's most important and powerful members; his patronage guarantees success in the organization. By the terms of the wager, if Shaw lost, Frost would "belong" to Bogan, but if Bogan's agent lost, then his fortune would be turned over to Shaw. Thanks to Tessa's advice and analytical skills, Bogan loses the game and is forced to honor the wager. Having never lost before, Bogan harbors a grudge against Tessa. During the X-Men's initial conflicts with the Hellfire Club, Tessa primarily maintains a background role and is seen as only Shaw's unusually intelligent assistant. Hints of her more complex role are indicated when she and Xavier are kidnapped by Donald Pierce, a renegade member of the club, with grudges against both organizations. Based on the interactions between Xavier and Tessa, it is unclear whether he is helping to maintain her cover or whether he feels as if he has lost his agent, since the interaction between the two is kept impersonal. The two are rescued by the nascent team of New Mutants, and Tessa takes Pierce into custody on behalf of the Hellfire Club. Tessa's next notable interaction with Xavier's students happens months later when the X-Men and Hellfire Club are hunting down Rachel Summers after her attempted murder of Selene, the newly installed Black Queen. In the middle of their fight, both teams are taken by surprise by Nimrod, a mutant-hunting robot from the future. Recognizing the more immediate threat, the two groups join forces and are able to severely damage Nimrod. The X-Men and Hellfire Club each sustain heavy losses and are forced to flee the scene quickly. Tessa offers Storm and the X-Men temporary sanctuary with the Club, which later results in Magneto and Storm jointly accepting the role of White King in the Inner Circle. CANNOTANSWER
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Sometime during Tessa's time with the Hellfire Club, Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost dare the man known as Elias Bogan to wager in a game of poker.
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[
"Dead Funny is a 1994 independent drama film directed by John Feldman. It stars Elizabeth Peña as Vivian Saunders, a woman who comes home from work and finds her boyfriend Reggie Barker (Andrew McCarthy) pinned to her kitchen table with a long knife.\n\nPlot\nVivian Saunders (Elizabeth Peña) comes home one day to an unusual surprise: her boyfriend Reggie Barker (Andrew McCarthy) is lying on the kitchen table with a large sword sticking out of his body. At first Vivian thinks this must be some sort of joke, but she discovers that Reggie is indeed dead, and as she calls her best friend Louise (Paige Turco) to figure out what might have happened and what to do, it occurs to her that she blacked out after too much wine the night before and isn't sure what she did before she passed out. After a few phone calls, Vivian's women's support group arrives, and what to do about Reggie soon takes second place to what Vivian should do for herself.\n\nCast\nElizabeth Peña as Vivian Saunders\nAndrew McCarthy as Reggie Barker\nPaige Turco as Louise\nBlanche Baker as Barbara\nAllison Janney as Jennifer\nAdelle Lutz as Mari\nNovella Nelson as Frances\nLisa Jane Persky as Sarah\nMichael Mantell as Harold\nKen Kensei as Yoshi\nBai Ling as Norriko\n\nRelease\nThis film has only been released on VHS and LaserDisc format.\n\nReception\nDavid Nusair of DVD Talk negatively reviewed the film, saying \"By the time we find out what really happened to McCarthy's character, it's impossible to care.\" Time Out also negatively reviewed the film, writing \"How did it happen? Who did it? Who cares? Probably not Feldman who seems more interested in shooting his actresses' naked thighs.\" The New York Times stated that Dead Funny \"tries so hard to be ingeniously tricky and ambiguous that it ends up outsmarting itself\".\n\nVariety positively reviewed the film, praising Peña's performance.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n \n\n1994 films\nAmerican drama films\nAmerican independent films\nAmerican films\n1994 drama films\nEnglish-language films",
"\"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)",
"There's a Girl in My Hammerlock is a 1991 young adult novel by Jerry Spinelli.\n\nPlot\nMaisie Potter tries out for the wrestling team in her junior high to get close to a boy she likes, but she soon finds out that what she really loves is the sport of wrestling.\n\nMaisie initially wants to be on the cheerleading squad, but she did not make the cut during tryouts. She is infatuated with a boy at her school, Eric Delong, and will do anything to be near him. Because he tries out for the wrestling team, Maisie decides to try out too. She makes the team but discovers that wrestling is a lot harder than she initially thought. She wins some of her matches but most of her opponents forfeit because they don't think it's right for a girl to wrestle a boy. She has to decide if she should do things that other people want her to do or things that she truly wants to do and is good at.\n\nExternal links\nAuthor Jerry Spinelli's homepage\n\n1991 American novels\nNovels by Jerry Spinelli\nAmerican sports novels\nAmerican young adult novels"
] |
|
[
"Sage (comics)",
"The Hellfire Club",
"What was the Hellfire Club?",
"Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class, she is instead sent to spy on the Hellfire Club as Tessa,",
"Why was she sent to spy on them?",
"Years later, Sage meets up again with Xavier, who at the time is recruiting the original X-Men. Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class,",
"Why was he recruiting them?",
"I don't know.",
"Was he successful?",
"While she is able to successfully warn Psylocke away from the Hellfire Club, Tessa is later remorseful",
"Why was she remorseful?",
"she is unable to similarly prevent the corruption of Phoenix into the Black Queen. This transformation is a key factor in the creation of Dark Phoenix.",
"So she created Dark Phoenix?",
"unable to similarly prevent the corruption",
"What did she do after that?",
"Sometime during Tessa's time with the Hellfire Club, Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost dare the man known as Elias Bogan to wager in a game of poker."
] |
C_e540206936bc4dc0918ad3b0f47da1be_1
|
What was the result of this>
| 8 |
What was the result of Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost's dare for Elias Bogan to wager in a poker game?
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Sage (comics)
|
Years later, Sage meets up again with Xavier, who at the time is recruiting the original X-Men. Instead of being chosen for the first X-Men class, she is instead sent to spy on the Hellfire Club as Tessa, and to keep watch on Sebastian Shaw, something which returns to haunt her in the following years. While working at the Hellfire Club she encounters Psylocke, Jean Grey, and Emma Frost, who at this point is the White Queen. While she is able to successfully warn Psylocke away from the Hellfire Club, Tessa is later remorseful that she is unable to similarly prevent the corruption of Phoenix into the Black Queen. This transformation is a key factor in the creation of Dark Phoenix. Sometime during Tessa's time with the Hellfire Club, Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost dare the man known as Elias Bogan to wager in a game of poker. Though he holds no official rank in the Inner Circle, the telepathic Bogan is one of the Club's most important and powerful members; his patronage guarantees success in the organization. By the terms of the wager, if Shaw lost, Frost would "belong" to Bogan, but if Bogan's agent lost, then his fortune would be turned over to Shaw. Thanks to Tessa's advice and analytical skills, Bogan loses the game and is forced to honor the wager. Having never lost before, Bogan harbors a grudge against Tessa. During the X-Men's initial conflicts with the Hellfire Club, Tessa primarily maintains a background role and is seen as only Shaw's unusually intelligent assistant. Hints of her more complex role are indicated when she and Xavier are kidnapped by Donald Pierce, a renegade member of the club, with grudges against both organizations. Based on the interactions between Xavier and Tessa, it is unclear whether he is helping to maintain her cover or whether he feels as if he has lost his agent, since the interaction between the two is kept impersonal. The two are rescued by the nascent team of New Mutants, and Tessa takes Pierce into custody on behalf of the Hellfire Club. Tessa's next notable interaction with Xavier's students happens months later when the X-Men and Hellfire Club are hunting down Rachel Summers after her attempted murder of Selene, the newly installed Black Queen. In the middle of their fight, both teams are taken by surprise by Nimrod, a mutant-hunting robot from the future. Recognizing the more immediate threat, the two groups join forces and are able to severely damage Nimrod. The X-Men and Hellfire Club each sustain heavy losses and are forced to flee the scene quickly. Tessa offers Storm and the X-Men temporary sanctuary with the Club, which later results in Magneto and Storm jointly accepting the role of White King in the Inner Circle. CANNOTANSWER
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Though he holds no official rank in the Inner Circle, the telepathic Bogan is one of the Club's most important and powerful members;
| false |
[
"Elections to West Lindsey District Council were held on 3 May 2007. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrat Party held overall control of the council after what was seen as a straight fight with the Conservative Party.\n\nThe election in Scotter ward was decided by the toss of a coin which the Conservative candidate won.\n\nAfter the election, the composition of the council was:\n Liberal Democrat 20\n Conservative 16\n Independent 1\n\nElection result\n\nOne Independent candidate was unopposed.\n\nWard results\n\nReferences\n\n 2007 West Lindsey election result\n Ward results\n\n2007\n2007 English local elections\n2000s in Lincolnshire",
"The St. Charles Borromeo Cathedral () Also Chillán Cathedral Is a temple of the Catholic Church, home of the Diocese of Chillán located in the center of the city of Chillán, Chile in front of the Plaza de Armas, in the corner of streets Arauco and Libertad. It is also a symbol and icon of the city, as a result of the city's progress after the Chillan earthquake of 1939. It was declared a National Monument in December 2014.\n\nThe first cathedral of the city of Chillán was established in what today is known as Old Chillán, but this one was destroyed after the earthquake that affected the zone in 1835. As a result, the city was devastated and was transferred and reconstructed in Its current location. The cathedral at that time was made of lime and brick.\n\nAfter the Chillán earthquake of 1939, the cathedral was completely destroyed again, beginning that same year the reconstructions that culminated in 1950. In this new reconstruction, the architect Hernán Larraín Errázuriz was based on ideas of modernism. The figure of the 10 arches represent the prayer and the sign that is made with the hands at the moment of praying intercalando the fingers of the hands and closing them of oval form.\n\nSee also\nRoman Catholicism in Chile\nSt. Charles Borromeo\n\nReferences\n\nRoman Catholic cathedrals in Chile\nRoman Catholic churches completed in 1950\nDiguillín Province\n20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Chile\nModernist architecture in Chile\nRebuilt buildings and structures in Chile",
"Puchałowo (; 1936 - 1945 Windau) is a largely abandoned village in the administrative district of Gmina Janowo, within Nidzica County, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies approximately east of Nidzica and south of the regional capital Olsztyn.\n\nBefore 1945 the area was part of Germany (East Prussia).\n\nAs a result of a decision about the expansion of the Muszaki proving ground, the population of the village was resettled and most of the village razed to the ground. Only a few houses remains, making it very similar to what is left from Ulesie, which also was largely razed to the ground as a result of the proving ground expansion.\n\nReferences\n\nVillages in Nidzica County"
] |
|
[
"Bill James",
"The Bill James Baseball Abstracts"
] |
C_008ff753407048469595dfcfca02e9c3_1
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What were the Baseball Abstracts?
| 1 |
What were the Bill James Baseball Abstracts?
|
Bill James
|
An aspiring writer and obsessive fan, James began writing baseball articles after leaving the United States Army in his mid-twenties. Many of his first baseball writings came while he was doing night shifts as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp's pork and beans cannery. Unlike most writers, his pieces did not recount games in epic terms or offer insights gleaned from interviews with players. A typical James piece posed a question (e.g., "Which pitchers and catchers allow runners to steal the most bases?"), and then presented data and analysis written in a lively, insightful, and witty style that offered an answer. Editors considered James's pieces so unusual that few believed them suitable for their readers. In an effort to reach a wider audience, James began self-publishing an annual book titled The Bill James Baseball Abstract beginning in 1977. The first edition, titled 1977 Baseball Abstract: Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News. Seventy-five people purchased the booklet. The 1978 edition, subtitled The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies. Beginning in 1979, James wrote an annual preview of the baseball season for Esquire, and continued to do so through 1984. The first three editions of the Baseball Abstract garnered respect for James's work, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated. New annual editions added essays on teams and players. By 1982 sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions. While writers had published books about baseball statistics before (most notably Earnshaw Cook's Percentage Baseball, in the 1960s), few had ever reached a mass audience. Attempts to imitate James's work spawned a flood of books and articles that continues to this day. CANNOTANSWER
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Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study
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George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics. His approach, which he termed sabermetrics in reference to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), scientifically analyzes and studies baseball, often through the use of statistical data, in an attempt to determine why teams win and lose.
In 2006, Time named him in the Time 100 as one of the most influential people in the world. In 2003, James was hired as senior advisor on Baseball Operations for the Boston Red Sox and worked for the team for 17 years during which they won four World Series championships.
Early life
James was born in Holton, Kansas; his mother died in 1954 when he was five. His father was a janitor and a handyman. After four years at the University of Kansas (KU) residing at Stephenson Scholarship hall, James joined the Army in 1971. He was the last person in Kansas to be sent to fight in the Vietnam War, although he never saw action there. Instead, he spent two years stationed in South Korea, during which time he wrote to KU about taking his final class. He was told he actually had met all his graduation requirements, so he returned to Lawrence in 1973 with degrees in English and economics. He also finished an Education degree in 1975, likewise from the University of Kansas.
Career
The Bill James Baseball Abstracts
An aspiring writer and obsessive fan, James began writing baseball articles after leaving the United States Army in his mid-twenties. Many of his first baseball writings came while he was doing night shifts as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp's pork and beans cannery. Unlike most writers, his pieces did not recount games in epic terms or offer insights gleaned from interviews with players. A typical James piece posed a question (e.g., "Which pitchers and catchers allow runners to steal the most bases?"), and then presented data and analysis that offered an answer.
Editors considered James's pieces so unusual that few believed them suitable for their readers. In an effort to reach a wider audience, James began self-publishing an annual book titled The Bill James Baseball Abstract, beginning in 1977. The first edition, titled 1977 Baseball Abstract: Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News. Seventy-five people purchased the booklet. The 1978 edition, subtitled The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies. Beginning in 1979, James wrote an annual preview of the baseball season for Esquire, and continued to do so through 1984.
The first three editions of the Baseball Abstract garnered respect for James's work, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated. New annual editions added essays on teams and players. By 1982 sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions.
While writers had published books about baseball statistics before (most notably Earnshaw Cook's Percentage Baseball, in the 1960s), few had ever reached a mass audience. Attempts to imitate James's work spawned a flood of books and articles that continues to this day.
Post-Abstracts work
In 1988, James ceased writing the Abstract, citing workload-related burnout and concern about the volume of statistics on the market. He has continued to publish hardcover books about baseball history, which have sold well and received admiring reviews. These books include three editions of The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (1985, 1988, 2001, the last entitled The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract).
James has also written several series of new annuals:
The Baseball Book (1990–1992) was a loosely organized collection of commentary, profiles, historical articles, and occasional pieces of research. James's assistant Rob Neyer was responsible for much of the research, and wrote several short pieces. Neyer went on to become a featured baseball columnist at ESPN and SB Nation.
The Player Ratings Book (1993–95) offered statistics and 50-word profiles aimed at the fantasy baseball enthusiast.
The Bill James Handbook (2003–present) provides past-season statistics and next-season projections for Major League players and teams, and career data for all current Major League players. Results for the Fielding Bible Awards, an alternative to the Gold Glove Awards voted on by a 10-person panel that includes James, are also included.
The Bill James Gold Mine (2008–2010) was a collection of new essays and never-before-seen statistics, as well as profiles of players and teams.
Playing off the name of the earlier series, Solid Fool's Gold: Detours on the Way to Conventional Wisdom (2011) was a mixed collection of both baseball-related and miscellaneous pieces, culled from the Bill James Online archives (see below).
In 2008, James launched Bill James Online. Subscribers can read James's new, original writing and interact with one another —- as well as with James —- in a question-and-answer format. The web site also offers new "profiles" of teams and players full of facts and statistics that hope to one day map what James has termed "the lost island of baseball statistics."
STATS, Inc.
In an essay published in the 1984 Abstract, James vented his frustration about Major League Baseball's refusal to publish play-by-play accounts of every game. James proposed the creation of Project Scoresheet, a network of fans that would work together to collect and distribute this information.
While the resulting non-profit organization never functioned smoothly, it worked well enough to collect accounts of every game from 1984 through 1991. James's publisher agreed to distribute two annuals of essays and data – the 1987 and 1988 editions of Bill James Presents The Great American Baseball Statbook (though only the first of these featured writing by James).
The organization was eventually disbanded, but many of its members went on to form for-profit companies with similar goals and structure. STATS, Inc., the company James joined, provided data and analysis to every major media outlet before being acquired by Fox Sports in 2001.
Innovations
Among the statistical innovations attributable to James are:
Runs created. A statistic intended to quantify a player's contribution to runs scored, as well as a team's expected number of runs scored. Runs created is calculated from other offensive statistics. James's first version of it was:
Applied to an entire team or league, the statistic correlates closely (usually within 5%) to that team's or league's actual runs scored. Since James first created the statistic, sabermetricians have refined it to make it more accurate, and it is now used in many different variations.
Range factor. A statistic that quantifies the defensive contribution of a player, calculated in its simplest form as (A is an assist, PO is a putout):
The statistic is premised on the notion that the total number of outs that a player participates in is more relevant in evaluating his defensive play than the percentage of cleanly handled chances as calculated by the conventional statistic fielding percentage.
Defensive Efficiency Rating. A statistic that shows the percentage of balls in play a defense turns into an out. It is used to help determine a team's defensive ability. The formula is:
Win shares. A unifying statistic intended to allow the comparison of players at different positions, as well as players of different eras. Win Shares incorporates a variety of pitching, hitting and fielding statistics. One drawback of Win Shares is the difficulty of computing it.
Pythagorean Winning Percentage. A statistic explaining the relationship of wins and losses to runs scored and runs allowed. The statistic correlates closely to a team's actual winning percentage. Its simplest formula is:
Game score is a metric to determine the strength of a pitcher in any particular baseball game. It has since been improved by Tom Tango.
Major League Equivalency. A metric that uses minor league statistics to predict how a player is likely to perform at the major league level.
The Brock2 System. A system for projecting a player's performance over the remainder of his career based on past performance and the aging process.
Similarity scores. Scoring a player's statistical similarity to other players, providing a frame of reference for players of the distant past. Examples: Lou Gehrig comparable to Don Mattingly; Joe Jackson to Tony Oliva.
Secondary average. A statistic that attempts to measure a player's contribution to an offense in ways not reflected in batting average. Secondary averages tend to be similar to batting averages, but can vary wildly, from less than .100 to more than .500 in extreme cases. The formula is (ISO is isolated power):
Power/Speed Number. A statistic that attempts to consolidate the various "clubs" of players with impressive numbers of both home runs and stolen bases (e.g., the 30–30 club (Bobby Bonds was well known for being a member), the 40–40 club (Jose Canseco was the first to perform this feat), and even the 25–65 club (Joe Morgan in the '70s)). The formula is:
Approximate Value. A system of cutoffs designed to estimate the value a player contributed to various category groups (including his team) to study broad questions such as "how do players age over time".
"Temperature gauge" to determine how "hot" a player is, based on recent performance. The gauge has been used in NESN Red Sox telecasts and has provoked mixed reactions from critics.
Although James may be best known as an inventor of statistical tools, he has often written on the limitations of statistics and urged humility concerning their place amid other kinds of information about baseball. To James, context is paramount: he was among the first to emphasize the importance of adjusting traditional statistics for park factors and to stress the role of luck in a pitcher's win-loss record. Many of his statistical innovations are arguably less important than the underlying ideas. When he introduced the notion of secondary average, it was as a vehicle for the then-counterintuitive concept that batting average represents only a fraction of a player's offensive contribution. (The runs-created statistic plays a similar role vis-à-vis the traditional RBI.) Some of his contributions to the language of baseball, like the idea of the "defensive spectrum", border on being entirely non-statistical.
Acceptance and employment in mainstream baseball
Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane began applying sabermetric principles to running his low-budget team in the early 2000s, to notable effect, as chronicled in Michael Lewis' book Moneyball.
In 2003, James was hired by a former reader, John Henry, the new owner of the Boston Red Sox.
One point of controversy was in handling the relief pitching of the Red Sox. James had previously published analysis of the use of the closer in baseball, and had concluded that the traditional use of the closer both overrated the abilities of that individual and used him in suboptimal circumstances. He wrote that it is "far better to use your relief ace when the score is tied, even if that is the seventh inning, than in the ninth inning with a lead of two or more runs." The Red Sox in 2003 staffed their bullpen with several marginally talented relievers. Red Sox manager Grady Little was never fully comfortable with the setup, and designated unofficial closers and reshuffled roles after a bad outing. When Boston lost a number of games due to bullpen failures, Little reverted to a traditional closer approach and moved Byung-hyun Kim from being a starting pitcher to a closer. The Red Sox did not follow James's idea of a bullpen with no closer, but with consistent overall talent that would allow the responsibilities to be shared. Red Sox reliever Alan Embree thought the plan could have worked if the bullpen had not suffered injuries. During the 2004 regular season Keith Foulke was used primarily as a closer in the conventional model; however, Foulke's usage in the 2004 postseason was along the lines of a relief ace with multiple inning appearances at pivotal times of the game. Houston Astros manager Phil Garner also employed a relief ace model with his use of Brad Lidge in the 2004 postseason.
During his tenure with the Red Sox, James published several new sabermetric books (see #Bibliography below). Indeed, although James was typically tight-lipped about his activities on behalf of the Red Sox, he is credited with advocating some of the moves that led to the team's first World Series championship in 86 years, including the signing of non-tendered free agent David Ortiz, the trade for Mark Bellhorn, and the team's increased emphasis on on-base percentage.
After the Red Sox suffered through a disastrous 2012 season, Henry stated that James had fallen "out of favor [in the front office] over the last few years for reasons I really don't understand. We've gotten him more involved recently in the central process and that will help greatly."
On October 24, 2019, James announced his retirement from the Red Sox, saying that he had "fallen out of step with the organization" and added that he hadn't earned his paycheck with the Red Sox for the last couple of years. During his time with the team, Bill James received four World Series rings for the team's 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018 World Series titles.
In culture
Michael Lewis, in his 2003 book Moneyball, dedicates a chapter to James's career and sabermetrics as background for his portrayal of Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics' unlikely success.
James was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals in 2007.
James was profiled on 60 Minutes on March 30, 2008, in his role as a sabermetric pioneer and Red Sox advisor. In 2010, he was inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame.
James made a guest appearance on The Simpsons 2010 episode "MoneyBART". He claimed "I've made baseball as fun as doing your taxes."
Steven Soderbergh's planned film adaptation of Moneyball would have featured an animated version of James as a "host". This script was discarded when director Bennett Miller and writer Aaron Sorkin succeeded Soderbergh on the project. Ultimately, the 2011 film mentions James several times. His bio is briefly recapped, and Billy Beane is depicted telling John Henry that Henry's hiring of James is the reason Beane is interested in the Red Sox general manager job.
Controversies
Dowd Report controversy
In his Baseball Book 1990, James heavily criticized the methodology of the Dowd Report, which was an investigation (commissioned by baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti) on the gambling activities of Pete Rose. James reproached commissioner Giamatti and his successor, Fay Vincent, for their acceptance of the Dowd Report as the final word on Rose's gambling. (James's attitude on the matter surprised many fans, especially after the writer had been deeply critical of Rose in the past, especially what James considered to be Rose's selfish pursuit of Ty Cobb's all-time record for base hits.)
James expanded his defense of Rose in his 2001 book The New Historical Baseball Abstract, with a detailed explanation of why he found the case against Rose flimsy. James wrote "I would characterize the evidence that Rose bet on baseball as...well, not quite non-existent. It is extremely weak." This countered the popular opinion that the case against Rose was a slam dunk, and several critics claimed that James misstated some of the evidence in his defense of Rose. Derek Zumsteg of Baseball Prospectus wrote an exhaustive review of the case James made and concluded: "James' defense of Rose is filled with oversights, errors in judgment, failures in research, and is a great disservice to the many people who have looked to him for a balanced and fair take on this complicated and important issue."
In 2004, Rose admitted publicly that he had bet on baseball and confirmed the Dowd Report was correct. James remained steadfast, continuing to insist that the evidence available to Dowd at the time was insufficient to reach the conclusion that it did.
Paterno controversy
On November 4, 2011, Jerry Sandusky was indicted for committing sex crimes against young boys, which brought the Penn State child sex abuse scandal to national attention. On December 11, 2011, James published an article called "The Trial of Penn State", depicting an imaginary trial in which Penn State defended itself against charges of "acting rashly and irresponsibly in the matter of Joe Paterno, in such a manner that [they] defamed, libeled and slandered Paterno, unfairly demolishing his reputation."
On July 12, 2012, the Freeh report was released, charging Paterno and three other University officials with covering up reports of sexual assaults and enabling the attacker to prey on other children for more than a decade, often in Penn State facilities. Soon afterwards, during an interview on ESPN radio, James claimed that the Freeh report's characterizations of Paterno as a powerful figure were wrong, and that it was not Paterno's responsibility to report allegations of child molestation to the police. "[Paterno] had very few allies. He was isolated and he was not nearly as powerful as people imagine him to have been." When asked if he knew anyone who had showered with a boy they were not related to, James said it was a common practice when he was growing up. "That was actually quite common in the town I grew up in. That was quite common in America 40 years ago."
The July 2012 interview comments were widely criticized. Rob Neyer wrote in defense of James. James's employer, the Boston Red Sox, issued a statement disavowing the comments James made and saying that he had been asked not to make further public comments on the matter.
Personal life
James is a fan of the University of Kansas men's basketball team and has written about basketball. He has created a formula for what he calls a "safe lead" in the sport.
James has written two true crime books, Popular Crime: Reflections on the Celebration of Violence (2011) and The Man from the Train (2017), the latter with his daughter Rachel McCarthy James. In The Man From the Train, published in 2017, the Jameses attempt to link scores of murders of entire families in the early 20th century United States to a single perpetrator. Those murders include the Villisca axe murders. The Jameses propose a solution to the murders based on the signature elements these killings share in common with each other.
Bibliography
Bill James Baseball Abstract (annual editions published 1977–1988)
The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (1985; revised edition 1988)
This Time Let's Not Eat the Bones (1989) (selection of comments from Abstracts and articles)
The Bill James Baseball Book (annual editions published 1990–1992)
The Politics of Glory (1994) (revised as Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?),
The Bill James Player Ratings Book (annual editions published 1993–1996)
The Bill James Guide to Baseball Managers (1997)
Bill James Present STATS All-Time Major League Handbook (1998; 2nd ed. 2000)
Bill James Present STATS All-Time Major League Sourcebook (1998)
The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (2001)
Win Shares (2002)
Win Shares Digital Update (2002) (PDF form only)
The Bill James Handbook (annual editions published 2003–present)
The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers (2004, with co-author Rob Neyer)
The Bill James Gold Mine (annual editions published 2008–2010, , )
Popular Crime – Reflections on the Celebration of Violence (, published 2011)
Solid Fool's Gold (2011), (articles from Bill James Online website)
Fools Rush Inn (2014), (more articles from Bill James Online website)
The Man From the Train (2017),
Books about James
The Mind of Bill James (2006) ISBN
How Bill James Changed Our View of Baseball: by Colleagues, Critics, Competitors and Just Plain Fans (2007)
See also
Baseball Prospectus
Defensive spectrum
Keltner list
Similarity score
Win shares
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
Bill James Online –interactions with James through statistics, articles, conversations and more
Works of Bill James
Audio interview by Jesse Thorn, public radio program The Sound of Young America (April 29, 2008)
Chronister, Levi (April 25, 2004). "Grassroots Guru". Lawrence Journal-World (Lawrence, KS).
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part I, Baseball Digest
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part II
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part III
McGrath, Ben (July 14, 2003). "The Professor of Baseball". The New Yorker
Wall Street Journal profile
[ Does Bill James Belong in the Hall of Fame?]
– contrary to James
Schwarz, Alan (July 18, 2006). "25 For 25: Don Fehr, Peter Gammons, Pat Gillick, Bo Jackson, Bill James". 25 for 25: Stars in the Baseball America Universe. Baseball America.
Henry, John (May 8, 2006). "Scientists & Thinkers: Bill James". The 2006 Time 100. Time.
Surowiecki, James (June 10, 2003). "Moneyball Redux: Slate talks to the man who revolutionized baseball.". Slate.
Lederer, Bill (February 28, 2005). "Breakfast with Bill James". Baseball Analysts (baseballanalysts.com).
1949 births
Living people
American sportswriters
American statisticians
Baseball statisticians
Baseball writers
People from Holton, Kansas
United States Army soldiers
20th-century American writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
| true |
[
"Johnson Matthey Technology Review, known as Platinum Metals Review before 2014, is a quarterly, peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing reports on scientific research on the platinum group metals and related industrial developments.\n\nHistory\nThe Platinum Metal Review journal was established in 1957 and was published by Johnson Mattley and Co. From April 1998, it was published as open access and from the July 2004 issue in electronic format only. In 2014 the name of the journal was changed to Johnson Matthey Technology Review.\n\nAims and scope\nThe journal included reviews of research, books, and academic conferences, as well as primary results in the form of brief reports. It also reviewed what it considered to be notable aspects of patents and relevant scientific literature. Occasionally articles on the history, geological occurrences, and exploitation of platinum group metals were also published.\n\nAbstracting and indexing\nPlatinum Metals Review was abstracted and indexed by:\n Chemical Abstracts\n Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology Abstracts\n Compendex\n Corrosion Abstracts\n Current Contents/Physical, Chemical & Earth Sciences\n Environment Abstracts\n Metals Abstracts/METADEX\n Metal Finishing Abstracts\n Science Citation Index Expanded\n Scopus\n World Textile Abstracts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\nMaterials science journals\nPublications established in 1957\nQuarterly journals\nEnglish-language journals\nPlatinum minerals\nChemistry journals\nGeology journals\nEngineering journals\nMetallurgical processes",
"Inspec is a major indexing database of scientific and technical literature, published by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), and formerly by the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), one of the IET's forerunners.\n\nInspec coverage is extensive in the fields of physics, computing, control, and engineering. Its subject coverage includes astronomy, electronics, communications, computers and computing, computer science, control engineering, electrical engineering, information technology, physics, manufacturing, production and mechanical engineering. Now, due to emerging concept of technology for business, Inspec also includes information technology for business in its portfolio. Inspec indexed few journals publishing high quality research by integrating technology into management, economics and social sciences domains. The sample journals include Annual Review of Financial Economics, Aslib Journal of Information Management, Australian Journal of Management and, International Journal of Management, Economics and Social Sciences.\n\nInspec was started in 1967 as an outgrowth of the Science Abstracts service. The electronic records were distributed on magnetic tape. In the 1980s, it was available in the U.S. through the Knowledge Index, a low-priced dial-up version of the Dialog service for individual users, which made it popular. For nearly 50 years, the IET has employed scientists to manually review items to be included in Inspec, hand-indexing the literature using their own expertise of the subject area and make a judgement call about which terms and classification codes should be applied. Thanks to this work, a significant thesaurus has been developed which enables content to be indexed far more accurately and in context, which in turn helps end-users discover relevant literature that may otherwise have remained hidden from typical search queries, making Inspec an essential tool for prior art, patentability searches and patent drafting. \n \nAccess to Inspec is currently by the Internet through Inspec Direct and various resellers.\n\nPrint counterparts\nInspec has several print counterparts:\n\n Computer and Control Abstracts ()\n Electrical and Electronics Abstracts ()\n Physics Abstracts ()\n Science Abstracts\n Electrical engineering Abstracts* Electronics Abstracts \n Control theory Abstracts \n Information technology Abstracts \n Physics Indexes \n Electrical engineering Indexes \n Electronics Indexes \n Control theory Indexes \n Information technology Indexes\n Business automation Abstracts (Journals featuring management, economics and Social Sciences; organizations; management information systems related research)\n\nComputer and Control Abstracts\nComputer and Control Abstracts ( Frequency: 12 per year) covers computers and computing, and information technology.\n\nElectrical and Electronics Abstracts\nElectrical and Electronics Abstracts ( Frequency: 12 per year) covers all topics in telecommunications, electronics, radio, electrical power and optoelectronics. Printed indexes by subject, author and other indexes, and a subject guide are produced twice per year.\n\nPhysics Abstracts\nPhysics Abstracts ( Frequency: 24 per year) is an abstracting and indexing service first published by the Institution of Electrical Engineers. It was first circulated as Science Abstracts, volume 1 through volume 5 from 1898 to 1902. From 1903 to 1971 the database had different titles. These closely related names were Science Abstracts. Section A, Physics and Science Abstracts. Section A, Physics Abstracts from volume 6 to volume 74.\n\nBy 1972 other societies were associated as authors of this service such as the American Institute of Physics. In 1975 or 1976 the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers also became an author. By 1980 this database was also issued as INSPEC-Physics on various formats. It was also available as part of INSPEC database. Presently it is part of Inspec, Section A - Physics database. At the same time, the Physics Abstracts title was employed throughout the 1990s.\n\nNotable editor\nThe science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, with a B.S. degree (physics and mathematics honors) (King's college), was an assistant editor for Physics Abstracts from 1949–1951. This position allowed Clarke to access to \"all of the world's leading scientific journals.\"\n\nScience Abstracts\nThe first issue of Science Abstracts was published in January 1898. During that first year, a total of 1,423 abstracts were published at monthly intervals, and at the end of the year an author and subject index were added. The first issue contained 110 abstracts and was divided into 10 sections:\n\n General Physics\n Light\n Heat\n Sound\n Electricity\n Electrochemistry and Chemical Physics\n General Electrical Engineering\n Dynamos, Electric Motors and Transformers\n Power Distribution, Traction and Lighting\n Telegraphy and Telephony\n\nScience Abstracts was the result of a joint collaboration between the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) and The Physical Society of London. The publication was (at that time) provided without charge to all members of both societies. The cost of the publication was mainly borne by the IEE and The Physical Society. Financial contributions were also received from the Institution of Civil Engineers, The Royal Society and the British Association for the Advancement of Science\n\nBy 1902, the annual number of abstracts published had increased to 2,362. By May 1903 it was decided to split the publication into two parts: A (Physics) and B (Electrical Engineering). This decision allowed the subject's scope to widen, particularly in physics. As a result, this allowed a larger quantity of material to be covered.\n\nSince 1967, electronic access to Science Abstracts has been provided by INSPEC.\n\nSee also\nList of academic databases and search engines\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n PACC Physics Abstracts Classification and Contents.\n 1993 to 2008 Physics Abstracts - Series A: Science Abstracts. Absolute Backorder Service, Inc. 2011.\nInspec page at the Institution of Engineering and Technology\n Inspec Direct page\n The History of Science Abstracts and Inspec\n Memoirs of Science Abstracts editorial staff —Arthur C. Clarke\n\nBibliographic databases in engineering\nOnline databases\nMathematical databases\nPublications established in 1898\nInstitution of Engineering and Technology"
] |
[
"Bill James",
"The Bill James Baseball Abstracts",
"What were the Baseball Abstracts?",
"Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study"
] |
C_008ff753407048469595dfcfca02e9c3_1
|
When was it printed?
| 2 |
When was the Bill James Baseball Abstracts printed?
|
Bill James
|
An aspiring writer and obsessive fan, James began writing baseball articles after leaving the United States Army in his mid-twenties. Many of his first baseball writings came while he was doing night shifts as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp's pork and beans cannery. Unlike most writers, his pieces did not recount games in epic terms or offer insights gleaned from interviews with players. A typical James piece posed a question (e.g., "Which pitchers and catchers allow runners to steal the most bases?"), and then presented data and analysis written in a lively, insightful, and witty style that offered an answer. Editors considered James's pieces so unusual that few believed them suitable for their readers. In an effort to reach a wider audience, James began self-publishing an annual book titled The Bill James Baseball Abstract beginning in 1977. The first edition, titled 1977 Baseball Abstract: Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News. Seventy-five people purchased the booklet. The 1978 edition, subtitled The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies. Beginning in 1979, James wrote an annual preview of the baseball season for Esquire, and continued to do so through 1984. The first three editions of the Baseball Abstract garnered respect for James's work, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated. New annual editions added essays on teams and players. By 1982 sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions. While writers had published books about baseball statistics before (most notably Earnshaw Cook's Percentage Baseball, in the 1960s), few had ever reached a mass audience. Attempts to imitate James's work spawned a flood of books and articles that continues to this day. CANNOTANSWER
|
The Bill James Baseball Abstract beginning in 1977.
|
George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics. His approach, which he termed sabermetrics in reference to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), scientifically analyzes and studies baseball, often through the use of statistical data, in an attempt to determine why teams win and lose.
In 2006, Time named him in the Time 100 as one of the most influential people in the world. In 2003, James was hired as senior advisor on Baseball Operations for the Boston Red Sox and worked for the team for 17 years during which they won four World Series championships.
Early life
James was born in Holton, Kansas; his mother died in 1954 when he was five. His father was a janitor and a handyman. After four years at the University of Kansas (KU) residing at Stephenson Scholarship hall, James joined the Army in 1971. He was the last person in Kansas to be sent to fight in the Vietnam War, although he never saw action there. Instead, he spent two years stationed in South Korea, during which time he wrote to KU about taking his final class. He was told he actually had met all his graduation requirements, so he returned to Lawrence in 1973 with degrees in English and economics. He also finished an Education degree in 1975, likewise from the University of Kansas.
Career
The Bill James Baseball Abstracts
An aspiring writer and obsessive fan, James began writing baseball articles after leaving the United States Army in his mid-twenties. Many of his first baseball writings came while he was doing night shifts as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp's pork and beans cannery. Unlike most writers, his pieces did not recount games in epic terms or offer insights gleaned from interviews with players. A typical James piece posed a question (e.g., "Which pitchers and catchers allow runners to steal the most bases?"), and then presented data and analysis that offered an answer.
Editors considered James's pieces so unusual that few believed them suitable for their readers. In an effort to reach a wider audience, James began self-publishing an annual book titled The Bill James Baseball Abstract, beginning in 1977. The first edition, titled 1977 Baseball Abstract: Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News. Seventy-five people purchased the booklet. The 1978 edition, subtitled The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies. Beginning in 1979, James wrote an annual preview of the baseball season for Esquire, and continued to do so through 1984.
The first three editions of the Baseball Abstract garnered respect for James's work, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated. New annual editions added essays on teams and players. By 1982 sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions.
While writers had published books about baseball statistics before (most notably Earnshaw Cook's Percentage Baseball, in the 1960s), few had ever reached a mass audience. Attempts to imitate James's work spawned a flood of books and articles that continues to this day.
Post-Abstracts work
In 1988, James ceased writing the Abstract, citing workload-related burnout and concern about the volume of statistics on the market. He has continued to publish hardcover books about baseball history, which have sold well and received admiring reviews. These books include three editions of The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (1985, 1988, 2001, the last entitled The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract).
James has also written several series of new annuals:
The Baseball Book (1990–1992) was a loosely organized collection of commentary, profiles, historical articles, and occasional pieces of research. James's assistant Rob Neyer was responsible for much of the research, and wrote several short pieces. Neyer went on to become a featured baseball columnist at ESPN and SB Nation.
The Player Ratings Book (1993–95) offered statistics and 50-word profiles aimed at the fantasy baseball enthusiast.
The Bill James Handbook (2003–present) provides past-season statistics and next-season projections for Major League players and teams, and career data for all current Major League players. Results for the Fielding Bible Awards, an alternative to the Gold Glove Awards voted on by a 10-person panel that includes James, are also included.
The Bill James Gold Mine (2008–2010) was a collection of new essays and never-before-seen statistics, as well as profiles of players and teams.
Playing off the name of the earlier series, Solid Fool's Gold: Detours on the Way to Conventional Wisdom (2011) was a mixed collection of both baseball-related and miscellaneous pieces, culled from the Bill James Online archives (see below).
In 2008, James launched Bill James Online. Subscribers can read James's new, original writing and interact with one another —- as well as with James —- in a question-and-answer format. The web site also offers new "profiles" of teams and players full of facts and statistics that hope to one day map what James has termed "the lost island of baseball statistics."
STATS, Inc.
In an essay published in the 1984 Abstract, James vented his frustration about Major League Baseball's refusal to publish play-by-play accounts of every game. James proposed the creation of Project Scoresheet, a network of fans that would work together to collect and distribute this information.
While the resulting non-profit organization never functioned smoothly, it worked well enough to collect accounts of every game from 1984 through 1991. James's publisher agreed to distribute two annuals of essays and data – the 1987 and 1988 editions of Bill James Presents The Great American Baseball Statbook (though only the first of these featured writing by James).
The organization was eventually disbanded, but many of its members went on to form for-profit companies with similar goals and structure. STATS, Inc., the company James joined, provided data and analysis to every major media outlet before being acquired by Fox Sports in 2001.
Innovations
Among the statistical innovations attributable to James are:
Runs created. A statistic intended to quantify a player's contribution to runs scored, as well as a team's expected number of runs scored. Runs created is calculated from other offensive statistics. James's first version of it was:
Applied to an entire team or league, the statistic correlates closely (usually within 5%) to that team's or league's actual runs scored. Since James first created the statistic, sabermetricians have refined it to make it more accurate, and it is now used in many different variations.
Range factor. A statistic that quantifies the defensive contribution of a player, calculated in its simplest form as (A is an assist, PO is a putout):
The statistic is premised on the notion that the total number of outs that a player participates in is more relevant in evaluating his defensive play than the percentage of cleanly handled chances as calculated by the conventional statistic fielding percentage.
Defensive Efficiency Rating. A statistic that shows the percentage of balls in play a defense turns into an out. It is used to help determine a team's defensive ability. The formula is:
Win shares. A unifying statistic intended to allow the comparison of players at different positions, as well as players of different eras. Win Shares incorporates a variety of pitching, hitting and fielding statistics. One drawback of Win Shares is the difficulty of computing it.
Pythagorean Winning Percentage. A statistic explaining the relationship of wins and losses to runs scored and runs allowed. The statistic correlates closely to a team's actual winning percentage. Its simplest formula is:
Game score is a metric to determine the strength of a pitcher in any particular baseball game. It has since been improved by Tom Tango.
Major League Equivalency. A metric that uses minor league statistics to predict how a player is likely to perform at the major league level.
The Brock2 System. A system for projecting a player's performance over the remainder of his career based on past performance and the aging process.
Similarity scores. Scoring a player's statistical similarity to other players, providing a frame of reference for players of the distant past. Examples: Lou Gehrig comparable to Don Mattingly; Joe Jackson to Tony Oliva.
Secondary average. A statistic that attempts to measure a player's contribution to an offense in ways not reflected in batting average. Secondary averages tend to be similar to batting averages, but can vary wildly, from less than .100 to more than .500 in extreme cases. The formula is (ISO is isolated power):
Power/Speed Number. A statistic that attempts to consolidate the various "clubs" of players with impressive numbers of both home runs and stolen bases (e.g., the 30–30 club (Bobby Bonds was well known for being a member), the 40–40 club (Jose Canseco was the first to perform this feat), and even the 25–65 club (Joe Morgan in the '70s)). The formula is:
Approximate Value. A system of cutoffs designed to estimate the value a player contributed to various category groups (including his team) to study broad questions such as "how do players age over time".
"Temperature gauge" to determine how "hot" a player is, based on recent performance. The gauge has been used in NESN Red Sox telecasts and has provoked mixed reactions from critics.
Although James may be best known as an inventor of statistical tools, he has often written on the limitations of statistics and urged humility concerning their place amid other kinds of information about baseball. To James, context is paramount: he was among the first to emphasize the importance of adjusting traditional statistics for park factors and to stress the role of luck in a pitcher's win-loss record. Many of his statistical innovations are arguably less important than the underlying ideas. When he introduced the notion of secondary average, it was as a vehicle for the then-counterintuitive concept that batting average represents only a fraction of a player's offensive contribution. (The runs-created statistic plays a similar role vis-à-vis the traditional RBI.) Some of his contributions to the language of baseball, like the idea of the "defensive spectrum", border on being entirely non-statistical.
Acceptance and employment in mainstream baseball
Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane began applying sabermetric principles to running his low-budget team in the early 2000s, to notable effect, as chronicled in Michael Lewis' book Moneyball.
In 2003, James was hired by a former reader, John Henry, the new owner of the Boston Red Sox.
One point of controversy was in handling the relief pitching of the Red Sox. James had previously published analysis of the use of the closer in baseball, and had concluded that the traditional use of the closer both overrated the abilities of that individual and used him in suboptimal circumstances. He wrote that it is "far better to use your relief ace when the score is tied, even if that is the seventh inning, than in the ninth inning with a lead of two or more runs." The Red Sox in 2003 staffed their bullpen with several marginally talented relievers. Red Sox manager Grady Little was never fully comfortable with the setup, and designated unofficial closers and reshuffled roles after a bad outing. When Boston lost a number of games due to bullpen failures, Little reverted to a traditional closer approach and moved Byung-hyun Kim from being a starting pitcher to a closer. The Red Sox did not follow James's idea of a bullpen with no closer, but with consistent overall talent that would allow the responsibilities to be shared. Red Sox reliever Alan Embree thought the plan could have worked if the bullpen had not suffered injuries. During the 2004 regular season Keith Foulke was used primarily as a closer in the conventional model; however, Foulke's usage in the 2004 postseason was along the lines of a relief ace with multiple inning appearances at pivotal times of the game. Houston Astros manager Phil Garner also employed a relief ace model with his use of Brad Lidge in the 2004 postseason.
During his tenure with the Red Sox, James published several new sabermetric books (see #Bibliography below). Indeed, although James was typically tight-lipped about his activities on behalf of the Red Sox, he is credited with advocating some of the moves that led to the team's first World Series championship in 86 years, including the signing of non-tendered free agent David Ortiz, the trade for Mark Bellhorn, and the team's increased emphasis on on-base percentage.
After the Red Sox suffered through a disastrous 2012 season, Henry stated that James had fallen "out of favor [in the front office] over the last few years for reasons I really don't understand. We've gotten him more involved recently in the central process and that will help greatly."
On October 24, 2019, James announced his retirement from the Red Sox, saying that he had "fallen out of step with the organization" and added that he hadn't earned his paycheck with the Red Sox for the last couple of years. During his time with the team, Bill James received four World Series rings for the team's 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018 World Series titles.
In culture
Michael Lewis, in his 2003 book Moneyball, dedicates a chapter to James's career and sabermetrics as background for his portrayal of Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics' unlikely success.
James was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals in 2007.
James was profiled on 60 Minutes on March 30, 2008, in his role as a sabermetric pioneer and Red Sox advisor. In 2010, he was inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame.
James made a guest appearance on The Simpsons 2010 episode "MoneyBART". He claimed "I've made baseball as fun as doing your taxes."
Steven Soderbergh's planned film adaptation of Moneyball would have featured an animated version of James as a "host". This script was discarded when director Bennett Miller and writer Aaron Sorkin succeeded Soderbergh on the project. Ultimately, the 2011 film mentions James several times. His bio is briefly recapped, and Billy Beane is depicted telling John Henry that Henry's hiring of James is the reason Beane is interested in the Red Sox general manager job.
Controversies
Dowd Report controversy
In his Baseball Book 1990, James heavily criticized the methodology of the Dowd Report, which was an investigation (commissioned by baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti) on the gambling activities of Pete Rose. James reproached commissioner Giamatti and his successor, Fay Vincent, for their acceptance of the Dowd Report as the final word on Rose's gambling. (James's attitude on the matter surprised many fans, especially after the writer had been deeply critical of Rose in the past, especially what James considered to be Rose's selfish pursuit of Ty Cobb's all-time record for base hits.)
James expanded his defense of Rose in his 2001 book The New Historical Baseball Abstract, with a detailed explanation of why he found the case against Rose flimsy. James wrote "I would characterize the evidence that Rose bet on baseball as...well, not quite non-existent. It is extremely weak." This countered the popular opinion that the case against Rose was a slam dunk, and several critics claimed that James misstated some of the evidence in his defense of Rose. Derek Zumsteg of Baseball Prospectus wrote an exhaustive review of the case James made and concluded: "James' defense of Rose is filled with oversights, errors in judgment, failures in research, and is a great disservice to the many people who have looked to him for a balanced and fair take on this complicated and important issue."
In 2004, Rose admitted publicly that he had bet on baseball and confirmed the Dowd Report was correct. James remained steadfast, continuing to insist that the evidence available to Dowd at the time was insufficient to reach the conclusion that it did.
Paterno controversy
On November 4, 2011, Jerry Sandusky was indicted for committing sex crimes against young boys, which brought the Penn State child sex abuse scandal to national attention. On December 11, 2011, James published an article called "The Trial of Penn State", depicting an imaginary trial in which Penn State defended itself against charges of "acting rashly and irresponsibly in the matter of Joe Paterno, in such a manner that [they] defamed, libeled and slandered Paterno, unfairly demolishing his reputation."
On July 12, 2012, the Freeh report was released, charging Paterno and three other University officials with covering up reports of sexual assaults and enabling the attacker to prey on other children for more than a decade, often in Penn State facilities. Soon afterwards, during an interview on ESPN radio, James claimed that the Freeh report's characterizations of Paterno as a powerful figure were wrong, and that it was not Paterno's responsibility to report allegations of child molestation to the police. "[Paterno] had very few allies. He was isolated and he was not nearly as powerful as people imagine him to have been." When asked if he knew anyone who had showered with a boy they were not related to, James said it was a common practice when he was growing up. "That was actually quite common in the town I grew up in. That was quite common in America 40 years ago."
The July 2012 interview comments were widely criticized. Rob Neyer wrote in defense of James. James's employer, the Boston Red Sox, issued a statement disavowing the comments James made and saying that he had been asked not to make further public comments on the matter.
Personal life
James is a fan of the University of Kansas men's basketball team and has written about basketball. He has created a formula for what he calls a "safe lead" in the sport.
James has written two true crime books, Popular Crime: Reflections on the Celebration of Violence (2011) and The Man from the Train (2017), the latter with his daughter Rachel McCarthy James. In The Man From the Train, published in 2017, the Jameses attempt to link scores of murders of entire families in the early 20th century United States to a single perpetrator. Those murders include the Villisca axe murders. The Jameses propose a solution to the murders based on the signature elements these killings share in common with each other.
Bibliography
Bill James Baseball Abstract (annual editions published 1977–1988)
The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (1985; revised edition 1988)
This Time Let's Not Eat the Bones (1989) (selection of comments from Abstracts and articles)
The Bill James Baseball Book (annual editions published 1990–1992)
The Politics of Glory (1994) (revised as Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?),
The Bill James Player Ratings Book (annual editions published 1993–1996)
The Bill James Guide to Baseball Managers (1997)
Bill James Present STATS All-Time Major League Handbook (1998; 2nd ed. 2000)
Bill James Present STATS All-Time Major League Sourcebook (1998)
The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (2001)
Win Shares (2002)
Win Shares Digital Update (2002) (PDF form only)
The Bill James Handbook (annual editions published 2003–present)
The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers (2004, with co-author Rob Neyer)
The Bill James Gold Mine (annual editions published 2008–2010, , )
Popular Crime – Reflections on the Celebration of Violence (, published 2011)
Solid Fool's Gold (2011), (articles from Bill James Online website)
Fools Rush Inn (2014), (more articles from Bill James Online website)
The Man From the Train (2017),
Books about James
The Mind of Bill James (2006) ISBN
How Bill James Changed Our View of Baseball: by Colleagues, Critics, Competitors and Just Plain Fans (2007)
See also
Baseball Prospectus
Defensive spectrum
Keltner list
Similarity score
Win shares
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
Bill James Online –interactions with James through statistics, articles, conversations and more
Works of Bill James
Audio interview by Jesse Thorn, public radio program The Sound of Young America (April 29, 2008)
Chronister, Levi (April 25, 2004). "Grassroots Guru". Lawrence Journal-World (Lawrence, KS).
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part I, Baseball Digest
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part II
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part III
McGrath, Ben (July 14, 2003). "The Professor of Baseball". The New Yorker
Wall Street Journal profile
[ Does Bill James Belong in the Hall of Fame?]
– contrary to James
Schwarz, Alan (July 18, 2006). "25 For 25: Don Fehr, Peter Gammons, Pat Gillick, Bo Jackson, Bill James". 25 for 25: Stars in the Baseball America Universe. Baseball America.
Henry, John (May 8, 2006). "Scientists & Thinkers: Bill James". The 2006 Time 100. Time.
Surowiecki, James (June 10, 2003). "Moneyball Redux: Slate talks to the man who revolutionized baseball.". Slate.
Lederer, Bill (February 28, 2005). "Breakfast with Bill James". Baseball Analysts (baseballanalysts.com).
1949 births
Living people
American sportswriters
American statisticians
Baseball statisticians
Baseball writers
People from Holton, Kansas
United States Army soldiers
20th-century American writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
| false |
[
"Victoria is the first goose to receive a prosthetic 3D printed beak. Victoria was found on the São Paulo coast in late 2015, without most of her beak. She was transferred to the care of the Friend of the Sea in collaboration with Animal Avengers, when Cícero Moraes was still part of the team. It is not clear how Victoria lost her beak. A 3D printed prosthetic beak was attached by veterinarians of the University of São Paulo.\n\nReferences \n\nIndividual waterfowl\n3D printed objects\nProsthetics\nGeese\nIndividual animals in Brazil",
"The AR Lower V5 is a 3D printed lower receiver for the AR-15 rifle. It was created in March 2013 Defense Distributed printed using the Stratasys Dimension SST 3-D printer using the fused deposition modeling (FDM) method.\n\nThe receiver was able to handle enough stress to fire more than 600 rounds. Defense Distributed stated \"actual count of the new SLA lower was 660+ on day 1 with the SLA lower. The test ended when we ran out of ammunition, but this lower could easily withstand 1,000 rounds.\"\n\nSee also\nList of notable 3D printed weapons and parts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nAR-15_DefDist_Lower_Receiver_v5\n\n3D printed firearms\nFirearm components\nAR Rifle Components\nFused filament fabrication\nArmaLite AR-10 derivatives\nAR-15 style rifles"
] |
[
"Bill James",
"The Bill James Baseball Abstracts",
"What were the Baseball Abstracts?",
"Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study",
"When was it printed?",
"The Bill James Baseball Abstract beginning in 1977."
] |
C_008ff753407048469595dfcfca02e9c3_1
|
What were some of the categories in it?
| 3 |
What were some of the categories in the Bill James Baseball Abstracts?
|
Bill James
|
An aspiring writer and obsessive fan, James began writing baseball articles after leaving the United States Army in his mid-twenties. Many of his first baseball writings came while he was doing night shifts as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp's pork and beans cannery. Unlike most writers, his pieces did not recount games in epic terms or offer insights gleaned from interviews with players. A typical James piece posed a question (e.g., "Which pitchers and catchers allow runners to steal the most bases?"), and then presented data and analysis written in a lively, insightful, and witty style that offered an answer. Editors considered James's pieces so unusual that few believed them suitable for their readers. In an effort to reach a wider audience, James began self-publishing an annual book titled The Bill James Baseball Abstract beginning in 1977. The first edition, titled 1977 Baseball Abstract: Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News. Seventy-five people purchased the booklet. The 1978 edition, subtitled The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies. Beginning in 1979, James wrote an annual preview of the baseball season for Esquire, and continued to do so through 1984. The first three editions of the Baseball Abstract garnered respect for James's work, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated. New annual editions added essays on teams and players. By 1982 sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions. While writers had published books about baseball statistics before (most notably Earnshaw Cook's Percentage Baseball, in the 1960s), few had ever reached a mass audience. Attempts to imitate James's work spawned a flood of books and articles that continues to this day. CANNOTANSWER
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James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News.
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George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics. His approach, which he termed sabermetrics in reference to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), scientifically analyzes and studies baseball, often through the use of statistical data, in an attempt to determine why teams win and lose.
In 2006, Time named him in the Time 100 as one of the most influential people in the world. In 2003, James was hired as senior advisor on Baseball Operations for the Boston Red Sox and worked for the team for 17 years during which they won four World Series championships.
Early life
James was born in Holton, Kansas; his mother died in 1954 when he was five. His father was a janitor and a handyman. After four years at the University of Kansas (KU) residing at Stephenson Scholarship hall, James joined the Army in 1971. He was the last person in Kansas to be sent to fight in the Vietnam War, although he never saw action there. Instead, he spent two years stationed in South Korea, during which time he wrote to KU about taking his final class. He was told he actually had met all his graduation requirements, so he returned to Lawrence in 1973 with degrees in English and economics. He also finished an Education degree in 1975, likewise from the University of Kansas.
Career
The Bill James Baseball Abstracts
An aspiring writer and obsessive fan, James began writing baseball articles after leaving the United States Army in his mid-twenties. Many of his first baseball writings came while he was doing night shifts as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp's pork and beans cannery. Unlike most writers, his pieces did not recount games in epic terms or offer insights gleaned from interviews with players. A typical James piece posed a question (e.g., "Which pitchers and catchers allow runners to steal the most bases?"), and then presented data and analysis that offered an answer.
Editors considered James's pieces so unusual that few believed them suitable for their readers. In an effort to reach a wider audience, James began self-publishing an annual book titled The Bill James Baseball Abstract, beginning in 1977. The first edition, titled 1977 Baseball Abstract: Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News. Seventy-five people purchased the booklet. The 1978 edition, subtitled The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies. Beginning in 1979, James wrote an annual preview of the baseball season for Esquire, and continued to do so through 1984.
The first three editions of the Baseball Abstract garnered respect for James's work, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated. New annual editions added essays on teams and players. By 1982 sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions.
While writers had published books about baseball statistics before (most notably Earnshaw Cook's Percentage Baseball, in the 1960s), few had ever reached a mass audience. Attempts to imitate James's work spawned a flood of books and articles that continues to this day.
Post-Abstracts work
In 1988, James ceased writing the Abstract, citing workload-related burnout and concern about the volume of statistics on the market. He has continued to publish hardcover books about baseball history, which have sold well and received admiring reviews. These books include three editions of The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (1985, 1988, 2001, the last entitled The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract).
James has also written several series of new annuals:
The Baseball Book (1990–1992) was a loosely organized collection of commentary, profiles, historical articles, and occasional pieces of research. James's assistant Rob Neyer was responsible for much of the research, and wrote several short pieces. Neyer went on to become a featured baseball columnist at ESPN and SB Nation.
The Player Ratings Book (1993–95) offered statistics and 50-word profiles aimed at the fantasy baseball enthusiast.
The Bill James Handbook (2003–present) provides past-season statistics and next-season projections for Major League players and teams, and career data for all current Major League players. Results for the Fielding Bible Awards, an alternative to the Gold Glove Awards voted on by a 10-person panel that includes James, are also included.
The Bill James Gold Mine (2008–2010) was a collection of new essays and never-before-seen statistics, as well as profiles of players and teams.
Playing off the name of the earlier series, Solid Fool's Gold: Detours on the Way to Conventional Wisdom (2011) was a mixed collection of both baseball-related and miscellaneous pieces, culled from the Bill James Online archives (see below).
In 2008, James launched Bill James Online. Subscribers can read James's new, original writing and interact with one another —- as well as with James —- in a question-and-answer format. The web site also offers new "profiles" of teams and players full of facts and statistics that hope to one day map what James has termed "the lost island of baseball statistics."
STATS, Inc.
In an essay published in the 1984 Abstract, James vented his frustration about Major League Baseball's refusal to publish play-by-play accounts of every game. James proposed the creation of Project Scoresheet, a network of fans that would work together to collect and distribute this information.
While the resulting non-profit organization never functioned smoothly, it worked well enough to collect accounts of every game from 1984 through 1991. James's publisher agreed to distribute two annuals of essays and data – the 1987 and 1988 editions of Bill James Presents The Great American Baseball Statbook (though only the first of these featured writing by James).
The organization was eventually disbanded, but many of its members went on to form for-profit companies with similar goals and structure. STATS, Inc., the company James joined, provided data and analysis to every major media outlet before being acquired by Fox Sports in 2001.
Innovations
Among the statistical innovations attributable to James are:
Runs created. A statistic intended to quantify a player's contribution to runs scored, as well as a team's expected number of runs scored. Runs created is calculated from other offensive statistics. James's first version of it was:
Applied to an entire team or league, the statistic correlates closely (usually within 5%) to that team's or league's actual runs scored. Since James first created the statistic, sabermetricians have refined it to make it more accurate, and it is now used in many different variations.
Range factor. A statistic that quantifies the defensive contribution of a player, calculated in its simplest form as (A is an assist, PO is a putout):
The statistic is premised on the notion that the total number of outs that a player participates in is more relevant in evaluating his defensive play than the percentage of cleanly handled chances as calculated by the conventional statistic fielding percentage.
Defensive Efficiency Rating. A statistic that shows the percentage of balls in play a defense turns into an out. It is used to help determine a team's defensive ability. The formula is:
Win shares. A unifying statistic intended to allow the comparison of players at different positions, as well as players of different eras. Win Shares incorporates a variety of pitching, hitting and fielding statistics. One drawback of Win Shares is the difficulty of computing it.
Pythagorean Winning Percentage. A statistic explaining the relationship of wins and losses to runs scored and runs allowed. The statistic correlates closely to a team's actual winning percentage. Its simplest formula is:
Game score is a metric to determine the strength of a pitcher in any particular baseball game. It has since been improved by Tom Tango.
Major League Equivalency. A metric that uses minor league statistics to predict how a player is likely to perform at the major league level.
The Brock2 System. A system for projecting a player's performance over the remainder of his career based on past performance and the aging process.
Similarity scores. Scoring a player's statistical similarity to other players, providing a frame of reference for players of the distant past. Examples: Lou Gehrig comparable to Don Mattingly; Joe Jackson to Tony Oliva.
Secondary average. A statistic that attempts to measure a player's contribution to an offense in ways not reflected in batting average. Secondary averages tend to be similar to batting averages, but can vary wildly, from less than .100 to more than .500 in extreme cases. The formula is (ISO is isolated power):
Power/Speed Number. A statistic that attempts to consolidate the various "clubs" of players with impressive numbers of both home runs and stolen bases (e.g., the 30–30 club (Bobby Bonds was well known for being a member), the 40–40 club (Jose Canseco was the first to perform this feat), and even the 25–65 club (Joe Morgan in the '70s)). The formula is:
Approximate Value. A system of cutoffs designed to estimate the value a player contributed to various category groups (including his team) to study broad questions such as "how do players age over time".
"Temperature gauge" to determine how "hot" a player is, based on recent performance. The gauge has been used in NESN Red Sox telecasts and has provoked mixed reactions from critics.
Although James may be best known as an inventor of statistical tools, he has often written on the limitations of statistics and urged humility concerning their place amid other kinds of information about baseball. To James, context is paramount: he was among the first to emphasize the importance of adjusting traditional statistics for park factors and to stress the role of luck in a pitcher's win-loss record. Many of his statistical innovations are arguably less important than the underlying ideas. When he introduced the notion of secondary average, it was as a vehicle for the then-counterintuitive concept that batting average represents only a fraction of a player's offensive contribution. (The runs-created statistic plays a similar role vis-à-vis the traditional RBI.) Some of his contributions to the language of baseball, like the idea of the "defensive spectrum", border on being entirely non-statistical.
Acceptance and employment in mainstream baseball
Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane began applying sabermetric principles to running his low-budget team in the early 2000s, to notable effect, as chronicled in Michael Lewis' book Moneyball.
In 2003, James was hired by a former reader, John Henry, the new owner of the Boston Red Sox.
One point of controversy was in handling the relief pitching of the Red Sox. James had previously published analysis of the use of the closer in baseball, and had concluded that the traditional use of the closer both overrated the abilities of that individual and used him in suboptimal circumstances. He wrote that it is "far better to use your relief ace when the score is tied, even if that is the seventh inning, than in the ninth inning with a lead of two or more runs." The Red Sox in 2003 staffed their bullpen with several marginally talented relievers. Red Sox manager Grady Little was never fully comfortable with the setup, and designated unofficial closers and reshuffled roles after a bad outing. When Boston lost a number of games due to bullpen failures, Little reverted to a traditional closer approach and moved Byung-hyun Kim from being a starting pitcher to a closer. The Red Sox did not follow James's idea of a bullpen with no closer, but with consistent overall talent that would allow the responsibilities to be shared. Red Sox reliever Alan Embree thought the plan could have worked if the bullpen had not suffered injuries. During the 2004 regular season Keith Foulke was used primarily as a closer in the conventional model; however, Foulke's usage in the 2004 postseason was along the lines of a relief ace with multiple inning appearances at pivotal times of the game. Houston Astros manager Phil Garner also employed a relief ace model with his use of Brad Lidge in the 2004 postseason.
During his tenure with the Red Sox, James published several new sabermetric books (see #Bibliography below). Indeed, although James was typically tight-lipped about his activities on behalf of the Red Sox, he is credited with advocating some of the moves that led to the team's first World Series championship in 86 years, including the signing of non-tendered free agent David Ortiz, the trade for Mark Bellhorn, and the team's increased emphasis on on-base percentage.
After the Red Sox suffered through a disastrous 2012 season, Henry stated that James had fallen "out of favor [in the front office] over the last few years for reasons I really don't understand. We've gotten him more involved recently in the central process and that will help greatly."
On October 24, 2019, James announced his retirement from the Red Sox, saying that he had "fallen out of step with the organization" and added that he hadn't earned his paycheck with the Red Sox for the last couple of years. During his time with the team, Bill James received four World Series rings for the team's 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018 World Series titles.
In culture
Michael Lewis, in his 2003 book Moneyball, dedicates a chapter to James's career and sabermetrics as background for his portrayal of Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics' unlikely success.
James was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals in 2007.
James was profiled on 60 Minutes on March 30, 2008, in his role as a sabermetric pioneer and Red Sox advisor. In 2010, he was inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame.
James made a guest appearance on The Simpsons 2010 episode "MoneyBART". He claimed "I've made baseball as fun as doing your taxes."
Steven Soderbergh's planned film adaptation of Moneyball would have featured an animated version of James as a "host". This script was discarded when director Bennett Miller and writer Aaron Sorkin succeeded Soderbergh on the project. Ultimately, the 2011 film mentions James several times. His bio is briefly recapped, and Billy Beane is depicted telling John Henry that Henry's hiring of James is the reason Beane is interested in the Red Sox general manager job.
Controversies
Dowd Report controversy
In his Baseball Book 1990, James heavily criticized the methodology of the Dowd Report, which was an investigation (commissioned by baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti) on the gambling activities of Pete Rose. James reproached commissioner Giamatti and his successor, Fay Vincent, for their acceptance of the Dowd Report as the final word on Rose's gambling. (James's attitude on the matter surprised many fans, especially after the writer had been deeply critical of Rose in the past, especially what James considered to be Rose's selfish pursuit of Ty Cobb's all-time record for base hits.)
James expanded his defense of Rose in his 2001 book The New Historical Baseball Abstract, with a detailed explanation of why he found the case against Rose flimsy. James wrote "I would characterize the evidence that Rose bet on baseball as...well, not quite non-existent. It is extremely weak." This countered the popular opinion that the case against Rose was a slam dunk, and several critics claimed that James misstated some of the evidence in his defense of Rose. Derek Zumsteg of Baseball Prospectus wrote an exhaustive review of the case James made and concluded: "James' defense of Rose is filled with oversights, errors in judgment, failures in research, and is a great disservice to the many people who have looked to him for a balanced and fair take on this complicated and important issue."
In 2004, Rose admitted publicly that he had bet on baseball and confirmed the Dowd Report was correct. James remained steadfast, continuing to insist that the evidence available to Dowd at the time was insufficient to reach the conclusion that it did.
Paterno controversy
On November 4, 2011, Jerry Sandusky was indicted for committing sex crimes against young boys, which brought the Penn State child sex abuse scandal to national attention. On December 11, 2011, James published an article called "The Trial of Penn State", depicting an imaginary trial in which Penn State defended itself against charges of "acting rashly and irresponsibly in the matter of Joe Paterno, in such a manner that [they] defamed, libeled and slandered Paterno, unfairly demolishing his reputation."
On July 12, 2012, the Freeh report was released, charging Paterno and three other University officials with covering up reports of sexual assaults and enabling the attacker to prey on other children for more than a decade, often in Penn State facilities. Soon afterwards, during an interview on ESPN radio, James claimed that the Freeh report's characterizations of Paterno as a powerful figure were wrong, and that it was not Paterno's responsibility to report allegations of child molestation to the police. "[Paterno] had very few allies. He was isolated and he was not nearly as powerful as people imagine him to have been." When asked if he knew anyone who had showered with a boy they were not related to, James said it was a common practice when he was growing up. "That was actually quite common in the town I grew up in. That was quite common in America 40 years ago."
The July 2012 interview comments were widely criticized. Rob Neyer wrote in defense of James. James's employer, the Boston Red Sox, issued a statement disavowing the comments James made and saying that he had been asked not to make further public comments on the matter.
Personal life
James is a fan of the University of Kansas men's basketball team and has written about basketball. He has created a formula for what he calls a "safe lead" in the sport.
James has written two true crime books, Popular Crime: Reflections on the Celebration of Violence (2011) and The Man from the Train (2017), the latter with his daughter Rachel McCarthy James. In The Man From the Train, published in 2017, the Jameses attempt to link scores of murders of entire families in the early 20th century United States to a single perpetrator. Those murders include the Villisca axe murders. The Jameses propose a solution to the murders based on the signature elements these killings share in common with each other.
Bibliography
Bill James Baseball Abstract (annual editions published 1977–1988)
The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (1985; revised edition 1988)
This Time Let's Not Eat the Bones (1989) (selection of comments from Abstracts and articles)
The Bill James Baseball Book (annual editions published 1990–1992)
The Politics of Glory (1994) (revised as Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?),
The Bill James Player Ratings Book (annual editions published 1993–1996)
The Bill James Guide to Baseball Managers (1997)
Bill James Present STATS All-Time Major League Handbook (1998; 2nd ed. 2000)
Bill James Present STATS All-Time Major League Sourcebook (1998)
The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (2001)
Win Shares (2002)
Win Shares Digital Update (2002) (PDF form only)
The Bill James Handbook (annual editions published 2003–present)
The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers (2004, with co-author Rob Neyer)
The Bill James Gold Mine (annual editions published 2008–2010, , )
Popular Crime – Reflections on the Celebration of Violence (, published 2011)
Solid Fool's Gold (2011), (articles from Bill James Online website)
Fools Rush Inn (2014), (more articles from Bill James Online website)
The Man From the Train (2017),
Books about James
The Mind of Bill James (2006) ISBN
How Bill James Changed Our View of Baseball: by Colleagues, Critics, Competitors and Just Plain Fans (2007)
See also
Baseball Prospectus
Defensive spectrum
Keltner list
Similarity score
Win shares
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
Bill James Online –interactions with James through statistics, articles, conversations and more
Works of Bill James
Audio interview by Jesse Thorn, public radio program The Sound of Young America (April 29, 2008)
Chronister, Levi (April 25, 2004). "Grassroots Guru". Lawrence Journal-World (Lawrence, KS).
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part I, Baseball Digest
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part II
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part III
McGrath, Ben (July 14, 2003). "The Professor of Baseball". The New Yorker
Wall Street Journal profile
[ Does Bill James Belong in the Hall of Fame?]
– contrary to James
Schwarz, Alan (July 18, 2006). "25 For 25: Don Fehr, Peter Gammons, Pat Gillick, Bo Jackson, Bill James". 25 for 25: Stars in the Baseball America Universe. Baseball America.
Henry, John (May 8, 2006). "Scientists & Thinkers: Bill James". The 2006 Time 100. Time.
Surowiecki, James (June 10, 2003). "Moneyball Redux: Slate talks to the man who revolutionized baseball.". Slate.
Lederer, Bill (February 28, 2005). "Breakfast with Bill James". Baseball Analysts (baseballanalysts.com).
1949 births
Living people
American sportswriters
American statisticians
Baseball statisticians
Baseball writers
People from Holton, Kansas
United States Army soldiers
20th-century American writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
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"In category theory, a weak n-category is a generalization of the notion of strict n-category where composition and identities are not strictly associative and unital, but only associative and unital up to coherent equivalence. This generalisation only becomes noticeable at dimensions two and above where weak 2-, 3- and 4-categories are typically referred to as bicategories, tricategories, and tetracategories. The subject of weak n-categories is an area of ongoing research.\n\nHistory \nThere is currently much work to determine what the coherence laws for weak n-categories should be. Weak n-categories have become the main object of study in higher category theory. There are basically two classes of theories: those in which the higher cells and higher compositions are realized algebraically (most remarkably Michael Batanin's theory of weak higher categories) and those in which more topological models are used (e.g. a higher category as a simplicial set satisfying some universality properties). \n\nIn a terminology due to John Baez and James Dolan, a is a weak n-category, such that all h-cells for h > k are invertible. Some of the formalism for are much simpler than those for general n-categories. In particular, several technically accessible formalisms of (infinity, 1)-categories are now known. Now the most popular such formalism centers on a notion of quasi-category, other approaches include a properly understood theory of simplicially enriched categories and the approach via Segal categories; a class of examples of stable can be modeled (in the case of characteristics zero) also via pretriangulated A-infinity categories of Maxim Kontsevich. Quillen model categories are viewed as a presentation of an ; however not all can be presented via model categories.\n\nSee also\n Bicategory\n Tricategory\n Tetracategory\n Infinity category\n Opetope\n Stabilization hypothesis\n\nExternal links\n n-Categories – Sketch of a Definition by John Baez\n Lectures on n-Categories and Cohomology by John Baez\n Tom Leinster, Higher operads, higher categories, math.CT/0305049\n\n Jacob Lurie, Higher topos theory, math.CT/0608040, published version: pdf\n\nHigher category theory",
"In mathematics, higher category theory is the part of category theory at a higher order, which means that some equalities are replaced by explicit arrows in order to be able to explicitly study the structure behind those equalities. Higher category theory is often applied in algebraic topology (especially in homotopy theory), where one studies algebraic invariants of spaces, such as their fundamental weak ∞-groupoid.\n\nStrict higher categories \nAn ordinary category has objects and morphisms, which are called 1-morphisms in the context of higher category theory. A 2-category generalizes this by also including 2-morphisms between the 1-morphisms. Continuing this up to n-morphisms between (n − 1)-morphisms gives an n-category.\n\nJust as the category known as Cat, which is the category of small categories and functors is actually a 2-category with natural transformations as its 2-morphisms, the category n-Cat of (small) n-categories is actually an (n + 1)-category.\n\nAn n-category is defined by induction on n by:\n A 0-category is a set,\n An (n + 1)-category is a category enriched over the category n-Cat.\n\nSo a 1-category is just a (locally small) category.\n\nThe monoidal structure of Set is the one given by the cartesian product as tensor and a singleton as unit. In fact any category with finite products can be given a monoidal structure. The recursive construction of n-Cat works fine because if a category has finite products, the category of -enriched categories has finite products too.\n\nWhile this concept is too strict for some purposes in for example, homotopy theory, where \"weak\" structures arise in the form of higher categories, strict cubical higher homotopy groupoids have also arisen as giving a new foundation for algebraic topology on the border between homology and homotopy theory; see the article Nonabelian algebraic topology, referenced in the book below.\n\nWeak higher categories \n\nIn weak , the associativity and identity conditions are no longer strict (that is, they are not given by equalities), but rather are satisfied up to an isomorphism of the next level. An example in topology is the composition of paths, where the identity and association conditions hold only up to reparameterization, and hence up to homotopy, which is the for this . These n-isomorphisms must well behave between hom-sets and expressing this is the difficulty in the definition of weak . Weak , also called bicategories, were the first to be defined explicitly. A particularity of these is that a bicategory with one object is exactly a monoidal category, so that bicategories can be said to be \"monoidal categories with many objects.\" Weak , also called tricategories, and higher-level generalizations are increasingly harder to define explicitly. Several definitions have been given, and telling when they are equivalent, and in what sense, has become a new object of study in category theory.\n\nQuasi-categories\n\nWeak Kan complexes, or quasi-categories, are simplicial sets satisfying a weak version of the Kan condition. André Joyal showed that they are a good foundation for higher category theory. Recently, in 2009, the theory has been systematized further by Jacob Lurie who simply calls them infinity categories, though the latter term is also a generic term for all models of (infinity, k) categories for any k.\n\nSimplicially enriched categories\n\nSimplicially enriched categories, or simplicial categories, are categories enriched over simplicial sets. However, when we look at them as a model for (infinity, 1)-categories, then many categorical notions (e.g., limits) do not agree with the corresponding notions in the sense of enriched categories. The same for other enriched models like topologically enriched categories.\n\nTopologically enriched categories\n\nTopologically enriched categories (sometimes simply called topological categories) are categories enriched over some convenient category of topological spaces, e.g. the category of compactly generated Hausdorff spaces.\n\nSegal categories\n\nThese are models of higher categories introduced by Hirschowitz and Simpson in 1998, partly inspired by results of Graeme Segal in 1974.\n\nSee also\n\nHigher-dimensional algebra\nGeneral abstract nonsense\nCategorification\nCoherency (homotopy theory)\n\nNotes\n\nReferences \n \n \n Draft of a book. Alternative PDF with hyperlinks)\n\n As PDF.\n nLab, the collective and open wiki notebook project on higher category theory and applications in physics, mathematics and philosophy\n Joyal's Catlab, a wiki dedicated to polished expositions of categorical and higher categorical mathematics with proofs\n\nExternal links\n\nThe n-Category Cafe — a group blog devoted to higher category theory.\n\nFoundations of mathematics"
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how many copies have been sold?
| 4 |
How many copies of the Bill James Baseball Abstracts have been sold?
|
Bill James
|
An aspiring writer and obsessive fan, James began writing baseball articles after leaving the United States Army in his mid-twenties. Many of his first baseball writings came while he was doing night shifts as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp's pork and beans cannery. Unlike most writers, his pieces did not recount games in epic terms or offer insights gleaned from interviews with players. A typical James piece posed a question (e.g., "Which pitchers and catchers allow runners to steal the most bases?"), and then presented data and analysis written in a lively, insightful, and witty style that offered an answer. Editors considered James's pieces so unusual that few believed them suitable for their readers. In an effort to reach a wider audience, James began self-publishing an annual book titled The Bill James Baseball Abstract beginning in 1977. The first edition, titled 1977 Baseball Abstract: Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News. Seventy-five people purchased the booklet. The 1978 edition, subtitled The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies. Beginning in 1979, James wrote an annual preview of the baseball season for Esquire, and continued to do so through 1984. The first three editions of the Baseball Abstract garnered respect for James's work, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated. New annual editions added essays on teams and players. By 1982 sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions. While writers had published books about baseball statistics before (most notably Earnshaw Cook's Percentage Baseball, in the 1960s), few had ever reached a mass audience. Attempts to imitate James's work spawned a flood of books and articles that continues to this day. CANNOTANSWER
|
Seventy-five people purchased the booklet.
|
George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics. His approach, which he termed sabermetrics in reference to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), scientifically analyzes and studies baseball, often through the use of statistical data, in an attempt to determine why teams win and lose.
In 2006, Time named him in the Time 100 as one of the most influential people in the world. In 2003, James was hired as senior advisor on Baseball Operations for the Boston Red Sox and worked for the team for 17 years during which they won four World Series championships.
Early life
James was born in Holton, Kansas; his mother died in 1954 when he was five. His father was a janitor and a handyman. After four years at the University of Kansas (KU) residing at Stephenson Scholarship hall, James joined the Army in 1971. He was the last person in Kansas to be sent to fight in the Vietnam War, although he never saw action there. Instead, he spent two years stationed in South Korea, during which time he wrote to KU about taking his final class. He was told he actually had met all his graduation requirements, so he returned to Lawrence in 1973 with degrees in English and economics. He also finished an Education degree in 1975, likewise from the University of Kansas.
Career
The Bill James Baseball Abstracts
An aspiring writer and obsessive fan, James began writing baseball articles after leaving the United States Army in his mid-twenties. Many of his first baseball writings came while he was doing night shifts as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp's pork and beans cannery. Unlike most writers, his pieces did not recount games in epic terms or offer insights gleaned from interviews with players. A typical James piece posed a question (e.g., "Which pitchers and catchers allow runners to steal the most bases?"), and then presented data and analysis that offered an answer.
Editors considered James's pieces so unusual that few believed them suitable for their readers. In an effort to reach a wider audience, James began self-publishing an annual book titled The Bill James Baseball Abstract, beginning in 1977. The first edition, titled 1977 Baseball Abstract: Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News. Seventy-five people purchased the booklet. The 1978 edition, subtitled The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies. Beginning in 1979, James wrote an annual preview of the baseball season for Esquire, and continued to do so through 1984.
The first three editions of the Baseball Abstract garnered respect for James's work, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated. New annual editions added essays on teams and players. By 1982 sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions.
While writers had published books about baseball statistics before (most notably Earnshaw Cook's Percentage Baseball, in the 1960s), few had ever reached a mass audience. Attempts to imitate James's work spawned a flood of books and articles that continues to this day.
Post-Abstracts work
In 1988, James ceased writing the Abstract, citing workload-related burnout and concern about the volume of statistics on the market. He has continued to publish hardcover books about baseball history, which have sold well and received admiring reviews. These books include three editions of The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (1985, 1988, 2001, the last entitled The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract).
James has also written several series of new annuals:
The Baseball Book (1990–1992) was a loosely organized collection of commentary, profiles, historical articles, and occasional pieces of research. James's assistant Rob Neyer was responsible for much of the research, and wrote several short pieces. Neyer went on to become a featured baseball columnist at ESPN and SB Nation.
The Player Ratings Book (1993–95) offered statistics and 50-word profiles aimed at the fantasy baseball enthusiast.
The Bill James Handbook (2003–present) provides past-season statistics and next-season projections for Major League players and teams, and career data for all current Major League players. Results for the Fielding Bible Awards, an alternative to the Gold Glove Awards voted on by a 10-person panel that includes James, are also included.
The Bill James Gold Mine (2008–2010) was a collection of new essays and never-before-seen statistics, as well as profiles of players and teams.
Playing off the name of the earlier series, Solid Fool's Gold: Detours on the Way to Conventional Wisdom (2011) was a mixed collection of both baseball-related and miscellaneous pieces, culled from the Bill James Online archives (see below).
In 2008, James launched Bill James Online. Subscribers can read James's new, original writing and interact with one another —- as well as with James —- in a question-and-answer format. The web site also offers new "profiles" of teams and players full of facts and statistics that hope to one day map what James has termed "the lost island of baseball statistics."
STATS, Inc.
In an essay published in the 1984 Abstract, James vented his frustration about Major League Baseball's refusal to publish play-by-play accounts of every game. James proposed the creation of Project Scoresheet, a network of fans that would work together to collect and distribute this information.
While the resulting non-profit organization never functioned smoothly, it worked well enough to collect accounts of every game from 1984 through 1991. James's publisher agreed to distribute two annuals of essays and data – the 1987 and 1988 editions of Bill James Presents The Great American Baseball Statbook (though only the first of these featured writing by James).
The organization was eventually disbanded, but many of its members went on to form for-profit companies with similar goals and structure. STATS, Inc., the company James joined, provided data and analysis to every major media outlet before being acquired by Fox Sports in 2001.
Innovations
Among the statistical innovations attributable to James are:
Runs created. A statistic intended to quantify a player's contribution to runs scored, as well as a team's expected number of runs scored. Runs created is calculated from other offensive statistics. James's first version of it was:
Applied to an entire team or league, the statistic correlates closely (usually within 5%) to that team's or league's actual runs scored. Since James first created the statistic, sabermetricians have refined it to make it more accurate, and it is now used in many different variations.
Range factor. A statistic that quantifies the defensive contribution of a player, calculated in its simplest form as (A is an assist, PO is a putout):
The statistic is premised on the notion that the total number of outs that a player participates in is more relevant in evaluating his defensive play than the percentage of cleanly handled chances as calculated by the conventional statistic fielding percentage.
Defensive Efficiency Rating. A statistic that shows the percentage of balls in play a defense turns into an out. It is used to help determine a team's defensive ability. The formula is:
Win shares. A unifying statistic intended to allow the comparison of players at different positions, as well as players of different eras. Win Shares incorporates a variety of pitching, hitting and fielding statistics. One drawback of Win Shares is the difficulty of computing it.
Pythagorean Winning Percentage. A statistic explaining the relationship of wins and losses to runs scored and runs allowed. The statistic correlates closely to a team's actual winning percentage. Its simplest formula is:
Game score is a metric to determine the strength of a pitcher in any particular baseball game. It has since been improved by Tom Tango.
Major League Equivalency. A metric that uses minor league statistics to predict how a player is likely to perform at the major league level.
The Brock2 System. A system for projecting a player's performance over the remainder of his career based on past performance and the aging process.
Similarity scores. Scoring a player's statistical similarity to other players, providing a frame of reference for players of the distant past. Examples: Lou Gehrig comparable to Don Mattingly; Joe Jackson to Tony Oliva.
Secondary average. A statistic that attempts to measure a player's contribution to an offense in ways not reflected in batting average. Secondary averages tend to be similar to batting averages, but can vary wildly, from less than .100 to more than .500 in extreme cases. The formula is (ISO is isolated power):
Power/Speed Number. A statistic that attempts to consolidate the various "clubs" of players with impressive numbers of both home runs and stolen bases (e.g., the 30–30 club (Bobby Bonds was well known for being a member), the 40–40 club (Jose Canseco was the first to perform this feat), and even the 25–65 club (Joe Morgan in the '70s)). The formula is:
Approximate Value. A system of cutoffs designed to estimate the value a player contributed to various category groups (including his team) to study broad questions such as "how do players age over time".
"Temperature gauge" to determine how "hot" a player is, based on recent performance. The gauge has been used in NESN Red Sox telecasts and has provoked mixed reactions from critics.
Although James may be best known as an inventor of statistical tools, he has often written on the limitations of statistics and urged humility concerning their place amid other kinds of information about baseball. To James, context is paramount: he was among the first to emphasize the importance of adjusting traditional statistics for park factors and to stress the role of luck in a pitcher's win-loss record. Many of his statistical innovations are arguably less important than the underlying ideas. When he introduced the notion of secondary average, it was as a vehicle for the then-counterintuitive concept that batting average represents only a fraction of a player's offensive contribution. (The runs-created statistic plays a similar role vis-à-vis the traditional RBI.) Some of his contributions to the language of baseball, like the idea of the "defensive spectrum", border on being entirely non-statistical.
Acceptance and employment in mainstream baseball
Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane began applying sabermetric principles to running his low-budget team in the early 2000s, to notable effect, as chronicled in Michael Lewis' book Moneyball.
In 2003, James was hired by a former reader, John Henry, the new owner of the Boston Red Sox.
One point of controversy was in handling the relief pitching of the Red Sox. James had previously published analysis of the use of the closer in baseball, and had concluded that the traditional use of the closer both overrated the abilities of that individual and used him in suboptimal circumstances. He wrote that it is "far better to use your relief ace when the score is tied, even if that is the seventh inning, than in the ninth inning with a lead of two or more runs." The Red Sox in 2003 staffed their bullpen with several marginally talented relievers. Red Sox manager Grady Little was never fully comfortable with the setup, and designated unofficial closers and reshuffled roles after a bad outing. When Boston lost a number of games due to bullpen failures, Little reverted to a traditional closer approach and moved Byung-hyun Kim from being a starting pitcher to a closer. The Red Sox did not follow James's idea of a bullpen with no closer, but with consistent overall talent that would allow the responsibilities to be shared. Red Sox reliever Alan Embree thought the plan could have worked if the bullpen had not suffered injuries. During the 2004 regular season Keith Foulke was used primarily as a closer in the conventional model; however, Foulke's usage in the 2004 postseason was along the lines of a relief ace with multiple inning appearances at pivotal times of the game. Houston Astros manager Phil Garner also employed a relief ace model with his use of Brad Lidge in the 2004 postseason.
During his tenure with the Red Sox, James published several new sabermetric books (see #Bibliography below). Indeed, although James was typically tight-lipped about his activities on behalf of the Red Sox, he is credited with advocating some of the moves that led to the team's first World Series championship in 86 years, including the signing of non-tendered free agent David Ortiz, the trade for Mark Bellhorn, and the team's increased emphasis on on-base percentage.
After the Red Sox suffered through a disastrous 2012 season, Henry stated that James had fallen "out of favor [in the front office] over the last few years for reasons I really don't understand. We've gotten him more involved recently in the central process and that will help greatly."
On October 24, 2019, James announced his retirement from the Red Sox, saying that he had "fallen out of step with the organization" and added that he hadn't earned his paycheck with the Red Sox for the last couple of years. During his time with the team, Bill James received four World Series rings for the team's 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018 World Series titles.
In culture
Michael Lewis, in his 2003 book Moneyball, dedicates a chapter to James's career and sabermetrics as background for his portrayal of Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics' unlikely success.
James was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals in 2007.
James was profiled on 60 Minutes on March 30, 2008, in his role as a sabermetric pioneer and Red Sox advisor. In 2010, he was inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame.
James made a guest appearance on The Simpsons 2010 episode "MoneyBART". He claimed "I've made baseball as fun as doing your taxes."
Steven Soderbergh's planned film adaptation of Moneyball would have featured an animated version of James as a "host". This script was discarded when director Bennett Miller and writer Aaron Sorkin succeeded Soderbergh on the project. Ultimately, the 2011 film mentions James several times. His bio is briefly recapped, and Billy Beane is depicted telling John Henry that Henry's hiring of James is the reason Beane is interested in the Red Sox general manager job.
Controversies
Dowd Report controversy
In his Baseball Book 1990, James heavily criticized the methodology of the Dowd Report, which was an investigation (commissioned by baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti) on the gambling activities of Pete Rose. James reproached commissioner Giamatti and his successor, Fay Vincent, for their acceptance of the Dowd Report as the final word on Rose's gambling. (James's attitude on the matter surprised many fans, especially after the writer had been deeply critical of Rose in the past, especially what James considered to be Rose's selfish pursuit of Ty Cobb's all-time record for base hits.)
James expanded his defense of Rose in his 2001 book The New Historical Baseball Abstract, with a detailed explanation of why he found the case against Rose flimsy. James wrote "I would characterize the evidence that Rose bet on baseball as...well, not quite non-existent. It is extremely weak." This countered the popular opinion that the case against Rose was a slam dunk, and several critics claimed that James misstated some of the evidence in his defense of Rose. Derek Zumsteg of Baseball Prospectus wrote an exhaustive review of the case James made and concluded: "James' defense of Rose is filled with oversights, errors in judgment, failures in research, and is a great disservice to the many people who have looked to him for a balanced and fair take on this complicated and important issue."
In 2004, Rose admitted publicly that he had bet on baseball and confirmed the Dowd Report was correct. James remained steadfast, continuing to insist that the evidence available to Dowd at the time was insufficient to reach the conclusion that it did.
Paterno controversy
On November 4, 2011, Jerry Sandusky was indicted for committing sex crimes against young boys, which brought the Penn State child sex abuse scandal to national attention. On December 11, 2011, James published an article called "The Trial of Penn State", depicting an imaginary trial in which Penn State defended itself against charges of "acting rashly and irresponsibly in the matter of Joe Paterno, in such a manner that [they] defamed, libeled and slandered Paterno, unfairly demolishing his reputation."
On July 12, 2012, the Freeh report was released, charging Paterno and three other University officials with covering up reports of sexual assaults and enabling the attacker to prey on other children for more than a decade, often in Penn State facilities. Soon afterwards, during an interview on ESPN radio, James claimed that the Freeh report's characterizations of Paterno as a powerful figure were wrong, and that it was not Paterno's responsibility to report allegations of child molestation to the police. "[Paterno] had very few allies. He was isolated and he was not nearly as powerful as people imagine him to have been." When asked if he knew anyone who had showered with a boy they were not related to, James said it was a common practice when he was growing up. "That was actually quite common in the town I grew up in. That was quite common in America 40 years ago."
The July 2012 interview comments were widely criticized. Rob Neyer wrote in defense of James. James's employer, the Boston Red Sox, issued a statement disavowing the comments James made and saying that he had been asked not to make further public comments on the matter.
Personal life
James is a fan of the University of Kansas men's basketball team and has written about basketball. He has created a formula for what he calls a "safe lead" in the sport.
James has written two true crime books, Popular Crime: Reflections on the Celebration of Violence (2011) and The Man from the Train (2017), the latter with his daughter Rachel McCarthy James. In The Man From the Train, published in 2017, the Jameses attempt to link scores of murders of entire families in the early 20th century United States to a single perpetrator. Those murders include the Villisca axe murders. The Jameses propose a solution to the murders based on the signature elements these killings share in common with each other.
Bibliography
Bill James Baseball Abstract (annual editions published 1977–1988)
The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (1985; revised edition 1988)
This Time Let's Not Eat the Bones (1989) (selection of comments from Abstracts and articles)
The Bill James Baseball Book (annual editions published 1990–1992)
The Politics of Glory (1994) (revised as Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?),
The Bill James Player Ratings Book (annual editions published 1993–1996)
The Bill James Guide to Baseball Managers (1997)
Bill James Present STATS All-Time Major League Handbook (1998; 2nd ed. 2000)
Bill James Present STATS All-Time Major League Sourcebook (1998)
The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (2001)
Win Shares (2002)
Win Shares Digital Update (2002) (PDF form only)
The Bill James Handbook (annual editions published 2003–present)
The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers (2004, with co-author Rob Neyer)
The Bill James Gold Mine (annual editions published 2008–2010, , )
Popular Crime – Reflections on the Celebration of Violence (, published 2011)
Solid Fool's Gold (2011), (articles from Bill James Online website)
Fools Rush Inn (2014), (more articles from Bill James Online website)
The Man From the Train (2017),
Books about James
The Mind of Bill James (2006) ISBN
How Bill James Changed Our View of Baseball: by Colleagues, Critics, Competitors and Just Plain Fans (2007)
See also
Baseball Prospectus
Defensive spectrum
Keltner list
Similarity score
Win shares
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
Bill James Online –interactions with James through statistics, articles, conversations and more
Works of Bill James
Audio interview by Jesse Thorn, public radio program The Sound of Young America (April 29, 2008)
Chronister, Levi (April 25, 2004). "Grassroots Guru". Lawrence Journal-World (Lawrence, KS).
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part I, Baseball Digest
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part II
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part III
McGrath, Ben (July 14, 2003). "The Professor of Baseball". The New Yorker
Wall Street Journal profile
[ Does Bill James Belong in the Hall of Fame?]
– contrary to James
Schwarz, Alan (July 18, 2006). "25 For 25: Don Fehr, Peter Gammons, Pat Gillick, Bo Jackson, Bill James". 25 for 25: Stars in the Baseball America Universe. Baseball America.
Henry, John (May 8, 2006). "Scientists & Thinkers: Bill James". The 2006 Time 100. Time.
Surowiecki, James (June 10, 2003). "Moneyball Redux: Slate talks to the man who revolutionized baseball.". Slate.
Lederer, Bill (February 28, 2005). "Breakfast with Bill James". Baseball Analysts (baseballanalysts.com).
1949 births
Living people
American sportswriters
American statisticians
Baseball statisticians
Baseball writers
People from Holton, Kansas
United States Army soldiers
20th-century American writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
| true |
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"Young-hu Kim is a South Korean music producer, songwriter and software engineer. He works mainly with SM Entertainment artists, and has written songs for Girls Generation, Exo, TVXQ, BoA, Shinee, f(x), Super Junior, Shinhwa, and Fly to the Sky.\n\nCareer\nBorn on November 7, 1981, in Seoul, South Korea, Young-hu Kim started his career when he was signed to SM Entertainment as the youngest producer at the age of 15. His first number 1 single was Shinhwa's \"I Pray For You\", with work on subsequent hits including TVXQ's \"Whatever They Say,\" Shinee's \"Replay,\" and Girls Generation's \"Oh.\" He co-founded XP Music Publishing based in Los Angeles, with offices in Seoul and Tokyo, taking on projects in tech and building the first online music publishing catalog system in South Korea. \nHe is currently the CEO of the technology company Qoop.\n\nDiscography\n\nSouth Korea\nBoA: My Prayer - 250,000 copies sold (2 platinum) \nBoA: If You Were Here - 120,000 copies sold (platinum)\nBoA: Girls on Top(English Version) \nExo: My Turn to Cry - 500,000 copies sold\nExo: Can't Bring Me Down - 1 Million copies sold\nFly to the Sky: How Many Nights, How Many Days - 200,000 copies sold (2 platinum)\nFly to the Sky: Magic Song - 170,000 copies sold (platinum) - Number 3 on biggest online chart\nFly to the Sky: My Never ending Story - 100,000 copies sold (platinum) \nF(x): Me + U - 100,000 copies sold (platinum)\nF(x): Goodbye Summer - 80,000 copies sold\nF(x): Summer Lover\nF(x): Diamond\nGirl's Generation: Let's Talk About Love - 100,000 copies sold(platinum)\nGirl's Girls Generation: Oh! - 300,000 copies sold (3 platinum) - number 1 on several countries. Number 1 on numerous music channels. Winner of Golden Disc Award \nGirl's Generation: Say Yes - 400,000 copies sold (4 platinum) - won Golden Disk Awards and Seoul Music Awards \nIsak N Jiyeon: I Dream Of You\nS.E.S.: You Told Me\nShinee: Replay\nShinee: Love Like Oxygen\nShinee: In my room - 150,000 copies sold(platinum) \nShinee: 차라리 때려 - 150,000 copies sold (platinum)\nShinee: Y.O.U. (Year Of Us) \nShinee: Runaway - 250,000 copies sold (2 platinum) \nShinhwa: Just 2 be with U - 400,000 copies sold (4 platinum)\nShinhwa: I pray 4 U - 400,000 copies sold (4 platinum) - Number 1 song on MBC Music Show, SBS Music Show and several online charts. Japanese Anime “Inuyasha” Korea Territory title song\nShinhwa: Soulmate - 300,000 copies sold (3 platinum)\nShinhwa: Hurricane - 100,000 copies sold (platinum)\nSuper Junior: Over - 100,000 copies sold (platinum)\nSuper Junior: You're my endless love - 200,000 copies sold (2 platinum)\nSuper Junior: She wants it - 300,000 copies sold (3 platinum)\nSuper Junior: Shake It Up! - 300,000 copies sold (3 platinum)\nSuper Junior: Over - 100,000 copies sold (platinum)\nThe Grace: Dancer In The Rain\nThe Grace: Catch The Shooting Star\nTim: Sarang Han Mankeum \nTim: My Destiny\nTim: Nae Ahn Eh Jun Jeng\nTim: Manual For My Heart\nTVXQ: Whatever They Say - 300,000 copies sold (3 platinum) - Number 4 on SBS music show. \nTVXQ: Free your mind\nTVXQ: Beautiful Life - 300,000 copies sold (3 platinum)\nTVXQ: 세상의단하나뿐인마음\nTVXQ: On & On - 535,000 copies sold (5 platinum) - Number 1 album of 2006 + Winner of Golden Disc Award.\nTVXQ: Crazy Love\nTVXQ: 넌 나의 노래 - 600,000 copies sold (6 platinum) - Number 1 album of 2008, Winner of Golden Disc Award.\nTVXQ: Here I stand - 300,000 copies sold (3 platinum)\nWhee Sung: Angel - 400,000 copies sold (4 platinum)\n\nJapan\nGirls Generation Oh! single: Oh! - 100,000 copies sold (gold) - Number One on Oricon Chart\nGirls Generation 2nd album: Oh! - 200,000 copies sold (gold)\nShinee 1st single album: Replay - 110,000 copies sold (gold)\nShinee 1st album: Replay - 120,000 copies sold (gold)\nTenjochiki Piranha album: Just for one day - 100,000 copies sold (gold)\nTVXQ 3rd album: Beautiful Life -150,000 copies sold (gold)\nTVXQ 3rd Album: You're my miracle - 150,000 copies sold (gold)\nTVXQ Bolero album: Wasurenaide - 150,000 copies sold (gold)\nTVXQ 4th album: Wasurenaide - 300,000 copies sold (platinum)\n\nReferences\n\nSM Entertainment people\nSouth Korean electronic musicians\nSouth Korean dance musicians\nSouth Korean songwriters\nSouth Korean record producers\n1981 births\nLiving people",
"The chapters of Negima! Magister Negi Magi are written and illustrated by Ken Akamatsu, the same person who wrote and illustrated the immensely popular series A.I. Love You and Love Hina. The series is being serialized in Japan in Weekly Shōnen Magazine and is being collected into bound novels by Kodansha. It has been licensed for an English-language release in the United States and Canada by Del Rey Manga, and in the United Kingdom by Tanoshimi.\n\nThe series was adapted into a 26-episode-long anime television series by the Japanese animation studio Xebec and originally aired on TV Tokyo. It has been licensed for an English release in the United States by Funimation Entertainment, and has aired on the Funimation Channel. In addition, four original video animations (OVAs) have been made, as well as a TV drama series.\n\nOricon Charts\n\nFor the week of November 25, 2008, Volume 24 sold 176,984 copies and peaked at #2.\n\nFor the week of February 23, 2009, Volume 25 sold 179,903 copies and peaked at #2.\n\nFor the week of May 27, 2009, Volume 26 sold 112,824 copies and peaked at #2.\n\nFor the week of September 20, 2009, Volume 27 sold 149,143 copies and peaked at #4.\n\nFor the week of November 29, 2009, Volume 28 sold 200,481 copies and peaked at #18.\n\nFor the week of February 21, 2010, Volume 29 sold 148,228 copies and peaked at #3.\n\nFor the week of May 23, 2010, Volume 30 sold 165,334 copies and peaked at #4.\n\nFor the week of August 22, 2010, Volume 31 sold 166,332 copies and peaked at #6.\n\nFor the week of November 29, 2010, Volume 32 sold 147,515 copies and peaked at #3.\n\nFor the week of February 28, 2011, Volume 33 sold 129,019 copies and peaked at #5.\n\nFor the week of May 22, 2011, Volume 34 sold 148,762 copies and peaked at #2.\n\nFor the week of August 29, 2011, Volume 35 sold 135,505 copies and peaked at #4.\n\nFor the week of November 28, 2011, Volume 36 sold 117,007 copies and peaked at #4.\n\nFor the week of February 26, 2012, Volume 37 sold 154,767 copies and peaked at #11.\n\nFor the week of May 27, 2012, Volume 38 sold 209,199 copies and peaked at #12.\n\nIn 2011, it became the 40th top selling manga with sales of 1,103,573 copies (in that year alone).\n\nAs of 2013, the series has sold a combined total of almost 20 million copies, ranking it among the best selling manga of all time in the world.\n\nChapter list\n\nSee also\nList of Negima! Magister Negi Magi characters\nList of Negima! Magister Negi Magi episodes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\nChapters\nNegima! Magister Negi Magi"
] |
[
"Bill James",
"The Bill James Baseball Abstracts",
"What were the Baseball Abstracts?",
"Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study",
"When was it printed?",
"The Bill James Baseball Abstract beginning in 1977.",
"What were some of the categories in it?",
"James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News.",
"how many copies have been sold?",
"Seventy-five people purchased the booklet."
] |
C_008ff753407048469595dfcfca02e9c3_1
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Has it been reprinted?
| 5 |
Has the Bill James Baseball Abstracts been reprinted?
|
Bill James
|
An aspiring writer and obsessive fan, James began writing baseball articles after leaving the United States Army in his mid-twenties. Many of his first baseball writings came while he was doing night shifts as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp's pork and beans cannery. Unlike most writers, his pieces did not recount games in epic terms or offer insights gleaned from interviews with players. A typical James piece posed a question (e.g., "Which pitchers and catchers allow runners to steal the most bases?"), and then presented data and analysis written in a lively, insightful, and witty style that offered an answer. Editors considered James's pieces so unusual that few believed them suitable for their readers. In an effort to reach a wider audience, James began self-publishing an annual book titled The Bill James Baseball Abstract beginning in 1977. The first edition, titled 1977 Baseball Abstract: Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News. Seventy-five people purchased the booklet. The 1978 edition, subtitled The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies. Beginning in 1979, James wrote an annual preview of the baseball season for Esquire, and continued to do so through 1984. The first three editions of the Baseball Abstract garnered respect for James's work, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated. New annual editions added essays on teams and players. By 1982 sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions. While writers had published books about baseball statistics before (most notably Earnshaw Cook's Percentage Baseball, in the 1960s), few had ever reached a mass audience. Attempts to imitate James's work spawned a flood of books and articles that continues to this day. CANNOTANSWER
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The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies.
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George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics. His approach, which he termed sabermetrics in reference to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), scientifically analyzes and studies baseball, often through the use of statistical data, in an attempt to determine why teams win and lose.
In 2006, Time named him in the Time 100 as one of the most influential people in the world. In 2003, James was hired as senior advisor on Baseball Operations for the Boston Red Sox and worked for the team for 17 years during which they won four World Series championships.
Early life
James was born in Holton, Kansas; his mother died in 1954 when he was five. His father was a janitor and a handyman. After four years at the University of Kansas (KU) residing at Stephenson Scholarship hall, James joined the Army in 1971. He was the last person in Kansas to be sent to fight in the Vietnam War, although he never saw action there. Instead, he spent two years stationed in South Korea, during which time he wrote to KU about taking his final class. He was told he actually had met all his graduation requirements, so he returned to Lawrence in 1973 with degrees in English and economics. He also finished an Education degree in 1975, likewise from the University of Kansas.
Career
The Bill James Baseball Abstracts
An aspiring writer and obsessive fan, James began writing baseball articles after leaving the United States Army in his mid-twenties. Many of his first baseball writings came while he was doing night shifts as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp's pork and beans cannery. Unlike most writers, his pieces did not recount games in epic terms or offer insights gleaned from interviews with players. A typical James piece posed a question (e.g., "Which pitchers and catchers allow runners to steal the most bases?"), and then presented data and analysis that offered an answer.
Editors considered James's pieces so unusual that few believed them suitable for their readers. In an effort to reach a wider audience, James began self-publishing an annual book titled The Bill James Baseball Abstract, beginning in 1977. The first edition, titled 1977 Baseball Abstract: Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News. Seventy-five people purchased the booklet. The 1978 edition, subtitled The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies. Beginning in 1979, James wrote an annual preview of the baseball season for Esquire, and continued to do so through 1984.
The first three editions of the Baseball Abstract garnered respect for James's work, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated. New annual editions added essays on teams and players. By 1982 sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions.
While writers had published books about baseball statistics before (most notably Earnshaw Cook's Percentage Baseball, in the 1960s), few had ever reached a mass audience. Attempts to imitate James's work spawned a flood of books and articles that continues to this day.
Post-Abstracts work
In 1988, James ceased writing the Abstract, citing workload-related burnout and concern about the volume of statistics on the market. He has continued to publish hardcover books about baseball history, which have sold well and received admiring reviews. These books include three editions of The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (1985, 1988, 2001, the last entitled The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract).
James has also written several series of new annuals:
The Baseball Book (1990–1992) was a loosely organized collection of commentary, profiles, historical articles, and occasional pieces of research. James's assistant Rob Neyer was responsible for much of the research, and wrote several short pieces. Neyer went on to become a featured baseball columnist at ESPN and SB Nation.
The Player Ratings Book (1993–95) offered statistics and 50-word profiles aimed at the fantasy baseball enthusiast.
The Bill James Handbook (2003–present) provides past-season statistics and next-season projections for Major League players and teams, and career data for all current Major League players. Results for the Fielding Bible Awards, an alternative to the Gold Glove Awards voted on by a 10-person panel that includes James, are also included.
The Bill James Gold Mine (2008–2010) was a collection of new essays and never-before-seen statistics, as well as profiles of players and teams.
Playing off the name of the earlier series, Solid Fool's Gold: Detours on the Way to Conventional Wisdom (2011) was a mixed collection of both baseball-related and miscellaneous pieces, culled from the Bill James Online archives (see below).
In 2008, James launched Bill James Online. Subscribers can read James's new, original writing and interact with one another —- as well as with James —- in a question-and-answer format. The web site also offers new "profiles" of teams and players full of facts and statistics that hope to one day map what James has termed "the lost island of baseball statistics."
STATS, Inc.
In an essay published in the 1984 Abstract, James vented his frustration about Major League Baseball's refusal to publish play-by-play accounts of every game. James proposed the creation of Project Scoresheet, a network of fans that would work together to collect and distribute this information.
While the resulting non-profit organization never functioned smoothly, it worked well enough to collect accounts of every game from 1984 through 1991. James's publisher agreed to distribute two annuals of essays and data – the 1987 and 1988 editions of Bill James Presents The Great American Baseball Statbook (though only the first of these featured writing by James).
The organization was eventually disbanded, but many of its members went on to form for-profit companies with similar goals and structure. STATS, Inc., the company James joined, provided data and analysis to every major media outlet before being acquired by Fox Sports in 2001.
Innovations
Among the statistical innovations attributable to James are:
Runs created. A statistic intended to quantify a player's contribution to runs scored, as well as a team's expected number of runs scored. Runs created is calculated from other offensive statistics. James's first version of it was:
Applied to an entire team or league, the statistic correlates closely (usually within 5%) to that team's or league's actual runs scored. Since James first created the statistic, sabermetricians have refined it to make it more accurate, and it is now used in many different variations.
Range factor. A statistic that quantifies the defensive contribution of a player, calculated in its simplest form as (A is an assist, PO is a putout):
The statistic is premised on the notion that the total number of outs that a player participates in is more relevant in evaluating his defensive play than the percentage of cleanly handled chances as calculated by the conventional statistic fielding percentage.
Defensive Efficiency Rating. A statistic that shows the percentage of balls in play a defense turns into an out. It is used to help determine a team's defensive ability. The formula is:
Win shares. A unifying statistic intended to allow the comparison of players at different positions, as well as players of different eras. Win Shares incorporates a variety of pitching, hitting and fielding statistics. One drawback of Win Shares is the difficulty of computing it.
Pythagorean Winning Percentage. A statistic explaining the relationship of wins and losses to runs scored and runs allowed. The statistic correlates closely to a team's actual winning percentage. Its simplest formula is:
Game score is a metric to determine the strength of a pitcher in any particular baseball game. It has since been improved by Tom Tango.
Major League Equivalency. A metric that uses minor league statistics to predict how a player is likely to perform at the major league level.
The Brock2 System. A system for projecting a player's performance over the remainder of his career based on past performance and the aging process.
Similarity scores. Scoring a player's statistical similarity to other players, providing a frame of reference for players of the distant past. Examples: Lou Gehrig comparable to Don Mattingly; Joe Jackson to Tony Oliva.
Secondary average. A statistic that attempts to measure a player's contribution to an offense in ways not reflected in batting average. Secondary averages tend to be similar to batting averages, but can vary wildly, from less than .100 to more than .500 in extreme cases. The formula is (ISO is isolated power):
Power/Speed Number. A statistic that attempts to consolidate the various "clubs" of players with impressive numbers of both home runs and stolen bases (e.g., the 30–30 club (Bobby Bonds was well known for being a member), the 40–40 club (Jose Canseco was the first to perform this feat), and even the 25–65 club (Joe Morgan in the '70s)). The formula is:
Approximate Value. A system of cutoffs designed to estimate the value a player contributed to various category groups (including his team) to study broad questions such as "how do players age over time".
"Temperature gauge" to determine how "hot" a player is, based on recent performance. The gauge has been used in NESN Red Sox telecasts and has provoked mixed reactions from critics.
Although James may be best known as an inventor of statistical tools, he has often written on the limitations of statistics and urged humility concerning their place amid other kinds of information about baseball. To James, context is paramount: he was among the first to emphasize the importance of adjusting traditional statistics for park factors and to stress the role of luck in a pitcher's win-loss record. Many of his statistical innovations are arguably less important than the underlying ideas. When he introduced the notion of secondary average, it was as a vehicle for the then-counterintuitive concept that batting average represents only a fraction of a player's offensive contribution. (The runs-created statistic plays a similar role vis-à-vis the traditional RBI.) Some of his contributions to the language of baseball, like the idea of the "defensive spectrum", border on being entirely non-statistical.
Acceptance and employment in mainstream baseball
Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane began applying sabermetric principles to running his low-budget team in the early 2000s, to notable effect, as chronicled in Michael Lewis' book Moneyball.
In 2003, James was hired by a former reader, John Henry, the new owner of the Boston Red Sox.
One point of controversy was in handling the relief pitching of the Red Sox. James had previously published analysis of the use of the closer in baseball, and had concluded that the traditional use of the closer both overrated the abilities of that individual and used him in suboptimal circumstances. He wrote that it is "far better to use your relief ace when the score is tied, even if that is the seventh inning, than in the ninth inning with a lead of two or more runs." The Red Sox in 2003 staffed their bullpen with several marginally talented relievers. Red Sox manager Grady Little was never fully comfortable with the setup, and designated unofficial closers and reshuffled roles after a bad outing. When Boston lost a number of games due to bullpen failures, Little reverted to a traditional closer approach and moved Byung-hyun Kim from being a starting pitcher to a closer. The Red Sox did not follow James's idea of a bullpen with no closer, but with consistent overall talent that would allow the responsibilities to be shared. Red Sox reliever Alan Embree thought the plan could have worked if the bullpen had not suffered injuries. During the 2004 regular season Keith Foulke was used primarily as a closer in the conventional model; however, Foulke's usage in the 2004 postseason was along the lines of a relief ace with multiple inning appearances at pivotal times of the game. Houston Astros manager Phil Garner also employed a relief ace model with his use of Brad Lidge in the 2004 postseason.
During his tenure with the Red Sox, James published several new sabermetric books (see #Bibliography below). Indeed, although James was typically tight-lipped about his activities on behalf of the Red Sox, he is credited with advocating some of the moves that led to the team's first World Series championship in 86 years, including the signing of non-tendered free agent David Ortiz, the trade for Mark Bellhorn, and the team's increased emphasis on on-base percentage.
After the Red Sox suffered through a disastrous 2012 season, Henry stated that James had fallen "out of favor [in the front office] over the last few years for reasons I really don't understand. We've gotten him more involved recently in the central process and that will help greatly."
On October 24, 2019, James announced his retirement from the Red Sox, saying that he had "fallen out of step with the organization" and added that he hadn't earned his paycheck with the Red Sox for the last couple of years. During his time with the team, Bill James received four World Series rings for the team's 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018 World Series titles.
In culture
Michael Lewis, in his 2003 book Moneyball, dedicates a chapter to James's career and sabermetrics as background for his portrayal of Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics' unlikely success.
James was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals in 2007.
James was profiled on 60 Minutes on March 30, 2008, in his role as a sabermetric pioneer and Red Sox advisor. In 2010, he was inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame.
James made a guest appearance on The Simpsons 2010 episode "MoneyBART". He claimed "I've made baseball as fun as doing your taxes."
Steven Soderbergh's planned film adaptation of Moneyball would have featured an animated version of James as a "host". This script was discarded when director Bennett Miller and writer Aaron Sorkin succeeded Soderbergh on the project. Ultimately, the 2011 film mentions James several times. His bio is briefly recapped, and Billy Beane is depicted telling John Henry that Henry's hiring of James is the reason Beane is interested in the Red Sox general manager job.
Controversies
Dowd Report controversy
In his Baseball Book 1990, James heavily criticized the methodology of the Dowd Report, which was an investigation (commissioned by baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti) on the gambling activities of Pete Rose. James reproached commissioner Giamatti and his successor, Fay Vincent, for their acceptance of the Dowd Report as the final word on Rose's gambling. (James's attitude on the matter surprised many fans, especially after the writer had been deeply critical of Rose in the past, especially what James considered to be Rose's selfish pursuit of Ty Cobb's all-time record for base hits.)
James expanded his defense of Rose in his 2001 book The New Historical Baseball Abstract, with a detailed explanation of why he found the case against Rose flimsy. James wrote "I would characterize the evidence that Rose bet on baseball as...well, not quite non-existent. It is extremely weak." This countered the popular opinion that the case against Rose was a slam dunk, and several critics claimed that James misstated some of the evidence in his defense of Rose. Derek Zumsteg of Baseball Prospectus wrote an exhaustive review of the case James made and concluded: "James' defense of Rose is filled with oversights, errors in judgment, failures in research, and is a great disservice to the many people who have looked to him for a balanced and fair take on this complicated and important issue."
In 2004, Rose admitted publicly that he had bet on baseball and confirmed the Dowd Report was correct. James remained steadfast, continuing to insist that the evidence available to Dowd at the time was insufficient to reach the conclusion that it did.
Paterno controversy
On November 4, 2011, Jerry Sandusky was indicted for committing sex crimes against young boys, which brought the Penn State child sex abuse scandal to national attention. On December 11, 2011, James published an article called "The Trial of Penn State", depicting an imaginary trial in which Penn State defended itself against charges of "acting rashly and irresponsibly in the matter of Joe Paterno, in such a manner that [they] defamed, libeled and slandered Paterno, unfairly demolishing his reputation."
On July 12, 2012, the Freeh report was released, charging Paterno and three other University officials with covering up reports of sexual assaults and enabling the attacker to prey on other children for more than a decade, often in Penn State facilities. Soon afterwards, during an interview on ESPN radio, James claimed that the Freeh report's characterizations of Paterno as a powerful figure were wrong, and that it was not Paterno's responsibility to report allegations of child molestation to the police. "[Paterno] had very few allies. He was isolated and he was not nearly as powerful as people imagine him to have been." When asked if he knew anyone who had showered with a boy they were not related to, James said it was a common practice when he was growing up. "That was actually quite common in the town I grew up in. That was quite common in America 40 years ago."
The July 2012 interview comments were widely criticized. Rob Neyer wrote in defense of James. James's employer, the Boston Red Sox, issued a statement disavowing the comments James made and saying that he had been asked not to make further public comments on the matter.
Personal life
James is a fan of the University of Kansas men's basketball team and has written about basketball. He has created a formula for what he calls a "safe lead" in the sport.
James has written two true crime books, Popular Crime: Reflections on the Celebration of Violence (2011) and The Man from the Train (2017), the latter with his daughter Rachel McCarthy James. In The Man From the Train, published in 2017, the Jameses attempt to link scores of murders of entire families in the early 20th century United States to a single perpetrator. Those murders include the Villisca axe murders. The Jameses propose a solution to the murders based on the signature elements these killings share in common with each other.
Bibliography
Bill James Baseball Abstract (annual editions published 1977–1988)
The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (1985; revised edition 1988)
This Time Let's Not Eat the Bones (1989) (selection of comments from Abstracts and articles)
The Bill James Baseball Book (annual editions published 1990–1992)
The Politics of Glory (1994) (revised as Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?),
The Bill James Player Ratings Book (annual editions published 1993–1996)
The Bill James Guide to Baseball Managers (1997)
Bill James Present STATS All-Time Major League Handbook (1998; 2nd ed. 2000)
Bill James Present STATS All-Time Major League Sourcebook (1998)
The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (2001)
Win Shares (2002)
Win Shares Digital Update (2002) (PDF form only)
The Bill James Handbook (annual editions published 2003–present)
The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers (2004, with co-author Rob Neyer)
The Bill James Gold Mine (annual editions published 2008–2010, , )
Popular Crime – Reflections on the Celebration of Violence (, published 2011)
Solid Fool's Gold (2011), (articles from Bill James Online website)
Fools Rush Inn (2014), (more articles from Bill James Online website)
The Man From the Train (2017),
Books about James
The Mind of Bill James (2006) ISBN
How Bill James Changed Our View of Baseball: by Colleagues, Critics, Competitors and Just Plain Fans (2007)
See also
Baseball Prospectus
Defensive spectrum
Keltner list
Similarity score
Win shares
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
Bill James Online –interactions with James through statistics, articles, conversations and more
Works of Bill James
Audio interview by Jesse Thorn, public radio program The Sound of Young America (April 29, 2008)
Chronister, Levi (April 25, 2004). "Grassroots Guru". Lawrence Journal-World (Lawrence, KS).
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part I, Baseball Digest
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part II
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part III
McGrath, Ben (July 14, 2003). "The Professor of Baseball". The New Yorker
Wall Street Journal profile
[ Does Bill James Belong in the Hall of Fame?]
– contrary to James
Schwarz, Alan (July 18, 2006). "25 For 25: Don Fehr, Peter Gammons, Pat Gillick, Bo Jackson, Bill James". 25 for 25: Stars in the Baseball America Universe. Baseball America.
Henry, John (May 8, 2006). "Scientists & Thinkers: Bill James". The 2006 Time 100. Time.
Surowiecki, James (June 10, 2003). "Moneyball Redux: Slate talks to the man who revolutionized baseball.". Slate.
Lederer, Bill (February 28, 2005). "Breakfast with Bill James". Baseball Analysts (baseballanalysts.com).
1949 births
Living people
American sportswriters
American statisticians
Baseball statisticians
Baseball writers
People from Holton, Kansas
United States Army soldiers
20th-century American writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
| true |
[
"Capitol (1979) was Orson Scott Card's second published book, and first foray into science fiction. This collection of eleven short stories set in the Worthing series is no longer in print. However six of the stories have been reprinted in The Worthing Saga (1990) and one of them in Maps in a Mirror (1990).\n\nContents \nThe short stories in this book are:\n\n \"A Sleep and a Forgetting\"\n \"A Thousand Deaths\" - Reprinted in Maps in a Mirror\n \"Skipping Stones\" - Reprinted in The Worthing Saga\n \"Second Chance\" - Reprinted in The Worthing Saga\n \"Breaking the Game\" - Reprinted in The Worthing Saga\n \"Lifeloop\" - Reprinted in The Worthing Saga\n \"Burning\"\n \"And What Will We Do Tomorrow?\" - Reprinted in The Worthing Saga\n \"Killing Children\" - Reprinted in The Worthing Saga\n \"When No One Remembers His Name, Does God Retire?\"\n \"The Stars That Blink\"\n\nRelated works\nHot Sleep\nThe Worthing Chronicle\nThe Worthing Saga\n\nSee also\n\nList of works by Orson Scott Card\nOrson Scott Card\n\nExternal links\n Publication information for Capitol available from Card’s website\n\n1979 short story collections\nShort story collections by Orson Scott Card\nScience fiction short story collections\nAce Books books",
"Adriano Morselli was a Venetian librettist active between 1679 and 1691. His libretti have been set to music by composers like Antonio Vivaldi, Alessandro Scarlatti, Giacomo Antonio Perti, Bernardo Sabadini, Carlo Francesco Pollarolo and Domenico Gabrielli. His most popular works were L'incoronazione di Dario from 1684 and Tullo Ostilio from 1685, and the unfinished La pace fra Seleuco e Tolomeo from 1691.\n\nPublished and performed works\n1679: Candaule re di Lidia (reprinted 1680); performed in 1679 with music by Pietro Andrea Ziani, and in 1706 with music by Domenico Natale Sarro\n1682: Temistocle in bando, with music by Antonio Giannettini (reprinted 1698)\n1683: Falaride, tiranno d'Agrigento, music by Giovanni Battista Bassani\n1683: Apio Claudio; performed in 1693 with music by Giovanni Marco Martini\n1683: L'innocenza risorta, ovvero L'etio (reprinted 1686, 1693); performed with music by Pietro Andrea Ziani\n1684: L'incoronazione di Dario: 1684 performance with music by Domenico Freschi, 1686 performance with music by Giacomo Antonio Perti, 1705 performance with music by Giuseppe Antonio Vincenzo Aldrovandini, and 1717 performance in Venice with music by Antonio Vivaldi\n1685: Tullo Ostilio (reprinted 1694, 1702: reprinted 1695 as Alba soggiogata da Romani; reprinted in Vienna in 1740 as I tre difensori della patria); music by Marc'Antonio Ziani in 1685, by Giovanni Bononcini in 1694, by Giuseppe Vignola in 1707, and by Giovanni Battista Pescetti in 1729\n1686: La Teodora Augusta (reprinted 1687, 1693): performed with music by Alessandro Scarlatti in 1692 and by Giuseppe Vignola in 1709\n1686: Il Mauritio (reprinted 1687, 1692; reprinted 1694 as Tiberio in Bisanzio): music by Domenico Gabrielli (1686) and Francesco Maria Mannucci (1707)\n1688: Il Gordiano (reprinted 1700): music by Domenico Gabrielli\n1688: Carlo il grande, with music by Domenico Gabrielli\n1689: Augurio di felice prole\n1689: Amulio, e Numitore: performed with music by Giuseppe Felice Tosi\n1690: Il Pirro e Demetrio, with music by Giuseppe Felice Tosi in 1690 and by Alessandro Scarlatti in 1694; translated in English as Pyrrhus and Demetrius by Owen Swiny (1709, reprinted 1716)\n1690: L'incoronazione di Serse, with music by Giuseppe Felice Tosi\n1691: La pace fra Seleuco e Tolomeo, music by Bernardo Sabadini with additional texts by Aurelio Aureli; another 1691 performance with music by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo and additional text by Pierre Corneille; 1720 performance with music by Francesco Gasparini, additional texts by Andrea Trabucco\n1692: L'Ibraim sultano, music by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, additional text by Jean Racine\n\nNotes\n\nYear of birth unknown\nYear of death unknown\nItalian opera librettists"
] |
[
"Bill James",
"The Bill James Baseball Abstracts",
"What were the Baseball Abstracts?",
"Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study",
"When was it printed?",
"The Bill James Baseball Abstract beginning in 1977.",
"What were some of the categories in it?",
"James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News.",
"how many copies have been sold?",
"Seventy-five people purchased the booklet.",
"Has it been reprinted?",
"The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies."
] |
C_008ff753407048469595dfcfca02e9c3_1
|
How much do they go for now?
| 6 |
How much do the Bill James Baseball Abstracts go for now?
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Bill James
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An aspiring writer and obsessive fan, James began writing baseball articles after leaving the United States Army in his mid-twenties. Many of his first baseball writings came while he was doing night shifts as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp's pork and beans cannery. Unlike most writers, his pieces did not recount games in epic terms or offer insights gleaned from interviews with players. A typical James piece posed a question (e.g., "Which pitchers and catchers allow runners to steal the most bases?"), and then presented data and analysis written in a lively, insightful, and witty style that offered an answer. Editors considered James's pieces so unusual that few believed them suitable for their readers. In an effort to reach a wider audience, James began self-publishing an annual book titled The Bill James Baseball Abstract beginning in 1977. The first edition, titled 1977 Baseball Abstract: Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News. Seventy-five people purchased the booklet. The 1978 edition, subtitled The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies. Beginning in 1979, James wrote an annual preview of the baseball season for Esquire, and continued to do so through 1984. The first three editions of the Baseball Abstract garnered respect for James's work, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated. New annual editions added essays on teams and players. By 1982 sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions. While writers had published books about baseball statistics before (most notably Earnshaw Cook's Percentage Baseball, in the 1960s), few had ever reached a mass audience. Attempts to imitate James's work spawned a flood of books and articles that continues to this day. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics. His approach, which he termed sabermetrics in reference to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), scientifically analyzes and studies baseball, often through the use of statistical data, in an attempt to determine why teams win and lose.
In 2006, Time named him in the Time 100 as one of the most influential people in the world. In 2003, James was hired as senior advisor on Baseball Operations for the Boston Red Sox and worked for the team for 17 years during which they won four World Series championships.
Early life
James was born in Holton, Kansas; his mother died in 1954 when he was five. His father was a janitor and a handyman. After four years at the University of Kansas (KU) residing at Stephenson Scholarship hall, James joined the Army in 1971. He was the last person in Kansas to be sent to fight in the Vietnam War, although he never saw action there. Instead, he spent two years stationed in South Korea, during which time he wrote to KU about taking his final class. He was told he actually had met all his graduation requirements, so he returned to Lawrence in 1973 with degrees in English and economics. He also finished an Education degree in 1975, likewise from the University of Kansas.
Career
The Bill James Baseball Abstracts
An aspiring writer and obsessive fan, James began writing baseball articles after leaving the United States Army in his mid-twenties. Many of his first baseball writings came while he was doing night shifts as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp's pork and beans cannery. Unlike most writers, his pieces did not recount games in epic terms or offer insights gleaned from interviews with players. A typical James piece posed a question (e.g., "Which pitchers and catchers allow runners to steal the most bases?"), and then presented data and analysis that offered an answer.
Editors considered James's pieces so unusual that few believed them suitable for their readers. In an effort to reach a wider audience, James began self-publishing an annual book titled The Bill James Baseball Abstract, beginning in 1977. The first edition, titled 1977 Baseball Abstract: Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News. Seventy-five people purchased the booklet. The 1978 edition, subtitled The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies. Beginning in 1979, James wrote an annual preview of the baseball season for Esquire, and continued to do so through 1984.
The first three editions of the Baseball Abstract garnered respect for James's work, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated. New annual editions added essays on teams and players. By 1982 sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions.
While writers had published books about baseball statistics before (most notably Earnshaw Cook's Percentage Baseball, in the 1960s), few had ever reached a mass audience. Attempts to imitate James's work spawned a flood of books and articles that continues to this day.
Post-Abstracts work
In 1988, James ceased writing the Abstract, citing workload-related burnout and concern about the volume of statistics on the market. He has continued to publish hardcover books about baseball history, which have sold well and received admiring reviews. These books include three editions of The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (1985, 1988, 2001, the last entitled The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract).
James has also written several series of new annuals:
The Baseball Book (1990–1992) was a loosely organized collection of commentary, profiles, historical articles, and occasional pieces of research. James's assistant Rob Neyer was responsible for much of the research, and wrote several short pieces. Neyer went on to become a featured baseball columnist at ESPN and SB Nation.
The Player Ratings Book (1993–95) offered statistics and 50-word profiles aimed at the fantasy baseball enthusiast.
The Bill James Handbook (2003–present) provides past-season statistics and next-season projections for Major League players and teams, and career data for all current Major League players. Results for the Fielding Bible Awards, an alternative to the Gold Glove Awards voted on by a 10-person panel that includes James, are also included.
The Bill James Gold Mine (2008–2010) was a collection of new essays and never-before-seen statistics, as well as profiles of players and teams.
Playing off the name of the earlier series, Solid Fool's Gold: Detours on the Way to Conventional Wisdom (2011) was a mixed collection of both baseball-related and miscellaneous pieces, culled from the Bill James Online archives (see below).
In 2008, James launched Bill James Online. Subscribers can read James's new, original writing and interact with one another —- as well as with James —- in a question-and-answer format. The web site also offers new "profiles" of teams and players full of facts and statistics that hope to one day map what James has termed "the lost island of baseball statistics."
STATS, Inc.
In an essay published in the 1984 Abstract, James vented his frustration about Major League Baseball's refusal to publish play-by-play accounts of every game. James proposed the creation of Project Scoresheet, a network of fans that would work together to collect and distribute this information.
While the resulting non-profit organization never functioned smoothly, it worked well enough to collect accounts of every game from 1984 through 1991. James's publisher agreed to distribute two annuals of essays and data – the 1987 and 1988 editions of Bill James Presents The Great American Baseball Statbook (though only the first of these featured writing by James).
The organization was eventually disbanded, but many of its members went on to form for-profit companies with similar goals and structure. STATS, Inc., the company James joined, provided data and analysis to every major media outlet before being acquired by Fox Sports in 2001.
Innovations
Among the statistical innovations attributable to James are:
Runs created. A statistic intended to quantify a player's contribution to runs scored, as well as a team's expected number of runs scored. Runs created is calculated from other offensive statistics. James's first version of it was:
Applied to an entire team or league, the statistic correlates closely (usually within 5%) to that team's or league's actual runs scored. Since James first created the statistic, sabermetricians have refined it to make it more accurate, and it is now used in many different variations.
Range factor. A statistic that quantifies the defensive contribution of a player, calculated in its simplest form as (A is an assist, PO is a putout):
The statistic is premised on the notion that the total number of outs that a player participates in is more relevant in evaluating his defensive play than the percentage of cleanly handled chances as calculated by the conventional statistic fielding percentage.
Defensive Efficiency Rating. A statistic that shows the percentage of balls in play a defense turns into an out. It is used to help determine a team's defensive ability. The formula is:
Win shares. A unifying statistic intended to allow the comparison of players at different positions, as well as players of different eras. Win Shares incorporates a variety of pitching, hitting and fielding statistics. One drawback of Win Shares is the difficulty of computing it.
Pythagorean Winning Percentage. A statistic explaining the relationship of wins and losses to runs scored and runs allowed. The statistic correlates closely to a team's actual winning percentage. Its simplest formula is:
Game score is a metric to determine the strength of a pitcher in any particular baseball game. It has since been improved by Tom Tango.
Major League Equivalency. A metric that uses minor league statistics to predict how a player is likely to perform at the major league level.
The Brock2 System. A system for projecting a player's performance over the remainder of his career based on past performance and the aging process.
Similarity scores. Scoring a player's statistical similarity to other players, providing a frame of reference for players of the distant past. Examples: Lou Gehrig comparable to Don Mattingly; Joe Jackson to Tony Oliva.
Secondary average. A statistic that attempts to measure a player's contribution to an offense in ways not reflected in batting average. Secondary averages tend to be similar to batting averages, but can vary wildly, from less than .100 to more than .500 in extreme cases. The formula is (ISO is isolated power):
Power/Speed Number. A statistic that attempts to consolidate the various "clubs" of players with impressive numbers of both home runs and stolen bases (e.g., the 30–30 club (Bobby Bonds was well known for being a member), the 40–40 club (Jose Canseco was the first to perform this feat), and even the 25–65 club (Joe Morgan in the '70s)). The formula is:
Approximate Value. A system of cutoffs designed to estimate the value a player contributed to various category groups (including his team) to study broad questions such as "how do players age over time".
"Temperature gauge" to determine how "hot" a player is, based on recent performance. The gauge has been used in NESN Red Sox telecasts and has provoked mixed reactions from critics.
Although James may be best known as an inventor of statistical tools, he has often written on the limitations of statistics and urged humility concerning their place amid other kinds of information about baseball. To James, context is paramount: he was among the first to emphasize the importance of adjusting traditional statistics for park factors and to stress the role of luck in a pitcher's win-loss record. Many of his statistical innovations are arguably less important than the underlying ideas. When he introduced the notion of secondary average, it was as a vehicle for the then-counterintuitive concept that batting average represents only a fraction of a player's offensive contribution. (The runs-created statistic plays a similar role vis-à-vis the traditional RBI.) Some of his contributions to the language of baseball, like the idea of the "defensive spectrum", border on being entirely non-statistical.
Acceptance and employment in mainstream baseball
Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane began applying sabermetric principles to running his low-budget team in the early 2000s, to notable effect, as chronicled in Michael Lewis' book Moneyball.
In 2003, James was hired by a former reader, John Henry, the new owner of the Boston Red Sox.
One point of controversy was in handling the relief pitching of the Red Sox. James had previously published analysis of the use of the closer in baseball, and had concluded that the traditional use of the closer both overrated the abilities of that individual and used him in suboptimal circumstances. He wrote that it is "far better to use your relief ace when the score is tied, even if that is the seventh inning, than in the ninth inning with a lead of two or more runs." The Red Sox in 2003 staffed their bullpen with several marginally talented relievers. Red Sox manager Grady Little was never fully comfortable with the setup, and designated unofficial closers and reshuffled roles after a bad outing. When Boston lost a number of games due to bullpen failures, Little reverted to a traditional closer approach and moved Byung-hyun Kim from being a starting pitcher to a closer. The Red Sox did not follow James's idea of a bullpen with no closer, but with consistent overall talent that would allow the responsibilities to be shared. Red Sox reliever Alan Embree thought the plan could have worked if the bullpen had not suffered injuries. During the 2004 regular season Keith Foulke was used primarily as a closer in the conventional model; however, Foulke's usage in the 2004 postseason was along the lines of a relief ace with multiple inning appearances at pivotal times of the game. Houston Astros manager Phil Garner also employed a relief ace model with his use of Brad Lidge in the 2004 postseason.
During his tenure with the Red Sox, James published several new sabermetric books (see #Bibliography below). Indeed, although James was typically tight-lipped about his activities on behalf of the Red Sox, he is credited with advocating some of the moves that led to the team's first World Series championship in 86 years, including the signing of non-tendered free agent David Ortiz, the trade for Mark Bellhorn, and the team's increased emphasis on on-base percentage.
After the Red Sox suffered through a disastrous 2012 season, Henry stated that James had fallen "out of favor [in the front office] over the last few years for reasons I really don't understand. We've gotten him more involved recently in the central process and that will help greatly."
On October 24, 2019, James announced his retirement from the Red Sox, saying that he had "fallen out of step with the organization" and added that he hadn't earned his paycheck with the Red Sox for the last couple of years. During his time with the team, Bill James received four World Series rings for the team's 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018 World Series titles.
In culture
Michael Lewis, in his 2003 book Moneyball, dedicates a chapter to James's career and sabermetrics as background for his portrayal of Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics' unlikely success.
James was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals in 2007.
James was profiled on 60 Minutes on March 30, 2008, in his role as a sabermetric pioneer and Red Sox advisor. In 2010, he was inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame.
James made a guest appearance on The Simpsons 2010 episode "MoneyBART". He claimed "I've made baseball as fun as doing your taxes."
Steven Soderbergh's planned film adaptation of Moneyball would have featured an animated version of James as a "host". This script was discarded when director Bennett Miller and writer Aaron Sorkin succeeded Soderbergh on the project. Ultimately, the 2011 film mentions James several times. His bio is briefly recapped, and Billy Beane is depicted telling John Henry that Henry's hiring of James is the reason Beane is interested in the Red Sox general manager job.
Controversies
Dowd Report controversy
In his Baseball Book 1990, James heavily criticized the methodology of the Dowd Report, which was an investigation (commissioned by baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti) on the gambling activities of Pete Rose. James reproached commissioner Giamatti and his successor, Fay Vincent, for their acceptance of the Dowd Report as the final word on Rose's gambling. (James's attitude on the matter surprised many fans, especially after the writer had been deeply critical of Rose in the past, especially what James considered to be Rose's selfish pursuit of Ty Cobb's all-time record for base hits.)
James expanded his defense of Rose in his 2001 book The New Historical Baseball Abstract, with a detailed explanation of why he found the case against Rose flimsy. James wrote "I would characterize the evidence that Rose bet on baseball as...well, not quite non-existent. It is extremely weak." This countered the popular opinion that the case against Rose was a slam dunk, and several critics claimed that James misstated some of the evidence in his defense of Rose. Derek Zumsteg of Baseball Prospectus wrote an exhaustive review of the case James made and concluded: "James' defense of Rose is filled with oversights, errors in judgment, failures in research, and is a great disservice to the many people who have looked to him for a balanced and fair take on this complicated and important issue."
In 2004, Rose admitted publicly that he had bet on baseball and confirmed the Dowd Report was correct. James remained steadfast, continuing to insist that the evidence available to Dowd at the time was insufficient to reach the conclusion that it did.
Paterno controversy
On November 4, 2011, Jerry Sandusky was indicted for committing sex crimes against young boys, which brought the Penn State child sex abuse scandal to national attention. On December 11, 2011, James published an article called "The Trial of Penn State", depicting an imaginary trial in which Penn State defended itself against charges of "acting rashly and irresponsibly in the matter of Joe Paterno, in such a manner that [they] defamed, libeled and slandered Paterno, unfairly demolishing his reputation."
On July 12, 2012, the Freeh report was released, charging Paterno and three other University officials with covering up reports of sexual assaults and enabling the attacker to prey on other children for more than a decade, often in Penn State facilities. Soon afterwards, during an interview on ESPN radio, James claimed that the Freeh report's characterizations of Paterno as a powerful figure were wrong, and that it was not Paterno's responsibility to report allegations of child molestation to the police. "[Paterno] had very few allies. He was isolated and he was not nearly as powerful as people imagine him to have been." When asked if he knew anyone who had showered with a boy they were not related to, James said it was a common practice when he was growing up. "That was actually quite common in the town I grew up in. That was quite common in America 40 years ago."
The July 2012 interview comments were widely criticized. Rob Neyer wrote in defense of James. James's employer, the Boston Red Sox, issued a statement disavowing the comments James made and saying that he had been asked not to make further public comments on the matter.
Personal life
James is a fan of the University of Kansas men's basketball team and has written about basketball. He has created a formula for what he calls a "safe lead" in the sport.
James has written two true crime books, Popular Crime: Reflections on the Celebration of Violence (2011) and The Man from the Train (2017), the latter with his daughter Rachel McCarthy James. In The Man From the Train, published in 2017, the Jameses attempt to link scores of murders of entire families in the early 20th century United States to a single perpetrator. Those murders include the Villisca axe murders. The Jameses propose a solution to the murders based on the signature elements these killings share in common with each other.
Bibliography
Bill James Baseball Abstract (annual editions published 1977–1988)
The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (1985; revised edition 1988)
This Time Let's Not Eat the Bones (1989) (selection of comments from Abstracts and articles)
The Bill James Baseball Book (annual editions published 1990–1992)
The Politics of Glory (1994) (revised as Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?),
The Bill James Player Ratings Book (annual editions published 1993–1996)
The Bill James Guide to Baseball Managers (1997)
Bill James Present STATS All-Time Major League Handbook (1998; 2nd ed. 2000)
Bill James Present STATS All-Time Major League Sourcebook (1998)
The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (2001)
Win Shares (2002)
Win Shares Digital Update (2002) (PDF form only)
The Bill James Handbook (annual editions published 2003–present)
The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers (2004, with co-author Rob Neyer)
The Bill James Gold Mine (annual editions published 2008–2010, , )
Popular Crime – Reflections on the Celebration of Violence (, published 2011)
Solid Fool's Gold (2011), (articles from Bill James Online website)
Fools Rush Inn (2014), (more articles from Bill James Online website)
The Man From the Train (2017),
Books about James
The Mind of Bill James (2006) ISBN
How Bill James Changed Our View of Baseball: by Colleagues, Critics, Competitors and Just Plain Fans (2007)
See also
Baseball Prospectus
Defensive spectrum
Keltner list
Similarity score
Win shares
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
Bill James Online –interactions with James through statistics, articles, conversations and more
Works of Bill James
Audio interview by Jesse Thorn, public radio program The Sound of Young America (April 29, 2008)
Chronister, Levi (April 25, 2004). "Grassroots Guru". Lawrence Journal-World (Lawrence, KS).
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part I, Baseball Digest
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part II
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part III
McGrath, Ben (July 14, 2003). "The Professor of Baseball". The New Yorker
Wall Street Journal profile
[ Does Bill James Belong in the Hall of Fame?]
– contrary to James
Schwarz, Alan (July 18, 2006). "25 For 25: Don Fehr, Peter Gammons, Pat Gillick, Bo Jackson, Bill James". 25 for 25: Stars in the Baseball America Universe. Baseball America.
Henry, John (May 8, 2006). "Scientists & Thinkers: Bill James". The 2006 Time 100. Time.
Surowiecki, James (June 10, 2003). "Moneyball Redux: Slate talks to the man who revolutionized baseball.". Slate.
Lederer, Bill (February 28, 2005). "Breakfast with Bill James". Baseball Analysts (baseballanalysts.com).
1949 births
Living people
American sportswriters
American statisticians
Baseball statisticians
Baseball writers
People from Holton, Kansas
United States Army soldiers
20th-century American writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
| false |
[
"Homeland is an album by Neal Morse. It is a piece that was written for a musical theater production in the early 1990s. Many of the musical themes from this production would later appear on some of the Spock's Beard albums. This is the twelfth release in the Neal Morse Inner Circle series.\n\nBand\n Neal Morse - Vocals, guitar, keyboards, piano, bass\n\nTrack listing\n \"Set up for Overture/Son of Mine\"\n \"Overture/Son of Mine\"\n \"Set up for Where Will I Go Now\"\n \"Where Will I Go Now\"\n \"Set up for Lord of the Flies\"\n \"Lord of the Flies\"\n \"Set up for Cut Throat Island/Mother\"\n \"Cut Throat Island\"\n \"Mother\"\n \"Set up for Haiti Rise\"\n \"Haiti Rise\"\n \"Set up for What Do They Know?\"\n \"What Do They Know?\"\n \"Set up for We Will Better the World\"\n \"We Will Better the World\"\n \"Set up for How Can You Love That Man?\"\n \"How Can You Love That Man?\"\n \"Set up for The Greatest of Them All\"\n \"The Greatest of Them All\"\n \"Set up for Rise Again\"\n \"Rise Again\"\n \"Set up for the End Of Homeland\"\n \"The End Of Homeland\"\n \"Rise Again Reprise\"\n \"End Talk\"\n\nNeal Morse albums\n2007 albums",
"Weyekin or wyakin is a Nez Perce word for a type of spiritual being. \n\nAccording to Lucullus Virgil McWhorter, everything in the world - animals, trees, rocks, etc. - possesses a consciousness. These spirits are thought to offer a link to the invisible world of spiritual power. These spirits are seen not as divine beings, but as mediators. \n\nTo receive a weyekin, a young person around the age of 12 to 15 would go to the mountains on a vision quest. The person about to go on this quest would be tutored by a \"renowned warrior, hunter, or medicine man,\" for boys, or for girls, \"an elderly woman of reputed power.\" Success had much to do with how they prepared their minds. Fasting for long periods of time, going without a fire, holding their spiritual retreat in a remote and \"awe inspiring\" location.\n\nNotes\n\nNez Perce tribe"
] |
[
"Bill James",
"The Bill James Baseball Abstracts",
"What were the Baseball Abstracts?",
"Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study",
"When was it printed?",
"The Bill James Baseball Abstract beginning in 1977.",
"What were some of the categories in it?",
"James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News.",
"how many copies have been sold?",
"Seventy-five people purchased the booklet.",
"Has it been reprinted?",
"The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies.",
"How much do they go for now?",
"I don't know."
] |
C_008ff753407048469595dfcfca02e9c3_1
|
What other information was in the Baseball Abstracts?
| 7 |
Besides Jame's 18 categories of statistical information and his study of box scores, what other information was in the Bill James Baseball Abstracts?
|
Bill James
|
An aspiring writer and obsessive fan, James began writing baseball articles after leaving the United States Army in his mid-twenties. Many of his first baseball writings came while he was doing night shifts as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp's pork and beans cannery. Unlike most writers, his pieces did not recount games in epic terms or offer insights gleaned from interviews with players. A typical James piece posed a question (e.g., "Which pitchers and catchers allow runners to steal the most bases?"), and then presented data and analysis written in a lively, insightful, and witty style that offered an answer. Editors considered James's pieces so unusual that few believed them suitable for their readers. In an effort to reach a wider audience, James began self-publishing an annual book titled The Bill James Baseball Abstract beginning in 1977. The first edition, titled 1977 Baseball Abstract: Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News. Seventy-five people purchased the booklet. The 1978 edition, subtitled The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies. Beginning in 1979, James wrote an annual preview of the baseball season for Esquire, and continued to do so through 1984. The first three editions of the Baseball Abstract garnered respect for James's work, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated. New annual editions added essays on teams and players. By 1982 sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions. While writers had published books about baseball statistics before (most notably Earnshaw Cook's Percentage Baseball, in the 1960s), few had ever reached a mass audience. Attempts to imitate James's work spawned a flood of books and articles that continues to this day. CANNOTANSWER
|
The first three editions of the Baseball Abstract garnered respect for James's work, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated.
|
George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics. His approach, which he termed sabermetrics in reference to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), scientifically analyzes and studies baseball, often through the use of statistical data, in an attempt to determine why teams win and lose.
In 2006, Time named him in the Time 100 as one of the most influential people in the world. In 2003, James was hired as senior advisor on Baseball Operations for the Boston Red Sox and worked for the team for 17 years during which they won four World Series championships.
Early life
James was born in Holton, Kansas; his mother died in 1954 when he was five. His father was a janitor and a handyman. After four years at the University of Kansas (KU) residing at Stephenson Scholarship hall, James joined the Army in 1971. He was the last person in Kansas to be sent to fight in the Vietnam War, although he never saw action there. Instead, he spent two years stationed in South Korea, during which time he wrote to KU about taking his final class. He was told he actually had met all his graduation requirements, so he returned to Lawrence in 1973 with degrees in English and economics. He also finished an Education degree in 1975, likewise from the University of Kansas.
Career
The Bill James Baseball Abstracts
An aspiring writer and obsessive fan, James began writing baseball articles after leaving the United States Army in his mid-twenties. Many of his first baseball writings came while he was doing night shifts as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp's pork and beans cannery. Unlike most writers, his pieces did not recount games in epic terms or offer insights gleaned from interviews with players. A typical James piece posed a question (e.g., "Which pitchers and catchers allow runners to steal the most bases?"), and then presented data and analysis that offered an answer.
Editors considered James's pieces so unusual that few believed them suitable for their readers. In an effort to reach a wider audience, James began self-publishing an annual book titled The Bill James Baseball Abstract, beginning in 1977. The first edition, titled 1977 Baseball Abstract: Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News. Seventy-five people purchased the booklet. The 1978 edition, subtitled The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies. Beginning in 1979, James wrote an annual preview of the baseball season for Esquire, and continued to do so through 1984.
The first three editions of the Baseball Abstract garnered respect for James's work, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated. New annual editions added essays on teams and players. By 1982 sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions.
While writers had published books about baseball statistics before (most notably Earnshaw Cook's Percentage Baseball, in the 1960s), few had ever reached a mass audience. Attempts to imitate James's work spawned a flood of books and articles that continues to this day.
Post-Abstracts work
In 1988, James ceased writing the Abstract, citing workload-related burnout and concern about the volume of statistics on the market. He has continued to publish hardcover books about baseball history, which have sold well and received admiring reviews. These books include three editions of The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (1985, 1988, 2001, the last entitled The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract).
James has also written several series of new annuals:
The Baseball Book (1990–1992) was a loosely organized collection of commentary, profiles, historical articles, and occasional pieces of research. James's assistant Rob Neyer was responsible for much of the research, and wrote several short pieces. Neyer went on to become a featured baseball columnist at ESPN and SB Nation.
The Player Ratings Book (1993–95) offered statistics and 50-word profiles aimed at the fantasy baseball enthusiast.
The Bill James Handbook (2003–present) provides past-season statistics and next-season projections for Major League players and teams, and career data for all current Major League players. Results for the Fielding Bible Awards, an alternative to the Gold Glove Awards voted on by a 10-person panel that includes James, are also included.
The Bill James Gold Mine (2008–2010) was a collection of new essays and never-before-seen statistics, as well as profiles of players and teams.
Playing off the name of the earlier series, Solid Fool's Gold: Detours on the Way to Conventional Wisdom (2011) was a mixed collection of both baseball-related and miscellaneous pieces, culled from the Bill James Online archives (see below).
In 2008, James launched Bill James Online. Subscribers can read James's new, original writing and interact with one another —- as well as with James —- in a question-and-answer format. The web site also offers new "profiles" of teams and players full of facts and statistics that hope to one day map what James has termed "the lost island of baseball statistics."
STATS, Inc.
In an essay published in the 1984 Abstract, James vented his frustration about Major League Baseball's refusal to publish play-by-play accounts of every game. James proposed the creation of Project Scoresheet, a network of fans that would work together to collect and distribute this information.
While the resulting non-profit organization never functioned smoothly, it worked well enough to collect accounts of every game from 1984 through 1991. James's publisher agreed to distribute two annuals of essays and data – the 1987 and 1988 editions of Bill James Presents The Great American Baseball Statbook (though only the first of these featured writing by James).
The organization was eventually disbanded, but many of its members went on to form for-profit companies with similar goals and structure. STATS, Inc., the company James joined, provided data and analysis to every major media outlet before being acquired by Fox Sports in 2001.
Innovations
Among the statistical innovations attributable to James are:
Runs created. A statistic intended to quantify a player's contribution to runs scored, as well as a team's expected number of runs scored. Runs created is calculated from other offensive statistics. James's first version of it was:
Applied to an entire team or league, the statistic correlates closely (usually within 5%) to that team's or league's actual runs scored. Since James first created the statistic, sabermetricians have refined it to make it more accurate, and it is now used in many different variations.
Range factor. A statistic that quantifies the defensive contribution of a player, calculated in its simplest form as (A is an assist, PO is a putout):
The statistic is premised on the notion that the total number of outs that a player participates in is more relevant in evaluating his defensive play than the percentage of cleanly handled chances as calculated by the conventional statistic fielding percentage.
Defensive Efficiency Rating. A statistic that shows the percentage of balls in play a defense turns into an out. It is used to help determine a team's defensive ability. The formula is:
Win shares. A unifying statistic intended to allow the comparison of players at different positions, as well as players of different eras. Win Shares incorporates a variety of pitching, hitting and fielding statistics. One drawback of Win Shares is the difficulty of computing it.
Pythagorean Winning Percentage. A statistic explaining the relationship of wins and losses to runs scored and runs allowed. The statistic correlates closely to a team's actual winning percentage. Its simplest formula is:
Game score is a metric to determine the strength of a pitcher in any particular baseball game. It has since been improved by Tom Tango.
Major League Equivalency. A metric that uses minor league statistics to predict how a player is likely to perform at the major league level.
The Brock2 System. A system for projecting a player's performance over the remainder of his career based on past performance and the aging process.
Similarity scores. Scoring a player's statistical similarity to other players, providing a frame of reference for players of the distant past. Examples: Lou Gehrig comparable to Don Mattingly; Joe Jackson to Tony Oliva.
Secondary average. A statistic that attempts to measure a player's contribution to an offense in ways not reflected in batting average. Secondary averages tend to be similar to batting averages, but can vary wildly, from less than .100 to more than .500 in extreme cases. The formula is (ISO is isolated power):
Power/Speed Number. A statistic that attempts to consolidate the various "clubs" of players with impressive numbers of both home runs and stolen bases (e.g., the 30–30 club (Bobby Bonds was well known for being a member), the 40–40 club (Jose Canseco was the first to perform this feat), and even the 25–65 club (Joe Morgan in the '70s)). The formula is:
Approximate Value. A system of cutoffs designed to estimate the value a player contributed to various category groups (including his team) to study broad questions such as "how do players age over time".
"Temperature gauge" to determine how "hot" a player is, based on recent performance. The gauge has been used in NESN Red Sox telecasts and has provoked mixed reactions from critics.
Although James may be best known as an inventor of statistical tools, he has often written on the limitations of statistics and urged humility concerning their place amid other kinds of information about baseball. To James, context is paramount: he was among the first to emphasize the importance of adjusting traditional statistics for park factors and to stress the role of luck in a pitcher's win-loss record. Many of his statistical innovations are arguably less important than the underlying ideas. When he introduced the notion of secondary average, it was as a vehicle for the then-counterintuitive concept that batting average represents only a fraction of a player's offensive contribution. (The runs-created statistic plays a similar role vis-à-vis the traditional RBI.) Some of his contributions to the language of baseball, like the idea of the "defensive spectrum", border on being entirely non-statistical.
Acceptance and employment in mainstream baseball
Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane began applying sabermetric principles to running his low-budget team in the early 2000s, to notable effect, as chronicled in Michael Lewis' book Moneyball.
In 2003, James was hired by a former reader, John Henry, the new owner of the Boston Red Sox.
One point of controversy was in handling the relief pitching of the Red Sox. James had previously published analysis of the use of the closer in baseball, and had concluded that the traditional use of the closer both overrated the abilities of that individual and used him in suboptimal circumstances. He wrote that it is "far better to use your relief ace when the score is tied, even if that is the seventh inning, than in the ninth inning with a lead of two or more runs." The Red Sox in 2003 staffed their bullpen with several marginally talented relievers. Red Sox manager Grady Little was never fully comfortable with the setup, and designated unofficial closers and reshuffled roles after a bad outing. When Boston lost a number of games due to bullpen failures, Little reverted to a traditional closer approach and moved Byung-hyun Kim from being a starting pitcher to a closer. The Red Sox did not follow James's idea of a bullpen with no closer, but with consistent overall talent that would allow the responsibilities to be shared. Red Sox reliever Alan Embree thought the plan could have worked if the bullpen had not suffered injuries. During the 2004 regular season Keith Foulke was used primarily as a closer in the conventional model; however, Foulke's usage in the 2004 postseason was along the lines of a relief ace with multiple inning appearances at pivotal times of the game. Houston Astros manager Phil Garner also employed a relief ace model with his use of Brad Lidge in the 2004 postseason.
During his tenure with the Red Sox, James published several new sabermetric books (see #Bibliography below). Indeed, although James was typically tight-lipped about his activities on behalf of the Red Sox, he is credited with advocating some of the moves that led to the team's first World Series championship in 86 years, including the signing of non-tendered free agent David Ortiz, the trade for Mark Bellhorn, and the team's increased emphasis on on-base percentage.
After the Red Sox suffered through a disastrous 2012 season, Henry stated that James had fallen "out of favor [in the front office] over the last few years for reasons I really don't understand. We've gotten him more involved recently in the central process and that will help greatly."
On October 24, 2019, James announced his retirement from the Red Sox, saying that he had "fallen out of step with the organization" and added that he hadn't earned his paycheck with the Red Sox for the last couple of years. During his time with the team, Bill James received four World Series rings for the team's 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018 World Series titles.
In culture
Michael Lewis, in his 2003 book Moneyball, dedicates a chapter to James's career and sabermetrics as background for his portrayal of Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics' unlikely success.
James was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals in 2007.
James was profiled on 60 Minutes on March 30, 2008, in his role as a sabermetric pioneer and Red Sox advisor. In 2010, he was inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame.
James made a guest appearance on The Simpsons 2010 episode "MoneyBART". He claimed "I've made baseball as fun as doing your taxes."
Steven Soderbergh's planned film adaptation of Moneyball would have featured an animated version of James as a "host". This script was discarded when director Bennett Miller and writer Aaron Sorkin succeeded Soderbergh on the project. Ultimately, the 2011 film mentions James several times. His bio is briefly recapped, and Billy Beane is depicted telling John Henry that Henry's hiring of James is the reason Beane is interested in the Red Sox general manager job.
Controversies
Dowd Report controversy
In his Baseball Book 1990, James heavily criticized the methodology of the Dowd Report, which was an investigation (commissioned by baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti) on the gambling activities of Pete Rose. James reproached commissioner Giamatti and his successor, Fay Vincent, for their acceptance of the Dowd Report as the final word on Rose's gambling. (James's attitude on the matter surprised many fans, especially after the writer had been deeply critical of Rose in the past, especially what James considered to be Rose's selfish pursuit of Ty Cobb's all-time record for base hits.)
James expanded his defense of Rose in his 2001 book The New Historical Baseball Abstract, with a detailed explanation of why he found the case against Rose flimsy. James wrote "I would characterize the evidence that Rose bet on baseball as...well, not quite non-existent. It is extremely weak." This countered the popular opinion that the case against Rose was a slam dunk, and several critics claimed that James misstated some of the evidence in his defense of Rose. Derek Zumsteg of Baseball Prospectus wrote an exhaustive review of the case James made and concluded: "James' defense of Rose is filled with oversights, errors in judgment, failures in research, and is a great disservice to the many people who have looked to him for a balanced and fair take on this complicated and important issue."
In 2004, Rose admitted publicly that he had bet on baseball and confirmed the Dowd Report was correct. James remained steadfast, continuing to insist that the evidence available to Dowd at the time was insufficient to reach the conclusion that it did.
Paterno controversy
On November 4, 2011, Jerry Sandusky was indicted for committing sex crimes against young boys, which brought the Penn State child sex abuse scandal to national attention. On December 11, 2011, James published an article called "The Trial of Penn State", depicting an imaginary trial in which Penn State defended itself against charges of "acting rashly and irresponsibly in the matter of Joe Paterno, in such a manner that [they] defamed, libeled and slandered Paterno, unfairly demolishing his reputation."
On July 12, 2012, the Freeh report was released, charging Paterno and three other University officials with covering up reports of sexual assaults and enabling the attacker to prey on other children for more than a decade, often in Penn State facilities. Soon afterwards, during an interview on ESPN radio, James claimed that the Freeh report's characterizations of Paterno as a powerful figure were wrong, and that it was not Paterno's responsibility to report allegations of child molestation to the police. "[Paterno] had very few allies. He was isolated and he was not nearly as powerful as people imagine him to have been." When asked if he knew anyone who had showered with a boy they were not related to, James said it was a common practice when he was growing up. "That was actually quite common in the town I grew up in. That was quite common in America 40 years ago."
The July 2012 interview comments were widely criticized. Rob Neyer wrote in defense of James. James's employer, the Boston Red Sox, issued a statement disavowing the comments James made and saying that he had been asked not to make further public comments on the matter.
Personal life
James is a fan of the University of Kansas men's basketball team and has written about basketball. He has created a formula for what he calls a "safe lead" in the sport.
James has written two true crime books, Popular Crime: Reflections on the Celebration of Violence (2011) and The Man from the Train (2017), the latter with his daughter Rachel McCarthy James. In The Man From the Train, published in 2017, the Jameses attempt to link scores of murders of entire families in the early 20th century United States to a single perpetrator. Those murders include the Villisca axe murders. The Jameses propose a solution to the murders based on the signature elements these killings share in common with each other.
Bibliography
Bill James Baseball Abstract (annual editions published 1977–1988)
The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (1985; revised edition 1988)
This Time Let's Not Eat the Bones (1989) (selection of comments from Abstracts and articles)
The Bill James Baseball Book (annual editions published 1990–1992)
The Politics of Glory (1994) (revised as Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?),
The Bill James Player Ratings Book (annual editions published 1993–1996)
The Bill James Guide to Baseball Managers (1997)
Bill James Present STATS All-Time Major League Handbook (1998; 2nd ed. 2000)
Bill James Present STATS All-Time Major League Sourcebook (1998)
The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (2001)
Win Shares (2002)
Win Shares Digital Update (2002) (PDF form only)
The Bill James Handbook (annual editions published 2003–present)
The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers (2004, with co-author Rob Neyer)
The Bill James Gold Mine (annual editions published 2008–2010, , )
Popular Crime – Reflections on the Celebration of Violence (, published 2011)
Solid Fool's Gold (2011), (articles from Bill James Online website)
Fools Rush Inn (2014), (more articles from Bill James Online website)
The Man From the Train (2017),
Books about James
The Mind of Bill James (2006) ISBN
How Bill James Changed Our View of Baseball: by Colleagues, Critics, Competitors and Just Plain Fans (2007)
See also
Baseball Prospectus
Defensive spectrum
Keltner list
Similarity score
Win shares
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
Bill James Online –interactions with James through statistics, articles, conversations and more
Works of Bill James
Audio interview by Jesse Thorn, public radio program The Sound of Young America (April 29, 2008)
Chronister, Levi (April 25, 2004). "Grassroots Guru". Lawrence Journal-World (Lawrence, KS).
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part I, Baseball Digest
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part II
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part III
McGrath, Ben (July 14, 2003). "The Professor of Baseball". The New Yorker
Wall Street Journal profile
[ Does Bill James Belong in the Hall of Fame?]
– contrary to James
Schwarz, Alan (July 18, 2006). "25 For 25: Don Fehr, Peter Gammons, Pat Gillick, Bo Jackson, Bill James". 25 for 25: Stars in the Baseball America Universe. Baseball America.
Henry, John (May 8, 2006). "Scientists & Thinkers: Bill James". The 2006 Time 100. Time.
Surowiecki, James (June 10, 2003). "Moneyball Redux: Slate talks to the man who revolutionized baseball.". Slate.
Lederer, Bill (February 28, 2005). "Breakfast with Bill James". Baseball Analysts (baseballanalysts.com).
1949 births
Living people
American sportswriters
American statisticians
Baseball statisticians
Baseball writers
People from Holton, Kansas
United States Army soldiers
20th-century American writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
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The sample journals include Annual Review of Financial Economics, Aslib Journal of Information Management, Australian Journal of Management and, International Journal of Management, Economics and Social Sciences.\n\nInspec was started in 1967 as an outgrowth of the Science Abstracts service. The electronic records were distributed on magnetic tape. In the 1980s, it was available in the U.S. through the Knowledge Index, a low-priced dial-up version of the Dialog service for individual users, which made it popular. For nearly 50 years, the IET has employed scientists to manually review items to be included in Inspec, hand-indexing the literature using their own expertise of the subject area and make a judgement call about which terms and classification codes should be applied. Thanks to this work, a significant thesaurus has been developed which enables content to be indexed far more accurately and in context, which in turn helps end-users discover relevant literature that may otherwise have remained hidden from typical search queries, making Inspec an essential tool for prior art, patentability searches and patent drafting. \n \nAccess to Inspec is currently by the Internet through Inspec Direct and various resellers.\n\nPrint counterparts\nInspec has several print counterparts:\n\n Computer and Control Abstracts ()\n Electrical and Electronics Abstracts ()\n Physics Abstracts ()\n Science Abstracts\n Electrical engineering Abstracts* Electronics Abstracts \n Control theory Abstracts \n Information technology Abstracts \n Physics Indexes \n Electrical engineering Indexes \n Electronics Indexes \n Control theory Indexes \n Information technology Indexes\n Business automation Abstracts (Journals featuring management, economics and Social Sciences; organizations; management information systems related research)\n\nComputer and Control Abstracts\nComputer and Control Abstracts ( Frequency: 12 per year) covers computers and computing, and information technology.\n\nElectrical and Electronics Abstracts\nElectrical and Electronics Abstracts ( Frequency: 12 per year) covers all topics in telecommunications, electronics, radio, electrical power and optoelectronics. Printed indexes by subject, author and other indexes, and a subject guide are produced twice per year.\n\nPhysics Abstracts\nPhysics Abstracts ( Frequency: 24 per year) is an abstracting and indexing service first published by the Institution of Electrical Engineers. It was first circulated as Science Abstracts, volume 1 through volume 5 from 1898 to 1902. From 1903 to 1971 the database had different titles. These closely related names were Science Abstracts. Section A, Physics and Science Abstracts. Section A, Physics Abstracts from volume 6 to volume 74.\n\nBy 1972 other societies were associated as authors of this service such as the American Institute of Physics. In 1975 or 1976 the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers also became an author. By 1980 this database was also issued as INSPEC-Physics on various formats. It was also available as part of INSPEC database. Presently it is part of Inspec, Section A - Physics database. At the same time, the Physics Abstracts title was employed throughout the 1990s.\n\nNotable editor\nThe science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, with a B.S. degree (physics and mathematics honors) (King's college), was an assistant editor for Physics Abstracts from 1949–1951. This position allowed Clarke to access to \"all of the world's leading scientific journals.\"\n\nScience Abstracts\nThe first issue of Science Abstracts was published in January 1898. During that first year, a total of 1,423 abstracts were published at monthly intervals, and at the end of the year an author and subject index were added. The first issue contained 110 abstracts and was divided into 10 sections:\n\n General Physics\n Light\n Heat\n Sound\n Electricity\n Electrochemistry and Chemical Physics\n General Electrical Engineering\n Dynamos, Electric Motors and Transformers\n Power Distribution, Traction and Lighting\n Telegraphy and Telephony\n\nScience Abstracts was the result of a joint collaboration between the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) and The Physical Society of London. The publication was (at that time) provided without charge to all members of both societies. The cost of the publication was mainly borne by the IEE and The Physical Society. Financial contributions were also received from the Institution of Civil Engineers, The Royal Society and the British Association for the Advancement of Science\n\nBy 1902, the annual number of abstracts published had increased to 2,362. By May 1903 it was decided to split the publication into two parts: A (Physics) and B (Electrical Engineering). This decision allowed the subject's scope to widen, particularly in physics. As a result, this allowed a larger quantity of material to be covered.\n\nSince 1967, electronic access to Science Abstracts has been provided by INSPEC.\n\nSee also\nList of academic databases and search engines\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n PACC Physics Abstracts Classification and Contents.\n 1993 to 2008 Physics Abstracts - Series A: Science Abstracts. Absolute Backorder Service, Inc. 2011.\nInspec page at the Institution of Engineering and Technology\n Inspec Direct page\n The History of Science Abstracts and Inspec\n Memoirs of Science Abstracts editorial staff —Arthur C. Clarke\n\nBibliographic databases in engineering\nOnline databases\nMathematical databases\nPublications established in 1898\nInstitution of Engineering and Technology",
"Biological Abstracts is a database produced by Clarivate Analytics. It includes abstracts from peer-reviewed academic journal articles in the fields of biology, biochemistry, biotechnology, botany, pre-clinical and experimental medicine, pharmacology, zoology, agriculture, and veterinary medicine, and has been published since 1926.\n\nIt can be accessed through a number of services, including EBSCO, Ovid and Web of Science.\n\nHistory\nThe service began as a print publication in 1926, when it was formed by the union of Abstracts of Bacteriology (1917–1925), and Botanical Abstracts (1919–1926), both published in Baltimore by Williams and Wilkins. It was published in paperback subject sections, with abstracts usually written by scientists in the US, as a great many articles from that period were in other languages. At the time of founding, it was in competition with the classified indexing service of the Concilium Bibliographicum in Zurich.\n\nThe first online version was published on magnetic tape; it contained only the bibliographic information, not the text of the abstracts, and was intended as a rapid alerting service.\n\nSee also \n List of academic databases and search engines\n Lists of academic journals\n List of open-access journals\n List of scientific journals\n Google Scholar\n\nReferences\n\nOther references\n\nExternal links\n\nClarivate\nBibliographic databases and indexes\nOnline databases"
] |
[
"Bill James",
"The Bill James Baseball Abstracts",
"What were the Baseball Abstracts?",
"Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study",
"When was it printed?",
"The Bill James Baseball Abstract beginning in 1977.",
"What were some of the categories in it?",
"James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News.",
"how many copies have been sold?",
"Seventy-five people purchased the booklet.",
"Has it been reprinted?",
"The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies.",
"How much do they go for now?",
"I don't know.",
"What other information was in the Baseball Abstracts?",
"The first three editions of the Baseball Abstract garnered respect for James's work, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated."
] |
C_008ff753407048469595dfcfca02e9c3_1
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How many editions were there?
| 8 |
How many editions of the Bill James Baseball Abstracts were there?
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Bill James
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An aspiring writer and obsessive fan, James began writing baseball articles after leaving the United States Army in his mid-twenties. Many of his first baseball writings came while he was doing night shifts as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp's pork and beans cannery. Unlike most writers, his pieces did not recount games in epic terms or offer insights gleaned from interviews with players. A typical James piece posed a question (e.g., "Which pitchers and catchers allow runners to steal the most bases?"), and then presented data and analysis written in a lively, insightful, and witty style that offered an answer. Editors considered James's pieces so unusual that few believed them suitable for their readers. In an effort to reach a wider audience, James began self-publishing an annual book titled The Bill James Baseball Abstract beginning in 1977. The first edition, titled 1977 Baseball Abstract: Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News. Seventy-five people purchased the booklet. The 1978 edition, subtitled The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies. Beginning in 1979, James wrote an annual preview of the baseball season for Esquire, and continued to do so through 1984. The first three editions of the Baseball Abstract garnered respect for James's work, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated. New annual editions added essays on teams and players. By 1982 sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions. While writers had published books about baseball statistics before (most notably Earnshaw Cook's Percentage Baseball, in the 1960s), few had ever reached a mass audience. Attempts to imitate James's work spawned a flood of books and articles that continues to this day. CANNOTANSWER
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New annual editions added essays on teams and players. By 1982 sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions.
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George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics. His approach, which he termed sabermetrics in reference to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), scientifically analyzes and studies baseball, often through the use of statistical data, in an attempt to determine why teams win and lose.
In 2006, Time named him in the Time 100 as one of the most influential people in the world. In 2003, James was hired as senior advisor on Baseball Operations for the Boston Red Sox and worked for the team for 17 years during which they won four World Series championships.
Early life
James was born in Holton, Kansas; his mother died in 1954 when he was five. His father was a janitor and a handyman. After four years at the University of Kansas (KU) residing at Stephenson Scholarship hall, James joined the Army in 1971. He was the last person in Kansas to be sent to fight in the Vietnam War, although he never saw action there. Instead, he spent two years stationed in South Korea, during which time he wrote to KU about taking his final class. He was told he actually had met all his graduation requirements, so he returned to Lawrence in 1973 with degrees in English and economics. He also finished an Education degree in 1975, likewise from the University of Kansas.
Career
The Bill James Baseball Abstracts
An aspiring writer and obsessive fan, James began writing baseball articles after leaving the United States Army in his mid-twenties. Many of his first baseball writings came while he was doing night shifts as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp's pork and beans cannery. Unlike most writers, his pieces did not recount games in epic terms or offer insights gleaned from interviews with players. A typical James piece posed a question (e.g., "Which pitchers and catchers allow runners to steal the most bases?"), and then presented data and analysis that offered an answer.
Editors considered James's pieces so unusual that few believed them suitable for their readers. In an effort to reach a wider audience, James began self-publishing an annual book titled The Bill James Baseball Abstract, beginning in 1977. The first edition, titled 1977 Baseball Abstract: Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News. Seventy-five people purchased the booklet. The 1978 edition, subtitled The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies. Beginning in 1979, James wrote an annual preview of the baseball season for Esquire, and continued to do so through 1984.
The first three editions of the Baseball Abstract garnered respect for James's work, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated. New annual editions added essays on teams and players. By 1982 sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions.
While writers had published books about baseball statistics before (most notably Earnshaw Cook's Percentage Baseball, in the 1960s), few had ever reached a mass audience. Attempts to imitate James's work spawned a flood of books and articles that continues to this day.
Post-Abstracts work
In 1988, James ceased writing the Abstract, citing workload-related burnout and concern about the volume of statistics on the market. He has continued to publish hardcover books about baseball history, which have sold well and received admiring reviews. These books include three editions of The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (1985, 1988, 2001, the last entitled The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract).
James has also written several series of new annuals:
The Baseball Book (1990–1992) was a loosely organized collection of commentary, profiles, historical articles, and occasional pieces of research. James's assistant Rob Neyer was responsible for much of the research, and wrote several short pieces. Neyer went on to become a featured baseball columnist at ESPN and SB Nation.
The Player Ratings Book (1993–95) offered statistics and 50-word profiles aimed at the fantasy baseball enthusiast.
The Bill James Handbook (2003–present) provides past-season statistics and next-season projections for Major League players and teams, and career data for all current Major League players. Results for the Fielding Bible Awards, an alternative to the Gold Glove Awards voted on by a 10-person panel that includes James, are also included.
The Bill James Gold Mine (2008–2010) was a collection of new essays and never-before-seen statistics, as well as profiles of players and teams.
Playing off the name of the earlier series, Solid Fool's Gold: Detours on the Way to Conventional Wisdom (2011) was a mixed collection of both baseball-related and miscellaneous pieces, culled from the Bill James Online archives (see below).
In 2008, James launched Bill James Online. Subscribers can read James's new, original writing and interact with one another —- as well as with James —- in a question-and-answer format. The web site also offers new "profiles" of teams and players full of facts and statistics that hope to one day map what James has termed "the lost island of baseball statistics."
STATS, Inc.
In an essay published in the 1984 Abstract, James vented his frustration about Major League Baseball's refusal to publish play-by-play accounts of every game. James proposed the creation of Project Scoresheet, a network of fans that would work together to collect and distribute this information.
While the resulting non-profit organization never functioned smoothly, it worked well enough to collect accounts of every game from 1984 through 1991. James's publisher agreed to distribute two annuals of essays and data – the 1987 and 1988 editions of Bill James Presents The Great American Baseball Statbook (though only the first of these featured writing by James).
The organization was eventually disbanded, but many of its members went on to form for-profit companies with similar goals and structure. STATS, Inc., the company James joined, provided data and analysis to every major media outlet before being acquired by Fox Sports in 2001.
Innovations
Among the statistical innovations attributable to James are:
Runs created. A statistic intended to quantify a player's contribution to runs scored, as well as a team's expected number of runs scored. Runs created is calculated from other offensive statistics. James's first version of it was:
Applied to an entire team or league, the statistic correlates closely (usually within 5%) to that team's or league's actual runs scored. Since James first created the statistic, sabermetricians have refined it to make it more accurate, and it is now used in many different variations.
Range factor. A statistic that quantifies the defensive contribution of a player, calculated in its simplest form as (A is an assist, PO is a putout):
The statistic is premised on the notion that the total number of outs that a player participates in is more relevant in evaluating his defensive play than the percentage of cleanly handled chances as calculated by the conventional statistic fielding percentage.
Defensive Efficiency Rating. A statistic that shows the percentage of balls in play a defense turns into an out. It is used to help determine a team's defensive ability. The formula is:
Win shares. A unifying statistic intended to allow the comparison of players at different positions, as well as players of different eras. Win Shares incorporates a variety of pitching, hitting and fielding statistics. One drawback of Win Shares is the difficulty of computing it.
Pythagorean Winning Percentage. A statistic explaining the relationship of wins and losses to runs scored and runs allowed. The statistic correlates closely to a team's actual winning percentage. Its simplest formula is:
Game score is a metric to determine the strength of a pitcher in any particular baseball game. It has since been improved by Tom Tango.
Major League Equivalency. A metric that uses minor league statistics to predict how a player is likely to perform at the major league level.
The Brock2 System. A system for projecting a player's performance over the remainder of his career based on past performance and the aging process.
Similarity scores. Scoring a player's statistical similarity to other players, providing a frame of reference for players of the distant past. Examples: Lou Gehrig comparable to Don Mattingly; Joe Jackson to Tony Oliva.
Secondary average. A statistic that attempts to measure a player's contribution to an offense in ways not reflected in batting average. Secondary averages tend to be similar to batting averages, but can vary wildly, from less than .100 to more than .500 in extreme cases. The formula is (ISO is isolated power):
Power/Speed Number. A statistic that attempts to consolidate the various "clubs" of players with impressive numbers of both home runs and stolen bases (e.g., the 30–30 club (Bobby Bonds was well known for being a member), the 40–40 club (Jose Canseco was the first to perform this feat), and even the 25–65 club (Joe Morgan in the '70s)). The formula is:
Approximate Value. A system of cutoffs designed to estimate the value a player contributed to various category groups (including his team) to study broad questions such as "how do players age over time".
"Temperature gauge" to determine how "hot" a player is, based on recent performance. The gauge has been used in NESN Red Sox telecasts and has provoked mixed reactions from critics.
Although James may be best known as an inventor of statistical tools, he has often written on the limitations of statistics and urged humility concerning their place amid other kinds of information about baseball. To James, context is paramount: he was among the first to emphasize the importance of adjusting traditional statistics for park factors and to stress the role of luck in a pitcher's win-loss record. Many of his statistical innovations are arguably less important than the underlying ideas. When he introduced the notion of secondary average, it was as a vehicle for the then-counterintuitive concept that batting average represents only a fraction of a player's offensive contribution. (The runs-created statistic plays a similar role vis-à-vis the traditional RBI.) Some of his contributions to the language of baseball, like the idea of the "defensive spectrum", border on being entirely non-statistical.
Acceptance and employment in mainstream baseball
Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane began applying sabermetric principles to running his low-budget team in the early 2000s, to notable effect, as chronicled in Michael Lewis' book Moneyball.
In 2003, James was hired by a former reader, John Henry, the new owner of the Boston Red Sox.
One point of controversy was in handling the relief pitching of the Red Sox. James had previously published analysis of the use of the closer in baseball, and had concluded that the traditional use of the closer both overrated the abilities of that individual and used him in suboptimal circumstances. He wrote that it is "far better to use your relief ace when the score is tied, even if that is the seventh inning, than in the ninth inning with a lead of two or more runs." The Red Sox in 2003 staffed their bullpen with several marginally talented relievers. Red Sox manager Grady Little was never fully comfortable with the setup, and designated unofficial closers and reshuffled roles after a bad outing. When Boston lost a number of games due to bullpen failures, Little reverted to a traditional closer approach and moved Byung-hyun Kim from being a starting pitcher to a closer. The Red Sox did not follow James's idea of a bullpen with no closer, but with consistent overall talent that would allow the responsibilities to be shared. Red Sox reliever Alan Embree thought the plan could have worked if the bullpen had not suffered injuries. During the 2004 regular season Keith Foulke was used primarily as a closer in the conventional model; however, Foulke's usage in the 2004 postseason was along the lines of a relief ace with multiple inning appearances at pivotal times of the game. Houston Astros manager Phil Garner also employed a relief ace model with his use of Brad Lidge in the 2004 postseason.
During his tenure with the Red Sox, James published several new sabermetric books (see #Bibliography below). Indeed, although James was typically tight-lipped about his activities on behalf of the Red Sox, he is credited with advocating some of the moves that led to the team's first World Series championship in 86 years, including the signing of non-tendered free agent David Ortiz, the trade for Mark Bellhorn, and the team's increased emphasis on on-base percentage.
After the Red Sox suffered through a disastrous 2012 season, Henry stated that James had fallen "out of favor [in the front office] over the last few years for reasons I really don't understand. We've gotten him more involved recently in the central process and that will help greatly."
On October 24, 2019, James announced his retirement from the Red Sox, saying that he had "fallen out of step with the organization" and added that he hadn't earned his paycheck with the Red Sox for the last couple of years. During his time with the team, Bill James received four World Series rings for the team's 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018 World Series titles.
In culture
Michael Lewis, in his 2003 book Moneyball, dedicates a chapter to James's career and sabermetrics as background for his portrayal of Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics' unlikely success.
James was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals in 2007.
James was profiled on 60 Minutes on March 30, 2008, in his role as a sabermetric pioneer and Red Sox advisor. In 2010, he was inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame.
James made a guest appearance on The Simpsons 2010 episode "MoneyBART". He claimed "I've made baseball as fun as doing your taxes."
Steven Soderbergh's planned film adaptation of Moneyball would have featured an animated version of James as a "host". This script was discarded when director Bennett Miller and writer Aaron Sorkin succeeded Soderbergh on the project. Ultimately, the 2011 film mentions James several times. His bio is briefly recapped, and Billy Beane is depicted telling John Henry that Henry's hiring of James is the reason Beane is interested in the Red Sox general manager job.
Controversies
Dowd Report controversy
In his Baseball Book 1990, James heavily criticized the methodology of the Dowd Report, which was an investigation (commissioned by baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti) on the gambling activities of Pete Rose. James reproached commissioner Giamatti and his successor, Fay Vincent, for their acceptance of the Dowd Report as the final word on Rose's gambling. (James's attitude on the matter surprised many fans, especially after the writer had been deeply critical of Rose in the past, especially what James considered to be Rose's selfish pursuit of Ty Cobb's all-time record for base hits.)
James expanded his defense of Rose in his 2001 book The New Historical Baseball Abstract, with a detailed explanation of why he found the case against Rose flimsy. James wrote "I would characterize the evidence that Rose bet on baseball as...well, not quite non-existent. It is extremely weak." This countered the popular opinion that the case against Rose was a slam dunk, and several critics claimed that James misstated some of the evidence in his defense of Rose. Derek Zumsteg of Baseball Prospectus wrote an exhaustive review of the case James made and concluded: "James' defense of Rose is filled with oversights, errors in judgment, failures in research, and is a great disservice to the many people who have looked to him for a balanced and fair take on this complicated and important issue."
In 2004, Rose admitted publicly that he had bet on baseball and confirmed the Dowd Report was correct. James remained steadfast, continuing to insist that the evidence available to Dowd at the time was insufficient to reach the conclusion that it did.
Paterno controversy
On November 4, 2011, Jerry Sandusky was indicted for committing sex crimes against young boys, which brought the Penn State child sex abuse scandal to national attention. On December 11, 2011, James published an article called "The Trial of Penn State", depicting an imaginary trial in which Penn State defended itself against charges of "acting rashly and irresponsibly in the matter of Joe Paterno, in such a manner that [they] defamed, libeled and slandered Paterno, unfairly demolishing his reputation."
On July 12, 2012, the Freeh report was released, charging Paterno and three other University officials with covering up reports of sexual assaults and enabling the attacker to prey on other children for more than a decade, often in Penn State facilities. Soon afterwards, during an interview on ESPN radio, James claimed that the Freeh report's characterizations of Paterno as a powerful figure were wrong, and that it was not Paterno's responsibility to report allegations of child molestation to the police. "[Paterno] had very few allies. He was isolated and he was not nearly as powerful as people imagine him to have been." When asked if he knew anyone who had showered with a boy they were not related to, James said it was a common practice when he was growing up. "That was actually quite common in the town I grew up in. That was quite common in America 40 years ago."
The July 2012 interview comments were widely criticized. Rob Neyer wrote in defense of James. James's employer, the Boston Red Sox, issued a statement disavowing the comments James made and saying that he had been asked not to make further public comments on the matter.
Personal life
James is a fan of the University of Kansas men's basketball team and has written about basketball. He has created a formula for what he calls a "safe lead" in the sport.
James has written two true crime books, Popular Crime: Reflections on the Celebration of Violence (2011) and The Man from the Train (2017), the latter with his daughter Rachel McCarthy James. In The Man From the Train, published in 2017, the Jameses attempt to link scores of murders of entire families in the early 20th century United States to a single perpetrator. Those murders include the Villisca axe murders. The Jameses propose a solution to the murders based on the signature elements these killings share in common with each other.
Bibliography
Bill James Baseball Abstract (annual editions published 1977–1988)
The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (1985; revised edition 1988)
This Time Let's Not Eat the Bones (1989) (selection of comments from Abstracts and articles)
The Bill James Baseball Book (annual editions published 1990–1992)
The Politics of Glory (1994) (revised as Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?),
The Bill James Player Ratings Book (annual editions published 1993–1996)
The Bill James Guide to Baseball Managers (1997)
Bill James Present STATS All-Time Major League Handbook (1998; 2nd ed. 2000)
Bill James Present STATS All-Time Major League Sourcebook (1998)
The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (2001)
Win Shares (2002)
Win Shares Digital Update (2002) (PDF form only)
The Bill James Handbook (annual editions published 2003–present)
The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers (2004, with co-author Rob Neyer)
The Bill James Gold Mine (annual editions published 2008–2010, , )
Popular Crime – Reflections on the Celebration of Violence (, published 2011)
Solid Fool's Gold (2011), (articles from Bill James Online website)
Fools Rush Inn (2014), (more articles from Bill James Online website)
The Man From the Train (2017),
Books about James
The Mind of Bill James (2006) ISBN
How Bill James Changed Our View of Baseball: by Colleagues, Critics, Competitors and Just Plain Fans (2007)
See also
Baseball Prospectus
Defensive spectrum
Keltner list
Similarity score
Win shares
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
Bill James Online –interactions with James through statistics, articles, conversations and more
Works of Bill James
Audio interview by Jesse Thorn, public radio program The Sound of Young America (April 29, 2008)
Chronister, Levi (April 25, 2004). "Grassroots Guru". Lawrence Journal-World (Lawrence, KS).
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part I, Baseball Digest
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part II
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part III
McGrath, Ben (July 14, 2003). "The Professor of Baseball". The New Yorker
Wall Street Journal profile
[ Does Bill James Belong in the Hall of Fame?]
– contrary to James
Schwarz, Alan (July 18, 2006). "25 For 25: Don Fehr, Peter Gammons, Pat Gillick, Bo Jackson, Bill James". 25 for 25: Stars in the Baseball America Universe. Baseball America.
Henry, John (May 8, 2006). "Scientists & Thinkers: Bill James". The 2006 Time 100. Time.
Surowiecki, James (June 10, 2003). "Moneyball Redux: Slate talks to the man who revolutionized baseball.". Slate.
Lederer, Bill (February 28, 2005). "Breakfast with Bill James". Baseball Analysts (baseballanalysts.com).
1949 births
Living people
American sportswriters
American statisticians
Baseball statisticians
Baseball writers
People from Holton, Kansas
United States Army soldiers
20th-century American writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
| false |
[
"How (currently stylised as HOW) is a British educational television programme created by Jack Hargreaves. It was produced from 1966 by Southern Television, for whom Hargreaves was a presenter and deputy programme controller. It lasted until 1981, when the company lost its franchise to TVS.\n\nHistory\n\nHow was originally devised by Hargreaves for an audience of adults returning home from the pub. Its aim would be to give facts and demonstrations that could settle arguments or be used as pub tricks. A one-off pilot was broadcast at 11.15pm on 22 March 1966, to viewers in the Southern Television area only.\n\nFollowing the pilot, Hargreaves felt the show might work better in an afternoon slot, aimed at making facts fun for children. Thus, at 5.25pm on 25 April 1966, Southern began live transmission of the first programme in the series of How, which would continue in a similar format for the next 15 years. Produced in Southern's Southampton studios, it provided answers to questions beginning with the word \"How\". Each episode began with the presenters all raising one hand and saying \"How\" simultaneously (mimicking the stereotypical Native American greeting). Topics commonly covered included science, history, mathematics and simple puzzles. The formula proved so successful that it was soon broadcast to the whole ITV network and given two slots per week.\n\nThe show was originally presented by Hargreaves alone. He was joined by Fred Dinenage (1966–1981), Jon Miller (1966–1981), Bunty James (1966–1969 and 1970–1976), Dr Tom Gaskell (1969), Jill Graham (1969–1970) and Marian Davies (1977–1981). Occasional stand-ins for Hargreaves included Barry Bucknell.\n\nThe series came to an end in 1981 when Southern Television lost its ITV franchise. The majority of episodes no longer exist.\n\nTransmission guide\n\nOriginal How (1966–1981) \nSeries 1: 33 editions from 10 November 1966 – 29 June 1967\nSeries 2: 27 editions from 28 September 1967 – 27 March 1968\nSeries 3: 29 editions from 18 November 1968 – 23 June 1969\nSeries 4: 12 editions from 16 January 1970 – 3 April 1970\nSeries 5: 7 editions from 9 July 1970 – 20 August 1970\nSeries 6: 15 editions from 8 July 1971 – 26 August 1971\nSeries 7: 10 editions from 22 June 1972 – 24 August 1972\nSeries 8: 10 editions from 24 April 1973 – 26 June 1973\nSeries 9: 10 editions from 23 April 1974 – 25 June 1974\nSpecial: Christmas 1974: 16 December 1974\nSeries 10: 7 editions from 8 January 1975 – 19 February 1975\nSeries 11: 11 editions 22 April 1975 – 1 July 1975\nSeries 12: 13 editions from 31 December 1975 – 24 March 1976\nSeries 13: 13 editions from 5 January 1977 – 30 March 1977\nSeries 14: 13 editions from 1 March 1978 – 24 May 1978\nSeries 15: 13 editions from 3 January 1979 – 28 March 1979\nSeries 16: 13 editions from 25 June 1980 – 24 September 1980\nSeries 17: 13 editions from 13 May 1981 – 19 August 1981\n\nHow 2 (1990–2006) \nSeries 18: 10 editions from 21 September – 23 November 1990\nSeries 19: 10 editions from 23 September – 25 November 1991\nSeries 20: 10 editions from 7 September – 9 November 1992\nSeries 21: 15 editions from 6 September – 13 December 1993\nSeries 22: 15 editions from 5 September – 12 December 1994\nSeries 23: 14 editions from 4 September – 11 December 1995\nSeries 24: 15 editions from 9 September – 16 December 1996\nSeries 25: 16 editions from 1 September – 15 December 1997\nSeries 26: 13 editions from 5 January – 6 April 1999\nSeries 27: 13 editions from 10 January – 11 April 2000\nSeries 28: 20 editions from 22 January – 16 February 2001\nSeries 29: 10 editions from 11 – 22 February 2002\nSeries 30: 10 editions from 10 January – 14 March 2003\nSeries 31: 13 editions from 4 June – 27 August 2004\nSeries 32: 13 editions from 5 May – 1 September 2006\n\nHOW (How 3) (2020–present) \nSeries 33: 10 editions from 15 November – 25 December 2020\n\nRevival\nIn 1990, the series was revived as How 2 by TVS. Presenter Fred Dinenage made a return with Gareth Jones, Carol Vorderman, Gail McKenna and Sian Lloyd. The show aired on Children's ITV, known as CiTV and it ran for 16 years — until 2006.\n\nIn 2019 How 2 was made available on Amazon Prime Video in the UK.\n\nAlso in 2019, the CITV channel commissioned a further revival of the format. Due for air November 2020, with Fred Dinenage making his second return to the series franchise, alongside a new team of Vick Hope, Sam Homewood and Frankie Vu.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nHow, A Television Heaven Review\n \n\n1966 British television series debuts\n1981 British television series endings\n1960s British children's television series\n1970s British children's television series\n1980s British children's television series\nBritish educational television series\nITV children's television shows\nEnglish-language television shows\nTelevision shows produced by Southern Television",
"The Moon's a Balloon is a best-selling memoir by British actor David Niven (1910–1983), published in 1971. It details his early life. There have been several editions and many translations of the book over the years. Niven followed it with a sequel Bring on the Empty Horses in 1975.\n\nThe book is a funny yet tragic tale, detailing everything from the loss of Niven's father to his knowledge of how to lead a good life.\n\nNotes \n\n1972 non-fiction books\nShow business memoirs"
] |
[
"Bill James",
"The Bill James Baseball Abstracts",
"What were the Baseball Abstracts?",
"Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study",
"When was it printed?",
"The Bill James Baseball Abstract beginning in 1977.",
"What were some of the categories in it?",
"James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News.",
"how many copies have been sold?",
"Seventy-five people purchased the booklet.",
"Has it been reprinted?",
"The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies.",
"How much do they go for now?",
"I don't know.",
"What other information was in the Baseball Abstracts?",
"The first three editions of the Baseball Abstract garnered respect for James's work, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated.",
"How many editions were there?",
"New annual editions added essays on teams and players. By 1982 sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions."
] |
C_008ff753407048469595dfcfca02e9c3_1
|
Is it still being produced?
| 9 |
Is the Bill James Baseball Abstracts still being produced?
|
Bill James
|
An aspiring writer and obsessive fan, James began writing baseball articles after leaving the United States Army in his mid-twenties. Many of his first baseball writings came while he was doing night shifts as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp's pork and beans cannery. Unlike most writers, his pieces did not recount games in epic terms or offer insights gleaned from interviews with players. A typical James piece posed a question (e.g., "Which pitchers and catchers allow runners to steal the most bases?"), and then presented data and analysis written in a lively, insightful, and witty style that offered an answer. Editors considered James's pieces so unusual that few believed them suitable for their readers. In an effort to reach a wider audience, James began self-publishing an annual book titled The Bill James Baseball Abstract beginning in 1977. The first edition, titled 1977 Baseball Abstract: Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News. Seventy-five people purchased the booklet. The 1978 edition, subtitled The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies. Beginning in 1979, James wrote an annual preview of the baseball season for Esquire, and continued to do so through 1984. The first three editions of the Baseball Abstract garnered respect for James's work, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated. New annual editions added essays on teams and players. By 1982 sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions. While writers had published books about baseball statistics before (most notably Earnshaw Cook's Percentage Baseball, in the 1960s), few had ever reached a mass audience. Attempts to imitate James's work spawned a flood of books and articles that continues to this day. CANNOTANSWER
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Attempts to imitate James's work spawned a flood of books and articles that continues to this day.
|
George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics. His approach, which he termed sabermetrics in reference to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), scientifically analyzes and studies baseball, often through the use of statistical data, in an attempt to determine why teams win and lose.
In 2006, Time named him in the Time 100 as one of the most influential people in the world. In 2003, James was hired as senior advisor on Baseball Operations for the Boston Red Sox and worked for the team for 17 years during which they won four World Series championships.
Early life
James was born in Holton, Kansas; his mother died in 1954 when he was five. His father was a janitor and a handyman. After four years at the University of Kansas (KU) residing at Stephenson Scholarship hall, James joined the Army in 1971. He was the last person in Kansas to be sent to fight in the Vietnam War, although he never saw action there. Instead, he spent two years stationed in South Korea, during which time he wrote to KU about taking his final class. He was told he actually had met all his graduation requirements, so he returned to Lawrence in 1973 with degrees in English and economics. He also finished an Education degree in 1975, likewise from the University of Kansas.
Career
The Bill James Baseball Abstracts
An aspiring writer and obsessive fan, James began writing baseball articles after leaving the United States Army in his mid-twenties. Many of his first baseball writings came while he was doing night shifts as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp's pork and beans cannery. Unlike most writers, his pieces did not recount games in epic terms or offer insights gleaned from interviews with players. A typical James piece posed a question (e.g., "Which pitchers and catchers allow runners to steal the most bases?"), and then presented data and analysis that offered an answer.
Editors considered James's pieces so unusual that few believed them suitable for their readers. In an effort to reach a wider audience, James began self-publishing an annual book titled The Bill James Baseball Abstract, beginning in 1977. The first edition, titled 1977 Baseball Abstract: Featuring 18 categories of statistical information that you just can't find anywhere else, presented 68 pages of in-depth statistics compiled from James's study of box scores from the preceding season and was offered for sale through a small advertisement in The Sporting News. Seventy-five people purchased the booklet. The 1978 edition, subtitled The 2nd annual edition of baseball's most informative and imaginative review, sold 250 copies. Beginning in 1979, James wrote an annual preview of the baseball season for Esquire, and continued to do so through 1984.
The first three editions of the Baseball Abstract garnered respect for James's work, including a very favorable review by Daniel Okrent in Sports Illustrated. New annual editions added essays on teams and players. By 1982 sales had increased tenfold, and a media conglomerate agreed to publish and distribute future editions.
While writers had published books about baseball statistics before (most notably Earnshaw Cook's Percentage Baseball, in the 1960s), few had ever reached a mass audience. Attempts to imitate James's work spawned a flood of books and articles that continues to this day.
Post-Abstracts work
In 1988, James ceased writing the Abstract, citing workload-related burnout and concern about the volume of statistics on the market. He has continued to publish hardcover books about baseball history, which have sold well and received admiring reviews. These books include three editions of The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (1985, 1988, 2001, the last entitled The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract).
James has also written several series of new annuals:
The Baseball Book (1990–1992) was a loosely organized collection of commentary, profiles, historical articles, and occasional pieces of research. James's assistant Rob Neyer was responsible for much of the research, and wrote several short pieces. Neyer went on to become a featured baseball columnist at ESPN and SB Nation.
The Player Ratings Book (1993–95) offered statistics and 50-word profiles aimed at the fantasy baseball enthusiast.
The Bill James Handbook (2003–present) provides past-season statistics and next-season projections for Major League players and teams, and career data for all current Major League players. Results for the Fielding Bible Awards, an alternative to the Gold Glove Awards voted on by a 10-person panel that includes James, are also included.
The Bill James Gold Mine (2008–2010) was a collection of new essays and never-before-seen statistics, as well as profiles of players and teams.
Playing off the name of the earlier series, Solid Fool's Gold: Detours on the Way to Conventional Wisdom (2011) was a mixed collection of both baseball-related and miscellaneous pieces, culled from the Bill James Online archives (see below).
In 2008, James launched Bill James Online. Subscribers can read James's new, original writing and interact with one another —- as well as with James —- in a question-and-answer format. The web site also offers new "profiles" of teams and players full of facts and statistics that hope to one day map what James has termed "the lost island of baseball statistics."
STATS, Inc.
In an essay published in the 1984 Abstract, James vented his frustration about Major League Baseball's refusal to publish play-by-play accounts of every game. James proposed the creation of Project Scoresheet, a network of fans that would work together to collect and distribute this information.
While the resulting non-profit organization never functioned smoothly, it worked well enough to collect accounts of every game from 1984 through 1991. James's publisher agreed to distribute two annuals of essays and data – the 1987 and 1988 editions of Bill James Presents The Great American Baseball Statbook (though only the first of these featured writing by James).
The organization was eventually disbanded, but many of its members went on to form for-profit companies with similar goals and structure. STATS, Inc., the company James joined, provided data and analysis to every major media outlet before being acquired by Fox Sports in 2001.
Innovations
Among the statistical innovations attributable to James are:
Runs created. A statistic intended to quantify a player's contribution to runs scored, as well as a team's expected number of runs scored. Runs created is calculated from other offensive statistics. James's first version of it was:
Applied to an entire team or league, the statistic correlates closely (usually within 5%) to that team's or league's actual runs scored. Since James first created the statistic, sabermetricians have refined it to make it more accurate, and it is now used in many different variations.
Range factor. A statistic that quantifies the defensive contribution of a player, calculated in its simplest form as (A is an assist, PO is a putout):
The statistic is premised on the notion that the total number of outs that a player participates in is more relevant in evaluating his defensive play than the percentage of cleanly handled chances as calculated by the conventional statistic fielding percentage.
Defensive Efficiency Rating. A statistic that shows the percentage of balls in play a defense turns into an out. It is used to help determine a team's defensive ability. The formula is:
Win shares. A unifying statistic intended to allow the comparison of players at different positions, as well as players of different eras. Win Shares incorporates a variety of pitching, hitting and fielding statistics. One drawback of Win Shares is the difficulty of computing it.
Pythagorean Winning Percentage. A statistic explaining the relationship of wins and losses to runs scored and runs allowed. The statistic correlates closely to a team's actual winning percentage. Its simplest formula is:
Game score is a metric to determine the strength of a pitcher in any particular baseball game. It has since been improved by Tom Tango.
Major League Equivalency. A metric that uses minor league statistics to predict how a player is likely to perform at the major league level.
The Brock2 System. A system for projecting a player's performance over the remainder of his career based on past performance and the aging process.
Similarity scores. Scoring a player's statistical similarity to other players, providing a frame of reference for players of the distant past. Examples: Lou Gehrig comparable to Don Mattingly; Joe Jackson to Tony Oliva.
Secondary average. A statistic that attempts to measure a player's contribution to an offense in ways not reflected in batting average. Secondary averages tend to be similar to batting averages, but can vary wildly, from less than .100 to more than .500 in extreme cases. The formula is (ISO is isolated power):
Power/Speed Number. A statistic that attempts to consolidate the various "clubs" of players with impressive numbers of both home runs and stolen bases (e.g., the 30–30 club (Bobby Bonds was well known for being a member), the 40–40 club (Jose Canseco was the first to perform this feat), and even the 25–65 club (Joe Morgan in the '70s)). The formula is:
Approximate Value. A system of cutoffs designed to estimate the value a player contributed to various category groups (including his team) to study broad questions such as "how do players age over time".
"Temperature gauge" to determine how "hot" a player is, based on recent performance. The gauge has been used in NESN Red Sox telecasts and has provoked mixed reactions from critics.
Although James may be best known as an inventor of statistical tools, he has often written on the limitations of statistics and urged humility concerning their place amid other kinds of information about baseball. To James, context is paramount: he was among the first to emphasize the importance of adjusting traditional statistics for park factors and to stress the role of luck in a pitcher's win-loss record. Many of his statistical innovations are arguably less important than the underlying ideas. When he introduced the notion of secondary average, it was as a vehicle for the then-counterintuitive concept that batting average represents only a fraction of a player's offensive contribution. (The runs-created statistic plays a similar role vis-à-vis the traditional RBI.) Some of his contributions to the language of baseball, like the idea of the "defensive spectrum", border on being entirely non-statistical.
Acceptance and employment in mainstream baseball
Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane began applying sabermetric principles to running his low-budget team in the early 2000s, to notable effect, as chronicled in Michael Lewis' book Moneyball.
In 2003, James was hired by a former reader, John Henry, the new owner of the Boston Red Sox.
One point of controversy was in handling the relief pitching of the Red Sox. James had previously published analysis of the use of the closer in baseball, and had concluded that the traditional use of the closer both overrated the abilities of that individual and used him in suboptimal circumstances. He wrote that it is "far better to use your relief ace when the score is tied, even if that is the seventh inning, than in the ninth inning with a lead of two or more runs." The Red Sox in 2003 staffed their bullpen with several marginally talented relievers. Red Sox manager Grady Little was never fully comfortable with the setup, and designated unofficial closers and reshuffled roles after a bad outing. When Boston lost a number of games due to bullpen failures, Little reverted to a traditional closer approach and moved Byung-hyun Kim from being a starting pitcher to a closer. The Red Sox did not follow James's idea of a bullpen with no closer, but with consistent overall talent that would allow the responsibilities to be shared. Red Sox reliever Alan Embree thought the plan could have worked if the bullpen had not suffered injuries. During the 2004 regular season Keith Foulke was used primarily as a closer in the conventional model; however, Foulke's usage in the 2004 postseason was along the lines of a relief ace with multiple inning appearances at pivotal times of the game. Houston Astros manager Phil Garner also employed a relief ace model with his use of Brad Lidge in the 2004 postseason.
During his tenure with the Red Sox, James published several new sabermetric books (see #Bibliography below). Indeed, although James was typically tight-lipped about his activities on behalf of the Red Sox, he is credited with advocating some of the moves that led to the team's first World Series championship in 86 years, including the signing of non-tendered free agent David Ortiz, the trade for Mark Bellhorn, and the team's increased emphasis on on-base percentage.
After the Red Sox suffered through a disastrous 2012 season, Henry stated that James had fallen "out of favor [in the front office] over the last few years for reasons I really don't understand. We've gotten him more involved recently in the central process and that will help greatly."
On October 24, 2019, James announced his retirement from the Red Sox, saying that he had "fallen out of step with the organization" and added that he hadn't earned his paycheck with the Red Sox for the last couple of years. During his time with the team, Bill James received four World Series rings for the team's 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018 World Series titles.
In culture
Michael Lewis, in his 2003 book Moneyball, dedicates a chapter to James's career and sabermetrics as background for his portrayal of Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics' unlikely success.
James was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals in 2007.
James was profiled on 60 Minutes on March 30, 2008, in his role as a sabermetric pioneer and Red Sox advisor. In 2010, he was inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame.
James made a guest appearance on The Simpsons 2010 episode "MoneyBART". He claimed "I've made baseball as fun as doing your taxes."
Steven Soderbergh's planned film adaptation of Moneyball would have featured an animated version of James as a "host". This script was discarded when director Bennett Miller and writer Aaron Sorkin succeeded Soderbergh on the project. Ultimately, the 2011 film mentions James several times. His bio is briefly recapped, and Billy Beane is depicted telling John Henry that Henry's hiring of James is the reason Beane is interested in the Red Sox general manager job.
Controversies
Dowd Report controversy
In his Baseball Book 1990, James heavily criticized the methodology of the Dowd Report, which was an investigation (commissioned by baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti) on the gambling activities of Pete Rose. James reproached commissioner Giamatti and his successor, Fay Vincent, for their acceptance of the Dowd Report as the final word on Rose's gambling. (James's attitude on the matter surprised many fans, especially after the writer had been deeply critical of Rose in the past, especially what James considered to be Rose's selfish pursuit of Ty Cobb's all-time record for base hits.)
James expanded his defense of Rose in his 2001 book The New Historical Baseball Abstract, with a detailed explanation of why he found the case against Rose flimsy. James wrote "I would characterize the evidence that Rose bet on baseball as...well, not quite non-existent. It is extremely weak." This countered the popular opinion that the case against Rose was a slam dunk, and several critics claimed that James misstated some of the evidence in his defense of Rose. Derek Zumsteg of Baseball Prospectus wrote an exhaustive review of the case James made and concluded: "James' defense of Rose is filled with oversights, errors in judgment, failures in research, and is a great disservice to the many people who have looked to him for a balanced and fair take on this complicated and important issue."
In 2004, Rose admitted publicly that he had bet on baseball and confirmed the Dowd Report was correct. James remained steadfast, continuing to insist that the evidence available to Dowd at the time was insufficient to reach the conclusion that it did.
Paterno controversy
On November 4, 2011, Jerry Sandusky was indicted for committing sex crimes against young boys, which brought the Penn State child sex abuse scandal to national attention. On December 11, 2011, James published an article called "The Trial of Penn State", depicting an imaginary trial in which Penn State defended itself against charges of "acting rashly and irresponsibly in the matter of Joe Paterno, in such a manner that [they] defamed, libeled and slandered Paterno, unfairly demolishing his reputation."
On July 12, 2012, the Freeh report was released, charging Paterno and three other University officials with covering up reports of sexual assaults and enabling the attacker to prey on other children for more than a decade, often in Penn State facilities. Soon afterwards, during an interview on ESPN radio, James claimed that the Freeh report's characterizations of Paterno as a powerful figure were wrong, and that it was not Paterno's responsibility to report allegations of child molestation to the police. "[Paterno] had very few allies. He was isolated and he was not nearly as powerful as people imagine him to have been." When asked if he knew anyone who had showered with a boy they were not related to, James said it was a common practice when he was growing up. "That was actually quite common in the town I grew up in. That was quite common in America 40 years ago."
The July 2012 interview comments were widely criticized. Rob Neyer wrote in defense of James. James's employer, the Boston Red Sox, issued a statement disavowing the comments James made and saying that he had been asked not to make further public comments on the matter.
Personal life
James is a fan of the University of Kansas men's basketball team and has written about basketball. He has created a formula for what he calls a "safe lead" in the sport.
James has written two true crime books, Popular Crime: Reflections on the Celebration of Violence (2011) and The Man from the Train (2017), the latter with his daughter Rachel McCarthy James. In The Man From the Train, published in 2017, the Jameses attempt to link scores of murders of entire families in the early 20th century United States to a single perpetrator. Those murders include the Villisca axe murders. The Jameses propose a solution to the murders based on the signature elements these killings share in common with each other.
Bibliography
Bill James Baseball Abstract (annual editions published 1977–1988)
The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (1985; revised edition 1988)
This Time Let's Not Eat the Bones (1989) (selection of comments from Abstracts and articles)
The Bill James Baseball Book (annual editions published 1990–1992)
The Politics of Glory (1994) (revised as Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?),
The Bill James Player Ratings Book (annual editions published 1993–1996)
The Bill James Guide to Baseball Managers (1997)
Bill James Present STATS All-Time Major League Handbook (1998; 2nd ed. 2000)
Bill James Present STATS All-Time Major League Sourcebook (1998)
The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (2001)
Win Shares (2002)
Win Shares Digital Update (2002) (PDF form only)
The Bill James Handbook (annual editions published 2003–present)
The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers (2004, with co-author Rob Neyer)
The Bill James Gold Mine (annual editions published 2008–2010, , )
Popular Crime – Reflections on the Celebration of Violence (, published 2011)
Solid Fool's Gold (2011), (articles from Bill James Online website)
Fools Rush Inn (2014), (more articles from Bill James Online website)
The Man From the Train (2017),
Books about James
The Mind of Bill James (2006) ISBN
How Bill James Changed Our View of Baseball: by Colleagues, Critics, Competitors and Just Plain Fans (2007)
See also
Baseball Prospectus
Defensive spectrum
Keltner list
Similarity score
Win shares
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
Bill James Online –interactions with James through statistics, articles, conversations and more
Works of Bill James
Audio interview by Jesse Thorn, public radio program The Sound of Young America (April 29, 2008)
Chronister, Levi (April 25, 2004). "Grassroots Guru". Lawrence Journal-World (Lawrence, KS).
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part I, Baseball Digest
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part II
Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – Part III
McGrath, Ben (July 14, 2003). "The Professor of Baseball". The New Yorker
Wall Street Journal profile
[ Does Bill James Belong in the Hall of Fame?]
– contrary to James
Schwarz, Alan (July 18, 2006). "25 For 25: Don Fehr, Peter Gammons, Pat Gillick, Bo Jackson, Bill James". 25 for 25: Stars in the Baseball America Universe. Baseball America.
Henry, John (May 8, 2006). "Scientists & Thinkers: Bill James". The 2006 Time 100. Time.
Surowiecki, James (June 10, 2003). "Moneyball Redux: Slate talks to the man who revolutionized baseball.". Slate.
Lederer, Bill (February 28, 2005). "Breakfast with Bill James". Baseball Analysts (baseballanalysts.com).
1949 births
Living people
American sportswriters
American statisticians
Baseball statisticians
Baseball writers
People from Holton, Kansas
United States Army soldiers
20th-century American writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
| true |
[
"\"I Still...\" is a song from American vocal group Backstreet Boys' fifth studio album, Never Gone (2005). It was released as the third and final single from the album outside the United States on November 25, 2005. The single reached the top 40 in Australia and Greece.\n\nMusic video\nThe music video depicts the Backstreet Boys in a dark urban setting, with each haunted by memories of the lady. Each Backstreet Boy is filmed in his own vignette: Kevin is at the bar; Howie is in the cab; Nick is at the bus stop; Brian is on the street; and A.J. is in the alley. The video was directed by Matt McDermitt, whom the Boston Globe reported to be only 19 years old at the time of filming. The music video is noted for its excellent use of slow-motion technique.\n\nTrack listings\n German CD single\n \"I Still...\" – 3:49\n \"Just Want You to Know\" (Jason Nevins Remix Radio Edit) – 3:43\n\n Australian CD single\n \"I Still...\" – 3:49\n \"I Still...\" (Passengerz Remix) – 3:17\n \"Just Want You to Know\" (Jason Nevins Extended Mix) – 6:30\n \"I Still...\" (Video) – 3:49\n\n Japanese CD single\n \"I Still...\" – 3:49\n \"I Still...\" (Passengerz Remix) – 3:17\n \"Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely\" (Live) – 4:44\n \"Larger than Life\" (Live) – 3:58\n \"Just Want You to Know\" (Jason Nevins Remix Radio Edit) – 3:43\n \"Just Want You to Know\" (Video) – 4:00\n \"I Still...\" (Video) – 3:49\n\nCharts\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\n2005 songs\n2006 singles\nBackstreet Boys songs\nJive Records singles\nSong recordings produced by Max Martin\nSong recordings produced by Rami Yacoub\nSongs written by Max Martin\nSongs written by Rami Yacoub",
"Amberina is a type of two-toned glassware, which was originally made from 1883 to about 1900. Amberina was patented by Joseph Locke of the New England Glass Company, and was produced extensively there. It was also produced a lot by the successor company the Libbey Glass Company at Toledo, Ohio, into the 1890s. It is still being made today. The glass varies in colour from red to amber. Glass which is shaded in colours from blue to amber is known as Blue Amberina or Bluerina. \n\nAmberina is made of an amber glass containing some gold. Its distinct colouring develops with applied reheating and cooling.\n\nReferences\n\nHandicrafts"
] |
[
"Mary Decker",
"The 1984 Olympic incident"
] |
C_b1cf9b31171a4cdd96c4160457b3cc49_0
|
What happened at the event?
| 1 |
What happened at the 1984 Olympic incident?
|
Mary Decker
|
Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles. In the final, Zola Budd, representing Great Britain, had been running barefoot side by side with Decker for three laps and moved ahead. In an attempt to put pressure on Budd, Decker remained close by in a crowded space. Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race, which was won by Maricica Puica of Romania (Budd finished seventh). Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney. At a press conference she said that Budd was to blame for the collision. While it is generally the trailing athlete's responsibility to avoid contact with the runner ahead, it is also an accepted convention among most distance runners that the leader be a full stride ahead before cutting in. Track officials initially disqualified Budd for obstruction, but she was reinstated just one hour later once officials had viewed films of the race. Despite being behind Budd, Decker's claim that Budd had bumped into her leg was supported by a number of U.S. sports journalists, and Budd was hounded constantly in the press as a result, receiving a number of death threats. The claim was never accepted by the director of the games or the IAAF. Decker and Budd next met in July 1985, in a 3000 meters race at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, England. Decker won the race, and Budd finished in fourth place. After the race, the two women shook hands and made up. Decker later went on record as claiming that she was unfairly robbed of the LA 3000 meters gold medal by Budd, but said many years after the event "The reason I fell, some people think she tripped me deliberately. I happen to know that wasn't the case at all. The reason I fell is because I am and was very inexperienced in running in a pack." Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning twelve mile and 3000 meters races in the European athletics calendar, which included a new official world record for the women's mile of 4:16.71 in Zurich (Natalya Artyomova's 4:15.8 in 1984, not being ratified by the IAAF). Since that race in 1985, her time has only been bettered on four occasions. That race in Zurich also matched her with both of the other principle athletes from the Olympic race, Slaney vanquishing both Puica and Budd who themselves ran times that until July 9, 2017 also ranked in the top 10 of all time. She sat out the 1986 season to give birth to her only child, daughter Ashley Lynn (born May 30, 1986), but missed the 1987 season due to injury. She qualified for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, but failed to win a medal. She did not qualify for the 1992 Games. CANNOTANSWER
|
Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race,
|
Mary Teresa Slaney (formerly Tabb, née Decker, born August 4, 1958) is a retired American middle-distance runner. During her career, she won gold medals in the 1500 meters and 3000 meters at the 1983 World Championships, and was the world record holder in the mile, 5000 meters and 10,000 meters. In total, she set 17 official and unofficial world records, including being the first woman in history to break 4:20 for the mile. She also set 36 US national records at distances ranging from 800 meters to 10,000 meters, and has held the US record in the mile, 2000 meters and 3000 meters since the early 1980s, while her 1500 meters record stood for 32 years. In 2003, she was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.
Early life
Mary Decker was born in Bunnvale, New Jersey. A decade later her family moved to Garden Grove in Southern California, where Decker started running. A year later, aged 11, she won her first local competition.
She joined her school athletics club and a local track club, and completely immersed herself in running, for which she would pay an injury-laden price later in her career. At age 12, she completed a marathon and four middle- and long-distance races in one week, ending the week with an appendectomy operation.
Career
In her early teens, Decker was already recognized as a world-class runner. Unable to attend the 1972 Olympics as she was too young, the pigtailed 14-year-old nicknamed "Little Mary Decker," won international acclaim in 1973 with a win in the 800 meters at a US-Soviet meet in Minsk, beating the reigning Olympic silver medallist, Nijolė Sabaitė.
By the end of 1972, Decker was ranked first in the United States and fourth in the world in the 800 meters. In 1973 she gained her first world record, running an indoor mile in 4:40.1. By 1974, Decker was the world Indoor record holder with 2:02.4 for 880 yards, and 2:01.8 for 800 meters.
By the end of 1974, she had developed a case of the muscle condition compartment syndrome. This resulted in a series of injuries, which meant that she did not compete in the 1976 Olympics, because of stress fractures in her lower leg. In 1978 she had an operation to try to cure compartment syndrome, which kept her out of competition for a period. After recovering from surgery, she spent two seasons at the University of Colorado at Boulder on a track scholarship. In 1979, she became the second American woman (the first was Francie Larrieu) to break the 4:30 mile in American record time. Decker was the first woman to break the 4:20 barrier for the mile in 1980 when she ran it in 4:17.55. However, this time was never ratified by the IAAF. She did not compete at the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to the American boycott. She did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the US athletes.
In 1981 she married fellow American distance runner Ron Tabb. The couple divorced in 1983. In 1982, under the name Mary Tabb, she ran the mile in 4:18.08, breaking the official record of 4:20.89 by the Soviet Lyudmila Veselkova. This time was ratified.
Career peak
In 1982 Decker-Tabb set six world records, at distances ranging from the mile run to 10,000 meters. She received the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States.
The following year she achieved the "Double Decker," winning both the 1500 meters and 3000 meters events at the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. Her history of relatively easy wins in the United States left her tactical abilities suspect in Helsinki, as she chose not to run in close order because so few athletes could keep up with her, a situation that the Soviet runners hoped to use to their advantage. Her wins against Soviet World Record holders proved a redemption of her competitive guile. After her double win she won the Jesse Owens Award from USA Track and Field and Sports Illustrated magazine named her Sportsperson of the Year. Shortly before her World Championship victories, Decker improved her U.S. 1500 meters record to 3:57.12 in Stockholm on July 26, 1983. This record stood for 32 years until Shannon Rowbury ran 3:56.29 on July 17, 2015.
The 1984 Olympic incident
Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles. In the final, barefoot runner Zola Budd, representing Great Britain, had been running side by side with Decker for three laps and moved ahead. In an attempt to put pressure on Budd, Decker remained close by in a crowded space. Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb, injuring her hip. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race, which was won by Maricica Puica of Romania (Budd finished seventh). Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney. At a press conference she said that Budd was to blame for the collision. While it is generally the trailing athlete's responsibility to avoid contact with the runner ahead, it is also an accepted convention among most distance runners that the leader be a full stride ahead before cutting in. International track officials initially disqualified Budd for obstruction, but she was reinstated just one hour later once officials had viewed films of the race. Despite being behind Budd, Decker's claim that Budd had bumped into her leg was supported by a number of sports journalists. The claim was not accepted by the director of the games or the IAAF.
Decker and Budd next met in July 1985, in a 3000 meters race at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, England. Decker won the race, and Budd finished in fourth place. After the race, the two women shook hands and made up. Decker later went on record as claiming that she was unfairly robbed of the LA 3000 meters gold medal by Budd, but said many years after the event "The reason I fell, some people think she tripped me deliberately. I happen to know that wasn't the case at all. The reason I fell is because I am and was very inexperienced in running in a pack."
Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning twelve mile and 3000 meters races in the European athletics calendar, which included a new official world record for the women's mile of 4:16.71 in Zurich (Natalya Artyomova's 4:15.8 in 1984, not being ratified by the IAAF). Since that race in 1985, her time has only been bettered on four occasions. That race in Zurich also matched her with both of the other principle athletes from the Olympic race, Slaney vanquishing both Puica and Budd who themselves ran times that until July 9, 2017 also ranked in the top 10 of all time.
She sat out the 1986 season to give birth to her only child, daughter Ashley Lynn (born May 30, 1986), but missed the 1987 season due to injury. She qualified for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, but failed to win a medal. She did not qualify for the 1992 Games.
Doping controversy
In 1996, at the age of 37, as she qualified for the 5000 meters at the Atlanta Olympics, a urine test taken in June at the Olympic Trials showed a testosterone to epitestosterone (T/E) ratio greater than the allowable maximum of six to one. At the time of the positive test Decker was being coached by Alberto Salazar.
Decker and her lawyers contended that the T/E ratio test is unreliable for women, especially women in their late 30s or older who are taking birth control pills. In the meantime, Decker was eliminated in the heats at the Olympics.
In June 1997, the IAAF banned Decker from competition. In September 1999, a USATF panel reinstated her. The IAAF cleared her to compete but took the case to arbitration. In April 1999, the arbitration panel ruled against her, after which the IAAF – through a retroactive ban, even though she was cleared to compete – stripped her of a silver medal she had won in the 1500 meters at the 1997 World Indoor Championships.
In April 1999, Decker filed suit against both the IAAF and the U.S. Olympic Committee which administered the test, arguing that the test is flawed and cannot distinguish between androgens caused by the use of banned substances and androgens resulting from the use of birth control pills. The court ruled that it had no jurisdiction, a decision that was upheld on appeal.
The (T/E) ratio test has seen its standards tightened to a 4:1 ratio, instead of the previous 6:1 ratio, and laboratories now also run a carbon isotope ratio test (CIR) if the ratio is unusually high.
Later life
Throughout her later career, Decker had suffered a series of stress induced fractures. After the loss of her 1999 legal case, she agreed to have a series of more than 30 orthopedic procedures, mainly on her legs and feet, in an attempt to enable her to run competitively in marathons. However, the surgery increased the occurrence of the problems. As a result, she retired with her husband to a property in Eugene, Oregon, where she jogs every other day.
International competitions
See also
List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
References
External links
California State Records before 2000
1958 births
Living people
People from Lebanon Township, New Jersey
Track and field athletes from California
Track and field athletes from New Jersey
American female middle-distance runners
American masters athletes
Olympic track and field athletes of the United States
Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States
Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States
Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games
World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States
World record setters in athletics (track and field)
World Athletics Championships medalists
American sportspeople in doping cases
Doping cases in athletics
James E. Sullivan Award recipients
Congressional Gold Medal recipients
University of Colorado alumni
World Athletics Championships winners
Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games
| 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",
"Kim Lamarre (born 20 May 1988) is a Canadian freestyle skier. She won Canada's first ever bronze medal in the women's slopestyle skiing event at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Lamarre said of her surprise bronze that \"This is surreal. I have no words to describe this feeling. I am so happy. I knew it was possible but I didn't put it as my main goal. I just wanted to make the finals and then land my run and see what happened.\" The medal came after compatriot and gold medal favourite Kaya Turski failed to qualify for the finals. Despite this Canada still managed two medals in the event after Dara Howell won the gold medal.\n\nPersonal life\nLamarre's grandmother, Ginette Seguin, represented Canada at the 1956 Winter Olympics and competed in alpine skiing. She was 18th in the slalom, 33rd in downhill and 36th in giant slalom.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1988 births\nCanadian female freestyle skiers\nLiving people\nSkiers from Quebec City\nFreestyle skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics\nFreestyle skiers at the 2018 Winter Olympics\nOlympic freestyle skiers of Canada\nOlympic bronze medalists for Canada\nMedalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics\nOlympic medalists in freestyle skiing\nX Games athletes"
] |
[
"Mary Decker",
"The 1984 Olympic incident",
"What happened at the event?",
"Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race,"
] |
C_b1cf9b31171a4cdd96c4160457b3cc49_0
|
What race was she running in particular
| 2 |
What race was Mary Decker running in particular?
|
Mary Decker
|
Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles. In the final, Zola Budd, representing Great Britain, had been running barefoot side by side with Decker for three laps and moved ahead. In an attempt to put pressure on Budd, Decker remained close by in a crowded space. Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race, which was won by Maricica Puica of Romania (Budd finished seventh). Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney. At a press conference she said that Budd was to blame for the collision. While it is generally the trailing athlete's responsibility to avoid contact with the runner ahead, it is also an accepted convention among most distance runners that the leader be a full stride ahead before cutting in. Track officials initially disqualified Budd for obstruction, but she was reinstated just one hour later once officials had viewed films of the race. Despite being behind Budd, Decker's claim that Budd had bumped into her leg was supported by a number of U.S. sports journalists, and Budd was hounded constantly in the press as a result, receiving a number of death threats. The claim was never accepted by the director of the games or the IAAF. Decker and Budd next met in July 1985, in a 3000 meters race at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, England. Decker won the race, and Budd finished in fourth place. After the race, the two women shook hands and made up. Decker later went on record as claiming that she was unfairly robbed of the LA 3000 meters gold medal by Budd, but said many years after the event "The reason I fell, some people think she tripped me deliberately. I happen to know that wasn't the case at all. The reason I fell is because I am and was very inexperienced in running in a pack." Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning twelve mile and 3000 meters races in the European athletics calendar, which included a new official world record for the women's mile of 4:16.71 in Zurich (Natalya Artyomova's 4:15.8 in 1984, not being ratified by the IAAF). Since that race in 1985, her time has only been bettered on four occasions. That race in Zurich also matched her with both of the other principle athletes from the Olympic race, Slaney vanquishing both Puica and Budd who themselves ran times that until July 9, 2017 also ranked in the top 10 of all time. She sat out the 1986 season to give birth to her only child, daughter Ashley Lynn (born May 30, 1986), but missed the 1987 season due to injury. She qualified for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, but failed to win a medal. She did not qualify for the 1992 Games. CANNOTANSWER
|
Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles.
|
Mary Teresa Slaney (formerly Tabb, née Decker, born August 4, 1958) is a retired American middle-distance runner. During her career, she won gold medals in the 1500 meters and 3000 meters at the 1983 World Championships, and was the world record holder in the mile, 5000 meters and 10,000 meters. In total, she set 17 official and unofficial world records, including being the first woman in history to break 4:20 for the mile. She also set 36 US national records at distances ranging from 800 meters to 10,000 meters, and has held the US record in the mile, 2000 meters and 3000 meters since the early 1980s, while her 1500 meters record stood for 32 years. In 2003, she was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.
Early life
Mary Decker was born in Bunnvale, New Jersey. A decade later her family moved to Garden Grove in Southern California, where Decker started running. A year later, aged 11, she won her first local competition.
She joined her school athletics club and a local track club, and completely immersed herself in running, for which she would pay an injury-laden price later in her career. At age 12, she completed a marathon and four middle- and long-distance races in one week, ending the week with an appendectomy operation.
Career
In her early teens, Decker was already recognized as a world-class runner. Unable to attend the 1972 Olympics as she was too young, the pigtailed 14-year-old nicknamed "Little Mary Decker," won international acclaim in 1973 with a win in the 800 meters at a US-Soviet meet in Minsk, beating the reigning Olympic silver medallist, Nijolė Sabaitė.
By the end of 1972, Decker was ranked first in the United States and fourth in the world in the 800 meters. In 1973 she gained her first world record, running an indoor mile in 4:40.1. By 1974, Decker was the world Indoor record holder with 2:02.4 for 880 yards, and 2:01.8 for 800 meters.
By the end of 1974, she had developed a case of the muscle condition compartment syndrome. This resulted in a series of injuries, which meant that she did not compete in the 1976 Olympics, because of stress fractures in her lower leg. In 1978 she had an operation to try to cure compartment syndrome, which kept her out of competition for a period. After recovering from surgery, she spent two seasons at the University of Colorado at Boulder on a track scholarship. In 1979, she became the second American woman (the first was Francie Larrieu) to break the 4:30 mile in American record time. Decker was the first woman to break the 4:20 barrier for the mile in 1980 when she ran it in 4:17.55. However, this time was never ratified by the IAAF. She did not compete at the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to the American boycott. She did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the US athletes.
In 1981 she married fellow American distance runner Ron Tabb. The couple divorced in 1983. In 1982, under the name Mary Tabb, she ran the mile in 4:18.08, breaking the official record of 4:20.89 by the Soviet Lyudmila Veselkova. This time was ratified.
Career peak
In 1982 Decker-Tabb set six world records, at distances ranging from the mile run to 10,000 meters. She received the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States.
The following year she achieved the "Double Decker," winning both the 1500 meters and 3000 meters events at the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. Her history of relatively easy wins in the United States left her tactical abilities suspect in Helsinki, as she chose not to run in close order because so few athletes could keep up with her, a situation that the Soviet runners hoped to use to their advantage. Her wins against Soviet World Record holders proved a redemption of her competitive guile. After her double win she won the Jesse Owens Award from USA Track and Field and Sports Illustrated magazine named her Sportsperson of the Year. Shortly before her World Championship victories, Decker improved her U.S. 1500 meters record to 3:57.12 in Stockholm on July 26, 1983. This record stood for 32 years until Shannon Rowbury ran 3:56.29 on July 17, 2015.
The 1984 Olympic incident
Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles. In the final, barefoot runner Zola Budd, representing Great Britain, had been running side by side with Decker for three laps and moved ahead. In an attempt to put pressure on Budd, Decker remained close by in a crowded space. Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb, injuring her hip. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race, which was won by Maricica Puica of Romania (Budd finished seventh). Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney. At a press conference she said that Budd was to blame for the collision. While it is generally the trailing athlete's responsibility to avoid contact with the runner ahead, it is also an accepted convention among most distance runners that the leader be a full stride ahead before cutting in. International track officials initially disqualified Budd for obstruction, but she was reinstated just one hour later once officials had viewed films of the race. Despite being behind Budd, Decker's claim that Budd had bumped into her leg was supported by a number of sports journalists. The claim was not accepted by the director of the games or the IAAF.
Decker and Budd next met in July 1985, in a 3000 meters race at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, England. Decker won the race, and Budd finished in fourth place. After the race, the two women shook hands and made up. Decker later went on record as claiming that she was unfairly robbed of the LA 3000 meters gold medal by Budd, but said many years after the event "The reason I fell, some people think she tripped me deliberately. I happen to know that wasn't the case at all. The reason I fell is because I am and was very inexperienced in running in a pack."
Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning twelve mile and 3000 meters races in the European athletics calendar, which included a new official world record for the women's mile of 4:16.71 in Zurich (Natalya Artyomova's 4:15.8 in 1984, not being ratified by the IAAF). Since that race in 1985, her time has only been bettered on four occasions. That race in Zurich also matched her with both of the other principle athletes from the Olympic race, Slaney vanquishing both Puica and Budd who themselves ran times that until July 9, 2017 also ranked in the top 10 of all time.
She sat out the 1986 season to give birth to her only child, daughter Ashley Lynn (born May 30, 1986), but missed the 1987 season due to injury. She qualified for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, but failed to win a medal. She did not qualify for the 1992 Games.
Doping controversy
In 1996, at the age of 37, as she qualified for the 5000 meters at the Atlanta Olympics, a urine test taken in June at the Olympic Trials showed a testosterone to epitestosterone (T/E) ratio greater than the allowable maximum of six to one. At the time of the positive test Decker was being coached by Alberto Salazar.
Decker and her lawyers contended that the T/E ratio test is unreliable for women, especially women in their late 30s or older who are taking birth control pills. In the meantime, Decker was eliminated in the heats at the Olympics.
In June 1997, the IAAF banned Decker from competition. In September 1999, a USATF panel reinstated her. The IAAF cleared her to compete but took the case to arbitration. In April 1999, the arbitration panel ruled against her, after which the IAAF – through a retroactive ban, even though she was cleared to compete – stripped her of a silver medal she had won in the 1500 meters at the 1997 World Indoor Championships.
In April 1999, Decker filed suit against both the IAAF and the U.S. Olympic Committee which administered the test, arguing that the test is flawed and cannot distinguish between androgens caused by the use of banned substances and androgens resulting from the use of birth control pills. The court ruled that it had no jurisdiction, a decision that was upheld on appeal.
The (T/E) ratio test has seen its standards tightened to a 4:1 ratio, instead of the previous 6:1 ratio, and laboratories now also run a carbon isotope ratio test (CIR) if the ratio is unusually high.
Later life
Throughout her later career, Decker had suffered a series of stress induced fractures. After the loss of her 1999 legal case, she agreed to have a series of more than 30 orthopedic procedures, mainly on her legs and feet, in an attempt to enable her to run competitively in marathons. However, the surgery increased the occurrence of the problems. As a result, she retired with her husband to a property in Eugene, Oregon, where she jogs every other day.
International competitions
See also
List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
References
External links
California State Records before 2000
1958 births
Living people
People from Lebanon Township, New Jersey
Track and field athletes from California
Track and field athletes from New Jersey
American female middle-distance runners
American masters athletes
Olympic track and field athletes of the United States
Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States
Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States
Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games
World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States
World record setters in athletics (track and field)
World Athletics Championships medalists
American sportspeople in doping cases
Doping cases in athletics
James E. Sullivan Award recipients
Congressional Gold Medal recipients
University of Colorado alumni
World Athletics Championships winners
Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games
| true |
[
"Helene Diamantides is a fell runner.\n\nEarly life\n\nHelene Diamantides was born in 1964 in North Yorkshire, but she spent most of her childhood outside England. She lived in Ghana and later in Greece where as a teenager she competed internationally in the pentathlon and her running ability was encouraged and developed. At sixteen, she completed her first marathon. In 1982 she moved to Durham to study for a degree in education. It was through the University of Durham's running club that she first began fell running. Over the next five years she competed in various fell races, including the Karrimor International Mountain Marathon.\n\nFell running achievements\n\nIn 1987 Diamantides completed her first Bob Graham Round (BG): to run over 42 Lake District peaks within 24 hours. Later that year she and fellow fell-runner Alison Wright went to Nepal to attempt to break the record for running from Everest Base Camp to Kathmandu. This is a route which includes of ascent. Both women completed the route in a record of 3 days, 10 hours.\n\nIn 1988 Diamantides won both the women's events in the 31 km Mount Cameroon race and the Mount Kinabalu race in Borneo; and she came third in the Hogger 'Super Marathon' in Algeria. In the same year she also set a new women's record for the BG: 20 h 17 min.\n\nThe next year Diamantides' ambition was to complete in one summer all three of the classic British 24-hour rounds: the English Bob Graham Round, the Welsh Paddy Buckley Round, and the Scottish Ramsay Round. The first was the Paddy Buckley which was completed in 20 h 8 min; beating the men's record (held by Adrian Belton) by two hours. One month later she ran the Ramsay Round. She was then only the sixth person to successfully complete it and did so with a time of 20 h 24 min.\n\nIn 1992, with Martin Stone, Diamantides entered The Dragon's Back race, a new five-day race across the length of Wales; she and Stone won the race in 38 h 38 min. During the 2012 second running of the Dragon's Back Race, Diamantides finished in fourth place overall and first place as a woman.\n\nShe won the Borrowdale Fell Race four times, with her 1999 time of 3 h 14 min 45 s the second-fastest ever in the women's race and within ten seconds of Menna Angharad's course record. In 1990, Diamantides set a course record in the Wasdale Fell Race, which stood until 1997 when it was beaten by Mari Todd. Diamantides held the course record for the Langdale Horseshoe from 1992 until 2016, when it was broken by Victoria Wilkinson.\n\nPersonal life\n\nDiamantides has two children. She married her partner Jon Whitaker in 2005. She works as a physiotherapist.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n YouTube: 1992 Dragon's Back Race\n\nSources\n\n Information taken from: Askwith, Richard, Feet in the Clouds, Chapter 29, London: Aurum Press, 2005.\nTimesonline\nUltrafondus\n\nBritish fell runners\nBritish ultramarathon runners",
"Mira Rai (born 31 December 1988) is a Nepalese trail runner and sky runner. She has participated in many international competitions and has won numerous awards. She was the winner of 2017 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year.\n\nBiography\nShe has participated in some of the world’s most challenging trail races.\n\nEarly life\nMira Rai hails from a remote village in Bhojpur, in the east of the country. Growing up, her family struggled to meet everyday necessities through farming. She left school at age 12 to help her parents in daily household chores, and because her family could not afford her education. She regularly walked up and down the mountainous terrain to collect water and go to market.\nAt the age of 14 she left home in the middle of the night, without telling her parents, to join the Maoist insurgency when they came recruiting through her village. As she was a minor, when the civil war came to an end she was ineligible for integration into the Nepal Army and was subsequently discharged. After returning home she dreamed of doing something more with her life to support her family, and traveled to Kathmandu to pursue karate and running.\n\nCareer\nShe was a good runner, but didn’t know what ultra-running was when she participated in her first ultra-marathon, the 50 km Himalayan Outdoor Festival trail race. One morning when she was running in the hills surrounding Kathmandu, she met a group who were training on the same trails. After running together for some time, they asked her to meet them the following week for another run. When she arrived for that run, she found it was the start point of the 50 km race. Despite being unprepared, without carrying proper food or water, or wearing technical running clothes, she won the race, and caught the attention of race organizers with her positive attitude and dedication to the sport.\n\nAfter more intensive training for trail running, with her mentor Richard Bull of Trail Running Nepal, she began to travel overseas to participate in international ultra-trail running competitions, where she quickly became a well known name, winning one race after another and breaking several records. In early 2016 she suffered a knee injury during competition in the United Kingdom and had to take some time off from international competition to recover. During that time, she turned her attention to promoting trail running across Nepal, and helping to train other promising young female athletes from rural Nepal to complete on the international stage. She has organized many trail races in Kathmandu, and also her native Bojpur, to promote the sport among Nepali youth. She has been featured in both national and international media, which have covered her life from a remote and rural village to a national hero. In a patriarchal society, she has become an inspiration to many girls across the country.\n\nIn 2017 Mira re-joined the competitive ultra-trail running world, with her first competition in September 2017 at the 120 km Ben Nevis Ultra Trail Race in Scotland, UK, where she won the race and set a new course record in a time of 14 hours and 24 minutes. She is a professional trail runner, and part of the Salomon Running team.\n\nAchievements\nThese are her main results.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nMira Rai profile at Trail Running Nepal\nThe Mira Rai Initiative charitable foundation\n\nLiving people\n1988 births\nNepalese female long-distance runners\nNepalese mountain runners\nFemale ultramarathon runners\nNepalese sky runners\nTrail runners\nAsia Game Changer Award winners\nPeople of the Nepalese Civil War\nPeople from Bhojpur District, Nepal\nRai people"
] |
[
"Mary Decker",
"The 1984 Olympic incident",
"What happened at the event?",
"Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race,",
"What race was she running in particular",
"Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles."
] |
C_b1cf9b31171a4cdd96c4160457b3cc49_0
|
was she injured when she fell?
| 3 |
Was Mary Decker injured when she fell?
|
Mary Decker
|
Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles. In the final, Zola Budd, representing Great Britain, had been running barefoot side by side with Decker for three laps and moved ahead. In an attempt to put pressure on Budd, Decker remained close by in a crowded space. Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race, which was won by Maricica Puica of Romania (Budd finished seventh). Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney. At a press conference she said that Budd was to blame for the collision. While it is generally the trailing athlete's responsibility to avoid contact with the runner ahead, it is also an accepted convention among most distance runners that the leader be a full stride ahead before cutting in. Track officials initially disqualified Budd for obstruction, but she was reinstated just one hour later once officials had viewed films of the race. Despite being behind Budd, Decker's claim that Budd had bumped into her leg was supported by a number of U.S. sports journalists, and Budd was hounded constantly in the press as a result, receiving a number of death threats. The claim was never accepted by the director of the games or the IAAF. Decker and Budd next met in July 1985, in a 3000 meters race at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, England. Decker won the race, and Budd finished in fourth place. After the race, the two women shook hands and made up. Decker later went on record as claiming that she was unfairly robbed of the LA 3000 meters gold medal by Budd, but said many years after the event "The reason I fell, some people think she tripped me deliberately. I happen to know that wasn't the case at all. The reason I fell is because I am and was very inexperienced in running in a pack." Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning twelve mile and 3000 meters races in the European athletics calendar, which included a new official world record for the women's mile of 4:16.71 in Zurich (Natalya Artyomova's 4:15.8 in 1984, not being ratified by the IAAF). Since that race in 1985, her time has only been bettered on four occasions. That race in Zurich also matched her with both of the other principle athletes from the Olympic race, Slaney vanquishing both Puica and Budd who themselves ran times that until July 9, 2017 also ranked in the top 10 of all time. She sat out the 1986 season to give birth to her only child, daughter Ashley Lynn (born May 30, 1986), but missed the 1987 season due to injury. She qualified for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, but failed to win a medal. She did not qualify for the 1992 Games. CANNOTANSWER
|
Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney.
|
Mary Teresa Slaney (formerly Tabb, née Decker, born August 4, 1958) is a retired American middle-distance runner. During her career, she won gold medals in the 1500 meters and 3000 meters at the 1983 World Championships, and was the world record holder in the mile, 5000 meters and 10,000 meters. In total, she set 17 official and unofficial world records, including being the first woman in history to break 4:20 for the mile. She also set 36 US national records at distances ranging from 800 meters to 10,000 meters, and has held the US record in the mile, 2000 meters and 3000 meters since the early 1980s, while her 1500 meters record stood for 32 years. In 2003, she was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.
Early life
Mary Decker was born in Bunnvale, New Jersey. A decade later her family moved to Garden Grove in Southern California, where Decker started running. A year later, aged 11, she won her first local competition.
She joined her school athletics club and a local track club, and completely immersed herself in running, for which she would pay an injury-laden price later in her career. At age 12, she completed a marathon and four middle- and long-distance races in one week, ending the week with an appendectomy operation.
Career
In her early teens, Decker was already recognized as a world-class runner. Unable to attend the 1972 Olympics as she was too young, the pigtailed 14-year-old nicknamed "Little Mary Decker," won international acclaim in 1973 with a win in the 800 meters at a US-Soviet meet in Minsk, beating the reigning Olympic silver medallist, Nijolė Sabaitė.
By the end of 1972, Decker was ranked first in the United States and fourth in the world in the 800 meters. In 1973 she gained her first world record, running an indoor mile in 4:40.1. By 1974, Decker was the world Indoor record holder with 2:02.4 for 880 yards, and 2:01.8 for 800 meters.
By the end of 1974, she had developed a case of the muscle condition compartment syndrome. This resulted in a series of injuries, which meant that she did not compete in the 1976 Olympics, because of stress fractures in her lower leg. In 1978 she had an operation to try to cure compartment syndrome, which kept her out of competition for a period. After recovering from surgery, she spent two seasons at the University of Colorado at Boulder on a track scholarship. In 1979, she became the second American woman (the first was Francie Larrieu) to break the 4:30 mile in American record time. Decker was the first woman to break the 4:20 barrier for the mile in 1980 when she ran it in 4:17.55. However, this time was never ratified by the IAAF. She did not compete at the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to the American boycott. She did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the US athletes.
In 1981 she married fellow American distance runner Ron Tabb. The couple divorced in 1983. In 1982, under the name Mary Tabb, she ran the mile in 4:18.08, breaking the official record of 4:20.89 by the Soviet Lyudmila Veselkova. This time was ratified.
Career peak
In 1982 Decker-Tabb set six world records, at distances ranging from the mile run to 10,000 meters. She received the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States.
The following year she achieved the "Double Decker," winning both the 1500 meters and 3000 meters events at the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. Her history of relatively easy wins in the United States left her tactical abilities suspect in Helsinki, as she chose not to run in close order because so few athletes could keep up with her, a situation that the Soviet runners hoped to use to their advantage. Her wins against Soviet World Record holders proved a redemption of her competitive guile. After her double win she won the Jesse Owens Award from USA Track and Field and Sports Illustrated magazine named her Sportsperson of the Year. Shortly before her World Championship victories, Decker improved her U.S. 1500 meters record to 3:57.12 in Stockholm on July 26, 1983. This record stood for 32 years until Shannon Rowbury ran 3:56.29 on July 17, 2015.
The 1984 Olympic incident
Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles. In the final, barefoot runner Zola Budd, representing Great Britain, had been running side by side with Decker for three laps and moved ahead. In an attempt to put pressure on Budd, Decker remained close by in a crowded space. Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb, injuring her hip. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race, which was won by Maricica Puica of Romania (Budd finished seventh). Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney. At a press conference she said that Budd was to blame for the collision. While it is generally the trailing athlete's responsibility to avoid contact with the runner ahead, it is also an accepted convention among most distance runners that the leader be a full stride ahead before cutting in. International track officials initially disqualified Budd for obstruction, but she was reinstated just one hour later once officials had viewed films of the race. Despite being behind Budd, Decker's claim that Budd had bumped into her leg was supported by a number of sports journalists. The claim was not accepted by the director of the games or the IAAF.
Decker and Budd next met in July 1985, in a 3000 meters race at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, England. Decker won the race, and Budd finished in fourth place. After the race, the two women shook hands and made up. Decker later went on record as claiming that she was unfairly robbed of the LA 3000 meters gold medal by Budd, but said many years after the event "The reason I fell, some people think she tripped me deliberately. I happen to know that wasn't the case at all. The reason I fell is because I am and was very inexperienced in running in a pack."
Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning twelve mile and 3000 meters races in the European athletics calendar, which included a new official world record for the women's mile of 4:16.71 in Zurich (Natalya Artyomova's 4:15.8 in 1984, not being ratified by the IAAF). Since that race in 1985, her time has only been bettered on four occasions. That race in Zurich also matched her with both of the other principle athletes from the Olympic race, Slaney vanquishing both Puica and Budd who themselves ran times that until July 9, 2017 also ranked in the top 10 of all time.
She sat out the 1986 season to give birth to her only child, daughter Ashley Lynn (born May 30, 1986), but missed the 1987 season due to injury. She qualified for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, but failed to win a medal. She did not qualify for the 1992 Games.
Doping controversy
In 1996, at the age of 37, as she qualified for the 5000 meters at the Atlanta Olympics, a urine test taken in June at the Olympic Trials showed a testosterone to epitestosterone (T/E) ratio greater than the allowable maximum of six to one. At the time of the positive test Decker was being coached by Alberto Salazar.
Decker and her lawyers contended that the T/E ratio test is unreliable for women, especially women in their late 30s or older who are taking birth control pills. In the meantime, Decker was eliminated in the heats at the Olympics.
In June 1997, the IAAF banned Decker from competition. In September 1999, a USATF panel reinstated her. The IAAF cleared her to compete but took the case to arbitration. In April 1999, the arbitration panel ruled against her, after which the IAAF – through a retroactive ban, even though she was cleared to compete – stripped her of a silver medal she had won in the 1500 meters at the 1997 World Indoor Championships.
In April 1999, Decker filed suit against both the IAAF and the U.S. Olympic Committee which administered the test, arguing that the test is flawed and cannot distinguish between androgens caused by the use of banned substances and androgens resulting from the use of birth control pills. The court ruled that it had no jurisdiction, a decision that was upheld on appeal.
The (T/E) ratio test has seen its standards tightened to a 4:1 ratio, instead of the previous 6:1 ratio, and laboratories now also run a carbon isotope ratio test (CIR) if the ratio is unusually high.
Later life
Throughout her later career, Decker had suffered a series of stress induced fractures. After the loss of her 1999 legal case, she agreed to have a series of more than 30 orthopedic procedures, mainly on her legs and feet, in an attempt to enable her to run competitively in marathons. However, the surgery increased the occurrence of the problems. As a result, she retired with her husband to a property in Eugene, Oregon, where she jogs every other day.
International competitions
See also
List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
References
External links
California State Records before 2000
1958 births
Living people
People from Lebanon Township, New Jersey
Track and field athletes from California
Track and field athletes from New Jersey
American female middle-distance runners
American masters athletes
Olympic track and field athletes of the United States
Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States
Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States
Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games
World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States
World record setters in athletics (track and field)
World Athletics Championships medalists
American sportspeople in doping cases
Doping cases in athletics
James E. Sullivan Award recipients
Congressional Gold Medal recipients
University of Colorado alumni
World Athletics Championships winners
Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games
| true |
[
"Storm Malik was an extratropical cyclone that was part of the 2021–22 European windstorm season. It was named by the Danish Meteorological Institute in Denmark on January 28, and lasted until January 30. It caused 2958 severe wind reports and over 800,000 power outages in multiple countries. Seven people died.\n\nMeteorological history \nOn 28 January, Storm Malik was named by the Danish Meteorological Institute, after the Greenlandic name that also means \"wave\". In Finland and Germany, which are not part of the storm naming groups, it was named Valtteri by the Finnish Meteorological Institute, while the Free University of Berlin named the same system as Nadia. The storm lasted until January 30, after which it dissipated.\n\nImpacts \nThe impact from the storm ranged from mild to severe throughout most of the continent.\n\nFatalities \nTwo fatalities were reported in the United Kingdom due to Storm Malik: a 60-year old woman in Aberdeen, Scotland and a 9-year old boy in Staffordshire, England. Both were hit by falling trees. In Denmark, a 78-year old woman died from injuries sustained when a door she opened was caught by the wind and she fell. In Germany, a person in Beelitz was killed when hit by a poster that had come loose and in Poland a person was killed when a tree fell on a moving car in Wejherowo County. In the Czech Republic, a worker died after being buried by a wall.\n\nInjuries \nTwo teenagers were injured in the southern Swedish region of Scania when their car was hit by a falling tree. A child was injured when a tree crashed through the roof in Charlottenlund, Denmark, while west of Esbjerg, a moving car was hit by a large branch, resulting in 3 injuries. In Poland, a driver was injured when she drove into a downed tree near Kierzkowo, while in Tłuczewo, a person sustained arm injuries. In Germany, a man was injured by a falling tree in a park, in Bremen.\n\nDamage \nMore than 680,000 people were left without power in Poland by the storm and in the United Kingdom around 130,000 lost power. In Sweden around 40,000 households lost power, mostly in the south.\n\nSweden \nIn the city of Malmö, many facade panels from the Turning Torso building fell. In the Västra Hamnen (The West Harbour) area a crane from a construction site got overturned and landed close to a bus stop full of people. A second crane got overturned in the city of Malmö and landed on parked cars. Another crane got overturned in the city of Södertälje south of Stockholm and landed on a hospital but only caused slight damage to windows in the ICU section. Many trees fell throughout southern Sweden. Many trees also fell in Norrtälje, a town north of Stockholm which was hit by another similar storm back in January 2019 called Alfrida.\n\nLithuania \nThe storm caused damage to the Lithuanian coast as well, with local authorities calling it the \"worst storm since Cyclone Anatol in 1999\". The storm reached winds of 93 km/h (58 mph; 50 kn) with gusts of 125 km/h (78 mph; 68 kn). Infrastructure and protective dunes along the Curonian Spit were considerably damaged by the storm.\n\nAftermath \n\nThe damage in the United Kingdom and Ireland by Malik was worsened by Storm Corrie, which started affecting the two countries on January 29. The following storm resulted in 118,000 power outages in Scotland, and more overall damage.\n\nSee also\nWeather of 2022\n2021–22 European windstorm season\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n2022 meteorology\nJanuary 2022 events in the United Kingdom\n2022 disasters in the United Kingdom\nJanuary 2022 events in Europe\nEuropean windstorms",
"Jean Hatton (born 1922) was an Australian singer and actor who was under contract to Cinesound Productions in the 1930s. She was discovered in a Deanna Durbin talent quest and cast as Cecil Kellaway's daughter in Mr. Chedworth Steps Out (1939), singing several songs. She was subsequently cast in Come Up Smiling (1939). During filming she fell down two flights of stairs and was injured, causing filming to be delayed, but she recovered. She later performed in concerts and radio and was generally advertised as \"Australia's Deanna Durbin\".\n\nFilmography\nMr. Chedworth Steps Out (1939)\nCome Up Smiling (1939)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nJean Hatton at National Film and Sound Archive\n\n1922 births\nAustralian film actresses\nPossibly living people"
] |
[
"Mary Decker",
"The 1984 Olympic incident",
"What happened at the event?",
"Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race,",
"What race was she running in particular",
"Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles.",
"was she injured when she fell?",
"Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney."
] |
C_b1cf9b31171a4cdd96c4160457b3cc49_0
|
Did she participate in any other events that olympics?
| 4 |
Besides the 3000 meters run, did Mary Decker participate in any other events in the 1984 Olympics?
|
Mary Decker
|
Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles. In the final, Zola Budd, representing Great Britain, had been running barefoot side by side with Decker for three laps and moved ahead. In an attempt to put pressure on Budd, Decker remained close by in a crowded space. Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race, which was won by Maricica Puica of Romania (Budd finished seventh). Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney. At a press conference she said that Budd was to blame for the collision. While it is generally the trailing athlete's responsibility to avoid contact with the runner ahead, it is also an accepted convention among most distance runners that the leader be a full stride ahead before cutting in. Track officials initially disqualified Budd for obstruction, but she was reinstated just one hour later once officials had viewed films of the race. Despite being behind Budd, Decker's claim that Budd had bumped into her leg was supported by a number of U.S. sports journalists, and Budd was hounded constantly in the press as a result, receiving a number of death threats. The claim was never accepted by the director of the games or the IAAF. Decker and Budd next met in July 1985, in a 3000 meters race at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, England. Decker won the race, and Budd finished in fourth place. After the race, the two women shook hands and made up. Decker later went on record as claiming that she was unfairly robbed of the LA 3000 meters gold medal by Budd, but said many years after the event "The reason I fell, some people think she tripped me deliberately. I happen to know that wasn't the case at all. The reason I fell is because I am and was very inexperienced in running in a pack." Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning twelve mile and 3000 meters races in the European athletics calendar, which included a new official world record for the women's mile of 4:16.71 in Zurich (Natalya Artyomova's 4:15.8 in 1984, not being ratified by the IAAF). Since that race in 1985, her time has only been bettered on four occasions. That race in Zurich also matched her with both of the other principle athletes from the Olympic race, Slaney vanquishing both Puica and Budd who themselves ran times that until July 9, 2017 also ranked in the top 10 of all time. She sat out the 1986 season to give birth to her only child, daughter Ashley Lynn (born May 30, 1986), but missed the 1987 season due to injury. She qualified for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, but failed to win a medal. She did not qualify for the 1992 Games. CANNOTANSWER
|
Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning twelve mile and 3000 meters races in the European athletics calendar,
|
Mary Teresa Slaney (formerly Tabb, née Decker, born August 4, 1958) is a retired American middle-distance runner. During her career, she won gold medals in the 1500 meters and 3000 meters at the 1983 World Championships, and was the world record holder in the mile, 5000 meters and 10,000 meters. In total, she set 17 official and unofficial world records, including being the first woman in history to break 4:20 for the mile. She also set 36 US national records at distances ranging from 800 meters to 10,000 meters, and has held the US record in the mile, 2000 meters and 3000 meters since the early 1980s, while her 1500 meters record stood for 32 years. In 2003, she was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.
Early life
Mary Decker was born in Bunnvale, New Jersey. A decade later her family moved to Garden Grove in Southern California, where Decker started running. A year later, aged 11, she won her first local competition.
She joined her school athletics club and a local track club, and completely immersed herself in running, for which she would pay an injury-laden price later in her career. At age 12, she completed a marathon and four middle- and long-distance races in one week, ending the week with an appendectomy operation.
Career
In her early teens, Decker was already recognized as a world-class runner. Unable to attend the 1972 Olympics as she was too young, the pigtailed 14-year-old nicknamed "Little Mary Decker," won international acclaim in 1973 with a win in the 800 meters at a US-Soviet meet in Minsk, beating the reigning Olympic silver medallist, Nijolė Sabaitė.
By the end of 1972, Decker was ranked first in the United States and fourth in the world in the 800 meters. In 1973 she gained her first world record, running an indoor mile in 4:40.1. By 1974, Decker was the world Indoor record holder with 2:02.4 for 880 yards, and 2:01.8 for 800 meters.
By the end of 1974, she had developed a case of the muscle condition compartment syndrome. This resulted in a series of injuries, which meant that she did not compete in the 1976 Olympics, because of stress fractures in her lower leg. In 1978 she had an operation to try to cure compartment syndrome, which kept her out of competition for a period. After recovering from surgery, she spent two seasons at the University of Colorado at Boulder on a track scholarship. In 1979, she became the second American woman (the first was Francie Larrieu) to break the 4:30 mile in American record time. Decker was the first woman to break the 4:20 barrier for the mile in 1980 when she ran it in 4:17.55. However, this time was never ratified by the IAAF. She did not compete at the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to the American boycott. She did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the US athletes.
In 1981 she married fellow American distance runner Ron Tabb. The couple divorced in 1983. In 1982, under the name Mary Tabb, she ran the mile in 4:18.08, breaking the official record of 4:20.89 by the Soviet Lyudmila Veselkova. This time was ratified.
Career peak
In 1982 Decker-Tabb set six world records, at distances ranging from the mile run to 10,000 meters. She received the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States.
The following year she achieved the "Double Decker," winning both the 1500 meters and 3000 meters events at the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. Her history of relatively easy wins in the United States left her tactical abilities suspect in Helsinki, as she chose not to run in close order because so few athletes could keep up with her, a situation that the Soviet runners hoped to use to their advantage. Her wins against Soviet World Record holders proved a redemption of her competitive guile. After her double win she won the Jesse Owens Award from USA Track and Field and Sports Illustrated magazine named her Sportsperson of the Year. Shortly before her World Championship victories, Decker improved her U.S. 1500 meters record to 3:57.12 in Stockholm on July 26, 1983. This record stood for 32 years until Shannon Rowbury ran 3:56.29 on July 17, 2015.
The 1984 Olympic incident
Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles. In the final, barefoot runner Zola Budd, representing Great Britain, had been running side by side with Decker for three laps and moved ahead. In an attempt to put pressure on Budd, Decker remained close by in a crowded space. Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb, injuring her hip. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race, which was won by Maricica Puica of Romania (Budd finished seventh). Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney. At a press conference she said that Budd was to blame for the collision. While it is generally the trailing athlete's responsibility to avoid contact with the runner ahead, it is also an accepted convention among most distance runners that the leader be a full stride ahead before cutting in. International track officials initially disqualified Budd for obstruction, but she was reinstated just one hour later once officials had viewed films of the race. Despite being behind Budd, Decker's claim that Budd had bumped into her leg was supported by a number of sports journalists. The claim was not accepted by the director of the games or the IAAF.
Decker and Budd next met in July 1985, in a 3000 meters race at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, England. Decker won the race, and Budd finished in fourth place. After the race, the two women shook hands and made up. Decker later went on record as claiming that she was unfairly robbed of the LA 3000 meters gold medal by Budd, but said many years after the event "The reason I fell, some people think she tripped me deliberately. I happen to know that wasn't the case at all. The reason I fell is because I am and was very inexperienced in running in a pack."
Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning twelve mile and 3000 meters races in the European athletics calendar, which included a new official world record for the women's mile of 4:16.71 in Zurich (Natalya Artyomova's 4:15.8 in 1984, not being ratified by the IAAF). Since that race in 1985, her time has only been bettered on four occasions. That race in Zurich also matched her with both of the other principle athletes from the Olympic race, Slaney vanquishing both Puica and Budd who themselves ran times that until July 9, 2017 also ranked in the top 10 of all time.
She sat out the 1986 season to give birth to her only child, daughter Ashley Lynn (born May 30, 1986), but missed the 1987 season due to injury. She qualified for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, but failed to win a medal. She did not qualify for the 1992 Games.
Doping controversy
In 1996, at the age of 37, as she qualified for the 5000 meters at the Atlanta Olympics, a urine test taken in June at the Olympic Trials showed a testosterone to epitestosterone (T/E) ratio greater than the allowable maximum of six to one. At the time of the positive test Decker was being coached by Alberto Salazar.
Decker and her lawyers contended that the T/E ratio test is unreliable for women, especially women in their late 30s or older who are taking birth control pills. In the meantime, Decker was eliminated in the heats at the Olympics.
In June 1997, the IAAF banned Decker from competition. In September 1999, a USATF panel reinstated her. The IAAF cleared her to compete but took the case to arbitration. In April 1999, the arbitration panel ruled against her, after which the IAAF – through a retroactive ban, even though she was cleared to compete – stripped her of a silver medal she had won in the 1500 meters at the 1997 World Indoor Championships.
In April 1999, Decker filed suit against both the IAAF and the U.S. Olympic Committee which administered the test, arguing that the test is flawed and cannot distinguish between androgens caused by the use of banned substances and androgens resulting from the use of birth control pills. The court ruled that it had no jurisdiction, a decision that was upheld on appeal.
The (T/E) ratio test has seen its standards tightened to a 4:1 ratio, instead of the previous 6:1 ratio, and laboratories now also run a carbon isotope ratio test (CIR) if the ratio is unusually high.
Later life
Throughout her later career, Decker had suffered a series of stress induced fractures. After the loss of her 1999 legal case, she agreed to have a series of more than 30 orthopedic procedures, mainly on her legs and feet, in an attempt to enable her to run competitively in marathons. However, the surgery increased the occurrence of the problems. As a result, she retired with her husband to a property in Eugene, Oregon, where she jogs every other day.
International competitions
See also
List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
References
External links
California State Records before 2000
1958 births
Living people
People from Lebanon Township, New Jersey
Track and field athletes from California
Track and field athletes from New Jersey
American female middle-distance runners
American masters athletes
Olympic track and field athletes of the United States
Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States
Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States
Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games
World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States
World record setters in athletics (track and field)
World Athletics Championships medalists
American sportspeople in doping cases
Doping cases in athletics
James E. Sullivan Award recipients
Congressional Gold Medal recipients
University of Colorado alumni
World Athletics Championships winners
Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games
| true |
[
"Tatiana Al-Najar (; born May 11, 1967) is a Jordanian Olympic table tennis player. She represented Jordan in 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. She did not participate in any other Summer Olympics, and she failed to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, however, she won Arab Table Tennis Championships in the next year.\n\nOlympic participation\n\nSydney 2000\nAl-Najar was the oldest participant for Jordan in that tournament aged 33 years and 130 days then.\n\nTable tennis – Women's Singles – Preliminary Round\n\nHonors\nArab Table Tennis Championships Amman 2012 – Women's Singles: Champion\n\nReferences\n\n1967 births\nLiving people\nTable tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics\nJordanian female table tennis players\nOlympic table tennis players of Jordan",
"Some countries hoped to compete in the 2006 Winter Olympics but did not do so.\n\nIraq\n\nFaisal Faisal failed to qualify for skeleton.\n\nIraq has never competed at a Winter Olympics.\n\nJamaica\n\nJamaica did not send any athletes to the 2006 Winter Olympics. Jamaica's bobsleigh team—Led by Chris Stokes, and coached by Wayne Thomas— failed to qualify for the Games. However, former Jamaican bobsledder Lascelles Brown, who was born in Jamaica, and obtained Canadian citizenship in January 2006 by parliamentary decree, participated with Pierre Lueders in the 2-man and 4-man events and won Silver in the 2-man, and finished 4th in the 4-man.\n\nJamaica has competed in every other Winter Olympics from 1988 through 2018.\n\nMexico\n\nMexico did not send any athletes to the 2006 Winter Olympics. The teams for bobsleigh and skeleton both failed to qualify for the Games. Alpine skier Hubertus von Hohenlohe had gained enough FIS points to qualify for the Olympics, but the Mexico National Olympic Committee decided not to send a one-man team to the Games.\n\nvon Hohenlohe lobbied strenuously to get to go to what would be his fifth Games, with support from the Turin Committee, the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), the IOC, and FIS.\n\nMorocco\n\nMorocco qualified to participate at the 2006 Winter Olympics, in Turin, Italy with the representation by Samir Azzimani (who lives in France) and Sarah Ben Mansour (who lives in Belgium), both in alpine skiing. However, they did not appear on the start list at the event.\n\nEighteen-year-old Ben Mansour was born outside Antwerp and trains in Flanders. The man-made indoor slope (coincidentally named the Casablanca Ski Centre) that she practices on is small compared to the majestic training grounds of the traditional skiing powers and involves countless numbers of short runs. Ben Mansour has a Belgian father and Moroccan mother, speaks Arabic, and grew up immersed in Muslim culture. Her total African skiing experience is limited to just two days in Morocco's Atlas Mountains, where she gave demonstrations to locals. Ben Mansour reportedly had to cancel because of a knee surgery.\n\nPakistan\n\nPakistan was scheduled to send 2 alpine skiers to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. However, both Muhammed Abbas and Waseem Abbas failed to qualify.\n\nPeru \n\nPeru had intended to participate in the Winter Olympic Games for the first time in its history, but failed to appear for the Opening Ceremony, and the four snowboarders failed to register for their events.\n\nVirgin Islands\n\nThe United States Virgin Islands sent one competitor, Anne Abernathy, for the women's singles Luge competition; however, she injured her wrist during a crash in practice and was unable to compete.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Jamaica (NBC Olympics)\n Jamaican bobsled team story continues to inspire (USA Today)\n\n2006 Winter Olympics\n2006 Winter Olympics\n2006 Winter Olympics\n2006 Winter Olympics\n2006 Winter Olympics\n2006 Winter Olympics\n2006 Winter Olympics"
] |
[
"Mary Decker",
"The 1984 Olympic incident",
"What happened at the event?",
"Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race,",
"What race was she running in particular",
"Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles.",
"was she injured when she fell?",
"Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney.",
"Did she participate in any other events that olympics?",
"Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning twelve mile and 3000 meters races in the European athletics calendar,"
] |
C_b1cf9b31171a4cdd96c4160457b3cc49_0
|
How did she feel about losing in 84?
| 5 |
How did Mary Decker feel about losing in 84?
|
Mary Decker
|
Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles. In the final, Zola Budd, representing Great Britain, had been running barefoot side by side with Decker for three laps and moved ahead. In an attempt to put pressure on Budd, Decker remained close by in a crowded space. Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race, which was won by Maricica Puica of Romania (Budd finished seventh). Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney. At a press conference she said that Budd was to blame for the collision. While it is generally the trailing athlete's responsibility to avoid contact with the runner ahead, it is also an accepted convention among most distance runners that the leader be a full stride ahead before cutting in. Track officials initially disqualified Budd for obstruction, but she was reinstated just one hour later once officials had viewed films of the race. Despite being behind Budd, Decker's claim that Budd had bumped into her leg was supported by a number of U.S. sports journalists, and Budd was hounded constantly in the press as a result, receiving a number of death threats. The claim was never accepted by the director of the games or the IAAF. Decker and Budd next met in July 1985, in a 3000 meters race at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, England. Decker won the race, and Budd finished in fourth place. After the race, the two women shook hands and made up. Decker later went on record as claiming that she was unfairly robbed of the LA 3000 meters gold medal by Budd, but said many years after the event "The reason I fell, some people think she tripped me deliberately. I happen to know that wasn't the case at all. The reason I fell is because I am and was very inexperienced in running in a pack." Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning twelve mile and 3000 meters races in the European athletics calendar, which included a new official world record for the women's mile of 4:16.71 in Zurich (Natalya Artyomova's 4:15.8 in 1984, not being ratified by the IAAF). Since that race in 1985, her time has only been bettered on four occasions. That race in Zurich also matched her with both of the other principle athletes from the Olympic race, Slaney vanquishing both Puica and Budd who themselves ran times that until July 9, 2017 also ranked in the top 10 of all time. She sat out the 1986 season to give birth to her only child, daughter Ashley Lynn (born May 30, 1986), but missed the 1987 season due to injury. She qualified for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, but failed to win a medal. She did not qualify for the 1992 Games. CANNOTANSWER
|
At a press conference she said that Budd was to blame for the collision.
|
Mary Teresa Slaney (formerly Tabb, née Decker, born August 4, 1958) is a retired American middle-distance runner. During her career, she won gold medals in the 1500 meters and 3000 meters at the 1983 World Championships, and was the world record holder in the mile, 5000 meters and 10,000 meters. In total, she set 17 official and unofficial world records, including being the first woman in history to break 4:20 for the mile. She also set 36 US national records at distances ranging from 800 meters to 10,000 meters, and has held the US record in the mile, 2000 meters and 3000 meters since the early 1980s, while her 1500 meters record stood for 32 years. In 2003, she was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.
Early life
Mary Decker was born in Bunnvale, New Jersey. A decade later her family moved to Garden Grove in Southern California, where Decker started running. A year later, aged 11, she won her first local competition.
She joined her school athletics club and a local track club, and completely immersed herself in running, for which she would pay an injury-laden price later in her career. At age 12, she completed a marathon and four middle- and long-distance races in one week, ending the week with an appendectomy operation.
Career
In her early teens, Decker was already recognized as a world-class runner. Unable to attend the 1972 Olympics as she was too young, the pigtailed 14-year-old nicknamed "Little Mary Decker," won international acclaim in 1973 with a win in the 800 meters at a US-Soviet meet in Minsk, beating the reigning Olympic silver medallist, Nijolė Sabaitė.
By the end of 1972, Decker was ranked first in the United States and fourth in the world in the 800 meters. In 1973 she gained her first world record, running an indoor mile in 4:40.1. By 1974, Decker was the world Indoor record holder with 2:02.4 for 880 yards, and 2:01.8 for 800 meters.
By the end of 1974, she had developed a case of the muscle condition compartment syndrome. This resulted in a series of injuries, which meant that she did not compete in the 1976 Olympics, because of stress fractures in her lower leg. In 1978 she had an operation to try to cure compartment syndrome, which kept her out of competition for a period. After recovering from surgery, she spent two seasons at the University of Colorado at Boulder on a track scholarship. In 1979, she became the second American woman (the first was Francie Larrieu) to break the 4:30 mile in American record time. Decker was the first woman to break the 4:20 barrier for the mile in 1980 when she ran it in 4:17.55. However, this time was never ratified by the IAAF. She did not compete at the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to the American boycott. She did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the US athletes.
In 1981 she married fellow American distance runner Ron Tabb. The couple divorced in 1983. In 1982, under the name Mary Tabb, she ran the mile in 4:18.08, breaking the official record of 4:20.89 by the Soviet Lyudmila Veselkova. This time was ratified.
Career peak
In 1982 Decker-Tabb set six world records, at distances ranging from the mile run to 10,000 meters. She received the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States.
The following year she achieved the "Double Decker," winning both the 1500 meters and 3000 meters events at the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. Her history of relatively easy wins in the United States left her tactical abilities suspect in Helsinki, as she chose not to run in close order because so few athletes could keep up with her, a situation that the Soviet runners hoped to use to their advantage. Her wins against Soviet World Record holders proved a redemption of her competitive guile. After her double win she won the Jesse Owens Award from USA Track and Field and Sports Illustrated magazine named her Sportsperson of the Year. Shortly before her World Championship victories, Decker improved her U.S. 1500 meters record to 3:57.12 in Stockholm on July 26, 1983. This record stood for 32 years until Shannon Rowbury ran 3:56.29 on July 17, 2015.
The 1984 Olympic incident
Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles. In the final, barefoot runner Zola Budd, representing Great Britain, had been running side by side with Decker for three laps and moved ahead. In an attempt to put pressure on Budd, Decker remained close by in a crowded space. Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb, injuring her hip. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race, which was won by Maricica Puica of Romania (Budd finished seventh). Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney. At a press conference she said that Budd was to blame for the collision. While it is generally the trailing athlete's responsibility to avoid contact with the runner ahead, it is also an accepted convention among most distance runners that the leader be a full stride ahead before cutting in. International track officials initially disqualified Budd for obstruction, but she was reinstated just one hour later once officials had viewed films of the race. Despite being behind Budd, Decker's claim that Budd had bumped into her leg was supported by a number of sports journalists. The claim was not accepted by the director of the games or the IAAF.
Decker and Budd next met in July 1985, in a 3000 meters race at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, England. Decker won the race, and Budd finished in fourth place. After the race, the two women shook hands and made up. Decker later went on record as claiming that she was unfairly robbed of the LA 3000 meters gold medal by Budd, but said many years after the event "The reason I fell, some people think she tripped me deliberately. I happen to know that wasn't the case at all. The reason I fell is because I am and was very inexperienced in running in a pack."
Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning twelve mile and 3000 meters races in the European athletics calendar, which included a new official world record for the women's mile of 4:16.71 in Zurich (Natalya Artyomova's 4:15.8 in 1984, not being ratified by the IAAF). Since that race in 1985, her time has only been bettered on four occasions. That race in Zurich also matched her with both of the other principle athletes from the Olympic race, Slaney vanquishing both Puica and Budd who themselves ran times that until July 9, 2017 also ranked in the top 10 of all time.
She sat out the 1986 season to give birth to her only child, daughter Ashley Lynn (born May 30, 1986), but missed the 1987 season due to injury. She qualified for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, but failed to win a medal. She did not qualify for the 1992 Games.
Doping controversy
In 1996, at the age of 37, as she qualified for the 5000 meters at the Atlanta Olympics, a urine test taken in June at the Olympic Trials showed a testosterone to epitestosterone (T/E) ratio greater than the allowable maximum of six to one. At the time of the positive test Decker was being coached by Alberto Salazar.
Decker and her lawyers contended that the T/E ratio test is unreliable for women, especially women in their late 30s or older who are taking birth control pills. In the meantime, Decker was eliminated in the heats at the Olympics.
In June 1997, the IAAF banned Decker from competition. In September 1999, a USATF panel reinstated her. The IAAF cleared her to compete but took the case to arbitration. In April 1999, the arbitration panel ruled against her, after which the IAAF – through a retroactive ban, even though she was cleared to compete – stripped her of a silver medal she had won in the 1500 meters at the 1997 World Indoor Championships.
In April 1999, Decker filed suit against both the IAAF and the U.S. Olympic Committee which administered the test, arguing that the test is flawed and cannot distinguish between androgens caused by the use of banned substances and androgens resulting from the use of birth control pills. The court ruled that it had no jurisdiction, a decision that was upheld on appeal.
The (T/E) ratio test has seen its standards tightened to a 4:1 ratio, instead of the previous 6:1 ratio, and laboratories now also run a carbon isotope ratio test (CIR) if the ratio is unusually high.
Later life
Throughout her later career, Decker had suffered a series of stress induced fractures. After the loss of her 1999 legal case, she agreed to have a series of more than 30 orthopedic procedures, mainly on her legs and feet, in an attempt to enable her to run competitively in marathons. However, the surgery increased the occurrence of the problems. As a result, she retired with her husband to a property in Eugene, Oregon, where she jogs every other day.
International competitions
See also
List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
References
External links
California State Records before 2000
1958 births
Living people
People from Lebanon Township, New Jersey
Track and field athletes from California
Track and field athletes from New Jersey
American female middle-distance runners
American masters athletes
Olympic track and field athletes of the United States
Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States
Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States
Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games
World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States
World record setters in athletics (track and field)
World Athletics Championships medalists
American sportspeople in doping cases
Doping cases in athletics
James E. Sullivan Award recipients
Congressional Gold Medal recipients
University of Colorado alumni
World Athletics Championships winners
Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games
| true |
[
"\"Lose My Mind\" is a song by Australian singer and songwriter Dean Lewis. Released in July 2017 as the third single from his debut extended play Same Kind of Different (2017).\n\nLewis explained: \"\"Lose My Mind\" could be my favourite song on the EP, it's about how you feel when you are on the verge of losing someone and you feel like you can't live without them. It's like the first night without that person who has been there for you. I remember feeling like the walls were closing in cause that person who I could always turn to was gone. That felt like losing my mind.\"\n\nIn August 2017, \"Lose My Mind\" was used in a television promotion for the Seven Network's show 800 Words. \"Lose My Mind\" was ARIA certified platinum.\n\nAn acoustic version was released on 20 October 2017.\n\nTrack listing\n\nCharts\n\nCertifications\n\nReferences\n\n2017 singles\n2016 songs\nDean Lewis songs\nUniversal Music Australia singles\nSongs written by Dean Lewis",
"Katie Neil (born in 1989) is an American pop rock singer-songwriter and former actress.\n\nBiography\n\nEarly career\nAt the age of 8, Neil began working in Broadway and singing and acting in many shows. She worked with Community theatre and with the Kennedy Center for a while. At the age of 10, she moved to Manhattan. After a year on Broadway and with all of the performances she did, Neil began to get more into singing and pop music. This is when she released her debut album, How I Feel with Cliff Downs. Later, she released Second Story with Chris Griffin, then In Transit.\n\nRoles on Broadway\n Appearance with the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Kennedy Center (age 8)\n Washington Opera's Boris Godunov (Plácido Domingo, artistic director)\n The Nutcracker, with the Stanislavski Ballet, at the Kennedy Center\n Annie Get Your Gun, playing \"Jessie Oakley\" opposite Bernadette Peters (age 10)\n Fiddler on the Roof in Ocean City, New Jersey (ensemble role)\n Winnow Winds in Martinsburg, West Virginia (lead role)\n The Secret Garden, Philadelphia (playing the lead role, Mary Lennox)\n Broadway Kids recording of \"America Sings\"\n\nDiscography\n\nHow I Feel\nWhen Neil was just 13, in 2003, she released her first album, How I Feel, produced by Cliff Downs.\n\nTrack listing:\n \"It's Alright to Breakdown Sometimes\"\n \"How I Feel\"\n \"My Friend Nikki\"\n \"Till You Need Me\"\n \"Where the Sadness Dies\"\n \"Do Without You\"\n \"Everywhere You Go\"\n \"Guess I Never Loved You\"\n \" Can We Go the Distance\"\n \"Buses and Trains\"\n \"Far Away From Here\"\n\nSecond Story\nAt age 15, in 2005, Neil came out with her first EP, entitled Second Story, produced and mixed by Chris Griffin.\n\nTrack listing:\n \"Stripped Down\"\n \"Go Away\"\n \"It's Not the Same\"\n \"The Real Me\"\n \"School Daze\"\n\nIn Transit\nNeil released her second EP in June 2006, entitled In Transit.\n\nTrack listing:\n \"Stupid Ex Boyfriend\"\n \"Bad For You\"\n \"Good Day Down\"\n \"Unspoken\"\n \"You're Not the Only One\".\n\nThe song \"Stupid Ex Boyfriend\" was a featured \"Hip Clipz\" tune on the website of Curly Grrlz Skateboards.\n\nPersonal life\nNeil currently resides in an apartment building with her parents in New York City, where she is attending high school.\n\nReferences\n\n Review of Second Story – includes references to other press\n Press release, November 20, 2003\n\nExternal links\n Neil's official site\n Neil's MySpace page\n Neil's official fansite\n\n1989 births\nLiving people\nAmerican stage actresses\nActresses from New York City\n21st-century American singers\n21st-century American women singers"
] |
[
"Mary Decker",
"The 1984 Olympic incident",
"What happened at the event?",
"Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race,",
"What race was she running in particular",
"Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles.",
"was she injured when she fell?",
"Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney.",
"Did she participate in any other events that olympics?",
"Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning twelve mile and 3000 meters races in the European athletics calendar,",
"How did she feel about losing in 84?",
"At a press conference she said that Budd was to blame for the collision."
] |
C_b1cf9b31171a4cdd96c4160457b3cc49_0
|
Did she try to appeal the race result?
| 6 |
Did Mary Decker try to appeal the race result in the 1984 Olympics?
|
Mary Decker
|
Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles. In the final, Zola Budd, representing Great Britain, had been running barefoot side by side with Decker for three laps and moved ahead. In an attempt to put pressure on Budd, Decker remained close by in a crowded space. Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race, which was won by Maricica Puica of Romania (Budd finished seventh). Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney. At a press conference she said that Budd was to blame for the collision. While it is generally the trailing athlete's responsibility to avoid contact with the runner ahead, it is also an accepted convention among most distance runners that the leader be a full stride ahead before cutting in. Track officials initially disqualified Budd for obstruction, but she was reinstated just one hour later once officials had viewed films of the race. Despite being behind Budd, Decker's claim that Budd had bumped into her leg was supported by a number of U.S. sports journalists, and Budd was hounded constantly in the press as a result, receiving a number of death threats. The claim was never accepted by the director of the games or the IAAF. Decker and Budd next met in July 1985, in a 3000 meters race at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, England. Decker won the race, and Budd finished in fourth place. After the race, the two women shook hands and made up. Decker later went on record as claiming that she was unfairly robbed of the LA 3000 meters gold medal by Budd, but said many years after the event "The reason I fell, some people think she tripped me deliberately. I happen to know that wasn't the case at all. The reason I fell is because I am and was very inexperienced in running in a pack." Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning twelve mile and 3000 meters races in the European athletics calendar, which included a new official world record for the women's mile of 4:16.71 in Zurich (Natalya Artyomova's 4:15.8 in 1984, not being ratified by the IAAF). Since that race in 1985, her time has only been bettered on four occasions. That race in Zurich also matched her with both of the other principle athletes from the Olympic race, Slaney vanquishing both Puica and Budd who themselves ran times that until July 9, 2017 also ranked in the top 10 of all time. She sat out the 1986 season to give birth to her only child, daughter Ashley Lynn (born May 30, 1986), but missed the 1987 season due to injury. She qualified for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, but failed to win a medal. She did not qualify for the 1992 Games. CANNOTANSWER
|
was hounded constantly in the press as a result, receiving a number of death threats. The claim was never accepted by the director of the games or the IAAF.
|
Mary Teresa Slaney (formerly Tabb, née Decker, born August 4, 1958) is a retired American middle-distance runner. During her career, she won gold medals in the 1500 meters and 3000 meters at the 1983 World Championships, and was the world record holder in the mile, 5000 meters and 10,000 meters. In total, she set 17 official and unofficial world records, including being the first woman in history to break 4:20 for the mile. She also set 36 US national records at distances ranging from 800 meters to 10,000 meters, and has held the US record in the mile, 2000 meters and 3000 meters since the early 1980s, while her 1500 meters record stood for 32 years. In 2003, she was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.
Early life
Mary Decker was born in Bunnvale, New Jersey. A decade later her family moved to Garden Grove in Southern California, where Decker started running. A year later, aged 11, she won her first local competition.
She joined her school athletics club and a local track club, and completely immersed herself in running, for which she would pay an injury-laden price later in her career. At age 12, she completed a marathon and four middle- and long-distance races in one week, ending the week with an appendectomy operation.
Career
In her early teens, Decker was already recognized as a world-class runner. Unable to attend the 1972 Olympics as she was too young, the pigtailed 14-year-old nicknamed "Little Mary Decker," won international acclaim in 1973 with a win in the 800 meters at a US-Soviet meet in Minsk, beating the reigning Olympic silver medallist, Nijolė Sabaitė.
By the end of 1972, Decker was ranked first in the United States and fourth in the world in the 800 meters. In 1973 she gained her first world record, running an indoor mile in 4:40.1. By 1974, Decker was the world Indoor record holder with 2:02.4 for 880 yards, and 2:01.8 for 800 meters.
By the end of 1974, she had developed a case of the muscle condition compartment syndrome. This resulted in a series of injuries, which meant that she did not compete in the 1976 Olympics, because of stress fractures in her lower leg. In 1978 she had an operation to try to cure compartment syndrome, which kept her out of competition for a period. After recovering from surgery, she spent two seasons at the University of Colorado at Boulder on a track scholarship. In 1979, she became the second American woman (the first was Francie Larrieu) to break the 4:30 mile in American record time. Decker was the first woman to break the 4:20 barrier for the mile in 1980 when she ran it in 4:17.55. However, this time was never ratified by the IAAF. She did not compete at the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to the American boycott. She did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the US athletes.
In 1981 she married fellow American distance runner Ron Tabb. The couple divorced in 1983. In 1982, under the name Mary Tabb, she ran the mile in 4:18.08, breaking the official record of 4:20.89 by the Soviet Lyudmila Veselkova. This time was ratified.
Career peak
In 1982 Decker-Tabb set six world records, at distances ranging from the mile run to 10,000 meters. She received the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States.
The following year she achieved the "Double Decker," winning both the 1500 meters and 3000 meters events at the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. Her history of relatively easy wins in the United States left her tactical abilities suspect in Helsinki, as she chose not to run in close order because so few athletes could keep up with her, a situation that the Soviet runners hoped to use to their advantage. Her wins against Soviet World Record holders proved a redemption of her competitive guile. After her double win she won the Jesse Owens Award from USA Track and Field and Sports Illustrated magazine named her Sportsperson of the Year. Shortly before her World Championship victories, Decker improved her U.S. 1500 meters record to 3:57.12 in Stockholm on July 26, 1983. This record stood for 32 years until Shannon Rowbury ran 3:56.29 on July 17, 2015.
The 1984 Olympic incident
Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles. In the final, barefoot runner Zola Budd, representing Great Britain, had been running side by side with Decker for three laps and moved ahead. In an attempt to put pressure on Budd, Decker remained close by in a crowded space. Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb, injuring her hip. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race, which was won by Maricica Puica of Romania (Budd finished seventh). Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney. At a press conference she said that Budd was to blame for the collision. While it is generally the trailing athlete's responsibility to avoid contact with the runner ahead, it is also an accepted convention among most distance runners that the leader be a full stride ahead before cutting in. International track officials initially disqualified Budd for obstruction, but she was reinstated just one hour later once officials had viewed films of the race. Despite being behind Budd, Decker's claim that Budd had bumped into her leg was supported by a number of sports journalists. The claim was not accepted by the director of the games or the IAAF.
Decker and Budd next met in July 1985, in a 3000 meters race at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, England. Decker won the race, and Budd finished in fourth place. After the race, the two women shook hands and made up. Decker later went on record as claiming that she was unfairly robbed of the LA 3000 meters gold medal by Budd, but said many years after the event "The reason I fell, some people think she tripped me deliberately. I happen to know that wasn't the case at all. The reason I fell is because I am and was very inexperienced in running in a pack."
Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning twelve mile and 3000 meters races in the European athletics calendar, which included a new official world record for the women's mile of 4:16.71 in Zurich (Natalya Artyomova's 4:15.8 in 1984, not being ratified by the IAAF). Since that race in 1985, her time has only been bettered on four occasions. That race in Zurich also matched her with both of the other principle athletes from the Olympic race, Slaney vanquishing both Puica and Budd who themselves ran times that until July 9, 2017 also ranked in the top 10 of all time.
She sat out the 1986 season to give birth to her only child, daughter Ashley Lynn (born May 30, 1986), but missed the 1987 season due to injury. She qualified for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, but failed to win a medal. She did not qualify for the 1992 Games.
Doping controversy
In 1996, at the age of 37, as she qualified for the 5000 meters at the Atlanta Olympics, a urine test taken in June at the Olympic Trials showed a testosterone to epitestosterone (T/E) ratio greater than the allowable maximum of six to one. At the time of the positive test Decker was being coached by Alberto Salazar.
Decker and her lawyers contended that the T/E ratio test is unreliable for women, especially women in their late 30s or older who are taking birth control pills. In the meantime, Decker was eliminated in the heats at the Olympics.
In June 1997, the IAAF banned Decker from competition. In September 1999, a USATF panel reinstated her. The IAAF cleared her to compete but took the case to arbitration. In April 1999, the arbitration panel ruled against her, after which the IAAF – through a retroactive ban, even though she was cleared to compete – stripped her of a silver medal she had won in the 1500 meters at the 1997 World Indoor Championships.
In April 1999, Decker filed suit against both the IAAF and the U.S. Olympic Committee which administered the test, arguing that the test is flawed and cannot distinguish between androgens caused by the use of banned substances and androgens resulting from the use of birth control pills. The court ruled that it had no jurisdiction, a decision that was upheld on appeal.
The (T/E) ratio test has seen its standards tightened to a 4:1 ratio, instead of the previous 6:1 ratio, and laboratories now also run a carbon isotope ratio test (CIR) if the ratio is unusually high.
Later life
Throughout her later career, Decker had suffered a series of stress induced fractures. After the loss of her 1999 legal case, she agreed to have a series of more than 30 orthopedic procedures, mainly on her legs and feet, in an attempt to enable her to run competitively in marathons. However, the surgery increased the occurrence of the problems. As a result, she retired with her husband to a property in Eugene, Oregon, where she jogs every other day.
International competitions
See also
List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
References
External links
California State Records before 2000
1958 births
Living people
People from Lebanon Township, New Jersey
Track and field athletes from California
Track and field athletes from New Jersey
American female middle-distance runners
American masters athletes
Olympic track and field athletes of the United States
Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States
Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States
Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games
World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States
World record setters in athletics (track and field)
World Athletics Championships medalists
American sportspeople in doping cases
Doping cases in athletics
James E. Sullivan Award recipients
Congressional Gold Medal recipients
University of Colorado alumni
World Athletics Championships winners
Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games
| false |
[
"Thrixeena Akua (born March 4, 1994) is a Nauruan sprinter. During the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games, she landed in seventh place in the 100m women event. She also competed in the Summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.\n\nOlympic games \nIn 2010, she took part in the Summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. On 19 August she took part in the 200 m qualifying race, where she finished in sixth place with a time of 30.27 (one runner, Yaneisi Ribeaux, did not finish the race). This result allowed her to start in the Final C, where she improved the elimination time by running the distance in 30.08 s and taking third place (it was, however, the last time of the final, because as many as three players - Noelyn Kukapi, Aichetou Mbodj, Yaneisi Ribeaux - were disqualified). In the overall classification she took 17th place. This result allowed her to start in the Final C, where she improved the elimination time by running the distance in 30.08 s and taking third place. In the overall classification she took 17th place.\n\nShe competed twice (100 m and 200 m run) in athletics competitions during the 2011 Youth Commonwealth Games. The first distance in which she started was 100 metres. In the qualifying rounds, which took place on 9 September, this distance ran in 14.18 s, which gave her the penultimate, seventh place. Sophie Papps lost 2.03 s to the race winner ; poor result did not allow her to advance to the next stage of the competition. A day later she took off at twice the distance. In her elimination run, she obtained the last, fifth time - 29.61 s - losing to the winner Caroline Morin-Houde over 5 seconds (24.40 s). This did not allow her to continue competing on this distance.\n\nReferences \n\nNauruan female sprinters\n1994 births\nLiving people",
"Bethune-Hill v. Virginia State Bd. of Elections, 580 U.S. ___ (2017), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court evaluated whether Virginia's legislature the Virginia General Assembly violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution by considering racial demographics when drawing the boundaries of twelve of the state's legislative districts. \n\nThe case involves the maps drawn up by the Republican-controlled state legislative bodies to try to maintain their majority within the state. The initial decision by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia found the 2011 redistricting map to be racially gerrymandered. The state challenged to the Supreme Court, which found the District Court had misapplied a standard and remanded portions of the case while affirming other parts of the decision. On rehearing, the District Court again found the redistricting to be unconstitutional, and the state of Virginia declined to challenge the result. A second petition for the Supreme Court was initiated by the Virginia House of Delegates, appealing the new District Court ruling. The Supreme Court accepted the petition but summarily ruled that the House of Delegates did not have sufficient standing to challenge in lieu of the state itself.\n\nBackground\nVirginia has historically been a Republican-favored state but in the last few decades, has seen a shift towards the left. The Republicans have managed to hold slim margins in their state legislation despite not having won an election since 2009.\n\nThis case arose when Virginia voters filed a lawsuit to challenge the twelve new legislative districts, drawn up by the controlling Republican legislative bodies in 2011, \"as unconstitutional racial gerrymanders.\" At trial, a three-Judge panel from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that race was not a predominant factor in the creation of eleven of the districts; the panel \"held that race predominates only where there is an 'actual conflict between traditional redistricting criteria and race'\". The three-judge panel also held that race was a predominate factor for the boundaries of the remaining district, \"District 75,\" though the panel held that the legislature did not violate the Equal Protection Clause when drawing the district \"because the legislature's use of race was narrowly tailored to a compelling state interest.\" The Panel explained \"that a 55% racial target was necessary in District 75 to avoid diminishing the ability of black voters to elect their preferred candidates, which at the time would have violated §5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.\" New court-ordered redistricting maps were prepared, which gave the Democrats the edge in future elections.\n\nOpinion of the Court\nIn an opinion written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the Supreme Court held that the district court applied an incorrect legal standard when it determined that race did not predominate in eleven of the twelve legislative districts. However, the Court also held that the district court correctly determined that legislature did not violate the constitution when drawing the boundaries of District 75. The Supreme Court remanded the case back to the district court for further proceedings.\n\nAftermath\nFollowing the remanded hearings, in which the District Court still held that the redistricting was an unconstitutional gerrymandering, the state of Virginia issued a statement that it would not seek additional judicial relief. However, the Virginia House of Representatives instead attempted to appeal on behalf of the state, creating a new case, Virginia House of Delegates v. Bethune-Hill (Docket 18-281). This appeal was directly petitioned to the Supreme Court, which accepted the case for appeal. On June 17, 2019, the Supreme Court issued its ruling, dismissing the appeal on the basis that the House lacked standing to take over the case from the State. In the 5–4 decision, Justice Ginsburg stated that the House, acting alone from Virginia's Senate, did not have standing either directly as a party to the case, or to represent the State's interests.\n\nSee also\n List of United States Supreme Court cases\n Lists of United States Supreme Court cases by volume\n List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Roberts Court\n OneVirginia2021\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n Slip opinion for Virginia House of Delegates v. Bethune-Hill\n\nUnited States Supreme Court cases\nUnited States Supreme Court cases of the Roberts Court\n2017 in United States case law\nUnited States electoral redistricting case law"
] |
[
"Mary Decker",
"The 1984 Olympic incident",
"What happened at the event?",
"Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race,",
"What race was she running in particular",
"Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles.",
"was she injured when she fell?",
"Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney.",
"Did she participate in any other events that olympics?",
"Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning twelve mile and 3000 meters races in the European athletics calendar,",
"How did she feel about losing in 84?",
"At a press conference she said that Budd was to blame for the collision.",
"Did she try to appeal the race result?",
"was hounded constantly in the press as a result, receiving a number of death threats. The claim was never accepted by the director of the games or the IAAF."
] |
C_b1cf9b31171a4cdd96c4160457b3cc49_0
|
Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
| 7 |
Besides Mary Decker receiving death threats, are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
|
Mary Decker
|
Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles. In the final, Zola Budd, representing Great Britain, had been running barefoot side by side with Decker for three laps and moved ahead. In an attempt to put pressure on Budd, Decker remained close by in a crowded space. Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race, which was won by Maricica Puica of Romania (Budd finished seventh). Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney. At a press conference she said that Budd was to blame for the collision. While it is generally the trailing athlete's responsibility to avoid contact with the runner ahead, it is also an accepted convention among most distance runners that the leader be a full stride ahead before cutting in. Track officials initially disqualified Budd for obstruction, but she was reinstated just one hour later once officials had viewed films of the race. Despite being behind Budd, Decker's claim that Budd had bumped into her leg was supported by a number of U.S. sports journalists, and Budd was hounded constantly in the press as a result, receiving a number of death threats. The claim was never accepted by the director of the games or the IAAF. Decker and Budd next met in July 1985, in a 3000 meters race at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, England. Decker won the race, and Budd finished in fourth place. After the race, the two women shook hands and made up. Decker later went on record as claiming that she was unfairly robbed of the LA 3000 meters gold medal by Budd, but said many years after the event "The reason I fell, some people think she tripped me deliberately. I happen to know that wasn't the case at all. The reason I fell is because I am and was very inexperienced in running in a pack." Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning twelve mile and 3000 meters races in the European athletics calendar, which included a new official world record for the women's mile of 4:16.71 in Zurich (Natalya Artyomova's 4:15.8 in 1984, not being ratified by the IAAF). Since that race in 1985, her time has only been bettered on four occasions. That race in Zurich also matched her with both of the other principle athletes from the Olympic race, Slaney vanquishing both Puica and Budd who themselves ran times that until July 9, 2017 also ranked in the top 10 of all time. She sat out the 1986 season to give birth to her only child, daughter Ashley Lynn (born May 30, 1986), but missed the 1987 season due to injury. She qualified for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, but failed to win a medal. She did not qualify for the 1992 Games. CANNOTANSWER
|
Decker and Budd next met in July 1985, in a 3000 meters race at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, England. Decker won the race,
|
Mary Teresa Slaney (formerly Tabb, née Decker, born August 4, 1958) is a retired American middle-distance runner. During her career, she won gold medals in the 1500 meters and 3000 meters at the 1983 World Championships, and was the world record holder in the mile, 5000 meters and 10,000 meters. In total, she set 17 official and unofficial world records, including being the first woman in history to break 4:20 for the mile. She also set 36 US national records at distances ranging from 800 meters to 10,000 meters, and has held the US record in the mile, 2000 meters and 3000 meters since the early 1980s, while her 1500 meters record stood for 32 years. In 2003, she was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.
Early life
Mary Decker was born in Bunnvale, New Jersey. A decade later her family moved to Garden Grove in Southern California, where Decker started running. A year later, aged 11, she won her first local competition.
She joined her school athletics club and a local track club, and completely immersed herself in running, for which she would pay an injury-laden price later in her career. At age 12, she completed a marathon and four middle- and long-distance races in one week, ending the week with an appendectomy operation.
Career
In her early teens, Decker was already recognized as a world-class runner. Unable to attend the 1972 Olympics as she was too young, the pigtailed 14-year-old nicknamed "Little Mary Decker," won international acclaim in 1973 with a win in the 800 meters at a US-Soviet meet in Minsk, beating the reigning Olympic silver medallist, Nijolė Sabaitė.
By the end of 1972, Decker was ranked first in the United States and fourth in the world in the 800 meters. In 1973 she gained her first world record, running an indoor mile in 4:40.1. By 1974, Decker was the world Indoor record holder with 2:02.4 for 880 yards, and 2:01.8 for 800 meters.
By the end of 1974, she had developed a case of the muscle condition compartment syndrome. This resulted in a series of injuries, which meant that she did not compete in the 1976 Olympics, because of stress fractures in her lower leg. In 1978 she had an operation to try to cure compartment syndrome, which kept her out of competition for a period. After recovering from surgery, she spent two seasons at the University of Colorado at Boulder on a track scholarship. In 1979, she became the second American woman (the first was Francie Larrieu) to break the 4:30 mile in American record time. Decker was the first woman to break the 4:20 barrier for the mile in 1980 when she ran it in 4:17.55. However, this time was never ratified by the IAAF. She did not compete at the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to the American boycott. She did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the US athletes.
In 1981 she married fellow American distance runner Ron Tabb. The couple divorced in 1983. In 1982, under the name Mary Tabb, she ran the mile in 4:18.08, breaking the official record of 4:20.89 by the Soviet Lyudmila Veselkova. This time was ratified.
Career peak
In 1982 Decker-Tabb set six world records, at distances ranging from the mile run to 10,000 meters. She received the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States.
The following year she achieved the "Double Decker," winning both the 1500 meters and 3000 meters events at the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. Her history of relatively easy wins in the United States left her tactical abilities suspect in Helsinki, as she chose not to run in close order because so few athletes could keep up with her, a situation that the Soviet runners hoped to use to their advantage. Her wins against Soviet World Record holders proved a redemption of her competitive guile. After her double win she won the Jesse Owens Award from USA Track and Field and Sports Illustrated magazine named her Sportsperson of the Year. Shortly before her World Championship victories, Decker improved her U.S. 1500 meters record to 3:57.12 in Stockholm on July 26, 1983. This record stood for 32 years until Shannon Rowbury ran 3:56.29 on July 17, 2015.
The 1984 Olympic incident
Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles. In the final, barefoot runner Zola Budd, representing Great Britain, had been running side by side with Decker for three laps and moved ahead. In an attempt to put pressure on Budd, Decker remained close by in a crowded space. Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb, injuring her hip. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race, which was won by Maricica Puica of Romania (Budd finished seventh). Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney. At a press conference she said that Budd was to blame for the collision. While it is generally the trailing athlete's responsibility to avoid contact with the runner ahead, it is also an accepted convention among most distance runners that the leader be a full stride ahead before cutting in. International track officials initially disqualified Budd for obstruction, but she was reinstated just one hour later once officials had viewed films of the race. Despite being behind Budd, Decker's claim that Budd had bumped into her leg was supported by a number of sports journalists. The claim was not accepted by the director of the games or the IAAF.
Decker and Budd next met in July 1985, in a 3000 meters race at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, England. Decker won the race, and Budd finished in fourth place. After the race, the two women shook hands and made up. Decker later went on record as claiming that she was unfairly robbed of the LA 3000 meters gold medal by Budd, but said many years after the event "The reason I fell, some people think she tripped me deliberately. I happen to know that wasn't the case at all. The reason I fell is because I am and was very inexperienced in running in a pack."
Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning twelve mile and 3000 meters races in the European athletics calendar, which included a new official world record for the women's mile of 4:16.71 in Zurich (Natalya Artyomova's 4:15.8 in 1984, not being ratified by the IAAF). Since that race in 1985, her time has only been bettered on four occasions. That race in Zurich also matched her with both of the other principle athletes from the Olympic race, Slaney vanquishing both Puica and Budd who themselves ran times that until July 9, 2017 also ranked in the top 10 of all time.
She sat out the 1986 season to give birth to her only child, daughter Ashley Lynn (born May 30, 1986), but missed the 1987 season due to injury. She qualified for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, but failed to win a medal. She did not qualify for the 1992 Games.
Doping controversy
In 1996, at the age of 37, as she qualified for the 5000 meters at the Atlanta Olympics, a urine test taken in June at the Olympic Trials showed a testosterone to epitestosterone (T/E) ratio greater than the allowable maximum of six to one. At the time of the positive test Decker was being coached by Alberto Salazar.
Decker and her lawyers contended that the T/E ratio test is unreliable for women, especially women in their late 30s or older who are taking birth control pills. In the meantime, Decker was eliminated in the heats at the Olympics.
In June 1997, the IAAF banned Decker from competition. In September 1999, a USATF panel reinstated her. The IAAF cleared her to compete but took the case to arbitration. In April 1999, the arbitration panel ruled against her, after which the IAAF – through a retroactive ban, even though she was cleared to compete – stripped her of a silver medal she had won in the 1500 meters at the 1997 World Indoor Championships.
In April 1999, Decker filed suit against both the IAAF and the U.S. Olympic Committee which administered the test, arguing that the test is flawed and cannot distinguish between androgens caused by the use of banned substances and androgens resulting from the use of birth control pills. The court ruled that it had no jurisdiction, a decision that was upheld on appeal.
The (T/E) ratio test has seen its standards tightened to a 4:1 ratio, instead of the previous 6:1 ratio, and laboratories now also run a carbon isotope ratio test (CIR) if the ratio is unusually high.
Later life
Throughout her later career, Decker had suffered a series of stress induced fractures. After the loss of her 1999 legal case, she agreed to have a series of more than 30 orthopedic procedures, mainly on her legs and feet, in an attempt to enable her to run competitively in marathons. However, the surgery increased the occurrence of the problems. As a result, she retired with her husband to a property in Eugene, Oregon, where she jogs every other day.
International competitions
See also
List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
References
External links
California State Records before 2000
1958 births
Living people
People from Lebanon Township, New Jersey
Track and field athletes from California
Track and field athletes from New Jersey
American female middle-distance runners
American masters athletes
Olympic track and field athletes of the United States
Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States
Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States
Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games
World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States
World record setters in athletics (track and field)
World Athletics Championships medalists
American sportspeople in doping cases
Doping cases in athletics
James E. Sullivan Award recipients
Congressional Gold Medal recipients
University of Colorado alumni
World Athletics Championships winners
Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games
| 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"
] |
[
"Mary Decker",
"The 1984 Olympic incident",
"What happened at the event?",
"Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race,",
"What race was she running in particular",
"Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles.",
"was she injured when she fell?",
"Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney.",
"Did she participate in any other events that olympics?",
"Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning twelve mile and 3000 meters races in the European athletics calendar,",
"How did she feel about losing in 84?",
"At a press conference she said that Budd was to blame for the collision.",
"Did she try to appeal the race result?",
"was hounded constantly in the press as a result, receiving a number of death threats. The claim was never accepted by the director of the games or the IAAF.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Decker and Budd next met in July 1985, in a 3000 meters race at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, England. Decker won the race,"
] |
C_b1cf9b31171a4cdd96c4160457b3cc49_0
|
What place did Budd finish?
| 8 |
What place did Budd finish in the race in July 1985, at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, England?
|
Mary Decker
|
Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles. In the final, Zola Budd, representing Great Britain, had been running barefoot side by side with Decker for three laps and moved ahead. In an attempt to put pressure on Budd, Decker remained close by in a crowded space. Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race, which was won by Maricica Puica of Romania (Budd finished seventh). Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney. At a press conference she said that Budd was to blame for the collision. While it is generally the trailing athlete's responsibility to avoid contact with the runner ahead, it is also an accepted convention among most distance runners that the leader be a full stride ahead before cutting in. Track officials initially disqualified Budd for obstruction, but she was reinstated just one hour later once officials had viewed films of the race. Despite being behind Budd, Decker's claim that Budd had bumped into her leg was supported by a number of U.S. sports journalists, and Budd was hounded constantly in the press as a result, receiving a number of death threats. The claim was never accepted by the director of the games or the IAAF. Decker and Budd next met in July 1985, in a 3000 meters race at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, England. Decker won the race, and Budd finished in fourth place. After the race, the two women shook hands and made up. Decker later went on record as claiming that she was unfairly robbed of the LA 3000 meters gold medal by Budd, but said many years after the event "The reason I fell, some people think she tripped me deliberately. I happen to know that wasn't the case at all. The reason I fell is because I am and was very inexperienced in running in a pack." Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning twelve mile and 3000 meters races in the European athletics calendar, which included a new official world record for the women's mile of 4:16.71 in Zurich (Natalya Artyomova's 4:15.8 in 1984, not being ratified by the IAAF). Since that race in 1985, her time has only been bettered on four occasions. That race in Zurich also matched her with both of the other principle athletes from the Olympic race, Slaney vanquishing both Puica and Budd who themselves ran times that until July 9, 2017 also ranked in the top 10 of all time. She sat out the 1986 season to give birth to her only child, daughter Ashley Lynn (born May 30, 1986), but missed the 1987 season due to injury. She qualified for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, but failed to win a medal. She did not qualify for the 1992 Games. CANNOTANSWER
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which included a new official world record for the women's mile of 4:16.71
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Mary Teresa Slaney (formerly Tabb, née Decker, born August 4, 1958) is a retired American middle-distance runner. During her career, she won gold medals in the 1500 meters and 3000 meters at the 1983 World Championships, and was the world record holder in the mile, 5000 meters and 10,000 meters. In total, she set 17 official and unofficial world records, including being the first woman in history to break 4:20 for the mile. She also set 36 US national records at distances ranging from 800 meters to 10,000 meters, and has held the US record in the mile, 2000 meters and 3000 meters since the early 1980s, while her 1500 meters record stood for 32 years. In 2003, she was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.
Early life
Mary Decker was born in Bunnvale, New Jersey. A decade later her family moved to Garden Grove in Southern California, where Decker started running. A year later, aged 11, she won her first local competition.
She joined her school athletics club and a local track club, and completely immersed herself in running, for which she would pay an injury-laden price later in her career. At age 12, she completed a marathon and four middle- and long-distance races in one week, ending the week with an appendectomy operation.
Career
In her early teens, Decker was already recognized as a world-class runner. Unable to attend the 1972 Olympics as she was too young, the pigtailed 14-year-old nicknamed "Little Mary Decker," won international acclaim in 1973 with a win in the 800 meters at a US-Soviet meet in Minsk, beating the reigning Olympic silver medallist, Nijolė Sabaitė.
By the end of 1972, Decker was ranked first in the United States and fourth in the world in the 800 meters. In 1973 she gained her first world record, running an indoor mile in 4:40.1. By 1974, Decker was the world Indoor record holder with 2:02.4 for 880 yards, and 2:01.8 for 800 meters.
By the end of 1974, she had developed a case of the muscle condition compartment syndrome. This resulted in a series of injuries, which meant that she did not compete in the 1976 Olympics, because of stress fractures in her lower leg. In 1978 she had an operation to try to cure compartment syndrome, which kept her out of competition for a period. After recovering from surgery, she spent two seasons at the University of Colorado at Boulder on a track scholarship. In 1979, she became the second American woman (the first was Francie Larrieu) to break the 4:30 mile in American record time. Decker was the first woman to break the 4:20 barrier for the mile in 1980 when she ran it in 4:17.55. However, this time was never ratified by the IAAF. She did not compete at the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to the American boycott. She did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the US athletes.
In 1981 she married fellow American distance runner Ron Tabb. The couple divorced in 1983. In 1982, under the name Mary Tabb, she ran the mile in 4:18.08, breaking the official record of 4:20.89 by the Soviet Lyudmila Veselkova. This time was ratified.
Career peak
In 1982 Decker-Tabb set six world records, at distances ranging from the mile run to 10,000 meters. She received the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States.
The following year she achieved the "Double Decker," winning both the 1500 meters and 3000 meters events at the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. Her history of relatively easy wins in the United States left her tactical abilities suspect in Helsinki, as she chose not to run in close order because so few athletes could keep up with her, a situation that the Soviet runners hoped to use to their advantage. Her wins against Soviet World Record holders proved a redemption of her competitive guile. After her double win she won the Jesse Owens Award from USA Track and Field and Sports Illustrated magazine named her Sportsperson of the Year. Shortly before her World Championship victories, Decker improved her U.S. 1500 meters record to 3:57.12 in Stockholm on July 26, 1983. This record stood for 32 years until Shannon Rowbury ran 3:56.29 on July 17, 2015.
The 1984 Olympic incident
Decker was heavily favored to win a gold medal in the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at Los Angeles. In the final, barefoot runner Zola Budd, representing Great Britain, had been running side by side with Decker for three laps and moved ahead. In an attempt to put pressure on Budd, Decker remained close by in a crowded space. Decker stood on Budd, then shortly after, collided with the barefoot runner and fell spectacularly to the curb, injuring her hip. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race, which was won by Maricica Puica of Romania (Budd finished seventh). Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney. At a press conference she said that Budd was to blame for the collision. While it is generally the trailing athlete's responsibility to avoid contact with the runner ahead, it is also an accepted convention among most distance runners that the leader be a full stride ahead before cutting in. International track officials initially disqualified Budd for obstruction, but she was reinstated just one hour later once officials had viewed films of the race. Despite being behind Budd, Decker's claim that Budd had bumped into her leg was supported by a number of sports journalists. The claim was not accepted by the director of the games or the IAAF.
Decker and Budd next met in July 1985, in a 3000 meters race at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, England. Decker won the race, and Budd finished in fourth place. After the race, the two women shook hands and made up. Decker later went on record as claiming that she was unfairly robbed of the LA 3000 meters gold medal by Budd, but said many years after the event "The reason I fell, some people think she tripped me deliberately. I happen to know that wasn't the case at all. The reason I fell is because I am and was very inexperienced in running in a pack."
Decker had a successful 1985 season, winning twelve mile and 3000 meters races in the European athletics calendar, which included a new official world record for the women's mile of 4:16.71 in Zurich (Natalya Artyomova's 4:15.8 in 1984, not being ratified by the IAAF). Since that race in 1985, her time has only been bettered on four occasions. That race in Zurich also matched her with both of the other principle athletes from the Olympic race, Slaney vanquishing both Puica and Budd who themselves ran times that until July 9, 2017 also ranked in the top 10 of all time.
She sat out the 1986 season to give birth to her only child, daughter Ashley Lynn (born May 30, 1986), but missed the 1987 season due to injury. She qualified for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, but failed to win a medal. She did not qualify for the 1992 Games.
Doping controversy
In 1996, at the age of 37, as she qualified for the 5000 meters at the Atlanta Olympics, a urine test taken in June at the Olympic Trials showed a testosterone to epitestosterone (T/E) ratio greater than the allowable maximum of six to one. At the time of the positive test Decker was being coached by Alberto Salazar.
Decker and her lawyers contended that the T/E ratio test is unreliable for women, especially women in their late 30s or older who are taking birth control pills. In the meantime, Decker was eliminated in the heats at the Olympics.
In June 1997, the IAAF banned Decker from competition. In September 1999, a USATF panel reinstated her. The IAAF cleared her to compete but took the case to arbitration. In April 1999, the arbitration panel ruled against her, after which the IAAF – through a retroactive ban, even though she was cleared to compete – stripped her of a silver medal she had won in the 1500 meters at the 1997 World Indoor Championships.
In April 1999, Decker filed suit against both the IAAF and the U.S. Olympic Committee which administered the test, arguing that the test is flawed and cannot distinguish between androgens caused by the use of banned substances and androgens resulting from the use of birth control pills. The court ruled that it had no jurisdiction, a decision that was upheld on appeal.
The (T/E) ratio test has seen its standards tightened to a 4:1 ratio, instead of the previous 6:1 ratio, and laboratories now also run a carbon isotope ratio test (CIR) if the ratio is unusually high.
Later life
Throughout her later career, Decker had suffered a series of stress induced fractures. After the loss of her 1999 legal case, she agreed to have a series of more than 30 orthopedic procedures, mainly on her legs and feet, in an attempt to enable her to run competitively in marathons. However, the surgery increased the occurrence of the problems. As a result, she retired with her husband to a property in Eugene, Oregon, where she jogs every other day.
International competitions
See also
List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
References
External links
California State Records before 2000
1958 births
Living people
People from Lebanon Township, New Jersey
Track and field athletes from California
Track and field athletes from New Jersey
American female middle-distance runners
American masters athletes
Olympic track and field athletes of the United States
Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States
Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States
Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games
World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States
World record setters in athletics (track and field)
World Athletics Championships medalists
American sportspeople in doping cases
Doping cases in athletics
James E. Sullivan Award recipients
Congressional Gold Medal recipients
University of Colorado alumni
World Athletics Championships winners
Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games
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[
"These are the official results of the Women's 3000 metres event at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. The final, held on August 10, 1984, was won by Maricica Puică of Romania. This was the first ever 3000 meters race for women at the Olympics. The race is still remembered because of the fall of world champion Mary Decker after a collision with Zola Budd.\n\nMary Decker won the first heat to claim the new Olympic record. Maricica Puică improved upon the record in the third heat.\n\nSouth African teenager Zola Budd had obtained British citizenship controversially fast (through an agreement between her father, Frank Budd, and the London Daily Mail) in order to enter the Olympics. The Apartheid government of South Africa had been banned from worldwide competition. Budd, who intentionally ran barefoot, was essentially an unknown athlete on the world stage. Decker also was largely untested in domestic races and had relatively little experience running competitively in a crowd. In addition to being the favorite in the race, this was a home town Olympics for Decker, having grown up barely 50 km (33 miles) from the Coliseum.\n\nFrom the gun, Decker went to the front, with Puică a metre back. Starting slower, Budd ran through the field to assume her position on Decker's shoulder 200 metres into the race. They ran in the same formation for three laps. With four laps to go, Wendy Sly moved forward to challenge for the lead next to Budd. Coming off the turn, Budd moved toward the curb. Decker stepped on her back kick, then shortly after, collided with the British runner and fell spectacularly to the curb, injuring her hip. As a result, Mary Decker did not finish the race. Decker was carried off the track in tears by her boyfriend (and later, husband), British discus thrower Richard Slaney. Puică rushed around Budd into the lead, with Sly on her shoulder as the bewildered Budd lost ground for a moment. But Budd ran around Puică and Sly to again take the lead. Deeper in the pack, somehow Brigitte Kraus also fell into the infield and out of the race. With a lap and a half to go, Sly again edged her way around Budd and into the lead. While Sly and Budd wore the same uniform, they were essentially strangers and there was no effort to cooperate tactically. Puică followed Sly around Budd and with 500 metres to go. Sly took the bell with Puică on her shoulder. With 250 metres to go, Puică passed Sly and went into her finishing kick, separating from Sly. Lynn Williams caught Budd and moved into third position. Budd continued to fall back through the field as the other athletes were launching their finishing kicks. Puică extended her lead over Sly, Williams even further back in third. Budd fizzled into seventh place. Out of 12 starters, 4 had fallen during the race, with two not finishing. As Puică crossed the finishing line, with Sly some 15 meters behind, she clearly appeared to have had more to give, if it had been necessary.\n\nMedalists\n\nAbbreviations\n\nFinal\n\nQualifying heats\nHeld on 1984-08-08\n\nSee also\n 1982 Women's European Championships 3000 metres (Athens)\n 1983 Women's World Championships 3000 metres (Helsinki)\n 1984 Women's Friendship Games 3000 metres (Prague)\n 1986 Women's European Championships 3000 metres (Stuttgart)\n 1987 Women's World Championships 3000 metres (Rome)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Official Report\n Results\n Results\n\n \n5000 metres at the Olympics\n1984 in women's athletics\nWomen's events at the 1984 Summer Olympics",
"Bernard Wilfred Budd QC (18 December 1912 – 5 August 2003), was a British barrister and Liberal Party politician.\n\nBackground\nBudd was the son of the Reverend W.R.A. Budd. He was educated at Cardiff High School, West Leeds High School and Pembroke College, Cambridge where he was a scholar in natural sciences receiving a BA in 1934 and returning for an MA in 1944. In 1944 he married Margaret Alison Burgin MBE. She was a daughter of Rt Hon. Edward Leslie Burgin a Liberal MP who held office in the National Government of the 1930s. They had two sons, one of which was Sir Colin Richard Budd who became Ambassador to the Netherlands.\n\nProfessional career\nBudd Served in the Indian Civil Service from 1935 to 1951. He was Called to Bar by Gray's Inn in 1952. In 1969 he was appointed a QC.\n\nPolitical career\nBudd was Liberal candidate for the Dover division in Kent at the 1964 and 1966 general elections, both times placing third. He became a member of the Liberal party law reform panel. He was Liberal candidate for Folkestone and Hythe, also in Kent, at the February and October 1974 general elections, both times placing second. In 1978, he became Chairman of the Association of Liberal Lawyers. He stood as Liberal candidate for Folkestone and Hythe for the final time in his life in the 1979 general election, wherein again he achieved a second-place finish.\n\nElectoral performance\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n The Times Obituary\n\n1912 births\n2003 deaths\nLiberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates\nPeople educated at Cardiff High School\nAlumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge\nMembers of Gray's Inn"
] |
[
"Billy Gunn",
"The Beautiful People (2008-2009)"
] |
C_9fa08c06a25341598cc4fda2d399e91a_0
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What was Gunn's role in The Beautiful People?
| 1 |
What was Billy Gunn's role in The Beautiful People?
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Billy Gunn
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On April 13, 2008, he faced former partner B.G. James at Lockdown and lost. After the match, he appeared to want to make amends as he raised B.G.'s hand after the match, only to clothesline him down to the mat and taunt him with a DX crotch chop. Kip went on to declare himself "The Megastar", an arrogant gimmick similar to "The One" gimmick from his WWF tenure. Kip later stopped making appearances on Impact! until April 24 when he was attacked backstage by Matt Morgan for no reason. The next week on Impact!, Kip got back at Morgan by attacking him backstage in Jim Cornette's office. On May 8, 2008, Cornette forced Morgan into being Kip's tag team partner for the Deuces Wild tournament at Sacrifice, though both were unable to win. Kip went on another brief disappearance from television until the June 5 edition of Impact!, where he partnered with Lance Hoyt and James Storm in a losing effort against Morgan and The Latin American Xchange. On the August 14 episode of Impact!, Kip was revealed to be the new image consultant and member of The Beautiful People, dubbed Cute Kip and was using his Mr.Ass Attire, after they brought him out during their interview on Karen Angle's show Karen's Angle. at Bound for Glory IV, Kip, Love and Sky lost to Rhino, ODB and Rhaka Khan in a Bimbo Brawl. at Final Resolution (December 2008), Kip competed in the Feast or Fired match but failed to get a case. At Genesis 2009, Kip became the one-night-only replacement for the injured Kevin Nash in the Main Event Mafia. As of March 19, 2009, Sopp was taken off of TNA Impact! along with Jacqueline Moore to become road agents. Sopp returned as Cute Kip and lost to Awesome Kong in an intergender stretcher match on May 14, 2009. On the May 28 edition of Impact!, Kip was fired by The Beautiful People. On the June 18 edition of Impact!, Mick Foley hired him as his handyman, turning Kip into a face. he made another appearance on the August 6 edition of Impact where Kip had to clean up the IMPACT Zone after a chaotic fifteen minute RIOT. on October 9 edition of Xplosion, Kip was defeated by Rhino. on October 30 edition of Xplosion, Kip defeated Sheik Abdul Bashir. on the November 13 edition of Xplosion, Kip lost to Rob Terry and on December 3, 2009 edition of Xplosion, Kip competed in his final TNA match where he lost to Kiyoshi. Sopp's profile was removed from the TNA website on December 29, 2009, confirming his departure from the promotion. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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Monty "Kip" Sopp (born November 1, 1963), better known by his ring name Billy Gunn, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a wrestler and coach. Gunn is best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E) from 1993 to 2004 and from 2012 to 2015. He also served as a coach on WWE's Tough Enough and was a trainer in NXT. He is also known for his appearances with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) from 2005 to 2009.
Primarily a tag team wrestler, Gunn is an overall 13-time tag team champion in WWE with three different partners (with Bart Gunn as The Smoking Gunns, with Road Dogg as The New Age Outlaws, and with Chuck Palumbo as Billy and Chuck). He is also a one time WWF Intercontinental Champion and a two time WWF Hardcore Champion, giving him 14 total championships in WWE. He is the 1999 King of the Ring tournament winner, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019 as a member of D-Generation X.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1985–1993)
After a stint as a professional bull rider in Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, Sopp left the profession in his early-20s in order to pursue a career as a professional wrestler. Trained by Jerry Grey, Sopp wrestled on the independent circuit for eight years (including a brief stint as enhancement talent for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) before signing a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1993.
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (1993–2004)
The Smoking Gunns (1993–1996)
After weeks of vignettes, Sopp, under the name Billy Gunn, made his WWF debut on the May 17, 1993 episode of Raw, teaming with his on-screen brother, Bart Gunn to defeat Tony Vadja and Glenn Ruth. The duo, now known as The Smoking Gunns, made their pay-per-view debut at King of the Ring, teaming with The Steiner Brothers to defeat Money Inc. and The Headshrinkers in an eight-man tag team match. At SummerSlam, the duo teamed with Tatanka to pick up a win against Bam Bam Bigelow and the Headshrinkers. On January 22, 1994, Gunn entered his first Royal Rumble match at the namesake event, but was eliminated by Diesel. In early 1995, the Gunns won their first Tag Team Championship by defeating the makeshift team of Bob Holly and 1-2-3 Kid. They held the title until WrestleMania XI, where they were defeated by the team of Owen Hart and Yokozuna. They won the titles again in September 1995.
On February 15, 1996, the Gunns vacated the title because Billy was in need of neck surgery. After Billy returned from hiatus, The Smoking Gunns won the Tag Team Title for the third time by defeating The Godwinns in May. After the match, The Godwinns' manager Sunny turned on her team in favor of the Gunns. On September 22 at In Your House: Mind Games, the Gunns lost the Tag Team Title to Owen Hart and The British Bulldog. After the match, Sunny abandoned The Gunns, saying that she would only manage title holders. Billy, frustrated with losing both the championship and Sunny, walked out on Bart, breaking up The Smoking Gunns.
Rockabilly, The New Age Outlaws and D-Generation X (1997–1998)
After The Smoking Gunns disbanded, Gunn took some time off to nurse an injury. At WrestleMania 13, he defeated Flash Funk catching the attention of The Honky Tonk Man, who made Gunn his protégé. During this time, he adopted a new gimmick, Rockabilly, He would use this gimmick throughout much of 1997 and eventually had a short-lived feud with "The Real Double J" Jesse James. On the October 4, 1997 episode of Shotgun Saturday Night, James realized both of their careers were going nowhere and suggested that they become a tag team. Gunn agreed and smashed a guitar over the Honky Tonk Man's head to solidify their new alliance.
James and Rockabilly were quickly rebranded as "Road Dogg" Jesse James and "Badd Ass" Billy Gunn, respectively, and their tag team was dubbed the New Age Outlaws. They quickly rose to the top of the tag team ranks and won the Tag Team Championship from the Legion of Doom on November 24. They also defeated the LOD in a rematch at In Your House: D-Generation X.
The Outlaws slowly began to align themselves with D-Generation X. At the Royal Rumble, the New Age Outlaws interfered in a Casket match to help Shawn Michaels defeat The Undertaker. At No Way Out Of Texas, the Outlaws teamed up with Triple H and Savio Vega (who replaced the injured Shawn Michaels) to face Chainsaw Charlie, Cactus Jack, Owen Hart, and Steve Austin. They were, however, defeated. On February 2, The Outlaws locked Cactus and Chainsaw in a dumpster and pushed it off the stage. This led to a Dumpster match at WrestleMania XIV where Cactus and Chainsaw defeated the Outlaws for the Tag Titles. The next night on Raw, the New Age Outlaws won the Tag Team Championship for a second time by defeating Chainsaw and Cactus in a Steel cage match, but only after interference from Triple H, Chyna, and X-Pac. After the match, the Outlaws officially became members of D-Generation X (DX).
After joining DX, the Outlaws successfully defended their Tag Team Title against the Legion of Doom 2000 at Unforgiven. DX began to feud with Owen Hart and his new stablemates, The Nation. At Over The Edge, the Outlaws and Triple H were defeated by Nation members Owen, Kama Mustafa, and D'Lo Brown in a Six Man Tag Match.
During this time, the Outlaws began a feud with Kane and Mankind. At SummerSlam, Mankind faced the Outlaws in a Handicap match after Kane no-showed the title defense. The Outlaws defeated Mankind to win the titles for the third time. In December, the Outlaws lost the title to The Big Boss Man and Ken Shamrock from The Corporation.
Mr. Ass and reformation of the Outlaws and DX (1999–2000)
The Outlaws then began to focus more on singles competition. The Road Dogg won the Hardcore Championship in December 1998, and Gunn set his sights on the Intercontinental Championship. At the 1999 Royal Rumble, Gunn unsuccessfully challenged Ken Shamrock for the Intercontinental Title. The next month at St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Gunn was the special guest referee for the Intercontinental Championship match between Val Venis and champion Ken Shamrock, where Gunn made a fast count and declared Venis the new champion before attacking both men.
In March, Gunn won the Hardcore Championship from Hardcore Holly. At WrestleMania XV, Gunn lost the title to Holly in a Triple Threat match which also included Al Snow. The New Age Outlaws then reunited to defeat Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart at Backlash. After Backlash, Gunn left D-Generation X and aligned himself with Triple H and Chyna. Gunn defeated his former partner, Road Dogg, in a match at Over the Edge. Gunn then won the King of the Ring tournament by defeating Ken Shamrock, Kane, and his former ally, X-Pac. After King of the Ring, Gunn, Triple H, and Chyna went on to feud with X-Pac and Road Dogg over the rights to the D-Generation X name. This feud culminated at Fully Loaded when X-Pac and Road Dogg defeated Gunn and Chyna.
Gunn then began a brief feud with The Rock. At SummerSlam, The Rock defeated Gunn in a Kiss My Ass Match. Following this, Gunn then briefly feuded with Jeff Jarrett for the Intercontinental Title before reuniting with Road Dogg to reform The New Age Outlaws. The Outlaws won their fourth tag team championship by defeating The Rock 'n' Sock Connection in September 1999. The Outlaws later reunited with X-Pac and Triple H to reform D-Generation X. During this time, The Outlaws won their fifth Tag Team Championship after defeating Mankind and Al Snow. At the 2000 Royal Rumble, The New Age Outlaws retained their title against The Acolytes after interference from X-Pac. The Outlaws then had a feud with The Dudley Boyz, who won the Tag Team Championship from The Outlaws at No Way Out. After suffering a torn rotator cuff in the match with The Dudley Boyz, Gunn was kicked out of D-Generation X for "losing his cool" to explain his impending absence to recover from his injury.
The One (2000–2001)
Gunn made his return in October and immediately teamed with Chyna to feud with Right to Censor, who wanted to "censor" his Mr. Ass gimmick. At No Mercy, Right to Censor members Steven Richards and Val Venis defeated Chyna and Gunn. Due to a stipulation, Gunn could no longer use the Mr. Ass gimmick, so he renamed himself Billy G. for a few weeks before settling on "The One" Billy Gunn. Gunn then feuded with Eddie Guerrero and the rest of The Radicalz. At Survivor Series, Gunn teamed with Road Dogg, Chyna, and K-Kwik in a losing effort against The Radicalz. A few weeks later on SmackDown!, Gunn won the Intercontinental Championship from Guerrero. However, the title reign was short-lived, as Chris Benoit defeated him for the title two weeks later at Armageddon. After feuding with Benoit, Gunn participated in the 2001 Royal Rumble where he made it to the final four, Gunn interfered in the Hardcore Championship Match at No Way Out, and taking advantage of the 24/7 Rule, pinning Raven for the title. The reign was short-lived, as Raven won it back a few minutes later.
Billy and Chuck (2001–2002)
In a 2001 match on Sunday Night Heat, Gunn was defeated by Chuck Palumbo, who recently left The Alliance to join the WWF. After the match, Gunn suggested that they form a tag team. Palumbo agreed, and Billy and Chuck quickly rose to the top of the tag team division. Initially they were a generic tandem, but they were given a gimmick where they grew increasingly affectionate toward each other, showing evidence of a storyline homosexual relationship.
In February 2002, Billy and Chuck defeated Spike Dudley and Tazz to win the WWF Tag Team Championship for the first time as a team. After winning the titles, Billy and Chuck found a "Personal Stylist" in the ambiguously flamboyant Rico. After retaining the title against the Acolytes Protection Agency, the Dudley Boyz, and the Hardy Boyz in a Four Corners Elimination Match at WrestleMania X8 and against Al Snow and Maven at Backlash, Billy and Chuck began a feud with Rikishi. At Judgment Day, Rikishi and Rico (Rikishi's mystery partner of Mr. McMahon's choosing) defeated Billy and Chuck for the WWE Tag Team Championship after Rico accidentally hit Chuck with a roundhouse kick. Billy and Chuck quickly won the title back two weeks later on SmackDown! with Rico's help. They held the championship for almost a month before losing it to the team of Edge and Hollywood Hulk Hogan on the July 4 episode of SmackDown!.
On the September 5 edition of SmackDown!, after Billy lost a match to Rey Mysterio, Chuck proposed to Billy, asking him to be his "partner for life" and gave him a wedding ring. Billy agreed, and one week later, on the September 12 episode of SmackDown!, Billy and Chuck had their wedding ceremony. However, just before they tied the knot, they revealed that the entire ordeal was a publicity stunt and disavowed their on-screen homosexuality, admitting that they were just friends. The "preacher" revealed himself to be Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff (who was wearing a skin mask), who then summoned 3-Minute Warning to beat up Billy and Chuck. Rico, furious that Billy and Chuck gave up their gimmick, became the manager of Three Minute Warning and defected to Raw. At Unforgiven, Three Minute Warning defeated Billy and Chuck. Their final match together occurred on the October 3 episode of SmackDown! in the first round of a tournament for the newly created WWE Tag Team Championship. They lost the match to the team of Ron Simmons and Reverend D-Von. Afterwards, Gunn took a few months off because of a shoulder injury and the team of Billy and Chuck quietly disbanded.
SmackDown! and return to singles competition (2003–2004)
After returning in the summer of 2003, Gunn reverted to the "Mr. Ass" gimmick, defeating A-Train, and Torrie Wilson became his new manager. He started a feud with Jamie Noble, which led to an "Indecent Proposal" Match at Vengeance, which Noble won and due to the match's stipulation, won a night with Torrie. After taking time off again due to a shoulder injury, Gunn returned to action at the 2004 Royal Rumble, but was eliminated by Goldberg. Afterward, he wrestled mainly on Velocity, forming an occasional tag team with Hardcore Holly. At Judgment Day, Gunn and Holly challenged Charlie Haas and Rico for the WWE Tag Team Championship, but were unsuccessful. At The Great American Bash, Gunn lost to Kenzo Suzuki.
On November 1, 2004, Sopp was released from his WWE contract. In June 2005, Sopp gave an interview in which he was heavily critical of WWE and the events that led to his release. Many of the negative comments were directed towards Triple H, who Sopp claimed "runs the show up there".
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2005–2009)
Planet Jarrett (2005)
On February 13, 2005, Sopp debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) without a name (as Billy Gunn is a WWE trademark, although announcers recognized him as such) at Against All Odds with the same gimmick, helping Jeff Jarrett retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in a match with Kevin Nash. Sopp, using the name The New Age Outlaw, then formed a stable with Jarrett and Monty Brown known as Planet Jarrett. However, WWE threatened TNA with legal action if Sopp continued the use of the name "The New Age Outlaw", so he shortened his name to The Outlaw. Due to the legal issues with WWE, all TNA -DVD releases featuring footage with Sopp as "The Outlaw" (and presumably also as "The New Age Outlaw") have had the name on on-screen graphics blurred, the name silenced out of the audio, and match commentary completely replaced to reflect a retroactive name change to "Kip James". One such DVD is the pay-per-view Lockdown, included in the "TNA Anthology: The Epic Set" box set, in which the silencing of the name during a segment where Dusty Rhodes picks his name from a lottery leaves DVD viewers in the dark as to who just got picked.
The Outlaw began a campaign to make former ally B.G. James leave the 3Live Kru and defect to Planet Jarrett, reforming the old tag team with Outlaw. At No Surrender, he renamed himself Kip James and was announced as "wrestling out of Marietta, Georgia" (the family seat of the Armstrong family) as a psychological ploy. As a result of his campaign, Kip attracted the ire of 3Live Kru members Ron Killings and Konnan, leading to a series of tag team matches pitting Kip and Monty Brown against Killings and Konnan, with a conflicted James unwilling to take sides. Kip's efforts ultimately proved futile; James, the guest referee in a final match between Brown and Kip versus Konnan and Killings at Sacrifice, attacked Kip enabling a 3Live Kru victory.
In September at Unbreakable, Kip teamed with Brown to defeat the team of Apolo and Lance Hoyt. There was clear tension between the partners because Brown was unhappy at the series of losses at the hands of the 3Live Kru, and Kip was irked by Brown's decision to leave Planet Jarrett. Despite the victory, the partners argued after the match. On the October 8, 2005 episode of Impact!, Kip rekindled his feud with the 3Live Kru, running to the ring after a bout between the 3LK and Team Canada in order to prevent Team Canada captain Petey Williams from beating down B.G. James. He saved James, and then engaged in a staredown with Konnan and Killings. Kip saved James from Team Canada once again at Bound for Glory. Though Killings showed signs of gratitude, Konnan remained skeptical as to his true intentions. Later that night, Kip took part in an over-the-top-rope gauntlet match for the number one contendership to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. After he was eliminated, he tried in vain to prevent Killings from being eliminated as well, before being sent away from ringside by the referees.
The James Gang/Voodoo Kin Mafia (2005–2008)
On the November 26 episode of Impact!, B.G. brought Kip and the 3Live Kru to ringside and asked Killings and Konnan whether Kip could join the stable. Following a heated argument between Konnan and B.G., both Killings and Konnan gave their approval, and the 4Live Kru was born. However, at Turning Point, Konnan attacked both B.G. and Kip, costing them their match against Team Canada and initiating a feud between himself and the remainder of the Kru. Shortly thereafter, B.G. James's father, Bob Armstrong, attempted to reconcile the group, but was instead attacked by Konnan and his new stablemates, Apolo and Homicide. Killings later stated that he had severed his ties with the Kru. With Konnan and Killings no longer members of the Kru, Kip and B.G. began referring to themselves as The James Gang and continued to feud with the Konnan-managed Latin American Exchange, whose third man position as Homicide's partner would switch from Apolo to Machete, and then from him to Hernandez, who finally stuck, during the course of this feud. At Final Resolution, The James Gang defeated The Diamonds in the Rough (David Young and Elix Skipper). At Against All Odds, The James Gang defeated LAX (Homicide and Machete). At Destination X, The James Gang and Bob Armstrong defeated Latin American Exchange in a six-man tag team match. At Sacrifice, The James Gang defeated Team 3D which led to a rematch at Slammiversary where Team 3D defeated The James Gang in a Bingo Hall Brawl. At Victory Road, The James Gang and Abyss defeated Team 3D and their newest member Brother Runt. At No Surrender, The James Gang competed in a Triple Chance tag team battle royal but failed to win the match. At Bound for Glory, The James Gang competed in a Four-way tag team match which was won by Team 3D.
By November 2006, Kip and B.G. began to show displeasure in TNA and threatened to go find work elsewhere if they did not receive gold soon. They began performing the crotch chop, a reference to the WWE's DX. On the November 2 edition of Impact!, Kip and B.G. threatened to quit. Kip grabbed the mic and tried to say something to the TNA administration and Spike TV, but each time his mic was cut off. Kip then tried to use the announcer's headset, but it was cut off as well. Frustrated, he started yelling loudly to the crowd, but he was cut off again as the show went to a commercial break. When the show returned, the announcers speculated that they may have been frustrated due to the influx of new talent entering TNA. It was reported that the segment was a worked shoot that Vince Russo had written in order to renew interest upon their eventual return. Kip and BG appeared in an internet video on TNA's website where they addressed the owner of WWE Vince McMahon.
A few weeks later on Impact!, The James Gang re-emerged under a new name Voodoo Kin Mafia (VKM for short, a play on Vincent Kennedy McMahon's initials). They mentioned their new right of 'creative control', meaning they could do whatever they wanted. They also declared 'war' on Paul Levesque, Michael Hickenbottom, and Vincent K. McMahon (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Vince McMahon, respectively). Kip then declared that 'Triple Hollywood' and 'Shawn Kiss-my-bottom' were failing as the group they (Kip and BG) used to be a part of: D-Generation X. After the initial shock value of this incident wore off, at Genesis, The Voodoo Kin Mafia defeated Kazarian, Maverick Matt and Johnny Devine in a handicap match. VKM began a feud with the villainous Christy Hemme. Hemme then searched for a tag team to square-off against VKM. At Destination X, The Voodoo Kin Mafia defeated Hemme's handpicked team of The Heartbreakers (Antonio Thomas & Romeo Roselli). On the Lockdown preshow The Voodoo Kin Mafia defeated another one of Hemme's handpicked team Serotonin (Kaz & Havok) in a Six Sides of Steel match. The final tag team was Damaja and Basham, who appeared on an episode of Impact! and beat down VKM. They also held up Kip James so Hemme could slap him. B.G James was taken out by Basham and Damaja which led to Kip James competed against Basham and Damaja in a handicap match at Sacrifice where he lost. However, they beat Hemme's team at Slammiversary. After the match, VKM were betrayed by their associate Lance Hoyt. At Victory Road, they introduced their new manager, the Voodoo Queen, Roxxi Laveaux, to embarrass Christy Hemme. At Hard Justice, The Voodoo Kin Mafia lost to The Latin American Exchange. At No Surrender, The Voodoo Kin Mafia competed in a Ten-team tag team gauntlet match which was won by A.J. Styles and Tomko. At Bound for Glory, Kip James competed in the Fight for the Right Reverse Battle Royal which was won by Eric Young. On the October 25 edition of Impact!, VKM teamed with A.J. Styles and Tomko in a losing effort to the Latin American Xchange and the Steiner Brothers. At Genesis, B.G. was present along with Kip in the corner of Roxxi Laveaux at ringside for the Fatal Four Way knockout match for the TNA Women's Championship in which Gail Kim retained the title. At Turning Point, James competed in the Feast or Fired where he grabbed a case but threw it to BG James. It was revealed that the case was for a shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship and BG James picked his dad to be his partner at Against All Odds, James and Bob Armstrong failed to win the titles and on February 21, 2008 episode of Impact! he turned on B.G. and B.G's father "Bullet" Bob Armstrong by hitting them both with a crutch.
The Beautiful People (2008–2009)
On April 13, 2008, he faced former partner B.G. James at Lockdown and lost. After the match, he appeared to want to make amends as he raised B.G.'s hand after the match, only to clothesline him down to the mat and taunt him with a DX crotch chop. Kip went on to declare himself "The Megastar", an arrogant gimmick similar to "The One" gimmick from his WWF tenure. Kip later stopped making appearances on Impact! until April 24 when he was attacked backstage by Matt Morgan for no reason. The next week on Impact!, Kip got back at Morgan by attacking him backstage in Jim Cornette's office. On May 8, 2008, Cornette forced Morgan into being Kip's tag team partner for the Deuces Wild tournament at Sacrifice, though both were unable to win. Kip went on another brief disappearance from television until the June 5 edition of Impact!, where he partnered with Lance Hoyt and James Storm in a losing effort against Morgan and The Latin American Xchange.
On the August 14 episode of Impact!, Kip was revealed to be the new image consultant and member of The Beautiful People, dubbed Cute Kip and was using his Mr.Ass Attire, after they brought him out during their interview on Karen Angle's show Karen's Angle. at Bound for Glory IV, Kip, Love and Sky lost to Rhino, ODB and Rhaka Khan in a Bimbo Brawl. at Final Resolution (December 2008), Kip competed in the Feast or Fired match but failed to get a case. At Genesis 2009, Kip became the one-night-only replacement for the injured Kevin Nash in the Main Event Mafia.
As of March 19, 2009, Sopp was taken off of TNA Impact! along with Jacqueline Moore to become road agents. Sopp returned as Cute Kip and lost to Awesome Kong in an intergender stretcher match on May 14, 2009. On the May 28 edition of Impact!, Kip was fired by The Beautiful People. On the June 18 edition of Impact!, Mick Foley hired him as his handyman, turning Kip into a face. he made another appearance on the August 6 edition of Impact where Kip had to clean up the IMPACT Zone after a chaotic fifteen minute "riot". On October 9 edition of Xplosion, Kip was defeated by Rhino. On October 30 edition of Xplosion, Kip defeated Sheik Abdul Bashir. on the November 13 edition of Xplosion, Kip lost to Rob Terry and on December 3, 2009 edition of Xplosion, Kip competed in his final TNA match where he lost to Kiyoshi.
Sopp's profile was removed from the TNA website on December 29, 2009, confirming his departure from the promotion.
Independent circuit (2009–2012)
After leaving TNA, Sopp reunited with B.G. James to reform The New Age Outlaws, with both men resuming their Billy Gunn and Road Dogg ring names. After joining TWA Powerhouse in 2010, the Outlaws defeated Canadian Extreme to win the promotion's Tag Team Championship on July 25. They re-lost the title to Canadian Extreme on June 5, 2011.
On July 30, 2011, Sopp, working under the ring name Kip Gunn, made his debut for Lucha Libre USA as a member of the heel stable The Right. Later that night, Gunn lost in his debut match against Marco Corleone. On June 26, 2012, Sopp won the American Pro Wrestling Alliance American Championship. However, he lost the title due to travel issues. On September 8 and 9, 2012, he wrestled in a Bad Boys of Wrestling Federation tournament. He defeated Rhino in the semi-finals and Scott Steiner in the final, winning the BBWF Aruba Championship.
Return to WWE (2012–2015)
On July 23, Sopp, under his Billy Gunn name, made his first WWE appearance in nearly eight years as he reunited with Road Dogg, X-Pac, Shawn Michaels and Triple H to reform D-Generation X for one night only on the 1000th episode of Raw. In December 2012, he was hired by WWE as a trainer for the NXT Wrestling territory in Tampa, Florida. On March 4, 2013, Gunn and Road Dogg made a return at Old School Raw, defeating Primo and Epico. On March 11, 2013, they accepted a challenge from Team Rhodes Scholars and faced them in a match, which was interrupted by Brock Lesnar, who hit both Outlaws with an F-5 as part of his ongoing feud with Triple H.
He then appeared alongside Road Dogg to help CM Punk clear out The Shield in aid of Roddy Piper on Old School Raw on January 6, 2014. On the January 10 episode of SmackDown, the Outlaws teamed with CM Punk in a six-man tag match against The Shield in a losing effort. On the January 13 episode of Raw, the Outlaws again teamed with Punk in a rematch against The Shield, only to abandon Punk and lose the match. On January 26 during the Royal Rumble Kickoff Show, Gunn and Road Dogg beat Cody Rhodes and Goldust to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. The next night on Raw the New Age Outlaws retained the championship against Rhodes and Goldust via disqualification when Brock Lesnar attacked the brothers. The next week on Raw the New Age Outlaws retained the championship against Rhodes and Goldust in a steel cage match. On March 3, the Outlaws lost the Tag Team Championship to The Usos. Gunn sustained hemoptysis after he and his New Age Outlaws partner, Road Dogg, suffered a double-Triple Powerbomb by The Shield at WrestleMania XXX.
Gunn returned to Raw with Road Dogg in January 2015, attacking The Ascension along with the nWo and the APA. At the Royal Rumble, the Outlaws faced The Ascension in a losing effort. At WrestleMania 31, Gunn, with Road Dogg, X-Pac and Shawn Michaels, reunited as D-Generation X to help Triple H in his match against Sting. In May, Gunn was announced as a coach along with WWE Hall of Famers Booker T and Lita for the sixth season of Tough Enough.
On November 13, 2015, WWE officially announced that Sopp was released from his WWE contract after failing a test for performance-enhancing drugs. He had tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone at a powerlifting event on July 25, 2015, and was suspended from powerlifting for four years.
Independent circuit (2015–2020)
On December 26, 2015, Gunn teamed up with Kevin Thorn to defeat Brian Klass and Rob Street. One month later, Gunn defeated Ken Dixon for the MCW Pro Wrestling MCW Rage Television Championship. On February 5, 2016, Gunn defeated Joey Hayes in the Preston City Wrestling PCW Road to Glory tournament, on February 6 he lost to T-Bone in the quarter-finals that same night Gunn teamed up with Mr. Anderson and Tajiri to defeat Dave Raynes, Joey Hayes, and Martin Kirby. On February 7, 2016 Gunn challenged for the Pro Wrestling Pride Heavyweight championship losing to Steve Griffiths. On March 19, 2016, Gunn lost the title to Ken Dixon. On June 12, 2016, Gunn won the Smashmouth Pro Wrestling championship from KC Huber but lost it on the same night, Gunn teamed again with Anderson in a losing effort against the UK Hooligans at PCW Tribute to the Troops on June 25, 2016. He defeated Hardcore Holly in a singles match at PCW Top Gunn on July 2, 2016.
On September 4, 2016, Gunn made his debut for Chikara, representing DX alongside X-Pac in a tag team gauntlet match. The two entered the match as the final team and scored the win over Prakash Sabar and The Proletariat Boar of Moldova.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2016–2017)
On November 5, 2016, at the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) event Power Struggle, Yoshitatsu announced Gunn as the newest member of his Hunter Club stable and his partner for the upcoming 2016 World Tag League. Gunn and Yoshitatsu finished the tournament on December 8 with a record of three wins and four losses, failing to advance from their block. Gunn returned to NJPW on January 4, 2017, taking part in the pre-show New Japan Rumble at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome, from which he was eliminated by the eventual winner Michael Elgin. While Gunn did not appear for NJPW for the next six months, he was brought up in May by Yoshitatsu, who told Hiroshi Tanahashi that Gunn had requested a match against him. When Tanahashi captured the IWGP Intercontinental Championship the following month, he immediately nominated Gunn as his first challenger. Gunn was defeated in the title match on July 2 at G1 Special in USA, and it was his final match in NJPW.
WWE appearances (2018–2019)
Gunn and numerous other WWE legends appeared on the January 22, 2018 episode of Raw 25 Years as part of the D-Generation X reunion. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2019 as a member of D-Generation X.
All Elite Wrestling (2019–present)
In January 2019, Gunn was hired by All Elite Wrestling as a coach. At May 25 at the AEW Double or Nothing event he competed in the pre-show battle royal. Gunn made his first televised appearance for AEW on the November 20, 2019 episode of AEW Dynamite, competing in a battle royal. He also appeared during the January 1, 2020 episode of Dynamite, wrestling in a dark match with his son Austin that aired on January 7, 2020. They wrestled again together on another dark match during the January 8, 2020 episode of Dynamite, airing on January 17, 2020, with the tag team name "The Gunn Club", defeating the team of Peter Avalon and Shawn Spears. Gunn has also appeared in the crowd (made up of AEW wrestlers and other employees) on numerous episodes of Dynamite during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the May 27, 2020 episode of Dynamite, Gunn now under the shortened ring name of Billy participated in a battle royal match to determine the number one contender for the TNT Championship. He also would wrestle MJF in a singles match on the June 17, 2020 episode of Dynamite as well. The Gunn Club would wrestle in more tag team matches on more episodes of AEW Dark.
On the November 4, 2020 episode of Dynamite, The Gunn Club teamed with Cody Rhodes to successfully defeat The Dark Order (John Silver, 10 and Colt Cabana). On the November 17, 2020 episode of Dark, The Gunn Club, which now added Austin's brother and Gunn's other son Colten to the stable, defeated Bshp King, Joey O'Riley and Sean Maluta by pinfall in a six-man tag team match. On the same day the AEW website's roster page got updated and his name was once again changed to its long form, Billy Gunn. The three man Gunn Club would then defeat Cezar Bononi, KTB, and Seth Gargis in another six man tag team match on the November 24, 2020 episode of Dark. On the December 8, 2020 episode of Dark The three man Gunn Club-which entered the ring on a golf cart with the words "Taz Taxi" on the side, defeated Shawn Dean, Sean Maluta & RYZIN. On the December 1, 2021 episode of Dynamite, The Gunn Club stable's undefeated streak in AEW ended when Billy and Colten Gunn lost to the team of Sting and Darby Allin.
Professional wrestling style, persona and reception
Gunn has had several gimmicks throughout his career, ranging from his cowboy-themed gimmick with the Smoking Gunns to his The Ambiguously Gay Duo-esque tag team with Chuck Palumbo. Gunn has stated on multiple shoot interviews that he has no regrets with his gimmicks as he was performing a job and doing what was asked of him to do.
By far, Gunn's most infamous gimmick was his "Mr. Ass" persona based around his ass. The gimmick started during his New Age Outlaws days when Road Dogg would refer to themselves as "Mr. Dogg" and "Mr. Ass" in promos, though the "Bad Ass" name wasn't referring to his backside at that time. What was originally a throwaway joke turned into Gunn mooning his opponents and the live crowd, though as the original incarnation of DX also did this, it could originally be argued that it was an extension of the Outlaws joining DX.
Upon leaving DX, Gunn fully embraced the "Mr. Ass" gimmick by placing emphasis on his "moneymaker". While Road Dogg kept the New Age Outlaws entrance music for his own, Gunn adopted the song "Ass Man" as part of the gimmick, and for a time even changed his ring tights to be see-through, wearing only a thong underneath his tights, although he would eventually revert back to the DX-era tights.
The "Mr. Ass" gimmick has mixed reviews. One web site ranked it near the middle of Gunn's various gimmicks, while a writer for Bleacher Report thought it was the worst gimmick ever even though Gunn was at his peak popularity with the persona. Gunn himself told Chris Van Vliet in 2021 that he never paid attention to the "Ass Man" lyrics until a college professor broke down each expression.
Due to the enduring legacy of the "Mr. Ass" gimmick, in November 2021 Ring of Honor wrestler Danhausen began a Twitter feud with the Gunn Club, referring to Billy as "Billy Ass," and Colten and Austin as The "Ass Boys," in reference to Gunn's infamous "Mr. Ass" gimmick in the Attitude Era. While Gunn himself initially had no comment, the rest of Gunn Club despised the nickname after fans began chanting "Ass Boys" during their matches, notably during an AEW event at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Virginia. Gunn finally commented when he surprised his sons by wearing an "Ass Boys" shirt, encouraging them to "embrace the assness" and even started teasing mooning the crowd again. Gunn also thanked Danhausen publicly for getting his sons over in a way that he couldn't.
Other media
Filmography
Video Games
WWF Attitude
WWF WrestleMania 2000
WWF SmackDown!
WWF No Mercy
WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role
WWF Road To WrestleMania
WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It
WWF Raw
WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth
WWE Raw 2
WWE '13
WWE 2K16
WWE 2K17
Personal life
Sopp was born on November 1, 1963 in Orlando, Florida and claims Austin, Texas as his hometown. In November 1990, Sopp was arrested in Florida for disorderly conduct. Sopp married his first wife Tina Tinnell on March 3, 1990. Together, they have two sons: Colten (born May 18, 1991) and Austin (born August 26, 1994) who are also professional wrestlers. The couple separated in January 2000 and their divorce was finalized on December 11, 2002. Sopp has since married his long-time girlfriend Paula on January 24, 2009.
Sopp's sons Austin and Colten, better known by the ring names Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn, are currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where alongside their father they form a stable known as "Gunn Club".
Sopp attended Sam Houston State University.
Championships and accomplishments
American Pro Wrestling Alliance
APWA American Championship (1 time)
Bad Boys of Wrestling Federation
BBFW Aruba Championship (1 time)
BBFW Aruba Championship Tournament (2012)
International Wrestling Federation
IWF Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Brett Colt
Freedom Pro Wrestling
FPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Road Dogg
Maryland Championship Wrestling
MCW Rage Television Championship (1 time)
MCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with B.G. James
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Tag Team of the Year (1998) with Road Dogg
Tag Team of the Year (2002) with Chuck
Ranked #39 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1999
Ranked #231 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
Ranked #43 of the top 100 tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Road Dogg in 2003
SmashMouth Pro Wrestling
SPW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
TWA Powerhouse
TWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with B.G. James
Vanguard Championship Wrestling
VCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Pro Wrestling
WPW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Worst Worked Match of the Year (2006) TNA Reverse Battle Royal on TNA Impact!
WWE/World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
WWF Hardcore Championship (2 times)
WWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time)
WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Road Dogg
WWF World Tag Team Championship (10 times) – with Bart Gunn (3), Road Dogg (5) and Chuck (2)
King of the Ring (1999)
Raw Bowl – with Bart Gunn
WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2019) - as a member of D-Generation X
References
External links
1963 births
All Elite Wrestling personnel
American male professional wrestlers
American powerlifters
Bull riders
D-Generation X members
Expatriate professional wrestlers in Japan
LGBT characters in professional wrestling
Living people
Professional wrestlers from Florida
Professional wrestling trainers
Sam Houston State University alumni
Sportspeople from Orlando, Florida
The Authority (professional wrestling) members
WWE Hall of Fame inductees
WWF/WWE Hardcore Champions
WWF/WWE Intercontinental Champions
WWF/WWE King Crown's Champions/King of the Ring winners
American expatriate sportspeople in Japan
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"John Gunn (August 8, 1825 – September 10, 1898) was a farmer, teacher and political figure in Manitoba. He represented St. Andrews from 1874 to 1879 in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.\n\nHe was born in the Red River Colony, the son of Donald Gunn, and was home-schooled. Gunn taught at St. John's Day School from 1845 to 1847. He built a mill on Gunn's Creek which played an important role in the early development of the community of Lockport. In 1855, he married Emma Garrioch. Gunn served as school trustee and was also secretary-treasurer for the school board. He was defeated when he ran for reelection to the Manitoba assembly in 1879 and 1883.\n\nReferences \n\n1825 births\n1898 deaths\nMembers of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba\nMétis politicians",
"Peter Gunn is an American private eye television series, starring Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn with Lola Albright as his girlfriend Edie Hart. The series aired on NBC from September 22, 1958, to 1960 and on ABC in 1960–1961. The series was created by Blake Edwards, who, on occasion, was also writer (for 39 episodes) and director (for nine episodes).\n\nPeter Gunn is notable for being the first televised detective program whose character was created for television, instead of adapted from other media.\n\nThe series is probably best remembered today for its music, including the \"Peter Gunn Theme\", which was nominated for an Emmy Award and two Grammys for Henry Mancini. Subsequently it was performed and recorded by many jazz, rock and blues musicians. Notably, the progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer recorded the song adding synthesizers. The series was number 17 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1958–1959 TV season and number 29 for the 1960-61 TV season.\n\nPlot\nPeter Gunn is a suave, well-dressed private investigator whose hair is always in place and who loves cool jazz. Whereas other gumshoes are often coarse and vulgar, Peter Gunn is a sophisticate with expensive tastes. A contemporary article in Life noted that Edwards \"deliberately tailored the part after the famous movie smoothie Cary Grant\".\n\nGunn operates in a gloomy waterfront city, the name and location of which is never revealed in the series. He can usually be found at Mother's, a smokey wharfside jazz club that Gunn uses as his \"office\", usually meeting new clients there. Gunn has a reputation for integrity and being among the best investigators; he has many reliable informants and is extremely well-connected. His reputation is so good, the police occasionally ask him for help or advice. He sometimes works cases out of state and occasionally out of the country. Gunn was observed by a female character named Rowena in \"Murder on the Midway\" as \"wearing $30 shoes, a $200 suit and carrying a solid gold cigarette lighter\". Gunn drives a 1958 two-tone DeSoto two-door hardtop in the first few episodes of the first season, then a 1959 Plymouth Fury convertible with a white top and a car phone. In the third season Gunn drives a 1960 white Plymouth Fury convertible with a car phone, later changing to a 1961 Plymouth Fury convertible.\n\nGunn's girlfriend, Edie Hart, is a sultry singer employed at Mother's; she opens her own restaurant and nightclub in season 3, named Edie's. Gunn's pet name for Edie is \"Silly\". Herschel Bernardi costarred as Lieutenant Jacoby, a somber police detective and friend of Gunn who works at the 13th Precinct. Occasionally he refers people to Gunn as clients. In 1959, Bernardi received his only Emmy nomination for the role. Hope Emerson appeared as \"Mother\", who had been a singer and piano player in speakeasies during Prohibition. She received an Emmy nomination for the role. For the second season, \"Mother\" was played by Minerva Urecal, following the departure of Emerson for a starring role in The Dennis O'Keefe Show. Associate producer Byron Kane portrayed Barney, the bartender at Mother's; Kane was never credited for playing this role. Bill Chadney appeared as Emmett, Mother's piano player. (Chadney and Albright were married in 1961.)\n\nBoth Billy Barty as pool hustler Babby and Herbert Ellis as Beat bistro owner, painter, and sculptor Wilbur, appeared in several episodes as occasional \"information resources\", as \"Mother\" also often is. Capri Candela played Wilbur's girlfriend, Capri. Morris Erby had the recurring role of Sgt. Lee Davis during all three seasons of the show. Frequent director Robert Gist appeared as an actor in different roles in three episodes. James Lanphier portrayed Leslie the maitre d'hôtel at Edie's restaurant and nightclub during season 3.\n\nCast\n\n Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn\n Lola Albright as Edie Hart, a lounge singer and Pete's girlfriend\n Herschel Bernardi as Lieutenant Jacoby, a police detective and friend of Gunn\n Hope Emerson as \"Mother\", a singer and piano player in speakeasies during Prohibition (Season 1)\n Minerva Urecal as \"Mother\" (Season 2)\n Byron Kane (uncredited) as Barney, the bartender\n Bill Chadney as Emmett, the piano player at Mother's\n Billy Barty as Babby, a pool hustler\n Herbert Ellis as Wilbur, beat bistro owner, painter, and sculptor\n Capri Candela as Capri, Wilbur's girlfriend\n Morris Erby as police Sgt. Lee Davis (seasons 1-3)\n James Lanphier as Leslie, maître d' (season 3)\n\nFrequent director Robert Gist appeared as an actor in different roles in three episodes.\n\nEpisodes\n\nPeter Gunn ran for three seasons starting in late 1958. A total of 114 episodes were produced during the three season run. Peter Gunn premiered on September 22, 1958 with the episode The Kill. The first season ran from September 1958 through June 1959 and contained 38 episodes.\n\nOrigin of series\nEdwards developed Peter Gunn from an earlier fictional detective that he had created. Richard Diamond, Private Detective starred Dick Powell, and aired as a radio series from 1949 to 1953. David Janssen later starred in the television adaptation from 1957 to 1960. It was this character's success which prompted his creator to revisit the concept as Peter Gunn. Edwards had earlier written and directed a Mike Hammer television pilot for Brian Keith.\n\nAccording to Blake Edwards, Gunn was “a present-day soldier of fortune who has found himself a gimmick that pays him a very comfortable living. The gimmick was trouble. People who had major trouble will pay handsomely to get rid of it, and Peter Gunn was a man who will not only accept the pay but do something about it. He knows every element of the city, from cops to crooks. He also, of course, has his soft side and will occasionally take on a charity job for free.”\n\n“But,” said Edwards emphatically, “we’ll never make the mistake of letting her [Edie] catch him. Never.”\n\nFor the part of Edie, Edwards said, “We toyed at first with the idea of getting a name singer. But we soon realized it would be impractical to have a name singer cast in what is primarily a straight dramatic role. It wouldn’t be fair, either to the singer or the audience. Once that idea was discarded, my first thought was Lola Albright. Lola had been going along well but not terribly well, if you know what I mean. But I’d always felt she had a potential that had never really been tapped. She’s sort of two beats off center in the way she talks and sings, and that’s what we were looking for.”\n\nHenry Mancini said in 1992, “She was perfect casting for that role because she had an off-the-cuff kind of jazz delivery that was very hard to find.”\n\nLola Albright said, \"My whole career had been sort of ordinary. Peter Gunn changed all that.\" Lola said that Blake Edwards had her in mind from the outset, \"But he had no idea I could sing. I had just recorded my first album.\"\n\nIn a 1993 interview which can be found at Youtube.com, Craig Stevens talks about how he and co-star Lola Albright were hired for the show. (See below in External Links.)\n\nInitial plans called for the title of the program to be Gunn for Hire. The change to Peter Gunn occurred after officials at Paramount Pictures complained that the title was similar to that of the 1942 Paramount film This Gun for Hire.\n\nProduction\nBesides those directed by Blake Edwards, other episodes were directed by Boris Sagal, Robert Gist, Jack Arnold, Lamont Johnson, Robert Altman (for one episode) and several others. A total of 114 thirty-minute episodes were produced by Spartan Productions. Season one was filmed at Universal Studios, while seasons two and three were filmed at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Philip H. Lathrop and William W. Spencer were cinematographers on many episodes. Craig Stevens' wardrobe was tailored by Don Richards and Lola Albright's fashions by Emeson's for 2 episodes (The Vicious Dog, The Blind Pianist) and by Jax for the remainder of the episodes. Wardrobe was not credited in episode 1, The Kill.\n\nMusic\nThe show's use of modern jazz music was a distinctive touch that helped set the standard for many years to come, with cool jazz themes accompanying every move Gunn made. The music, composed by Henry Mancini, was performed by a small jazz ensemble which included a number of prominent Los Angeles-based jazz and studio musicians. Trumpeter Pete Candoli, alto saxophonist Ted Nash, flutist Ronny Lang, trombonist Dick Nash, and pianist and future composer John Williams provided most of the improvised jazz solos. Williams plays the piano part on the title music ostinato.\n\nProminent jazz musicians occasionally made on-screen appearances. Trumpeter Shorty Rogers appeared in the episode titled \"The Frog\" playing flugelhorn as Lola sings \"How High the Moon\". Drummer Shelly Manne, in addition to performing on the soundtrack album, was credited with a Special Guest role in the 1959 episode \"Keep Smiling\" playing drums in the \"Bamboo Club\" combo. Brazilian guitarist Laurindo Almeida plays guitar as himself in the 1959 episode \"Skin Deep\".\n\nIn his autobiography Did They Mention the Music? Mancini stated: \n\nThe \"Peter Gunn Theme\" became an instant hit, earning Mancini an Emmy Award nomination and two Grammys. The RCA Victor soundtrack album by Henry Mancini, The Music from Peter Gunn, was voted Album of the Year at the 1st Annual Grammy Awards in 1959 and reached No. 1 in Billboard's Pop LP Charts. The popularity of this album prompted RCA Victor to issue a second Mancini album of Peter Gunn music titled More Music from Peter Gunn. Bandleader Ray Anthony's recording of the theme music reached No. 8 on Billboard's Hot 100. Shelly Manne recorded two jazz albums of themes from the show in 1959, Shelly Manne & His Men Play Peter Gunn and Son of Gunn!!.\n\n\"The Peter Gunn Theme\" has been recorded and performed by numerous musicians. Sheet music of the theme can still be purchased. Today, many people who have never seen the TV show can easily identify the theme.\n\nIn 2019 Jasmine Records released a CD combining both Henry Mancini soundtracks of \"The Music of Peter Gunn\" and \"More Music from Peter Gunn\".\n\nThe theme was also used in the Spy Hunter arcade video game, and has been used by the Kilgore College Rangerettes as the tryout music for their specialty jazz group since the 1960s.\n\nSelected songs from the series\n\nEmmy nominations\nThe series was nominated for 8 prime time Emmys without wins, all in 1959. They were for Best Dramatic Series - Less than One Hour, Craig Stevens as best lead actor in a drama, Herschel Bernardi as best supporting actor in a drama, Lola Albright and Hope Emerson as best supporting actress in a drama, Henry Mancini for best musical contribution to a television production, and Blake Edwards for best writing and direction of a single episode of a drama series.\n\nAdaptations\nThe series made the transition to other media. An original novel and a comic book adaptation were published by Dell Publishing in 1960. The novel, entitled \"Peter Gunn: Murder to a Jazz Beat\", was written by Henry Kane. The 4-color comic book was Dell #1087, entitled \"Peter Gunn\", and had a photo cover with an introduction which said, \"Pete tries to stop a postage stamp counterfeiter and gets a parcel of trouble - special delivery!\" Lowell Toy Mfg. produced the \"Peter Gunn Detective Game\", a board game in 1960.\n\nA feature film, Gunn, was released by Paramount Pictures in 1967, scripted by Edwards and William Peter Blatty and directed by Edwards with Stevens reprising the title role. A long-gestating ABC 90-minute pilot, Peter Gunn, aired in April 1989 was written, produced, and directed by Edwards and starred Peter Strauss in the lead role, but the network failed to order a series despite strong ratings and reviews.\n\nIn 2001, Edwards and his son, Geoffrey, joined with producers Jeffrey Tinnell and John Michaels and writer Norman Snider in developing an updated television series, The New Peter Gunn for Muse Entertainment in Canada. The project fell through when producers John Woo and David Permut began developing a big screen remake for Paramount with screenwriter W. Peter Iliff. Once Upon a Time in L.A. was pitched as a possible vehicle for John Travolta or Harrison Ford. Neither revival made it beyond the script stage.\n\nTNT announced a new series was in development in May 2013 from producers Steven Spielberg, Julie Andrews, Lou Pitt, Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank with writers Scott Rosenberg, Jeff Pinkner, Josh Appelbaum, and André Nemec. The proposed series was not picked up for the 2014–2015 season.\n\nIn 2017, Paramount renewed its agreement with The Blake Edwards Estate with the intent of developing the property.\n\nHome media\nFrom 1992 to 1996, Rhino Entertainment released various episodes of Peter Gunn on VHS cassettes. In 1999, Diamond Entertainment Corporation released a five-cassette set comprising ten episodes. Marathon Music & Video released a seven-cassette box set set entitled \"TV Cops and Private Eyes\", in which an episode of Peter Gunn was included.\n\nIn 2002, A&E Home Video released two volume sets of Peter Gunn on DVD in Region 1, which comprise 32 episodes from Season One.\n\nTimeless Media Group released Peter Gunn – The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 in 2012. The 12-disc set features all 114 episodes of the series, as well as a bonus CD of Henry Mancini's score, The Music from Peter Gunn\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n \n \n \n Episode Listing\n The story behind the making of the music from Peter Gunn, including interviews with the musicians and sound engineers\n Peter Gunn: A TV and Movie Review by David L. Vineyard\n Craig Stevens--1993 TV Interview, \"Peter Gunn\", Alexis Smith\n\n1958 American television series debuts\n1961 American television series endings\n1950s American crime television series\n1960s American crime television series\nAmerican Broadcasting Company original programming\nAmerican crime drama television series\nAmerican action television series\nAmerican mystery television series\nBlack-and-white American television shows\nEnglish-language television shows\nGunn, Peter\nFilms scored by Henry Mancini\nNBC original programming\nTelevision series by 20th Century Fox Television\nAmerican detective television series"
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"Billy Gunn",
"The Beautiful People (2008-2009)",
"What was Gunn's role in The Beautiful People?",
"I don't know."
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C_9fa08c06a25341598cc4fda2d399e91a_0
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What is The Beautiful People?
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What is The Beautiful People?
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Billy Gunn
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On April 13, 2008, he faced former partner B.G. James at Lockdown and lost. After the match, he appeared to want to make amends as he raised B.G.'s hand after the match, only to clothesline him down to the mat and taunt him with a DX crotch chop. Kip went on to declare himself "The Megastar", an arrogant gimmick similar to "The One" gimmick from his WWF tenure. Kip later stopped making appearances on Impact! until April 24 when he was attacked backstage by Matt Morgan for no reason. The next week on Impact!, Kip got back at Morgan by attacking him backstage in Jim Cornette's office. On May 8, 2008, Cornette forced Morgan into being Kip's tag team partner for the Deuces Wild tournament at Sacrifice, though both were unable to win. Kip went on another brief disappearance from television until the June 5 edition of Impact!, where he partnered with Lance Hoyt and James Storm in a losing effort against Morgan and The Latin American Xchange. On the August 14 episode of Impact!, Kip was revealed to be the new image consultant and member of The Beautiful People, dubbed Cute Kip and was using his Mr.Ass Attire, after they brought him out during their interview on Karen Angle's show Karen's Angle. at Bound for Glory IV, Kip, Love and Sky lost to Rhino, ODB and Rhaka Khan in a Bimbo Brawl. at Final Resolution (December 2008), Kip competed in the Feast or Fired match but failed to get a case. At Genesis 2009, Kip became the one-night-only replacement for the injured Kevin Nash in the Main Event Mafia. As of March 19, 2009, Sopp was taken off of TNA Impact! along with Jacqueline Moore to become road agents. Sopp returned as Cute Kip and lost to Awesome Kong in an intergender stretcher match on May 14, 2009. On the May 28 edition of Impact!, Kip was fired by The Beautiful People. On the June 18 edition of Impact!, Mick Foley hired him as his handyman, turning Kip into a face. he made another appearance on the August 6 edition of Impact where Kip had to clean up the IMPACT Zone after a chaotic fifteen minute RIOT. on October 9 edition of Xplosion, Kip was defeated by Rhino. on October 30 edition of Xplosion, Kip defeated Sheik Abdul Bashir. on the November 13 edition of Xplosion, Kip lost to Rob Terry and on December 3, 2009 edition of Xplosion, Kip competed in his final TNA match where he lost to Kiyoshi. Sopp's profile was removed from the TNA website on December 29, 2009, confirming his departure from the promotion. CANNOTANSWER
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!, Kip was revealed to be the new image consultant and member of The Beautiful People, dubbed Cute Kip and was using his Mr.Ass Attire,
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Monty "Kip" Sopp (born November 1, 1963), better known by his ring name Billy Gunn, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a wrestler and coach. Gunn is best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E) from 1993 to 2004 and from 2012 to 2015. He also served as a coach on WWE's Tough Enough and was a trainer in NXT. He is also known for his appearances with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) from 2005 to 2009.
Primarily a tag team wrestler, Gunn is an overall 13-time tag team champion in WWE with three different partners (with Bart Gunn as The Smoking Gunns, with Road Dogg as The New Age Outlaws, and with Chuck Palumbo as Billy and Chuck). He is also a one time WWF Intercontinental Champion and a two time WWF Hardcore Champion, giving him 14 total championships in WWE. He is the 1999 King of the Ring tournament winner, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019 as a member of D-Generation X.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1985–1993)
After a stint as a professional bull rider in Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, Sopp left the profession in his early-20s in order to pursue a career as a professional wrestler. Trained by Jerry Grey, Sopp wrestled on the independent circuit for eight years (including a brief stint as enhancement talent for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) before signing a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1993.
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (1993–2004)
The Smoking Gunns (1993–1996)
After weeks of vignettes, Sopp, under the name Billy Gunn, made his WWF debut on the May 17, 1993 episode of Raw, teaming with his on-screen brother, Bart Gunn to defeat Tony Vadja and Glenn Ruth. The duo, now known as The Smoking Gunns, made their pay-per-view debut at King of the Ring, teaming with The Steiner Brothers to defeat Money Inc. and The Headshrinkers in an eight-man tag team match. At SummerSlam, the duo teamed with Tatanka to pick up a win against Bam Bam Bigelow and the Headshrinkers. On January 22, 1994, Gunn entered his first Royal Rumble match at the namesake event, but was eliminated by Diesel. In early 1995, the Gunns won their first Tag Team Championship by defeating the makeshift team of Bob Holly and 1-2-3 Kid. They held the title until WrestleMania XI, where they were defeated by the team of Owen Hart and Yokozuna. They won the titles again in September 1995.
On February 15, 1996, the Gunns vacated the title because Billy was in need of neck surgery. After Billy returned from hiatus, The Smoking Gunns won the Tag Team Title for the third time by defeating The Godwinns in May. After the match, The Godwinns' manager Sunny turned on her team in favor of the Gunns. On September 22 at In Your House: Mind Games, the Gunns lost the Tag Team Title to Owen Hart and The British Bulldog. After the match, Sunny abandoned The Gunns, saying that she would only manage title holders. Billy, frustrated with losing both the championship and Sunny, walked out on Bart, breaking up The Smoking Gunns.
Rockabilly, The New Age Outlaws and D-Generation X (1997–1998)
After The Smoking Gunns disbanded, Gunn took some time off to nurse an injury. At WrestleMania 13, he defeated Flash Funk catching the attention of The Honky Tonk Man, who made Gunn his protégé. During this time, he adopted a new gimmick, Rockabilly, He would use this gimmick throughout much of 1997 and eventually had a short-lived feud with "The Real Double J" Jesse James. On the October 4, 1997 episode of Shotgun Saturday Night, James realized both of their careers were going nowhere and suggested that they become a tag team. Gunn agreed and smashed a guitar over the Honky Tonk Man's head to solidify their new alliance.
James and Rockabilly were quickly rebranded as "Road Dogg" Jesse James and "Badd Ass" Billy Gunn, respectively, and their tag team was dubbed the New Age Outlaws. They quickly rose to the top of the tag team ranks and won the Tag Team Championship from the Legion of Doom on November 24. They also defeated the LOD in a rematch at In Your House: D-Generation X.
The Outlaws slowly began to align themselves with D-Generation X. At the Royal Rumble, the New Age Outlaws interfered in a Casket match to help Shawn Michaels defeat The Undertaker. At No Way Out Of Texas, the Outlaws teamed up with Triple H and Savio Vega (who replaced the injured Shawn Michaels) to face Chainsaw Charlie, Cactus Jack, Owen Hart, and Steve Austin. They were, however, defeated. On February 2, The Outlaws locked Cactus and Chainsaw in a dumpster and pushed it off the stage. This led to a Dumpster match at WrestleMania XIV where Cactus and Chainsaw defeated the Outlaws for the Tag Titles. The next night on Raw, the New Age Outlaws won the Tag Team Championship for a second time by defeating Chainsaw and Cactus in a Steel cage match, but only after interference from Triple H, Chyna, and X-Pac. After the match, the Outlaws officially became members of D-Generation X (DX).
After joining DX, the Outlaws successfully defended their Tag Team Title against the Legion of Doom 2000 at Unforgiven. DX began to feud with Owen Hart and his new stablemates, The Nation. At Over The Edge, the Outlaws and Triple H were defeated by Nation members Owen, Kama Mustafa, and D'Lo Brown in a Six Man Tag Match.
During this time, the Outlaws began a feud with Kane and Mankind. At SummerSlam, Mankind faced the Outlaws in a Handicap match after Kane no-showed the title defense. The Outlaws defeated Mankind to win the titles for the third time. In December, the Outlaws lost the title to The Big Boss Man and Ken Shamrock from The Corporation.
Mr. Ass and reformation of the Outlaws and DX (1999–2000)
The Outlaws then began to focus more on singles competition. The Road Dogg won the Hardcore Championship in December 1998, and Gunn set his sights on the Intercontinental Championship. At the 1999 Royal Rumble, Gunn unsuccessfully challenged Ken Shamrock for the Intercontinental Title. The next month at St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Gunn was the special guest referee for the Intercontinental Championship match between Val Venis and champion Ken Shamrock, where Gunn made a fast count and declared Venis the new champion before attacking both men.
In March, Gunn won the Hardcore Championship from Hardcore Holly. At WrestleMania XV, Gunn lost the title to Holly in a Triple Threat match which also included Al Snow. The New Age Outlaws then reunited to defeat Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart at Backlash. After Backlash, Gunn left D-Generation X and aligned himself with Triple H and Chyna. Gunn defeated his former partner, Road Dogg, in a match at Over the Edge. Gunn then won the King of the Ring tournament by defeating Ken Shamrock, Kane, and his former ally, X-Pac. After King of the Ring, Gunn, Triple H, and Chyna went on to feud with X-Pac and Road Dogg over the rights to the D-Generation X name. This feud culminated at Fully Loaded when X-Pac and Road Dogg defeated Gunn and Chyna.
Gunn then began a brief feud with The Rock. At SummerSlam, The Rock defeated Gunn in a Kiss My Ass Match. Following this, Gunn then briefly feuded with Jeff Jarrett for the Intercontinental Title before reuniting with Road Dogg to reform The New Age Outlaws. The Outlaws won their fourth tag team championship by defeating The Rock 'n' Sock Connection in September 1999. The Outlaws later reunited with X-Pac and Triple H to reform D-Generation X. During this time, The Outlaws won their fifth Tag Team Championship after defeating Mankind and Al Snow. At the 2000 Royal Rumble, The New Age Outlaws retained their title against The Acolytes after interference from X-Pac. The Outlaws then had a feud with The Dudley Boyz, who won the Tag Team Championship from The Outlaws at No Way Out. After suffering a torn rotator cuff in the match with The Dudley Boyz, Gunn was kicked out of D-Generation X for "losing his cool" to explain his impending absence to recover from his injury.
The One (2000–2001)
Gunn made his return in October and immediately teamed with Chyna to feud with Right to Censor, who wanted to "censor" his Mr. Ass gimmick. At No Mercy, Right to Censor members Steven Richards and Val Venis defeated Chyna and Gunn. Due to a stipulation, Gunn could no longer use the Mr. Ass gimmick, so he renamed himself Billy G. for a few weeks before settling on "The One" Billy Gunn. Gunn then feuded with Eddie Guerrero and the rest of The Radicalz. At Survivor Series, Gunn teamed with Road Dogg, Chyna, and K-Kwik in a losing effort against The Radicalz. A few weeks later on SmackDown!, Gunn won the Intercontinental Championship from Guerrero. However, the title reign was short-lived, as Chris Benoit defeated him for the title two weeks later at Armageddon. After feuding with Benoit, Gunn participated in the 2001 Royal Rumble where he made it to the final four, Gunn interfered in the Hardcore Championship Match at No Way Out, and taking advantage of the 24/7 Rule, pinning Raven for the title. The reign was short-lived, as Raven won it back a few minutes later.
Billy and Chuck (2001–2002)
In a 2001 match on Sunday Night Heat, Gunn was defeated by Chuck Palumbo, who recently left The Alliance to join the WWF. After the match, Gunn suggested that they form a tag team. Palumbo agreed, and Billy and Chuck quickly rose to the top of the tag team division. Initially they were a generic tandem, but they were given a gimmick where they grew increasingly affectionate toward each other, showing evidence of a storyline homosexual relationship.
In February 2002, Billy and Chuck defeated Spike Dudley and Tazz to win the WWF Tag Team Championship for the first time as a team. After winning the titles, Billy and Chuck found a "Personal Stylist" in the ambiguously flamboyant Rico. After retaining the title against the Acolytes Protection Agency, the Dudley Boyz, and the Hardy Boyz in a Four Corners Elimination Match at WrestleMania X8 and against Al Snow and Maven at Backlash, Billy and Chuck began a feud with Rikishi. At Judgment Day, Rikishi and Rico (Rikishi's mystery partner of Mr. McMahon's choosing) defeated Billy and Chuck for the WWE Tag Team Championship after Rico accidentally hit Chuck with a roundhouse kick. Billy and Chuck quickly won the title back two weeks later on SmackDown! with Rico's help. They held the championship for almost a month before losing it to the team of Edge and Hollywood Hulk Hogan on the July 4 episode of SmackDown!.
On the September 5 edition of SmackDown!, after Billy lost a match to Rey Mysterio, Chuck proposed to Billy, asking him to be his "partner for life" and gave him a wedding ring. Billy agreed, and one week later, on the September 12 episode of SmackDown!, Billy and Chuck had their wedding ceremony. However, just before they tied the knot, they revealed that the entire ordeal was a publicity stunt and disavowed their on-screen homosexuality, admitting that they were just friends. The "preacher" revealed himself to be Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff (who was wearing a skin mask), who then summoned 3-Minute Warning to beat up Billy and Chuck. Rico, furious that Billy and Chuck gave up their gimmick, became the manager of Three Minute Warning and defected to Raw. At Unforgiven, Three Minute Warning defeated Billy and Chuck. Their final match together occurred on the October 3 episode of SmackDown! in the first round of a tournament for the newly created WWE Tag Team Championship. They lost the match to the team of Ron Simmons and Reverend D-Von. Afterwards, Gunn took a few months off because of a shoulder injury and the team of Billy and Chuck quietly disbanded.
SmackDown! and return to singles competition (2003–2004)
After returning in the summer of 2003, Gunn reverted to the "Mr. Ass" gimmick, defeating A-Train, and Torrie Wilson became his new manager. He started a feud with Jamie Noble, which led to an "Indecent Proposal" Match at Vengeance, which Noble won and due to the match's stipulation, won a night with Torrie. After taking time off again due to a shoulder injury, Gunn returned to action at the 2004 Royal Rumble, but was eliminated by Goldberg. Afterward, he wrestled mainly on Velocity, forming an occasional tag team with Hardcore Holly. At Judgment Day, Gunn and Holly challenged Charlie Haas and Rico for the WWE Tag Team Championship, but were unsuccessful. At The Great American Bash, Gunn lost to Kenzo Suzuki.
On November 1, 2004, Sopp was released from his WWE contract. In June 2005, Sopp gave an interview in which he was heavily critical of WWE and the events that led to his release. Many of the negative comments were directed towards Triple H, who Sopp claimed "runs the show up there".
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2005–2009)
Planet Jarrett (2005)
On February 13, 2005, Sopp debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) without a name (as Billy Gunn is a WWE trademark, although announcers recognized him as such) at Against All Odds with the same gimmick, helping Jeff Jarrett retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in a match with Kevin Nash. Sopp, using the name The New Age Outlaw, then formed a stable with Jarrett and Monty Brown known as Planet Jarrett. However, WWE threatened TNA with legal action if Sopp continued the use of the name "The New Age Outlaw", so he shortened his name to The Outlaw. Due to the legal issues with WWE, all TNA -DVD releases featuring footage with Sopp as "The Outlaw" (and presumably also as "The New Age Outlaw") have had the name on on-screen graphics blurred, the name silenced out of the audio, and match commentary completely replaced to reflect a retroactive name change to "Kip James". One such DVD is the pay-per-view Lockdown, included in the "TNA Anthology: The Epic Set" box set, in which the silencing of the name during a segment where Dusty Rhodes picks his name from a lottery leaves DVD viewers in the dark as to who just got picked.
The Outlaw began a campaign to make former ally B.G. James leave the 3Live Kru and defect to Planet Jarrett, reforming the old tag team with Outlaw. At No Surrender, he renamed himself Kip James and was announced as "wrestling out of Marietta, Georgia" (the family seat of the Armstrong family) as a psychological ploy. As a result of his campaign, Kip attracted the ire of 3Live Kru members Ron Killings and Konnan, leading to a series of tag team matches pitting Kip and Monty Brown against Killings and Konnan, with a conflicted James unwilling to take sides. Kip's efforts ultimately proved futile; James, the guest referee in a final match between Brown and Kip versus Konnan and Killings at Sacrifice, attacked Kip enabling a 3Live Kru victory.
In September at Unbreakable, Kip teamed with Brown to defeat the team of Apolo and Lance Hoyt. There was clear tension between the partners because Brown was unhappy at the series of losses at the hands of the 3Live Kru, and Kip was irked by Brown's decision to leave Planet Jarrett. Despite the victory, the partners argued after the match. On the October 8, 2005 episode of Impact!, Kip rekindled his feud with the 3Live Kru, running to the ring after a bout between the 3LK and Team Canada in order to prevent Team Canada captain Petey Williams from beating down B.G. James. He saved James, and then engaged in a staredown with Konnan and Killings. Kip saved James from Team Canada once again at Bound for Glory. Though Killings showed signs of gratitude, Konnan remained skeptical as to his true intentions. Later that night, Kip took part in an over-the-top-rope gauntlet match for the number one contendership to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. After he was eliminated, he tried in vain to prevent Killings from being eliminated as well, before being sent away from ringside by the referees.
The James Gang/Voodoo Kin Mafia (2005–2008)
On the November 26 episode of Impact!, B.G. brought Kip and the 3Live Kru to ringside and asked Killings and Konnan whether Kip could join the stable. Following a heated argument between Konnan and B.G., both Killings and Konnan gave their approval, and the 4Live Kru was born. However, at Turning Point, Konnan attacked both B.G. and Kip, costing them their match against Team Canada and initiating a feud between himself and the remainder of the Kru. Shortly thereafter, B.G. James's father, Bob Armstrong, attempted to reconcile the group, but was instead attacked by Konnan and his new stablemates, Apolo and Homicide. Killings later stated that he had severed his ties with the Kru. With Konnan and Killings no longer members of the Kru, Kip and B.G. began referring to themselves as The James Gang and continued to feud with the Konnan-managed Latin American Exchange, whose third man position as Homicide's partner would switch from Apolo to Machete, and then from him to Hernandez, who finally stuck, during the course of this feud. At Final Resolution, The James Gang defeated The Diamonds in the Rough (David Young and Elix Skipper). At Against All Odds, The James Gang defeated LAX (Homicide and Machete). At Destination X, The James Gang and Bob Armstrong defeated Latin American Exchange in a six-man tag team match. At Sacrifice, The James Gang defeated Team 3D which led to a rematch at Slammiversary where Team 3D defeated The James Gang in a Bingo Hall Brawl. At Victory Road, The James Gang and Abyss defeated Team 3D and their newest member Brother Runt. At No Surrender, The James Gang competed in a Triple Chance tag team battle royal but failed to win the match. At Bound for Glory, The James Gang competed in a Four-way tag team match which was won by Team 3D.
By November 2006, Kip and B.G. began to show displeasure in TNA and threatened to go find work elsewhere if they did not receive gold soon. They began performing the crotch chop, a reference to the WWE's DX. On the November 2 edition of Impact!, Kip and B.G. threatened to quit. Kip grabbed the mic and tried to say something to the TNA administration and Spike TV, but each time his mic was cut off. Kip then tried to use the announcer's headset, but it was cut off as well. Frustrated, he started yelling loudly to the crowd, but he was cut off again as the show went to a commercial break. When the show returned, the announcers speculated that they may have been frustrated due to the influx of new talent entering TNA. It was reported that the segment was a worked shoot that Vince Russo had written in order to renew interest upon their eventual return. Kip and BG appeared in an internet video on TNA's website where they addressed the owner of WWE Vince McMahon.
A few weeks later on Impact!, The James Gang re-emerged under a new name Voodoo Kin Mafia (VKM for short, a play on Vincent Kennedy McMahon's initials). They mentioned their new right of 'creative control', meaning they could do whatever they wanted. They also declared 'war' on Paul Levesque, Michael Hickenbottom, and Vincent K. McMahon (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Vince McMahon, respectively). Kip then declared that 'Triple Hollywood' and 'Shawn Kiss-my-bottom' were failing as the group they (Kip and BG) used to be a part of: D-Generation X. After the initial shock value of this incident wore off, at Genesis, The Voodoo Kin Mafia defeated Kazarian, Maverick Matt and Johnny Devine in a handicap match. VKM began a feud with the villainous Christy Hemme. Hemme then searched for a tag team to square-off against VKM. At Destination X, The Voodoo Kin Mafia defeated Hemme's handpicked team of The Heartbreakers (Antonio Thomas & Romeo Roselli). On the Lockdown preshow The Voodoo Kin Mafia defeated another one of Hemme's handpicked team Serotonin (Kaz & Havok) in a Six Sides of Steel match. The final tag team was Damaja and Basham, who appeared on an episode of Impact! and beat down VKM. They also held up Kip James so Hemme could slap him. B.G James was taken out by Basham and Damaja which led to Kip James competed against Basham and Damaja in a handicap match at Sacrifice where he lost. However, they beat Hemme's team at Slammiversary. After the match, VKM were betrayed by their associate Lance Hoyt. At Victory Road, they introduced their new manager, the Voodoo Queen, Roxxi Laveaux, to embarrass Christy Hemme. At Hard Justice, The Voodoo Kin Mafia lost to The Latin American Exchange. At No Surrender, The Voodoo Kin Mafia competed in a Ten-team tag team gauntlet match which was won by A.J. Styles and Tomko. At Bound for Glory, Kip James competed in the Fight for the Right Reverse Battle Royal which was won by Eric Young. On the October 25 edition of Impact!, VKM teamed with A.J. Styles and Tomko in a losing effort to the Latin American Xchange and the Steiner Brothers. At Genesis, B.G. was present along with Kip in the corner of Roxxi Laveaux at ringside for the Fatal Four Way knockout match for the TNA Women's Championship in which Gail Kim retained the title. At Turning Point, James competed in the Feast or Fired where he grabbed a case but threw it to BG James. It was revealed that the case was for a shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship and BG James picked his dad to be his partner at Against All Odds, James and Bob Armstrong failed to win the titles and on February 21, 2008 episode of Impact! he turned on B.G. and B.G's father "Bullet" Bob Armstrong by hitting them both with a crutch.
The Beautiful People (2008–2009)
On April 13, 2008, he faced former partner B.G. James at Lockdown and lost. After the match, he appeared to want to make amends as he raised B.G.'s hand after the match, only to clothesline him down to the mat and taunt him with a DX crotch chop. Kip went on to declare himself "The Megastar", an arrogant gimmick similar to "The One" gimmick from his WWF tenure. Kip later stopped making appearances on Impact! until April 24 when he was attacked backstage by Matt Morgan for no reason. The next week on Impact!, Kip got back at Morgan by attacking him backstage in Jim Cornette's office. On May 8, 2008, Cornette forced Morgan into being Kip's tag team partner for the Deuces Wild tournament at Sacrifice, though both were unable to win. Kip went on another brief disappearance from television until the June 5 edition of Impact!, where he partnered with Lance Hoyt and James Storm in a losing effort against Morgan and The Latin American Xchange.
On the August 14 episode of Impact!, Kip was revealed to be the new image consultant and member of The Beautiful People, dubbed Cute Kip and was using his Mr.Ass Attire, after they brought him out during their interview on Karen Angle's show Karen's Angle. at Bound for Glory IV, Kip, Love and Sky lost to Rhino, ODB and Rhaka Khan in a Bimbo Brawl. at Final Resolution (December 2008), Kip competed in the Feast or Fired match but failed to get a case. At Genesis 2009, Kip became the one-night-only replacement for the injured Kevin Nash in the Main Event Mafia.
As of March 19, 2009, Sopp was taken off of TNA Impact! along with Jacqueline Moore to become road agents. Sopp returned as Cute Kip and lost to Awesome Kong in an intergender stretcher match on May 14, 2009. On the May 28 edition of Impact!, Kip was fired by The Beautiful People. On the June 18 edition of Impact!, Mick Foley hired him as his handyman, turning Kip into a face. he made another appearance on the August 6 edition of Impact where Kip had to clean up the IMPACT Zone after a chaotic fifteen minute "riot". On October 9 edition of Xplosion, Kip was defeated by Rhino. On October 30 edition of Xplosion, Kip defeated Sheik Abdul Bashir. on the November 13 edition of Xplosion, Kip lost to Rob Terry and on December 3, 2009 edition of Xplosion, Kip competed in his final TNA match where he lost to Kiyoshi.
Sopp's profile was removed from the TNA website on December 29, 2009, confirming his departure from the promotion.
Independent circuit (2009–2012)
After leaving TNA, Sopp reunited with B.G. James to reform The New Age Outlaws, with both men resuming their Billy Gunn and Road Dogg ring names. After joining TWA Powerhouse in 2010, the Outlaws defeated Canadian Extreme to win the promotion's Tag Team Championship on July 25. They re-lost the title to Canadian Extreme on June 5, 2011.
On July 30, 2011, Sopp, working under the ring name Kip Gunn, made his debut for Lucha Libre USA as a member of the heel stable The Right. Later that night, Gunn lost in his debut match against Marco Corleone. On June 26, 2012, Sopp won the American Pro Wrestling Alliance American Championship. However, he lost the title due to travel issues. On September 8 and 9, 2012, he wrestled in a Bad Boys of Wrestling Federation tournament. He defeated Rhino in the semi-finals and Scott Steiner in the final, winning the BBWF Aruba Championship.
Return to WWE (2012–2015)
On July 23, Sopp, under his Billy Gunn name, made his first WWE appearance in nearly eight years as he reunited with Road Dogg, X-Pac, Shawn Michaels and Triple H to reform D-Generation X for one night only on the 1000th episode of Raw. In December 2012, he was hired by WWE as a trainer for the NXT Wrestling territory in Tampa, Florida. On March 4, 2013, Gunn and Road Dogg made a return at Old School Raw, defeating Primo and Epico. On March 11, 2013, they accepted a challenge from Team Rhodes Scholars and faced them in a match, which was interrupted by Brock Lesnar, who hit both Outlaws with an F-5 as part of his ongoing feud with Triple H.
He then appeared alongside Road Dogg to help CM Punk clear out The Shield in aid of Roddy Piper on Old School Raw on January 6, 2014. On the January 10 episode of SmackDown, the Outlaws teamed with CM Punk in a six-man tag match against The Shield in a losing effort. On the January 13 episode of Raw, the Outlaws again teamed with Punk in a rematch against The Shield, only to abandon Punk and lose the match. On January 26 during the Royal Rumble Kickoff Show, Gunn and Road Dogg beat Cody Rhodes and Goldust to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. The next night on Raw the New Age Outlaws retained the championship against Rhodes and Goldust via disqualification when Brock Lesnar attacked the brothers. The next week on Raw the New Age Outlaws retained the championship against Rhodes and Goldust in a steel cage match. On March 3, the Outlaws lost the Tag Team Championship to The Usos. Gunn sustained hemoptysis after he and his New Age Outlaws partner, Road Dogg, suffered a double-Triple Powerbomb by The Shield at WrestleMania XXX.
Gunn returned to Raw with Road Dogg in January 2015, attacking The Ascension along with the nWo and the APA. At the Royal Rumble, the Outlaws faced The Ascension in a losing effort. At WrestleMania 31, Gunn, with Road Dogg, X-Pac and Shawn Michaels, reunited as D-Generation X to help Triple H in his match against Sting. In May, Gunn was announced as a coach along with WWE Hall of Famers Booker T and Lita for the sixth season of Tough Enough.
On November 13, 2015, WWE officially announced that Sopp was released from his WWE contract after failing a test for performance-enhancing drugs. He had tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone at a powerlifting event on July 25, 2015, and was suspended from powerlifting for four years.
Independent circuit (2015–2020)
On December 26, 2015, Gunn teamed up with Kevin Thorn to defeat Brian Klass and Rob Street. One month later, Gunn defeated Ken Dixon for the MCW Pro Wrestling MCW Rage Television Championship. On February 5, 2016, Gunn defeated Joey Hayes in the Preston City Wrestling PCW Road to Glory tournament, on February 6 he lost to T-Bone in the quarter-finals that same night Gunn teamed up with Mr. Anderson and Tajiri to defeat Dave Raynes, Joey Hayes, and Martin Kirby. On February 7, 2016 Gunn challenged for the Pro Wrestling Pride Heavyweight championship losing to Steve Griffiths. On March 19, 2016, Gunn lost the title to Ken Dixon. On June 12, 2016, Gunn won the Smashmouth Pro Wrestling championship from KC Huber but lost it on the same night, Gunn teamed again with Anderson in a losing effort against the UK Hooligans at PCW Tribute to the Troops on June 25, 2016. He defeated Hardcore Holly in a singles match at PCW Top Gunn on July 2, 2016.
On September 4, 2016, Gunn made his debut for Chikara, representing DX alongside X-Pac in a tag team gauntlet match. The two entered the match as the final team and scored the win over Prakash Sabar and The Proletariat Boar of Moldova.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2016–2017)
On November 5, 2016, at the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) event Power Struggle, Yoshitatsu announced Gunn as the newest member of his Hunter Club stable and his partner for the upcoming 2016 World Tag League. Gunn and Yoshitatsu finished the tournament on December 8 with a record of three wins and four losses, failing to advance from their block. Gunn returned to NJPW on January 4, 2017, taking part in the pre-show New Japan Rumble at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome, from which he was eliminated by the eventual winner Michael Elgin. While Gunn did not appear for NJPW for the next six months, he was brought up in May by Yoshitatsu, who told Hiroshi Tanahashi that Gunn had requested a match against him. When Tanahashi captured the IWGP Intercontinental Championship the following month, he immediately nominated Gunn as his first challenger. Gunn was defeated in the title match on July 2 at G1 Special in USA, and it was his final match in NJPW.
WWE appearances (2018–2019)
Gunn and numerous other WWE legends appeared on the January 22, 2018 episode of Raw 25 Years as part of the D-Generation X reunion. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2019 as a member of D-Generation X.
All Elite Wrestling (2019–present)
In January 2019, Gunn was hired by All Elite Wrestling as a coach. At May 25 at the AEW Double or Nothing event he competed in the pre-show battle royal. Gunn made his first televised appearance for AEW on the November 20, 2019 episode of AEW Dynamite, competing in a battle royal. He also appeared during the January 1, 2020 episode of Dynamite, wrestling in a dark match with his son Austin that aired on January 7, 2020. They wrestled again together on another dark match during the January 8, 2020 episode of Dynamite, airing on January 17, 2020, with the tag team name "The Gunn Club", defeating the team of Peter Avalon and Shawn Spears. Gunn has also appeared in the crowd (made up of AEW wrestlers and other employees) on numerous episodes of Dynamite during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the May 27, 2020 episode of Dynamite, Gunn now under the shortened ring name of Billy participated in a battle royal match to determine the number one contender for the TNT Championship. He also would wrestle MJF in a singles match on the June 17, 2020 episode of Dynamite as well. The Gunn Club would wrestle in more tag team matches on more episodes of AEW Dark.
On the November 4, 2020 episode of Dynamite, The Gunn Club teamed with Cody Rhodes to successfully defeat The Dark Order (John Silver, 10 and Colt Cabana). On the November 17, 2020 episode of Dark, The Gunn Club, which now added Austin's brother and Gunn's other son Colten to the stable, defeated Bshp King, Joey O'Riley and Sean Maluta by pinfall in a six-man tag team match. On the same day the AEW website's roster page got updated and his name was once again changed to its long form, Billy Gunn. The three man Gunn Club would then defeat Cezar Bononi, KTB, and Seth Gargis in another six man tag team match on the November 24, 2020 episode of Dark. On the December 8, 2020 episode of Dark The three man Gunn Club-which entered the ring on a golf cart with the words "Taz Taxi" on the side, defeated Shawn Dean, Sean Maluta & RYZIN. On the December 1, 2021 episode of Dynamite, The Gunn Club stable's undefeated streak in AEW ended when Billy and Colten Gunn lost to the team of Sting and Darby Allin.
Professional wrestling style, persona and reception
Gunn has had several gimmicks throughout his career, ranging from his cowboy-themed gimmick with the Smoking Gunns to his The Ambiguously Gay Duo-esque tag team with Chuck Palumbo. Gunn has stated on multiple shoot interviews that he has no regrets with his gimmicks as he was performing a job and doing what was asked of him to do.
By far, Gunn's most infamous gimmick was his "Mr. Ass" persona based around his ass. The gimmick started during his New Age Outlaws days when Road Dogg would refer to themselves as "Mr. Dogg" and "Mr. Ass" in promos, though the "Bad Ass" name wasn't referring to his backside at that time. What was originally a throwaway joke turned into Gunn mooning his opponents and the live crowd, though as the original incarnation of DX also did this, it could originally be argued that it was an extension of the Outlaws joining DX.
Upon leaving DX, Gunn fully embraced the "Mr. Ass" gimmick by placing emphasis on his "moneymaker". While Road Dogg kept the New Age Outlaws entrance music for his own, Gunn adopted the song "Ass Man" as part of the gimmick, and for a time even changed his ring tights to be see-through, wearing only a thong underneath his tights, although he would eventually revert back to the DX-era tights.
The "Mr. Ass" gimmick has mixed reviews. One web site ranked it near the middle of Gunn's various gimmicks, while a writer for Bleacher Report thought it was the worst gimmick ever even though Gunn was at his peak popularity with the persona. Gunn himself told Chris Van Vliet in 2021 that he never paid attention to the "Ass Man" lyrics until a college professor broke down each expression.
Due to the enduring legacy of the "Mr. Ass" gimmick, in November 2021 Ring of Honor wrestler Danhausen began a Twitter feud with the Gunn Club, referring to Billy as "Billy Ass," and Colten and Austin as The "Ass Boys," in reference to Gunn's infamous "Mr. Ass" gimmick in the Attitude Era. While Gunn himself initially had no comment, the rest of Gunn Club despised the nickname after fans began chanting "Ass Boys" during their matches, notably during an AEW event at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Virginia. Gunn finally commented when he surprised his sons by wearing an "Ass Boys" shirt, encouraging them to "embrace the assness" and even started teasing mooning the crowd again. Gunn also thanked Danhausen publicly for getting his sons over in a way that he couldn't.
Other media
Filmography
Video Games
WWF Attitude
WWF WrestleMania 2000
WWF SmackDown!
WWF No Mercy
WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role
WWF Road To WrestleMania
WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It
WWF Raw
WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth
WWE Raw 2
WWE '13
WWE 2K16
WWE 2K17
Personal life
Sopp was born on November 1, 1963 in Orlando, Florida and claims Austin, Texas as his hometown. In November 1990, Sopp was arrested in Florida for disorderly conduct. Sopp married his first wife Tina Tinnell on March 3, 1990. Together, they have two sons: Colten (born May 18, 1991) and Austin (born August 26, 1994) who are also professional wrestlers. The couple separated in January 2000 and their divorce was finalized on December 11, 2002. Sopp has since married his long-time girlfriend Paula on January 24, 2009.
Sopp's sons Austin and Colten, better known by the ring names Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn, are currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where alongside their father they form a stable known as "Gunn Club".
Sopp attended Sam Houston State University.
Championships and accomplishments
American Pro Wrestling Alliance
APWA American Championship (1 time)
Bad Boys of Wrestling Federation
BBFW Aruba Championship (1 time)
BBFW Aruba Championship Tournament (2012)
International Wrestling Federation
IWF Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Brett Colt
Freedom Pro Wrestling
FPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Road Dogg
Maryland Championship Wrestling
MCW Rage Television Championship (1 time)
MCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with B.G. James
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Tag Team of the Year (1998) with Road Dogg
Tag Team of the Year (2002) with Chuck
Ranked #39 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1999
Ranked #231 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
Ranked #43 of the top 100 tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Road Dogg in 2003
SmashMouth Pro Wrestling
SPW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
TWA Powerhouse
TWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with B.G. James
Vanguard Championship Wrestling
VCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Pro Wrestling
WPW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Worst Worked Match of the Year (2006) TNA Reverse Battle Royal on TNA Impact!
WWE/World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
WWF Hardcore Championship (2 times)
WWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time)
WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Road Dogg
WWF World Tag Team Championship (10 times) – with Bart Gunn (3), Road Dogg (5) and Chuck (2)
King of the Ring (1999)
Raw Bowl – with Bart Gunn
WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2019) - as a member of D-Generation X
References
External links
1963 births
All Elite Wrestling personnel
American male professional wrestlers
American powerlifters
Bull riders
D-Generation X members
Expatriate professional wrestlers in Japan
LGBT characters in professional wrestling
Living people
Professional wrestlers from Florida
Professional wrestling trainers
Sam Houston State University alumni
Sportspeople from Orlando, Florida
The Authority (professional wrestling) members
WWE Hall of Fame inductees
WWF/WWE Hardcore Champions
WWF/WWE Intercontinental Champions
WWF/WWE King Crown's Champions/King of the Ring winners
American expatriate sportspeople in Japan
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"\"What a Beautiful Name\" is a song by Australian praise and worship group Hillsong Worship. The song, written and led by Brooke Ligertwood and co-written with Ben Fielding, refers to the promise of salvation through Jesus Christ as represented by His Holy Name. The \"genre-smashing single\" contributed to Hillsong being named Billboards Top Christian Artist of 2017. \"What a Beautiful Name\" won two Dove Awards for Song of the Year and Worship Song of the Year in 2017. It won the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song. \"What a Beautiful Name\" was released on 6 January 2017, as the lead single from their 25th live album, Let There Be Light (2016).\n\nBackground\n\"What a Beautiful Name\" was composed in December 2015 in Sydney, Australia, for the upcoming Hillsong Conference, the annual church gathering. The scriptural foundation of the song can be found in , and .\n\nComposition\nAccording to sheet music published at Sheetmusicdirect.com by Hillsong Publishing, \"What a Beautiful Name\" is a slow tempo of 68 beats per minute. Written in common time, the song is in the key of D major. Brooke Ligertwood's vocal range spans from A3 to B4 during the song.\n\nMusic video\nA video for the song was recorded at the Hillsong Conference in Sydney and was released on 30 September 2016. The YouTube video has more than 400 million views as of 16 April 2021.\n\nCriticism and Reception\nMusic critic Matt Collar praised Hillsong Worship for their \"passionate, faith-based sound\" and wrote that fans of the group \"will surely appreciate this emotive, uplifting Christian pop.\"\n\nHowever, theologian and pastor John Piper had criticised this song for heresy, saying\n\nAnother pastor, Sam Storms criticised the song along similar lines, but stopped short of labelling it \"heretical\".\n\nHillsong responded to the criticisms of the song with a blog by singer Ben Fielding to defend the scriptural inspiration behind it.\n\nJake Gosselin attributes the popularity of the song in the Christian community to a number of factors. He writes that \"What a Beautiful Name\" is \"singable.\" In practice this refers to the \"small vocal range\" of the song which is \"one note over an octave.\" This translates to a song that is easy to sing and which does not strain the voice with notes that are too high or too low. He also comments that the song is written in the key of D which is \"the optimal key for both men and women.\"\n\nChart performance\n\"What a Beautiful Name\" had its worldwide digital release on 6 January 2017, and topped Billboard's Hot Christian Songs chart on 25 February. The single has held the top position for 37 weeks making it the third-longest-leading No. 1 in the 14-year history of the Hot Christian chart. The song which claims the distinction as the longest-leading No. 1 is \"Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)\" and was released by another Hillsong unit, Hillsong United. \"Oceans\" led the Hot Christian chart for 61 weeks. The song has stayed on the chart for 77 weeks, making it the third longest running song on the chart.\n\n\"What a Beautiful Name\" is ranked as the No. 1 song of the year for 2017 on the Christian Digital Sales chart, No. 3 on Christian Streaming Songs, and is also the No. 3 song on Christian Airplay. The song spent nine weeks as No. 1 on Christian Airplay and was Hillsong Worship's first No. 1 on the chart. What a Beautiful Name also leads the CCLI, the international licensing service for 250,000 churches.\n\n\"What a Beautiful Name\" is a track from Hillsong Worship's 25th live album, Let There Be Light. The album was released on 14 October 2016, and debuted as No. 1 on the Top Christian Albums chart. For 2017, Let There be Light was ranked the No. 9 of the year.\n\nAwards and accolades\nHillsong Worship was named Billboard's Top Christian Artist of 2017, as well as Top Christian Duo/Group. \"What a Beautiful Name\" earned two Dove awards, Song of the Year and Worship Song of the Year. \"What a Beautiful Name\" won the award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song at the 60th Grammy Awards, the first for Hillsong Worship.\n\nLive performances\nThe song was recorded at a live performance at the annual Hillsong Conference in 2016. Hillsong performed the song at the 48th Annual Dove Awards held at Allen Arena in Nashville. The performance was well received and \"had audience members on their feet with their hands in the air.\"\n\nWhen asked about performing the song in an interview with Billboards Jim Asker, Ligertwood said about the audience: \nFinally, she said about performing the song:\n\nOther versions\nIn July 2017, the Voices of Lee, the \"elite\" a cappella singing group, posted a video of the song to their Facebook page. The cover was an instant hit and reached the so-called viral threshold of 5 million views in two days. As of October 2017, it had amassed 33 million views. The group represents Lee University in Tennessee; the video was filmed in the school's chapel.\n\nTrack listing\n\nCharts\n\nDecade-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nRelease history\n\nFurther reading\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \"What a Beautiful Name\" video \n \"The Story Behind What a Beautiful Name\" video\n Lyrics and chords\n\n2017 singles\n2016 songs\nSparrow Records singles\nSongs written by Brooke Fraser\nHillsong Worship songs",
"Hippias Major (or What is Beauty? or Greater Hippias (, Hippías meízōn), to distinguish it from the Hippias Minor, which has the same chief character) is one of the dialogues of Plato, although its authenticity has been doubted. It belongs to the early dialogues, written while the author was still young. Its precise date is uncertain, although a date of c. 390 BC has been suggested.\n\nIn the Hippias Major, Socrates and Hippias set out to find a definition for \"beauty\", but are destined to fail due to their inability to formulate an answer which encompasses the entire concept. The actual Greek term that is used in the dialogue is καλόν, which as an adjective often means fine or noble as well as beautiful. For this reason, translators such as Paul Woodruff typically translate the term (τὸ καλόν—the abstract noun of the adjective) as \"the Fine\" (things) instead of \"Beauty.\"\n\nAs in Charmides, Lysis and Euthyphro, Hippias Major has an \"anatreptic\" purpose, that is, the result of the dialogue is to defeat commonly held opinions, without necessarily offering a resolution. The concept of something good in and of itself (if only obliquely) makes its first appearance in this work. The dialogue can be read as much as a serious philosophical work as a light satirical comedy with two actors. The astuteness of Socrates in taking refuge under the authority of a supposed third protagonist in order to direct biting criticism at Hippias, endows the dialogue with humour.\n\nPersonalities\n Socrates.\n Hippias of Elis: Hippias was a well known Sophist, originally from Elis. Known throughout Ancient Greece, he was reputed to have mastered mathematics, astronomy and rhetoric; he boasted that he could speak on any subject at Olympia without preparation. He is presented by Plato, perhaps somewhat caricatured, as vain, narrow, and of limited intellect; much as he is in Hippias Minor.\n\nDialogue summary\n\nHippias meets Socrates\nHippias, whose business had kept him away from Athens for a long time, arrives in the city to give a lecture at Pheidostratus' school in the next few days. He meets Socrates, and the latter asks him why such a precious and wise man as Hippias has deprived the Athenians of his presence for so long. It is, explains the great Sophist, because his native Elis was so in need of his services, and entrusted him with several important diplomatic missions to different cities; notably in Sparta. He made use of his travels throughout the Greek world to educate a large number of youth and earn large sums of money. One such example was the small town of Inycus, in Sicily, where the modest inhabitants sacrificed a good part of their savings to see their children educated.\n\nCould excessive application of the law lead to lawlessness?\nSocrates ironically assures him that this is all admirable. And if Hippias has spent such a large part of his time in Sparta, he asks, this must be where he earned the most? But Hippias demurs: he did not touch an obolus there. It was not because the Spartans did not wish the best possible education for their children, and not because they did not comprehend the true value of Hippias. The only reason was that \"it is not the inherited usage of the Lacedaemonians to change their laws or to educate their children differently from what is customary.\"\n\nHowever, Socrates emphasized, the law is precisely made for use and happiness of the citizens, two things to which Hippias would have been greatly able to contribute. By being too attached to the law and refusing the services of Hippias, the Spartans contradict the aim of their own laws and thus therefore could be considered as being unlawful. Hippias agrees. Socrates then asks him then how he nevertheless had so much success in this severe city of Laconia. It is not, Hippias answers, for his knowledge of arithmetic or astronomy, but rather \"They are very fond of hearing about the genealogies of heroes and men, Socrates, and the foundations of cities in ancient times and, in short, about antiquity in general...[these being] beautiful pursuits\".\n\nSocrates reveals his problem\nSocrates is happy that Hippias came to reminisce on beautiful things, because this is a subject that interests Socrates greatly and with good reason. Recently, according to the latter, while criticising the beauty or ugliness of part of speeches, he claims to have been harassed by an acquaintance, who reproached him for not really knowing the definition of beauty. Thus embarrassed by this exposure, Socrates claims to be delighted that finally one as competent as Hippias will be able to provide his opinion on the nature of beauty. The great Sophist, flattered, does not object; and is goaded on by Socrates, who offers to reprise the discussion, playing the part of the harasser. This role-play on the part of Socrates adds to the comic nature of dialogue.\n\nHippias' three definitions\n\nFirst definition: beauty is a pretty girl\nHippias first response is: \"For be assured, Socrates, if I must speak the truth, a beautiful maiden is beautiful \". Socrates estimates this to be, with his usual irony, a brilliant answer. But cannot they say that a lyre, a horse or even a pot is beautiful? The most beautiful of pots of course would not stand up to comparison with a beautiful girl, but then in turn what is the beauty of a girl in comparison to that of a goddess? In short, there is an infinite number of beautiful things besides beautiful girls. In any case, this is not really the question; it is not a question of knowing what is beautiful and what is not, but rather to define beauty and to say what makes beautiful things \"beautiful\".\n\nSecond definition: beauty is gold\nThe second response offered by Hippias is: \"This that you ask about, the beautiful, is nothing else but gold... For we all know, I fancy, that wherever this is added, even what before appears ugly will appear beautiful when adorned with gold.\"No doubt, replies Socrates, but what to make then of the great statue of Athena at the Parthenon? This masterpiece of Phidias is mostly made of ivory and precious stones, and not of gold. Yet the statue is magnificent. Besides, gold or any other precious metal only gives rise to beauty if it is properly used. In the case of the pot, for instance, who is to say whether a wooden spoon or a golden spoon would be better to stir with, or which would be more beautiful?\n\nThird definition: beauty is to be rich and respected\nThis time Hippias thinks that he understands: Socrates wants to know what no man will ever find ugly: \"I say, then, that for every man and everywhere it is most beautiful to be rich and healthy, and honoured by the Greeks, to reach old age, and, after providing a beautiful funeral for his deceased parents, to be beautifully and splendidly buried by his own offspring.\" A scene follows, where Socrates shows his fear of the beating with a stick he would receive from his harasser if he had given that answer. What then of Achilles or Heracles? Was it beautiful for these two heroes, sons of the immortals, to be buried before their parents, before the gods? Was there no beauty in their lives because they were not buried by their offspring? Beauty in this sense then applies to ordinary men, but it would be ugliness for heroes. The definition is thus incorrect.\n\nSocrates' four definitions\n\nFirst definition: beauty is that which is appropriate\nTiring of the errors of Hippias, Socrates offers a definition in his turn, which he holds came from his famous harasser: the beautiful is simply that which is appropriate. This response pleases Hippias. But further examination is needed: first of all, is it the appropriateness which makes things beautiful, or does it simply make them appear to be beautiful? The second hypothesis is tempting: even a ridiculous man, dressed in nice clothing, will appear more beautiful. But inside he would still be ridiculous; thus appropriate and beautiful are not the same.\n\nHippias suggests that appropriateness provides at the same time the reality and the appearance of beauty. But then, nothing could be less sure; if everything was that simple, citizens and politicians would no longer have to quarrel to decide which action was the nicer.\n\nSecond definition: beauty is that which is useful\nSocrates proposes a second solution: if it is beautiful, is it useful? But here again problems surface: it is through power that men make things useful. Nevertheless, as is well known, power can as much serve evil as it serves good. And there is difficulty in qualifying actions as bad or good. Which in turn requires that the definition be refocused; beauty is only usefulness applied to good ends, or those that are \"favourable\".\n\nThird definition: beauty is that which is favourable\nIdentifying the beautiful and the favourable leads to a paradox: the favourable procreates the beautiful, as a father procreates a son. Since the favourable and the beautiful are thus considered to be one and the same, they arrive at the finding that beauty is the reason of goodness. In logic, a cause and an effect are two different things, as a father is different from the son. And thus they must conclude that Beauty is not good, and good is not beauty; an assertion which pleases neither Socrates nor Hippias.\n\nFourth definition: beauty is the pleasure that comes from seeing and hearing\nTo conclude, Socrates brings out a final definition; at first glance quite amazing: \"[what] if we were to say that that is beautiful which makes us feel joy ; I do not mean all pleasures, but that which makes us feel joy through hearing and sight?\" This hypothesis, while appealing, contains according to Socrates himself a fundamental flaw; that it ignores the beauty of the more noble pleasures, drawn from the studious occupations or the study of laws.\n\nOn the other hand, it seems striking that only the senses of sight and hearing are taken into account. Is this a way to submit to common opinion, which is that touch, taste and smell are somehow more shameful and base than the other senses? Finally, it is not simply because pleasure comes from seeing or hearing that it is beautiful. Socrates throws himself into a series of considerations: taking into account pairs of objects, in the Majority of cases the term which they apply to both objects (A and B are beautiful, A and B are just) can apply also to an object taken separately (A is beautiful and B is beautiful). But in some rare cases it can happen that it this is not the case, notably when the sum of A and B forms an even number and A and B, taken in isolation, are two odd numbers.\n\nIn the case of beauty, it is the first category that is appropriate, because if a pair of two objects is beautiful, it stands to reason that each of them is. But a new paradox appears, since the beautiful, in discreet definition, must belong to both pleasures of sight and hearing, taken jointly, and cannot belong to only one of them. The definition as a result proves to be flawed. Exhausted by the many questions they have considered, Hippias berates Socrates and urges him instead of \"with mere talk and nonsense\" to seek beauty in \"the ability to produce a discourse well and beautifully in a court of law or a council-house or before any other public body before which the discourse may be delivered.\"\nSocrates, taking his leave, pretends to feel bad about the situation, cornered between the attacks of Hippias and those of his mysterious opponent. His only certainty, he concludes with a sense of humour, is that from now on he better understands the Greek proverb \"beautiful things are difficult\"\n\nAuthenticity\nThe authorship of Hippias Major has been disputed. Although some works previously attributed to Plato have been determined to be inauthentic, this is one where authorship has still not been firmly established, though academic consensus tends toward its authenticity. The argument is summarized in (Sider 1977): \"Dorothy Tarrant is the foremost advocate for the cause of spuriousness: cf. her edition of The Hippias Major Attributed to Plato (Cambridge, 1928). Opposing her in a series of articles is G.M.A. Grube, who wrote in 1926 and 1927. W. K. C. Guthrie, in A History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1975) also argues for its genuineness.\" Sider, writing in 1992 states that G. R. Ledger, in Re-counting Plato (Oxford 1989) carried out a computer text analysis and though not conclusive \"On balance the evidence for genuineness is fairly convincing\". He goes on to state that amongst other recent works, P. Woodruff, Plato: Hippias Major (Oxford 1982) also argues for authenticity and dates the document to \"around 390\" BC.\n\nC. H. Kahn, \"The Beautiful and the Genuine,\" OSAP 3 (1985:261–87) is the lone modern figure maintaining spuriousness. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy states \"Of those [of Plato's works] we listed as authentic, above (in the early group), only the Hippias Major continues occasionally to be listed as inauthentic. The strongest evidence against the authenticity of the Hippias Major is the fact that it is never mentioned in any of the ancient sources. In summary then, although early 20th century scholarship argued that it was spurious, latest research indicates that on the balance it is more likely authentic than not.\n\nTexts and translations\n Plato: Cratylus, Parmenides, Greater Hippias, Lesser Hippias. Greek with translation by Harold N. Fowler. Loeb Classical Library 167. Harvard Univ. Press (originally published 1926). HUP listing\n Plato. Hippias Major, from Plato Vol. 9 translated by W. R. M. Lamb. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1925. From Perseus\n Plato. Complete Works. Hackett, 1997.\n\nNotes\n\nFurther reading\n Olsen, Halsten, « Socrates Talks to Himself in Plato’s Hippias Major », Ancient Philosophy, 20, 2000, pp. 265–287\n Alain, Platon, Champs-Flammarion, 2005, \n Châtelet, François, Platon, Folio, Gallimard, 1989, \n Pradeau, Jean-François, Les mythes de Platon, GF-Flammarion, 2004, \n Pradeau, Jean-François, Le vocabulaire de Platon, Ellipses Marketing, 1998,\n\nExternal links \n\nHippias Major public domain audiobook version of George Burges translation.\n. George Burges, translator (1855).\n\nDialogues of Plato\nAesthetics literature"
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"Billy Gunn",
"The Beautiful People (2008-2009)",
"What was Gunn's role in The Beautiful People?",
"I don't know.",
"What is The Beautiful People?",
"!, Kip was revealed to be the new image consultant and member of The Beautiful People, dubbed Cute Kip and was using his Mr.Ass Attire,"
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C_9fa08c06a25341598cc4fda2d399e91a_0
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What was the storyline with Cute Kip?
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What was the storyline with Cute Kip?
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Billy Gunn
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On April 13, 2008, he faced former partner B.G. James at Lockdown and lost. After the match, he appeared to want to make amends as he raised B.G.'s hand after the match, only to clothesline him down to the mat and taunt him with a DX crotch chop. Kip went on to declare himself "The Megastar", an arrogant gimmick similar to "The One" gimmick from his WWF tenure. Kip later stopped making appearances on Impact! until April 24 when he was attacked backstage by Matt Morgan for no reason. The next week on Impact!, Kip got back at Morgan by attacking him backstage in Jim Cornette's office. On May 8, 2008, Cornette forced Morgan into being Kip's tag team partner for the Deuces Wild tournament at Sacrifice, though both were unable to win. Kip went on another brief disappearance from television until the June 5 edition of Impact!, where he partnered with Lance Hoyt and James Storm in a losing effort against Morgan and The Latin American Xchange. On the August 14 episode of Impact!, Kip was revealed to be the new image consultant and member of The Beautiful People, dubbed Cute Kip and was using his Mr.Ass Attire, after they brought him out during their interview on Karen Angle's show Karen's Angle. at Bound for Glory IV, Kip, Love and Sky lost to Rhino, ODB and Rhaka Khan in a Bimbo Brawl. at Final Resolution (December 2008), Kip competed in the Feast or Fired match but failed to get a case. At Genesis 2009, Kip became the one-night-only replacement for the injured Kevin Nash in the Main Event Mafia. As of March 19, 2009, Sopp was taken off of TNA Impact! along with Jacqueline Moore to become road agents. Sopp returned as Cute Kip and lost to Awesome Kong in an intergender stretcher match on May 14, 2009. On the May 28 edition of Impact!, Kip was fired by The Beautiful People. On the June 18 edition of Impact!, Mick Foley hired him as his handyman, turning Kip into a face. he made another appearance on the August 6 edition of Impact where Kip had to clean up the IMPACT Zone after a chaotic fifteen minute RIOT. on October 9 edition of Xplosion, Kip was defeated by Rhino. on October 30 edition of Xplosion, Kip defeated Sheik Abdul Bashir. on the November 13 edition of Xplosion, Kip lost to Rob Terry and on December 3, 2009 edition of Xplosion, Kip competed in his final TNA match where he lost to Kiyoshi. Sopp's profile was removed from the TNA website on December 29, 2009, confirming his departure from the promotion. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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Monty "Kip" Sopp (born November 1, 1963), better known by his ring name Billy Gunn, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a wrestler and coach. Gunn is best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E) from 1993 to 2004 and from 2012 to 2015. He also served as a coach on WWE's Tough Enough and was a trainer in NXT. He is also known for his appearances with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) from 2005 to 2009.
Primarily a tag team wrestler, Gunn is an overall 13-time tag team champion in WWE with three different partners (with Bart Gunn as The Smoking Gunns, with Road Dogg as The New Age Outlaws, and with Chuck Palumbo as Billy and Chuck). He is also a one time WWF Intercontinental Champion and a two time WWF Hardcore Champion, giving him 14 total championships in WWE. He is the 1999 King of the Ring tournament winner, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019 as a member of D-Generation X.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1985–1993)
After a stint as a professional bull rider in Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, Sopp left the profession in his early-20s in order to pursue a career as a professional wrestler. Trained by Jerry Grey, Sopp wrestled on the independent circuit for eight years (including a brief stint as enhancement talent for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) before signing a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1993.
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (1993–2004)
The Smoking Gunns (1993–1996)
After weeks of vignettes, Sopp, under the name Billy Gunn, made his WWF debut on the May 17, 1993 episode of Raw, teaming with his on-screen brother, Bart Gunn to defeat Tony Vadja and Glenn Ruth. The duo, now known as The Smoking Gunns, made their pay-per-view debut at King of the Ring, teaming with The Steiner Brothers to defeat Money Inc. and The Headshrinkers in an eight-man tag team match. At SummerSlam, the duo teamed with Tatanka to pick up a win against Bam Bam Bigelow and the Headshrinkers. On January 22, 1994, Gunn entered his first Royal Rumble match at the namesake event, but was eliminated by Diesel. In early 1995, the Gunns won their first Tag Team Championship by defeating the makeshift team of Bob Holly and 1-2-3 Kid. They held the title until WrestleMania XI, where they were defeated by the team of Owen Hart and Yokozuna. They won the titles again in September 1995.
On February 15, 1996, the Gunns vacated the title because Billy was in need of neck surgery. After Billy returned from hiatus, The Smoking Gunns won the Tag Team Title for the third time by defeating The Godwinns in May. After the match, The Godwinns' manager Sunny turned on her team in favor of the Gunns. On September 22 at In Your House: Mind Games, the Gunns lost the Tag Team Title to Owen Hart and The British Bulldog. After the match, Sunny abandoned The Gunns, saying that she would only manage title holders. Billy, frustrated with losing both the championship and Sunny, walked out on Bart, breaking up The Smoking Gunns.
Rockabilly, The New Age Outlaws and D-Generation X (1997–1998)
After The Smoking Gunns disbanded, Gunn took some time off to nurse an injury. At WrestleMania 13, he defeated Flash Funk catching the attention of The Honky Tonk Man, who made Gunn his protégé. During this time, he adopted a new gimmick, Rockabilly, He would use this gimmick throughout much of 1997 and eventually had a short-lived feud with "The Real Double J" Jesse James. On the October 4, 1997 episode of Shotgun Saturday Night, James realized both of their careers were going nowhere and suggested that they become a tag team. Gunn agreed and smashed a guitar over the Honky Tonk Man's head to solidify their new alliance.
James and Rockabilly were quickly rebranded as "Road Dogg" Jesse James and "Badd Ass" Billy Gunn, respectively, and their tag team was dubbed the New Age Outlaws. They quickly rose to the top of the tag team ranks and won the Tag Team Championship from the Legion of Doom on November 24. They also defeated the LOD in a rematch at In Your House: D-Generation X.
The Outlaws slowly began to align themselves with D-Generation X. At the Royal Rumble, the New Age Outlaws interfered in a Casket match to help Shawn Michaels defeat The Undertaker. At No Way Out Of Texas, the Outlaws teamed up with Triple H and Savio Vega (who replaced the injured Shawn Michaels) to face Chainsaw Charlie, Cactus Jack, Owen Hart, and Steve Austin. They were, however, defeated. On February 2, The Outlaws locked Cactus and Chainsaw in a dumpster and pushed it off the stage. This led to a Dumpster match at WrestleMania XIV where Cactus and Chainsaw defeated the Outlaws for the Tag Titles. The next night on Raw, the New Age Outlaws won the Tag Team Championship for a second time by defeating Chainsaw and Cactus in a Steel cage match, but only after interference from Triple H, Chyna, and X-Pac. After the match, the Outlaws officially became members of D-Generation X (DX).
After joining DX, the Outlaws successfully defended their Tag Team Title against the Legion of Doom 2000 at Unforgiven. DX began to feud with Owen Hart and his new stablemates, The Nation. At Over The Edge, the Outlaws and Triple H were defeated by Nation members Owen, Kama Mustafa, and D'Lo Brown in a Six Man Tag Match.
During this time, the Outlaws began a feud with Kane and Mankind. At SummerSlam, Mankind faced the Outlaws in a Handicap match after Kane no-showed the title defense. The Outlaws defeated Mankind to win the titles for the third time. In December, the Outlaws lost the title to The Big Boss Man and Ken Shamrock from The Corporation.
Mr. Ass and reformation of the Outlaws and DX (1999–2000)
The Outlaws then began to focus more on singles competition. The Road Dogg won the Hardcore Championship in December 1998, and Gunn set his sights on the Intercontinental Championship. At the 1999 Royal Rumble, Gunn unsuccessfully challenged Ken Shamrock for the Intercontinental Title. The next month at St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Gunn was the special guest referee for the Intercontinental Championship match between Val Venis and champion Ken Shamrock, where Gunn made a fast count and declared Venis the new champion before attacking both men.
In March, Gunn won the Hardcore Championship from Hardcore Holly. At WrestleMania XV, Gunn lost the title to Holly in a Triple Threat match which also included Al Snow. The New Age Outlaws then reunited to defeat Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart at Backlash. After Backlash, Gunn left D-Generation X and aligned himself with Triple H and Chyna. Gunn defeated his former partner, Road Dogg, in a match at Over the Edge. Gunn then won the King of the Ring tournament by defeating Ken Shamrock, Kane, and his former ally, X-Pac. After King of the Ring, Gunn, Triple H, and Chyna went on to feud with X-Pac and Road Dogg over the rights to the D-Generation X name. This feud culminated at Fully Loaded when X-Pac and Road Dogg defeated Gunn and Chyna.
Gunn then began a brief feud with The Rock. At SummerSlam, The Rock defeated Gunn in a Kiss My Ass Match. Following this, Gunn then briefly feuded with Jeff Jarrett for the Intercontinental Title before reuniting with Road Dogg to reform The New Age Outlaws. The Outlaws won their fourth tag team championship by defeating The Rock 'n' Sock Connection in September 1999. The Outlaws later reunited with X-Pac and Triple H to reform D-Generation X. During this time, The Outlaws won their fifth Tag Team Championship after defeating Mankind and Al Snow. At the 2000 Royal Rumble, The New Age Outlaws retained their title against The Acolytes after interference from X-Pac. The Outlaws then had a feud with The Dudley Boyz, who won the Tag Team Championship from The Outlaws at No Way Out. After suffering a torn rotator cuff in the match with The Dudley Boyz, Gunn was kicked out of D-Generation X for "losing his cool" to explain his impending absence to recover from his injury.
The One (2000–2001)
Gunn made his return in October and immediately teamed with Chyna to feud with Right to Censor, who wanted to "censor" his Mr. Ass gimmick. At No Mercy, Right to Censor members Steven Richards and Val Venis defeated Chyna and Gunn. Due to a stipulation, Gunn could no longer use the Mr. Ass gimmick, so he renamed himself Billy G. for a few weeks before settling on "The One" Billy Gunn. Gunn then feuded with Eddie Guerrero and the rest of The Radicalz. At Survivor Series, Gunn teamed with Road Dogg, Chyna, and K-Kwik in a losing effort against The Radicalz. A few weeks later on SmackDown!, Gunn won the Intercontinental Championship from Guerrero. However, the title reign was short-lived, as Chris Benoit defeated him for the title two weeks later at Armageddon. After feuding with Benoit, Gunn participated in the 2001 Royal Rumble where he made it to the final four, Gunn interfered in the Hardcore Championship Match at No Way Out, and taking advantage of the 24/7 Rule, pinning Raven for the title. The reign was short-lived, as Raven won it back a few minutes later.
Billy and Chuck (2001–2002)
In a 2001 match on Sunday Night Heat, Gunn was defeated by Chuck Palumbo, who recently left The Alliance to join the WWF. After the match, Gunn suggested that they form a tag team. Palumbo agreed, and Billy and Chuck quickly rose to the top of the tag team division. Initially they were a generic tandem, but they were given a gimmick where they grew increasingly affectionate toward each other, showing evidence of a storyline homosexual relationship.
In February 2002, Billy and Chuck defeated Spike Dudley and Tazz to win the WWF Tag Team Championship for the first time as a team. After winning the titles, Billy and Chuck found a "Personal Stylist" in the ambiguously flamboyant Rico. After retaining the title against the Acolytes Protection Agency, the Dudley Boyz, and the Hardy Boyz in a Four Corners Elimination Match at WrestleMania X8 and against Al Snow and Maven at Backlash, Billy and Chuck began a feud with Rikishi. At Judgment Day, Rikishi and Rico (Rikishi's mystery partner of Mr. McMahon's choosing) defeated Billy and Chuck for the WWE Tag Team Championship after Rico accidentally hit Chuck with a roundhouse kick. Billy and Chuck quickly won the title back two weeks later on SmackDown! with Rico's help. They held the championship for almost a month before losing it to the team of Edge and Hollywood Hulk Hogan on the July 4 episode of SmackDown!.
On the September 5 edition of SmackDown!, after Billy lost a match to Rey Mysterio, Chuck proposed to Billy, asking him to be his "partner for life" and gave him a wedding ring. Billy agreed, and one week later, on the September 12 episode of SmackDown!, Billy and Chuck had their wedding ceremony. However, just before they tied the knot, they revealed that the entire ordeal was a publicity stunt and disavowed their on-screen homosexuality, admitting that they were just friends. The "preacher" revealed himself to be Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff (who was wearing a skin mask), who then summoned 3-Minute Warning to beat up Billy and Chuck. Rico, furious that Billy and Chuck gave up their gimmick, became the manager of Three Minute Warning and defected to Raw. At Unforgiven, Three Minute Warning defeated Billy and Chuck. Their final match together occurred on the October 3 episode of SmackDown! in the first round of a tournament for the newly created WWE Tag Team Championship. They lost the match to the team of Ron Simmons and Reverend D-Von. Afterwards, Gunn took a few months off because of a shoulder injury and the team of Billy and Chuck quietly disbanded.
SmackDown! and return to singles competition (2003–2004)
After returning in the summer of 2003, Gunn reverted to the "Mr. Ass" gimmick, defeating A-Train, and Torrie Wilson became his new manager. He started a feud with Jamie Noble, which led to an "Indecent Proposal" Match at Vengeance, which Noble won and due to the match's stipulation, won a night with Torrie. After taking time off again due to a shoulder injury, Gunn returned to action at the 2004 Royal Rumble, but was eliminated by Goldberg. Afterward, he wrestled mainly on Velocity, forming an occasional tag team with Hardcore Holly. At Judgment Day, Gunn and Holly challenged Charlie Haas and Rico for the WWE Tag Team Championship, but were unsuccessful. At The Great American Bash, Gunn lost to Kenzo Suzuki.
On November 1, 2004, Sopp was released from his WWE contract. In June 2005, Sopp gave an interview in which he was heavily critical of WWE and the events that led to his release. Many of the negative comments were directed towards Triple H, who Sopp claimed "runs the show up there".
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2005–2009)
Planet Jarrett (2005)
On February 13, 2005, Sopp debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) without a name (as Billy Gunn is a WWE trademark, although announcers recognized him as such) at Against All Odds with the same gimmick, helping Jeff Jarrett retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in a match with Kevin Nash. Sopp, using the name The New Age Outlaw, then formed a stable with Jarrett and Monty Brown known as Planet Jarrett. However, WWE threatened TNA with legal action if Sopp continued the use of the name "The New Age Outlaw", so he shortened his name to The Outlaw. Due to the legal issues with WWE, all TNA -DVD releases featuring footage with Sopp as "The Outlaw" (and presumably also as "The New Age Outlaw") have had the name on on-screen graphics blurred, the name silenced out of the audio, and match commentary completely replaced to reflect a retroactive name change to "Kip James". One such DVD is the pay-per-view Lockdown, included in the "TNA Anthology: The Epic Set" box set, in which the silencing of the name during a segment where Dusty Rhodes picks his name from a lottery leaves DVD viewers in the dark as to who just got picked.
The Outlaw began a campaign to make former ally B.G. James leave the 3Live Kru and defect to Planet Jarrett, reforming the old tag team with Outlaw. At No Surrender, he renamed himself Kip James and was announced as "wrestling out of Marietta, Georgia" (the family seat of the Armstrong family) as a psychological ploy. As a result of his campaign, Kip attracted the ire of 3Live Kru members Ron Killings and Konnan, leading to a series of tag team matches pitting Kip and Monty Brown against Killings and Konnan, with a conflicted James unwilling to take sides. Kip's efforts ultimately proved futile; James, the guest referee in a final match between Brown and Kip versus Konnan and Killings at Sacrifice, attacked Kip enabling a 3Live Kru victory.
In September at Unbreakable, Kip teamed with Brown to defeat the team of Apolo and Lance Hoyt. There was clear tension between the partners because Brown was unhappy at the series of losses at the hands of the 3Live Kru, and Kip was irked by Brown's decision to leave Planet Jarrett. Despite the victory, the partners argued after the match. On the October 8, 2005 episode of Impact!, Kip rekindled his feud with the 3Live Kru, running to the ring after a bout between the 3LK and Team Canada in order to prevent Team Canada captain Petey Williams from beating down B.G. James. He saved James, and then engaged in a staredown with Konnan and Killings. Kip saved James from Team Canada once again at Bound for Glory. Though Killings showed signs of gratitude, Konnan remained skeptical as to his true intentions. Later that night, Kip took part in an over-the-top-rope gauntlet match for the number one contendership to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. After he was eliminated, he tried in vain to prevent Killings from being eliminated as well, before being sent away from ringside by the referees.
The James Gang/Voodoo Kin Mafia (2005–2008)
On the November 26 episode of Impact!, B.G. brought Kip and the 3Live Kru to ringside and asked Killings and Konnan whether Kip could join the stable. Following a heated argument between Konnan and B.G., both Killings and Konnan gave their approval, and the 4Live Kru was born. However, at Turning Point, Konnan attacked both B.G. and Kip, costing them their match against Team Canada and initiating a feud between himself and the remainder of the Kru. Shortly thereafter, B.G. James's father, Bob Armstrong, attempted to reconcile the group, but was instead attacked by Konnan and his new stablemates, Apolo and Homicide. Killings later stated that he had severed his ties with the Kru. With Konnan and Killings no longer members of the Kru, Kip and B.G. began referring to themselves as The James Gang and continued to feud with the Konnan-managed Latin American Exchange, whose third man position as Homicide's partner would switch from Apolo to Machete, and then from him to Hernandez, who finally stuck, during the course of this feud. At Final Resolution, The James Gang defeated The Diamonds in the Rough (David Young and Elix Skipper). At Against All Odds, The James Gang defeated LAX (Homicide and Machete). At Destination X, The James Gang and Bob Armstrong defeated Latin American Exchange in a six-man tag team match. At Sacrifice, The James Gang defeated Team 3D which led to a rematch at Slammiversary where Team 3D defeated The James Gang in a Bingo Hall Brawl. At Victory Road, The James Gang and Abyss defeated Team 3D and their newest member Brother Runt. At No Surrender, The James Gang competed in a Triple Chance tag team battle royal but failed to win the match. At Bound for Glory, The James Gang competed in a Four-way tag team match which was won by Team 3D.
By November 2006, Kip and B.G. began to show displeasure in TNA and threatened to go find work elsewhere if they did not receive gold soon. They began performing the crotch chop, a reference to the WWE's DX. On the November 2 edition of Impact!, Kip and B.G. threatened to quit. Kip grabbed the mic and tried to say something to the TNA administration and Spike TV, but each time his mic was cut off. Kip then tried to use the announcer's headset, but it was cut off as well. Frustrated, he started yelling loudly to the crowd, but he was cut off again as the show went to a commercial break. When the show returned, the announcers speculated that they may have been frustrated due to the influx of new talent entering TNA. It was reported that the segment was a worked shoot that Vince Russo had written in order to renew interest upon their eventual return. Kip and BG appeared in an internet video on TNA's website where they addressed the owner of WWE Vince McMahon.
A few weeks later on Impact!, The James Gang re-emerged under a new name Voodoo Kin Mafia (VKM for short, a play on Vincent Kennedy McMahon's initials). They mentioned their new right of 'creative control', meaning they could do whatever they wanted. They also declared 'war' on Paul Levesque, Michael Hickenbottom, and Vincent K. McMahon (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Vince McMahon, respectively). Kip then declared that 'Triple Hollywood' and 'Shawn Kiss-my-bottom' were failing as the group they (Kip and BG) used to be a part of: D-Generation X. After the initial shock value of this incident wore off, at Genesis, The Voodoo Kin Mafia defeated Kazarian, Maverick Matt and Johnny Devine in a handicap match. VKM began a feud with the villainous Christy Hemme. Hemme then searched for a tag team to square-off against VKM. At Destination X, The Voodoo Kin Mafia defeated Hemme's handpicked team of The Heartbreakers (Antonio Thomas & Romeo Roselli). On the Lockdown preshow The Voodoo Kin Mafia defeated another one of Hemme's handpicked team Serotonin (Kaz & Havok) in a Six Sides of Steel match. The final tag team was Damaja and Basham, who appeared on an episode of Impact! and beat down VKM. They also held up Kip James so Hemme could slap him. B.G James was taken out by Basham and Damaja which led to Kip James competed against Basham and Damaja in a handicap match at Sacrifice where he lost. However, they beat Hemme's team at Slammiversary. After the match, VKM were betrayed by their associate Lance Hoyt. At Victory Road, they introduced their new manager, the Voodoo Queen, Roxxi Laveaux, to embarrass Christy Hemme. At Hard Justice, The Voodoo Kin Mafia lost to The Latin American Exchange. At No Surrender, The Voodoo Kin Mafia competed in a Ten-team tag team gauntlet match which was won by A.J. Styles and Tomko. At Bound for Glory, Kip James competed in the Fight for the Right Reverse Battle Royal which was won by Eric Young. On the October 25 edition of Impact!, VKM teamed with A.J. Styles and Tomko in a losing effort to the Latin American Xchange and the Steiner Brothers. At Genesis, B.G. was present along with Kip in the corner of Roxxi Laveaux at ringside for the Fatal Four Way knockout match for the TNA Women's Championship in which Gail Kim retained the title. At Turning Point, James competed in the Feast or Fired where he grabbed a case but threw it to BG James. It was revealed that the case was for a shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship and BG James picked his dad to be his partner at Against All Odds, James and Bob Armstrong failed to win the titles and on February 21, 2008 episode of Impact! he turned on B.G. and B.G's father "Bullet" Bob Armstrong by hitting them both with a crutch.
The Beautiful People (2008–2009)
On April 13, 2008, he faced former partner B.G. James at Lockdown and lost. After the match, he appeared to want to make amends as he raised B.G.'s hand after the match, only to clothesline him down to the mat and taunt him with a DX crotch chop. Kip went on to declare himself "The Megastar", an arrogant gimmick similar to "The One" gimmick from his WWF tenure. Kip later stopped making appearances on Impact! until April 24 when he was attacked backstage by Matt Morgan for no reason. The next week on Impact!, Kip got back at Morgan by attacking him backstage in Jim Cornette's office. On May 8, 2008, Cornette forced Morgan into being Kip's tag team partner for the Deuces Wild tournament at Sacrifice, though both were unable to win. Kip went on another brief disappearance from television until the June 5 edition of Impact!, where he partnered with Lance Hoyt and James Storm in a losing effort against Morgan and The Latin American Xchange.
On the August 14 episode of Impact!, Kip was revealed to be the new image consultant and member of The Beautiful People, dubbed Cute Kip and was using his Mr.Ass Attire, after they brought him out during their interview on Karen Angle's show Karen's Angle. at Bound for Glory IV, Kip, Love and Sky lost to Rhino, ODB and Rhaka Khan in a Bimbo Brawl. at Final Resolution (December 2008), Kip competed in the Feast or Fired match but failed to get a case. At Genesis 2009, Kip became the one-night-only replacement for the injured Kevin Nash in the Main Event Mafia.
As of March 19, 2009, Sopp was taken off of TNA Impact! along with Jacqueline Moore to become road agents. Sopp returned as Cute Kip and lost to Awesome Kong in an intergender stretcher match on May 14, 2009. On the May 28 edition of Impact!, Kip was fired by The Beautiful People. On the June 18 edition of Impact!, Mick Foley hired him as his handyman, turning Kip into a face. he made another appearance on the August 6 edition of Impact where Kip had to clean up the IMPACT Zone after a chaotic fifteen minute "riot". On October 9 edition of Xplosion, Kip was defeated by Rhino. On October 30 edition of Xplosion, Kip defeated Sheik Abdul Bashir. on the November 13 edition of Xplosion, Kip lost to Rob Terry and on December 3, 2009 edition of Xplosion, Kip competed in his final TNA match where he lost to Kiyoshi.
Sopp's profile was removed from the TNA website on December 29, 2009, confirming his departure from the promotion.
Independent circuit (2009–2012)
After leaving TNA, Sopp reunited with B.G. James to reform The New Age Outlaws, with both men resuming their Billy Gunn and Road Dogg ring names. After joining TWA Powerhouse in 2010, the Outlaws defeated Canadian Extreme to win the promotion's Tag Team Championship on July 25. They re-lost the title to Canadian Extreme on June 5, 2011.
On July 30, 2011, Sopp, working under the ring name Kip Gunn, made his debut for Lucha Libre USA as a member of the heel stable The Right. Later that night, Gunn lost in his debut match against Marco Corleone. On June 26, 2012, Sopp won the American Pro Wrestling Alliance American Championship. However, he lost the title due to travel issues. On September 8 and 9, 2012, he wrestled in a Bad Boys of Wrestling Federation tournament. He defeated Rhino in the semi-finals and Scott Steiner in the final, winning the BBWF Aruba Championship.
Return to WWE (2012–2015)
On July 23, Sopp, under his Billy Gunn name, made his first WWE appearance in nearly eight years as he reunited with Road Dogg, X-Pac, Shawn Michaels and Triple H to reform D-Generation X for one night only on the 1000th episode of Raw. In December 2012, he was hired by WWE as a trainer for the NXT Wrestling territory in Tampa, Florida. On March 4, 2013, Gunn and Road Dogg made a return at Old School Raw, defeating Primo and Epico. On March 11, 2013, they accepted a challenge from Team Rhodes Scholars and faced them in a match, which was interrupted by Brock Lesnar, who hit both Outlaws with an F-5 as part of his ongoing feud with Triple H.
He then appeared alongside Road Dogg to help CM Punk clear out The Shield in aid of Roddy Piper on Old School Raw on January 6, 2014. On the January 10 episode of SmackDown, the Outlaws teamed with CM Punk in a six-man tag match against The Shield in a losing effort. On the January 13 episode of Raw, the Outlaws again teamed with Punk in a rematch against The Shield, only to abandon Punk and lose the match. On January 26 during the Royal Rumble Kickoff Show, Gunn and Road Dogg beat Cody Rhodes and Goldust to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. The next night on Raw the New Age Outlaws retained the championship against Rhodes and Goldust via disqualification when Brock Lesnar attacked the brothers. The next week on Raw the New Age Outlaws retained the championship against Rhodes and Goldust in a steel cage match. On March 3, the Outlaws lost the Tag Team Championship to The Usos. Gunn sustained hemoptysis after he and his New Age Outlaws partner, Road Dogg, suffered a double-Triple Powerbomb by The Shield at WrestleMania XXX.
Gunn returned to Raw with Road Dogg in January 2015, attacking The Ascension along with the nWo and the APA. At the Royal Rumble, the Outlaws faced The Ascension in a losing effort. At WrestleMania 31, Gunn, with Road Dogg, X-Pac and Shawn Michaels, reunited as D-Generation X to help Triple H in his match against Sting. In May, Gunn was announced as a coach along with WWE Hall of Famers Booker T and Lita for the sixth season of Tough Enough.
On November 13, 2015, WWE officially announced that Sopp was released from his WWE contract after failing a test for performance-enhancing drugs. He had tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone at a powerlifting event on July 25, 2015, and was suspended from powerlifting for four years.
Independent circuit (2015–2020)
On December 26, 2015, Gunn teamed up with Kevin Thorn to defeat Brian Klass and Rob Street. One month later, Gunn defeated Ken Dixon for the MCW Pro Wrestling MCW Rage Television Championship. On February 5, 2016, Gunn defeated Joey Hayes in the Preston City Wrestling PCW Road to Glory tournament, on February 6 he lost to T-Bone in the quarter-finals that same night Gunn teamed up with Mr. Anderson and Tajiri to defeat Dave Raynes, Joey Hayes, and Martin Kirby. On February 7, 2016 Gunn challenged for the Pro Wrestling Pride Heavyweight championship losing to Steve Griffiths. On March 19, 2016, Gunn lost the title to Ken Dixon. On June 12, 2016, Gunn won the Smashmouth Pro Wrestling championship from KC Huber but lost it on the same night, Gunn teamed again with Anderson in a losing effort against the UK Hooligans at PCW Tribute to the Troops on June 25, 2016. He defeated Hardcore Holly in a singles match at PCW Top Gunn on July 2, 2016.
On September 4, 2016, Gunn made his debut for Chikara, representing DX alongside X-Pac in a tag team gauntlet match. The two entered the match as the final team and scored the win over Prakash Sabar and The Proletariat Boar of Moldova.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2016–2017)
On November 5, 2016, at the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) event Power Struggle, Yoshitatsu announced Gunn as the newest member of his Hunter Club stable and his partner for the upcoming 2016 World Tag League. Gunn and Yoshitatsu finished the tournament on December 8 with a record of three wins and four losses, failing to advance from their block. Gunn returned to NJPW on January 4, 2017, taking part in the pre-show New Japan Rumble at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome, from which he was eliminated by the eventual winner Michael Elgin. While Gunn did not appear for NJPW for the next six months, he was brought up in May by Yoshitatsu, who told Hiroshi Tanahashi that Gunn had requested a match against him. When Tanahashi captured the IWGP Intercontinental Championship the following month, he immediately nominated Gunn as his first challenger. Gunn was defeated in the title match on July 2 at G1 Special in USA, and it was his final match in NJPW.
WWE appearances (2018–2019)
Gunn and numerous other WWE legends appeared on the January 22, 2018 episode of Raw 25 Years as part of the D-Generation X reunion. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2019 as a member of D-Generation X.
All Elite Wrestling (2019–present)
In January 2019, Gunn was hired by All Elite Wrestling as a coach. At May 25 at the AEW Double or Nothing event he competed in the pre-show battle royal. Gunn made his first televised appearance for AEW on the November 20, 2019 episode of AEW Dynamite, competing in a battle royal. He also appeared during the January 1, 2020 episode of Dynamite, wrestling in a dark match with his son Austin that aired on January 7, 2020. They wrestled again together on another dark match during the January 8, 2020 episode of Dynamite, airing on January 17, 2020, with the tag team name "The Gunn Club", defeating the team of Peter Avalon and Shawn Spears. Gunn has also appeared in the crowd (made up of AEW wrestlers and other employees) on numerous episodes of Dynamite during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the May 27, 2020 episode of Dynamite, Gunn now under the shortened ring name of Billy participated in a battle royal match to determine the number one contender for the TNT Championship. He also would wrestle MJF in a singles match on the June 17, 2020 episode of Dynamite as well. The Gunn Club would wrestle in more tag team matches on more episodes of AEW Dark.
On the November 4, 2020 episode of Dynamite, The Gunn Club teamed with Cody Rhodes to successfully defeat The Dark Order (John Silver, 10 and Colt Cabana). On the November 17, 2020 episode of Dark, The Gunn Club, which now added Austin's brother and Gunn's other son Colten to the stable, defeated Bshp King, Joey O'Riley and Sean Maluta by pinfall in a six-man tag team match. On the same day the AEW website's roster page got updated and his name was once again changed to its long form, Billy Gunn. The three man Gunn Club would then defeat Cezar Bononi, KTB, and Seth Gargis in another six man tag team match on the November 24, 2020 episode of Dark. On the December 8, 2020 episode of Dark The three man Gunn Club-which entered the ring on a golf cart with the words "Taz Taxi" on the side, defeated Shawn Dean, Sean Maluta & RYZIN. On the December 1, 2021 episode of Dynamite, The Gunn Club stable's undefeated streak in AEW ended when Billy and Colten Gunn lost to the team of Sting and Darby Allin.
Professional wrestling style, persona and reception
Gunn has had several gimmicks throughout his career, ranging from his cowboy-themed gimmick with the Smoking Gunns to his The Ambiguously Gay Duo-esque tag team with Chuck Palumbo. Gunn has stated on multiple shoot interviews that he has no regrets with his gimmicks as he was performing a job and doing what was asked of him to do.
By far, Gunn's most infamous gimmick was his "Mr. Ass" persona based around his ass. The gimmick started during his New Age Outlaws days when Road Dogg would refer to themselves as "Mr. Dogg" and "Mr. Ass" in promos, though the "Bad Ass" name wasn't referring to his backside at that time. What was originally a throwaway joke turned into Gunn mooning his opponents and the live crowd, though as the original incarnation of DX also did this, it could originally be argued that it was an extension of the Outlaws joining DX.
Upon leaving DX, Gunn fully embraced the "Mr. Ass" gimmick by placing emphasis on his "moneymaker". While Road Dogg kept the New Age Outlaws entrance music for his own, Gunn adopted the song "Ass Man" as part of the gimmick, and for a time even changed his ring tights to be see-through, wearing only a thong underneath his tights, although he would eventually revert back to the DX-era tights.
The "Mr. Ass" gimmick has mixed reviews. One web site ranked it near the middle of Gunn's various gimmicks, while a writer for Bleacher Report thought it was the worst gimmick ever even though Gunn was at his peak popularity with the persona. Gunn himself told Chris Van Vliet in 2021 that he never paid attention to the "Ass Man" lyrics until a college professor broke down each expression.
Due to the enduring legacy of the "Mr. Ass" gimmick, in November 2021 Ring of Honor wrestler Danhausen began a Twitter feud with the Gunn Club, referring to Billy as "Billy Ass," and Colten and Austin as The "Ass Boys," in reference to Gunn's infamous "Mr. Ass" gimmick in the Attitude Era. While Gunn himself initially had no comment, the rest of Gunn Club despised the nickname after fans began chanting "Ass Boys" during their matches, notably during an AEW event at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Virginia. Gunn finally commented when he surprised his sons by wearing an "Ass Boys" shirt, encouraging them to "embrace the assness" and even started teasing mooning the crowd again. Gunn also thanked Danhausen publicly for getting his sons over in a way that he couldn't.
Other media
Filmography
Video Games
WWF Attitude
WWF WrestleMania 2000
WWF SmackDown!
WWF No Mercy
WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role
WWF Road To WrestleMania
WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It
WWF Raw
WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth
WWE Raw 2
WWE '13
WWE 2K16
WWE 2K17
Personal life
Sopp was born on November 1, 1963 in Orlando, Florida and claims Austin, Texas as his hometown. In November 1990, Sopp was arrested in Florida for disorderly conduct. Sopp married his first wife Tina Tinnell on March 3, 1990. Together, they have two sons: Colten (born May 18, 1991) and Austin (born August 26, 1994) who are also professional wrestlers. The couple separated in January 2000 and their divorce was finalized on December 11, 2002. Sopp has since married his long-time girlfriend Paula on January 24, 2009.
Sopp's sons Austin and Colten, better known by the ring names Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn, are currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where alongside their father they form a stable known as "Gunn Club".
Sopp attended Sam Houston State University.
Championships and accomplishments
American Pro Wrestling Alliance
APWA American Championship (1 time)
Bad Boys of Wrestling Federation
BBFW Aruba Championship (1 time)
BBFW Aruba Championship Tournament (2012)
International Wrestling Federation
IWF Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Brett Colt
Freedom Pro Wrestling
FPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Road Dogg
Maryland Championship Wrestling
MCW Rage Television Championship (1 time)
MCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with B.G. James
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Tag Team of the Year (1998) with Road Dogg
Tag Team of the Year (2002) with Chuck
Ranked #39 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1999
Ranked #231 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
Ranked #43 of the top 100 tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Road Dogg in 2003
SmashMouth Pro Wrestling
SPW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
TWA Powerhouse
TWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with B.G. James
Vanguard Championship Wrestling
VCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Pro Wrestling
WPW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Worst Worked Match of the Year (2006) TNA Reverse Battle Royal on TNA Impact!
WWE/World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
WWF Hardcore Championship (2 times)
WWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time)
WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Road Dogg
WWF World Tag Team Championship (10 times) – with Bart Gunn (3), Road Dogg (5) and Chuck (2)
King of the Ring (1999)
Raw Bowl – with Bart Gunn
WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2019) - as a member of D-Generation X
References
External links
1963 births
All Elite Wrestling personnel
American male professional wrestlers
American powerlifters
Bull riders
D-Generation X members
Expatriate professional wrestlers in Japan
LGBT characters in professional wrestling
Living people
Professional wrestlers from Florida
Professional wrestling trainers
Sam Houston State University alumni
Sportspeople from Orlando, Florida
The Authority (professional wrestling) members
WWE Hall of Fame inductees
WWF/WWE Hardcore Champions
WWF/WWE Intercontinental Champions
WWF/WWE King Crown's Champions/King of the Ring winners
American expatriate sportspeople in Japan
| false |
[
"The kip (; code: LAK; sign: ₭ or ₭N; ; officially: ເງີນກີບລາວ, lit. \"currency Lao kip\") is the currency of Laos since 1955. Historically, one kip was divided into 100 att ().\n\nThe term derives from ກີບ kì:p, a Lao word meaning \"ingot.\"\n\nHistory\n\nFrench Indochina\n\nThe piastre was the currency of French Indochina between 1885 and 1952.\n\nFree Lao Kip (1946)\nIn 1945–1946, the Free Lao government in Vientiane issued a series of paper money in denominations of 10, 20 and 50 att and 100 kip before the French authorities took control of the region.\n\nRoyal Kip (1955)\nThe kip was reintroduced in 1955, replacing the French Indochinese piastre at par. The kip (also called a piastre in French) was sub-divided into 100 att (Lao: ອັດ) or cents (French: Centimes).\n\nPathet Lao Kip (1976) \nThe Pathet Lao kip was introduced sometime before 1976 in the areas which were under the control of the Pathet Lao. Banknote denominations of 1, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 kip were issued. The notes were printed in China.\n\nIn 1976, the Pathet Lao kip replaced the Royal kip throughout Laos following the Pathet Lao's take over of the country. The exchange rate between the two kip was 1 Pathet Lao kip = 20 royal kip.\n\nLao PDR Kip (1979) \nOn 16 December 1979, the former Pathet Lao “Liberation” kip was replaced by the new Lao kip at a rate of 100 to 1.\n\nCoins \nRoyal Kip (1955)\n\nCoins were issued in denominations of 10, 20 and 50 att or cents with French and Lao inscriptions. All were struck in aluminum and had a hole in the centre, like the Chinese cash coins. The only year of issue was 1952.\n\nPathet Lao Kip (1976)\n\nCoins \nCoins were again issued in Laos for the first time in 28 years in 1980 with denominations of 10, 20 and 50 att, with each being struck in aluminum and depicting the state emblem on the obverse and agricultural themes on the reverse. These were followed by commemorative 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 kip coins issued in 1985 for the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Lao People's Democratic Republic. However, due to the economic toll of the Soviet collapse in 1991 and the persistence of chronic inflation, coins are rarely seen in circulation.\n\nBanknotes \n\nIn 1953, the Laos branch of the Institut d'Emission des Etats du Cambodge, du Laos et du Vietnam issued notes dual denominated in piastre and kip. At the same time, the two other branches had the similar arrangement with the riel in Cambodia and the đồng in South Vietnam. There were notes for 1, 5, 100 and 100 kip/piastres.\n\nIn 1957, the government issued notes denominated solely in kip. The notes were for 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 kip printed by the Security Banknote Company, 100 kip printed by the Banque de France and a commemorative 500 kip printed by Thomas De la Rue. 1 and 5 kip notes printed by Bradbury & Wilkinson, and a 10 kip by De la Rue were introduced by 1962.\n\nIn 1963, 20, 50, 200 and 1000 kip notes were added, all printed by De la Rue. These were followed by 100, 500 and 5000 kip notes in 1974–75, again by De La Rue. A 1975 10 kip by Bradbury & Wilkinson and a 1000 kip by De la Rue were printed but not circulated.\n\nPathet Lao Kip (1976) \nIn 1979, banknotes were introduced in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 kip. 500 kip notes were added in 1988, followed by 1000 kip in 1992, 2000 and 5000 kip in 1997, 10,000 and 20,000 kip in 2002 and 50,000 kip on January 17, 2006 (although dated 2004). On November 15, 2010 a 100,000 kip banknote was issued to commemorate the 450th anniversary of the founding of the capital, Vientiane, and the 35th anniversary of the establishment of the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Kaysone Phomvihane is pictured on the obverse of the 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, and 100,000 kip banknotes.\n\nThe Bank of Laos governor announced on January 25, 2012 that the Bank of Laos would issue 100,000 Kip banknotes as a regular issue on February 1, 2012 (but dated 2011) to encourage Lao people to use the national currency instead of U.S. dollars and Thai baht.\n\nLao kip exchange rate\n\nReferences\n\nEconomy of Laos\nCurrency symbols\nCurrencies of Laos\nCurrencies introduced in 1952",
"George Goelet Kip (January 15, 1845 – June 27, 1926) was a New York lawyer, heir and member of the Goelet family during the Gilded Age.\n\nEarly life\n\nKip was born on January 15, 1845, in New York City. He was the son of Elbert Samuel Kip (1799–1876) and Elizabeth (née Goelet) Kip (1808–1882). Growing up, Kip lived with his parents, his sister Margaret (who died young), and the family's servants in a house overlooking Washington Square in Manhattan. Both of his parents inherited a substantial amount of property and never worked during their lifetimes.\n\nOn his father's side Kip was a descendant of Jessé de Forest and Hendrick Hendricksen Kip, founder of the Kip family of Kips Bay, Manhattan. During the American Revolution, his great-grandparents Samuel Kip and Anna Herring owned the famous Kips Bay Mansion, the oldest house in Manhattan until it was taken down in 1851. On his mother's side, Kip was a great-grandson of Peter Goelet, a wealthy New York merchant and progenitor of the Goelet family real estate fortune.\n\nKip attended Columbia University as an undergraduate, graduating in 1865. While at Columbia, Kip served as the President of the Peithologian Society, a student debating society. He received his LLM from Columbia in 1867.\n\nCareer\n\nKip was a partner in the law firm DeWitt, Lockman and Kip, based at 88 Nassau Street, for a number of years, along with George Gosman DeWitt and John Thomas Lockman. In 1882 he represented his cousins Robert Goelet and Ogden Goelet (builder of Ochre Court and father of Mary Goelet) before the New York Supreme Court in a legal battle that erupted over control of trusts set up by Peter P. Goelet and Jean B. Goelet for their nephews. Kip's firm was known for its work defending the estates of New York's old Dutch families.\n\nIn the 1880s, Kip moved his family and servants to Ruremont, an 11-acre country estate on Madison Avenue in Morristown, New Jersey, a street then known as \"Millionaires Row.\" In 1902, the Town and Country Life magazine wrote that Ruremont, “with its smooth lawns and well-ordered gardens and greenhouses,” was “one of the most attractive places in Morristown.”\n\nKip was a member of the exclusive Holland Society of New York, the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York, the University Club of New York and The Metropolitan Club. He also maintained an extensive correspondence with preservationist John Muir, of whom he was a friend and financial supporter.\n\nPersonal life\n\nOn May 23, 1867, Kip was married to Anna Margaret Geissenhainer (1847–1893) in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania by the Rev. George W. Schumucker. Anna was the daughter of the Rev. Augustus T. Geissenhainer and Amelia (née Havemeyer) Geissenhainer. She was also the niece of three-term New York City mayor William Frederick Havemeyer. Her mother and uncle were children of William Havemeyer, founder of the sugar refining company that would become the Sugar Trust (later Domino Sugar). Through her father, Anna was also a second cousin of the New Jersey congressman Jacob Augustus Geissenhainer. Together, George and Anna were the parents of three children:\n\n Charles Augustus Kip (1870–1940), married Marie Gilmour Bryce (1878–1940).\n Elbert Samuel Kip (1874–1950), married Alice Alden Bushnell (1872–1952), a granddaughter of the industrialist and oil trader Daniel Bushnell. Alice's nephew, Joseph Bushnell Ames, was a prolific novelist during the early 20th century, and her first cousin, Mary Warden Harkness, was the wife of Charles W. Harkness. Another one of Alice's nephews, Peter Ashmun Ames, a member of the Cairo Gang, was assassinated by the Irish Republican Army in Dublin on Bloody Sunday while working as an agent for the British MI5.\n Anna Elizabeth Kip (1880–1918), married A. Paul Olmsted (1882–1948), the son of Charles Sanford Olmsted, the Bishop of Colorado.\n\nHis wife died suddenly of heart failure on April 5, 1893, and in 1898 Kip funded the construction of the Anna Margaret Home for Convalescents, the main building of the new Morristown Memorial Hospital, in her honor. Kip died at his home in Morristown on June 27, 1926.\n\nReferences\nNotes\n\nSources\n\nExternal links\n\n1845 births\n1926 deaths\nGoelet family\nAmerican lawyers\nAmerican socialites\nAmerican upper class\nColumbia Law School alumni"
] |
[
"Billy Gunn",
"The Beautiful People (2008-2009)",
"What was Gunn's role in The Beautiful People?",
"I don't know.",
"What is The Beautiful People?",
"!, Kip was revealed to be the new image consultant and member of The Beautiful People, dubbed Cute Kip and was using his Mr.Ass Attire,",
"What was the storyline with Cute Kip?",
"I don't know."
] |
C_9fa08c06a25341598cc4fda2d399e91a_0
|
Who won in these matches?
| 4 |
Who won in the Cute Kip matches?
|
Billy Gunn
|
On April 13, 2008, he faced former partner B.G. James at Lockdown and lost. After the match, he appeared to want to make amends as he raised B.G.'s hand after the match, only to clothesline him down to the mat and taunt him with a DX crotch chop. Kip went on to declare himself "The Megastar", an arrogant gimmick similar to "The One" gimmick from his WWF tenure. Kip later stopped making appearances on Impact! until April 24 when he was attacked backstage by Matt Morgan for no reason. The next week on Impact!, Kip got back at Morgan by attacking him backstage in Jim Cornette's office. On May 8, 2008, Cornette forced Morgan into being Kip's tag team partner for the Deuces Wild tournament at Sacrifice, though both were unable to win. Kip went on another brief disappearance from television until the June 5 edition of Impact!, where he partnered with Lance Hoyt and James Storm in a losing effort against Morgan and The Latin American Xchange. On the August 14 episode of Impact!, Kip was revealed to be the new image consultant and member of The Beautiful People, dubbed Cute Kip and was using his Mr.Ass Attire, after they brought him out during their interview on Karen Angle's show Karen's Angle. at Bound for Glory IV, Kip, Love and Sky lost to Rhino, ODB and Rhaka Khan in a Bimbo Brawl. at Final Resolution (December 2008), Kip competed in the Feast or Fired match but failed to get a case. At Genesis 2009, Kip became the one-night-only replacement for the injured Kevin Nash in the Main Event Mafia. As of March 19, 2009, Sopp was taken off of TNA Impact! along with Jacqueline Moore to become road agents. Sopp returned as Cute Kip and lost to Awesome Kong in an intergender stretcher match on May 14, 2009. On the May 28 edition of Impact!, Kip was fired by The Beautiful People. On the June 18 edition of Impact!, Mick Foley hired him as his handyman, turning Kip into a face. he made another appearance on the August 6 edition of Impact where Kip had to clean up the IMPACT Zone after a chaotic fifteen minute RIOT. on October 9 edition of Xplosion, Kip was defeated by Rhino. on October 30 edition of Xplosion, Kip defeated Sheik Abdul Bashir. on the November 13 edition of Xplosion, Kip lost to Rob Terry and on December 3, 2009 edition of Xplosion, Kip competed in his final TNA match where he lost to Kiyoshi. Sopp's profile was removed from the TNA website on December 29, 2009, confirming his departure from the promotion. CANNOTANSWER
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Morgan and The Latin American Xchange.
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Monty "Kip" Sopp (born November 1, 1963), better known by his ring name Billy Gunn, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a wrestler and coach. Gunn is best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E) from 1993 to 2004 and from 2012 to 2015. He also served as a coach on WWE's Tough Enough and was a trainer in NXT. He is also known for his appearances with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) from 2005 to 2009.
Primarily a tag team wrestler, Gunn is an overall 13-time tag team champion in WWE with three different partners (with Bart Gunn as The Smoking Gunns, with Road Dogg as The New Age Outlaws, and with Chuck Palumbo as Billy and Chuck). He is also a one time WWF Intercontinental Champion and a two time WWF Hardcore Champion, giving him 14 total championships in WWE. He is the 1999 King of the Ring tournament winner, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019 as a member of D-Generation X.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1985–1993)
After a stint as a professional bull rider in Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, Sopp left the profession in his early-20s in order to pursue a career as a professional wrestler. Trained by Jerry Grey, Sopp wrestled on the independent circuit for eight years (including a brief stint as enhancement talent for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) before signing a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1993.
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (1993–2004)
The Smoking Gunns (1993–1996)
After weeks of vignettes, Sopp, under the name Billy Gunn, made his WWF debut on the May 17, 1993 episode of Raw, teaming with his on-screen brother, Bart Gunn to defeat Tony Vadja and Glenn Ruth. The duo, now known as The Smoking Gunns, made their pay-per-view debut at King of the Ring, teaming with The Steiner Brothers to defeat Money Inc. and The Headshrinkers in an eight-man tag team match. At SummerSlam, the duo teamed with Tatanka to pick up a win against Bam Bam Bigelow and the Headshrinkers. On January 22, 1994, Gunn entered his first Royal Rumble match at the namesake event, but was eliminated by Diesel. In early 1995, the Gunns won their first Tag Team Championship by defeating the makeshift team of Bob Holly and 1-2-3 Kid. They held the title until WrestleMania XI, where they were defeated by the team of Owen Hart and Yokozuna. They won the titles again in September 1995.
On February 15, 1996, the Gunns vacated the title because Billy was in need of neck surgery. After Billy returned from hiatus, The Smoking Gunns won the Tag Team Title for the third time by defeating The Godwinns in May. After the match, The Godwinns' manager Sunny turned on her team in favor of the Gunns. On September 22 at In Your House: Mind Games, the Gunns lost the Tag Team Title to Owen Hart and The British Bulldog. After the match, Sunny abandoned The Gunns, saying that she would only manage title holders. Billy, frustrated with losing both the championship and Sunny, walked out on Bart, breaking up The Smoking Gunns.
Rockabilly, The New Age Outlaws and D-Generation X (1997–1998)
After The Smoking Gunns disbanded, Gunn took some time off to nurse an injury. At WrestleMania 13, he defeated Flash Funk catching the attention of The Honky Tonk Man, who made Gunn his protégé. During this time, he adopted a new gimmick, Rockabilly, He would use this gimmick throughout much of 1997 and eventually had a short-lived feud with "The Real Double J" Jesse James. On the October 4, 1997 episode of Shotgun Saturday Night, James realized both of their careers were going nowhere and suggested that they become a tag team. Gunn agreed and smashed a guitar over the Honky Tonk Man's head to solidify their new alliance.
James and Rockabilly were quickly rebranded as "Road Dogg" Jesse James and "Badd Ass" Billy Gunn, respectively, and their tag team was dubbed the New Age Outlaws. They quickly rose to the top of the tag team ranks and won the Tag Team Championship from the Legion of Doom on November 24. They also defeated the LOD in a rematch at In Your House: D-Generation X.
The Outlaws slowly began to align themselves with D-Generation X. At the Royal Rumble, the New Age Outlaws interfered in a Casket match to help Shawn Michaels defeat The Undertaker. At No Way Out Of Texas, the Outlaws teamed up with Triple H and Savio Vega (who replaced the injured Shawn Michaels) to face Chainsaw Charlie, Cactus Jack, Owen Hart, and Steve Austin. They were, however, defeated. On February 2, The Outlaws locked Cactus and Chainsaw in a dumpster and pushed it off the stage. This led to a Dumpster match at WrestleMania XIV where Cactus and Chainsaw defeated the Outlaws for the Tag Titles. The next night on Raw, the New Age Outlaws won the Tag Team Championship for a second time by defeating Chainsaw and Cactus in a Steel cage match, but only after interference from Triple H, Chyna, and X-Pac. After the match, the Outlaws officially became members of D-Generation X (DX).
After joining DX, the Outlaws successfully defended their Tag Team Title against the Legion of Doom 2000 at Unforgiven. DX began to feud with Owen Hart and his new stablemates, The Nation. At Over The Edge, the Outlaws and Triple H were defeated by Nation members Owen, Kama Mustafa, and D'Lo Brown in a Six Man Tag Match.
During this time, the Outlaws began a feud with Kane and Mankind. At SummerSlam, Mankind faced the Outlaws in a Handicap match after Kane no-showed the title defense. The Outlaws defeated Mankind to win the titles for the third time. In December, the Outlaws lost the title to The Big Boss Man and Ken Shamrock from The Corporation.
Mr. Ass and reformation of the Outlaws and DX (1999–2000)
The Outlaws then began to focus more on singles competition. The Road Dogg won the Hardcore Championship in December 1998, and Gunn set his sights on the Intercontinental Championship. At the 1999 Royal Rumble, Gunn unsuccessfully challenged Ken Shamrock for the Intercontinental Title. The next month at St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Gunn was the special guest referee for the Intercontinental Championship match between Val Venis and champion Ken Shamrock, where Gunn made a fast count and declared Venis the new champion before attacking both men.
In March, Gunn won the Hardcore Championship from Hardcore Holly. At WrestleMania XV, Gunn lost the title to Holly in a Triple Threat match which also included Al Snow. The New Age Outlaws then reunited to defeat Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart at Backlash. After Backlash, Gunn left D-Generation X and aligned himself with Triple H and Chyna. Gunn defeated his former partner, Road Dogg, in a match at Over the Edge. Gunn then won the King of the Ring tournament by defeating Ken Shamrock, Kane, and his former ally, X-Pac. After King of the Ring, Gunn, Triple H, and Chyna went on to feud with X-Pac and Road Dogg over the rights to the D-Generation X name. This feud culminated at Fully Loaded when X-Pac and Road Dogg defeated Gunn and Chyna.
Gunn then began a brief feud with The Rock. At SummerSlam, The Rock defeated Gunn in a Kiss My Ass Match. Following this, Gunn then briefly feuded with Jeff Jarrett for the Intercontinental Title before reuniting with Road Dogg to reform The New Age Outlaws. The Outlaws won their fourth tag team championship by defeating The Rock 'n' Sock Connection in September 1999. The Outlaws later reunited with X-Pac and Triple H to reform D-Generation X. During this time, The Outlaws won their fifth Tag Team Championship after defeating Mankind and Al Snow. At the 2000 Royal Rumble, The New Age Outlaws retained their title against The Acolytes after interference from X-Pac. The Outlaws then had a feud with The Dudley Boyz, who won the Tag Team Championship from The Outlaws at No Way Out. After suffering a torn rotator cuff in the match with The Dudley Boyz, Gunn was kicked out of D-Generation X for "losing his cool" to explain his impending absence to recover from his injury.
The One (2000–2001)
Gunn made his return in October and immediately teamed with Chyna to feud with Right to Censor, who wanted to "censor" his Mr. Ass gimmick. At No Mercy, Right to Censor members Steven Richards and Val Venis defeated Chyna and Gunn. Due to a stipulation, Gunn could no longer use the Mr. Ass gimmick, so he renamed himself Billy G. for a few weeks before settling on "The One" Billy Gunn. Gunn then feuded with Eddie Guerrero and the rest of The Radicalz. At Survivor Series, Gunn teamed with Road Dogg, Chyna, and K-Kwik in a losing effort against The Radicalz. A few weeks later on SmackDown!, Gunn won the Intercontinental Championship from Guerrero. However, the title reign was short-lived, as Chris Benoit defeated him for the title two weeks later at Armageddon. After feuding with Benoit, Gunn participated in the 2001 Royal Rumble where he made it to the final four, Gunn interfered in the Hardcore Championship Match at No Way Out, and taking advantage of the 24/7 Rule, pinning Raven for the title. The reign was short-lived, as Raven won it back a few minutes later.
Billy and Chuck (2001–2002)
In a 2001 match on Sunday Night Heat, Gunn was defeated by Chuck Palumbo, who recently left The Alliance to join the WWF. After the match, Gunn suggested that they form a tag team. Palumbo agreed, and Billy and Chuck quickly rose to the top of the tag team division. Initially they were a generic tandem, but they were given a gimmick where they grew increasingly affectionate toward each other, showing evidence of a storyline homosexual relationship.
In February 2002, Billy and Chuck defeated Spike Dudley and Tazz to win the WWF Tag Team Championship for the first time as a team. After winning the titles, Billy and Chuck found a "Personal Stylist" in the ambiguously flamboyant Rico. After retaining the title against the Acolytes Protection Agency, the Dudley Boyz, and the Hardy Boyz in a Four Corners Elimination Match at WrestleMania X8 and against Al Snow and Maven at Backlash, Billy and Chuck began a feud with Rikishi. At Judgment Day, Rikishi and Rico (Rikishi's mystery partner of Mr. McMahon's choosing) defeated Billy and Chuck for the WWE Tag Team Championship after Rico accidentally hit Chuck with a roundhouse kick. Billy and Chuck quickly won the title back two weeks later on SmackDown! with Rico's help. They held the championship for almost a month before losing it to the team of Edge and Hollywood Hulk Hogan on the July 4 episode of SmackDown!.
On the September 5 edition of SmackDown!, after Billy lost a match to Rey Mysterio, Chuck proposed to Billy, asking him to be his "partner for life" and gave him a wedding ring. Billy agreed, and one week later, on the September 12 episode of SmackDown!, Billy and Chuck had their wedding ceremony. However, just before they tied the knot, they revealed that the entire ordeal was a publicity stunt and disavowed their on-screen homosexuality, admitting that they were just friends. The "preacher" revealed himself to be Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff (who was wearing a skin mask), who then summoned 3-Minute Warning to beat up Billy and Chuck. Rico, furious that Billy and Chuck gave up their gimmick, became the manager of Three Minute Warning and defected to Raw. At Unforgiven, Three Minute Warning defeated Billy and Chuck. Their final match together occurred on the October 3 episode of SmackDown! in the first round of a tournament for the newly created WWE Tag Team Championship. They lost the match to the team of Ron Simmons and Reverend D-Von. Afterwards, Gunn took a few months off because of a shoulder injury and the team of Billy and Chuck quietly disbanded.
SmackDown! and return to singles competition (2003–2004)
After returning in the summer of 2003, Gunn reverted to the "Mr. Ass" gimmick, defeating A-Train, and Torrie Wilson became his new manager. He started a feud with Jamie Noble, which led to an "Indecent Proposal" Match at Vengeance, which Noble won and due to the match's stipulation, won a night with Torrie. After taking time off again due to a shoulder injury, Gunn returned to action at the 2004 Royal Rumble, but was eliminated by Goldberg. Afterward, he wrestled mainly on Velocity, forming an occasional tag team with Hardcore Holly. At Judgment Day, Gunn and Holly challenged Charlie Haas and Rico for the WWE Tag Team Championship, but were unsuccessful. At The Great American Bash, Gunn lost to Kenzo Suzuki.
On November 1, 2004, Sopp was released from his WWE contract. In June 2005, Sopp gave an interview in which he was heavily critical of WWE and the events that led to his release. Many of the negative comments were directed towards Triple H, who Sopp claimed "runs the show up there".
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2005–2009)
Planet Jarrett (2005)
On February 13, 2005, Sopp debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) without a name (as Billy Gunn is a WWE trademark, although announcers recognized him as such) at Against All Odds with the same gimmick, helping Jeff Jarrett retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in a match with Kevin Nash. Sopp, using the name The New Age Outlaw, then formed a stable with Jarrett and Monty Brown known as Planet Jarrett. However, WWE threatened TNA with legal action if Sopp continued the use of the name "The New Age Outlaw", so he shortened his name to The Outlaw. Due to the legal issues with WWE, all TNA -DVD releases featuring footage with Sopp as "The Outlaw" (and presumably also as "The New Age Outlaw") have had the name on on-screen graphics blurred, the name silenced out of the audio, and match commentary completely replaced to reflect a retroactive name change to "Kip James". One such DVD is the pay-per-view Lockdown, included in the "TNA Anthology: The Epic Set" box set, in which the silencing of the name during a segment where Dusty Rhodes picks his name from a lottery leaves DVD viewers in the dark as to who just got picked.
The Outlaw began a campaign to make former ally B.G. James leave the 3Live Kru and defect to Planet Jarrett, reforming the old tag team with Outlaw. At No Surrender, he renamed himself Kip James and was announced as "wrestling out of Marietta, Georgia" (the family seat of the Armstrong family) as a psychological ploy. As a result of his campaign, Kip attracted the ire of 3Live Kru members Ron Killings and Konnan, leading to a series of tag team matches pitting Kip and Monty Brown against Killings and Konnan, with a conflicted James unwilling to take sides. Kip's efforts ultimately proved futile; James, the guest referee in a final match between Brown and Kip versus Konnan and Killings at Sacrifice, attacked Kip enabling a 3Live Kru victory.
In September at Unbreakable, Kip teamed with Brown to defeat the team of Apolo and Lance Hoyt. There was clear tension between the partners because Brown was unhappy at the series of losses at the hands of the 3Live Kru, and Kip was irked by Brown's decision to leave Planet Jarrett. Despite the victory, the partners argued after the match. On the October 8, 2005 episode of Impact!, Kip rekindled his feud with the 3Live Kru, running to the ring after a bout between the 3LK and Team Canada in order to prevent Team Canada captain Petey Williams from beating down B.G. James. He saved James, and then engaged in a staredown with Konnan and Killings. Kip saved James from Team Canada once again at Bound for Glory. Though Killings showed signs of gratitude, Konnan remained skeptical as to his true intentions. Later that night, Kip took part in an over-the-top-rope gauntlet match for the number one contendership to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. After he was eliminated, he tried in vain to prevent Killings from being eliminated as well, before being sent away from ringside by the referees.
The James Gang/Voodoo Kin Mafia (2005–2008)
On the November 26 episode of Impact!, B.G. brought Kip and the 3Live Kru to ringside and asked Killings and Konnan whether Kip could join the stable. Following a heated argument between Konnan and B.G., both Killings and Konnan gave their approval, and the 4Live Kru was born. However, at Turning Point, Konnan attacked both B.G. and Kip, costing them their match against Team Canada and initiating a feud between himself and the remainder of the Kru. Shortly thereafter, B.G. James's father, Bob Armstrong, attempted to reconcile the group, but was instead attacked by Konnan and his new stablemates, Apolo and Homicide. Killings later stated that he had severed his ties with the Kru. With Konnan and Killings no longer members of the Kru, Kip and B.G. began referring to themselves as The James Gang and continued to feud with the Konnan-managed Latin American Exchange, whose third man position as Homicide's partner would switch from Apolo to Machete, and then from him to Hernandez, who finally stuck, during the course of this feud. At Final Resolution, The James Gang defeated The Diamonds in the Rough (David Young and Elix Skipper). At Against All Odds, The James Gang defeated LAX (Homicide and Machete). At Destination X, The James Gang and Bob Armstrong defeated Latin American Exchange in a six-man tag team match. At Sacrifice, The James Gang defeated Team 3D which led to a rematch at Slammiversary where Team 3D defeated The James Gang in a Bingo Hall Brawl. At Victory Road, The James Gang and Abyss defeated Team 3D and their newest member Brother Runt. At No Surrender, The James Gang competed in a Triple Chance tag team battle royal but failed to win the match. At Bound for Glory, The James Gang competed in a Four-way tag team match which was won by Team 3D.
By November 2006, Kip and B.G. began to show displeasure in TNA and threatened to go find work elsewhere if they did not receive gold soon. They began performing the crotch chop, a reference to the WWE's DX. On the November 2 edition of Impact!, Kip and B.G. threatened to quit. Kip grabbed the mic and tried to say something to the TNA administration and Spike TV, but each time his mic was cut off. Kip then tried to use the announcer's headset, but it was cut off as well. Frustrated, he started yelling loudly to the crowd, but he was cut off again as the show went to a commercial break. When the show returned, the announcers speculated that they may have been frustrated due to the influx of new talent entering TNA. It was reported that the segment was a worked shoot that Vince Russo had written in order to renew interest upon their eventual return. Kip and BG appeared in an internet video on TNA's website where they addressed the owner of WWE Vince McMahon.
A few weeks later on Impact!, The James Gang re-emerged under a new name Voodoo Kin Mafia (VKM for short, a play on Vincent Kennedy McMahon's initials). They mentioned their new right of 'creative control', meaning they could do whatever they wanted. They also declared 'war' on Paul Levesque, Michael Hickenbottom, and Vincent K. McMahon (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Vince McMahon, respectively). Kip then declared that 'Triple Hollywood' and 'Shawn Kiss-my-bottom' were failing as the group they (Kip and BG) used to be a part of: D-Generation X. After the initial shock value of this incident wore off, at Genesis, The Voodoo Kin Mafia defeated Kazarian, Maverick Matt and Johnny Devine in a handicap match. VKM began a feud with the villainous Christy Hemme. Hemme then searched for a tag team to square-off against VKM. At Destination X, The Voodoo Kin Mafia defeated Hemme's handpicked team of The Heartbreakers (Antonio Thomas & Romeo Roselli). On the Lockdown preshow The Voodoo Kin Mafia defeated another one of Hemme's handpicked team Serotonin (Kaz & Havok) in a Six Sides of Steel match. The final tag team was Damaja and Basham, who appeared on an episode of Impact! and beat down VKM. They also held up Kip James so Hemme could slap him. B.G James was taken out by Basham and Damaja which led to Kip James competed against Basham and Damaja in a handicap match at Sacrifice where he lost. However, they beat Hemme's team at Slammiversary. After the match, VKM were betrayed by their associate Lance Hoyt. At Victory Road, they introduced their new manager, the Voodoo Queen, Roxxi Laveaux, to embarrass Christy Hemme. At Hard Justice, The Voodoo Kin Mafia lost to The Latin American Exchange. At No Surrender, The Voodoo Kin Mafia competed in a Ten-team tag team gauntlet match which was won by A.J. Styles and Tomko. At Bound for Glory, Kip James competed in the Fight for the Right Reverse Battle Royal which was won by Eric Young. On the October 25 edition of Impact!, VKM teamed with A.J. Styles and Tomko in a losing effort to the Latin American Xchange and the Steiner Brothers. At Genesis, B.G. was present along with Kip in the corner of Roxxi Laveaux at ringside for the Fatal Four Way knockout match for the TNA Women's Championship in which Gail Kim retained the title. At Turning Point, James competed in the Feast or Fired where he grabbed a case but threw it to BG James. It was revealed that the case was for a shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship and BG James picked his dad to be his partner at Against All Odds, James and Bob Armstrong failed to win the titles and on February 21, 2008 episode of Impact! he turned on B.G. and B.G's father "Bullet" Bob Armstrong by hitting them both with a crutch.
The Beautiful People (2008–2009)
On April 13, 2008, he faced former partner B.G. James at Lockdown and lost. After the match, he appeared to want to make amends as he raised B.G.'s hand after the match, only to clothesline him down to the mat and taunt him with a DX crotch chop. Kip went on to declare himself "The Megastar", an arrogant gimmick similar to "The One" gimmick from his WWF tenure. Kip later stopped making appearances on Impact! until April 24 when he was attacked backstage by Matt Morgan for no reason. The next week on Impact!, Kip got back at Morgan by attacking him backstage in Jim Cornette's office. On May 8, 2008, Cornette forced Morgan into being Kip's tag team partner for the Deuces Wild tournament at Sacrifice, though both were unable to win. Kip went on another brief disappearance from television until the June 5 edition of Impact!, where he partnered with Lance Hoyt and James Storm in a losing effort against Morgan and The Latin American Xchange.
On the August 14 episode of Impact!, Kip was revealed to be the new image consultant and member of The Beautiful People, dubbed Cute Kip and was using his Mr.Ass Attire, after they brought him out during their interview on Karen Angle's show Karen's Angle. at Bound for Glory IV, Kip, Love and Sky lost to Rhino, ODB and Rhaka Khan in a Bimbo Brawl. at Final Resolution (December 2008), Kip competed in the Feast or Fired match but failed to get a case. At Genesis 2009, Kip became the one-night-only replacement for the injured Kevin Nash in the Main Event Mafia.
As of March 19, 2009, Sopp was taken off of TNA Impact! along with Jacqueline Moore to become road agents. Sopp returned as Cute Kip and lost to Awesome Kong in an intergender stretcher match on May 14, 2009. On the May 28 edition of Impact!, Kip was fired by The Beautiful People. On the June 18 edition of Impact!, Mick Foley hired him as his handyman, turning Kip into a face. he made another appearance on the August 6 edition of Impact where Kip had to clean up the IMPACT Zone after a chaotic fifteen minute "riot". On October 9 edition of Xplosion, Kip was defeated by Rhino. On October 30 edition of Xplosion, Kip defeated Sheik Abdul Bashir. on the November 13 edition of Xplosion, Kip lost to Rob Terry and on December 3, 2009 edition of Xplosion, Kip competed in his final TNA match where he lost to Kiyoshi.
Sopp's profile was removed from the TNA website on December 29, 2009, confirming his departure from the promotion.
Independent circuit (2009–2012)
After leaving TNA, Sopp reunited with B.G. James to reform The New Age Outlaws, with both men resuming their Billy Gunn and Road Dogg ring names. After joining TWA Powerhouse in 2010, the Outlaws defeated Canadian Extreme to win the promotion's Tag Team Championship on July 25. They re-lost the title to Canadian Extreme on June 5, 2011.
On July 30, 2011, Sopp, working under the ring name Kip Gunn, made his debut for Lucha Libre USA as a member of the heel stable The Right. Later that night, Gunn lost in his debut match against Marco Corleone. On June 26, 2012, Sopp won the American Pro Wrestling Alliance American Championship. However, he lost the title due to travel issues. On September 8 and 9, 2012, he wrestled in a Bad Boys of Wrestling Federation tournament. He defeated Rhino in the semi-finals and Scott Steiner in the final, winning the BBWF Aruba Championship.
Return to WWE (2012–2015)
On July 23, Sopp, under his Billy Gunn name, made his first WWE appearance in nearly eight years as he reunited with Road Dogg, X-Pac, Shawn Michaels and Triple H to reform D-Generation X for one night only on the 1000th episode of Raw. In December 2012, he was hired by WWE as a trainer for the NXT Wrestling territory in Tampa, Florida. On March 4, 2013, Gunn and Road Dogg made a return at Old School Raw, defeating Primo and Epico. On March 11, 2013, they accepted a challenge from Team Rhodes Scholars and faced them in a match, which was interrupted by Brock Lesnar, who hit both Outlaws with an F-5 as part of his ongoing feud with Triple H.
He then appeared alongside Road Dogg to help CM Punk clear out The Shield in aid of Roddy Piper on Old School Raw on January 6, 2014. On the January 10 episode of SmackDown, the Outlaws teamed with CM Punk in a six-man tag match against The Shield in a losing effort. On the January 13 episode of Raw, the Outlaws again teamed with Punk in a rematch against The Shield, only to abandon Punk and lose the match. On January 26 during the Royal Rumble Kickoff Show, Gunn and Road Dogg beat Cody Rhodes and Goldust to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. The next night on Raw the New Age Outlaws retained the championship against Rhodes and Goldust via disqualification when Brock Lesnar attacked the brothers. The next week on Raw the New Age Outlaws retained the championship against Rhodes and Goldust in a steel cage match. On March 3, the Outlaws lost the Tag Team Championship to The Usos. Gunn sustained hemoptysis after he and his New Age Outlaws partner, Road Dogg, suffered a double-Triple Powerbomb by The Shield at WrestleMania XXX.
Gunn returned to Raw with Road Dogg in January 2015, attacking The Ascension along with the nWo and the APA. At the Royal Rumble, the Outlaws faced The Ascension in a losing effort. At WrestleMania 31, Gunn, with Road Dogg, X-Pac and Shawn Michaels, reunited as D-Generation X to help Triple H in his match against Sting. In May, Gunn was announced as a coach along with WWE Hall of Famers Booker T and Lita for the sixth season of Tough Enough.
On November 13, 2015, WWE officially announced that Sopp was released from his WWE contract after failing a test for performance-enhancing drugs. He had tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone at a powerlifting event on July 25, 2015, and was suspended from powerlifting for four years.
Independent circuit (2015–2020)
On December 26, 2015, Gunn teamed up with Kevin Thorn to defeat Brian Klass and Rob Street. One month later, Gunn defeated Ken Dixon for the MCW Pro Wrestling MCW Rage Television Championship. On February 5, 2016, Gunn defeated Joey Hayes in the Preston City Wrestling PCW Road to Glory tournament, on February 6 he lost to T-Bone in the quarter-finals that same night Gunn teamed up with Mr. Anderson and Tajiri to defeat Dave Raynes, Joey Hayes, and Martin Kirby. On February 7, 2016 Gunn challenged for the Pro Wrestling Pride Heavyweight championship losing to Steve Griffiths. On March 19, 2016, Gunn lost the title to Ken Dixon. On June 12, 2016, Gunn won the Smashmouth Pro Wrestling championship from KC Huber but lost it on the same night, Gunn teamed again with Anderson in a losing effort against the UK Hooligans at PCW Tribute to the Troops on June 25, 2016. He defeated Hardcore Holly in a singles match at PCW Top Gunn on July 2, 2016.
On September 4, 2016, Gunn made his debut for Chikara, representing DX alongside X-Pac in a tag team gauntlet match. The two entered the match as the final team and scored the win over Prakash Sabar and The Proletariat Boar of Moldova.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2016–2017)
On November 5, 2016, at the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) event Power Struggle, Yoshitatsu announced Gunn as the newest member of his Hunter Club stable and his partner for the upcoming 2016 World Tag League. Gunn and Yoshitatsu finished the tournament on December 8 with a record of three wins and four losses, failing to advance from their block. Gunn returned to NJPW on January 4, 2017, taking part in the pre-show New Japan Rumble at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome, from which he was eliminated by the eventual winner Michael Elgin. While Gunn did not appear for NJPW for the next six months, he was brought up in May by Yoshitatsu, who told Hiroshi Tanahashi that Gunn had requested a match against him. When Tanahashi captured the IWGP Intercontinental Championship the following month, he immediately nominated Gunn as his first challenger. Gunn was defeated in the title match on July 2 at G1 Special in USA, and it was his final match in NJPW.
WWE appearances (2018–2019)
Gunn and numerous other WWE legends appeared on the January 22, 2018 episode of Raw 25 Years as part of the D-Generation X reunion. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2019 as a member of D-Generation X.
All Elite Wrestling (2019–present)
In January 2019, Gunn was hired by All Elite Wrestling as a coach. At May 25 at the AEW Double or Nothing event he competed in the pre-show battle royal. Gunn made his first televised appearance for AEW on the November 20, 2019 episode of AEW Dynamite, competing in a battle royal. He also appeared during the January 1, 2020 episode of Dynamite, wrestling in a dark match with his son Austin that aired on January 7, 2020. They wrestled again together on another dark match during the January 8, 2020 episode of Dynamite, airing on January 17, 2020, with the tag team name "The Gunn Club", defeating the team of Peter Avalon and Shawn Spears. Gunn has also appeared in the crowd (made up of AEW wrestlers and other employees) on numerous episodes of Dynamite during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the May 27, 2020 episode of Dynamite, Gunn now under the shortened ring name of Billy participated in a battle royal match to determine the number one contender for the TNT Championship. He also would wrestle MJF in a singles match on the June 17, 2020 episode of Dynamite as well. The Gunn Club would wrestle in more tag team matches on more episodes of AEW Dark.
On the November 4, 2020 episode of Dynamite, The Gunn Club teamed with Cody Rhodes to successfully defeat The Dark Order (John Silver, 10 and Colt Cabana). On the November 17, 2020 episode of Dark, The Gunn Club, which now added Austin's brother and Gunn's other son Colten to the stable, defeated Bshp King, Joey O'Riley and Sean Maluta by pinfall in a six-man tag team match. On the same day the AEW website's roster page got updated and his name was once again changed to its long form, Billy Gunn. The three man Gunn Club would then defeat Cezar Bononi, KTB, and Seth Gargis in another six man tag team match on the November 24, 2020 episode of Dark. On the December 8, 2020 episode of Dark The three man Gunn Club-which entered the ring on a golf cart with the words "Taz Taxi" on the side, defeated Shawn Dean, Sean Maluta & RYZIN. On the December 1, 2021 episode of Dynamite, The Gunn Club stable's undefeated streak in AEW ended when Billy and Colten Gunn lost to the team of Sting and Darby Allin.
Professional wrestling style, persona and reception
Gunn has had several gimmicks throughout his career, ranging from his cowboy-themed gimmick with the Smoking Gunns to his The Ambiguously Gay Duo-esque tag team with Chuck Palumbo. Gunn has stated on multiple shoot interviews that he has no regrets with his gimmicks as he was performing a job and doing what was asked of him to do.
By far, Gunn's most infamous gimmick was his "Mr. Ass" persona based around his ass. The gimmick started during his New Age Outlaws days when Road Dogg would refer to themselves as "Mr. Dogg" and "Mr. Ass" in promos, though the "Bad Ass" name wasn't referring to his backside at that time. What was originally a throwaway joke turned into Gunn mooning his opponents and the live crowd, though as the original incarnation of DX also did this, it could originally be argued that it was an extension of the Outlaws joining DX.
Upon leaving DX, Gunn fully embraced the "Mr. Ass" gimmick by placing emphasis on his "moneymaker". While Road Dogg kept the New Age Outlaws entrance music for his own, Gunn adopted the song "Ass Man" as part of the gimmick, and for a time even changed his ring tights to be see-through, wearing only a thong underneath his tights, although he would eventually revert back to the DX-era tights.
The "Mr. Ass" gimmick has mixed reviews. One web site ranked it near the middle of Gunn's various gimmicks, while a writer for Bleacher Report thought it was the worst gimmick ever even though Gunn was at his peak popularity with the persona. Gunn himself told Chris Van Vliet in 2021 that he never paid attention to the "Ass Man" lyrics until a college professor broke down each expression.
Due to the enduring legacy of the "Mr. Ass" gimmick, in November 2021 Ring of Honor wrestler Danhausen began a Twitter feud with the Gunn Club, referring to Billy as "Billy Ass," and Colten and Austin as The "Ass Boys," in reference to Gunn's infamous "Mr. Ass" gimmick in the Attitude Era. While Gunn himself initially had no comment, the rest of Gunn Club despised the nickname after fans began chanting "Ass Boys" during their matches, notably during an AEW event at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Virginia. Gunn finally commented when he surprised his sons by wearing an "Ass Boys" shirt, encouraging them to "embrace the assness" and even started teasing mooning the crowd again. Gunn also thanked Danhausen publicly for getting his sons over in a way that he couldn't.
Other media
Filmography
Video Games
WWF Attitude
WWF WrestleMania 2000
WWF SmackDown!
WWF No Mercy
WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role
WWF Road To WrestleMania
WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It
WWF Raw
WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth
WWE Raw 2
WWE '13
WWE 2K16
WWE 2K17
Personal life
Sopp was born on November 1, 1963 in Orlando, Florida and claims Austin, Texas as his hometown. In November 1990, Sopp was arrested in Florida for disorderly conduct. Sopp married his first wife Tina Tinnell on March 3, 1990. Together, they have two sons: Colten (born May 18, 1991) and Austin (born August 26, 1994) who are also professional wrestlers. The couple separated in January 2000 and their divorce was finalized on December 11, 2002. Sopp has since married his long-time girlfriend Paula on January 24, 2009.
Sopp's sons Austin and Colten, better known by the ring names Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn, are currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where alongside their father they form a stable known as "Gunn Club".
Sopp attended Sam Houston State University.
Championships and accomplishments
American Pro Wrestling Alliance
APWA American Championship (1 time)
Bad Boys of Wrestling Federation
BBFW Aruba Championship (1 time)
BBFW Aruba Championship Tournament (2012)
International Wrestling Federation
IWF Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Brett Colt
Freedom Pro Wrestling
FPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Road Dogg
Maryland Championship Wrestling
MCW Rage Television Championship (1 time)
MCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with B.G. James
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Tag Team of the Year (1998) with Road Dogg
Tag Team of the Year (2002) with Chuck
Ranked #39 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1999
Ranked #231 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
Ranked #43 of the top 100 tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Road Dogg in 2003
SmashMouth Pro Wrestling
SPW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
TWA Powerhouse
TWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with B.G. James
Vanguard Championship Wrestling
VCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Pro Wrestling
WPW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Worst Worked Match of the Year (2006) TNA Reverse Battle Royal on TNA Impact!
WWE/World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
WWF Hardcore Championship (2 times)
WWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time)
WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Road Dogg
WWF World Tag Team Championship (10 times) – with Bart Gunn (3), Road Dogg (5) and Chuck (2)
King of the Ring (1999)
Raw Bowl – with Bart Gunn
WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2019) - as a member of D-Generation X
References
External links
1963 births
All Elite Wrestling personnel
American male professional wrestlers
American powerlifters
Bull riders
D-Generation X members
Expatriate professional wrestlers in Japan
LGBT characters in professional wrestling
Living people
Professional wrestlers from Florida
Professional wrestling trainers
Sam Houston State University alumni
Sportspeople from Orlando, Florida
The Authority (professional wrestling) members
WWE Hall of Fame inductees
WWF/WWE Hardcore Champions
WWF/WWE Intercontinental Champions
WWF/WWE King Crown's Champions/King of the Ring winners
American expatriate sportspeople in Japan
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"The following is a list of players who have earned international caps by playing for their respective countries' national sides whilst at Wigan RLFC. Numbers refer to the position the player was selected for, with No. 14 and No. 15 referring to interchanges after the sport reduced the number of players in a team from fifteen to thirteen in 1906. Note that all of the player's international appearances are listed here, even if they were made whilst the player was at another club.\n\nPlayers\n\n Paul Atcheson won caps for Wales while at Wigan in 1995 against England, and France, in the 1995 Rugby League World Cup against Western Samoa, while at Oldham in 1996 against France, and England, while at St. Helens in 1998 against England, while at Widnes in 2000 against South Africa, in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup against Cook Islands, Lebanon, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Australia, in 2001 against England, in 2002 against New Zealand, and in 2003 against Russia, and Australia, and won caps for Great Britain while at St. Helens in 1997 against Australia (SL) (3 matches)\n Raymond \"Ray\" Ashby won caps for Great Britain while at Liverpool City in 1964 France, while at Wigan in 1965 France\n Ernest \"Ernie\" Ashcroft won caps for England while at Wigan in 1946 Wales, in 1947 France, Wales, in 1948 France, in 1949 France, Other Nationalities, in 1950 Wales, France, in 1951 Other Nationalities, Wales, France, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1947 New Zealand (2 matches), in 1950 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand, in 1954 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (2 matches) won caps for British Empire XIII while at Wigan in 1952 New Zealand (Reserve)\n Chris Ashton won caps for England while at Wigan in 2006 France (sub), Tonga, Tonga (sub), Samoa\n Eric Ashton won caps for England while at Wigan in 1962 France, and won caps for Great Britain while at in 1957 Australia, New Zealand, in 1958 Australia (2 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), in 1959 France, Australia (3 matches), in 1960 France (2 matches), in 1960 New Zealand, Australia, in 1961 New Zealand (3 matches), in 1962 France (3 matches), Australia (3 matches), in 1963 France, Australia (2 matches) (World Cup in 1957 2-caps, in 1960 Captain 2-caps, 1-try)\n Frank Barton won caps for England while at Wigan in 1951 Other Nationalities, in 1952 Other Nationalities, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1951 New Zealand\n John Barton won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1960 against France, and in 1961 against New Zealand\n John \"Jack\" Bennett won caps for England while at Rochdale Hornets in 1924 Other Nationalities, in 1925 Wales, while at Rochdale Hornets in 1926 Wales, Other Nationalities, and won caps for Great Britain while at Rochdale Hornets in 1924 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (3 matches), while at Wigan in 1926 New Zealand\n George Bennett won caps for Wales while at Wigan 1935…1936 3-caps\n Denis Betts won caps for England while at Auckland Warriors in 1995 Australia (2 matches), Fiji, Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1990 France, France (sub), Papua New Guinea (2 matches), New Zealand (3 matches), Australia (3 matches), in 1991 France, Papua New Guinea, in 1992 France, Papua New Guinea, Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), Australia, in 1993 France, New Zealand, in 1994 Australia (3 matches), in 1996 while at Auckland Papua New Guinea, Fiji, New Zealand (3 matches), while at Wigan in 1999 Australia, New Zealand (sub)\n David \"Dai\" Royston \"Roy\" Bevan won caps for Wales while at Wigan 1953 2-caps, and won a cap for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1952 against Australia, and also represented Great Britain while at Wigan/Halifax between 1952 and 1956 against France (1 non-Test match)\n Arthur Binks won caps for England while at Wigan in 1929 Other Nationalities\n William \"Billy\" Blan won caps for England while at Wigan in 1951 Wales, France, in 1952 Other Nationalities, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1951 New Zealand (3 matches)\n Billy Boston MBE †, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1954…62 31-caps (World Cup in 1957 2-caps, 1-try, in 1960 1-cap, 1-try)\n Benjamin John \"Jackie\" Bowen won caps for Wales while at Wigan, and Leigh 1945…48 2-caps\n Thomas \"Tommy\" Bradshaw won caps for England while at Wigan in 1944 Wales, in 1945 Wales, in 1946 Wales, France, in 1947 France (2 matches), Wales (2 matches), in 1948 France, in 1949 Other Nationalities, France, in 1950 Wales (2 matches), in 1951 Other Nationalities, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1947 New Zealand (2 matches), in 1950 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand\n John \"Jack\" Broome won caps for England while at Wigan in 1950 Wales, France won caps for British Empire XIII while at Wigan in 1952 New Zealand\n Edward \"Ned\" Bullough won caps for England (RU) while at Wigan in 1892 against Wales, Ireland, and Scotland\n Mark Calderwood won caps for England while at Leeds in 2004 France, Ireland, in 2005 France, New Zealand, while at Wigan in 2006 France, Tonga (2 matches)\n Brian Case won caps for England while at Warrington in 1981 France, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1984 Australia, New Zealand (3 matches), in 1987 Papua New Guinea, in 1988 Papua New Guinea, Australia (sub)\n Mick Cassidy won caps for England while at Wigan in 1995 Wales (sub), Fiji, South Africa, Wales (sub), Australia (sub), in 1996 Wales (sub), and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1994 Australia (sub) (2 matches), in 1996 Fiji (sub), in 1997 ASL\n Norman Cherrington won caps for England while at Wigan in 1956 France, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1960 France\n Colin Clarke won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan Wigan in 1965 against New Zealand, in 1966 against France, and New Zealand, in 1967 against France, and in 1973 against Australia (3 matches)\n Phil Clarke won caps for England while at Wigan in 1992 Wales, in 1995 Wales, while at Sydney Australia (2 matches), South Africa, Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1990 Papua New Guinea (sub), in 1992 Papua New Guinea, Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), Australia, in 1993 France (2 matches), New Zealand (3 matches), in 1994 Australia (3 matches)\n Percy Coldrick won caps for Wales while at Wigan 1913…1914 2-caps\n Frank Collier won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1963 against Australia, and in 1964 against France\n Gary Connolly won caps for England while at St. Helens in 1992 Wales, while at Wigan in 1995 Australia, in 1996 France, Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at St. Helens in 1991 Papua New Guinea (sub), in 1992 France (2 matches), Australia (sub) (2 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), Australia, in 1993 France (2 matches), while at Wigan in 1993 New Zealand (3 matches), in 1994 France, Australia (3 matches), in 1998 New Zealand (3 matches), in 1999 Australia, New Zealand, in 2001 France, Australia (3 matches), in 2002 New Zealand (3 matches), while at Leeds in 2003 Australia (2 matches)\n Neil Cowie won caps for Wales while at Wigan in 1995 against England, and France, and in the 1995 Rugby League World Cup against Western Samoa, in 1996 against England, in 1998 against England, and in 1999 against Ireland, and Scotland, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1993 against France, and in 1998 against New Zealand (2 matches)\n Jack Cunliffe won caps for England while at Wigan in 1949 France, in 1950 France (2 matches), Wales, in 1951 Other Nationalities, Wales, in 1956 France, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1950 Australia, New Zealand, in 1951 New Zealand, in 1954 Australia won caps for British Empire XIII while at Wigan in 1952 New Zealand\n Eli Davies won caps for Other Nationalities while at Wigan in 1904 against England\n Eiryn Gwyn Davies won caps for Wales (RU) while at Cardiff RFC in 1928 against France, in 1929 against England, and in 1930 against Scotland, and won caps for Wales (RL) while at Wigan 1932…1935 3-caps\n Wes Davies won caps for Wales while at Wigan 1999…2000 3(8?)-caps + 5-caps (sub) 3-tries 12-points\n Howell de Francis won a cap for Wales while at Wigan in 1909 against England\n Gareth Dean won caps for Wales while at Wigan, unattached, Workington Town, AS Carcassonne, and Celtic Crusaders 2001…2007 7(10, 12?)-caps + 4-caps (sub)\n Harold Edwards won caps for Wales while at Wigan, and Bradford Northern 1935…1938 2-caps\n Shaun Edwards won caps for England while at Wigan in 1995 Australia, in 1996 France, Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1985 France, New Zealand, New Zealand (sub), in 1986 Australia (sub), in 1987 France (2 matches), Papua New Guinea, in 1988 France (2 matches), Papua New Guinea, in 1989 France (2 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), New Zealand (sub), in 1990 France (2 matches), in 1991 France (2 matches), Papua New Guinea, in 1992 France, Papua New Guinea, Australia (2 matches), Australia (sub), New Zealand (2 matches), Australia, in 1993 France (2 matches), New Zealand (3 matches), in 1994 France, Australia (2 matches)\n Joe Egan won caps for England while at Wigan in 1943 Wales, in 1944 Wales, in 1945 Wales (2 matches), in 1946 France (2 matches), Wales (2 matches), in 1947 France (2 matches), Wales (2 matches), in 1948 France (2 matches), Wales, in 1949 Wales, France, Other Nationalities, in 1950 Wales, while at Leigh Wales, France, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1946 Australia (3 matches), in 1947 New Zealand (3 matches), in 1948 Australia (3 matches), in 1950 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (2 matches)\n Alf Ellaby won caps for England while at St. Helens in 1927 Wales, in 1928 Wales (2 matches), in 1930 Other Nationalities, in 1931 Wales, in 1932 Wales (2 matches), in 1934 France, while at Wigan in 1935 France, and won caps for Great Britain while at St. Helens in 1928 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), in 1929–30 Australia (2 matches), in 1932 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), in 1933 Australia\n Roy Evans won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1961 against New Zealand (2 matches), and in 1962 against France, and New Zealand\n George Fairbairn won caps for England while at Wigan in 1975 Wales (2 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), Australia (2 matches), France, Papua New Guinea, in 1977 Wales, France, in 1978 France, in 1980 Wales, France, in 1981 France, Wales, while at Hull K.R. Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1977 France, New Zealand, Australia (2 matches), in 1978 Australia (3 matches), in 1979 Australia (2 matches), New Zealand (3 matches), in 1980 New Zealand (2 matches), while at Hull K.R. in 1981 France, in 1982 Australia (2 matches)\n Andrew \"Andy\" Farrell won caps for England while at Wigan in 1995 Australia (2 matches), Fiji, Wales, in 1996 Wales, in 2000 Australia, Russia, Fiji, Ireland, New Zealand, in 2001 Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1993 New Zealand, 1994 France, Australia (3 matches), Papua New Guinea, Fiji, New Zealand (3 matches), in 1997 ASL (3 matches), in 1998 New Zealand (3 matches), in 1999 Australia, New Zealand, in 2001 France, Australia (3 matches), in 2002 Australia, New Zealand (3 matches), in 2003 Australia (3 matches), in 2004 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (2 matches)\n Stuart Fielden won caps for England while at Bradford Bulls in 2000 Australia, Russia (sub), Fiji (sub), Ireland, New Zealand, and won caps for Great Britain while at Bradford Bulls in 2001 Australia, Australia (sub) (2 matches), France (sub), in 2002 Australia, New Zealand (3 matches), in 2003 Australia (3 matches), in 2004 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), in 2005 Australia (2 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), while at Wigan in 2006 New Zealand (3 matches), Australia (2 matches)\n Ness Flowers won caps for Wales while at Wigan, and Cardiff City (Bridgend) Blue Dragons 1980…1984 4-caps 1-tries 3-points\n Terrence \"Terry\" Fogerty represented Commonwealth XIII while at Halifax in 1965 against New Zealand at Crystal Palace National Recreation Centre, London on Wednesday 18 August 1965, and won caps for Great Britain while at Halifax in 1966 against New Zealand, while at Wigan in 1967 against France, and while at Rochdale Hornets in 1974 against France\n Bill Francis won caps for Wales while at Wigan in 1975 against France, England, in the 1975 Rugby League World Cup against France, England, Australia, New Zealand, England, Australia, New Zealand, and France, in 1977 against England, and France, while at St. Helens in 1978 against France, England, and Australia, in 1979 against France, and England, while at Oldham in 1980 against France, and England, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1967 against Australia, and in the 1977 Rugby League World Cup against New Zealand, Australia (2 matches) (World Cup in 1975 8-caps, 4-tries)\n Daniel \"Danny\" Gardiner won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1965 against New Zealand\n Ken Gee won caps for England while at Wigan in 1943 Wales, in 1944 Wales, in 1946 France (2 matches), Wales (2 matches), in 1947 France (2 matches), Wales, in 1948 France (2 matches), in 1949 Wales, France (2 matches), in 1950 Wales, France, in 1951 Other Nationalities, Wales, France, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1946 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand, in 1947 New Zealand (3 matches), in 1948–49 Australia (3 matches), in 1950 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), in 1951 New Zealand (2 matches)\n Henderson Gill won caps for England while at Wigan in 1981 Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1981 France (2 matches), in 1982 Australia, in 1985 France, in 1986 France, Australia (3 matches), in 1987 France (2 matches), in 1988 Papua New Guinea, Australia (2 matches), Australia (sub), New Zealand\n Brian Gregory won caps for Wales while at Wigan in the 1975 Rugby League World Cup against England, New Zealand, and France\n Danny Hurcombe won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan ?-caps\n Frederick \"Fred\" Gleave won caps for England while at Wigan in 1913 Wales\n Andy Goodway won caps for England while at Oldham in 1984 Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham in 1983 France (2 matches), in 1984 France, Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (3 matches), Papua New Guinea, in 1985 France, while at Wigan in 1985 New Zealand (3 matches), in 1986 Australia (3 matches), in 1987 France, Papua New Guinea, in 1989 New Zealand (3 matches), in 1990 France\n Bobbie Goulding won caps for England while at St. Helens in 1995 Fiji, South Africa, Wales, Australia, in 1996 Wales (sub), and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1990 Papua New Guinea (2 matches), New Zealand (3 matches), while at Leeds in 1992 France, while at St. Helens in 1994 Australia, Australia (sub) (2 matches), in 1996 Papua New Guinea, Fiji, New Zealand (3 matches), in 1997 ASL (3 matches)\n John Gray won caps for England while at Wigan in 1975 France, Wales, France, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1974 France (sub) (2 matches), Australia (2 matches), Australia (sub), New Zealand (3 matches)\n Brian Gregory won caps for Wales while at Wigan in the 1975 Rugby League World Cup against England, New Zealand, and France (World Cup in 1975 3-caps, 1-try)\n Martin Hall won caps for Wales while at Wigan 1995…1996 7-caps + 3-caps (sub)\n Ellery Hanley won caps for England while at Bradford Northern in 1984 Wales, while at Leeds in 1992 Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Bradford Northern in 1984 France (sub), France, Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (3 matches), Papua New Guinea, in 1985 France (2 matches), while at Wigan in 1985 New Zealand (3 matches), in 1986 France, Australia, in 1987 France (2 matches), Papua New Guinea, in 1988 France (2 matches), Papua New Guinea, Australia (3 matches), New Zealand, in 1989 France (2 matches), in 1990 France, Australia (3 matches), in 1991 France (2 matches), while at Leeds in 1992 Australia, in 1993 France\n David \"Dai\" Harris won caps for Other Nationalities while at Wigan in 1904 against England\n Simon Haughton won caps for England while at Wigan in 1995 Australia (sub), Fiji (sub), South Africa, Wales (sub), in 1999 France (2 matches), and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1997 ASL (2 matches) (sub), in 1998 New Zealand (sub) (3 matches)\n Clifford \"Cliff\" Hill won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1966 against France\n David Hill won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1971 against France\n John \"Jack\" Hilton won caps for England while at Wigan in 1949 France, in 1950 Wales, France, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1950 Australia (2 matches), New Zealand (2 matches)\n David Hodgson won caps for England while at Salford in 2005 New Zealand, in 2006 Tonga (2 matches), Samoa, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 2001 France, Australia (sub), while at Salford in 2007 France, New Zealand\n Brian Hogan won caps for England while at Wigan in 1975 Wales, France, New Zealand, Australia, in 1977 Wales\n Wilfred \"Wilf\" Hodder won caps for Wales (RU) while at Pontypool RFC in 1921 against England, Scotland, and France, and won caps for Wales (RL) while at Wigan 1922…1928 6-caps, including the 34–8 victory over New Zealand at Pontypridd in 1926, and five losses to England\n Louis \"Lou\" Houghton won caps for England while at St. Helens in 1927 Wales, while at Wigan in 1931 Wales\n Thomas \"Tommy\" Howley Thomas Howley won caps for Wales while at Wigan 1921…1925 4-caps, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1924 against Australia (3 matches), and New Zealand (3 matches)\n Bill Hudson won caps for England while at Batley in 1946 Wales, France, in 1947 France, while at Wigan in 1949 France, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1948 Australia\n Daniel \"Danny\" Hurcombe won caps for Wales while at Wigan 1921…1926 6-caps, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1920 against Australia (2 matches), and New Zealand, in 1922 against Australia, and in 1924 against Australia (2 matches), and New Zealand (2 matches)\n Robert Irving won caps for England while at Wigan in 1975 Wales, France, Australia, and won caps for Great Britain while at Oldham in 1967 France (2 matches), Australia (3 matches), in 1970 Australia (sub), New Zealand, in 1971 New Zealand, in 1972 France (sub), New Zealand, Australia (sub)\n T. B. \"Bert\" Jenkins won caps for Wales while at Wigan in 1908 against New Zealand, and in 1909 against England, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1908 against New Zealand (3 matches), and Australia (3 matches), in 1909 against Australia (2 matches), in 1910 against Australia, Australasia (2 matches), and New Zealand, in 1911 against Australia, in 1912 against Australia, and in 1914 against Australia, and New Zealand\n Sidney \"Sid\"/\"Syd\" Jerram won caps for Wales while at Wigan 1921…1925 5-caps\n Joe Jones won caps for Wales while at Wigan and Barrow 1940…1949 15-caps, and won a cap for Great Britain while at Barrow in 1946 against New Zealand\n Keri Jones won caps for Wales (RU) while at Cardiff RFC (RU) 5-caps, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1970 France, New Zealand (World Cup in 1970 2-caps)\n Brian Juliff won caps for Wales while at Wakefield Trinity in 1979 against France, and England, in 1980 against France, and England, in 1981 against France, and England, and while at Wigan in 1982 against Australia, and in 1984 against England\n Roy Kinnear won caps for Scotland (RU) while at Heriot's Rugby Club (RU) in 1926 3-caps won caps for Great Britain (RU) while at Heriot's Rugby Club (RU) ?-caps won caps for Other Nationalities (RL) while at Wigan (RL) 3-caps won caps for Great Britain (RL) while at Wigan (RL) 1-cap, (signed for Wigan in 1926–27)\n Nicholas \"Nicky\" Kiss won a cap for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1985 against France\n Trevor Lake represented Commonwealth XIII while at Wigan in 1965 against New Zealand at Crystal Palace National Recreation Centre London on Wednesday 18 August 1965,\n Doug Laughton won caps for England while at Widnes in 1977 Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1970 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), Australia (2 matches), France, New Zealand, in 1971 France (2 matches), while at Widnes in 1973 Australia, in 1974 France (2 matches), in 1979 Australia (World Cup in 1970 4-caps, 1-try)\n Johnny \"Johnny\" Lawrenson won caps for England while at Wigan in 1939 Wales, in 1940 Wales, in 1941 Wales, in 1946 Wales (2 matches), in 1948 Wales, France, in 1949 Wales, Other Nationalities, while at Workington in 1950 [Opposition?], and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1948 Australia (3 matches)\n James \"Jim\" Leytham won caps for England while at Wigan in 1905 Other Nationalities, in 1906 Other Nationalities, in 1908 New Zealand, in 1910 Wales (2 matches), and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1908 New Zealand (2 matches), in 1910 Australia (2 matches), New Zealand\n Ian Lucas won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1991 against France, and in 1992 against Australia\n Barrie-Jon Mather won caps for England while at Wigan in 1995 Australia, South Africa, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1994 France (sub), while at Perth in 1996 New Zealand, New Zealand (sub)\n Barrie McDermott won caps for England while at Leeds in 1996 Wales (sub), and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1994 Australia, Australia (sub) (2 matches), while at Leeds in 1999 Australia, New Zealand, in 2001 France, Australia (3 matches), in 2002 Australia, New Zealand (2 matches), in 2003 Australia, Australia (sub) (2 matches)\n Brian McTigue †, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1958…63 25-caps (World Cup in 1960 3-caps, 1-try)\n Joseph \"Joe\" Miller won caps for England while at Wigan in 1909 Australia, in 1910 Wales, in 1911 Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1911 against Australia\n William \"Bill\" Morgan won a cap for 'Wales while at Wigan in 1932\n John \"Jack\" Morley won caps for England while at Wigan in 1933 Australia, won caps for Wales while at Wigan 1932…1936 5-caps, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1936 Australia, in 1937 Australia\n Terry Newton won caps for England while at Leeds in 1999 France (2 matches), while at Wigan in 2001 Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Leeds in 1998 New Zealand, while at Wigan in 2002 Australia (sub), in 2003 Australia (3 matches), in 2004 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand, while at Bradford Bulls in 2006 New Zealand (2 matches), New Zealand (sub), Australia (2 matches), in 2007 New Zealand\n Steve O'Neill won caps for England while at Wigan in 1981 France\n Martin Offiah won caps for England while at Wigan in 1992 Wales, in 1995 South Africa, Wales, Australia, in 1996 France, and won caps for Great Britain while at Widnes in 1988 France, Australia (3 matches), New Zealand, in 1989 France (2 matches), New Zealand (3 matches), in 1990 France (2 matches), New Zealand (3 matches), Australia (3 matches), in 1991 France (2 matches), while at Wigan in 1992 Papua New Guinea, Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), Australia, in 1993 New Zealand (2 matches), in 1994 France, Australia (3 matches)\n George Owens won a cap for Wales while at Wigan in 1923\n Thomas \"Tommy\" Parker won caps for Wales while at Wigan 1928…1930 2-caps\n Henry Paul won caps for New Zealand while at Wigan c.-1995 ?-caps\n Andy Platt won caps for England while at Widnes/Auckland in 1995 Australia (2 matches), South Africa, Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at St. Helens in 1985 France (sub), in 1986 France (sub), Australia (sub), in 1988 France (2 matches), Australia (2 matches), while at Wigan in 1989 New Zealand (3 matches), in 1990 France, Australia (2 matches), in 1991 France (2 matches), Papua New Guinea, in 1992 France (sub), Papua New Guinea, Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), Australia, in 1993 France\n Ian Potter won caps for England while at Warrington in 1981 France, Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1985 New Zealand (3 matches), in 1986 France (2 matches), Australia (2 matches), Australia (sub)\n John \"Jack\" Price won caps for England while at Broughton in 1921 Australia, while at Wigan in 1922 Wales, in 1924 Other Nationalities, and won caps for Great Britain while at Broughton in 1921–22 Australia (2 matches), while at Wigan in 1924 Australia (2 matches), New Zealand (2 matches)\n Scott Quinnell won caps for Wales while at Wigan 1995(…1996?) (2?)4-caps\n Kris Radlinski won caps for England while at Wigan in 1995 Australia (2 matches), Fiji, South Africa (sub), Wales, in 2000 Australia, Fiji, Ireland, New Zealand, in 2001 Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1996 Papua New Guinea, Fiji, New Zealand (3 matches), in 1997 ASL (3 matches), in 1998 New Zealand (3 matches), in 1999 Australia, New Zealand, in 2001 France, Australia (2 matches), in 2002 Australia, in 2003 Australia (3 matches)\n Richard \"Dick\" Ramsdale won caps for England while at Wigan in 1910 Wales, in 1911 Australia (2 matches), in 1913 Wales, in 1914 Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1910 Australia (2 matches), in 1911–12 Australia (2 matches), in 1914 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand\n Gordon Ratcliffe won caps for England while at Wigan in 1947 Wales, in 1948 France, in 1949 France, in 1951 Other Nationalities, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1947 New Zealand, in 1950 Australia (2 matches)\n Rees Richards won caps for Wales (RU) while at Aberavon RFC in 1913 against Scotland, France, and Ireland, and won caps for Wales (RL) while at Wigan in 1914\n John \"Johnny\" Ring won a cap for Wales (RU) while at Aberavon in 1921 against England, won caps for Wales (RL) while at Wigan 1925…1930 6-caps, and won caps for Great Britain (RL) while at Wigan in 1924 against Australia, and in 1926 against New Zealand\n David \"Dave\" Robinson won caps for England while at Swinton in 1969 Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Swinton in 1965 New Zealand, in 1966 France (2 matches), Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), in 1967 France (2 matches), Australia (2 matches), while at Wigan in 1970 Australia\n Jason Robinson won caps for England while at Wigan in 1995 Wales, Australia (2 matches), Fiji, Wales, in 1996 France, Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1993 New Zealand, in 1994 Australia (3 matches), in 1997 ASL (3 matches), in 1998 New Zealand (3 matches), in 1999 Australia, New Zealand\n Luke Robinson won caps for England while at Wigan in 2004 Russia, France, Ireland, while at Salford in 2005 France, New Zealand\n Frederick \"Fred\" Roffey won caps for Wales while at Wigan, and St. Helens 1921…1926 2-caps\n Peter Rowe won caps for Wales while at Wigan, Blackpool Borough, and Huddersfield 1969…1979 7-caps + 3-caps (sub), including while at Blackpool Borough in the 1975 Rugby League World Cup against Australia, England, and Australia\n Martin Ryan won caps for England while at Wigan in 1943 Wales, in 1945 Wales, in 1946 France (2 matches), Wales, in 1947 Wales (2 matches), in 1948 France (2 matches), in 1949 France (2 matches), in 1950 Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1947 New Zealand, in 1948 Australia (2 matches), in 1950 Australia\n William \"Bill\" Sayer won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1961 New Zealand, in 1962 France, Australia (3 matches), New Zealand, in 1963 Australia\n James \"Jim\" Sharrock won caps for England while at Wigan in 1910 Wales, in 1911 Australia, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1910 Australia (2 matches), New Zealand, in 1911–12 Australia\n Ernest \"Ernie\" Shaw won caps for England while at Wigan in 1921 Wales, Other Nationalities\n Glyn Shaw won caps for Wales (RU) while at Neath RFC in 1972 against New Zealand, in 1973 against England, Scotland, Ireland, France, and Australia, in 1974 against Scotland, Ireland, France, and England, and in 1977 against Ireland, and France, won caps for Wales (RL) while at Widnes in 1978 against France, and Australia, in 1980 against France, and England, in 1981 against England, in 1982 against Australia, and in 1984 against England, and won a cap for Great Britain (RL) while at Widnes in 1980 against New Zealand\n Kelvin Skerrett won caps for Wales while at Wigan 1995…1998 (7?)6-caps\n Jeremiah \"Jerry\" Shea won caps for Wales while at Wigan 1922…1923 2-caps\n Dick Silcock won caps for England while at Leigh in 1906 Other Nationalities, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1908–09 Australia\n Nathan \"Nat\" Silcock, Jr. won caps for England while at Wigan in 1951 Other Nationalities, in 1952 Other Nationalities, in 1953 Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at in 1954 Australia (3 matches)\n Edward \"Ted\" Slevin won caps for England while at Wigan in 1950 Wales, in 1953 France\n Tony Smith won caps for England while at Castleford in 1995 France (sub), Fiji, South Africa (sub), Wales, Australia, while at Wigan in 2000 Australia, Fiji, Ireland (sub), New Zealand, and won caps for Great Britain while at Castleford in 1996 Papua New Guinea (sub), Fiji (sub), while at Wigan in 1998 New Zealand (3 matches)\n Colin Standing won caps for Wales while at Wigan, and Oldham 1969…1970 2-caps\n Frank Stephens won caps for Wales while at Wigan 1926…1930 4-caps\n John Stephens won caps for England while at Wigan in 1969 Wales, France, in 1970 France\n Harry Street won caps for England while at Dewsbury in 1950 Wales (2 matches), France, while at Wigan in 1951 France, in 1952 Wales, in 1953 France, and won caps for Great Britain while at Dewsbury in 1950 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand\n Jim Sullivan won caps for Wales while at Wigan 1921…1939 27-caps, won caps for England while at Wigan in 1933 Australia, in 1934 Australia, France, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1924 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand, in 1926–27 New Zealand (3 matches), in 1928 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (3 matches), in 1929–30 Australia (3 matches), in 1932 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (3 matches), in 1933 Australia (3 matches)\n Michael \"Mick\" Sullivan won caps for England while at Huddersfield in 1955 Other Nationalities, in 1956 France, while at St. Helens in 1962 France, and won caps for Great Britain while at Huddersfield in 1954 France (2 matches), New Zealand, Australia, in 1955 New Zealand (3 matches), in 1956 Australia (3 matches), in 1957 France (3 matches), France, Australia, New Zealand, while at Wigan France (2 matches), in 1958 France, Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), in 1959 France (2 matches), Australia (3 matches), in 1960 France (3 matches), France, New Zealand, Australia, while at St. Helens in 1961 France, New Zealand (2 matches), in 1962 France (3 matches), Australia (3 matches), New Zealand, while at York in 1963 Australia (World Cup in 1954 3-caps, 1-try, in 1957 3-caps, 3-tries, in 1960 3-caps, 1-try)\n Gael Tallec England battle to French wins won caps for France while at Wigan c.-1995 ?-caps\n Gwyn Thomas won caps for Wales while at Wigan, and Huddersfield 1914…1921 2-caps, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1914 against Australia, while at Huddersfield in 1920 against Australia (3 matches), and New Zealand (2 matches), in 1921 against Australia (2 matches), and in 1922 against Australia\n John \"Johnny\" Thomas won a caps for Wales while at Wigan including in 1908 against New Zealand, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1908 against New Zealand, and Australia, in 1909 against Australia (2 matches), in 1910 against Australia (2 matches), and Australasia (2 matches), and New Zealand, and in 1911 against Australia\n Rees Thomas won a cap for Wales while at Wigan in 1959 against France at Stade des Minimes, Toulouse on Sunday 1 March 1959\n Trevor 'Ocker' Thomas won a cap for Wales (RU) while at Abertillery RFC in 1930 against England, and won caps for Wales (RL) while at Oldham, and Wigan 1932…1940 3-caps\n Va'aiga Tiugamala won caps for Western Samoa while at Wigan c.-1995 ?-caps\n Llewellyn \"Llew\" Treharne won caps for Wales while at Wigan 1908 2-caps\n Shaun Wane won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1984 against France, and in 1985 against France\n Edward \"Ted\" Ward won caps for Wales while at Wigan, and Cardiff 1946…1951 13-caps, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1946 against Australia (2 matches), and New Zealand\n Edward \"Eddie\" Watkins won caps for Wales while at Wigan 1941…1945 3-caps\n Les White won caps for England while at York City Knights in 1946 France (2 matches), Wales (2 matches), in 1947 France (2 matches), Wales, while at Wigan in 1947 Wales, in 1948 France, Halifax in 1951 Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at York City Knights in 1946 Australia (3 matches), New Zealand, while at Wigan in 1947 New Zealand (2 matches)\n Stephen Wild won caps for England while at Wigan in 2005 New Zealand, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 2004 Australia (sub), while at Huddersfield in 2007 France\n Gwyn Williams won a cap for Wales while at Wigan in 1939\n David Willicombe won caps for Wales while at Halifax in 1970 against England, while at Wigan in 1975 against France, and England, in the 1975 Rugby League World Cup against France, England, Australia, New Zealand, New Zealand, and France, and in 1978 against France, England, and Australia, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wigan in 1974 against France (2 matches), and New Zealand (World Cup in 1975 6-caps, 2-tries)\n William \"Billy\" Winstanley won caps for England while at Leigh in 1910 Wales, while at Wigan in 1911 Wales, Australia, in 1912 Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Leigh in 1910 Australia, New Zealand, while at Wigan in 1911–12 Australia (3 matches)\n Thomas \"Tom\" Woods won caps for Wales while at Wigan 1921…1923 4-caps\n Stuart Wright won caps for England while at Wigan in 1975 New Zealand, while at Widnes in 1977 Wales, in 1978 France, Wales, in 1979 Wales, France, in 1980 Wales, and won caps for Great Britain while at Widnes in 1977 France, New Zealand, Australia (2 matches), in 1978 Australia (3 matches)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Rugby League Project\n\n \nWigan Warriors internationals",
"The Finland cricket team toured Denmark to play a two-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series in July 2019. These were the first ever matches played by Finland to have T20I status after the International Cricket Council announced that all matches played between Associate Members after 1 January 2019 would have full T20I status. The venue for both matches was Svanholm Park in Brøndby, these being the first T20I matches to be played in Denmark. Denmark won the series 2–0.\n\nSquads\n\nTour matches\n\n1st T20 match\n\n2nd T20 match\n\nT20I series\n\n1st T20I\n\n2nd T20I\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Series home at ESPN Cricinfo\n\nCricket in Denmark\nCricket in Finland\nAssociate international cricket competitions in 2019"
] |
[
"Billy Gunn",
"The Beautiful People (2008-2009)",
"What was Gunn's role in The Beautiful People?",
"I don't know.",
"What is The Beautiful People?",
"!, Kip was revealed to be the new image consultant and member of The Beautiful People, dubbed Cute Kip and was using his Mr.Ass Attire,",
"What was the storyline with Cute Kip?",
"I don't know.",
"Who won in these matches?",
"Morgan and The Latin American Xchange."
] |
C_9fa08c06a25341598cc4fda2d399e91a_0
|
Who was teaming up with Billy Gunn during this time?
| 5 |
Who was teaming up with Billy Gunn during Gunn's role in The Beautiful People?
|
Billy Gunn
|
On April 13, 2008, he faced former partner B.G. James at Lockdown and lost. After the match, he appeared to want to make amends as he raised B.G.'s hand after the match, only to clothesline him down to the mat and taunt him with a DX crotch chop. Kip went on to declare himself "The Megastar", an arrogant gimmick similar to "The One" gimmick from his WWF tenure. Kip later stopped making appearances on Impact! until April 24 when he was attacked backstage by Matt Morgan for no reason. The next week on Impact!, Kip got back at Morgan by attacking him backstage in Jim Cornette's office. On May 8, 2008, Cornette forced Morgan into being Kip's tag team partner for the Deuces Wild tournament at Sacrifice, though both were unable to win. Kip went on another brief disappearance from television until the June 5 edition of Impact!, where he partnered with Lance Hoyt and James Storm in a losing effort against Morgan and The Latin American Xchange. On the August 14 episode of Impact!, Kip was revealed to be the new image consultant and member of The Beautiful People, dubbed Cute Kip and was using his Mr.Ass Attire, after they brought him out during their interview on Karen Angle's show Karen's Angle. at Bound for Glory IV, Kip, Love and Sky lost to Rhino, ODB and Rhaka Khan in a Bimbo Brawl. at Final Resolution (December 2008), Kip competed in the Feast or Fired match but failed to get a case. At Genesis 2009, Kip became the one-night-only replacement for the injured Kevin Nash in the Main Event Mafia. As of March 19, 2009, Sopp was taken off of TNA Impact! along with Jacqueline Moore to become road agents. Sopp returned as Cute Kip and lost to Awesome Kong in an intergender stretcher match on May 14, 2009. On the May 28 edition of Impact!, Kip was fired by The Beautiful People. On the June 18 edition of Impact!, Mick Foley hired him as his handyman, turning Kip into a face. he made another appearance on the August 6 edition of Impact where Kip had to clean up the IMPACT Zone after a chaotic fifteen minute RIOT. on October 9 edition of Xplosion, Kip was defeated by Rhino. on October 30 edition of Xplosion, Kip defeated Sheik Abdul Bashir. on the November 13 edition of Xplosion, Kip lost to Rob Terry and on December 3, 2009 edition of Xplosion, Kip competed in his final TNA match where he lost to Kiyoshi. Sopp's profile was removed from the TNA website on December 29, 2009, confirming his departure from the promotion. CANNOTANSWER
|
Lance Hoyt and James Storm
|
Monty "Kip" Sopp (born November 1, 1963), better known by his ring name Billy Gunn, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a wrestler and coach. Gunn is best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E) from 1993 to 2004 and from 2012 to 2015. He also served as a coach on WWE's Tough Enough and was a trainer in NXT. He is also known for his appearances with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) from 2005 to 2009.
Primarily a tag team wrestler, Gunn is an overall 13-time tag team champion in WWE with three different partners (with Bart Gunn as The Smoking Gunns, with Road Dogg as The New Age Outlaws, and with Chuck Palumbo as Billy and Chuck). He is also a one time WWF Intercontinental Champion and a two time WWF Hardcore Champion, giving him 14 total championships in WWE. He is the 1999 King of the Ring tournament winner, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019 as a member of D-Generation X.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1985–1993)
After a stint as a professional bull rider in Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, Sopp left the profession in his early-20s in order to pursue a career as a professional wrestler. Trained by Jerry Grey, Sopp wrestled on the independent circuit for eight years (including a brief stint as enhancement talent for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) before signing a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1993.
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (1993–2004)
The Smoking Gunns (1993–1996)
After weeks of vignettes, Sopp, under the name Billy Gunn, made his WWF debut on the May 17, 1993 episode of Raw, teaming with his on-screen brother, Bart Gunn to defeat Tony Vadja and Glenn Ruth. The duo, now known as The Smoking Gunns, made their pay-per-view debut at King of the Ring, teaming with The Steiner Brothers to defeat Money Inc. and The Headshrinkers in an eight-man tag team match. At SummerSlam, the duo teamed with Tatanka to pick up a win against Bam Bam Bigelow and the Headshrinkers. On January 22, 1994, Gunn entered his first Royal Rumble match at the namesake event, but was eliminated by Diesel. In early 1995, the Gunns won their first Tag Team Championship by defeating the makeshift team of Bob Holly and 1-2-3 Kid. They held the title until WrestleMania XI, where they were defeated by the team of Owen Hart and Yokozuna. They won the titles again in September 1995.
On February 15, 1996, the Gunns vacated the title because Billy was in need of neck surgery. After Billy returned from hiatus, The Smoking Gunns won the Tag Team Title for the third time by defeating The Godwinns in May. After the match, The Godwinns' manager Sunny turned on her team in favor of the Gunns. On September 22 at In Your House: Mind Games, the Gunns lost the Tag Team Title to Owen Hart and The British Bulldog. After the match, Sunny abandoned The Gunns, saying that she would only manage title holders. Billy, frustrated with losing both the championship and Sunny, walked out on Bart, breaking up The Smoking Gunns.
Rockabilly, The New Age Outlaws and D-Generation X (1997–1998)
After The Smoking Gunns disbanded, Gunn took some time off to nurse an injury. At WrestleMania 13, he defeated Flash Funk catching the attention of The Honky Tonk Man, who made Gunn his protégé. During this time, he adopted a new gimmick, Rockabilly, He would use this gimmick throughout much of 1997 and eventually had a short-lived feud with "The Real Double J" Jesse James. On the October 4, 1997 episode of Shotgun Saturday Night, James realized both of their careers were going nowhere and suggested that they become a tag team. Gunn agreed and smashed a guitar over the Honky Tonk Man's head to solidify their new alliance.
James and Rockabilly were quickly rebranded as "Road Dogg" Jesse James and "Badd Ass" Billy Gunn, respectively, and their tag team was dubbed the New Age Outlaws. They quickly rose to the top of the tag team ranks and won the Tag Team Championship from the Legion of Doom on November 24. They also defeated the LOD in a rematch at In Your House: D-Generation X.
The Outlaws slowly began to align themselves with D-Generation X. At the Royal Rumble, the New Age Outlaws interfered in a Casket match to help Shawn Michaels defeat The Undertaker. At No Way Out Of Texas, the Outlaws teamed up with Triple H and Savio Vega (who replaced the injured Shawn Michaels) to face Chainsaw Charlie, Cactus Jack, Owen Hart, and Steve Austin. They were, however, defeated. On February 2, The Outlaws locked Cactus and Chainsaw in a dumpster and pushed it off the stage. This led to a Dumpster match at WrestleMania XIV where Cactus and Chainsaw defeated the Outlaws for the Tag Titles. The next night on Raw, the New Age Outlaws won the Tag Team Championship for a second time by defeating Chainsaw and Cactus in a Steel cage match, but only after interference from Triple H, Chyna, and X-Pac. After the match, the Outlaws officially became members of D-Generation X (DX).
After joining DX, the Outlaws successfully defended their Tag Team Title against the Legion of Doom 2000 at Unforgiven. DX began to feud with Owen Hart and his new stablemates, The Nation. At Over The Edge, the Outlaws and Triple H were defeated by Nation members Owen, Kama Mustafa, and D'Lo Brown in a Six Man Tag Match.
During this time, the Outlaws began a feud with Kane and Mankind. At SummerSlam, Mankind faced the Outlaws in a Handicap match after Kane no-showed the title defense. The Outlaws defeated Mankind to win the titles for the third time. In December, the Outlaws lost the title to The Big Boss Man and Ken Shamrock from The Corporation.
Mr. Ass and reformation of the Outlaws and DX (1999–2000)
The Outlaws then began to focus more on singles competition. The Road Dogg won the Hardcore Championship in December 1998, and Gunn set his sights on the Intercontinental Championship. At the 1999 Royal Rumble, Gunn unsuccessfully challenged Ken Shamrock for the Intercontinental Title. The next month at St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Gunn was the special guest referee for the Intercontinental Championship match between Val Venis and champion Ken Shamrock, where Gunn made a fast count and declared Venis the new champion before attacking both men.
In March, Gunn won the Hardcore Championship from Hardcore Holly. At WrestleMania XV, Gunn lost the title to Holly in a Triple Threat match which also included Al Snow. The New Age Outlaws then reunited to defeat Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart at Backlash. After Backlash, Gunn left D-Generation X and aligned himself with Triple H and Chyna. Gunn defeated his former partner, Road Dogg, in a match at Over the Edge. Gunn then won the King of the Ring tournament by defeating Ken Shamrock, Kane, and his former ally, X-Pac. After King of the Ring, Gunn, Triple H, and Chyna went on to feud with X-Pac and Road Dogg over the rights to the D-Generation X name. This feud culminated at Fully Loaded when X-Pac and Road Dogg defeated Gunn and Chyna.
Gunn then began a brief feud with The Rock. At SummerSlam, The Rock defeated Gunn in a Kiss My Ass Match. Following this, Gunn then briefly feuded with Jeff Jarrett for the Intercontinental Title before reuniting with Road Dogg to reform The New Age Outlaws. The Outlaws won their fourth tag team championship by defeating The Rock 'n' Sock Connection in September 1999. The Outlaws later reunited with X-Pac and Triple H to reform D-Generation X. During this time, The Outlaws won their fifth Tag Team Championship after defeating Mankind and Al Snow. At the 2000 Royal Rumble, The New Age Outlaws retained their title against The Acolytes after interference from X-Pac. The Outlaws then had a feud with The Dudley Boyz, who won the Tag Team Championship from The Outlaws at No Way Out. After suffering a torn rotator cuff in the match with The Dudley Boyz, Gunn was kicked out of D-Generation X for "losing his cool" to explain his impending absence to recover from his injury.
The One (2000–2001)
Gunn made his return in October and immediately teamed with Chyna to feud with Right to Censor, who wanted to "censor" his Mr. Ass gimmick. At No Mercy, Right to Censor members Steven Richards and Val Venis defeated Chyna and Gunn. Due to a stipulation, Gunn could no longer use the Mr. Ass gimmick, so he renamed himself Billy G. for a few weeks before settling on "The One" Billy Gunn. Gunn then feuded with Eddie Guerrero and the rest of The Radicalz. At Survivor Series, Gunn teamed with Road Dogg, Chyna, and K-Kwik in a losing effort against The Radicalz. A few weeks later on SmackDown!, Gunn won the Intercontinental Championship from Guerrero. However, the title reign was short-lived, as Chris Benoit defeated him for the title two weeks later at Armageddon. After feuding with Benoit, Gunn participated in the 2001 Royal Rumble where he made it to the final four, Gunn interfered in the Hardcore Championship Match at No Way Out, and taking advantage of the 24/7 Rule, pinning Raven for the title. The reign was short-lived, as Raven won it back a few minutes later.
Billy and Chuck (2001–2002)
In a 2001 match on Sunday Night Heat, Gunn was defeated by Chuck Palumbo, who recently left The Alliance to join the WWF. After the match, Gunn suggested that they form a tag team. Palumbo agreed, and Billy and Chuck quickly rose to the top of the tag team division. Initially they were a generic tandem, but they were given a gimmick where they grew increasingly affectionate toward each other, showing evidence of a storyline homosexual relationship.
In February 2002, Billy and Chuck defeated Spike Dudley and Tazz to win the WWF Tag Team Championship for the first time as a team. After winning the titles, Billy and Chuck found a "Personal Stylist" in the ambiguously flamboyant Rico. After retaining the title against the Acolytes Protection Agency, the Dudley Boyz, and the Hardy Boyz in a Four Corners Elimination Match at WrestleMania X8 and against Al Snow and Maven at Backlash, Billy and Chuck began a feud with Rikishi. At Judgment Day, Rikishi and Rico (Rikishi's mystery partner of Mr. McMahon's choosing) defeated Billy and Chuck for the WWE Tag Team Championship after Rico accidentally hit Chuck with a roundhouse kick. Billy and Chuck quickly won the title back two weeks later on SmackDown! with Rico's help. They held the championship for almost a month before losing it to the team of Edge and Hollywood Hulk Hogan on the July 4 episode of SmackDown!.
On the September 5 edition of SmackDown!, after Billy lost a match to Rey Mysterio, Chuck proposed to Billy, asking him to be his "partner for life" and gave him a wedding ring. Billy agreed, and one week later, on the September 12 episode of SmackDown!, Billy and Chuck had their wedding ceremony. However, just before they tied the knot, they revealed that the entire ordeal was a publicity stunt and disavowed their on-screen homosexuality, admitting that they were just friends. The "preacher" revealed himself to be Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff (who was wearing a skin mask), who then summoned 3-Minute Warning to beat up Billy and Chuck. Rico, furious that Billy and Chuck gave up their gimmick, became the manager of Three Minute Warning and defected to Raw. At Unforgiven, Three Minute Warning defeated Billy and Chuck. Their final match together occurred on the October 3 episode of SmackDown! in the first round of a tournament for the newly created WWE Tag Team Championship. They lost the match to the team of Ron Simmons and Reverend D-Von. Afterwards, Gunn took a few months off because of a shoulder injury and the team of Billy and Chuck quietly disbanded.
SmackDown! and return to singles competition (2003–2004)
After returning in the summer of 2003, Gunn reverted to the "Mr. Ass" gimmick, defeating A-Train, and Torrie Wilson became his new manager. He started a feud with Jamie Noble, which led to an "Indecent Proposal" Match at Vengeance, which Noble won and due to the match's stipulation, won a night with Torrie. After taking time off again due to a shoulder injury, Gunn returned to action at the 2004 Royal Rumble, but was eliminated by Goldberg. Afterward, he wrestled mainly on Velocity, forming an occasional tag team with Hardcore Holly. At Judgment Day, Gunn and Holly challenged Charlie Haas and Rico for the WWE Tag Team Championship, but were unsuccessful. At The Great American Bash, Gunn lost to Kenzo Suzuki.
On November 1, 2004, Sopp was released from his WWE contract. In June 2005, Sopp gave an interview in which he was heavily critical of WWE and the events that led to his release. Many of the negative comments were directed towards Triple H, who Sopp claimed "runs the show up there".
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2005–2009)
Planet Jarrett (2005)
On February 13, 2005, Sopp debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) without a name (as Billy Gunn is a WWE trademark, although announcers recognized him as such) at Against All Odds with the same gimmick, helping Jeff Jarrett retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in a match with Kevin Nash. Sopp, using the name The New Age Outlaw, then formed a stable with Jarrett and Monty Brown known as Planet Jarrett. However, WWE threatened TNA with legal action if Sopp continued the use of the name "The New Age Outlaw", so he shortened his name to The Outlaw. Due to the legal issues with WWE, all TNA -DVD releases featuring footage with Sopp as "The Outlaw" (and presumably also as "The New Age Outlaw") have had the name on on-screen graphics blurred, the name silenced out of the audio, and match commentary completely replaced to reflect a retroactive name change to "Kip James". One such DVD is the pay-per-view Lockdown, included in the "TNA Anthology: The Epic Set" box set, in which the silencing of the name during a segment where Dusty Rhodes picks his name from a lottery leaves DVD viewers in the dark as to who just got picked.
The Outlaw began a campaign to make former ally B.G. James leave the 3Live Kru and defect to Planet Jarrett, reforming the old tag team with Outlaw. At No Surrender, he renamed himself Kip James and was announced as "wrestling out of Marietta, Georgia" (the family seat of the Armstrong family) as a psychological ploy. As a result of his campaign, Kip attracted the ire of 3Live Kru members Ron Killings and Konnan, leading to a series of tag team matches pitting Kip and Monty Brown against Killings and Konnan, with a conflicted James unwilling to take sides. Kip's efforts ultimately proved futile; James, the guest referee in a final match between Brown and Kip versus Konnan and Killings at Sacrifice, attacked Kip enabling a 3Live Kru victory.
In September at Unbreakable, Kip teamed with Brown to defeat the team of Apolo and Lance Hoyt. There was clear tension between the partners because Brown was unhappy at the series of losses at the hands of the 3Live Kru, and Kip was irked by Brown's decision to leave Planet Jarrett. Despite the victory, the partners argued after the match. On the October 8, 2005 episode of Impact!, Kip rekindled his feud with the 3Live Kru, running to the ring after a bout between the 3LK and Team Canada in order to prevent Team Canada captain Petey Williams from beating down B.G. James. He saved James, and then engaged in a staredown with Konnan and Killings. Kip saved James from Team Canada once again at Bound for Glory. Though Killings showed signs of gratitude, Konnan remained skeptical as to his true intentions. Later that night, Kip took part in an over-the-top-rope gauntlet match for the number one contendership to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. After he was eliminated, he tried in vain to prevent Killings from being eliminated as well, before being sent away from ringside by the referees.
The James Gang/Voodoo Kin Mafia (2005–2008)
On the November 26 episode of Impact!, B.G. brought Kip and the 3Live Kru to ringside and asked Killings and Konnan whether Kip could join the stable. Following a heated argument between Konnan and B.G., both Killings and Konnan gave their approval, and the 4Live Kru was born. However, at Turning Point, Konnan attacked both B.G. and Kip, costing them their match against Team Canada and initiating a feud between himself and the remainder of the Kru. Shortly thereafter, B.G. James's father, Bob Armstrong, attempted to reconcile the group, but was instead attacked by Konnan and his new stablemates, Apolo and Homicide. Killings later stated that he had severed his ties with the Kru. With Konnan and Killings no longer members of the Kru, Kip and B.G. began referring to themselves as The James Gang and continued to feud with the Konnan-managed Latin American Exchange, whose third man position as Homicide's partner would switch from Apolo to Machete, and then from him to Hernandez, who finally stuck, during the course of this feud. At Final Resolution, The James Gang defeated The Diamonds in the Rough (David Young and Elix Skipper). At Against All Odds, The James Gang defeated LAX (Homicide and Machete). At Destination X, The James Gang and Bob Armstrong defeated Latin American Exchange in a six-man tag team match. At Sacrifice, The James Gang defeated Team 3D which led to a rematch at Slammiversary where Team 3D defeated The James Gang in a Bingo Hall Brawl. At Victory Road, The James Gang and Abyss defeated Team 3D and their newest member Brother Runt. At No Surrender, The James Gang competed in a Triple Chance tag team battle royal but failed to win the match. At Bound for Glory, The James Gang competed in a Four-way tag team match which was won by Team 3D.
By November 2006, Kip and B.G. began to show displeasure in TNA and threatened to go find work elsewhere if they did not receive gold soon. They began performing the crotch chop, a reference to the WWE's DX. On the November 2 edition of Impact!, Kip and B.G. threatened to quit. Kip grabbed the mic and tried to say something to the TNA administration and Spike TV, but each time his mic was cut off. Kip then tried to use the announcer's headset, but it was cut off as well. Frustrated, he started yelling loudly to the crowd, but he was cut off again as the show went to a commercial break. When the show returned, the announcers speculated that they may have been frustrated due to the influx of new talent entering TNA. It was reported that the segment was a worked shoot that Vince Russo had written in order to renew interest upon their eventual return. Kip and BG appeared in an internet video on TNA's website where they addressed the owner of WWE Vince McMahon.
A few weeks later on Impact!, The James Gang re-emerged under a new name Voodoo Kin Mafia (VKM for short, a play on Vincent Kennedy McMahon's initials). They mentioned their new right of 'creative control', meaning they could do whatever they wanted. They also declared 'war' on Paul Levesque, Michael Hickenbottom, and Vincent K. McMahon (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Vince McMahon, respectively). Kip then declared that 'Triple Hollywood' and 'Shawn Kiss-my-bottom' were failing as the group they (Kip and BG) used to be a part of: D-Generation X. After the initial shock value of this incident wore off, at Genesis, The Voodoo Kin Mafia defeated Kazarian, Maverick Matt and Johnny Devine in a handicap match. VKM began a feud with the villainous Christy Hemme. Hemme then searched for a tag team to square-off against VKM. At Destination X, The Voodoo Kin Mafia defeated Hemme's handpicked team of The Heartbreakers (Antonio Thomas & Romeo Roselli). On the Lockdown preshow The Voodoo Kin Mafia defeated another one of Hemme's handpicked team Serotonin (Kaz & Havok) in a Six Sides of Steel match. The final tag team was Damaja and Basham, who appeared on an episode of Impact! and beat down VKM. They also held up Kip James so Hemme could slap him. B.G James was taken out by Basham and Damaja which led to Kip James competed against Basham and Damaja in a handicap match at Sacrifice where he lost. However, they beat Hemme's team at Slammiversary. After the match, VKM were betrayed by their associate Lance Hoyt. At Victory Road, they introduced their new manager, the Voodoo Queen, Roxxi Laveaux, to embarrass Christy Hemme. At Hard Justice, The Voodoo Kin Mafia lost to The Latin American Exchange. At No Surrender, The Voodoo Kin Mafia competed in a Ten-team tag team gauntlet match which was won by A.J. Styles and Tomko. At Bound for Glory, Kip James competed in the Fight for the Right Reverse Battle Royal which was won by Eric Young. On the October 25 edition of Impact!, VKM teamed with A.J. Styles and Tomko in a losing effort to the Latin American Xchange and the Steiner Brothers. At Genesis, B.G. was present along with Kip in the corner of Roxxi Laveaux at ringside for the Fatal Four Way knockout match for the TNA Women's Championship in which Gail Kim retained the title. At Turning Point, James competed in the Feast or Fired where he grabbed a case but threw it to BG James. It was revealed that the case was for a shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship and BG James picked his dad to be his partner at Against All Odds, James and Bob Armstrong failed to win the titles and on February 21, 2008 episode of Impact! he turned on B.G. and B.G's father "Bullet" Bob Armstrong by hitting them both with a crutch.
The Beautiful People (2008–2009)
On April 13, 2008, he faced former partner B.G. James at Lockdown and lost. After the match, he appeared to want to make amends as he raised B.G.'s hand after the match, only to clothesline him down to the mat and taunt him with a DX crotch chop. Kip went on to declare himself "The Megastar", an arrogant gimmick similar to "The One" gimmick from his WWF tenure. Kip later stopped making appearances on Impact! until April 24 when he was attacked backstage by Matt Morgan for no reason. The next week on Impact!, Kip got back at Morgan by attacking him backstage in Jim Cornette's office. On May 8, 2008, Cornette forced Morgan into being Kip's tag team partner for the Deuces Wild tournament at Sacrifice, though both were unable to win. Kip went on another brief disappearance from television until the June 5 edition of Impact!, where he partnered with Lance Hoyt and James Storm in a losing effort against Morgan and The Latin American Xchange.
On the August 14 episode of Impact!, Kip was revealed to be the new image consultant and member of The Beautiful People, dubbed Cute Kip and was using his Mr.Ass Attire, after they brought him out during their interview on Karen Angle's show Karen's Angle. at Bound for Glory IV, Kip, Love and Sky lost to Rhino, ODB and Rhaka Khan in a Bimbo Brawl. at Final Resolution (December 2008), Kip competed in the Feast or Fired match but failed to get a case. At Genesis 2009, Kip became the one-night-only replacement for the injured Kevin Nash in the Main Event Mafia.
As of March 19, 2009, Sopp was taken off of TNA Impact! along with Jacqueline Moore to become road agents. Sopp returned as Cute Kip and lost to Awesome Kong in an intergender stretcher match on May 14, 2009. On the May 28 edition of Impact!, Kip was fired by The Beautiful People. On the June 18 edition of Impact!, Mick Foley hired him as his handyman, turning Kip into a face. he made another appearance on the August 6 edition of Impact where Kip had to clean up the IMPACT Zone after a chaotic fifteen minute "riot". On October 9 edition of Xplosion, Kip was defeated by Rhino. On October 30 edition of Xplosion, Kip defeated Sheik Abdul Bashir. on the November 13 edition of Xplosion, Kip lost to Rob Terry and on December 3, 2009 edition of Xplosion, Kip competed in his final TNA match where he lost to Kiyoshi.
Sopp's profile was removed from the TNA website on December 29, 2009, confirming his departure from the promotion.
Independent circuit (2009–2012)
After leaving TNA, Sopp reunited with B.G. James to reform The New Age Outlaws, with both men resuming their Billy Gunn and Road Dogg ring names. After joining TWA Powerhouse in 2010, the Outlaws defeated Canadian Extreme to win the promotion's Tag Team Championship on July 25. They re-lost the title to Canadian Extreme on June 5, 2011.
On July 30, 2011, Sopp, working under the ring name Kip Gunn, made his debut for Lucha Libre USA as a member of the heel stable The Right. Later that night, Gunn lost in his debut match against Marco Corleone. On June 26, 2012, Sopp won the American Pro Wrestling Alliance American Championship. However, he lost the title due to travel issues. On September 8 and 9, 2012, he wrestled in a Bad Boys of Wrestling Federation tournament. He defeated Rhino in the semi-finals and Scott Steiner in the final, winning the BBWF Aruba Championship.
Return to WWE (2012–2015)
On July 23, Sopp, under his Billy Gunn name, made his first WWE appearance in nearly eight years as he reunited with Road Dogg, X-Pac, Shawn Michaels and Triple H to reform D-Generation X for one night only on the 1000th episode of Raw. In December 2012, he was hired by WWE as a trainer for the NXT Wrestling territory in Tampa, Florida. On March 4, 2013, Gunn and Road Dogg made a return at Old School Raw, defeating Primo and Epico. On March 11, 2013, they accepted a challenge from Team Rhodes Scholars and faced them in a match, which was interrupted by Brock Lesnar, who hit both Outlaws with an F-5 as part of his ongoing feud with Triple H.
He then appeared alongside Road Dogg to help CM Punk clear out The Shield in aid of Roddy Piper on Old School Raw on January 6, 2014. On the January 10 episode of SmackDown, the Outlaws teamed with CM Punk in a six-man tag match against The Shield in a losing effort. On the January 13 episode of Raw, the Outlaws again teamed with Punk in a rematch against The Shield, only to abandon Punk and lose the match. On January 26 during the Royal Rumble Kickoff Show, Gunn and Road Dogg beat Cody Rhodes and Goldust to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. The next night on Raw the New Age Outlaws retained the championship against Rhodes and Goldust via disqualification when Brock Lesnar attacked the brothers. The next week on Raw the New Age Outlaws retained the championship against Rhodes and Goldust in a steel cage match. On March 3, the Outlaws lost the Tag Team Championship to The Usos. Gunn sustained hemoptysis after he and his New Age Outlaws partner, Road Dogg, suffered a double-Triple Powerbomb by The Shield at WrestleMania XXX.
Gunn returned to Raw with Road Dogg in January 2015, attacking The Ascension along with the nWo and the APA. At the Royal Rumble, the Outlaws faced The Ascension in a losing effort. At WrestleMania 31, Gunn, with Road Dogg, X-Pac and Shawn Michaels, reunited as D-Generation X to help Triple H in his match against Sting. In May, Gunn was announced as a coach along with WWE Hall of Famers Booker T and Lita for the sixth season of Tough Enough.
On November 13, 2015, WWE officially announced that Sopp was released from his WWE contract after failing a test for performance-enhancing drugs. He had tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone at a powerlifting event on July 25, 2015, and was suspended from powerlifting for four years.
Independent circuit (2015–2020)
On December 26, 2015, Gunn teamed up with Kevin Thorn to defeat Brian Klass and Rob Street. One month later, Gunn defeated Ken Dixon for the MCW Pro Wrestling MCW Rage Television Championship. On February 5, 2016, Gunn defeated Joey Hayes in the Preston City Wrestling PCW Road to Glory tournament, on February 6 he lost to T-Bone in the quarter-finals that same night Gunn teamed up with Mr. Anderson and Tajiri to defeat Dave Raynes, Joey Hayes, and Martin Kirby. On February 7, 2016 Gunn challenged for the Pro Wrestling Pride Heavyweight championship losing to Steve Griffiths. On March 19, 2016, Gunn lost the title to Ken Dixon. On June 12, 2016, Gunn won the Smashmouth Pro Wrestling championship from KC Huber but lost it on the same night, Gunn teamed again with Anderson in a losing effort against the UK Hooligans at PCW Tribute to the Troops on June 25, 2016. He defeated Hardcore Holly in a singles match at PCW Top Gunn on July 2, 2016.
On September 4, 2016, Gunn made his debut for Chikara, representing DX alongside X-Pac in a tag team gauntlet match. The two entered the match as the final team and scored the win over Prakash Sabar and The Proletariat Boar of Moldova.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2016–2017)
On November 5, 2016, at the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) event Power Struggle, Yoshitatsu announced Gunn as the newest member of his Hunter Club stable and his partner for the upcoming 2016 World Tag League. Gunn and Yoshitatsu finished the tournament on December 8 with a record of three wins and four losses, failing to advance from their block. Gunn returned to NJPW on January 4, 2017, taking part in the pre-show New Japan Rumble at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome, from which he was eliminated by the eventual winner Michael Elgin. While Gunn did not appear for NJPW for the next six months, he was brought up in May by Yoshitatsu, who told Hiroshi Tanahashi that Gunn had requested a match against him. When Tanahashi captured the IWGP Intercontinental Championship the following month, he immediately nominated Gunn as his first challenger. Gunn was defeated in the title match on July 2 at G1 Special in USA, and it was his final match in NJPW.
WWE appearances (2018–2019)
Gunn and numerous other WWE legends appeared on the January 22, 2018 episode of Raw 25 Years as part of the D-Generation X reunion. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2019 as a member of D-Generation X.
All Elite Wrestling (2019–present)
In January 2019, Gunn was hired by All Elite Wrestling as a coach. At May 25 at the AEW Double or Nothing event he competed in the pre-show battle royal. Gunn made his first televised appearance for AEW on the November 20, 2019 episode of AEW Dynamite, competing in a battle royal. He also appeared during the January 1, 2020 episode of Dynamite, wrestling in a dark match with his son Austin that aired on January 7, 2020. They wrestled again together on another dark match during the January 8, 2020 episode of Dynamite, airing on January 17, 2020, with the tag team name "The Gunn Club", defeating the team of Peter Avalon and Shawn Spears. Gunn has also appeared in the crowd (made up of AEW wrestlers and other employees) on numerous episodes of Dynamite during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the May 27, 2020 episode of Dynamite, Gunn now under the shortened ring name of Billy participated in a battle royal match to determine the number one contender for the TNT Championship. He also would wrestle MJF in a singles match on the June 17, 2020 episode of Dynamite as well. The Gunn Club would wrestle in more tag team matches on more episodes of AEW Dark.
On the November 4, 2020 episode of Dynamite, The Gunn Club teamed with Cody Rhodes to successfully defeat The Dark Order (John Silver, 10 and Colt Cabana). On the November 17, 2020 episode of Dark, The Gunn Club, which now added Austin's brother and Gunn's other son Colten to the stable, defeated Bshp King, Joey O'Riley and Sean Maluta by pinfall in a six-man tag team match. On the same day the AEW website's roster page got updated and his name was once again changed to its long form, Billy Gunn. The three man Gunn Club would then defeat Cezar Bononi, KTB, and Seth Gargis in another six man tag team match on the November 24, 2020 episode of Dark. On the December 8, 2020 episode of Dark The three man Gunn Club-which entered the ring on a golf cart with the words "Taz Taxi" on the side, defeated Shawn Dean, Sean Maluta & RYZIN. On the December 1, 2021 episode of Dynamite, The Gunn Club stable's undefeated streak in AEW ended when Billy and Colten Gunn lost to the team of Sting and Darby Allin.
Professional wrestling style, persona and reception
Gunn has had several gimmicks throughout his career, ranging from his cowboy-themed gimmick with the Smoking Gunns to his The Ambiguously Gay Duo-esque tag team with Chuck Palumbo. Gunn has stated on multiple shoot interviews that he has no regrets with his gimmicks as he was performing a job and doing what was asked of him to do.
By far, Gunn's most infamous gimmick was his "Mr. Ass" persona based around his ass. The gimmick started during his New Age Outlaws days when Road Dogg would refer to themselves as "Mr. Dogg" and "Mr. Ass" in promos, though the "Bad Ass" name wasn't referring to his backside at that time. What was originally a throwaway joke turned into Gunn mooning his opponents and the live crowd, though as the original incarnation of DX also did this, it could originally be argued that it was an extension of the Outlaws joining DX.
Upon leaving DX, Gunn fully embraced the "Mr. Ass" gimmick by placing emphasis on his "moneymaker". While Road Dogg kept the New Age Outlaws entrance music for his own, Gunn adopted the song "Ass Man" as part of the gimmick, and for a time even changed his ring tights to be see-through, wearing only a thong underneath his tights, although he would eventually revert back to the DX-era tights.
The "Mr. Ass" gimmick has mixed reviews. One web site ranked it near the middle of Gunn's various gimmicks, while a writer for Bleacher Report thought it was the worst gimmick ever even though Gunn was at his peak popularity with the persona. Gunn himself told Chris Van Vliet in 2021 that he never paid attention to the "Ass Man" lyrics until a college professor broke down each expression.
Due to the enduring legacy of the "Mr. Ass" gimmick, in November 2021 Ring of Honor wrestler Danhausen began a Twitter feud with the Gunn Club, referring to Billy as "Billy Ass," and Colten and Austin as The "Ass Boys," in reference to Gunn's infamous "Mr. Ass" gimmick in the Attitude Era. While Gunn himself initially had no comment, the rest of Gunn Club despised the nickname after fans began chanting "Ass Boys" during their matches, notably during an AEW event at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Virginia. Gunn finally commented when he surprised his sons by wearing an "Ass Boys" shirt, encouraging them to "embrace the assness" and even started teasing mooning the crowd again. Gunn also thanked Danhausen publicly for getting his sons over in a way that he couldn't.
Other media
Filmography
Video Games
WWF Attitude
WWF WrestleMania 2000
WWF SmackDown!
WWF No Mercy
WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role
WWF Road To WrestleMania
WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It
WWF Raw
WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth
WWE Raw 2
WWE '13
WWE 2K16
WWE 2K17
Personal life
Sopp was born on November 1, 1963 in Orlando, Florida and claims Austin, Texas as his hometown. In November 1990, Sopp was arrested in Florida for disorderly conduct. Sopp married his first wife Tina Tinnell on March 3, 1990. Together, they have two sons: Colten (born May 18, 1991) and Austin (born August 26, 1994) who are also professional wrestlers. The couple separated in January 2000 and their divorce was finalized on December 11, 2002. Sopp has since married his long-time girlfriend Paula on January 24, 2009.
Sopp's sons Austin and Colten, better known by the ring names Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn, are currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where alongside their father they form a stable known as "Gunn Club".
Sopp attended Sam Houston State University.
Championships and accomplishments
American Pro Wrestling Alliance
APWA American Championship (1 time)
Bad Boys of Wrestling Federation
BBFW Aruba Championship (1 time)
BBFW Aruba Championship Tournament (2012)
International Wrestling Federation
IWF Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Brett Colt
Freedom Pro Wrestling
FPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Road Dogg
Maryland Championship Wrestling
MCW Rage Television Championship (1 time)
MCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with B.G. James
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Tag Team of the Year (1998) with Road Dogg
Tag Team of the Year (2002) with Chuck
Ranked #39 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1999
Ranked #231 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
Ranked #43 of the top 100 tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Road Dogg in 2003
SmashMouth Pro Wrestling
SPW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
TWA Powerhouse
TWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with B.G. James
Vanguard Championship Wrestling
VCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Pro Wrestling
WPW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Worst Worked Match of the Year (2006) TNA Reverse Battle Royal on TNA Impact!
WWE/World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
WWF Hardcore Championship (2 times)
WWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time)
WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Road Dogg
WWF World Tag Team Championship (10 times) – with Bart Gunn (3), Road Dogg (5) and Chuck (2)
King of the Ring (1999)
Raw Bowl – with Bart Gunn
WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2019) - as a member of D-Generation X
References
External links
1963 births
All Elite Wrestling personnel
American male professional wrestlers
American powerlifters
Bull riders
D-Generation X members
Expatriate professional wrestlers in Japan
LGBT characters in professional wrestling
Living people
Professional wrestlers from Florida
Professional wrestling trainers
Sam Houston State University alumni
Sportspeople from Orlando, Florida
The Authority (professional wrestling) members
WWE Hall of Fame inductees
WWF/WWE Hardcore Champions
WWF/WWE Intercontinental Champions
WWF/WWE King Crown's Champions/King of the Ring winners
American expatriate sportspeople in Japan
| true |
[
"Colten Sopp (born May 18, 1991), better known by the ring name Colten Gunn, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to the promotion All Elite Wrestling, where he is part of the stable Gunn Club alongside his father Billy and his brother Austin.\n\nEarly life \nSopp attended Florida State University, graduating in 2013. Prior to becoming a professional wrestler, he worked in the construction industry in Southern California.\n\nProfessional wrestling career\n\nAll Elite Wrestling (2020–present) \n\nSopp was trained to wrestle by his father, Billy Gunn. On June 17, 2020, he appeared with the Jacksonville, Florida-based promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW), accompanying his father to ringside for his match against Maxwell Jacob Friedman on AEW Dynamite and being confronted by Friedman's bodyguard Wardlow. Later that month, Sopp's father filed a trademark for \"Colten Gunn\". On episode #53 of the web television show AEW Dark, which aired on September 22, Sopp accompanied his father and his brother to ringside for a tag team match.\n\nSopp made his professional wrestling debut with AEW on November 11, 2020 as \"Colten Gunn\", teaming with his father and his brother Austin (as \"Gunn Club\") to defeat BSHP King, Joey O'Riley, and Sean Maluta in a six-man tag team match. The match was broadcast on episode #62 of AEW Dark on November 17, 2020. He returned in the following weeks, teaming with his father and brother in further six-man tag team matches and tag team matches. As part of Gunn Club, Gunn became a member of Cody Rhodes' Nightmare Family stable. On the March 3, 2021 episode of AEW Dynamite, Gunn Club were at ringside for a tag team match pitting Rhodes and Red Velvet against Shaquille O'Neal and Jade Cargill; during the match, Austin Gunn attacked O'Neal at ringside, prompting him to beat down Austin and Colten. Gunn wrestled his first match on pay-per-view at Revolution on March 7, 2021, competing alongside Austin in a \"casino\" tag team battle royal. Throughout the remainder of 2021, Gunn primarily teamed with his father in tag team bouts on AEW Dark and AEW Dark: Elevation. Gunn wrestled his first match on AEW Dynamite on August 25, 2021, teaming with his father and brother to defeat The Factory in a six-man tag team match. On the September 1, 2021 episode of AEW Dynamite, the Gunn Club turned heel by attacking Paul Wight. In November 2021, the Gunn Club began a short feud with Darby Allin and Sting that saw Colten sustain his first defeat on the December 1, 2021 episode of Dynamite when he was pinned by Sting; this loss also marked the end of the Gunn Club's undefeated streak in AEW. On February 9, 2022, in a match which would air two days later on AEW Rampage, Colten and Austin Gunn wrestled for the AEW World Tag Team Championship, losing to reigning champions Jurassic Express.\n\nProfessional wrestling style and persona \nGunn's finishing move is the Colt 45, a butterfly neckbreaker. He previously used a leg drop bulldog, also called the Colt 45; his father Billy Gunn used the same move, calling it the Fame-Ass-Er. Gunn and his brother Austin/his father also use the 3:10 to Yuma as a double-team maneuver: a back body drop by Colton into a neckbreaker by Austin/Billy.\n\nIn November 2021, professional wrestler Danhausen began a Twitter \"feud\" with the Gunn Club, referring to Colten and Austin as \"Ass Boys\", in reference to Billy Gunn's \"Mr. Ass\" gimmick during the Attitude Era. While Billy Gunn himself initially had no comment, the rest of the Gunn Club despised the nickname after fans began chanting \"Ass Boys\" during their matches. Billy Gunn finally commented when he surprised his sons by wearing an \"Ass Boys\" shirt, encouraging them to \"embrace the assness\" and teasing mooning the crowd as he did during his days as Mr. Ass.\n\nPersonal life \nSopp is the son of professional wrestler Billy Gunn. His brother, Austin Gunn, is also a professional wrestler.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n \n \n\n1991 births\nAll Elite Wrestling personnel\nAmerican male professional wrestlers\nFlorida State University alumni\nLiving people\nProfessional wrestlers from Florida\nSportspeople from Orlando, Florida",
"Austin Sopp (born August 26, 1994), better known by the ring name Austin Gunn, is an American professional wrestler, Rapper and reality television personality currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he is part of the stable Gunn Club alongside his father and his brother Colten. Gunn is a second-generation professional wrestler, as he is a son of professional wrestler Billy Gunn.\n\nProfessional wrestling career\n\nRing of Honor (2019)\nIn June 2019, Gunn confirmed that he had signed a contract with Ring of Honor (ROH). He made his ROH debut on August 26, 2019 in a dark match as part of the ROH Top Prospect Tournament, defeating Brian Johnson in the quarterfinals and Dante Caballero in the semifinals. On September 28, 2019, Gunn was defeated by Dak Draper in the finals of the Top Prospect Tournament.\n\nAll Elite Wrestling (2020–present)\nOn January 9, 2020, it was announced that Gunn had officially signed with All Elite Wrestling.\n\nOn January 14, 2020, Gunn made his AEW debut in a tag team match on AEW Dark teaming with his father Billy Gunn as The Gunn Club defeating the team of Peter Avalon and Shawn Spears. Gunn suffered a torn PCL injury during the match. On November 4, 2020, Gunn, who had previously been involved with his father in tag team matches on Dark, officially made his debut on AEW Dynamite, teaming with not only his father, but also Cody Rhodes to defeat Dark Order members 10, John Silver and Colt Cabana. \nOn the November 17, 2020 episode of Dark, Austin's brother Colten, now wrestling as a fellow Gunn Club member, would team with Austin and their father in a match which saw the Gunn Club defeat BSHP King, Joey O’Riley and Sean Maluta by pinfall in a six man tag team match. The three man Gunn Club would then defeat Cezar Bononi, KTB, and Seth Gargis in another six man tag team match on the November 24, 2020 episode of Dark. On the December 8, 2020 episode of Dark The three man Gunn Club-which entered the ring on a golf cart with the words \"Taz Taxi\" on the side, defeated Shawn Dean, Sean Maluta & RYZIN. On February 9, 2022, in a match which would air two days later on AEW Rampage, Austin and Colten Gunn wrestled for the AEW Tag Championship, losing to reigning champions Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus).\n\nSomewhat outside of AEW, in November 2021 Ring of Honor wrestler Danhausen began a Twitter feud with the Gunn Club, referring to Colten and Austin as \"Ass Boys\", in reference to Billy Gunn's infamous \"Mr. Ass\" gimmick in the Attitude Era. While Billy Gunn himself initially had no comment, the rest of Gunn Club despised the nickname after fans began chanting \"Ass Boys\" during their matches. Billy Gunn finally commented when he surprised his sons by wearing an \"Ass Boys\" shirt, encouraging them to \"embrace the assness\" and even started teasing mooning the crowd again.\n\nOther media\nOn December 6, 2021, it was revealed that Gunn would be featured in the E! reality television series Relatively Famous: Ranch Rules.\n\nPersonal life\nSopp was born on August 26, 1994 in Orlando, Florida. He is a son of professional wrestler Billy Gunn and the brother of professional wrestler Colten Gunn. Sopp attended Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida from 2013 to 2017 he graduated with a degree in elementary education.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1994 births\nAll Elite Wrestling personnel\nAmerican male professional wrestlers\nLiving people\nProfessional wrestlers from Florida\nRollins College alumni\nSportspeople from Orlando, Florida\nParticipants in American reality television series\nAmerican male rappers"
] |
[
"Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester",
"Evacuation of New York"
] |
C_1600d2675e344305ab34e3971a5359f4_1
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was New York an evacuation?
| 1 |
What was the Evacuation of New York?
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Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester
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In August 1783, Carleton was informed that Great Britain would grant the United States its independence. With his exit from New York imminent, Carleton asked to be relieved of his command. With this news, Loyalists began an exodus from the Thirteen Colonies and Carleton did his best to have them resettled outside the United States. At a meeting with George Washington, among others, to arrange for the implementation of those parts of the Treaty of Paris relating to the evacuation of New York City, then commanded by Carleton and still occupied by the British Army, many Loyalists and former slaves, Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation. Instead, he proposed a registry so that "the owners might eventually be paid for the slaves who were entitled to their freedom by British Proclamation and promises." Sir Guy noted that nothing could be changed in any Articles that were inconsistent with prior policies or National Honour. He added that the only mode was to pay for the Negroes, in which case justice was done to all, the former slaves and the owners. Carleton said that it would be a breach of faith not to honour the British policy of liberty to the Negro and declared that if removing them proved to be an infraction of the treaty, then compensation would have to be paid by the British government. To provide for such a contingency, he had a register kept of all Negroes who left, called the Book of Negroes, entering their names, ages, occupations, and names of their former masters. The Americans agreed to this, but as far as can be determined, the Crown never paid compensation. The British transported about 3,000 freedmen and other Loyalists to Nova Scotia for resettlement. As the colony struggled, some of the freedmen later chose in the early 1790s to go to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where the British set up a new colony, which included the Black Poor from London. Washington disagreed with Sir Guy's actions and wrote: "...the measure is totally different from the letter and spirit of the Treaty but waiving the specialty of the point, leaving this decision to our respective Sovereigns I find it my duty to signify my readiness in conjunction with you to enter into agreements, or take any measures which may be deemed expedient to prevent the future carrying away any Negroes or other property of the American people." On 28 November, the evacuation was finished, and Carleton returned to England. John Campbell of Strachur succeeded him as Commander-in-Chief, North America, although the post was then much reduced in scope. CANNOTANSWER
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to arrange for the implementation of those parts of the Treaty of Paris relating to the evacuation of New York City,
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Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester (3 September 1724 – 10 November 1808), known between 1776 and 1786 as Sir Guy Carleton, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and administrator. He twice served as Governor of the Province of Quebec, from 1768 to 1778, concurrently serving as Governor General of British North America in that time, and again from 1785 to 1795. The title Baron Dorchester was created on 21 August 1786.
He commanded British troops in the American War of Independence, first leading the defence of Quebec during the 1775 rebel invasion, and the 1776 counteroffensive that drove the rebels from the province. In 1782 and 1783, he led as the commander-in-chief of all British forces in North America. In this capacity he was notable for carrying out the Crown's promise of freedom to slaves who joined the British, and he oversaw the evacuation of British forces, Loyalists and more than 3,000 freedmen from New York City in 1783 to transport them to a British colony. Toward this end, Carleton assigned Samuel Birch to create the Book of Negroes.
The military and political career of his younger brother, Thomas Carleton, was interwoven with his own, and Thomas served under him in the Canadas.
Early career
Guy Carleton was born into an Ulster Protestant military family that had lived in Ulster in the north of the Kingdom of Ireland since the Plantation of Ulster in the 17th century, and was one of three brothers (the others being Thomas Carleton and William Carleton) who served in the British military. He was born and raised in Strabane in the west of County Tyrone, just across the River Foyle from Lifford in County Donegal. Guy also had a sister, Connolly Crawford. When he was fourteen his father, Christopher Carleton, died, and his mother, Catherine Carleton, then married Reverend Thomas Skelton. He received a limited education.
In 1742, at the age of seventeen, Carleton was commissioned as an ensign into the 25th Regiment of Foot, in which in 1745 he was promoted lieutenant. During this period he became a friend of James Wolfe; he may have served with Wolfe at the Battle of Culloden during the Jacobite rising of 1745. Two of his brothers, William and Thomas, also joined the British Army.
In 1740 the War of the Austrian Succession broke out in Europe. Despite British troops having been engaged on the European continent since 1742, it was not until 1747 that Carleton and his regiment were despatched to Flanders. They fought the French, but were unable to prevent the Fall of Bergen-op-Zoom, a major Dutch fortress, and the war was brought to a halt by an armistice. In 1748 the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was signed and Carleton returned to Britain. He was frustrated to still only be a lieutenant, and believed his opportunities of advancement would be limited with the end of the war.
In 1751 he joined the 1st Foot Guards and in 1752 was promoted to captain. His career received a major boost when he was chosen, at the suggestion of Wolfe, to act as a guide to The 3rd Duke of Richmond during a tour of the battlefields of the recent war. Richmond would become an influential patron to Carleton.
Seven Years' War
Germany
In 1757, Guy Carleton was made a lieutenant colonel and served as part of the Army of Observation made up of German troops designed to protect Hanover from French invasion. The army was forced to retreat following the Battle of Hastenbeck and eventually concluded the Convention of Klosterzeven, taking them out of the war. After the convention was signed, Carleton returned to Britain. In 1758 he was made the lieutenant colonel of the newly formed 72nd Regiment of Foot. James Wolfe selected Carleton as his aide in the 1758 attack on Louisburg. King George II declined to make this appointment, possibly because of negative comments he made about the soldiers of Hanover during his service on the Continent.
For some time he was unable to gain active position, until he was sent back to Germany to serve as an aide-de-camp to Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick.
Canada
In December 1758 Wolfe, now a major general, was given command of the upcoming campaign against the city of Quebec, and selected Carleton as his quarter-master general. King George refused to make this appointment also until Lord Ligonier talked to the king about the matter and the king changed his mind. When Lieutenant-Colonel Carleton arrived in Halifax he assumed command of six hundred grenadiers. He was with the British forces when they arrived at Quebec in June 1759. Carleton was responsible for the provisioning of the army and also acting as an engineer supervising the placement of cannon. Carleton received a head wound during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham and he returned to England after the battle in October 1759.
France and Havana
On 29 March 1761, as the lieutenant colonel of the 72nd Regiment of Foot he took part in the attack on Belle Île, an island off the coast of the northern part of the Bay of Biscay, off the coast of France. Carleton led an attack on the French, but was seriously wounded and prevented from taking any further part in the fighting. After four weeks of fighting, the British gained complete control of the island.
He was made colonel in 1762 and took part in the British expedition against Cuba, which also included Richard Montgomery, who went on to oppose him in 1775. On 22 July, he was wounded leading an attack on a Spanish outpost.
In 1764 he transferred to the 93rd Regiment of Foot.
Governor of Quebec
On 7 April 1766, Carleton was named acting Lieutenant Governor and Administrator of Quebec with James Murray officially in charge. He arrived in Quebec on 22 September 1766. As Carleton had no experience in public affairs and came from a politically insignificant family, his appointment is unusual and was possibly a surprise to him. One connection may have been due to the Duke of Richmond, who in 1766 been made Secretary of State for the North American colonies. Fourteen years earlier, Carleton had tutored the Duke. The Duke was the colonel of the 72nd Regiment of Foot, while Carleton was its lieutenant colonel. He appointed Carleton as commander-in-chief of all troops stationed in Quebec.
The government consisted of a Governor, a council, and an assembly. The governor could veto any action of the council, but London had also given Carleton instructions that all of his actions required the approval of the council. Most officials of the province at this time did not receive a salary and received their income through fees they charged for their services. Carleton tried to replace this system with one in which the officials received a regular salary, but this position was never supported in London. When Carleton renounced his own fees, Murray was furious.
After Murray resigned his position, Carleton was appointed Captain General and Governor-in-Chief on 12 April 1768. Carleton took the oath of office on 1 November 1768. On 9 August 1770 he sailed for England for what he thought was a few months' consultation on issues related to the integration of Quebec into the British system. During his absence, Hector Theophilus de Cramahé, the lieutenant governor, ran the provincial government, with the aid of the first chief justice, William Hey, and the Attorney-General, Francis Maseres. The British merchants of Quebec, many of whom had become disaffected to the colonial administration under Murray, were, at least initially, of good will. The merchants would later be agent for e.g. the Quebec Act of 1774 (14 Geo. III, c.83) and finally the partition of the two Canadas in the Constitutional Act of 1791 (31 Geo. III, c.31).
Marriage and family
On 22 May 1772, at the age of nearly 48, Carleton married Lady Maria Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Effingham. They had issue nine sons and two daughters. His elder brothers having predeceased him, and himself dying two years before his father, third son Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Carleton was father of Arthur, 2nd Baron Dorchester; Christopher's younger brother, the sixth son, Lieutenant-Colonel George Carleton, was father of Guy, the 3rd Baron. The title was extinct at the 3rd Baron's death in 1897, but it was revived when his daughter, Henrietta, was created Baroness Dorchester; the title was extinct at the death of her son, Dudley, 2nd Baron, in 1963.
Later career
Carleton was promoted to major general on 25 May 1772. While he was in London, the Parliament passed the Quebec Act of 1774, based upon his recommendations. It determined how the province was to be administered and was part of a continuing effort to respect some French traditions while ensuring rights of citizens as understood by the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Carleton and Maria returned to Quebec on 18 September 1774, where he began implementing the provisions of the act. While the clergy and the seigneurs (landowners) were happy with provisions favorable to them, British merchants and migrants from the Thirteen Colonies objected to a number of the provisions, which they thought were pro-Catholic. They argued that only English-speaking Protestants should be able to vote or hold public office. Many of the habitants were unhappy with the provisions reinstating the tithe in support of the Catholic Church, as well as seigneurial obligations, such as the corvée (a labor requirement).
In late 1774, the First Continental Congress sent letters to Montreal denouncing the Quebec Act for promoting Catholicism by allowing Catholics to hold civil service positions and reinstating the tithe. John Brown, an agent for the Boston Committee of Correspondence, arrived in Montreal in early 1775 as part of an effort to persuade citizens to send delegates to the Second Continental Congress, scheduled to meet in May 1775. Carleton, while aware of this activity, did nothing to prevent it, beyond discouraging publication of the Congressional letter in the province's only newspaper.
American War of Independence
Defence of Canada
Carleton received notice of the start of the rebellion in May 1775, soon followed by the news of the rebel capture of Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Crown Point, and the raid on Fort Saint-Jean. As he had previously sent two of his regiments to Boston, he had only about 800 regular soldiers left in Quebec. His attempts to raise a militia met with limited success at first, as neither the ethnic French nor the English residents were willing to join. Area Natives were willing to fight on the British side, and the Crown wanted them to do so, but Carleton turned their offer down because he feared the Natives attacking non-combatants. For the same reason, he limited Guy Johnson and his Iroquois allies, who had come to Quebec from New York, to operating only in Quebec.
During the summer of 1775, Carleton directed the preparation of provincial defences, which were focused on Fort Saint-Jean. In September, the Continental Army began its invasion and besieged the fort. When it fell in November, Carleton was forced to flee from Montreal to Quebec City, escaping capture by disguising himself as a commoner.
In December 1775 he directed the city's defences in the Battle of Quebec and the ensuing siege, which was broken by the arrival of British troops in May 1776 under command of John Burgoyne, who was appointed second-in-command. Carleton's younger brother Thomas was part of the relief effort.
Guy Carleton launched a counteroffensive against the rebels, which included repelling an attempted attack on Trois-Rivières. In June 1776, he was appointed a Knight Companion of the Bath. He was promoted to the rank of a general for America only on 26 March 1776.
The next month Carleton commanded British naval forces on the Richelieu River, culminating in the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain in October 1776 against a rebel fleet led by General Benedict Arnold. The British, with a significantly superior fleet, won a decisive victory, destroying or capturing most of the rebel fleet, but the delay prevented Carleton from continuing on to capture Fort Ticonderoga that year. His brother Thomas and nephew Christopher both served on his staff during the campaign. The morning following the battle, a small island in Lake Champlain was named Carleton's Prize, perhaps to Carleton's embarrassment at the time.
He was promoted to lieutenant general on 6 September 1777. In 1777, command of the major northern expedition to divide the rebel colonies was given to General Burgoyne. Upset that he had not been given its command, Carleton asked to be recalled. He was replaced as governor and military commander of Quebec in 1778 by Frederick Haldimand, and returned to England. In 1780 he was appointed by Prime Minister Lord North to a commission investigating public finances. This post he held until 1782, when General Sir Henry Clinton was recalled in the aftermath of the 1781 surrender at Yorktown. Carleton was appointed to replace Clinton as Commander-in-Chief, America, in May 1782. His headquarters in New York City were located at Number One Broadway.
Evacuation of New York
In August 1783, Carleton was informed that Great Britain would grant the United States its independence. With his exit from New York imminent, Carleton asked to be relieved of his command. With this news, Loyalists began an exodus from the Thirteen Colonies and Carleton did his best to have them resettled outside the United States.
At a meeting with George Washington, among others, to arrange for the implementation of those parts of the Treaty of Paris relating to the evacuation of New York City, then commanded by Carleton and still occupied by the British Army, many Loyalists and former slaves, Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation. Instead, he proposed a registry so that "the owners might eventually be paid for the slaves who were entitled to their freedom by British Proclamation and promises."
Sir Guy noted that nothing could be changed in any Articles that were inconsistent with prior policies or National Honour. He added that the only mode was to pay for the Negroes, in which case justice was done to all, the former slaves and the owners. Carleton said that it would be a breach of faith not to honour the British policy of liberty to the Negro and declared that if removing them proved to be an infraction of the treaty, then compensation would have to be paid by the British government. To provide for such a contingency, he had a register kept of all Negroes who left, called the Book of Negroes, entering their names, ages, occupations, and names of their former masters. The Americans agreed to this, but as far as can be determined, the Crown never paid compensation. The British transported about 3,000 freedmen and other Loyalists to Nova Scotia for resettlement. As the colony struggled, some of the freedmen later chose in the early 1790s to go to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where the British set up a new colony, which included the Black Poor from London.
Washington disagreed with Sir Guy's actions and wrote: "…the measure is totally different from the letter and spirit of the Treaty but waiving the specialty of the point, leaving this decision to our respective Sovereigns I find it my duty to signify my readiness in conjunction with you to enter into agreements, or take any measures which may be deemed expedient to prevent the future carrying away any Negroes or other property of the American people."
On 28 November the evacuation was finished, and on 5 December Carleton departed from Staten Island to return to England. John Campbell of Strachur succeeded him as Commander-in-Chief, North America, although the post was then much reduced in scope.
Post-war years and death
Upon his return to England, Carleton recommended the creation of a position of Governor General of all the provinces in British North America. Instead he was appointed "Governor-in-chief", with simultaneous appointments as governor of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and St. John's Island (present-day Prince Edward Island). He arrived in Quebec on 23 October 1786. His position as Governor-in-chief was mostly ignored. He found quickly that his authority in any of the provinces other than Quebec was effective only while he was present in person.
He was raised to the Peerage of Great Britain in August 1786 as The 1st Baron Dorchester, Baron of Dorchester in the County of Oxford.
The Constitutional Act of 1791 split the large territory of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada, corresponding roughly to areas settled by ethnic British and ethnic French, respectively. Sir Alured Clarke was named as the lieutenant governor of Lower Canada and John Graves Simcoe the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada. In August 1791 Carleton left for Britain and on 7 February 1792 took his seat in the House of Lords. He left for Canada again on 18 August 1793 to resume his duties there. His replacement, Robert Prescott, arrived in May 1796. On 9 July 1796 Carleton sailed from Canada to Britain, never to return.
In retirement Lord Dorchester, as he was now, lived mostly at Greywell Hill, adjoining Nately Scures, in Hampshire. After about 1805 he moved to Stubbings House at Burchett's Green, near Maidenhead, in Berkshire. On 10 November 1808, he died suddenly at Stubbings. He was buried in the parish church of St Swithun's, Nately Scures.
Honours and legacy
He was honoured by numerous places and educational institutions named for him:
, a Canadian Forces Naval Reserve Division in Ottawa
Carleton University in Ottawa
Dorchester Avenue in Ottawa
The Carleton, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Carleton, Nova Scotia
Carleton Village, Nova Scotia
Dorchester Road in Niagara Falls, Canada
Dorchester Boulevard, a major thoroughfare in Montreal since renamed René Lévesque Boulevard
Dorchester Square in downtown Montreal
Dorchester Island and the parish and town of Dorchester, all of New Brunswick
Carleton Street, in:
Carlton Street in Downtown Toronto is indirectly named for Carleton via Ann Wood for her brother Guy Carleton Wood of Cornwall, Ontario
Saint John, New Brunswick
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Fredericton, New Brunswick
St. Andrews, New Brunswick
Moosomin, Saskatchewan
Rue Dorchester, a thoroughfare in Quebec City.
Old Carleton County Court House, Upper Woodstock, New Brunswick
Carleton Place, a town in Eastern Ontario
Carleton County, New Brunswick
Carleton County, Ontario, that became the Region of Ottawa-Carleton, and then the City of Ottawa with amalgamation in 2001.
Carleton-sur-Mer, Quebec, a town on the North Shore of Baie de Chaleurs.
Guysborough County, Nova Scotia (Guys' borough)
Guy's Restaurant, in his birthplace of Strabane, is also named after Carleton. The restaurant was formerly known as the Carleton Club.
Lord Dorchester High School in Dorchester, Ontario
Sir Guy Carleton Secondary School in Ottawa
Sir Guy Carleton Elementary School in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Carleton is mentioned in a Fort Saint-Jean plaque erected in 1926 by Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean. "Constructed in 1743 by M. de Léry under orders from Governor la Galissonnière. This post was for all the military expeditions towards Lake Champlain. On 31 August 1760, Commandant de Roquemaure had it blown up in accordance with orders from the Governor de Vaudreuil in order to prevent its falling into the hands of the English. Rebuilt by Governor Carleton, in 1773. During the same year, under the command of Major Charles Preston of the 26th Regiment, it withstood a 45-day siege by the American troops commanded by General Montgomery."
Carleton Island, part of the Thousand Islands, is near the Royal Military College of Canada. The Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, named Wolfe island in General James Wolfe's honour in 1792. The surrounding islands bear the names of Wolfe's generals: Howe, Carleton, Amherst and Gage (now Simcoe). The island was ceded to the Americans in 1794 as part of Jay's Treaty.
Via Rail Canada has a Manor sleeping car named after Sir Guy Carleton in his honour and there is a plaque inside the railcar explaining his exploits.
The first railroad in Canada, the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad had its first locomotive (a 0-2-0) named "Dorchester".
Carleton Point, a short-lived Loyalist settlement on Great Abaco Island, Bahamas, was named for him
The Dorchester Review magazine (est. 2011 at Ottawa) is named in his honour.
Before 1790s Niagara Falls, Ontario was once called Mount Dorchester in honour of Carleton.
See also
List of Governors General of Canada
List of Lieutenant Governors of Quebec
Commander-in-Chief, North America
History of Quebec
History of North America
Constitutional history of Canada
References
Bibliography
Billias, George Athan, Editor, George Washington's Opponents, William Marrow and Company, Inc., New York, 1969, 103–135.
Nelson, Paul David. General Sir Guy Carleton, Lord Dorchester: Soldier-Statesman of Early British Canada. Associated University Presses, 2000.
Reynolds, Paul R., Guy Carleton, A Biography, 1980,
Wrong, George M. Canada and the American Revolution. New York, 1968.
External links
St Swithun's Church, Nately Scures, England Plaque memorial for Guy Carleton, Gobernador de Quebec y Thomas Carleton Gobernador de New Brunswick
1724 births
1808 deaths
18th-century Anglo-Irish people
British Army generals
British military personnel of the French and Indian War
British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War
Governors of British North America
Lieutenant Governors of the Province of Quebec (1763–1791)
Governors of the Province of Quebec (1763–1791)
Barons in the Peerage of Great Britain
Peers of Great Britain created by George III
Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath
People from Strabane
People from Hart District
People from Maidenhead
King's Own Scottish Borderers officers
78th Highlanders officers
Grenadier Guards officers
British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession
Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)
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"Evacuation Day on November 25 marks the day in 1783 when the British Army departed from New York City on Manhattan Island, after the end of the American Revolutionary War. In their wake, General George Washington triumphantly led the Continental Army from his headquarters north of the city across the Harlem River, and south through Manhattan to the Battery at its southern tip.\n\nHistory\n\nBackground\n\nFollowing the significant losses at the Battle of Long Island on August 27, 1776, General George Washington and the Continental Army retreated across the East River by benefit of both a retreat and holding action by well-trained Maryland Line troops at Gowanus Creek and Canal and a night fog which obscured the barges and boats evacuating troops to Manhattan Island. On September 15, 1776, the British flag replaced the American atop Fort George, where it was to remain until Evacuation Day.\n\nWashington's Continentals subsequently withdrew north and west out of the town and following the Battle of Harlem Heights and later action at the river forts of Fort Washington and Fort Lee on the northwest corner of the island along the Hudson River on November 16, 1776, evacuated Manhattan Island. They headed north for Westchester County, fought a delaying action at White Plains, and retreated across New Jersey in the New York and New Jersey campaign.\n\nFor the remainder of the American Revolutionary War, much of what is now Greater New York was under British control. New York City (occupying then only the southern tip of Manhattan, up to what is today Chambers Street), became, under Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, Lord Howe and his brother Sir William Howe, General of the British Army, the British political and military center of operations in British North America. David Mathews was Mayor of New York during the occupation. Many of the civilians who continued to reside in town were Loyalists.\n\nOn September 21, 1776, the city suffered a devastating fire of an uncertain origin after the evacuation of Washington's Continental Army at the beginning of the occupation. With hundreds of houses destroyed, many residents had to live in makeshift housing built from old ships. In addition, over 10,000 Patriot soldiers and sailors died on prison ships in New York waters (Wallabout Bay) during the occupation—more Patriots died on these ships than died in every single battle of the war, combined. These men are memorialized, and many of their remains are interred, at the Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument in Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn.\n\nBritish evacuation\nIn mid-August 1783, Sir Guy Carleton, the last British Army and Royal Navy commander in the former British America, received orders from his superiors in London for the evacuation of New York. He informed the President of the Confederation Congress that he was proceeding with the subsequent withdrawal of refugees, liberated slaves, and military personnel as fast as possible, but that it was not possible to give an exact date because the number of refugees entering the city recently had increased dramatically (more than 29,000 Loyalist refugees were eventually evacuated from the city). The British also evacuated over 3,000 Black Loyalists, former slaves they had liberated from the Americans, to Nova Scotia, East Florida, the Caribbean, and London, and refused to return them to their American slaveholders and overseers as the provisions of the Treaty of Paris had required them to do. The Black Brigade were among the last to depart.\n\nCarleton gave a final evacuation date of 12:00 noon on November 25, 1783. An anecdote by New York physician Alexander Anderson told of a scuffle between a British officer and the proprietress of a boarding house, as she defiantly raised her own American flag before noon. Following the departure of the British, the city was secured by American troops under the command of General Henry Knox.\n\nLegendary flag-raising\n\nEntry to the city under General George Washington was delayed until a still-flying British Union Flag could be removed. The flag had been nailed to a flagpole at Fort George on the Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan. The pole was greased as a final act of defiance. After a number of men attempted to tear down the British colors, wooden cleats were cut and nailed to the pole and, with the help of a ladder, an army veteran, John Van Arsdale, was able to ascend the pole, remove the flag, and replace it with the Stars and Stripes before the British fleet had completely sailed out of sight. The same day, a liberty pole with a flag was erected at New Utrecht Reformed Church; its successor still stands there. Another liberty pole was raised in Jamaica, Queens, in a celebration that December.\n\nWashington's entry \nFinally, seven years after the retreat from Manhattan on November 16, 1776, General George Washington and Governor of New York George Clinton reclaimed Fort Washington on the northwest corner of Manhattan Island and then led the Continental Army in a triumphal procession march down the road through the center of the island onto Broadway in the Town to the Battery. The evening of Evacuation Day, Clinton hosted a public dinner at Fraunces Tavern, which Washington attended. It concluded with thirteen toasts, according to a contemporary account in Rivington's Gazette, the company drinking to:\n\n The United States of America.\nHis most Christian Majesty.\nThe United Netherlands.\nThe king of Sweden.\nThe Continental Army.\nThe Fleets and Armies of France, which have served in America.\nThe Memory of those Heroes who have fallen for our Freedom.\n May our Country be grateful to her military children.\nMay Justice support what Courage has gained.\nThe Vindicators of the Rights of Mankind in every Quarter of the Globe.\nMay America be an Asylum to the persecuted of the Earth.\nMay a close Union of the States guard the Temple they have erected to Liberty.\n May the Remembrance of THIS DAY be a Lesson to Princes.\n\nThe morning after, Washington had a public breakfast meeting with Hercules Mulligan, which helped dispel suspicions about the tailor and spy.\n\nGallery\n\nAftermath\n\nA week later, on December 3, the British detachment under Captain James Duncan, under orders of Rear Admiral Robert Digby, evacuated Governors Island, the last of part of the-then City of New York to be occupied, and afterward Major-General Guy Carleton departed Staten Island on December 5.\n\nIt is claimed a British gunner fired the last shot of the Revolution either on Evacuation Day or when the last British ships left a week later, loosing a cannon at jeering crowds gathered on the shore of Staten Island as his ship passed through the Narrows at the mouth of New York Harbor, though the shot fell well short of the shore. This has been described by historians as an urban legend.\n\nOn December 4, at Fraunces Tavern, at Pearl and Broad Streets, General Washington formally said farewell to his officers with a short statement, taking each one of his officers and official family by the hand. Later, Washington headed south, being cheered and fêted on his way at many stops in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. By December 23, he arrived in Annapolis, Maryland, where the Confederation Congress was then meeting at the Maryland State House to consider the terms of the Treaty of Paris. At their session in the Old Senate Chamber, he made a short statement and offered his sword and the papers of his commission to the President and the delegates, thereby resigning as commander-in-chief. He then retired to his plantation home, Mount Vernon, in Virginia.\n\nCommemoration\n\nEarly popularity\n\nPublic celebrations were first held on the fourth anniversary in 1787, with the city's garrison performing a dress review and feu de joie, and in the context of a Federalist push for constitutional ratification following the Philadelphia Convention. On Evacuation Day 1790, the Veteran Corps of Artillery of the State of New York was founded, and it played a significant role in later commemorations.\n\nThe British Fort George at Bowling Green was also demolished in 1790, and in that year the \"Battery Flagstaff\" was built adjacent on newly reclaimed land at the Battery. It was privately managed by William and then Lois Keefe. Referred to colloquially as \"the churn\", as it resembled to some a gigantic butter churn, Washington Irving described a September 1804 visit to the commemorative flagpole in his A History of New York as \"The standard of our city, reserved, like a choice handkerchief, for days of gala, hung motionless on the flag-staff, which forms the handle to a gigantic churn\". In 1809, a new flagstaff further east on the Battery was erected with a decorative gazebo, and was operated as a concession until it was demolished about 1825. The military band led by Patrick Moffat of George Izard's Second Regiment of Artillery sometimes held evening concerts. The Battery Flagstaff commemorated Evacuation Day, and was the site of the city's annual flag-raising celebration for over a century. A flag-raising was held twice a year, on Evacuation Day and on the Fourth of July, and after 1853 flag-raisings on these days were also held at The Blockhouse further north. John Van Arsdale is said to have been a regular flag-raiser at the early commemorations.\n\nThe Scudder's American Museum / Barnum's American Museum held what it claimed was the original 1783 Evacuation Day flag until the museum's burning in 1865, and flew it on Evacuation Day and the Fourth of July.\n\nOn Evacuation Day 1811, the newly completed Castle Clinton was dedicated with the firing of its first gun salute.\n\nOn Evacuation Day 1830 (or rather, on November 26 due to inclement weather), thirty thousand New Yorkers gathered on a march to Washington Square Park in celebration of that year's July Revolution in France.\n\nFor over a century the event was commemorated annually with patriotic and political connotations, as well as embracing a general holiday atmosphere. Sometimes featured were greasy pole climbing contests for boys to recreate the taking the down the Union Jack. Evacuation Day also became a time for theatrical spectacle, with for example an 1832 Bowery Theatre double bill of Junius Brutus Booth and Thomas D. Rice. David Van Arsdale is said to have raised the flag after his father's death in 1836. There was also a traditional parade from near the current Cooper Union down the Bowery to the Battery.\n\nMid-19th century and decline\n\nThe importance of the commemoration was waning in 1844, with the approach of the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848.\n\nHowever, the dedication of the monument to William J. Worth, the Mexican–American War general, at Madison Square was purposely held on Evacuation Day 1857.\n\nIn August 1863, the Battery Flagstaff was destroyed by a lightning strike; it was subsequently replaced.\n\nBefore it was a national holiday, Thanksgiving was proclaimed at various dates by state governors – as early as 1847, New York held Thanksgiving on the same date as Evacuation Day, a convergence happily noted by Walt Whitman, writing in the Brooklyn Eagle. The observance of the date was also diminished by the Thanksgiving Day Proclamation by 16th President Abraham Lincoln on October 3, 1863, that called on Americans \"in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving.\" That year, Thursday fell on November 26. In later years, Thanksgiving was celebrated on or near the 25th, making Evacuation Day redundant.\n\nOn Evacuation Day 1864, the Booth brothers held a performance of Julius Caesar at the Winter Garden Theatre to raise funds for the Shakespeare statue later placed in Central Park. That same day, Confederate saboteurs attempted to burn down the city, lighting an adjoining building on fire and for a time disturbing the performance.\n\nOn Evacuation Day 1876, the statue of Daniel Webster in Central Park was dedicated.\n\nA traditional children's rhyme of the era was:<blockquote>It's Evacuation Day, when the British ran away,Please, dear Master, give us holiday!</blockquote>\n\nOver time, the celebration and its anti-British sentiments became associated with the local Irish American community. This community's embrace also may have inspired Evacuation Day in Boston, which began to be celebrated there in 1901, and taking advantage of the anniversary of the lifting of the Siege of Boston in 1776, which was by coincidence on Saint Patrick's Day.\n\nCentennial and 20th century fading\n\nAs part of Evacuation Day celebrations in 1883 (on November 26), the George Washington statue was unveiled in front of what is now Federal Hall National Memorial.\n\nIn the 1890s, the anniversary was celebrated in New York at Battery Park with the raising of the Stars and Stripes by Christopher R. Forbes, the great grandson of John Van Arsdale, with the assistance of a Civil War veterans' association from Manhattan—the Anderson Zouaves. John Lafayette Riker, the original commander of the Anderson Zouaves, was also a grandson of John Van Arsdale. Riker's older brother was the New York genealogist James Riker, who authored Evacuation Day, 1783 for the spectacular 100th anniversary celebrations of 1883, which were ranked as “one of the great civic events of the nineteenth century in New York City.” David Van Arsdale had died in November 1883 just before the centennial, having helped revive the event the year previous, and he was succeeded by his grandson.\n\nOn Evacuation Day 1893, the Nathan Hale statue in City Hall Park was unveiled.\n\nIn 1895, Asa Bird Gardiner disputed the rights to organize the flag-raising, claiming that his organization, the General Society of the War of 1812, were the true heirs of the Veteran Corps of Artillery.\n\nIn 1900, Christopher R. Forbes was denied the honor of raising the flag at the Battery on Independence Day and on Evacuation Day and it appears that neither he nor any Veterans' organization associated with the Van Arsdale-Riker family or the Anderson Zouaves took part in the ceremony after this time. In 1901, Forbes raised the flag at the dedication of Bennett Park.\n\nIn the early 20th century, the 161-foot flagpole used was the mast of the 1901 America's Cup defender Constitution designed by Herreshoff, replacing a wooden pole struck by lightning in 1909. The event was officially celebrated for the last time on November 25, 1916 with a march down Broadway for a flag raising ceremony by sixty members of the Old Guard. Future commemorations were forestalled by the American entry into World War I and the alliance with Britain. The position of the flagstaff at this time was described as near Battery Park's sculptures of John Ericsson and Giovanni da Verrazzano. The commemorative flagpole was still listed as an attraction on a map of Battery Park in the WPA New York City Guide of 1939.\n\nOn Evacuation Day 1922, the main monument at Battle Pass in Brooklyn's Prospect Park was dedicated.\n\nThe flagpole was removed during the 1940-1952 construction of Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel and the relandscaping of the park. In 1955, the 102-foot Marine Flagstaff was erected in the approximate area of the one formerly commemorating Evacuation Day. Later, City Council President Paul O'Dwyer expressed interest in a restored flagpole for the 1976 United States Bicentennial. A bicentennial of Evacuation Day in 1983 featured the labor leader Harry Van Arsdale Jr. A commemorative plaque marking Evacuation Day was put on a flagpole at Bowling Green in 1996.\n\nThe Sons of the Revolution fraternal organization continues to hold an annual 'Evacuation Day Dinner' at Fraunces Tavern, and giving the thirteen toasts from 1783.\n\n21st century and renewed efforts\nThough little celebrated in the previous century, the 225th anniversary of Evacuation Day was commemorated on November 25, 2008, with searchlight displays in New Jersey and New York at key high points.RevolutionaryNJ.org The searchlights are modern commemorations of the bonfires that served as a beacon signal system at many of these same locations during the revolution. The seven New Jersey Revolutionary War sites are Beacon Hill in Summit, South Mountain Reservation in South Orange, Fort Nonsense in Morristown, Washington Rock in Green Brook, the Navesink Twin Lights, Princeton, and Ramapo Mountain State Forest near Oakland. The five New York locations which contributed to the celebration are; Bear Mountain State Park, Storm King State Park, Scenic Hudson's Spy Rock (Snake Hill) in New Windsor, Washington's Headquarters State Historic Site in Newburgh, Scenic Hudson's Mount Beacon.\n\nThe renaming of a portion of Bowling Green, a street in Lower Manhattan to Evacuation Day Plaza was proposed by Arthur R. Piccolo, the chairman of the Bowling Green Association, and James S. Kaplan of the Lower Manhattan Historical Society. The proposal was initially turned down by the New York City Council in 2016 because the council's rules for street renaming specify that a renamed street must commemorate a person, an organization, or a cultural work. However, with the support of Councilwoman Margaret Chin, and after supporters of the renaming pointed to streets and plazas named after \"Do the Right Thing Way\", \"Diversity Plaza\", \"Hip Hop Boulevard\", and \"Ragamuffin Way\", the council reversed its decision and approved the renaming of the street on February 5, 2016.\n\nReferences\nNotes\n\nBibliography\nHood, Clifton. An Unusable Past: Urban Elites, New York City’s Evacuation Day, and the Transformations of Memory Culture'', Journal of Social History, Summer 2004.\n\nExternal links\n\nThe Founding Fathers of American Intelligence\n\nHappy Evacuation Day – Sarah Vowell on The Daily Show, November 17, 2011\n\n1783 in New York (state)\nHolidays related to the American Revolution\nNew York (state) culture\nNew York (state) in the American Revolution\nNovember observances\nObservances in New York City\nBowling Green (New York City)\nThe Battery (Manhattan)",
"Sugarloaf Mountain is a mountain located in Rowan County, Kentucky, just outside the City of Morehead, Kentucky.\n\nIn January, 1904, a volcanic eruption on Sugarloaf Mountain was reported in the New York Times, which noted much smoke, deep rumbling, and destruction to the trees, leading locals to prepare an evacuation. However, The Bee, a local Earlington, Kentucky-based newspaper, later reported the smoke was the result of an illicit moonshining operation which was shut down weeks later.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Sugarloaf Mountain at MountainZone.com\n \n\nMountains of Kentucky\nLandforms of Rowan County, Kentucky"
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"Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester",
"Evacuation of New York",
"was New York an evacuation?",
"to arrange for the implementation of those parts of the Treaty of Paris relating to the evacuation of New York City,"
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C_1600d2675e344305ab34e3971a5359f4_1
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was this a success?
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Was the Evacuation of New York a success?
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Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester
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In August 1783, Carleton was informed that Great Britain would grant the United States its independence. With his exit from New York imminent, Carleton asked to be relieved of his command. With this news, Loyalists began an exodus from the Thirteen Colonies and Carleton did his best to have them resettled outside the United States. At a meeting with George Washington, among others, to arrange for the implementation of those parts of the Treaty of Paris relating to the evacuation of New York City, then commanded by Carleton and still occupied by the British Army, many Loyalists and former slaves, Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation. Instead, he proposed a registry so that "the owners might eventually be paid for the slaves who were entitled to their freedom by British Proclamation and promises." Sir Guy noted that nothing could be changed in any Articles that were inconsistent with prior policies or National Honour. He added that the only mode was to pay for the Negroes, in which case justice was done to all, the former slaves and the owners. Carleton said that it would be a breach of faith not to honour the British policy of liberty to the Negro and declared that if removing them proved to be an infraction of the treaty, then compensation would have to be paid by the British government. To provide for such a contingency, he had a register kept of all Negroes who left, called the Book of Negroes, entering their names, ages, occupations, and names of their former masters. The Americans agreed to this, but as far as can be determined, the Crown never paid compensation. The British transported about 3,000 freedmen and other Loyalists to Nova Scotia for resettlement. As the colony struggled, some of the freedmen later chose in the early 1790s to go to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where the British set up a new colony, which included the Black Poor from London. Washington disagreed with Sir Guy's actions and wrote: "...the measure is totally different from the letter and spirit of the Treaty but waiving the specialty of the point, leaving this decision to our respective Sovereigns I find it my duty to signify my readiness in conjunction with you to enter into agreements, or take any measures which may be deemed expedient to prevent the future carrying away any Negroes or other property of the American people." On 28 November, the evacuation was finished, and Carleton returned to England. John Campbell of Strachur succeeded him as Commander-in-Chief, North America, although the post was then much reduced in scope. CANNOTANSWER
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Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation.
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Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester (3 September 1724 – 10 November 1808), known between 1776 and 1786 as Sir Guy Carleton, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and administrator. He twice served as Governor of the Province of Quebec, from 1768 to 1778, concurrently serving as Governor General of British North America in that time, and again from 1785 to 1795. The title Baron Dorchester was created on 21 August 1786.
He commanded British troops in the American War of Independence, first leading the defence of Quebec during the 1775 rebel invasion, and the 1776 counteroffensive that drove the rebels from the province. In 1782 and 1783, he led as the commander-in-chief of all British forces in North America. In this capacity he was notable for carrying out the Crown's promise of freedom to slaves who joined the British, and he oversaw the evacuation of British forces, Loyalists and more than 3,000 freedmen from New York City in 1783 to transport them to a British colony. Toward this end, Carleton assigned Samuel Birch to create the Book of Negroes.
The military and political career of his younger brother, Thomas Carleton, was interwoven with his own, and Thomas served under him in the Canadas.
Early career
Guy Carleton was born into an Ulster Protestant military family that had lived in Ulster in the north of the Kingdom of Ireland since the Plantation of Ulster in the 17th century, and was one of three brothers (the others being Thomas Carleton and William Carleton) who served in the British military. He was born and raised in Strabane in the west of County Tyrone, just across the River Foyle from Lifford in County Donegal. Guy also had a sister, Connolly Crawford. When he was fourteen his father, Christopher Carleton, died, and his mother, Catherine Carleton, then married Reverend Thomas Skelton. He received a limited education.
In 1742, at the age of seventeen, Carleton was commissioned as an ensign into the 25th Regiment of Foot, in which in 1745 he was promoted lieutenant. During this period he became a friend of James Wolfe; he may have served with Wolfe at the Battle of Culloden during the Jacobite rising of 1745. Two of his brothers, William and Thomas, also joined the British Army.
In 1740 the War of the Austrian Succession broke out in Europe. Despite British troops having been engaged on the European continent since 1742, it was not until 1747 that Carleton and his regiment were despatched to Flanders. They fought the French, but were unable to prevent the Fall of Bergen-op-Zoom, a major Dutch fortress, and the war was brought to a halt by an armistice. In 1748 the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was signed and Carleton returned to Britain. He was frustrated to still only be a lieutenant, and believed his opportunities of advancement would be limited with the end of the war.
In 1751 he joined the 1st Foot Guards and in 1752 was promoted to captain. His career received a major boost when he was chosen, at the suggestion of Wolfe, to act as a guide to The 3rd Duke of Richmond during a tour of the battlefields of the recent war. Richmond would become an influential patron to Carleton.
Seven Years' War
Germany
In 1757, Guy Carleton was made a lieutenant colonel and served as part of the Army of Observation made up of German troops designed to protect Hanover from French invasion. The army was forced to retreat following the Battle of Hastenbeck and eventually concluded the Convention of Klosterzeven, taking them out of the war. After the convention was signed, Carleton returned to Britain. In 1758 he was made the lieutenant colonel of the newly formed 72nd Regiment of Foot. James Wolfe selected Carleton as his aide in the 1758 attack on Louisburg. King George II declined to make this appointment, possibly because of negative comments he made about the soldiers of Hanover during his service on the Continent.
For some time he was unable to gain active position, until he was sent back to Germany to serve as an aide-de-camp to Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick.
Canada
In December 1758 Wolfe, now a major general, was given command of the upcoming campaign against the city of Quebec, and selected Carleton as his quarter-master general. King George refused to make this appointment also until Lord Ligonier talked to the king about the matter and the king changed his mind. When Lieutenant-Colonel Carleton arrived in Halifax he assumed command of six hundred grenadiers. He was with the British forces when they arrived at Quebec in June 1759. Carleton was responsible for the provisioning of the army and also acting as an engineer supervising the placement of cannon. Carleton received a head wound during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham and he returned to England after the battle in October 1759.
France and Havana
On 29 March 1761, as the lieutenant colonel of the 72nd Regiment of Foot he took part in the attack on Belle Île, an island off the coast of the northern part of the Bay of Biscay, off the coast of France. Carleton led an attack on the French, but was seriously wounded and prevented from taking any further part in the fighting. After four weeks of fighting, the British gained complete control of the island.
He was made colonel in 1762 and took part in the British expedition against Cuba, which also included Richard Montgomery, who went on to oppose him in 1775. On 22 July, he was wounded leading an attack on a Spanish outpost.
In 1764 he transferred to the 93rd Regiment of Foot.
Governor of Quebec
On 7 April 1766, Carleton was named acting Lieutenant Governor and Administrator of Quebec with James Murray officially in charge. He arrived in Quebec on 22 September 1766. As Carleton had no experience in public affairs and came from a politically insignificant family, his appointment is unusual and was possibly a surprise to him. One connection may have been due to the Duke of Richmond, who in 1766 been made Secretary of State for the North American colonies. Fourteen years earlier, Carleton had tutored the Duke. The Duke was the colonel of the 72nd Regiment of Foot, while Carleton was its lieutenant colonel. He appointed Carleton as commander-in-chief of all troops stationed in Quebec.
The government consisted of a Governor, a council, and an assembly. The governor could veto any action of the council, but London had also given Carleton instructions that all of his actions required the approval of the council. Most officials of the province at this time did not receive a salary and received their income through fees they charged for their services. Carleton tried to replace this system with one in which the officials received a regular salary, but this position was never supported in London. When Carleton renounced his own fees, Murray was furious.
After Murray resigned his position, Carleton was appointed Captain General and Governor-in-Chief on 12 April 1768. Carleton took the oath of office on 1 November 1768. On 9 August 1770 he sailed for England for what he thought was a few months' consultation on issues related to the integration of Quebec into the British system. During his absence, Hector Theophilus de Cramahé, the lieutenant governor, ran the provincial government, with the aid of the first chief justice, William Hey, and the Attorney-General, Francis Maseres. The British merchants of Quebec, many of whom had become disaffected to the colonial administration under Murray, were, at least initially, of good will. The merchants would later be agent for e.g. the Quebec Act of 1774 (14 Geo. III, c.83) and finally the partition of the two Canadas in the Constitutional Act of 1791 (31 Geo. III, c.31).
Marriage and family
On 22 May 1772, at the age of nearly 48, Carleton married Lady Maria Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Effingham. They had issue nine sons and two daughters. His elder brothers having predeceased him, and himself dying two years before his father, third son Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Carleton was father of Arthur, 2nd Baron Dorchester; Christopher's younger brother, the sixth son, Lieutenant-Colonel George Carleton, was father of Guy, the 3rd Baron. The title was extinct at the 3rd Baron's death in 1897, but it was revived when his daughter, Henrietta, was created Baroness Dorchester; the title was extinct at the death of her son, Dudley, 2nd Baron, in 1963.
Later career
Carleton was promoted to major general on 25 May 1772. While he was in London, the Parliament passed the Quebec Act of 1774, based upon his recommendations. It determined how the province was to be administered and was part of a continuing effort to respect some French traditions while ensuring rights of citizens as understood by the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Carleton and Maria returned to Quebec on 18 September 1774, where he began implementing the provisions of the act. While the clergy and the seigneurs (landowners) were happy with provisions favorable to them, British merchants and migrants from the Thirteen Colonies objected to a number of the provisions, which they thought were pro-Catholic. They argued that only English-speaking Protestants should be able to vote or hold public office. Many of the habitants were unhappy with the provisions reinstating the tithe in support of the Catholic Church, as well as seigneurial obligations, such as the corvée (a labor requirement).
In late 1774, the First Continental Congress sent letters to Montreal denouncing the Quebec Act for promoting Catholicism by allowing Catholics to hold civil service positions and reinstating the tithe. John Brown, an agent for the Boston Committee of Correspondence, arrived in Montreal in early 1775 as part of an effort to persuade citizens to send delegates to the Second Continental Congress, scheduled to meet in May 1775. Carleton, while aware of this activity, did nothing to prevent it, beyond discouraging publication of the Congressional letter in the province's only newspaper.
American War of Independence
Defence of Canada
Carleton received notice of the start of the rebellion in May 1775, soon followed by the news of the rebel capture of Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Crown Point, and the raid on Fort Saint-Jean. As he had previously sent two of his regiments to Boston, he had only about 800 regular soldiers left in Quebec. His attempts to raise a militia met with limited success at first, as neither the ethnic French nor the English residents were willing to join. Area Natives were willing to fight on the British side, and the Crown wanted them to do so, but Carleton turned their offer down because he feared the Natives attacking non-combatants. For the same reason, he limited Guy Johnson and his Iroquois allies, who had come to Quebec from New York, to operating only in Quebec.
During the summer of 1775, Carleton directed the preparation of provincial defences, which were focused on Fort Saint-Jean. In September, the Continental Army began its invasion and besieged the fort. When it fell in November, Carleton was forced to flee from Montreal to Quebec City, escaping capture by disguising himself as a commoner.
In December 1775 he directed the city's defences in the Battle of Quebec and the ensuing siege, which was broken by the arrival of British troops in May 1776 under command of John Burgoyne, who was appointed second-in-command. Carleton's younger brother Thomas was part of the relief effort.
Guy Carleton launched a counteroffensive against the rebels, which included repelling an attempted attack on Trois-Rivières. In June 1776, he was appointed a Knight Companion of the Bath. He was promoted to the rank of a general for America only on 26 March 1776.
The next month Carleton commanded British naval forces on the Richelieu River, culminating in the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain in October 1776 against a rebel fleet led by General Benedict Arnold. The British, with a significantly superior fleet, won a decisive victory, destroying or capturing most of the rebel fleet, but the delay prevented Carleton from continuing on to capture Fort Ticonderoga that year. His brother Thomas and nephew Christopher both served on his staff during the campaign. The morning following the battle, a small island in Lake Champlain was named Carleton's Prize, perhaps to Carleton's embarrassment at the time.
He was promoted to lieutenant general on 6 September 1777. In 1777, command of the major northern expedition to divide the rebel colonies was given to General Burgoyne. Upset that he had not been given its command, Carleton asked to be recalled. He was replaced as governor and military commander of Quebec in 1778 by Frederick Haldimand, and returned to England. In 1780 he was appointed by Prime Minister Lord North to a commission investigating public finances. This post he held until 1782, when General Sir Henry Clinton was recalled in the aftermath of the 1781 surrender at Yorktown. Carleton was appointed to replace Clinton as Commander-in-Chief, America, in May 1782. His headquarters in New York City were located at Number One Broadway.
Evacuation of New York
In August 1783, Carleton was informed that Great Britain would grant the United States its independence. With his exit from New York imminent, Carleton asked to be relieved of his command. With this news, Loyalists began an exodus from the Thirteen Colonies and Carleton did his best to have them resettled outside the United States.
At a meeting with George Washington, among others, to arrange for the implementation of those parts of the Treaty of Paris relating to the evacuation of New York City, then commanded by Carleton and still occupied by the British Army, many Loyalists and former slaves, Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation. Instead, he proposed a registry so that "the owners might eventually be paid for the slaves who were entitled to their freedom by British Proclamation and promises."
Sir Guy noted that nothing could be changed in any Articles that were inconsistent with prior policies or National Honour. He added that the only mode was to pay for the Negroes, in which case justice was done to all, the former slaves and the owners. Carleton said that it would be a breach of faith not to honour the British policy of liberty to the Negro and declared that if removing them proved to be an infraction of the treaty, then compensation would have to be paid by the British government. To provide for such a contingency, he had a register kept of all Negroes who left, called the Book of Negroes, entering their names, ages, occupations, and names of their former masters. The Americans agreed to this, but as far as can be determined, the Crown never paid compensation. The British transported about 3,000 freedmen and other Loyalists to Nova Scotia for resettlement. As the colony struggled, some of the freedmen later chose in the early 1790s to go to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where the British set up a new colony, which included the Black Poor from London.
Washington disagreed with Sir Guy's actions and wrote: "…the measure is totally different from the letter and spirit of the Treaty but waiving the specialty of the point, leaving this decision to our respective Sovereigns I find it my duty to signify my readiness in conjunction with you to enter into agreements, or take any measures which may be deemed expedient to prevent the future carrying away any Negroes or other property of the American people."
On 28 November the evacuation was finished, and on 5 December Carleton departed from Staten Island to return to England. John Campbell of Strachur succeeded him as Commander-in-Chief, North America, although the post was then much reduced in scope.
Post-war years and death
Upon his return to England, Carleton recommended the creation of a position of Governor General of all the provinces in British North America. Instead he was appointed "Governor-in-chief", with simultaneous appointments as governor of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and St. John's Island (present-day Prince Edward Island). He arrived in Quebec on 23 October 1786. His position as Governor-in-chief was mostly ignored. He found quickly that his authority in any of the provinces other than Quebec was effective only while he was present in person.
He was raised to the Peerage of Great Britain in August 1786 as The 1st Baron Dorchester, Baron of Dorchester in the County of Oxford.
The Constitutional Act of 1791 split the large territory of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada, corresponding roughly to areas settled by ethnic British and ethnic French, respectively. Sir Alured Clarke was named as the lieutenant governor of Lower Canada and John Graves Simcoe the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada. In August 1791 Carleton left for Britain and on 7 February 1792 took his seat in the House of Lords. He left for Canada again on 18 August 1793 to resume his duties there. His replacement, Robert Prescott, arrived in May 1796. On 9 July 1796 Carleton sailed from Canada to Britain, never to return.
In retirement Lord Dorchester, as he was now, lived mostly at Greywell Hill, adjoining Nately Scures, in Hampshire. After about 1805 he moved to Stubbings House at Burchett's Green, near Maidenhead, in Berkshire. On 10 November 1808, he died suddenly at Stubbings. He was buried in the parish church of St Swithun's, Nately Scures.
Honours and legacy
He was honoured by numerous places and educational institutions named for him:
, a Canadian Forces Naval Reserve Division in Ottawa
Carleton University in Ottawa
Dorchester Avenue in Ottawa
The Carleton, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Carleton, Nova Scotia
Carleton Village, Nova Scotia
Dorchester Road in Niagara Falls, Canada
Dorchester Boulevard, a major thoroughfare in Montreal since renamed René Lévesque Boulevard
Dorchester Square in downtown Montreal
Dorchester Island and the parish and town of Dorchester, all of New Brunswick
Carleton Street, in:
Carlton Street in Downtown Toronto is indirectly named for Carleton via Ann Wood for her brother Guy Carleton Wood of Cornwall, Ontario
Saint John, New Brunswick
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Fredericton, New Brunswick
St. Andrews, New Brunswick
Moosomin, Saskatchewan
Rue Dorchester, a thoroughfare in Quebec City.
Old Carleton County Court House, Upper Woodstock, New Brunswick
Carleton Place, a town in Eastern Ontario
Carleton County, New Brunswick
Carleton County, Ontario, that became the Region of Ottawa-Carleton, and then the City of Ottawa with amalgamation in 2001.
Carleton-sur-Mer, Quebec, a town on the North Shore of Baie de Chaleurs.
Guysborough County, Nova Scotia (Guys' borough)
Guy's Restaurant, in his birthplace of Strabane, is also named after Carleton. The restaurant was formerly known as the Carleton Club.
Lord Dorchester High School in Dorchester, Ontario
Sir Guy Carleton Secondary School in Ottawa
Sir Guy Carleton Elementary School in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Carleton is mentioned in a Fort Saint-Jean plaque erected in 1926 by Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean. "Constructed in 1743 by M. de Léry under orders from Governor la Galissonnière. This post was for all the military expeditions towards Lake Champlain. On 31 August 1760, Commandant de Roquemaure had it blown up in accordance with orders from the Governor de Vaudreuil in order to prevent its falling into the hands of the English. Rebuilt by Governor Carleton, in 1773. During the same year, under the command of Major Charles Preston of the 26th Regiment, it withstood a 45-day siege by the American troops commanded by General Montgomery."
Carleton Island, part of the Thousand Islands, is near the Royal Military College of Canada. The Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, named Wolfe island in General James Wolfe's honour in 1792. The surrounding islands bear the names of Wolfe's generals: Howe, Carleton, Amherst and Gage (now Simcoe). The island was ceded to the Americans in 1794 as part of Jay's Treaty.
Via Rail Canada has a Manor sleeping car named after Sir Guy Carleton in his honour and there is a plaque inside the railcar explaining his exploits.
The first railroad in Canada, the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad had its first locomotive (a 0-2-0) named "Dorchester".
Carleton Point, a short-lived Loyalist settlement on Great Abaco Island, Bahamas, was named for him
The Dorchester Review magazine (est. 2011 at Ottawa) is named in his honour.
Before 1790s Niagara Falls, Ontario was once called Mount Dorchester in honour of Carleton.
See also
List of Governors General of Canada
List of Lieutenant Governors of Quebec
Commander-in-Chief, North America
History of Quebec
History of North America
Constitutional history of Canada
References
Bibliography
Billias, George Athan, Editor, George Washington's Opponents, William Marrow and Company, Inc., New York, 1969, 103–135.
Nelson, Paul David. General Sir Guy Carleton, Lord Dorchester: Soldier-Statesman of Early British Canada. Associated University Presses, 2000.
Reynolds, Paul R., Guy Carleton, A Biography, 1980,
Wrong, George M. Canada and the American Revolution. New York, 1968.
External links
St Swithun's Church, Nately Scures, England Plaque memorial for Guy Carleton, Gobernador de Quebec y Thomas Carleton Gobernador de New Brunswick
1724 births
1808 deaths
18th-century Anglo-Irish people
British Army generals
British military personnel of the French and Indian War
British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War
Governors of British North America
Lieutenant Governors of the Province of Quebec (1763–1791)
Governors of the Province of Quebec (1763–1791)
Barons in the Peerage of Great Britain
Peers of Great Britain created by George III
Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath
People from Strabane
People from Hart District
People from Maidenhead
King's Own Scottish Borderers officers
78th Highlanders officers
Grenadier Guards officers
British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession
Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)
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"Sixteen ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Success, whilst another was planned:\n\n was a 34-gun ship, previously the French ship Jules. She was captured in 1650, renamed HMS Old Success in 1660 and sold in 1662.\n HMS Success was a 24-gun ship launched in 1655 as . She was renamed HMS Success in 1660 and was wrecked in 1680.\n was a 6-gun fireship purchased in 1672 that foundered in 1673.\n was a store hulk purchased in 1692 and sunk as a breakwater in 1707.\n was a 10-gun sloop purchased in 1709 that the French captured in 1710 off Lisbon.\n was a 24-gun storeship launched in 1709, hulked in 1730, and sold in 1748. \n was a 20-gun sixth rate launched in 1712, converted to a fireship in 1739, and sold in 1743.\n was a 14-gun sloop launched in 1736; her fate is unknown.\n was a 24-gun sixth rate launched in 1740 and broken up in 1779.\n was a 14-gun ketch launched in 1754. Her fate is unknown.\n was a 32-gun fifth rate launched in 1781 that the French captured in 1801 but that the British recaptured the same year. She became a convict ship in 1814 and was broken up in 1820.\n was a 3-gun gunvessel, previously in use as a barge. She was purchased in 1797 and sold in 1802.\n was a 28 gun sixth rate launched in 1825, and captained by James Stirling in his journey to Western Australia. She was used for harbour service from 1832 and was broken up 1849.\n HMS Success was to have been a wood screw sloop. She was ordered but not laid down and was cancelled in 1863.\n was a launched in 1901 and wrecked in 1914.\n HMS Success was an launched in 1918. She was transferred to the Royal Australian Navy in 1919 and was sold in 1937.\n was an S-class destroyer launched in 1943. She was transferred to the Royal Norwegian Navy later that year and renamed . She was broken up in 1959.\n\nSee also\n , two ships of the Royal Australian Navy.\n\nCitations and references\nCitations\n\nReferences\n \n\nRoyal Navy ship names",
"Miss Sara Sampson (original spelling Miß Sara Sampson) is a play by the Enlightenment philosopher, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. Written in 1755 while the author was living in Potsdam, it is seen by many scholars to be one of the first bourgeois tragedies. In the same year it was represented at Frankfurt-on-the-Oder and was very well received. It was afterwards translated and acted in France, where it also met with success. The play was Lessing's first real success as a playwright and it was in part due to the success of this play that he was asked to be the dramaturg at the German National Theatre in Hamburg.\n\nSee also\nGotthold Ephraim Lessing\nBourgeois tragedy\nAge of Enlightenment\n\nNotes\n\nExternal links\n Miss Sara Sampson, full translation by Ernest Bell online.\n \n\n1755 plays\nPlays by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing\nTragedy plays"
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"Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester",
"Evacuation of New York",
"was New York an evacuation?",
"to arrange for the implementation of those parts of the Treaty of Paris relating to the evacuation of New York City,",
"was this a success?",
"Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation."
] |
C_1600d2675e344305ab34e3971a5359f4_1
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What was his role?
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What was Guy Carleton's role?
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Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester
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In August 1783, Carleton was informed that Great Britain would grant the United States its independence. With his exit from New York imminent, Carleton asked to be relieved of his command. With this news, Loyalists began an exodus from the Thirteen Colonies and Carleton did his best to have them resettled outside the United States. At a meeting with George Washington, among others, to arrange for the implementation of those parts of the Treaty of Paris relating to the evacuation of New York City, then commanded by Carleton and still occupied by the British Army, many Loyalists and former slaves, Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation. Instead, he proposed a registry so that "the owners might eventually be paid for the slaves who were entitled to their freedom by British Proclamation and promises." Sir Guy noted that nothing could be changed in any Articles that were inconsistent with prior policies or National Honour. He added that the only mode was to pay for the Negroes, in which case justice was done to all, the former slaves and the owners. Carleton said that it would be a breach of faith not to honour the British policy of liberty to the Negro and declared that if removing them proved to be an infraction of the treaty, then compensation would have to be paid by the British government. To provide for such a contingency, he had a register kept of all Negroes who left, called the Book of Negroes, entering their names, ages, occupations, and names of their former masters. The Americans agreed to this, but as far as can be determined, the Crown never paid compensation. The British transported about 3,000 freedmen and other Loyalists to Nova Scotia for resettlement. As the colony struggled, some of the freedmen later chose in the early 1790s to go to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where the British set up a new colony, which included the Black Poor from London. Washington disagreed with Sir Guy's actions and wrote: "...the measure is totally different from the letter and spirit of the Treaty but waiving the specialty of the point, leaving this decision to our respective Sovereigns I find it my duty to signify my readiness in conjunction with you to enter into agreements, or take any measures which may be deemed expedient to prevent the future carrying away any Negroes or other property of the American people." On 28 November, the evacuation was finished, and Carleton returned to England. John Campbell of Strachur succeeded him as Commander-in-Chief, North America, although the post was then much reduced in scope. CANNOTANSWER
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New York City, then commanded by Carleton
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Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester (3 September 1724 – 10 November 1808), known between 1776 and 1786 as Sir Guy Carleton, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and administrator. He twice served as Governor of the Province of Quebec, from 1768 to 1778, concurrently serving as Governor General of British North America in that time, and again from 1785 to 1795. The title Baron Dorchester was created on 21 August 1786.
He commanded British troops in the American War of Independence, first leading the defence of Quebec during the 1775 rebel invasion, and the 1776 counteroffensive that drove the rebels from the province. In 1782 and 1783, he led as the commander-in-chief of all British forces in North America. In this capacity he was notable for carrying out the Crown's promise of freedom to slaves who joined the British, and he oversaw the evacuation of British forces, Loyalists and more than 3,000 freedmen from New York City in 1783 to transport them to a British colony. Toward this end, Carleton assigned Samuel Birch to create the Book of Negroes.
The military and political career of his younger brother, Thomas Carleton, was interwoven with his own, and Thomas served under him in the Canadas.
Early career
Guy Carleton was born into an Ulster Protestant military family that had lived in Ulster in the north of the Kingdom of Ireland since the Plantation of Ulster in the 17th century, and was one of three brothers (the others being Thomas Carleton and William Carleton) who served in the British military. He was born and raised in Strabane in the west of County Tyrone, just across the River Foyle from Lifford in County Donegal. Guy also had a sister, Connolly Crawford. When he was fourteen his father, Christopher Carleton, died, and his mother, Catherine Carleton, then married Reverend Thomas Skelton. He received a limited education.
In 1742, at the age of seventeen, Carleton was commissioned as an ensign into the 25th Regiment of Foot, in which in 1745 he was promoted lieutenant. During this period he became a friend of James Wolfe; he may have served with Wolfe at the Battle of Culloden during the Jacobite rising of 1745. Two of his brothers, William and Thomas, also joined the British Army.
In 1740 the War of the Austrian Succession broke out in Europe. Despite British troops having been engaged on the European continent since 1742, it was not until 1747 that Carleton and his regiment were despatched to Flanders. They fought the French, but were unable to prevent the Fall of Bergen-op-Zoom, a major Dutch fortress, and the war was brought to a halt by an armistice. In 1748 the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was signed and Carleton returned to Britain. He was frustrated to still only be a lieutenant, and believed his opportunities of advancement would be limited with the end of the war.
In 1751 he joined the 1st Foot Guards and in 1752 was promoted to captain. His career received a major boost when he was chosen, at the suggestion of Wolfe, to act as a guide to The 3rd Duke of Richmond during a tour of the battlefields of the recent war. Richmond would become an influential patron to Carleton.
Seven Years' War
Germany
In 1757, Guy Carleton was made a lieutenant colonel and served as part of the Army of Observation made up of German troops designed to protect Hanover from French invasion. The army was forced to retreat following the Battle of Hastenbeck and eventually concluded the Convention of Klosterzeven, taking them out of the war. After the convention was signed, Carleton returned to Britain. In 1758 he was made the lieutenant colonel of the newly formed 72nd Regiment of Foot. James Wolfe selected Carleton as his aide in the 1758 attack on Louisburg. King George II declined to make this appointment, possibly because of negative comments he made about the soldiers of Hanover during his service on the Continent.
For some time he was unable to gain active position, until he was sent back to Germany to serve as an aide-de-camp to Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick.
Canada
In December 1758 Wolfe, now a major general, was given command of the upcoming campaign against the city of Quebec, and selected Carleton as his quarter-master general. King George refused to make this appointment also until Lord Ligonier talked to the king about the matter and the king changed his mind. When Lieutenant-Colonel Carleton arrived in Halifax he assumed command of six hundred grenadiers. He was with the British forces when they arrived at Quebec in June 1759. Carleton was responsible for the provisioning of the army and also acting as an engineer supervising the placement of cannon. Carleton received a head wound during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham and he returned to England after the battle in October 1759.
France and Havana
On 29 March 1761, as the lieutenant colonel of the 72nd Regiment of Foot he took part in the attack on Belle Île, an island off the coast of the northern part of the Bay of Biscay, off the coast of France. Carleton led an attack on the French, but was seriously wounded and prevented from taking any further part in the fighting. After four weeks of fighting, the British gained complete control of the island.
He was made colonel in 1762 and took part in the British expedition against Cuba, which also included Richard Montgomery, who went on to oppose him in 1775. On 22 July, he was wounded leading an attack on a Spanish outpost.
In 1764 he transferred to the 93rd Regiment of Foot.
Governor of Quebec
On 7 April 1766, Carleton was named acting Lieutenant Governor and Administrator of Quebec with James Murray officially in charge. He arrived in Quebec on 22 September 1766. As Carleton had no experience in public affairs and came from a politically insignificant family, his appointment is unusual and was possibly a surprise to him. One connection may have been due to the Duke of Richmond, who in 1766 been made Secretary of State for the North American colonies. Fourteen years earlier, Carleton had tutored the Duke. The Duke was the colonel of the 72nd Regiment of Foot, while Carleton was its lieutenant colonel. He appointed Carleton as commander-in-chief of all troops stationed in Quebec.
The government consisted of a Governor, a council, and an assembly. The governor could veto any action of the council, but London had also given Carleton instructions that all of his actions required the approval of the council. Most officials of the province at this time did not receive a salary and received their income through fees they charged for their services. Carleton tried to replace this system with one in which the officials received a regular salary, but this position was never supported in London. When Carleton renounced his own fees, Murray was furious.
After Murray resigned his position, Carleton was appointed Captain General and Governor-in-Chief on 12 April 1768. Carleton took the oath of office on 1 November 1768. On 9 August 1770 he sailed for England for what he thought was a few months' consultation on issues related to the integration of Quebec into the British system. During his absence, Hector Theophilus de Cramahé, the lieutenant governor, ran the provincial government, with the aid of the first chief justice, William Hey, and the Attorney-General, Francis Maseres. The British merchants of Quebec, many of whom had become disaffected to the colonial administration under Murray, were, at least initially, of good will. The merchants would later be agent for e.g. the Quebec Act of 1774 (14 Geo. III, c.83) and finally the partition of the two Canadas in the Constitutional Act of 1791 (31 Geo. III, c.31).
Marriage and family
On 22 May 1772, at the age of nearly 48, Carleton married Lady Maria Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Effingham. They had issue nine sons and two daughters. His elder brothers having predeceased him, and himself dying two years before his father, third son Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Carleton was father of Arthur, 2nd Baron Dorchester; Christopher's younger brother, the sixth son, Lieutenant-Colonel George Carleton, was father of Guy, the 3rd Baron. The title was extinct at the 3rd Baron's death in 1897, but it was revived when his daughter, Henrietta, was created Baroness Dorchester; the title was extinct at the death of her son, Dudley, 2nd Baron, in 1963.
Later career
Carleton was promoted to major general on 25 May 1772. While he was in London, the Parliament passed the Quebec Act of 1774, based upon his recommendations. It determined how the province was to be administered and was part of a continuing effort to respect some French traditions while ensuring rights of citizens as understood by the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Carleton and Maria returned to Quebec on 18 September 1774, where he began implementing the provisions of the act. While the clergy and the seigneurs (landowners) were happy with provisions favorable to them, British merchants and migrants from the Thirteen Colonies objected to a number of the provisions, which they thought were pro-Catholic. They argued that only English-speaking Protestants should be able to vote or hold public office. Many of the habitants were unhappy with the provisions reinstating the tithe in support of the Catholic Church, as well as seigneurial obligations, such as the corvée (a labor requirement).
In late 1774, the First Continental Congress sent letters to Montreal denouncing the Quebec Act for promoting Catholicism by allowing Catholics to hold civil service positions and reinstating the tithe. John Brown, an agent for the Boston Committee of Correspondence, arrived in Montreal in early 1775 as part of an effort to persuade citizens to send delegates to the Second Continental Congress, scheduled to meet in May 1775. Carleton, while aware of this activity, did nothing to prevent it, beyond discouraging publication of the Congressional letter in the province's only newspaper.
American War of Independence
Defence of Canada
Carleton received notice of the start of the rebellion in May 1775, soon followed by the news of the rebel capture of Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Crown Point, and the raid on Fort Saint-Jean. As he had previously sent two of his regiments to Boston, he had only about 800 regular soldiers left in Quebec. His attempts to raise a militia met with limited success at first, as neither the ethnic French nor the English residents were willing to join. Area Natives were willing to fight on the British side, and the Crown wanted them to do so, but Carleton turned their offer down because he feared the Natives attacking non-combatants. For the same reason, he limited Guy Johnson and his Iroquois allies, who had come to Quebec from New York, to operating only in Quebec.
During the summer of 1775, Carleton directed the preparation of provincial defences, which were focused on Fort Saint-Jean. In September, the Continental Army began its invasion and besieged the fort. When it fell in November, Carleton was forced to flee from Montreal to Quebec City, escaping capture by disguising himself as a commoner.
In December 1775 he directed the city's defences in the Battle of Quebec and the ensuing siege, which was broken by the arrival of British troops in May 1776 under command of John Burgoyne, who was appointed second-in-command. Carleton's younger brother Thomas was part of the relief effort.
Guy Carleton launched a counteroffensive against the rebels, which included repelling an attempted attack on Trois-Rivières. In June 1776, he was appointed a Knight Companion of the Bath. He was promoted to the rank of a general for America only on 26 March 1776.
The next month Carleton commanded British naval forces on the Richelieu River, culminating in the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain in October 1776 against a rebel fleet led by General Benedict Arnold. The British, with a significantly superior fleet, won a decisive victory, destroying or capturing most of the rebel fleet, but the delay prevented Carleton from continuing on to capture Fort Ticonderoga that year. His brother Thomas and nephew Christopher both served on his staff during the campaign. The morning following the battle, a small island in Lake Champlain was named Carleton's Prize, perhaps to Carleton's embarrassment at the time.
He was promoted to lieutenant general on 6 September 1777. In 1777, command of the major northern expedition to divide the rebel colonies was given to General Burgoyne. Upset that he had not been given its command, Carleton asked to be recalled. He was replaced as governor and military commander of Quebec in 1778 by Frederick Haldimand, and returned to England. In 1780 he was appointed by Prime Minister Lord North to a commission investigating public finances. This post he held until 1782, when General Sir Henry Clinton was recalled in the aftermath of the 1781 surrender at Yorktown. Carleton was appointed to replace Clinton as Commander-in-Chief, America, in May 1782. His headquarters in New York City were located at Number One Broadway.
Evacuation of New York
In August 1783, Carleton was informed that Great Britain would grant the United States its independence. With his exit from New York imminent, Carleton asked to be relieved of his command. With this news, Loyalists began an exodus from the Thirteen Colonies and Carleton did his best to have them resettled outside the United States.
At a meeting with George Washington, among others, to arrange for the implementation of those parts of the Treaty of Paris relating to the evacuation of New York City, then commanded by Carleton and still occupied by the British Army, many Loyalists and former slaves, Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation. Instead, he proposed a registry so that "the owners might eventually be paid for the slaves who were entitled to their freedom by British Proclamation and promises."
Sir Guy noted that nothing could be changed in any Articles that were inconsistent with prior policies or National Honour. He added that the only mode was to pay for the Negroes, in which case justice was done to all, the former slaves and the owners. Carleton said that it would be a breach of faith not to honour the British policy of liberty to the Negro and declared that if removing them proved to be an infraction of the treaty, then compensation would have to be paid by the British government. To provide for such a contingency, he had a register kept of all Negroes who left, called the Book of Negroes, entering their names, ages, occupations, and names of their former masters. The Americans agreed to this, but as far as can be determined, the Crown never paid compensation. The British transported about 3,000 freedmen and other Loyalists to Nova Scotia for resettlement. As the colony struggled, some of the freedmen later chose in the early 1790s to go to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where the British set up a new colony, which included the Black Poor from London.
Washington disagreed with Sir Guy's actions and wrote: "…the measure is totally different from the letter and spirit of the Treaty but waiving the specialty of the point, leaving this decision to our respective Sovereigns I find it my duty to signify my readiness in conjunction with you to enter into agreements, or take any measures which may be deemed expedient to prevent the future carrying away any Negroes or other property of the American people."
On 28 November the evacuation was finished, and on 5 December Carleton departed from Staten Island to return to England. John Campbell of Strachur succeeded him as Commander-in-Chief, North America, although the post was then much reduced in scope.
Post-war years and death
Upon his return to England, Carleton recommended the creation of a position of Governor General of all the provinces in British North America. Instead he was appointed "Governor-in-chief", with simultaneous appointments as governor of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and St. John's Island (present-day Prince Edward Island). He arrived in Quebec on 23 October 1786. His position as Governor-in-chief was mostly ignored. He found quickly that his authority in any of the provinces other than Quebec was effective only while he was present in person.
He was raised to the Peerage of Great Britain in August 1786 as The 1st Baron Dorchester, Baron of Dorchester in the County of Oxford.
The Constitutional Act of 1791 split the large territory of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada, corresponding roughly to areas settled by ethnic British and ethnic French, respectively. Sir Alured Clarke was named as the lieutenant governor of Lower Canada and John Graves Simcoe the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada. In August 1791 Carleton left for Britain and on 7 February 1792 took his seat in the House of Lords. He left for Canada again on 18 August 1793 to resume his duties there. His replacement, Robert Prescott, arrived in May 1796. On 9 July 1796 Carleton sailed from Canada to Britain, never to return.
In retirement Lord Dorchester, as he was now, lived mostly at Greywell Hill, adjoining Nately Scures, in Hampshire. After about 1805 he moved to Stubbings House at Burchett's Green, near Maidenhead, in Berkshire. On 10 November 1808, he died suddenly at Stubbings. He was buried in the parish church of St Swithun's, Nately Scures.
Honours and legacy
He was honoured by numerous places and educational institutions named for him:
, a Canadian Forces Naval Reserve Division in Ottawa
Carleton University in Ottawa
Dorchester Avenue in Ottawa
The Carleton, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Carleton, Nova Scotia
Carleton Village, Nova Scotia
Dorchester Road in Niagara Falls, Canada
Dorchester Boulevard, a major thoroughfare in Montreal since renamed René Lévesque Boulevard
Dorchester Square in downtown Montreal
Dorchester Island and the parish and town of Dorchester, all of New Brunswick
Carleton Street, in:
Carlton Street in Downtown Toronto is indirectly named for Carleton via Ann Wood for her brother Guy Carleton Wood of Cornwall, Ontario
Saint John, New Brunswick
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Fredericton, New Brunswick
St. Andrews, New Brunswick
Moosomin, Saskatchewan
Rue Dorchester, a thoroughfare in Quebec City.
Old Carleton County Court House, Upper Woodstock, New Brunswick
Carleton Place, a town in Eastern Ontario
Carleton County, New Brunswick
Carleton County, Ontario, that became the Region of Ottawa-Carleton, and then the City of Ottawa with amalgamation in 2001.
Carleton-sur-Mer, Quebec, a town on the North Shore of Baie de Chaleurs.
Guysborough County, Nova Scotia (Guys' borough)
Guy's Restaurant, in his birthplace of Strabane, is also named after Carleton. The restaurant was formerly known as the Carleton Club.
Lord Dorchester High School in Dorchester, Ontario
Sir Guy Carleton Secondary School in Ottawa
Sir Guy Carleton Elementary School in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Carleton is mentioned in a Fort Saint-Jean plaque erected in 1926 by Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean. "Constructed in 1743 by M. de Léry under orders from Governor la Galissonnière. This post was for all the military expeditions towards Lake Champlain. On 31 August 1760, Commandant de Roquemaure had it blown up in accordance with orders from the Governor de Vaudreuil in order to prevent its falling into the hands of the English. Rebuilt by Governor Carleton, in 1773. During the same year, under the command of Major Charles Preston of the 26th Regiment, it withstood a 45-day siege by the American troops commanded by General Montgomery."
Carleton Island, part of the Thousand Islands, is near the Royal Military College of Canada. The Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, named Wolfe island in General James Wolfe's honour in 1792. The surrounding islands bear the names of Wolfe's generals: Howe, Carleton, Amherst and Gage (now Simcoe). The island was ceded to the Americans in 1794 as part of Jay's Treaty.
Via Rail Canada has a Manor sleeping car named after Sir Guy Carleton in his honour and there is a plaque inside the railcar explaining his exploits.
The first railroad in Canada, the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad had its first locomotive (a 0-2-0) named "Dorchester".
Carleton Point, a short-lived Loyalist settlement on Great Abaco Island, Bahamas, was named for him
The Dorchester Review magazine (est. 2011 at Ottawa) is named in his honour.
Before 1790s Niagara Falls, Ontario was once called Mount Dorchester in honour of Carleton.
See also
List of Governors General of Canada
List of Lieutenant Governors of Quebec
Commander-in-Chief, North America
History of Quebec
History of North America
Constitutional history of Canada
References
Bibliography
Billias, George Athan, Editor, George Washington's Opponents, William Marrow and Company, Inc., New York, 1969, 103–135.
Nelson, Paul David. General Sir Guy Carleton, Lord Dorchester: Soldier-Statesman of Early British Canada. Associated University Presses, 2000.
Reynolds, Paul R., Guy Carleton, A Biography, 1980,
Wrong, George M. Canada and the American Revolution. New York, 1968.
External links
St Swithun's Church, Nately Scures, England Plaque memorial for Guy Carleton, Gobernador de Quebec y Thomas Carleton Gobernador de New Brunswick
1724 births
1808 deaths
18th-century Anglo-Irish people
British Army generals
British military personnel of the French and Indian War
British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War
Governors of British North America
Lieutenant Governors of the Province of Quebec (1763–1791)
Governors of the Province of Quebec (1763–1791)
Barons in the Peerage of Great Britain
Peers of Great Britain created by George III
Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath
People from Strabane
People from Hart District
People from Maidenhead
King's Own Scottish Borderers officers
78th Highlanders officers
Grenadier Guards officers
British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession
Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)
| true |
[
"What Price Glory?! is a role-playing game published by James Lauffenburger in 1978.\n\nDescription\nWhat Price Glory?! is a fantasy system, basically a variant of Original D&D, with a hex-grid position-based combat system and a spell-point system for magic.\n\nPublication history\nWhat Price Glory?! was designed by John Dankert and Jim Lauffenburger, and published by James Lauffenburger in 1978 as a 140-page digest-sized book. The print run was 500 copies, of which 300 were distributed by Gamescience. Artwork was performed by Thomas E. Sprimont.\n\nReception\n\nReferences\n\nFantasy role-playing games\nRole-playing games introduced in 1978",
"Ernest Lee Thomas (born March 26, 1949) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Roger \"Raj\" Thomas on the 1970s ABC sitcom What's Happening!!, and its 1980s syndicated sequel, What's Happening Now!!, and for his recurring role as Mr. Omar on Everybody Hates Chris.\n\nEarly career and What's Happening!!\n\nThomas was born in Gary, Indiana, and began his professional acting career as a Broadway actor, appearing in the 1974 revival production of Love for Love and in the 1975 revival of The Member of the Wedding. Both shows starred actress Glenn Close. Shortly after he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a TV/film actor. In the fall of 1975 he received a role on an episode of The Jeffersons. It was during the taping of the show that he learned of an audition for a sitcom loosely based on the 1975 film Cooley High. Thomas auditioned, won the lead role, and filmed the television pilot, which tested poorly. The concept was quickly reworked into a more light-hearted approach to the source material, and became known as Central Avenue, before settling on the title What's Happening!!. Thomas was the only cast member retained from the pilot, and took the lead role of Roger \"Raj\" Thomas. The new \"summer series\" became a ratings hit, and was expanded to a full series, airing from 1976 to 1979.\n\nDuring the show's run, Thomas was involved in other film and TV projects including Baretta, The Brady Bunch Hour and the film A Piece of the Action starring Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby. During the first season of What's Happening!!, Thomas was one of the final two actors to be considered for the lead role of Kunta Kinte in the breakthrough miniseries Roots, which eventually went to LeVar Burton. Thomas would go on to play the smaller role of Kailuba in the miniseries.\n\nWhat's Happening Now!! and later career\nAfter a six-year hiatus from TV and film acting, Ernest resumed his role as Roger \"Raj\" Thomas in the sequel What's Happening Now!! The show aired in first-run syndication from 1985 to 1988.\n\nSince the show's cancellation Thomas has guest starred on a number of popular TV dramas and sitcoms including In the Heat of the Night, (which co-starred his TV wife Anne-Marie Johnson, from What's Happening Now!!), The Parent 'Hood, Martin (which starred his What's Happening Now!! co-star Martin Lawrence), Soul Food, The Steve Harvey Show, All About the Andersons and more recently Just Jordan. He has also appeared in a number of films, including a supporting role in Malcolm X and a cameo in Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star. He later had a recurring role as funeral director, Mr. Omar, on the TV sitcom Everybody Hates Chris. He had an uncredited guest spot as Ernest T \"Bass\" on the TV show Are We There Yet? It was titled, \"The Satchel Paige Episode\" and had him playing a Flavor Flav type personality.\n\nIn 2012, Thomas was cast in rocker/horror movie director Rob Zombie's 2012 film The Lords of Salem. In 2016, he was in a comedic body horror short film called Earworm.\n\nHe has an eye condition called amblyopia.\n\nFilmography\n1976-1979: What's Happening!! (TV Series) - Roger 'Raj' Thomas\n1977: A Piece of the Action - John\n1985-1988: What's Happening Now!! (TV Series) - Roger 'Raj' Thomas\n1991: Kiss and Be Killed - Det. Ross\n1992: Malcolm X - Sidney\n2003: The Watermelon Heist - Jailer\n2003: Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star - Ernest Thomas\n2005-2009: Everybody Hates Chris (TV Series) - Mr. Omar / Funeral Director / Radical Man\n2007: Paroled - Royce Henderson\n2009: Funny People - Yo Teach Principal\n2012: The Lords of Salem - Chip McDonald (Frankenstein and the Witchhunter) (uncredited)\n2013: The Pastor and Mrs. Jones - Pastor\n2014: Basketball Girlfriend - Lenny\n2014: Revenge - Neville\n2014: The Slimbones - Uncle AB\n2015: Mega Shark vs. Kolossus - Admiral Titus Jackson\n2015: Chocolate City - Diner Manager\n2016: '79 Parts - Priore\n2016: Stop Bullying Now: Live from the Big House - Himself\n2016 - Earworm (short)\n2017: Chocolate City: Vegas Strip - Mr. Williams\n2017: The Gods - Olympus\n2017: Two Wolves - Olivier\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1949 births\nLiving people\nMale actors from Indiana\nAmerican male film actors\nAmerican male stage actors\nAmerican male television actors\nAfrican-American male actors\n20th-century American male actors\n21st-century American male actors\nPeople from Gary, Indiana\n20th-century African-American people\n21st-century African-American people"
] |
[
"Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester",
"Evacuation of New York",
"was New York an evacuation?",
"to arrange for the implementation of those parts of the Treaty of Paris relating to the evacuation of New York City,",
"was this a success?",
"Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation.",
"What was his role?",
"New York City, then commanded by Carleton"
] |
C_1600d2675e344305ab34e3971a5359f4_1
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what did he do in that role?
| 4 |
What did Carleton do?
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Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester
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In August 1783, Carleton was informed that Great Britain would grant the United States its independence. With his exit from New York imminent, Carleton asked to be relieved of his command. With this news, Loyalists began an exodus from the Thirteen Colonies and Carleton did his best to have them resettled outside the United States. At a meeting with George Washington, among others, to arrange for the implementation of those parts of the Treaty of Paris relating to the evacuation of New York City, then commanded by Carleton and still occupied by the British Army, many Loyalists and former slaves, Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation. Instead, he proposed a registry so that "the owners might eventually be paid for the slaves who were entitled to their freedom by British Proclamation and promises." Sir Guy noted that nothing could be changed in any Articles that were inconsistent with prior policies or National Honour. He added that the only mode was to pay for the Negroes, in which case justice was done to all, the former slaves and the owners. Carleton said that it would be a breach of faith not to honour the British policy of liberty to the Negro and declared that if removing them proved to be an infraction of the treaty, then compensation would have to be paid by the British government. To provide for such a contingency, he had a register kept of all Negroes who left, called the Book of Negroes, entering their names, ages, occupations, and names of their former masters. The Americans agreed to this, but as far as can be determined, the Crown never paid compensation. The British transported about 3,000 freedmen and other Loyalists to Nova Scotia for resettlement. As the colony struggled, some of the freedmen later chose in the early 1790s to go to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where the British set up a new colony, which included the Black Poor from London. Washington disagreed with Sir Guy's actions and wrote: "...the measure is totally different from the letter and spirit of the Treaty but waiving the specialty of the point, leaving this decision to our respective Sovereigns I find it my duty to signify my readiness in conjunction with you to enter into agreements, or take any measures which may be deemed expedient to prevent the future carrying away any Negroes or other property of the American people." On 28 November, the evacuation was finished, and Carleton returned to England. John Campbell of Strachur succeeded him as Commander-in-Chief, North America, although the post was then much reduced in scope. CANNOTANSWER
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Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation.
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Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester (3 September 1724 – 10 November 1808), known between 1776 and 1786 as Sir Guy Carleton, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and administrator. He twice served as Governor of the Province of Quebec, from 1768 to 1778, concurrently serving as Governor General of British North America in that time, and again from 1785 to 1795. The title Baron Dorchester was created on 21 August 1786.
He commanded British troops in the American War of Independence, first leading the defence of Quebec during the 1775 rebel invasion, and the 1776 counteroffensive that drove the rebels from the province. In 1782 and 1783, he led as the commander-in-chief of all British forces in North America. In this capacity he was notable for carrying out the Crown's promise of freedom to slaves who joined the British, and he oversaw the evacuation of British forces, Loyalists and more than 3,000 freedmen from New York City in 1783 to transport them to a British colony. Toward this end, Carleton assigned Samuel Birch to create the Book of Negroes.
The military and political career of his younger brother, Thomas Carleton, was interwoven with his own, and Thomas served under him in the Canadas.
Early career
Guy Carleton was born into an Ulster Protestant military family that had lived in Ulster in the north of the Kingdom of Ireland since the Plantation of Ulster in the 17th century, and was one of three brothers (the others being Thomas Carleton and William Carleton) who served in the British military. He was born and raised in Strabane in the west of County Tyrone, just across the River Foyle from Lifford in County Donegal. Guy also had a sister, Connolly Crawford. When he was fourteen his father, Christopher Carleton, died, and his mother, Catherine Carleton, then married Reverend Thomas Skelton. He received a limited education.
In 1742, at the age of seventeen, Carleton was commissioned as an ensign into the 25th Regiment of Foot, in which in 1745 he was promoted lieutenant. During this period he became a friend of James Wolfe; he may have served with Wolfe at the Battle of Culloden during the Jacobite rising of 1745. Two of his brothers, William and Thomas, also joined the British Army.
In 1740 the War of the Austrian Succession broke out in Europe. Despite British troops having been engaged on the European continent since 1742, it was not until 1747 that Carleton and his regiment were despatched to Flanders. They fought the French, but were unable to prevent the Fall of Bergen-op-Zoom, a major Dutch fortress, and the war was brought to a halt by an armistice. In 1748 the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was signed and Carleton returned to Britain. He was frustrated to still only be a lieutenant, and believed his opportunities of advancement would be limited with the end of the war.
In 1751 he joined the 1st Foot Guards and in 1752 was promoted to captain. His career received a major boost when he was chosen, at the suggestion of Wolfe, to act as a guide to The 3rd Duke of Richmond during a tour of the battlefields of the recent war. Richmond would become an influential patron to Carleton.
Seven Years' War
Germany
In 1757, Guy Carleton was made a lieutenant colonel and served as part of the Army of Observation made up of German troops designed to protect Hanover from French invasion. The army was forced to retreat following the Battle of Hastenbeck and eventually concluded the Convention of Klosterzeven, taking them out of the war. After the convention was signed, Carleton returned to Britain. In 1758 he was made the lieutenant colonel of the newly formed 72nd Regiment of Foot. James Wolfe selected Carleton as his aide in the 1758 attack on Louisburg. King George II declined to make this appointment, possibly because of negative comments he made about the soldiers of Hanover during his service on the Continent.
For some time he was unable to gain active position, until he was sent back to Germany to serve as an aide-de-camp to Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick.
Canada
In December 1758 Wolfe, now a major general, was given command of the upcoming campaign against the city of Quebec, and selected Carleton as his quarter-master general. King George refused to make this appointment also until Lord Ligonier talked to the king about the matter and the king changed his mind. When Lieutenant-Colonel Carleton arrived in Halifax he assumed command of six hundred grenadiers. He was with the British forces when they arrived at Quebec in June 1759. Carleton was responsible for the provisioning of the army and also acting as an engineer supervising the placement of cannon. Carleton received a head wound during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham and he returned to England after the battle in October 1759.
France and Havana
On 29 March 1761, as the lieutenant colonel of the 72nd Regiment of Foot he took part in the attack on Belle Île, an island off the coast of the northern part of the Bay of Biscay, off the coast of France. Carleton led an attack on the French, but was seriously wounded and prevented from taking any further part in the fighting. After four weeks of fighting, the British gained complete control of the island.
He was made colonel in 1762 and took part in the British expedition against Cuba, which also included Richard Montgomery, who went on to oppose him in 1775. On 22 July, he was wounded leading an attack on a Spanish outpost.
In 1764 he transferred to the 93rd Regiment of Foot.
Governor of Quebec
On 7 April 1766, Carleton was named acting Lieutenant Governor and Administrator of Quebec with James Murray officially in charge. He arrived in Quebec on 22 September 1766. As Carleton had no experience in public affairs and came from a politically insignificant family, his appointment is unusual and was possibly a surprise to him. One connection may have been due to the Duke of Richmond, who in 1766 been made Secretary of State for the North American colonies. Fourteen years earlier, Carleton had tutored the Duke. The Duke was the colonel of the 72nd Regiment of Foot, while Carleton was its lieutenant colonel. He appointed Carleton as commander-in-chief of all troops stationed in Quebec.
The government consisted of a Governor, a council, and an assembly. The governor could veto any action of the council, but London had also given Carleton instructions that all of his actions required the approval of the council. Most officials of the province at this time did not receive a salary and received their income through fees they charged for their services. Carleton tried to replace this system with one in which the officials received a regular salary, but this position was never supported in London. When Carleton renounced his own fees, Murray was furious.
After Murray resigned his position, Carleton was appointed Captain General and Governor-in-Chief on 12 April 1768. Carleton took the oath of office on 1 November 1768. On 9 August 1770 he sailed for England for what he thought was a few months' consultation on issues related to the integration of Quebec into the British system. During his absence, Hector Theophilus de Cramahé, the lieutenant governor, ran the provincial government, with the aid of the first chief justice, William Hey, and the Attorney-General, Francis Maseres. The British merchants of Quebec, many of whom had become disaffected to the colonial administration under Murray, were, at least initially, of good will. The merchants would later be agent for e.g. the Quebec Act of 1774 (14 Geo. III, c.83) and finally the partition of the two Canadas in the Constitutional Act of 1791 (31 Geo. III, c.31).
Marriage and family
On 22 May 1772, at the age of nearly 48, Carleton married Lady Maria Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Effingham. They had issue nine sons and two daughters. His elder brothers having predeceased him, and himself dying two years before his father, third son Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Carleton was father of Arthur, 2nd Baron Dorchester; Christopher's younger brother, the sixth son, Lieutenant-Colonel George Carleton, was father of Guy, the 3rd Baron. The title was extinct at the 3rd Baron's death in 1897, but it was revived when his daughter, Henrietta, was created Baroness Dorchester; the title was extinct at the death of her son, Dudley, 2nd Baron, in 1963.
Later career
Carleton was promoted to major general on 25 May 1772. While he was in London, the Parliament passed the Quebec Act of 1774, based upon his recommendations. It determined how the province was to be administered and was part of a continuing effort to respect some French traditions while ensuring rights of citizens as understood by the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Carleton and Maria returned to Quebec on 18 September 1774, where he began implementing the provisions of the act. While the clergy and the seigneurs (landowners) were happy with provisions favorable to them, British merchants and migrants from the Thirteen Colonies objected to a number of the provisions, which they thought were pro-Catholic. They argued that only English-speaking Protestants should be able to vote or hold public office. Many of the habitants were unhappy with the provisions reinstating the tithe in support of the Catholic Church, as well as seigneurial obligations, such as the corvée (a labor requirement).
In late 1774, the First Continental Congress sent letters to Montreal denouncing the Quebec Act for promoting Catholicism by allowing Catholics to hold civil service positions and reinstating the tithe. John Brown, an agent for the Boston Committee of Correspondence, arrived in Montreal in early 1775 as part of an effort to persuade citizens to send delegates to the Second Continental Congress, scheduled to meet in May 1775. Carleton, while aware of this activity, did nothing to prevent it, beyond discouraging publication of the Congressional letter in the province's only newspaper.
American War of Independence
Defence of Canada
Carleton received notice of the start of the rebellion in May 1775, soon followed by the news of the rebel capture of Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Crown Point, and the raid on Fort Saint-Jean. As he had previously sent two of his regiments to Boston, he had only about 800 regular soldiers left in Quebec. His attempts to raise a militia met with limited success at first, as neither the ethnic French nor the English residents were willing to join. Area Natives were willing to fight on the British side, and the Crown wanted them to do so, but Carleton turned their offer down because he feared the Natives attacking non-combatants. For the same reason, he limited Guy Johnson and his Iroquois allies, who had come to Quebec from New York, to operating only in Quebec.
During the summer of 1775, Carleton directed the preparation of provincial defences, which were focused on Fort Saint-Jean. In September, the Continental Army began its invasion and besieged the fort. When it fell in November, Carleton was forced to flee from Montreal to Quebec City, escaping capture by disguising himself as a commoner.
In December 1775 he directed the city's defences in the Battle of Quebec and the ensuing siege, which was broken by the arrival of British troops in May 1776 under command of John Burgoyne, who was appointed second-in-command. Carleton's younger brother Thomas was part of the relief effort.
Guy Carleton launched a counteroffensive against the rebels, which included repelling an attempted attack on Trois-Rivières. In June 1776, he was appointed a Knight Companion of the Bath. He was promoted to the rank of a general for America only on 26 March 1776.
The next month Carleton commanded British naval forces on the Richelieu River, culminating in the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain in October 1776 against a rebel fleet led by General Benedict Arnold. The British, with a significantly superior fleet, won a decisive victory, destroying or capturing most of the rebel fleet, but the delay prevented Carleton from continuing on to capture Fort Ticonderoga that year. His brother Thomas and nephew Christopher both served on his staff during the campaign. The morning following the battle, a small island in Lake Champlain was named Carleton's Prize, perhaps to Carleton's embarrassment at the time.
He was promoted to lieutenant general on 6 September 1777. In 1777, command of the major northern expedition to divide the rebel colonies was given to General Burgoyne. Upset that he had not been given its command, Carleton asked to be recalled. He was replaced as governor and military commander of Quebec in 1778 by Frederick Haldimand, and returned to England. In 1780 he was appointed by Prime Minister Lord North to a commission investigating public finances. This post he held until 1782, when General Sir Henry Clinton was recalled in the aftermath of the 1781 surrender at Yorktown. Carleton was appointed to replace Clinton as Commander-in-Chief, America, in May 1782. His headquarters in New York City were located at Number One Broadway.
Evacuation of New York
In August 1783, Carleton was informed that Great Britain would grant the United States its independence. With his exit from New York imminent, Carleton asked to be relieved of his command. With this news, Loyalists began an exodus from the Thirteen Colonies and Carleton did his best to have them resettled outside the United States.
At a meeting with George Washington, among others, to arrange for the implementation of those parts of the Treaty of Paris relating to the evacuation of New York City, then commanded by Carleton and still occupied by the British Army, many Loyalists and former slaves, Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation. Instead, he proposed a registry so that "the owners might eventually be paid for the slaves who were entitled to their freedom by British Proclamation and promises."
Sir Guy noted that nothing could be changed in any Articles that were inconsistent with prior policies or National Honour. He added that the only mode was to pay for the Negroes, in which case justice was done to all, the former slaves and the owners. Carleton said that it would be a breach of faith not to honour the British policy of liberty to the Negro and declared that if removing them proved to be an infraction of the treaty, then compensation would have to be paid by the British government. To provide for such a contingency, he had a register kept of all Negroes who left, called the Book of Negroes, entering their names, ages, occupations, and names of their former masters. The Americans agreed to this, but as far as can be determined, the Crown never paid compensation. The British transported about 3,000 freedmen and other Loyalists to Nova Scotia for resettlement. As the colony struggled, some of the freedmen later chose in the early 1790s to go to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where the British set up a new colony, which included the Black Poor from London.
Washington disagreed with Sir Guy's actions and wrote: "…the measure is totally different from the letter and spirit of the Treaty but waiving the specialty of the point, leaving this decision to our respective Sovereigns I find it my duty to signify my readiness in conjunction with you to enter into agreements, or take any measures which may be deemed expedient to prevent the future carrying away any Negroes or other property of the American people."
On 28 November the evacuation was finished, and on 5 December Carleton departed from Staten Island to return to England. John Campbell of Strachur succeeded him as Commander-in-Chief, North America, although the post was then much reduced in scope.
Post-war years and death
Upon his return to England, Carleton recommended the creation of a position of Governor General of all the provinces in British North America. Instead he was appointed "Governor-in-chief", with simultaneous appointments as governor of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and St. John's Island (present-day Prince Edward Island). He arrived in Quebec on 23 October 1786. His position as Governor-in-chief was mostly ignored. He found quickly that his authority in any of the provinces other than Quebec was effective only while he was present in person.
He was raised to the Peerage of Great Britain in August 1786 as The 1st Baron Dorchester, Baron of Dorchester in the County of Oxford.
The Constitutional Act of 1791 split the large territory of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada, corresponding roughly to areas settled by ethnic British and ethnic French, respectively. Sir Alured Clarke was named as the lieutenant governor of Lower Canada and John Graves Simcoe the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada. In August 1791 Carleton left for Britain and on 7 February 1792 took his seat in the House of Lords. He left for Canada again on 18 August 1793 to resume his duties there. His replacement, Robert Prescott, arrived in May 1796. On 9 July 1796 Carleton sailed from Canada to Britain, never to return.
In retirement Lord Dorchester, as he was now, lived mostly at Greywell Hill, adjoining Nately Scures, in Hampshire. After about 1805 he moved to Stubbings House at Burchett's Green, near Maidenhead, in Berkshire. On 10 November 1808, he died suddenly at Stubbings. He was buried in the parish church of St Swithun's, Nately Scures.
Honours and legacy
He was honoured by numerous places and educational institutions named for him:
, a Canadian Forces Naval Reserve Division in Ottawa
Carleton University in Ottawa
Dorchester Avenue in Ottawa
The Carleton, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Carleton, Nova Scotia
Carleton Village, Nova Scotia
Dorchester Road in Niagara Falls, Canada
Dorchester Boulevard, a major thoroughfare in Montreal since renamed René Lévesque Boulevard
Dorchester Square in downtown Montreal
Dorchester Island and the parish and town of Dorchester, all of New Brunswick
Carleton Street, in:
Carlton Street in Downtown Toronto is indirectly named for Carleton via Ann Wood for her brother Guy Carleton Wood of Cornwall, Ontario
Saint John, New Brunswick
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Fredericton, New Brunswick
St. Andrews, New Brunswick
Moosomin, Saskatchewan
Rue Dorchester, a thoroughfare in Quebec City.
Old Carleton County Court House, Upper Woodstock, New Brunswick
Carleton Place, a town in Eastern Ontario
Carleton County, New Brunswick
Carleton County, Ontario, that became the Region of Ottawa-Carleton, and then the City of Ottawa with amalgamation in 2001.
Carleton-sur-Mer, Quebec, a town on the North Shore of Baie de Chaleurs.
Guysborough County, Nova Scotia (Guys' borough)
Guy's Restaurant, in his birthplace of Strabane, is also named after Carleton. The restaurant was formerly known as the Carleton Club.
Lord Dorchester High School in Dorchester, Ontario
Sir Guy Carleton Secondary School in Ottawa
Sir Guy Carleton Elementary School in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Carleton is mentioned in a Fort Saint-Jean plaque erected in 1926 by Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean. "Constructed in 1743 by M. de Léry under orders from Governor la Galissonnière. This post was for all the military expeditions towards Lake Champlain. On 31 August 1760, Commandant de Roquemaure had it blown up in accordance with orders from the Governor de Vaudreuil in order to prevent its falling into the hands of the English. Rebuilt by Governor Carleton, in 1773. During the same year, under the command of Major Charles Preston of the 26th Regiment, it withstood a 45-day siege by the American troops commanded by General Montgomery."
Carleton Island, part of the Thousand Islands, is near the Royal Military College of Canada. The Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, named Wolfe island in General James Wolfe's honour in 1792. The surrounding islands bear the names of Wolfe's generals: Howe, Carleton, Amherst and Gage (now Simcoe). The island was ceded to the Americans in 1794 as part of Jay's Treaty.
Via Rail Canada has a Manor sleeping car named after Sir Guy Carleton in his honour and there is a plaque inside the railcar explaining his exploits.
The first railroad in Canada, the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad had its first locomotive (a 0-2-0) named "Dorchester".
Carleton Point, a short-lived Loyalist settlement on Great Abaco Island, Bahamas, was named for him
The Dorchester Review magazine (est. 2011 at Ottawa) is named in his honour.
Before 1790s Niagara Falls, Ontario was once called Mount Dorchester in honour of Carleton.
See also
List of Governors General of Canada
List of Lieutenant Governors of Quebec
Commander-in-Chief, North America
History of Quebec
History of North America
Constitutional history of Canada
References
Bibliography
Billias, George Athan, Editor, George Washington's Opponents, William Marrow and Company, Inc., New York, 1969, 103–135.
Nelson, Paul David. General Sir Guy Carleton, Lord Dorchester: Soldier-Statesman of Early British Canada. Associated University Presses, 2000.
Reynolds, Paul R., Guy Carleton, A Biography, 1980,
Wrong, George M. Canada and the American Revolution. New York, 1968.
External links
St Swithun's Church, Nately Scures, England Plaque memorial for Guy Carleton, Gobernador de Quebec y Thomas Carleton Gobernador de New Brunswick
1724 births
1808 deaths
18th-century Anglo-Irish people
British Army generals
British military personnel of the French and Indian War
British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War
Governors of British North America
Lieutenant Governors of the Province of Quebec (1763–1791)
Governors of the Province of Quebec (1763–1791)
Barons in the Peerage of Great Britain
Peers of Great Britain created by George III
Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath
People from Strabane
People from Hart District
People from Maidenhead
King's Own Scottish Borderers officers
78th Highlanders officers
Grenadier Guards officers
British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession
Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)
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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",
"\"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)"
] |
[
"Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester",
"Evacuation of New York",
"was New York an evacuation?",
"to arrange for the implementation of those parts of the Treaty of Paris relating to the evacuation of New York City,",
"was this a success?",
"Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation.",
"What was his role?",
"New York City, then commanded by Carleton",
"what did he do in that role?",
"Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation."
] |
C_1600d2675e344305ab34e3971a5359f4_1
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when was he placed in that role?
| 5 |
when was Carleton placed in the role?
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Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester
|
In August 1783, Carleton was informed that Great Britain would grant the United States its independence. With his exit from New York imminent, Carleton asked to be relieved of his command. With this news, Loyalists began an exodus from the Thirteen Colonies and Carleton did his best to have them resettled outside the United States. At a meeting with George Washington, among others, to arrange for the implementation of those parts of the Treaty of Paris relating to the evacuation of New York City, then commanded by Carleton and still occupied by the British Army, many Loyalists and former slaves, Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation. Instead, he proposed a registry so that "the owners might eventually be paid for the slaves who were entitled to their freedom by British Proclamation and promises." Sir Guy noted that nothing could be changed in any Articles that were inconsistent with prior policies or National Honour. He added that the only mode was to pay for the Negroes, in which case justice was done to all, the former slaves and the owners. Carleton said that it would be a breach of faith not to honour the British policy of liberty to the Negro and declared that if removing them proved to be an infraction of the treaty, then compensation would have to be paid by the British government. To provide for such a contingency, he had a register kept of all Negroes who left, called the Book of Negroes, entering their names, ages, occupations, and names of their former masters. The Americans agreed to this, but as far as can be determined, the Crown never paid compensation. The British transported about 3,000 freedmen and other Loyalists to Nova Scotia for resettlement. As the colony struggled, some of the freedmen later chose in the early 1790s to go to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where the British set up a new colony, which included the Black Poor from London. Washington disagreed with Sir Guy's actions and wrote: "...the measure is totally different from the letter and spirit of the Treaty but waiving the specialty of the point, leaving this decision to our respective Sovereigns I find it my duty to signify my readiness in conjunction with you to enter into agreements, or take any measures which may be deemed expedient to prevent the future carrying away any Negroes or other property of the American people." On 28 November, the evacuation was finished, and Carleton returned to England. John Campbell of Strachur succeeded him as Commander-in-Chief, North America, although the post was then much reduced in scope. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester (3 September 1724 – 10 November 1808), known between 1776 and 1786 as Sir Guy Carleton, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and administrator. He twice served as Governor of the Province of Quebec, from 1768 to 1778, concurrently serving as Governor General of British North America in that time, and again from 1785 to 1795. The title Baron Dorchester was created on 21 August 1786.
He commanded British troops in the American War of Independence, first leading the defence of Quebec during the 1775 rebel invasion, and the 1776 counteroffensive that drove the rebels from the province. In 1782 and 1783, he led as the commander-in-chief of all British forces in North America. In this capacity he was notable for carrying out the Crown's promise of freedom to slaves who joined the British, and he oversaw the evacuation of British forces, Loyalists and more than 3,000 freedmen from New York City in 1783 to transport them to a British colony. Toward this end, Carleton assigned Samuel Birch to create the Book of Negroes.
The military and political career of his younger brother, Thomas Carleton, was interwoven with his own, and Thomas served under him in the Canadas.
Early career
Guy Carleton was born into an Ulster Protestant military family that had lived in Ulster in the north of the Kingdom of Ireland since the Plantation of Ulster in the 17th century, and was one of three brothers (the others being Thomas Carleton and William Carleton) who served in the British military. He was born and raised in Strabane in the west of County Tyrone, just across the River Foyle from Lifford in County Donegal. Guy also had a sister, Connolly Crawford. When he was fourteen his father, Christopher Carleton, died, and his mother, Catherine Carleton, then married Reverend Thomas Skelton. He received a limited education.
In 1742, at the age of seventeen, Carleton was commissioned as an ensign into the 25th Regiment of Foot, in which in 1745 he was promoted lieutenant. During this period he became a friend of James Wolfe; he may have served with Wolfe at the Battle of Culloden during the Jacobite rising of 1745. Two of his brothers, William and Thomas, also joined the British Army.
In 1740 the War of the Austrian Succession broke out in Europe. Despite British troops having been engaged on the European continent since 1742, it was not until 1747 that Carleton and his regiment were despatched to Flanders. They fought the French, but were unable to prevent the Fall of Bergen-op-Zoom, a major Dutch fortress, and the war was brought to a halt by an armistice. In 1748 the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was signed and Carleton returned to Britain. He was frustrated to still only be a lieutenant, and believed his opportunities of advancement would be limited with the end of the war.
In 1751 he joined the 1st Foot Guards and in 1752 was promoted to captain. His career received a major boost when he was chosen, at the suggestion of Wolfe, to act as a guide to The 3rd Duke of Richmond during a tour of the battlefields of the recent war. Richmond would become an influential patron to Carleton.
Seven Years' War
Germany
In 1757, Guy Carleton was made a lieutenant colonel and served as part of the Army of Observation made up of German troops designed to protect Hanover from French invasion. The army was forced to retreat following the Battle of Hastenbeck and eventually concluded the Convention of Klosterzeven, taking them out of the war. After the convention was signed, Carleton returned to Britain. In 1758 he was made the lieutenant colonel of the newly formed 72nd Regiment of Foot. James Wolfe selected Carleton as his aide in the 1758 attack on Louisburg. King George II declined to make this appointment, possibly because of negative comments he made about the soldiers of Hanover during his service on the Continent.
For some time he was unable to gain active position, until he was sent back to Germany to serve as an aide-de-camp to Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick.
Canada
In December 1758 Wolfe, now a major general, was given command of the upcoming campaign against the city of Quebec, and selected Carleton as his quarter-master general. King George refused to make this appointment also until Lord Ligonier talked to the king about the matter and the king changed his mind. When Lieutenant-Colonel Carleton arrived in Halifax he assumed command of six hundred grenadiers. He was with the British forces when they arrived at Quebec in June 1759. Carleton was responsible for the provisioning of the army and also acting as an engineer supervising the placement of cannon. Carleton received a head wound during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham and he returned to England after the battle in October 1759.
France and Havana
On 29 March 1761, as the lieutenant colonel of the 72nd Regiment of Foot he took part in the attack on Belle Île, an island off the coast of the northern part of the Bay of Biscay, off the coast of France. Carleton led an attack on the French, but was seriously wounded and prevented from taking any further part in the fighting. After four weeks of fighting, the British gained complete control of the island.
He was made colonel in 1762 and took part in the British expedition against Cuba, which also included Richard Montgomery, who went on to oppose him in 1775. On 22 July, he was wounded leading an attack on a Spanish outpost.
In 1764 he transferred to the 93rd Regiment of Foot.
Governor of Quebec
On 7 April 1766, Carleton was named acting Lieutenant Governor and Administrator of Quebec with James Murray officially in charge. He arrived in Quebec on 22 September 1766. As Carleton had no experience in public affairs and came from a politically insignificant family, his appointment is unusual and was possibly a surprise to him. One connection may have been due to the Duke of Richmond, who in 1766 been made Secretary of State for the North American colonies. Fourteen years earlier, Carleton had tutored the Duke. The Duke was the colonel of the 72nd Regiment of Foot, while Carleton was its lieutenant colonel. He appointed Carleton as commander-in-chief of all troops stationed in Quebec.
The government consisted of a Governor, a council, and an assembly. The governor could veto any action of the council, but London had also given Carleton instructions that all of his actions required the approval of the council. Most officials of the province at this time did not receive a salary and received their income through fees they charged for their services. Carleton tried to replace this system with one in which the officials received a regular salary, but this position was never supported in London. When Carleton renounced his own fees, Murray was furious.
After Murray resigned his position, Carleton was appointed Captain General and Governor-in-Chief on 12 April 1768. Carleton took the oath of office on 1 November 1768. On 9 August 1770 he sailed for England for what he thought was a few months' consultation on issues related to the integration of Quebec into the British system. During his absence, Hector Theophilus de Cramahé, the lieutenant governor, ran the provincial government, with the aid of the first chief justice, William Hey, and the Attorney-General, Francis Maseres. The British merchants of Quebec, many of whom had become disaffected to the colonial administration under Murray, were, at least initially, of good will. The merchants would later be agent for e.g. the Quebec Act of 1774 (14 Geo. III, c.83) and finally the partition of the two Canadas in the Constitutional Act of 1791 (31 Geo. III, c.31).
Marriage and family
On 22 May 1772, at the age of nearly 48, Carleton married Lady Maria Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Effingham. They had issue nine sons and two daughters. His elder brothers having predeceased him, and himself dying two years before his father, third son Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Carleton was father of Arthur, 2nd Baron Dorchester; Christopher's younger brother, the sixth son, Lieutenant-Colonel George Carleton, was father of Guy, the 3rd Baron. The title was extinct at the 3rd Baron's death in 1897, but it was revived when his daughter, Henrietta, was created Baroness Dorchester; the title was extinct at the death of her son, Dudley, 2nd Baron, in 1963.
Later career
Carleton was promoted to major general on 25 May 1772. While he was in London, the Parliament passed the Quebec Act of 1774, based upon his recommendations. It determined how the province was to be administered and was part of a continuing effort to respect some French traditions while ensuring rights of citizens as understood by the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Carleton and Maria returned to Quebec on 18 September 1774, where he began implementing the provisions of the act. While the clergy and the seigneurs (landowners) were happy with provisions favorable to them, British merchants and migrants from the Thirteen Colonies objected to a number of the provisions, which they thought were pro-Catholic. They argued that only English-speaking Protestants should be able to vote or hold public office. Many of the habitants were unhappy with the provisions reinstating the tithe in support of the Catholic Church, as well as seigneurial obligations, such as the corvée (a labor requirement).
In late 1774, the First Continental Congress sent letters to Montreal denouncing the Quebec Act for promoting Catholicism by allowing Catholics to hold civil service positions and reinstating the tithe. John Brown, an agent for the Boston Committee of Correspondence, arrived in Montreal in early 1775 as part of an effort to persuade citizens to send delegates to the Second Continental Congress, scheduled to meet in May 1775. Carleton, while aware of this activity, did nothing to prevent it, beyond discouraging publication of the Congressional letter in the province's only newspaper.
American War of Independence
Defence of Canada
Carleton received notice of the start of the rebellion in May 1775, soon followed by the news of the rebel capture of Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Crown Point, and the raid on Fort Saint-Jean. As he had previously sent two of his regiments to Boston, he had only about 800 regular soldiers left in Quebec. His attempts to raise a militia met with limited success at first, as neither the ethnic French nor the English residents were willing to join. Area Natives were willing to fight on the British side, and the Crown wanted them to do so, but Carleton turned their offer down because he feared the Natives attacking non-combatants. For the same reason, he limited Guy Johnson and his Iroquois allies, who had come to Quebec from New York, to operating only in Quebec.
During the summer of 1775, Carleton directed the preparation of provincial defences, which were focused on Fort Saint-Jean. In September, the Continental Army began its invasion and besieged the fort. When it fell in November, Carleton was forced to flee from Montreal to Quebec City, escaping capture by disguising himself as a commoner.
In December 1775 he directed the city's defences in the Battle of Quebec and the ensuing siege, which was broken by the arrival of British troops in May 1776 under command of John Burgoyne, who was appointed second-in-command. Carleton's younger brother Thomas was part of the relief effort.
Guy Carleton launched a counteroffensive against the rebels, which included repelling an attempted attack on Trois-Rivières. In June 1776, he was appointed a Knight Companion of the Bath. He was promoted to the rank of a general for America only on 26 March 1776.
The next month Carleton commanded British naval forces on the Richelieu River, culminating in the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain in October 1776 against a rebel fleet led by General Benedict Arnold. The British, with a significantly superior fleet, won a decisive victory, destroying or capturing most of the rebel fleet, but the delay prevented Carleton from continuing on to capture Fort Ticonderoga that year. His brother Thomas and nephew Christopher both served on his staff during the campaign. The morning following the battle, a small island in Lake Champlain was named Carleton's Prize, perhaps to Carleton's embarrassment at the time.
He was promoted to lieutenant general on 6 September 1777. In 1777, command of the major northern expedition to divide the rebel colonies was given to General Burgoyne. Upset that he had not been given its command, Carleton asked to be recalled. He was replaced as governor and military commander of Quebec in 1778 by Frederick Haldimand, and returned to England. In 1780 he was appointed by Prime Minister Lord North to a commission investigating public finances. This post he held until 1782, when General Sir Henry Clinton was recalled in the aftermath of the 1781 surrender at Yorktown. Carleton was appointed to replace Clinton as Commander-in-Chief, America, in May 1782. His headquarters in New York City were located at Number One Broadway.
Evacuation of New York
In August 1783, Carleton was informed that Great Britain would grant the United States its independence. With his exit from New York imminent, Carleton asked to be relieved of his command. With this news, Loyalists began an exodus from the Thirteen Colonies and Carleton did his best to have them resettled outside the United States.
At a meeting with George Washington, among others, to arrange for the implementation of those parts of the Treaty of Paris relating to the evacuation of New York City, then commanded by Carleton and still occupied by the British Army, many Loyalists and former slaves, Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation. Instead, he proposed a registry so that "the owners might eventually be paid for the slaves who were entitled to their freedom by British Proclamation and promises."
Sir Guy noted that nothing could be changed in any Articles that were inconsistent with prior policies or National Honour. He added that the only mode was to pay for the Negroes, in which case justice was done to all, the former slaves and the owners. Carleton said that it would be a breach of faith not to honour the British policy of liberty to the Negro and declared that if removing them proved to be an infraction of the treaty, then compensation would have to be paid by the British government. To provide for such a contingency, he had a register kept of all Negroes who left, called the Book of Negroes, entering their names, ages, occupations, and names of their former masters. The Americans agreed to this, but as far as can be determined, the Crown never paid compensation. The British transported about 3,000 freedmen and other Loyalists to Nova Scotia for resettlement. As the colony struggled, some of the freedmen later chose in the early 1790s to go to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where the British set up a new colony, which included the Black Poor from London.
Washington disagreed with Sir Guy's actions and wrote: "…the measure is totally different from the letter and spirit of the Treaty but waiving the specialty of the point, leaving this decision to our respective Sovereigns I find it my duty to signify my readiness in conjunction with you to enter into agreements, or take any measures which may be deemed expedient to prevent the future carrying away any Negroes or other property of the American people."
On 28 November the evacuation was finished, and on 5 December Carleton departed from Staten Island to return to England. John Campbell of Strachur succeeded him as Commander-in-Chief, North America, although the post was then much reduced in scope.
Post-war years and death
Upon his return to England, Carleton recommended the creation of a position of Governor General of all the provinces in British North America. Instead he was appointed "Governor-in-chief", with simultaneous appointments as governor of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and St. John's Island (present-day Prince Edward Island). He arrived in Quebec on 23 October 1786. His position as Governor-in-chief was mostly ignored. He found quickly that his authority in any of the provinces other than Quebec was effective only while he was present in person.
He was raised to the Peerage of Great Britain in August 1786 as The 1st Baron Dorchester, Baron of Dorchester in the County of Oxford.
The Constitutional Act of 1791 split the large territory of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada, corresponding roughly to areas settled by ethnic British and ethnic French, respectively. Sir Alured Clarke was named as the lieutenant governor of Lower Canada and John Graves Simcoe the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada. In August 1791 Carleton left for Britain and on 7 February 1792 took his seat in the House of Lords. He left for Canada again on 18 August 1793 to resume his duties there. His replacement, Robert Prescott, arrived in May 1796. On 9 July 1796 Carleton sailed from Canada to Britain, never to return.
In retirement Lord Dorchester, as he was now, lived mostly at Greywell Hill, adjoining Nately Scures, in Hampshire. After about 1805 he moved to Stubbings House at Burchett's Green, near Maidenhead, in Berkshire. On 10 November 1808, he died suddenly at Stubbings. He was buried in the parish church of St Swithun's, Nately Scures.
Honours and legacy
He was honoured by numerous places and educational institutions named for him:
, a Canadian Forces Naval Reserve Division in Ottawa
Carleton University in Ottawa
Dorchester Avenue in Ottawa
The Carleton, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Carleton, Nova Scotia
Carleton Village, Nova Scotia
Dorchester Road in Niagara Falls, Canada
Dorchester Boulevard, a major thoroughfare in Montreal since renamed René Lévesque Boulevard
Dorchester Square in downtown Montreal
Dorchester Island and the parish and town of Dorchester, all of New Brunswick
Carleton Street, in:
Carlton Street in Downtown Toronto is indirectly named for Carleton via Ann Wood for her brother Guy Carleton Wood of Cornwall, Ontario
Saint John, New Brunswick
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Fredericton, New Brunswick
St. Andrews, New Brunswick
Moosomin, Saskatchewan
Rue Dorchester, a thoroughfare in Quebec City.
Old Carleton County Court House, Upper Woodstock, New Brunswick
Carleton Place, a town in Eastern Ontario
Carleton County, New Brunswick
Carleton County, Ontario, that became the Region of Ottawa-Carleton, and then the City of Ottawa with amalgamation in 2001.
Carleton-sur-Mer, Quebec, a town on the North Shore of Baie de Chaleurs.
Guysborough County, Nova Scotia (Guys' borough)
Guy's Restaurant, in his birthplace of Strabane, is also named after Carleton. The restaurant was formerly known as the Carleton Club.
Lord Dorchester High School in Dorchester, Ontario
Sir Guy Carleton Secondary School in Ottawa
Sir Guy Carleton Elementary School in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Carleton is mentioned in a Fort Saint-Jean plaque erected in 1926 by Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean. "Constructed in 1743 by M. de Léry under orders from Governor la Galissonnière. This post was for all the military expeditions towards Lake Champlain. On 31 August 1760, Commandant de Roquemaure had it blown up in accordance with orders from the Governor de Vaudreuil in order to prevent its falling into the hands of the English. Rebuilt by Governor Carleton, in 1773. During the same year, under the command of Major Charles Preston of the 26th Regiment, it withstood a 45-day siege by the American troops commanded by General Montgomery."
Carleton Island, part of the Thousand Islands, is near the Royal Military College of Canada. The Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, named Wolfe island in General James Wolfe's honour in 1792. The surrounding islands bear the names of Wolfe's generals: Howe, Carleton, Amherst and Gage (now Simcoe). The island was ceded to the Americans in 1794 as part of Jay's Treaty.
Via Rail Canada has a Manor sleeping car named after Sir Guy Carleton in his honour and there is a plaque inside the railcar explaining his exploits.
The first railroad in Canada, the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad had its first locomotive (a 0-2-0) named "Dorchester".
Carleton Point, a short-lived Loyalist settlement on Great Abaco Island, Bahamas, was named for him
The Dorchester Review magazine (est. 2011 at Ottawa) is named in his honour.
Before 1790s Niagara Falls, Ontario was once called Mount Dorchester in honour of Carleton.
See also
List of Governors General of Canada
List of Lieutenant Governors of Quebec
Commander-in-Chief, North America
History of Quebec
History of North America
Constitutional history of Canada
References
Bibliography
Billias, George Athan, Editor, George Washington's Opponents, William Marrow and Company, Inc., New York, 1969, 103–135.
Nelson, Paul David. General Sir Guy Carleton, Lord Dorchester: Soldier-Statesman of Early British Canada. Associated University Presses, 2000.
Reynolds, Paul R., Guy Carleton, A Biography, 1980,
Wrong, George M. Canada and the American Revolution. New York, 1968.
External links
St Swithun's Church, Nately Scures, England Plaque memorial for Guy Carleton, Gobernador de Quebec y Thomas Carleton Gobernador de New Brunswick
1724 births
1808 deaths
18th-century Anglo-Irish people
British Army generals
British military personnel of the French and Indian War
British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War
Governors of British North America
Lieutenant Governors of the Province of Quebec (1763–1791)
Governors of the Province of Quebec (1763–1791)
Barons in the Peerage of Great Britain
Peers of Great Britain created by George III
Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath
People from Strabane
People from Hart District
People from Maidenhead
King's Own Scottish Borderers officers
78th Highlanders officers
Grenadier Guards officers
British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession
Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)
| false |
[
"Thiti Mahayotaruk () or Bank (แบงค์) is an actor in Thailand, known for his role as Non in Hormones: The Series.\n\nCareer\nThiti Mahayotaruk was born on 19 November 1996 in Khon Kaen, Thailand. He joined a Hormones: The Next Gen audition and placed in the top 12. Later he was placed in the top 5, and made his debut in season 2 of Hormones: The Series. After that he received an offer to play a role in ThirTEEN Terrors. He appeared in episode 4, titled \"Missed Call\".\n\nIn 2015 he was cast for a four-episode LINE short drama series titled Stay The Series. Later he reprised his role as Non in the last season of Hormones: The Series. He also took part in the movie May Who?, where he was paired with Sutatta Udomsilp.\n\nIn 2016, he played for another series titled Diary of Tootsies. He also participated in the Love Songs Love Series project.\n\nFilmography\n\nFilms\n\nTelevision series\n\nAwards and nominations\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\n1996 births\nLiving people\nThiti Mahayotaruk\nThiti Mahayotaruk",
"The Grand Slam in the Philippine movie industry refers to people who have won all four major film awards in the same category in the same year. The four major organizations that evaluate all Filipino films released in the country and hand out awards for best cinematic output in various categories in a calendar year are the:\n Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) – It is the country's oldest movie award-giving body and was established in 1953. It is the successor of the Maria Clara Awards.\n Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (MPP) – It is the country's premier film critics group composed of 10 esteemed film scholars and National Artists as members and was established in 1976. It is the country's counterpart of the New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC). It hands out the annual Gawad Urian Awards, the only awards that uses Filipino language. Its first awards were given in 1977.\n Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP) – It is the country's counterpart of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It was established in 1981 as the official film industry organization. It hands out the Luna Awards (formerly known as FAP Awards), equivalent of the Oscars. Its first awards were given in 1983.\n Philippine Movie Press Club (PMPC) – It was established in 1985 and hands out the Star Awards for Movies. It also hands out television awards, starting in 1987. This made the PMPC as the country's counterpart of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) and made Star Awards the equivalent of the Golden Globe Awards but it holds the movie and television awarding ceremonies separately rather than as a whole.\n\nThe term \"grand slam\" was coined in 1983, when Vilma Santos won the Best Actress award from FAMAS, Urian, FAP and the Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA) for her performance in Relasyon. The Catholic Mass Media Awards were created in 1978 and beside movies, they also honor television, radio, print, advertising and music. This awards were part of the original four major awards. When Star Awards were created in 1985, there were five major awards. Ever since the CMMA ceased giving out acting awards sometime in the 1990s, this awards had been relegated as a minor award. Today, \"grand slam\" has been generally used to refer to winning awards in FAMAS, Urian, Luna and Star in the same year for the same category. In FAMAS Awards, people who had won five awards in a certain competitive category are given Hall of Fame awards and cannot be nominated anymore in any subsequent ceremony. These people can still get a \"grand slam\" if they win in the other three major awards.\n\nThere are rare instances in which an actor/actress won awards for the same role but was placed in different categories because the four organizations mixed up whether a role should be a lead or a supporting. Nevertheless, they still win a \"grand slam\". For example, Dennis Trillo almost won a \"grand slam\" for his role in Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita. He was placed in Best Supporting Actor at the FAMAS and Urian while being placed in Best Actor at the Luna (FAP) and Star. This also can occur when an actor/actress is placed in child categories while being placed in lead or supporting categories in other awards. Only FAMAS and Star give out the child categories. For example, Jiro Manio won Best Child Actor at the FAMAS for his role in Magnifico but won Best Actor at the other three awards.\n\nNevertheless, it still very rare that a \"grand slam\" happens, especially now with the boom of independent films in the country. Since 1983, there have been only 19 instances when a \"grand slam\" occurred.\n\nA further achievement is winning awards given by other award-giving bodies such as the Young Critics Circle, Golden Screen, Gawad TANGLAW, Gawad PASADO and others.\n\nWinners\n\n Year is based on when the Grand Slam was received, not the year when the film was released.\n Won the Grand Slam, including the CMMA. \n Was placed in Best Child Actor at the FAMAS while being placed in Best Actor at the other three majors.\n\nFailed bids\n\n Lost in this award.\n\n Year is based on when the Grand Slam might be received, not the year when the film was released.\n Was placed in Best Supporting Actor at the FAMAS and Urian while being placed in Best Actor at the Luna (FAP) and Star. He was originally placed in supporting role at the 2004 Metro Manila Film Festival.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Official Website of the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences\n Official Website of the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino\n Official Website of the Film Academy of the Philippines\n Official Facebook of the Philippine Movie Press Club\n\nCinema of the Philippines\nPhilippine film awards\nPhilippine movie grand slam\nPhilippine film-related lists"
] |
[
"Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester",
"Evacuation of New York",
"was New York an evacuation?",
"to arrange for the implementation of those parts of the Treaty of Paris relating to the evacuation of New York City,",
"was this a success?",
"Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation.",
"What was his role?",
"New York City, then commanded by Carleton",
"what did he do in that role?",
"Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation.",
"when was he placed in that role?",
"I don't know."
] |
C_1600d2675e344305ab34e3971a5359f4_1
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did any new laws come from this?
| 6 |
What new laws come from after the British evacuation?
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Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester
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In August 1783, Carleton was informed that Great Britain would grant the United States its independence. With his exit from New York imminent, Carleton asked to be relieved of his command. With this news, Loyalists began an exodus from the Thirteen Colonies and Carleton did his best to have them resettled outside the United States. At a meeting with George Washington, among others, to arrange for the implementation of those parts of the Treaty of Paris relating to the evacuation of New York City, then commanded by Carleton and still occupied by the British Army, many Loyalists and former slaves, Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation. Instead, he proposed a registry so that "the owners might eventually be paid for the slaves who were entitled to their freedom by British Proclamation and promises." Sir Guy noted that nothing could be changed in any Articles that were inconsistent with prior policies or National Honour. He added that the only mode was to pay for the Negroes, in which case justice was done to all, the former slaves and the owners. Carleton said that it would be a breach of faith not to honour the British policy of liberty to the Negro and declared that if removing them proved to be an infraction of the treaty, then compensation would have to be paid by the British government. To provide for such a contingency, he had a register kept of all Negroes who left, called the Book of Negroes, entering their names, ages, occupations, and names of their former masters. The Americans agreed to this, but as far as can be determined, the Crown never paid compensation. The British transported about 3,000 freedmen and other Loyalists to Nova Scotia for resettlement. As the colony struggled, some of the freedmen later chose in the early 1790s to go to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where the British set up a new colony, which included the Black Poor from London. Washington disagreed with Sir Guy's actions and wrote: "...the measure is totally different from the letter and spirit of the Treaty but waiving the specialty of the point, leaving this decision to our respective Sovereigns I find it my duty to signify my readiness in conjunction with you to enter into agreements, or take any measures which may be deemed expedient to prevent the future carrying away any Negroes or other property of the American people." On 28 November, the evacuation was finished, and Carleton returned to England. John Campbell of Strachur succeeded him as Commander-in-Chief, North America, although the post was then much reduced in scope. CANNOTANSWER
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Sir Guy noted that nothing could be changed in any Articles that were inconsistent with prior policies or National Honour.
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Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester (3 September 1724 – 10 November 1808), known between 1776 and 1786 as Sir Guy Carleton, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and administrator. He twice served as Governor of the Province of Quebec, from 1768 to 1778, concurrently serving as Governor General of British North America in that time, and again from 1785 to 1795. The title Baron Dorchester was created on 21 August 1786.
He commanded British troops in the American War of Independence, first leading the defence of Quebec during the 1775 rebel invasion, and the 1776 counteroffensive that drove the rebels from the province. In 1782 and 1783, he led as the commander-in-chief of all British forces in North America. In this capacity he was notable for carrying out the Crown's promise of freedom to slaves who joined the British, and he oversaw the evacuation of British forces, Loyalists and more than 3,000 freedmen from New York City in 1783 to transport them to a British colony. Toward this end, Carleton assigned Samuel Birch to create the Book of Negroes.
The military and political career of his younger brother, Thomas Carleton, was interwoven with his own, and Thomas served under him in the Canadas.
Early career
Guy Carleton was born into an Ulster Protestant military family that had lived in Ulster in the north of the Kingdom of Ireland since the Plantation of Ulster in the 17th century, and was one of three brothers (the others being Thomas Carleton and William Carleton) who served in the British military. He was born and raised in Strabane in the west of County Tyrone, just across the River Foyle from Lifford in County Donegal. Guy also had a sister, Connolly Crawford. When he was fourteen his father, Christopher Carleton, died, and his mother, Catherine Carleton, then married Reverend Thomas Skelton. He received a limited education.
In 1742, at the age of seventeen, Carleton was commissioned as an ensign into the 25th Regiment of Foot, in which in 1745 he was promoted lieutenant. During this period he became a friend of James Wolfe; he may have served with Wolfe at the Battle of Culloden during the Jacobite rising of 1745. Two of his brothers, William and Thomas, also joined the British Army.
In 1740 the War of the Austrian Succession broke out in Europe. Despite British troops having been engaged on the European continent since 1742, it was not until 1747 that Carleton and his regiment were despatched to Flanders. They fought the French, but were unable to prevent the Fall of Bergen-op-Zoom, a major Dutch fortress, and the war was brought to a halt by an armistice. In 1748 the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was signed and Carleton returned to Britain. He was frustrated to still only be a lieutenant, and believed his opportunities of advancement would be limited with the end of the war.
In 1751 he joined the 1st Foot Guards and in 1752 was promoted to captain. His career received a major boost when he was chosen, at the suggestion of Wolfe, to act as a guide to The 3rd Duke of Richmond during a tour of the battlefields of the recent war. Richmond would become an influential patron to Carleton.
Seven Years' War
Germany
In 1757, Guy Carleton was made a lieutenant colonel and served as part of the Army of Observation made up of German troops designed to protect Hanover from French invasion. The army was forced to retreat following the Battle of Hastenbeck and eventually concluded the Convention of Klosterzeven, taking them out of the war. After the convention was signed, Carleton returned to Britain. In 1758 he was made the lieutenant colonel of the newly formed 72nd Regiment of Foot. James Wolfe selected Carleton as his aide in the 1758 attack on Louisburg. King George II declined to make this appointment, possibly because of negative comments he made about the soldiers of Hanover during his service on the Continent.
For some time he was unable to gain active position, until he was sent back to Germany to serve as an aide-de-camp to Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick.
Canada
In December 1758 Wolfe, now a major general, was given command of the upcoming campaign against the city of Quebec, and selected Carleton as his quarter-master general. King George refused to make this appointment also until Lord Ligonier talked to the king about the matter and the king changed his mind. When Lieutenant-Colonel Carleton arrived in Halifax he assumed command of six hundred grenadiers. He was with the British forces when they arrived at Quebec in June 1759. Carleton was responsible for the provisioning of the army and also acting as an engineer supervising the placement of cannon. Carleton received a head wound during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham and he returned to England after the battle in October 1759.
France and Havana
On 29 March 1761, as the lieutenant colonel of the 72nd Regiment of Foot he took part in the attack on Belle Île, an island off the coast of the northern part of the Bay of Biscay, off the coast of France. Carleton led an attack on the French, but was seriously wounded and prevented from taking any further part in the fighting. After four weeks of fighting, the British gained complete control of the island.
He was made colonel in 1762 and took part in the British expedition against Cuba, which also included Richard Montgomery, who went on to oppose him in 1775. On 22 July, he was wounded leading an attack on a Spanish outpost.
In 1764 he transferred to the 93rd Regiment of Foot.
Governor of Quebec
On 7 April 1766, Carleton was named acting Lieutenant Governor and Administrator of Quebec with James Murray officially in charge. He arrived in Quebec on 22 September 1766. As Carleton had no experience in public affairs and came from a politically insignificant family, his appointment is unusual and was possibly a surprise to him. One connection may have been due to the Duke of Richmond, who in 1766 been made Secretary of State for the North American colonies. Fourteen years earlier, Carleton had tutored the Duke. The Duke was the colonel of the 72nd Regiment of Foot, while Carleton was its lieutenant colonel. He appointed Carleton as commander-in-chief of all troops stationed in Quebec.
The government consisted of a Governor, a council, and an assembly. The governor could veto any action of the council, but London had also given Carleton instructions that all of his actions required the approval of the council. Most officials of the province at this time did not receive a salary and received their income through fees they charged for their services. Carleton tried to replace this system with one in which the officials received a regular salary, but this position was never supported in London. When Carleton renounced his own fees, Murray was furious.
After Murray resigned his position, Carleton was appointed Captain General and Governor-in-Chief on 12 April 1768. Carleton took the oath of office on 1 November 1768. On 9 August 1770 he sailed for England for what he thought was a few months' consultation on issues related to the integration of Quebec into the British system. During his absence, Hector Theophilus de Cramahé, the lieutenant governor, ran the provincial government, with the aid of the first chief justice, William Hey, and the Attorney-General, Francis Maseres. The British merchants of Quebec, many of whom had become disaffected to the colonial administration under Murray, were, at least initially, of good will. The merchants would later be agent for e.g. the Quebec Act of 1774 (14 Geo. III, c.83) and finally the partition of the two Canadas in the Constitutional Act of 1791 (31 Geo. III, c.31).
Marriage and family
On 22 May 1772, at the age of nearly 48, Carleton married Lady Maria Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Effingham. They had issue nine sons and two daughters. His elder brothers having predeceased him, and himself dying two years before his father, third son Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Carleton was father of Arthur, 2nd Baron Dorchester; Christopher's younger brother, the sixth son, Lieutenant-Colonel George Carleton, was father of Guy, the 3rd Baron. The title was extinct at the 3rd Baron's death in 1897, but it was revived when his daughter, Henrietta, was created Baroness Dorchester; the title was extinct at the death of her son, Dudley, 2nd Baron, in 1963.
Later career
Carleton was promoted to major general on 25 May 1772. While he was in London, the Parliament passed the Quebec Act of 1774, based upon his recommendations. It determined how the province was to be administered and was part of a continuing effort to respect some French traditions while ensuring rights of citizens as understood by the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Carleton and Maria returned to Quebec on 18 September 1774, where he began implementing the provisions of the act. While the clergy and the seigneurs (landowners) were happy with provisions favorable to them, British merchants and migrants from the Thirteen Colonies objected to a number of the provisions, which they thought were pro-Catholic. They argued that only English-speaking Protestants should be able to vote or hold public office. Many of the habitants were unhappy with the provisions reinstating the tithe in support of the Catholic Church, as well as seigneurial obligations, such as the corvée (a labor requirement).
In late 1774, the First Continental Congress sent letters to Montreal denouncing the Quebec Act for promoting Catholicism by allowing Catholics to hold civil service positions and reinstating the tithe. John Brown, an agent for the Boston Committee of Correspondence, arrived in Montreal in early 1775 as part of an effort to persuade citizens to send delegates to the Second Continental Congress, scheduled to meet in May 1775. Carleton, while aware of this activity, did nothing to prevent it, beyond discouraging publication of the Congressional letter in the province's only newspaper.
American War of Independence
Defence of Canada
Carleton received notice of the start of the rebellion in May 1775, soon followed by the news of the rebel capture of Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Crown Point, and the raid on Fort Saint-Jean. As he had previously sent two of his regiments to Boston, he had only about 800 regular soldiers left in Quebec. His attempts to raise a militia met with limited success at first, as neither the ethnic French nor the English residents were willing to join. Area Natives were willing to fight on the British side, and the Crown wanted them to do so, but Carleton turned their offer down because he feared the Natives attacking non-combatants. For the same reason, he limited Guy Johnson and his Iroquois allies, who had come to Quebec from New York, to operating only in Quebec.
During the summer of 1775, Carleton directed the preparation of provincial defences, which were focused on Fort Saint-Jean. In September, the Continental Army began its invasion and besieged the fort. When it fell in November, Carleton was forced to flee from Montreal to Quebec City, escaping capture by disguising himself as a commoner.
In December 1775 he directed the city's defences in the Battle of Quebec and the ensuing siege, which was broken by the arrival of British troops in May 1776 under command of John Burgoyne, who was appointed second-in-command. Carleton's younger brother Thomas was part of the relief effort.
Guy Carleton launched a counteroffensive against the rebels, which included repelling an attempted attack on Trois-Rivières. In June 1776, he was appointed a Knight Companion of the Bath. He was promoted to the rank of a general for America only on 26 March 1776.
The next month Carleton commanded British naval forces on the Richelieu River, culminating in the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain in October 1776 against a rebel fleet led by General Benedict Arnold. The British, with a significantly superior fleet, won a decisive victory, destroying or capturing most of the rebel fleet, but the delay prevented Carleton from continuing on to capture Fort Ticonderoga that year. His brother Thomas and nephew Christopher both served on his staff during the campaign. The morning following the battle, a small island in Lake Champlain was named Carleton's Prize, perhaps to Carleton's embarrassment at the time.
He was promoted to lieutenant general on 6 September 1777. In 1777, command of the major northern expedition to divide the rebel colonies was given to General Burgoyne. Upset that he had not been given its command, Carleton asked to be recalled. He was replaced as governor and military commander of Quebec in 1778 by Frederick Haldimand, and returned to England. In 1780 he was appointed by Prime Minister Lord North to a commission investigating public finances. This post he held until 1782, when General Sir Henry Clinton was recalled in the aftermath of the 1781 surrender at Yorktown. Carleton was appointed to replace Clinton as Commander-in-Chief, America, in May 1782. His headquarters in New York City were located at Number One Broadway.
Evacuation of New York
In August 1783, Carleton was informed that Great Britain would grant the United States its independence. With his exit from New York imminent, Carleton asked to be relieved of his command. With this news, Loyalists began an exodus from the Thirteen Colonies and Carleton did his best to have them resettled outside the United States.
At a meeting with George Washington, among others, to arrange for the implementation of those parts of the Treaty of Paris relating to the evacuation of New York City, then commanded by Carleton and still occupied by the British Army, many Loyalists and former slaves, Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation. Instead, he proposed a registry so that "the owners might eventually be paid for the slaves who were entitled to their freedom by British Proclamation and promises."
Sir Guy noted that nothing could be changed in any Articles that were inconsistent with prior policies or National Honour. He added that the only mode was to pay for the Negroes, in which case justice was done to all, the former slaves and the owners. Carleton said that it would be a breach of faith not to honour the British policy of liberty to the Negro and declared that if removing them proved to be an infraction of the treaty, then compensation would have to be paid by the British government. To provide for such a contingency, he had a register kept of all Negroes who left, called the Book of Negroes, entering their names, ages, occupations, and names of their former masters. The Americans agreed to this, but as far as can be determined, the Crown never paid compensation. The British transported about 3,000 freedmen and other Loyalists to Nova Scotia for resettlement. As the colony struggled, some of the freedmen later chose in the early 1790s to go to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where the British set up a new colony, which included the Black Poor from London.
Washington disagreed with Sir Guy's actions and wrote: "…the measure is totally different from the letter and spirit of the Treaty but waiving the specialty of the point, leaving this decision to our respective Sovereigns I find it my duty to signify my readiness in conjunction with you to enter into agreements, or take any measures which may be deemed expedient to prevent the future carrying away any Negroes or other property of the American people."
On 28 November the evacuation was finished, and on 5 December Carleton departed from Staten Island to return to England. John Campbell of Strachur succeeded him as Commander-in-Chief, North America, although the post was then much reduced in scope.
Post-war years and death
Upon his return to England, Carleton recommended the creation of a position of Governor General of all the provinces in British North America. Instead he was appointed "Governor-in-chief", with simultaneous appointments as governor of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and St. John's Island (present-day Prince Edward Island). He arrived in Quebec on 23 October 1786. His position as Governor-in-chief was mostly ignored. He found quickly that his authority in any of the provinces other than Quebec was effective only while he was present in person.
He was raised to the Peerage of Great Britain in August 1786 as The 1st Baron Dorchester, Baron of Dorchester in the County of Oxford.
The Constitutional Act of 1791 split the large territory of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada, corresponding roughly to areas settled by ethnic British and ethnic French, respectively. Sir Alured Clarke was named as the lieutenant governor of Lower Canada and John Graves Simcoe the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada. In August 1791 Carleton left for Britain and on 7 February 1792 took his seat in the House of Lords. He left for Canada again on 18 August 1793 to resume his duties there. His replacement, Robert Prescott, arrived in May 1796. On 9 July 1796 Carleton sailed from Canada to Britain, never to return.
In retirement Lord Dorchester, as he was now, lived mostly at Greywell Hill, adjoining Nately Scures, in Hampshire. After about 1805 he moved to Stubbings House at Burchett's Green, near Maidenhead, in Berkshire. On 10 November 1808, he died suddenly at Stubbings. He was buried in the parish church of St Swithun's, Nately Scures.
Honours and legacy
He was honoured by numerous places and educational institutions named for him:
, a Canadian Forces Naval Reserve Division in Ottawa
Carleton University in Ottawa
Dorchester Avenue in Ottawa
The Carleton, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Carleton, Nova Scotia
Carleton Village, Nova Scotia
Dorchester Road in Niagara Falls, Canada
Dorchester Boulevard, a major thoroughfare in Montreal since renamed René Lévesque Boulevard
Dorchester Square in downtown Montreal
Dorchester Island and the parish and town of Dorchester, all of New Brunswick
Carleton Street, in:
Carlton Street in Downtown Toronto is indirectly named for Carleton via Ann Wood for her brother Guy Carleton Wood of Cornwall, Ontario
Saint John, New Brunswick
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Fredericton, New Brunswick
St. Andrews, New Brunswick
Moosomin, Saskatchewan
Rue Dorchester, a thoroughfare in Quebec City.
Old Carleton County Court House, Upper Woodstock, New Brunswick
Carleton Place, a town in Eastern Ontario
Carleton County, New Brunswick
Carleton County, Ontario, that became the Region of Ottawa-Carleton, and then the City of Ottawa with amalgamation in 2001.
Carleton-sur-Mer, Quebec, a town on the North Shore of Baie de Chaleurs.
Guysborough County, Nova Scotia (Guys' borough)
Guy's Restaurant, in his birthplace of Strabane, is also named after Carleton. The restaurant was formerly known as the Carleton Club.
Lord Dorchester High School in Dorchester, Ontario
Sir Guy Carleton Secondary School in Ottawa
Sir Guy Carleton Elementary School in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Carleton is mentioned in a Fort Saint-Jean plaque erected in 1926 by Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean. "Constructed in 1743 by M. de Léry under orders from Governor la Galissonnière. This post was for all the military expeditions towards Lake Champlain. On 31 August 1760, Commandant de Roquemaure had it blown up in accordance with orders from the Governor de Vaudreuil in order to prevent its falling into the hands of the English. Rebuilt by Governor Carleton, in 1773. During the same year, under the command of Major Charles Preston of the 26th Regiment, it withstood a 45-day siege by the American troops commanded by General Montgomery."
Carleton Island, part of the Thousand Islands, is near the Royal Military College of Canada. The Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, named Wolfe island in General James Wolfe's honour in 1792. The surrounding islands bear the names of Wolfe's generals: Howe, Carleton, Amherst and Gage (now Simcoe). The island was ceded to the Americans in 1794 as part of Jay's Treaty.
Via Rail Canada has a Manor sleeping car named after Sir Guy Carleton in his honour and there is a plaque inside the railcar explaining his exploits.
The first railroad in Canada, the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad had its first locomotive (a 0-2-0) named "Dorchester".
Carleton Point, a short-lived Loyalist settlement on Great Abaco Island, Bahamas, was named for him
The Dorchester Review magazine (est. 2011 at Ottawa) is named in his honour.
Before 1790s Niagara Falls, Ontario was once called Mount Dorchester in honour of Carleton.
See also
List of Governors General of Canada
List of Lieutenant Governors of Quebec
Commander-in-Chief, North America
History of Quebec
History of North America
Constitutional history of Canada
References
Bibliography
Billias, George Athan, Editor, George Washington's Opponents, William Marrow and Company, Inc., New York, 1969, 103–135.
Nelson, Paul David. General Sir Guy Carleton, Lord Dorchester: Soldier-Statesman of Early British Canada. Associated University Presses, 2000.
Reynolds, Paul R., Guy Carleton, A Biography, 1980,
Wrong, George M. Canada and the American Revolution. New York, 1968.
External links
St Swithun's Church, Nately Scures, England Plaque memorial for Guy Carleton, Gobernador de Quebec y Thomas Carleton Gobernador de New Brunswick
1724 births
1808 deaths
18th-century Anglo-Irish people
British Army generals
British military personnel of the French and Indian War
British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War
Governors of British North America
Lieutenant Governors of the Province of Quebec (1763–1791)
Governors of the Province of Quebec (1763–1791)
Barons in the Peerage of Great Britain
Peers of Great Britain created by George III
Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath
People from Strabane
People from Hart District
People from Maidenhead
King's Own Scottish Borderers officers
78th Highlanders officers
Grenadier Guards officers
British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession
Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)
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"The acts of the 108th United States Congress includes all Acts of Congress and ratified treaties by the 108th United States Congress, which lasted from January 3, 2003 to January 3, 2005.\n\nActs include public and private laws, which are enacted after being passed by Congress and signed by the President, however if the President vetoes a bill it can still be enacted by a two-thirds vote in both houses. The Senate alone considers treaties, which are ratified by a two-thirds vote.\n\nSummary of actions\nPresident George W. Bush did not veto any bills during this Congress.\n\nPublic laws\n\nPrivate laws\n\nTreaties\nNo treaties were enacted during this Congress.\n\nSee also \n List of United States federal legislation\n List of acts of the 107th United States Congress\n List of acts of the 109th United States Congress\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n Authenticated Public and Private Laws from the Federal Digital System\n Legislation & Records Home: Treaties from the Senate\n Private Laws for the 108th Congress at Congress.gov\n Public Laws for the 108th Congress at Congress.gov\n\n \n108",
"The acts of the 107th United States Congress includes all Acts of Congress and ratified treaties by the 107th United States Congress, which lasted from January 3, 2001 to January 3, 2003\n\nActs include public and private laws, which are enacted after being passed by Congress and signed by the President, however if the President vetoes a bill it can still be enacted by a two-thirds vote in both houses. The Senate alone considers treaties, which are ratified by a two-thirds vote.\n\nSummary of actions\nPresident George W. Bush did not veto any bills during this Congress.\n\nPublic laws\n\nPrivate laws\n\nTreaties\nNo treaties have been enacted this Congress.\n\nSee also\n List of United States federal legislation\n List of acts of the 106th United States Congress\n List of acts of the 108th United States Congress\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n Authenticated Public and Private Laws from the Federal Digital System\n Legislation & Records Home: Treaties from the Senate\n Public Laws for the 107th Congress at Congress.gov\n Private Laws for the 107th Congress at Congress.gov\n\n \n107"
] |
[
"Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester",
"Evacuation of New York",
"was New York an evacuation?",
"to arrange for the implementation of those parts of the Treaty of Paris relating to the evacuation of New York City,",
"was this a success?",
"Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation.",
"What was his role?",
"New York City, then commanded by Carleton",
"what did he do in that role?",
"Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation.",
"when was he placed in that role?",
"I don't know.",
"did any new laws come from this?",
"Sir Guy noted that nothing could be changed in any Articles that were inconsistent with prior policies or National Honour."
] |
C_1600d2675e344305ab34e3971a5359f4_1
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What is an important fact regarding this evacuation?
| 7 |
What is an important fact regarding the Evacuation of New York?
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Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester
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In August 1783, Carleton was informed that Great Britain would grant the United States its independence. With his exit from New York imminent, Carleton asked to be relieved of his command. With this news, Loyalists began an exodus from the Thirteen Colonies and Carleton did his best to have them resettled outside the United States. At a meeting with George Washington, among others, to arrange for the implementation of those parts of the Treaty of Paris relating to the evacuation of New York City, then commanded by Carleton and still occupied by the British Army, many Loyalists and former slaves, Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation. Instead, he proposed a registry so that "the owners might eventually be paid for the slaves who were entitled to their freedom by British Proclamation and promises." Sir Guy noted that nothing could be changed in any Articles that were inconsistent with prior policies or National Honour. He added that the only mode was to pay for the Negroes, in which case justice was done to all, the former slaves and the owners. Carleton said that it would be a breach of faith not to honour the British policy of liberty to the Negro and declared that if removing them proved to be an infraction of the treaty, then compensation would have to be paid by the British government. To provide for such a contingency, he had a register kept of all Negroes who left, called the Book of Negroes, entering their names, ages, occupations, and names of their former masters. The Americans agreed to this, but as far as can be determined, the Crown never paid compensation. The British transported about 3,000 freedmen and other Loyalists to Nova Scotia for resettlement. As the colony struggled, some of the freedmen later chose in the early 1790s to go to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where the British set up a new colony, which included the Black Poor from London. Washington disagreed with Sir Guy's actions and wrote: "...the measure is totally different from the letter and spirit of the Treaty but waiving the specialty of the point, leaving this decision to our respective Sovereigns I find it my duty to signify my readiness in conjunction with you to enter into agreements, or take any measures which may be deemed expedient to prevent the future carrying away any Negroes or other property of the American people." On 28 November, the evacuation was finished, and Carleton returned to England. John Campbell of Strachur succeeded him as Commander-in-Chief, North America, although the post was then much reduced in scope. CANNOTANSWER
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Carleton said that it would be a breach of faith not to honour the British policy of liberty to the Negro
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Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester (3 September 1724 – 10 November 1808), known between 1776 and 1786 as Sir Guy Carleton, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and administrator. He twice served as Governor of the Province of Quebec, from 1768 to 1778, concurrently serving as Governor General of British North America in that time, and again from 1785 to 1795. The title Baron Dorchester was created on 21 August 1786.
He commanded British troops in the American War of Independence, first leading the defence of Quebec during the 1775 rebel invasion, and the 1776 counteroffensive that drove the rebels from the province. In 1782 and 1783, he led as the commander-in-chief of all British forces in North America. In this capacity he was notable for carrying out the Crown's promise of freedom to slaves who joined the British, and he oversaw the evacuation of British forces, Loyalists and more than 3,000 freedmen from New York City in 1783 to transport them to a British colony. Toward this end, Carleton assigned Samuel Birch to create the Book of Negroes.
The military and political career of his younger brother, Thomas Carleton, was interwoven with his own, and Thomas served under him in the Canadas.
Early career
Guy Carleton was born into an Ulster Protestant military family that had lived in Ulster in the north of the Kingdom of Ireland since the Plantation of Ulster in the 17th century, and was one of three brothers (the others being Thomas Carleton and William Carleton) who served in the British military. He was born and raised in Strabane in the west of County Tyrone, just across the River Foyle from Lifford in County Donegal. Guy also had a sister, Connolly Crawford. When he was fourteen his father, Christopher Carleton, died, and his mother, Catherine Carleton, then married Reverend Thomas Skelton. He received a limited education.
In 1742, at the age of seventeen, Carleton was commissioned as an ensign into the 25th Regiment of Foot, in which in 1745 he was promoted lieutenant. During this period he became a friend of James Wolfe; he may have served with Wolfe at the Battle of Culloden during the Jacobite rising of 1745. Two of his brothers, William and Thomas, also joined the British Army.
In 1740 the War of the Austrian Succession broke out in Europe. Despite British troops having been engaged on the European continent since 1742, it was not until 1747 that Carleton and his regiment were despatched to Flanders. They fought the French, but were unable to prevent the Fall of Bergen-op-Zoom, a major Dutch fortress, and the war was brought to a halt by an armistice. In 1748 the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was signed and Carleton returned to Britain. He was frustrated to still only be a lieutenant, and believed his opportunities of advancement would be limited with the end of the war.
In 1751 he joined the 1st Foot Guards and in 1752 was promoted to captain. His career received a major boost when he was chosen, at the suggestion of Wolfe, to act as a guide to The 3rd Duke of Richmond during a tour of the battlefields of the recent war. Richmond would become an influential patron to Carleton.
Seven Years' War
Germany
In 1757, Guy Carleton was made a lieutenant colonel and served as part of the Army of Observation made up of German troops designed to protect Hanover from French invasion. The army was forced to retreat following the Battle of Hastenbeck and eventually concluded the Convention of Klosterzeven, taking them out of the war. After the convention was signed, Carleton returned to Britain. In 1758 he was made the lieutenant colonel of the newly formed 72nd Regiment of Foot. James Wolfe selected Carleton as his aide in the 1758 attack on Louisburg. King George II declined to make this appointment, possibly because of negative comments he made about the soldiers of Hanover during his service on the Continent.
For some time he was unable to gain active position, until he was sent back to Germany to serve as an aide-de-camp to Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick.
Canada
In December 1758 Wolfe, now a major general, was given command of the upcoming campaign against the city of Quebec, and selected Carleton as his quarter-master general. King George refused to make this appointment also until Lord Ligonier talked to the king about the matter and the king changed his mind. When Lieutenant-Colonel Carleton arrived in Halifax he assumed command of six hundred grenadiers. He was with the British forces when they arrived at Quebec in June 1759. Carleton was responsible for the provisioning of the army and also acting as an engineer supervising the placement of cannon. Carleton received a head wound during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham and he returned to England after the battle in October 1759.
France and Havana
On 29 March 1761, as the lieutenant colonel of the 72nd Regiment of Foot he took part in the attack on Belle Île, an island off the coast of the northern part of the Bay of Biscay, off the coast of France. Carleton led an attack on the French, but was seriously wounded and prevented from taking any further part in the fighting. After four weeks of fighting, the British gained complete control of the island.
He was made colonel in 1762 and took part in the British expedition against Cuba, which also included Richard Montgomery, who went on to oppose him in 1775. On 22 July, he was wounded leading an attack on a Spanish outpost.
In 1764 he transferred to the 93rd Regiment of Foot.
Governor of Quebec
On 7 April 1766, Carleton was named acting Lieutenant Governor and Administrator of Quebec with James Murray officially in charge. He arrived in Quebec on 22 September 1766. As Carleton had no experience in public affairs and came from a politically insignificant family, his appointment is unusual and was possibly a surprise to him. One connection may have been due to the Duke of Richmond, who in 1766 been made Secretary of State for the North American colonies. Fourteen years earlier, Carleton had tutored the Duke. The Duke was the colonel of the 72nd Regiment of Foot, while Carleton was its lieutenant colonel. He appointed Carleton as commander-in-chief of all troops stationed in Quebec.
The government consisted of a Governor, a council, and an assembly. The governor could veto any action of the council, but London had also given Carleton instructions that all of his actions required the approval of the council. Most officials of the province at this time did not receive a salary and received their income through fees they charged for their services. Carleton tried to replace this system with one in which the officials received a regular salary, but this position was never supported in London. When Carleton renounced his own fees, Murray was furious.
After Murray resigned his position, Carleton was appointed Captain General and Governor-in-Chief on 12 April 1768. Carleton took the oath of office on 1 November 1768. On 9 August 1770 he sailed for England for what he thought was a few months' consultation on issues related to the integration of Quebec into the British system. During his absence, Hector Theophilus de Cramahé, the lieutenant governor, ran the provincial government, with the aid of the first chief justice, William Hey, and the Attorney-General, Francis Maseres. The British merchants of Quebec, many of whom had become disaffected to the colonial administration under Murray, were, at least initially, of good will. The merchants would later be agent for e.g. the Quebec Act of 1774 (14 Geo. III, c.83) and finally the partition of the two Canadas in the Constitutional Act of 1791 (31 Geo. III, c.31).
Marriage and family
On 22 May 1772, at the age of nearly 48, Carleton married Lady Maria Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Effingham. They had issue nine sons and two daughters. His elder brothers having predeceased him, and himself dying two years before his father, third son Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Carleton was father of Arthur, 2nd Baron Dorchester; Christopher's younger brother, the sixth son, Lieutenant-Colonel George Carleton, was father of Guy, the 3rd Baron. The title was extinct at the 3rd Baron's death in 1897, but it was revived when his daughter, Henrietta, was created Baroness Dorchester; the title was extinct at the death of her son, Dudley, 2nd Baron, in 1963.
Later career
Carleton was promoted to major general on 25 May 1772. While he was in London, the Parliament passed the Quebec Act of 1774, based upon his recommendations. It determined how the province was to be administered and was part of a continuing effort to respect some French traditions while ensuring rights of citizens as understood by the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Carleton and Maria returned to Quebec on 18 September 1774, where he began implementing the provisions of the act. While the clergy and the seigneurs (landowners) were happy with provisions favorable to them, British merchants and migrants from the Thirteen Colonies objected to a number of the provisions, which they thought were pro-Catholic. They argued that only English-speaking Protestants should be able to vote or hold public office. Many of the habitants were unhappy with the provisions reinstating the tithe in support of the Catholic Church, as well as seigneurial obligations, such as the corvée (a labor requirement).
In late 1774, the First Continental Congress sent letters to Montreal denouncing the Quebec Act for promoting Catholicism by allowing Catholics to hold civil service positions and reinstating the tithe. John Brown, an agent for the Boston Committee of Correspondence, arrived in Montreal in early 1775 as part of an effort to persuade citizens to send delegates to the Second Continental Congress, scheduled to meet in May 1775. Carleton, while aware of this activity, did nothing to prevent it, beyond discouraging publication of the Congressional letter in the province's only newspaper.
American War of Independence
Defence of Canada
Carleton received notice of the start of the rebellion in May 1775, soon followed by the news of the rebel capture of Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Crown Point, and the raid on Fort Saint-Jean. As he had previously sent two of his regiments to Boston, he had only about 800 regular soldiers left in Quebec. His attempts to raise a militia met with limited success at first, as neither the ethnic French nor the English residents were willing to join. Area Natives were willing to fight on the British side, and the Crown wanted them to do so, but Carleton turned their offer down because he feared the Natives attacking non-combatants. For the same reason, he limited Guy Johnson and his Iroquois allies, who had come to Quebec from New York, to operating only in Quebec.
During the summer of 1775, Carleton directed the preparation of provincial defences, which were focused on Fort Saint-Jean. In September, the Continental Army began its invasion and besieged the fort. When it fell in November, Carleton was forced to flee from Montreal to Quebec City, escaping capture by disguising himself as a commoner.
In December 1775 he directed the city's defences in the Battle of Quebec and the ensuing siege, which was broken by the arrival of British troops in May 1776 under command of John Burgoyne, who was appointed second-in-command. Carleton's younger brother Thomas was part of the relief effort.
Guy Carleton launched a counteroffensive against the rebels, which included repelling an attempted attack on Trois-Rivières. In June 1776, he was appointed a Knight Companion of the Bath. He was promoted to the rank of a general for America only on 26 March 1776.
The next month Carleton commanded British naval forces on the Richelieu River, culminating in the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain in October 1776 against a rebel fleet led by General Benedict Arnold. The British, with a significantly superior fleet, won a decisive victory, destroying or capturing most of the rebel fleet, but the delay prevented Carleton from continuing on to capture Fort Ticonderoga that year. His brother Thomas and nephew Christopher both served on his staff during the campaign. The morning following the battle, a small island in Lake Champlain was named Carleton's Prize, perhaps to Carleton's embarrassment at the time.
He was promoted to lieutenant general on 6 September 1777. In 1777, command of the major northern expedition to divide the rebel colonies was given to General Burgoyne. Upset that he had not been given its command, Carleton asked to be recalled. He was replaced as governor and military commander of Quebec in 1778 by Frederick Haldimand, and returned to England. In 1780 he was appointed by Prime Minister Lord North to a commission investigating public finances. This post he held until 1782, when General Sir Henry Clinton was recalled in the aftermath of the 1781 surrender at Yorktown. Carleton was appointed to replace Clinton as Commander-in-Chief, America, in May 1782. His headquarters in New York City were located at Number One Broadway.
Evacuation of New York
In August 1783, Carleton was informed that Great Britain would grant the United States its independence. With his exit from New York imminent, Carleton asked to be relieved of his command. With this news, Loyalists began an exodus from the Thirteen Colonies and Carleton did his best to have them resettled outside the United States.
At a meeting with George Washington, among others, to arrange for the implementation of those parts of the Treaty of Paris relating to the evacuation of New York City, then commanded by Carleton and still occupied by the British Army, many Loyalists and former slaves, Carleton refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation. Instead, he proposed a registry so that "the owners might eventually be paid for the slaves who were entitled to their freedom by British Proclamation and promises."
Sir Guy noted that nothing could be changed in any Articles that were inconsistent with prior policies or National Honour. He added that the only mode was to pay for the Negroes, in which case justice was done to all, the former slaves and the owners. Carleton said that it would be a breach of faith not to honour the British policy of liberty to the Negro and declared that if removing them proved to be an infraction of the treaty, then compensation would have to be paid by the British government. To provide for such a contingency, he had a register kept of all Negroes who left, called the Book of Negroes, entering their names, ages, occupations, and names of their former masters. The Americans agreed to this, but as far as can be determined, the Crown never paid compensation. The British transported about 3,000 freedmen and other Loyalists to Nova Scotia for resettlement. As the colony struggled, some of the freedmen later chose in the early 1790s to go to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where the British set up a new colony, which included the Black Poor from London.
Washington disagreed with Sir Guy's actions and wrote: "…the measure is totally different from the letter and spirit of the Treaty but waiving the specialty of the point, leaving this decision to our respective Sovereigns I find it my duty to signify my readiness in conjunction with you to enter into agreements, or take any measures which may be deemed expedient to prevent the future carrying away any Negroes or other property of the American people."
On 28 November the evacuation was finished, and on 5 December Carleton departed from Staten Island to return to England. John Campbell of Strachur succeeded him as Commander-in-Chief, North America, although the post was then much reduced in scope.
Post-war years and death
Upon his return to England, Carleton recommended the creation of a position of Governor General of all the provinces in British North America. Instead he was appointed "Governor-in-chief", with simultaneous appointments as governor of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and St. John's Island (present-day Prince Edward Island). He arrived in Quebec on 23 October 1786. His position as Governor-in-chief was mostly ignored. He found quickly that his authority in any of the provinces other than Quebec was effective only while he was present in person.
He was raised to the Peerage of Great Britain in August 1786 as The 1st Baron Dorchester, Baron of Dorchester in the County of Oxford.
The Constitutional Act of 1791 split the large territory of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada, corresponding roughly to areas settled by ethnic British and ethnic French, respectively. Sir Alured Clarke was named as the lieutenant governor of Lower Canada and John Graves Simcoe the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada. In August 1791 Carleton left for Britain and on 7 February 1792 took his seat in the House of Lords. He left for Canada again on 18 August 1793 to resume his duties there. His replacement, Robert Prescott, arrived in May 1796. On 9 July 1796 Carleton sailed from Canada to Britain, never to return.
In retirement Lord Dorchester, as he was now, lived mostly at Greywell Hill, adjoining Nately Scures, in Hampshire. After about 1805 he moved to Stubbings House at Burchett's Green, near Maidenhead, in Berkshire. On 10 November 1808, he died suddenly at Stubbings. He was buried in the parish church of St Swithun's, Nately Scures.
Honours and legacy
He was honoured by numerous places and educational institutions named for him:
, a Canadian Forces Naval Reserve Division in Ottawa
Carleton University in Ottawa
Dorchester Avenue in Ottawa
The Carleton, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Carleton, Nova Scotia
Carleton Village, Nova Scotia
Dorchester Road in Niagara Falls, Canada
Dorchester Boulevard, a major thoroughfare in Montreal since renamed René Lévesque Boulevard
Dorchester Square in downtown Montreal
Dorchester Island and the parish and town of Dorchester, all of New Brunswick
Carleton Street, in:
Carlton Street in Downtown Toronto is indirectly named for Carleton via Ann Wood for her brother Guy Carleton Wood of Cornwall, Ontario
Saint John, New Brunswick
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Fredericton, New Brunswick
St. Andrews, New Brunswick
Moosomin, Saskatchewan
Rue Dorchester, a thoroughfare in Quebec City.
Old Carleton County Court House, Upper Woodstock, New Brunswick
Carleton Place, a town in Eastern Ontario
Carleton County, New Brunswick
Carleton County, Ontario, that became the Region of Ottawa-Carleton, and then the City of Ottawa with amalgamation in 2001.
Carleton-sur-Mer, Quebec, a town on the North Shore of Baie de Chaleurs.
Guysborough County, Nova Scotia (Guys' borough)
Guy's Restaurant, in his birthplace of Strabane, is also named after Carleton. The restaurant was formerly known as the Carleton Club.
Lord Dorchester High School in Dorchester, Ontario
Sir Guy Carleton Secondary School in Ottawa
Sir Guy Carleton Elementary School in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Carleton is mentioned in a Fort Saint-Jean plaque erected in 1926 by Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean. "Constructed in 1743 by M. de Léry under orders from Governor la Galissonnière. This post was for all the military expeditions towards Lake Champlain. On 31 August 1760, Commandant de Roquemaure had it blown up in accordance with orders from the Governor de Vaudreuil in order to prevent its falling into the hands of the English. Rebuilt by Governor Carleton, in 1773. During the same year, under the command of Major Charles Preston of the 26th Regiment, it withstood a 45-day siege by the American troops commanded by General Montgomery."
Carleton Island, part of the Thousand Islands, is near the Royal Military College of Canada. The Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, named Wolfe island in General James Wolfe's honour in 1792. The surrounding islands bear the names of Wolfe's generals: Howe, Carleton, Amherst and Gage (now Simcoe). The island was ceded to the Americans in 1794 as part of Jay's Treaty.
Via Rail Canada has a Manor sleeping car named after Sir Guy Carleton in his honour and there is a plaque inside the railcar explaining his exploits.
The first railroad in Canada, the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad had its first locomotive (a 0-2-0) named "Dorchester".
Carleton Point, a short-lived Loyalist settlement on Great Abaco Island, Bahamas, was named for him
The Dorchester Review magazine (est. 2011 at Ottawa) is named in his honour.
Before 1790s Niagara Falls, Ontario was once called Mount Dorchester in honour of Carleton.
See also
List of Governors General of Canada
List of Lieutenant Governors of Quebec
Commander-in-Chief, North America
History of Quebec
History of North America
Constitutional history of Canada
References
Bibliography
Billias, George Athan, Editor, George Washington's Opponents, William Marrow and Company, Inc., New York, 1969, 103–135.
Nelson, Paul David. General Sir Guy Carleton, Lord Dorchester: Soldier-Statesman of Early British Canada. Associated University Presses, 2000.
Reynolds, Paul R., Guy Carleton, A Biography, 1980,
Wrong, George M. Canada and the American Revolution. New York, 1968.
External links
St Swithun's Church, Nately Scures, England Plaque memorial for Guy Carleton, Gobernador de Quebec y Thomas Carleton Gobernador de New Brunswick
1724 births
1808 deaths
18th-century Anglo-Irish people
British Army generals
British military personnel of the French and Indian War
British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War
Governors of British North America
Lieutenant Governors of the Province of Quebec (1763–1791)
Governors of the Province of Quebec (1763–1791)
Barons in the Peerage of Great Britain
Peers of Great Britain created by George III
Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath
People from Strabane
People from Hart District
People from Maidenhead
King's Own Scottish Borderers officers
78th Highlanders officers
Grenadier Guards officers
British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession
Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)
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[
"Emergency evacuation is the urgent immediate egress or escape of people away from an area that contains an imminent threat, an ongoing threat or a hazard to lives or property.\n\nExamples range from the small-scale evacuation of a building due to a storm or fire to the large-scale evacuation of a city because of a flood, bombardment or approaching weather system, especially a Tropical Cyclone. In situations involving hazardous materials or possible contamination, evacuees may be decontaminated prior to being transported out of the contaminated area. Evacuation planning is an important aspect of business management of which emergency evacuation forms a part.\n\nReasons for evacuation\n\nEvacuations may be carried out before, during, or after disasters such as:\n\n Natural disasters\n Eruptions of volcanoes\n Tropical cyclones\n Floods\n Earthquakes\n Tsunamis\n Wildfires/Bushfires\n Industrial accidents\n Chemical spill\n Nuclear accident\n Transport\n Road accidents\n Train wreck \n Emergency aircraft evacuation\n Fires\n Industrial fires\n Military attacks\n Bombings\n Terrorist attacks\n Military battles\n Imminent nuclear war\n Structural failure\n Viral outbreak\n robbery\n\nPlanning\n\nEmergency evacuation plans are developed to ensure the safest and most efficient evacuation time of all expected residents of a structure, city, or region. A benchmark \"evacuation time\" for different hazards and conditions is established. These benchmarks can be established through using best practices, regulations, or using simulations, such as modeling the flow of people in a building, to determine the benchmark. Proper planning will use multiple exits, contra-flow lanes, and special technologies to ensure full, fast and complete evacuation. Consideration for personal situations which may affect an individual's ability to evacuate is taken into account, including alarm signals that use both aural and visual alerts, and also evacuation equipment such as sleds, pads, and chairs for non-ambulatory people. Considering the persons with a disability during an emergency evacuation is important. This is because it is crucial that every user gets out of the building or to a safe place in the building, thus also the persons with disabilities or the non- ambulatory people. Regulations such as building codes can be used to minimize the negative consequences of the threat triggering the evacuation and optimize the need to self-evacuate without causing alarm. Proper planning, that covers designated actions to ensure safety of the users in emergencies, will implement an all-hazards approach so that plans can be reused for multiple hazards that could exist.\n\nTherefore, key elements for emergency planning and preparedness are early warnings for the people inside the building by emergency helpers but also voice assistance, facilities to leave the building safe and fast, such as exit routes and good evacuation practices. The evacuation managing team must know what to do in emergency situations and which actions to take.\n\nEvacuation sequence\nThe sequence of an evacuation can be divided into the following phases:\n detection\n decision\n alarm \n reaction\n movement to an area of refuge or an assembly station\n transportation\nThe time for the first four phases is usually called pre-movement time.\n\nThe particular phases are different for different objects, e.g., for ships a distinction between assembly and embarkation (to boats or rafts) is made. These are separate from each other. The decision whether to enter the boats or rafts is thus usually made after assembly is completed.\n\nSmall scale evacuations\n\nThe strategy of individuals in evacuating buildings was investigated by John Abrahams in 1994. The independent variables were the complexity of the building and the movement ability of the individuals. With increasing complexity and decreasing motion ability, the strategy changes from \"fast egress\", through \"slow egress\" and \"move to safe place inside building\" (such as a staircase), to \"stay in place and wait for help\". The third strategy is the notion of using a designated \"safe haven\" on the floor. This is a section of the building that is reinforced to protect against specific hazards, such as fire, smoke or structural collapse. Some hazards may have safe havens on each floor, while a hazard such as a tornado, may have a single safe haven or safe room. Typically persons with limited mobility are requested to report to a safe haven for rescue by first responders. In most buildings, the safe haven will be in the stairwell.\n\nBy investing the strategy of individuals in evacuating buildings, the variable human reactions is a complex factor to take into account during an evacuation. This is a critical factor for escaping fast out of the building or to a \"safe haven\". During an emergency evacuation, people do not immediately react after hearing the alarm signal. This is because an evacuation drill is more common. Therefore, they will start evacuating when there is more information given about the degree of danger. During an evacuation, people often use the most known escape route, this is often the route through which they entered the building. Thereby, people mostly adapt the role follower in emergencies. These human reactions will determinate the strategy of individuals in evacuating buildings.\n\nThe most common equipment in buildings to facilitate emergency evacuations are fire alarms, exit signs, and emergency lights. Some structures need special emergency exits or fire escapes to ensure the availability of alternative escape paths. Commercial passenger vehicles such as buses, boats, and aircraft also often have evacuation lighting and signage, and in some cases windows or extra doors that function as emergency exits. Commercial emergency aircraft evacuation is also facilitated by evacuation slides and pre-flight safety briefings. Military aircraft are often equipped with ejection seats or parachutes. Water vessels and commercial aircraft that fly over water are equipped with personal flotation devices and life rafts.\n\nSince the emergence of The Internet of Things technologies, new techniques are appearing, which involves new equipment. Most of them are wireless devices such as IDs scanner, beacons or backscatter system. The new techniques are for example based on a communication protocol such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, UWB or RFID and the use of indoor positioning system.\nThe use of The Internet of Things technologies in small scale evacuations can result in a faster evacuation time: Mostly by localizing the fire sources, analysing the fire spreading inside the building or finding people that are trapped inside the building.\nSome buildings can have a monitoring interface that provides all these kind of information to evacuate in the best way possible.\n\nLarge scale evacuations\nThe evacuation of districts is part of disaster management. Many of the largest evacuations have been in the face of wartime military attacks. Modern large scale evacuations are usually the result of natural disasters. The largest peacetime evacuations in the United States to date occurred during Hurricane Gustav and the category-5 Hurricane Rita (2005) in a scare one month after the flood-deaths of Hurricane Katrina.\n\nHurricane evacuation\n\nDespite mandatory evacuation orders, many people did not leave New Orleans, United States, as Hurricane Katrina approached. Even after the city was flooded and uninhabitable, some people still refused to leave their homes.\n\nThe longer a person has lived in a coastal area, the less likely they are to evacuate. A hurricane's path is difficult to predict. Forecasters know about hurricanes days in advance, but their forecasts of where the storm will hit are only educated guesses. Hurricanes give a lot of warning time compared to most disasters humans experience. However, this allows forecasters and officials to \"cry wolf,\" making people take evacuation orders less seriously. Hurricanes can be predicted to hit a coastal town many times without the town ever actually experiencing the brunt of a storm. If evacuation orders are given too early, the hurricane can change course and leave the evacuated area unscathed. People may think they have weathered hurricanes before, when in reality the hurricane didn't hit them directly, giving them false confidence. Those who have lived on the coast for ten or more years are the most resistant to evacuating.\n\nPublic transportation\nSince Hurricane Katrina, there has been an increase in evacuation planning. Current best practices include the need to use multi-modal transportation networks. Hurricane Gustav used military airlift resources to facilitate evacuating people out of the affected area. More complex evacuation planning is now being considered, such as using elementary schools as rally points for evacuation. In the United States, elementary schools are usually more numerous in a community than other public structures. Their locations and inherent design to accommodate bus transportation makes it an ideal evacuation point.\n\nRegistries\nMost local communities maintain registries for special needs individuals. These opt-in registries help with planning, as those that need government evacuation assistance are identified before the disaster. Registries used after a disaster are being used to help reunite families that have become separated after a disaster.\n\nEnforcing evacuation orders\nIn the United States, a person usually cannot be forced to evacuate. To facilitate voluntary compliance with mandatory evacuation orders first responders and disaster management officials have used creative techniques such as asking people for the names and contact of their next-of-kin, writing their Social Security Numbers on their limbs and torso to enable identification of remains, and refusing to provide government services in the affected area, including emergency services.\n\nPersonal Evacuation Kits\nIn preparation for emergency evacuation situations, experts often advise having an individual emergency evacuation kit prepared and on hand prior to the emergency. An emergency evacuation kit is a container of food, clothing, water, and other supplies that can be used to sustain an individual during lag time. Lag time is the period between the actual occurrence of an emergency and when organized help becomes available, generally 72 hours, though this can vary from a few hours to several days. It may take this long for authorities to get evacuation shelters fully up and functional. During this time, evacuees may suffer fairly primitive conditions; no clean water, heat, lights, toilet facilities, or shelter. An emergency evacuation kit, or 72-hour kit, can help evacuees to endure the evacuation experience with dignity and a degree of comfort.\n\nCyber-physical systems\nThe development of digital infrastructure resources opened a new research area in the design of cyber-physical systems to provide the individual with safer options during an emergency evacuation.\n\nSee also\n\nReferences\n\n Gershenfeld, Neil, Mathematical Modelling. OUP, Oxford, 1999.\n Hubert Klüpfel, A Cellular Automaton Model for Crowd Movement and Egress Simulation. Dissertation, Universität Duisburg-Essen, 2003.\n Stollard, P. and L. Johnson, Eds., \"Design against fire: an introduction to fire safety engineering design\", London, New York, 1994.\n Künzer, L. Myths Of Evacuation in FeuerTRUTZ International 1.2016, p. 8-11\n\nExternal links\n Fire Safety Engineering Group at the University of Greenwich\n Evacuation routes for the US by state.\n \n\nSafety\nEmergency management\nDisaster preparedness in the United States\nEvacuations",
"An escape chair or evacuation chair is a device manufactured for the smooth descent of stairways in the event of an emergency. It was invented in the United States in 1982. The single-user operation device does not require heavy lifting to evacuate a person. An Escape Chair comes always with a green seat, head rest and dust cover.\n\nAt airports this equipment is being used to assist persons with reduced mobility during emergency evacuation.\n\nTypes\nA powered version of the escape chair is available as well. By using the electrical track system a person can be saved or moved up and down the stairs by a single operator. Like a mobility problem solver.\n\nEnhanced models can have chairs that require two-person operation; these are more commonly used in ambulances. Lifting handles are used for descent and ascent of stairs. Caterpillar tracks are also used on the stairs.\n\nLaws\n\nUnited Kingdom \nThe Disability Discrimination Act 1995 says that every person is to have a safe entrance into and exit from a building.\n\nAnother law regarding chairs is the RRFSO. Created in 2005, this regulation states that fire officers are not required to enter buildings.\n\nFailure to follow the above laws can result in serious issues. If a person was to perish in the building due to a lack of adequate evacuation equipment, the owners or operators of the building could be charged with corporate manslaughter.\n\nReferences\n\nChairs\nEvacuations\nFirefighting equipment\nSafety equipment"
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"Barry White",
"The 1970s as producer"
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What did Barry White do as a producer?
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What did Barry White do as a producer?
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Barry White
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In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became a million album seller and the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles. White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love", which climbed to #14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and #6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. This single also reached #12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead. Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, "I Belong to You", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at #1 and "Under the Influence of Love", which hit #3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974. CANNOTANSWER
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White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited.
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Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and composer. A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe".
White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million records, and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye.
Early life
White was born Barry Eugene Carter on September 12, 1944, in Galveston, Texas, United States. His father was Melvin A. White, and his mother was Sadie Marie Carter. His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father. He grew up in the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, California. He was the older of two children; his brother Darryl was 13 months younger. White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records.
White has often been credited with playing piano, at age 11, on Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit single, "Goodnight My Love". However, in a 1995 interview with the Boston Herald, White denied writing or arranging the song. He believed the story was an exaggeration by journalists. While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White.
White's voice deepened suddenly when he was 14. He recalled: "[As a child], I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man."
White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires. While in jail, he listened to Elvis Presley singing "It's Now or Never" on the radio, an experience he later credited with changing the course of his life.
Music career
1960s
After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups. He first released "Too Far to Turn Around" in 1960 as part of The Upfronts before working for various small independent labels in Los Angeles. He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels). White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single "Harlem Shuffle", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes.
In 1965, White produced "Feel Aw Right" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label.<ref> "Feel Aw Right", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat. Retrieved January 29, 2020.</ref> He recorded his debut single, "Man Ain't Nothin'" / "I Don't Need It, released under the name Lee Barry on Downey in 1966. He also co-wrote "Together Forever," released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967.
In the mid-'60s, Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records hired him as an A&R man for his new Bronco Records imprint, and White started working with the label's artists, including Viola Wills and The Bobby Fuller Four, as a songwriter, session musician, and arranger. He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song "I Feel Love Comin' On" co-written with his friend Paul Politi. It became a big hit in the UK. Other charting hits written by White and Politi for her included "It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)" and "Under the Influence of Love". Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's "All in the Run of a Day," produced by Keane and White. White also wrote "Doin' the Banana Split" for TV bubblegum act The Banana Splits in 1968.
In 1969, White was signed by Forward Records of Los Angeles, a division of Transcontinental Entertainment Corporation, as a producer.
1970s as producer
In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.
White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love", which climbed to No. 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and No. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer. This single also reached No. 12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead.
Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, "I Belong to You", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No. 1 and "Under the Influence of Love Unlimited", which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974.
The Love Unlimited Orchestra
In 1973, White created The Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40-piece orchestral group to be used originally as a backing band for the girl-group Love Unlimited. However, White had other plans, and in 1973 he released a single with "Love's Theme" (written by him and played by the Orchestra), which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts. Later, in 1974, he made the first album of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Rhapsody in White, containing "Love's Theme". White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: "Rhapsody in White"; "Satin Soul"; "Forever in Love"; "Midnight Groove"; "My Sweet Summer Suite", Remake of "Theme From King Kong". The Orchestra ceased to make albums in 1983, but continued to support White as a backing band.
1970s solo career
White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist. After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone.
He then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name "White Heat," but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby", which also rose to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts as well as No. 3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks.
Other chart hits by White included "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" (No. 2 R&B, No. 7 Pop in 1973), "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" (No. 1 Pop and R&B in 1974), "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" (No. 1 R&B, No. 2 Pop in 1974), "What Am I Gonna Do with You" (No. 1 R&B, No. 8 Pop in 1975), "Let the Music Play" (No. 4 R&B in 1976), "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" (No. 1 R&B, No. 4 Pop in 1977) and "Your Sweetness Is My Weakness" (No. 2 R&B in 1978) and others. White also had a strong following in the UK, where he scored five Top 10 hits and a No. 1 for "You're the First, the Last, My Everything". Due to his large frame, facial hair, and deep voice, he was given the nickname "The Walrus of Love" in the UK.
After six years White left 20th Century in 1979 to launch his own label, Unlimited Gold, with CBS/Columbia Records.
1980s
Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. Despite several albums over the next three years, he failed to repeat his earlier successes, with no singles managing to reach the Billboard Hot 100, except for 1982's "Change," climbing into the Billboard R&B Top 20 (No. 12). His label venture was exacting a heavy financial cost on White, so he concentrated on mostly touring and finally folded his label in 1983.
After four years he signed with A&M Records, and with the release of 1987's The Right Night & Barry White, the single entitled "Sho' You Right" made it to the Billboard R&B charts, peaking at No. 17.
In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! and with it had three top 40 singles on the Billboard R&B charts: "Super Lover", which made it to No. 34, "I Wanna Do It Good to Ya", which made it to No. 26, and "When Will I See You Again", which made it to No. 32.
1990s
A 1970s nostalgia fad allowed White to enjoy a renewed wave of popularity in the 1990s. After participating in the song "The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)" from Quincy Jones's 1989 album Back on the Block, White mounted an effective comeback with several albums, each more successful than the last. He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and the song by the same name reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart.
In 1994, White released The Icon Is Love, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single "Practice What You Preach" gave him his first No. 1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in almost 20 years. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Album category, but lost to TLC's CrazySexyCool.
In 1996, White recorded the duet "In Your Wildest Dreams" with Tina Turner. 1996 also saw the release of Space Jam and its soundtrack, on which White had a duet with Chris Rock, called "Basketball Jones," a remake of Cheech & Chong's "Basketball Jones" from 1973.
White's final album, 1999's Staying Power, resulted in his last hit song "Staying Power," which placed No. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts. The single won him two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.
His autobiography, Love Unlimited, written with Mark Eliot, was published in 1999 by Broadway Books.
Acting career
Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies. He voiced the character Brother Bear in the film Coonskin (1975), and also played the character Sampson in the movie's live-action segments. He appeared as himself in a few episodes of The Simpsons. In the episode "Whacking Day", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination. White was a fan of the show, and had reportedly contacted the staff about wanting to make a guest appearance. He made a second cameo in the episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled".
White played the role of a bus driver for a Prodigy commercial in 1995, and he also portrayed the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad-dressing-mix commercial, singing a song called "You Can't Bottle Love". In addition, he did some work for car commercials, including for Oldsmobile, and later on, Jeep. White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu. White's voice can also be heard in Apple's first iBook commercial. White made three guest appearances on the comedy-drama television series Ally McBeal, as his music was often featured on the show in dream sequences.
Personal life
Marriages
White was first married to his childhood sweetheart, identified as just Mary in his autobiography, by the time he was 19. They separated in 1969 and later divorced.
In 1974, White married singer Glodean James. The couple collaborated on the 1981 album Barry & Glodean. They reportedly divorced in 1988, however, they were still legally married until White's death in 2003 although they lived separate lives. Although estranged from Glodean for over a decade, as his widow she was made sole executor of his estate.
Children
White had at least nine children.
By the age of 16, White had fathered two children with his first wife Mary. They had four children together. In 2017, his son Darryl White from his first marriage sued his estate claiming he was cut off financially.
White had four children with his second wife Glodean James. Their daughter Shaherah was his personal assistant. Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager. White's son MacKevin worked in his publishing administration.
White had a daughter, Denise Donnell born in 1962 to Gurtha Allen. She did not discover who her biological father was until 1988. She was accepted by White and with his help she changed her name to Denise White. In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money.
After White's death in 2003, his girlfriend Katherine Denton claimed her infant daughter was his biological child. Denton also claimed that she was owed money and personal items that White had promised to give her. Paternity tests revealed that he was not the father of her child and Denton subsequently lost her court case.
Health problems and death
Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems. He was also known to be a heavy smoker, reportedly smoking approximately 150 cigarettes a day; roughly between 7 and 8 packs.
While on-tour in the summer of 1995, White nearly collapsed after a concert. He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure. He was in a coma for four days, but was discharged a week after coming out of it.
While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule. Family, friends, and associates also reported that as the 2000s began, White was in such poor health that he could hardly stand up; his last performances suffered as a result.
In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic. While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life. He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks.
White's unstable health prevented him from receiving a new kidney and on July 4, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest; he was 58."Singer Barry White dies", BBC, July 5, 2003. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast.
Legacy
On September 20, 2004, White was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York. On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording. The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean.
In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, "The Walrus of Love", the BBC recalled "the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'"
Awards and nominations
White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.
Discography
Studio albums
I've Got So Much to Give (1973)
Stone Gon' (1973)
Can't Get Enough (1974)
Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975)
Let the Music Play (1976)
Is This Whatcha Wont? (1976)
Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977)
The Man (1978)
I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979)
The Message Is Love (1979)
Sheet Music (1980)
Beware! (1981)
Change (1982)
Dedicated (1983)
The Right Night & Barry White (1987)
The Man Is Back! (1989)
Put Me in Your Mix (1991)
The Icon Is Love (1994)
Staying Power'' (1999)
References
External links
1944 births
2003 deaths
African-American record producers
Record producers from Texas
African-American male singer-songwriters
American bandleaders
American bass-baritones
A&M Records artists
American dance musicians
20th-century African-American male singers
American people convicted of theft
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American soul singers
Casablanca Records artists
American male actors
American male voice actors
African-American male actors
Deaths from kidney failure
Grammy Award winners
Mercury Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Texas
People from Galveston, Texas
Private Music artists
Singers from Los Angeles
American disco singers
Record producers from California
Downey Records artists
Singer-songwriters from California
The Love Unlimited Orchestra members
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"Gloria Scott (Port Arthur, Texas, February 26, 1946) is an American soul singer\n\nHer first recording I Taught Him by \"Gloria Scott and the Tonettes\", written and produced by Sylvester Stewart (better known as Sly Stone), was released in 1964.\n\nShe was then under contract with Barry White, who produced a 1974 album What Am I Gonna Do, and a single Just as Long as We're Together (In My Life There Will Never Be Another) which reached the top 20 on numerous record charts. She recorded a second album with arranger H. B. Barnum but it was not released.\n\nShe was a member of The Ikettes, and a background singer for Mary Wilson (of the Supremes).\n\nScott is a regular performer at The Baltic Soul Weekender in Germany.\n\nMusical career \nHer first 45 single was written and produced by Sylvester Stewart, better known as Sly Stone : \"Gospel Singer Gloria Scott and the Tonettes cut I Taught Him with Sly in 1964. Reminiscent of girl groups like Martha and the Vandellas, The Shirelles and The Ronettes, Warner Brothers picked up this single for distribution.\" In an interview with Christian John Wikane of Popmatters, Scott says : \"He [Sly] just kind of took me under his wing. I sang at the Cow Palace. Sly and his sister and his cousin LaTanya backed me up and they were called the Tonettes: Gloria Scott and the Tonettes.\"\n\nShe then became a member of The Ikettes. Tina Turner says in her autobiography: \"After [previous Ikettes] Robbie, Jessie and Venetta walked out, Ike had quickly scooped up two inexperienced L.A. girls, Maxine Smith and Pat 'P.P.' Arnold, and a young club singer from Palo Alto named Gloria Scott.\".\n\nShe later met and signed a 7-year contract with Barry White. White produced and arranged her only album, What Am I Gonna Do, which was released in 1974. Two tracks were released as singles. The album is notable for being the second released by Casablanca Records—label number NB0002 (NB0001 was by KISS). At that time Warner Brothers distributed the album, in multiple countries.\n\nRoshad Ollison, writing in the Virginia Pilot, says \"What Am I Gonna Do is among Barry's most pop-minded productions. Gloria's lone release, it is also a gem. … What Am I Gonna Do, a classy effort on par with Barry's best albums, soon faded away; Gloria did, too.\"\n\nHer single \"Just as Long as We're Together (In My Life There Will Never Be Another)\" was also produced by Barry White. This song peaked at #14 on the Hot Dance charts, #16 on Billboard (Feb 22, 1975) Hot Soul Singles and on the U.S. R&B. It was played on the famous TV show Soul Train.\n\nDespite her 7-year contract with Barry White, and (indirectly) with Casablanca, her career failed to take off. PopMatters comments : \"However, a combination of factors, including the growing pains of a new record company and White's focus on his own burgeoning career, ultimately limited the reach of What Am I Gonna Do. Though a follow-up single, 'Just As Long as We're Together', hit the R&B Top 20 and held the top spot on the Disco Singles chart in early-1975, the second album she recorded with arranger H. B. Barnum was not released. For all his solo success, Barry White was not delivering on his contract with Gloria Scott. He became one of the most seminal figures of the 1970s while Scott faded into obscurity.\"\n\nShe is credited as a backup singer on the 1979 self-titled album by Mary Wilson (of the Supremes), and in the late 1970s and early 1980s, also toured with Mary and fellow background singer, Karen Jackson.\n\nScott has performed every year since 2008 at The Baltic Soul Weekender in Germany. Her performance of Help Me Get Off This Merry-Go-Round, with the Baltic Soul Orchestra, was released as a single.\n\nPersonal life \nGloria Scott was born in Port Arthur but was raised in the city of Houston, before moving with her family to northern California when in her early teens. After her musical career in San Francisco and Los Angeles she spent 8 years in Guam.\n\nShe presently lives in Lake County, California.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\n What Am I Gonna Do (Casablanca, 1974)\n\nSingles\n\n What Am I Gonna Do - (7\", Single) Casablanca Records 1974\n What Shall I Do - (7\", Single) Casablanca Records 1974\n Just As Long As We're Together (In My Life There Will Never Be Another) - (7\", Single) Casablanca Records 1974\n (A Case Of) Too Much Love Makin' - Casablanca Records 1975\n You're Losing Me - Ann Sexton & Baltic Soul Orchestra/ Gloria Scott & Baltic Soul Orchestra - Unique 2009\n Help Me Get Off This Merry-Go-Round - Ann Sexton & Baltic Soul Orchestra/ Gloria Scott & Baltic Soul Orchestra - Unique 2009\n That's The Way Love Is - Sedsoul - 2010\n Can't Keep Running Away - Single - (2013)\n It's So Wonderful - Single - (2013)\n Never Gonna Let You Go - Single - (2013)\n\nBacking vocal credits \n\n 1972: Bo Diddley – Where It All Began\n 1979: Mary Wilson – Mary Wilson\n\nCovers and Samples \nThe B. Coming I Can’t Go On This Way / Love Me, Love Me or Leave Me, Leave Me\n\nLisa Stansfield So Natural : Too Much Love Makin\n\nCultural References \nJohn Connolly in Nocturnes writes: \"Jerry passed through the main gates to the Benson farm, instinctively turning down the truck radio, since Bruce didn't appreciate music much, and certainly not the stuff that was pouring out of Jerry's speakers just now: Gloria Scott's sultry vocals, backed up by the late, great Barry White's production skills.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Gloria Scott Facebook Page\n Gloria Scott : Google Play Store\n Gloria Scott : A Case Of Too Little Record Makin’ (Interview with Mama Edie, particularly covering her life)\n When the Need for You Was Strong: Barry White Introduces Gloria Scott (Review by Rashod Ollison of The Virginian Pilot)\n Her Best Is Yet to Come: The Return of Gloria Scott (Interview with Christian John Wikane of Popmatters)\n\n1946 births\nLiving people\nIke & Tina Turner members\n20th-century African-American women singers\nAmerican soul singers\nCasablanca Records artists",
"Du Barry Did Alright (1937) is a Black and White Warner Brothers Vitaphone musical short starring Irène Bordoni.\n\nPlot \nA woman living in Paris (Bordoni) feels neglected by her husband (Dingle), so she leaves for New York.\n\nCast \n Irène Bordoni as Irene Wainwright \n Charles Dingle as John Wainwright \n Regina Wallace as Edna \n Eddie Noll as Himself \n Marion Nolan as Herself \n Joey Ray as Orchestra leader \n Charles Carrer as Himself \n Harland Dixan as Dancer \n Percy Helton as Hotel Desk Clerk (uncredited)\n\nSongs \n Forty Second Street (studio orchestra) \n Darktown Strutters' Ball (dance number) \n When the Cat's Away Performed by Joey Ray \n Du Barry Didn't Do So Bad Performed by Irene Bordoni\n\nSee also \n Broadway's Like That (1930) short film \n Paree, Paree (1934) short film \n Sound-on-disc\n\n1937 films\nVitaphone short films\nWarner Bros. short films\nAmerican films\nAmerican musical films\n1937 musical films\nAmerican black-and-white films"
] |
[
"Barry White",
"The 1970s as producer",
"What did Barry White do as a producer?",
"White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited."
] |
C_687a380a6f7949e9a5e7b96ba16f1e43_1
|
Was this group "Love Unlimited" successful?
| 2 |
Was the group "Love Unlimited" successful?
|
Barry White
|
In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became a million album seller and the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles. White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love", which climbed to #14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and #6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. This single also reached #12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead. Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, "I Belong to You", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at #1 and "Under the Influence of Love", which hit #3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974. CANNOTANSWER
|
Love Unlimited, became a million album seller and the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.
|
Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and composer. A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe".
White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million records, and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye.
Early life
White was born Barry Eugene Carter on September 12, 1944, in Galveston, Texas, United States. His father was Melvin A. White, and his mother was Sadie Marie Carter. His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father. He grew up in the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, California. He was the older of two children; his brother Darryl was 13 months younger. White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records.
White has often been credited with playing piano, at age 11, on Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit single, "Goodnight My Love". However, in a 1995 interview with the Boston Herald, White denied writing or arranging the song. He believed the story was an exaggeration by journalists. While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White.
White's voice deepened suddenly when he was 14. He recalled: "[As a child], I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man."
White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires. While in jail, he listened to Elvis Presley singing "It's Now or Never" on the radio, an experience he later credited with changing the course of his life.
Music career
1960s
After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups. He first released "Too Far to Turn Around" in 1960 as part of The Upfronts before working for various small independent labels in Los Angeles. He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels). White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single "Harlem Shuffle", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes.
In 1965, White produced "Feel Aw Right" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label.<ref> "Feel Aw Right", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat. Retrieved January 29, 2020.</ref> He recorded his debut single, "Man Ain't Nothin'" / "I Don't Need It, released under the name Lee Barry on Downey in 1966. He also co-wrote "Together Forever," released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967.
In the mid-'60s, Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records hired him as an A&R man for his new Bronco Records imprint, and White started working with the label's artists, including Viola Wills and The Bobby Fuller Four, as a songwriter, session musician, and arranger. He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song "I Feel Love Comin' On" co-written with his friend Paul Politi. It became a big hit in the UK. Other charting hits written by White and Politi for her included "It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)" and "Under the Influence of Love". Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's "All in the Run of a Day," produced by Keane and White. White also wrote "Doin' the Banana Split" for TV bubblegum act The Banana Splits in 1968.
In 1969, White was signed by Forward Records of Los Angeles, a division of Transcontinental Entertainment Corporation, as a producer.
1970s as producer
In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.
White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love", which climbed to No. 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and No. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer. This single also reached No. 12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead.
Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, "I Belong to You", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No. 1 and "Under the Influence of Love Unlimited", which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974.
The Love Unlimited Orchestra
In 1973, White created The Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40-piece orchestral group to be used originally as a backing band for the girl-group Love Unlimited. However, White had other plans, and in 1973 he released a single with "Love's Theme" (written by him and played by the Orchestra), which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts. Later, in 1974, he made the first album of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Rhapsody in White, containing "Love's Theme". White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: "Rhapsody in White"; "Satin Soul"; "Forever in Love"; "Midnight Groove"; "My Sweet Summer Suite", Remake of "Theme From King Kong". The Orchestra ceased to make albums in 1983, but continued to support White as a backing band.
1970s solo career
White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist. After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone.
He then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name "White Heat," but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby", which also rose to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts as well as No. 3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks.
Other chart hits by White included "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" (No. 2 R&B, No. 7 Pop in 1973), "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" (No. 1 Pop and R&B in 1974), "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" (No. 1 R&B, No. 2 Pop in 1974), "What Am I Gonna Do with You" (No. 1 R&B, No. 8 Pop in 1975), "Let the Music Play" (No. 4 R&B in 1976), "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" (No. 1 R&B, No. 4 Pop in 1977) and "Your Sweetness Is My Weakness" (No. 2 R&B in 1978) and others. White also had a strong following in the UK, where he scored five Top 10 hits and a No. 1 for "You're the First, the Last, My Everything". Due to his large frame, facial hair, and deep voice, he was given the nickname "The Walrus of Love" in the UK.
After six years White left 20th Century in 1979 to launch his own label, Unlimited Gold, with CBS/Columbia Records.
1980s
Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. Despite several albums over the next three years, he failed to repeat his earlier successes, with no singles managing to reach the Billboard Hot 100, except for 1982's "Change," climbing into the Billboard R&B Top 20 (No. 12). His label venture was exacting a heavy financial cost on White, so he concentrated on mostly touring and finally folded his label in 1983.
After four years he signed with A&M Records, and with the release of 1987's The Right Night & Barry White, the single entitled "Sho' You Right" made it to the Billboard R&B charts, peaking at No. 17.
In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! and with it had three top 40 singles on the Billboard R&B charts: "Super Lover", which made it to No. 34, "I Wanna Do It Good to Ya", which made it to No. 26, and "When Will I See You Again", which made it to No. 32.
1990s
A 1970s nostalgia fad allowed White to enjoy a renewed wave of popularity in the 1990s. After participating in the song "The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)" from Quincy Jones's 1989 album Back on the Block, White mounted an effective comeback with several albums, each more successful than the last. He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and the song by the same name reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart.
In 1994, White released The Icon Is Love, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single "Practice What You Preach" gave him his first No. 1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in almost 20 years. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Album category, but lost to TLC's CrazySexyCool.
In 1996, White recorded the duet "In Your Wildest Dreams" with Tina Turner. 1996 also saw the release of Space Jam and its soundtrack, on which White had a duet with Chris Rock, called "Basketball Jones," a remake of Cheech & Chong's "Basketball Jones" from 1973.
White's final album, 1999's Staying Power, resulted in his last hit song "Staying Power," which placed No. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts. The single won him two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.
His autobiography, Love Unlimited, written with Mark Eliot, was published in 1999 by Broadway Books.
Acting career
Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies. He voiced the character Brother Bear in the film Coonskin (1975), and also played the character Sampson in the movie's live-action segments. He appeared as himself in a few episodes of The Simpsons. In the episode "Whacking Day", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination. White was a fan of the show, and had reportedly contacted the staff about wanting to make a guest appearance. He made a second cameo in the episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled".
White played the role of a bus driver for a Prodigy commercial in 1995, and he also portrayed the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad-dressing-mix commercial, singing a song called "You Can't Bottle Love". In addition, he did some work for car commercials, including for Oldsmobile, and later on, Jeep. White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu. White's voice can also be heard in Apple's first iBook commercial. White made three guest appearances on the comedy-drama television series Ally McBeal, as his music was often featured on the show in dream sequences.
Personal life
Marriages
White was first married to his childhood sweetheart, identified as just Mary in his autobiography, by the time he was 19. They separated in 1969 and later divorced.
In 1974, White married singer Glodean James. The couple collaborated on the 1981 album Barry & Glodean. They reportedly divorced in 1988, however, they were still legally married until White's death in 2003 although they lived separate lives. Although estranged from Glodean for over a decade, as his widow she was made sole executor of his estate.
Children
White had at least nine children.
By the age of 16, White had fathered two children with his first wife Mary. They had four children together. In 2017, his son Darryl White from his first marriage sued his estate claiming he was cut off financially.
White had four children with his second wife Glodean James. Their daughter Shaherah was his personal assistant. Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager. White's son MacKevin worked in his publishing administration.
White had a daughter, Denise Donnell born in 1962 to Gurtha Allen. She did not discover who her biological father was until 1988. She was accepted by White and with his help she changed her name to Denise White. In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money.
After White's death in 2003, his girlfriend Katherine Denton claimed her infant daughter was his biological child. Denton also claimed that she was owed money and personal items that White had promised to give her. Paternity tests revealed that he was not the father of her child and Denton subsequently lost her court case.
Health problems and death
Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems. He was also known to be a heavy smoker, reportedly smoking approximately 150 cigarettes a day; roughly between 7 and 8 packs.
While on-tour in the summer of 1995, White nearly collapsed after a concert. He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure. He was in a coma for four days, but was discharged a week after coming out of it.
While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule. Family, friends, and associates also reported that as the 2000s began, White was in such poor health that he could hardly stand up; his last performances suffered as a result.
In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic. While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life. He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks.
White's unstable health prevented him from receiving a new kidney and on July 4, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest; he was 58."Singer Barry White dies", BBC, July 5, 2003. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast.
Legacy
On September 20, 2004, White was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York. On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording. The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean.
In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, "The Walrus of Love", the BBC recalled "the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'"
Awards and nominations
White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.
Discography
Studio albums
I've Got So Much to Give (1973)
Stone Gon' (1973)
Can't Get Enough (1974)
Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975)
Let the Music Play (1976)
Is This Whatcha Wont? (1976)
Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977)
The Man (1978)
I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979)
The Message Is Love (1979)
Sheet Music (1980)
Beware! (1981)
Change (1982)
Dedicated (1983)
The Right Night & Barry White (1987)
The Man Is Back! (1989)
Put Me in Your Mix (1991)
The Icon Is Love (1994)
Staying Power'' (1999)
References
External links
1944 births
2003 deaths
African-American record producers
Record producers from Texas
African-American male singer-songwriters
American bandleaders
American bass-baritones
A&M Records artists
American dance musicians
20th-century African-American male singers
American people convicted of theft
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American soul singers
Casablanca Records artists
American male actors
American male voice actors
African-American male actors
Deaths from kidney failure
Grammy Award winners
Mercury Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Texas
People from Galveston, Texas
Private Music artists
Singers from Los Angeles
American disco singers
Record producers from California
Downey Records artists
Singer-songwriters from California
The Love Unlimited Orchestra members
| false |
[
"Love Unlimited was a female vocal trio that provided backing vocals for American singer-songwriter Barry White on his albums and concert tours. They also found success with their own recordings.\n\nCareer\nFormed in 1969, the group included Barry White's future wife, Glodean James, her sister, Linda James, and their cousin Diane Taylor (who died of cancer in Pomona, California on November 29, 1985 at age 38).\n\nTheir first hit was \"Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love\" in 1972. It peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 7 on the Cash Box Top 100, and 6 on the Best Selling Soul Singles Chart. It was also successful in the United Kingdom, peaking at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA in July 1972. In 1975, they had their first and only number 1 song, \"I Belong to You\", which spent a week at the top of the Best Selling Soul Singles Chart. It also peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1973, when their album titled Under the Influence of... Love Unlimited peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart, Love Unlimited became the first female group to have an album reach the top five since Greatest Hits Vol. 3 from Diana Ross and the Supremes in 1970.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\n\nSingles\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nAmerican disco girl groups\nMusical groups established in 1969\nMusical groups disestablished in 1985\nUni Records artists\nThe Love Unlimited Orchestra members",
"\"It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)\" is a song co-written by the songwriters and record producers, Barry White and Paul Politi. It became a minor hit for American singer Felice Taylor in 1967, reaching No. 42 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 44 on the R&B chart in early 1967.\n\nCovers\nIt was recorded later in 1973 by Love Unlimited, a girl group formed through Barry White's initiative. It appeared on the female group's album Under the Influence of... Love Unlimited. This version made it to No. 83 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 35 on the Billboard R&B chart. It was a bigger success in the United Kingdom, reaching No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart.\n\nThe song was also covered by the British group Steps, on their tour Christmas with Steps in 2012, under the shorter title \"It May Be Winter Outside\".\n\nSampling\nBuckshot and 9th Wonder sampled the version by Love Unlimited in the track \"Intro - The Formula\", on the album The Formula released in 2008.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1966 songs\n1967 singles\nSongs written by Barry White\n1973 singles\nPresident Records singles"
] |
[
"Barry White",
"The 1970s as producer",
"What did Barry White do as a producer?",
"White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited.",
"Was this group \"Love Unlimited\" successful?",
"Love Unlimited, became a million album seller and the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles."
] |
C_687a380a6f7949e9a5e7b96ba16f1e43_1
|
Did Barry White produce any other albums?
| 3 |
Besides Love Unlimited, Did Barry White produce any other albums?
|
Barry White
|
In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became a million album seller and the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles. White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love", which climbed to #14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and #6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. This single also reached #12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead. Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, "I Belong to You", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at #1 and "Under the Influence of Love", which hit #3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974. CANNOTANSWER
|
The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You...
|
Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and composer. A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe".
White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million records, and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye.
Early life
White was born Barry Eugene Carter on September 12, 1944, in Galveston, Texas, United States. His father was Melvin A. White, and his mother was Sadie Marie Carter. His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father. He grew up in the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, California. He was the older of two children; his brother Darryl was 13 months younger. White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records.
White has often been credited with playing piano, at age 11, on Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit single, "Goodnight My Love". However, in a 1995 interview with the Boston Herald, White denied writing or arranging the song. He believed the story was an exaggeration by journalists. While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White.
White's voice deepened suddenly when he was 14. He recalled: "[As a child], I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man."
White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires. While in jail, he listened to Elvis Presley singing "It's Now or Never" on the radio, an experience he later credited with changing the course of his life.
Music career
1960s
After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups. He first released "Too Far to Turn Around" in 1960 as part of The Upfronts before working for various small independent labels in Los Angeles. He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels). White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single "Harlem Shuffle", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes.
In 1965, White produced "Feel Aw Right" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label.<ref> "Feel Aw Right", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat. Retrieved January 29, 2020.</ref> He recorded his debut single, "Man Ain't Nothin'" / "I Don't Need It, released under the name Lee Barry on Downey in 1966. He also co-wrote "Together Forever," released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967.
In the mid-'60s, Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records hired him as an A&R man for his new Bronco Records imprint, and White started working with the label's artists, including Viola Wills and The Bobby Fuller Four, as a songwriter, session musician, and arranger. He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song "I Feel Love Comin' On" co-written with his friend Paul Politi. It became a big hit in the UK. Other charting hits written by White and Politi for her included "It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)" and "Under the Influence of Love". Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's "All in the Run of a Day," produced by Keane and White. White also wrote "Doin' the Banana Split" for TV bubblegum act The Banana Splits in 1968.
In 1969, White was signed by Forward Records of Los Angeles, a division of Transcontinental Entertainment Corporation, as a producer.
1970s as producer
In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.
White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love", which climbed to No. 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and No. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer. This single also reached No. 12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead.
Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, "I Belong to You", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No. 1 and "Under the Influence of Love Unlimited", which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974.
The Love Unlimited Orchestra
In 1973, White created The Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40-piece orchestral group to be used originally as a backing band for the girl-group Love Unlimited. However, White had other plans, and in 1973 he released a single with "Love's Theme" (written by him and played by the Orchestra), which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts. Later, in 1974, he made the first album of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Rhapsody in White, containing "Love's Theme". White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: "Rhapsody in White"; "Satin Soul"; "Forever in Love"; "Midnight Groove"; "My Sweet Summer Suite", Remake of "Theme From King Kong". The Orchestra ceased to make albums in 1983, but continued to support White as a backing band.
1970s solo career
White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist. After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone.
He then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name "White Heat," but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby", which also rose to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts as well as No. 3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks.
Other chart hits by White included "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" (No. 2 R&B, No. 7 Pop in 1973), "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" (No. 1 Pop and R&B in 1974), "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" (No. 1 R&B, No. 2 Pop in 1974), "What Am I Gonna Do with You" (No. 1 R&B, No. 8 Pop in 1975), "Let the Music Play" (No. 4 R&B in 1976), "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" (No. 1 R&B, No. 4 Pop in 1977) and "Your Sweetness Is My Weakness" (No. 2 R&B in 1978) and others. White also had a strong following in the UK, where he scored five Top 10 hits and a No. 1 for "You're the First, the Last, My Everything". Due to his large frame, facial hair, and deep voice, he was given the nickname "The Walrus of Love" in the UK.
After six years White left 20th Century in 1979 to launch his own label, Unlimited Gold, with CBS/Columbia Records.
1980s
Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. Despite several albums over the next three years, he failed to repeat his earlier successes, with no singles managing to reach the Billboard Hot 100, except for 1982's "Change," climbing into the Billboard R&B Top 20 (No. 12). His label venture was exacting a heavy financial cost on White, so he concentrated on mostly touring and finally folded his label in 1983.
After four years he signed with A&M Records, and with the release of 1987's The Right Night & Barry White, the single entitled "Sho' You Right" made it to the Billboard R&B charts, peaking at No. 17.
In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! and with it had three top 40 singles on the Billboard R&B charts: "Super Lover", which made it to No. 34, "I Wanna Do It Good to Ya", which made it to No. 26, and "When Will I See You Again", which made it to No. 32.
1990s
A 1970s nostalgia fad allowed White to enjoy a renewed wave of popularity in the 1990s. After participating in the song "The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)" from Quincy Jones's 1989 album Back on the Block, White mounted an effective comeback with several albums, each more successful than the last. He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and the song by the same name reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart.
In 1994, White released The Icon Is Love, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single "Practice What You Preach" gave him his first No. 1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in almost 20 years. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Album category, but lost to TLC's CrazySexyCool.
In 1996, White recorded the duet "In Your Wildest Dreams" with Tina Turner. 1996 also saw the release of Space Jam and its soundtrack, on which White had a duet with Chris Rock, called "Basketball Jones," a remake of Cheech & Chong's "Basketball Jones" from 1973.
White's final album, 1999's Staying Power, resulted in his last hit song "Staying Power," which placed No. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts. The single won him two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.
His autobiography, Love Unlimited, written with Mark Eliot, was published in 1999 by Broadway Books.
Acting career
Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies. He voiced the character Brother Bear in the film Coonskin (1975), and also played the character Sampson in the movie's live-action segments. He appeared as himself in a few episodes of The Simpsons. In the episode "Whacking Day", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination. White was a fan of the show, and had reportedly contacted the staff about wanting to make a guest appearance. He made a second cameo in the episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled".
White played the role of a bus driver for a Prodigy commercial in 1995, and he also portrayed the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad-dressing-mix commercial, singing a song called "You Can't Bottle Love". In addition, he did some work for car commercials, including for Oldsmobile, and later on, Jeep. White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu. White's voice can also be heard in Apple's first iBook commercial. White made three guest appearances on the comedy-drama television series Ally McBeal, as his music was often featured on the show in dream sequences.
Personal life
Marriages
White was first married to his childhood sweetheart, identified as just Mary in his autobiography, by the time he was 19. They separated in 1969 and later divorced.
In 1974, White married singer Glodean James. The couple collaborated on the 1981 album Barry & Glodean. They reportedly divorced in 1988, however, they were still legally married until White's death in 2003 although they lived separate lives. Although estranged from Glodean for over a decade, as his widow she was made sole executor of his estate.
Children
White had at least nine children.
By the age of 16, White had fathered two children with his first wife Mary. They had four children together. In 2017, his son Darryl White from his first marriage sued his estate claiming he was cut off financially.
White had four children with his second wife Glodean James. Their daughter Shaherah was his personal assistant. Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager. White's son MacKevin worked in his publishing administration.
White had a daughter, Denise Donnell born in 1962 to Gurtha Allen. She did not discover who her biological father was until 1988. She was accepted by White and with his help she changed her name to Denise White. In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money.
After White's death in 2003, his girlfriend Katherine Denton claimed her infant daughter was his biological child. Denton also claimed that she was owed money and personal items that White had promised to give her. Paternity tests revealed that he was not the father of her child and Denton subsequently lost her court case.
Health problems and death
Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems. He was also known to be a heavy smoker, reportedly smoking approximately 150 cigarettes a day; roughly between 7 and 8 packs.
While on-tour in the summer of 1995, White nearly collapsed after a concert. He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure. He was in a coma for four days, but was discharged a week after coming out of it.
While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule. Family, friends, and associates also reported that as the 2000s began, White was in such poor health that he could hardly stand up; his last performances suffered as a result.
In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic. While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life. He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks.
White's unstable health prevented him from receiving a new kidney and on July 4, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest; he was 58."Singer Barry White dies", BBC, July 5, 2003. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast.
Legacy
On September 20, 2004, White was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York. On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording. The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean.
In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, "The Walrus of Love", the BBC recalled "the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'"
Awards and nominations
White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.
Discography
Studio albums
I've Got So Much to Give (1973)
Stone Gon' (1973)
Can't Get Enough (1974)
Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975)
Let the Music Play (1976)
Is This Whatcha Wont? (1976)
Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977)
The Man (1978)
I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979)
The Message Is Love (1979)
Sheet Music (1980)
Beware! (1981)
Change (1982)
Dedicated (1983)
The Right Night & Barry White (1987)
The Man Is Back! (1989)
Put Me in Your Mix (1991)
The Icon Is Love (1994)
Staying Power'' (1999)
References
External links
1944 births
2003 deaths
African-American record producers
Record producers from Texas
African-American male singer-songwriters
American bandleaders
American bass-baritones
A&M Records artists
American dance musicians
20th-century African-American male singers
American people convicted of theft
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American soul singers
Casablanca Records artists
American male actors
American male voice actors
African-American male actors
Deaths from kidney failure
Grammy Award winners
Mercury Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Texas
People from Galveston, Texas
Private Music artists
Singers from Los Angeles
American disco singers
Record producers from California
Downey Records artists
Singer-songwriters from California
The Love Unlimited Orchestra members
| true |
[
"Is This Whatcha Wont? is the self-produced sixth album by American R&B singer Barry White, released in November 1976 on the 20th Century label.\n\nHistory\nThe album reached #25 on the R&B albums chart, White's first to miss the top ten, and peaked at #125 on the Billboard 200. The album yielded two singles, \"Don't Make Me Wait Too Long\" and \"I'm Qualified to Satisfy You\" which peaked at #20 and #25 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart respectively. This was his first album that failed to produce a top ten single on that chart. Both singles also charted on the UK Singles Chart, at #17 and #37 respectively. The album was digitally remastered and reissued on CD on March 19, 1996 by Mercury Records.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel\nBarry White - lead vocals, arranger\nGene Page - arranger\nTechnical\nBarney Perkins, Frank Kejmar - engineer\n\nCharts\n\nSingles\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Is This Whatcha Wont? at Discogs\n\nBarry White albums\n1976 albums\nalbums arranged by Gene Page\n20th Century Fox Records albums",
"This is the discography documenting albums and singles released by American R&B/soul singer Barry White.\n\nAlbums\n\nStudio albums\n\nCompilation albums\n\nSingles\n\n Singles credited to Barry White with the Majestics\n Single credited to Barry White with the Atlantics\n Single credited to Lee Barry\n Single credited to Gene West\n\nAs featured performer\n\nOther appearances\n\nReferences\n\nRhythm and blues discographies\nDiscographies of American artists\nSoul music discographies\nDisco discographies"
] |
[
"Barry White",
"The 1970s as producer",
"What did Barry White do as a producer?",
"White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited.",
"Was this group \"Love Unlimited\" successful?",
"Love Unlimited, became a million album seller and the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.",
"Did Barry White produce any other albums?",
"The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You..."
] |
C_687a380a6f7949e9a5e7b96ba16f1e43_1
|
What about toher albums after that one?
| 4 |
What about other albums after A Girl's Point of View We Give to You?
|
Barry White
|
In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became a million album seller and the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles. White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love", which climbed to #14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and #6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. This single also reached #12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead. Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, "I Belong to You", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at #1 and "Under the Influence of Love", which hit #3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and composer. A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe".
White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million records, and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye.
Early life
White was born Barry Eugene Carter on September 12, 1944, in Galveston, Texas, United States. His father was Melvin A. White, and his mother was Sadie Marie Carter. His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father. He grew up in the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, California. He was the older of two children; his brother Darryl was 13 months younger. White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records.
White has often been credited with playing piano, at age 11, on Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit single, "Goodnight My Love". However, in a 1995 interview with the Boston Herald, White denied writing or arranging the song. He believed the story was an exaggeration by journalists. While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White.
White's voice deepened suddenly when he was 14. He recalled: "[As a child], I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man."
White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires. While in jail, he listened to Elvis Presley singing "It's Now or Never" on the radio, an experience he later credited with changing the course of his life.
Music career
1960s
After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups. He first released "Too Far to Turn Around" in 1960 as part of The Upfronts before working for various small independent labels in Los Angeles. He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels). White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single "Harlem Shuffle", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes.
In 1965, White produced "Feel Aw Right" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label.<ref> "Feel Aw Right", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat. Retrieved January 29, 2020.</ref> He recorded his debut single, "Man Ain't Nothin'" / "I Don't Need It, released under the name Lee Barry on Downey in 1966. He also co-wrote "Together Forever," released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967.
In the mid-'60s, Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records hired him as an A&R man for his new Bronco Records imprint, and White started working with the label's artists, including Viola Wills and The Bobby Fuller Four, as a songwriter, session musician, and arranger. He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song "I Feel Love Comin' On" co-written with his friend Paul Politi. It became a big hit in the UK. Other charting hits written by White and Politi for her included "It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)" and "Under the Influence of Love". Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's "All in the Run of a Day," produced by Keane and White. White also wrote "Doin' the Banana Split" for TV bubblegum act The Banana Splits in 1968.
In 1969, White was signed by Forward Records of Los Angeles, a division of Transcontinental Entertainment Corporation, as a producer.
1970s as producer
In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.
White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love", which climbed to No. 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and No. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer. This single also reached No. 12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead.
Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, "I Belong to You", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No. 1 and "Under the Influence of Love Unlimited", which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974.
The Love Unlimited Orchestra
In 1973, White created The Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40-piece orchestral group to be used originally as a backing band for the girl-group Love Unlimited. However, White had other plans, and in 1973 he released a single with "Love's Theme" (written by him and played by the Orchestra), which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts. Later, in 1974, he made the first album of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Rhapsody in White, containing "Love's Theme". White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: "Rhapsody in White"; "Satin Soul"; "Forever in Love"; "Midnight Groove"; "My Sweet Summer Suite", Remake of "Theme From King Kong". The Orchestra ceased to make albums in 1983, but continued to support White as a backing band.
1970s solo career
White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist. After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone.
He then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name "White Heat," but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby", which also rose to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts as well as No. 3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks.
Other chart hits by White included "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" (No. 2 R&B, No. 7 Pop in 1973), "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" (No. 1 Pop and R&B in 1974), "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" (No. 1 R&B, No. 2 Pop in 1974), "What Am I Gonna Do with You" (No. 1 R&B, No. 8 Pop in 1975), "Let the Music Play" (No. 4 R&B in 1976), "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" (No. 1 R&B, No. 4 Pop in 1977) and "Your Sweetness Is My Weakness" (No. 2 R&B in 1978) and others. White also had a strong following in the UK, where he scored five Top 10 hits and a No. 1 for "You're the First, the Last, My Everything". Due to his large frame, facial hair, and deep voice, he was given the nickname "The Walrus of Love" in the UK.
After six years White left 20th Century in 1979 to launch his own label, Unlimited Gold, with CBS/Columbia Records.
1980s
Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. Despite several albums over the next three years, he failed to repeat his earlier successes, with no singles managing to reach the Billboard Hot 100, except for 1982's "Change," climbing into the Billboard R&B Top 20 (No. 12). His label venture was exacting a heavy financial cost on White, so he concentrated on mostly touring and finally folded his label in 1983.
After four years he signed with A&M Records, and with the release of 1987's The Right Night & Barry White, the single entitled "Sho' You Right" made it to the Billboard R&B charts, peaking at No. 17.
In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! and with it had three top 40 singles on the Billboard R&B charts: "Super Lover", which made it to No. 34, "I Wanna Do It Good to Ya", which made it to No. 26, and "When Will I See You Again", which made it to No. 32.
1990s
A 1970s nostalgia fad allowed White to enjoy a renewed wave of popularity in the 1990s. After participating in the song "The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)" from Quincy Jones's 1989 album Back on the Block, White mounted an effective comeback with several albums, each more successful than the last. He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and the song by the same name reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart.
In 1994, White released The Icon Is Love, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single "Practice What You Preach" gave him his first No. 1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in almost 20 years. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Album category, but lost to TLC's CrazySexyCool.
In 1996, White recorded the duet "In Your Wildest Dreams" with Tina Turner. 1996 also saw the release of Space Jam and its soundtrack, on which White had a duet with Chris Rock, called "Basketball Jones," a remake of Cheech & Chong's "Basketball Jones" from 1973.
White's final album, 1999's Staying Power, resulted in his last hit song "Staying Power," which placed No. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts. The single won him two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.
His autobiography, Love Unlimited, written with Mark Eliot, was published in 1999 by Broadway Books.
Acting career
Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies. He voiced the character Brother Bear in the film Coonskin (1975), and also played the character Sampson in the movie's live-action segments. He appeared as himself in a few episodes of The Simpsons. In the episode "Whacking Day", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination. White was a fan of the show, and had reportedly contacted the staff about wanting to make a guest appearance. He made a second cameo in the episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled".
White played the role of a bus driver for a Prodigy commercial in 1995, and he also portrayed the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad-dressing-mix commercial, singing a song called "You Can't Bottle Love". In addition, he did some work for car commercials, including for Oldsmobile, and later on, Jeep. White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu. White's voice can also be heard in Apple's first iBook commercial. White made three guest appearances on the comedy-drama television series Ally McBeal, as his music was often featured on the show in dream sequences.
Personal life
Marriages
White was first married to his childhood sweetheart, identified as just Mary in his autobiography, by the time he was 19. They separated in 1969 and later divorced.
In 1974, White married singer Glodean James. The couple collaborated on the 1981 album Barry & Glodean. They reportedly divorced in 1988, however, they were still legally married until White's death in 2003 although they lived separate lives. Although estranged from Glodean for over a decade, as his widow she was made sole executor of his estate.
Children
White had at least nine children.
By the age of 16, White had fathered two children with his first wife Mary. They had four children together. In 2017, his son Darryl White from his first marriage sued his estate claiming he was cut off financially.
White had four children with his second wife Glodean James. Their daughter Shaherah was his personal assistant. Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager. White's son MacKevin worked in his publishing administration.
White had a daughter, Denise Donnell born in 1962 to Gurtha Allen. She did not discover who her biological father was until 1988. She was accepted by White and with his help she changed her name to Denise White. In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money.
After White's death in 2003, his girlfriend Katherine Denton claimed her infant daughter was his biological child. Denton also claimed that she was owed money and personal items that White had promised to give her. Paternity tests revealed that he was not the father of her child and Denton subsequently lost her court case.
Health problems and death
Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems. He was also known to be a heavy smoker, reportedly smoking approximately 150 cigarettes a day; roughly between 7 and 8 packs.
While on-tour in the summer of 1995, White nearly collapsed after a concert. He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure. He was in a coma for four days, but was discharged a week after coming out of it.
While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule. Family, friends, and associates also reported that as the 2000s began, White was in such poor health that he could hardly stand up; his last performances suffered as a result.
In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic. While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life. He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks.
White's unstable health prevented him from receiving a new kidney and on July 4, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest; he was 58."Singer Barry White dies", BBC, July 5, 2003. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast.
Legacy
On September 20, 2004, White was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York. On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording. The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean.
In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, "The Walrus of Love", the BBC recalled "the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'"
Awards and nominations
White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.
Discography
Studio albums
I've Got So Much to Give (1973)
Stone Gon' (1973)
Can't Get Enough (1974)
Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975)
Let the Music Play (1976)
Is This Whatcha Wont? (1976)
Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977)
The Man (1978)
I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979)
The Message Is Love (1979)
Sheet Music (1980)
Beware! (1981)
Change (1982)
Dedicated (1983)
The Right Night & Barry White (1987)
The Man Is Back! (1989)
Put Me in Your Mix (1991)
The Icon Is Love (1994)
Staying Power'' (1999)
References
External links
1944 births
2003 deaths
African-American record producers
Record producers from Texas
African-American male singer-songwriters
American bandleaders
American bass-baritones
A&M Records artists
American dance musicians
20th-century African-American male singers
American people convicted of theft
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American soul singers
Casablanca Records artists
American male actors
American male voice actors
African-American male actors
Deaths from kidney failure
Grammy Award winners
Mercury Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Texas
People from Galveston, Texas
Private Music artists
Singers from Los Angeles
American disco singers
Record producers from California
Downey Records artists
Singer-songwriters from California
The Love Unlimited Orchestra members
| false |
[
"James Toher (born 1993) is an Irish hurler who plays center back for the Meath senior team. \n\nBorn in Trim, County Meath, Toher first arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of sixteen when he first linked up with the Meath minor team before later joining the under-21 side. He made his senior debut during the 2012 league. Toher quickly became a regular member of the starting fifteen and has since won one Christy Ring Cup medal (2016). He captained his side to this historic win, lifting the cup twice in a single month after a controversial score line deemed correct by the referee was overturned by the CCC and replay awarded.\n\nAt international level Toher has played for the composite rules shinty-hurling team, captaining the U21s in 2013 and 2014 and made his senior debut in 2015.. At club level he plays with Trim.\n\nHonours\n\nMeath\nChristy Ring Cup (1): 2016 (c)\n\nReferences\n\n1993 births\nLiving people\nIreland international hurlers\nTrim hurlers\nMeath inter-county hurlers",
"Apse (pronounced \"apps\") was an American rock band signed to the UK label ATP Recordings and Spanish label Acuarela Discos. The band moved through many different musical styles since its inception, weaving together at various times shoegazer, Heavy Metal, gothic rock, post-punk, prog-rock, industrial, and post-rock influences; while at the same time working in experimental, ambient and ethereal atmospheres. The most common lyrical themes had to do with spirituality, relationships with others (human as well as paranormal or divine), paranoia, power, and control.\n\nBiography\n\nApse was formed in 1999 in Newtown, Connecticut by high school friends Robert Toher (guitar), Ezer Lichtenstein (drums), and Ryan Todd (bass) as an instrumental, experimental ambient rock group .\n\nAfter the group recorded its first EP in 2001, friend Aaron Piccirillo joined as an additional guitarist. This lineup recorded several more EPs, and eventually Toher's vocals entered the mix. In the spring of 2003, friend Michael Gundlach (guitar) joined the band. The band's gigs were often performed in low light with the members seated, surrounded by antique electronic equipment.\n\nBy the end of 2004, Apse was signed to Acuarela Discos, based in Madrid, Spain. Apse (a self-titled, 34 minute EP), was released internationally in the spring of 2005. A second drummer, Matthew Wick, was added to the band for live performances during this period.\n\nThe group underwent another lineup change in the late summer of 2005, when Todd and Wick left the band; Piccirillo switched to bass, and Albert Gray recruited to play guitar. With this lineup, their tribal and darkly atmospheric debut album, Spirit, was recorded, and was released internationally on November 21, 2006. The group toured Europe in support of it that fall, most notably appearing at the Tanned Tin festival in Castellon, Spain .\n\nGray and Piccirillo left the band in early 2007, and friends Austin Stawiarz (guitar) and John Mordecai (bass) were taken on as new members for that year's European tours, which included a stop at Belgium's Pukkelpop festival.\nToher and Gundlach relocated to Cape Cod, Mass., later that year, and by January 2008, creative and personal differences led to Lichtenstein and Stawiarz parting ways with the group. Brandon Collins (drums) and Jed Armour (guitar) joined the band, and Piccirillo rejoined soon after as a keyboardist/guitarist/percussionist for that spring's European tour. The band made its UK debut on that tour at the ATP v. Pitchfork Festival in Camber Sands, England, and would go on to play several more ATP festivals in the UK and US over the next two years.\n\nA re-release of Spirit with alternate packaging and a bonus track (a version of the Eras track \"Ark,\" which here features an alternate ending) was released on London-based ATP Recordings in July (UK) and August (US), 2008.\n\nAn album titled Eras was released in a limited run of 425 vinyl copies on Feb. 14, 2009, on Equation Records. Recorded during 2007 (various production issues delayed its release), it primarily features songs written by Toher and Lichtenstein, with an individual track each from Piccirillo and Gundlach.\nEras, while similar to Spirit for its dark, experimental nature, ambient passages and heavy rhythms, marked the beginning of a stylistic shift, particularly for the occasional use of major-key chords and overall shorter song lengths. The album notably features performances from almost all of Apse's former and current members (as of 2007). There are no plans to officially release the album in any other format, but with few remaining physical copies, the band is offering it as a free download on its official site.\n\nNumerous new songs for the follow-up to Spirit were written, demoed, performed and discarded since 2007. Recording commenced in autumn of 2008 and continued through the spring. The album, Climb Up, was finally released Oct. 20, 2009 in the UK and Nov. 10 in the US on ATP Recordings. The album marked another departure for the band; the songs are noticeably less dark, shorter, and sometimes adhere to more common rock song structures. Members have attributed the change in sound to the long time spent touring for Spirit, after which a stark contrast to the dark atmospheres was desired. The album was featured in Under the Radar magazine's Best Albums of 2009 list at No. 25.\nBy the time of its release, Piccirillo was no longer a member of the group, though he was present for the initial writing process and is thus credited with co-writing several songs on the album (\"Rook,\" \"The Age,\" and \"The Whip\").\nIn 2009, the band added Daniel Sobo as a touring keyboardist/auxiliary musician for tours and live performances through 2010. Sobo, a longtime friend, produced one of the band's early EPs.\n\nThe group disbanded in early 2011, with some members moving on to form the band ERAAS.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\nSpirit (2006) Acuarela Discos / (2008) ATP Recordings\nEras (2009) Equation Records\nClimb Up (2009) ATP Recordings\n\nExtended plays\nUntitled (2001) self-released\nCloud (2002) self-released\nThree Dialogues (2003) self-released\nApse (2005) Acuarela Discos\n\nSingles\nDornier (from Three Dialogues, 2003) self-released\nMarrer (from Apse, 2004) self-released\n3.1 / The Whip (Double A-side, 2009) ATP Recordings\n\nRelated Projects\nBesides their work in Apse, members Robert Toher and Aaron Piccirillo have projects outside of the band. Robert writes solo material under the moniker Goldfall, and Aaron wrote under the moniker Somnolent. In 2005, Somnolent released two tracks on a sampler CD entitled Nothing Concrete . The sampler was released on 99xoutof10 records, a label created by Roger O'Donnell, keyboardist for The Cure. Aaron has also written for Ultraculture, Clavis Journal, Aeon Sophia Press, and Appalachia Journal, and was included in New Wilderness Voices, an anthology of nature writing released in July 2017 by the University Press of New England. He has also recorded under the names Synesect and D. H. Grey\n\nFollowing the break-up of Apse, Robert Toher and Austin Stawiarz started a new project and released music under the name ERAAS.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n \n\nAmerican experimental musical groups\nMusical groups established in 1999\nAlternative rock groups from Connecticut\n1999 establishments in Connecticut"
] |
[
"Barry White",
"The 1970s as producer",
"What did Barry White do as a producer?",
"White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited.",
"Was this group \"Love Unlimited\" successful?",
"Love Unlimited, became a million album seller and the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.",
"Did Barry White produce any other albums?",
"The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You...",
"What about toher albums after that one?",
"I don't know."
] |
C_687a380a6f7949e9a5e7b96ba16f1e43_1
|
Is there anything else interesting?
| 5 |
Besides producing Love Unlimited and releasing the album A Girl's Point of View We Give to You, is there anything else interesting about Barry White, The 1970s Producer??
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Barry White
|
In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became a million album seller and the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles. White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love", which climbed to #14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and #6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. This single also reached #12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead. Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, "I Belong to You", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at #1 and "Under the Influence of Love", which hit #3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974. CANNOTANSWER
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White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love", which climbed to #14 in the Billboard Hot 100
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Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and composer. A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe".
White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million records, and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye.
Early life
White was born Barry Eugene Carter on September 12, 1944, in Galveston, Texas, United States. His father was Melvin A. White, and his mother was Sadie Marie Carter. His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father. He grew up in the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, California. He was the older of two children; his brother Darryl was 13 months younger. White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records.
White has often been credited with playing piano, at age 11, on Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit single, "Goodnight My Love". However, in a 1995 interview with the Boston Herald, White denied writing or arranging the song. He believed the story was an exaggeration by journalists. While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White.
White's voice deepened suddenly when he was 14. He recalled: "[As a child], I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man."
White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires. While in jail, he listened to Elvis Presley singing "It's Now or Never" on the radio, an experience he later credited with changing the course of his life.
Music career
1960s
After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups. He first released "Too Far to Turn Around" in 1960 as part of The Upfronts before working for various small independent labels in Los Angeles. He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels). White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single "Harlem Shuffle", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes.
In 1965, White produced "Feel Aw Right" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label.<ref> "Feel Aw Right", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat. Retrieved January 29, 2020.</ref> He recorded his debut single, "Man Ain't Nothin'" / "I Don't Need It, released under the name Lee Barry on Downey in 1966. He also co-wrote "Together Forever," released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967.
In the mid-'60s, Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records hired him as an A&R man for his new Bronco Records imprint, and White started working with the label's artists, including Viola Wills and The Bobby Fuller Four, as a songwriter, session musician, and arranger. He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song "I Feel Love Comin' On" co-written with his friend Paul Politi. It became a big hit in the UK. Other charting hits written by White and Politi for her included "It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)" and "Under the Influence of Love". Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's "All in the Run of a Day," produced by Keane and White. White also wrote "Doin' the Banana Split" for TV bubblegum act The Banana Splits in 1968.
In 1969, White was signed by Forward Records of Los Angeles, a division of Transcontinental Entertainment Corporation, as a producer.
1970s as producer
In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.
White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love", which climbed to No. 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and No. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer. This single also reached No. 12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead.
Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, "I Belong to You", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No. 1 and "Under the Influence of Love Unlimited", which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974.
The Love Unlimited Orchestra
In 1973, White created The Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40-piece orchestral group to be used originally as a backing band for the girl-group Love Unlimited. However, White had other plans, and in 1973 he released a single with "Love's Theme" (written by him and played by the Orchestra), which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts. Later, in 1974, he made the first album of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Rhapsody in White, containing "Love's Theme". White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: "Rhapsody in White"; "Satin Soul"; "Forever in Love"; "Midnight Groove"; "My Sweet Summer Suite", Remake of "Theme From King Kong". The Orchestra ceased to make albums in 1983, but continued to support White as a backing band.
1970s solo career
White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist. After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone.
He then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name "White Heat," but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby", which also rose to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts as well as No. 3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks.
Other chart hits by White included "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" (No. 2 R&B, No. 7 Pop in 1973), "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" (No. 1 Pop and R&B in 1974), "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" (No. 1 R&B, No. 2 Pop in 1974), "What Am I Gonna Do with You" (No. 1 R&B, No. 8 Pop in 1975), "Let the Music Play" (No. 4 R&B in 1976), "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" (No. 1 R&B, No. 4 Pop in 1977) and "Your Sweetness Is My Weakness" (No. 2 R&B in 1978) and others. White also had a strong following in the UK, where he scored five Top 10 hits and a No. 1 for "You're the First, the Last, My Everything". Due to his large frame, facial hair, and deep voice, he was given the nickname "The Walrus of Love" in the UK.
After six years White left 20th Century in 1979 to launch his own label, Unlimited Gold, with CBS/Columbia Records.
1980s
Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. Despite several albums over the next three years, he failed to repeat his earlier successes, with no singles managing to reach the Billboard Hot 100, except for 1982's "Change," climbing into the Billboard R&B Top 20 (No. 12). His label venture was exacting a heavy financial cost on White, so he concentrated on mostly touring and finally folded his label in 1983.
After four years he signed with A&M Records, and with the release of 1987's The Right Night & Barry White, the single entitled "Sho' You Right" made it to the Billboard R&B charts, peaking at No. 17.
In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! and with it had three top 40 singles on the Billboard R&B charts: "Super Lover", which made it to No. 34, "I Wanna Do It Good to Ya", which made it to No. 26, and "When Will I See You Again", which made it to No. 32.
1990s
A 1970s nostalgia fad allowed White to enjoy a renewed wave of popularity in the 1990s. After participating in the song "The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)" from Quincy Jones's 1989 album Back on the Block, White mounted an effective comeback with several albums, each more successful than the last. He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and the song by the same name reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart.
In 1994, White released The Icon Is Love, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single "Practice What You Preach" gave him his first No. 1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in almost 20 years. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Album category, but lost to TLC's CrazySexyCool.
In 1996, White recorded the duet "In Your Wildest Dreams" with Tina Turner. 1996 also saw the release of Space Jam and its soundtrack, on which White had a duet with Chris Rock, called "Basketball Jones," a remake of Cheech & Chong's "Basketball Jones" from 1973.
White's final album, 1999's Staying Power, resulted in his last hit song "Staying Power," which placed No. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts. The single won him two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.
His autobiography, Love Unlimited, written with Mark Eliot, was published in 1999 by Broadway Books.
Acting career
Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies. He voiced the character Brother Bear in the film Coonskin (1975), and also played the character Sampson in the movie's live-action segments. He appeared as himself in a few episodes of The Simpsons. In the episode "Whacking Day", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination. White was a fan of the show, and had reportedly contacted the staff about wanting to make a guest appearance. He made a second cameo in the episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled".
White played the role of a bus driver for a Prodigy commercial in 1995, and he also portrayed the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad-dressing-mix commercial, singing a song called "You Can't Bottle Love". In addition, he did some work for car commercials, including for Oldsmobile, and later on, Jeep. White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu. White's voice can also be heard in Apple's first iBook commercial. White made three guest appearances on the comedy-drama television series Ally McBeal, as his music was often featured on the show in dream sequences.
Personal life
Marriages
White was first married to his childhood sweetheart, identified as just Mary in his autobiography, by the time he was 19. They separated in 1969 and later divorced.
In 1974, White married singer Glodean James. The couple collaborated on the 1981 album Barry & Glodean. They reportedly divorced in 1988, however, they were still legally married until White's death in 2003 although they lived separate lives. Although estranged from Glodean for over a decade, as his widow she was made sole executor of his estate.
Children
White had at least nine children.
By the age of 16, White had fathered two children with his first wife Mary. They had four children together. In 2017, his son Darryl White from his first marriage sued his estate claiming he was cut off financially.
White had four children with his second wife Glodean James. Their daughter Shaherah was his personal assistant. Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager. White's son MacKevin worked in his publishing administration.
White had a daughter, Denise Donnell born in 1962 to Gurtha Allen. She did not discover who her biological father was until 1988. She was accepted by White and with his help she changed her name to Denise White. In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money.
After White's death in 2003, his girlfriend Katherine Denton claimed her infant daughter was his biological child. Denton also claimed that she was owed money and personal items that White had promised to give her. Paternity tests revealed that he was not the father of her child and Denton subsequently lost her court case.
Health problems and death
Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems. He was also known to be a heavy smoker, reportedly smoking approximately 150 cigarettes a day; roughly between 7 and 8 packs.
While on-tour in the summer of 1995, White nearly collapsed after a concert. He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure. He was in a coma for four days, but was discharged a week after coming out of it.
While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule. Family, friends, and associates also reported that as the 2000s began, White was in such poor health that he could hardly stand up; his last performances suffered as a result.
In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic. While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life. He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks.
White's unstable health prevented him from receiving a new kidney and on July 4, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest; he was 58."Singer Barry White dies", BBC, July 5, 2003. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast.
Legacy
On September 20, 2004, White was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York. On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording. The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean.
In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, "The Walrus of Love", the BBC recalled "the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'"
Awards and nominations
White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.
Discography
Studio albums
I've Got So Much to Give (1973)
Stone Gon' (1973)
Can't Get Enough (1974)
Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975)
Let the Music Play (1976)
Is This Whatcha Wont? (1976)
Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977)
The Man (1978)
I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979)
The Message Is Love (1979)
Sheet Music (1980)
Beware! (1981)
Change (1982)
Dedicated (1983)
The Right Night & Barry White (1987)
The Man Is Back! (1989)
Put Me in Your Mix (1991)
The Icon Is Love (1994)
Staying Power'' (1999)
References
External links
1944 births
2003 deaths
African-American record producers
Record producers from Texas
African-American male singer-songwriters
American bandleaders
American bass-baritones
A&M Records artists
American dance musicians
20th-century African-American male singers
American people convicted of theft
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American soul singers
Casablanca Records artists
American male actors
American male voice actors
African-American male actors
Deaths from kidney failure
Grammy Award winners
Mercury Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Texas
People from Galveston, Texas
Private Music artists
Singers from Los Angeles
American disco singers
Record producers from California
Downey Records artists
Singer-songwriters from California
The Love Unlimited Orchestra members
| false |
[
"\"How Interesting: A Tiny Man\" is a 2010 science fiction/magical realism short story by American writer Harlan Ellison. It was first published in Realms of Fantasy.\n\nPlot summary\nA scientist creates a tiny man. The tiny man is initially very popular, but then draws the hatred of the world, and so the tiny man must flee, together with the scientist (who is now likewise hated, for having created the tiny man).\n\nReception\n\"How Interesting: A Tiny Man\" won the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Short Story, tied with Kij Johnson's \"Ponies\". It was Ellison's final Nebula nomination and win, of his record-setting eight nominations and three wins.\n\nTor.com calls the story \"deceptively simple\", with \"execution (that) is flawless\" and a \"Geppetto-like\" narrator, while Publishers Weekly describes it as \"memorably depict(ing) humanity's smallness of spirit\". The SF Site, however, felt it was \"contrived and less than profound\".\n\nNick Mamatas compared \"How Interesting: A Tiny Man\" negatively to Ellison's other Nebula-winning short stories, and stated that the story's two mutually exclusive endings (in one, the tiny man is killed; in the other, he becomes God) are evocative of the process of writing short stories. Ben Peek considered it to be \"more allegory than (...) anything else\", and interpreted it as being about how the media \"give(s) everyone a voice\", and also about how Ellison was treated by science fiction fandom.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nAudio version of ''How Interesting: A Tiny Man, at StarShipSofa\nHow Interesting: A Tiny Man, at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database\n\nNebula Award for Best Short Story-winning works\nShort stories by Harlan Ellison",
"In baseball, a fair ball is a batted ball that entitles the batter to attempt to reach first base. By contrast, a foul ball is a batted ball that does not entitle the batter to attempt to reach first base. Whether a batted ball is fair or foul is determined by the location of the ball at the appropriate reference point, as follows:\n\n if the ball leaves the playing field without touching anything, the point where the ball leaves the field;\n else, if the ball first lands past first or third base without touching anything, the point where the ball lands;\n else, if the ball rolls or bounces past first or third base without touching anything other than the ground, the point where the ball passes the base;\n else, if the ball touches anything other than the ground (such as an umpire, a player, or any equipment left on the field) before any of the above happens, the point of such touching;\n else (the ball comes to a rest before reaching first or third base), the point where the ball comes to a rest.\n\nIf any part of the ball is on or above fair territory at the appropriate reference point, it is fair; else it is foul. Fair territory or fair ground is defined as the area of the playing field between the two foul lines, and includes the foul lines themselves and the foul poles. However, certain exceptions exist:\n\n A ball that touches first, second, or third base is always fair.\n Under Rule 5.09(a)(7)-(8), if a batted ball touches the batter or his bat while the batter is in the batter's box and not intentionally interfering with the course of the ball, the ball is foul.\n A ball that hits the foul pole without first having touched anything else off the bat is fair.\n Ground rules may provide whether a ball hitting specific objects (e.g. roof, overhead speaker) is fair or foul.\n\nOn a fair ball, the batter attempts to reach first base or any subsequent base, runners attempt to advance and fielders try to record outs. A fair ball is considered a live ball until the ball becomes dead by leaving the field or any other method.\n\nReferences\n\nBaseball rules"
] |
[
"Barry White",
"The 1970s as producer",
"What did Barry White do as a producer?",
"White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited.",
"Was this group \"Love Unlimited\" successful?",
"Love Unlimited, became a million album seller and the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.",
"Did Barry White produce any other albums?",
"The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You...",
"What about toher albums after that one?",
"I don't know.",
"Is there anything else interesting?",
"White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad \"Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love\", which climbed to #14 in the Billboard Hot 100"
] |
C_687a380a6f7949e9a5e7b96ba16f1e43_1
|
Was this his most successful work of the 70's?
| 6 |
Was Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love Barry White's most successful work of the 70's?
|
Barry White
|
In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became a million album seller and the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles. White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love", which climbed to #14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and #6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. This single also reached #12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead. Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, "I Belong to You", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at #1 and "Under the Influence of Love", which hit #3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974. CANNOTANSWER
|
I Belong to You", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at #1
|
Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and composer. A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe".
White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million records, and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye.
Early life
White was born Barry Eugene Carter on September 12, 1944, in Galveston, Texas, United States. His father was Melvin A. White, and his mother was Sadie Marie Carter. His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father. He grew up in the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, California. He was the older of two children; his brother Darryl was 13 months younger. White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records.
White has often been credited with playing piano, at age 11, on Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit single, "Goodnight My Love". However, in a 1995 interview with the Boston Herald, White denied writing or arranging the song. He believed the story was an exaggeration by journalists. While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White.
White's voice deepened suddenly when he was 14. He recalled: "[As a child], I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man."
White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires. While in jail, he listened to Elvis Presley singing "It's Now or Never" on the radio, an experience he later credited with changing the course of his life.
Music career
1960s
After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups. He first released "Too Far to Turn Around" in 1960 as part of The Upfronts before working for various small independent labels in Los Angeles. He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels). White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single "Harlem Shuffle", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes.
In 1965, White produced "Feel Aw Right" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label.<ref> "Feel Aw Right", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat. Retrieved January 29, 2020.</ref> He recorded his debut single, "Man Ain't Nothin'" / "I Don't Need It, released under the name Lee Barry on Downey in 1966. He also co-wrote "Together Forever," released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967.
In the mid-'60s, Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records hired him as an A&R man for his new Bronco Records imprint, and White started working with the label's artists, including Viola Wills and The Bobby Fuller Four, as a songwriter, session musician, and arranger. He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song "I Feel Love Comin' On" co-written with his friend Paul Politi. It became a big hit in the UK. Other charting hits written by White and Politi for her included "It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)" and "Under the Influence of Love". Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's "All in the Run of a Day," produced by Keane and White. White also wrote "Doin' the Banana Split" for TV bubblegum act The Banana Splits in 1968.
In 1969, White was signed by Forward Records of Los Angeles, a division of Transcontinental Entertainment Corporation, as a producer.
1970s as producer
In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.
White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love", which climbed to No. 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and No. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer. This single also reached No. 12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead.
Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, "I Belong to You", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No. 1 and "Under the Influence of Love Unlimited", which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974.
The Love Unlimited Orchestra
In 1973, White created The Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40-piece orchestral group to be used originally as a backing band for the girl-group Love Unlimited. However, White had other plans, and in 1973 he released a single with "Love's Theme" (written by him and played by the Orchestra), which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts. Later, in 1974, he made the first album of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Rhapsody in White, containing "Love's Theme". White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: "Rhapsody in White"; "Satin Soul"; "Forever in Love"; "Midnight Groove"; "My Sweet Summer Suite", Remake of "Theme From King Kong". The Orchestra ceased to make albums in 1983, but continued to support White as a backing band.
1970s solo career
White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist. After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone.
He then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name "White Heat," but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby", which also rose to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts as well as No. 3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks.
Other chart hits by White included "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" (No. 2 R&B, No. 7 Pop in 1973), "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" (No. 1 Pop and R&B in 1974), "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" (No. 1 R&B, No. 2 Pop in 1974), "What Am I Gonna Do with You" (No. 1 R&B, No. 8 Pop in 1975), "Let the Music Play" (No. 4 R&B in 1976), "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" (No. 1 R&B, No. 4 Pop in 1977) and "Your Sweetness Is My Weakness" (No. 2 R&B in 1978) and others. White also had a strong following in the UK, where he scored five Top 10 hits and a No. 1 for "You're the First, the Last, My Everything". Due to his large frame, facial hair, and deep voice, he was given the nickname "The Walrus of Love" in the UK.
After six years White left 20th Century in 1979 to launch his own label, Unlimited Gold, with CBS/Columbia Records.
1980s
Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. Despite several albums over the next three years, he failed to repeat his earlier successes, with no singles managing to reach the Billboard Hot 100, except for 1982's "Change," climbing into the Billboard R&B Top 20 (No. 12). His label venture was exacting a heavy financial cost on White, so he concentrated on mostly touring and finally folded his label in 1983.
After four years he signed with A&M Records, and with the release of 1987's The Right Night & Barry White, the single entitled "Sho' You Right" made it to the Billboard R&B charts, peaking at No. 17.
In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! and with it had three top 40 singles on the Billboard R&B charts: "Super Lover", which made it to No. 34, "I Wanna Do It Good to Ya", which made it to No. 26, and "When Will I See You Again", which made it to No. 32.
1990s
A 1970s nostalgia fad allowed White to enjoy a renewed wave of popularity in the 1990s. After participating in the song "The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)" from Quincy Jones's 1989 album Back on the Block, White mounted an effective comeback with several albums, each more successful than the last. He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and the song by the same name reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart.
In 1994, White released The Icon Is Love, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single "Practice What You Preach" gave him his first No. 1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in almost 20 years. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Album category, but lost to TLC's CrazySexyCool.
In 1996, White recorded the duet "In Your Wildest Dreams" with Tina Turner. 1996 also saw the release of Space Jam and its soundtrack, on which White had a duet with Chris Rock, called "Basketball Jones," a remake of Cheech & Chong's "Basketball Jones" from 1973.
White's final album, 1999's Staying Power, resulted in his last hit song "Staying Power," which placed No. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts. The single won him two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.
His autobiography, Love Unlimited, written with Mark Eliot, was published in 1999 by Broadway Books.
Acting career
Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies. He voiced the character Brother Bear in the film Coonskin (1975), and also played the character Sampson in the movie's live-action segments. He appeared as himself in a few episodes of The Simpsons. In the episode "Whacking Day", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination. White was a fan of the show, and had reportedly contacted the staff about wanting to make a guest appearance. He made a second cameo in the episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled".
White played the role of a bus driver for a Prodigy commercial in 1995, and he also portrayed the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad-dressing-mix commercial, singing a song called "You Can't Bottle Love". In addition, he did some work for car commercials, including for Oldsmobile, and later on, Jeep. White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu. White's voice can also be heard in Apple's first iBook commercial. White made three guest appearances on the comedy-drama television series Ally McBeal, as his music was often featured on the show in dream sequences.
Personal life
Marriages
White was first married to his childhood sweetheart, identified as just Mary in his autobiography, by the time he was 19. They separated in 1969 and later divorced.
In 1974, White married singer Glodean James. The couple collaborated on the 1981 album Barry & Glodean. They reportedly divorced in 1988, however, they were still legally married until White's death in 2003 although they lived separate lives. Although estranged from Glodean for over a decade, as his widow she was made sole executor of his estate.
Children
White had at least nine children.
By the age of 16, White had fathered two children with his first wife Mary. They had four children together. In 2017, his son Darryl White from his first marriage sued his estate claiming he was cut off financially.
White had four children with his second wife Glodean James. Their daughter Shaherah was his personal assistant. Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager. White's son MacKevin worked in his publishing administration.
White had a daughter, Denise Donnell born in 1962 to Gurtha Allen. She did not discover who her biological father was until 1988. She was accepted by White and with his help she changed her name to Denise White. In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money.
After White's death in 2003, his girlfriend Katherine Denton claimed her infant daughter was his biological child. Denton also claimed that she was owed money and personal items that White had promised to give her. Paternity tests revealed that he was not the father of her child and Denton subsequently lost her court case.
Health problems and death
Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems. He was also known to be a heavy smoker, reportedly smoking approximately 150 cigarettes a day; roughly between 7 and 8 packs.
While on-tour in the summer of 1995, White nearly collapsed after a concert. He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure. He was in a coma for four days, but was discharged a week after coming out of it.
While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule. Family, friends, and associates also reported that as the 2000s began, White was in such poor health that he could hardly stand up; his last performances suffered as a result.
In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic. While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life. He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks.
White's unstable health prevented him from receiving a new kidney and on July 4, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest; he was 58."Singer Barry White dies", BBC, July 5, 2003. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast.
Legacy
On September 20, 2004, White was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York. On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording. The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean.
In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, "The Walrus of Love", the BBC recalled "the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'"
Awards and nominations
White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.
Discography
Studio albums
I've Got So Much to Give (1973)
Stone Gon' (1973)
Can't Get Enough (1974)
Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975)
Let the Music Play (1976)
Is This Whatcha Wont? (1976)
Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977)
The Man (1978)
I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979)
The Message Is Love (1979)
Sheet Music (1980)
Beware! (1981)
Change (1982)
Dedicated (1983)
The Right Night & Barry White (1987)
The Man Is Back! (1989)
Put Me in Your Mix (1991)
The Icon Is Love (1994)
Staying Power'' (1999)
References
External links
1944 births
2003 deaths
African-American record producers
Record producers from Texas
African-American male singer-songwriters
American bandleaders
American bass-baritones
A&M Records artists
American dance musicians
20th-century African-American male singers
American people convicted of theft
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American soul singers
Casablanca Records artists
American male actors
American male voice actors
African-American male actors
Deaths from kidney failure
Grammy Award winners
Mercury Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Texas
People from Galveston, Texas
Private Music artists
Singers from Los Angeles
American disco singers
Record producers from California
Downey Records artists
Singer-songwriters from California
The Love Unlimited Orchestra members
| false |
[
"David Alexander Gordon (January 18, 1858 – March 9, 1919) was a Canadian politician.\n\nPolitical career\nBorn in Wallaceburg, Canada West, the son of Aaron Gordon, Scotch, and Jane Steinchoff, German, Gordon educated at the Public Schools in Wallaceburg. A manufacturer, he was a town councillor and mayor of Wallaceburg from 1898 to 1900. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the House of Commons of Canada for the electoral district of Bothwell at the general elections of 1900. He was elected in 1904 for the electoral district of Kent East. A Liberal, he was re-elected in 1908 and 1911.\n\nHis son Arthur St. Clair Gordon later served as an Ontario cabinet minister.\n\nBusiness career\nAlthough D.A. Gordon had a successful regional and national political career he is known locally as the \"Father of Modern Wallaceburg\". He was most likely given this title for his work in establishing four of Wallaceburg's most successful industries: Wallaceburg Cooperage Company (1887), Sydenham Glass Company (1894), Canada and Dominion Sugar Company (1901), and the Wallaceburg Brass & Iron Limited Company (1905). He played various leadership roles in starting the aforementioned businesses, however, his ability to raise investment funds was invaluable.\n\nReferences\n \n The Canadian Parliament; biographical sketches and photo-engravures of the senators and members of the House of Commons of Canada. Being the tenth Parliament, elected November 3, 1904\n\n1858 births\n1919 deaths\nLiberal Party of Canada MPs\nMayors of places in Ontario\nMembers of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario\nPeople from Chatham-Kent",
"Radúz Činčera (17 June 1923, Brno – 28 January 1999, Prague) was a Czech screenwriter and director, the conceiver of the legendary Kinoautomat.\n\nCareer \nMost of his life he worked in the Krátký film Praha (The Short Film of Prague) movie studio where he was author and director of a series of short documentary films. \nNevertheless, his most famous work is the Kinoautomat, the world's first interactive movie, for the Czechoslovak Pavilion at Expo '67 in Montreal.\n\nAnother big project of Radúz Činčera was The Sound Game Show at the Man and His World exhibition in Montreal in 1971. He also astonished the global audience with his audio-visual projects in Kobe, Japan and in Vancouver, British Columbia. \nIn the second half of the 1980s his multimedia music inscenation of the rock opera The Scroll was extremely successful in Canada.\n\nLike some other Czech artists, Radúz Činčera's artistic and public work was restricted after the Soviet takeover of Czechoslovakia in 1968.\n\nFilmography\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1923 births\n1999 deaths\nCzech film directors\nFilm people from Brno"
] |
[
"Barry White",
"The 1970s as producer",
"What did Barry White do as a producer?",
"White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited.",
"Was this group \"Love Unlimited\" successful?",
"Love Unlimited, became a million album seller and the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.",
"Did Barry White produce any other albums?",
"The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You...",
"What about toher albums after that one?",
"I don't know.",
"Is there anything else interesting?",
"White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad \"Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love\", which climbed to #14 in the Billboard Hot 100",
"Was this his most successful work of the 70's?",
"I Belong to You\", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at #1"
] |
C_687a380a6f7949e9a5e7b96ba16f1e43_1
|
What other albums produced by Barry White are also famous?
| 7 |
Besides I Belong to You, what other albums produced by Barry White are also famous?
|
Barry White
|
In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became a million album seller and the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles. White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love", which climbed to #14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and #6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. This single also reached #12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead. Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, "I Belong to You", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at #1 and "Under the Influence of Love", which hit #3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974. CANNOTANSWER
|
CANNOTANSWER
|
Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and composer. A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe".
White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million records, and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye.
Early life
White was born Barry Eugene Carter on September 12, 1944, in Galveston, Texas, United States. His father was Melvin A. White, and his mother was Sadie Marie Carter. His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father. He grew up in the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, California. He was the older of two children; his brother Darryl was 13 months younger. White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records.
White has often been credited with playing piano, at age 11, on Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit single, "Goodnight My Love". However, in a 1995 interview with the Boston Herald, White denied writing or arranging the song. He believed the story was an exaggeration by journalists. While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White.
White's voice deepened suddenly when he was 14. He recalled: "[As a child], I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man."
White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires. While in jail, he listened to Elvis Presley singing "It's Now or Never" on the radio, an experience he later credited with changing the course of his life.
Music career
1960s
After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups. He first released "Too Far to Turn Around" in 1960 as part of The Upfronts before working for various small independent labels in Los Angeles. He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels). White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single "Harlem Shuffle", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes.
In 1965, White produced "Feel Aw Right" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label.<ref> "Feel Aw Right", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat. Retrieved January 29, 2020.</ref> He recorded his debut single, "Man Ain't Nothin'" / "I Don't Need It, released under the name Lee Barry on Downey in 1966. He also co-wrote "Together Forever," released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967.
In the mid-'60s, Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records hired him as an A&R man for his new Bronco Records imprint, and White started working with the label's artists, including Viola Wills and The Bobby Fuller Four, as a songwriter, session musician, and arranger. He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song "I Feel Love Comin' On" co-written with his friend Paul Politi. It became a big hit in the UK. Other charting hits written by White and Politi for her included "It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)" and "Under the Influence of Love". Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's "All in the Run of a Day," produced by Keane and White. White also wrote "Doin' the Banana Split" for TV bubblegum act The Banana Splits in 1968.
In 1969, White was signed by Forward Records of Los Angeles, a division of Transcontinental Entertainment Corporation, as a producer.
1970s as producer
In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.
White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love", which climbed to No. 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and No. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer. This single also reached No. 12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead.
Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, "I Belong to You", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No. 1 and "Under the Influence of Love Unlimited", which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974.
The Love Unlimited Orchestra
In 1973, White created The Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40-piece orchestral group to be used originally as a backing band for the girl-group Love Unlimited. However, White had other plans, and in 1973 he released a single with "Love's Theme" (written by him and played by the Orchestra), which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts. Later, in 1974, he made the first album of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Rhapsody in White, containing "Love's Theme". White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: "Rhapsody in White"; "Satin Soul"; "Forever in Love"; "Midnight Groove"; "My Sweet Summer Suite", Remake of "Theme From King Kong". The Orchestra ceased to make albums in 1983, but continued to support White as a backing band.
1970s solo career
White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist. After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone.
He then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name "White Heat," but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby", which also rose to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts as well as No. 3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks.
Other chart hits by White included "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" (No. 2 R&B, No. 7 Pop in 1973), "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" (No. 1 Pop and R&B in 1974), "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" (No. 1 R&B, No. 2 Pop in 1974), "What Am I Gonna Do with You" (No. 1 R&B, No. 8 Pop in 1975), "Let the Music Play" (No. 4 R&B in 1976), "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" (No. 1 R&B, No. 4 Pop in 1977) and "Your Sweetness Is My Weakness" (No. 2 R&B in 1978) and others. White also had a strong following in the UK, where he scored five Top 10 hits and a No. 1 for "You're the First, the Last, My Everything". Due to his large frame, facial hair, and deep voice, he was given the nickname "The Walrus of Love" in the UK.
After six years White left 20th Century in 1979 to launch his own label, Unlimited Gold, with CBS/Columbia Records.
1980s
Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. Despite several albums over the next three years, he failed to repeat his earlier successes, with no singles managing to reach the Billboard Hot 100, except for 1982's "Change," climbing into the Billboard R&B Top 20 (No. 12). His label venture was exacting a heavy financial cost on White, so he concentrated on mostly touring and finally folded his label in 1983.
After four years he signed with A&M Records, and with the release of 1987's The Right Night & Barry White, the single entitled "Sho' You Right" made it to the Billboard R&B charts, peaking at No. 17.
In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! and with it had three top 40 singles on the Billboard R&B charts: "Super Lover", which made it to No. 34, "I Wanna Do It Good to Ya", which made it to No. 26, and "When Will I See You Again", which made it to No. 32.
1990s
A 1970s nostalgia fad allowed White to enjoy a renewed wave of popularity in the 1990s. After participating in the song "The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)" from Quincy Jones's 1989 album Back on the Block, White mounted an effective comeback with several albums, each more successful than the last. He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and the song by the same name reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart.
In 1994, White released The Icon Is Love, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single "Practice What You Preach" gave him his first No. 1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in almost 20 years. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Album category, but lost to TLC's CrazySexyCool.
In 1996, White recorded the duet "In Your Wildest Dreams" with Tina Turner. 1996 also saw the release of Space Jam and its soundtrack, on which White had a duet with Chris Rock, called "Basketball Jones," a remake of Cheech & Chong's "Basketball Jones" from 1973.
White's final album, 1999's Staying Power, resulted in his last hit song "Staying Power," which placed No. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts. The single won him two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.
His autobiography, Love Unlimited, written with Mark Eliot, was published in 1999 by Broadway Books.
Acting career
Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies. He voiced the character Brother Bear in the film Coonskin (1975), and also played the character Sampson in the movie's live-action segments. He appeared as himself in a few episodes of The Simpsons. In the episode "Whacking Day", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination. White was a fan of the show, and had reportedly contacted the staff about wanting to make a guest appearance. He made a second cameo in the episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled".
White played the role of a bus driver for a Prodigy commercial in 1995, and he also portrayed the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad-dressing-mix commercial, singing a song called "You Can't Bottle Love". In addition, he did some work for car commercials, including for Oldsmobile, and later on, Jeep. White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu. White's voice can also be heard in Apple's first iBook commercial. White made three guest appearances on the comedy-drama television series Ally McBeal, as his music was often featured on the show in dream sequences.
Personal life
Marriages
White was first married to his childhood sweetheart, identified as just Mary in his autobiography, by the time he was 19. They separated in 1969 and later divorced.
In 1974, White married singer Glodean James. The couple collaborated on the 1981 album Barry & Glodean. They reportedly divorced in 1988, however, they were still legally married until White's death in 2003 although they lived separate lives. Although estranged from Glodean for over a decade, as his widow she was made sole executor of his estate.
Children
White had at least nine children.
By the age of 16, White had fathered two children with his first wife Mary. They had four children together. In 2017, his son Darryl White from his first marriage sued his estate claiming he was cut off financially.
White had four children with his second wife Glodean James. Their daughter Shaherah was his personal assistant. Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager. White's son MacKevin worked in his publishing administration.
White had a daughter, Denise Donnell born in 1962 to Gurtha Allen. She did not discover who her biological father was until 1988. She was accepted by White and with his help she changed her name to Denise White. In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money.
After White's death in 2003, his girlfriend Katherine Denton claimed her infant daughter was his biological child. Denton also claimed that she was owed money and personal items that White had promised to give her. Paternity tests revealed that he was not the father of her child and Denton subsequently lost her court case.
Health problems and death
Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems. He was also known to be a heavy smoker, reportedly smoking approximately 150 cigarettes a day; roughly between 7 and 8 packs.
While on-tour in the summer of 1995, White nearly collapsed after a concert. He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure. He was in a coma for four days, but was discharged a week after coming out of it.
While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule. Family, friends, and associates also reported that as the 2000s began, White was in such poor health that he could hardly stand up; his last performances suffered as a result.
In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic. While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life. He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks.
White's unstable health prevented him from receiving a new kidney and on July 4, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest; he was 58."Singer Barry White dies", BBC, July 5, 2003. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast.
Legacy
On September 20, 2004, White was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York. On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording. The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean.
In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, "The Walrus of Love", the BBC recalled "the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'"
Awards and nominations
White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.
Discography
Studio albums
I've Got So Much to Give (1973)
Stone Gon' (1973)
Can't Get Enough (1974)
Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975)
Let the Music Play (1976)
Is This Whatcha Wont? (1976)
Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977)
The Man (1978)
I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979)
The Message Is Love (1979)
Sheet Music (1980)
Beware! (1981)
Change (1982)
Dedicated (1983)
The Right Night & Barry White (1987)
The Man Is Back! (1989)
Put Me in Your Mix (1991)
The Icon Is Love (1994)
Staying Power'' (1999)
References
External links
1944 births
2003 deaths
African-American record producers
Record producers from Texas
African-American male singer-songwriters
American bandleaders
American bass-baritones
A&M Records artists
American dance musicians
20th-century African-American male singers
American people convicted of theft
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American soul singers
Casablanca Records artists
American male actors
American male voice actors
African-American male actors
Deaths from kidney failure
Grammy Award winners
Mercury Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Texas
People from Galveston, Texas
Private Music artists
Singers from Los Angeles
American disco singers
Record producers from California
Downey Records artists
Singer-songwriters from California
The Love Unlimited Orchestra members
| false |
[
"Just Another Way to Say I Love You is the self-produced fourth album by American R&B singer Barry White, released in 1975 on the 20th Century label.\n\nHistory\nThe album topped the R&B albums chart, White's fourth in a row to do so, and peaked at #17 on the Billboard 200. It also reached #12 on the UK Albums Chart. The album was a success, yielding two Billboard R&B Top Ten singles, \"What Am I Gonna Do with You\", which peaked at #1, and \"I'll Do for You Anything You Want Me To\". Both were also successful on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #8 and #40 respectively. Both singles were also hits on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at #5 and #20 respectively. The album was digitally remastered and reissued on CD on July 31, 2006 by UMVD Special Markets.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel\nBarry White - lead vocals, arranger\nGene Page - conductor\nTechnical\nFrank Kejmar - engineer\nEddie Douglas, Jack Levy - art direction, design\n\nCharts\n\nSingles\n\nCertifications and sales\n\nSee also\nList of number-one R&B albums of 1975 (U.S.)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Just Another Way to Say I Love You at Discogs\n\nBarry White albums\n1975 albums\n20th Century Fox Records albums",
"Rhapsody in White is the first studio album by the American soul group, The Love Unlimited Orchestra, released in 1974. It was a huge success for the group, who backed and was led by Barry White for many singles such as \"I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby\". Also on the album is the 1973 \"Love's Theme\" single, their signature song, which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.\n\nTrack listing\nAll songs on the album were written by Barry White, with the exception of 4 by Barry White and Paul Politi; 5 by Barry White & Tony Sepe; \"Midnight and You\" by Billy Page and Gene Page.\n\"Barry's Theme\" (Barry White)\n\"Rhapsody in White\" (Barry White)\n\"Midnight and You\" (Billy Page and Gene Page)\n\"I Feel Love Comin' On\" (Barry White and Paul Politi) \n\"Baby Blues\" (Barry White and Tony Sepe)\n\"Don't Take It Away from Me\" (Barry White)\n\"What a Groove\" (Barry White)\n\"Love's Theme\" (Barry White)\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n1974 debut albums\nBarry White albums\n20th Century Fox Records albums"
] |
[
"Barry White",
"The 1970s as producer",
"What did Barry White do as a producer?",
"White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited.",
"Was this group \"Love Unlimited\" successful?",
"Love Unlimited, became a million album seller and the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.",
"Did Barry White produce any other albums?",
"The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You...",
"What about toher albums after that one?",
"I don't know.",
"Is there anything else interesting?",
"White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad \"Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love\", which climbed to #14 in the Billboard Hot 100",
"Was this his most successful work of the 70's?",
"I Belong to You\", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at #1",
"What other albums produced by Barry White are also famous?",
"I don't know."
] |
C_687a380a6f7949e9a5e7b96ba16f1e43_1
|
Who else or what other groups did Barry White work with?
| 8 |
Besides Love Unlimited, who else or what other groups did Barry White work with?
|
Barry White
|
In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became a million album seller and the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles. White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love", which climbed to #14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and #6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. This single also reached #12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead. Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, "I Belong to You", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at #1 and "Under the Influence of Love", which hit #3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974. CANNOTANSWER
|
Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA.
|
Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and composer. A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe".
White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million records, and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye.
Early life
White was born Barry Eugene Carter on September 12, 1944, in Galveston, Texas, United States. His father was Melvin A. White, and his mother was Sadie Marie Carter. His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father. He grew up in the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, California. He was the older of two children; his brother Darryl was 13 months younger. White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records.
White has often been credited with playing piano, at age 11, on Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit single, "Goodnight My Love". However, in a 1995 interview with the Boston Herald, White denied writing or arranging the song. He believed the story was an exaggeration by journalists. While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White.
White's voice deepened suddenly when he was 14. He recalled: "[As a child], I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man."
White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires. While in jail, he listened to Elvis Presley singing "It's Now or Never" on the radio, an experience he later credited with changing the course of his life.
Music career
1960s
After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups. He first released "Too Far to Turn Around" in 1960 as part of The Upfronts before working for various small independent labels in Los Angeles. He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels). White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single "Harlem Shuffle", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes.
In 1965, White produced "Feel Aw Right" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label.<ref> "Feel Aw Right", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat. Retrieved January 29, 2020.</ref> He recorded his debut single, "Man Ain't Nothin'" / "I Don't Need It, released under the name Lee Barry on Downey in 1966. He also co-wrote "Together Forever," released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967.
In the mid-'60s, Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records hired him as an A&R man for his new Bronco Records imprint, and White started working with the label's artists, including Viola Wills and The Bobby Fuller Four, as a songwriter, session musician, and arranger. He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song "I Feel Love Comin' On" co-written with his friend Paul Politi. It became a big hit in the UK. Other charting hits written by White and Politi for her included "It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)" and "Under the Influence of Love". Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's "All in the Run of a Day," produced by Keane and White. White also wrote "Doin' the Banana Split" for TV bubblegum act The Banana Splits in 1968.
In 1969, White was signed by Forward Records of Los Angeles, a division of Transcontinental Entertainment Corporation, as a producer.
1970s as producer
In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.
White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love", which climbed to No. 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and No. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer. This single also reached No. 12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead.
Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, "I Belong to You", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No. 1 and "Under the Influence of Love Unlimited", which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974.
The Love Unlimited Orchestra
In 1973, White created The Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40-piece orchestral group to be used originally as a backing band for the girl-group Love Unlimited. However, White had other plans, and in 1973 he released a single with "Love's Theme" (written by him and played by the Orchestra), which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts. Later, in 1974, he made the first album of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Rhapsody in White, containing "Love's Theme". White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: "Rhapsody in White"; "Satin Soul"; "Forever in Love"; "Midnight Groove"; "My Sweet Summer Suite", Remake of "Theme From King Kong". The Orchestra ceased to make albums in 1983, but continued to support White as a backing band.
1970s solo career
White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist. After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone.
He then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name "White Heat," but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby", which also rose to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts as well as No. 3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks.
Other chart hits by White included "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" (No. 2 R&B, No. 7 Pop in 1973), "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" (No. 1 Pop and R&B in 1974), "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" (No. 1 R&B, No. 2 Pop in 1974), "What Am I Gonna Do with You" (No. 1 R&B, No. 8 Pop in 1975), "Let the Music Play" (No. 4 R&B in 1976), "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" (No. 1 R&B, No. 4 Pop in 1977) and "Your Sweetness Is My Weakness" (No. 2 R&B in 1978) and others. White also had a strong following in the UK, where he scored five Top 10 hits and a No. 1 for "You're the First, the Last, My Everything". Due to his large frame, facial hair, and deep voice, he was given the nickname "The Walrus of Love" in the UK.
After six years White left 20th Century in 1979 to launch his own label, Unlimited Gold, with CBS/Columbia Records.
1980s
Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. Despite several albums over the next three years, he failed to repeat his earlier successes, with no singles managing to reach the Billboard Hot 100, except for 1982's "Change," climbing into the Billboard R&B Top 20 (No. 12). His label venture was exacting a heavy financial cost on White, so he concentrated on mostly touring and finally folded his label in 1983.
After four years he signed with A&M Records, and with the release of 1987's The Right Night & Barry White, the single entitled "Sho' You Right" made it to the Billboard R&B charts, peaking at No. 17.
In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! and with it had three top 40 singles on the Billboard R&B charts: "Super Lover", which made it to No. 34, "I Wanna Do It Good to Ya", which made it to No. 26, and "When Will I See You Again", which made it to No. 32.
1990s
A 1970s nostalgia fad allowed White to enjoy a renewed wave of popularity in the 1990s. After participating in the song "The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)" from Quincy Jones's 1989 album Back on the Block, White mounted an effective comeback with several albums, each more successful than the last. He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and the song by the same name reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart.
In 1994, White released The Icon Is Love, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single "Practice What You Preach" gave him his first No. 1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in almost 20 years. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Album category, but lost to TLC's CrazySexyCool.
In 1996, White recorded the duet "In Your Wildest Dreams" with Tina Turner. 1996 also saw the release of Space Jam and its soundtrack, on which White had a duet with Chris Rock, called "Basketball Jones," a remake of Cheech & Chong's "Basketball Jones" from 1973.
White's final album, 1999's Staying Power, resulted in his last hit song "Staying Power," which placed No. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts. The single won him two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.
His autobiography, Love Unlimited, written with Mark Eliot, was published in 1999 by Broadway Books.
Acting career
Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies. He voiced the character Brother Bear in the film Coonskin (1975), and also played the character Sampson in the movie's live-action segments. He appeared as himself in a few episodes of The Simpsons. In the episode "Whacking Day", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination. White was a fan of the show, and had reportedly contacted the staff about wanting to make a guest appearance. He made a second cameo in the episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled".
White played the role of a bus driver for a Prodigy commercial in 1995, and he also portrayed the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad-dressing-mix commercial, singing a song called "You Can't Bottle Love". In addition, he did some work for car commercials, including for Oldsmobile, and later on, Jeep. White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu. White's voice can also be heard in Apple's first iBook commercial. White made three guest appearances on the comedy-drama television series Ally McBeal, as his music was often featured on the show in dream sequences.
Personal life
Marriages
White was first married to his childhood sweetheart, identified as just Mary in his autobiography, by the time he was 19. They separated in 1969 and later divorced.
In 1974, White married singer Glodean James. The couple collaborated on the 1981 album Barry & Glodean. They reportedly divorced in 1988, however, they were still legally married until White's death in 2003 although they lived separate lives. Although estranged from Glodean for over a decade, as his widow she was made sole executor of his estate.
Children
White had at least nine children.
By the age of 16, White had fathered two children with his first wife Mary. They had four children together. In 2017, his son Darryl White from his first marriage sued his estate claiming he was cut off financially.
White had four children with his second wife Glodean James. Their daughter Shaherah was his personal assistant. Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager. White's son MacKevin worked in his publishing administration.
White had a daughter, Denise Donnell born in 1962 to Gurtha Allen. She did not discover who her biological father was until 1988. She was accepted by White and with his help she changed her name to Denise White. In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money.
After White's death in 2003, his girlfriend Katherine Denton claimed her infant daughter was his biological child. Denton also claimed that she was owed money and personal items that White had promised to give her. Paternity tests revealed that he was not the father of her child and Denton subsequently lost her court case.
Health problems and death
Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems. He was also known to be a heavy smoker, reportedly smoking approximately 150 cigarettes a day; roughly between 7 and 8 packs.
While on-tour in the summer of 1995, White nearly collapsed after a concert. He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure. He was in a coma for four days, but was discharged a week after coming out of it.
While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule. Family, friends, and associates also reported that as the 2000s began, White was in such poor health that he could hardly stand up; his last performances suffered as a result.
In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic. While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life. He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks.
White's unstable health prevented him from receiving a new kidney and on July 4, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest; he was 58."Singer Barry White dies", BBC, July 5, 2003. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast.
Legacy
On September 20, 2004, White was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York. On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording. The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean.
In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, "The Walrus of Love", the BBC recalled "the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'"
Awards and nominations
White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.
Discography
Studio albums
I've Got So Much to Give (1973)
Stone Gon' (1973)
Can't Get Enough (1974)
Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975)
Let the Music Play (1976)
Is This Whatcha Wont? (1976)
Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977)
The Man (1978)
I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979)
The Message Is Love (1979)
Sheet Music (1980)
Beware! (1981)
Change (1982)
Dedicated (1983)
The Right Night & Barry White (1987)
The Man Is Back! (1989)
Put Me in Your Mix (1991)
The Icon Is Love (1994)
Staying Power'' (1999)
References
External links
1944 births
2003 deaths
African-American record producers
Record producers from Texas
African-American male singer-songwriters
American bandleaders
American bass-baritones
A&M Records artists
American dance musicians
20th-century African-American male singers
American people convicted of theft
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American soul singers
Casablanca Records artists
American male actors
American male voice actors
African-American male actors
Deaths from kidney failure
Grammy Award winners
Mercury Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Texas
People from Galveston, Texas
Private Music artists
Singers from Los Angeles
American disco singers
Record producers from California
Downey Records artists
Singer-songwriters from California
The Love Unlimited Orchestra members
| true |
[
"Necros was an early American hardcore punk band from Maumee, Ohio, although they are usually identified with the Detroit music scene. They were the first band to record for Touch and Go Records.\n\nHistory\nNecros was formed in mid-1979 by then-teenagers Barry Henssler (vocals), Andy Wendler (guitar), and Todd Swalla (drums). After going through a handful of bassists (including Donny Brook, Jeff Allsop, David Cooke, Brian Hyland, Jeff Lake, and Brian Pollack), Corey Rusk joined the band. Barry Henssler had struck up a friendship with Tesco Vee and Dave Stimson of Touch and Go magazine after sending them a copy of his own 'zine, Smegma Journal. Vee and Stimson became fans and put out the band's first record, a self-titled 4-song 7\" EP (recorded prior to Rusk joining) most commonly known as \"Sex Drive\". This was Touch and Go Records' (then spelled \"Rekords\") first release and was limited to only 100 copies.\n\nAndy Wendler left the band in 1981 (although he continued to write for them) and Brian Pollack joined on guitar. Later that year, the band recorded and released another self-titled 7\" record known as \"IQ32\", produced by Minor Threat vocalist Ian MacKaye. This nine-song effort was jointly released by Touch and Go (which Rusk now had a hand in running) and MacKaye's own Dischord Records. Wendler rejoined on guitar in late 1982 and, in 1983, the band recorded and released two more records, a 7\" and LP both titled Conquest For Death.\n\nEarly on, Necros played with many prominent punk bands, including Black Flag, Bad Brains, Sonic Youth, Minor Threat, and Tesco Vee's group The Meatmen. Necros also toured as openers for horror punk band the Misfits, including at the Misfits' last show in which Todd Swalla stepped in to play drums, when Brian Damage became too drunk to perform.\n\nIn 1983, Corey Rusk quit the group to concentrate on Touch and Go, after assuming full control of the label and bassist Ron Sakowski stepped in. Despite the group's steady output at their onset, the band did not release another record for two years. In an interview with One Solution zine, vocalist Barry Henssler blamed the delay between releases on Rusk's refusal to give the band a definite answer as to whether or not they were still on Touch and Go. The label has since deleted their Necros releases from their catalogue.\n\nThe next Necros release came in 1985 as a split LP with White Flag entitled Jail Jello, on Gasatanka Records. Now featuring a more distinctly post-hardcore sound, the band followed up the split with 1986's Tangled Up LP on Restless Records, along with a single of the same name on Gasatanka. After spending 1987 touring with first Megadeth and then later the Circle Jerks, the group called it quits. A live album, Live or Else, appeared posthumously in 1989.\n\nPost break up\nBarry Henssler went on to form the band Big Chief, who recorded for the Sub Pop label. Ron Sakowski and Todd Swalla reunited in the mid 1990s as part of the final line up of Touch And Go artists Laughing Hyenas. Andy Wendler played in a group called Gone In Sixty Seconds (also known as G.I.S.S.).\n\nIn 2002, a limited (only 450 copies pressed) split 10\" with Authority Abuse was released by Wise Hoodlum Records featuring live Necros recordings from 1981–1983. The band's first demo was reissued as the \"Ambionic Sound\" 7\" in 2012, named for the studio where it was recorded.\n\nIn 2005 Rykodisc reissued Tangled Up and Live or Else together on one CD, currently the only Necros material available on CD.\n\nFormer members\n Barry Henssler - vocals (1979-1987)\n Todd Swalla - drums (1979-1987)\n Andy Wendler - guitar (1979-1981; 1982-1987)\n David Cooke - bass (1979)\n Brian Hyland - bass (1979-1980)\n Jeff Lake - bass (1980)\n Brian Pollack - bass (1980-1981); guitar (1981-1982)\n Corey Rusk - bass (1981-1983)\n Ron Sakowski - bass (1983-1987)\n\nDiscography\n\nStudio albums\nConquest for Death (1983, Touch and Go)\nTangled Up (1987, Restless)\nLive or Else (1990, Medusa)\n\nEPs and singles\nSex Drive 7\" (1981, Touch and Go)\nIQ32 7\" (1981, Touch and Go)\nConquest for Death 7\" (1983, Touch and Go)\nJail Jello split 12\" with White Flag (1985, Gasatanka)\nTangled Up 7\" (1985, Gasatanka)\nNecros/Authority Abuse split 10\" (2002, Wise Hoodlum)\nAmbionic Sound 7\" (2012, Alona' Dream)\nClub House Session 7\" (2013, Alona' Dream)\n\nCompilation and live albums\nTangled Up/Live or Else compilation album (2005, Rykodisc)\nLive in '85 live album (2014, Jett Plastic Recordings)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Necros at Touch and Go Records\n \n\nHardcore punk groups from Michigan\nHardcore punk groups from Ohio\nMusical groups from Ohio\nTouch and Go Records artists\n1979 establishments in Ohio\nMusical groups established in 1979",
"(Young) Pioneers (alternately stylized as Young Pioneers or The (Young) Pioneers) was an American folk punk band from Richmond, Virginia active from 1993 to 1999. Composed of members of such influential bands as Born Against, Avail and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, they released two albums and numerous singles on Vermiform and Lookout! Records. An overtly political band, their lyrics ranged from \"superfluous nods to radical heroes like George Jackson and Carlos the Jackal\" to \"describ[ing] the relationship between struggling individuals and the machinery of oppressive politics\".\n\nHistory\nThe band was formed by three former members of the hardcore punk group Born Against: singer and guitarist Adam Nathanson (also ex-Life's Blood), drummer Brooks Headley (also ex-Universal Order of Armageddon) and harmonica player Neil Burke (also ex-Life's Blood). Burke's tenure was brief, and his departure after the group's debut EP on Vermiform Records was followed by Avail singer Tim Barry joining on bass guitar in 1994. Barry was replaced in 1995 by bassist Marty Key, known as Marty Violence, shortly before the group signed to California-based punk rock label Lookout! Records. Headley left the group in 1997 and was briefly replaced by Jonathan Fuller (of Sleepytime Trio) and more permanently by Fred LaPier, who played with the group through their final years. After several tours with bands such as At the Drive-In, Avail, Peechees, Karp and The Locust, they disbanded in February 1999.\n\nNathanson and Key continued to perform music together under the name Teargas Rock with drummer Randy Davis (of The Great Unraveling), although the group did not release any major releases and is currently on hiatus. Key plays with Ted Leo and the Pharmacists and operates a record shop in Richmond, Steady Sounds. Headley performed in Wrangler Brutes and Skull Control, Fuller in Denali and Engine Down, and Burke in Men's Recovery Project, while Barry remained in Avail and became active as a solo artist.\n\nBand members\nAdam Nathanson – vocals, guitar, harmonica, keyboards (1993–1999)\nTim Barry – bass, vocals (1994–1995)\nMarty Key – bass, guitar, drums, vocals, keyboards (1995–1999)\nNeil Burke – harmonica (1993–1994)\nBrooks Headley – drums, vocals (1993–1997)\nJonathan Fuller – drums (1997)\nFred LaPier – drums (1997–1999)\n\nDiscography\nAlbums\nFirst Virginia Volunteers LP/CD (1995, Vermiform Records)\nFree the Young Pioneers Now! LP/CD (1998, Lookout! Records)\n\nCompilations\nCrime Wave 10\"/CD (1996, Vermiform Records)\n\nSingles\nYoung Pioneers 7\"(1993, Vermiform Records)\nWe March! 7\" (1995, Vermiform Records)\nEmployeers Blacklist 7\" (1995, Whirled Records/Irony Recordings)\nV.M.Live Series Presents.. 7\" (1996, V.M.Live Recordings)\nOn Trial 7\" (1997, Lookout! Records)\n\nSplit releases\nSplit with The Van Pelt 7\" (1995, Whirled Records)\nThe Fall of Richmond split with Avail 7\" (1997, Lookout! Records)\nSplit with Drunk 7\" (1997, What Else? Records)\n\nCompilation appearances\nThe Last Great Thing You Did compilation (1997, Lookout! Records)\nForward Till Death compilation (1999, Lookout! Records)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1993 establishments in Virginia\n1999 disestablishments in Virginia\nFolk punk groups\nPunk rock groups from Virginia\nMusic of Richmond, Virginia\nMusical groups disestablished in 1999\nMusical groups established in 1993"
] |
[
"Barry White",
"The 1970s as producer",
"What did Barry White do as a producer?",
"White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited.",
"Was this group \"Love Unlimited\" successful?",
"Love Unlimited, became a million album seller and the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.",
"Did Barry White produce any other albums?",
"The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You...",
"What about toher albums after that one?",
"I don't know.",
"Is there anything else interesting?",
"White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad \"Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love\", which climbed to #14 in the Billboard Hot 100",
"Was this his most successful work of the 70's?",
"I Belong to You\", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at #1",
"What other albums produced by Barry White are also famous?",
"I don't know.",
"Who else or what other groups did Barry White work with?",
"Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA."
] |
C_687a380a6f7949e9a5e7b96ba16f1e43_1
|
In what year did he work with Russ Regan?
| 9 |
In what year did Barry White work with Russ Regan?
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Barry White
|
In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became a million album seller and the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles. White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love", which climbed to #14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and #6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. This single also reached #12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead. Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, "I Belong to You", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at #1 and "Under the Influence of Love", which hit #3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974. CANNOTANSWER
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1972.
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Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and composer. A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe".
White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million records, and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye.
Early life
White was born Barry Eugene Carter on September 12, 1944, in Galveston, Texas, United States. His father was Melvin A. White, and his mother was Sadie Marie Carter. His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father. He grew up in the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, California. He was the older of two children; his brother Darryl was 13 months younger. White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records.
White has often been credited with playing piano, at age 11, on Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit single, "Goodnight My Love". However, in a 1995 interview with the Boston Herald, White denied writing or arranging the song. He believed the story was an exaggeration by journalists. While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White.
White's voice deepened suddenly when he was 14. He recalled: "[As a child], I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man."
White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires. While in jail, he listened to Elvis Presley singing "It's Now or Never" on the radio, an experience he later credited with changing the course of his life.
Music career
1960s
After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups. He first released "Too Far to Turn Around" in 1960 as part of The Upfronts before working for various small independent labels in Los Angeles. He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels). White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single "Harlem Shuffle", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes.
In 1965, White produced "Feel Aw Right" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label.<ref> "Feel Aw Right", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat. Retrieved January 29, 2020.</ref> He recorded his debut single, "Man Ain't Nothin'" / "I Don't Need It, released under the name Lee Barry on Downey in 1966. He also co-wrote "Together Forever," released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967.
In the mid-'60s, Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records hired him as an A&R man for his new Bronco Records imprint, and White started working with the label's artists, including Viola Wills and The Bobby Fuller Four, as a songwriter, session musician, and arranger. He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song "I Feel Love Comin' On" co-written with his friend Paul Politi. It became a big hit in the UK. Other charting hits written by White and Politi for her included "It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)" and "Under the Influence of Love". Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's "All in the Run of a Day," produced by Keane and White. White also wrote "Doin' the Banana Split" for TV bubblegum act The Banana Splits in 1968.
In 1969, White was signed by Forward Records of Los Angeles, a division of Transcontinental Entertainment Corporation, as a producer.
1970s as producer
In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.
White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love", which climbed to No. 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and No. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer. This single also reached No. 12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead.
Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, "I Belong to You", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No. 1 and "Under the Influence of Love Unlimited", which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974.
The Love Unlimited Orchestra
In 1973, White created The Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40-piece orchestral group to be used originally as a backing band for the girl-group Love Unlimited. However, White had other plans, and in 1973 he released a single with "Love's Theme" (written by him and played by the Orchestra), which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts. Later, in 1974, he made the first album of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Rhapsody in White, containing "Love's Theme". White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: "Rhapsody in White"; "Satin Soul"; "Forever in Love"; "Midnight Groove"; "My Sweet Summer Suite", Remake of "Theme From King Kong". The Orchestra ceased to make albums in 1983, but continued to support White as a backing band.
1970s solo career
White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist. After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone.
He then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name "White Heat," but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby", which also rose to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts as well as No. 3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks.
Other chart hits by White included "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" (No. 2 R&B, No. 7 Pop in 1973), "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" (No. 1 Pop and R&B in 1974), "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" (No. 1 R&B, No. 2 Pop in 1974), "What Am I Gonna Do with You" (No. 1 R&B, No. 8 Pop in 1975), "Let the Music Play" (No. 4 R&B in 1976), "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" (No. 1 R&B, No. 4 Pop in 1977) and "Your Sweetness Is My Weakness" (No. 2 R&B in 1978) and others. White also had a strong following in the UK, where he scored five Top 10 hits and a No. 1 for "You're the First, the Last, My Everything". Due to his large frame, facial hair, and deep voice, he was given the nickname "The Walrus of Love" in the UK.
After six years White left 20th Century in 1979 to launch his own label, Unlimited Gold, with CBS/Columbia Records.
1980s
Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. Despite several albums over the next three years, he failed to repeat his earlier successes, with no singles managing to reach the Billboard Hot 100, except for 1982's "Change," climbing into the Billboard R&B Top 20 (No. 12). His label venture was exacting a heavy financial cost on White, so he concentrated on mostly touring and finally folded his label in 1983.
After four years he signed with A&M Records, and with the release of 1987's The Right Night & Barry White, the single entitled "Sho' You Right" made it to the Billboard R&B charts, peaking at No. 17.
In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! and with it had three top 40 singles on the Billboard R&B charts: "Super Lover", which made it to No. 34, "I Wanna Do It Good to Ya", which made it to No. 26, and "When Will I See You Again", which made it to No. 32.
1990s
A 1970s nostalgia fad allowed White to enjoy a renewed wave of popularity in the 1990s. After participating in the song "The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)" from Quincy Jones's 1989 album Back on the Block, White mounted an effective comeback with several albums, each more successful than the last. He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and the song by the same name reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart.
In 1994, White released The Icon Is Love, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single "Practice What You Preach" gave him his first No. 1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in almost 20 years. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Album category, but lost to TLC's CrazySexyCool.
In 1996, White recorded the duet "In Your Wildest Dreams" with Tina Turner. 1996 also saw the release of Space Jam and its soundtrack, on which White had a duet with Chris Rock, called "Basketball Jones," a remake of Cheech & Chong's "Basketball Jones" from 1973.
White's final album, 1999's Staying Power, resulted in his last hit song "Staying Power," which placed No. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts. The single won him two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.
His autobiography, Love Unlimited, written with Mark Eliot, was published in 1999 by Broadway Books.
Acting career
Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies. He voiced the character Brother Bear in the film Coonskin (1975), and also played the character Sampson in the movie's live-action segments. He appeared as himself in a few episodes of The Simpsons. In the episode "Whacking Day", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination. White was a fan of the show, and had reportedly contacted the staff about wanting to make a guest appearance. He made a second cameo in the episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled".
White played the role of a bus driver for a Prodigy commercial in 1995, and he also portrayed the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad-dressing-mix commercial, singing a song called "You Can't Bottle Love". In addition, he did some work for car commercials, including for Oldsmobile, and later on, Jeep. White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu. White's voice can also be heard in Apple's first iBook commercial. White made three guest appearances on the comedy-drama television series Ally McBeal, as his music was often featured on the show in dream sequences.
Personal life
Marriages
White was first married to his childhood sweetheart, identified as just Mary in his autobiography, by the time he was 19. They separated in 1969 and later divorced.
In 1974, White married singer Glodean James. The couple collaborated on the 1981 album Barry & Glodean. They reportedly divorced in 1988, however, they were still legally married until White's death in 2003 although they lived separate lives. Although estranged from Glodean for over a decade, as his widow she was made sole executor of his estate.
Children
White had at least nine children.
By the age of 16, White had fathered two children with his first wife Mary. They had four children together. In 2017, his son Darryl White from his first marriage sued his estate claiming he was cut off financially.
White had four children with his second wife Glodean James. Their daughter Shaherah was his personal assistant. Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager. White's son MacKevin worked in his publishing administration.
White had a daughter, Denise Donnell born in 1962 to Gurtha Allen. She did not discover who her biological father was until 1988. She was accepted by White and with his help she changed her name to Denise White. In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money.
After White's death in 2003, his girlfriend Katherine Denton claimed her infant daughter was his biological child. Denton also claimed that she was owed money and personal items that White had promised to give her. Paternity tests revealed that he was not the father of her child and Denton subsequently lost her court case.
Health problems and death
Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems. He was also known to be a heavy smoker, reportedly smoking approximately 150 cigarettes a day; roughly between 7 and 8 packs.
While on-tour in the summer of 1995, White nearly collapsed after a concert. He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure. He was in a coma for four days, but was discharged a week after coming out of it.
While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule. Family, friends, and associates also reported that as the 2000s began, White was in such poor health that he could hardly stand up; his last performances suffered as a result.
In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic. While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life. He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks.
White's unstable health prevented him from receiving a new kidney and on July 4, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest; he was 58."Singer Barry White dies", BBC, July 5, 2003. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast.
Legacy
On September 20, 2004, White was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York. On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording. The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean.
In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, "The Walrus of Love", the BBC recalled "the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'"
Awards and nominations
White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.
Discography
Studio albums
I've Got So Much to Give (1973)
Stone Gon' (1973)
Can't Get Enough (1974)
Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975)
Let the Music Play (1976)
Is This Whatcha Wont? (1976)
Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977)
The Man (1978)
I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979)
The Message Is Love (1979)
Sheet Music (1980)
Beware! (1981)
Change (1982)
Dedicated (1983)
The Right Night & Barry White (1987)
The Man Is Back! (1989)
Put Me in Your Mix (1991)
The Icon Is Love (1994)
Staying Power'' (1999)
References
External links
1944 births
2003 deaths
African-American record producers
Record producers from Texas
African-American male singer-songwriters
American bandleaders
American bass-baritones
A&M Records artists
American dance musicians
20th-century African-American male singers
American people convicted of theft
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American soul singers
Casablanca Records artists
American male actors
American male voice actors
African-American male actors
Deaths from kidney failure
Grammy Award winners
Mercury Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Texas
People from Galveston, Texas
Private Music artists
Singers from Los Angeles
American disco singers
Record producers from California
Downey Records artists
Singer-songwriters from California
The Love Unlimited Orchestra members
| true |
[
"Russ Regan (born Harold Rustigian; October 15, 1928 in Sanger, California – May 27, 2018 in Palm Springs, California) was an American record executive who was President of both UNI Records and 20th Century Records and was vice-president of A&R at Motown.\n\nAmong his accolades: Regan is the rare executive to have seen No. 1 hits in four successive decades.\n\nCareer\nHe started his career in the 1950s as a composer and record producer. His first notable hit was a 1959 Christmas novelty song, inspired by \"The Chipmunk Song\", titled \"The Happy Reindeer\" credited to Dancer, Prancer and Nervous (No. 34, Pop) issued by Capitol Records. In the early 1960s, Regan recorded \"Joan of Love\", backed with \"Adults Only\", which was released under the name Russ Regan. He also recorded \"Calling All Cars\" under the name Davy Summers for Warner Brothers with producer Sonny Bono. In the mid-1960s, he was drafted in to help form a musical direction for Warner Brothers' fledgling pop/soul music subsidiary, Loma Records.\n\nRegan started in record promotion with Motown in the early years of the company. His first project there was the company's first Billboard Hot 100 number one record, \"Please Mr. Postman\" by The Marvelettes in 1961. He would go on to promote songs by The Supremes, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, and Marvin Gaye. He suggested the name of The Beach Boys when a Los Angeles group called Carl & The Passions had just recorded a song called \"Surfin'\". He also helped Frank Sinatra record his No. 4 hit, \"That's Life\" in 1966. He struck a deal with Jimmy Miller Productions when Miller left The Rolling Stones, which resulted in albums from B.B. King, Henry Gross, Bobby Whitlock, and others. Regan also signed Ambrosia and Harriet Schock to 20th Century Records.\n\nRuss Regan played a major role in the careers of a number of recording artists, as he headed up labels such as Uni, 20th Century and Phonogram Records. Dozens of recording artists, including Elton John, Neil Diamond, Barry White, Olivia Newton-John and The Beach Boys had Regan to thank for opening the doors for their success. One of his most surprising successes while at UNI was South African trumpeter Hugh Masakela's \"Grazing In The Grass\" in 1968, which sold over a million and reached the top spot in the Billboard pop chart.\n\nWhile President of 20th Century Records, Regan was inspired from a dream to create the movie All This and World War II, which saw Fox News footage from WWII backed with various artists singing Beatles songs. The movie was never released on video, and it remains in the vaults of 20th Century Fox. Regan also supervised the soundtracks for the movies Endless Love, Breakin', The Karate Kid, All The Right Moves, Love At First Bite, This Is Spinal Tap, and A Chorus Line. Regan was also the Music Supervisor for four Academy Award-winning songs from the films The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno, Flashdance, and Chariots of Fire.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nRecord producers from California\n1929 births\n2018 deaths\nPeople from Sanger, California\nBusinesspeople from California\nSongwriters from California\n20th-century American businesspeople",
"Chris Regan is an American comedy writer. From 1999 to 2006, Regan was a writer on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where he won five Emmy awards, two Peabody Awards, and was nominated for a Writers Guild of America award. He has also written for Talkshow with Spike Feresten, The Burn with Jeff Ross, Lopez Tonight, The Jeselnik Offensive and Family Guy.\n\nRegan was a co-author of the best-selling America (The Book), has written comedy pilots for 20th Century Fox, Comedy Central and in 2011 developed a pilot with The Jim Henson Company and Bunim/Murray Productions. His work has also appeared in New York magazine and USA Today.\n\nHis book, Mass Historia: 365 Days of Historical Facts and (Mostly) Fictions, was published by Andrews McMeel in Fall 2008, and he was the co-author of the humor book/memoir Shatner Rules with William Shatner.\n\nIn 2017, Regan portrayed game show host Monty Hall in the Showtime comedy/drama series \"I'm Dying Up Here.\"\n\nRegan was born in the Bronx, raised in Ulster County and graduated from New Paltz High School. He has a degree from Ithaca College. He resides in Los Angeles.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n Chris Regan on Amazon\n\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nIthaca College alumni\nAmerican comedy writers\nPeople from the Bronx"
] |
[
"Andrew Johns",
"2006-2007"
] |
C_5733ad160c7c4183a4fae7edd7b7bfcc_1
|
What happened during 2006?
| 1 |
What happened during 2006 to Andrew Johns?
|
Andrew Johns
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Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season as he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club, surpassing Mick Cronin's 1,971 points for Parramatta. Back in the NRL, playing for Newcastle during a Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year. A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia, eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 points. He rather coincidentally scored the record-breaking conversion in a 46-12 loss to the Eels, who were coached at the time by Jason Taylor. Things did not start well for Johns in the 2007 season as he lasted only four minutes into Round 1. As Canterbury Bulldogs forward Sonny Bill Williams went to perform one of his trade-mark hits on Johns, the tackle strayed high leaving Johns lying concussed. Williams pleaded guilty at the judiciary to a reckless high tackle, and received a two-week suspension for the hit. Johns missed the following match but returned in Round 3 against the Canberra Raiders--which would be his last career match in the NRL. On the Thursday after the Canberra match, a tackle with Newcastle teammate Adam Woolnough in a training session resulted in his referral to a specialist to examine a neck injury. It was revealed that Johns had a bulging disc in his neck. It was confirmed that this had been present for some time and was not related to the training incident. All medical advice was that Johns should retire from professional football, since any further neck injury could prove life-threatening and on 10 April 2007, Johns announced his retirement from rugby league. The Newcastle Knights' season would fall apart: they finished 15th of 16 teams on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the Wooden Spoon with a narrow two-point victory in their last match of the season. Johns tried to soften the blow of his retirement by saying he had been seriously considering retirement at the end of the 2007 season and was quoted in the press as saying "I knew this year would be my last year, it's just unfortunate it's stopped five months before the end of the season." Commenting on his teammates' reaction to his retirement, Johns noted: "They were sort of relieved I think, after a couple of injuries this year ... I think the time's right." On his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game. In the preceding 13 years, the former Cessnock junior had changed the game like few others before him. On October 2008 Johns completed a walk from Newcastle to Sydney to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute. CANNOTANSWER
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Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season
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Andrew Gary Johns (born 19 May 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in rugby league history. Johns captained the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League and participated in the team's only two premiership victories in 1997 and 2001, playing a club record 249 games for the Knights. Johns also represented his country at two World Cups, and on one Kangaroo tour, playing in total 21 Test matches for the national side. He played in 23 State of Origin series matches for the New South Wales Blues (captaining the side to a series win in 2003), and played for the Country Origin side in 1995 and 2003.
Johns announced his retirement from rugby league on 10 April 2007 at the age of 32. This followed a long run of injuries, the last of which was a bulging disc in his neck which forced his retirement due to the risk of serious spinal injury from further heavy contact. Andrew Johns is one of only four players to have won the Golden Boot Award more than once and is one of only two players to have won the Dally M Medal for best player in the NRL three times. He finished his career as the highest points scorer in Australian first-grade premiership history with 2,176 points.
In 2008, less than a year into his retirement, Johns was named as the Greatest Player of the last 30 years by the publication 'Rugby League Week', beating the likes of Queensland legend Wally Lewis (voted #2), fellow NSW star Brad Fittler (voted #3) and then former Queensland and Australian captain Darren Lockyer (voted #4). On 28 September 2012, Johns was named as the eighth 'Immortal' of rugby league.
Football career
Early Days
Andrew Johns began playing junior rugby league in his home town of Cessnock, New South Wales for the Cessnock Goannas. At an early age it was evident he had plenty of playing ability and Johns joined the Newcastle Knights junior ranks at age 15 in 1989. Four years later, at 19, the opportunity at first grade presented itself as Johns was tested off the bench during the 1993 season in a handful of games. The following year in the last pre-season trial for the 1994 season, Matthew Rodwell, Newcastle's then-regular sustained a knee injury handing Johns his opportunity. Subsequently, he was named in the starting line-up against the South Sydney Rabbitohs and in his début match made an immediate impact as he amassed 23 points and won the Man of the Match award. He soon formed a winning partnership with his older brother, Matthew Johns, who had played at the Knights since 1991.
1995–2001
The 1995 ARL season saw prosperous times for Johns, as in the absence of Super League-aligned players, he was selected for the first time to represent New South Wales in the 1995 State of Origin series. Incumbent New South Wales Ricky Stuart was not selected due to his affiliation with Super League. Also that year he was able to make his début for the Kangaroos in Australia's successful 1995 World Cup campaign in England. He played as a and was named man of the match in the decider against England at Wembley Stadium as Australia once again retained the World Cup. At the conclusion of the World Cup, Johns was awarded his first significant accolade, being named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. The following year Johns was moved to for the State of Origin, with New South Wales selectors favouring Geoff Toovey in the role. Since then, Johns was regularly chosen for state and national representative sides when fit, only missing out on a Blues or Australian cap due to injury.
During the 1997 ARL season Johns played a pivotal role in guiding the Knights to their first grand final appearance—against defending champions and '97 minor premiers the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. There were grave concerns leading up to the match that Johns would be unable to play the game, as he had suffered three broken ribs and a punctured lung only a fortnight earlier. However, Johns was able to play, and with less than a minute of the match to go with scores tied at 16-all Johns made a play that has gone down in rugby league folklore. He went out of position unexpectedly and into dummy half where he ran down a narrow blind side before slipping a pass to Newcastle Darren Albert for the match-winning try. With only six seconds remaining in the game Newcastle had snatched victory and secured their first premiership title.
The following year in the new National Rugby League the Knights performed even better during the regular season than in the previous year, losing only five matches and narrowly missing out on the minor premiership on points difference. Johns individually was brilliant and was awarded his first Player of the Year Dally M Medal award for the 1998 season. Unfortunately for Johns and NSW fans, he had one of his worst goal-kicking games in Game 1 of the 1998 State of Origin series as NSW lost by one point despite scoring more tries than Queensland. His performances at club, state and national level were again rewarded as he received his second Player of the Year Dally M Medal award, the first time a player had won the award consecutively since Parramatta Eels great Michael Cronin in 1977 and 1978.
Despite initial concerns regarding the leadership of the Knights after the retirement of Paul Harragon, and even more when Andrew's brother Matthew joined English Super League club the Wigan Warriors, Johns was given the responsibility of captaining the Newcastle squad. The fears proved groundless: Johns led Newcastle to another Grand Final victory, defeating the Parramatta Eels 30–24 in 2001. He was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for Man of the Match in a Grand Final and at the end of the 2001 NRL season, he went on the 2001 Kangaroo tour. He was the top points scorer in Australia's successful Ashes series campaign and was named man of the match for the second Test. Also that year he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league.
2002–2005
Having won the 2001 NRL Premiership, the Knights travelled to England to play the 2002 World Club Challenge against Super League champions the Bradford Bulls. Johns captained as a , scoring a try and kicking three goals in Newcastle's loss. In 2002, Johns was awarded the captaincy of both New South Wales and Australia, going on to win the title of Player of the Series against Great Britain. At a club level Andrew Johns and the Newcastle Knights performed well, narrowly missing out on the minor premiership on points difference. Unfortunately, the Knights' finals campaign derailed as Johns broke a bone in his back in the first week of the finals, and the Knights without Johns ended up losing to eventual premiers the Sydney Roosters 38–12 to be knocked out of the season. Before his injury Johns' season had been marvellous and despite his lack of involvement in the finals series he was named the Player of the Year Dally M Medal for a record third time, a feat achieved by only one other player, Johnathan Thurston, to date.
Johns' back injury at the tail-end of 2002 was the first of what seemed like a plague of injuries over the next few seasons: he had a serious neck injury that threatened his career in 2003, sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury which kept him out of most of the 2004 season, and broke his jaw in early 2005.
During the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup, Wales assistant coach Scott Johnson got Johns to assist with pre-match preparation by speaking to the players and presenting them with their jerseys.
Johns was the center of controversy in 2004 after receiving a massive offer from rugby union to switch codes. Numerous past legends of both codes expressed their opinions. Debate continues about what happened during the negotiations with rugby union, since the contractual offers were made by the Waratahs without the salary top-ups from the Australian Rugby Union that had been usual in contractual negotiations with previous potential converts from rugby league. The ARU's formal reasons for not supporting the Waratahs' bid to secure Johns were his age (30) and injury history. These were later retracted after the "ecstasy controversy" (see below).
Even without the additional monetary support from the ARU, the Waratahs were able to table an offer to Johns that was far larger than any rugby league club could offer on its own. After David Gallop, the CEO of the NRL and Channel Nine contributed money and a promise of a commentary position after his career ended, Johns finally decided to stay in league, ending months of speculation and debate. He says his decision was greatly affected by his son, who wanted him to stay in league. He was also approached by the Welsh Rugby Union because of his Welsh heritage.
As Game 2 of the 2005 State of Origin series approached, the Blues were down 0–1 and Johns was selected to replace Brett Kimmorley in the New South Wales squad. The second game in the series was his first match since returning from a series of injuries that sidelined him for a number of weeks. Johns did not have to struggle to regain his form, receiving Man-of-the-Match honours in the Blues' 32–22 win over Queensland. He was again chosen as the first-choice for Game 3 and performed well, sealing the series for the Blues with a strong 32–10 win, their last series win for quite some time.
In August 2005, it was announced that Johns would join the Super League side the Warrington Wolves on a short-term deal, playing in the final two games of the regular Super League season and any playoff games the Wolves might reach. The Knights agreed to these terms only after Johns first signed a new contract, making him available to captain the Knights until the end of 2008.
2006–2007
Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season as he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club, surpassing Mick Cronin's 1,971 points for Parramatta.
Back in the NRL, playing for Newcastle during a Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year. A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia, eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 points. He rather coincidentally scored the record-breaking conversion in a 46–12 loss to the Eels, who were coached at the time by Jason Taylor.
Things did not start well for Johns in the 2007 season as he lasted only four minutes into Round 1. As Canterbury Bulldogs forward Sonny Bill Williams went to perform one of his trade-mark hits on Johns, the tackle strayed high leaving Johns lying concussed. Williams pleaded guilty at the judiciary to a reckless high tackle, and received a two-week suspension for the hit. Johns missed the following match but returned in Round 3 against the Canberra Raiders—which would be his last career match in the NRL. On the Thursday after the Canberra match, a tackle with Newcastle teammate Adam Woolnough in a training session resulted in his referral to a specialist to examine a neck injury. It was revealed that Johns had a bulging disc in his neck. It was confirmed that this had been present for some time and was not related to the training incident. All medical advice was that Johns should retire from professional football, since any further neck injury could prove life-threatening and on 10 April 2007, Johns announced his retirement from rugby league.
The Newcastle Knights' season would fall apart: they finished 15th of 16 teams on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the Wooden Spoon with a narrow two-point victory in their last match of the season. Johns tried to soften the blow of his retirement by saying he had been seriously considering retirement at the end of the 2007 season and was quoted in the press as saying "I knew this year would be my last year, it's just unfortunate it's stopped five months before the end of the season." Commenting on his teammates' reaction to his retirement, Johns noted: "They were sort of relieved I think, after a couple of injuries this year ... I think the time's right."
On his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game. In the preceding 13 years, the former Cessnock junior had changed the game like few others before him. In October 2008 Johns completed a walk from Newcastle to Sydney to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute.
Cricket career
In June 2006 it was announced that, while still playing rugby league, Johns would play cricket for New South Wales, in its Twenty20 series. The announcement sparked much media interest and many critics and the public suspected a public relations stunt as his first match was to be played in Johns' home town of Newcastle. Despite this, Johns made his professional cricket debut for NSW on 7 January 2007 against South Australia in front of a record crowd at Newcastle Number 1 Sports Ground. He had a missed opportunity to take a wicket: a short-pitched delivery was pulled to the boundary but much to the dismay of the large Newcastle crowd, the catch was put down. In his second match, against Tasmania at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Johns scored only nine runs and with that his short cricket career was over.
After retirement
Johns sought to celebrate the inclusion of Australia's Dally Messenger in the original All Golds tour, Johns had been invited to join the New Zealand team for the match against the Northern Union. Despite his neck injury, he was able to play with the squad, and completed the match uninjured, but declined another offer from the New Zealand team. Queensland and Australia Darren Lockyer was invited to take Johns' place but then Lockyer himself was ruled out after suffering a season-ending knee injury. New Zealand Warriors captain and Queensland front rower Steve Price was the eventual replacement for the match.
Andrew became a commentator for Channel 9 and Monday Night Football on Triple M radio.
On 22 April in Round 6 of 2007, Newcastle held special farewell celebrations for Andrew Johns in the Knights' home game against Brisbane. The Knights board renamed the new $30 million East grandstand of EnergyAustralia Stadium the Andrew Johns Stand. In addition, in a first for the NRL, his number 7 jersey was retired for the match with new young Jarrod Mullen wearing number 18. Later in the year the Knights named Johns as and captain for their commemorative Team of the Era.
In June 2007, in what would be the first of his involvements as a specialist part-time coach, rival code the Australian Rugby Union hired Johns as the Wallabies in-play kicking coach for the duration of the 2007 Tri Nations Series. On 27 October 2007, Johns married his partner Cathrine Mahoney in a secret wedding on a Sydney island. When Johns returned from his honeymoon at the beginning of the 2008 Pre-season, he began a part-time coaching role with the Parramatta Eels, working one on one with Eels halves Brett Finch and Tim Smith. In the same time frame Johns worked with his old club the Newcastle Knights in a similar skills specific coaching role. The third club to hire Johns for his coaching services was the Canterbury Bulldogs, who signed Johns for the 2008 season. The role involved him in specifically working with the halves, s and backs.
In February 2008, a year after his retirement, Johns moved a step closer to becoming rugby league's next Immortal after being named the Best Player of the Last 30 Years by a major rugby league magazine. On 17 April 2008 he was named in Team of the Century as a by a 28-man judging panel, who voted in a secret ballot and chose the team from an original list of the 100 Greatest Players named earlier in the year. Later, Johns said he felt "the game has forgiven me". On 9 September 2008 at the Dally M awards in Sydney, Johns and his wife Cathrine announced they were expecting their first child in March 2009 (Johns has a son from his previous marriage). On 1 March 2009, Johns and Cathrine welcomed their first child and son, Louis Byron
In 2010 the Melbourne Rebels announced they had secured the services of Johns to work with the Super Rugby club's inside backs. Recent Rebels signing James O'Connor said "Obviously he comes from a league background but there was nobody better at taking the ball to the line and pulling those balls back ... the chance to work with him was pretty awesome."
Despite Johns' ecstasy use controversy, he was officially announced as the eighth 'Immortal' of the game on 28 September 2012, after Rugby League Week magazine stated the voting criteria were to be based solely on a player's "on field performance" (despite admitting to using ecstasy while playing). In early November 2012, Johns signed on as assistant coach of the Manly Sea Eagles for the 2013 Rugby League season, mentoring and ambassadorial roles.
Ecstasy use controversy
On 26 August 2007 Johns was arrested for fare evasion on the London Underground, and subsequently found to be in possession of one ecstasy tablet. He was cautioned and released with no further charges. Johns initially claimed that an unknown person had pushed the tablet into his pocket which he later forgot to remove before leaving the crowded venue. This initial statement was met with a great deal of cynicism from both the press and the public. On 30 August, Johns revealed, live on the Footy Show, that he had regularly taken ecstasy throughout his playing career, mainly during the off-season. He claimed he had suffered from depression and bipolar disorder and the drugs helped him in dealing with the high level of psychological 'pressure' associated with his career as an elite sportsman. Not long after the incident he released his 'tell-all' autobiography that went into further details regarding his depression and drug use while playing in the NRL.
The ARU released a press statement shortly after the controversy arose, stating that Johns' drug use was known to the ARU and was a key factor in its decision to not proceed with contractual negotiations in 2004. Brett Robinson, then high-performance unit manager, said that, as well as Johns' age and injury history, the knowledge of his drug taking had been influential in the ARU making its final decision.
When Johns was named the Best Player of the Last 30 Years in early 2008, the accolade allayed concern that Johns' shock drug admission the year before had tarnished his remarkable efforts on the field for Newcastle, NSW and Australia. On receiving the award he was quoted as saying his health was now in great shape. "I'm at the best place I have been in a long time," he said. "It's not until you step away that I realise all the pressure I was under, I'm not going to miss playing at all."
Racism controversy
In June 2010 during the lead-up to Origin II, New South Wales Timana Tahu withdrew mid-week from the NSW squad following reports Johns referred to Queensland player Greg Inglis as a "black cunt" during a training session. Johns was subsequently fired from his role as NSW assistant coach. Though he apologised for the incident on Tuesday 15 June, it is alleged it was not the first time Johns had used racist language in a football environment. Inglis demanded Johns be barred from any involvement in rugby league.
More Joyous Scandal
Johns was the catalyst to the More Joyous Scandal, engulfing leading Sydney horse trainer Gai Waterhouse, advertising figure John Singleton (racehorse More Joyous's owner) and bookmaker and son of the horse trainer Tom Waterhouse. Johns passed information from Tom Waterhouse that horse More Joyous was "off" on to brothel owner Eddie Hayson and former jockey Allan Robinson. Singleton received word of this and verbally attacked Gai Waterhouse on live television. Johns feared his Channel 9 commentating career would be over due to the trouble he caused Tom Waterhouse, a Channel 9 advertiser. Johns's commentating career survived, although his reputation was further damaged. Both Waterhouses were cleared of any major wrongdoing by a Racing NSW inquiry, however, Singleton and Gai's longstanding partnership ceased until 2016.
Epilepsy
In 2019, Johns revealed that he had been diagnosed with epilepsy. His doctors were of the view that his playing career could have contributed to the diagnosis. In an interview with his brother, Matthew Johns on Fox League on Sunday night, he said, “They think maybe a contributor could be some of the concussions I’ve had and ... continual head knocks”. Johns lost his driver's licence after suffering an epileptic seizure at a cafe in Yamba on the New South Wales north coast in December 2018. The Roads and Maritime Service (RMS) initially refused to return his licence but did when his lawyer, Avinash Singh, successfully appealed the decision.
Career statistics
Club career
Representative career
Achievements, awards and accolades
In February 2008, Johns was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to
celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. Johns went on to be named as in Australian rugby league's Team of the Century. Announced on 17 April 2008, the team is the panel's majority choice for each of the thirteen starting positions and four interchange players. In 2008 New South Wales announced their rugby league team of the century also and Johns was again named as a .
Newcastle Knights records
Most points in a match: 34 (v Canberra, 29 July 2001)
Most tries in a match: 4 (v Canberra, 29 July 2001 – record shared with Darren Albert, Adam MacDougall, Cooper Vuna, James McManus & Akuila Uate)
Most goals in a match: 11 (v Canberra, 19 March 2006)
Most points in a season: 279 (2001 National Rugby League Season)
Most first grade appearances: 249
Most points for the club: 2,176
Australian premiership records
Retired as highest individual point scorer in premiership history: 2,176 (eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 (now 4th).
The competition's leading point scorer in 2001: 279 points.
Most ever points scored by a in a single National Rugby League season (279 in 2001).
International records
Most points scored on international debut: 30 (v South Africa at the 1995 World Cup)
Most points scored in a test match: 32 (v Fiji in 1996)
Most goals in a test match: 12 (v Fiji in 1996)
Awards
Dally M Medal (best player in the NRL competition): 3 (1998, 1999 and 2002)
Provan-Summons Medal (fans' favourite player): 5 (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002)
Golden Boot (best player in the world): 2 (1999 and 2001)
Clive Churchill Medal (man-of-the-match in the grand final): 1 (2001)
Dally M 'Representative Player of the Year' Award: 1 (2005)
Player of the Series – Australia v Great Britain: 2001
Most Valuable Player of the Tournament at the 1995 World Cup in England
State of Origin man-of-the-match: 4 (Game 2, 1996; Game 1, 2002; Game 2, 2003 and Game 2, 2005)
Voted #1 in the 'Modern Masters Top 30 Players of the Past 30 Years' poll (Rugby League Week)
Announced as the eighth Immortal of the Australian game on 27 September 2012 joining other greats: Bob Fulton, John Raper, Clive Churchill, Reg Gasnier, Graeme Langlands, Wally Lewis and Arthur Beetson. This being the ultimate honour one could receive as a professional rugby league footballer.
Inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame on 11 October 2012 at the Crown Palladium in Melbourne along with fellow greats of Australian sport such as Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett and cricketing great Adam Gilchrist
See also
List of cricket and rugby league players
References
Further reading
External links
State of Origin Official website Rugby League Player Stats
2001 Ashes profile
Sport Australia Hall of Fame profile
Australian Network Entertainment profile
1974 births
Living people
Australia national rugby league team captains
Australia national rugby league team players
Australian autobiographers
Australian cricketers
Australian people of Welsh descent
Australian republicans
Australian rugby league commentators
Australian rugby league players
Cessnock Goannas players
Clive Churchill Medal winners
Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players
Cricketers from New South Wales
New South Wales cricketers
New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin captains
New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players
Newcastle Knights captains
Newcastle Knights players
People with bipolar disorder
Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal
Rugby league halfbacks
Rugby league players from Cessnock, New South Wales
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
Warrington Wolves players
| true |
[
"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",
"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)"
] |
[
"Andrew Johns",
"2006-2007",
"What happened during 2006?",
"Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season"
] |
C_5733ad160c7c4183a4fae7edd7b7bfcc_1
|
How did he do that?
| 2 |
How did Andrew Johns break one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season?
|
Andrew Johns
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Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season as he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club, surpassing Mick Cronin's 1,971 points for Parramatta. Back in the NRL, playing for Newcastle during a Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year. A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia, eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 points. He rather coincidentally scored the record-breaking conversion in a 46-12 loss to the Eels, who were coached at the time by Jason Taylor. Things did not start well for Johns in the 2007 season as he lasted only four minutes into Round 1. As Canterbury Bulldogs forward Sonny Bill Williams went to perform one of his trade-mark hits on Johns, the tackle strayed high leaving Johns lying concussed. Williams pleaded guilty at the judiciary to a reckless high tackle, and received a two-week suspension for the hit. Johns missed the following match but returned in Round 3 against the Canberra Raiders--which would be his last career match in the NRL. On the Thursday after the Canberra match, a tackle with Newcastle teammate Adam Woolnough in a training session resulted in his referral to a specialist to examine a neck injury. It was revealed that Johns had a bulging disc in his neck. It was confirmed that this had been present for some time and was not related to the training incident. All medical advice was that Johns should retire from professional football, since any further neck injury could prove life-threatening and on 10 April 2007, Johns announced his retirement from rugby league. The Newcastle Knights' season would fall apart: they finished 15th of 16 teams on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the Wooden Spoon with a narrow two-point victory in their last match of the season. Johns tried to soften the blow of his retirement by saying he had been seriously considering retirement at the end of the 2007 season and was quoted in the press as saying "I knew this year would be my last year, it's just unfortunate it's stopped five months before the end of the season." Commenting on his teammates' reaction to his retirement, Johns noted: "They were sort of relieved I think, after a couple of injuries this year ... I think the time's right." On his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game. In the preceding 13 years, the former Cessnock junior had changed the game like few others before him. On October 2008 Johns completed a walk from Newcastle to Sydney to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute. CANNOTANSWER
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he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club,
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Andrew Gary Johns (born 19 May 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in rugby league history. Johns captained the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League and participated in the team's only two premiership victories in 1997 and 2001, playing a club record 249 games for the Knights. Johns also represented his country at two World Cups, and on one Kangaroo tour, playing in total 21 Test matches for the national side. He played in 23 State of Origin series matches for the New South Wales Blues (captaining the side to a series win in 2003), and played for the Country Origin side in 1995 and 2003.
Johns announced his retirement from rugby league on 10 April 2007 at the age of 32. This followed a long run of injuries, the last of which was a bulging disc in his neck which forced his retirement due to the risk of serious spinal injury from further heavy contact. Andrew Johns is one of only four players to have won the Golden Boot Award more than once and is one of only two players to have won the Dally M Medal for best player in the NRL three times. He finished his career as the highest points scorer in Australian first-grade premiership history with 2,176 points.
In 2008, less than a year into his retirement, Johns was named as the Greatest Player of the last 30 years by the publication 'Rugby League Week', beating the likes of Queensland legend Wally Lewis (voted #2), fellow NSW star Brad Fittler (voted #3) and then former Queensland and Australian captain Darren Lockyer (voted #4). On 28 September 2012, Johns was named as the eighth 'Immortal' of rugby league.
Football career
Early Days
Andrew Johns began playing junior rugby league in his home town of Cessnock, New South Wales for the Cessnock Goannas. At an early age it was evident he had plenty of playing ability and Johns joined the Newcastle Knights junior ranks at age 15 in 1989. Four years later, at 19, the opportunity at first grade presented itself as Johns was tested off the bench during the 1993 season in a handful of games. The following year in the last pre-season trial for the 1994 season, Matthew Rodwell, Newcastle's then-regular sustained a knee injury handing Johns his opportunity. Subsequently, he was named in the starting line-up against the South Sydney Rabbitohs and in his début match made an immediate impact as he amassed 23 points and won the Man of the Match award. He soon formed a winning partnership with his older brother, Matthew Johns, who had played at the Knights since 1991.
1995–2001
The 1995 ARL season saw prosperous times for Johns, as in the absence of Super League-aligned players, he was selected for the first time to represent New South Wales in the 1995 State of Origin series. Incumbent New South Wales Ricky Stuart was not selected due to his affiliation with Super League. Also that year he was able to make his début for the Kangaroos in Australia's successful 1995 World Cup campaign in England. He played as a and was named man of the match in the decider against England at Wembley Stadium as Australia once again retained the World Cup. At the conclusion of the World Cup, Johns was awarded his first significant accolade, being named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. The following year Johns was moved to for the State of Origin, with New South Wales selectors favouring Geoff Toovey in the role. Since then, Johns was regularly chosen for state and national representative sides when fit, only missing out on a Blues or Australian cap due to injury.
During the 1997 ARL season Johns played a pivotal role in guiding the Knights to their first grand final appearance—against defending champions and '97 minor premiers the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. There were grave concerns leading up to the match that Johns would be unable to play the game, as he had suffered three broken ribs and a punctured lung only a fortnight earlier. However, Johns was able to play, and with less than a minute of the match to go with scores tied at 16-all Johns made a play that has gone down in rugby league folklore. He went out of position unexpectedly and into dummy half where he ran down a narrow blind side before slipping a pass to Newcastle Darren Albert for the match-winning try. With only six seconds remaining in the game Newcastle had snatched victory and secured their first premiership title.
The following year in the new National Rugby League the Knights performed even better during the regular season than in the previous year, losing only five matches and narrowly missing out on the minor premiership on points difference. Johns individually was brilliant and was awarded his first Player of the Year Dally M Medal award for the 1998 season. Unfortunately for Johns and NSW fans, he had one of his worst goal-kicking games in Game 1 of the 1998 State of Origin series as NSW lost by one point despite scoring more tries than Queensland. His performances at club, state and national level were again rewarded as he received his second Player of the Year Dally M Medal award, the first time a player had won the award consecutively since Parramatta Eels great Michael Cronin in 1977 and 1978.
Despite initial concerns regarding the leadership of the Knights after the retirement of Paul Harragon, and even more when Andrew's brother Matthew joined English Super League club the Wigan Warriors, Johns was given the responsibility of captaining the Newcastle squad. The fears proved groundless: Johns led Newcastle to another Grand Final victory, defeating the Parramatta Eels 30–24 in 2001. He was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for Man of the Match in a Grand Final and at the end of the 2001 NRL season, he went on the 2001 Kangaroo tour. He was the top points scorer in Australia's successful Ashes series campaign and was named man of the match for the second Test. Also that year he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league.
2002–2005
Having won the 2001 NRL Premiership, the Knights travelled to England to play the 2002 World Club Challenge against Super League champions the Bradford Bulls. Johns captained as a , scoring a try and kicking three goals in Newcastle's loss. In 2002, Johns was awarded the captaincy of both New South Wales and Australia, going on to win the title of Player of the Series against Great Britain. At a club level Andrew Johns and the Newcastle Knights performed well, narrowly missing out on the minor premiership on points difference. Unfortunately, the Knights' finals campaign derailed as Johns broke a bone in his back in the first week of the finals, and the Knights without Johns ended up losing to eventual premiers the Sydney Roosters 38–12 to be knocked out of the season. Before his injury Johns' season had been marvellous and despite his lack of involvement in the finals series he was named the Player of the Year Dally M Medal for a record third time, a feat achieved by only one other player, Johnathan Thurston, to date.
Johns' back injury at the tail-end of 2002 was the first of what seemed like a plague of injuries over the next few seasons: he had a serious neck injury that threatened his career in 2003, sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury which kept him out of most of the 2004 season, and broke his jaw in early 2005.
During the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup, Wales assistant coach Scott Johnson got Johns to assist with pre-match preparation by speaking to the players and presenting them with their jerseys.
Johns was the center of controversy in 2004 after receiving a massive offer from rugby union to switch codes. Numerous past legends of both codes expressed their opinions. Debate continues about what happened during the negotiations with rugby union, since the contractual offers were made by the Waratahs without the salary top-ups from the Australian Rugby Union that had been usual in contractual negotiations with previous potential converts from rugby league. The ARU's formal reasons for not supporting the Waratahs' bid to secure Johns were his age (30) and injury history. These were later retracted after the "ecstasy controversy" (see below).
Even without the additional monetary support from the ARU, the Waratahs were able to table an offer to Johns that was far larger than any rugby league club could offer on its own. After David Gallop, the CEO of the NRL and Channel Nine contributed money and a promise of a commentary position after his career ended, Johns finally decided to stay in league, ending months of speculation and debate. He says his decision was greatly affected by his son, who wanted him to stay in league. He was also approached by the Welsh Rugby Union because of his Welsh heritage.
As Game 2 of the 2005 State of Origin series approached, the Blues were down 0–1 and Johns was selected to replace Brett Kimmorley in the New South Wales squad. The second game in the series was his first match since returning from a series of injuries that sidelined him for a number of weeks. Johns did not have to struggle to regain his form, receiving Man-of-the-Match honours in the Blues' 32–22 win over Queensland. He was again chosen as the first-choice for Game 3 and performed well, sealing the series for the Blues with a strong 32–10 win, their last series win for quite some time.
In August 2005, it was announced that Johns would join the Super League side the Warrington Wolves on a short-term deal, playing in the final two games of the regular Super League season and any playoff games the Wolves might reach. The Knights agreed to these terms only after Johns first signed a new contract, making him available to captain the Knights until the end of 2008.
2006–2007
Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season as he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club, surpassing Mick Cronin's 1,971 points for Parramatta.
Back in the NRL, playing for Newcastle during a Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year. A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia, eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 points. He rather coincidentally scored the record-breaking conversion in a 46–12 loss to the Eels, who were coached at the time by Jason Taylor.
Things did not start well for Johns in the 2007 season as he lasted only four minutes into Round 1. As Canterbury Bulldogs forward Sonny Bill Williams went to perform one of his trade-mark hits on Johns, the tackle strayed high leaving Johns lying concussed. Williams pleaded guilty at the judiciary to a reckless high tackle, and received a two-week suspension for the hit. Johns missed the following match but returned in Round 3 against the Canberra Raiders—which would be his last career match in the NRL. On the Thursday after the Canberra match, a tackle with Newcastle teammate Adam Woolnough in a training session resulted in his referral to a specialist to examine a neck injury. It was revealed that Johns had a bulging disc in his neck. It was confirmed that this had been present for some time and was not related to the training incident. All medical advice was that Johns should retire from professional football, since any further neck injury could prove life-threatening and on 10 April 2007, Johns announced his retirement from rugby league.
The Newcastle Knights' season would fall apart: they finished 15th of 16 teams on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the Wooden Spoon with a narrow two-point victory in their last match of the season. Johns tried to soften the blow of his retirement by saying he had been seriously considering retirement at the end of the 2007 season and was quoted in the press as saying "I knew this year would be my last year, it's just unfortunate it's stopped five months before the end of the season." Commenting on his teammates' reaction to his retirement, Johns noted: "They were sort of relieved I think, after a couple of injuries this year ... I think the time's right."
On his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game. In the preceding 13 years, the former Cessnock junior had changed the game like few others before him. In October 2008 Johns completed a walk from Newcastle to Sydney to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute.
Cricket career
In June 2006 it was announced that, while still playing rugby league, Johns would play cricket for New South Wales, in its Twenty20 series. The announcement sparked much media interest and many critics and the public suspected a public relations stunt as his first match was to be played in Johns' home town of Newcastle. Despite this, Johns made his professional cricket debut for NSW on 7 January 2007 against South Australia in front of a record crowd at Newcastle Number 1 Sports Ground. He had a missed opportunity to take a wicket: a short-pitched delivery was pulled to the boundary but much to the dismay of the large Newcastle crowd, the catch was put down. In his second match, against Tasmania at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Johns scored only nine runs and with that his short cricket career was over.
After retirement
Johns sought to celebrate the inclusion of Australia's Dally Messenger in the original All Golds tour, Johns had been invited to join the New Zealand team for the match against the Northern Union. Despite his neck injury, he was able to play with the squad, and completed the match uninjured, but declined another offer from the New Zealand team. Queensland and Australia Darren Lockyer was invited to take Johns' place but then Lockyer himself was ruled out after suffering a season-ending knee injury. New Zealand Warriors captain and Queensland front rower Steve Price was the eventual replacement for the match.
Andrew became a commentator for Channel 9 and Monday Night Football on Triple M radio.
On 22 April in Round 6 of 2007, Newcastle held special farewell celebrations for Andrew Johns in the Knights' home game against Brisbane. The Knights board renamed the new $30 million East grandstand of EnergyAustralia Stadium the Andrew Johns Stand. In addition, in a first for the NRL, his number 7 jersey was retired for the match with new young Jarrod Mullen wearing number 18. Later in the year the Knights named Johns as and captain for their commemorative Team of the Era.
In June 2007, in what would be the first of his involvements as a specialist part-time coach, rival code the Australian Rugby Union hired Johns as the Wallabies in-play kicking coach for the duration of the 2007 Tri Nations Series. On 27 October 2007, Johns married his partner Cathrine Mahoney in a secret wedding on a Sydney island. When Johns returned from his honeymoon at the beginning of the 2008 Pre-season, he began a part-time coaching role with the Parramatta Eels, working one on one with Eels halves Brett Finch and Tim Smith. In the same time frame Johns worked with his old club the Newcastle Knights in a similar skills specific coaching role. The third club to hire Johns for his coaching services was the Canterbury Bulldogs, who signed Johns for the 2008 season. The role involved him in specifically working with the halves, s and backs.
In February 2008, a year after his retirement, Johns moved a step closer to becoming rugby league's next Immortal after being named the Best Player of the Last 30 Years by a major rugby league magazine. On 17 April 2008 he was named in Team of the Century as a by a 28-man judging panel, who voted in a secret ballot and chose the team from an original list of the 100 Greatest Players named earlier in the year. Later, Johns said he felt "the game has forgiven me". On 9 September 2008 at the Dally M awards in Sydney, Johns and his wife Cathrine announced they were expecting their first child in March 2009 (Johns has a son from his previous marriage). On 1 March 2009, Johns and Cathrine welcomed their first child and son, Louis Byron
In 2010 the Melbourne Rebels announced they had secured the services of Johns to work with the Super Rugby club's inside backs. Recent Rebels signing James O'Connor said "Obviously he comes from a league background but there was nobody better at taking the ball to the line and pulling those balls back ... the chance to work with him was pretty awesome."
Despite Johns' ecstasy use controversy, he was officially announced as the eighth 'Immortal' of the game on 28 September 2012, after Rugby League Week magazine stated the voting criteria were to be based solely on a player's "on field performance" (despite admitting to using ecstasy while playing). In early November 2012, Johns signed on as assistant coach of the Manly Sea Eagles for the 2013 Rugby League season, mentoring and ambassadorial roles.
Ecstasy use controversy
On 26 August 2007 Johns was arrested for fare evasion on the London Underground, and subsequently found to be in possession of one ecstasy tablet. He was cautioned and released with no further charges. Johns initially claimed that an unknown person had pushed the tablet into his pocket which he later forgot to remove before leaving the crowded venue. This initial statement was met with a great deal of cynicism from both the press and the public. On 30 August, Johns revealed, live on the Footy Show, that he had regularly taken ecstasy throughout his playing career, mainly during the off-season. He claimed he had suffered from depression and bipolar disorder and the drugs helped him in dealing with the high level of psychological 'pressure' associated with his career as an elite sportsman. Not long after the incident he released his 'tell-all' autobiography that went into further details regarding his depression and drug use while playing in the NRL.
The ARU released a press statement shortly after the controversy arose, stating that Johns' drug use was known to the ARU and was a key factor in its decision to not proceed with contractual negotiations in 2004. Brett Robinson, then high-performance unit manager, said that, as well as Johns' age and injury history, the knowledge of his drug taking had been influential in the ARU making its final decision.
When Johns was named the Best Player of the Last 30 Years in early 2008, the accolade allayed concern that Johns' shock drug admission the year before had tarnished his remarkable efforts on the field for Newcastle, NSW and Australia. On receiving the award he was quoted as saying his health was now in great shape. "I'm at the best place I have been in a long time," he said. "It's not until you step away that I realise all the pressure I was under, I'm not going to miss playing at all."
Racism controversy
In June 2010 during the lead-up to Origin II, New South Wales Timana Tahu withdrew mid-week from the NSW squad following reports Johns referred to Queensland player Greg Inglis as a "black cunt" during a training session. Johns was subsequently fired from his role as NSW assistant coach. Though he apologised for the incident on Tuesday 15 June, it is alleged it was not the first time Johns had used racist language in a football environment. Inglis demanded Johns be barred from any involvement in rugby league.
More Joyous Scandal
Johns was the catalyst to the More Joyous Scandal, engulfing leading Sydney horse trainer Gai Waterhouse, advertising figure John Singleton (racehorse More Joyous's owner) and bookmaker and son of the horse trainer Tom Waterhouse. Johns passed information from Tom Waterhouse that horse More Joyous was "off" on to brothel owner Eddie Hayson and former jockey Allan Robinson. Singleton received word of this and verbally attacked Gai Waterhouse on live television. Johns feared his Channel 9 commentating career would be over due to the trouble he caused Tom Waterhouse, a Channel 9 advertiser. Johns's commentating career survived, although his reputation was further damaged. Both Waterhouses were cleared of any major wrongdoing by a Racing NSW inquiry, however, Singleton and Gai's longstanding partnership ceased until 2016.
Epilepsy
In 2019, Johns revealed that he had been diagnosed with epilepsy. His doctors were of the view that his playing career could have contributed to the diagnosis. In an interview with his brother, Matthew Johns on Fox League on Sunday night, he said, “They think maybe a contributor could be some of the concussions I’ve had and ... continual head knocks”. Johns lost his driver's licence after suffering an epileptic seizure at a cafe in Yamba on the New South Wales north coast in December 2018. The Roads and Maritime Service (RMS) initially refused to return his licence but did when his lawyer, Avinash Singh, successfully appealed the decision.
Career statistics
Club career
Representative career
Achievements, awards and accolades
In February 2008, Johns was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to
celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. Johns went on to be named as in Australian rugby league's Team of the Century. Announced on 17 April 2008, the team is the panel's majority choice for each of the thirteen starting positions and four interchange players. In 2008 New South Wales announced their rugby league team of the century also and Johns was again named as a .
Newcastle Knights records
Most points in a match: 34 (v Canberra, 29 July 2001)
Most tries in a match: 4 (v Canberra, 29 July 2001 – record shared with Darren Albert, Adam MacDougall, Cooper Vuna, James McManus & Akuila Uate)
Most goals in a match: 11 (v Canberra, 19 March 2006)
Most points in a season: 279 (2001 National Rugby League Season)
Most first grade appearances: 249
Most points for the club: 2,176
Australian premiership records
Retired as highest individual point scorer in premiership history: 2,176 (eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 (now 4th).
The competition's leading point scorer in 2001: 279 points.
Most ever points scored by a in a single National Rugby League season (279 in 2001).
International records
Most points scored on international debut: 30 (v South Africa at the 1995 World Cup)
Most points scored in a test match: 32 (v Fiji in 1996)
Most goals in a test match: 12 (v Fiji in 1996)
Awards
Dally M Medal (best player in the NRL competition): 3 (1998, 1999 and 2002)
Provan-Summons Medal (fans' favourite player): 5 (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002)
Golden Boot (best player in the world): 2 (1999 and 2001)
Clive Churchill Medal (man-of-the-match in the grand final): 1 (2001)
Dally M 'Representative Player of the Year' Award: 1 (2005)
Player of the Series – Australia v Great Britain: 2001
Most Valuable Player of the Tournament at the 1995 World Cup in England
State of Origin man-of-the-match: 4 (Game 2, 1996; Game 1, 2002; Game 2, 2003 and Game 2, 2005)
Voted #1 in the 'Modern Masters Top 30 Players of the Past 30 Years' poll (Rugby League Week)
Announced as the eighth Immortal of the Australian game on 27 September 2012 joining other greats: Bob Fulton, John Raper, Clive Churchill, Reg Gasnier, Graeme Langlands, Wally Lewis and Arthur Beetson. This being the ultimate honour one could receive as a professional rugby league footballer.
Inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame on 11 October 2012 at the Crown Palladium in Melbourne along with fellow greats of Australian sport such as Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett and cricketing great Adam Gilchrist
See also
List of cricket and rugby league players
References
Further reading
External links
State of Origin Official website Rugby League Player Stats
2001 Ashes profile
Sport Australia Hall of Fame profile
Australian Network Entertainment profile
1974 births
Living people
Australia national rugby league team captains
Australia national rugby league team players
Australian autobiographers
Australian cricketers
Australian people of Welsh descent
Australian republicans
Australian rugby league commentators
Australian rugby league players
Cessnock Goannas players
Clive Churchill Medal winners
Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players
Cricketers from New South Wales
New South Wales cricketers
New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin captains
New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players
Newcastle Knights captains
Newcastle Knights players
People with bipolar disorder
Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal
Rugby league halfbacks
Rugby league players from Cessnock, New South Wales
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
Warrington Wolves players
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"\"How Do I Breathe\" is a song recorded by American singer Mario. It is the first single from his third studio album Go. The single was released on May 15, 2007. It was produced by Norwegian production team Stargate. On the issue date of July 7, 2007, the single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 91. \"How Do I Breathe\" also debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number 30 on download sales alone, the day before the physical release of the song. It also became Mario's last charting single in the UK. The song also peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The official remix of the song features Fabolous and the second official remix features Cassidy. A rare third one features both artists and switches between beats. The song was co-written by Mario.\n\nWriting and recording\nMario met Stargate, the producers from Norway. They met when Mario was overseas touring, and they talked about producing. They were up-and-coming at the time. Mario frequently heard their music on the radio and would later say he thought, \"Wow, I really like their music. These guys are classic.\" Mario and Stargate made two songs, which they collaborated on with Ne-Yo, but they did not make the cut. Then they did two more songs, which Mario co-wrote, one of which was \"How Do I Breathe\". Mario said: \"The truth is that I felt like the track already had a story to tell; but that there had to be a certain flow over the record. I had to show some vulnerability, and that is what the record is about. It's about being vulnerable and knowing that you lost something that so essential to your life. I'd say it's about 75% true to life, and the rest is just creative writing.\"\n\nCritical reception\nMark Edward Nero of About.com says \"The track isn't particularly groundbreaking, but it has a simple charm, in a sort of Ne-Yo meets Toni Braxton kind of way\".\n\nAaron Fields of KSTW.com stated: \"First single off the album, yet didn't have the success like \"Let me love you\" did. I remember thinking he was definitely back when I heard this song. I'm not sure why this song didn't get more attention as it is one of the better songs done by him, nevertheless I probably would have picked this for the first single as well. I still bump this one in the car.\"\n\nMusic video\nThe video was directed by Melina and premiered on BET's Access Granted on May 23, 2007. One scene where Mario is dressed in a white t-shirt while singing in smoke, is similar to the scene in Kanye West's video \"Touch the Sky\". After its premiere, \"How Do I Breathe\" received heavy airplay on BET's music video countdown show 106 & Park. It also appeared at number 87 on BET's Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2007 countdown.\n\nVariations of \"How Do I Breathe\"\nAfter the song was released, there were two different variations that were available. The official version provided by Sony BMG, which was included within the official music video, has different lyrics than the one obtained via a peer-to-peer file sharing network. The specific difference in the lyrics is seen within the bridge of the song near the end.\n\nIn the official version, the bridge's lyrics are as follows:\"Ooh, I should've brought my love home, girl.And baby, I ain't perfect you know.The grind has got a tight hold.Girl, come back to me ... Cause girl you made it hard to breathe...When you're not with me...\"\nIn the other version obtained via a file sharing network, the bridge's lyrics are:\"Ooh, I can't get over you, no.Baby I don't wanna let go.Girl, you need to come home.Back to me ... Cause girl you made it hard to breathe...When you're not with me...\"\n\nThe other version obtained over a file sharing network also features a shout out to former NFL running back Shaun Alexander by an untold DJ near the end of the track.\n\nIn other media\nOn July 16, 2008, Kourtni Lind and Matt Dorame from the US television reality program and dance competition So You Think You Can Dance danced to \"How Do I Breathe\" as the part of the competition.\n\nTrack listing\nUK CD:\n \"How Do I Breathe\" (radio edit)\n \"How Do I Breathe\" (Full Phat remix featuring Rhymefest)\n\nPromo CD:\n \"How Do I Breathe\" (radio edit)\n \"How Do I Breathe\" (instrumental)\n\nHow Do I Breathe, Pt. 2:\n \"How Do I Breathe\" (radio edit)\n \"How Do I Breathe\" (Full Phat Remix featuring Rhymefest)\n \"How Do I Breathe\" (Allister Whitehead Remix)\n \"How Do I Breathe\" (video)\n\nCD single\n \"How Do I Breathe\" (radio edit) – 3:38\n \"How Do I Breathe\" (instrumental) – 3:38\n \"How Do I Breathe\" (call out hook) – 0:10\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n2006 songs\n2007 singles\nMario (American singer) songs\nJ Records singles\nMusic videos directed by Melina Matsoukas\nSong recordings produced by Stargate (record producers)\nSongs written by Tor Erik Hermansen\nSongs written by Mikkel Storleer Eriksen",
"\"How Do You Do It?\" was the debut single by Liverpudlian band Gerry and the Pacemakers. It was written by Mitch Murray. The song reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on 11 April 1963, where it stayed for three weeks.\n\nHistory\nThe song was written by Mitch Murray, who offered it to Adam Faith and Brian Poole but was turned down. George Martin of EMI, feeling the song had enormous hit potential, decided to pick it up for the new group he was producing, the Beatles, as the A-side of their first single. The Beatles recorded the song on 4 September 1962 with Ringo Starr on drums. The group was initially opposed to recording it, feeling that it did not fit their sound, but worked out changes from Murray's demo-disc version. These included a new introduction, vocal harmony, an instrumental interlude, small lyric changes and removal of the half-step modulation for the last verse. Although Murray disliked their changes, the decision not to release the Beatles' version was primarily a business one. In fact, George Martin came very close to issuing \"How Do You Do It?\" as the Beatles' first single before settling instead on \"Love Me Do\", recorded during the same sessions. Martin commented later: \"I looked very hard at 'How Do You Do It?', but in the end I went with 'Love Me Do', it was quite a good record.\" McCartney would remark: \"We knew that the peer pressure back in Liverpool would not allow us to do 'How Do You Do It'.\"\n\nThe Beatles' version of \"How Do You Do It?\" was officially unissued for over 30 years, finally seeing release in November 1995 on the retrospective Anthology 1.\n\nWhile the Beatles' recording remained in the vaults, Martin still had faith in the song's appeal. Consequently, he had another new client, Gerry and the Pacemakers, record \"How Do You Do It?\" as their debut single in early 1963. This version of \"How Do You Do It?\", also produced by Martin, became a number-one hit in the UK until it was replaced by \"From Me to You\" (the Beatles' third single). It was the title song of a 7-inch EP that also featured \"Away From You\", \"I Like It\" and \"It's Happened to Me\" (Columbia SEG8257, released July 1963).\n\nChart performance\nGerry and the Pacemakers' version of \"How Do You Do It?\" was initially issued in the US and Canada in the spring of 1963, but made no impact on the charts. After the group had issued several chart singles in North America, the track was reissued in the summer of 1964. \"How Do You Do It?\" entered the US charts on 5 July 1964, eventually reaching number nine; it did even better in Canada, peaking at number six. Billboard described the song as a \"top-rated teen ballad\" with a \"great beat for dancing.\" Cash Box described it as a \"bright jumper...that's sure to get chart action right off the bat\" and also as \"a charming, teen-angled stomp-atwist’er...that the outfit knocks out in very commercial solo vocal and combo instrumental manner.\"\n\nIn their native UK, the single reached number one in the charts, staying there for three weeks in total.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nGerry Marsden fan site\nClassic Bands history page\n\n1963 songs\n1963 debut singles\nSongs written by Mitch Murray\nGerry and the Pacemakers songs\nThe Beatles songs\nDick and Dee Dee songs\nSong recordings produced by George Martin\nUK Singles Chart number-one singles\nColumbia Graphophone Company singles"
] |
[
"Andrew Johns",
"2006-2007",
"What happened during 2006?",
"Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season",
"How did he do that?",
"he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club,"
] |
C_5733ad160c7c4183a4fae7edd7b7bfcc_1
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When was this record broken?
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When was the record of amassing 30 points against the Canberra Raiders broken?
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Andrew Johns
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Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season as he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club, surpassing Mick Cronin's 1,971 points for Parramatta. Back in the NRL, playing for Newcastle during a Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year. A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia, eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 points. He rather coincidentally scored the record-breaking conversion in a 46-12 loss to the Eels, who were coached at the time by Jason Taylor. Things did not start well for Johns in the 2007 season as he lasted only four minutes into Round 1. As Canterbury Bulldogs forward Sonny Bill Williams went to perform one of his trade-mark hits on Johns, the tackle strayed high leaving Johns lying concussed. Williams pleaded guilty at the judiciary to a reckless high tackle, and received a two-week suspension for the hit. Johns missed the following match but returned in Round 3 against the Canberra Raiders--which would be his last career match in the NRL. On the Thursday after the Canberra match, a tackle with Newcastle teammate Adam Woolnough in a training session resulted in his referral to a specialist to examine a neck injury. It was revealed that Johns had a bulging disc in his neck. It was confirmed that this had been present for some time and was not related to the training incident. All medical advice was that Johns should retire from professional football, since any further neck injury could prove life-threatening and on 10 April 2007, Johns announced his retirement from rugby league. The Newcastle Knights' season would fall apart: they finished 15th of 16 teams on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the Wooden Spoon with a narrow two-point victory in their last match of the season. Johns tried to soften the blow of his retirement by saying he had been seriously considering retirement at the end of the 2007 season and was quoted in the press as saying "I knew this year would be my last year, it's just unfortunate it's stopped five months before the end of the season." Commenting on his teammates' reaction to his retirement, Johns noted: "They were sort of relieved I think, after a couple of injuries this year ... I think the time's right." On his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game. In the preceding 13 years, the former Cessnock junior had changed the game like few others before him. On October 2008 Johns completed a walk from Newcastle to Sydney to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute. CANNOTANSWER
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Round 2 of the 2006 season
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Andrew Gary Johns (born 19 May 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in rugby league history. Johns captained the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League and participated in the team's only two premiership victories in 1997 and 2001, playing a club record 249 games for the Knights. Johns also represented his country at two World Cups, and on one Kangaroo tour, playing in total 21 Test matches for the national side. He played in 23 State of Origin series matches for the New South Wales Blues (captaining the side to a series win in 2003), and played for the Country Origin side in 1995 and 2003.
Johns announced his retirement from rugby league on 10 April 2007 at the age of 32. This followed a long run of injuries, the last of which was a bulging disc in his neck which forced his retirement due to the risk of serious spinal injury from further heavy contact. Andrew Johns is one of only four players to have won the Golden Boot Award more than once and is one of only two players to have won the Dally M Medal for best player in the NRL three times. He finished his career as the highest points scorer in Australian first-grade premiership history with 2,176 points.
In 2008, less than a year into his retirement, Johns was named as the Greatest Player of the last 30 years by the publication 'Rugby League Week', beating the likes of Queensland legend Wally Lewis (voted #2), fellow NSW star Brad Fittler (voted #3) and then former Queensland and Australian captain Darren Lockyer (voted #4). On 28 September 2012, Johns was named as the eighth 'Immortal' of rugby league.
Football career
Early Days
Andrew Johns began playing junior rugby league in his home town of Cessnock, New South Wales for the Cessnock Goannas. At an early age it was evident he had plenty of playing ability and Johns joined the Newcastle Knights junior ranks at age 15 in 1989. Four years later, at 19, the opportunity at first grade presented itself as Johns was tested off the bench during the 1993 season in a handful of games. The following year in the last pre-season trial for the 1994 season, Matthew Rodwell, Newcastle's then-regular sustained a knee injury handing Johns his opportunity. Subsequently, he was named in the starting line-up against the South Sydney Rabbitohs and in his début match made an immediate impact as he amassed 23 points and won the Man of the Match award. He soon formed a winning partnership with his older brother, Matthew Johns, who had played at the Knights since 1991.
1995–2001
The 1995 ARL season saw prosperous times for Johns, as in the absence of Super League-aligned players, he was selected for the first time to represent New South Wales in the 1995 State of Origin series. Incumbent New South Wales Ricky Stuart was not selected due to his affiliation with Super League. Also that year he was able to make his début for the Kangaroos in Australia's successful 1995 World Cup campaign in England. He played as a and was named man of the match in the decider against England at Wembley Stadium as Australia once again retained the World Cup. At the conclusion of the World Cup, Johns was awarded his first significant accolade, being named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. The following year Johns was moved to for the State of Origin, with New South Wales selectors favouring Geoff Toovey in the role. Since then, Johns was regularly chosen for state and national representative sides when fit, only missing out on a Blues or Australian cap due to injury.
During the 1997 ARL season Johns played a pivotal role in guiding the Knights to their first grand final appearance—against defending champions and '97 minor premiers the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. There were grave concerns leading up to the match that Johns would be unable to play the game, as he had suffered three broken ribs and a punctured lung only a fortnight earlier. However, Johns was able to play, and with less than a minute of the match to go with scores tied at 16-all Johns made a play that has gone down in rugby league folklore. He went out of position unexpectedly and into dummy half where he ran down a narrow blind side before slipping a pass to Newcastle Darren Albert for the match-winning try. With only six seconds remaining in the game Newcastle had snatched victory and secured their first premiership title.
The following year in the new National Rugby League the Knights performed even better during the regular season than in the previous year, losing only five matches and narrowly missing out on the minor premiership on points difference. Johns individually was brilliant and was awarded his first Player of the Year Dally M Medal award for the 1998 season. Unfortunately for Johns and NSW fans, he had one of his worst goal-kicking games in Game 1 of the 1998 State of Origin series as NSW lost by one point despite scoring more tries than Queensland. His performances at club, state and national level were again rewarded as he received his second Player of the Year Dally M Medal award, the first time a player had won the award consecutively since Parramatta Eels great Michael Cronin in 1977 and 1978.
Despite initial concerns regarding the leadership of the Knights after the retirement of Paul Harragon, and even more when Andrew's brother Matthew joined English Super League club the Wigan Warriors, Johns was given the responsibility of captaining the Newcastle squad. The fears proved groundless: Johns led Newcastle to another Grand Final victory, defeating the Parramatta Eels 30–24 in 2001. He was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for Man of the Match in a Grand Final and at the end of the 2001 NRL season, he went on the 2001 Kangaroo tour. He was the top points scorer in Australia's successful Ashes series campaign and was named man of the match for the second Test. Also that year he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league.
2002–2005
Having won the 2001 NRL Premiership, the Knights travelled to England to play the 2002 World Club Challenge against Super League champions the Bradford Bulls. Johns captained as a , scoring a try and kicking three goals in Newcastle's loss. In 2002, Johns was awarded the captaincy of both New South Wales and Australia, going on to win the title of Player of the Series against Great Britain. At a club level Andrew Johns and the Newcastle Knights performed well, narrowly missing out on the minor premiership on points difference. Unfortunately, the Knights' finals campaign derailed as Johns broke a bone in his back in the first week of the finals, and the Knights without Johns ended up losing to eventual premiers the Sydney Roosters 38–12 to be knocked out of the season. Before his injury Johns' season had been marvellous and despite his lack of involvement in the finals series he was named the Player of the Year Dally M Medal for a record third time, a feat achieved by only one other player, Johnathan Thurston, to date.
Johns' back injury at the tail-end of 2002 was the first of what seemed like a plague of injuries over the next few seasons: he had a serious neck injury that threatened his career in 2003, sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury which kept him out of most of the 2004 season, and broke his jaw in early 2005.
During the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup, Wales assistant coach Scott Johnson got Johns to assist with pre-match preparation by speaking to the players and presenting them with their jerseys.
Johns was the center of controversy in 2004 after receiving a massive offer from rugby union to switch codes. Numerous past legends of both codes expressed their opinions. Debate continues about what happened during the negotiations with rugby union, since the contractual offers were made by the Waratahs without the salary top-ups from the Australian Rugby Union that had been usual in contractual negotiations with previous potential converts from rugby league. The ARU's formal reasons for not supporting the Waratahs' bid to secure Johns were his age (30) and injury history. These were later retracted after the "ecstasy controversy" (see below).
Even without the additional monetary support from the ARU, the Waratahs were able to table an offer to Johns that was far larger than any rugby league club could offer on its own. After David Gallop, the CEO of the NRL and Channel Nine contributed money and a promise of a commentary position after his career ended, Johns finally decided to stay in league, ending months of speculation and debate. He says his decision was greatly affected by his son, who wanted him to stay in league. He was also approached by the Welsh Rugby Union because of his Welsh heritage.
As Game 2 of the 2005 State of Origin series approached, the Blues were down 0–1 and Johns was selected to replace Brett Kimmorley in the New South Wales squad. The second game in the series was his first match since returning from a series of injuries that sidelined him for a number of weeks. Johns did not have to struggle to regain his form, receiving Man-of-the-Match honours in the Blues' 32–22 win over Queensland. He was again chosen as the first-choice for Game 3 and performed well, sealing the series for the Blues with a strong 32–10 win, their last series win for quite some time.
In August 2005, it was announced that Johns would join the Super League side the Warrington Wolves on a short-term deal, playing in the final two games of the regular Super League season and any playoff games the Wolves might reach. The Knights agreed to these terms only after Johns first signed a new contract, making him available to captain the Knights until the end of 2008.
2006–2007
Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season as he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club, surpassing Mick Cronin's 1,971 points for Parramatta.
Back in the NRL, playing for Newcastle during a Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year. A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia, eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 points. He rather coincidentally scored the record-breaking conversion in a 46–12 loss to the Eels, who were coached at the time by Jason Taylor.
Things did not start well for Johns in the 2007 season as he lasted only four minutes into Round 1. As Canterbury Bulldogs forward Sonny Bill Williams went to perform one of his trade-mark hits on Johns, the tackle strayed high leaving Johns lying concussed. Williams pleaded guilty at the judiciary to a reckless high tackle, and received a two-week suspension for the hit. Johns missed the following match but returned in Round 3 against the Canberra Raiders—which would be his last career match in the NRL. On the Thursday after the Canberra match, a tackle with Newcastle teammate Adam Woolnough in a training session resulted in his referral to a specialist to examine a neck injury. It was revealed that Johns had a bulging disc in his neck. It was confirmed that this had been present for some time and was not related to the training incident. All medical advice was that Johns should retire from professional football, since any further neck injury could prove life-threatening and on 10 April 2007, Johns announced his retirement from rugby league.
The Newcastle Knights' season would fall apart: they finished 15th of 16 teams on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the Wooden Spoon with a narrow two-point victory in their last match of the season. Johns tried to soften the blow of his retirement by saying he had been seriously considering retirement at the end of the 2007 season and was quoted in the press as saying "I knew this year would be my last year, it's just unfortunate it's stopped five months before the end of the season." Commenting on his teammates' reaction to his retirement, Johns noted: "They were sort of relieved I think, after a couple of injuries this year ... I think the time's right."
On his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game. In the preceding 13 years, the former Cessnock junior had changed the game like few others before him. In October 2008 Johns completed a walk from Newcastle to Sydney to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute.
Cricket career
In June 2006 it was announced that, while still playing rugby league, Johns would play cricket for New South Wales, in its Twenty20 series. The announcement sparked much media interest and many critics and the public suspected a public relations stunt as his first match was to be played in Johns' home town of Newcastle. Despite this, Johns made his professional cricket debut for NSW on 7 January 2007 against South Australia in front of a record crowd at Newcastle Number 1 Sports Ground. He had a missed opportunity to take a wicket: a short-pitched delivery was pulled to the boundary but much to the dismay of the large Newcastle crowd, the catch was put down. In his second match, against Tasmania at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Johns scored only nine runs and with that his short cricket career was over.
After retirement
Johns sought to celebrate the inclusion of Australia's Dally Messenger in the original All Golds tour, Johns had been invited to join the New Zealand team for the match against the Northern Union. Despite his neck injury, he was able to play with the squad, and completed the match uninjured, but declined another offer from the New Zealand team. Queensland and Australia Darren Lockyer was invited to take Johns' place but then Lockyer himself was ruled out after suffering a season-ending knee injury. New Zealand Warriors captain and Queensland front rower Steve Price was the eventual replacement for the match.
Andrew became a commentator for Channel 9 and Monday Night Football on Triple M radio.
On 22 April in Round 6 of 2007, Newcastle held special farewell celebrations for Andrew Johns in the Knights' home game against Brisbane. The Knights board renamed the new $30 million East grandstand of EnergyAustralia Stadium the Andrew Johns Stand. In addition, in a first for the NRL, his number 7 jersey was retired for the match with new young Jarrod Mullen wearing number 18. Later in the year the Knights named Johns as and captain for their commemorative Team of the Era.
In June 2007, in what would be the first of his involvements as a specialist part-time coach, rival code the Australian Rugby Union hired Johns as the Wallabies in-play kicking coach for the duration of the 2007 Tri Nations Series. On 27 October 2007, Johns married his partner Cathrine Mahoney in a secret wedding on a Sydney island. When Johns returned from his honeymoon at the beginning of the 2008 Pre-season, he began a part-time coaching role with the Parramatta Eels, working one on one with Eels halves Brett Finch and Tim Smith. In the same time frame Johns worked with his old club the Newcastle Knights in a similar skills specific coaching role. The third club to hire Johns for his coaching services was the Canterbury Bulldogs, who signed Johns for the 2008 season. The role involved him in specifically working with the halves, s and backs.
In February 2008, a year after his retirement, Johns moved a step closer to becoming rugby league's next Immortal after being named the Best Player of the Last 30 Years by a major rugby league magazine. On 17 April 2008 he was named in Team of the Century as a by a 28-man judging panel, who voted in a secret ballot and chose the team from an original list of the 100 Greatest Players named earlier in the year. Later, Johns said he felt "the game has forgiven me". On 9 September 2008 at the Dally M awards in Sydney, Johns and his wife Cathrine announced they were expecting their first child in March 2009 (Johns has a son from his previous marriage). On 1 March 2009, Johns and Cathrine welcomed their first child and son, Louis Byron
In 2010 the Melbourne Rebels announced they had secured the services of Johns to work with the Super Rugby club's inside backs. Recent Rebels signing James O'Connor said "Obviously he comes from a league background but there was nobody better at taking the ball to the line and pulling those balls back ... the chance to work with him was pretty awesome."
Despite Johns' ecstasy use controversy, he was officially announced as the eighth 'Immortal' of the game on 28 September 2012, after Rugby League Week magazine stated the voting criteria were to be based solely on a player's "on field performance" (despite admitting to using ecstasy while playing). In early November 2012, Johns signed on as assistant coach of the Manly Sea Eagles for the 2013 Rugby League season, mentoring and ambassadorial roles.
Ecstasy use controversy
On 26 August 2007 Johns was arrested for fare evasion on the London Underground, and subsequently found to be in possession of one ecstasy tablet. He was cautioned and released with no further charges. Johns initially claimed that an unknown person had pushed the tablet into his pocket which he later forgot to remove before leaving the crowded venue. This initial statement was met with a great deal of cynicism from both the press and the public. On 30 August, Johns revealed, live on the Footy Show, that he had regularly taken ecstasy throughout his playing career, mainly during the off-season. He claimed he had suffered from depression and bipolar disorder and the drugs helped him in dealing with the high level of psychological 'pressure' associated with his career as an elite sportsman. Not long after the incident he released his 'tell-all' autobiography that went into further details regarding his depression and drug use while playing in the NRL.
The ARU released a press statement shortly after the controversy arose, stating that Johns' drug use was known to the ARU and was a key factor in its decision to not proceed with contractual negotiations in 2004. Brett Robinson, then high-performance unit manager, said that, as well as Johns' age and injury history, the knowledge of his drug taking had been influential in the ARU making its final decision.
When Johns was named the Best Player of the Last 30 Years in early 2008, the accolade allayed concern that Johns' shock drug admission the year before had tarnished his remarkable efforts on the field for Newcastle, NSW and Australia. On receiving the award he was quoted as saying his health was now in great shape. "I'm at the best place I have been in a long time," he said. "It's not until you step away that I realise all the pressure I was under, I'm not going to miss playing at all."
Racism controversy
In June 2010 during the lead-up to Origin II, New South Wales Timana Tahu withdrew mid-week from the NSW squad following reports Johns referred to Queensland player Greg Inglis as a "black cunt" during a training session. Johns was subsequently fired from his role as NSW assistant coach. Though he apologised for the incident on Tuesday 15 June, it is alleged it was not the first time Johns had used racist language in a football environment. Inglis demanded Johns be barred from any involvement in rugby league.
More Joyous Scandal
Johns was the catalyst to the More Joyous Scandal, engulfing leading Sydney horse trainer Gai Waterhouse, advertising figure John Singleton (racehorse More Joyous's owner) and bookmaker and son of the horse trainer Tom Waterhouse. Johns passed information from Tom Waterhouse that horse More Joyous was "off" on to brothel owner Eddie Hayson and former jockey Allan Robinson. Singleton received word of this and verbally attacked Gai Waterhouse on live television. Johns feared his Channel 9 commentating career would be over due to the trouble he caused Tom Waterhouse, a Channel 9 advertiser. Johns's commentating career survived, although his reputation was further damaged. Both Waterhouses were cleared of any major wrongdoing by a Racing NSW inquiry, however, Singleton and Gai's longstanding partnership ceased until 2016.
Epilepsy
In 2019, Johns revealed that he had been diagnosed with epilepsy. His doctors were of the view that his playing career could have contributed to the diagnosis. In an interview with his brother, Matthew Johns on Fox League on Sunday night, he said, “They think maybe a contributor could be some of the concussions I’ve had and ... continual head knocks”. Johns lost his driver's licence after suffering an epileptic seizure at a cafe in Yamba on the New South Wales north coast in December 2018. The Roads and Maritime Service (RMS) initially refused to return his licence but did when his lawyer, Avinash Singh, successfully appealed the decision.
Career statistics
Club career
Representative career
Achievements, awards and accolades
In February 2008, Johns was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to
celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. Johns went on to be named as in Australian rugby league's Team of the Century. Announced on 17 April 2008, the team is the panel's majority choice for each of the thirteen starting positions and four interchange players. In 2008 New South Wales announced their rugby league team of the century also and Johns was again named as a .
Newcastle Knights records
Most points in a match: 34 (v Canberra, 29 July 2001)
Most tries in a match: 4 (v Canberra, 29 July 2001 – record shared with Darren Albert, Adam MacDougall, Cooper Vuna, James McManus & Akuila Uate)
Most goals in a match: 11 (v Canberra, 19 March 2006)
Most points in a season: 279 (2001 National Rugby League Season)
Most first grade appearances: 249
Most points for the club: 2,176
Australian premiership records
Retired as highest individual point scorer in premiership history: 2,176 (eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 (now 4th).
The competition's leading point scorer in 2001: 279 points.
Most ever points scored by a in a single National Rugby League season (279 in 2001).
International records
Most points scored on international debut: 30 (v South Africa at the 1995 World Cup)
Most points scored in a test match: 32 (v Fiji in 1996)
Most goals in a test match: 12 (v Fiji in 1996)
Awards
Dally M Medal (best player in the NRL competition): 3 (1998, 1999 and 2002)
Provan-Summons Medal (fans' favourite player): 5 (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002)
Golden Boot (best player in the world): 2 (1999 and 2001)
Clive Churchill Medal (man-of-the-match in the grand final): 1 (2001)
Dally M 'Representative Player of the Year' Award: 1 (2005)
Player of the Series – Australia v Great Britain: 2001
Most Valuable Player of the Tournament at the 1995 World Cup in England
State of Origin man-of-the-match: 4 (Game 2, 1996; Game 1, 2002; Game 2, 2003 and Game 2, 2005)
Voted #1 in the 'Modern Masters Top 30 Players of the Past 30 Years' poll (Rugby League Week)
Announced as the eighth Immortal of the Australian game on 27 September 2012 joining other greats: Bob Fulton, John Raper, Clive Churchill, Reg Gasnier, Graeme Langlands, Wally Lewis and Arthur Beetson. This being the ultimate honour one could receive as a professional rugby league footballer.
Inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame on 11 October 2012 at the Crown Palladium in Melbourne along with fellow greats of Australian sport such as Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett and cricketing great Adam Gilchrist
See also
List of cricket and rugby league players
References
Further reading
External links
State of Origin Official website Rugby League Player Stats
2001 Ashes profile
Sport Australia Hall of Fame profile
Australian Network Entertainment profile
1974 births
Living people
Australia national rugby league team captains
Australia national rugby league team players
Australian autobiographers
Australian cricketers
Australian people of Welsh descent
Australian republicans
Australian rugby league commentators
Australian rugby league players
Cessnock Goannas players
Clive Churchill Medal winners
Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players
Cricketers from New South Wales
New South Wales cricketers
New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin captains
New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players
Newcastle Knights captains
Newcastle Knights players
People with bipolar disorder
Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal
Rugby league halfbacks
Rugby league players from Cessnock, New South Wales
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
Warrington Wolves players
| true |
[
"Arne Andersson (27 October 1917 – 1 April 2009) was a Swedish middle distance runner who became famous for his rivalry with his compatriot Gunder Hägg in the 1940s. Anderson set a 1500 metres world record in Gothenburg in August 1943 with a time of 3:45.0 minutes. He was born in Trollhättan, Sweden.\n\nAndersson set three world records in the mile: the first in Stockholm in July 1942 in (4:06.2); this record was broken in the same year by Hägg (4:04.6). Andersson recaptured the world record in Gothenburg in July 1943 (4:02.6), and improved it further in Malmö in July 1944 (4:01.6). However, Hägg had the last word when he ran (4:01.4) in Malmö in 1945 (Hägg's record was not broken until Roger Bannister ran the first sub-4 mile in Oxford in 1954). Andersson won the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 1943.\n\nAndersson won seven national titles: two individual (1500 m, 1943–44) and five in relays (1940–42). In 1946 he was disqualified for violating amateur rules, together with Gunder Hägg and Henry Jonsson.\n\nReferences\n\n1917 births\n2009 deaths\nPeople from Trollhättan Municipality\nWorld record setters in athletics (track and field)\nSwedish male middle-distance runners\nÖrgryte IS Friidrott athletes",
"Broken Spoke Record is a record label founded in 1997 by Royce Nunley, who was then a member of The Suicide Machines and side-project Broken Spoke. The label had releases from artists such as Agent 23, Tricky Dick and Blueprint 76.\nBroken Spoke Records was founded by James M White in Austin, Texas, in the 1980s. James M White is the founder of the famous Broken Spoke dancehall in Austin, established in 1964.\n\nSee also\n List of record labels\n\nAmerican record labels\nRecord labels established in 1997"
] |
[
"Andrew Johns",
"2006-2007",
"What happened during 2006?",
"Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season",
"How did he do that?",
"he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club,",
"When was this record broken?",
"Round 2 of the 2006 season"
] |
C_5733ad160c7c4183a4fae7edd7b7bfcc_1
|
did he have any other notable wins?
| 4 |
Besides Round 2 of the 2006 season,did Andrew Johns have any other notable wins?
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Andrew Johns
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Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season as he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club, surpassing Mick Cronin's 1,971 points for Parramatta. Back in the NRL, playing for Newcastle during a Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year. A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia, eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 points. He rather coincidentally scored the record-breaking conversion in a 46-12 loss to the Eels, who were coached at the time by Jason Taylor. Things did not start well for Johns in the 2007 season as he lasted only four minutes into Round 1. As Canterbury Bulldogs forward Sonny Bill Williams went to perform one of his trade-mark hits on Johns, the tackle strayed high leaving Johns lying concussed. Williams pleaded guilty at the judiciary to a reckless high tackle, and received a two-week suspension for the hit. Johns missed the following match but returned in Round 3 against the Canberra Raiders--which would be his last career match in the NRL. On the Thursday after the Canberra match, a tackle with Newcastle teammate Adam Woolnough in a training session resulted in his referral to a specialist to examine a neck injury. It was revealed that Johns had a bulging disc in his neck. It was confirmed that this had been present for some time and was not related to the training incident. All medical advice was that Johns should retire from professional football, since any further neck injury could prove life-threatening and on 10 April 2007, Johns announced his retirement from rugby league. The Newcastle Knights' season would fall apart: they finished 15th of 16 teams on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the Wooden Spoon with a narrow two-point victory in their last match of the season. Johns tried to soften the blow of his retirement by saying he had been seriously considering retirement at the end of the 2007 season and was quoted in the press as saying "I knew this year would be my last year, it's just unfortunate it's stopped five months before the end of the season." Commenting on his teammates' reaction to his retirement, Johns noted: "They were sort of relieved I think, after a couple of injuries this year ... I think the time's right." On his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game. In the preceding 13 years, the former Cessnock junior had changed the game like few others before him. On October 2008 Johns completed a walk from Newcastle to Sydney to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute. CANNOTANSWER
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Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year.
|
Andrew Gary Johns (born 19 May 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in rugby league history. Johns captained the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League and participated in the team's only two premiership victories in 1997 and 2001, playing a club record 249 games for the Knights. Johns also represented his country at two World Cups, and on one Kangaroo tour, playing in total 21 Test matches for the national side. He played in 23 State of Origin series matches for the New South Wales Blues (captaining the side to a series win in 2003), and played for the Country Origin side in 1995 and 2003.
Johns announced his retirement from rugby league on 10 April 2007 at the age of 32. This followed a long run of injuries, the last of which was a bulging disc in his neck which forced his retirement due to the risk of serious spinal injury from further heavy contact. Andrew Johns is one of only four players to have won the Golden Boot Award more than once and is one of only two players to have won the Dally M Medal for best player in the NRL three times. He finished his career as the highest points scorer in Australian first-grade premiership history with 2,176 points.
In 2008, less than a year into his retirement, Johns was named as the Greatest Player of the last 30 years by the publication 'Rugby League Week', beating the likes of Queensland legend Wally Lewis (voted #2), fellow NSW star Brad Fittler (voted #3) and then former Queensland and Australian captain Darren Lockyer (voted #4). On 28 September 2012, Johns was named as the eighth 'Immortal' of rugby league.
Football career
Early Days
Andrew Johns began playing junior rugby league in his home town of Cessnock, New South Wales for the Cessnock Goannas. At an early age it was evident he had plenty of playing ability and Johns joined the Newcastle Knights junior ranks at age 15 in 1989. Four years later, at 19, the opportunity at first grade presented itself as Johns was tested off the bench during the 1993 season in a handful of games. The following year in the last pre-season trial for the 1994 season, Matthew Rodwell, Newcastle's then-regular sustained a knee injury handing Johns his opportunity. Subsequently, he was named in the starting line-up against the South Sydney Rabbitohs and in his début match made an immediate impact as he amassed 23 points and won the Man of the Match award. He soon formed a winning partnership with his older brother, Matthew Johns, who had played at the Knights since 1991.
1995–2001
The 1995 ARL season saw prosperous times for Johns, as in the absence of Super League-aligned players, he was selected for the first time to represent New South Wales in the 1995 State of Origin series. Incumbent New South Wales Ricky Stuart was not selected due to his affiliation with Super League. Also that year he was able to make his début for the Kangaroos in Australia's successful 1995 World Cup campaign in England. He played as a and was named man of the match in the decider against England at Wembley Stadium as Australia once again retained the World Cup. At the conclusion of the World Cup, Johns was awarded his first significant accolade, being named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. The following year Johns was moved to for the State of Origin, with New South Wales selectors favouring Geoff Toovey in the role. Since then, Johns was regularly chosen for state and national representative sides when fit, only missing out on a Blues or Australian cap due to injury.
During the 1997 ARL season Johns played a pivotal role in guiding the Knights to their first grand final appearance—against defending champions and '97 minor premiers the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. There were grave concerns leading up to the match that Johns would be unable to play the game, as he had suffered three broken ribs and a punctured lung only a fortnight earlier. However, Johns was able to play, and with less than a minute of the match to go with scores tied at 16-all Johns made a play that has gone down in rugby league folklore. He went out of position unexpectedly and into dummy half where he ran down a narrow blind side before slipping a pass to Newcastle Darren Albert for the match-winning try. With only six seconds remaining in the game Newcastle had snatched victory and secured their first premiership title.
The following year in the new National Rugby League the Knights performed even better during the regular season than in the previous year, losing only five matches and narrowly missing out on the minor premiership on points difference. Johns individually was brilliant and was awarded his first Player of the Year Dally M Medal award for the 1998 season. Unfortunately for Johns and NSW fans, he had one of his worst goal-kicking games in Game 1 of the 1998 State of Origin series as NSW lost by one point despite scoring more tries than Queensland. His performances at club, state and national level were again rewarded as he received his second Player of the Year Dally M Medal award, the first time a player had won the award consecutively since Parramatta Eels great Michael Cronin in 1977 and 1978.
Despite initial concerns regarding the leadership of the Knights after the retirement of Paul Harragon, and even more when Andrew's brother Matthew joined English Super League club the Wigan Warriors, Johns was given the responsibility of captaining the Newcastle squad. The fears proved groundless: Johns led Newcastle to another Grand Final victory, defeating the Parramatta Eels 30–24 in 2001. He was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for Man of the Match in a Grand Final and at the end of the 2001 NRL season, he went on the 2001 Kangaroo tour. He was the top points scorer in Australia's successful Ashes series campaign and was named man of the match for the second Test. Also that year he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league.
2002–2005
Having won the 2001 NRL Premiership, the Knights travelled to England to play the 2002 World Club Challenge against Super League champions the Bradford Bulls. Johns captained as a , scoring a try and kicking three goals in Newcastle's loss. In 2002, Johns was awarded the captaincy of both New South Wales and Australia, going on to win the title of Player of the Series against Great Britain. At a club level Andrew Johns and the Newcastle Knights performed well, narrowly missing out on the minor premiership on points difference. Unfortunately, the Knights' finals campaign derailed as Johns broke a bone in his back in the first week of the finals, and the Knights without Johns ended up losing to eventual premiers the Sydney Roosters 38–12 to be knocked out of the season. Before his injury Johns' season had been marvellous and despite his lack of involvement in the finals series he was named the Player of the Year Dally M Medal for a record third time, a feat achieved by only one other player, Johnathan Thurston, to date.
Johns' back injury at the tail-end of 2002 was the first of what seemed like a plague of injuries over the next few seasons: he had a serious neck injury that threatened his career in 2003, sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury which kept him out of most of the 2004 season, and broke his jaw in early 2005.
During the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup, Wales assistant coach Scott Johnson got Johns to assist with pre-match preparation by speaking to the players and presenting them with their jerseys.
Johns was the center of controversy in 2004 after receiving a massive offer from rugby union to switch codes. Numerous past legends of both codes expressed their opinions. Debate continues about what happened during the negotiations with rugby union, since the contractual offers were made by the Waratahs without the salary top-ups from the Australian Rugby Union that had been usual in contractual negotiations with previous potential converts from rugby league. The ARU's formal reasons for not supporting the Waratahs' bid to secure Johns were his age (30) and injury history. These were later retracted after the "ecstasy controversy" (see below).
Even without the additional monetary support from the ARU, the Waratahs were able to table an offer to Johns that was far larger than any rugby league club could offer on its own. After David Gallop, the CEO of the NRL and Channel Nine contributed money and a promise of a commentary position after his career ended, Johns finally decided to stay in league, ending months of speculation and debate. He says his decision was greatly affected by his son, who wanted him to stay in league. He was also approached by the Welsh Rugby Union because of his Welsh heritage.
As Game 2 of the 2005 State of Origin series approached, the Blues were down 0–1 and Johns was selected to replace Brett Kimmorley in the New South Wales squad. The second game in the series was his first match since returning from a series of injuries that sidelined him for a number of weeks. Johns did not have to struggle to regain his form, receiving Man-of-the-Match honours in the Blues' 32–22 win over Queensland. He was again chosen as the first-choice for Game 3 and performed well, sealing the series for the Blues with a strong 32–10 win, their last series win for quite some time.
In August 2005, it was announced that Johns would join the Super League side the Warrington Wolves on a short-term deal, playing in the final two games of the regular Super League season and any playoff games the Wolves might reach. The Knights agreed to these terms only after Johns first signed a new contract, making him available to captain the Knights until the end of 2008.
2006–2007
Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season as he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club, surpassing Mick Cronin's 1,971 points for Parramatta.
Back in the NRL, playing for Newcastle during a Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year. A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia, eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 points. He rather coincidentally scored the record-breaking conversion in a 46–12 loss to the Eels, who were coached at the time by Jason Taylor.
Things did not start well for Johns in the 2007 season as he lasted only four minutes into Round 1. As Canterbury Bulldogs forward Sonny Bill Williams went to perform one of his trade-mark hits on Johns, the tackle strayed high leaving Johns lying concussed. Williams pleaded guilty at the judiciary to a reckless high tackle, and received a two-week suspension for the hit. Johns missed the following match but returned in Round 3 against the Canberra Raiders—which would be his last career match in the NRL. On the Thursday after the Canberra match, a tackle with Newcastle teammate Adam Woolnough in a training session resulted in his referral to a specialist to examine a neck injury. It was revealed that Johns had a bulging disc in his neck. It was confirmed that this had been present for some time and was not related to the training incident. All medical advice was that Johns should retire from professional football, since any further neck injury could prove life-threatening and on 10 April 2007, Johns announced his retirement from rugby league.
The Newcastle Knights' season would fall apart: they finished 15th of 16 teams on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the Wooden Spoon with a narrow two-point victory in their last match of the season. Johns tried to soften the blow of his retirement by saying he had been seriously considering retirement at the end of the 2007 season and was quoted in the press as saying "I knew this year would be my last year, it's just unfortunate it's stopped five months before the end of the season." Commenting on his teammates' reaction to his retirement, Johns noted: "They were sort of relieved I think, after a couple of injuries this year ... I think the time's right."
On his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game. In the preceding 13 years, the former Cessnock junior had changed the game like few others before him. In October 2008 Johns completed a walk from Newcastle to Sydney to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute.
Cricket career
In June 2006 it was announced that, while still playing rugby league, Johns would play cricket for New South Wales, in its Twenty20 series. The announcement sparked much media interest and many critics and the public suspected a public relations stunt as his first match was to be played in Johns' home town of Newcastle. Despite this, Johns made his professional cricket debut for NSW on 7 January 2007 against South Australia in front of a record crowd at Newcastle Number 1 Sports Ground. He had a missed opportunity to take a wicket: a short-pitched delivery was pulled to the boundary but much to the dismay of the large Newcastle crowd, the catch was put down. In his second match, against Tasmania at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Johns scored only nine runs and with that his short cricket career was over.
After retirement
Johns sought to celebrate the inclusion of Australia's Dally Messenger in the original All Golds tour, Johns had been invited to join the New Zealand team for the match against the Northern Union. Despite his neck injury, he was able to play with the squad, and completed the match uninjured, but declined another offer from the New Zealand team. Queensland and Australia Darren Lockyer was invited to take Johns' place but then Lockyer himself was ruled out after suffering a season-ending knee injury. New Zealand Warriors captain and Queensland front rower Steve Price was the eventual replacement for the match.
Andrew became a commentator for Channel 9 and Monday Night Football on Triple M radio.
On 22 April in Round 6 of 2007, Newcastle held special farewell celebrations for Andrew Johns in the Knights' home game against Brisbane. The Knights board renamed the new $30 million East grandstand of EnergyAustralia Stadium the Andrew Johns Stand. In addition, in a first for the NRL, his number 7 jersey was retired for the match with new young Jarrod Mullen wearing number 18. Later in the year the Knights named Johns as and captain for their commemorative Team of the Era.
In June 2007, in what would be the first of his involvements as a specialist part-time coach, rival code the Australian Rugby Union hired Johns as the Wallabies in-play kicking coach for the duration of the 2007 Tri Nations Series. On 27 October 2007, Johns married his partner Cathrine Mahoney in a secret wedding on a Sydney island. When Johns returned from his honeymoon at the beginning of the 2008 Pre-season, he began a part-time coaching role with the Parramatta Eels, working one on one with Eels halves Brett Finch and Tim Smith. In the same time frame Johns worked with his old club the Newcastle Knights in a similar skills specific coaching role. The third club to hire Johns for his coaching services was the Canterbury Bulldogs, who signed Johns for the 2008 season. The role involved him in specifically working with the halves, s and backs.
In February 2008, a year after his retirement, Johns moved a step closer to becoming rugby league's next Immortal after being named the Best Player of the Last 30 Years by a major rugby league magazine. On 17 April 2008 he was named in Team of the Century as a by a 28-man judging panel, who voted in a secret ballot and chose the team from an original list of the 100 Greatest Players named earlier in the year. Later, Johns said he felt "the game has forgiven me". On 9 September 2008 at the Dally M awards in Sydney, Johns and his wife Cathrine announced they were expecting their first child in March 2009 (Johns has a son from his previous marriage). On 1 March 2009, Johns and Cathrine welcomed their first child and son, Louis Byron
In 2010 the Melbourne Rebels announced they had secured the services of Johns to work with the Super Rugby club's inside backs. Recent Rebels signing James O'Connor said "Obviously he comes from a league background but there was nobody better at taking the ball to the line and pulling those balls back ... the chance to work with him was pretty awesome."
Despite Johns' ecstasy use controversy, he was officially announced as the eighth 'Immortal' of the game on 28 September 2012, after Rugby League Week magazine stated the voting criteria were to be based solely on a player's "on field performance" (despite admitting to using ecstasy while playing). In early November 2012, Johns signed on as assistant coach of the Manly Sea Eagles for the 2013 Rugby League season, mentoring and ambassadorial roles.
Ecstasy use controversy
On 26 August 2007 Johns was arrested for fare evasion on the London Underground, and subsequently found to be in possession of one ecstasy tablet. He was cautioned and released with no further charges. Johns initially claimed that an unknown person had pushed the tablet into his pocket which he later forgot to remove before leaving the crowded venue. This initial statement was met with a great deal of cynicism from both the press and the public. On 30 August, Johns revealed, live on the Footy Show, that he had regularly taken ecstasy throughout his playing career, mainly during the off-season. He claimed he had suffered from depression and bipolar disorder and the drugs helped him in dealing with the high level of psychological 'pressure' associated with his career as an elite sportsman. Not long after the incident he released his 'tell-all' autobiography that went into further details regarding his depression and drug use while playing in the NRL.
The ARU released a press statement shortly after the controversy arose, stating that Johns' drug use was known to the ARU and was a key factor in its decision to not proceed with contractual negotiations in 2004. Brett Robinson, then high-performance unit manager, said that, as well as Johns' age and injury history, the knowledge of his drug taking had been influential in the ARU making its final decision.
When Johns was named the Best Player of the Last 30 Years in early 2008, the accolade allayed concern that Johns' shock drug admission the year before had tarnished his remarkable efforts on the field for Newcastle, NSW and Australia. On receiving the award he was quoted as saying his health was now in great shape. "I'm at the best place I have been in a long time," he said. "It's not until you step away that I realise all the pressure I was under, I'm not going to miss playing at all."
Racism controversy
In June 2010 during the lead-up to Origin II, New South Wales Timana Tahu withdrew mid-week from the NSW squad following reports Johns referred to Queensland player Greg Inglis as a "black cunt" during a training session. Johns was subsequently fired from his role as NSW assistant coach. Though he apologised for the incident on Tuesday 15 June, it is alleged it was not the first time Johns had used racist language in a football environment. Inglis demanded Johns be barred from any involvement in rugby league.
More Joyous Scandal
Johns was the catalyst to the More Joyous Scandal, engulfing leading Sydney horse trainer Gai Waterhouse, advertising figure John Singleton (racehorse More Joyous's owner) and bookmaker and son of the horse trainer Tom Waterhouse. Johns passed information from Tom Waterhouse that horse More Joyous was "off" on to brothel owner Eddie Hayson and former jockey Allan Robinson. Singleton received word of this and verbally attacked Gai Waterhouse on live television. Johns feared his Channel 9 commentating career would be over due to the trouble he caused Tom Waterhouse, a Channel 9 advertiser. Johns's commentating career survived, although his reputation was further damaged. Both Waterhouses were cleared of any major wrongdoing by a Racing NSW inquiry, however, Singleton and Gai's longstanding partnership ceased until 2016.
Epilepsy
In 2019, Johns revealed that he had been diagnosed with epilepsy. His doctors were of the view that his playing career could have contributed to the diagnosis. In an interview with his brother, Matthew Johns on Fox League on Sunday night, he said, “They think maybe a contributor could be some of the concussions I’ve had and ... continual head knocks”. Johns lost his driver's licence after suffering an epileptic seizure at a cafe in Yamba on the New South Wales north coast in December 2018. The Roads and Maritime Service (RMS) initially refused to return his licence but did when his lawyer, Avinash Singh, successfully appealed the decision.
Career statistics
Club career
Representative career
Achievements, awards and accolades
In February 2008, Johns was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to
celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. Johns went on to be named as in Australian rugby league's Team of the Century. Announced on 17 April 2008, the team is the panel's majority choice for each of the thirteen starting positions and four interchange players. In 2008 New South Wales announced their rugby league team of the century also and Johns was again named as a .
Newcastle Knights records
Most points in a match: 34 (v Canberra, 29 July 2001)
Most tries in a match: 4 (v Canberra, 29 July 2001 – record shared with Darren Albert, Adam MacDougall, Cooper Vuna, James McManus & Akuila Uate)
Most goals in a match: 11 (v Canberra, 19 March 2006)
Most points in a season: 279 (2001 National Rugby League Season)
Most first grade appearances: 249
Most points for the club: 2,176
Australian premiership records
Retired as highest individual point scorer in premiership history: 2,176 (eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 (now 4th).
The competition's leading point scorer in 2001: 279 points.
Most ever points scored by a in a single National Rugby League season (279 in 2001).
International records
Most points scored on international debut: 30 (v South Africa at the 1995 World Cup)
Most points scored in a test match: 32 (v Fiji in 1996)
Most goals in a test match: 12 (v Fiji in 1996)
Awards
Dally M Medal (best player in the NRL competition): 3 (1998, 1999 and 2002)
Provan-Summons Medal (fans' favourite player): 5 (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002)
Golden Boot (best player in the world): 2 (1999 and 2001)
Clive Churchill Medal (man-of-the-match in the grand final): 1 (2001)
Dally M 'Representative Player of the Year' Award: 1 (2005)
Player of the Series – Australia v Great Britain: 2001
Most Valuable Player of the Tournament at the 1995 World Cup in England
State of Origin man-of-the-match: 4 (Game 2, 1996; Game 1, 2002; Game 2, 2003 and Game 2, 2005)
Voted #1 in the 'Modern Masters Top 30 Players of the Past 30 Years' poll (Rugby League Week)
Announced as the eighth Immortal of the Australian game on 27 September 2012 joining other greats: Bob Fulton, John Raper, Clive Churchill, Reg Gasnier, Graeme Langlands, Wally Lewis and Arthur Beetson. This being the ultimate honour one could receive as a professional rugby league footballer.
Inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame on 11 October 2012 at the Crown Palladium in Melbourne along with fellow greats of Australian sport such as Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett and cricketing great Adam Gilchrist
See also
List of cricket and rugby league players
References
Further reading
External links
State of Origin Official website Rugby League Player Stats
2001 Ashes profile
Sport Australia Hall of Fame profile
Australian Network Entertainment profile
1974 births
Living people
Australia national rugby league team captains
Australia national rugby league team players
Australian autobiographers
Australian cricketers
Australian people of Welsh descent
Australian republicans
Australian rugby league commentators
Australian rugby league players
Cessnock Goannas players
Clive Churchill Medal winners
Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players
Cricketers from New South Wales
New South Wales cricketers
New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin captains
New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players
Newcastle Knights captains
Newcastle Knights players
People with bipolar disorder
Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal
Rugby league halfbacks
Rugby league players from Cessnock, New South Wales
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
Warrington Wolves players
| true |
[
"Through the end of the 2020 season in professional football, only twelve coaches have won 200 career regular season victories.\n\nKey\n\nCoaches with 200 regular season wins\n\nOther Facts\nEach coach has won at least one NFL Championship, Grey Cups, or Super Bowl, except Marty Schottenheimer, who had not won any. Despite not winning any championships in the NFL, Schottenheimer did win the UFL Championship in 2011, coaching the Virginia Destroyers; he also won an AFL Championship (pre-merger) in 1965 as a player with the Buffalo Bills. Schottenheimer also remains the only non-active coach to not be inducted into any Hall of Fames. The only other exception is Kurtiss Riggs who has only coached indoor American football, but between the Indoor Football League, United Indoor Football (which merged with another league to form the IFL), and National Indoor Football League with the Sioux Falls Storm he has won eleven championships and appeared in fifteen. This includes a six season championship win streak and ten season appearance streak. The Storm achieved a 40 consecutive game wins streak with Riggs as the head coach, including four undefeated seasons. Riggs also had five wins officially fortified from the team's record due to insurance violations in 2009. Since 2021, he has been inducted into the Indoor Football League Hall of Fame while still actively coaching. \n\nThere have been nine NFL coaches who have won 200 total games, this excludes Bud Grant and Paul Brown due to their total wins included from other professional leagues. The two coaches who have won 200 total games, but not 200 regular season games, are Chuck Noll and Dan Reeves. Noll only coached the Pittsburgh Steelers (1969–1991), winning four Super Bowls and having a prolific Hall of Fame career. He had 193 total wins in the regular season with 209 wins, 156 losses, and one tie overall (.572). Reeves coached the Denver Broncos (1981–1992), New York Giants (1993–1996), and Atlanta Falcons (1997–2003). In the regular season he had 190 wins; however, in total he had 201 wins, 174 losses, and two ties (.535). Despite not having 200 career regular season wins as a head coach, Reeves coached in four Super Bowls, losing all of them. He did, however, play and coach as an assistant for the Dallas Cowboys, winning two Super Bowls at each position. Along with Marty Schottenheimer, Reeves is the only other coach to have over 200 total wins and not be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Several other NFL coaches had a little less than 190 total wins, but the only coach with more than 189 wins and less than 200 wins is Chuck Knox. Knox had 186 regular season wins with 193 total wins. He coached the Los Angeles Rams (1973–1977), Buffalo Bills (1978–1982), Seattle Seahawks (1983–1991), and Los Angeles Rams (1992–1994) again, with no Super Bowl appearances or Hall of Fame nomination despite three AP NFL Coach of the Year Awards.\n\nBud Grant and Marv Levy are the only coaches to lead teams to both the Grey Cup Finals and the Super Bowl, both have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Canadian Football Hall of Fame.\n\nTim Marcum is the winningest and most successful coach in Arena Football League history. During the regular season, Marcum resulted in a 184–87 (.679) record and 28–12 (.700) in the post-season, which totals to 212–99 (.682) overall. He coached the Denver Dynamite (1987), Detroit Drive (1988–1989, 1991–1993), and the Tampa Bay Storm (1995–2010). Marcum has been inducted into the Arena Football Hall of Fame. During his time as a head coach, Marcum coached in eleven ArenaBowls, winning seven of them. Other AFL coaches who came close to 200 wins were Darren Arbet with 188 overall wins (169 regular season wins) and Mike Hohensee with 170 overall wins (158 regular season wins), both are also in the AFL Hall of Fame.\n\nSee also\n List of National Football League head coach wins leaders\n List of Canadian Football League head coaches by wins\n\nReferences\n\nAmerican football-related lists",
"Airil Rizman, also known as Airil Rizman Zahari, (born 22 April 1978) is a Malaysian professional golfer.\n\nRizman was born in Kuala Lumpur. He was the Malaysian national amateur champion in 1998, 1999 and 2001 and a team gold medalist at the 2001 Southeast Asian Games. He was won several titles on the Malaysian PGA Tour, where he topped the order of merit in 2005. He first played on the Asian Tour in 2003, but did not have any top ten finishes through 2006. However, in 2007, he won the first event of the Asian Tour season, the Pakistan Open.\n\nProfessional wins (9)\n\nAsian Tour wins (1)\n\nOther wins (8)\n8 Malaysian PGA wins\n\nTeam appearances\nAmateur\nEisenhower Trophy (representing Malaysia): 1998, 2000\nBonallack Trophy (representing Asia/Pacific): 2000\n\nExternal links\n\nAsian Tour golfers\nMalaysian male golfers\nSoutheast Asian Games medalists in golf\nSoutheast Asian Games gold medalists for Malaysia\nSoutheast Asian Games silver medalists for Malaysia\nCompetitors at the 2001 Southeast Asian Games\nMalaysian people of Malay descent\nMalaysian Muslims\nSportspeople from Kuala Lumpur\n1978 births\nLiving people"
] |
[
"Andrew Johns",
"2006-2007",
"What happened during 2006?",
"Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season",
"How did he do that?",
"he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club,",
"When was this record broken?",
"Round 2 of the 2006 season",
"did he have any other notable wins?",
"Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year."
] |
C_5733ad160c7c4183a4fae7edd7b7bfcc_1
|
What was this record for?
| 5 |
What was the Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels record for?
|
Andrew Johns
|
Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season as he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club, surpassing Mick Cronin's 1,971 points for Parramatta. Back in the NRL, playing for Newcastle during a Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year. A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia, eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 points. He rather coincidentally scored the record-breaking conversion in a 46-12 loss to the Eels, who were coached at the time by Jason Taylor. Things did not start well for Johns in the 2007 season as he lasted only four minutes into Round 1. As Canterbury Bulldogs forward Sonny Bill Williams went to perform one of his trade-mark hits on Johns, the tackle strayed high leaving Johns lying concussed. Williams pleaded guilty at the judiciary to a reckless high tackle, and received a two-week suspension for the hit. Johns missed the following match but returned in Round 3 against the Canberra Raiders--which would be his last career match in the NRL. On the Thursday after the Canberra match, a tackle with Newcastle teammate Adam Woolnough in a training session resulted in his referral to a specialist to examine a neck injury. It was revealed that Johns had a bulging disc in his neck. It was confirmed that this had been present for some time and was not related to the training incident. All medical advice was that Johns should retire from professional football, since any further neck injury could prove life-threatening and on 10 April 2007, Johns announced his retirement from rugby league. The Newcastle Knights' season would fall apart: they finished 15th of 16 teams on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the Wooden Spoon with a narrow two-point victory in their last match of the season. Johns tried to soften the blow of his retirement by saying he had been seriously considering retirement at the end of the 2007 season and was quoted in the press as saying "I knew this year would be my last year, it's just unfortunate it's stopped five months before the end of the season." Commenting on his teammates' reaction to his retirement, Johns noted: "They were sort of relieved I think, after a couple of injuries this year ... I think the time's right." On his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game. In the preceding 13 years, the former Cessnock junior had changed the game like few others before him. On October 2008 Johns completed a walk from Newcastle to Sydney to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute. CANNOTANSWER
|
A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia,
|
Andrew Gary Johns (born 19 May 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in rugby league history. Johns captained the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League and participated in the team's only two premiership victories in 1997 and 2001, playing a club record 249 games for the Knights. Johns also represented his country at two World Cups, and on one Kangaroo tour, playing in total 21 Test matches for the national side. He played in 23 State of Origin series matches for the New South Wales Blues (captaining the side to a series win in 2003), and played for the Country Origin side in 1995 and 2003.
Johns announced his retirement from rugby league on 10 April 2007 at the age of 32. This followed a long run of injuries, the last of which was a bulging disc in his neck which forced his retirement due to the risk of serious spinal injury from further heavy contact. Andrew Johns is one of only four players to have won the Golden Boot Award more than once and is one of only two players to have won the Dally M Medal for best player in the NRL three times. He finished his career as the highest points scorer in Australian first-grade premiership history with 2,176 points.
In 2008, less than a year into his retirement, Johns was named as the Greatest Player of the last 30 years by the publication 'Rugby League Week', beating the likes of Queensland legend Wally Lewis (voted #2), fellow NSW star Brad Fittler (voted #3) and then former Queensland and Australian captain Darren Lockyer (voted #4). On 28 September 2012, Johns was named as the eighth 'Immortal' of rugby league.
Football career
Early Days
Andrew Johns began playing junior rugby league in his home town of Cessnock, New South Wales for the Cessnock Goannas. At an early age it was evident he had plenty of playing ability and Johns joined the Newcastle Knights junior ranks at age 15 in 1989. Four years later, at 19, the opportunity at first grade presented itself as Johns was tested off the bench during the 1993 season in a handful of games. The following year in the last pre-season trial for the 1994 season, Matthew Rodwell, Newcastle's then-regular sustained a knee injury handing Johns his opportunity. Subsequently, he was named in the starting line-up against the South Sydney Rabbitohs and in his début match made an immediate impact as he amassed 23 points and won the Man of the Match award. He soon formed a winning partnership with his older brother, Matthew Johns, who had played at the Knights since 1991.
1995–2001
The 1995 ARL season saw prosperous times for Johns, as in the absence of Super League-aligned players, he was selected for the first time to represent New South Wales in the 1995 State of Origin series. Incumbent New South Wales Ricky Stuart was not selected due to his affiliation with Super League. Also that year he was able to make his début for the Kangaroos in Australia's successful 1995 World Cup campaign in England. He played as a and was named man of the match in the decider against England at Wembley Stadium as Australia once again retained the World Cup. At the conclusion of the World Cup, Johns was awarded his first significant accolade, being named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. The following year Johns was moved to for the State of Origin, with New South Wales selectors favouring Geoff Toovey in the role. Since then, Johns was regularly chosen for state and national representative sides when fit, only missing out on a Blues or Australian cap due to injury.
During the 1997 ARL season Johns played a pivotal role in guiding the Knights to their first grand final appearance—against defending champions and '97 minor premiers the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. There were grave concerns leading up to the match that Johns would be unable to play the game, as he had suffered three broken ribs and a punctured lung only a fortnight earlier. However, Johns was able to play, and with less than a minute of the match to go with scores tied at 16-all Johns made a play that has gone down in rugby league folklore. He went out of position unexpectedly and into dummy half where he ran down a narrow blind side before slipping a pass to Newcastle Darren Albert for the match-winning try. With only six seconds remaining in the game Newcastle had snatched victory and secured their first premiership title.
The following year in the new National Rugby League the Knights performed even better during the regular season than in the previous year, losing only five matches and narrowly missing out on the minor premiership on points difference. Johns individually was brilliant and was awarded his first Player of the Year Dally M Medal award for the 1998 season. Unfortunately for Johns and NSW fans, he had one of his worst goal-kicking games in Game 1 of the 1998 State of Origin series as NSW lost by one point despite scoring more tries than Queensland. His performances at club, state and national level were again rewarded as he received his second Player of the Year Dally M Medal award, the first time a player had won the award consecutively since Parramatta Eels great Michael Cronin in 1977 and 1978.
Despite initial concerns regarding the leadership of the Knights after the retirement of Paul Harragon, and even more when Andrew's brother Matthew joined English Super League club the Wigan Warriors, Johns was given the responsibility of captaining the Newcastle squad. The fears proved groundless: Johns led Newcastle to another Grand Final victory, defeating the Parramatta Eels 30–24 in 2001. He was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for Man of the Match in a Grand Final and at the end of the 2001 NRL season, he went on the 2001 Kangaroo tour. He was the top points scorer in Australia's successful Ashes series campaign and was named man of the match for the second Test. Also that year he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league.
2002–2005
Having won the 2001 NRL Premiership, the Knights travelled to England to play the 2002 World Club Challenge against Super League champions the Bradford Bulls. Johns captained as a , scoring a try and kicking three goals in Newcastle's loss. In 2002, Johns was awarded the captaincy of both New South Wales and Australia, going on to win the title of Player of the Series against Great Britain. At a club level Andrew Johns and the Newcastle Knights performed well, narrowly missing out on the minor premiership on points difference. Unfortunately, the Knights' finals campaign derailed as Johns broke a bone in his back in the first week of the finals, and the Knights without Johns ended up losing to eventual premiers the Sydney Roosters 38–12 to be knocked out of the season. Before his injury Johns' season had been marvellous and despite his lack of involvement in the finals series he was named the Player of the Year Dally M Medal for a record third time, a feat achieved by only one other player, Johnathan Thurston, to date.
Johns' back injury at the tail-end of 2002 was the first of what seemed like a plague of injuries over the next few seasons: he had a serious neck injury that threatened his career in 2003, sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury which kept him out of most of the 2004 season, and broke his jaw in early 2005.
During the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup, Wales assistant coach Scott Johnson got Johns to assist with pre-match preparation by speaking to the players and presenting them with their jerseys.
Johns was the center of controversy in 2004 after receiving a massive offer from rugby union to switch codes. Numerous past legends of both codes expressed their opinions. Debate continues about what happened during the negotiations with rugby union, since the contractual offers were made by the Waratahs without the salary top-ups from the Australian Rugby Union that had been usual in contractual negotiations with previous potential converts from rugby league. The ARU's formal reasons for not supporting the Waratahs' bid to secure Johns were his age (30) and injury history. These were later retracted after the "ecstasy controversy" (see below).
Even without the additional monetary support from the ARU, the Waratahs were able to table an offer to Johns that was far larger than any rugby league club could offer on its own. After David Gallop, the CEO of the NRL and Channel Nine contributed money and a promise of a commentary position after his career ended, Johns finally decided to stay in league, ending months of speculation and debate. He says his decision was greatly affected by his son, who wanted him to stay in league. He was also approached by the Welsh Rugby Union because of his Welsh heritage.
As Game 2 of the 2005 State of Origin series approached, the Blues were down 0–1 and Johns was selected to replace Brett Kimmorley in the New South Wales squad. The second game in the series was his first match since returning from a series of injuries that sidelined him for a number of weeks. Johns did not have to struggle to regain his form, receiving Man-of-the-Match honours in the Blues' 32–22 win over Queensland. He was again chosen as the first-choice for Game 3 and performed well, sealing the series for the Blues with a strong 32–10 win, their last series win for quite some time.
In August 2005, it was announced that Johns would join the Super League side the Warrington Wolves on a short-term deal, playing in the final two games of the regular Super League season and any playoff games the Wolves might reach. The Knights agreed to these terms only after Johns first signed a new contract, making him available to captain the Knights until the end of 2008.
2006–2007
Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season as he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club, surpassing Mick Cronin's 1,971 points for Parramatta.
Back in the NRL, playing for Newcastle during a Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year. A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia, eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 points. He rather coincidentally scored the record-breaking conversion in a 46–12 loss to the Eels, who were coached at the time by Jason Taylor.
Things did not start well for Johns in the 2007 season as he lasted only four minutes into Round 1. As Canterbury Bulldogs forward Sonny Bill Williams went to perform one of his trade-mark hits on Johns, the tackle strayed high leaving Johns lying concussed. Williams pleaded guilty at the judiciary to a reckless high tackle, and received a two-week suspension for the hit. Johns missed the following match but returned in Round 3 against the Canberra Raiders—which would be his last career match in the NRL. On the Thursday after the Canberra match, a tackle with Newcastle teammate Adam Woolnough in a training session resulted in his referral to a specialist to examine a neck injury. It was revealed that Johns had a bulging disc in his neck. It was confirmed that this had been present for some time and was not related to the training incident. All medical advice was that Johns should retire from professional football, since any further neck injury could prove life-threatening and on 10 April 2007, Johns announced his retirement from rugby league.
The Newcastle Knights' season would fall apart: they finished 15th of 16 teams on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the Wooden Spoon with a narrow two-point victory in their last match of the season. Johns tried to soften the blow of his retirement by saying he had been seriously considering retirement at the end of the 2007 season and was quoted in the press as saying "I knew this year would be my last year, it's just unfortunate it's stopped five months before the end of the season." Commenting on his teammates' reaction to his retirement, Johns noted: "They were sort of relieved I think, after a couple of injuries this year ... I think the time's right."
On his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game. In the preceding 13 years, the former Cessnock junior had changed the game like few others before him. In October 2008 Johns completed a walk from Newcastle to Sydney to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute.
Cricket career
In June 2006 it was announced that, while still playing rugby league, Johns would play cricket for New South Wales, in its Twenty20 series. The announcement sparked much media interest and many critics and the public suspected a public relations stunt as his first match was to be played in Johns' home town of Newcastle. Despite this, Johns made his professional cricket debut for NSW on 7 January 2007 against South Australia in front of a record crowd at Newcastle Number 1 Sports Ground. He had a missed opportunity to take a wicket: a short-pitched delivery was pulled to the boundary but much to the dismay of the large Newcastle crowd, the catch was put down. In his second match, against Tasmania at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Johns scored only nine runs and with that his short cricket career was over.
After retirement
Johns sought to celebrate the inclusion of Australia's Dally Messenger in the original All Golds tour, Johns had been invited to join the New Zealand team for the match against the Northern Union. Despite his neck injury, he was able to play with the squad, and completed the match uninjured, but declined another offer from the New Zealand team. Queensland and Australia Darren Lockyer was invited to take Johns' place but then Lockyer himself was ruled out after suffering a season-ending knee injury. New Zealand Warriors captain and Queensland front rower Steve Price was the eventual replacement for the match.
Andrew became a commentator for Channel 9 and Monday Night Football on Triple M radio.
On 22 April in Round 6 of 2007, Newcastle held special farewell celebrations for Andrew Johns in the Knights' home game against Brisbane. The Knights board renamed the new $30 million East grandstand of EnergyAustralia Stadium the Andrew Johns Stand. In addition, in a first for the NRL, his number 7 jersey was retired for the match with new young Jarrod Mullen wearing number 18. Later in the year the Knights named Johns as and captain for their commemorative Team of the Era.
In June 2007, in what would be the first of his involvements as a specialist part-time coach, rival code the Australian Rugby Union hired Johns as the Wallabies in-play kicking coach for the duration of the 2007 Tri Nations Series. On 27 October 2007, Johns married his partner Cathrine Mahoney in a secret wedding on a Sydney island. When Johns returned from his honeymoon at the beginning of the 2008 Pre-season, he began a part-time coaching role with the Parramatta Eels, working one on one with Eels halves Brett Finch and Tim Smith. In the same time frame Johns worked with his old club the Newcastle Knights in a similar skills specific coaching role. The third club to hire Johns for his coaching services was the Canterbury Bulldogs, who signed Johns for the 2008 season. The role involved him in specifically working with the halves, s and backs.
In February 2008, a year after his retirement, Johns moved a step closer to becoming rugby league's next Immortal after being named the Best Player of the Last 30 Years by a major rugby league magazine. On 17 April 2008 he was named in Team of the Century as a by a 28-man judging panel, who voted in a secret ballot and chose the team from an original list of the 100 Greatest Players named earlier in the year. Later, Johns said he felt "the game has forgiven me". On 9 September 2008 at the Dally M awards in Sydney, Johns and his wife Cathrine announced they were expecting their first child in March 2009 (Johns has a son from his previous marriage). On 1 March 2009, Johns and Cathrine welcomed their first child and son, Louis Byron
In 2010 the Melbourne Rebels announced they had secured the services of Johns to work with the Super Rugby club's inside backs. Recent Rebels signing James O'Connor said "Obviously he comes from a league background but there was nobody better at taking the ball to the line and pulling those balls back ... the chance to work with him was pretty awesome."
Despite Johns' ecstasy use controversy, he was officially announced as the eighth 'Immortal' of the game on 28 September 2012, after Rugby League Week magazine stated the voting criteria were to be based solely on a player's "on field performance" (despite admitting to using ecstasy while playing). In early November 2012, Johns signed on as assistant coach of the Manly Sea Eagles for the 2013 Rugby League season, mentoring and ambassadorial roles.
Ecstasy use controversy
On 26 August 2007 Johns was arrested for fare evasion on the London Underground, and subsequently found to be in possession of one ecstasy tablet. He was cautioned and released with no further charges. Johns initially claimed that an unknown person had pushed the tablet into his pocket which he later forgot to remove before leaving the crowded venue. This initial statement was met with a great deal of cynicism from both the press and the public. On 30 August, Johns revealed, live on the Footy Show, that he had regularly taken ecstasy throughout his playing career, mainly during the off-season. He claimed he had suffered from depression and bipolar disorder and the drugs helped him in dealing with the high level of psychological 'pressure' associated with his career as an elite sportsman. Not long after the incident he released his 'tell-all' autobiography that went into further details regarding his depression and drug use while playing in the NRL.
The ARU released a press statement shortly after the controversy arose, stating that Johns' drug use was known to the ARU and was a key factor in its decision to not proceed with contractual negotiations in 2004. Brett Robinson, then high-performance unit manager, said that, as well as Johns' age and injury history, the knowledge of his drug taking had been influential in the ARU making its final decision.
When Johns was named the Best Player of the Last 30 Years in early 2008, the accolade allayed concern that Johns' shock drug admission the year before had tarnished his remarkable efforts on the field for Newcastle, NSW and Australia. On receiving the award he was quoted as saying his health was now in great shape. "I'm at the best place I have been in a long time," he said. "It's not until you step away that I realise all the pressure I was under, I'm not going to miss playing at all."
Racism controversy
In June 2010 during the lead-up to Origin II, New South Wales Timana Tahu withdrew mid-week from the NSW squad following reports Johns referred to Queensland player Greg Inglis as a "black cunt" during a training session. Johns was subsequently fired from his role as NSW assistant coach. Though he apologised for the incident on Tuesday 15 June, it is alleged it was not the first time Johns had used racist language in a football environment. Inglis demanded Johns be barred from any involvement in rugby league.
More Joyous Scandal
Johns was the catalyst to the More Joyous Scandal, engulfing leading Sydney horse trainer Gai Waterhouse, advertising figure John Singleton (racehorse More Joyous's owner) and bookmaker and son of the horse trainer Tom Waterhouse. Johns passed information from Tom Waterhouse that horse More Joyous was "off" on to brothel owner Eddie Hayson and former jockey Allan Robinson. Singleton received word of this and verbally attacked Gai Waterhouse on live television. Johns feared his Channel 9 commentating career would be over due to the trouble he caused Tom Waterhouse, a Channel 9 advertiser. Johns's commentating career survived, although his reputation was further damaged. Both Waterhouses were cleared of any major wrongdoing by a Racing NSW inquiry, however, Singleton and Gai's longstanding partnership ceased until 2016.
Epilepsy
In 2019, Johns revealed that he had been diagnosed with epilepsy. His doctors were of the view that his playing career could have contributed to the diagnosis. In an interview with his brother, Matthew Johns on Fox League on Sunday night, he said, “They think maybe a contributor could be some of the concussions I’ve had and ... continual head knocks”. Johns lost his driver's licence after suffering an epileptic seizure at a cafe in Yamba on the New South Wales north coast in December 2018. The Roads and Maritime Service (RMS) initially refused to return his licence but did when his lawyer, Avinash Singh, successfully appealed the decision.
Career statistics
Club career
Representative career
Achievements, awards and accolades
In February 2008, Johns was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to
celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. Johns went on to be named as in Australian rugby league's Team of the Century. Announced on 17 April 2008, the team is the panel's majority choice for each of the thirteen starting positions and four interchange players. In 2008 New South Wales announced their rugby league team of the century also and Johns was again named as a .
Newcastle Knights records
Most points in a match: 34 (v Canberra, 29 July 2001)
Most tries in a match: 4 (v Canberra, 29 July 2001 – record shared with Darren Albert, Adam MacDougall, Cooper Vuna, James McManus & Akuila Uate)
Most goals in a match: 11 (v Canberra, 19 March 2006)
Most points in a season: 279 (2001 National Rugby League Season)
Most first grade appearances: 249
Most points for the club: 2,176
Australian premiership records
Retired as highest individual point scorer in premiership history: 2,176 (eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 (now 4th).
The competition's leading point scorer in 2001: 279 points.
Most ever points scored by a in a single National Rugby League season (279 in 2001).
International records
Most points scored on international debut: 30 (v South Africa at the 1995 World Cup)
Most points scored in a test match: 32 (v Fiji in 1996)
Most goals in a test match: 12 (v Fiji in 1996)
Awards
Dally M Medal (best player in the NRL competition): 3 (1998, 1999 and 2002)
Provan-Summons Medal (fans' favourite player): 5 (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002)
Golden Boot (best player in the world): 2 (1999 and 2001)
Clive Churchill Medal (man-of-the-match in the grand final): 1 (2001)
Dally M 'Representative Player of the Year' Award: 1 (2005)
Player of the Series – Australia v Great Britain: 2001
Most Valuable Player of the Tournament at the 1995 World Cup in England
State of Origin man-of-the-match: 4 (Game 2, 1996; Game 1, 2002; Game 2, 2003 and Game 2, 2005)
Voted #1 in the 'Modern Masters Top 30 Players of the Past 30 Years' poll (Rugby League Week)
Announced as the eighth Immortal of the Australian game on 27 September 2012 joining other greats: Bob Fulton, John Raper, Clive Churchill, Reg Gasnier, Graeme Langlands, Wally Lewis and Arthur Beetson. This being the ultimate honour one could receive as a professional rugby league footballer.
Inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame on 11 October 2012 at the Crown Palladium in Melbourne along with fellow greats of Australian sport such as Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett and cricketing great Adam Gilchrist
See also
List of cricket and rugby league players
References
Further reading
External links
State of Origin Official website Rugby League Player Stats
2001 Ashes profile
Sport Australia Hall of Fame profile
Australian Network Entertainment profile
1974 births
Living people
Australia national rugby league team captains
Australia national rugby league team players
Australian autobiographers
Australian cricketers
Australian people of Welsh descent
Australian republicans
Australian rugby league commentators
Australian rugby league players
Cessnock Goannas players
Clive Churchill Medal winners
Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players
Cricketers from New South Wales
New South Wales cricketers
New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin captains
New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players
Newcastle Knights captains
Newcastle Knights players
People with bipolar disorder
Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal
Rugby league halfbacks
Rugby league players from Cessnock, New South Wales
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
Warrington Wolves players
| true |
[
"Valda Emily Unthank (née Garnham, 1909 – 21 June 1987) was an Australian cyclist who held numerous records for long distance cycling, mostly set during 1938-39, most notably the women's seven day record.\n\nValda was born in 1909 as \"Emily Garnham\" at Lilliput, Victoria to William and Edith Garnham (née Blackburne). In 1933 she married John Leslie Roberts \"Jack\" Unthank, a Councillor at the Victorian League of Wheelmen. Little is known of her early years until her first reported cycling record in 1935, covering the from Prahran to Wonthaggi in 5 hours 5 mins. \n\nWhat first established Unthank's reputation though was the ride in October 1938 from Adelaide to Melbourne covering in 33 hours 43 minutes. Unthank was sponsored by Austral bikes, a brand within the Malvern Star group, and the rides were organised by Jack O'Donohue, publicity manager for Bruce Small Ltd.\n\nThis was followed shortly after by riding from Launceston to Burnie & return on 14 November 1938, setting the 12 hour Australian women's record of and rode on to set the Australian women's record in 12h 8 min.\n\nIn March 1939 Unthank set a NSW hour record of . In June Unthank traveled to Queensland where she set a new 12 hour record of before returning to Victoria to set the record in 51 min 40 sec.\n\n1939 culminated in riding over seven days for what was claimed as a women's world record, bettering the set by Joyce Barry in September 1938. Unthank was supported by another Malvern Star rider, Ossie Nicholson, who had set the world endurance record for distance in a calendar year in 1933, and 1937, as well as the Australian men's seven day record of in 1938. The seven day record was also sponsored by the Metropolitan Gas Company who supplied a \"modern gas kitchen\" to cook all Unthank's meals. Unthank also appeared in an advertisement for Peters Icecream (\"The health food of a nation\") along with Hubert Opperman. Unthank's seven day record was eclipsed in March 1940 by the next Malvern Star woman rider, Pat Hawkins who rode .\n\nWorld War II saw Unthank retire, although she returned for events competing on bicycle rollers to raise money for the Red Cross. \n\nUnthank died in June 1987 at the age of 78.\n\nReferences\n\n1909 births\n1987 deaths\nAustralian female cyclists\nCyclists from Melbourne\nUltra-distance cyclists",
"Incognegro is the independent studio album by American rapper Ludacris. It was released on August 17, 1999, by Ludacris' newly founded indie record label, DTP Entertainment. Recording sessions took place from 1998 to 1999, with Ludacris serving as the record's executive producer, while the additional production was provided by Jermaine Dupri and Organized Noize, among others.\n\nThe album was supported by two singles: \"Ho\" (produced by Bangladesh), and \"What's Your Fantasy\" (featuring Shawnna, produced by Bangladesh).\n\nEvery track would later appear on his second album except for \"Intro\", \"It Wasn't Us\", \"Midnight Train\", & \"Rock and a Hard Place\".\n\nSingles \nThe lead single for his untitled independent album, called \"Ho\" was released on July 15, 1998. The song was produced by American hip hop record producer Bangladesh.\n\nThe second single for Incognegro, \"What's Your Fantasy\" was released on September 12, 2000. The song features guest verse from an American local rapper Shawnna, while the production was also provided by Bangladesh.\n\nCritical reception\n\nTrack listing\n\nChart positions\n\nReferences\n\n2000 debut albums\nLudacris albums\nAlbums produced by Bangladesh (record producer)\nAlbums produced by Jermaine Dupri"
] |
[
"Andrew Johns",
"2006-2007",
"What happened during 2006?",
"Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season",
"How did he do that?",
"he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club,",
"When was this record broken?",
"Round 2 of the 2006 season",
"did he have any other notable wins?",
"Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year.",
"What was this record for?",
"A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia,"
] |
C_5733ad160c7c4183a4fae7edd7b7bfcc_1
|
Did he win any awards?
| 6 |
Did Andrew Johns win any awards?
|
Andrew Johns
|
Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season as he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club, surpassing Mick Cronin's 1,971 points for Parramatta. Back in the NRL, playing for Newcastle during a Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year. A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia, eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 points. He rather coincidentally scored the record-breaking conversion in a 46-12 loss to the Eels, who were coached at the time by Jason Taylor. Things did not start well for Johns in the 2007 season as he lasted only four minutes into Round 1. As Canterbury Bulldogs forward Sonny Bill Williams went to perform one of his trade-mark hits on Johns, the tackle strayed high leaving Johns lying concussed. Williams pleaded guilty at the judiciary to a reckless high tackle, and received a two-week suspension for the hit. Johns missed the following match but returned in Round 3 against the Canberra Raiders--which would be his last career match in the NRL. On the Thursday after the Canberra match, a tackle with Newcastle teammate Adam Woolnough in a training session resulted in his referral to a specialist to examine a neck injury. It was revealed that Johns had a bulging disc in his neck. It was confirmed that this had been present for some time and was not related to the training incident. All medical advice was that Johns should retire from professional football, since any further neck injury could prove life-threatening and on 10 April 2007, Johns announced his retirement from rugby league. The Newcastle Knights' season would fall apart: they finished 15th of 16 teams on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the Wooden Spoon with a narrow two-point victory in their last match of the season. Johns tried to soften the blow of his retirement by saying he had been seriously considering retirement at the end of the 2007 season and was quoted in the press as saying "I knew this year would be my last year, it's just unfortunate it's stopped five months before the end of the season." Commenting on his teammates' reaction to his retirement, Johns noted: "They were sort of relieved I think, after a couple of injuries this year ... I think the time's right." On his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game. In the preceding 13 years, the former Cessnock junior had changed the game like few others before him. On October 2008 Johns completed a walk from Newcastle to Sydney to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute. CANNOTANSWER
|
On his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game.
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Andrew Gary Johns (born 19 May 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in rugby league history. Johns captained the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League and participated in the team's only two premiership victories in 1997 and 2001, playing a club record 249 games for the Knights. Johns also represented his country at two World Cups, and on one Kangaroo tour, playing in total 21 Test matches for the national side. He played in 23 State of Origin series matches for the New South Wales Blues (captaining the side to a series win in 2003), and played for the Country Origin side in 1995 and 2003.
Johns announced his retirement from rugby league on 10 April 2007 at the age of 32. This followed a long run of injuries, the last of which was a bulging disc in his neck which forced his retirement due to the risk of serious spinal injury from further heavy contact. Andrew Johns is one of only four players to have won the Golden Boot Award more than once and is one of only two players to have won the Dally M Medal for best player in the NRL three times. He finished his career as the highest points scorer in Australian first-grade premiership history with 2,176 points.
In 2008, less than a year into his retirement, Johns was named as the Greatest Player of the last 30 years by the publication 'Rugby League Week', beating the likes of Queensland legend Wally Lewis (voted #2), fellow NSW star Brad Fittler (voted #3) and then former Queensland and Australian captain Darren Lockyer (voted #4). On 28 September 2012, Johns was named as the eighth 'Immortal' of rugby league.
Football career
Early Days
Andrew Johns began playing junior rugby league in his home town of Cessnock, New South Wales for the Cessnock Goannas. At an early age it was evident he had plenty of playing ability and Johns joined the Newcastle Knights junior ranks at age 15 in 1989. Four years later, at 19, the opportunity at first grade presented itself as Johns was tested off the bench during the 1993 season in a handful of games. The following year in the last pre-season trial for the 1994 season, Matthew Rodwell, Newcastle's then-regular sustained a knee injury handing Johns his opportunity. Subsequently, he was named in the starting line-up against the South Sydney Rabbitohs and in his début match made an immediate impact as he amassed 23 points and won the Man of the Match award. He soon formed a winning partnership with his older brother, Matthew Johns, who had played at the Knights since 1991.
1995–2001
The 1995 ARL season saw prosperous times for Johns, as in the absence of Super League-aligned players, he was selected for the first time to represent New South Wales in the 1995 State of Origin series. Incumbent New South Wales Ricky Stuart was not selected due to his affiliation with Super League. Also that year he was able to make his début for the Kangaroos in Australia's successful 1995 World Cup campaign in England. He played as a and was named man of the match in the decider against England at Wembley Stadium as Australia once again retained the World Cup. At the conclusion of the World Cup, Johns was awarded his first significant accolade, being named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. The following year Johns was moved to for the State of Origin, with New South Wales selectors favouring Geoff Toovey in the role. Since then, Johns was regularly chosen for state and national representative sides when fit, only missing out on a Blues or Australian cap due to injury.
During the 1997 ARL season Johns played a pivotal role in guiding the Knights to their first grand final appearance—against defending champions and '97 minor premiers the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. There were grave concerns leading up to the match that Johns would be unable to play the game, as he had suffered three broken ribs and a punctured lung only a fortnight earlier. However, Johns was able to play, and with less than a minute of the match to go with scores tied at 16-all Johns made a play that has gone down in rugby league folklore. He went out of position unexpectedly and into dummy half where he ran down a narrow blind side before slipping a pass to Newcastle Darren Albert for the match-winning try. With only six seconds remaining in the game Newcastle had snatched victory and secured their first premiership title.
The following year in the new National Rugby League the Knights performed even better during the regular season than in the previous year, losing only five matches and narrowly missing out on the minor premiership on points difference. Johns individually was brilliant and was awarded his first Player of the Year Dally M Medal award for the 1998 season. Unfortunately for Johns and NSW fans, he had one of his worst goal-kicking games in Game 1 of the 1998 State of Origin series as NSW lost by one point despite scoring more tries than Queensland. His performances at club, state and national level were again rewarded as he received his second Player of the Year Dally M Medal award, the first time a player had won the award consecutively since Parramatta Eels great Michael Cronin in 1977 and 1978.
Despite initial concerns regarding the leadership of the Knights after the retirement of Paul Harragon, and even more when Andrew's brother Matthew joined English Super League club the Wigan Warriors, Johns was given the responsibility of captaining the Newcastle squad. The fears proved groundless: Johns led Newcastle to another Grand Final victory, defeating the Parramatta Eels 30–24 in 2001. He was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for Man of the Match in a Grand Final and at the end of the 2001 NRL season, he went on the 2001 Kangaroo tour. He was the top points scorer in Australia's successful Ashes series campaign and was named man of the match for the second Test. Also that year he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league.
2002–2005
Having won the 2001 NRL Premiership, the Knights travelled to England to play the 2002 World Club Challenge against Super League champions the Bradford Bulls. Johns captained as a , scoring a try and kicking three goals in Newcastle's loss. In 2002, Johns was awarded the captaincy of both New South Wales and Australia, going on to win the title of Player of the Series against Great Britain. At a club level Andrew Johns and the Newcastle Knights performed well, narrowly missing out on the minor premiership on points difference. Unfortunately, the Knights' finals campaign derailed as Johns broke a bone in his back in the first week of the finals, and the Knights without Johns ended up losing to eventual premiers the Sydney Roosters 38–12 to be knocked out of the season. Before his injury Johns' season had been marvellous and despite his lack of involvement in the finals series he was named the Player of the Year Dally M Medal for a record third time, a feat achieved by only one other player, Johnathan Thurston, to date.
Johns' back injury at the tail-end of 2002 was the first of what seemed like a plague of injuries over the next few seasons: he had a serious neck injury that threatened his career in 2003, sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury which kept him out of most of the 2004 season, and broke his jaw in early 2005.
During the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup, Wales assistant coach Scott Johnson got Johns to assist with pre-match preparation by speaking to the players and presenting them with their jerseys.
Johns was the center of controversy in 2004 after receiving a massive offer from rugby union to switch codes. Numerous past legends of both codes expressed their opinions. Debate continues about what happened during the negotiations with rugby union, since the contractual offers were made by the Waratahs without the salary top-ups from the Australian Rugby Union that had been usual in contractual negotiations with previous potential converts from rugby league. The ARU's formal reasons for not supporting the Waratahs' bid to secure Johns were his age (30) and injury history. These were later retracted after the "ecstasy controversy" (see below).
Even without the additional monetary support from the ARU, the Waratahs were able to table an offer to Johns that was far larger than any rugby league club could offer on its own. After David Gallop, the CEO of the NRL and Channel Nine contributed money and a promise of a commentary position after his career ended, Johns finally decided to stay in league, ending months of speculation and debate. He says his decision was greatly affected by his son, who wanted him to stay in league. He was also approached by the Welsh Rugby Union because of his Welsh heritage.
As Game 2 of the 2005 State of Origin series approached, the Blues were down 0–1 and Johns was selected to replace Brett Kimmorley in the New South Wales squad. The second game in the series was his first match since returning from a series of injuries that sidelined him for a number of weeks. Johns did not have to struggle to regain his form, receiving Man-of-the-Match honours in the Blues' 32–22 win over Queensland. He was again chosen as the first-choice for Game 3 and performed well, sealing the series for the Blues with a strong 32–10 win, their last series win for quite some time.
In August 2005, it was announced that Johns would join the Super League side the Warrington Wolves on a short-term deal, playing in the final two games of the regular Super League season and any playoff games the Wolves might reach. The Knights agreed to these terms only after Johns first signed a new contract, making him available to captain the Knights until the end of 2008.
2006–2007
Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season as he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club, surpassing Mick Cronin's 1,971 points for Parramatta.
Back in the NRL, playing for Newcastle during a Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year. A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia, eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 points. He rather coincidentally scored the record-breaking conversion in a 46–12 loss to the Eels, who were coached at the time by Jason Taylor.
Things did not start well for Johns in the 2007 season as he lasted only four minutes into Round 1. As Canterbury Bulldogs forward Sonny Bill Williams went to perform one of his trade-mark hits on Johns, the tackle strayed high leaving Johns lying concussed. Williams pleaded guilty at the judiciary to a reckless high tackle, and received a two-week suspension for the hit. Johns missed the following match but returned in Round 3 against the Canberra Raiders—which would be his last career match in the NRL. On the Thursday after the Canberra match, a tackle with Newcastle teammate Adam Woolnough in a training session resulted in his referral to a specialist to examine a neck injury. It was revealed that Johns had a bulging disc in his neck. It was confirmed that this had been present for some time and was not related to the training incident. All medical advice was that Johns should retire from professional football, since any further neck injury could prove life-threatening and on 10 April 2007, Johns announced his retirement from rugby league.
The Newcastle Knights' season would fall apart: they finished 15th of 16 teams on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the Wooden Spoon with a narrow two-point victory in their last match of the season. Johns tried to soften the blow of his retirement by saying he had been seriously considering retirement at the end of the 2007 season and was quoted in the press as saying "I knew this year would be my last year, it's just unfortunate it's stopped five months before the end of the season." Commenting on his teammates' reaction to his retirement, Johns noted: "They were sort of relieved I think, after a couple of injuries this year ... I think the time's right."
On his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game. In the preceding 13 years, the former Cessnock junior had changed the game like few others before him. In October 2008 Johns completed a walk from Newcastle to Sydney to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute.
Cricket career
In June 2006 it was announced that, while still playing rugby league, Johns would play cricket for New South Wales, in its Twenty20 series. The announcement sparked much media interest and many critics and the public suspected a public relations stunt as his first match was to be played in Johns' home town of Newcastle. Despite this, Johns made his professional cricket debut for NSW on 7 January 2007 against South Australia in front of a record crowd at Newcastle Number 1 Sports Ground. He had a missed opportunity to take a wicket: a short-pitched delivery was pulled to the boundary but much to the dismay of the large Newcastle crowd, the catch was put down. In his second match, against Tasmania at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Johns scored only nine runs and with that his short cricket career was over.
After retirement
Johns sought to celebrate the inclusion of Australia's Dally Messenger in the original All Golds tour, Johns had been invited to join the New Zealand team for the match against the Northern Union. Despite his neck injury, he was able to play with the squad, and completed the match uninjured, but declined another offer from the New Zealand team. Queensland and Australia Darren Lockyer was invited to take Johns' place but then Lockyer himself was ruled out after suffering a season-ending knee injury. New Zealand Warriors captain and Queensland front rower Steve Price was the eventual replacement for the match.
Andrew became a commentator for Channel 9 and Monday Night Football on Triple M radio.
On 22 April in Round 6 of 2007, Newcastle held special farewell celebrations for Andrew Johns in the Knights' home game against Brisbane. The Knights board renamed the new $30 million East grandstand of EnergyAustralia Stadium the Andrew Johns Stand. In addition, in a first for the NRL, his number 7 jersey was retired for the match with new young Jarrod Mullen wearing number 18. Later in the year the Knights named Johns as and captain for their commemorative Team of the Era.
In June 2007, in what would be the first of his involvements as a specialist part-time coach, rival code the Australian Rugby Union hired Johns as the Wallabies in-play kicking coach for the duration of the 2007 Tri Nations Series. On 27 October 2007, Johns married his partner Cathrine Mahoney in a secret wedding on a Sydney island. When Johns returned from his honeymoon at the beginning of the 2008 Pre-season, he began a part-time coaching role with the Parramatta Eels, working one on one with Eels halves Brett Finch and Tim Smith. In the same time frame Johns worked with his old club the Newcastle Knights in a similar skills specific coaching role. The third club to hire Johns for his coaching services was the Canterbury Bulldogs, who signed Johns for the 2008 season. The role involved him in specifically working with the halves, s and backs.
In February 2008, a year after his retirement, Johns moved a step closer to becoming rugby league's next Immortal after being named the Best Player of the Last 30 Years by a major rugby league magazine. On 17 April 2008 he was named in Team of the Century as a by a 28-man judging panel, who voted in a secret ballot and chose the team from an original list of the 100 Greatest Players named earlier in the year. Later, Johns said he felt "the game has forgiven me". On 9 September 2008 at the Dally M awards in Sydney, Johns and his wife Cathrine announced they were expecting their first child in March 2009 (Johns has a son from his previous marriage). On 1 March 2009, Johns and Cathrine welcomed their first child and son, Louis Byron
In 2010 the Melbourne Rebels announced they had secured the services of Johns to work with the Super Rugby club's inside backs. Recent Rebels signing James O'Connor said "Obviously he comes from a league background but there was nobody better at taking the ball to the line and pulling those balls back ... the chance to work with him was pretty awesome."
Despite Johns' ecstasy use controversy, he was officially announced as the eighth 'Immortal' of the game on 28 September 2012, after Rugby League Week magazine stated the voting criteria were to be based solely on a player's "on field performance" (despite admitting to using ecstasy while playing). In early November 2012, Johns signed on as assistant coach of the Manly Sea Eagles for the 2013 Rugby League season, mentoring and ambassadorial roles.
Ecstasy use controversy
On 26 August 2007 Johns was arrested for fare evasion on the London Underground, and subsequently found to be in possession of one ecstasy tablet. He was cautioned and released with no further charges. Johns initially claimed that an unknown person had pushed the tablet into his pocket which he later forgot to remove before leaving the crowded venue. This initial statement was met with a great deal of cynicism from both the press and the public. On 30 August, Johns revealed, live on the Footy Show, that he had regularly taken ecstasy throughout his playing career, mainly during the off-season. He claimed he had suffered from depression and bipolar disorder and the drugs helped him in dealing with the high level of psychological 'pressure' associated with his career as an elite sportsman. Not long after the incident he released his 'tell-all' autobiography that went into further details regarding his depression and drug use while playing in the NRL.
The ARU released a press statement shortly after the controversy arose, stating that Johns' drug use was known to the ARU and was a key factor in its decision to not proceed with contractual negotiations in 2004. Brett Robinson, then high-performance unit manager, said that, as well as Johns' age and injury history, the knowledge of his drug taking had been influential in the ARU making its final decision.
When Johns was named the Best Player of the Last 30 Years in early 2008, the accolade allayed concern that Johns' shock drug admission the year before had tarnished his remarkable efforts on the field for Newcastle, NSW and Australia. On receiving the award he was quoted as saying his health was now in great shape. "I'm at the best place I have been in a long time," he said. "It's not until you step away that I realise all the pressure I was under, I'm not going to miss playing at all."
Racism controversy
In June 2010 during the lead-up to Origin II, New South Wales Timana Tahu withdrew mid-week from the NSW squad following reports Johns referred to Queensland player Greg Inglis as a "black cunt" during a training session. Johns was subsequently fired from his role as NSW assistant coach. Though he apologised for the incident on Tuesday 15 June, it is alleged it was not the first time Johns had used racist language in a football environment. Inglis demanded Johns be barred from any involvement in rugby league.
More Joyous Scandal
Johns was the catalyst to the More Joyous Scandal, engulfing leading Sydney horse trainer Gai Waterhouse, advertising figure John Singleton (racehorse More Joyous's owner) and bookmaker and son of the horse trainer Tom Waterhouse. Johns passed information from Tom Waterhouse that horse More Joyous was "off" on to brothel owner Eddie Hayson and former jockey Allan Robinson. Singleton received word of this and verbally attacked Gai Waterhouse on live television. Johns feared his Channel 9 commentating career would be over due to the trouble he caused Tom Waterhouse, a Channel 9 advertiser. Johns's commentating career survived, although his reputation was further damaged. Both Waterhouses were cleared of any major wrongdoing by a Racing NSW inquiry, however, Singleton and Gai's longstanding partnership ceased until 2016.
Epilepsy
In 2019, Johns revealed that he had been diagnosed with epilepsy. His doctors were of the view that his playing career could have contributed to the diagnosis. In an interview with his brother, Matthew Johns on Fox League on Sunday night, he said, “They think maybe a contributor could be some of the concussions I’ve had and ... continual head knocks”. Johns lost his driver's licence after suffering an epileptic seizure at a cafe in Yamba on the New South Wales north coast in December 2018. The Roads and Maritime Service (RMS) initially refused to return his licence but did when his lawyer, Avinash Singh, successfully appealed the decision.
Career statistics
Club career
Representative career
Achievements, awards and accolades
In February 2008, Johns was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to
celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. Johns went on to be named as in Australian rugby league's Team of the Century. Announced on 17 April 2008, the team is the panel's majority choice for each of the thirteen starting positions and four interchange players. In 2008 New South Wales announced their rugby league team of the century also and Johns was again named as a .
Newcastle Knights records
Most points in a match: 34 (v Canberra, 29 July 2001)
Most tries in a match: 4 (v Canberra, 29 July 2001 – record shared with Darren Albert, Adam MacDougall, Cooper Vuna, James McManus & Akuila Uate)
Most goals in a match: 11 (v Canberra, 19 March 2006)
Most points in a season: 279 (2001 National Rugby League Season)
Most first grade appearances: 249
Most points for the club: 2,176
Australian premiership records
Retired as highest individual point scorer in premiership history: 2,176 (eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 (now 4th).
The competition's leading point scorer in 2001: 279 points.
Most ever points scored by a in a single National Rugby League season (279 in 2001).
International records
Most points scored on international debut: 30 (v South Africa at the 1995 World Cup)
Most points scored in a test match: 32 (v Fiji in 1996)
Most goals in a test match: 12 (v Fiji in 1996)
Awards
Dally M Medal (best player in the NRL competition): 3 (1998, 1999 and 2002)
Provan-Summons Medal (fans' favourite player): 5 (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002)
Golden Boot (best player in the world): 2 (1999 and 2001)
Clive Churchill Medal (man-of-the-match in the grand final): 1 (2001)
Dally M 'Representative Player of the Year' Award: 1 (2005)
Player of the Series – Australia v Great Britain: 2001
Most Valuable Player of the Tournament at the 1995 World Cup in England
State of Origin man-of-the-match: 4 (Game 2, 1996; Game 1, 2002; Game 2, 2003 and Game 2, 2005)
Voted #1 in the 'Modern Masters Top 30 Players of the Past 30 Years' poll (Rugby League Week)
Announced as the eighth Immortal of the Australian game on 27 September 2012 joining other greats: Bob Fulton, John Raper, Clive Churchill, Reg Gasnier, Graeme Langlands, Wally Lewis and Arthur Beetson. This being the ultimate honour one could receive as a professional rugby league footballer.
Inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame on 11 October 2012 at the Crown Palladium in Melbourne along with fellow greats of Australian sport such as Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett and cricketing great Adam Gilchrist
See also
List of cricket and rugby league players
References
Further reading
External links
State of Origin Official website Rugby League Player Stats
2001 Ashes profile
Sport Australia Hall of Fame profile
Australian Network Entertainment profile
1974 births
Living people
Australia national rugby league team captains
Australia national rugby league team players
Australian autobiographers
Australian cricketers
Australian people of Welsh descent
Australian republicans
Australian rugby league commentators
Australian rugby league players
Cessnock Goannas players
Clive Churchill Medal winners
Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players
Cricketers from New South Wales
New South Wales cricketers
New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin captains
New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players
Newcastle Knights captains
Newcastle Knights players
People with bipolar disorder
Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal
Rugby league halfbacks
Rugby league players from Cessnock, New South Wales
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
Warrington Wolves players
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[
"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"
] |
[
"Andrew Johns",
"2006-2007",
"What happened during 2006?",
"Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season",
"How did he do that?",
"he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club,",
"When was this record broken?",
"Round 2 of the 2006 season",
"did he have any other notable wins?",
"Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year.",
"What was this record for?",
"A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia,",
"Did he win any awards?",
"On his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game."
] |
C_5733ad160c7c4183a4fae7edd7b7bfcc_1
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Did he have any notable losses?
| 7 |
Did Andrew Johns have any notable losses?
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Andrew Johns
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Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season as he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club, surpassing Mick Cronin's 1,971 points for Parramatta. Back in the NRL, playing for Newcastle during a Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year. A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia, eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 points. He rather coincidentally scored the record-breaking conversion in a 46-12 loss to the Eels, who were coached at the time by Jason Taylor. Things did not start well for Johns in the 2007 season as he lasted only four minutes into Round 1. As Canterbury Bulldogs forward Sonny Bill Williams went to perform one of his trade-mark hits on Johns, the tackle strayed high leaving Johns lying concussed. Williams pleaded guilty at the judiciary to a reckless high tackle, and received a two-week suspension for the hit. Johns missed the following match but returned in Round 3 against the Canberra Raiders--which would be his last career match in the NRL. On the Thursday after the Canberra match, a tackle with Newcastle teammate Adam Woolnough in a training session resulted in his referral to a specialist to examine a neck injury. It was revealed that Johns had a bulging disc in his neck. It was confirmed that this had been present for some time and was not related to the training incident. All medical advice was that Johns should retire from professional football, since any further neck injury could prove life-threatening and on 10 April 2007, Johns announced his retirement from rugby league. The Newcastle Knights' season would fall apart: they finished 15th of 16 teams on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the Wooden Spoon with a narrow two-point victory in their last match of the season. Johns tried to soften the blow of his retirement by saying he had been seriously considering retirement at the end of the 2007 season and was quoted in the press as saying "I knew this year would be my last year, it's just unfortunate it's stopped five months before the end of the season." Commenting on his teammates' reaction to his retirement, Johns noted: "They were sort of relieved I think, after a couple of injuries this year ... I think the time's right." On his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game. In the preceding 13 years, the former Cessnock junior had changed the game like few others before him. On October 2008 Johns completed a walk from Newcastle to Sydney to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute. CANNOTANSWER
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they finished 15th of 16 teams on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the Wooden Spoon with a narrow two-point victory
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Andrew Gary Johns (born 19 May 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in rugby league history. Johns captained the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League and participated in the team's only two premiership victories in 1997 and 2001, playing a club record 249 games for the Knights. Johns also represented his country at two World Cups, and on one Kangaroo tour, playing in total 21 Test matches for the national side. He played in 23 State of Origin series matches for the New South Wales Blues (captaining the side to a series win in 2003), and played for the Country Origin side in 1995 and 2003.
Johns announced his retirement from rugby league on 10 April 2007 at the age of 32. This followed a long run of injuries, the last of which was a bulging disc in his neck which forced his retirement due to the risk of serious spinal injury from further heavy contact. Andrew Johns is one of only four players to have won the Golden Boot Award more than once and is one of only two players to have won the Dally M Medal for best player in the NRL three times. He finished his career as the highest points scorer in Australian first-grade premiership history with 2,176 points.
In 2008, less than a year into his retirement, Johns was named as the Greatest Player of the last 30 years by the publication 'Rugby League Week', beating the likes of Queensland legend Wally Lewis (voted #2), fellow NSW star Brad Fittler (voted #3) and then former Queensland and Australian captain Darren Lockyer (voted #4). On 28 September 2012, Johns was named as the eighth 'Immortal' of rugby league.
Football career
Early Days
Andrew Johns began playing junior rugby league in his home town of Cessnock, New South Wales for the Cessnock Goannas. At an early age it was evident he had plenty of playing ability and Johns joined the Newcastle Knights junior ranks at age 15 in 1989. Four years later, at 19, the opportunity at first grade presented itself as Johns was tested off the bench during the 1993 season in a handful of games. The following year in the last pre-season trial for the 1994 season, Matthew Rodwell, Newcastle's then-regular sustained a knee injury handing Johns his opportunity. Subsequently, he was named in the starting line-up against the South Sydney Rabbitohs and in his début match made an immediate impact as he amassed 23 points and won the Man of the Match award. He soon formed a winning partnership with his older brother, Matthew Johns, who had played at the Knights since 1991.
1995–2001
The 1995 ARL season saw prosperous times for Johns, as in the absence of Super League-aligned players, he was selected for the first time to represent New South Wales in the 1995 State of Origin series. Incumbent New South Wales Ricky Stuart was not selected due to his affiliation with Super League. Also that year he was able to make his début for the Kangaroos in Australia's successful 1995 World Cup campaign in England. He played as a and was named man of the match in the decider against England at Wembley Stadium as Australia once again retained the World Cup. At the conclusion of the World Cup, Johns was awarded his first significant accolade, being named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. The following year Johns was moved to for the State of Origin, with New South Wales selectors favouring Geoff Toovey in the role. Since then, Johns was regularly chosen for state and national representative sides when fit, only missing out on a Blues or Australian cap due to injury.
During the 1997 ARL season Johns played a pivotal role in guiding the Knights to their first grand final appearance—against defending champions and '97 minor premiers the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. There were grave concerns leading up to the match that Johns would be unable to play the game, as he had suffered three broken ribs and a punctured lung only a fortnight earlier. However, Johns was able to play, and with less than a minute of the match to go with scores tied at 16-all Johns made a play that has gone down in rugby league folklore. He went out of position unexpectedly and into dummy half where he ran down a narrow blind side before slipping a pass to Newcastle Darren Albert for the match-winning try. With only six seconds remaining in the game Newcastle had snatched victory and secured their first premiership title.
The following year in the new National Rugby League the Knights performed even better during the regular season than in the previous year, losing only five matches and narrowly missing out on the minor premiership on points difference. Johns individually was brilliant and was awarded his first Player of the Year Dally M Medal award for the 1998 season. Unfortunately for Johns and NSW fans, he had one of his worst goal-kicking games in Game 1 of the 1998 State of Origin series as NSW lost by one point despite scoring more tries than Queensland. His performances at club, state and national level were again rewarded as he received his second Player of the Year Dally M Medal award, the first time a player had won the award consecutively since Parramatta Eels great Michael Cronin in 1977 and 1978.
Despite initial concerns regarding the leadership of the Knights after the retirement of Paul Harragon, and even more when Andrew's brother Matthew joined English Super League club the Wigan Warriors, Johns was given the responsibility of captaining the Newcastle squad. The fears proved groundless: Johns led Newcastle to another Grand Final victory, defeating the Parramatta Eels 30–24 in 2001. He was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for Man of the Match in a Grand Final and at the end of the 2001 NRL season, he went on the 2001 Kangaroo tour. He was the top points scorer in Australia's successful Ashes series campaign and was named man of the match for the second Test. Also that year he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league.
2002–2005
Having won the 2001 NRL Premiership, the Knights travelled to England to play the 2002 World Club Challenge against Super League champions the Bradford Bulls. Johns captained as a , scoring a try and kicking three goals in Newcastle's loss. In 2002, Johns was awarded the captaincy of both New South Wales and Australia, going on to win the title of Player of the Series against Great Britain. At a club level Andrew Johns and the Newcastle Knights performed well, narrowly missing out on the minor premiership on points difference. Unfortunately, the Knights' finals campaign derailed as Johns broke a bone in his back in the first week of the finals, and the Knights without Johns ended up losing to eventual premiers the Sydney Roosters 38–12 to be knocked out of the season. Before his injury Johns' season had been marvellous and despite his lack of involvement in the finals series he was named the Player of the Year Dally M Medal for a record third time, a feat achieved by only one other player, Johnathan Thurston, to date.
Johns' back injury at the tail-end of 2002 was the first of what seemed like a plague of injuries over the next few seasons: he had a serious neck injury that threatened his career in 2003, sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury which kept him out of most of the 2004 season, and broke his jaw in early 2005.
During the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup, Wales assistant coach Scott Johnson got Johns to assist with pre-match preparation by speaking to the players and presenting them with their jerseys.
Johns was the center of controversy in 2004 after receiving a massive offer from rugby union to switch codes. Numerous past legends of both codes expressed their opinions. Debate continues about what happened during the negotiations with rugby union, since the contractual offers were made by the Waratahs without the salary top-ups from the Australian Rugby Union that had been usual in contractual negotiations with previous potential converts from rugby league. The ARU's formal reasons for not supporting the Waratahs' bid to secure Johns were his age (30) and injury history. These were later retracted after the "ecstasy controversy" (see below).
Even without the additional monetary support from the ARU, the Waratahs were able to table an offer to Johns that was far larger than any rugby league club could offer on its own. After David Gallop, the CEO of the NRL and Channel Nine contributed money and a promise of a commentary position after his career ended, Johns finally decided to stay in league, ending months of speculation and debate. He says his decision was greatly affected by his son, who wanted him to stay in league. He was also approached by the Welsh Rugby Union because of his Welsh heritage.
As Game 2 of the 2005 State of Origin series approached, the Blues were down 0–1 and Johns was selected to replace Brett Kimmorley in the New South Wales squad. The second game in the series was his first match since returning from a series of injuries that sidelined him for a number of weeks. Johns did not have to struggle to regain his form, receiving Man-of-the-Match honours in the Blues' 32–22 win over Queensland. He was again chosen as the first-choice for Game 3 and performed well, sealing the series for the Blues with a strong 32–10 win, their last series win for quite some time.
In August 2005, it was announced that Johns would join the Super League side the Warrington Wolves on a short-term deal, playing in the final two games of the regular Super League season and any playoff games the Wolves might reach. The Knights agreed to these terms only after Johns first signed a new contract, making him available to captain the Knights until the end of 2008.
2006–2007
Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season as he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club, surpassing Mick Cronin's 1,971 points for Parramatta.
Back in the NRL, playing for Newcastle during a Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year. A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia, eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 points. He rather coincidentally scored the record-breaking conversion in a 46–12 loss to the Eels, who were coached at the time by Jason Taylor.
Things did not start well for Johns in the 2007 season as he lasted only four minutes into Round 1. As Canterbury Bulldogs forward Sonny Bill Williams went to perform one of his trade-mark hits on Johns, the tackle strayed high leaving Johns lying concussed. Williams pleaded guilty at the judiciary to a reckless high tackle, and received a two-week suspension for the hit. Johns missed the following match but returned in Round 3 against the Canberra Raiders—which would be his last career match in the NRL. On the Thursday after the Canberra match, a tackle with Newcastle teammate Adam Woolnough in a training session resulted in his referral to a specialist to examine a neck injury. It was revealed that Johns had a bulging disc in his neck. It was confirmed that this had been present for some time and was not related to the training incident. All medical advice was that Johns should retire from professional football, since any further neck injury could prove life-threatening and on 10 April 2007, Johns announced his retirement from rugby league.
The Newcastle Knights' season would fall apart: they finished 15th of 16 teams on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the Wooden Spoon with a narrow two-point victory in their last match of the season. Johns tried to soften the blow of his retirement by saying he had been seriously considering retirement at the end of the 2007 season and was quoted in the press as saying "I knew this year would be my last year, it's just unfortunate it's stopped five months before the end of the season." Commenting on his teammates' reaction to his retirement, Johns noted: "They were sort of relieved I think, after a couple of injuries this year ... I think the time's right."
On his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game. In the preceding 13 years, the former Cessnock junior had changed the game like few others before him. In October 2008 Johns completed a walk from Newcastle to Sydney to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute.
Cricket career
In June 2006 it was announced that, while still playing rugby league, Johns would play cricket for New South Wales, in its Twenty20 series. The announcement sparked much media interest and many critics and the public suspected a public relations stunt as his first match was to be played in Johns' home town of Newcastle. Despite this, Johns made his professional cricket debut for NSW on 7 January 2007 against South Australia in front of a record crowd at Newcastle Number 1 Sports Ground. He had a missed opportunity to take a wicket: a short-pitched delivery was pulled to the boundary but much to the dismay of the large Newcastle crowd, the catch was put down. In his second match, against Tasmania at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Johns scored only nine runs and with that his short cricket career was over.
After retirement
Johns sought to celebrate the inclusion of Australia's Dally Messenger in the original All Golds tour, Johns had been invited to join the New Zealand team for the match against the Northern Union. Despite his neck injury, he was able to play with the squad, and completed the match uninjured, but declined another offer from the New Zealand team. Queensland and Australia Darren Lockyer was invited to take Johns' place but then Lockyer himself was ruled out after suffering a season-ending knee injury. New Zealand Warriors captain and Queensland front rower Steve Price was the eventual replacement for the match.
Andrew became a commentator for Channel 9 and Monday Night Football on Triple M radio.
On 22 April in Round 6 of 2007, Newcastle held special farewell celebrations for Andrew Johns in the Knights' home game against Brisbane. The Knights board renamed the new $30 million East grandstand of EnergyAustralia Stadium the Andrew Johns Stand. In addition, in a first for the NRL, his number 7 jersey was retired for the match with new young Jarrod Mullen wearing number 18. Later in the year the Knights named Johns as and captain for their commemorative Team of the Era.
In June 2007, in what would be the first of his involvements as a specialist part-time coach, rival code the Australian Rugby Union hired Johns as the Wallabies in-play kicking coach for the duration of the 2007 Tri Nations Series. On 27 October 2007, Johns married his partner Cathrine Mahoney in a secret wedding on a Sydney island. When Johns returned from his honeymoon at the beginning of the 2008 Pre-season, he began a part-time coaching role with the Parramatta Eels, working one on one with Eels halves Brett Finch and Tim Smith. In the same time frame Johns worked with his old club the Newcastle Knights in a similar skills specific coaching role. The third club to hire Johns for his coaching services was the Canterbury Bulldogs, who signed Johns for the 2008 season. The role involved him in specifically working with the halves, s and backs.
In February 2008, a year after his retirement, Johns moved a step closer to becoming rugby league's next Immortal after being named the Best Player of the Last 30 Years by a major rugby league magazine. On 17 April 2008 he was named in Team of the Century as a by a 28-man judging panel, who voted in a secret ballot and chose the team from an original list of the 100 Greatest Players named earlier in the year. Later, Johns said he felt "the game has forgiven me". On 9 September 2008 at the Dally M awards in Sydney, Johns and his wife Cathrine announced they were expecting their first child in March 2009 (Johns has a son from his previous marriage). On 1 March 2009, Johns and Cathrine welcomed their first child and son, Louis Byron
In 2010 the Melbourne Rebels announced they had secured the services of Johns to work with the Super Rugby club's inside backs. Recent Rebels signing James O'Connor said "Obviously he comes from a league background but there was nobody better at taking the ball to the line and pulling those balls back ... the chance to work with him was pretty awesome."
Despite Johns' ecstasy use controversy, he was officially announced as the eighth 'Immortal' of the game on 28 September 2012, after Rugby League Week magazine stated the voting criteria were to be based solely on a player's "on field performance" (despite admitting to using ecstasy while playing). In early November 2012, Johns signed on as assistant coach of the Manly Sea Eagles for the 2013 Rugby League season, mentoring and ambassadorial roles.
Ecstasy use controversy
On 26 August 2007 Johns was arrested for fare evasion on the London Underground, and subsequently found to be in possession of one ecstasy tablet. He was cautioned and released with no further charges. Johns initially claimed that an unknown person had pushed the tablet into his pocket which he later forgot to remove before leaving the crowded venue. This initial statement was met with a great deal of cynicism from both the press and the public. On 30 August, Johns revealed, live on the Footy Show, that he had regularly taken ecstasy throughout his playing career, mainly during the off-season. He claimed he had suffered from depression and bipolar disorder and the drugs helped him in dealing with the high level of psychological 'pressure' associated with his career as an elite sportsman. Not long after the incident he released his 'tell-all' autobiography that went into further details regarding his depression and drug use while playing in the NRL.
The ARU released a press statement shortly after the controversy arose, stating that Johns' drug use was known to the ARU and was a key factor in its decision to not proceed with contractual negotiations in 2004. Brett Robinson, then high-performance unit manager, said that, as well as Johns' age and injury history, the knowledge of his drug taking had been influential in the ARU making its final decision.
When Johns was named the Best Player of the Last 30 Years in early 2008, the accolade allayed concern that Johns' shock drug admission the year before had tarnished his remarkable efforts on the field for Newcastle, NSW and Australia. On receiving the award he was quoted as saying his health was now in great shape. "I'm at the best place I have been in a long time," he said. "It's not until you step away that I realise all the pressure I was under, I'm not going to miss playing at all."
Racism controversy
In June 2010 during the lead-up to Origin II, New South Wales Timana Tahu withdrew mid-week from the NSW squad following reports Johns referred to Queensland player Greg Inglis as a "black cunt" during a training session. Johns was subsequently fired from his role as NSW assistant coach. Though he apologised for the incident on Tuesday 15 June, it is alleged it was not the first time Johns had used racist language in a football environment. Inglis demanded Johns be barred from any involvement in rugby league.
More Joyous Scandal
Johns was the catalyst to the More Joyous Scandal, engulfing leading Sydney horse trainer Gai Waterhouse, advertising figure John Singleton (racehorse More Joyous's owner) and bookmaker and son of the horse trainer Tom Waterhouse. Johns passed information from Tom Waterhouse that horse More Joyous was "off" on to brothel owner Eddie Hayson and former jockey Allan Robinson. Singleton received word of this and verbally attacked Gai Waterhouse on live television. Johns feared his Channel 9 commentating career would be over due to the trouble he caused Tom Waterhouse, a Channel 9 advertiser. Johns's commentating career survived, although his reputation was further damaged. Both Waterhouses were cleared of any major wrongdoing by a Racing NSW inquiry, however, Singleton and Gai's longstanding partnership ceased until 2016.
Epilepsy
In 2019, Johns revealed that he had been diagnosed with epilepsy. His doctors were of the view that his playing career could have contributed to the diagnosis. In an interview with his brother, Matthew Johns on Fox League on Sunday night, he said, “They think maybe a contributor could be some of the concussions I’ve had and ... continual head knocks”. Johns lost his driver's licence after suffering an epileptic seizure at a cafe in Yamba on the New South Wales north coast in December 2018. The Roads and Maritime Service (RMS) initially refused to return his licence but did when his lawyer, Avinash Singh, successfully appealed the decision.
Career statistics
Club career
Representative career
Achievements, awards and accolades
In February 2008, Johns was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to
celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. Johns went on to be named as in Australian rugby league's Team of the Century. Announced on 17 April 2008, the team is the panel's majority choice for each of the thirteen starting positions and four interchange players. In 2008 New South Wales announced their rugby league team of the century also and Johns was again named as a .
Newcastle Knights records
Most points in a match: 34 (v Canberra, 29 July 2001)
Most tries in a match: 4 (v Canberra, 29 July 2001 – record shared with Darren Albert, Adam MacDougall, Cooper Vuna, James McManus & Akuila Uate)
Most goals in a match: 11 (v Canberra, 19 March 2006)
Most points in a season: 279 (2001 National Rugby League Season)
Most first grade appearances: 249
Most points for the club: 2,176
Australian premiership records
Retired as highest individual point scorer in premiership history: 2,176 (eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 (now 4th).
The competition's leading point scorer in 2001: 279 points.
Most ever points scored by a in a single National Rugby League season (279 in 2001).
International records
Most points scored on international debut: 30 (v South Africa at the 1995 World Cup)
Most points scored in a test match: 32 (v Fiji in 1996)
Most goals in a test match: 12 (v Fiji in 1996)
Awards
Dally M Medal (best player in the NRL competition): 3 (1998, 1999 and 2002)
Provan-Summons Medal (fans' favourite player): 5 (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002)
Golden Boot (best player in the world): 2 (1999 and 2001)
Clive Churchill Medal (man-of-the-match in the grand final): 1 (2001)
Dally M 'Representative Player of the Year' Award: 1 (2005)
Player of the Series – Australia v Great Britain: 2001
Most Valuable Player of the Tournament at the 1995 World Cup in England
State of Origin man-of-the-match: 4 (Game 2, 1996; Game 1, 2002; Game 2, 2003 and Game 2, 2005)
Voted #1 in the 'Modern Masters Top 30 Players of the Past 30 Years' poll (Rugby League Week)
Announced as the eighth Immortal of the Australian game on 27 September 2012 joining other greats: Bob Fulton, John Raper, Clive Churchill, Reg Gasnier, Graeme Langlands, Wally Lewis and Arthur Beetson. This being the ultimate honour one could receive as a professional rugby league footballer.
Inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame on 11 October 2012 at the Crown Palladium in Melbourne along with fellow greats of Australian sport such as Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett and cricketing great Adam Gilchrist
See also
List of cricket and rugby league players
References
Further reading
External links
State of Origin Official website Rugby League Player Stats
2001 Ashes profile
Sport Australia Hall of Fame profile
Australian Network Entertainment profile
1974 births
Living people
Australia national rugby league team captains
Australia national rugby league team players
Australian autobiographers
Australian cricketers
Australian people of Welsh descent
Australian republicans
Australian rugby league commentators
Australian rugby league players
Cessnock Goannas players
Clive Churchill Medal winners
Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players
Cricketers from New South Wales
New South Wales cricketers
New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin captains
New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players
Newcastle Knights captains
Newcastle Knights players
People with bipolar disorder
Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal
Rugby league halfbacks
Rugby league players from Cessnock, New South Wales
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
Warrington Wolves players
| true |
[
"The following contains a list of trading losses of the equivalent of USD100 million or higher. Trading losses are the amount of principal losses in an account. Because of the secretive nature of many hedge funds and fund managers, some notable losses may never be reported to the public. The list is ordered by the real amount lost, starting with the greatest.\n\nThis list includes both fraudulent and non-fraudulent losses, but excludes those associated with Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme (estimated in the $50 billion range) as Madoff did not lose most of this money in trading.\n\nSee also \n Rogue trader\n Derivative (finance)\n Silver Thursday\n Sumitomo copper affair\n\nReferences \n\nLists by economic indicators\nStock market-related lists\n\nInternational trade-related lists",
"The 1971 Oakland Athletics season involved the A's finishing first in the American League West with a record of 101 wins and 60 losses. In their first postseason appearance of any kind since 1931, the A's were swept in three games by the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Championship Series.\n\nOffseason\n January 13, 1971: 1971 Major League Baseball Draft (January Draft) notable picks:\nRound 5: Rich Dauer (did not sign) \nSecondary Phase\nRound 1: Phil Garner\nRound 3: Steve Staggs (did not sign)\n\nRegular season \nVida Blue became the first black player in the history of the American League to win the American League Cy Young Award. He was also the youngest AL player in the 20th century to win the MVP Award. During the year, Vida Blue was on the cover of Sports Illustrated and Time magazine.\n\nSeason standings\n\nRecord vs. opponents\n\nOpening Day starters \n 1B Don Mincher\n 2B Dick Green\n 3B Sal Bando\n SS Bert Campaneris\n LF Felipe Alou\n CF Rick Monday\n RF Reggie Jackson\n C Dave Duncan\n P Vida Blue\n\nNotable transactions \n May 8, 1971: Frank Fernández, Don Mincher, Paul Lindblad, and cash were traded by the Athletics to the Washington Senators for Darold Knowles and Mike Epstein.\n May 26, 1971: Rob Gardner was traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Curt Blefary.\n June 12, 1971: Champ Summers was signed by the Athletics as an amateur free agent.\n\nRoster\n\nPlayer stats\n\nBatting\n\nStarters by position \nNote: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in\n\nOther batters \nNote: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in\n\nPitching\n\nStarting pitchers \nNote: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts\n\nOther pitchers \nNote: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts\n\nRelief pitchers \nNote: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts\n\nAwards and honors \n Vida Blue, P, American League Cy Young Award\n Vida Blue, P, American League Most Valuable Player Award. Sal Bando, second in American League MVP voting\n Dick Williams, Associated Press AL Manager of the Year\n\nAll-Stars \n1971 Major League Baseball All-Star Game\n Vida Blue, pitcher, starter\n Dave Duncan, reserve\n Reggie Jackson, reserve\n\n1971 American League Championship Series\n\nGame 1 \nSunday, October 3, 1971, at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland\n\nGame 2 \nMonday, October 4, 1971, at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland\n\nGame 3 \nTuesday, October 5, 1971, at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California\n\nFarm system\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n1971 Oakland Athletics team page at Baseball Reference\n1971 Oakland Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com\n\nOakland Athletics seasons\nOakland Athletics season\nAmerican League West champion seasons\nOakland Athletics"
] |
[
"Andrew Johns",
"2006-2007",
"What happened during 2006?",
"Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season",
"How did he do that?",
"he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club,",
"When was this record broken?",
"Round 2 of the 2006 season",
"did he have any other notable wins?",
"Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year.",
"What was this record for?",
"A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia,",
"Did he win any awards?",
"On his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game.",
"Did he have any notable losses?",
"they finished 15th of 16 teams on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the Wooden Spoon with a narrow two-point victory"
] |
C_5733ad160c7c4183a4fae7edd7b7bfcc_1
|
Did he win any championships?
| 8 |
Did Andrew Johns win any championships?
|
Andrew Johns
|
Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season as he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club, surpassing Mick Cronin's 1,971 points for Parramatta. Back in the NRL, playing for Newcastle during a Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year. A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia, eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 points. He rather coincidentally scored the record-breaking conversion in a 46-12 loss to the Eels, who were coached at the time by Jason Taylor. Things did not start well for Johns in the 2007 season as he lasted only four minutes into Round 1. As Canterbury Bulldogs forward Sonny Bill Williams went to perform one of his trade-mark hits on Johns, the tackle strayed high leaving Johns lying concussed. Williams pleaded guilty at the judiciary to a reckless high tackle, and received a two-week suspension for the hit. Johns missed the following match but returned in Round 3 against the Canberra Raiders--which would be his last career match in the NRL. On the Thursday after the Canberra match, a tackle with Newcastle teammate Adam Woolnough in a training session resulted in his referral to a specialist to examine a neck injury. It was revealed that Johns had a bulging disc in his neck. It was confirmed that this had been present for some time and was not related to the training incident. All medical advice was that Johns should retire from professional football, since any further neck injury could prove life-threatening and on 10 April 2007, Johns announced his retirement from rugby league. The Newcastle Knights' season would fall apart: they finished 15th of 16 teams on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the Wooden Spoon with a narrow two-point victory in their last match of the season. Johns tried to soften the blow of his retirement by saying he had been seriously considering retirement at the end of the 2007 season and was quoted in the press as saying "I knew this year would be my last year, it's just unfortunate it's stopped five months before the end of the season." Commenting on his teammates' reaction to his retirement, Johns noted: "They were sort of relieved I think, after a couple of injuries this year ... I think the time's right." On his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game. In the preceding 13 years, the former Cessnock junior had changed the game like few others before him. On October 2008 Johns completed a walk from Newcastle to Sydney to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute. CANNOTANSWER
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CANNOTANSWER
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Andrew Gary Johns (born 19 May 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in rugby league history. Johns captained the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League and participated in the team's only two premiership victories in 1997 and 2001, playing a club record 249 games for the Knights. Johns also represented his country at two World Cups, and on one Kangaroo tour, playing in total 21 Test matches for the national side. He played in 23 State of Origin series matches for the New South Wales Blues (captaining the side to a series win in 2003), and played for the Country Origin side in 1995 and 2003.
Johns announced his retirement from rugby league on 10 April 2007 at the age of 32. This followed a long run of injuries, the last of which was a bulging disc in his neck which forced his retirement due to the risk of serious spinal injury from further heavy contact. Andrew Johns is one of only four players to have won the Golden Boot Award more than once and is one of only two players to have won the Dally M Medal for best player in the NRL three times. He finished his career as the highest points scorer in Australian first-grade premiership history with 2,176 points.
In 2008, less than a year into his retirement, Johns was named as the Greatest Player of the last 30 years by the publication 'Rugby League Week', beating the likes of Queensland legend Wally Lewis (voted #2), fellow NSW star Brad Fittler (voted #3) and then former Queensland and Australian captain Darren Lockyer (voted #4). On 28 September 2012, Johns was named as the eighth 'Immortal' of rugby league.
Football career
Early Days
Andrew Johns began playing junior rugby league in his home town of Cessnock, New South Wales for the Cessnock Goannas. At an early age it was evident he had plenty of playing ability and Johns joined the Newcastle Knights junior ranks at age 15 in 1989. Four years later, at 19, the opportunity at first grade presented itself as Johns was tested off the bench during the 1993 season in a handful of games. The following year in the last pre-season trial for the 1994 season, Matthew Rodwell, Newcastle's then-regular sustained a knee injury handing Johns his opportunity. Subsequently, he was named in the starting line-up against the South Sydney Rabbitohs and in his début match made an immediate impact as he amassed 23 points and won the Man of the Match award. He soon formed a winning partnership with his older brother, Matthew Johns, who had played at the Knights since 1991.
1995–2001
The 1995 ARL season saw prosperous times for Johns, as in the absence of Super League-aligned players, he was selected for the first time to represent New South Wales in the 1995 State of Origin series. Incumbent New South Wales Ricky Stuart was not selected due to his affiliation with Super League. Also that year he was able to make his début for the Kangaroos in Australia's successful 1995 World Cup campaign in England. He played as a and was named man of the match in the decider against England at Wembley Stadium as Australia once again retained the World Cup. At the conclusion of the World Cup, Johns was awarded his first significant accolade, being named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. The following year Johns was moved to for the State of Origin, with New South Wales selectors favouring Geoff Toovey in the role. Since then, Johns was regularly chosen for state and national representative sides when fit, only missing out on a Blues or Australian cap due to injury.
During the 1997 ARL season Johns played a pivotal role in guiding the Knights to their first grand final appearance—against defending champions and '97 minor premiers the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. There were grave concerns leading up to the match that Johns would be unable to play the game, as he had suffered three broken ribs and a punctured lung only a fortnight earlier. However, Johns was able to play, and with less than a minute of the match to go with scores tied at 16-all Johns made a play that has gone down in rugby league folklore. He went out of position unexpectedly and into dummy half where he ran down a narrow blind side before slipping a pass to Newcastle Darren Albert for the match-winning try. With only six seconds remaining in the game Newcastle had snatched victory and secured their first premiership title.
The following year in the new National Rugby League the Knights performed even better during the regular season than in the previous year, losing only five matches and narrowly missing out on the minor premiership on points difference. Johns individually was brilliant and was awarded his first Player of the Year Dally M Medal award for the 1998 season. Unfortunately for Johns and NSW fans, he had one of his worst goal-kicking games in Game 1 of the 1998 State of Origin series as NSW lost by one point despite scoring more tries than Queensland. His performances at club, state and national level were again rewarded as he received his second Player of the Year Dally M Medal award, the first time a player had won the award consecutively since Parramatta Eels great Michael Cronin in 1977 and 1978.
Despite initial concerns regarding the leadership of the Knights after the retirement of Paul Harragon, and even more when Andrew's brother Matthew joined English Super League club the Wigan Warriors, Johns was given the responsibility of captaining the Newcastle squad. The fears proved groundless: Johns led Newcastle to another Grand Final victory, defeating the Parramatta Eels 30–24 in 2001. He was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for Man of the Match in a Grand Final and at the end of the 2001 NRL season, he went on the 2001 Kangaroo tour. He was the top points scorer in Australia's successful Ashes series campaign and was named man of the match for the second Test. Also that year he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league.
2002–2005
Having won the 2001 NRL Premiership, the Knights travelled to England to play the 2002 World Club Challenge against Super League champions the Bradford Bulls. Johns captained as a , scoring a try and kicking three goals in Newcastle's loss. In 2002, Johns was awarded the captaincy of both New South Wales and Australia, going on to win the title of Player of the Series against Great Britain. At a club level Andrew Johns and the Newcastle Knights performed well, narrowly missing out on the minor premiership on points difference. Unfortunately, the Knights' finals campaign derailed as Johns broke a bone in his back in the first week of the finals, and the Knights without Johns ended up losing to eventual premiers the Sydney Roosters 38–12 to be knocked out of the season. Before his injury Johns' season had been marvellous and despite his lack of involvement in the finals series he was named the Player of the Year Dally M Medal for a record third time, a feat achieved by only one other player, Johnathan Thurston, to date.
Johns' back injury at the tail-end of 2002 was the first of what seemed like a plague of injuries over the next few seasons: he had a serious neck injury that threatened his career in 2003, sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury which kept him out of most of the 2004 season, and broke his jaw in early 2005.
During the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup, Wales assistant coach Scott Johnson got Johns to assist with pre-match preparation by speaking to the players and presenting them with their jerseys.
Johns was the center of controversy in 2004 after receiving a massive offer from rugby union to switch codes. Numerous past legends of both codes expressed their opinions. Debate continues about what happened during the negotiations with rugby union, since the contractual offers were made by the Waratahs without the salary top-ups from the Australian Rugby Union that had been usual in contractual negotiations with previous potential converts from rugby league. The ARU's formal reasons for not supporting the Waratahs' bid to secure Johns were his age (30) and injury history. These were later retracted after the "ecstasy controversy" (see below).
Even without the additional monetary support from the ARU, the Waratahs were able to table an offer to Johns that was far larger than any rugby league club could offer on its own. After David Gallop, the CEO of the NRL and Channel Nine contributed money and a promise of a commentary position after his career ended, Johns finally decided to stay in league, ending months of speculation and debate. He says his decision was greatly affected by his son, who wanted him to stay in league. He was also approached by the Welsh Rugby Union because of his Welsh heritage.
As Game 2 of the 2005 State of Origin series approached, the Blues were down 0–1 and Johns was selected to replace Brett Kimmorley in the New South Wales squad. The second game in the series was his first match since returning from a series of injuries that sidelined him for a number of weeks. Johns did not have to struggle to regain his form, receiving Man-of-the-Match honours in the Blues' 32–22 win over Queensland. He was again chosen as the first-choice for Game 3 and performed well, sealing the series for the Blues with a strong 32–10 win, their last series win for quite some time.
In August 2005, it was announced that Johns would join the Super League side the Warrington Wolves on a short-term deal, playing in the final two games of the regular Super League season and any playoff games the Wolves might reach. The Knights agreed to these terms only after Johns first signed a new contract, making him available to captain the Knights until the end of 2008.
2006–2007
Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season as he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club, surpassing Mick Cronin's 1,971 points for Parramatta.
Back in the NRL, playing for Newcastle during a Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year. A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia, eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 points. He rather coincidentally scored the record-breaking conversion in a 46–12 loss to the Eels, who were coached at the time by Jason Taylor.
Things did not start well for Johns in the 2007 season as he lasted only four minutes into Round 1. As Canterbury Bulldogs forward Sonny Bill Williams went to perform one of his trade-mark hits on Johns, the tackle strayed high leaving Johns lying concussed. Williams pleaded guilty at the judiciary to a reckless high tackle, and received a two-week suspension for the hit. Johns missed the following match but returned in Round 3 against the Canberra Raiders—which would be his last career match in the NRL. On the Thursday after the Canberra match, a tackle with Newcastle teammate Adam Woolnough in a training session resulted in his referral to a specialist to examine a neck injury. It was revealed that Johns had a bulging disc in his neck. It was confirmed that this had been present for some time and was not related to the training incident. All medical advice was that Johns should retire from professional football, since any further neck injury could prove life-threatening and on 10 April 2007, Johns announced his retirement from rugby league.
The Newcastle Knights' season would fall apart: they finished 15th of 16 teams on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the Wooden Spoon with a narrow two-point victory in their last match of the season. Johns tried to soften the blow of his retirement by saying he had been seriously considering retirement at the end of the 2007 season and was quoted in the press as saying "I knew this year would be my last year, it's just unfortunate it's stopped five months before the end of the season." Commenting on his teammates' reaction to his retirement, Johns noted: "They were sort of relieved I think, after a couple of injuries this year ... I think the time's right."
On his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game. In the preceding 13 years, the former Cessnock junior had changed the game like few others before him. In October 2008 Johns completed a walk from Newcastle to Sydney to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute.
Cricket career
In June 2006 it was announced that, while still playing rugby league, Johns would play cricket for New South Wales, in its Twenty20 series. The announcement sparked much media interest and many critics and the public suspected a public relations stunt as his first match was to be played in Johns' home town of Newcastle. Despite this, Johns made his professional cricket debut for NSW on 7 January 2007 against South Australia in front of a record crowd at Newcastle Number 1 Sports Ground. He had a missed opportunity to take a wicket: a short-pitched delivery was pulled to the boundary but much to the dismay of the large Newcastle crowd, the catch was put down. In his second match, against Tasmania at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Johns scored only nine runs and with that his short cricket career was over.
After retirement
Johns sought to celebrate the inclusion of Australia's Dally Messenger in the original All Golds tour, Johns had been invited to join the New Zealand team for the match against the Northern Union. Despite his neck injury, he was able to play with the squad, and completed the match uninjured, but declined another offer from the New Zealand team. Queensland and Australia Darren Lockyer was invited to take Johns' place but then Lockyer himself was ruled out after suffering a season-ending knee injury. New Zealand Warriors captain and Queensland front rower Steve Price was the eventual replacement for the match.
Andrew became a commentator for Channel 9 and Monday Night Football on Triple M radio.
On 22 April in Round 6 of 2007, Newcastle held special farewell celebrations for Andrew Johns in the Knights' home game against Brisbane. The Knights board renamed the new $30 million East grandstand of EnergyAustralia Stadium the Andrew Johns Stand. In addition, in a first for the NRL, his number 7 jersey was retired for the match with new young Jarrod Mullen wearing number 18. Later in the year the Knights named Johns as and captain for their commemorative Team of the Era.
In June 2007, in what would be the first of his involvements as a specialist part-time coach, rival code the Australian Rugby Union hired Johns as the Wallabies in-play kicking coach for the duration of the 2007 Tri Nations Series. On 27 October 2007, Johns married his partner Cathrine Mahoney in a secret wedding on a Sydney island. When Johns returned from his honeymoon at the beginning of the 2008 Pre-season, he began a part-time coaching role with the Parramatta Eels, working one on one with Eels halves Brett Finch and Tim Smith. In the same time frame Johns worked with his old club the Newcastle Knights in a similar skills specific coaching role. The third club to hire Johns for his coaching services was the Canterbury Bulldogs, who signed Johns for the 2008 season. The role involved him in specifically working with the halves, s and backs.
In February 2008, a year after his retirement, Johns moved a step closer to becoming rugby league's next Immortal after being named the Best Player of the Last 30 Years by a major rugby league magazine. On 17 April 2008 he was named in Team of the Century as a by a 28-man judging panel, who voted in a secret ballot and chose the team from an original list of the 100 Greatest Players named earlier in the year. Later, Johns said he felt "the game has forgiven me". On 9 September 2008 at the Dally M awards in Sydney, Johns and his wife Cathrine announced they were expecting their first child in March 2009 (Johns has a son from his previous marriage). On 1 March 2009, Johns and Cathrine welcomed their first child and son, Louis Byron
In 2010 the Melbourne Rebels announced they had secured the services of Johns to work with the Super Rugby club's inside backs. Recent Rebels signing James O'Connor said "Obviously he comes from a league background but there was nobody better at taking the ball to the line and pulling those balls back ... the chance to work with him was pretty awesome."
Despite Johns' ecstasy use controversy, he was officially announced as the eighth 'Immortal' of the game on 28 September 2012, after Rugby League Week magazine stated the voting criteria were to be based solely on a player's "on field performance" (despite admitting to using ecstasy while playing). In early November 2012, Johns signed on as assistant coach of the Manly Sea Eagles for the 2013 Rugby League season, mentoring and ambassadorial roles.
Ecstasy use controversy
On 26 August 2007 Johns was arrested for fare evasion on the London Underground, and subsequently found to be in possession of one ecstasy tablet. He was cautioned and released with no further charges. Johns initially claimed that an unknown person had pushed the tablet into his pocket which he later forgot to remove before leaving the crowded venue. This initial statement was met with a great deal of cynicism from both the press and the public. On 30 August, Johns revealed, live on the Footy Show, that he had regularly taken ecstasy throughout his playing career, mainly during the off-season. He claimed he had suffered from depression and bipolar disorder and the drugs helped him in dealing with the high level of psychological 'pressure' associated with his career as an elite sportsman. Not long after the incident he released his 'tell-all' autobiography that went into further details regarding his depression and drug use while playing in the NRL.
The ARU released a press statement shortly after the controversy arose, stating that Johns' drug use was known to the ARU and was a key factor in its decision to not proceed with contractual negotiations in 2004. Brett Robinson, then high-performance unit manager, said that, as well as Johns' age and injury history, the knowledge of his drug taking had been influential in the ARU making its final decision.
When Johns was named the Best Player of the Last 30 Years in early 2008, the accolade allayed concern that Johns' shock drug admission the year before had tarnished his remarkable efforts on the field for Newcastle, NSW and Australia. On receiving the award he was quoted as saying his health was now in great shape. "I'm at the best place I have been in a long time," he said. "It's not until you step away that I realise all the pressure I was under, I'm not going to miss playing at all."
Racism controversy
In June 2010 during the lead-up to Origin II, New South Wales Timana Tahu withdrew mid-week from the NSW squad following reports Johns referred to Queensland player Greg Inglis as a "black cunt" during a training session. Johns was subsequently fired from his role as NSW assistant coach. Though he apologised for the incident on Tuesday 15 June, it is alleged it was not the first time Johns had used racist language in a football environment. Inglis demanded Johns be barred from any involvement in rugby league.
More Joyous Scandal
Johns was the catalyst to the More Joyous Scandal, engulfing leading Sydney horse trainer Gai Waterhouse, advertising figure John Singleton (racehorse More Joyous's owner) and bookmaker and son of the horse trainer Tom Waterhouse. Johns passed information from Tom Waterhouse that horse More Joyous was "off" on to brothel owner Eddie Hayson and former jockey Allan Robinson. Singleton received word of this and verbally attacked Gai Waterhouse on live television. Johns feared his Channel 9 commentating career would be over due to the trouble he caused Tom Waterhouse, a Channel 9 advertiser. Johns's commentating career survived, although his reputation was further damaged. Both Waterhouses were cleared of any major wrongdoing by a Racing NSW inquiry, however, Singleton and Gai's longstanding partnership ceased until 2016.
Epilepsy
In 2019, Johns revealed that he had been diagnosed with epilepsy. His doctors were of the view that his playing career could have contributed to the diagnosis. In an interview with his brother, Matthew Johns on Fox League on Sunday night, he said, “They think maybe a contributor could be some of the concussions I’ve had and ... continual head knocks”. Johns lost his driver's licence after suffering an epileptic seizure at a cafe in Yamba on the New South Wales north coast in December 2018. The Roads and Maritime Service (RMS) initially refused to return his licence but did when his lawyer, Avinash Singh, successfully appealed the decision.
Career statistics
Club career
Representative career
Achievements, awards and accolades
In February 2008, Johns was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to
celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. Johns went on to be named as in Australian rugby league's Team of the Century. Announced on 17 April 2008, the team is the panel's majority choice for each of the thirteen starting positions and four interchange players. In 2008 New South Wales announced their rugby league team of the century also and Johns was again named as a .
Newcastle Knights records
Most points in a match: 34 (v Canberra, 29 July 2001)
Most tries in a match: 4 (v Canberra, 29 July 2001 – record shared with Darren Albert, Adam MacDougall, Cooper Vuna, James McManus & Akuila Uate)
Most goals in a match: 11 (v Canberra, 19 March 2006)
Most points in a season: 279 (2001 National Rugby League Season)
Most first grade appearances: 249
Most points for the club: 2,176
Australian premiership records
Retired as highest individual point scorer in premiership history: 2,176 (eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 (now 4th).
The competition's leading point scorer in 2001: 279 points.
Most ever points scored by a in a single National Rugby League season (279 in 2001).
International records
Most points scored on international debut: 30 (v South Africa at the 1995 World Cup)
Most points scored in a test match: 32 (v Fiji in 1996)
Most goals in a test match: 12 (v Fiji in 1996)
Awards
Dally M Medal (best player in the NRL competition): 3 (1998, 1999 and 2002)
Provan-Summons Medal (fans' favourite player): 5 (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002)
Golden Boot (best player in the world): 2 (1999 and 2001)
Clive Churchill Medal (man-of-the-match in the grand final): 1 (2001)
Dally M 'Representative Player of the Year' Award: 1 (2005)
Player of the Series – Australia v Great Britain: 2001
Most Valuable Player of the Tournament at the 1995 World Cup in England
State of Origin man-of-the-match: 4 (Game 2, 1996; Game 1, 2002; Game 2, 2003 and Game 2, 2005)
Voted #1 in the 'Modern Masters Top 30 Players of the Past 30 Years' poll (Rugby League Week)
Announced as the eighth Immortal of the Australian game on 27 September 2012 joining other greats: Bob Fulton, John Raper, Clive Churchill, Reg Gasnier, Graeme Langlands, Wally Lewis and Arthur Beetson. This being the ultimate honour one could receive as a professional rugby league footballer.
Inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame on 11 October 2012 at the Crown Palladium in Melbourne along with fellow greats of Australian sport such as Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett and cricketing great Adam Gilchrist
See also
List of cricket and rugby league players
References
Further reading
External links
State of Origin Official website Rugby League Player Stats
2001 Ashes profile
Sport Australia Hall of Fame profile
Australian Network Entertainment profile
1974 births
Living people
Australia national rugby league team captains
Australia national rugby league team players
Australian autobiographers
Australian cricketers
Australian people of Welsh descent
Australian republicans
Australian rugby league commentators
Australian rugby league players
Cessnock Goannas players
Clive Churchill Medal winners
Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players
Cricketers from New South Wales
New South Wales cricketers
New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin captains
New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players
Newcastle Knights captains
Newcastle Knights players
People with bipolar disorder
Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal
Rugby league halfbacks
Rugby league players from Cessnock, New South Wales
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
Warrington Wolves players
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"South Africa competed at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics, but did not win any medals.\n\nCompetitors\n\nReferences\n\nNations at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics\nWorld Championships in Athletics\nSouth Africa at the World Championships in Athletics",
"Romania competed at the 2012 European Athletics Championships in Helsinki, Finland, from 27 June to 1 July 2012. It did not win any medals.\n\nResults\n\nMen\n\nTrack\n\nField\n\nWomen\n\nTrack\n\nField\n\nSources\n\nNations at the 2012 European Athletics Championships\nRomania at the European Athletics Championships\nEuropean Athletics Championships"
] |
[
"Andrew Johns",
"2006-2007",
"What happened during 2006?",
"Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season",
"How did he do that?",
"he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club,",
"When was this record broken?",
"Round 2 of the 2006 season",
"did he have any other notable wins?",
"Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year.",
"What was this record for?",
"A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia,",
"Did he win any awards?",
"On his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game.",
"Did he have any notable losses?",
"they finished 15th of 16 teams on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the Wooden Spoon with a narrow two-point victory",
"Did he win any championships?",
"I don't know."
] |
C_5733ad160c7c4183a4fae7edd7b7bfcc_1
|
Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
| 9 |
Other than Andrew Johns being the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia, Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
|
Andrew Johns
|
Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season as he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club, surpassing Mick Cronin's 1,971 points for Parramatta. Back in the NRL, playing for Newcastle during a Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year. A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia, eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 points. He rather coincidentally scored the record-breaking conversion in a 46-12 loss to the Eels, who were coached at the time by Jason Taylor. Things did not start well for Johns in the 2007 season as he lasted only four minutes into Round 1. As Canterbury Bulldogs forward Sonny Bill Williams went to perform one of his trade-mark hits on Johns, the tackle strayed high leaving Johns lying concussed. Williams pleaded guilty at the judiciary to a reckless high tackle, and received a two-week suspension for the hit. Johns missed the following match but returned in Round 3 against the Canberra Raiders--which would be his last career match in the NRL. On the Thursday after the Canberra match, a tackle with Newcastle teammate Adam Woolnough in a training session resulted in his referral to a specialist to examine a neck injury. It was revealed that Johns had a bulging disc in his neck. It was confirmed that this had been present for some time and was not related to the training incident. All medical advice was that Johns should retire from professional football, since any further neck injury could prove life-threatening and on 10 April 2007, Johns announced his retirement from rugby league. The Newcastle Knights' season would fall apart: they finished 15th of 16 teams on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the Wooden Spoon with a narrow two-point victory in their last match of the season. Johns tried to soften the blow of his retirement by saying he had been seriously considering retirement at the end of the 2007 season and was quoted in the press as saying "I knew this year would be my last year, it's just unfortunate it's stopped five months before the end of the season." Commenting on his teammates' reaction to his retirement, Johns noted: "They were sort of relieved I think, after a couple of injuries this year ... I think the time's right." On his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game. In the preceding 13 years, the former Cessnock junior had changed the game like few others before him. On October 2008 Johns completed a walk from Newcastle to Sydney to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute. CANNOTANSWER
|
Things did not start well for Johns in the 2007 season as he lasted only four minutes into Round 1.
|
Andrew Gary Johns (born 19 May 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in rugby league history. Johns captained the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League and participated in the team's only two premiership victories in 1997 and 2001, playing a club record 249 games for the Knights. Johns also represented his country at two World Cups, and on one Kangaroo tour, playing in total 21 Test matches for the national side. He played in 23 State of Origin series matches for the New South Wales Blues (captaining the side to a series win in 2003), and played for the Country Origin side in 1995 and 2003.
Johns announced his retirement from rugby league on 10 April 2007 at the age of 32. This followed a long run of injuries, the last of which was a bulging disc in his neck which forced his retirement due to the risk of serious spinal injury from further heavy contact. Andrew Johns is one of only four players to have won the Golden Boot Award more than once and is one of only two players to have won the Dally M Medal for best player in the NRL three times. He finished his career as the highest points scorer in Australian first-grade premiership history with 2,176 points.
In 2008, less than a year into his retirement, Johns was named as the Greatest Player of the last 30 years by the publication 'Rugby League Week', beating the likes of Queensland legend Wally Lewis (voted #2), fellow NSW star Brad Fittler (voted #3) and then former Queensland and Australian captain Darren Lockyer (voted #4). On 28 September 2012, Johns was named as the eighth 'Immortal' of rugby league.
Football career
Early Days
Andrew Johns began playing junior rugby league in his home town of Cessnock, New South Wales for the Cessnock Goannas. At an early age it was evident he had plenty of playing ability and Johns joined the Newcastle Knights junior ranks at age 15 in 1989. Four years later, at 19, the opportunity at first grade presented itself as Johns was tested off the bench during the 1993 season in a handful of games. The following year in the last pre-season trial for the 1994 season, Matthew Rodwell, Newcastle's then-regular sustained a knee injury handing Johns his opportunity. Subsequently, he was named in the starting line-up against the South Sydney Rabbitohs and in his début match made an immediate impact as he amassed 23 points and won the Man of the Match award. He soon formed a winning partnership with his older brother, Matthew Johns, who had played at the Knights since 1991.
1995–2001
The 1995 ARL season saw prosperous times for Johns, as in the absence of Super League-aligned players, he was selected for the first time to represent New South Wales in the 1995 State of Origin series. Incumbent New South Wales Ricky Stuart was not selected due to his affiliation with Super League. Also that year he was able to make his début for the Kangaroos in Australia's successful 1995 World Cup campaign in England. He played as a and was named man of the match in the decider against England at Wembley Stadium as Australia once again retained the World Cup. At the conclusion of the World Cup, Johns was awarded his first significant accolade, being named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. The following year Johns was moved to for the State of Origin, with New South Wales selectors favouring Geoff Toovey in the role. Since then, Johns was regularly chosen for state and national representative sides when fit, only missing out on a Blues or Australian cap due to injury.
During the 1997 ARL season Johns played a pivotal role in guiding the Knights to their first grand final appearance—against defending champions and '97 minor premiers the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. There were grave concerns leading up to the match that Johns would be unable to play the game, as he had suffered three broken ribs and a punctured lung only a fortnight earlier. However, Johns was able to play, and with less than a minute of the match to go with scores tied at 16-all Johns made a play that has gone down in rugby league folklore. He went out of position unexpectedly and into dummy half where he ran down a narrow blind side before slipping a pass to Newcastle Darren Albert for the match-winning try. With only six seconds remaining in the game Newcastle had snatched victory and secured their first premiership title.
The following year in the new National Rugby League the Knights performed even better during the regular season than in the previous year, losing only five matches and narrowly missing out on the minor premiership on points difference. Johns individually was brilliant and was awarded his first Player of the Year Dally M Medal award for the 1998 season. Unfortunately for Johns and NSW fans, he had one of his worst goal-kicking games in Game 1 of the 1998 State of Origin series as NSW lost by one point despite scoring more tries than Queensland. His performances at club, state and national level were again rewarded as he received his second Player of the Year Dally M Medal award, the first time a player had won the award consecutively since Parramatta Eels great Michael Cronin in 1977 and 1978.
Despite initial concerns regarding the leadership of the Knights after the retirement of Paul Harragon, and even more when Andrew's brother Matthew joined English Super League club the Wigan Warriors, Johns was given the responsibility of captaining the Newcastle squad. The fears proved groundless: Johns led Newcastle to another Grand Final victory, defeating the Parramatta Eels 30–24 in 2001. He was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for Man of the Match in a Grand Final and at the end of the 2001 NRL season, he went on the 2001 Kangaroo tour. He was the top points scorer in Australia's successful Ashes series campaign and was named man of the match for the second Test. Also that year he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league.
2002–2005
Having won the 2001 NRL Premiership, the Knights travelled to England to play the 2002 World Club Challenge against Super League champions the Bradford Bulls. Johns captained as a , scoring a try and kicking three goals in Newcastle's loss. In 2002, Johns was awarded the captaincy of both New South Wales and Australia, going on to win the title of Player of the Series against Great Britain. At a club level Andrew Johns and the Newcastle Knights performed well, narrowly missing out on the minor premiership on points difference. Unfortunately, the Knights' finals campaign derailed as Johns broke a bone in his back in the first week of the finals, and the Knights without Johns ended up losing to eventual premiers the Sydney Roosters 38–12 to be knocked out of the season. Before his injury Johns' season had been marvellous and despite his lack of involvement in the finals series he was named the Player of the Year Dally M Medal for a record third time, a feat achieved by only one other player, Johnathan Thurston, to date.
Johns' back injury at the tail-end of 2002 was the first of what seemed like a plague of injuries over the next few seasons: he had a serious neck injury that threatened his career in 2003, sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury which kept him out of most of the 2004 season, and broke his jaw in early 2005.
During the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup, Wales assistant coach Scott Johnson got Johns to assist with pre-match preparation by speaking to the players and presenting them with their jerseys.
Johns was the center of controversy in 2004 after receiving a massive offer from rugby union to switch codes. Numerous past legends of both codes expressed their opinions. Debate continues about what happened during the negotiations with rugby union, since the contractual offers were made by the Waratahs without the salary top-ups from the Australian Rugby Union that had been usual in contractual negotiations with previous potential converts from rugby league. The ARU's formal reasons for not supporting the Waratahs' bid to secure Johns were his age (30) and injury history. These were later retracted after the "ecstasy controversy" (see below).
Even without the additional monetary support from the ARU, the Waratahs were able to table an offer to Johns that was far larger than any rugby league club could offer on its own. After David Gallop, the CEO of the NRL and Channel Nine contributed money and a promise of a commentary position after his career ended, Johns finally decided to stay in league, ending months of speculation and debate. He says his decision was greatly affected by his son, who wanted him to stay in league. He was also approached by the Welsh Rugby Union because of his Welsh heritage.
As Game 2 of the 2005 State of Origin series approached, the Blues were down 0–1 and Johns was selected to replace Brett Kimmorley in the New South Wales squad. The second game in the series was his first match since returning from a series of injuries that sidelined him for a number of weeks. Johns did not have to struggle to regain his form, receiving Man-of-the-Match honours in the Blues' 32–22 win over Queensland. He was again chosen as the first-choice for Game 3 and performed well, sealing the series for the Blues with a strong 32–10 win, their last series win for quite some time.
In August 2005, it was announced that Johns would join the Super League side the Warrington Wolves on a short-term deal, playing in the final two games of the regular Super League season and any playoff games the Wolves might reach. The Knights agreed to these terms only after Johns first signed a new contract, making him available to captain the Knights until the end of 2008.
2006–2007
Andrew Johns broke one of the longest-standing records in Round 2 of the 2006 season as he amassed 30 points against the Canberra Raiders and in doing so claimed the points-scoring record for a player at a single club, surpassing Mick Cronin's 1,971 points for Parramatta.
Back in the NRL, playing for Newcastle during a Round 18 match against the Parramatta Eels, Johns' name entered the NRL record books for the second time in the year. A Johns conversion of a Newcastle try made Johns the highest points scorer in the 98-year history of first-grade rugby league in Australia, eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 points. He rather coincidentally scored the record-breaking conversion in a 46–12 loss to the Eels, who were coached at the time by Jason Taylor.
Things did not start well for Johns in the 2007 season as he lasted only four minutes into Round 1. As Canterbury Bulldogs forward Sonny Bill Williams went to perform one of his trade-mark hits on Johns, the tackle strayed high leaving Johns lying concussed. Williams pleaded guilty at the judiciary to a reckless high tackle, and received a two-week suspension for the hit. Johns missed the following match but returned in Round 3 against the Canberra Raiders—which would be his last career match in the NRL. On the Thursday after the Canberra match, a tackle with Newcastle teammate Adam Woolnough in a training session resulted in his referral to a specialist to examine a neck injury. It was revealed that Johns had a bulging disc in his neck. It was confirmed that this had been present for some time and was not related to the training incident. All medical advice was that Johns should retire from professional football, since any further neck injury could prove life-threatening and on 10 April 2007, Johns announced his retirement from rugby league.
The Newcastle Knights' season would fall apart: they finished 15th of 16 teams on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the Wooden Spoon with a narrow two-point victory in their last match of the season. Johns tried to soften the blow of his retirement by saying he had been seriously considering retirement at the end of the 2007 season and was quoted in the press as saying "I knew this year would be my last year, it's just unfortunate it's stopped five months before the end of the season." Commenting on his teammates' reaction to his retirement, Johns noted: "They were sort of relieved I think, after a couple of injuries this year ... I think the time's right."
On his retirement a chorus of past league greats called for Johns to be immediately honoured as an immortal of the game. In the preceding 13 years, the former Cessnock junior had changed the game like few others before him. In October 2008 Johns completed a walk from Newcastle to Sydney to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute.
Cricket career
In June 2006 it was announced that, while still playing rugby league, Johns would play cricket for New South Wales, in its Twenty20 series. The announcement sparked much media interest and many critics and the public suspected a public relations stunt as his first match was to be played in Johns' home town of Newcastle. Despite this, Johns made his professional cricket debut for NSW on 7 January 2007 against South Australia in front of a record crowd at Newcastle Number 1 Sports Ground. He had a missed opportunity to take a wicket: a short-pitched delivery was pulled to the boundary but much to the dismay of the large Newcastle crowd, the catch was put down. In his second match, against Tasmania at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Johns scored only nine runs and with that his short cricket career was over.
After retirement
Johns sought to celebrate the inclusion of Australia's Dally Messenger in the original All Golds tour, Johns had been invited to join the New Zealand team for the match against the Northern Union. Despite his neck injury, he was able to play with the squad, and completed the match uninjured, but declined another offer from the New Zealand team. Queensland and Australia Darren Lockyer was invited to take Johns' place but then Lockyer himself was ruled out after suffering a season-ending knee injury. New Zealand Warriors captain and Queensland front rower Steve Price was the eventual replacement for the match.
Andrew became a commentator for Channel 9 and Monday Night Football on Triple M radio.
On 22 April in Round 6 of 2007, Newcastle held special farewell celebrations for Andrew Johns in the Knights' home game against Brisbane. The Knights board renamed the new $30 million East grandstand of EnergyAustralia Stadium the Andrew Johns Stand. In addition, in a first for the NRL, his number 7 jersey was retired for the match with new young Jarrod Mullen wearing number 18. Later in the year the Knights named Johns as and captain for their commemorative Team of the Era.
In June 2007, in what would be the first of his involvements as a specialist part-time coach, rival code the Australian Rugby Union hired Johns as the Wallabies in-play kicking coach for the duration of the 2007 Tri Nations Series. On 27 October 2007, Johns married his partner Cathrine Mahoney in a secret wedding on a Sydney island. When Johns returned from his honeymoon at the beginning of the 2008 Pre-season, he began a part-time coaching role with the Parramatta Eels, working one on one with Eels halves Brett Finch and Tim Smith. In the same time frame Johns worked with his old club the Newcastle Knights in a similar skills specific coaching role. The third club to hire Johns for his coaching services was the Canterbury Bulldogs, who signed Johns for the 2008 season. The role involved him in specifically working with the halves, s and backs.
In February 2008, a year after his retirement, Johns moved a step closer to becoming rugby league's next Immortal after being named the Best Player of the Last 30 Years by a major rugby league magazine. On 17 April 2008 he was named in Team of the Century as a by a 28-man judging panel, who voted in a secret ballot and chose the team from an original list of the 100 Greatest Players named earlier in the year. Later, Johns said he felt "the game has forgiven me". On 9 September 2008 at the Dally M awards in Sydney, Johns and his wife Cathrine announced they were expecting their first child in March 2009 (Johns has a son from his previous marriage). On 1 March 2009, Johns and Cathrine welcomed their first child and son, Louis Byron
In 2010 the Melbourne Rebels announced they had secured the services of Johns to work with the Super Rugby club's inside backs. Recent Rebels signing James O'Connor said "Obviously he comes from a league background but there was nobody better at taking the ball to the line and pulling those balls back ... the chance to work with him was pretty awesome."
Despite Johns' ecstasy use controversy, he was officially announced as the eighth 'Immortal' of the game on 28 September 2012, after Rugby League Week magazine stated the voting criteria were to be based solely on a player's "on field performance" (despite admitting to using ecstasy while playing). In early November 2012, Johns signed on as assistant coach of the Manly Sea Eagles for the 2013 Rugby League season, mentoring and ambassadorial roles.
Ecstasy use controversy
On 26 August 2007 Johns was arrested for fare evasion on the London Underground, and subsequently found to be in possession of one ecstasy tablet. He was cautioned and released with no further charges. Johns initially claimed that an unknown person had pushed the tablet into his pocket which he later forgot to remove before leaving the crowded venue. This initial statement was met with a great deal of cynicism from both the press and the public. On 30 August, Johns revealed, live on the Footy Show, that he had regularly taken ecstasy throughout his playing career, mainly during the off-season. He claimed he had suffered from depression and bipolar disorder and the drugs helped him in dealing with the high level of psychological 'pressure' associated with his career as an elite sportsman. Not long after the incident he released his 'tell-all' autobiography that went into further details regarding his depression and drug use while playing in the NRL.
The ARU released a press statement shortly after the controversy arose, stating that Johns' drug use was known to the ARU and was a key factor in its decision to not proceed with contractual negotiations in 2004. Brett Robinson, then high-performance unit manager, said that, as well as Johns' age and injury history, the knowledge of his drug taking had been influential in the ARU making its final decision.
When Johns was named the Best Player of the Last 30 Years in early 2008, the accolade allayed concern that Johns' shock drug admission the year before had tarnished his remarkable efforts on the field for Newcastle, NSW and Australia. On receiving the award he was quoted as saying his health was now in great shape. "I'm at the best place I have been in a long time," he said. "It's not until you step away that I realise all the pressure I was under, I'm not going to miss playing at all."
Racism controversy
In June 2010 during the lead-up to Origin II, New South Wales Timana Tahu withdrew mid-week from the NSW squad following reports Johns referred to Queensland player Greg Inglis as a "black cunt" during a training session. Johns was subsequently fired from his role as NSW assistant coach. Though he apologised for the incident on Tuesday 15 June, it is alleged it was not the first time Johns had used racist language in a football environment. Inglis demanded Johns be barred from any involvement in rugby league.
More Joyous Scandal
Johns was the catalyst to the More Joyous Scandal, engulfing leading Sydney horse trainer Gai Waterhouse, advertising figure John Singleton (racehorse More Joyous's owner) and bookmaker and son of the horse trainer Tom Waterhouse. Johns passed information from Tom Waterhouse that horse More Joyous was "off" on to brothel owner Eddie Hayson and former jockey Allan Robinson. Singleton received word of this and verbally attacked Gai Waterhouse on live television. Johns feared his Channel 9 commentating career would be over due to the trouble he caused Tom Waterhouse, a Channel 9 advertiser. Johns's commentating career survived, although his reputation was further damaged. Both Waterhouses were cleared of any major wrongdoing by a Racing NSW inquiry, however, Singleton and Gai's longstanding partnership ceased until 2016.
Epilepsy
In 2019, Johns revealed that he had been diagnosed with epilepsy. His doctors were of the view that his playing career could have contributed to the diagnosis. In an interview with his brother, Matthew Johns on Fox League on Sunday night, he said, “They think maybe a contributor could be some of the concussions I’ve had and ... continual head knocks”. Johns lost his driver's licence after suffering an epileptic seizure at a cafe in Yamba on the New South Wales north coast in December 2018. The Roads and Maritime Service (RMS) initially refused to return his licence but did when his lawyer, Avinash Singh, successfully appealed the decision.
Career statistics
Club career
Representative career
Achievements, awards and accolades
In February 2008, Johns was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to
celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. Johns went on to be named as in Australian rugby league's Team of the Century. Announced on 17 April 2008, the team is the panel's majority choice for each of the thirteen starting positions and four interchange players. In 2008 New South Wales announced their rugby league team of the century also and Johns was again named as a .
Newcastle Knights records
Most points in a match: 34 (v Canberra, 29 July 2001)
Most tries in a match: 4 (v Canberra, 29 July 2001 – record shared with Darren Albert, Adam MacDougall, Cooper Vuna, James McManus & Akuila Uate)
Most goals in a match: 11 (v Canberra, 19 March 2006)
Most points in a season: 279 (2001 National Rugby League Season)
Most first grade appearances: 249
Most points for the club: 2,176
Australian premiership records
Retired as highest individual point scorer in premiership history: 2,176 (eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 (now 4th).
The competition's leading point scorer in 2001: 279 points.
Most ever points scored by a in a single National Rugby League season (279 in 2001).
International records
Most points scored on international debut: 30 (v South Africa at the 1995 World Cup)
Most points scored in a test match: 32 (v Fiji in 1996)
Most goals in a test match: 12 (v Fiji in 1996)
Awards
Dally M Medal (best player in the NRL competition): 3 (1998, 1999 and 2002)
Provan-Summons Medal (fans' favourite player): 5 (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002)
Golden Boot (best player in the world): 2 (1999 and 2001)
Clive Churchill Medal (man-of-the-match in the grand final): 1 (2001)
Dally M 'Representative Player of the Year' Award: 1 (2005)
Player of the Series – Australia v Great Britain: 2001
Most Valuable Player of the Tournament at the 1995 World Cup in England
State of Origin man-of-the-match: 4 (Game 2, 1996; Game 1, 2002; Game 2, 2003 and Game 2, 2005)
Voted #1 in the 'Modern Masters Top 30 Players of the Past 30 Years' poll (Rugby League Week)
Announced as the eighth Immortal of the Australian game on 27 September 2012 joining other greats: Bob Fulton, John Raper, Clive Churchill, Reg Gasnier, Graeme Langlands, Wally Lewis and Arthur Beetson. This being the ultimate honour one could receive as a professional rugby league footballer.
Inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame on 11 October 2012 at the Crown Palladium in Melbourne along with fellow greats of Australian sport such as Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett and cricketing great Adam Gilchrist
See also
List of cricket and rugby league players
References
Further reading
External links
State of Origin Official website Rugby League Player Stats
2001 Ashes profile
Sport Australia Hall of Fame profile
Australian Network Entertainment profile
1974 births
Living people
Australia national rugby league team captains
Australia national rugby league team players
Australian autobiographers
Australian cricketers
Australian people of Welsh descent
Australian republicans
Australian rugby league commentators
Australian rugby league players
Cessnock Goannas players
Clive Churchill Medal winners
Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players
Cricketers from New South Wales
New South Wales cricketers
New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin captains
New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players
Newcastle Knights captains
Newcastle Knights players
People with bipolar disorder
Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal
Rugby league halfbacks
Rugby league players from Cessnock, New South Wales
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
Warrington Wolves players
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[
"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"
] |
[
"Tommy Hilfiger",
"Charity work"
] |
C_80e1739d5a9e4a9db93c6b49e525a30d_0
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Did Tommy Hilfiger start any charity organizations?
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Did Tommy Hilfiger start any charity organizations?
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Tommy Hilfiger
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In 1995 Hilfiger launched The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation. With an emphasis on health, educational and cultural programs, the organization supports charities that focus on at-risk American youth. In 1998 Hilfiger was one of several sponsors along with Moet and Chandon, Christie's Auction House, and The Advocate of the charity LIFEbeat - The Music Industry Fights AIDS. He is also personally involved in charities and causes such as Autism Speaks and the MLK, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, and he has served on the board of directors for The Fresh Air Fund, a New York-based group that helps underprivileged children attend summer camp. The Fresh Air Fund's Camp Pioneer program was renamed Camp Tommy in 1999, in honor of Hilfiger's patronage. Since 2008, Hilfiger has designed limited-edition handbags in support Breast Health International (BHI), an international organization focused on finding a cure for breast cancer. A portion of the handbag sales proceeds are donated to BHI's Fund For Living program, with celebrity ambassadors appointed for each seasonal campaign. In 2013, Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell modeled the BHI bag in a photo shoot with photographer Patrick Demarchelier. Millennium Promise, a non-profit organization focused on eradicating extreme poverty, hunger and preventable disease in impoverished regions, classifies Hilfiger as a Millennium Promise MDG Global Leader, and in 2009 Hilfiger made a five-year $2 million commitment to Millennium Promise. The donation went towards relief efforts in a Ugandan city, with the aim of improving residents' access to necessities like clean water, education, and farming techniques. In 2012, all philanthropic activities of The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation were renamed Tommy Cares, a wider-reaching global initiative that further integrates the brand's non-profit partnerships, charitable contributions, and employee involvement. On a global scale, Tommy Cares continues to support organizations such as Save the Children, the World Wildlife Fund, War Child, and Millennium Promise. Hilfiger and his wife are on the board of Autism Speaks as of 2012, and through the organization, Hilfiger became a sponsor of the Golden Door Film Festival in September 2014. CANNOTANSWER
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In 1995 Hilfiger launched The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation.
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Thomas Jacob Hilfiger (/hɪlˈfɪgər/; born March 24, 1951) is an American fashion designer and the founder of Tommy Hilfiger Corporation.
After starting his career by co-founding a chain of jeans/fashion stores called People's Place in upstate New York in the 1970s, he began designing preppy clothing for his own eponymous menswear line in the 1980s. The company later expanded into women's clothing and various luxury items such as perfumes and went public in 1992.
Hilfiger's collections are often influenced by the fashion of music subcultures and marketed in connection with the music industry, with celebrities such as American R&B artist Aaliyah in the 1990s. In 2005, contestants in the CBS reality show The Cut competed for a design job with Hilfiger in a similar fashion to The Apprentice. In 2006, Hilfiger sold his company for $1.6 billion to Apax Partners, who next sold it in 2010 to Phillips-Van Heusen for $3 billion. He remains the company's principal designer, leading the design teams and overseeing the entire creative process. In 2012, Hilfiger was awarded the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
Business and fashion career
Hilfiger graduated from the Elmira Free Academy high school in 1969. His parents wanted him to get a college education and pursue a traditional career, and for a time he attended GST BOCES Bush Campus in Elmira.
People's Place and early lines (1970s–1983)
Hilfiger spent the summer of 1969 working in a clothing store on Cape Cod, and afterwards he decided to use his life savings of $150 to open a clothing store in 1971 as People's Place. The first store was located in downtown Elmira in what is now the site of First Arena and had a hair salon, a record shop, and rock concerts in the basement. To stock the store, Hilfiger and a friend drove to New York City to buy clothing such as bell-bottoms, peasant blouses, and leather jackets. Unsatisfied with this, he began sketching his own designs, and would later write that "designing made me happier than anything I'd ever done. I knew from that early work that designing would be my life."
The People's Place went bankrupt in 1977. Hilfiger enrolled in classes on commerce and the business side of the fashion industry. After then moving to New York City and working for several different labels, he set up a company called Tommy Hill in 1979. One of his first clients was Jordache Jeans, and as Hilfiger's company expanded beyond denim, he spent time in India, learning more about his trade: "I would sit in the factory with my pile of sketches and watch them being made, tweaking as I went. There's no better design school in the world." In 1981 he founded the company 20th Century Survival, and the following year he founded Click Point, which designed women's clothing.
Founding Tommy Hilfiger Inc. (1984–1990s)
In 1984, Hilfiger was approached by businessman Mohan Murjani, to pursue his goal of designing and heading a men's sportswear line. Murjani backed the necessary investment for Hilfiger to establish his own brand. Later Hilfiger oversaw the design of the Coca-Cola clothing line for Murjani.
In 1985, he founded the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation with support from The Murjani Group. The new clothing line made its debut with a high-profile marketing campaign, for example setting up a large billboard in Times Square designed by George Lois. Hilfiger left Murjani International in 1989, with Silas Chou instead providing financial backing to the Hilfiger brand, and former executives of Ralph Lauren brought on board as executives of the newly formed company Tommy Hilfiger, Inc. The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation went public in 1992, introducing Hilfiger's signature menswear collection. Hilfiger was named Menswear Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 1995. After licensing Pepe Jeans USA in 1995, in 1996, Tommy Hilfiger Inc. began distributing women's clothing. By the end of the next year Hilfiger had opened his first store in Beverly Hills, which was followed by a store in London in 1998. Hilfiger was serving as the company's co-chairman by 1997, and that year he published his first book, titled All American: A Style Book.
Increased brand exposure (1990s–2004)
A professed lifelong fan of rock and roll, Hilfiger's collections are often influenced by the fashion of music subcultures. The clothes are also marketed in connection with the music industry, and as early as 1993 Hilfiger was an official sponsor for Pete Townshend's Psychoderelict tour. Hilfiger has also sponsored several musical events, including Sheryl Crow's If It Makes You Happy tour in 1997, Britney Spears 1999 ...Baby One More Time Tour as main sponsor, and Lenny Kravitz's 1999 Freedom tour. By the mid-1990s, Hilfiger's style of clothing was popular with both the American "preppy" scene and as hip hop fashion. American R&B icon Aaliyah became the much-publicized spokesperson for Tommy Hilfiger Corporation in 1997.
Hilfiger had a cameo in the fashion spoof Zoolander in 2001, and from 2002 to 2006 Tommy Hilfiger Inc. owned the naming rights to the Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach Theatre venue. Largely due to declining sales in the early 2000s, Hilfiger began reworking the brand, striving to retain the designer brand exclusivity of the Hilfiger label by signing a deal to distribute the best-selling Hilfiger lines at Macy's only. The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation continued to work closely with musicians into the 2000s, focusing on fragrances as well as clothes. Sweetface Fashion, which owns the J.Lo by Jennifer Lopez line, was bought out by Tommy Hilfiger in 2003. True Star, a fragrance endorsed by Hilfiger and released in 2004, featured Beyoncé as its poster girl. The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation company had revenues of approximately $1.8 billion, and 5,400 employees by 2004.
Media appearances and sale of clothing brand (2005–2011)
In 2005, a CBS reality show called The Cut tracked the progress of sixteen contestants as they competed for a design job with Tommy Hilfiger and their own fashion line under Hilfiger's label. The show progressed in a similar fashion to Donald Trump's The Apprentice. After a final competition that involved setting up the display window for Macy's Herald Square location in New York, Hilfiger chose Chris Cortez as the "next great American designer."
In December 2005, Tommy Hilfiger sold the clothing brand for $1.6 billion, or $16.80 a share, to Apax Partners, a private investment company. The transaction was completed in May 2006. In 2008 Hilfiger, Rives, and Bar Refaeli co-hosted the Bravo special program Tommy Hilfiger Presents Ironic Iconic America. Based on the book Ironic Iconic America written by Hilfiger and designer George Lois, the program examined how pop culture has influenced American tastes and styles. In 2009 Hilfiger was a guest judge on an episode of Project Runway, and he presented the Best African Artist award to Akon at the 2010 World Music Awards.
In March 2010, Phillips-Van Heusen, owner of Calvin Klein and Izod, bought the Tommy Hilfiger brand from Apax Partners for $3 billion. The Tommy Hilfiger online and in-store ad campaign called "Meet The Hilfigers" began in August 2010 and ran through August 2011. In 2011, Hilfiger and a partner signed a contract to buy the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower building for $170 million, planning to transform it into Hilfiger's first hotel, with luxury condos. Hilfiger backed off the project in September 2011. A guest judge on the finale of Project Runway: All Stars along with Ken Downing in 2012, shortly afterwards he served as a fashion consultant to contestants on season 11 of American Idol.
Recent years and memoir (2012–2016)
Hilfiger was instrumental in the creation of the Marc Anthony Collection in 2012, as Marc Anthony had never been interested in the fashion business until Hilfiger called him and convinced him a line was worthwhile. In 2012, Hilfiger was awarded the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Global sales in retail for the brand in 2013 were US$6.4 billion, and $6.7 billion in 2014. Hilfiger remains the company's principal designer, leading the design teams and overseeing the entire creative process. In 2016, he collaborated with model Gigi Hadid on clothing designs launching the TommyXGigi clothing collection. On February 8, 2017, the brand will hold its ready-to-wear show in Los Angeles, in the first time the brand will not be part of New York Fashion Week.
In January 2015, Hilfiger announced that he was working on his memoirs. The book was written chronologically over a year, with Hilfiger explaining "I was hesitant to write it, but thought I better do it now because someday I may forget." Co-writer Peter Knobler had full access to interview friends and family, with Hilfiger citing the candor of Diane von Furstenberg's memoirs as an inspiration. Calling the writing process "great therapy" and "interesting," Hilfiger asserted that he "wanted to give people a sneak peek of what goes on behind the curtain [of] how the fashion industry works." He read selections from the book in June 2016 at the Literacy Partners Evening of Readers and Gala Dinner Dance. Hilfiger's memoir, American Dreamer: My Life in Fashion & Business, co-written with Peter Knobler, was published November 1, 2016. In a statement, Hilfiger described it as "a roadmap of the moments that have defined both my [40-year fashion career] and my personal life," and the book covers his childhood, his early business ventures, and his later life in fashion. With Kirkus Reviews calling it "an honest, straightforward, mostly entertaining autobiography," Hilfiger made an appearance for the book at the Miami Book Fair shortly after its release. American Dreamer appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List in December 2016
Charity work
In 1995 Hilfiger launched The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation. With an emphasis on health, educational and cultural programs, the organization supports charities that focus on at-risk American youth. In 1998 Hilfiger was one of several sponsors along with Moet and Chandon, Christie's Auction House, and The Advocate of the charity LIFEbeat – The Music Industry Fights AIDS. He is also personally involved in charities and causes such as Autism Speaks and the MLK, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, and he has served on the board of directors for The Fresh Air Fund, a New York-based group that helps underprivileged children attend summer camp. The Fresh Air Fund's Camp Pioneer program was renamed Camp Tommy in 1999, in honor of Hilfiger's patronage.
Since 2008, Hilfiger has designed limited-edition handbags in support Breast Health International (BHI), an international organization focused on finding a cure for breast cancer. A portion of the handbag sales proceeds is donated to BHI's Fund For Living program, with celebrity ambassadors appointed for each seasonal campaign. In 2013, Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell modeled the BHI bag in a photoshoot with photographer Patrick Demarchelier.
Millennium Promise, a non-profit organization focused on eradicating extreme poverty, hunger and preventable disease in impoverished regions, classifies Hilfiger as a Millennium Promise MDG Global Leader, and in 2009 Hilfiger made a five-year $2 million commitment to Millennium Promise. The donation went towards relief efforts in a Ugandan city, with the aim of improving residents' access to necessities like clean water, education, and farming techniques. In 2012, all philanthropic activities of The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation were renamed Tommy Cares, a wider-reaching global initiative that further integrates the brand's non-profit partnerships, charitable contributions, and employee involvement. On a global scale, Tommy Cares continues to support organizations such as Save the Children, the World Wildlife Fund, War Child, and Millennium Promise. Hilfiger and his wife are on the board of Autism Speaks as of 2012, and through the organization, Hilfiger became a sponsor of the Golden Door Film Festival in September 2014.
Hilfiger has continuously cited the important role inclusivity, diversity and self-expression have had in the brand's development and contributions to pop culture.
In 2016, Hilfiger also echoed his support for dressing Melania Trump, telling WWD that "any designer should be proud to dress her."
In 2020, Hilfiger sold his 22.4 acre estate in Greenwich, Connecticut, for $47.5 million.
Recognition
The following is a selected list of awards and recognitions for Tommy Hilfiger:
1995: Council of Fashion Designers of America – Menswear Designer of the Year
1996: American Academy of Achievement – Golden Plate Award
1997: FiFi Awards – Men's Fragrance of the Year – Luxe, for the fragrance "Tommy"
1998: Parsons School of Design – Designer of the Year Award
1998: GQ Magazine – Designer of the Year for 'Men of the Year' issue
2000: FiFi Awards – Best Marketing Innovation of the Year, for Toiletries for Tommy's (American running series)
2002: GQ Germany – International Designer of the Year
2002: Drug Abuse Resistance Education – Future of America Award, for philanthropic efforts for American youth
2006: GQ Spain – Designer of the Year
2006: Harvard Foundation – Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian of the Year
2006: We Are Family Foundation – Visionary Award
2007: Hispanic Federation – Individual Achievement Award
2008: Women's Wear Daily – No. 1 Designer and No. 16 Brand in annual "100 List"
2009: UNESCO – UNESCO Support Award, for philanthropic efforts
2009: Marie Claire Magazine – Lifetime Achievement Award
2010: Pratt Institute – Legends Award
2012: Council of Fashion Designers of America – Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Anna Wintour
2015: Race To Erase MS – honored for commitment to finding a cure for MS
Style and impact
While Hilfiger's earliest designs drew on 1960s counterculture and fashion, since the 1980s his designs typically draw from classic American New England styles. His initial lines for the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation were primarily designed to appeal to young men looking for designer clothing, and Tommy Hilfiger became one of the most prominent brands in 1990s sportswear, with Polo Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Nautica, DKNY, and Donna Karan also popular. Each of these companies created distinctive wardrobes based upon stylish but wearable, comfortable and interchangeable multi-purpose clothes, all with a focus on luxury.
Hip hop fashion at large began incorporating the Hilfiger brand in the 1990s, and when Snoop Doggy Dogg wore a Hilfiger sweatshirt during an appearance on Saturday Night Live, it sold out of New York City stores the next day. Moreover, Hilfiger courted the new hip hop market, and rappers like Puffy and Coolio walked during his runways shows. Specific items like Tommy Hilfiger carpenter jeans became particularly popular, with the trademark logo displayed on the hammer loop. Hilfiger continues to maintain multiple fashion lines, some focused on wearable "casual" clothes while others take on various haute couture commissions. Aside from the preppy styles of his youth, Hilfiger has also always been influenced by the style of a wide variety of American icons, including Grace Kelly, James Dean, Deborah Harry, Iggy Pop, Farrah Fawcett, Steve McQueen, Jackie and John F. Kennedy, and Andy Warhol. Many of his designs draw prominently from the styles of hard rock and the pop music industry.
Personal life
Hilfiger was born on March 24, 1951, in Elmira, New York, the second of nine children. Both of his parents were practicing Catholics. His father Richard was a watchmaker of German-Swiss descent, and his mother Virginia (née Gerrity) was a nurse of Irish descent. Hilfiger also claims direct descent from Gilbert Burns, brother of the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Hilfiger has described his upbringing as very happy. He credits his parents with instilling a good work ethic and compassion for others. He has dyslexia. Hilfiger had an early interest in sports, fashion, and the music industry, a trend that ran in his family. One of his brothers, Andy Hilfiger, went on to work as a musician and designer, while Hilfiger's other brother Billy Hilfiger would join King Flux as a guitarist.
In 1976 Hilfiger met Susan Cirona, an employee at the People's Place in Ithaca; they married in 1980. Together they had four children: one son and three daughters. In 2003 Hilfiger's daughter Ally was part of the MTV reality series Rich Girls. His son, Richard ("Ricky Hil"), is a musician. The Hilfigers divorced in 2000.
On December 12, 2008, he married Dee Ocleppo; the couple had a son in 2009.
Publishing history
Filmography
See also
List of fashion designers
List of footwear designers
References
External links
Tommy.com
TommyCares.com
Tommy Hilfiger (company)
American fashion businesspeople
American fashion designers
1951 births
Living people
Menswear designers
Businesspeople from New York City
Irish-American history
People from Elmira, New York
20th-century American businesspeople
21st-century American businesspeople
Catholics from New York (state)
American people of Irish descent
American people of Swiss-German descent
| true |
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"Tommy Hilfiger B.V. (), formerly known as Tommy Hilfiger Corporation and Tommy Hilfiger Inc., is an American premium clothing brand, manufacturing apparel, footwear, accessories, fragrances and home furnishings. The company was founded in 1985, and the brand's merchandise is sold in department stores and over 2000 free-standing retail stores in 100 countries. In 2006, private equity firm Apax Partners acquired the company for approximately $1.6 billion. In March 2010, PVH Corp. (then known as Phillips-Van Heusen) bought the company. Daniel Grieder was appointed CEO in July 2014, while founder Tommy Hilfiger remains the company’s principal designer, leading the design teams and overseeing the entire creative process. Global sales in retail through the brand were US $6.4 billion in 2013, and $6.7 billion in 2014. Of PVH's preppy-styled brands Tommy Hilfiger is the higher priced of the two, slotting above Izod in the lineup.\n\nHistory\n\nBackground and founding (1960s–1990s)\nTommy Hilfiger’s career in fashion began in 1968, when he co-founded a clothing and record store named People’s Place in upstate New York. Using $150 he had saved from working at a petrol station as startup money, he oversaw the expansion of the company into a chain of ten stores. Despite meeting with initial success, People's Place filed for bankruptcy in 1977. In 1979, Hilfiger moved to New York City to pursue a career as a fashion designer, working on several different labels including Jordache Jeans.\n\nIn the early 1980s, he met Mohan Murjani, an Indian textile magnate hoping to launch a line of men’s clothing. With Murjani’s backing in 1985, Hilfiger debuted his first signature collection, which featured modernized versions of button-down shirts, chinos, and other classic preppy styles. The casual and youthful attitude of these first designs would remain a trait of the company's later collections. The new clothing line made its debut with a high-profile marketing campaign, which included a large billboard in Times Square by advertiser George Lois.\n\nThe Tommy Hilfiger brand left Murjani International in 1989, with Silas Chou instead providing financial backing. That year, Lawrence Stroll and Joel Horowitz, both former executives of Ralph Lauren, were hired as executives of the newly formed company Tommy Hilfiger, Inc., which had an initial focus on casual male sportswear.\n\nGrowth of popularity and product lines (1990s)\n\nThe Tommy Hilfiger Corporation went public in 1992. After licensing Pepe Jeans USA in 1995, in 1996 Tommy Hilfiger Inc. began distributing women's clothing as well. By the end of the next year, Hilfiger had opened his first store in Beverly Hills, which was followed by a store in London in 1998. The company launched its bed and bath line in 1998.\n\nThroughout the 1990s the company's marketing division worked in tandem with the popular music industry, and as early as 1993 Hilfiger was an official sponsor for Pete Townshend's Psychoderelict tour. In the early 1990s a baggier, less tailored menswear look came into fashion, and Hilfiger gave his clothes a more relaxed fit. As roomier styles with oversized logos became popular with hip-hop artists in the mid-to-late 1990s, Hilfiger's style of clothing became both increasingly popular with the American \"preppy\" scene and as hip hop fashion, and when Snoop Dogg wore a Hilfiger sweatshirt during an appearance on Saturday Night Live in the 1990s, it sold out of New York City stores the next day. Moreover, Hilfiger courted the new hip hop market, and rappers like Puffy and Coolio walked during his runways shows. With collections often influenced by the fashion of music subcultures, the clothes are also marketed in connection with the music industry, and American R&B icon Aaliyah became the much-publicized spokesperson for Tommy Hilfiger Corporation in 1997. The company would later sponsor Sheryl Crow's \"If It Makes You Happy\" tour in 1997, Britney Spears 1999 ...Baby One More Time Tour, and Lenny Kravitz's 1999 Freedom tour.\n\nOverseas growth and Apax Partners acquisition (2000s)\nWomen's intimate apparel was introduced in 2001. After sales and net income faltered in 2001, the company's sales in 2002 totaled $1.87 billion. Overall between 2000 and 2009, sales slipped from around $1.9 billion to $700 million. During the same time period, however, Hilfiger’s European sales steadily rose to $1.13 billion. In 2003, Hilfiger executive Fred Gehring and Hilfiger decided to further invest in the brand's growing overseas audience by re-focusing on the brand’s original style, “classic American cool,” and designing the clothes out of New York City. Gehring also adapted the business model to suit European retail culture, pursuing partnerships with European department stores and with smaller boutiques, signing 4,500 of them in 15 countries. Hilfiger also strove to retain the designer brand exclusivity of the Hilfiger label by signing a deal to distribute the best-selling Hilfiger lines at Macy's only. \n\nHilfiger has endorsed products such as True Star is a fragrance, which was released in 2004 with Beyoncé Knowles as poster girl. True Star would go on to win a FiFi Award for Best New Commercial Fragrance. By 2004, the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation company had revenues of $1.8 approximately billion and 5,400 employees. In 2006, Tommy Hilfiger sold Tommy Hilfiger Inc. for $1.6 billion, or $16.80 a share, to Apax Partners, a private investment company. After the acquisition Gehring assumed control of the American headquarters of Tommy Hilfiger as well as Europe. Gehring and Hilfiger narrowed their focus in the United States to the profitable core sportswear line, and U.S. sales began to rise in 2010.\n\nPhillips-Van Heusen acquisition and recent years (2010s–2020s)\n\nIn March 2010, Phillips-Van Heusen (PVH Corp.) bought the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation for $3 billion, in a deal that was nearly seven times what PVH had paid for Calvin Klein in 2003. Fred Gehring, who launched Hilfiger’s European division in 1996, assumed the role of Hilfiger's CEO. Global sales in retail for the brand in 2013 were US $6.4 billion, and $6.7 billion in 2014. Daniel Grieder was appointed CEO of Tommy Hilfiger Group in July 2014. Former CEO Gehring was made executive chairman of Tommy Hilfiger Group and was appointed vice chairman of PVH.\n\nIn January 2015, Tommy Hilfiger debuted a digital sales showroom at its New York City headquarters, which the publication WGSN opined would \"transform the traditional buying process.\" With plans to open showrooms in other cities, Hilfiger described the showroom as \"an innovation of the order process with cost saving potentials along the whole value chain.\" Gehring stepped down as Tommy Hilfiger Group’s chairman in August 2015, though he retained his role at PVH. Tommy Hilfiger remains the company’s principal designer, leading the design teams and overseeing the entire creative process.\n\nIn 2020, PVH announced that as part of their animal welfare policy, the company does not use exotic skins and would be banning their use in Tommy Hilfiger collections when \"our annual update of that policy is released.\"\n\nIn 2021, Tommy Hilfiger released their first genderless collection in collaboration with Indya Moore.\n\nProduct lines\nTommy Hilfiger delivers its products worldwide under the Tommy Hilfiger and Hilfiger Denim brands, and also has a breadth of collections including Hilfiger Collection, Tommy Hilfiger Tailored, men’s, women’s and kid’s sportswear, denim, accessories, and footwear. In addition, the brand is licensed for a range of products such as fragrances, eyewear, watches, and home furnishings.\nTommy Hilfiger – the main line of the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation, like the company's other lines it is influenced by classic American fashion, or more specifically what the company dubs \"preppy with a twist\". It targets customers in the 25 to 40-year-old range.\nHilfiger Denim – more casual than the Tommy Hilfiger label, it targets both men and women in the 18 to 30-year-old range. Beyond jeans, the line also includes denim separates, footwear, bags, accessories, eyewear, and fragrances.\nHilfiger Collection – intended for women, the clothing line blends classic American influences with contemporary styles. The clothes are marketed towards women age 25 to 40. The designs periodically debut during New York Fashion Week.\nTommy Hilfiger Tailored – an American menswear line meant to the 25 to 40-year-old demographic. Styles vary from formal suits to casual wear, with a focus on what the Tommy Hilfiger Group website describes as \"precision fit, premium fabrics, updated cuts, rich colors, and luxe details.”\n\nWorker conditions\n\nIn the late 1990s, Tommy Hilfiger and other large American textile companies such as Calvin Klein and Sears were defendants in a class-action lawsuit alleging that luxury clothes were being manufactured in sweatshop conditions in Saipan. After a group settlement that admitted no liability, in March 2000, Tommy Hilfiger volunteered to allow independent oversight of their manufacturing on the island. In March 2012, ABC aired a report that 29 workers had died in a factory fire in 2011 in Bangladesh, with the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation included among the factory's clients. PVH Corp. issued a press release in response, stating they would commit $1 million to a two-year program to help facilitate safety programs. The company, however, announced they would not abandon their manufacturing in Bangladesh, with PVH CEO Emanuel Chirico stating that the brand was instead \"trying for a global solution\" and staying at the factories to affect change, as \"you need to have a voice at the table to get changes made as you go forward.\" Tommy Hilfiger later signed a Bangladeshi safety accord along with eighty other Western retailers, with the goal of protecting unionizers.\n\nIn 2014, PVH was consulting about investing in Ethiopia in relation to Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, with labor rights among the key talking points. In 2016, the India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN) reported that textile workers in Bangalore were working in conditions akin to slavery. Clothing companies H&M, Inditex, C&A and PVH publicly committed to \"improving the lives of workers in Bengaluru\" after the report, while PVH also announced it would independently investigate and establish new guidelines for its suppliers.\n\nMarketing and advertising\nIn 1985, to help him launch his first collection, Hilfiger hired advertiser and graphic designer George Lois to make a billboard for the center of Times Square in New York City. Instead of models, the ad featured the initials of three well-known fashion designers—“PE” (Perry Ellis), “RL” (Ralph Lauren), “CK” (Calvin Klein), and announced that “TH” (Tommy Hilfiger) was the next great menswear designer. The billboard created a stir in the fashion press and succeeded in creating awareness of the Hilfiger name. In subsequent years Hilfiger and Lois collaborated again on other ads for the Hilfiger brand. One campaign, in 1990, compared Hilfiger’s American style with other “iconic American” classics, such as the 1955 Thunderbird and the 1940 Harley-Davidson bike. Hilfiger courted the new hip hop market in the 1990s, and rappers like Puffy and Coolio walked during its runways shows.\n\nFrom 2002 to 2006, Tommy Hilfiger owned the naming rights to the Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach Theatre amphitheater on Long Island, one of the more popular music venues in the United States. Starting in 2010, in collaboration with New York advertising firm Laird & Partners, Tommy Hilfiger Corporation launched the advertising campaign “The Hilfigers.” The campaign features a fictional family of Hilfigers wearing the brand's clothing in fun preppy venues. The first campaign, for fall 2010, was a photoset of a college football tailgate, followed by photoshoots at a tennis court, a rustic holiday party, a camping trip, an Ivy League college, and the beaches of Malibu. The spring and summer collections of 2015 were displayed at a wedding in Sonoma, California, followed by an American football stadium for fall and winter.\n\nThe brand created the publicity tour \"Prep World” in 2011, which featured specialty pop-up shops in Paris, New York, London, Stockholm, Los Angeles, Madrid, Milan, the German island Sylt, and the Belgian town of Knokke. Hilfiger made personal appearances with author and preppy expert Lisa Birnbach, as well as designing a special clothing collection to support the initiative. The brand's 30th anniversary was in 2015, and the company celebrated the occasion with a fashion tour. Among other events, in Beijing in May 2015 the brand recreated their New York Fashion Week runway show internationally for the first time. The couple Olivia Palermo and Johannes Huebl were also brought in as guest editors for the summer 2015 women's and men's collections. For the fall of 2015, Rafael Nadal is the brand ambassador for Tommy Hilfiger underwear and Tommy Hilfiger Tailored collections.\n\nZendaya was the global women’s ambassador for the spring of 2019. She also designed a Tommy x Zendaya capsule collection.\n\nWilliam Chan is the new global brand spokesperson for menswear in 2021.\n\nLocations\n\nWith a head office in Amsterdam, the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation has global flagship stores in the following seven locations:\nFifth Avenue, New York (opened September 2009)\nChamps-Élysées, Paris (opened November 2010)\nBrompton Road, London (opened August 2011)\nOmotesando, Tokyo (opened April 2012)\nRegent Street, London (opened November 2012)\nRobertson Boulevard, Los Angeles (opened February 2013)\nSchadowstraße, Düsseldorf (opened August 2013)\nIn addition to the flagship stores, anchor stores are located in the cities of Amsterdam, Beijing, Berlin, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Cannes, Cologne, Dublin, Florence, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Prague, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Istanbul, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Mauritius, Mexico City, Miami, Milan, Montréal, Moscow, Mumbai, Munich, New York City, Osaka, Panama City, Punta del Este, Santiago, São Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Vancouver, Vienna, Marbella and Zurich. The company often operates hundreds of stores in the larger countries, and the subsidiary Tommy Hilfiger Japan Corp., for example, operates 170 stores with 1,000 employees as of 2014. In 2015, the brand launched its first store in Thailand.\n\nTommy Hilfiger has 48 stores in Turkey. They are located in the cities of İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Antalya, Aydın , Muğla, Adana, Kocaeli, Afyonkarahisar, Balıkesir, Bursa, Denizli, Kayseri, Mersin, Gaziantep, Konya, Samsun, Trabzon and Diyarbakır.\n\nRecognition\n\nThe following is a selected list of awards and recognitions won by the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation:\n1997: FiFi Awards – Men's Fragrance of the Year - Luxe, for the fragrance \"Tommy\"\n1998: Parsons School of Design – Designer of the Year Award\n1998: GQ Magazine – Designer of the Year for 'Men of the Year' issue\n2000: FiFi Awards – Best Marketing Innovation of the Year, for Toiletries for Tommy's (American running series)\n2002: GQ Germany – International Designer of the Year\n2002: Drug Abuse Resistance Education – Future of America Award, for philanthropic efforts for American youth\n2006: GQ Spain – Designer of the Year \n2008: Women’s Wear Daily – No. 1 Designer and No. 16 Brand in annual “100 List”\n2009: UNESCO – UNESCO Support Award, for philanthropic efforts\n\nSee also\n\nList of fashion designers\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n tommy.com \n global.tommy.com \n pvh.com/brands/tommy-hilfiger\n\n \nClothing brands of the United States\nHigh fashion brands\nClothing retailers of the United States\nShoe companies of the United States\nUnderwear brands\nWatch manufacturing companies of the United States\nAmerican companies established in 1985\nClothing companies established in 1985\nRetail companies established in 1985\nEyewear brands of the United States\nPVH (company) clothing brands\n1990s fashion\n2010 mergers and acquisitions\nAmerican corporate subsidiaries",
"True Star is a fragrance endorsed by American fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger released in 2004. The release was followed with a revised version of Beyoncé Knowles' original cover of \"Wishing on a Star\" and a limited edition EP also titled True Star: A Private Performance. The fragrance's commercial shows the singer Beyoncé Knowles singing a capella the song. Knowles was a poster girl of the perfume. She received $250,000 for this campaign. True Star was followed by one additional release, the True Star Gold.\n\nPackaging and product \n\nTrue Star by Tommy Hilfiger fragrance can come in two variations. The first perfume package variation is a black and white fragrance box. On this box is a picture of Beyonce lying down with her left hand on her right shoulder. A star emblem is below the picture of Beyonce. True Star is in bold white lettering near the bottom of the box followed by Tommy Hilfiger in black smaller print beneath the title.\n\nThe second variation, which is most commonly sold in retail stores, is a perfume packaging that is themed in blue and white. This variation of True Star by Tommy Hilfiger starts off with a baby blue color near the top of the fragrance box and fades to white in the center then fades back to the same shade of blue near the bottom. Tommy is printed at the top and Hilfiger is inscribed at the very bottom. True Star is centered in the middle of the perfume box in a gray shade. A medium-sized gray star emblem is above the fragrance title.\n\nBoth of the variations by Tommy Hilfiger of True Star have the same flask like shape. Both the Beyonce variation and \"blue\" variation also share the same push down fragrance dispenser. The perfume is sprayed out the topside of the fragrance bottle. The Beyonce perfume bottle variation has a dark gray cast to the bottle color while the \"blue\" style True Star container has a pearl like color to it.\n\nFragrance\n\nWhen Beyonce worked with Tommy Hilfiger on this perfume, she wanted the fragrance to be smart, sexy, yet innocent. True Star was created by using top perfume notes of honeysuckle, sweet pea, cereal, wheat notes, and rice pudding. True Star by Tommy Hilfiger perfume can be classified as a floral, oriental, and fresh scent that can be worn for any occasion by women of all age. Beyonce wanted to endorse a versatile fragrance; thus, creating True Star by Tommy Hilfiger. This Tommy Hilfiger fragrance has an average longevity compared to other perfume products available.\n\nReception \nIn 2005, the fragrance True Star won a FiFi Award for Best New Fragrance Commercial.\n\nTrue Star: A Private Performance\n\nTrue Star: A Private Performance is a two-track extended play (EP) by American R&B singer Beyoncé. Produced by herself and Tommy Hilfiger, it was released exclusively in 2004, solely available with limited edition purchases of her fragrance by Hilfiger entitled True Star. The EP's packaging consists of a fold-out digipak picture sleeve, including advertisement for the perfume and a built in picture booklet with lyrics for \"Wishing on a Star\". The EP was only released as a five-inch CD single, usually included with the purchase of the preceding EP's perfume.\n\nThe EP consists of two tracks. \"Wishing on a Star\" was originally covered by Beyoncé Knowles in 2004, for the live album Live at Wembley. The song was than used to promote the Tommy Hilfiger fragrance. In 2005, the song was included on the soundtrack of the movie Roll Bounce. At the 48th Grammy Awards (2006), Knowles' version was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. Knowles released the song as a promotional single on August 17, 2010. The song that appears on the EP was credited originally from Live at Wembley.\n\nThe song \"Naïve\", which is a duet between Solange Knowles and Beyoncé, featuring Da Brat, was included on Solange Knowles' debut studio album Solo Star (2002) as the twenty-first track, tentatively untitled.\n\nTrack listing\nCredits adapted from the EP's liner notes.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOfficial Website\n\nBeyoncé perfumes\nTommy Hilfiger (company)"
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"Tommy Hilfiger",
"Charity work",
"Did Tommy Hilfiger start any charity organizations?",
"In 1995 Hilfiger launched The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation."
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What does this foundation focus on?
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What does The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation focus on?
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Tommy Hilfiger
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In 1995 Hilfiger launched The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation. With an emphasis on health, educational and cultural programs, the organization supports charities that focus on at-risk American youth. In 1998 Hilfiger was one of several sponsors along with Moet and Chandon, Christie's Auction House, and The Advocate of the charity LIFEbeat - The Music Industry Fights AIDS. He is also personally involved in charities and causes such as Autism Speaks and the MLK, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, and he has served on the board of directors for The Fresh Air Fund, a New York-based group that helps underprivileged children attend summer camp. The Fresh Air Fund's Camp Pioneer program was renamed Camp Tommy in 1999, in honor of Hilfiger's patronage. Since 2008, Hilfiger has designed limited-edition handbags in support Breast Health International (BHI), an international organization focused on finding a cure for breast cancer. A portion of the handbag sales proceeds are donated to BHI's Fund For Living program, with celebrity ambassadors appointed for each seasonal campaign. In 2013, Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell modeled the BHI bag in a photo shoot with photographer Patrick Demarchelier. Millennium Promise, a non-profit organization focused on eradicating extreme poverty, hunger and preventable disease in impoverished regions, classifies Hilfiger as a Millennium Promise MDG Global Leader, and in 2009 Hilfiger made a five-year $2 million commitment to Millennium Promise. The donation went towards relief efforts in a Ugandan city, with the aim of improving residents' access to necessities like clean water, education, and farming techniques. In 2012, all philanthropic activities of The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation were renamed Tommy Cares, a wider-reaching global initiative that further integrates the brand's non-profit partnerships, charitable contributions, and employee involvement. On a global scale, Tommy Cares continues to support organizations such as Save the Children, the World Wildlife Fund, War Child, and Millennium Promise. Hilfiger and his wife are on the board of Autism Speaks as of 2012, and through the organization, Hilfiger became a sponsor of the Golden Door Film Festival in September 2014. CANNOTANSWER
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With an emphasis on health, educational and cultural programs,
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Thomas Jacob Hilfiger (/hɪlˈfɪgər/; born March 24, 1951) is an American fashion designer and the founder of Tommy Hilfiger Corporation.
After starting his career by co-founding a chain of jeans/fashion stores called People's Place in upstate New York in the 1970s, he began designing preppy clothing for his own eponymous menswear line in the 1980s. The company later expanded into women's clothing and various luxury items such as perfumes and went public in 1992.
Hilfiger's collections are often influenced by the fashion of music subcultures and marketed in connection with the music industry, with celebrities such as American R&B artist Aaliyah in the 1990s. In 2005, contestants in the CBS reality show The Cut competed for a design job with Hilfiger in a similar fashion to The Apprentice. In 2006, Hilfiger sold his company for $1.6 billion to Apax Partners, who next sold it in 2010 to Phillips-Van Heusen for $3 billion. He remains the company's principal designer, leading the design teams and overseeing the entire creative process. In 2012, Hilfiger was awarded the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
Business and fashion career
Hilfiger graduated from the Elmira Free Academy high school in 1969. His parents wanted him to get a college education and pursue a traditional career, and for a time he attended GST BOCES Bush Campus in Elmira.
People's Place and early lines (1970s–1983)
Hilfiger spent the summer of 1969 working in a clothing store on Cape Cod, and afterwards he decided to use his life savings of $150 to open a clothing store in 1971 as People's Place. The first store was located in downtown Elmira in what is now the site of First Arena and had a hair salon, a record shop, and rock concerts in the basement. To stock the store, Hilfiger and a friend drove to New York City to buy clothing such as bell-bottoms, peasant blouses, and leather jackets. Unsatisfied with this, he began sketching his own designs, and would later write that "designing made me happier than anything I'd ever done. I knew from that early work that designing would be my life."
The People's Place went bankrupt in 1977. Hilfiger enrolled in classes on commerce and the business side of the fashion industry. After then moving to New York City and working for several different labels, he set up a company called Tommy Hill in 1979. One of his first clients was Jordache Jeans, and as Hilfiger's company expanded beyond denim, he spent time in India, learning more about his trade: "I would sit in the factory with my pile of sketches and watch them being made, tweaking as I went. There's no better design school in the world." In 1981 he founded the company 20th Century Survival, and the following year he founded Click Point, which designed women's clothing.
Founding Tommy Hilfiger Inc. (1984–1990s)
In 1984, Hilfiger was approached by businessman Mohan Murjani, to pursue his goal of designing and heading a men's sportswear line. Murjani backed the necessary investment for Hilfiger to establish his own brand. Later Hilfiger oversaw the design of the Coca-Cola clothing line for Murjani.
In 1985, he founded the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation with support from The Murjani Group. The new clothing line made its debut with a high-profile marketing campaign, for example setting up a large billboard in Times Square designed by George Lois. Hilfiger left Murjani International in 1989, with Silas Chou instead providing financial backing to the Hilfiger brand, and former executives of Ralph Lauren brought on board as executives of the newly formed company Tommy Hilfiger, Inc. The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation went public in 1992, introducing Hilfiger's signature menswear collection. Hilfiger was named Menswear Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 1995. After licensing Pepe Jeans USA in 1995, in 1996, Tommy Hilfiger Inc. began distributing women's clothing. By the end of the next year Hilfiger had opened his first store in Beverly Hills, which was followed by a store in London in 1998. Hilfiger was serving as the company's co-chairman by 1997, and that year he published his first book, titled All American: A Style Book.
Increased brand exposure (1990s–2004)
A professed lifelong fan of rock and roll, Hilfiger's collections are often influenced by the fashion of music subcultures. The clothes are also marketed in connection with the music industry, and as early as 1993 Hilfiger was an official sponsor for Pete Townshend's Psychoderelict tour. Hilfiger has also sponsored several musical events, including Sheryl Crow's If It Makes You Happy tour in 1997, Britney Spears 1999 ...Baby One More Time Tour as main sponsor, and Lenny Kravitz's 1999 Freedom tour. By the mid-1990s, Hilfiger's style of clothing was popular with both the American "preppy" scene and as hip hop fashion. American R&B icon Aaliyah became the much-publicized spokesperson for Tommy Hilfiger Corporation in 1997.
Hilfiger had a cameo in the fashion spoof Zoolander in 2001, and from 2002 to 2006 Tommy Hilfiger Inc. owned the naming rights to the Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach Theatre venue. Largely due to declining sales in the early 2000s, Hilfiger began reworking the brand, striving to retain the designer brand exclusivity of the Hilfiger label by signing a deal to distribute the best-selling Hilfiger lines at Macy's only. The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation continued to work closely with musicians into the 2000s, focusing on fragrances as well as clothes. Sweetface Fashion, which owns the J.Lo by Jennifer Lopez line, was bought out by Tommy Hilfiger in 2003. True Star, a fragrance endorsed by Hilfiger and released in 2004, featured Beyoncé as its poster girl. The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation company had revenues of approximately $1.8 billion, and 5,400 employees by 2004.
Media appearances and sale of clothing brand (2005–2011)
In 2005, a CBS reality show called The Cut tracked the progress of sixteen contestants as they competed for a design job with Tommy Hilfiger and their own fashion line under Hilfiger's label. The show progressed in a similar fashion to Donald Trump's The Apprentice. After a final competition that involved setting up the display window for Macy's Herald Square location in New York, Hilfiger chose Chris Cortez as the "next great American designer."
In December 2005, Tommy Hilfiger sold the clothing brand for $1.6 billion, or $16.80 a share, to Apax Partners, a private investment company. The transaction was completed in May 2006. In 2008 Hilfiger, Rives, and Bar Refaeli co-hosted the Bravo special program Tommy Hilfiger Presents Ironic Iconic America. Based on the book Ironic Iconic America written by Hilfiger and designer George Lois, the program examined how pop culture has influenced American tastes and styles. In 2009 Hilfiger was a guest judge on an episode of Project Runway, and he presented the Best African Artist award to Akon at the 2010 World Music Awards.
In March 2010, Phillips-Van Heusen, owner of Calvin Klein and Izod, bought the Tommy Hilfiger brand from Apax Partners for $3 billion. The Tommy Hilfiger online and in-store ad campaign called "Meet The Hilfigers" began in August 2010 and ran through August 2011. In 2011, Hilfiger and a partner signed a contract to buy the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower building for $170 million, planning to transform it into Hilfiger's first hotel, with luxury condos. Hilfiger backed off the project in September 2011. A guest judge on the finale of Project Runway: All Stars along with Ken Downing in 2012, shortly afterwards he served as a fashion consultant to contestants on season 11 of American Idol.
Recent years and memoir (2012–2016)
Hilfiger was instrumental in the creation of the Marc Anthony Collection in 2012, as Marc Anthony had never been interested in the fashion business until Hilfiger called him and convinced him a line was worthwhile. In 2012, Hilfiger was awarded the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Global sales in retail for the brand in 2013 were US$6.4 billion, and $6.7 billion in 2014. Hilfiger remains the company's principal designer, leading the design teams and overseeing the entire creative process. In 2016, he collaborated with model Gigi Hadid on clothing designs launching the TommyXGigi clothing collection. On February 8, 2017, the brand will hold its ready-to-wear show in Los Angeles, in the first time the brand will not be part of New York Fashion Week.
In January 2015, Hilfiger announced that he was working on his memoirs. The book was written chronologically over a year, with Hilfiger explaining "I was hesitant to write it, but thought I better do it now because someday I may forget." Co-writer Peter Knobler had full access to interview friends and family, with Hilfiger citing the candor of Diane von Furstenberg's memoirs as an inspiration. Calling the writing process "great therapy" and "interesting," Hilfiger asserted that he "wanted to give people a sneak peek of what goes on behind the curtain [of] how the fashion industry works." He read selections from the book in June 2016 at the Literacy Partners Evening of Readers and Gala Dinner Dance. Hilfiger's memoir, American Dreamer: My Life in Fashion & Business, co-written with Peter Knobler, was published November 1, 2016. In a statement, Hilfiger described it as "a roadmap of the moments that have defined both my [40-year fashion career] and my personal life," and the book covers his childhood, his early business ventures, and his later life in fashion. With Kirkus Reviews calling it "an honest, straightforward, mostly entertaining autobiography," Hilfiger made an appearance for the book at the Miami Book Fair shortly after its release. American Dreamer appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List in December 2016
Charity work
In 1995 Hilfiger launched The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation. With an emphasis on health, educational and cultural programs, the organization supports charities that focus on at-risk American youth. In 1998 Hilfiger was one of several sponsors along with Moet and Chandon, Christie's Auction House, and The Advocate of the charity LIFEbeat – The Music Industry Fights AIDS. He is also personally involved in charities and causes such as Autism Speaks and the MLK, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, and he has served on the board of directors for The Fresh Air Fund, a New York-based group that helps underprivileged children attend summer camp. The Fresh Air Fund's Camp Pioneer program was renamed Camp Tommy in 1999, in honor of Hilfiger's patronage.
Since 2008, Hilfiger has designed limited-edition handbags in support Breast Health International (BHI), an international organization focused on finding a cure for breast cancer. A portion of the handbag sales proceeds is donated to BHI's Fund For Living program, with celebrity ambassadors appointed for each seasonal campaign. In 2013, Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell modeled the BHI bag in a photoshoot with photographer Patrick Demarchelier.
Millennium Promise, a non-profit organization focused on eradicating extreme poverty, hunger and preventable disease in impoverished regions, classifies Hilfiger as a Millennium Promise MDG Global Leader, and in 2009 Hilfiger made a five-year $2 million commitment to Millennium Promise. The donation went towards relief efforts in a Ugandan city, with the aim of improving residents' access to necessities like clean water, education, and farming techniques. In 2012, all philanthropic activities of The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation were renamed Tommy Cares, a wider-reaching global initiative that further integrates the brand's non-profit partnerships, charitable contributions, and employee involvement. On a global scale, Tommy Cares continues to support organizations such as Save the Children, the World Wildlife Fund, War Child, and Millennium Promise. Hilfiger and his wife are on the board of Autism Speaks as of 2012, and through the organization, Hilfiger became a sponsor of the Golden Door Film Festival in September 2014.
Hilfiger has continuously cited the important role inclusivity, diversity and self-expression have had in the brand's development and contributions to pop culture.
In 2016, Hilfiger also echoed his support for dressing Melania Trump, telling WWD that "any designer should be proud to dress her."
In 2020, Hilfiger sold his 22.4 acre estate in Greenwich, Connecticut, for $47.5 million.
Recognition
The following is a selected list of awards and recognitions for Tommy Hilfiger:
1995: Council of Fashion Designers of America – Menswear Designer of the Year
1996: American Academy of Achievement – Golden Plate Award
1997: FiFi Awards – Men's Fragrance of the Year – Luxe, for the fragrance "Tommy"
1998: Parsons School of Design – Designer of the Year Award
1998: GQ Magazine – Designer of the Year for 'Men of the Year' issue
2000: FiFi Awards – Best Marketing Innovation of the Year, for Toiletries for Tommy's (American running series)
2002: GQ Germany – International Designer of the Year
2002: Drug Abuse Resistance Education – Future of America Award, for philanthropic efforts for American youth
2006: GQ Spain – Designer of the Year
2006: Harvard Foundation – Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian of the Year
2006: We Are Family Foundation – Visionary Award
2007: Hispanic Federation – Individual Achievement Award
2008: Women's Wear Daily – No. 1 Designer and No. 16 Brand in annual "100 List"
2009: UNESCO – UNESCO Support Award, for philanthropic efforts
2009: Marie Claire Magazine – Lifetime Achievement Award
2010: Pratt Institute – Legends Award
2012: Council of Fashion Designers of America – Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Anna Wintour
2015: Race To Erase MS – honored for commitment to finding a cure for MS
Style and impact
While Hilfiger's earliest designs drew on 1960s counterculture and fashion, since the 1980s his designs typically draw from classic American New England styles. His initial lines for the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation were primarily designed to appeal to young men looking for designer clothing, and Tommy Hilfiger became one of the most prominent brands in 1990s sportswear, with Polo Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Nautica, DKNY, and Donna Karan also popular. Each of these companies created distinctive wardrobes based upon stylish but wearable, comfortable and interchangeable multi-purpose clothes, all with a focus on luxury.
Hip hop fashion at large began incorporating the Hilfiger brand in the 1990s, and when Snoop Doggy Dogg wore a Hilfiger sweatshirt during an appearance on Saturday Night Live, it sold out of New York City stores the next day. Moreover, Hilfiger courted the new hip hop market, and rappers like Puffy and Coolio walked during his runways shows. Specific items like Tommy Hilfiger carpenter jeans became particularly popular, with the trademark logo displayed on the hammer loop. Hilfiger continues to maintain multiple fashion lines, some focused on wearable "casual" clothes while others take on various haute couture commissions. Aside from the preppy styles of his youth, Hilfiger has also always been influenced by the style of a wide variety of American icons, including Grace Kelly, James Dean, Deborah Harry, Iggy Pop, Farrah Fawcett, Steve McQueen, Jackie and John F. Kennedy, and Andy Warhol. Many of his designs draw prominently from the styles of hard rock and the pop music industry.
Personal life
Hilfiger was born on March 24, 1951, in Elmira, New York, the second of nine children. Both of his parents were practicing Catholics. His father Richard was a watchmaker of German-Swiss descent, and his mother Virginia (née Gerrity) was a nurse of Irish descent. Hilfiger also claims direct descent from Gilbert Burns, brother of the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Hilfiger has described his upbringing as very happy. He credits his parents with instilling a good work ethic and compassion for others. He has dyslexia. Hilfiger had an early interest in sports, fashion, and the music industry, a trend that ran in his family. One of his brothers, Andy Hilfiger, went on to work as a musician and designer, while Hilfiger's other brother Billy Hilfiger would join King Flux as a guitarist.
In 1976 Hilfiger met Susan Cirona, an employee at the People's Place in Ithaca; they married in 1980. Together they had four children: one son and three daughters. In 2003 Hilfiger's daughter Ally was part of the MTV reality series Rich Girls. His son, Richard ("Ricky Hil"), is a musician. The Hilfigers divorced in 2000.
On December 12, 2008, he married Dee Ocleppo; the couple had a son in 2009.
Publishing history
Filmography
See also
List of fashion designers
List of footwear designers
References
External links
Tommy.com
TommyCares.com
Tommy Hilfiger (company)
American fashion businesspeople
American fashion designers
1951 births
Living people
Menswear designers
Businesspeople from New York City
Irish-American history
People from Elmira, New York
20th-century American businesspeople
21st-century American businesspeople
Catholics from New York (state)
American people of Irish descent
American people of Swiss-German descent
| true |
[
"The Focus-Africa Foundation is a non-profit organisation registered in South Africa. It works with the Joaquim Chissano Foundation (FJC), which was started by the ex president of Mozambique, Joaquim Chissano, on promoting the social, economic, and cultural development of Mozambique. The Focus Africa Foundation primarily works with the FJC on its Wildlife Preservation Initiative, especially with anti-rhino poaching efforts.\n\nHistory \n\nThe foundation was started in 2014 and has the registration number 2014/027537/08.\n\nPartners \n\nThe foundation has been involved with and partnered with various organisations, such as the World Youth Rhino Summit, Rhula Intelligent Solutions, Freeland, Semantic Research, the Satao Project, and Outraged South Africa Citizens Against Poaching (OSCAP).\n\nResearch \n\nThe Focus Africa Foundation has worked with various anti-rhino poaching stakeholders and occasionally performs and publishes poaching statistics, estimates, and research. Examples of these publications include year on year comparisons on the number of rhinos poached in the Kruger National Park (KNP), birth rates, death rates, and estimated population decline figures also for the rhinos in the KNP.\n\nWhile the foundation does have a website most of its information is published via social media channels, such as its Facebook page and Twitter account.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Focus Africa Foundation website\n\nNon-profit organisations based in South Africa",
"A food museum tells the story of what sustains humankind. Such museums may be specifically focused on one plant, as is the Saffron Museum in Boynes, France. They may explore a food made from a plant, for example, The Bread Museum in Ulm, Germany; a product such as the National Mustard Museum in Wisconsin; the art of food displayed at California's Copia; or historic farms, for example, Iowa's Living History Farms.\n\nIn some cases, food museums focus on how and what the world eats. Agropolis in Montpellier, France does this, as does Nestle Foundation's Alimentarium, in Vevey, Switzerland. Japan's Ramen Museum is an innovative food museum in the form of a shopping arcade featuring different noodle restaurants and displays on ramen history.\n\nFood museums are a part of the emerging food heritage movement.\n\nSee also\n\n List of food and beverage museums\n\nExternal links\nDirectory of Food and Beverage Museums and Collections\nNY Food Museum, New York, USA\nSouthern Food & Beverage Museum, New Orleans, USA\nMuseums about Food & Eating\nAll about history of cooking and food preparation, Prague, Czech Republic\n \n\nTypes of museums"
] |
[
"Tommy Hilfiger",
"Charity work",
"Did Tommy Hilfiger start any charity organizations?",
"In 1995 Hilfiger launched The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation.",
"What does this foundation focus on?",
"With an emphasis on health, educational and cultural programs,"
] |
C_80e1739d5a9e4a9db93c6b49e525a30d_0
|
Are there any other charities that Hilfiger is involved in?
| 3 |
Besides The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation are there any other charities that Hilfiger is involved in?
|
Tommy Hilfiger
|
In 1995 Hilfiger launched The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation. With an emphasis on health, educational and cultural programs, the organization supports charities that focus on at-risk American youth. In 1998 Hilfiger was one of several sponsors along with Moet and Chandon, Christie's Auction House, and The Advocate of the charity LIFEbeat - The Music Industry Fights AIDS. He is also personally involved in charities and causes such as Autism Speaks and the MLK, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, and he has served on the board of directors for The Fresh Air Fund, a New York-based group that helps underprivileged children attend summer camp. The Fresh Air Fund's Camp Pioneer program was renamed Camp Tommy in 1999, in honor of Hilfiger's patronage. Since 2008, Hilfiger has designed limited-edition handbags in support Breast Health International (BHI), an international organization focused on finding a cure for breast cancer. A portion of the handbag sales proceeds are donated to BHI's Fund For Living program, with celebrity ambassadors appointed for each seasonal campaign. In 2013, Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell modeled the BHI bag in a photo shoot with photographer Patrick Demarchelier. Millennium Promise, a non-profit organization focused on eradicating extreme poverty, hunger and preventable disease in impoverished regions, classifies Hilfiger as a Millennium Promise MDG Global Leader, and in 2009 Hilfiger made a five-year $2 million commitment to Millennium Promise. The donation went towards relief efforts in a Ugandan city, with the aim of improving residents' access to necessities like clean water, education, and farming techniques. In 2012, all philanthropic activities of The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation were renamed Tommy Cares, a wider-reaching global initiative that further integrates the brand's non-profit partnerships, charitable contributions, and employee involvement. On a global scale, Tommy Cares continues to support organizations such as Save the Children, the World Wildlife Fund, War Child, and Millennium Promise. Hilfiger and his wife are on the board of Autism Speaks as of 2012, and through the organization, Hilfiger became a sponsor of the Golden Door Film Festival in September 2014. CANNOTANSWER
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In 1998 Hilfiger was one of several sponsors along with Moet and Chandon, Christie's Auction House, and The Advocate of the charity LIFEbeat -
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Thomas Jacob Hilfiger (/hɪlˈfɪgər/; born March 24, 1951) is an American fashion designer and the founder of Tommy Hilfiger Corporation.
After starting his career by co-founding a chain of jeans/fashion stores called People's Place in upstate New York in the 1970s, he began designing preppy clothing for his own eponymous menswear line in the 1980s. The company later expanded into women's clothing and various luxury items such as perfumes and went public in 1992.
Hilfiger's collections are often influenced by the fashion of music subcultures and marketed in connection with the music industry, with celebrities such as American R&B artist Aaliyah in the 1990s. In 2005, contestants in the CBS reality show The Cut competed for a design job with Hilfiger in a similar fashion to The Apprentice. In 2006, Hilfiger sold his company for $1.6 billion to Apax Partners, who next sold it in 2010 to Phillips-Van Heusen for $3 billion. He remains the company's principal designer, leading the design teams and overseeing the entire creative process. In 2012, Hilfiger was awarded the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
Business and fashion career
Hilfiger graduated from the Elmira Free Academy high school in 1969. His parents wanted him to get a college education and pursue a traditional career, and for a time he attended GST BOCES Bush Campus in Elmira.
People's Place and early lines (1970s–1983)
Hilfiger spent the summer of 1969 working in a clothing store on Cape Cod, and afterwards he decided to use his life savings of $150 to open a clothing store in 1971 as People's Place. The first store was located in downtown Elmira in what is now the site of First Arena and had a hair salon, a record shop, and rock concerts in the basement. To stock the store, Hilfiger and a friend drove to New York City to buy clothing such as bell-bottoms, peasant blouses, and leather jackets. Unsatisfied with this, he began sketching his own designs, and would later write that "designing made me happier than anything I'd ever done. I knew from that early work that designing would be my life."
The People's Place went bankrupt in 1977. Hilfiger enrolled in classes on commerce and the business side of the fashion industry. After then moving to New York City and working for several different labels, he set up a company called Tommy Hill in 1979. One of his first clients was Jordache Jeans, and as Hilfiger's company expanded beyond denim, he spent time in India, learning more about his trade: "I would sit in the factory with my pile of sketches and watch them being made, tweaking as I went. There's no better design school in the world." In 1981 he founded the company 20th Century Survival, and the following year he founded Click Point, which designed women's clothing.
Founding Tommy Hilfiger Inc. (1984–1990s)
In 1984, Hilfiger was approached by businessman Mohan Murjani, to pursue his goal of designing and heading a men's sportswear line. Murjani backed the necessary investment for Hilfiger to establish his own brand. Later Hilfiger oversaw the design of the Coca-Cola clothing line for Murjani.
In 1985, he founded the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation with support from The Murjani Group. The new clothing line made its debut with a high-profile marketing campaign, for example setting up a large billboard in Times Square designed by George Lois. Hilfiger left Murjani International in 1989, with Silas Chou instead providing financial backing to the Hilfiger brand, and former executives of Ralph Lauren brought on board as executives of the newly formed company Tommy Hilfiger, Inc. The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation went public in 1992, introducing Hilfiger's signature menswear collection. Hilfiger was named Menswear Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 1995. After licensing Pepe Jeans USA in 1995, in 1996, Tommy Hilfiger Inc. began distributing women's clothing. By the end of the next year Hilfiger had opened his first store in Beverly Hills, which was followed by a store in London in 1998. Hilfiger was serving as the company's co-chairman by 1997, and that year he published his first book, titled All American: A Style Book.
Increased brand exposure (1990s–2004)
A professed lifelong fan of rock and roll, Hilfiger's collections are often influenced by the fashion of music subcultures. The clothes are also marketed in connection with the music industry, and as early as 1993 Hilfiger was an official sponsor for Pete Townshend's Psychoderelict tour. Hilfiger has also sponsored several musical events, including Sheryl Crow's If It Makes You Happy tour in 1997, Britney Spears 1999 ...Baby One More Time Tour as main sponsor, and Lenny Kravitz's 1999 Freedom tour. By the mid-1990s, Hilfiger's style of clothing was popular with both the American "preppy" scene and as hip hop fashion. American R&B icon Aaliyah became the much-publicized spokesperson for Tommy Hilfiger Corporation in 1997.
Hilfiger had a cameo in the fashion spoof Zoolander in 2001, and from 2002 to 2006 Tommy Hilfiger Inc. owned the naming rights to the Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach Theatre venue. Largely due to declining sales in the early 2000s, Hilfiger began reworking the brand, striving to retain the designer brand exclusivity of the Hilfiger label by signing a deal to distribute the best-selling Hilfiger lines at Macy's only. The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation continued to work closely with musicians into the 2000s, focusing on fragrances as well as clothes. Sweetface Fashion, which owns the J.Lo by Jennifer Lopez line, was bought out by Tommy Hilfiger in 2003. True Star, a fragrance endorsed by Hilfiger and released in 2004, featured Beyoncé as its poster girl. The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation company had revenues of approximately $1.8 billion, and 5,400 employees by 2004.
Media appearances and sale of clothing brand (2005–2011)
In 2005, a CBS reality show called The Cut tracked the progress of sixteen contestants as they competed for a design job with Tommy Hilfiger and their own fashion line under Hilfiger's label. The show progressed in a similar fashion to Donald Trump's The Apprentice. After a final competition that involved setting up the display window for Macy's Herald Square location in New York, Hilfiger chose Chris Cortez as the "next great American designer."
In December 2005, Tommy Hilfiger sold the clothing brand for $1.6 billion, or $16.80 a share, to Apax Partners, a private investment company. The transaction was completed in May 2006. In 2008 Hilfiger, Rives, and Bar Refaeli co-hosted the Bravo special program Tommy Hilfiger Presents Ironic Iconic America. Based on the book Ironic Iconic America written by Hilfiger and designer George Lois, the program examined how pop culture has influenced American tastes and styles. In 2009 Hilfiger was a guest judge on an episode of Project Runway, and he presented the Best African Artist award to Akon at the 2010 World Music Awards.
In March 2010, Phillips-Van Heusen, owner of Calvin Klein and Izod, bought the Tommy Hilfiger brand from Apax Partners for $3 billion. The Tommy Hilfiger online and in-store ad campaign called "Meet The Hilfigers" began in August 2010 and ran through August 2011. In 2011, Hilfiger and a partner signed a contract to buy the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower building for $170 million, planning to transform it into Hilfiger's first hotel, with luxury condos. Hilfiger backed off the project in September 2011. A guest judge on the finale of Project Runway: All Stars along with Ken Downing in 2012, shortly afterwards he served as a fashion consultant to contestants on season 11 of American Idol.
Recent years and memoir (2012–2016)
Hilfiger was instrumental in the creation of the Marc Anthony Collection in 2012, as Marc Anthony had never been interested in the fashion business until Hilfiger called him and convinced him a line was worthwhile. In 2012, Hilfiger was awarded the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Global sales in retail for the brand in 2013 were US$6.4 billion, and $6.7 billion in 2014. Hilfiger remains the company's principal designer, leading the design teams and overseeing the entire creative process. In 2016, he collaborated with model Gigi Hadid on clothing designs launching the TommyXGigi clothing collection. On February 8, 2017, the brand will hold its ready-to-wear show in Los Angeles, in the first time the brand will not be part of New York Fashion Week.
In January 2015, Hilfiger announced that he was working on his memoirs. The book was written chronologically over a year, with Hilfiger explaining "I was hesitant to write it, but thought I better do it now because someday I may forget." Co-writer Peter Knobler had full access to interview friends and family, with Hilfiger citing the candor of Diane von Furstenberg's memoirs as an inspiration. Calling the writing process "great therapy" and "interesting," Hilfiger asserted that he "wanted to give people a sneak peek of what goes on behind the curtain [of] how the fashion industry works." He read selections from the book in June 2016 at the Literacy Partners Evening of Readers and Gala Dinner Dance. Hilfiger's memoir, American Dreamer: My Life in Fashion & Business, co-written with Peter Knobler, was published November 1, 2016. In a statement, Hilfiger described it as "a roadmap of the moments that have defined both my [40-year fashion career] and my personal life," and the book covers his childhood, his early business ventures, and his later life in fashion. With Kirkus Reviews calling it "an honest, straightforward, mostly entertaining autobiography," Hilfiger made an appearance for the book at the Miami Book Fair shortly after its release. American Dreamer appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List in December 2016
Charity work
In 1995 Hilfiger launched The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation. With an emphasis on health, educational and cultural programs, the organization supports charities that focus on at-risk American youth. In 1998 Hilfiger was one of several sponsors along with Moet and Chandon, Christie's Auction House, and The Advocate of the charity LIFEbeat – The Music Industry Fights AIDS. He is also personally involved in charities and causes such as Autism Speaks and the MLK, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, and he has served on the board of directors for The Fresh Air Fund, a New York-based group that helps underprivileged children attend summer camp. The Fresh Air Fund's Camp Pioneer program was renamed Camp Tommy in 1999, in honor of Hilfiger's patronage.
Since 2008, Hilfiger has designed limited-edition handbags in support Breast Health International (BHI), an international organization focused on finding a cure for breast cancer. A portion of the handbag sales proceeds is donated to BHI's Fund For Living program, with celebrity ambassadors appointed for each seasonal campaign. In 2013, Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell modeled the BHI bag in a photoshoot with photographer Patrick Demarchelier.
Millennium Promise, a non-profit organization focused on eradicating extreme poverty, hunger and preventable disease in impoverished regions, classifies Hilfiger as a Millennium Promise MDG Global Leader, and in 2009 Hilfiger made a five-year $2 million commitment to Millennium Promise. The donation went towards relief efforts in a Ugandan city, with the aim of improving residents' access to necessities like clean water, education, and farming techniques. In 2012, all philanthropic activities of The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation were renamed Tommy Cares, a wider-reaching global initiative that further integrates the brand's non-profit partnerships, charitable contributions, and employee involvement. On a global scale, Tommy Cares continues to support organizations such as Save the Children, the World Wildlife Fund, War Child, and Millennium Promise. Hilfiger and his wife are on the board of Autism Speaks as of 2012, and through the organization, Hilfiger became a sponsor of the Golden Door Film Festival in September 2014.
Hilfiger has continuously cited the important role inclusivity, diversity and self-expression have had in the brand's development and contributions to pop culture.
In 2016, Hilfiger also echoed his support for dressing Melania Trump, telling WWD that "any designer should be proud to dress her."
In 2020, Hilfiger sold his 22.4 acre estate in Greenwich, Connecticut, for $47.5 million.
Recognition
The following is a selected list of awards and recognitions for Tommy Hilfiger:
1995: Council of Fashion Designers of America – Menswear Designer of the Year
1996: American Academy of Achievement – Golden Plate Award
1997: FiFi Awards – Men's Fragrance of the Year – Luxe, for the fragrance "Tommy"
1998: Parsons School of Design – Designer of the Year Award
1998: GQ Magazine – Designer of the Year for 'Men of the Year' issue
2000: FiFi Awards – Best Marketing Innovation of the Year, for Toiletries for Tommy's (American running series)
2002: GQ Germany – International Designer of the Year
2002: Drug Abuse Resistance Education – Future of America Award, for philanthropic efforts for American youth
2006: GQ Spain – Designer of the Year
2006: Harvard Foundation – Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian of the Year
2006: We Are Family Foundation – Visionary Award
2007: Hispanic Federation – Individual Achievement Award
2008: Women's Wear Daily – No. 1 Designer and No. 16 Brand in annual "100 List"
2009: UNESCO – UNESCO Support Award, for philanthropic efforts
2009: Marie Claire Magazine – Lifetime Achievement Award
2010: Pratt Institute – Legends Award
2012: Council of Fashion Designers of America – Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Anna Wintour
2015: Race To Erase MS – honored for commitment to finding a cure for MS
Style and impact
While Hilfiger's earliest designs drew on 1960s counterculture and fashion, since the 1980s his designs typically draw from classic American New England styles. His initial lines for the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation were primarily designed to appeal to young men looking for designer clothing, and Tommy Hilfiger became one of the most prominent brands in 1990s sportswear, with Polo Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Nautica, DKNY, and Donna Karan also popular. Each of these companies created distinctive wardrobes based upon stylish but wearable, comfortable and interchangeable multi-purpose clothes, all with a focus on luxury.
Hip hop fashion at large began incorporating the Hilfiger brand in the 1990s, and when Snoop Doggy Dogg wore a Hilfiger sweatshirt during an appearance on Saturday Night Live, it sold out of New York City stores the next day. Moreover, Hilfiger courted the new hip hop market, and rappers like Puffy and Coolio walked during his runways shows. Specific items like Tommy Hilfiger carpenter jeans became particularly popular, with the trademark logo displayed on the hammer loop. Hilfiger continues to maintain multiple fashion lines, some focused on wearable "casual" clothes while others take on various haute couture commissions. Aside from the preppy styles of his youth, Hilfiger has also always been influenced by the style of a wide variety of American icons, including Grace Kelly, James Dean, Deborah Harry, Iggy Pop, Farrah Fawcett, Steve McQueen, Jackie and John F. Kennedy, and Andy Warhol. Many of his designs draw prominently from the styles of hard rock and the pop music industry.
Personal life
Hilfiger was born on March 24, 1951, in Elmira, New York, the second of nine children. Both of his parents were practicing Catholics. His father Richard was a watchmaker of German-Swiss descent, and his mother Virginia (née Gerrity) was a nurse of Irish descent. Hilfiger also claims direct descent from Gilbert Burns, brother of the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Hilfiger has described his upbringing as very happy. He credits his parents with instilling a good work ethic and compassion for others. He has dyslexia. Hilfiger had an early interest in sports, fashion, and the music industry, a trend that ran in his family. One of his brothers, Andy Hilfiger, went on to work as a musician and designer, while Hilfiger's other brother Billy Hilfiger would join King Flux as a guitarist.
In 1976 Hilfiger met Susan Cirona, an employee at the People's Place in Ithaca; they married in 1980. Together they had four children: one son and three daughters. In 2003 Hilfiger's daughter Ally was part of the MTV reality series Rich Girls. His son, Richard ("Ricky Hil"), is a musician. The Hilfigers divorced in 2000.
On December 12, 2008, he married Dee Ocleppo; the couple had a son in 2009.
Publishing history
Filmography
See also
List of fashion designers
List of footwear designers
References
External links
Tommy.com
TommyCares.com
Tommy Hilfiger (company)
American fashion businesspeople
American fashion designers
1951 births
Living people
Menswear designers
Businesspeople from New York City
Irish-American history
People from Elmira, New York
20th-century American businesspeople
21st-century American businesspeople
Catholics from New York (state)
American people of Irish descent
American people of Swiss-German descent
| false |
[
"Andrew Charles Hilfiger is an American businessman in the fashion industry and a musician. He is the creative director and namesake of Andrew Charles, a rock 'n' roll inspired fashion line, of which Steven Tyler is the face.\n\nHilfiger's first job was at 12 years when he began selling jeans in his brother Tommy Hilfiger's store. Hilfiger’s other love is music and he has been playing bass guitar since he was a teen. In 1982, Hilfiger moved to Manhattan from upstate New York where he began to further pursue music. Andy toured with members of the Ramones, Kid Rock, and Blue Öyster Cult.\n \nIn the 1990s, Hilfiger started a division at Tommy Hilfiger USA, Inc. styling and dressing some of Hollywood’s movie stars and rock and pop musicians and sponsoring concert tours. Hilfiger also started the accessories division for Tommy Hilfiger USA, Inc., where he designed hats, bags, and outerwear, creating a multimillion-dollar business.\n\nAfter a decade of work at Tommy Hilfiger, Hilfiger started a new company called Sweet Face Fashion where Hilfiger played a major role in launching the JLO by Jennifer Lopez brand. Hilfiger eventually helped to build the company to gross $250 million in sales and launched the fragrance Glow by J.Lo. Currently, Hilfiger is a partner in Star Branding, along with Tommy Hilfiger, Bernt Ullmann, and Joe Lamastra. Star Branding is a partner with Li & Fung USA in a company called MESH, under which the Andrew Charles fashion line was developed.\n\nAndrew Charles launched in the Impulse department of select Macy's stores and on macys.com in Fall 2011. It consists of a menswear line, inspired by Steven Tyler, and a women's collection inspired by 1970s bohemian styles. Steven Tyler and his daughter, Chelsea Tyler, are the faces of the Andrew Charles advertising campaign and have made appearances at select Macy's stores to promote the brand. Hilfiger has also developed a line of scarves with Steven Tyler for Andrew Charles called Rock Scarf.\n\nDuring the 1980s, Hilfiger played bass guitar in the band King Flux, which consisted of his brother Billy Hilfiger, Richie Stotts of the Plasmatics, and Marky Ramone. Other lineups for this band included Tony Petri from Twisted Sister and Albert Bouchard of Blue Öyster Cult. Hilfiger currently plays bass for the X Brothers along with Joe Bouchard of Blue Öyster Cult. The X Brothers have released two albums to date and are currently recording their third.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nAndrew Charles' official website.\nThe X Brothers MySpace.\n\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nAmerican businesspeople\nMusicians from New York (state)",
"Thomas Jacob Hilfiger (/hɪlˈfɪgər/; born March 24, 1951) is an American fashion designer and the founder of Tommy Hilfiger Corporation.\n\nAfter starting his career by co-founding a chain of jeans/fashion stores called People's Place in upstate New York in the 1970s, he began designing preppy clothing for his own eponymous menswear line in the 1980s. The company later expanded into women's clothing and various luxury items such as perfumes and went public in 1992.\n\nHilfiger's collections are often influenced by the fashion of music subcultures and marketed in connection with the music industry, with celebrities such as American R&B artist Aaliyah in the 1990s. In 2005, contestants in the CBS reality show The Cut competed for a design job with Hilfiger in a similar fashion to The Apprentice. In 2006, Hilfiger sold his company for $1.6 billion to Apax Partners, who next sold it in 2010 to Phillips-Van Heusen for $3 billion. He remains the company's principal designer, leading the design teams and overseeing the entire creative process. In 2012, Hilfiger was awarded the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.\n\nBusiness and fashion career\nHilfiger graduated from the Elmira Free Academy high school in 1969. His parents wanted him to get a college education and pursue a traditional career, and for a time he attended GST BOCES Bush Campus in Elmira.\n\nPeople's Place and early lines (1970s–1983)\nHilfiger spent the summer of 1969 working in a clothing store on Cape Cod, and afterwards he decided to use his life savings of $150 to open a clothing store in 1971 as People's Place. The first store was located in downtown Elmira in what is now the site of First Arena and had a hair salon, a record shop, and rock concerts in the basement. To stock the store, Hilfiger and a friend drove to New York City to buy clothing such as bell-bottoms, peasant blouses, and leather jackets. Unsatisfied with this, he began sketching his own designs, and would later write that \"designing made me happier than anything I'd ever done. I knew from that early work that designing would be my life.\"\n\nThe People's Place went bankrupt in 1977. Hilfiger enrolled in classes on commerce and the business side of the fashion industry. After then moving to New York City and working for several different labels, he set up a company called Tommy Hill in 1979. One of his first clients was Jordache Jeans, and as Hilfiger's company expanded beyond denim, he spent time in India, learning more about his trade: \"I would sit in the factory with my pile of sketches and watch them being made, tweaking as I went. There's no better design school in the world.\" In 1981 he founded the company 20th Century Survival, and the following year he founded Click Point, which designed women's clothing.\n\nFounding Tommy Hilfiger Inc. (1984–1990s)\n\nIn 1984, Hilfiger was approached by businessman Mohan Murjani, to pursue his goal of designing and heading a men's sportswear line. Murjani backed the necessary investment for Hilfiger to establish his own brand. Later Hilfiger oversaw the design of the Coca-Cola clothing line for Murjani.\n\nIn 1985, he founded the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation with support from The Murjani Group. The new clothing line made its debut with a high-profile marketing campaign, for example setting up a large billboard in Times Square designed by George Lois. Hilfiger left Murjani International in 1989, with Silas Chou instead providing financial backing to the Hilfiger brand, and former executives of Ralph Lauren brought on board as executives of the newly formed company Tommy Hilfiger, Inc. The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation went public in 1992, introducing Hilfiger's signature menswear collection. Hilfiger was named Menswear Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 1995. After licensing Pepe Jeans USA in 1995, in 1996, Tommy Hilfiger Inc. began distributing women's clothing. By the end of the next year Hilfiger had opened his first store in Beverly Hills, which was followed by a store in London in 1998. Hilfiger was serving as the company's co-chairman by 1997, and that year he published his first book, titled All American: A Style Book.\n\nIncreased brand exposure (1990s–2004)\n\nA professed lifelong fan of rock and roll, Hilfiger's collections are often influenced by the fashion of music subcultures. The clothes are also marketed in connection with the music industry, and as early as 1993 Hilfiger was an official sponsor for Pete Townshend's Psychoderelict tour. Hilfiger has also sponsored several musical events, including Sheryl Crow's If It Makes You Happy tour in 1997, Britney Spears 1999 ...Baby One More Time Tour as main sponsor, and Lenny Kravitz's 1999 Freedom tour. By the mid-1990s, Hilfiger's style of clothing was popular with both the American \"preppy\" scene and as hip hop fashion. American R&B icon Aaliyah became the much-publicized spokesperson for Tommy Hilfiger Corporation in 1997.\n\nHilfiger had a cameo in the fashion spoof Zoolander in 2001, and from 2002 to 2006 Tommy Hilfiger Inc. owned the naming rights to the Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach Theatre venue. Largely due to declining sales in the early 2000s, Hilfiger began reworking the brand, striving to retain the designer brand exclusivity of the Hilfiger label by signing a deal to distribute the best-selling Hilfiger lines at Macy's only. The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation continued to work closely with musicians into the 2000s, focusing on fragrances as well as clothes. Sweetface Fashion, which owns the J.Lo by Jennifer Lopez line, was bought out by Tommy Hilfiger in 2003. True Star, a fragrance endorsed by Hilfiger and released in 2004, featured Beyoncé as its poster girl. The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation company had revenues of approximately $1.8 billion, and 5,400 employees by 2004.\n\nMedia appearances and sale of clothing brand (2005–2011)\n\nIn 2005, a CBS reality show called The Cut tracked the progress of sixteen contestants as they competed for a design job with Tommy Hilfiger and their own fashion line under Hilfiger's label. The show progressed in a similar fashion to Donald Trump's The Apprentice. After a final competition that involved setting up the display window for Macy's Herald Square location in New York, Hilfiger chose Chris Cortez as the \"next great American designer.\"\n\nIn December 2005, Tommy Hilfiger sold the clothing brand for $1.6 billion, or $16.80 a share, to Apax Partners, a private investment company. The transaction was completed in May 2006. In 2008 Hilfiger, Rives, and Bar Refaeli co-hosted the Bravo special program Tommy Hilfiger Presents Ironic Iconic America. Based on the book Ironic Iconic America written by Hilfiger and designer George Lois, the program examined how pop culture has influenced American tastes and styles. In 2009 Hilfiger was a guest judge on an episode of Project Runway, and he presented the Best African Artist award to Akon at the 2010 World Music Awards.\n\nIn March 2010, Phillips-Van Heusen, owner of Calvin Klein and Izod, bought the Tommy Hilfiger brand from Apax Partners for $3 billion. The Tommy Hilfiger online and in-store ad campaign called \"Meet The Hilfigers\" began in August 2010 and ran through August 2011. In 2011, Hilfiger and a partner signed a contract to buy the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower building for $170 million, planning to transform it into Hilfiger's first hotel, with luxury condos. Hilfiger backed off the project in September 2011. A guest judge on the finale of Project Runway: All Stars along with Ken Downing in 2012, shortly afterwards he served as a fashion consultant to contestants on season 11 of American Idol.\n\nRecent years and memoir (2012–2016)\n\nHilfiger was instrumental in the creation of the Marc Anthony Collection in 2012, as Marc Anthony had never been interested in the fashion business until Hilfiger called him and convinced him a line was worthwhile. In 2012, Hilfiger was awarded the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Global sales in retail for the brand in 2013 were US$6.4 billion, and $6.7 billion in 2014. Hilfiger remains the company's principal designer, leading the design teams and overseeing the entire creative process. In 2016, he collaborated with model Gigi Hadid on clothing designs launching the TommyXGigi clothing collection. On February 8, 2017, the brand will hold its ready-to-wear show in Los Angeles, in the first time the brand will not be part of New York Fashion Week.\n\nIn January 2015, Hilfiger announced that he was working on his memoirs. The book was written chronologically over a year, with Hilfiger explaining \"I was hesitant to write it, but thought I better do it now because someday I may forget.\" Co-writer Peter Knobler had full access to interview friends and family, with Hilfiger citing the candor of Diane von Furstenberg's memoirs as an inspiration. Calling the writing process \"great therapy\" and \"interesting,\" Hilfiger asserted that he \"wanted to give people a sneak peek of what goes on behind the curtain [of] how the fashion industry works.\" He read selections from the book in June 2016 at the Literacy Partners Evening of Readers and Gala Dinner Dance. Hilfiger's memoir, American Dreamer: My Life in Fashion & Business, co-written with Peter Knobler, was published November 1, 2016. In a statement, Hilfiger described it as \"a roadmap of the moments that have defined both my [40-year fashion career] and my personal life,\" and the book covers his childhood, his early business ventures, and his later life in fashion. With Kirkus Reviews calling it \"an honest, straightforward, mostly entertaining autobiography,\" Hilfiger made an appearance for the book at the Miami Book Fair shortly after its release. American Dreamer appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List in December 2016\n\nCharity work\n\nIn 1995 Hilfiger launched The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation. With an emphasis on health, educational and cultural programs, the organization supports charities that focus on at-risk American youth. In 1998 Hilfiger was one of several sponsors along with Moet and Chandon, Christie's Auction House, and The Advocate of the charity LIFEbeat – The Music Industry Fights AIDS. He is also personally involved in charities and causes such as Autism Speaks and the MLK, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, and he has served on the board of directors for The Fresh Air Fund, a New York-based group that helps underprivileged children attend summer camp. The Fresh Air Fund's Camp Pioneer program was renamed Camp Tommy in 1999, in honor of Hilfiger's patronage.\n\nSince 2008, Hilfiger has designed limited-edition handbags in support Breast Health International (BHI), an international organization focused on finding a cure for breast cancer. A portion of the handbag sales proceeds is donated to BHI's Fund For Living program, with celebrity ambassadors appointed for each seasonal campaign. In 2013, Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell modeled the BHI bag in a photoshoot with photographer Patrick Demarchelier.\n\nMillennium Promise, a non-profit organization focused on eradicating extreme poverty, hunger and preventable disease in impoverished regions, classifies Hilfiger as a Millennium Promise MDG Global Leader, and in 2009 Hilfiger made a five-year $2 million commitment to Millennium Promise. The donation went towards relief efforts in a Ugandan city, with the aim of improving residents' access to necessities like clean water, education, and farming techniques. In 2012, all philanthropic activities of The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation were renamed Tommy Cares, a wider-reaching global initiative that further integrates the brand's non-profit partnerships, charitable contributions, and employee involvement. On a global scale, Tommy Cares continues to support organizations such as Save the Children, the World Wildlife Fund, War Child, and Millennium Promise. Hilfiger and his wife are on the board of Autism Speaks as of 2012, and through the organization, Hilfiger became a sponsor of the Golden Door Film Festival in September 2014.\n\nHilfiger has continuously cited the important role inclusivity, diversity and self-expression have had in the brand's development and contributions to pop culture. \n\nIn 2016, Hilfiger also echoed his support for dressing Melania Trump, telling WWD that \"any designer should be proud to dress her.\"\n\nIn 2020, Hilfiger sold his 22.4 acre estate in Greenwich, Connecticut, for $47.5 million.\n\nRecognition\n\nThe following is a selected list of awards and recognitions for Tommy Hilfiger:\n\n1995: Council of Fashion Designers of America – Menswear Designer of the Year\n1996: American Academy of Achievement – Golden Plate Award\n1997: FiFi Awards – Men's Fragrance of the Year – Luxe, for the fragrance \"Tommy\"\n1998: Parsons School of Design – Designer of the Year Award\n1998: GQ Magazine – Designer of the Year for 'Men of the Year' issue\n2000: FiFi Awards – Best Marketing Innovation of the Year, for Toiletries for Tommy's (American running series)\n2002: GQ Germany – International Designer of the Year\n2002: Drug Abuse Resistance Education – Future of America Award, for philanthropic efforts for American youth\n2006: GQ Spain – Designer of the Year\n2006: Harvard Foundation – Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian of the Year\n2006: We Are Family Foundation – Visionary Award\n2007: Hispanic Federation – Individual Achievement Award\n2008: Women's Wear Daily – No. 1 Designer and No. 16 Brand in annual \"100 List\"\n2009: UNESCO – UNESCO Support Award, for philanthropic efforts\n2009: Marie Claire Magazine – Lifetime Achievement Award\n2010: Pratt Institute – Legends Award\n2012: Council of Fashion Designers of America – Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Anna Wintour\n2015: Race To Erase MS – honored for commitment to finding a cure for MS\n\nStyle and impact\n\nWhile Hilfiger's earliest designs drew on 1960s counterculture and fashion, since the 1980s his designs typically draw from classic American New England styles. His initial lines for the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation were primarily designed to appeal to young men looking for designer clothing, and Tommy Hilfiger became one of the most prominent brands in 1990s sportswear, with Polo Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Nautica, DKNY, and Donna Karan also popular. Each of these companies created distinctive wardrobes based upon stylish but wearable, comfortable and interchangeable multi-purpose clothes, all with a focus on luxury.\n\nHip hop fashion at large began incorporating the Hilfiger brand in the 1990s, and when Snoop Doggy Dogg wore a Hilfiger sweatshirt during an appearance on Saturday Night Live, it sold out of New York City stores the next day. Moreover, Hilfiger courted the new hip hop market, and rappers like Puffy and Coolio walked during his runways shows. Specific items like Tommy Hilfiger carpenter jeans became particularly popular, with the trademark logo displayed on the hammer loop. Hilfiger continues to maintain multiple fashion lines, some focused on wearable \"casual\" clothes while others take on various haute couture commissions. Aside from the preppy styles of his youth, Hilfiger has also always been influenced by the style of a wide variety of American icons, including Grace Kelly, James Dean, Deborah Harry, Iggy Pop, Farrah Fawcett, Steve McQueen, Jackie and John F. Kennedy, and Andy Warhol. Many of his designs draw prominently from the styles of hard rock and the pop music industry.\n\nPersonal life\nHilfiger was born on March 24, 1951, in Elmira, New York, the second of nine children. Both of his parents were practicing Catholics. His father Richard was a watchmaker of German-Swiss descent, and his mother Virginia (née Gerrity) was a nurse of Irish descent. Hilfiger also claims direct descent from Gilbert Burns, brother of the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Hilfiger has described his upbringing as very happy. He credits his parents with instilling a good work ethic and compassion for others. He has dyslexia. Hilfiger had an early interest in sports, fashion, and the music industry, a trend that ran in his family. One of his brothers, Andy Hilfiger, went on to work as a musician and designer, while Hilfiger's other brother Billy Hilfiger would join King Flux as a guitarist.\n\nIn 1976 Hilfiger met Susan Cirona, an employee at the People's Place in Ithaca; they married in 1980. Together they had four children: one son and three daughters. In 2003 Hilfiger's daughter Ally was part of the MTV reality series Rich Girls. His son, Richard (\"Ricky Hil\"), is a musician. The Hilfigers divorced in 2000.\n\nOn December 12, 2008, he married Dee Ocleppo; the couple had a son in 2009.\n\nPublishing history\n\nFilmography\n\nSee also\n\nList of fashion designers\nList of footwear designers\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n Tommy.com\n TommyCares.com\n\nTommy Hilfiger (company)\nAmerican fashion businesspeople\nAmerican fashion designers\n1951 births\nLiving people\n\nMenswear designers\nBusinesspeople from New York City\nIrish-American history\nPeople from Elmira, New York\n20th-century American businesspeople\n21st-century American businesspeople\nCatholics from New York (state)\nAmerican people of Irish descent\nAmerican people of Swiss-German descent"
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"Tommy Hilfiger",
"Charity work",
"Did Tommy Hilfiger start any charity organizations?",
"In 1995 Hilfiger launched The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation.",
"What does this foundation focus on?",
"With an emphasis on health, educational and cultural programs,",
"Are there any other charities that Hilfiger is involved in?",
"In 1998 Hilfiger was one of several sponsors along with Moet and Chandon, Christie's Auction House, and The Advocate of the charity LIFEbeat -"
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How did the charities respond to Hilfiger's involvement with them?
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How did the charities respond to Hilfiger's involvement with Moet and Chandon, Christie's Auction House, and The Advocate of the charity LIFEbeat?
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Tommy Hilfiger
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In 1995 Hilfiger launched The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation. With an emphasis on health, educational and cultural programs, the organization supports charities that focus on at-risk American youth. In 1998 Hilfiger was one of several sponsors along with Moet and Chandon, Christie's Auction House, and The Advocate of the charity LIFEbeat - The Music Industry Fights AIDS. He is also personally involved in charities and causes such as Autism Speaks and the MLK, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, and he has served on the board of directors for The Fresh Air Fund, a New York-based group that helps underprivileged children attend summer camp. The Fresh Air Fund's Camp Pioneer program was renamed Camp Tommy in 1999, in honor of Hilfiger's patronage. Since 2008, Hilfiger has designed limited-edition handbags in support Breast Health International (BHI), an international organization focused on finding a cure for breast cancer. A portion of the handbag sales proceeds are donated to BHI's Fund For Living program, with celebrity ambassadors appointed for each seasonal campaign. In 2013, Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell modeled the BHI bag in a photo shoot with photographer Patrick Demarchelier. Millennium Promise, a non-profit organization focused on eradicating extreme poverty, hunger and preventable disease in impoverished regions, classifies Hilfiger as a Millennium Promise MDG Global Leader, and in 2009 Hilfiger made a five-year $2 million commitment to Millennium Promise. The donation went towards relief efforts in a Ugandan city, with the aim of improving residents' access to necessities like clean water, education, and farming techniques. In 2012, all philanthropic activities of The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation were renamed Tommy Cares, a wider-reaching global initiative that further integrates the brand's non-profit partnerships, charitable contributions, and employee involvement. On a global scale, Tommy Cares continues to support organizations such as Save the Children, the World Wildlife Fund, War Child, and Millennium Promise. Hilfiger and his wife are on the board of Autism Speaks as of 2012, and through the organization, Hilfiger became a sponsor of the Golden Door Film Festival in September 2014. CANNOTANSWER
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The Fresh Air Fund's Camp Pioneer program was renamed Camp Tommy in 1999, in honor of Hilfiger's patronage.
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Thomas Jacob Hilfiger (/hɪlˈfɪgər/; born March 24, 1951) is an American fashion designer and the founder of Tommy Hilfiger Corporation.
After starting his career by co-founding a chain of jeans/fashion stores called People's Place in upstate New York in the 1970s, he began designing preppy clothing for his own eponymous menswear line in the 1980s. The company later expanded into women's clothing and various luxury items such as perfumes and went public in 1992.
Hilfiger's collections are often influenced by the fashion of music subcultures and marketed in connection with the music industry, with celebrities such as American R&B artist Aaliyah in the 1990s. In 2005, contestants in the CBS reality show The Cut competed for a design job with Hilfiger in a similar fashion to The Apprentice. In 2006, Hilfiger sold his company for $1.6 billion to Apax Partners, who next sold it in 2010 to Phillips-Van Heusen for $3 billion. He remains the company's principal designer, leading the design teams and overseeing the entire creative process. In 2012, Hilfiger was awarded the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
Business and fashion career
Hilfiger graduated from the Elmira Free Academy high school in 1969. His parents wanted him to get a college education and pursue a traditional career, and for a time he attended GST BOCES Bush Campus in Elmira.
People's Place and early lines (1970s–1983)
Hilfiger spent the summer of 1969 working in a clothing store on Cape Cod, and afterwards he decided to use his life savings of $150 to open a clothing store in 1971 as People's Place. The first store was located in downtown Elmira in what is now the site of First Arena and had a hair salon, a record shop, and rock concerts in the basement. To stock the store, Hilfiger and a friend drove to New York City to buy clothing such as bell-bottoms, peasant blouses, and leather jackets. Unsatisfied with this, he began sketching his own designs, and would later write that "designing made me happier than anything I'd ever done. I knew from that early work that designing would be my life."
The People's Place went bankrupt in 1977. Hilfiger enrolled in classes on commerce and the business side of the fashion industry. After then moving to New York City and working for several different labels, he set up a company called Tommy Hill in 1979. One of his first clients was Jordache Jeans, and as Hilfiger's company expanded beyond denim, he spent time in India, learning more about his trade: "I would sit in the factory with my pile of sketches and watch them being made, tweaking as I went. There's no better design school in the world." In 1981 he founded the company 20th Century Survival, and the following year he founded Click Point, which designed women's clothing.
Founding Tommy Hilfiger Inc. (1984–1990s)
In 1984, Hilfiger was approached by businessman Mohan Murjani, to pursue his goal of designing and heading a men's sportswear line. Murjani backed the necessary investment for Hilfiger to establish his own brand. Later Hilfiger oversaw the design of the Coca-Cola clothing line for Murjani.
In 1985, he founded the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation with support from The Murjani Group. The new clothing line made its debut with a high-profile marketing campaign, for example setting up a large billboard in Times Square designed by George Lois. Hilfiger left Murjani International in 1989, with Silas Chou instead providing financial backing to the Hilfiger brand, and former executives of Ralph Lauren brought on board as executives of the newly formed company Tommy Hilfiger, Inc. The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation went public in 1992, introducing Hilfiger's signature menswear collection. Hilfiger was named Menswear Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 1995. After licensing Pepe Jeans USA in 1995, in 1996, Tommy Hilfiger Inc. began distributing women's clothing. By the end of the next year Hilfiger had opened his first store in Beverly Hills, which was followed by a store in London in 1998. Hilfiger was serving as the company's co-chairman by 1997, and that year he published his first book, titled All American: A Style Book.
Increased brand exposure (1990s–2004)
A professed lifelong fan of rock and roll, Hilfiger's collections are often influenced by the fashion of music subcultures. The clothes are also marketed in connection with the music industry, and as early as 1993 Hilfiger was an official sponsor for Pete Townshend's Psychoderelict tour. Hilfiger has also sponsored several musical events, including Sheryl Crow's If It Makes You Happy tour in 1997, Britney Spears 1999 ...Baby One More Time Tour as main sponsor, and Lenny Kravitz's 1999 Freedom tour. By the mid-1990s, Hilfiger's style of clothing was popular with both the American "preppy" scene and as hip hop fashion. American R&B icon Aaliyah became the much-publicized spokesperson for Tommy Hilfiger Corporation in 1997.
Hilfiger had a cameo in the fashion spoof Zoolander in 2001, and from 2002 to 2006 Tommy Hilfiger Inc. owned the naming rights to the Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach Theatre venue. Largely due to declining sales in the early 2000s, Hilfiger began reworking the brand, striving to retain the designer brand exclusivity of the Hilfiger label by signing a deal to distribute the best-selling Hilfiger lines at Macy's only. The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation continued to work closely with musicians into the 2000s, focusing on fragrances as well as clothes. Sweetface Fashion, which owns the J.Lo by Jennifer Lopez line, was bought out by Tommy Hilfiger in 2003. True Star, a fragrance endorsed by Hilfiger and released in 2004, featured Beyoncé as its poster girl. The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation company had revenues of approximately $1.8 billion, and 5,400 employees by 2004.
Media appearances and sale of clothing brand (2005–2011)
In 2005, a CBS reality show called The Cut tracked the progress of sixteen contestants as they competed for a design job with Tommy Hilfiger and their own fashion line under Hilfiger's label. The show progressed in a similar fashion to Donald Trump's The Apprentice. After a final competition that involved setting up the display window for Macy's Herald Square location in New York, Hilfiger chose Chris Cortez as the "next great American designer."
In December 2005, Tommy Hilfiger sold the clothing brand for $1.6 billion, or $16.80 a share, to Apax Partners, a private investment company. The transaction was completed in May 2006. In 2008 Hilfiger, Rives, and Bar Refaeli co-hosted the Bravo special program Tommy Hilfiger Presents Ironic Iconic America. Based on the book Ironic Iconic America written by Hilfiger and designer George Lois, the program examined how pop culture has influenced American tastes and styles. In 2009 Hilfiger was a guest judge on an episode of Project Runway, and he presented the Best African Artist award to Akon at the 2010 World Music Awards.
In March 2010, Phillips-Van Heusen, owner of Calvin Klein and Izod, bought the Tommy Hilfiger brand from Apax Partners for $3 billion. The Tommy Hilfiger online and in-store ad campaign called "Meet The Hilfigers" began in August 2010 and ran through August 2011. In 2011, Hilfiger and a partner signed a contract to buy the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower building for $170 million, planning to transform it into Hilfiger's first hotel, with luxury condos. Hilfiger backed off the project in September 2011. A guest judge on the finale of Project Runway: All Stars along with Ken Downing in 2012, shortly afterwards he served as a fashion consultant to contestants on season 11 of American Idol.
Recent years and memoir (2012–2016)
Hilfiger was instrumental in the creation of the Marc Anthony Collection in 2012, as Marc Anthony had never been interested in the fashion business until Hilfiger called him and convinced him a line was worthwhile. In 2012, Hilfiger was awarded the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Global sales in retail for the brand in 2013 were US$6.4 billion, and $6.7 billion in 2014. Hilfiger remains the company's principal designer, leading the design teams and overseeing the entire creative process. In 2016, he collaborated with model Gigi Hadid on clothing designs launching the TommyXGigi clothing collection. On February 8, 2017, the brand will hold its ready-to-wear show in Los Angeles, in the first time the brand will not be part of New York Fashion Week.
In January 2015, Hilfiger announced that he was working on his memoirs. The book was written chronologically over a year, with Hilfiger explaining "I was hesitant to write it, but thought I better do it now because someday I may forget." Co-writer Peter Knobler had full access to interview friends and family, with Hilfiger citing the candor of Diane von Furstenberg's memoirs as an inspiration. Calling the writing process "great therapy" and "interesting," Hilfiger asserted that he "wanted to give people a sneak peek of what goes on behind the curtain [of] how the fashion industry works." He read selections from the book in June 2016 at the Literacy Partners Evening of Readers and Gala Dinner Dance. Hilfiger's memoir, American Dreamer: My Life in Fashion & Business, co-written with Peter Knobler, was published November 1, 2016. In a statement, Hilfiger described it as "a roadmap of the moments that have defined both my [40-year fashion career] and my personal life," and the book covers his childhood, his early business ventures, and his later life in fashion. With Kirkus Reviews calling it "an honest, straightforward, mostly entertaining autobiography," Hilfiger made an appearance for the book at the Miami Book Fair shortly after its release. American Dreamer appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List in December 2016
Charity work
In 1995 Hilfiger launched The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation. With an emphasis on health, educational and cultural programs, the organization supports charities that focus on at-risk American youth. In 1998 Hilfiger was one of several sponsors along with Moet and Chandon, Christie's Auction House, and The Advocate of the charity LIFEbeat – The Music Industry Fights AIDS. He is also personally involved in charities and causes such as Autism Speaks and the MLK, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, and he has served on the board of directors for The Fresh Air Fund, a New York-based group that helps underprivileged children attend summer camp. The Fresh Air Fund's Camp Pioneer program was renamed Camp Tommy in 1999, in honor of Hilfiger's patronage.
Since 2008, Hilfiger has designed limited-edition handbags in support Breast Health International (BHI), an international organization focused on finding a cure for breast cancer. A portion of the handbag sales proceeds is donated to BHI's Fund For Living program, with celebrity ambassadors appointed for each seasonal campaign. In 2013, Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell modeled the BHI bag in a photoshoot with photographer Patrick Demarchelier.
Millennium Promise, a non-profit organization focused on eradicating extreme poverty, hunger and preventable disease in impoverished regions, classifies Hilfiger as a Millennium Promise MDG Global Leader, and in 2009 Hilfiger made a five-year $2 million commitment to Millennium Promise. The donation went towards relief efforts in a Ugandan city, with the aim of improving residents' access to necessities like clean water, education, and farming techniques. In 2012, all philanthropic activities of The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation were renamed Tommy Cares, a wider-reaching global initiative that further integrates the brand's non-profit partnerships, charitable contributions, and employee involvement. On a global scale, Tommy Cares continues to support organizations such as Save the Children, the World Wildlife Fund, War Child, and Millennium Promise. Hilfiger and his wife are on the board of Autism Speaks as of 2012, and through the organization, Hilfiger became a sponsor of the Golden Door Film Festival in September 2014.
Hilfiger has continuously cited the important role inclusivity, diversity and self-expression have had in the brand's development and contributions to pop culture.
In 2016, Hilfiger also echoed his support for dressing Melania Trump, telling WWD that "any designer should be proud to dress her."
In 2020, Hilfiger sold his 22.4 acre estate in Greenwich, Connecticut, for $47.5 million.
Recognition
The following is a selected list of awards and recognitions for Tommy Hilfiger:
1995: Council of Fashion Designers of America – Menswear Designer of the Year
1996: American Academy of Achievement – Golden Plate Award
1997: FiFi Awards – Men's Fragrance of the Year – Luxe, for the fragrance "Tommy"
1998: Parsons School of Design – Designer of the Year Award
1998: GQ Magazine – Designer of the Year for 'Men of the Year' issue
2000: FiFi Awards – Best Marketing Innovation of the Year, for Toiletries for Tommy's (American running series)
2002: GQ Germany – International Designer of the Year
2002: Drug Abuse Resistance Education – Future of America Award, for philanthropic efforts for American youth
2006: GQ Spain – Designer of the Year
2006: Harvard Foundation – Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian of the Year
2006: We Are Family Foundation – Visionary Award
2007: Hispanic Federation – Individual Achievement Award
2008: Women's Wear Daily – No. 1 Designer and No. 16 Brand in annual "100 List"
2009: UNESCO – UNESCO Support Award, for philanthropic efforts
2009: Marie Claire Magazine – Lifetime Achievement Award
2010: Pratt Institute – Legends Award
2012: Council of Fashion Designers of America – Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Anna Wintour
2015: Race To Erase MS – honored for commitment to finding a cure for MS
Style and impact
While Hilfiger's earliest designs drew on 1960s counterculture and fashion, since the 1980s his designs typically draw from classic American New England styles. His initial lines for the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation were primarily designed to appeal to young men looking for designer clothing, and Tommy Hilfiger became one of the most prominent brands in 1990s sportswear, with Polo Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Nautica, DKNY, and Donna Karan also popular. Each of these companies created distinctive wardrobes based upon stylish but wearable, comfortable and interchangeable multi-purpose clothes, all with a focus on luxury.
Hip hop fashion at large began incorporating the Hilfiger brand in the 1990s, and when Snoop Doggy Dogg wore a Hilfiger sweatshirt during an appearance on Saturday Night Live, it sold out of New York City stores the next day. Moreover, Hilfiger courted the new hip hop market, and rappers like Puffy and Coolio walked during his runways shows. Specific items like Tommy Hilfiger carpenter jeans became particularly popular, with the trademark logo displayed on the hammer loop. Hilfiger continues to maintain multiple fashion lines, some focused on wearable "casual" clothes while others take on various haute couture commissions. Aside from the preppy styles of his youth, Hilfiger has also always been influenced by the style of a wide variety of American icons, including Grace Kelly, James Dean, Deborah Harry, Iggy Pop, Farrah Fawcett, Steve McQueen, Jackie and John F. Kennedy, and Andy Warhol. Many of his designs draw prominently from the styles of hard rock and the pop music industry.
Personal life
Hilfiger was born on March 24, 1951, in Elmira, New York, the second of nine children. Both of his parents were practicing Catholics. His father Richard was a watchmaker of German-Swiss descent, and his mother Virginia (née Gerrity) was a nurse of Irish descent. Hilfiger also claims direct descent from Gilbert Burns, brother of the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Hilfiger has described his upbringing as very happy. He credits his parents with instilling a good work ethic and compassion for others. He has dyslexia. Hilfiger had an early interest in sports, fashion, and the music industry, a trend that ran in his family. One of his brothers, Andy Hilfiger, went on to work as a musician and designer, while Hilfiger's other brother Billy Hilfiger would join King Flux as a guitarist.
In 1976 Hilfiger met Susan Cirona, an employee at the People's Place in Ithaca; they married in 1980. Together they had four children: one son and three daughters. In 2003 Hilfiger's daughter Ally was part of the MTV reality series Rich Girls. His son, Richard ("Ricky Hil"), is a musician. The Hilfigers divorced in 2000.
On December 12, 2008, he married Dee Ocleppo; the couple had a son in 2009.
Publishing history
Filmography
See also
List of fashion designers
List of footwear designers
References
External links
Tommy.com
TommyCares.com
Tommy Hilfiger (company)
American fashion businesspeople
American fashion designers
1951 births
Living people
Menswear designers
Businesspeople from New York City
Irish-American history
People from Elmira, New York
20th-century American businesspeople
21st-century American businesspeople
Catholics from New York (state)
American people of Irish descent
American people of Swiss-German descent
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[
"Tommy Hilfiger B.V. (), formerly known as Tommy Hilfiger Corporation and Tommy Hilfiger Inc., is an American premium clothing brand, manufacturing apparel, footwear, accessories, fragrances and home furnishings. The company was founded in 1985, and the brand's merchandise is sold in department stores and over 2000 free-standing retail stores in 100 countries. In 2006, private equity firm Apax Partners acquired the company for approximately $1.6 billion. In March 2010, PVH Corp. (then known as Phillips-Van Heusen) bought the company. Daniel Grieder was appointed CEO in July 2014, while founder Tommy Hilfiger remains the company’s principal designer, leading the design teams and overseeing the entire creative process. Global sales in retail through the brand were US $6.4 billion in 2013, and $6.7 billion in 2014. Of PVH's preppy-styled brands Tommy Hilfiger is the higher priced of the two, slotting above Izod in the lineup.\n\nHistory\n\nBackground and founding (1960s–1990s)\nTommy Hilfiger’s career in fashion began in 1968, when he co-founded a clothing and record store named People’s Place in upstate New York. Using $150 he had saved from working at a petrol station as startup money, he oversaw the expansion of the company into a chain of ten stores. Despite meeting with initial success, People's Place filed for bankruptcy in 1977. In 1979, Hilfiger moved to New York City to pursue a career as a fashion designer, working on several different labels including Jordache Jeans.\n\nIn the early 1980s, he met Mohan Murjani, an Indian textile magnate hoping to launch a line of men’s clothing. With Murjani’s backing in 1985, Hilfiger debuted his first signature collection, which featured modernized versions of button-down shirts, chinos, and other classic preppy styles. The casual and youthful attitude of these first designs would remain a trait of the company's later collections. The new clothing line made its debut with a high-profile marketing campaign, which included a large billboard in Times Square by advertiser George Lois.\n\nThe Tommy Hilfiger brand left Murjani International in 1989, with Silas Chou instead providing financial backing. That year, Lawrence Stroll and Joel Horowitz, both former executives of Ralph Lauren, were hired as executives of the newly formed company Tommy Hilfiger, Inc., which had an initial focus on casual male sportswear.\n\nGrowth of popularity and product lines (1990s)\n\nThe Tommy Hilfiger Corporation went public in 1992. After licensing Pepe Jeans USA in 1995, in 1996 Tommy Hilfiger Inc. began distributing women's clothing as well. By the end of the next year, Hilfiger had opened his first store in Beverly Hills, which was followed by a store in London in 1998. The company launched its bed and bath line in 1998.\n\nThroughout the 1990s the company's marketing division worked in tandem with the popular music industry, and as early as 1993 Hilfiger was an official sponsor for Pete Townshend's Psychoderelict tour. In the early 1990s a baggier, less tailored menswear look came into fashion, and Hilfiger gave his clothes a more relaxed fit. As roomier styles with oversized logos became popular with hip-hop artists in the mid-to-late 1990s, Hilfiger's style of clothing became both increasingly popular with the American \"preppy\" scene and as hip hop fashion, and when Snoop Dogg wore a Hilfiger sweatshirt during an appearance on Saturday Night Live in the 1990s, it sold out of New York City stores the next day. Moreover, Hilfiger courted the new hip hop market, and rappers like Puffy and Coolio walked during his runways shows. With collections often influenced by the fashion of music subcultures, the clothes are also marketed in connection with the music industry, and American R&B icon Aaliyah became the much-publicized spokesperson for Tommy Hilfiger Corporation in 1997. The company would later sponsor Sheryl Crow's \"If It Makes You Happy\" tour in 1997, Britney Spears 1999 ...Baby One More Time Tour, and Lenny Kravitz's 1999 Freedom tour.\n\nOverseas growth and Apax Partners acquisition (2000s)\nWomen's intimate apparel was introduced in 2001. After sales and net income faltered in 2001, the company's sales in 2002 totaled $1.87 billion. Overall between 2000 and 2009, sales slipped from around $1.9 billion to $700 million. During the same time period, however, Hilfiger’s European sales steadily rose to $1.13 billion. In 2003, Hilfiger executive Fred Gehring and Hilfiger decided to further invest in the brand's growing overseas audience by re-focusing on the brand’s original style, “classic American cool,” and designing the clothes out of New York City. Gehring also adapted the business model to suit European retail culture, pursuing partnerships with European department stores and with smaller boutiques, signing 4,500 of them in 15 countries. Hilfiger also strove to retain the designer brand exclusivity of the Hilfiger label by signing a deal to distribute the best-selling Hilfiger lines at Macy's only. \n\nHilfiger has endorsed products such as True Star is a fragrance, which was released in 2004 with Beyoncé Knowles as poster girl. True Star would go on to win a FiFi Award for Best New Commercial Fragrance. By 2004, the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation company had revenues of $1.8 approximately billion and 5,400 employees. In 2006, Tommy Hilfiger sold Tommy Hilfiger Inc. for $1.6 billion, or $16.80 a share, to Apax Partners, a private investment company. After the acquisition Gehring assumed control of the American headquarters of Tommy Hilfiger as well as Europe. Gehring and Hilfiger narrowed their focus in the United States to the profitable core sportswear line, and U.S. sales began to rise in 2010.\n\nPhillips-Van Heusen acquisition and recent years (2010s–2020s)\n\nIn March 2010, Phillips-Van Heusen (PVH Corp.) bought the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation for $3 billion, in a deal that was nearly seven times what PVH had paid for Calvin Klein in 2003. Fred Gehring, who launched Hilfiger’s European division in 1996, assumed the role of Hilfiger's CEO. Global sales in retail for the brand in 2013 were US $6.4 billion, and $6.7 billion in 2014. Daniel Grieder was appointed CEO of Tommy Hilfiger Group in July 2014. Former CEO Gehring was made executive chairman of Tommy Hilfiger Group and was appointed vice chairman of PVH.\n\nIn January 2015, Tommy Hilfiger debuted a digital sales showroom at its New York City headquarters, which the publication WGSN opined would \"transform the traditional buying process.\" With plans to open showrooms in other cities, Hilfiger described the showroom as \"an innovation of the order process with cost saving potentials along the whole value chain.\" Gehring stepped down as Tommy Hilfiger Group’s chairman in August 2015, though he retained his role at PVH. Tommy Hilfiger remains the company’s principal designer, leading the design teams and overseeing the entire creative process.\n\nIn 2020, PVH announced that as part of their animal welfare policy, the company does not use exotic skins and would be banning their use in Tommy Hilfiger collections when \"our annual update of that policy is released.\"\n\nIn 2021, Tommy Hilfiger released their first genderless collection in collaboration with Indya Moore.\n\nProduct lines\nTommy Hilfiger delivers its products worldwide under the Tommy Hilfiger and Hilfiger Denim brands, and also has a breadth of collections including Hilfiger Collection, Tommy Hilfiger Tailored, men’s, women’s and kid’s sportswear, denim, accessories, and footwear. In addition, the brand is licensed for a range of products such as fragrances, eyewear, watches, and home furnishings.\nTommy Hilfiger – the main line of the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation, like the company's other lines it is influenced by classic American fashion, or more specifically what the company dubs \"preppy with a twist\". It targets customers in the 25 to 40-year-old range.\nHilfiger Denim – more casual than the Tommy Hilfiger label, it targets both men and women in the 18 to 30-year-old range. Beyond jeans, the line also includes denim separates, footwear, bags, accessories, eyewear, and fragrances.\nHilfiger Collection – intended for women, the clothing line blends classic American influences with contemporary styles. The clothes are marketed towards women age 25 to 40. The designs periodically debut during New York Fashion Week.\nTommy Hilfiger Tailored – an American menswear line meant to the 25 to 40-year-old demographic. Styles vary from formal suits to casual wear, with a focus on what the Tommy Hilfiger Group website describes as \"precision fit, premium fabrics, updated cuts, rich colors, and luxe details.”\n\nWorker conditions\n\nIn the late 1990s, Tommy Hilfiger and other large American textile companies such as Calvin Klein and Sears were defendants in a class-action lawsuit alleging that luxury clothes were being manufactured in sweatshop conditions in Saipan. After a group settlement that admitted no liability, in March 2000, Tommy Hilfiger volunteered to allow independent oversight of their manufacturing on the island. In March 2012, ABC aired a report that 29 workers had died in a factory fire in 2011 in Bangladesh, with the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation included among the factory's clients. PVH Corp. issued a press release in response, stating they would commit $1 million to a two-year program to help facilitate safety programs. The company, however, announced they would not abandon their manufacturing in Bangladesh, with PVH CEO Emanuel Chirico stating that the brand was instead \"trying for a global solution\" and staying at the factories to affect change, as \"you need to have a voice at the table to get changes made as you go forward.\" Tommy Hilfiger later signed a Bangladeshi safety accord along with eighty other Western retailers, with the goal of protecting unionizers.\n\nIn 2014, PVH was consulting about investing in Ethiopia in relation to Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, with labor rights among the key talking points. In 2016, the India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN) reported that textile workers in Bangalore were working in conditions akin to slavery. Clothing companies H&M, Inditex, C&A and PVH publicly committed to \"improving the lives of workers in Bengaluru\" after the report, while PVH also announced it would independently investigate and establish new guidelines for its suppliers.\n\nMarketing and advertising\nIn 1985, to help him launch his first collection, Hilfiger hired advertiser and graphic designer George Lois to make a billboard for the center of Times Square in New York City. Instead of models, the ad featured the initials of three well-known fashion designers—“PE” (Perry Ellis), “RL” (Ralph Lauren), “CK” (Calvin Klein), and announced that “TH” (Tommy Hilfiger) was the next great menswear designer. The billboard created a stir in the fashion press and succeeded in creating awareness of the Hilfiger name. In subsequent years Hilfiger and Lois collaborated again on other ads for the Hilfiger brand. One campaign, in 1990, compared Hilfiger’s American style with other “iconic American” classics, such as the 1955 Thunderbird and the 1940 Harley-Davidson bike. Hilfiger courted the new hip hop market in the 1990s, and rappers like Puffy and Coolio walked during its runways shows.\n\nFrom 2002 to 2006, Tommy Hilfiger owned the naming rights to the Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach Theatre amphitheater on Long Island, one of the more popular music venues in the United States. Starting in 2010, in collaboration with New York advertising firm Laird & Partners, Tommy Hilfiger Corporation launched the advertising campaign “The Hilfigers.” The campaign features a fictional family of Hilfigers wearing the brand's clothing in fun preppy venues. The first campaign, for fall 2010, was a photoset of a college football tailgate, followed by photoshoots at a tennis court, a rustic holiday party, a camping trip, an Ivy League college, and the beaches of Malibu. The spring and summer collections of 2015 were displayed at a wedding in Sonoma, California, followed by an American football stadium for fall and winter.\n\nThe brand created the publicity tour \"Prep World” in 2011, which featured specialty pop-up shops in Paris, New York, London, Stockholm, Los Angeles, Madrid, Milan, the German island Sylt, and the Belgian town of Knokke. Hilfiger made personal appearances with author and preppy expert Lisa Birnbach, as well as designing a special clothing collection to support the initiative. The brand's 30th anniversary was in 2015, and the company celebrated the occasion with a fashion tour. Among other events, in Beijing in May 2015 the brand recreated their New York Fashion Week runway show internationally for the first time. The couple Olivia Palermo and Johannes Huebl were also brought in as guest editors for the summer 2015 women's and men's collections. For the fall of 2015, Rafael Nadal is the brand ambassador for Tommy Hilfiger underwear and Tommy Hilfiger Tailored collections.\n\nZendaya was the global women’s ambassador for the spring of 2019. She also designed a Tommy x Zendaya capsule collection.\n\nWilliam Chan is the new global brand spokesperson for menswear in 2021.\n\nLocations\n\nWith a head office in Amsterdam, the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation has global flagship stores in the following seven locations:\nFifth Avenue, New York (opened September 2009)\nChamps-Élysées, Paris (opened November 2010)\nBrompton Road, London (opened August 2011)\nOmotesando, Tokyo (opened April 2012)\nRegent Street, London (opened November 2012)\nRobertson Boulevard, Los Angeles (opened February 2013)\nSchadowstraße, Düsseldorf (opened August 2013)\nIn addition to the flagship stores, anchor stores are located in the cities of Amsterdam, Beijing, Berlin, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Cannes, Cologne, Dublin, Florence, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Prague, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Istanbul, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Mauritius, Mexico City, Miami, Milan, Montréal, Moscow, Mumbai, Munich, New York City, Osaka, Panama City, Punta del Este, Santiago, São Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Vancouver, Vienna, Marbella and Zurich. The company often operates hundreds of stores in the larger countries, and the subsidiary Tommy Hilfiger Japan Corp., for example, operates 170 stores with 1,000 employees as of 2014. In 2015, the brand launched its first store in Thailand.\n\nTommy Hilfiger has 48 stores in Turkey. They are located in the cities of İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Antalya, Aydın , Muğla, Adana, Kocaeli, Afyonkarahisar, Balıkesir, Bursa, Denizli, Kayseri, Mersin, Gaziantep, Konya, Samsun, Trabzon and Diyarbakır.\n\nRecognition\n\nThe following is a selected list of awards and recognitions won by the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation:\n1997: FiFi Awards – Men's Fragrance of the Year - Luxe, for the fragrance \"Tommy\"\n1998: Parsons School of Design – Designer of the Year Award\n1998: GQ Magazine – Designer of the Year for 'Men of the Year' issue\n2000: FiFi Awards – Best Marketing Innovation of the Year, for Toiletries for Tommy's (American running series)\n2002: GQ Germany – International Designer of the Year\n2002: Drug Abuse Resistance Education – Future of America Award, for philanthropic efforts for American youth\n2006: GQ Spain – Designer of the Year \n2008: Women’s Wear Daily – No. 1 Designer and No. 16 Brand in annual “100 List”\n2009: UNESCO – UNESCO Support Award, for philanthropic efforts\n\nSee also\n\nList of fashion designers\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n tommy.com \n global.tommy.com \n pvh.com/brands/tommy-hilfiger\n\n \nClothing brands of the United States\nHigh fashion brands\nClothing retailers of the United States\nShoe companies of the United States\nUnderwear brands\nWatch manufacturing companies of the United States\nAmerican companies established in 1985\nClothing companies established in 1985\nRetail companies established in 1985\nEyewear brands of the United States\nPVH (company) clothing brands\n1990s fashion\n2010 mergers and acquisitions\nAmerican corporate subsidiaries",
"Andrew Charles Hilfiger is an American businessman in the fashion industry and a musician. He is the creative director and namesake of Andrew Charles, a rock 'n' roll inspired fashion line, of which Steven Tyler is the face.\n\nHilfiger's first job was at 12 years when he began selling jeans in his brother Tommy Hilfiger's store. Hilfiger’s other love is music and he has been playing bass guitar since he was a teen. In 1982, Hilfiger moved to Manhattan from upstate New York where he began to further pursue music. Andy toured with members of the Ramones, Kid Rock, and Blue Öyster Cult.\n \nIn the 1990s, Hilfiger started a division at Tommy Hilfiger USA, Inc. styling and dressing some of Hollywood’s movie stars and rock and pop musicians and sponsoring concert tours. Hilfiger also started the accessories division for Tommy Hilfiger USA, Inc., where he designed hats, bags, and outerwear, creating a multimillion-dollar business.\n\nAfter a decade of work at Tommy Hilfiger, Hilfiger started a new company called Sweet Face Fashion where Hilfiger played a major role in launching the JLO by Jennifer Lopez brand. Hilfiger eventually helped to build the company to gross $250 million in sales and launched the fragrance Glow by J.Lo. Currently, Hilfiger is a partner in Star Branding, along with Tommy Hilfiger, Bernt Ullmann, and Joe Lamastra. Star Branding is a partner with Li & Fung USA in a company called MESH, under which the Andrew Charles fashion line was developed.\n\nAndrew Charles launched in the Impulse department of select Macy's stores and on macys.com in Fall 2011. It consists of a menswear line, inspired by Steven Tyler, and a women's collection inspired by 1970s bohemian styles. Steven Tyler and his daughter, Chelsea Tyler, are the faces of the Andrew Charles advertising campaign and have made appearances at select Macy's stores to promote the brand. Hilfiger has also developed a line of scarves with Steven Tyler for Andrew Charles called Rock Scarf.\n\nDuring the 1980s, Hilfiger played bass guitar in the band King Flux, which consisted of his brother Billy Hilfiger, Richie Stotts of the Plasmatics, and Marky Ramone. Other lineups for this band included Tony Petri from Twisted Sister and Albert Bouchard of Blue Öyster Cult. Hilfiger currently plays bass for the X Brothers along with Joe Bouchard of Blue Öyster Cult. The X Brothers have released two albums to date and are currently recording their third.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nAndrew Charles' official website.\nThe X Brothers MySpace.\n\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nAmerican businesspeople\nMusicians from New York (state)"
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